Sinister Monday #7

Grabbed my handful o comics on Friday and have made it through most of them, but nothing held my attention more than the Endangered Species one-shot. I realize it is a background piece, but it is an a/effective one. The funeral neatly brings many disparate figures together, and since the Endangered Species storyline will be effecting several X-lines, its important to gather everyone up, as they have been all over the place of late. I'm still sort of hazy on how the whole continuity thing works. I understand Whedon's Astonishing story is sort of in its own nebulous time-plane, how else could Cyke and Emma be attending a funeral on Earth when they are Breakworlding it up with Colossus and Kitty, et al out in space.

Getting a variety of mutants perspective on their 'inescapable' fate is a good idea for more reasons than just a "round 'em up." The reader gets a glimpse at the impressive diversity of Xavier's clan (and some of its enemies, past and present). This begs the question, why are the mutants 'past the point' of saving as a species? I've never really understood how the whole mutant gene works. With so many completely diverse powers and abilities, how on earth could mutant 'a' be anything like mutant 'b'? And with 198 or whatever mutants left, why does that spell species doom? Beast and writer Mike Carey's argument says that once a species gene pool is reduced to a such a drastic percent, the 'inbreeding' that would result from said population attempting to restore itself would fail to re-establish the mutant species. My question is: why? I guess I just wished they had a better definition to work with. I understand that this scarcity thing is how it works in nature, but its much different when you have 198 white pygmy fresh water crocodiles all living in the same inlet in southern China, since all the animals are from the same gene pool and incestuous to begin with but why so with Marvel mutants? Is Rogue anything at like Iceman? Wouldn't the child Cyke and Emma produce be entirely different than his son (Cable) whose mother was the Goblin Queen?

Anyhow, I especially liked the variety of reactions. Multiple man's vignette was funny if not poignant. Wolverine's felt a bit forced and 'heavier' than it need be. The thought that sure, he will outlast every living mutant is horrifying, that panel of him, gray-haired, alone in a cemetery is chilling, but when he gets a chance to speak later at the end, his words are far less weighty. In fact they kinda fall flat.

I realize HulkSmashWar will probably have longer lasting effects on the Marvel U (or for that matter, BENDIS!' skrullsploitation) but I've always loved the X-fam. If the Beast does find away to fix things (and the jury is still out) I'll gladly volounteer. What, they're fictional? hm. well shit.