Welcome to the 8th near-weekly installment of Leave Your Spandex at the Door. This week, i’ll be looking into a book this column’s title adage: MekaniX.
In this title Kitty Pryde has done just that: she’s left her spandex back at the mansion and has enrolled in university, trying to build a life her own, away from skin-tight outfits, deadly robotic goliaths and maniacal world-conquerors… She’s soon going to discover that it’s easier said than done! Joining me in this review will be a special guest, in a special fourth-wall-breaking appearance: Lockheed the dragon!
Lockheed: -purr-
Manolis: Lockheed gained a huge fan following his critically-acclaimed performance as Kitty Pryde’s pet dragon from an alien civilization. Unfortunately, Lockheed can’t speak, so he’ll only contribute to the cuddliness factor of this column.
Lockheed: Who ever friggin’ said I can’t speak?
Manolis: -gasp- you speak… english?
Lockheed: I certainly know better english than you, Greek boy! You have Ben Raab to thank for this! F&*%in’ A!
Manolis: Sounds more like Garth Ennis to me. Never mind, never mind… Tell me, Lockheed: You’ve been on Kitty’s side throughout her superheroic career, following her as she changed teams and traveled around her world. Were you living with her in her apartment when the events detailed in MekaniX took place?
Lockheed: Sure was, I never leave the squirt alone nowadays.
Manolis: I don’t recall seeing you, apart from that t-shirt and Lockheed stuffed toy…
Lockheed: That wasn’t a stuffed toy, that was me! But what are ya gonna ddo when the feds are on your tail? That was an awful experience, you can’t imagine what those perverts will do to a harmless kid’s toy…
Manolis: er, let’s get on with the review, shall we? Let’s start by introducing the cast of this title. Since you’ve had a chance to interact with them, your comments will be valuable. First up is Kitty. Why did she decide to distance herself from the x-men?
Lockheed: After the tin man croaked, she was rightfully pissed big time, especially since the big x-boys had forgotten to look for her after they got separated in deep space. She decided to hang her tights and get a life.
Manolis: You’re not being fair I’m sure…
Lockheed: I’m a dragon, I’m supposed to be loud and obnoxious, not fair. Now lemme continue without interruptions! She enrolled in university and got an apartment. Since the bald guy wasn’t forthcoming with those big fat checks , my little kitty had to get a job at this bar, “the Hell’s Bellesâ€. She’s been working her ass off, both at work and in her courses, so she even made it into a bitchin’ research group. Everything was looking pretty peachy for the ex X-girl…
Manolis: …until the Purity website went online.
Lockheed: You’ve been doing your homework! They started a movement to get mutants kicked outta campus. Kitty’s problems began when she hadda stand up against one of those creeps.
Manolis: She kicked the hell out of that guy, and she was put on academic probation. All these occurred in X-Men Unlimited #36. You were on the cover of that issue!
Lockheed: I looked hot there! The purity scum went too far when they targeted the squirt’s research group. They started to spread rumors that a mutant was amongst them, and staged a sabotage of a dangerous experiment to weed out the mutant.
Manolis: That’s how the mini opens up. How do you think Kitty has changed through the years?
Lockheed: I’m quite proud of her! She’s gone through bad shit, but she always pulls through. When I first met her she was entering the angry teenager phase, and she had enough chutzpah to last her a lifetime. We later left the mansion to form Excalibur. While we were on that team she matured and came to terms with who she was and what she had to do in her life. I still don’t approve of that business with that English bastard twice her age, though. I got a really sensitive nose and those cigars really reeked, yaknowwhatimean? When she got back to the x-dudes in America, the shock of returning to her old stomping grounds somehow mutated her into 2-D girl, and she even forgot I ever existed! At least the Englishman wasn’t part of her life no more. Strong girl that she is, she managed to shake that bad period off her too and rediscovered her old spunk. By that time the chain of events that led to tin man’s death had started and that’s how we arrived to her present whereabouts. I admit I prefer the current incarnation than any of those that came before. She’s still head-strong and has a lot to learn about life, but she is independent and isn’t afraid to fight for her beliefs. At least she figured putting on yellow spandex and kicking people isn’t the only way to stand up for your beliefs.
Manolis: Amen! Let’s shift our focus to the rest of the cast. Do you know Karma?
Lockheed: I know all of them, but please don’t use those codenames. Her name is Shan. Shan Coy Manh. Cute Vietnamese girl. She was part of Xavier’s teenage mutant team, around the time I first met with Kitty. She never got too involved with superheroics though. She’s got the ability to take control of people’s minds and move them around. Must come pretty handy when during exam season. She attends the same university as Kitty, and she takes care of her two younger siblings. Living on your own and raising two kids is quite a feat! She tracks down Kitty and they become friends! I got the feeling she has bigger aspirations for her and Kitty, but she knows Kitty’s not interested in her that way…
Manolis: I never expected Claremont to follow up on Shan’s outing a few years ago. And he handles it in a very subtle manner. What about Shola Inkosi?
Lockheed: Really angry at the world around him. He was in Genosha when the place went splash under the sentinels’ heels. He survived but lost his family in the massacre, so he’s got a mad-on for humans. The Purity folk have outed him as a mutant, so everyone and their mother is after his head. They hunt him down but he isn’t afraid to lash back at them. His power is telekinesis and he helped Kitty out of some pretty tight spots.
Manolis: Dr Maureen Lyszinski
Lockheed: The shrink that Kitty has to see to help solve her “anger management issuesâ€. The squirt hates shrinks and the fact that the University is blackmailing her into therapy. They eventually warm up to each other, and the doc helps Kitty deal with some of her issues. I haven’t had the chance to actually meet her, since Kitty figured the doc would freak at the sight of me. Dunno why…
Manolis: Kitty makes an impact on the good doctor too. Kitty’s sessions with Dr Maureen are the only constant through every issue of this series, and Claremont uses them as a means of peering inside Kitty’s mind, but from a third-person perspective. And his storytelling in these sessions is the best he’s produced in years! What do you hear about the Purity website?
Lockheed: I know the two students who are running the show. Alice Tremaine is the witch with the plan that runs things. She has a major beef with mutants and she’ll go to any means to get them out of Campus, even if some innocents are sacrificed to further her cause. Tom More is the one with the computer expertise to make her plans happen. He used to be a volunteer fireman, and he opposes Alice’s extreme views. He may value human life, but apparently he doesn’t consider mutants anything more than monsters. Kitty would have none of that crap, so she took it to herself to help him see the error of his ways. When the sentinels attacked he finally saw what this hatred could lead to. With time he grew on me, and Kitty too ;)
Manolis: You sure are a nosy little dragon. The Sentinels slowly make their way to campus and they pose the threat that will finally unite all the dispa
rate characters in the final issues of the series. What do you know about them?
Lockheed: Big trouble. These ones are the same breed that totaled Genosha, murdering 16 millions mutants. They’re really evolved robots and they can evolve to counter any attack or defense. They don’t look like those goofy old man-like behemoths either, they’ve discovered the wonders of insect and dragon anatomy. None of them could ever reach my levels of cuteness though.
Manolis: Can’t argue with that. Thank you for all your insight, Lockheed! You know all about what went on, but apart from the aforementioned scene you don’t have any panel time. Why is that?
Lockheed: Don’t get me started on that! Apparently some friggin’ editor I shall not name thought that Kitty having her best friend and advisor near her would be bad for the book, just because he happens to be slightly not anthropomorphic…
Manolis: That ticked off a lot of people, me included! At least we get to hear your perspective now through this interview!
Lockheed: Yeah, whole lotta good this is… -rolls eyes-
Manolis: Thank you again for your time, Lockheed. I’m looking forward to seeing more of you in the future!
Lockheed: Whatever. –flies away-
Manolis: Before I close this article, a look at how the story and art measure up to the LYS@D grading scale, and the traditional (and spoilerful) Issue Summary:
Art: 7/10 Juan Bobillo and Marcelo Sosa are names I hadn’t heard before and this is their first Marvel work. I enjoyed what I saw in this series: solid character designs, a good eye for scene settings and camera angles and, most importantly, a masterful execution of Kitty’s phasing powers. Not many artists could pull off such a risky feat, and Juan passes with flying marks. If you want proof check the scene in issue 5 where Kitty passes through another woman and we see a haunting amalgam of their bodies suddenly occupying the same space.
Story: 8/10 This is the best script Chris Claremont has written in the last fifteen years. I used to be a huge fan of Claremont’s X-Men during their 80s period, but when I approached his recent X-Men run I was disappointed. The old magic was gone and only some lackluster superheroics were left behind. I gave MekaniX a chance because of my love for Kitty’s character, and I discovered a completely rejuvenated Chris Claremont, taking me along for a hell of a ride! In this series Claremont tackles familiar questions he has helped raise in the x-franchise over the years, but he hasn’t seemed willing to face until now. Kitty takes a stand against racism, hatred and violence, whether it originates from mutants or humans. One scene stands out from this series to illustrate her new viewpoint:
Shan: I wonder if we’d be SAFER living once more among the X-MEN.
Kitty: I’m a JEW, Shan. I have a thing about GHETTOS. Even the ones we build for our own protection. Besides, if someone destroyed GENOSHA, they can destroy XAVIER’S MANSION. On the outside, I’ve got a shot. I can be my own person. Build a LIFE.
Btw, in case you’re wondering about the words in CAPITALS, I just copied the lettering in the book, lowercase with words capitalized instead of bolded for emphasis. It’s as distracting as you’d expect, and along with the vugly (very+ugly) covers, the only negative comments I can make concerning this series.
Issue Summary (SPOILERS ALERT)
X-TREME X-MEN ANNUAL: In the back-up story, Kitty browses through the Purity website.
X-MEN UNLIMITED#36: Our #0. Kitty recounts her history with the X-Men. When she attacks a member of Purity, she is placed under academic probation. Looking through old Genosha video archives she discovers her father died in the giant massacre.
MEKANIX#1: Introductions all around. First appointment with Dr Maureen. Kitty chats up with Shan about the old times. Purity sabotages Kitty’s dangerous experiment.
MEKANIX#2: Kitty races to prevent the lab from blowing up. Then she and Shan struggle to lead the rest of the research team out of the wreckage, with Tom More and Shola’s help. Kitty reveals she’s a mutant to Tom.
MEKANIX#3: Kitty is kicked out of her house by Feds with a search warrant and Shan is evicted. When they track down Shola’s house, they find it trashed and they’re attacked by a mob. Tom and Shola come to the rescue and things escalate. Tom breaks up from Alice and the Purity group.
MEKANIX#4: The Sentinels arrive and start targeting mutants and potential mutants. Tom tries to decide where his loyalties lie. Shola takes him for some male-bonding, mutie-style. Shan and Kitty hunt down a new breed sentinel.
MEKANIX#5: Shan and Kitty barely survive their first encounter with the sentinel, until Shola comes to their aid. Kitty reveals she’s a mutant to Dr Maureen. Kitty and Alice participate in a public debate concerning mutant rights.
MEKANIX#6: An army of sentinels swarms around the building where the debate is taking place. Shan and Shola try to hold their own against them at first, before they get together as a team with Kitty and Tom to disintegrate them in the research center. Alice manages to make her exit with the last remaining sentinel. To be continued?
MekaniX is a 6-issue limited series that concluded last month is collected in softcover under the title: “X-Treme X-Men: MekaniX†in May.
Disclaimer: Lockheed shouldn’t be able to speak, but you could argue that with Ben Raab. You could also argue that should he be able to speak he wouldn’t be using that sort of language, but this article wouldn’t be the same otherwise…
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The rest of you, tune back in 411comics and “Leave Your Spandex @t the Door†next week for an interview with the guys behind Image Comics’ Paradigm comic, unless there’s any more foul play that will force another delay :-p .
Do you want to discuss this article? Visit the message boards and voice your opinions (but please no death threats!). As always, I’m waiting for your comments through email or in the boards…
Manolis Vamvounis
a.k.a. Doc Dooplove
