[net.comics] Nightcrawler/Mystique Sub-plot

boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (08/16/84)

> From:	ucbvax!harry           12-Aug-1984 12:45:47  
>
> When the 'new' X-Men first meet the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
> and Nightcrawler first sees Mystique, he says something like
> "<German for 'Holy cow'>, you look like me, what's going on?!"
> Mystique replies "Ask Margali Szardos."  (The sorceress who raised 
> Nightcrawler.) Sorry, I couldn't find the issue, though I checked back
> to the Brood war, so it must be before the 150s.

It was #142, the second half of the "Future History" storyline.

> In 158 (X-Men and Carol Danvers fight Rogue in the Pentagon) Nightcrawler 
> tells Rogue he wants to find Mystique: "She and I have much to talk about."
> In 177 (Colossus fights Pyro and Avalanche and gets freeze-dried) Nightcrawler
> tells Amanda Sefton (Margali's daughter and Nightcrawler's long-time flame)
> about the exchange with Mystique and they decide to telephone Margali
> (who is in Germany) "tomorrow." Now here we are in the late 180s and there 
> has been no further mention of any of this. I am all for subtle subplots,
> but three bits of dialogue over some 40 issues is really TOO subtle....
> Don't get me wrong, I like for a story to emerge and develop, not pop up and
> get knocked away in one issue. I think it is extremely important. But the 
> flip side is that when the scripters start to develop something, they
> shouldn't just drop it, or put it on "hold" until it is convenient to deal
> with it.

Personally, this is trait that Claremont has been showing lately that is really
getting me PISSED OFF!!! It seems like he is just so full of ideas that he keeps
tossing them in before he resolves the previous ones. It could be that he's for-
gotten completely about some of them. Hell, look at Karma's "death" of Xavier's
autistic son by Gabrielle Haller for starters.

> Reading a number of back issues of X-Men, I have noticed lots of loose ends.
> Looking just at the two issues referred to above, 158 and 177:
> In 158 the X-Men decide the since the U.S. government is becoming anti-mutant,
> they must erase the government's files on the X-Men. Moira McTaggart claims
> that Prof. X worked with the gov't in first setting up the X-Men. Can anyone
> confirm or deny this? I've seen X-Men 1 and there was no mention of this.

'Strue. it wasn't mentioned in X-MEN #1, but somewhere in the #40's, when Charly
"died", the X-Men were introduced to an FBI agent (I forget his name) who sup-
posedly worked with Charly in setting up the X-Men. For a while, the X-Men indi-
rectly worked with this G-man. If you remember from the graphic novel, Stryker
had gotten his information on the X-Men from the files that this FBI agent kept.

> Moira says there are probably files on the 'new' X-Men also, although there is
> no indication of how that might be.

The FBI agent probably kept tabs on them. He might have even have kept contact
with Charly, though that was never made known to us (why did it need to be?).

> ... First, why are the X-Men's files in the Pentagon,

Why not?

> and second, surely there is a more easily accessible "Federal data bank"
> than the Pentagon.

Could be, but one never knows with the Pentagon. Some of the the info they have
might not be available to anyone else (except maybe the CIA or NSA, but then it
might be easier to get into the Pentagon), and Carol Danvers *could* get them
into the Pentagon.

> ...Mystique uses a "specially-designed combat suit" which lets her absorb
> Storm's lightning and zap it back at her. Who designed and built this suit?

I don't know who specifically, but it's been said a few times that because Raven
Darkholme works for the Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(those wonderful folks who gave us the ARPAnet!), she has access to a lot of the
special weapons, etc. that have been developed for or by the government.

> Why have we never seen it since?

When has she had occasion to use it since then?


--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA)

UUCP:	{decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian
ARPA:	boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA

lmaher@uokvax.UUCP (08/21/84)

#R:decwrl:-338700:uokvax:11900016:000:2042
uokvax!lmaher    Aug 21 01:41:00 1984

< "The grave is a mutant's only lasting sanctuary." >


Key to excerpted comments:
>> ucbvax!harry 
> decwrl!boyajian

>> important. But the flip side is that when the scripters start
>> to develop something, they shouldn't just drop it, or put it on
>> "hold" until it is convenient to deal with it.

> Personally, this is trait that Claremont has been showing lately
> that is really getting me PISSED OFF!!! It seems like he is just
> so full of ideas that he keeps tossing them in before he resolves
> the previous ones. It could be that he's forgotten completely
> about some of them. Hell, look at Karma's "death" or Xavier's
> autistic son by Gabrielle Haller for starters.

Karma will probably be back as soon as she's through working for
her uncle - they may be waiting for a New Mutants Anniversary /
25th Issue / Annual to bring her back.  Then again,
could be she's all twisto by now and they'll have to off her.
Perhaps one of the New Mutants will kill her (Rahne finally learns
how to bite! :-) and have to leave and go join the Hellions.

I'm sure we haven't seen the last of Chuck's son - could be they
haven't had space to get around to him.  And don't forget Sara
Grey's two children, either - they're just about hitting puberty.
And whatever *did* happen to the black kid from FF #203, that was
supposed to be in the New Mutants?

But these sub-plots are as nothing.  *I* want to hear more about
Robert Chalmers, the pro-mutant judge whose house was fire-bombed
in X-Men #99!  One of the major criticisms of Claremont is that
he does marvelous, throw-away bits, without fully thinking out
the consequences - Colossus' cosmonaut brother Mikhail for
example.

> that because Raven Darkholme works for the Department of Defense
> Advanced Research Projects Agency (those wonderful folks who gave
> us the ARPAnet!), she has access to a lot of the special weapons,
> etc. that have been developed for or by the government.

Is Raven on the Arpa-Net?  Finally we know why Rogue is named
that! :-)

	Carl
	..!ctvax!uokvax!lmaher