Hm. So Angel's the obvious culprit if the clues are to be believed, though I don't think it will be that simple.
Everyone's acting suspicious in this issue except for Hank. Why is Charles making jokes when one of his teachers has been murdered hours before? Why is Jean acting like such an arrogant cock? And why IS that sundial knocked over (makes me think of the whole 'Who Shot Mr. Burns' thing). Why is Xorn saying weird, suspicious shit like his disclaimer to Bishop before the interrogation, and 'Meditating, I believe'? Why is Angel yelling at Xorn like he's a servant? What does the Kick really have to do w/ the murder? And where the hell does Nightcrawler come from and then subsequently disappear to?
Back in #138, I remember being highly skeptical when Angel told Beak she was pregnant (it had only been something like 3 days since they supposedly were physically involved), but that page's comments from both of them take on weird meaning now, looking back. (Angel saying they'll be kicked out unless they 'do something' fast. Beak being confused why this has anything to do with him (though that could easily be teenage ignorance)). I'm pretty positive those 'things' in the cabin are Angel's eggs/larva. If it isn't just accellerated mutant reproduction processes (and Angel really is the excessive teen pregnancy type, isn't she?), maybe some Kick set her into high gear. I think if the person holding the gun on the last panel isn't Angel, it's likely a red herring, possibly Scott, having found the murder weapon.
If his motivation was caring for Angel's baby(ies), Barnell can't have been the supplier of Kick, since he wasn't aware of it until after the Riot. I think he's likely blowing his own actions out of proportion, given his penchant for self-loathing and melodrama. This whole arc's gone rather melodramatic, though, so who knows...
If Angel DID shoot Emma, or coerced Beak into doing it, it may have been on the influence of Xorn, getting back to the 'healing her by shattering her diamond form' thing. Can't Xorn read minds, anyway, or see motivations? He can look at people and see all the way into their past lives... Perhaps he knew something was going to happen and allowed it. It's almost completely out of character for Xorn to do something like that, but he is acting rather strangely this issue. Maybe it's the way Jimenez draws him. Quitely & Van Sciver made it look like Xorn was perpetually deep, but Jimenez's rendering looks more like a robot. I love his version of Angel, and the Cuckoos. And I love all the little touches in the panels. The child's drawing of the monkey being shown to the prisoner in the prison visiting area. The pictures on Charles' desk (Who is that in the picture on panel 2 of page 7? I can make out Scott, but the rest is a mystery)
I get the feeling the circumstances of the murder and the identity of the killer will come from left field, sort of. Or rather, I don't know if the reader has been given the information to piece together the solution to the mystery. Some amazing, Batman-style deductions will likely be present next issue to wrap things up, if we get a wrap-up at all.
And I think Hank's actually going to put Emma back together.
It's weird getting all these notes of dischord and strife and shady / violent motivation in New X-Men. I'd really enjoyed the Xen aspect that it had through the end of the Imperial arc. Regardless, I'm enjoying the ride. And I must say that Kick/Fantomex/Weapon Plus chain of ideas posted above is intriguing. |
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