Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Uncanny X-Men #515 & The List Spoilers

Spoilers: Somewhere out west, a group of rogue mutants attack Scalphunter at his diner. In Utopia, Psylocke brings breakfast in bed to Dr. Takiguchi. While they talk, the old doctor suddenly dies. At the conference room, Cyclops gathers Emma Frost, Storm, Iceman, Beast, Professor X and Namor to discuss issues such as how to get fresh water and electricity, and Emma's remarks result in an argument between her and Storm. Psylocke interrupts their meeting in tears and breaks the sad news. As Cyclops is more interested in what to do with the corpse, Xavier begs him to not lose his humanity. They exchange some bitter words on the matter, and Cyclops heads to San Francisco to talk to the Mayor. Emma has Nightcrawler teleport her and Danger to the Graymalkin Industries, which is now in the care of the government. Emma explains they will bring the prisoners like Shaw to Utopia and convinces Danger to create a mind prison for them. In San Francisco, Cyclops asks for the Mayor's help concerning food, medical services and her guarantee that mutants will be welcome in the city at any time. The Mayor is understanding, but advises Scott to tread carefully for the time being. In Utopia, the X-Men hold a funeral to Dr. Takiguchi, and Beast says goodbye to his friend. Cyclops and Emma argue over her being insensitive. She explains she can't act any other way since she's stuck in this diamond form in order to keep the Void trapped, when suddenly Magneto arrives.

Spoilers: Norman Osborn plans to get his revenge on Namor. H.A.M.M.E.R. has genetically altered Namor's ex-wife Marrina to keep her perpetually in Leviathan form. She's also been modified with shark genes, which makes her hungry and has driven her insane. It turns out she can only digest Atlantean blood, so Osborn unleashes the monster to massacre Namor's people. Cyclops and Namor decide to trick the monster, leading it to Utopia so they can destroy it. The plans works, and Namor finds out it's his ex-wife. The Cuckoos tell him that there's nothing to her but hate. Psylocke amplify Iceman's powers telepathically (butterfly effect!) in order to keep Marrina frozen, but Bobby isn't able to hold it as she's too strong. A combined effort between Colossus, Wolverine, Archangel, Surge and Nightcrawler leads Marrina out of the sea, which is exactly where Namor needed her. The Atlantean King manages to control her and then throws her corpse right at Osborn's office. Namor warns him that if he was willing to do this to his ex-wife, he can only imagine what he's going to do with Norman. Namor then returns to Utopia and is welcome home.

21 comments:

FSaker said...

"Psylocke brings breakfast in bed to Dr. Takiguchi. While they talk, the old doctor suddenly dies."

Wow. Not the best conversation you ever had, eh Betsy?

Nice to know that she has a good role in both issues (such a shame Davis put Dazzler in the cover instead of Betsy, as your spoilers don't even show Dazzler participating of the battle against Marrina)! And the UXM #515 preview looked awful, but your description of the story makes it seem very good; I hope Land's art didn't ruin it...

Anonymous said...

Sounds like Psylocke has two really nice scenes. Scans of the butterfly please!

FSaker said...

Oh, and butterfly effect in The List - X-Men, yay!!!

PsySpears said...

Butterfly effect <3

luckystar. said...

Yes! Uncanny as really good in my opinion. Betsy's scene with JapaneseGuy was really touching. It was a very emotional story overall.

luckystar. said...

was*

centurion said...

@luckystar: Yes, that's certainly true!

FSaker said...

"Betsy's scene with JapaneseGuy was really touching."

Really? Even with Greg Land drawing it?

Man, I need to see some scans, because Land drawing/tracing a touching scene is quite unbelievable...

Selene said...

I've decided to drop Uncanny X-Men and I doubt I'll be changing my mind any time soon.It's nice that Betsy had a greater role this time(don't forget to post scans,luckystar! ;-) ).Was the art as bad as it looked in the previews?

Dark Reign:The list-X-Men was indeed very good(if you exclude the dialogue,which was woeful,as always),indeed!It's nice that Davis remembered to draw the butterfly psychic signature.Speaking of the interaction between Namor and Emma...May I re-iterate how glad I am that I'm not a fan of Emma Frost?I can't believe Fraction has made her a major player in the book,only to dumb her down...

FSaker said...

Oh, I forgot to comment something: rest in peace, Dr. Takiguchi... you didn't stay with the X-Men for much time, but you were a kind man, you provided some good moments in the X-Club, and you will definitely be missed.

Same thing for poor Marrina. May Norman Osborn pay for what he did to you...

Anonymous said...

i think they should try to keep betsy british on the inside. just because she's in a japanese body doesn't mean she needs to be performing japanese tea ceremonies. i have a feeling matt fraction doesn't know her characterization very well. i wish they would have another real asian on the team because it would seem more genuine.

luckystar. said...

She wasn't performing japanese rituals or ceremonies... Dr. Takiguchi wasn't feeling well. Psylocke was being nice to him, brought him his tea, his paper and some oranges. And that's it.

centurion said...

@Luckystar - I agree! I don't think this was Fraction trying to fit Psylocke into the Asian tea serving stereotype.

@Anonymous 11:56PM - Essentially, British Betsy was always present within Kwannon's body. I think that some writers emphasize the British persona more than others, but it is still there.

Best,
centurion

centurion said...

@FSaker - Hey. How are you doing? I was able to play MUA2 Wii. It is a great game, but I need to familiarize myself with the the control scheme. I think Psylocke has to be unlocked.

Anonymous said...

i was joking about the tea ceremony but i'm sure it wasn't just a coincidence that the "asian" on the team comes to bring tea to the dead japanese man. i still think fraction just thinks of her as a psychic ninja first and foremost and ignores her british characterization.

centurion said...
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centurion said...
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centurion said...

@Anonymous 1:13AM - No hard feelings :) It's ok. These types of things can be interpreted in many ways. I just agree with Luckystar that it was merely a gesture of compassion on Betsy's part. Betsy's lament on the next scan supports this idea.

Claremont is one of the few X-Men writers who has emphasized Betsy's British persona and has done it well.

I guess Claremont has a penchant for the British persona because he too is British :) I like Betsy's smile, and it brings to memory one of the UXM issues (Not sure of the number) from the 80s where Rogue, Dazzler, and I think, Longshot, were training in an ad hoc "Danger Room" on island (Muir?). I remember Betsy's reaction was something like "I'm playing posssum, as you American's say" and her smile was just as vibrant then as it is now in UXM 515.

Betsy is such an intriguing character because she sets forth timeless questions about the sense of Self and Identity. At one time, Rogue served this role, too.

Anonymous said...

Is the list before or after 515? and where the hell is Beast? Utopia needs him.

FSaker said...

@Centurion - I'm glad to know the game is good, after all! As for Psylocke, I read somewhere that she can be played after the first save point, when the player can change the members of the team. But I don't know if this is true...

centurion said...

@Fsaker - Really? I am still at the stage where Nick Fury is guiding my team comprised of Wolverine, Spiderman, Iron Man and Captain America, through Latveria. I am not very far at all...