"House Divided, Part 2"
by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir and Aaron Lopresti
Synopsis: The Hellions arrive in Japan to the greeting of thugs with guns drawn, but they quickly take to the offense. The battle is shortly won, but the thugs won’t talk so Magik teleports them into a volcano to let them stew for a while. On the SHIELD Helicarrier, Agents Josh Foley and Kevin Ford are interrogating the captured Cameron Hodge, using Kevin’s power to torture him, and then Josh’s to heal the damage and begin the process again. Surge sees this and burst in, warning them to stop. Josh uses his power to make Surge’s blood rush to her lungs, limiting her speed. She jolts Ford and decks Foley, leaving her alone to talk to Hodge. He explains that his boss, her father, wants her returned to him and that he wants mutants dead for atrocities against humans, though he doesn’t go into details. He agrees to tell her where her father is if she kills him since she won’t be able to escape with him in her injured state. Foley and Ford wake up to find Surge gone and Hodge dead from a blast to the chest. Josh reports to Moonstar who is pleased that Surge talked to Hodge so they can follow her to her father.
Moonstar gets Scion and Magik to pull the thugs back from the volcano, though they are still not too willing to part with the little information they have. Magik threatens to leave them and they say that something called Project Genesis is the big happening – Emperor Sunfire’s personal project. At the New Mutant institute, David uses his computer to tap into SHIELD Japan’s files (with the help of his powers using Doug Ramsey’s language skills) and learns about Project Genesis. He doesn’t like what he’s found. David goes to find Laurie, who is telling her father about her murder of Quentin Quire, which he agrees with. Laurie meets up with him, Surge and Cessily and they discuss Project Genesis (still without explaining it). The girls agree to go, as does Sophie of the Stepford Cuckoos, who finds the group. As they prepare to leave, they also find Jubilee and Sooraya, who also agree to go, simply because it’s something to do.
Back in the Institute, Brian Cruz goes looking for Quentin Quire, who did not show up for their meeting. He opens Quentin’s door to find him lying dead in his bed. Later, Shan tries to comfort Brian and tells him that they think Quentin shut his own brain off. Dr. Garrison shows up to tell them that in recent sessions, Quentin had spoken of suicide, but the thought upsets Brian and he runs off. In Japan, Moonstar and Scion meet with Emperor Sunfire, who dismisses their inquiries into the nature of Project Genesis. He asks where Surge is, and Danielle explains that she pulled her from the assignment because of her father. Sunfire gets angry over the use of the term and explains his history with her and her father. Elsewhere in Tokyo, Surge’s team approaches the warehouse Hodge spoke of, and she plans to go in, against the advisement of David. She walks in and tells who she is, but a man with a blade on his arm tells her that they can’t allow her to leave alive.
Review: I’ll spare you my problems with the overall premise of this House of M tie-in, so if you missed my last issue’s review, click the Previous button and read it. I liked this issue better than the last, mainly because DeFillipis and Weir got very creative in their use of some of the characters’ powers, particularly Wither and Elixir. The idea of a torture session consisting of rotting one’s body, then quickly healing it so the process can begin anew was disturbingly neat. I would complain about Prodigy’s using of Cypher’s mutant powers (since Prodigy can only copy skills, not powers), but I realized that they’re thinking of Cypher’s powers as allowing him to learn the languages, which then become a skill that can be copied. David’s detection of Jubilee by suddenly learning Chinese was another neat effect.
I’m questioning how all this will come together, though. Whatever Project Genesis is, it’s horrible enough to have the smart kids going after it as well as being kept a mystery from the readers. Maybe the writers just haven’t figured out what it is. Who knows? How’s Tag going to factor into the story? Aaron Lopresti’s art was a little more solid this issue, though I’m still not exactly enjoying it. I have a feeling I was supposed to recognize the guy with the blade on his arm, but I didn’t. Donald Pierce, perhaps? Why would Magneto, in creating a great world for himself, allow mutant-haters to still be mutant-haters? If he can change the entire frickin’ world, surely he can make the likes of Hodge and Pierce happy?
Anyway, we’re halfway through this story now. Don’t worry if you’ve missed a part of it. It’s not going to matter in two months.