I've always appreciated Grant Morrison as a writer. Seamlessly, he can take any comic book property, display his view on the subject matter, and execute a cohesive and engaging story. Whether it be displaying the psychological rabbit-hole that is Batman's mind, the mythological ties that create Wonder Woman, or the sheer power and importance of Superman, Morrison is the kind of writer who can write anything-confusing or not-and hook a reader. One such success under his belt is today's Z-Lister, Xorn.
Xorn was created by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely in "New X-Men Annual #1" in 2001. Xorn is a Chinese mutant with healing powers, gravity manipulation, manipulation of metal and electricity, teleportation, telepathy, and he has a sun in his head. Yes, this mutant has a miniature sun inside his skull. It is this sun that gives him some of his powers, as well as makes him immune to telepathy. Due to the sheer power of this sun, Xorn is forced to wear a metal mask like "The Man in The Iron Mask". Xorn is found by The X-Men as the Chinese government had been planning on selling him off to a mutant terrorist. Cyclops and Emma Frost are able to convince Xorn not to kill himself by removing the helmet and to instead join The X-Men. During his time on The X-Men he healed many mutants of a Nano-Sentinel virus and even restore Professor X's spine to perfection, allowing him to walk. In addition to this, Xorn was put in charge of a "Special Class" of misfit mutant children. These students often teased him and mocked him, much to Xorn's displeasure. Despite that he was determined to help these children and eventually gained their respect.
During the arc "Planet X" it is revealed Xorn is actually Magneto in disguise. He infiltrated the X-Men, crafted the Xorn identity, and created the circumstances he needed to get close. Magneto brought the Nano-Sentinel virus back and crippled Professor X yet again. He planned on using a mutant drug called Kick to enhance his powers enough to level New York City, imprison all of it's human citizens in concentration camps, and reverse the magnetic poles of the Earth. This was Magneto's endgame, he attempted to recruit his "Special Class" onto his Brotherhood of Mutants, but they refused and begged Magneto to be like Xorn again. Just as the students believed, Magneto discovered "Xorn" was not just a disguise, but an alternate personality built from his better emotions and motivations. This crisis of identity causes Magneto to lose his battle with The X-Men, but in final attack he kills Jean Grey with some metal shards and Wolverine decapitates him.
Morrison was very happy with this story. He left clues leading to Xorn's true reveal and won over many fans with this one-time character. However, the Marvel Editors wanted to bring Xorn back as he was very well-received. But when Morrison refused, they asked writer Chuck Austen to bring Xorn back. Additionally, Marvel wanted the story to be retconned because Magneto's actions were too evil even for him.
So, as the Marvel Editors demanded, between "Excalibur" and "Uncanny X-Men" it is established Magneto is alive and was never Xorn. The mutant terrorist I mentioned earlier had apparently brainwashed Xorn into believing he was Magneto, to the point that he reconstructed his face to look like him. When Magneto killed all those people and attacked The X-Men in "Planet X" it was a brainwashed Xorn the whole time. In the pages of "X-Men" Austen introduced a new Xorn named Shen Xorn, who was the twin brother of the first Xorn (Kuan-Yin Xorn). The new Xorn has similar powers to his brother, but instead of a sun this Xorn has a small black hole in his head. It has similar abilities and apparently Xorn can change the black hole into a sun and vice versa, another ability he shared with his brother, but an ability we never saw from the first Xorn. For obvious reasons.
Shen Xorn had aided The X-Men in fighting The Brotherhood of Mutants and would not appear again until the end of "House of M" where is one of a thousand mutants to lose his powers. All of the powers stripped from the mutants inexplicably became bound to a postal man in Canada named Michael Pointer. Pointer's mind had also been corrupted by the wandering mind of the original Xorn-who was still psychologically twisted. The New Avengers are able to separate Xorn from Pointer and-poetically-throw Xorn into the Sun. Pointer would maintain his powers and join Alpha Flight as Shen Xorn (yet again an only child) sat in solitude in a Tibetan temple. Magneto would visit Xorn from time-to-time to aid him in spiritual healing, a type of therapy for Magneto. Xorn now uses this temple as a safe haven for lost mutants.
The original Xorn story is pretty solid. I'll agree with Marvel Editorial in that Magneto doesn't have to be that evil, he's a morally gray character after all. But the whole Xorn persona was so flushed out and detailed that when it was revealed to be Magneto it was a heart-stopper in a good way. In a way that shows how clever of a writer Morrison is. To make you like a new character and then surprise you with their true intentions. And it is crappy Marvel went and created a new Xorn and ruined the original one by painting him as a mislead villain. I like Xorn's concept as much as anyone else, but it's just a really disrespectful and slimy move to retcon the character and create a new "company controlled" one. That being said I like Shen Xorn too. Monks are such interesting characters in fiction and the whole "sun/black hole in the head" gimmick is really unique to these characters. I hope to see more of Xorn in the future as a supporting character. Strictly as a supporting character because I don't think any major Xorn story can top the twist-play of Morrison's story. Xorn in every version is a character of surprises and mystery. A character so mysterious even Marvel doesn't know what he's about.
Thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment