For The Love of Comics

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X-Men Messiah Complex Still Going Strong

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In contrast to Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul, Messiah Complex not only lives up to expectations, it exceeds them. The storyline is full of fan service and interesting plot developments; although some of the more understated points, like Rahne and Warpath - both former members of Cable’s X-Force team - being on the team sent to possibly kill Cable, may be lost on those not steeped in X-men lore, at least until they come out and say that Warpath may be having some issues with the idea. I did find it interesting that it was never raised as a possibility that Rahne may have issues with it, too. Were there issues between Cable and Rahne? I never followed X-Force too closely.

It was nice to see Professor X raise the big question that last issue left me (and probably everyone else) with - How could Cyclops authorize the death of his own son, with no evidence that Cable is in opposition to the X-Men. I’m not sure I agree with Cyclops, but I can understand his “desperate times…’ justification.

I’m starting to feel bad for Professor X that everyone is basically telling him to stay out of the way and, in the belief that they rarely show you something for no reason, I’m starting to think that Professor X will be the one to betray the team. Whether it’s on purpose or in a misguided attempt to “help”, something he does will bring about the Mutant Camps in the future that Madrox and Layla Miller are exploring.

Back to X-Force, I’m starting to like the idea that the squad is made up of characters known for being loners who are used to doing things their own way; it could make for an interesting team dynamic and some cool moments, like Thunderbird subtly reminding Wolverine that he’s not a complete idiot and there was a reason behind him knocking out the security guard and it’s completely within character to take the suggestion but refuse to admit he was wrong.

Even my continuing streak of not really caring what happens in New X-Men issues doesn’t ruin this crossover for me. I mean, I have no idea why X-23 is pissed at Deathstrike, but I really don’t care. Yay for claws and blood flying everywhere! And then they remind me why X-23 wants Deathstrike dead - I told you I don’t care about the New X-Men and forgetting about Hellion-ka-bab should prove that. I rest my case.

Although I’m a bit apathetic towards most of the New X-Men and still a bit hostile towards Emma Frost, moments like this betray an amazing self-awareness of what she is and is not capable of and of the essential nature of others:

I won’t spoil which X-man “falls” in this issue, but it was a character I was never very familiar with and I always felt like I may have been missing out because of that, even before this issue. No matter how little I know the character, though, I was touched by their death.

And finally, Cable is smooth like butta.

Ok, so I obviously am loving this crossover, but in the interest of full disclosure, I have a few things to say. First, I’ve always loved the X-Men, even when I wasn’t reading them. The X-Men, and particularly Wolverine, brought me into comics, and you never really forget your first. Because of this, I’m prone to looking favorably upon most things “X”, even when admitting their faults. Second, I had incredibly low expectations coming into this crossover in contrast to the high expectations I had coming into the Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul crossover, so the only thing Messiah Complex really had to do in order to not be a disappointment is not suck. All I really wanted was lots of fighting and I’ve gotten that and more. Thus, while I maintain that Messiah Complex is of higher quality, I’ll admit that the bar isn’t set nearly as high for it.

tag: Comics, X-Men, X-Factor 26, X-Force, New X-Men 45, Messiah Complex, Cable, Cyclops, Wolverine, Professor X

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