X-Men: Messiah Complex- Chapter One
X-Men: Messiah Complex Vol. 1 #1 is Chapter One of Thirteen in the Messiah Complex event. It was written by Ed Brubaker, pencilled by Marc Silvestric, inked by Joe Weems, Marco Galli, Sheldon Mitchell, colored by Frank D’Armata, lettered by Chris Eliopoulos and edited by Nick Lowe. It was released by October 31, 2007 with a cover date of December 2007.
Professor X assembles a field team to investigate the situation, as Beast works on getting Cerebra back online. The group travel to Cooperstown, Alaska to find the entire town burning to the ground. The X-Men immediately spread out to help any survivors. A distraught woman, holding her daughter’s smoldering corpse, steps out from the distance. Emma calms her down and then enters her mind to see past events unfold. She witnesses the girl’s death at the hands of the Purifiers, and the arrival of the Marauders. Emma sends Angel to the wreckage of a nearby hospital, where he discovers that the Purifiers had killed all the babies in case one was a mutant. Birth records provide evidence to suggest that the newborn mutant was not killed in the conflict.
Tropes:
- Beyond the Impossible: The Mutant gene manifesting at birth is something that simply does not happen.
- Doomed Hometown: Cooperstown is completely burned to the ground with minimal survivors.
- Downer Beginning: The story starts with the X-Men arriving in Alaska and seeing the absolute carnage in Cooperstown, far too late to prevent it.
- Endangered Species: Thanks to the Scarlet Witch, a giant portion of the mutant population has been depowered and new ones are not being born.Professor X: This is every mutant that Cerebra can locate…a few hundred…
- Posthumous Character: Revered William Stryker is long dead yet his influence lives on in his Purifiers and the monster he commissioned, Predator X.
- Psychic Nosebleed: When the mutant messiah is born, its power is strong enough to wreck Cerebra and gives Professor X a nosebleed, much to his excitement.
- Would Hurt a Child: In their initial assault, the Purifiers specifically only attack children and even went as far as to murder babies just in case one was a mutant.
