*** (three of five stars)
Favorite Quote: "Maybe I'll land on a street mime and make my death count --" -- Fitz, entering free-fall as his "gypsy cab" dies under him
Summary
A police vehicle makes its way through a storm, with one officer asking the other if he thinks the storm is a sign that Thor has actually returned. The other officer observes that everything has been weird since Spider-Man appeared and asks how he could explain the "freaks in that high-rise crib." He mentions how four of them were there, but they captured only the "normal one." However, at that moment, a blast of energy bursts from the vehicle and a mutant (obviously the source of the burst) exits the car, telling the (presumably unconscious or dead) officers that he has to find his friends. Meanwhile, on Valhalla, the X-Men face Heimdall. Blookdhawk attacks, though he's easily deflected by Heimdall, whose ability to see everything allows him to prepare for the attack before it happens. Before he uses his sword to cut Bloodhawk, Heimdall is stopped by Krystalin, who rains diamonds on him. Meanstreak acknowledges to himself that Heimdall's fast, but hopes that he's sufficiently distracted by Krystalin's attack not to notice him speeding towards him with the intent of knocking him unconscious with a pipe. However, Heimdall does notice and instead knocks out Meanstreak with a well-placed punch. In the shadows, Loki observes the scene, noting to himself that Heimdall is the most steadfast and dedicated of the Aesir. He quietly beseeches his "old friend," Meanstreak, to regain consciousness, noting that he didn't bring him to Valhalla to miss what he has planned. Before Heimdall can attack again, Krystalin is rescued by Ravage. He tells Krystalin how "Hela" was actually his friend Tiana, viewing it as proof that the Aesir are not gods. Krystalin wonders what the Aesir's purpose is and Ravage hypothesizes that they're a distraction from the faulty anti-gravity devices. They then head below to shut down the machinery. Thor meanwhile appears in the sky and a crowd of believers assemble in the park to try to get rides to Valhalla from "gypsy pilots," drivers of dilapidated taxis passing off themselves as "Valkyrie" and charging $1,000 a ride. The guy with the energy blasts tries to make his way to the front of the line and, when some of the faithful try to stop him, he ignites them with his powers. He notes to himself that it's the second time he's been able to generate his power willingly and then makes his way to the front of the line, convincing the scared driver to take him to Valhalla. The driver assures him that his car is reliable and asks if it's his first time in New York. The question results in a flashback...
The X-Men enter New York in a car, after having apparently landed their plane in a warehouse that Meanstreak maintains in New Jersey. They're in New York to investigate the disappearance of Meanstreak's friend who was looking into the Valhalla project. As they make their way through traffic, they notice the newsscreens reporting on the appearance of Thor and the Aesir. They arrive at an apartment that Meanstreak and his friend, Jordan, kept to keep Alchemax in the dark about their "extra-curricular activities." They're stopped by a dominatrix version of Lyla and Meanstreak asks her about Jordan. She tells him that she hasn't seen him for 22 days. The X-Man with the energy blasts ("Fitz") sits in a gel chair while Meanstreak explores the apartment for clues. He finds Jordan's personal journal and plays it. Jordan reveals that Alchemax launched the "Floating City" two years earlier than scheduled, even though internal memos that he found showed that the anti-gravity core was dangerously unstable. The tests were buried by the "ECO" office so that the project could be approved, as it was, by Paul-Philip Ravage. The X-Men decide to pay Ravage a visit (as we saw in "Ravage 2099" #15) when armed officers burst into the apartment. Fitz mistakes them for the Public Eye, but Meanstreak corrects him, saying that they're the Shadow Squad, Alchemax's internal security that must've been monitoring the apartment. Fitz is stuck in his chair, but the rest escape to go talk to Ravage.
In the present, Fitz reveals that it was the Shadow Squad from whom he escaped at the start of the issue. Relishing his new found control over his power, he begins to wonder if Jordan has been found just as the flying car dies. The driver bails with the only parachute and Fitz begins to free-fall with the car, before a hand rescues him. Elsewhere, the Punisher and Spidey make their way to Valhalla on the stolen flybike, watching the flying car crash. At Alchemax HQ, the CEO reveals his plans, opining that the masses are so gullible that they pray to fictional deities to rescue them from their mundane lives. He's now created a new pantheon to worship -- Hela, Heimdall, Thor, Baldur, and Loki -- and hopes that they will cause the other heroes to fall from grace after being branded as heretics and killed by the Alchemax "gods."
Back on Valhalla, the X-Men still face Heimdall and Krystalin attempts to buy time while Bloodhawk recovers. Heimdall is impressed and offers her a place on Valhalla, noticing the Mjolnir necklace she wears; she had earlier noted that she wore it to honor her mother, who died believing in Thor. Angered, she tells Heimdall that she doesn't believe in his Thor. Meanwhile, Meanstreak regains consciousness coming nose-to-nose with a wolf, who transforms himself into Loki. He offers his assistance, something that Meanstreak is loathe to accept, given that Loki is the God of Mischief. Loki notes that a gift from the gods is a rare thing and gives him a device that can turn off the neurotechnology that gives Heimdall his accelerated responses and heightened perception. Meanstreak takes it and speeds towards Heimdall, just as he breaks Krystalin's shield and tells her that those who oppose the Aesir must fall. Meanstreak activates the device and Bloodhawk sees his opening, taking down Heimdall. Loki joins them and reveals that he is, in fact, Jordan Boone. He notes that Meanstreak's mutant powers had always given him the edge in their competition, but his new powers as a god give him something to match them. Meanstreak asks about the side effects, but Loki tells him that he needed the power. Alchemax was rushing the transformation to coincide with the Valhalla launch, so he broke into the research banks to alter his psych and gene profiles to match the criteria. He also knew the tech, so he sabotaged the process to retain his identity. At that moment, Doom arrives with Fitz (he was the hand that saved him). Loki implies that he manipulated the situation to ensure that all the heroes were on Valhalla. Annoyed at the deception, Bloodhawk strikes Loki and departs to take down Valhalla, but he's felled by a lightning bolt. Thor then appears, declaring no quarter and no mercy will be given to them for opposing the Aesir.
The Review
After reading this issue, I have to wonder why it didn't come before "Ravage 2099" #15? We learn why the X-Men are in New York (though not exactly how they knew about the ecological impact of Valhalla, given that Bloodhawk mentions it before they get to Henri and Jordan's apartment) and why they approached Ravage in the first place (though not why Ravage had Boone's disc). Otherwise, this issue is remarkable for confirming that Alchemax was, indeed, behind the creation of the Aesir.
The Good
1) Moore did a great job slowly building off the hints laid by Mills and Skinner in "Ravage 2099" #15 that Alchemax created the Aesir. First, during the flashback, we get Alchemax's infonet broadcasting information about the appearance of the Aesir, something I'd assume Alchemax wouldn't be doing if it had wanted to keep their arrival quiet. Second, we learn the real nature of the Aesir's "powers." Heimdall and Thor begin the issue appearing to possess their powers naturally, as they did in the previous two issues of the event. Heimdall manages to knock down Meanstreak, despite his speed, and Thor appears mid-air in a storm that seems to be of his making. Neither seems to possess any obvious technological support that gives him his powers. However, once the curtain is pulled back a little, it's pulled back completely. Loki helps Meanstreak disable Heimdall's genetic enhancements and confesses to his own enhancements, making it clear that the Aesir are not gods. Moreover, in case anyone still had doubts, the CEO reveals his plans, confirming Alchemax's role in their creation.
2) Also, in terms of confirmation, I'm glad we learned that Meanstreak is the "Henri" to whom we originally saw Boone address his message in "Spider-Man 2099" #15.
The Unknown
1) We still haven't seen Baldur, if I'm not mistaken?
2) We also still haven't learned why Alchemax decided to rush the launch of Valhalla and the Aesir. Was it just to combat the heroes? I mean, were they really causing that many problems? It seems a little short-sighted for such a huge company, particularly if it means that a huge investment like Valhalla is going to wind up failing.
3) I'm still not sure what mischief Loki brought the X-Men to Valhalla to sow? Was it to challenge Alchemax? Moreover, if he wanted the X-Men on Valhalla, why did he tell Heimdall that they were coming? Didn't that risk Heimdall successfully repelling them? Was it just part of the mischief?
4) As mentioned above, we do learn here why the X-Men decided to approach Ravage about Boone in "Ravage 2099" #15, something that didn't seem to make sense at the time. But, we still don't learn how Ravage came into possession of Boone's disc or why the X-Men knew that Valhalla is an impending ecological catastrophe. I'm assuming previous issues of "Ravage 2099" and "X-Men 2099" addressed those issues, but it would've been nice for the authors to have brought those of us not reading those titles up-to-speed.
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