Amazing X-Men #1-5 – “The Quest for Nightcrawler”
Let’s start with the Obligatory Plug (though Al does this stuff so much better than me) – don’t forget that you can now buy tickets for our live show on 31 May. The details are all in this post.
Moving on…
When Marvel announced that Nightcrawler was returning from the dead, my reaction was at best ambivalent. Not that his death in “Messiah Complex” was some sort of inviolable classic, of course. Far from it; it was a classic example of writers killing off a beloved character because they had no plans for him and his accrued cachet might lend the story an illusion of weight. It provided no sort of resolution to the character’s life, and frankly, it was a surprisingly cheap move considering the writers involved in that story.
No, the bigger issue was this: Nightcrawler hadn’t had anything to do in years. He hadn’t had a major plot line in the X-Men comics since… what, the Joe Casey and Chuck Austen era? And that had been a disaster – a clumsy attempt to steer the character in the direction of religious angst, completely missing the point that what he brought to the team was a sunny optimism that provided a much-needed balance to the X-Men’s more hand-wringing tendencies. Since that point, Nightcrawler had largely been relegated to standing in the back of crowd scenes, reminding us all that we’re reading the X-Men. That’s fine in itself – there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with a character moving into a gentle semi-retirement – but there was hardly pressing need to bring him back just to resume that role.
It’s reassuring, then, that Jason Aaron seems to understand the character’s “ray of hope” role in the team dynamic, gets his voice, and outfits him with a storyline to drive him going forward. Admittedly, Aaron won’t be writing Nightcrawler going forward – instead, he’s getting a solo series under Chris Claremont – but it seems fair to assume that this story is setting up his new status quo. Rather than simply claiming he didn’t die after all, the story tells us quite unequivocally that he did, and then sets about using magic to get him back. The upshot is the idea that the Bamfs who’ve been hanging around the school are friendly demons, and Nightcrawler was so desperate to return to life that he sold them his soul in exchange. Naturally, in the cold light of day, that starts to look like an enormously stupid move, which is presumably going to be his main driver going forward.
The need for a mystical story also goes some way towards explaining why this arc features the dreaded Azazel as its lead villain. Surely nobody was clamouring for the return of this bozo, not merely because he comes from a notoriously bad story, but also because he hails from the period where Nightcrawler was being used in heavy handed stories about religion. He is, however, on a short list of Nightcrawler solo villains, and the one probably best placed to serve the plot requirements of this story. Aaron wisely downplays his more annoying traits, instead giving him a fabulously demented plan to create a pirate fleet and go raiding souls in the afterlife. This is nuts, but it’s the right sort of nuts. It’s so silly that Nightcrawler’s swashbuckling tone sits well with it, and it’s so over the top as to play to the strengths of artist Ed McGuinness – whose bold clean lines are beautifully suited to Nightcrawler, just as Alan Davis’ were.
All that being said… this doesn’t need to be a five issue story. It starts with Azazel’s plan coming to light and the X-Men being drawn into the fray; it ends with Nightcrawler leading the X-Men to vanquish Azazel and returning to Earth in the process. In the middle are three issues of the X-Men being split up, fighting demons, and getting back together again, which is essentially just busy work to give the impression of something happening between acts one and three. It’s the bit in an old Doctor Who story where they kill an episode by running up and down corridors. It isn’t really about Nightcrawler (who gets annoyingly shunted aside in issue #2), and it surely doesn’t need to take up more than half the arc. This storyline wanted to be four issues – it might well have got by with three.
A subplot about Firestar joining the team feels bolted on, and Northstar is horrendously out of character from start to finish – Aaron ends up writing him as a bombastic hero, which is not just wrong, it encroaches on Kurt’s territory.
But there are good bits in the middle section too – lovely moments of characters being reunited, or a cute spot of Beast simply refusing to accept that he’s in Purgatory, and giving the usual Official Handbook explanations of why it’s really just another dimension of some sort. Most importantly, though, by simply getting his voice right and giving him appropriate things to do, Aaron and McGuinness have indeed convinced me that I do want to see more of Nightcrawler, and after so many years lying fallow, the character has life in him yet.
Yes, they bring back the hopeful enthusiasm, but then take away his soul. That last page in #5 causes visions in my head of stories with Azazel turning Kurt dark until PAD writes a story about a war for Hell’s throne between Nightcrawler and Strong Guy. And I don’t want to read any of those stories. I hope Claremont keeps things on the sunny side, because that’s when the character is at his best.
I’d agree the whole Firestar thing was bolted on to the plot–it sees clear Bendis co-opted Kitty Pryde for Cyclop’s team, leaving the whole Kitty/Bobby relationship plot Aaron was setting up in shambles. Clearly, Kitty was supposed to be in this story, and Firestar’s a pretty lame replacement (setting Hell on fire? Really?) And why was Northstar in the story at all?
Although it’s not quite the same character, don’t forget AoA Nightcrawler in X-Force. I quite liked him.
Don’t worry BSL, Strong Guy was dethroned by the Thunderbolts in a recent issue.
Let’s wager instead on the over/under of mind control stories in the first 12 issues of Nightcrawler v4.
I agree about the pacing issues/padding out of the middle act. In the Claremont days, this surely would have been an oversized annual.
This was overall a fun story with lively, exuberant art, but its implications for the metaphysics of the Marvel Universe are mind-bogglingly broad. Yes, Beast can stick to his agnosticism when he’s just fighting pirate demons in a Purgatory-like place, but that changes when he runs into Kurt. Forgive me if I’m getting the details wrong, as I haven’t read the older story, but Kurt died. His body is gone. This is not a dream. The X-Men travel through a portal, in their material bodies, to a place where Kurt (as well as Professor X) continues to exist, in a form in which he can physically interact with the living, even though his apparent body has no blood and cannot return via portal to the material world, the way the X-Men can. From this we may conclude that in the Marvel Universe
1) Human beings possess an immaterial essence, or soul, which continues to exist after the death and complete destruction of the material body and any other material means (host body, computer program) of extending the natural life of a consciousness. The soul is entirely independent of the material world.
2) In the afterlife, souls are separated into good, not so good, and quite bad places, seemingly according to how they lived their mortal lives.
3) At least in some cases, the afterlife can be enjoyed in something very much like a physical body, which can in fact interact in accordance with the normal laws of physics with material bodies visiting the afterlife from the material world, though if you cut these seemingly solid bodies, they will not bleed. Also, they are not permitted to leave the afterlife.
4) In the afterlife there exist little wormlike creatures with the power to physically travel to the material world. Any soul wishing to return to the land of the living need only strike a deal with said creatures. ANYONE can return from death, provided they’re willing to give up their soul, whatever that means. (I guess Kurt may now be the only person in the Marvel Universe who will simply cease to exist when his new body dies.)
How can the X-Men not be shocked to their cores by what seems like irrefutable proof of the immortality of souls? How can they not spread this news to the whole world upon their return? Or maybe they will in issue 6. That will be some wrap-up to Aaron’s run.
In any case, all this seems to render materialism (even including other realms/dimensions) utterly untenable as the metaphysics of the Marvel Universe. Atheism and agnosticism may have some slight hold with regard to the question of a single all-encompassing God, but that’s it. In the M.U., you’ve got a soul, and it’s going to end up somewhere after you die. Fuck secular humanism.
I know this story centers on Kurt, who has a past as a Christian, but for me this is taking things a bit far. It moves the stories that much further away from the lives we lead, in a way that makes it more difficult for them to be emotionally engaging or meaningful.
Or maybe Marvel characters have been to heaven many times before, in ways that could not be understood to be dreams, hallucinations, or other operations of their own consciousness. I don’t know.
I enjoyed this arc immensely despite its flaws. It really didn’t need to be 5 issues, but I read it in one sitting last night and it came together okay. (Though, that’s sort of been the tag line for comics in the last decade, hasn’t it.)
And that art. That art. Holy damn that was some of the nicest comic art to look at.
I’m also excited about the return of nightcrawler. Not so much be a use he is a fan favourite etc, but because of the storyline waiting to be written. The mutant landscape now – the x-schism and the activating of new x-genes – is very different to when Kurt died.
If they can keep Kurt’s voice present and correct, it should be an interesting way to tour the current setup.
Potentially random question:
Why would Nightcrawler WANT to come back from the dead?
For better or worse, he has been portrayed as a devout Catholic for ages and even though the stories that dealt with it most clearly have been awful, it’s still a core part of the character. With that in mind, it seems like as long as he’s not burning in Hell, Kurt would be looking forward to eternal bliss in Heaven and would need a pretty solid push to give that up.
Also, if he were written properly, it seems like Northstar would find Kurt’s exuberance and optimism to be REALLY annoying.
Heroes in the Marvel Universe have traveled to Hell a number of times in the past. If “bad” souls are going to Hell, you have to assume that “good souls” probably go somewhere.
Also, there’s the fact that Ghost Rider met Jesus and Satan early in his own series, even if editorial stopped that. There have been later stories that dealt with the same (I’m thinking Hellstorm).
The Fantastic Four went to Heaven and discovered that God was Jack Kirby.
I think it’s harder to believe that atheists could still exist in the Marvel Universe, although there’s always the explanation that Thor, Hercules, Hell, and etc. are other dimensions. Regardless, somehow a non-corppreal part of the human being is taken to “another dimension” at the time of death. You can’t reconcile that with materialism, even if someone like Beast tries to explain it using physics.
Although, we do know that a “higher power” did not create the universe. As per Engelhart’s Dr. Strange, a time-travelling sorceror went back to the beginning of time and triggered the Big Bang. So, there’s always room for some agnostic thought in the Marvel Universe.
Taibak-I found it puzzling also. Why would a devout Catholic ever give up his soul to any being? That seems to be a big no-no.
That’s why I’m afraid this Nightcrawler series is going to be full of angst.
The ending made little sense to me.
Nightcrawler’s motivation for giving up his eternal reward in heaven is pretty explicitly explained in issue 5, no? He feels it’s his responsibility to act as jailer to his evil demon father, who can only be jailed in the land of the living.
What really bugged me about this arc/series is the costumes. Half of them are in their classic duds (Firestar, Northstar, Starstar), the other half are in their most recent duds (Storm, Rachel).
These guys need a unifying look.
I’m quite glad Nightcrawler’s wearing his classic outfit – he’s never had any other uniform that even looked passable much less as good as his original one. It makes sense that that’s the outfit he ended up wearing in the afterlife (assuming your appearance in the afterlife is in someway based on your personal image of yourself or something like that).
@Chad – Like ChrisKafka said, this is pretty much how the afterlife has always been presented in Marvel (and DC) comics, though usually it’s Hell, not Heaven, that people are getting broken out of. I remember an Avengers story from years ago where Hawkeye just up and dragged Patsy Walker out of Hell (she was wrapped in a shroud and he thought she was Mockingbird) and, yup, her soul (which was tangible in Hell) became a physical mortal body as soon as she was back in the land of the living (which was a good thing, because her previous body had been animated as an undead revenant in a previous storyline and was in pretty sorry shape).
By the way, it turned out Hawkeye didn’t screw up as badly as he though, because it was later retconned – er, revealed – that Mockingbird was actually alive, and the Mockingbird he’d seen in Hell was actually a Skrull imposter who’d gotten so into the role of Mockingbird that she stayed in her form into the afterlife.
So, yeah, the Marvel afterlife has always been incredibly literal and physical (and Judeo-Christian).
And DC is even worse. Multiple villains have literally sneaked or fought their way out of Hell in the DCU. It’s like the place has only slightly better security than Arkham Asylum.
Atheism/Agnosticism in the MU and DCU (except possibly in the case of civilians who’ve never encountered the supernatural up close and think it’s all just aliens and mutants pretending magic is real) is less “when we die, that’s it” than “if my soul might end up under the jurisdiction of Mephisto, Hela, Pluto, Set, or a dozen other guys depending on how and when and where I die, why should I think there’s just one overarching God or that he’s any more deserving of worship than Thor or Hercules or, for that matter, the Hulk?”
“he’s never had any other uniform that even looked passable much less as good as his original one”
http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070723220037/marveldatabase/images/4/4b/Kurt_Darkholme_(Earth-295).jpg
http://i.annihil.us/u/prod/marvel//universe3zx/images/thumb/d/d5/NightCrawlerApoc442.jpg/406px-NightCrawlerApoc442.jpg
http://s69.photobucket.com/user/zergyf8/media/Kurt_Darkholme_Earth-295_005.png.html
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_S7YIl2n0dZ8/R3lGLP7pWvI/AAAAAAAAAPI/UMbAtVSUZag/s320/Nightcrawler+2+.jpg
But I wasn’t really suggesting Nightcrawler get a new costume. I just want the team to have some vaguely unifying visual look.
In a world where so many people can read and even control minds, and clones apparently inherit the memories and personalities of their DNA donors, I don’t think the actual existence of souls is particularly proven even in stories such as this one.
Even Hell and Heaven end up being more of “metaphysical conditions” than true religious concepts, seeing how easily and how often even their rules are switched.
If you’re going to use “heaven” and “hell” in the Marvel U, it makes sense to me to treat it as not much different to Asgard or an alternate dimension.
I’d rather they didn’t use such tangible religions, but it’s a slippery slope when you already have mythology characters wandering around as the real deal.
I’m not much up on cosmic marvel at all, but characters like Thanos and Galactus are titans? Are titans “above” gods (like Thor/Hercules) on a power/cosmic importance scale?
Just because Nightcrawler had an immortal soul that wound up in a place called heaven, does not mean that everyone in the MU is similarly situated. Since the MU has long had “gods” whose powers wax and wain depending in part on how many people “believe” in them, there arguably is a nexus between faith and reality. Future writers, if boxed in by Nightcrawler’s story, can rely on that nexus to explain why Hank’s afterlife is not the same as Kurt’s, or whatever.
I believe Nightcrawler died in Second Coming
Beast doesn’t actually deny the existence of the supernatural, he merely refuses to accept at face value that he’s genuinely in Purgatory. The existence of an afterlife, for better of worse, has long since been established in the Marvel Universe. We’ve see hell many times before, and heaven on occasions.
These stories clearly establish that the Marvel Universe has a heaven and a hell, but not that they are any more “real” than the numerous other afterlives regularly depicted in THOR. Put another way, the Judeo-Christian God certainly exists in the Marvel Universe, but he could well be the same sort of entity as Odin or Zeus, for all we’ve seen on the page.
There’s also those Hellstorm (and, at DC, Hellblazer) stories that suggest Heaven and Hell are real and opposed places, but that Heaven and those running it aren’t “good” in any human sense of the word.
So what exactly is Beast’s point? That this particular dimension, that you can end up in by means of your physical body being definitely dead, isn’t the dimension referenced in the catholic religion? I can’t really see why he cares either way.
I agree Nightcrawler’s original costume has never been bettered. It’s simple, it suits him, and I haven’t liked any of his costumes since Excalibur.
I think he would look better in a three-piece suit. Also I think he needs shoes or long Converse boxer boots, but with thick treads for added grip. Also also, I think he needs light-up stripes because otherwise, you couldn’t see him in the dark. And he needs padded teeth.
And a Yorkie.
//\Oo/\\
Aaron’s already had Wolverine go to Hell and fight his way out of there, so I don’t think it’d be a… revelation for him.
Peter Milligan’s depiction of the afterlife is my favourite, but then everything he did related to the X-Statix characters is my favourite. Bias.
I’m sick to death of all these multiple after-life:s. Pick one already Marvel!
Didn’t the Incredible Herc have some explanation for the various heavens?
So long as they have multiple pantheons running about the place, I can’t see why they’d need to pick one.
My favorite heaven was Johnny Storm’s during Earth (Padadise?) X.
It’s gonna be great the next time Spider-Man goes up the Spider-Spout to Spider-Heaven to see Omm The Spider-God and he bumps into the Peter who died in Doc Ock’s body.
(And the souls of eight honkatillion clones.)
//\Oo/\\
My X-Men lineup is now:
Firestar
Northstar
Shatterstar
Darkstar
and maybe Battlestar.
I haven’t figured out a title yet, I figure it will be All-[something] X-Men. All-Right maybe?
Makes about as much sense as an All Female X-Men.
Nightcrawler didn’t so much *want* to come back from the dead as he *had* to as part of the plan to get Azazel out of the afterlife. This was pretty clear in the comic, so I don’t really know how Paul missed it.
All-STAR X-men
@Niall – I may be remembering incorrectly, but I think Incredible Hercules postulated that there was really only one afterlife, it just looked different to different people; so a Christian might see fluffy clouds and winged angels while Herc saw the River Styx and Charon the ferryman of Hades. I could swear Amadeus Cho saw it as a big casino with people waiting to come back to life playing slot machines (complete with the obligatory-in-a-visit-to-a-Marvel-afterlife sightings of recently deceased superhumans who would later be “revealed” to have never died in the first place, in this case the Wasp).
It was a nice idea (if I’m remembering it correctly), but other books have specifically said that there are multiple afterlives.
@Jamie – Artists have tried to give Northstar an “updated” look since he joined the X-Men, and it generally just turns out busy and clunky. Given that, I’m fine with him reverting to the Byrne-era look.
I actually didn’t think he was too badly out of character for most of it (not that he got to do much at all), save for the admittedly ridiculous “I’ve wanted to fight pirates since I was 9” business. I think Aaron lost track of which pointy-eared character he was supposed to be writing.
That said, this was essentially a Wolverine and Nightcrawler story with Firestar and some other characters along for ballast. And, as per usual, Aaron didn’t bother putting any effort in with characters not immediately connected to Wolverine. I wish he’d left earlier and just had Kyle and Yost kick this one off. For all the complaints I can/have/will level against those two, they do know how to make the most out of supporting cast.
Jason Aaron has addressed the multiple afterlife stuff before during his run on Ghost Rider. He had all of the different Spirits of Vengeance from various parts of the world, all powered by the Judeo-Christian Heaven. When asked about it, the Muslim Ghost Rider said that while a Christian would see their version of Heaven, Riders from other religions would see their own various deities. It’s the same source, just different through interpretation. The character also said that an atheist Ghost Rider would see nothing at all when shown the source of their power.
@Michael: Nightcrawler certainly does assert that he needs to come back to Earth in order that his blood can be used for a magic spell that will bind Azazel to Earth and thus prevent his rampage through the afterlife. But even if you accept that he had this in mind when he made his deal with the Bamfs (which is dubious, on timeline grounds), I don’t think the story is asking us to accept that this is his ultimate motivation. He’s clearly shown as being unhappy in Heaven and wanting to return to life.
@Dave: Beast is not shown denying the existence of the afterlife, merely refusing to believe what Azazel tells him. Given that Azazel has previously claimed to be Satan despite being just a rather old mutant, that seems fair enough. There is no reason why even a highly religious character should take Azazel’s claims at face value, any more than a devoted Christian would be expected to give any credence to a man claiming to be Jesus.
Really fun art! Storywise, maybe a missed opportunity to fix what Chuck Austen did to Nightcrawler’s origin..?
Given that Azazel has previously claimed to be Satan despite being just a rather old mutant, that seems fair enough.
I got the sense that Aaron was essentially writing Azazel as an outright demon; it’s not entirely clear otherwise how or why he’s going into the afterlife and recruiting the dead.
“When Marvel announced that Nightcrawler was returning from the dead, my reaction was at best ambivalent. Not that his death in “Messiah Complex” was some sort of inviolable classic, of course.”
Didn’t Nightcrawler die in X-Force #26, Part 5 of “Second Coming”?
@Omar Karindu – I’ve always thought that Azazel’s deal was supposed to be that, like Illyana Rasputin, he was a mutant from Earth who ended up ruling another dimension that he could access through his teleportation powers. On the other hand, that distinction seems to have been lost on most people, and – not unlike Iceman’s ice armor being mistaken for actually transforming into ice so often that they eventually broke down and made that his actual power – it’s entirely possible they’re just going with the misconception that he’s a real demon.
No no, I just read the first X-Men masterworks. I think Iceman totally was made of ice originally.
@Si – He was more snowy than ice in the really early,issues
Yeah, there’s a panel where he squints really hard and turns into his traditional crystalline ice-form for the first time. He’s practically see-through (that might actually be the line). It is more of a coating in other stories, though.
Heh, look what I found while Googling Iceman:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1TnkGgyK_Io/TeUPolu7YxI/AAAAAAAABII/xcAWhEeulCM/s1600/ST120+-+Iceman+Catches+Boat.jpg
Petition to replace Bad Product Hair wih Dapper Chapeau Iceman. (I feel like I’ve said that before)
Iceman: the only X-Man useable as a floatation device (apart from all the ones who can float)
//\Oo/\\
If Azazel is a real demon, then that would make Nightcrawler a half-demon. Hmm…..
I do believe that was Austen’s intent. He was doing similar things with angel and Wolverine at that time. Bit we try our best to forget.
I do believe that was Austen’s intent. He was doing similar things with angel and Wolverine at that time. Bit we try our best to forget.
Austen was doing something even weirder, claiming that there are no such things as demons or angels…they were always just “subspecies” of homo superior or something.
I’m pretty happy to have Nightcrawler back – he’s always been one of my favorites (in the Claremont and Davis styles). But I was pretty disappointed that things had to get a weird twist (Nightcrawler’s now apparently in a body made out of Bamfs, and has no soul) at the end, instead of just bringing him back and leaving well enough alone.
(Especially since the “what does it mean that I have no soul” thing was just done in PAD’s X-Factor a year or two back.)
Oh that’s right. As I said, we try to forget….
@Si – They used to be very clear that Iceman just covered himself in ice (snow originally) and that his only power was to supercool ambient atmospheric moisture – the Official Handbooks used to always put a note on his entries to assure us that, while he depended on humidity to create ice, even a desert would have enough moisture for him to do his thing, but in a vacuum or artificially dehydrated environment he’d be powerless – and anything beyond that (i.e., making shapes instead of just lumps of ice) was just skill and practice*.
The first time he (or at least his body) officially turned into ice was when Emma Frost got stuck in his body for an issue or two in the mid-90s. But people who only knew the character from cartoons, video games, or casually skimming a comic always assumed he was made of ice because he looked like that (I don’t think any artist has actually made him look like he was wearing ice armor) so you’d occasionally get a fill-in or cover artist who’d make him translucent. But until the mid-90s, that was as inaccurate as the occasional panel you can find where Nightcrawler is drawn with five fingers on each hand.
I have no proof of this, but I’ve always suspected that the reason they gave him the ability to actually turn into ice was at least partially “steering into the skid” – the same reason DC finally changed their Captain Marvel’s name to Shazam.
*(It’s always bothered me that Iceman’s generic go-to plot beat is “Bobby isn’t living up to his potential,” considering that he learned to shape ice well enough to create everything from missiles to armor to ramps that defy all known laws of physics to decoy statues of himself. Meanwhile, Warren had wings strong enough that being smacked by one should feel like getting kicked by a mule, and I can’t remember the guy every actually using them for anything other than transportation until he got them torn off and replaced by metal blades)
In the very first X-Men stories, by Lee and Kirby, He was sometimes referred to as being made of ice (or snow), capable of being melted, and as said upthread, the first time he condensed his ice crystals and took on the more familiar sharp-edged ice look, they were talking about how he’s see-through and comparing him to Sue Storm.
However, other times he was clearly just coated in ice (or snow). And in issue one, Cyclops’ first name is Slim, incidentally. Continuity can go to hell, true believer!
He actually seemed most competent and imaginative in the use of his powers back then, too. The others kept using up all their energy. Also, surprisingly, those ridiculous gravity-defying ice slides were nowhere to be seen.
That’s interesting. The idea that there’s early precedent for him turning into ice (even if it seemed kind of retconned away later) makes the expansion of his powers bother me less.
DC changed Captain Marvel’s name to Shazam because they couldn’t use “Marvel” on the covers for copyright reasons.
@Si — can you find an example? I own the Masterworks editions that contain #1-20, and I don’t recall any suggestion that Bobby was made of ice. I can only recall seeing him clearly depicted as wearing a coating.