X-Men Blue: Origins synopsis and spoilers

[Su_Whisterfield]

Blue origins

This is a linear narrative, in some ways a simple ret-con, but I’m sure it will be talked about for years.

We start with the snarky little white ghost bamf, seen in Uncanny Spiderman (and probably Legion?) narrating the story so far; Mystique being mind-assaulted by Xavier at the Gala, falling from a hight, surviving, obviously and stealing an Orchis boat to make her escape from the island. She is not in a very stable state of mind.

We then catch up with her in Central Park, having that conversation with Kurt, started in Uncanny Spiderman 4. Kurt narrates the pages we saw in the preview; the current canon of Azazal and Mystique, Count Wagner and sex and death in suspiciously rural Bavaria. Raven mentions that, while pursued by the torch wearing mob*, she had to go back to the Count’s for her wife.

*tm Marvel

The Wife is news to Kurt and derails his narration, this wasn’t part of any version of his life story he’s had up until now. Mystique is still clearly unstable after the Gala affair, Kurt uses his Hope Sword (no, not explaining that now, go read the books) to cut her gun apart. He gives Raven his sword and her mind shatters.

We get a (partial) potted history of Raven and Irene’s relationship, they seem to have spent the 20th Century embezzling their way around Europe, sleeping with guys, milking them for their money and power, Count Wagner being one of their marks. Azazel is one of Wagner’s business associates, Raven beds him, he reveals his demonic nature, she is not at all impressed. “All I ever wanted was longevity, liberty, and luxury. What could he offer that I couldn’t take for myself.” Irene encouraged the affair.

Bed scene between our protaganists. Irene wants a baby with Raven. So that’s what Raven gives her.

“I have lived for years as sapiens males. Years more as females. Do you know what I have observed? They’re all as awful as each other. The only true binary division is not between genders, sexes or sexualities. It lies between those who are allowed to be who they wish and those denied that right. I am Raven Darkholme. Whatever else I am – or I am not – or I am not, whether it be for a lifetime or a single night, it is for nobody but me to say.”

Kurt is listening to this and his head must be so screwed up by the infodump, his whole history is being rewritten before him.

Raven goes into detail about how good her metamorphic abilities really are, how they are much more than skin deep. It sounds as though (rather like her foster daughter) she takes something from the forms she creates, from Count Wagner, from Azazel.

Irene persuades her to impregnate her, and they are hoping for a girl.

Information page from our old friend, Dr Nemesis, detailing some of Raven’s metamorphic potential.

Back to her story, Raven grows a bump at the same rate as Irene, to fool her husband Count Wagner, but tongues still wag. She gives Azazel the boot. Wagner finds her and Irene in bed (Strumpets! Sapphist perverts!) and Raven kills him. She takes his face and his role, dismisses the staff. She also keeps the baby bump to match Irene’s, they are very close, very happy. “We both carried him.”

Irene gives birth in Wagner’s castle, with a doctor and nurse in attendance, her precog abilities tell her it won’t be easy. There is a single panel with the worst art in the issue, unless Irene is a horse (it’s not the giving birth on your knees, which is an, ahem, unusual choice, it’s the distance between her and the doctor which is amusing me greatly). The doctor says that the baby is blue and deformed… he sure is, but not in the way the doctor thinks… Raven wants her beloved baby to see her real face so she takes her true form, in front of the doctor and nurse.

The doc and nurse and villagers decide that there is demonic goings on in the castle and grab the flaming torches and pitchforks (do you know how hard it is to get a flaming torch and pitchfork in late 20th C Germany?). Raven runs with the baby, Irene sends her. The villagers torch the castle, where Irene is still bedbound after the difficult birth. Raven leaves Kurt in the wood, like a fairy child, and goes back for her wife. Irene is gone and when she gets back to the wood, so is her baby.

Kurt takes off his mask and reveals who he is to her, but, of course, she knows, she may be mad but she’s not daft. Or blind.

Kurt wants to talk, Raven wants to push on with her recovering memories. Irene hides herself from Raven for years, while Mystique goes around being her murderous self, she allows herself to be found when Rogue comes into the picture, Irene knows what will happen to little Anna-Marie if she and Raven don’t adopt her. Once the Murder Wives are reunited in her upbringing, Irene confesses that she set up the situation with Azazel. It was, as usual, all about a precog vision. Azazel was going to become all powerful, powerful enough to destroy them, so Irene wanted to distract him with the bait of an heir. But it was a double bind, Azazel’s phoney heir would thwart all his plans and lead to his downfall. Raven and Irene’s son would be a ‘glowing thread which drives back the night’ across every future she can see (so no pressure there, Kurt, me lad). She arranged Margali Szardos to collect him from the woods.

Irene has a plan to erase the pain of losing their boy. Enter one C.Xavier Esq, shady mental deals his speciality. The Murder Wives ask him to edit their memories (though Raven won’t lose the knowledge that Kurt is hers) and he even erases his own memory of doing it. Which is why Raven breaks down at the Gala; Chuck destroyed the block in her mind. She is not amused.

“I let him seal my love for you, ohh, I let him steal the life we should have had… my baby… what have I done to my baby?”

Raven and Kurt hug.

Fin.



The fall out is going to be epic.

Yes, it’s flawed, particularly the Azazel motivation stuff but I’ll put up with that for the Murder Wives getting their son back and Kurt getting three mad mothers rather than just two. Logan needs three mad Mothers-In-Law…

I think I would have Azazel use a spell to wipe their memories, not Chuck, and to de-age Irene too (he could have effected Kurt’s appearance while doing so, as a sort of nasty Easter Egg).

It gives both Irene and Raven more depth, nuance, motivation and some lovely tender moments. Si’s analysis of their relationship feels very canny; they don’t always like each other, have different motivations and goals, but they love each other and will do almost anything for each other.

There is plenty of material for new stories, new vendettas. It’s completely in character for Chuck to edit their memories, it’s the least of the dodgy stuff he’s done over the years. He’s been meddling in Kurt’s life for longer than Kurt was aware. Kurt’s feelings about this are mostly not addressed, which is fine for now, this really was Raven’s story, but it’s going to have to be addressed at some point.

[Cyclone_Ablaze]

I give this Book 4/10

This Retconned was just unnecessary. It does nothing for Nightcrawler as character as whole. I understand what they were going for, but at the same time WHY. I'm glad Kurt finally, got the closure he needed....I guess? I mean Uncanny Spider-Man #4 alludes to something different, but whatever.

This Retconned was NOT good. Makes things more confusing. But, that's just my Opinion.

[Kingdom X]

I’m surprised they went w/ the obvious retcon. We all called it when this book was announced and this probably would have surprised more folks and hit harder if it was part of the regular Uncanny Spider-Man series.

Regarding the retcon itself… I’m a bit indifferent. Yes it paints Mystique in a better light but at the same time paints Destiny in a worse one. I kinda liked it when Destiny was the softer of the two, but if the Krakoa era has done one thing it’s prove that they’re both kind of awful.

I guess after Dark X-Men is done we can go back to ignoring Azazel completely.

[Su_Whisterfield]

I’m surprised they went w/ the obvious retcon. We all called it when this book was announced and this probably would have surprised more folks and hit harder if it was part of the regular Uncanny Spider-Man series.

Regarding the retcon itself… I’m a bit indifferent. Yes it paints Mystique in a better light but at the same time paints Destiny in a worse one. I kinda liked it when Destiny was the softer of the two, but if the Krakoa era has done one thing it’s prove that they’re both kind of awful.

I guess after Dark X-Men is done we can go back to ignoring Azazel completely.

Would be completely up for that, my least favourite story ever.

[Jackraow21]

Yikes. This sounds as needlessly convoluted and tacked on as all of the Romulus stuff in Wolverine’s backstory now… and I’m saying that as a Cable fan too! Ha.

[CGAR]

I actually thought it was very easy to follow and made sense.

I dig it.

But I knew after reading it a lot of fans would have issues with it.

[Kingdom X]

Random other thoughts:

1. What’s going on with Destiny’s age?!? Immortal has shown that she can live a long time but she definitely looked older than this in modern-ish day.
2. I’m side-eyeing Spurrier for having that panel of Kurt fantasizing about Rogue in LoX, if he was gonna have them share BOTH parents.

[JB]

I actually thought it was very easy to follow and made sense.

I dig it.

But I knew after reading it a lot of fans would have issues with it.

I very much enjoyed it too and I found it believable in a comic book way. It adds a lot of nuance to Mystique and Destiny, and further explains why they never seemed to care all that much about Nightcrawler - Xavier erased the true events at their request. I liked how Destiny saw that Kurt needed to have the life he's had so he could be the hero that he is. That was my favorite part of it for sure.

[Kingdom X]

I very much enjoyed it too and I found it believable in a comic book way. It adds a lot of nuance to Mystique and Destiny, and further explains why they never seemed to care all that much about Nightcrawler - Xavier erased the true events at their request. I liked how Destiny saw that Kurt needed to have the life he's had so he could be the hero that he is. That was my favorite part of it for sure.

I think I liked this bit the most as well, because of how it ties in with the main series. Kurt has been wondering why his life has contained so much suffering and how to still be a hero for his people in spite of it.

[Su_Whisterfield]

Yikes. This sounds as needlessly convoluted and tacked on as all of the Romulus stuff in Wolverine’s backstory now… and I’m saying that as a Cable fan too! Ha.

Yes and no. It is overly complicated, not so much the actual Mystique siring Kurt, but the hoops jumped to explain her and Irene forgetting that. However, it’s also a much more mutant origin for Kurt and a swathe of his fandom (including me) will forgive any convolutions to be rid of The Draco.
Where as most Wolverine fans don’t seem to like Romulus, and who can blame them?

If I’d been doing it, the memory wipe would have been a spell by Azarel,,as punishment for them defying him. And I would have used him as the Macguffin to explain how Irene was young enough to bear a child, he could have inserted some of his DNA as part of the deal, hence the ears, tail and eyes, kind of like a nasty Easter egg.

[Grunty]

Yikes. This sounds as needlessly convoluted and tacked on as all of the Romulus stuff in Wolverine’s backstory now… and I’m saying that as a Cable fan too! Ha.

To be fair, despite it's infamy and memetic status among american super hero comic readership (as small as it has become) and the X-men fanbase in particular, is Cable's backstory at this point really that messy and convoluted compared to that of many characters and retcons introduced over the past 20+ years?

It feels like people still like to point at the 90's and it's characters to laugh and call out how silly everything was back then, but taking a step back it could be argued that 00's and 10's have actualy produced a lot more messy things.

Compared to someone like Rasputin, Cable's history seems pretty straightforward.

[MythicalChicken]

I give this Book 4/10

This Retconned was just unnecessary. It does nothing for Nightcrawler as character as whole. I understand what they were going for, but at the same time WHY. I'm glad Kurt finally, got the closure he needed....I guess? I mean Uncanny Spider-Man #4 alludes to something different, but whatever.

This Retconned was NOT good. Makes things more confusing. But, that's just my Opinion.

I've always thought history repeats itself in 20-year cycles; I remember this pretty much being the reaction to the Draco in the first place, so we're right on schedule I reckon.

[JB]

I think I liked this bit the most as well, because of how it ties in with the main series. Kurt has been wondering why his life has contained so much suffering and how to still be a hero for his people in spite of it.

Ah yes, very good point. Because he very much has been a light when things are darkest. A "glowing thread which drives back the night" indeed.

[Will Evans]

So Abyss is not Kurt’s half brother. Too bad.

But now Nightcrawler is not half brothers to Graydon Creed, but Irene’s daughter Justine.

Also, Graydon Creed is older than Nightcrawler, right?
So Mystique had already given birth and abandoned Graydon before these events?

[Will Evans]

Random other thoughts:

1. What’s going on with Destiny’s age?!? Immortal has shown that she can live a long time but she definitely looked older than this in modern-ish day.
2. I’m side-eyeing Spurrier for having that panel of Kurt fantasizing about Rogue in LoX, if he was gonna have them share BOTH parents.

Rogue is adopted by Destiny and Mystique, not their flesh and blood.
And besides, this is Kurt we’re taking about. The guy who bangs the foster sister, Amanda Sefton, that he was raised since birth with.