I Want You
Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Casey Jones (penciler), Miller/Simmons/Rubinstein/
Summary
Colossus watches in a rage as Peter Wisdom and Kitty Pryde kiss. After Kitty goes inside, Colossus punches Wisdom in the stomach and then the face. Nearly dead, Wisdom fights back by projecting one of his "hot knives" into Colossus’ spine. Meggan and Britanic team up and knock Colossus unconscious. Both Wisdom and Colossus are taken to the med-lab, where Colossus’ spine is easily fixed. Wisdom requires intense surgery, however. Colossus is locked in a cell and attached to an inhibitor collar. Nightcrawler chastises Colossus for behaving like a child, telling him that after losing so much, he’s projected too much on to Kitty. Nightcrawler suggests that he redeem himself by staying on Muir Island and telling Professor Xavier that he’s still seeking treatment for his earlier brain damage. Kitty later visits Colossus and tells him that Wisdom will survive. Still angry, she asks Colossus to find himself again.
Review
Colossus joins the team in this issue, basically as damage control after he nearly kills Peter Wisdom, which has got to be one of the strangest justifications for adding a new team member ever. I’m not sure how I feel about Colossus’ portrayal in this issue. I remember liking this story when it was first published, since it seemed as if Ellis was actually trying to use Colossus’ recent continuity and build a story around it. Looking back on it, I have to wonder if it was worth the effort since Colossus’ treatment during this era was atrocious in the first place. Just ignoring it probably would’ve been the best option. Ellis seems dismissive of the “brain damage” justification for Colossus’ actions during “Fatal Attractions”, having Nightcrawler tell Colossus all of his recent actions have been childlike, implying that he still hasn’t grown up. That seems to trivialize Colossus, which doesn’t do anything to redeem the awful way he had been treated in recent years. The fight between Colossus and Wisdom has always stuck with me, since it’s the only time I can remember Colossus punching out someone who has normal strength. The story does a good job of depicting just how brutal that could be, and it’s nice that there’s at least some realistic repercussions for Wisdom. I also like the way Ellis handles the reactions from the rest of Excalibur, so it doesn’t feel as if this is just being done for cheap shock value. In hindsight, though, it just seems like another regrettable Colossus story.
2 comments:
Well, it also makes Ellis' Mary-Sue Wisdom look all that much better ;)
I hated this issue and the previous one. Though it Ellis get points for trying to reintroduce his team, the first issue felt to me consistently shallow while the second one wasn't even belivable.
I think that Kitty and Wisdome relationship moved too fast. They just felt in love in the previous story and now they are acting like an old couple. There should me more tension to it. They should start with a crash, then be lovers.
The other thing I don't like here is the display of Collosus, of course, but also Rhyne. You already wrote all the bad things about Collosus character managment. Him acting like a total irresponsible bully doesn't match at all any of his previous character elements. The head damage (which Nightcrawler so eager to explain to the reader in a lousy storytelling way) is a cheap excuse.
As for Ryhne: It's seems like Ellis didn't read any of her previous character depiction in X-factor. She subdued again into acting like a little girl. At some point she's letting Kitty pat her in the head (!) The new X-factor Rhyne should be more rebelious and should take no demeaning or being treated as a child from no one except, probably, Moira. She doesn't react while seeing everyone else kissing outside the pub, although she should feel jealous, like any teenager in her age. At some point Ellis put some line in her head, describing her looking up to Collosus, which is an offense for anyone reading New Mutants, were it was clear there was almost never any interaction and not much love between the two groups. Rhyne shouldn't as much as know anything about Collosus, except for that he is Magik's big bro and an X-men.
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