#Sabretooth and Mystique (1996)

[sabreclaws]

Okay, here we go again. Sabretooth and Mystique (1996).

As a fan of Victor Creed who feels he deserves more nuance than just "homicidal killing machine," this isn't starting off great.

And then she immediately calls him a "sick pup" and "stupid." Yeah, my evil big boy is not getting the respect he deserves.

Stuff happens. It appears Mystique is running this show and Victor is going along with it for some reason, and then she gives him some additional reasons.

Some exposition for you nerds who, like me, are interested in backstory.

Yeah, I read that bit of X-Factor, actually. X-Factor (1986) circa issue #136. Or at least, #136 was where Victor mauled X-Factor and made his escape. So this is set a bit before that.

Well, I have bad news and good news. The bad news is, it's a cliqued comic book. The good news is, at least it has BDSM-like eye-candy in the flashback.

It appears that Mystique is out for revenge for Destiny's death and/or to fulfill a promise to her.

Also, Victor is being a perv. Mystique is rightly annoyed.

(... The reactions are a little weird to me though, because this is published after the 1993 mini. And in that one, it's established that Mystique pretended to be a woman named Leni and had a relationship with Victor. Not that I expect Mystique to put up with this shit, but she's also acting like this is totally out of the blue.)

(Can I just say that, as a Cable fan, the fact that Destiny's real name is Irene throws me for a loop every time I read it? Irene Merryweather, what? Oh, right, the other Irene. Irene Adler.)

Pretty...

I'll admit, twitchy kitty who scratches things Victor Creed does match my headcanons...

This is the most comic-ish panel I could possibly imagine 😂 a moat 😂 filled with piranhas 😂

I've gone an issue and a half without pasting in a panel, because absolutely nothing riveting has been going on. Blah blah blah evil villains blah blah Hydra blah blah A.I.M. etc. etc. vengeance.

Oh really?

So in a surprise twist, the comic actually allows Victor some redemption?

Eventually then win and the world does not end in a thermonuclear cloud of death.

And then Mystique tricks Victor into putting the X-Factor control collar back on. (Because that way this mini can happen without affecting main canon. 😜)

And that's literally the end.

Overall: did not like, do not recommend.

Victor: killer evil brute without a backstory, but perhaps with a tiny shred of humanity (or self-interest) such that he'll stop the apocalypse. But he doesn't want anyone to know, because that's how evil he is. (I say, tongue firmly in cheek.)

[soviet-supersoldier]

Character Examination: Omega Red

Part 5.5: Team X/Team 7

So, for anyone who is looking at this title and going, "Huh? What is this? I've never heard of this comic." Trust me, you are not alone. I only recently stumbled on the existence of this comic, and given we have just concluded going through Omega Red’s introductory comic arc, I thought it would be appropriate to do a spotlight on this book -- even though it is not canon -- before I move on to Arkady’s next official appearance in Marvel Comics; just to give some thoughts on what could have been for Arkady and how some of the things depicted in this comic make some words/actions in Omega Red’s introduction make sense in light of what was intended for him and his past experiences with Team X.

Before we begin, some background on this comic and why it's not canon to 616. So, this comic was published in partnership with Wildstorm Productions (a subset of Image Comics), which is now under the DC Comics umbrella. It features a group called Team 7, which was created for the Wildstorm comics universe, and have since become a part of DC. The company was founded by Jim Lee, and that name should sound familiar as he was the one who originally designed Omega Red for Marvel. So in a way, this comic gives some insight as to what his intentions may have been with Arkady in relation to his past, experimentation, and how it all relates back to Logan; although the comic itself was writtien by Larry Hama, the man who would go on to write "Maverick: In the Shadow of Death," and you can definitely tell where his influence is present in the writing. So, for this reason, I'm looking at this comic. And for anyone who reads my blog, if you're a Sabretooth fan or a fan of the Victor/Logan ship or their overall comic dynamic, especially with regards to their Team X days, you'll probably get a real kick out of this book, even though it really gives off Saturday Morning Cartoon and 80s action movie vibes as to the overall plot.

So to start off, the scene is set in what is called "the Sultanate of Numidia," which is a made-up place specifically created for this comic. There, they are working to create their own supersoldier project in connection to Russia. A time period for this is not specified beyond taking place after Arkady’s encounter with Team X in Berlin. Leni Zauber, AKA, Mystique, is going in undercover on behalf of Team X to this location under the guise of a consultant to oversee the weapons project. While she is doing so, Team 7 (who are a bunch of generic, 80s GI Joe nobodies) arrives via helicopter to try to take down the site and their entry is rocky.

At the same time, Team X is doing a covert infiltration which has some Logan/Victor banter and eventually leads to Sabretooth stripping naked (no joke, Victor is naked for about 2/3 of this comic) and covering himself in fire extinguisher foam to get past the infrared sensors at the entrance to the base. So, while Victor is getting naked, we finally get to see what Omega Red is doing and why he's even here in the middle of the desert:

Nice underpants, Arkady. It seems like his design here really embraces the "Red" part of his name, the grey/black trunks serving to break up the color scheme of his uniform here, but it's definitely not his best look.

So, Russia is here for oil and for working out some kinks in a branch of their supersoldier program that they're running in this country because... reasons. We have to have a plot, so barebones generic 80s action plot it is! Omega Red seems to be a consultant here as well, as he's looking at the place from a military standpoint and its flaws. He's also spewing the typical patriotic propaganda that one would expect of the stereotypical Russian villain of the time period (this came out in 1996). You will notice that the lady here (I am not even going to try repeating what Arkady said her name was. It's a mouthful), mentions reading a dossier on him, and I would assume it would be the same one Larry Hama has John Wraith reveal in "Maverick: In the Shadow of Death," which is something I intend to fully dive into once we reach that book. But for now, it's teased Arkady has a unsavory background that played a role in how he ended up where he is. We'll get into that when we get back to actually talking canon.

So, the scene cuts back to naked Victor in firefighter foam killing guards and lowering the defenses for Logan and Maverick to enter (fully clothed) after him. Up to this point, Victor's been making a few jokes about ear collecting from the people he kills, and just when he's going to add a few more here to his horde, Omega Red shows up to wreck his fun:

So, Arkady’s dialogue is very generic. Definitely feels like the kind of stuff the stereotypical supervillain says in their cartoon appearances. He's fitting the evil Russian stereotype here by commenting on politics (East/West, Communism/Capitalism arguments) and generic villain stereotypes by shouting about his death powers and how lethal they are. Just like in the regular Marvel Comics though, you'll see that they're not as lethal as he claims as Arkady continues his "not actually killing anyone" streak here even in this non-canon book.

So, Logan and Maverick show up just in time to save Victor, and Arkady retreats with the French (?) Lady, Spider-man style. Maverick considers ditching Victor, as apparently Arkady broke some bones as he was squeezing the life out of Victor (not that you can tell), but Logan decides to carry naked Sabes to safety instead. The scene cuts to showing what Team 7 is up to, but since we don't actually care about anything those guys are doing, I'll just skip ahead on the summary to get back to Logan dragging Victor around to safety (It’s a rather hilarious bit, and Victor gives off strong wounded cat vibes). The Spetznaz are after Team X and trying to radio Omega Red to their location to follow the group, but are killed by Maverick, who spouts off the usual cheery generic 80s action hero lines as he gleefully kills them. As I said, this comic is chock full of 80s action tropes. Then he tells Logan to shut Victor up, but Logan complains how all his attempts to knock Victor out just make him scream louder. Overall, it's a funny bit. I got a chuckle.

Team X escapes the pursing Spetznaz and Victor magically finds an extra pair of pants from... somewhere. Perhaps Logan was carrying his gear? Not sure, but that's the end of naked Victor. Omega Red, meanwhile, finds himself caught in a catfight between Leni Zauber and the French Lady who have just bumped into each other on page:

I do appreciate that Arkady gets to show some military intelligence here, and it does seem like everyone is deferring to him here, as if he's actually in charge at this base. Very different than how Arkady is shown in the pages of Marvel, not having as much autonomy in his actions and always answering to someone else, needing his cure for his Carbonadium poisoning. The ladies continue to argue, even as Omega Red realizes that both Team X and Team 7 have converged on their location. Omega Red goes to fight both teams by himself while in the background, we have Leni and French Lady continuing their arguments and accusing the other of treachery. They're probably both trying to sway Arkady to take their side in their argument, but he quite honestly isn't shown to care about their spat at all (smart man), instead being rather annoyed with the women when they decide to take their disagreement to new heights and leave him entirely alone to deal with both intruding teams.

Omega Red gets separated from his foes and like the 80s action movies, we get a scene where Team X and Team 7 give out brief introductions and agree to team up, macho handshakes and all. They find their way down to the supersoldier lab where they see a bunch of cyborgs in test tubes, remarking that they don't look "anywhere near as formidable as Omega Red." They do talk about how this project looks to be a knock-off/run-down version of what the Soviets have with regards to Arkady, so we can kinda see what the original process Jim Lee probably had intended for Arkady here with regards to his creation:

Arkady sics these half-completed creations on the two teams instead of fighting himself, as he's apparently quite sick of doing all the work alone. He is carrying this entire plot on his shoulders right now and it shows. Here, he is being portrayed as the top villain, as if he's the main bad guy of the week the heroes need to defeat in a 30-minute episode. The biggest indicator of this actually shows in Omega Red’s next action as he apparently just decides to stand there as a cartoon villain watching the two teams work together to destroy the supersoldiers instead of actually doing anything to stop them. The cyborg soldiers all die, and Team X/Team 7 make their escape, sealing a giant blast door behind them to prevent Omega Red from following (not that his actions showed he was in a hurry to, just standing around watching like he was). The ladies continue their fight and accuse each other of being frauds while Omega Red calls in a team to cut through the blast door. Again, he doesn't seem to be in any particular hurry, at least at the moment.

Now, that first part of Arkady’s dialogue really feels out of character for me. The intonation just feels off, like something he wouldn't say. "Some payload, huh?" he says. "They got these bad boys packed in like sardines. Talk about a no frills flight!" It just doesn't sound like something that would come out of his mouth. It sounds... too American. There's turns of phrase and slang used that doesn't fit his overall speech pattern. It's weird, and I don't really like it. Moving on from the weird dialogue, Arkady gets informed on what the two teams are doing and quickly grows impatient, slicing through the doors himself and forces his way through to go after the teams. They try to escape Omega Red via helicopter, but that doesn't go so well:

So Arkady tells them to launch the missile, Team 7 uses psychic power (don't worry, it comes as far out of left field as you'd expect. I know nothing about these generic GI Joes) to blow up the missile before in launches, and the whole base blows up with Omega Red inside. Leni Zauber shows up at the end and reveals she killed the French Lady, who was working with Team 7 (making both women frauds) and they all fly off into the sunset together as Omega Red crawls out of the rubble.

And that's the end of the episode -- er, comic. So, what was the point? What did we learn? Well, for starters we learned what Jim Lee had probably intended for a more complicated past between Omega Red and Team X. In his introductory arc, we were given hints as to more of a past between him and Logan, which would make sense if Team X had been deployed on missions like these where they could have encountered Arkady multiple times. But that never came to be in the pages of Marvel Comics. We also got to see the generic cyborg supersoldiers who all not only bear cybernetics somewhat reminiscent of Arkady’s implants, but also the same chalk-white skin, which lends to the idea that he was originally going to be altered into being chalk-white rather than being born that way as the Infinity comics reveal. We also saw Larry Hama's thumb on the scale with the attempted introduction of a criminal background for Arkady. We will get to that in later reviews of these appearances.

After this, we're going back to actual canon material, but for what this was, it was fun. A cartoony 80s action movie turned comic. We'll get to the real heavy-hitting and tragic story about Arkady’s experiences in the next one.

[omega-red]

thoughts on sabretooth and mystique #1-4 (1996)?

the hydra and A.I.M stuff was boring but there were fun character interactions between mystique and sabretooth and some cool destiny and mystique queer coding. i'd give it a 3.5 out of 5? anybody else got any opinions on this miniseries?

[z2z-gaming-and-random-art-ai]

Console Fighting Games of 2000 - X Men Mutant Academy

Developed by Paradox Development and published by Activision, X-Men Mutant Academy was released to coincide with the release of the movie X-Men and was developed and released on the PlayStation and Game Boy Color. 

The PlayStation release of the game would feature a 10-strong roster with Cyclops, Wolverine, Gambit, Storm, Beast, Phoenix, Toad, Mystique, Magneto and Sabretooth. 

The Game Boy Color version does not feature Beast while Phoenix is a secret character in that version. The GBC version features two exclusive characters in Pyro and Apocalypse. 

For its PlayStation release, it would be released in July of 2000 in the United States with an August release in Europe. A Japanese release of the game would not come until the following year. 

Before the 2000 release on PlayStation and Game Boy Color a Nintendo 64 version of the game was in development, planned to be an upgraded version of the PlayStation release, the game however was subsequently cancelled 

1. Intro 00:00 

2. Games Intro 00:10 

3. Gameplay 00:41 

4. Outro 13:31 

Twitter (Gaming & AI Art)

https://twitter.com/zero2zedGaming

Instagram (AI Art) 

https://www.instagram.com/random_art_ai/ 

For more fighting game videos check out the playlists below 

Console Fighting Games of 1993 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CFcKSo9Eglrv2NFDHAqNDRi 

Console Fighting Games of 1994 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CF-R5w4NujQcYo8cCcOMHYv 

Console Fighting Games of 1995 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CEUiZn8FlwHoMcwoOzUqchX 

Console Fighting Games of 1996 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CF0j9K_v7UqS3dxjwh6XIIM 

Console Fighting Games of 1997 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CFm1r27Q5PvbO_4CjYYsj4- 

Console Fighting Games of 1998 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CHG7kROLoO-HAXmmzib8cd4 

Console Fighting Games of 1999 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CH1CPUcsBRyu5VpFnhqj4Kv 

Console Fighting Games of 2000 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CFeqy-o99iichpNC_2TAs2w

[cryptocollectibles]

Sabretooth and Mystique #1 (December 1996) by Marvel Comics

Written by Jorge Gonzalez, drawn by riel Olivetti & Pier Brito. 

[thecomicsnexus]

Playing With Fire

X-FACTOR #129 DECEMBER 1996 BY HOWARD MACKIE, JEFF MATSUDA, ART THIBERT AND GLYNIS OLIVER

SYNOPSIS

Forge lets Valerie Cooper know that they were hunting Madrox (who by the way, is still alive), they make Mystique pass as Madrox to buy some time, but she later escapes and reunites with Pyro to move up their plans to assassinate Creed.

REVIEW

In the old days, you would plan an assassination by putting some photos on a wall and shooting darts or daggers at the faces of your enemies. But times have changed. Now the best way to plan an assassination is to write “soon!” in red over the character you are about to off.

Mackie is still taking his time to get to that point (but I believe that was the editorial pacing of the time). Having at least eight monthlies coordinated around the new saga, just a few months after the previous one ended, causes this, transition times where you cannot start a new plot.

Matsuda makes very attractive art (or at least, it was great in 1996), but sometimes it feels a bit generic. Like he is not trying too much to differentiate the faces. Lucky for him, most characters in this book are different in body and uniform.

I give this issue a score of 6

[justicelikelightningpodcast]

Justice Like Lightning - Onslaught Book 2

We check in on some other teams that start with x that aren’t the X-men! London has a bad time and there’s some drama with brainwashing and evil clones. We talk about being Mystique simps and how much we hate Hank McCoy.

Excalibur #100 

Published: August 1, 1996

Writing: Warren Ellis

Pencils: Casey Jones, Randy Green, Rob Haynes

Inks: Tom Simmons, Jason Martin, Rick Katchem, Rob Haynes

Lettering: Richard Starkings, ComicCraft

Colors: Ariane Lenshoek, Jim Hosten

Editors: Suzanne Bob, Gaffney Harris

Best Words: 

Best Panel:

Best Person: Kurt Wagner

Worst Person: Xavier/Onslaught

Moira for retroactively lying about the Xavier files. 

Wolverine 104: The Answer At Last! The Beginning of ONSLAUGHT!

Published: August 1, 1996

Writing: Larry Hama

Pencils: Val Semeiks

Inks: Chad Hunt

Letters: Richard Starking

Colors: Joe Rosas

Best Words: 

Best Panel: 

Best Person: Elektra

Worst Person: N/A no one was really awful in this issue

Wolverine because the looks like that, jk but it triggers uncanny valley response in me

X-Factor #125: Re-Creating Havok in McCoy’s Image

Published: August 1, 1996

Writing: Howard Mackie

Pencils: Page 1-23 Jeff Matsuda, Page 24-37 Stefano Raffaele

Inks: Al Milgrom

Color: Page 1-23 Glynis Oliver, 24-37 & Kevin Somers

Letters: Richard Starkings

Editor: Kelly Corvese

Best Words:

Best Panel: 

Best Person: Mystique

Worst Person: Evil!McCoy/Dark Beast

X-Factor #126: The Beast Or Not The Beast... That Is The Question

Published: September 2, 1996

Writing: Howard Mackie

Pencils: Stefano Raffaele

Inks: Al Milgrom

Color: Glynis Oliver

Letters: Richard Starkings

Editor: Kelly Corvese

Best words:

Best Panel: 

Best Person: Sabretooth

Worst Person: Random

[omniversecomicsguide]

THE ASSASSINATION OF GRAYDON CREED (1996-1997)

Graydon Creed - the human son of Sabretooth and Mystique - is taking an anti-mutant stance in his bid for the US presidency. Already weakened by their war with Onslaught, can the X-Men or X-Factor prevent Creed’s seemingly inevitable rise to power?

MORE: The Assassination of Graydon Creed

[sabre-tooth]

Heyo! I need to ask where does the "basement arc" start and end? I wanna read it but I don't want to go through a shit load of comics to read it.

You're in luck, I got the whole list for ya, pal. There are 29 comics in the basement arc.

X-Men Unlimited (1993) #3

X-Men (1991) #28

X-Men (1991) #29

Uncanny X-Men Annual (1991) #18 [A Story]

Uncanny X-Men (1981) #310

X-Men (1991) #30

Uncanny X-Men (1981) #311

Uncanny X-Men (1981) #312

Uncanny X-Men (1981) #313

X-Men (1991) #33

Uncanny X-Men (1981) #316

X-Men (1991) #36

X-Men (1991) #37

Wolverine (1988) #87

X-Men (1991) #38

Wolverine (1988) #89

X-Men (1991) #40

X-Men (1991) #41

Wolverine (1988) #90

X-Force (1991) #44

X-Force (1991) #45

X-Force (1991) #46

Uncanny X-Men (1981) #323

X-Force (1991) #47

Wolverine (1988) #92

Uncanny X-Men (1981) #326

X-Force (1991) #48

Uncanny X-Men (1981) #328

Sabretooth Special (1996) #1

After that, if you wanna follow up on the story after, ya can leap right into X-Factor (1986) #119-137, Sabretooth and Mystique (1996) #1-4 (which goes between X-Factor #126, and 127) Sabretooth: Back to Nature (1998) #1

Ya didn't hear it from me, but I've heard all these fine back issues are available to those of us that sail the high seas.

[multiverseforger]

Born Nathaniel Essex in Victorian London, Sinister became a biologist in 1859. He was a contemporary of Charles Darwin and became obsessed with Darwin's theories. However, Essex believed his peers were shackled by too many moral constraints and that their research should be beyond morality. Essex believed that humanity was undergoing increasing mutation, due to what he called "Essex Factors" in the human genome. He dreamed of bringing the perfection of the evolution of the human race to the masses. After the loss of his young son due to birth defects, he delved deeper into his work. Essex's theories were mocked, making him bitter, and his revealing of an unorthodox experiment resulted in his ousting from the Royal Society. Angry, Essex stated that if becoming a monster was what was required for his work to progress, then he would become a monster.[9]

Essex met with Cootie Tremble and the Marauders, the group he would eventually lead. The Marauders kidnapped homeless and neglected people off the streets of London and used them as test subjects for Essex's experiments. Essex ordered the Marauders to awaken the immortal Egyptian mutant En Sabah Nur, who would become known as Apocalypse. En Sabah Nur ordered the Marauders to take him to Essex. During this time, Essex's wife, Rebecca Essex, was pregnant with their unborn child and was shocked to find that Essex had dug up their first-born child to experiment on him. Nur met Essex and became interested in Essex's work. Nur offered an alliance with Essex in continuing his research. Left with the choice of continuing his work or his wife shunning him, Essex allied himself with Nur. Essex explained to Nur that Nur was the first born in what he believed would be a great mutation in the human race.[9]

The time-travelers Cyclops and Phoenix confronted Nur, believing that they were to prevent Dr. Essex's future transformation into Mr. Sinister, but unaware that Madame Sanctity of the Askani had sent them to the past to stop Nur from conquering England. Essex was necessary for the birth of Nathan Summers, also known as the mutant Cable, whom Madame Sanctity worshiped. Nur defeated Cyclops and Phoenix and leaves them for Essex to experiment on. Phoenix explains to Essex that continuing his work with Nur would lead to the destruction of the world. Deciding to leave his life of unorthodox research and dedicate his life to his wife and unborn child, Essex returned home to learn that his wife had freed all of his captives, prematurely had the baby, and was dying of stress. Asking for forgiveness at her side, Rebecca denied him and stated, "To me, you are... utterly… and contemptibly… sinister!", with her dying words. Essex agreed to Nur's offer and was ordered to create a plague to destroy the weak of the world, as Nur's first prelate. In his alien ship, Apocalypse painfully transformed Essex into an ageless being of extraordinary pallor with telekinesis, asking him to shed his past name and choose another. With his new abilities and dispassionate outlook, Essex took the new name, "Sinister", Rebecca's last words to him.[9]

Sinister has shown an obsession with Scott Summers, and the Summers genetic line. This led Sinister to create a clone of Jean Grey called Madelyne Pryor, with the sole purpose of breeding with Scott. That successful quest resulted in the birth of Nathan Summers.[10]

At some point, he is approached by Professor Xavier and Magneto regarding his genetic collection of DNA. Xavier wanted Sinister to prioritize collecting mutant DNA in a comprehensive database that would be safe, secure, and redundant. He offered to provide samples that Sinister would have trouble getting on his own including Magneto and himself. Sinister agreed to the compromise but had his memories erased of the encounter such that he would not remember meeting Xavier and Magneto.[11]

1990sEdit

Mister Sinister returns in the title X-Factor, leading the Nasty Boys[12] and has allied himself with the mutant terrorist Stryfe.[13] In the storyline "X-Cutioner's Song", the character impersonates Apocalypse and uses his Four Horsemen to capture Cyclops and Jean Grey.[14] Sinister hands them over to Stryfe in exchange for a canister containing his genetic material,[15] but finds it empty, unknowingly unleashing the Legacy Virus in the process.[16] Afterwards, Sinister confronts Cyclops to reveal that the canister contained the deadly Legacy Virus. It was during this conversation, that Sinister said, "I care enough to wish you and your brothers to be protected from this illness", but he corrected himself in saying that he meant "brother".[17]

In 1996, Mister Sinister's origin story is told in the limited series, The Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix. It establishes the character as Nathaniel Essex, a scientist from the 19th century obsessed with evolution who made a pact with the ancient mutant Apocalypse to become a virtually immortal being.[18] It furthermore establishes that Mister Sinister created Cyclops's son Nathan, who becomes the time-traveling soldier Cable, in order to destroy Apocalypse.[19]

It was also revealed that Sinister had initiated the Morlock Massacre because he saw his signature in them (as many of them were experiments of Dark Beast, a student of Mr. Sinister from an alternate timeline known as the Age of Apocalypse), and he would not allow unauthorized use of his theories, so they were slaughtered.[20] Though some of his Marauders did not survive the battle, many of them returned thanks to Sinister's genetics mastery and the fact that he had multiple clones of all of them.[21] He also considered doing the same with the Genosha mutates, who were experiments of Sugar Man (another student of his Age of Apocalypse counterpart). Yet in the end he did not because the mutates were sterile and so in his opinion, they were not a tainting of his work.[20]

Another running storyline for the character was his mysterious ties to the X-Man Gambit; these ties were first introduced in X-Men v2 #6 when Sabretooth encountered Gambit and the X-Men and implied that the two had a history working together.[22] When Rogue briefly absorbed Gambit's memories,[23] she realized the relationship between the two: that Gambit had been an agent of Mister Sinister, recruiting Sabretooth and several other villains, to serve as Sinister's Marauders.[24] Furthermore, he had served as a guide for the group in the tunnels, before abandoning the villains upon discovering their plans on wiping out the Morlocks. His payment for these deeds would be Mister Sinister's services as a scientist, to correct a genetic defect regarding Gambit's powers that was causing him to slowly lose control over them.[25]

2000sEdit

Mister Sinister appears in the title Gambit;[26] besides revealing the connection between the two characters, Mister Sinister would provide Gambit with a chemical compound designed to neutralize the genetic modification process that the Skrulls were using as part of their infiltration process of Earth, as the alien shapeshifters had formed an alliance with Apocalypse to conquer Earth.[27] It was also revealed that Mister Sinister had genetically altered the villain the Living Monolith, allowing him to access Havok's power, in order to serve as replacement for Havok in Apocalypse's plan to harvest the power of The Twelve.[volume & issue needed] Following Apocalypse's defeat, Sinister attempts to use the High Evolutionary's space station to mutate the human population but is stopped by the X-Men.[28]

Sinister's actions would have worldwide repercussions: by helping High Evolutionary strip all of mutantkind of their powers, Sinister unknowingly wiped out a community of evolved mutants known as The Neo.[29] The surviving Neo began hunting Sinister down, forcing Sinister to go into hiding as the Neo known as Domina (whose daughter was one of the dead) kills over 17 Sinister doppelgangers left behind by Sinister as he goes into hiding.[30]

Sinister would resurface in the pages of Weapon X, experimenting on mutants under the guise of Dr. Robert Windsor.[31] It is revealed that the character worked alongside the Nazis during World War II and created a clone of Namor called N2 which was destroyed by Captain America.[32] He would be accompanied by the Marauder Scalphunter in the series, with Scalphunter serving as his bodyguard.

Mister Sinister reappears in the "X-Men: Endangered Species" storyline, sending the Marauders and Acolytes out to murder all those who have knowledge of the future;[33] In the "X-Men: Messiah Complex" storyline, Sinister, leading a mob of many of the remaining evil mutants, seeks out the first mutant child born since Decimation (also known as "M-Day", when the Scarlet Witch de-powered most of the world's mutant population). However, the character is apparently killed by Mystique, who presses his face onto an unconscious Rogue, whose powers had been amplified into an instantaneous death-touch.[34]

Some years ago, Kraven made a deal with Mister Sinister. He and the Blob tracked down the X-Men, and they fought the united forces of Spider-Man and the original X-Men. Kraven fled after a short battle, but not before wounding each member of the X-Men. Kraven returned to Sinister, with genetic samples from Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Angel, and Beast. Furthermore, Sinister requested a sample of his DNA.[35] Mister Sinister later cut a deal with Carnage in order to obtain a sample of the Carnage Symbiote. After removing the sentience from the Carnage symbiote sample, Mister Sinister combined it with the DNA of the original X-Men and Kraven the Hunter where he will use this creation on a later date.[36] Years later after the death of Kraven, an ex-Morlock who had kept his powers post M-Day named Joe Buggs was murdered by a mysterious mutant hunter. His friend Ed (who had lost his powers) went to the X-Men for help. He claimed that the man who killed Buggs was Kraven the Hunter. Although they were skeptical about Kraven's apparent resurrection, the X-Men called on the help of Spider-Man, who had battled Kraven many times over the years. After discussing the battle that they had with Kraven years ago and the fact that he had given samples of the X-Men's DNA to Sinister for cloning, the lights went out on the wing where they were located. The hunter attacked and quickly dispatched Colossus but was held at bay by Spider-Man's webbing. He broke free claiming his name is Xraven and was able to defeat Cyclops and Shadowcat, holding her hostage, giving the ultimatum that he would kill her if they did not surrender. Spider-Man insulted Xraven, claiming that Kraven would never threaten a helpless girl. Xraven was momentarily fazed by his comment, but attacked again, claiming that he is the "favored one". Cyclops realizes Xraven's weakness and tells him that Mister Sinister sees him as nothing but a pawn. He tells Xraven to read his mind, in order for him to see the kind of a man Sinister really is. After Xraven sees Cyclops' memories, he flees but the X-Men become aware of the fact that he was able to get DNA samples from Shadowcat, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine. Returning to Mister Sinister with the samples, Mister Sinister tells him that he planned to clone a new generation of mutants, and that he would unite all mutantkind. After seeing what Sinister's real intentions were in Cyclops' memories, Xraven destroys the samples, claiming that Mister Sinister would breed slaves as opposed to warriors, and Xraven attacks him.[37]

Miss SinisterEdit

Learn more

It has been suggested that this section be split out into another article titled Miss Sinister. (Discuss)



Miss Sinister in X-Men Legacy #214 (September 2008). Art by Scot Eaton.

The series X-Men: Legacy reveals that Mister Sinister had been anticipating his physical death for some time, putting events in motion that would lead to his resurrection. It was even revealed that besides the Summers family, Mister Sinister had also been manipulating for some time events in the Xavier family as well as the Marko, Ryking and Shaw families. By using the Cronus Device, he manages to implant within their DNA the seeds through which to ensure his own rebirth. Then he transferred his own consciousness and powers to the machine which after his death would activate itself and his consciousness would take control over the body with his DNA imprint.[38] When that happened, Sinister's consciousness took control over Professor Xavier's body to save him from a gunshot wound.[39] However, the combined efforts of Sebastian Shaw and Gambit destroy the machine, enabling Xavier to successfully drive Sinister's consciousness from his mind and body. At the end, a female character appears called Miss Sinister.[40] Her name is revealed to be Claudine Renko, and she possesses telepathy and a healing factor similar to Sinister, but not all the memories or mind due to the fact that she was engineered to be Mister Sinister's fail-safe in the event the Cronus Device would fail. When that ultimately occurred, Claudine was activated.[41]

Later X-23 (Laura Kinney), flanked by Gambit, encounters a young girl named Alice and witnesses her being murdered, though the next day Alice appears to them somehow alive. Encouraging them to follow her to a peculiar desert laboratory, Alice introduces them to her employer/owner/adoptive mother, Claudine. Revealing herself openly to X-23, Claudine explains that Alice is also a clone, fourth of a series of five created by Essex as another experiment alongside several other children that live in the complex.[volume & issue needed] Claudine later on approaches Gambit and the latter having left the X-Men's base to strike out on her own, seemingly asking for the former's help. Claudine at this point seems to be suffering from injuries inflicted earlier by Wolverine's son Daken. A near fatal strike from X-23 reveals the nature of the injury as Claudine's body morphs into that of Mister Sinister.[42]

Mister Sinister then incapacitates Gambit and X-23 but is quickly re-absorbed back into Miss Sinister who then straps X-23 to a peculiar chair and expands upon her own origins, stating that while everyone believes her to be merely a clone of the mad scientist, in truth she actually was an ordinary woman with her own personality, mind and dreams, but in her search for immortality she allowed herself to be infected with a virus which would grant her a healing factor, however while the virus was apparently ineffective, Claudine would learn later that the virus actually was engineered to transform her into a host of Mister Sinister as it contained his own DNA and thus his immensely powerful telepathic powers, which would lead to his resurrection. When the Cronus Device failed, the virus was automatically activated and Claudine was compelled to go to the laboratory in the desert, where she would be used as a host for Essex. Claudine believed she had been able to stop the process, possessing only vague, but invasive memories of Essex's life, but learned later that she had only delayed the inevitable. Now everything that makes Claudine is being swallowed by the malignant presence of Essex within her mind, and in order to free herself of Sinister and prevent her own death, she aims to switch bodies with X-23, thus inheriting Laura's healing factor, something she had always wanted. The plan backfires when Essex controls Laura's body and uses her to mortally wound Claudine again. Laura manages to overcome Essex's presence in her mind, expelling it through force of will. Laura, Alice and Gambit manage to escape the laboratory as it collapses and arrange for the children to be given new homes before setting off on their journey again. However, in the wreckage left behind, Claudine is still alive, although just barely, and is being watched over by the fifth Alice clone, the new host of Essex.[43]

When next seen Miss Sinister found herself within the company of the reality displaced X-Men of a dead universe. One in particular who came into her graces by the name of Jimmy Hudson had been hiding a secret within his D.N.A., a sort of genetic anomaly that would enable her to create and control spontaneous mutation with time to experiment on it.[44] Over the following months Claudine would find that this substance called Mothervine was originally conceived for the purpose of controlled mutant child births, after further study she found it could also be used to cause further advancement evolution's within natural born mutants or trigger mutation in non-mutants.[45] But the secondary and primary mutations caused were debilitating to the point of being lethal, a great many she tested it on would die during the procedure.[46]

[sabre-tooth]

Mystique and Sabretooth (1996) #4

[sabre-tooth]

Mystique and Sabretooth (1996) #1

[sabre-tooth]

“Buzz off, Jerk!”

Mystique & Sabretooth (1996) #1

[thecomicsnexus]

Darker Destiny

X-FACTOR #127 OCTOBER 1996 BY HOWARD MACKIE, JEFF MATSUDA, AL WILLIAMSON AND GLYNIS OLIVER

SYNOPSIS

The anti-mutant group named “Friends of Humanity” find and beat up a small mutant kid who was being helped by Mystique. They clearly wanted him to think Mystique sent for him.

She escapes the government facility where Bastion is interrogating X-Factor members (Forge, Polaris, Wild child and Sabretooth), trying to figure out who Shard is (Bishop’s sister).

Once Mystique escapes, Valerie Cooper tries to contact Forge. But Mystique is way ahead, chasing the people responsible of the kid’s beating. She wants to know who sent for him (and she ends up believing it was Graydon Creed).

REVIEW

Comics are cyclical... but sometimes X-Men make a thing of repeating the same story over and over. In this case, they are doing a version of “Days of future past”, but this time we will see the consequences. They even put Mystique on the same place.

The context of the story, however, is very different. During this time, the Earth’s mightiest heroes sacrificed themselves to stop Onslaught (a mutant), so public perception of mutants is at its worst. To make things worse, the legacy virus is killing mutants, making the whole thing very reminiscent of the homophobic times when people thought HIV was a disease that only attacked gay people. As usual, these metaphors work in many different ways and you can put a different minority or group in that placeholder. In fact, whenever you are reading this, there is something like this going on.

Jeff Matsuda was one of the many “Amerimanga” artists that made Marvel shine during its worst years (the company went bankrupt and it was soon to bounce up from it thanks to Marvel Knights). I remember reading these issues fondly because of the art (and the story was also interesting, but you needed to pile up a lot of x-men comics to get a story).

I give this issue a score of 7