UNCANNY X-MEN vol 6 #35
“Wild Ride, part 3: Fear and Fight Clubs”
Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: Luciano Vecchio
Colour artist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Tom Brevoort

COVER: Basically a pin-up of Repent, with a silhouette of the possessed Gambit behind him. The glowing circle around his neck doesn’t appear in the actual story.

THE X-MEN: 

Rogue. She says that she’s scared of churches. In a flashback, she attributes this to her Aunt Carrie taking her to a hellfire-and-brimstone type church as a child. This comes from the 2004 Rogue series, which established that Carrie took Rogue in when her parents died, and establishes Carrie’s puritan attitudes. Carrie is ultimately well intentioned, and the two reconcile in Rogue #6. The flashback of the two of them in church, and Rogue running out in a panic, seems to be original. She claims to be generally uncomfortable with magic, but within the logic of the Marvel Universe, at least part of the issue seems to be that the existence of actual demonic possession shows that the puritan religion of her childhood actually had a point.

She says that she “punched a UFO last week”. That was in issue #32.

She seems remarkably willing to accept at face value the protests of someone who’s in the middle of being exorcised, as opposed to just being unsure.

Agrippa (the demon possessing Repent’s subject) refers again to “what you carry inside you”, repeating the implication from the previous issue that Rogue is present.

Agrippa also claims to be Cody Robbins, who is “here now in the darkness eternal because of you”. The continuity around this incident is a bit of a mess. Cody Robbins is first mentioned in Uncanny X-Men #185, where Rogue basically just says that he was the first boy she kissed, that he keeled over, and that she thought she had killed him. A back-up strip in Classic X-Men #44 is apparently meant to show this incident, although the boy in that story is called Freddy. In that version, Rogue is already living with Mystique and Destiny at the time, and Freddy simply wakes up after a while. X-Men Unlimited #44 then reasserts the name Cody Robbins, claims that she kisses him before meeting Mystique, and introduces the idea that he was left in a coma. The first Rogue miniseries, from 1995, cements that idea, with Cody dying at the end. She makes contact with him mentally just before he dies, and he does indeed forgive her, as she claims in this story.

Gambit. He’s now wearing his Eye of Agamotto on his chest (similar to Dr Strange’s traditional placement) – it was there at the end of the previous issue too, though not quite so prominent.

He seems inclined to give Repent the benefit of the doubt as to whether his subject is genuinely pleading for help, but he springs to Rogue’s defence as soon as Repent threatens her. When the demon starts harassing Rogue, he turns into his Wyvern form to fight her. She describes his possessing demon as an “apprentice”, and he acknowledges her as coming from a “higher caste of monster”, none of which seems to deter him from fighting her.

His threat to wreak havoc in hell rather than on Earth, and to kill the demon’s host body seems to be taken seriously enough for the demon to retreat and abandon its host. Quite how this works isn’t altogether clear, but presumably the loss of the host body would have harmed the demon in some way (otherwise, it might as well just let Gambit kill her). Rogue takes him to have been bluffing, but he’s obviously at least unsure about the point. It’s also not entirely clear how he was planning to get back to Earth to kill the host, but since the demon takes the threat seriously, we have to assume that the Eye of Agamotto could have done the job.

Monet St Croix. Having made her good faith effort to be nice to Howler last issue (in what seemed like an attempt to give a good impression as much as anything), she defers to Wolverine’s offer to take over. She’s also offering to take her turn to do the washing up.

She’s willing to propose a plan that puts the New Mutants in harm’s way, though ultimately everyone else seems to be on board with it too.

Nightcrawler. Howler asks why everyone follows Nightcrawler’s directions, and Wolverine basically explains that he’s the heart of the group.

Wolverine. He seems to be the team member who finds it easiest to identify with Howler, having been feral at points in his own past. He’s already planning to kill all of Howler’s captors.

Jubilee. As part of Monet’s plan, she poses as someone who’s caught four mutants (the New Mutants) and offers to sell them to the cult. For some reason she initially pretends that her van has broken down – one of the guards says afterwards that this is a complete fiction and the van was fine, but the art clearly shows it giving off steam. She calls herself “Shogo”, after the son that she left in Otherworld during the Krakoan era.

Quicksilver. He wonders aloud whether Howler is beyond helping. Monet isn’t too impressed by this lack of optimism.

SUPPORTING CAST

Repent. It’s rather clearer in this issue that he’s missing his right arm. He’s apparently not a mutant himself, as he tells Rogue that “I have cleansed dozens of your kind”. Father Gabriel claims that threatening Repent is useless, as “he has seen too much.” Certainly he seems impossible to faze.

He carries a string of red beads with a crucifix-shaped knife at the end, which normally hangs in a loop by his side, but seems to move under his mental control when he’s defending himself against Rogue. The knife can cut Rogue, somehow.

Agrippa calls both Repent and Gabriel “fake holy men”, which could just be the usual nonsense, but also might be to do with them being excommunicated.

He can tell that Gambit is still possessed at the end of the issue, and declares that the solution will be the Iron Cathedral. Rogue previously mentioned this in issue #33, which is what persuaded Gabriel to see her.

Gabriel. He’s still with the group but doesn’t get much to do in this issue.

Kristen. Possibly the name of the woman that Repent is trying to exorcise, but this is the demon speaking.

Howler. As in the previous issue, he insists that he’s not allowed indoors because “I had an accident”. He’s terrified to the point where Monet can’t read his mind. He reacts to some fairly straightforward comments from Wolverine by complaining of “too many words”, but seems somewhat to identify with Wolverine as a feral person. He doesn’t like being touched and apologise for embarrassing people. He’ll accept being provided with a makeshift bed in the stable, and allows Alice to kiss his forehead. He claims that he was never allowed friends. He realises that the X-Men are going to find his captors and asks whether they’re going to kill them – it’s not clear whether he would regard this as a good thing or not.

Tabby. Another prisoner of the Word of Strength cult, who seems to have cat-life features on the left half of her body. Gunther claims that she and Howler were “thick as thieves”, and interrogates her to find out where Howler went. This seems to contradict Howler’s claim that he had no friends.

The New Mutants (Ransom, Calico, Jitter & Deathdream) infiltrate the cultists’ camp by being “sold” as prisoners, but otherwise don’t get much space in this story.

Ember shows affection to Howler, having been directed to do so (from a distance) by Calico.

Marcus & Alice St Juniors are naturally supportive towards Howler.

The Vig. The guards at the Word of Strength compound know who he is and accept his vouching for “Shogo”. The Vig’s arm is in a sling; it was torn off entirely in issue #31, but presumably his reptilian nature allows it to regrow.

VILLAINS

Agrippa. This is the demon that Repent was exorcising at the end of the previous issue, and continues to exorcise here. The name is given by Repent, and the demon itself never uses it. According to Repent, Agrippa was a baroness who “hated, above all … young, beautiful women”. If so, presumably Agrippa was her family name in life.

Word of Strength. Howler’s captors are a local branch of the same Word of Strength cult that Wolverine and Ransom encountered in Argentina in issues #20-21, recognisable by their logo. Their agenda was never entirely clear in that story. They seemed at first to be some sort of anti-mutant group, but they were led by a guy called Proctor who could give the members powers, and what they were actually trying to achieve seemed unclear even to the rank and file members.

This branch seems to be led by a Mr Gunther, who lives in a mansion in the Louisiana bayou. He seems to be a religious extremist who believes himself to be treating the mutants well – either that or he’s being extremely sarcastic. He carries an electrified baton and wears somewhat dated clothing. In fact, we don’t see any other cultists at all, as such, unless the two guards are members. However, they seem to be more hired muscle.