Story and Art Brahm Revel
Color Artist Christiane Peter
Letterer & Production VC’s Joe Sabino
Haunted Part Four of Five
Issue opens with the Cooks, fully armed coming to the town. They are going around killing humans in the name of their mutant overlords.
Rogue and Wolverine are still fighting. Rogue is not holding back any of her punches. Wolverine takes advantage of Darla’s mutant power that is still in full swing. He remembers Carol Danvers, Pre-Rogue, and then Rogue has to fight Carol now. I don’t quite recognize this Ms. Marvel costume Revel chose to draw but it feels right.
Rogue counters by remembering Sabretooth (the handsome first appearance, Iron Fist style), the original Silver Samurai and Lady Deathstrike. Once again, how awesome that Revel found a way to draw all of the X-Men related characters that he wants.
We cut to Kitty and Krystal, Krystal as used her powers of suggestion to make the bikers take care of them instead of hurting them.
Carol confronts Rogue about all of the memories she stole from her, including how Carol lost her virginity to Bobby Carlisle at the senor prom. Look at Revel adding to Carol’s mythos. At this point, Rogue’s costume is all torn to shreds. There is a great page of Rogue and Carol’s memories merging. Carol’s happy memories start becoming Rogue’s who are much sadder and involve Mystique.
Darla is in a bar, drinking her woes away. She conjures her dog, Buster and starts really taking control of her powers. Some of Cooks’ men come into the bar, ready to kill her as she isn’t wearing a costume and all mutants wear costumes. Turns out, Darla can use the memories of locations as well to assist her and we get Daniel Bowie types, old miners and even Native Americans. These memories can even kill, so Darla is getting stronger.
Krystal starts explaining to Kitty about her uncle. It isn’t until this page that I notice Kitty’s costume and how it doesn’t look like a spandex outfit but more of a street version of the outfit. It is very stylish.
Wolverine has fought so many people over the years that we get to see so many more villains, including Ogun! Which I keep wishing we would be getting Kitty’s memories of past foes but at least we now get Ogun and he is glorious. Mariko shows up to attack his mental state. The scene of these villains turns into Kitty and a bunch of wolves. I don’t think this scene ever happened, at least not with the wolves, but you can only imagine it happening. Kitty having to tell Wolverine that he can’t be around the students anymore as he is too prone to killing and stabbing. Wolverine’s clothes are all but shattered remnants. Kitty disappears and Wolverine has to fight all of these wolves. A bear shows up, Wolverine slays that bear and wears him like a second skin.
Krystal explains to Kitty how her uncle forced her to control the Cooks and the local drug dealers to become critical to that operation. To the point where he doesn’t even need her anymore. We also are shown that the green mutant is from her own memory. Krystal reveals that the Cooks didn’t know how mutant DNA works. They were using the green fella’s toxin for drugs but they thought all mutants’ blood did the same thing and started capturing them and killing them once they didn’t produce the same results.
Rogue, walking around, still confused, comes across a Malt Shop window and she sees Darla in the reflection and knows that she has to confront Darla and get her to turn off her powers.
Meanwhile, Darla is walking to the heart of the town, riding a tiger like a bad arse with an army of old timey people, also Buster is with her. Darla sees the Cooks’ caravan and tells her army to kill them. Old Man Cook tells her that he wants to kill humans for all of the injustice that they have done to mutants. This surprises her.
Krystal tells Kitty about how she put the suggestion into Old Man Cook’s mind that mutants are the future and that they are his master. Which is what he is currently living his life under.
Darla and Old Man Cook are forming an alliance.
Wolverine is fighting a nude version of himself. Rogue shows up, knocks out that that one and kisses Wolverine to calm him down. Now Rogue is seeing all of the wolves, which is great that Revel remembers that she absorbs powers and memories so his memories are hers now.
We find out that Krystal must have told Darla to completely unload her powers onto everyone which Krystal is trying to confess to Kitty but we get the information from Rogue telling Wolverine. Rogue and Wolverine come across the new alliance of Darla and the Cooks, and we see now that Juggernaut and Mojo along with Spiral have join the fun.
Issue ends with Krystal asking if that is Kitty’s uncle behind her as Kitty turns to see Xavier.
Next issue concludes the miniseries, which I’m still very enjoying.
. . .
I have to say, that a whole week of no new X-Men comics worth buying, felt like a very long time! Glad to have bought three titles so that I can think about other things but without my weekly fix of X-Men, it captures my thoughts.
Also, my son, Walker Dennis, is two months old today! So proud of you, mijo!
Shadow and Flame with Magik 