Countdown to "'Ah'm Nigh Invulnerable When Ah'm Blastin':" "Ah can't be hurt when Ah'm blastin.'"
This summary is once again too long, and I'm not quite sure what I can do about it. At this early stage, a lot of the descriptions and developments seem significant, as they tease out the characters' personalities and thoughts. Dani's walk through the Mansion may seem insignificant, but it's the way Claremont conveys important information about where she is mentally at the start of this adventure. But, I definitely can't keep you nine-paragraph summaries for the 225 issues I've identified as part of this project, so expect them to get shorter soon.
Summary
Xi'an is appalled when Stevie Hunter allows the other New Mutants watch as Stevie washes her hair. Stevie tells Xi'an she couldn't have stopped them if she tried (though, given that Roberto and Sam are standing in the hall, it seems closing the door might've done the trick). Stevie is giving Xi'an a new haircut, since her old one was "just plain awful." Rahne laments her hair will never look pretty (as it never seems to grow), and Roberto kisses her hand, telling Rahne her hair suits her perfectly -- its color is as fiery as her spirit. Stevie remarks to Roberto that he has style, but privately hopes he'll be careful with Rahne's feelings, since her "fundamentalist Scots upbringing" has left her terribly innocent and vulnerable. Roberto insists admiring "what is beautiful" is simply good manners in Brazil, but Stevie's concern seems well grounded as Rahne rubs her hand and wonders privately if Roberto likes her. Dani teases Roberto by dramatically telling him she wishes he would look at her the way he looked at Rahne and asking Stevie to perform her wizardry on her, too, as she's an ugly duckling yearning to be a swan. (Dani is clearly my favorite at this point.) Roberto claps as Stevie tells Dani to hush and Xi'an ponders what she ever did to deserve her fate.
Suddenly, Dani's powers engage, and Xi'an is stunned to see her parents in front of her. Dani's powers continue, showing Xi'an's father getting murdered in front of her a year ago as they fled Vietnam and Thai pirates attacking their boat in the South China Sea. The images and narration make it clear the pirates raped Xi'an's mother and then her as she tried to protect her siblings. Xi'an lunges at Dani, calling her a monster. She screams she thought Dani was her friend but Dani showed the world her shame. Stevie tries to pull Xi'an off Dani, warning Xi'an she's killing Dani (as she bashes her head into the ground). Xi'an possesses Stevie in a rage, screaming at Stevie to release her, and Roberto smacks Xi'an to break her concentration. Sam helps Dani to her feet as she apologizes, telling Xi'an she'd give anything for it not to have happened. Xi'an asks what Dani'll say next time she's laid bare their very souls. Xi'an tells Dani she intended to rip out her heart to make her suffer, but she can't bring herself to do it. (Yeah, it's intense.) Stevie tells Dani to take a walk while Xi'an "cools down," hoping it'll do them both good. Stevie takes a bawling Xi'an to her breast, and Roberto expresses a desire to follow Dani, noting she looked miserable. Sam stops him, saying that his experience with a "passel o' sisters" in Kentucky led him to learn the hard way "how t' handle 'em" and "it ain't by crowdin' her." Roberto isn't convinced, noting Xi'an wasn't joking when she made her threats. He then muses aloud it's hardly an "auspicious beginning" for the school.
A devastated Dani wanders the Mansion's halls, thinking Xi'an bashing in her brains is no less than she deserved. Dani recalls her grandfather sent her to the School from her "Wyoming mountains" to learn how to control her "accursed mutant abilities," but laments Xavier has thusfar only given her a costume and made her life miserable. (True that, Dani.) She stumbles upon a wing of the Mansion she's never seen before and realizes it's where the X-Men live. She finds Kitty's room (without knowing who she is) and marvels at the "strange-looking people" in the photos on her bulletin board. Dani looks at a photo of Peter holding up Kitty by her waist and recognizes Illyana in the background, because she's with Dr. MacTaggart in Scotland. Noting she was a nice but "weird" kid, she wonders if she's a mutant like they are. Dani observes the Professor never mentions the X-Men and concludes something terrible happened to them. She wonders if his new students are supposed to take their place and if the same fate awaits them. Dani then dismisses the thought, thinking she won't be at the School long enough to share that fate, given her powers are destroying her life and any chance she has of friendship just like they did back home. She stumbles upon the staircase to the attic where Storm lives, thinking it was a storeroom where she could hide. She marvels at the beautiful plants, but realizes they're all dying for lack of water. She begins watering the plants, despite the fact the attic runs the width of the Mansion and it'll take her hours to do the job. "Some considerable time later," she realizes she's starving (having missed lunch) and wonders if Xi'an is still mad at her. She ponders how to put things right with her and if Stevie or the Professor could help, assuming they're also not mad at her. Then, the Professor telepathically calls the new students to the Danger Room for their first training session.
Meanwhile, in Dublin, Moira and Illyana arrive at the Israeli Ambassador's residence, and Illyana asks Moira why they're there. Moira says she doesn't know, and an ancient-looking (and cigarette-smoking) Gabrielle Haller greets them. They have a "superb meal," and then Haller praises Moira's expertise in genetics. She begins to tell her about her autistic child, and Moira interrupts her, telling her she's not a psychiatrist. Haller informs her the autism is a side effect of his mutant powers, which she believes are psionic in nature. She tells Moira she's tried to help him with every means at her disposal, but Moira is her last resort. Moira says she's flattered, but her work is mostly theoretical. She directs Haller to Xavier, but Haller says she doesn't want Charles involved. Under pressure from Moira, she drops the bomb that Xavier is the boy's father. (Hello, Legion!)
Back at the Mansion, Charles introduces the team to the Danger Room. Before he begins, he enjoins them to resist their natural curiosity about the residents of the "Mansion's other wing," asking them to respect their privacy as much as they would want their own privacy respected. Dani realizes Xavier is speaking to her as he clearly knew where she was when he mindcalled them. Roberto asks whether they're going to be the new X-Men after reading about the history of the School in the library. Xavier hastily shouts no, but then apologizes for snapping. Charles says the School for Gifted Youngsters will continue, but there will never again be a team of mutant superheroes: that chapter of his life has ended. A chastised Roberto stammers they were all just curious, and Xavier quickly says the subject is closed. (Oh, Charles.) He then explains the Danger Room, telling the students not to use the room unless he, Dr. MacTaggart, or Stevie are present. He shows them the gymnasium mode, telling them Stevie's physical-fitness classes will turn them into champion-level athletes. He then informs them they won't be actively seeking out and combating evil mutants like the X-Men, but they must be prepared for the eventuality. Roberto cockily states his father's house in Rio is as well equipped as this gym, and Charles then jauntily changes the Danger Room to the Savage Land, asking if Roberto's father's house can do that. (Stevie oddly comments, "Far out," undermining the idea she's qualified to run the team through the Danger Room sessions if this display impresses her.) A monster then seemingly attacks the windows. Rahne and Roberto instantly shift forms as Sam tells the girls to rescue Stevie and Xavier while he and "Bobby" "hold that critter back." Of course, it disappears immediately, and Bobby dismisses it as special effects. Xavier explains the Room is a combination of primary training programs keyed to each student with environmental sub-programs capable of reproducing any "exotic locale imaginable" via "three-dimensional holographic projections." But, he warns some functions are "painfully real." He informs them their sequences have been prepared and asks who wants to go first.
Sam leads off the lesson, knowing full well the instruction to cross the room is too "darn easy." He immediately slams into a concrete-looking slab, and Sam realizes his inability to stop on his own is his greatest weakness. A fan then appears, and the airstream sends him to the start. Rahne fares no better as a panel opens under her wolf form. She moves into her transitional form in an attempt to grab the ledge below her, but the ledge flips her back through the hole, sending her to the start, too. Bobby realizes the Professor has probably used his telepathic powers to turn their thoughts against them, though he hopes his thoughts make the professor blush. His distraction costs him, as a robot appears from behind a sliding panel and grabs him. Cocky as ever, Bobby dismisses the robot as an antique, fires up his powers, and strikes, only to discover the robot is made of a puddy-like substance. He exhausts his energy trying to extract himself from the robot as the team laughs from the control room. Dani is the lone exception to this laughter, as the Danger Room fills her with dread. Xian goes next. She notes she alone has experience with her powers, working with Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four to save them and her siblings and using her powers to destroy her twin brother, Tranh. As such, the Professor created a real setting for Xi'an and asked the team to ambush her. Karma easily takes control of a rocketing Sam and sends him careening into Sunspot, but she's surprised by Wolfsbane. As Rahne licks Xi'an's face, Bobby wonders what the Professor has in store for Dani, given they're 0-4.
On cue, Dani is panicked in the control room, convinced she'll die. (Interestingly, her codename at this point is Psyche.) Xavier asks if she's OK, and she says she is, though she's worried he's read her mind and seen that she's a coward. Her anxiety grows with each step to the Danger Room, and she wonders what hidden horror she'll unleash from the minds of her friends in the Danger Room. She wonders if Xi'an still bears a grudge from that morning and plans on killing her. She snaps, bolting for the exit. Rahne goes to find her, and Dani is as hostile as ever in their exchange. When Rahne asks Dani if she's OK, Dani asks why wouldn't she be. When Rahne notes she fled without an explanation, Dani asks if the others sent her. When Rahne says she came on her own, Dani postulates the others didn't care. Rahne finally snaps back, telling Dani not to be daft: she only knew something was wrong because of her scent. (That seems weird, as someone had to realize Dani didn't go through the program.) Rahne then compliments Dani on her scent and marvels at her powers. Dani tells her she's glad her powers make her happy, as she'd give anything to be rid of her powers. Rahne asks if it's why she's so miserable, and Dani asks if she could tell that from her scent. Rahne says she's not sure, telling Dani everything is so simple and uncomplicated as a wolf she's tempted to stay that way. Dani uncharacteristically tells Rahne she'd miss her, and Rahne says she'd never leave her friends, as she didn't have any friends in Scotland. Dani tells Rahne she used to have friends until her powers manifested. She says her parents and grandfather stood by her, but one night she pulled a nightmare from her dad's mind of a bear standing over the bloody remains of a Palomino pony and killing an eagle. As her father was Eagle clan and her mother was Horse clan, she realized she saw their deaths. They made light of her vision, and a week later her father packed for a trip to the high country. With his best guns and bow, Dani says he looked like a warrior going to battle, and her mother insisted on going with him, leaving Dani in Black Eagle's care. She never saw them again, and she fled into the mountains to live as a hermit. She recounts seeing Black Eagle's death last month and laments she seems to be able only to hurt people. She says she hated the idea of joining Xavier at first, but the team gave her hope she could live a normal life. But, she realizes that dream is lost, as she's already hurt Xi'an and disgraced her heritage by fleeing the Danger Room. Rahne assures her she was scared and reminds her they're all learning how to use their powers. Rahne insists Xi'an knows it was an accident and reacted the way she did because Dani caught herself by surprise. She insists Xi'an would tell her the same thing if she were there.
Their conversation is interrupted by Stevie's car horn. Rahne turns to her wolf form and Stevie steps from the car, annoyed at Xavier's refusal to search for Dani telepathically as well as concerned over his lack of concern over Dani. Rahne leaps into the back seat through the car window, and Bobby tells her to be careful, as he's wearing a new outfit. Xi'an observes they're lucky she's not wet and covered with mud like last time, and Sam says he hopes she doesn't try this "stunt" when she's full grown or they'll be squished. Bobby notes he and Xi'an are the ones in danger as they're in the back seat, but then says Rahne being fully grown might have other "compensations." Rahne remarks, "I beg your pardon," and then informs them she found Dani. Xi'an asks if she's OK and coming with them, and Rahne says she appreciates the invitation but needs to be by herself. Xi'an asks if that's wise, as she might need their help, but Stevie says she's old enough to know her own mind. She reminds them Charles is there to help, though mutters "I hope" to herself. A car full of government-looking types watches the car move down the road, and one of the men radios "Wideawake" to alert them Stevie and presumably Xavier's new students are departing. He says they can't confirm the students' identities without blowing their cover and informs Wideawake that Lookout Two is covering the estate. Henry Peter Gyrich appears on the TV screen in the car, ordering them to maintain only surveillance until other units join them. The man asks if they should arrest them in town, and Gyrich says they're not to do so unless so instructed.
Meanwhile, Dani enters the Danger Room's control room, noting she didn't see any sign of the Professor. She acknowledges she's not supposed to use the room alone, but she doesn't want any witnesses to see if she succeeds or fails. She's figured out the controls from watching the Professor, though notes her hands are shaking as she activates the training sequences. She realizes that her fear may be the point: her parents and grandfather met their fates directly, and she has to do the same. She might fail at the School, but she needs to try her best to hold her head high, befitting her family of courage and honor. She enters the Danger Room, where she faces a series of robots. Realizing her powers only work on the living, she uses the skills she learned playing with animals (her only true friends) -- fighting and avoiding traps -- and screws up her courage. She takes out the robots and leaps out the door, thrilled she's passed the test, but then gets zapped in the face. She later awakens on the floor of the Danger Room, still twitching from the stunblast. A hand disables the Danger Room's "safety interlocks," and Dani opens her eyes to the Savage Land exercise, except this time it's "deadly reality" as the creature from earlier -- described as hungry -- approaches her.
The Review
Similar to the "Marvel Graphic Novel" #4 (i.e., the "New Mutants" one), Claremont pulls no punches here. Within the first few pages, Dani inadvertently uses her mutant powers to expose to the group that Xi'an's father was murdered in front of her and that Thai pirates brutally attacked her and he mother, who subsequently died. (Claremont doesn't use the term "rape" specifically. I'm pretty sure my seven-year-old self would've missed the innuendo, but it's pretty clear what he meant.) Xi'an's fury at Dani for revealing her "shame" is real, just as Roberto's anger over losing Juliana was so clear in the graphic novel. In fact, despite her comments in the car, we don't see her and Dani reconcile in this issue. In fact, no one comments on the images they observed or even Karma threatening to kill Dani when they all reassemble in the Danger Room: Sam and Roberto just compliment her haircut. (Yeah, it's weird.) As if Claremont hasn't shown the kids suffering enough, Xi'an admits to killing her brother here. It's hard to believe this girl isn't in some serious therapy at this point. (We'll return to Xavier's irresponsible parenting in a minute.)
Meanwhile, Dani's retreat into Storm's room reveals how fragile she is, worried her mutant powers have once again isolated her and denied her the possibility of friendship. In fact, we later learn she not only foresaw her grandfather's death (again, in the graphic novel), but also her parents' death. (Given the fact Dani isn't certain what happened to them, I assume we'll revisit this story at some point.) Claremont hasn't portrayed Dani as too outwardly interested in friendship so far. In fact, her mockery of Roberto's flattery of Rahne would make Shannen Doherty proud. But, her internal narration while in Storm's room and her later conversation with Rahne make it clear how lonely she feels. These sequences reminded me that Claremont's ability to script internal narration and dialogue in organic ways -- and not overtly as vehicles for exposition -- is unparalleled. Wrapping up Dani, I'll point out what seems to be an error here: she says she's from Wyoming here though she's placed in Colorado in the graphic novel and, I'm pretty sure, later issues.
In addition to Dani and Xi'an, we get our first real glimpses of the other characters' personalities, too. Professor X is an imperious and snippy asshole, though we're supposed to understand him as grieving the X-Men after their supposed death. That said, it's clear the Xavier of this era isn't the kindly ol' professor we later see him portrayed as being. The Professor X we get here seems exactly like the kind of guy to engage in the sort of unethical behavior everyone is later shocked to learn he committed. For example, he embarrasses Dani here in front of the class (even though they're unaware he's doing so) as he warns them not to snoop around the X-Men's rooms. You would've figured a teacher worried about his most isolated student might've pulled Dani aside and had that conversation with her privately. He could've even invited her to keep Storm's plants alive. But, no, he just tells her to keep to herself in front of everyone. He's such a dick that even Stevie seems doubtful of his ability to shepherd the children. I'm assuming we're going to blame his behavior on the Brood Queen's possession of him, but I think it's just the real Xavier.
Turning to the other students, Roberto is lecherous to a pretty extreme degree, not only commenting on how an adult Rahne would have certain benefits but also hoping the Professor blushes if he reads his mind. I get Claremont is portraying him as a hot Brazilian Lothario, but it's also important to remember he's only 14 years old. (Yes, I was a 14-year-old boy once, so I know how they think. But, it's pretty shocking to see it portrayed so blatantly here.) Meanwhile, Sam is already the stand-up guy we know he is, immediately jumping into a leadership role when he worries the Danger Room's Savage Land denizens are going to attack. Surprisingly, Rahne is less of the sad sack that she later becomes, exulting in her mutant powers as she tells Dani she'd almost rather stay a wolf. Stevie is the most intriguing to me, given her almost complete disappearance from X-Men comics that I assume happens soon. It's hard to believe the level of trust the Professor has shown in her. I understand she's a professional dancer, but it's hard to believe the carte blanche Xavier gives her in terms of running Danger Room simulations. It's like saying I can train Marines because I lift weights every once in a while.
Finally, as we saw in "Marvel Graphic Novel" #4, everyone's powers are much more limited at this stage: Sam can't change directions or stop on his own volition, Bobby's powers exhaust themselves pretty quickly if he's not in the sun, Dani's powers obviously manifest at random. Moreover, Claremont does a great job here showing the differences in how the kids are responding emotionally to their powers: Rahne finds a world alive with scents and smells as well as friends she never had, Dani is more miserable than ever, Sam is mostly focused on improving himself, and Bobby sees it as more justification for him to be cocky.
All in all, it's a solid first issue. We have a clear idea of who the characters are, the struggles they face, and the challenges from their pasts that haunt them. Now, if I can just figure out a way to describe all that in fewer than nine paragraphs, we should be all set!
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