If you thought that Sabretooth had a weird evolution before becoming an X-Man villain, wait until you see the other Chris Claremont mutant created in the 70s for another title: Mystique.
Ms. Marvel #18 (1978)
by Chris Claremont & Jim Mooney
cover by Dave Cockrum
Once again, the main story has little to do with what I’m going to cover.
Technically speaking, Mystique appeared two issues earlier as a woman watching over Ms. Marvel… but I think these two panels hardly count.
In THIS issue, Ms. Marvel mostly fights a guy in an armored suit called Centurion.
The issue is slightly historically significant for Ms. Marvel because it’s the first time she teams up with the Avengers, and this story will be one of the reasons she’ll later be accepted as a member.
Centurion is working for a woman working in the Pentagon…
…who is, in turn, working for “the Lord”.
This is indeed the first appearance of Mystique, but she’s going by “Raven Darkholme” for the moment. Which might be the Victor Von Doom fan in me, but I always thought it was a cooler name than “Mystique”.
We have get a definitive answer for who “The Lord” is supposed to be, aside from speculation.
One would think that introducing a blue-skinned shapeshifter in a book starring a heroine who gets her powers from the Kree would have provide SOME connection to the Skrulls.
But Ms. Marvel was also fighting supernatural villains, and Mystique’s design definitely fits the supernatural aesthetic.
That the extent of her appearance in her first story. She shows up again in issue 22, stalking Ms. Marvel in her civilian identity.
Interestingly she’s still going by Raven Darkholme.
And that is all Mystique did in the original Ms. Marvel series, which was cancelled in issue 23.
We DO know what would have happened there, because…
Marvel Super-Heroes vol.2 #11 (1992)
plot by Chris Claremont
script by Simon Furman
pencils by Michael Gustovich & Mike Vosburg
…the story was completed 14 years later, working off Claremont’s original script.
The man that Mystique was stalking in the original story has been murdered, and as Ms. Marvel discovers thanks to Iron Man, someone looking like her was responsible.
The murderer is of course Mystique, and the victim is Ms. Marvel’s former love interest.
As well as her former psychiatrist. Yeah, that wasn’t exactly a healthy relationship.
Furman does a great job giving Ms. Marvel the same voice Claremont would. Unless the dialogue is also by Claremont.
Her investigation eventually gets her to fight the Hellfire Club. I highly doubt this was in the original plot.
This ultimately goes nowhere.
I also doubt Claremont had already planned link Mystique to her lover Destiny so early.
I can, however, believe that having a major part of the story being visions that Ms. Marvel is receiving thanks to her vaguely-defined “seventh sense” really WERE part of Claremont’s plot.
Introducing Rogue as being “a teen”, not so much.
Next, Ms. Marvel gets to fight the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
It’s not a long fight. I should point out that Blob has not been recruited yet, since I’d imagine he’d be a much tougher opponent for her.
Turns out that the reason why Mystique is so bent on destroying Ms. Marvel is due to a prophecy by Destiny that she would harm Rogue.
Might as well have been “because the plot says so”.
This leads to Rogue deciding to attack Ms. Marvel herself.
Which, as you probably know, results in Rogue absorbing her powers and her mind.
This means Destiny’s prophecy doesn’t really work, right?
I would have preferred if the prophecy was something more like “If Ms. Marvel fights Rogue, you will lose her forever” which works better as an ambiguous way to put it.
Historical significance
Original story: 2/10
You can EASILY skip Mystique’s Ms. Marvel appearance without losing anything, and the Avengers connection is tenuous.
Continuity insert: 0/10
I have a feeling that the original plot didn’t include anything about the Hellfire Club, the Brotherhood and Rogue. Even if it DID include Rogue, I highly doubt Claremont planned her to keep her powers.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Not much for both.
Does it stand the test of time?
Original story: N/A
Since this is not a proper review (Mystique is barely a sub-plot), I can’t give a real score.
Continuity insert: 6/10
It’s basically fine, but it tries to force too much stuff into it. Quoting Wolverine’s catchphrase is fine, since we’ll learn he knew Ms. Marvel, but the Hellfire Club serves absolutely no purpose. Plus the scenes about the visions drag on WAY too much, and the way Rogue is shown absorbing Ms. Marvel’s powers strains credibility a bit.
How close is this to the modern character? 3/10
The look is a Cockrum classic, but besides the shapeshifting powers there’s nothing from Mystique there.
Aside from this continuity insert, Mystique’s real appearance after the Ms. Marvel series was in 1981, on the famous “Days Of Future Past” storyline.
Notice Claremont re-introduces her “secret identity” exactly the way he did on Ms. Marvel.
Aside from that, her following appearance in 1981 is the story where we learn Rogue absorbed Ms. Marvel’s powers, Avengers Annual #10.
It’s Rogue’s first appearance, and while we don’t learn ALL the details of how she absorbed Ms. Marvel’s powers, everything is consistent with the later continuity insert.
Of course this is a Claremont story, so it figures he included what was in his original script for Ms. Marvel #25.
There would way, WAY too much to talk about that story… it’s a much-needed story after Ms. Marvel was treated horribly in the infamous Avengers #200… but Mystique is barely in it.
