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The Uncanny X-Men #514

Oct 2009

Matt Fraction, Terry Dodson

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Utopia part 4

Synopsis

The Uncanny X-Men #514 synopsis by Rob Johnson

Rating:

Continuing from DARK AVENGERS #7.

A mechanoid rants while others wordlessly attack folks throughout San Francisco. Later in this issue they will be referred to as Biosentinels who are transformed members of the Humanity Now! Coalition. And DAv#8 will reveal that the ranting 1 is Simon Trask, as you can tell by the shape of his speech bubbles (see the end of DAv#7) and the exhortation to mutant genocide.

Cyclops has a plan which directly involves 4 females he has called together in his Graymalkin Industries base:- Dani Moonstar, mutant Mirage depowered by M-Day; Domino of Cyke's secret black ops team X-Force; Mindee, 1 of the mind-linked Stepford Cuckoos; Psylocke in a wetsuit. Dani is to go to Las Vegas on a secret mission. Scott will borrow X-23 for the morning, but after that Domino should take her team to to an arranged rendezvous point and wait for Wolverine to arrive (from New York where he left the New Avengers in DAv/UXM: Utopia). Psylocke says *her* team is already at work and should be done in 2-3 days (Cyke wants it quicker). Mindee should go get arrested.

In Alcatraz there's an uneasy face off between the DAv and the Dark X-Men. Hawkeye (Bullseye) and Daken are the only ones to fight, and they wound each other with knife and claws. But DXM leader Emma Frost returns (from being shown in DAv#7 a sanitised version of the treatment of mutant prisoners by Norman Osborn and Dark Beast) and breaks them up with help from Mimic and Sub-Mariner. She leads her team out to fight the mechanoids.

As they head to Northern Park Black Queen explains to the others that some of Trask's followers have mutated into these mechanoids called Biosentinels. It seems he is controlling them telepathically, and H.A.M.M.E.R. is trying to track his location. The Biosentinels mainly just use brute force, however it also seems that they can emit an energy blast from their hands - but this also kills the blaster.

When they land she sends Cloak and Dagger to get civilians to safety, and Daken and Weapon Omega to hit some attackers. Mimic is already flying with Angel's wings and shooting with Cyclops' optic blasts. Emma keeps Sub-Mariner by her side while she mentally scans their opponents - and discovers that they have been completely taken over by the technovirus. They are no longer alive so she authorises her team to use destructive force (and they do seem to break into metal bits with no flesh and bone). Then she turns diamond and she and Namor join the fray.

Back at X-Men HQ Cyclops leads Armor, Colossus, Dazzler, Iceman, Northstar and X-23 with Pixie who teleports them to the battle site.

Emma Frost has switched off her organic diamond body to broadcast a calming message to the population, and then goes diamond again to continue the fight. Dagger's light knives seem to affect the robots. She and Cloak know they're fighting evil enemies but don't like the company they have to keep. Daken slashes humanoids to pieces but regrets that it's no use taunting the mindless mechanoids. Mimic takes 1 into the sky and tries to persuade it that it's a mutant now, so, it should stop attacking mutants. But Weapon Omega blasts its head apart and tells Mimic to stop arguing with the dead - and worryingly continues that everyone (in San Fran?) is dead and in hell.

In Las Vegas Moonstar enters the Inferno Club where she has an appointment with the boss. A sign on the wall has the Italian original of "Abandon all hope, ye who enter", the opening line of Dante's Inferno.

Cyke's team have ported to the top of a Worthington Industries building (ie owned by Angel) where they can safely watch the DXM in action. He tells his people that they have been hand-picked to take out Emma's gang if necessary. But for now they'll study their fighting techniques. However if the DXM start to lose the fight then they will risk arrest by helping them.

What they see is the DXM destroying this batch of foes. But Emma Frost knows they have to get to the controller to stop them all. She contacts Norman Osborn who says HAMMER have located Simon Trask at the St Francis Hospital (big deal, that's where he was taken after his injuries in DAv/UXM:U and held a press conference). Cloak teleports them there.

The DXM's performance was good but Scott Summers says *his* team will beat them with teamwork. Iceman worries that if they defeat the DXM they'll have to face the DAv. But Cyke says he's got another team poised to do that.

In the Bay of Oakland Magik is waiting with Domino and Warpath when X-23 joins them from her 'study session'. No-one knows about Scott's secret X-Force, so Illyana Rasputin doesn't understand how the others are a team. Then Wolverine emerges from the ocean (he came this way to avoid HAMMER's surveillance) and says they're "going to get our people back".

Finally we join Psylocke in the X-Sub with Dr Nemesis, Kavita Rao and Madison Jeffries of the scientific X-Club. They're going to install some tech in something on the ocean floor.

To be continued in DARK AVENGERS #8.

Review / Commentaries

The Uncanny X-Men #514 Review by Rob Johnson (November 7, 2017)

Simon Trask and his Biosentinels have changed a lot for this issue. In Dark Avengers #7 only his eyes were different, as were those of people he infected with a technovirus in our last issue. Those people *were* under Trask's control but weren't actually part of Humanity Now!. So it's a bit of a leap to them all being members of the HNC turned into mechanical robots, including Trask(?).

The cover of DAv#7 featured a DAv/Dark X-Men fight but the issue ended with them only about to clash. And this issue shows that only Bullseye and Daken came to blows, even though Black Queen was away for some time.

Cyclops' 'handpicked team' never does get to fight the DXM, so I'm left to speculate who would be matched against who. X-23 could take on Daken (as she does as part of XM vs DAv in the conclusion to the story arc in DAv/UXM: Exodus). More matching powers could give Dazzler/Dagger (light powers) and Pixie/Cloak (teleporters). We'd *have* to pitch Cyclops against Emma Frost. But I can't figure how to distribute Armor, Colossus, Iceman and Northstar against Dark Beast, Mimic, Sub-Mariner and Weapon Omega.

The X-Club are scientists gathered together by Beast in UXM#507 to solve the problem of no more mutants being born. Madison Jeffries used to be Box of Alpha Flight. Kavita Rao was a regular in early Astonishing X-Men (2004) - she tried both to cure the Legacy Virus *and* to find another way to depower mutants. Dr Nemesis has been retconned as a WWII superhero but was 1st seen as villain Dr Death in that era in Invaders vol 2. They communicate here with their 4th member Yuriko Takiguchi who invented the Red Ronin giant robot to fight Godzilla in that monster's Marvel series.

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Matt Fraction

Terry Dodson

Rachel Dodson

Justin Ponsor

Terry Dodson (Cover Penciler)
Rachel Dodson (Cover Inker)
Rian Hughes (Cover Colorist)

Additional Credits

Letterer: Joe Caramagna.
Editor: Nick Lowe.

Listed in alphabetical order. All stories.

Bullseye

Cloak

Colossus
(Piotr Rasputin)

Cyclops
(Scott Summers)

Iron Patriot
(Norman Osborn)

Magik
(Illyana Rasputin)

Mimic

Psylocke
(Betsy Braddock)

Sub-Mariner
(Namor McKenzie)

White Queen
(Emma Frost)

Wolverine
(James Howlett)

Plus: Armor (Hisako Ichiki), Dani Moonstar, Doctor Nemesis (Michael Stockton), H.A.M.M.E.R., Kavita Rao, Madison Jeffries, Northstar, Pixie (Megan Gwynn), Simon Trask, Stepford Cuckoos, Warpath, Weapon Omega (Michael Pointer), X-23 (Laura Kinney).

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The Uncanny X-Men #514

Utopia part 4

Synopsis

Review / Commentaries

Additional Credits