KINGS OF PAIN, PT 2 and PT 3
I miss comic books’ summer annual events, where one large story would be told across multiple titles, but just in the span of a couple of weeks (as opposed to a few months multiple times a year like the current format). So I’m looking back at one of my favorites of these, 1991’s four part Kings Of Pain story. Check out Part 1 to catch up on all the preposterous ‘90s badassery and insanity.
PART 2: ERRANT KNIGHTS
When we last left off in The New Mutants Annual 7, X-Force (technically The New Mutants, but I’m not going to call them that anymore) were about to throw down with The New Warriors. And…we’re basically still there!
The two teams engage in the great Marvel tradition of superheroes mistaking each other’s identities, then doing too much posturing to actually find information out, scrapping it up, and then having begrudging respect as they team up afterwards. You may be familiar with this formula from the AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR:
So it’s pretty much that. But it doesn’t really make sense because Firestar, Cannonball, and Warpath all know each other. Firestar and Warpath were on the Hellions together, and the Hellions fought Cannonball and the rest of The New Mutants multiple times. At least Firestar recognizes Cannonball and tries to talk, but the other two….don’t? And she doesn’t recognize the giant superstrong Native American she used to live with? Seems like that’s someone who would stand out. To make this all more infuriating, in the supplemental part of the Annual, they literally reference the fact that Firestar used to hang with Warpath (back when he was called Thunderbird II, after his brother). Comics!!!
So they fight with everyone getting in a good hit because you can’t settle disputes as to who is stronger or better—that’s what keeps folks coming back. It’s all ROCKY III ending, all the time. As per the formula, someone (in this case Speedball, my fave) demands decorum and points out what’s the end goal here. Then people do some “aw shucks” awkwardness, there’s some furtive glances/quick quips, a lingering threat that “this ain’t ovah” between a couple of them, and they are able to move forward.
Which leads to the nice exposition dump that reveals multiple players are trying to gather up some free-floating energy in the world and eventually put it into some sort of humanoid shell. But for what purpose?!? Never mind that—here’s a terrible bit of ‘90s humor!
Sidenote: y’all Gen Z types know this what you’re doing when you write that idiotic “Not me locking myself out of my own car” or “Not Republicans suddenly caring about women’s rights” or whatever, right? It’s a “Not” joke. They weren’t great in the ‘90s and I’m telling you that they will age poorly now. For your sake, for all of our sakes, stop doing it.
The groups begin to strategize and seek out what the endgame is and who is behind it all. But first we stop to briefly check in with the villains who are still at large, Harness and Piecemeal. The duo are still gathering up all of that very specific mysterious energy for secret purposes all over the globe. But this scene expands on parts from The New Mutants Annual, in which the abusive relationship of this young mutant in pain who is too terrified of his handler to fight back, crying as his body swells up in agony with each bit of energy. The physical transformation adds to the discomfort and artist Mark Bagley really sells the misery of poor Piecemeal.
X-Force and New Warriors split into three groups with members of both teams on each separate squad. The first group shakes down one of the members of the Alliance of Evil and quickly discerns that A.I.M. (the one from the MODOK TV series and not so much the one from IRON MAN 3) is the other group involved. Second gang heads out to find what’s the goal of these super scientists? What’s their aim? Eh? Eh? Eh.
Also continuing the “comics only got political now to prove how woke they are and cater to SJWs” bit from last time, here’s a fun little moment between Speedball, Firestar, and Marvel Boy that actually does speak volumes about their dads (as readers will eventually learn) and creates a nice juxtaposition between X-Force and the Warriors.
Armed with the data from the A.I.M. factory, C Squadron hoofs it to Xavier’s School (now a bunch of bombed out ruins because of Mr. Sinister and others…moving on…) and go into the bunker to use Cerebro to find the mutants Piecemeal and Harness as well as help identify what this energy is that people are going all Pokémon trainer over. The teams reconvene as the increasingly manic Harness and worsening Piecemeal scoop up some of that sweet energy in Japan (there’s a quasi-racist Kaiju joke made, but slight points for going with a Rodan reference and not Godzilla. Still, 10 points from Gryffindor).
So what is this energy? Where did it come from? Why do people want it? It turns out to be the remnants of Proteus [insert Djimon Hounsou “Who?”.gif]. Proteus was Kevin MacTaggert, the son of Xavier confidante and mutant expert Dr. Moira MacTaggert. The good doctor used her knowledge of medicine to study mutant genetics to save her son. She wasn’t able to and he became the supervillain Proteus who is able to suck energy from folks as well as remake reality in whatever image he so chooses. The X-Men nearly died fighting him but Kevin did die in that encounter. Or did he? We’ll have to find out next time as it continues in The Uncanny X-Men Annual 15.
PART 3: QUEENS OF SACRIFICE
And we’re back! As we enter the penultimate chapter of Kings Of Pain, “Queens Of Sacrifice”. “Errant Knights” made some sort of sense with the story—but “Queens Of Sacrifice” never does, except for that shadowy chess game that’s going on between the two puppetmasters (it was one page in Part 1, literally three panels in Part 2, and will be one page in Part 3, so you’re forgiven for not remembering).
It’s literally a shadowy game as the identities are obscured until Part 4, and they are playing in the dark in Vail, Colorado. I guess it was a ‘90s thing?
Anyways, there are tangential ways the title makes sense to what’s happening in Part 3, but it’s a stretch and then some. However it is tied in with that intermittent game of chess, this time with one player sacrificing his queen for the other’s queen. But then that leaves two kings and it’s meant to be like “let’s see who will come out on top!” Except, spoiler alert, it’s no one. It’s impossible for either player to checkmate when there’s only two kings left on the board. So…maybe should’ve chosen a different game to use? Sorry doesn’t get enough time in the spotlight; you should’ve used Sorry, Nicieza!
Now’s a good time to go on a tangent on top of that tangent: something that works exceptionally well with Kings Of Pain is that it is all one writer, Fabian Nicieza, scripting all the books. In most cases, the series writer would still write the annual, even for events, so things might get lost in transitions between parts. But with everything coming from the mind and copy of Nicieza, there’s a real sense of continuity of character, accelerating momentum and threat, and even some strong thematic through lines (particularly around Piecemeal and Harness). Each installment has a different artist (though there is some similarity in styles between them), which creates this idea of shifting perspectives without shifting focus (and all beneath covers done by Mike Mignola to further underscore the idea of four chapters in one story).
Our plucky young upstart superheroes (plus oddly old soldiers Cable and Chord, weird they’re hanging out with the teens/young twenty-somethings) head to Muir Island to further figure out this whole damn Proteus angle, which means talking to everyone’s “you forgot she was in both trilogies and played by accomplished actors” character, Moira MacTaggert. Muir Island was meant as a research facility on mutant genetics as well as a sort of sanctuary and reprieve for mutants that didn’t want to be a part of the hustle and bustle of heroes & villains. But I guess not that many because there were still the Morlocks and other groups of persecuted mutants who never made it to the Scottish isle. Muir Island - Elitist? Discuss!
Now we meet the group that’s waiting for our hip heroes to arrive. And there’s a few things worth noting—probably chiefly that none of characters are X-Men. They would eventually be part of X-Men in different permutations, and part of different teams, but these five folks are just B-player mutants (in the tiers of Marvel). There’s MacTaggert, Multiple Man, Siryn (Banshee’s daughter, can scream and fly), Polaris (Magneto’s ‘daughter’, magnetic abilities), and, my man—Legion.
One bit that makes it feel like perhaps this wasn’t particularly well coordinated in editorial is that the story takes place at a time when Moira MacTaggert is being quasi-controlled by evil telepathic entity, The Shadow King.
It’s actually a cool storyline in the main X-Men series, and would lead to a massive shake up in the X-books and lineups of teams (and the best selling comic of all time), but it’s odd here because this is a story about Moira MacTaggert and her son. Her son who she loves dearly but is a massive threat to the world that feels persecuted by all. The emotional ties are vital to selling it and the idea that Shadow King is kind of just chilling and letting it play out feels like a shrug of a solution. Anyways, it’s time for your beloved Marvel tradition—confused fight between heroes (including people who know each other; no seriously, almost all of X-Force and Firestar knows these characters personally, and Marvel Boy and Night Thrasher would know their bios/history). But it’s what the audience wants so let’s give it to them…along with some really awkward hockey jokes.
Meanwhile…in Edinburgh (a few miles away…or however many meters that is, I’m shite at the metric system), Harness and Piecemeal arrive and the boy is looking rough. Gorging on the energies of Proteus continues to leave the young tormented man distended and misshapen, again calling to mind the mutations that Tetsuo undergoes in AKIRA (the original comics of which have Tetsuo serving under Akira, a mutant that can warp matter as he sees fit. Hmmmm). This is also where the heart of the story starts to emerge. Previously the abuse that Harness heaped on Piecemeal was akin to what a lot of supervillains do to their henchmen, propelled by ego to insult and punish their underlings as well as order them around constantly. Here is where Piecemeal’s agony from his absorption of energy is palpable and Harness’ dismissal of that pain and pleading turns increasingly cruel.
There’s certainly an Ahab-like tunnel vision situation happening with Harness, but it’s actually not as direct or rational as the ill fated whaler. Harness knows that the energy is in high demand from various organizations (and chess players), so they wish to have all of it to then bargain for…something. Maybe money? Maybe use it for power in their own way? It is vague and that’s what makes the mistreatment of Piecemeal all the more tragic: his suffering isn’t in service to a higher purpose or clear goal, it’s to help Harness accomplish some sort of goal of personal gain. Those cries for help and mercy land so much harder when they are being made to happen because some petty villain fancies themselves as something more.
So while Harness continues being the worst to poor unfortunate Piecemeal, the heroes are giving the lowdown to Moira and the Not-Quite-Ready-For-Primetime X-Men about what’s happened in the past few issues as well as the fact that her deranged son, who is one of the most powerful mutants that has ever lived and died due to her involving Xavier and his cohorts, may be coming back in the not-too-distant future and they should probably figure out what to do about it. They get a call from the Weird Happenings Organization (a British outfit in Marvel created to track basically anything odd that is also a pretty heavy handed Doctor Who nod) and strategize on how to take on the duo terrorizing Edinburgh.
The massive group of heroes will split into two teams, with one assigned to take out Harness and the other to work to siphon some of the energy out of Piecemeal to avoid either a meltdown or getting enough energy to somehow resurrect Proteus. It’s a nice divide and conquer set up that also finds the more badass/battle prone types heading up against Harness in a fight while the more sensitive/emotional folks (eventually if not at this moment in the canon) are trying to diffuse the Piecemeal timebomb and save the boy.
Before the clunky Doctor Who reference interrupts everything, you can see that the young heroes are starting to realize that Piecemeal’s mental state is a part of this equation.
It foreshadows some reveals and a foiling relationship that will appear at the end of Part 3 and the beginning of Part 4 of Kings of Pain. But it again makes it more than just an Extinction Level Event that superheroes have to stop. They realize that a kid is being abused and may soon be linked to a ridiculously powered individual who also has years of misery under his belt.
If depression is rage turned inward, then what happens when the depressed gain nigh-omniscient power and can direct that rage outward? It creates an emotional stake that makes some of the villains sympathetic and their motives resonate with the audience. Especially being delivered by the young heroes, whose readers were mostly young themselves, this shows a bit of a generational shift where the teen superhero folks use their own personal mistreatments to manifest empathy for their foes and recognize that inner lives of people—even AKIRA-like energy eaters—is important.
So the teams converge on the pair of Mutants running amuck in Edinburgh (cue “Lust For Life”) and split up as planned. Piecemeal is begging for it to end, even if it means killing him; but the heroes aren’t having it. Marvel Boy contains him in a teke shield, while Speedball extends his kinetic energy field to try to siphon some energy, as Multiple Man….multiplies to hold down the squirming child, and Legion taps his Jack Wayne personality (the telekinetic) to keep the agonizing boy in place while Moira and Firestar try science-y stuff to save him.
While the wrecking crew giving the business to Harness is going well, physically dominating her as they wanted, Piecemeal cannot be contained and is bursting with Proteus’ energy. This leads to the following one-two (-three?) punch:
Firstly—yeah, Thunderbird: women can be supervillains, too. Celebrate Harness breaking through that glass ceiling to become an evil character in your world of wizards and Mutants and robots and time travel and whatever Speedball is.
But this is an honestly heartbreaking moment that I have to believe is meant to recall Otomo’s work with Tetsuo, the mutations beyond control and just causing so much hurt and fear. However, Nicieza’s masterstroke is adding Harness’ abuse of her son in the face of this turmoil. This would usually be the part where the villain goes “my god…what have I done? I’ve abandoned my boy!!!” But in this case, the mother remains unrepentantly awful, shaming and insulting her son who is quite possibly on the verge of death. It’s a stone cold moment that drives home Piecemeal’s suffering and how isolated he is in this moment, even when surrounded by three teams’ of superheroes. It’s a twisting of the knife that makes those emotions relevant and it’s not just some disaster that obviously the heroes will overcome to save the day eventually—but an idea that this boy’s trauma is something no X-Man can fix and his mother’s vile actions are more reproachable than her scheme to harness energy for personal gain.
And so Proteus emerges…except it’s not just Proteus. The Omega-level Mutant has merged with Piecemeal so that both of their powers (and their psyches) are present in the same body. This was what Night Thrasher was worried about—combining of two hurt, fractured personalities into something with powers beyond comprehension.
Also, Thunderbird’s line is proof that the “serious moment followed by a quip” dialogue thing didn’t start in the MCU.
So where can this possibly go? How will these heroes face off against this new threat built from the shattered emotional states of two traumatized Mutants? Spoiler alert: they won’t.
Well, not in this issue anyways. Kings Of Pain is impressive in that it improves and deepens with each installment, adding new layers of emotional entanglement, interesting character interactions, and inventive threats with every annual. And the ending, which I recall vividly…is a doozy. See you next week!
You can purchase The New Warriors Annual 1 as a digital issue from Marvel, digitally from Comixology, or in paper form from multiple online resellers like eBay.
You can purchase The Uncanny X-Men Annual 15 as a digital issue from Marvel, also digitally from Comixology, or in paper form from multiple online resellers like eBay.