Mekanix (later collected as X-Treme X-Men: Mekanix) is a 2002 comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics, part of the wider X-Men franchise. It's written by Chris Claremont with art by Juan Bobillo and Marcelo Sosa. Color art is provided by Edgar Tadeo and Avalon Studios.
The series, set in the shared Marvel Universe, stars Kitty Pryde, also known as Shadowcat, and takes place shortly after the annihilation of the mutant nation of Genosha (as seen in New X-Men), directly following on from a story starring Kitty in X-Men Unlimited.
Kitty Pryde's a mutant with the power to become intangible, 'phasing' through solid objects and disrupting electrical devices when she passes through them. For a long time, Kitty was one of the X-Men but, in the end, she saw too much death and lost too many people she loved. So she moved to Chicago, got a bartending job and started a university course, living a mundane life surrounded by people who have no idea that she has superpowers.
Even after she left the X-Men, death had one final gift for Kitty - her father, a normal human, was in Genosha when the island nation was attacked. Kitty eventually found video footage of him in a crowd, in the final seconds before a huge mutant-hunting robot killed them all.
Still reeling from his death, she ran into an outspoken anti-mutant group, 'Purity', spreading their bigotry on campus. And she kicked the crap out of them, without resorting to mutant powers. That fight almost got Kitty thrown out of university, but she's been allowed to remain - given one last chance - as long as she attends mandatory sessions with her new therapist.
But the 'Purity' rabble-rousers are still about, chasing rumors that there's a mutant on campus and making dangerous schemes to unmask them. And there's something far worse out at sea, a huge black ship sailing towards Chicago from dead Genosha.
Kitty wants a normal life. That doesn't mean she's going to get one.
The first issue was released October 1, 2002. The final issue (#6) was released March 1, 2003).
Mekanix provides examples of:
- Fantastic Racism: Anti-mutant prejudice is a recurring theme in the wider X-Men franchise, but takes center stage in Mekanix. Both threats - Purity and the Sentinels - are driven entirely by hatred of mutants.
- Left Hanging: One of the loose ends of the mini-series is Kitty's college mate Alice finding the stray wild sentinel and bringing it home with her.
- Ship Tease: At one point it looks very much like Kitty and Shan are about to kiss. But then the world intervenes and the moment's gone.
- There Are No Therapists: Notably averted. Kitty is required to attend therapy sessions if she wishes to stay on her university course. Although as neither the university nor the therapist knows she's a mutant, there's a lot she's not talking about.
- Xtreme Kool Letterz: Mekanix would, presumably, be Mechanics if the spelling wasn't styled that way; including a gratuitous X in a title happens a lot in X-Men comics, especially back in the 1990s. This was exaggerated when the title was changed for reprints, making it X-Treme X-Men: Mekanix.
