Uncanny X-Men #27 annotations
UNCANNY X-MEN vol 6 #27
“Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed?, part 2”
Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: Luciano Vecchio
Colour artist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Tom Brevoort
COVER: White silhouettes of the Outliers, with a montage in the background of the X-Men hunting for them.
THE X-MEN:
Gambit. Following on from last issue, when he attempted to persuade Rogue that they should adopt the Outliers, Gambit is desperate to find the missing group. He offers to restore his deal with the Vig if the Vig can find them – this might seem a bit random, but then Gambit has no real leads to go on and it’s not unreasonable for him to assume that they at least might have been taken by someone that the Vig knows. Gambit doesn’t seem to suspect that the Vig is actually responsible – he talks as if the Vig simply might be well connected enough to find out.
Rogue, Nightcrawler, Jubilee and Wolverine hunt for the missing Outliers, and instead find a version of the early New Mutants at Haven House.
SUPPORTING CAST:
The Outliers. The Outliers (and Mutina) spend the entire issue stuck in what the narrator calls “Elsewhen”, subbed into a version of the early days of the New Mutants. In this version, the X-Men are still around (in contrast to the actual New Mutants #1, which took place while the X-Men off in space and believed dead). They do a Danger Room exercise, as in New Mutants #1, though it doesn’t bear much resemblance to the one from that issue. It involves robot versions of Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy as the opponents, which seems to be simply random.
Moira serves as their teacher, and refers to them as “students” rather than as the New Mutants. The other X-Men are “Professor S” (who is Sauron in a suit); seemingly normal versions of Beast (blue and furry), Thunderbird and Siryn; a Nightcrawler who seems normal aside from two extra arms; an Illyana Rasputin with the powers of Colossus, who wears a version of the traditional Colossus costume; and a Piotr Rasputin with the powers of Magik, who wears a black and yellow version of the traditional Colossus costume along with elements of Magik’s armour and headdress. He carries a version of Magik’s Soulsword.
Ransom. His New Mutants costume has an added jacket and different gloves, and he wears his normal mask. He falls into a big brother role to Deathdream, despite claiming not to remember him. Rather ambitiously, he thinks Calico will get a reference to the 1969 film Valley of Gwangi (which was a western with dinosaurs).
Calico. She’s rightly uneasy about the “school”. A version of Ember does appear out of nowhere in the Danger Room for the training exercise, but looks off – it looks more like some sort of deer, though I think it might be intended as an evolutionary predecessor of the horse. Calico hesitates before calling it a “horse” and describes it as “dowdy”. Nonetheless, this version of Ember does seem to respond to her powers and fight alongside her as usual. When Calico helps to fight the “Sentinels” later, outside the Danger Room, Ember looks normal. For whatever reason, her version of the New Mutants costume has a collar.
Jitter. She’s also uneasy about the school, and doesn’t trust “Moira”. She seems to be able to copy super powers in this world, or at least aspects that aren’t too far removed from baseline physiology – she copies Spider-Man’s agility while fighting the Sentinels, and her “translator” ability in the Danger Room is able to instantly understand Moon Boy’s language, which only makes sense if it’s a Cypher-style ability.
When she’s fighting the Sentinels, her costume includes “shock gloves” which can knock out an enemy by touch. These things are recognisable by white circles on the palms and on the back of the hand, which aren’t present in the Danger Room sequence – it’s not clear where they come from, but that might just be part of this world’s dream logic.
Deathdream. He’s the first Outlier to voice doubts about what he’s experiencing, although not to the point of being able to see through it completely. He has a nagging feeling that Ransom is his “brother”, which is how they treat each other as Outliers. He believes that his ghosts won’t be able to help in the Danger Room because they can’t see technology. (In issue #9, he said that they can’t see inorganic things at all.)
M. Monet is still in jail in Graymalkin. She has a picture of her boyfriend Quicksilver on her cell wall. According to Monet, she’s “been talking with outsiders, Lousiana mutants” – presumably the X-Men, but we haven’t seen any sign of this.
Alice St Juniors has a non-speaking cameo, providing the New Mutants with breakfast.
Waffles seems very sceptical of the New Mutants.
VILLAINS:
Scurvy. We haven’t seen Scurvy in this book since issue #8, which was part of the “Raid on Graymalkin” crossover. We were told in issue #11 that he was still in sick bay after that storyline, and in issue #20 Monet said that he was “going downhill fast”.
In issue #8, Scurvy narrated an origin flashback to the effect that he had met Corina as a guest on her podcast, that they had become lovers, and that the relationship had become abusive. He claimed to be one of a number of powerful telepaths (“the Avians”) all of whom had terminal brain tumours. In this story, he’s bedridden and evidently believes that he’s going to die soon. Presumably that’s mainly due to the tumour, but he also says that using his powers “ate me up” and explains his emaciated appearance. Since he’s still holding the mysterious “Inmate X” in his cell, that won’t be doing him any favours. He suggests that his powers might also be causing flowers to wither near him, though he isn’t sure.
He seems to have lost patience with Corina and recognises that her apparent attempts to be supportive are really all about her, but warns her that her operation is about to collapse and this is her last chance to escape the consequences. (Monet gave her a very similar warning in issue #20.) He can’t be bothered pretending that he doesn’t know her emotions, and claims that while all psychics claim not to eavesdrop, “it’s never entirely true”.
Corina Ellis. She brings Scurvy flowers for his birthday and claims that he’s her “very dearest friend”. After failing in her uncharacteristic effort to bond with Monet in issue #20, Corina now seems to be turning to Scurvy as the closest thing she has to a friend. She seems to be in total denial about his state of health and insists that he’s on the mend and ready to go out on missions in one of Professor X’s old hover-chairs. When Scurvy makes clear that he knows this is an act, she does a U-turn and starts complaining that he’s deserting her.
The general idea here (which was already explained a little more obliquely in issue #20) is that Corina depends on Scurvy to keep Inmate X under control, and has no plan B for when he dies. At that point, Inmate X will escape and take his revenge, and Scurvy (like Monet) seems fairly sure that there’s nothing Corina will be able to do about it.
Inmate X. He doesn’t appear, obviously, but Scurvy does tell us that he’s “already seeping out somewhat”. Given the lack of any other connection between the Scurvy scene and the rest of the story, and the fact that the Outliers’ story takes place in a version of the Graymalkin school, an obvious possibility is that Inmate X has something to do with what’s going on there.
Mutina. Like the Outliers, she’s stuck in the New Mutants scenario throughout the issue. She’s surly towards Moira, but does participate in the Danger Room exercise. She beheads the Moon Boy robot, and when Jitter queries it, she tries to imply that she thought he was real. But Moira did explicitly tell them that the Danger Room was a mixture of illusions and cybernetics, so Mutina had every reason to think that he wasn’t real – and Ransom similarly seems happy to destroy “Devil Dinosaur”. Issue #22 also raised doubts about how far Mutina is genuinely murderous and how much of it is an act.
She acts amused by the Danger Room exercise and is vaguely condescending to Jitter, but does actually seem to be trying to act as a team player of sorts. She seems to take it as read that the intended mission is to kill the attackers – and to be fair, although Moon Boy is telling Jitter that he believes the mutants attacked him, she can’t understand what he’s saying.
The implication seems to be that the “normal” version of this story would have involved the New Mutants using their powers to figure out that there was no reason to have the fight at all, and that would have been the real lesson. Other than Jitter, the Outliers entirely fail to learn that lesson, but Moira deems it a success.
When the Sentinels attack, Mutina makes a show of claiming that she doesn’t care about anyone else and deciding whether to simply look out for herself and leave – but, in reality, she does stay and fight with everyone else.
The Vig. Naturally enough, he agrees to try and locate the missing Outliers.
The Elsewhen Sentinels. The “Elsewhen” school is attacked by monstrous organic Sentinels with gaping mouths not just in the conventional place but also in the middle of their chests. They’re basically nightmare versions of the Sentinels. “Nightcrawler” claims that they’re the result of a biotech experiment gone wrong. Deathdream senses them as living creatures in torment who wish to die.
Karma, Sunspot, Psyche, Wolfsbane and Cannonball. Or versions of them, at least. They appear real to Wolverine’s senses, though Waffles takes against them.
This iteration of the original New Mutants, apparently displaced from wherever the Outliers are, show up in Haven House’s kitchen and seem to think they’re meant to be there. They claim to be from a year after their team was formed – in regular continuity, this line-up only made it as far as New Mutants #6, when Karma seemingly died.
The New Mutants recognise Rogue but assume that her touch is lethal (even through gloves). They claim that the X-Men recruited them on behalf of “the Professor” (presumably Professor S) to kill the Avengers.
“Given the lack of any other connection between the Scurvy scene and the rest of the story, and the fact that the Outliers’ story takes place in a version of the Graymalkin school, an obvious possibility is that Inmate X has something to do with what’s going on there.”
So — someone whose powers warp reality? Seems like a case could be made for Legion, Proteus, or Jamie Braddock…
Everyone expected it to be Legion two years ago when the “Inmate X” mystery was introduced. The New Mutants make it even more likely to be Legion, as he was introduced in a New Mutants comic. He also has a bit of history with Moira.
The shock gloves that Jitter is using against the Sentinel should be the gift she received from Spider-Man in issue #20
Legion makes the most sense, given well, all of the other clues.
Though who knows, maybe it’s some OTHER reality warper/dream weaver/telepath who’d have reason to involve Moira, the original New Mutants, and the X-Men.
Though maybe Inmate X and the main storyline aren’t related. Shrug. I am intrigued though.
I’m not buying that Remy went to the Vig so easily. These kinds of stories only work if going to the villain seems like a last resort. For example. in the recent Death Spiral Spider-Man crossover, Peter spent eight issues trying to stop Torment from killing his and MJ’s relatives. And thtlen, when he’s badly injured and it looks like Torment’s going to kill Aunt May and Aunt Anna, he agrees to be Carnage’s host. That worked because Peter was desperate. Here. it seems like Remy looked for the Outliers for 15 minutes, then went to the Vig. There’s no evidence that he even contacted Scott or Emma. who have mutant detecting technology.
“she copies Spider-Man’s agility while fighting the Sentinels,”
“When she’s fighting the Sentinels, her costume includes “shock gloves” which can knock out an enemy by touch. These things are recognisable by white circles on the palms and on the back of the hand, which aren’t present in the Danger Room sequence – it’s not clear where they come from, but that might just be part of this world’s dream logic.”
Paul you seem to be misinterpreting. In issue 20, Jitter got a gift from Spider-Man. After using the gloves on a Sentinel, Jitter says “Thhank you, Spider-Man!” She says that because she got the gift from him, not because she was using his agility.
Not that I blame you for misinterpreting- we could have used a footnote “See issue 20.”
“According to Monet, she’s “been talking with outsiders, Lousiana mutants” ”
That should be “According to Scurvy, she’s…”
Simone said that two classic X-villains would be showing up in Uncanny. Presumably one is Sauron and the other is Inmate X.
So who do we think Inmate X is? Monet seemed scared of what he’d do to the world in issue 20. And Scurvy describes him as “he”. One question is is Inmate X doing whatever he’s doing to the Outliers through telepathy. reality warping or both? It could be Nate Grey but I’m not sure Simone would go there.
If Inmate X is using reality-warping, it could be Proteus, Legion, Mad Jim Jaspers or Jamie Braddock. Proteus is supposedly in the White Hot Room. So is Legion. Mad Jim and Jamie are both insane and the reality the Outliers are trapped in seems insane.
if Inmate X is using telepathy. there’s a thousand telepaths it could be.
I have a feeling Sam wasn’t supposed to be wearing gloves when Rogue touched him. Just like the scene in the previous issue where the woman Remy saved seemed to magically know Remy was a cannibal even though there was nothing in the art to indicate it. It seems like Simone isn’t on the same page as the artist. If only there was someone to make sure the writer and the artist are on the same page. Someone to … edit the books.
My bet is on Proteus, given Moira’s presence. The art in this issue is fantastic. Vecchio is the best part of this book for me.
While I appreciate the New Mutants callbacks, this one still feels pretty thin. As Michael said, Gambit going to The Vig and offering him everything after spending fifteen minutes looking for a group of kids who’ve run away before seemed like a stretch.
I was glad to get back to the Graymalkin prison plot – Simone really needs to put this one to bed before the next shakeup. While folks have noted that Legion and Proteus are both supposed to be unavailable… we’ve seen how well they respect continuity from the end of Krakoa, so either is a pretty strong bet. Nate Gray is probably next up, though I would also be okay with history just forgetting about him.
I think they said Inmate X is the fifth Avian, so presumably he’s a powerful telepath. Provided that odd little plot threat goes somewhere.
The Sentinels look suitably creepy, I’ll give the book that.
If it does turn out to be Proteus, I’ll be sorely disappointed because Krakoa finally gave him everything he needed to become a happy, content, sane, and absolutely boring background character as one of the Five.
Damn, put like that, maybe he does need to come back. But the more Proteus stories you do, the weaker he gets, and he’s already had several good ones.
So… Jim Jaspers? I dunno. He had one excellent story and never should have been brought into the 616 because he’s been watered down and fairly forgettable since, even with his appearances in Krakoa.
Jamie Braddock? A tiny bit higher profile, but he has never felt all that interesting outside of his connections with Brian and Betsy and his interactions with Excalibur–of which only Kurt is around. He doesn’t feel thematically appropriate for dealing with this team.
Also, Braddock and Jaspers are literally quite insane, so if Inmate X is behind the current shenanigans, it needs to be someone with a much more internally consistent grasp of reality warping… however bizarre this scenario has become.
Proteus and Legion once again become my top suspects.
Honestly, I’m hoping for a surprise.
On the issue of Jitter’s gloves, I agree that the Spider-Man gift from issue 20 is the obvious connection. But this Jitter didn’t experience issue 20, did she? Or at least doesn’t/shouldn’t remember it? Just like all the other Outliers/New New Mutants don’t remember their previous lives before this latest kerfuffle?
The O5 New Mutants make any book better, so against my better judgment I actually enjoyed this. Especially since Vecchio fixed Xuân’s truly terrible original hair.
For some reason, Simone made Sam sound even more Southern than Rogue, though. He’s from Kentucky, not Georgia. He’s also not an elderly woman. But what can you do?
Otherwise, fun dream logic. And I’d definitely be afraid of those freaky Sentinels. I might have to pick up next issue if things continue in this direction.
Isn’t Proteus in the White Hot Room and/or in another dimension which isn’t easily accessible (alongside most people who lived in Krakoa)? I may be misremembering.
I think that Moira’s presence does not work in this unless she is some sort of delirium or illusion. Otherwise we would have to retcon away her happy ending at the close of the Krakoa era. I’m surprised that someone who is not Xavier actually remembers or recognizes her.
Proteus is for sure on Krakoa in the White Hot Room.
It’s definitely not our Moira. It seems to be a Moira from an alternate reality where Professor Karl Lykos took over the X-Men and recruited and/or trained the New Mutants to kill the Avengers. Most likely a created pocket universe, like ones created by Legion or X-Man in the past, although it may all be psychical instead of physically created.
Simone’s Uncanny has its ups and downs, and we’re going up this time. Fun issue. Though I maybe could use a straightforward story every now and then – we’ve gone straight from posessed out of character monsters and disconnected western storytime to this topsy-turvy world. I’m beginning to look forward to ‘a training exercise goes wrong and the Outliers learn a valuable lesson’ or ‘the X-Men find a new mutant, but will he join the Outliers – or become their bitterest enemy?’.
Count me among those who think it’s stupid that the kids being missing for an hour sends Gambit running to make a deal with the man who tormented him his whole life.
Of course, I also found it stupid that, with everything Gambit’s faced in his life, he ever even WAS tormented by a jumped-up loan shark.
So basically I just find much of this series stupid.
Jitter – I thought when she said ‘translation’ that she was evoking a danger room command and not her powers. She had paid attention to the training technology speech.
Avians – This is still a weird and unexplained plot point. Could it be a reference to the Shi’ar? Xavier being a telepath with Shi’ar family might make him be considered a Shi’ar ‘avian’ himself.
Vig – I thought Gambit was offering only money, and not control of the guild. Why it wasn’t a flat sum was because there isn’t a Theives Guild vault. That could be a fun story.
Inmate X – If it is Legion, that would be an anti-twist. Like a movie where two hours in, the reveal is that the perpetrator was actually the person arrested in the first five minutes. Legion would be a head nod. I question his fitting into Simone’s comment about being one of the two returning villains though. I am going with Mastermind as my guess. He always had some kind of control slightly beyond illusion with telepathy, and his more recent appearance in that Wolverine issue showed that he was off his rocking chair nuts. This doesn’t fit the fifth Avian description as far as I can tell. Wait, what do you mean that Mastermind appearing recently outside the vault means that he isn’t in the vault? Continuity matters now? Since when?
Sauron – Whoo! Now we can cure cancer! I am so happy to see him.
@Woodswalked You’re thinking of Stegron, not the begging to be sued by the Tolkien estate energy vampire pteranodon-person.
@Steven Kaye
He refers to the famous meme from Spider-Man and the X-Men #2
Spider-Man: “You can rewrite DNA on the fly, and you’re using it to turn people into dinosaurs? But with tech like that, you could cure cancer! ”
Sauron: “But I don’t want to cure cancer. I want to turn people into dinosaurs.”
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/but-i-dont-want-to-cure-cancer-i-want-to-turn-people-into-dinosaurs
That was Stegron, the stegosaurus humanoid Spider-Man villain, not Sauron, the Tolkien-loving pterodactyl-vampire X-Men villain. Stegron wanted to recreate the Earth as a dinosaur-dominated utopia. Sauron just wants to drain energy from mammals and read epic fantasy fiction.
Whoa. This is weird. I never gave any credence to the “Mandela effect”, but I’m starting to reconsider now. I vividly remember that scene involving Stegron, as must Steven Kaye. Yet, that panel clearly shows Sauron, not Stegron. Obviously, we two are trapped in the wrong dimension, or time-travellers from another dimension went back in time to change that comic panel to…something, something…and mess up our world…and only two of us remember The Truth. It was Stegron, not Sauron! Don’t let the elite fool us by changing our history, man!
I think maybe you remember it as Stegron because Stegron has a history of that sort of motive, whereas Sauron (I could be wrong) generally doesn’t?
Did Sauron ever meet Aragorn the flying horse?
“…Aragorn the flying horse?”
Which Simone revealed to be Endling, right?
No you’re thinking of a gelding.
This was the best issue of the series so far.
The art was great – but it was still a ‘meh’ issue.
I’m so sad because i was so excited for the very X-Men ’97 line up.
I wish ALL the x-books would just put the kids together in one book, and then have X-Men team books again. I was sure thats what the end goal is anyway.
No-Prize theory 1 : the Eye of Agamotto , aside from making Gambit a literal wendigo-style cannibal , is also damaging his brain so that he’s acting like a hormonal teenager on the same level as the Outliers , which is also why Gambit’s treating the Vig like he’s such a big deal* when back in the pre-Claremont-Comeback 1990’s (when all of the 616-XMen still actually acted like mature grown-up adults) already faced 616-Sabretooth in his villainous prime and was not scared of him at all(and no way no how is the Vig more scary than 616-Sabretooth as a villain)
* and if there’s the Freudian excuse that Vig is a formative scary figure from his own youth , which is why his childhood intimidation still remains , so was 1990’s one-time villain the Pig , and Gambit was no longer afraid of him when he met him again as an adult to the point he literally killed him
And Mutina is obviously Gail Simone’s homage of Kelly-and-Seagal-era Marrow
@Chris V:
Your confusion might be due to that story (SPIDER-MAN & THE X-MEN #1-2) having Sauron & Stegron teaming up. So Stegron was around, just not the one to deliver the memetic lines.