Uncanny Spider-Man #4 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
UNCANNY SPIDER-MAN #4
“Slice and Dice”
Writer: Si Spurrier
Artist: Lee Garbett
Colour artist: Matt Milla
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Design: Tom Muller & Jay Bowen
Editor: Sarah Brunstad
COVER / PAGE 1. Nightcrawler and Spider-Man fighting a Stark Sentinel.
PAGES 2-5. Nightcrawler watches Spider-Man deal with an anti-mutant mob.
Nightcrawler decides to leave it to Peter to deal with this – and he’s probably right that Peter’s better placed to try and calm the mob than he is. But the little ghost Bamf clearly sees this as another example of Kurt hiding from his problems. And he’s probably right too.
The Bamf also tells us directly that he isn’t an illusion. Admittedly, he would, wouldn’t he? But that’s consistent with issue #1, where he seemed to be able to shield Kurt from the Stark Sentinel’s detection.
More interestingly, the Bamf also refers to a “boss” who “thought you [Kurt] were someone who led with his heart”. That doesn’t really fit with the Bamf being Legion, and nor does the Bamf’s accent. But I suppose the Bamf could still be one of his creations, and it’s not like there are many other obvious candidates.
Anyway, the Stark Sentinel has now decided it’s going to arrest suspected mutants who aren’t mutants, so that they can be interrogated on suspicion of being mutant sympathisers. This feels like the sort of thing that could backfire on Orchis, but maybe not in the short term.
The Sentinel then goes on to accuse Spider-Man of being a mutant, which he certainly isn’t – but that would fit with Orchis having an agenda of moving on to other superheroes when the opportunity presents itself.
PAGE 6. Recap and credits.
PAGES 7-10. Mystique opens fire on the crowd.
With a bazooka, at that. This does prompt Nightcrawler to step in, by teleporting the shell so that it hits the Sentinel instead. Mystique is still completely out of her mind, and although at first she seems to be acting out of hatred of the anti-mutant mob, mostly she seems to be under a delusion that they have something to do with the loss of her child (which she’s been obsessed with throughout the series).
PAGE 11. Data page: a direct continuation of the conversation in the previous scene. Nightcrawler directly picks up on the point that established continuity has Mystique abandoning him, rather than having him taken from her (as covered in the annotations for issue #2). She doesn’t give him a direct answer to that point, instead choosing to tell him that he’s just as broken as she is, except he’s covering for it better on the surface.
PAGES 12-13. Silver Sable and Vulture.
“Dumme verdammte waffen.” “Stupid damn weapons.”
“Only because you refuse to take the damn kill fee.” We established last issue that Orchis had tried to terminate Silver Sable’s contract, but she refused to let them, supposedly as a matter of principle. At this point, Vulture’s belief that they’re achieving nothing, and that his Hounds will eventually get the job done, seems reasonable enough.
“The old X-tree.” The Treehouse base from X-Men.
“Run-in with your target’s mom.” The Hounds fought Mystique last issue. She shot Cloak in the head, but because of his Phalanx infection, it didn’t cause any lasting harm
Travers was the irritating Orchis officer that Silver Sable was stuck with in issue #2, and who was responsible for the mind-control technology that was used on Nightcrawler when he was an Orchis prisoner in X-Men: Before the Fall – Sons of X.
“Surrender now or ten humans die.” The threat made to mutants by Orchis in X-Men: Hellfire Gala 2023, though it doesn’t seem to be something they actually do routinely in practice.
PAGES 14-17. Kurt and Silver Sable’s date.
“The Cheney concert.” Silver Sable mentioned her father taking her to a Lila Cheney concert last issue.
Like the Bamf, Silver Sable correctly identifies that Nightcrawler is dodging his problems and that their bizarre relationship is part of that. Nightcrawler is not up for being lectured on morality by a mercenary, but Silver Sable does at least have the argument that she acts for the good of her people – being the main export industry of her nation – while Kurt is dodging the problems of mutantkind. Presumably, he’s deliberately been avoiding any contact with the X-Men.
PAGES 18-19. Kremer threatens Silver Sable.
This is the same anti-mutant thug that we saw at the end of issue #1, and causing trouble for Silver Sable in issue #2. The fact that Silver Sable is inclined to cancel the contract rather than really be forced to bring Nightcrawler in strongly supports the view that she wasn’t trying very hard. Kremer has a point that, by damaging the reputation of her organisation, and thus the economy of her nation, this behaviour is contrary to the moral justification Silver Sable had for her mercenary activities in the first place.
Meanwhile, Nightcrawler is pointed towards Mystique by the same park-dwellers we saw at the start of issue #1.
PAGE 20. Text page, directing our attention to next week’s X-Men Blue: Origins.
PAGES 21-22. Silver Sable lures Nightcrawler into a trap.
Somewhat reluctantly. Note, though, that she told Nightcrawler that she had something to tell him before she knew she would have to capture him for real.
PAGES 23-24. Nightcrawler is brought in to Orchis.
The story goes out of its way to close off the obvious possibility that he might have swapped places with Mystique between pages 19 and 21.
PAGE 25. Trailers. The Krakoan reads FADE TO BLUE.
I think the “boss” is Legion. Maybe the bamf is the Nightkin child from Sins of SInister- Legion could have taken it under his wing.
I wonder if it was Vulture who programmed the Sentinel to claim Spider-Man was a mutant.
It would nice if the writers would be consistent with how difficult it is to destroy a Stark Sentinel. In this issue, Kurt destroys one with an ordinary bazooka that was meant to be used against non powered humans. In this week’s Iron Man, it takes the combined power of Iron Man, Emma Frost and Riir Williams to destroy a Stark Sentinel and it takes them several pages to do it.
“She doesn’t give him a direct answer to that point, instead choosing to tell him that he’s just as broken as she is, except he’s covering for it better on the surface.”
The point is Mystique KNOWS her memories are messed up but is trying to ignore it.
“The story goes out of its way to close off the obvious possibility that he might have swapped places with Mystique between pages 19 and 21.”
Note that Orchis determined that by detecting a Y-chromosome in “Kurt”. It seems like Sprurrier is going to explain that Mystique can change into a man, and that she got Destiny pregnant. So that might be Mystique. (Although obviously the truth can’t simply be that Kurt is Mystique’s and Destiny’s child, since Kurt’s appearance and powers resemble Azazel.)
I was wondering if “the boss” isn’t Mother Righteous (with talk of heart and all that, especially given that she began as a Spurrier character.
@Michael – “It seems like Sprurrier is going to explain that Mystique can change into a man, and that she got Destiny pregnant. So that might be Mystique. (Although obviously the truth can’t simply be that Kurt is Mystique’s and Destiny’s child, since Kurt’s appearance and powers resemble Azazel.)”
I think maybe it’s going to be explained away by revealing that Mystique used Azazel as the model for the man she turned into to impregnate Destiny. It doesn’t quite explain the teleporting but I don’t think anyone will care. I mean how many people are actually invested in Azazel’s relationship to Kurt to not just look the other way on that the way we do about The Draco generally?
This has been an interesting mini. I feel like we’re just getting going and yet there’s only one issue left, with a one-shot that looks like it’s going to be a conversation piece with flashbacks. I wonder if this means Spurrier will get another mini during the upcoming “Fall of the House/Rise of the Powers of X” era. I’ve enjoyed his little corner of the Krakoa universe.
I’m pretty sure Spurrier is finished at Marvel now. He’s doing more work for DC now, writing the Flash and getting to finish his Hellblazer run, plus writing his creator own projects at BOOM.
It was Claremont’s idea to make Mystique Nightcrawler’s father and Destiny as his mother. It’s a much more interesting origin than the Azazel story. I think Marvel should sweep Azazel under the rug now. He looks like the Devil…of course he simply lied.
There has always been the plot hole of just how Aztael was impregnating people from hell if he couldn’t escape, maybe people were making pacts with him and doing it on his behalf. (It might be a bit outrè to have Mystique be all their fathers.
It will be a shame if Spurrier goes. His corner of the X-Books was often one of the most entertaining.
Why do we assume Mystique has to “turn into a man” to impregnate Destiny?
It’s entirely possible Mystique is a transwoman, who was born biologically male and has always had working male parts.
I don’t believe we’ve ever seen Mystique’s youth or her life before becoming a mutant…
I think Spurrier’s definitely leaving Marvel- the question is he writing anything else before the Krakoan Era ends? Right now the only issues he’s listed as writing are X-Men Blue: Origins and Uncanny Spider-Man 5. And we still have to find out Kurt’s origin, resolve Kurt’s and Sable’s relationship, find out what the bamf is, free the Hounds, free Warlock, find out what happened to Legion and Ruth and find out what Ruth meant when she said Kurt is the key. That’s a lot of plots to be resolved in two issues and it’s going to be VERY rushed if Spurrier tries to resolve them all in two issues.
Wasn’t Azazel supposed to have an entire bloodline of kids from back before he got banished? Just say either Mystique or Destiny is one of his descendants and Nightcrawler just resembles his ancestor.
Syzya of the Smoke could even be foreshadowing this idea. She’s obviously like Nightcrawler, but we know who her father is and it’s not Azazel.
That would finally fix the bloody plot hole of Azazel traveling to Earth to make babies so he can travel to Earth. They were just descendants and he lied to them all.
And if that is Mystique, the Hound just confirmed she either has a Y chromosome or can get one when she shapeshifts.
Wow. Mystique being biologically male is just perfect. I sincerely hope that’s what they’re doing with her, but I doubt Marvel is brave enough.
@Michael: As opposed to the sedate and leisurely pace of The Onslaught Revelation and Son of X? At this point we might just have to accept that’s just how Spurrier writes
@Si
Cebulski did mention having to personally approve the upcoming X-Men: Blue, which points to it being a huge, potentially controversial change. Maybe.
I feel that the Bamf may be connected to Margali. She created the Hopesword out of Kurt, maybe the Bamf is a side result.
Didn’t Kurt have a dangling plot from the time when he was resurrected in early issues of Amazing X-Men, back when Cyclops and Wolverine were at odds with each other? Was that fully resolved?
IIRC the aftermath had Mystique telling Kurt that something was wrong with him, with heavy hinting that he was missing his soul or part of it. I don’t know how Mystique would know, but if she can tell, maybe she is now affected by whatever metaphysical effects Margali caused on Kurt.
Presumably Kurt needs to reintegrate his hope (or whatever of it is now forming the sword) into himself in order to fully heal, and that might remove the Bamf and heal Mystique as well.
There are some stories which show Mystique reverting to her blue female form when knocked unconscious, though I don’t think it’s been 100% consistent over the years.
However, I’d have thought that making a prominent character the child of a same-sex couple would also be the sort of thing that would require fairly high level approval within Disney, so I’d read Cebulski’s comments as fairly neutral on that point.
@Luis Dantas
Amazing X-Men starts with the X-Men going to the afterlife to fetch Kurt, only for Kurt to basically resurrect himself, IIRC. It is later revealed he…um…
Well, I may not recall this correctly, but on the other hand, it was a Jason Aaron comic, so I might very well do.
I think it was later revealed the Bamfs that infested the Jean Grey School morphed together to create a new body for Nightcrawler to inhabit, and he sold his soul to be able to do that. To the Bamfs, I think? Aaron only knows what the little buggers might have wanted to do with it.
And no, as far as I know it’s never been resolved. It’s barely been mentioned since, though it has happened once or twice. Or thrice.
I don’t believe we’ve ever been shown on panel Mystique’s genitals after being knocked unconscious, so… maybe her standard form is what she looks like now (ie, she has feminine features? She has natural breasts from taking hormones?) or maybe that’s just become her standard form after using it regularly for so long.
Or maybe she is just a CIS woman and nothing more?
Precedent: Xavin the skrull from Runaways was originally biologically male, but later remained female when unconscious, proving her love for Karolina. The whole storyline was a naive and possibly offensive portrayal of the trans experience, but it’s there.
One does not stop being their true gender just because they’re not actively thinking about it. It goes beyond conscious thought. A fascinating real life example that I learned from my job is how trans dementia patients can become confused and think it’s still, say, the 1980s. A time before they transitioned. But they don’t ever revert to thinking they are their biological gender (sorry if I used the wrong words, I’m old but I try).
Anyway, I know this is a bit heavy for a discussion about a potential story about a fictional character, based on a single voice bubble. I just really like the idea.
A core aspect of transness is that your true form isn’t necessarily the form you were born with. Mystique’s true form is a blue-skinned woman, but it could be that it took discovering her powers to become her true form.
I’m not sure Disney would really agree to this, there’s still the question of where Graydon Creed came from, and Mystique the deceitful backstabbing murderess doesn’t make for an ideal trans icon. But dang it, I hope the reveal is that Kurt is Mystique and Destiny’s kid.
FWIW, somewhere out there, there’s an old interview where Claremont said that his intention for Nightcrawler was exactly the scenario you’ve been describing: he’d be the child that Mystique fathered with Destiny.
If Cebulski or someone higher up had to approve the storyline, maybe it is because they are about to revisit the matter of whether Kurt sold his soul or whatever.
Where did Graydon come from? Maybe Sabertooth is a transman.
(Ok, ok, I’m not being serious about that. But Graydon has always been a big question mark continuity-wise. We’re explicitly told he was born after Kurt, Which would make him mid-20s at best when he ran for office, so…. maybe everything we know about him has been suspect?)
Claremont wrote Mystique as male-presenting (‘Mystiq’) for a years in Exiles. At the time everyone thought he’d do the Mystique-is-Kurt’s-father bit in an alternate reality, to get around not being able to do it in mainstream 616. But that never happened again, due to falling sales and cancellation.
Mystique’s standard costume is part of her body, right? If so, that’s good evidence that her standard form is not her “natural” form, because it’s pretty unlikely she naturally has a little skull doodad on her forehead, a draping dress for lower body skin, etc.
It’s not like Graydon Creed is a hugely significant character. The idea of the child of two mutants being a human supremacist is ripe with potential, but it’s never really been explored.
@ASV: Good point!
I’ll be happy if Claremont’s idea of who Nightcrawler’s parents are becomes canon. We’re finally in an era, culturally, in which enough fans will (probably) accept the Mystique/Destiny conception without serious pushback.
The issue also goes out of its way to establish that mystique can make pockets in her body…. Hmmmm
I’m a big fan of Spurrier’s work, but I’m really not liking this crazy MY BABY! Mystique. It feels reductive, and didn’t Spurrier do the same angle with Marrow years back?
Looks like all the scuttlebutt may have born fruit, based on cryptic comments ion social media this morning.
I am right there with J.Vais, and most of the rest of you. Rob. I had that passing thought also, and thank you for not completing it.