X-Men 97 Episode 4 - Motendo / Lifedeath Pt 1

The comic origins behind the X-Men 97 episodes.

Apr 07, 2024

The fourth episode of X-Men 97 can actually be seen as two episodes; the first half as a stand alone episode where the second half picks up on the continuing story of Ororo dealing with the loss of her powers. As with the previous episodes, the stories drawn upon the wealth of material from the X-Men’s 61 years of comic book history. However, where the last few episodes drew upon stories primarily from the minds of Chris Claremont and Louise Simonson, this week also draws from stories from long time Marvel editor and writer, Ann Nocenti as well as writer and ocassional artist Larry Hama.

Also, another fun little Easter egg in each episode that I noticed last week, but waiting to confirm in this week’s episode is that the montage of scenes in the opening credits changes week to week, depending on the content of the episode. The “real” Jean Grey is now shown in the opening cast of characters and Storm and Bishop are no longer shown. This is very similar to how Marvel would change up the masthead of the left hand corner box on issues as the lineup changed in the books.

In the opening sequence, we see new scenes of Jubilee fighting Mojo with Longshot in the background and Forge as part of X-Factor, seen in the X-Men TAS episode “Cold Comfort.” Both characters will feature heavily in the two halves of the episode.

Motendo

The celebration of Jubilee’s 18^th birthday is dampened by Magneto’s demand for the X-Men continual training needs, especially Jubilee who, he thinks, needs to better master her powers. Complaining to Roberto in her room, she finds the “Motendo” game system complete with and X-Men themed game cartridge already there. Thinking it’s a gift from the X-Men, her and Roberto start playing and they are immediately taken into the game.

The picture on the cartridge is the same as the X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse Super Nintendo video game.

First attacked by a Sentinel in the city, they are then taken into another “level” via a phone call (similar to the way characters in the movie, the Matrix, would pull themselves out) they then find themselves in Genosha as seen in the X-Men TAS episode “Slave Island.” Seeing a character who doesn’t appear to belong, Jubilee tries to confront it when the two are stopped and Jubilee realizes they’re.inside a video game.

Mojo then appears and reveals that he’s behind their capture and wants / needs them to play and be “the star” to increase his ratings. Jubilee notices his loss of weight and Mojo admits “it’s been a tough 3^rd quarter”. Mojo needs ratings to survive and his shift from television to video games is meant to increase them.

Mojo

In the cartoon, the X-Men first meet Mojo in the Season 2 episode “Mojovision” and then in Season 5 “Longshot” where he used Jubilee as bait to get the X-Men to fight on screen for better ratings.

In the comics, we first meet both Longshot and Mojo in the “Longshot” limited series, written by Ann Nocenti, with amazing art by Art Adams and inks by Whilce Portacio. All three would go on to contribute heavily to various X-books in the Marvel Universe. Mojo is one of the “Spineless Ones” who create and control a slave race who are used to battle each other for the entertainment of the masses. Longshot was one of those slaves who escapes to Earth with no memory of the rebel uprising he started. The series follows Longshot as he tries to remember who he is, deals with interacting with new people on an unfamiliar world, the 616 Marvel Universe, all while trying to escape re-capturing by Mojo and one of his Lieutenants, Spiral.

During her search for Longshot on Earth, Spiral joins Mystique’s Freedom Form in Uncanny X-Men 199 and is part of the team that arrests Magneto prior to his trial at the World Court.

I covered those events in previous writings. Longshot eventually evades capture and is sent back the “Mojoverse” to continue the rebellion by Doctor Strange at the end of his series. Mojo, however, is intrigued by all the characters and events in the 616 universe and realizes it’s much more cost effective to just broadcast the continual fights between super heroes and super villains rather than producing them from scratch

His first plan involves the production of a children’s television series called Wildways. Months earlier, he and Spiral kidnap Betsy Braddock. Recently losing her eyes in a battle with the villain Slaymaster, Betsy is recovering in Switzerland where she has been able to get around by using her telepathic powers to “see” through the eyes of those around her. Betsy is the twin sister of Brian Braddock, Captain Britian and had been appearing heavily in his own book published by Marvel UK. She was first a pilot, then a fashion model, and then a member of S.T.R.I.K.E, the UK’s version of S.H.I.E.L.D. Betsy not only had strong telepathic powers to read minds, but was also a “psycho-blaster” able to focus those powers and fry the minds of her target. For a time, Brian gave up being Captain Britain and Betsy took on the role. On one of her first missions, she fought Slaymaster who gouged out her eyes. Brian rescued Betsy and returned to being Captain Britian while Betsy recovered. It was at this time that Marvel UK stopped publishing Captain Britain and the characters were “up for grabs.”

Chris Claremont created the character of Betsy Braddock and, while other writers like Alan Moore and David Thorpe would add to the character over the years, was quick to take her back and add her into the X-Universe. Her first “American” appearance would be in New Mutants Annual 2 where Mojo and Spiral kidnap her.

Using the popularity of the show, Mojo, Spiral and Betsy, now going by the name Psylocke, wold lure various children onto the Wildways, giving them their heart’s desire. After seeing his sister on the television show, Brian travels to America to rescue her only to get captured himself. One of the Children drawn into the Wildways was Roberto Dacosta, Sunspot of the New Mutants, who partners with Jubilee in the episode to play Mojo’s video game.

The New Mutants rescue their teammates; Rahne Sinclair, Wolfsbane, was also kidnapped, as well the other captured children and Brian Braddock. Doug Ramsey, Cypher, was able to free Betsy from Mojo and Spiral’s control. During her capture, Mojo “gifted” Betsy with bionic eyes allowing her to see again. When she broke from his control, Betsy wanted to remove them, wishing to have nothing to do with the tainted gift, but was unable to do so.

She didn’t realize that Mojo was able to use her eyes as cameras and see everything the X-Men would do for the next few months.

Betsy choose to stay at the mansion and continue her recovery there, eventually joining the X-Men after the events of the Mutant Massacre. Mojo would continue to watch and broadcast the X-Men’s adventures over the next few months. He targeted the team after Longshot appeared in the Danger Room, reverting the main team into children to showcase the. “X-Babies” as a new show.

The New Mutants would rescue them and the team reverted to their proper ages. It was only after the X-Men’s “death” in Dallas that broadcast feed back to the Mojoverse would be broken.

Spiral and Mojo would appear throughout the years in several stories, but it was a three part story in Wolverine’s solo series written by Larry Hama with art by Andy Kubret and Marc Silvestri, that had Wolverine, Spiral and Mystique fighting to undo Mojo’s latest ratings-gathering scheme.

Mojo had begun using new slaves called Plasma Wraiths and one of them, Abcissa, helped Mojo take Jubilee into the Mojoverse.

Mojo told Jubilee he would end his scheme and not destroy the fabric of the universe if she agreed to become his slave. He knew that she would agree to his demands as he reveals that Abcissa is actually an older version of Jubilee from a timeline where she said yes.

The portrayal of the older, virtual Jubilee in the episode, dressed similarly to Abcissa and voice by original Jubilee voice actor Alyson Court is taken right from this three part story arc.

Jubilee rejects Mojo’s offer and, by doing so, erases the timeline that Abcissa comes from. Mojo gives up his scheme and Wolverine and Jubilee are returned back to Earth very much the same as Jubilee and Roberto are returned to the mansion at the end of the first half of the episode.

Lifedeath - Part 1

Forge and Storm are staying at Forge’s cabin where he’s working to restore her powers. They are clearly attracted to each other and the more time they are spending together, the more their mutual attraction grows.

In the comics, Forge is first introduced as an independent contractor to the US Government. Tony Stark (Iron Man) had previously designed and built weapons for the government, but stopped doing so for moral and ethical reasons. Val Cooper, from the NSA and Raven Darkholme (Mystique) from DARPA are in Dallas to visit Forge and get an update on his progress on building weapons in the government’s ongoing battle against the Dire Wraiths.

Featured primarily in the ongoing ROM series, the Wraiths were extra-dimensional beings who used magicks as much as science in their battle against ROM and the other Spaceknights. The battle had come to Earth and begun to spill over into other series. Forge was working on two prototypes designed to work similarly to ROM’s alien weapons; an analyze and a neutralize. He had managed to produce both although the neutralizer he told them was not yet tested and he was unsure of the effects, both long and short term.

In this same issue, we briefly meet Naze, Forge’s former teacher, who is mad at Forge for turning his back on his “sacred duty.” Naze storms off as Val and Raven enter Forge’s home and workshop.

The following issue opens with a meeting at the Pentagon as Henry Peter Gyrich is giving a briefing on Rogue. The events from a few issues before where Rogue broke into a SHIELD helicarrier and freed Michael Rossi are discussed and the government has not declared her a primary target. They intend to use Forge’s neutralizer on her to strip her of her powers and any further threat she may pose. Mystique, in her Raven Darkholme persona, storms into the meeting to demand how Gyrich knew about the neutralizer as it was meant to be a top secret project. It’s revealed that Val Cooper read Gyrich in and thinks the best way to test the gun is to use it on Rogue

As Rogue is her foster daughter, Mystique is not about to let this happen and she lets Storm know both about the neutralizer and their intentions to use it on Rogue. She gives Storm a list of possible places that Rogue might be hiding and sends her to go after her. It’s just after this that we learn that Destiny, Mystique’s long time partner (Marvel wouldn’t allow same sex relationships to be portrayed overtly in those days) had a vision that whoever goes after Rogue to rescue will suffer the fate meant for Rogue. Mystique this is a win-win; Rogue will be rescued and they will cripple the leader of their foremost enemies.

Storm finds Rogue on the banks of the Mississippi River and convinces her to return to the team, even going so far as to let Rogue voluntarily borrow her powers to show that she does trust her. For a brief time, Rogue feels what it’s like to be a goddess and control the weather.

However, government forces led by Gyrich arrive and shoot at Rogue, causing her control over Storm’s powers to weaken. Rogue fights back but with erratic control over the weather, starts to lose control and a massive storm breaks out. The increasingly powerful storm places the crew of a nearby tug boat in jeopardy and Rogue attempts to rescue them by dissipating the storm. However, she finds she can no longer control the weather as the powers she borrowed from Storm have returned to Ororo. Storm manages to suppress the storm and her and Rogue pull the tug boat to shore and rescue the crew.

Gyrich sets the neutralizer to the most powerful setting and is about to take another shot at Rogue when Forge arrives to stop him. Causing Gyrich’s aim to miss Rogue, he hits Storm directly and she falls into the River.

Forge rescues her, yelling at Gyrich that he has destroyed Storm by removing her powers. The issue ends with the Dire Wraiths learning of Forge’s weapons and targeting him for death.

Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 186 is a double-sized masterpiece by Chris Claremont and Barry Windsor-Smith titled “Lifedeath.”

The issue primarily focuses, as with this episode, on Storm receiving under Forge’s care in the wake of losing her powers. Ororo is at first an almost comatose shell but she slowly starts to come around as Forge and her share their background. He tells her he lost his leg in Vietnam and, using his powers, was able to craft a prosthetic leg for himself. He’s hoping he can use those same powers to help restore Ororo’s powers as well. She shows him that she is still an accomplished pickpocket, a skill learned in her childhood on the streets of Cairo.

Rogue, who had survived the government attack last issue, is trying to find out what happened to Storm. She tracks down Val Cooper who is about to be taken over by a Wraith. The Wraiths have the ability to steal the minds and bodies of their victims; killing them in the process. It’s a more drastic version of Rogue’s own abilities and the similarity is not lost on her. She learns that Ororo is in Dallas with Forge and that her powers have been stripped from her.

Ororo and Forge are continuing their relationship about to have dinner. When Ororo first appears is an elegant dress, Forge is overwhelmed by her beauty. Embarrassed, she goes and puts on something much more causal, a pair of white overalls, the same as she wears during with Forge dinner in the episode.

She can hear the storm outside and Forge tells her to press a button on the nearby control panel. In an instant, the kitchen is gone and the two are literally in the middle of the storm. Forge used his powers to create a masterful holographic system in his penthouse, allowing him to display the outside weather around them. Ororo is overwhelmed. To be in the middle of storm she cannot feel or control without her powers was too much for her.

Forge stops the display and comforts Ororo, in the process they grow close and kiss. An incoming call stops them as Forge goes to continue his phone call in another room. Ororo, realizing she hasn’t contacted anyone on the team as to what happened, picks up the phone to cal them. She overhears Forge’s conversation with Gyrich and learns that Forge made the gun that stripped her of her powers.

Feeling betrayed ,she attempts to leave the penthouse and Forge reactivates the holograms to confuse and trap her so he can explain himself. Ororo uses the control module she still has and, ransoming pushing buttons, causes displays to appear of both the arclight bombing that cost Forge his leg in Vietnam, but of what can only be described as demons rushing through the forest.

Overwhelmed by the images, Ororo falls from one of the platforms and, in frustration, cries out for help. In response, an actual lighting strike from the storm causes an explosion and Ororo manages to run outside onto the balcony. Forge confronts her, trying to explain himself; he can protect her, he can save her, maybe even restore her. But Ororo does not believe him and punches him to get away from her. She tells him that she will recover on her own and walks out on him, into the storm.

The following issue has Ororo walking from Forge’s building, Eagle Plaza, in the driving rain. She is only a few yards away when she hears the lobby’s alarms go off as a Dire Wraith, teleporting into the building, is destroyed by lasers. Other wraiths, disguised as police officers manage to get into the lobby and disable the defense as Ororo is attacked by a Wraith outside. She manages to get away from it and get into the lobby and, despite shooting and wounding it, the Wraith is about to kill her when it’s head exploded. Naze has returned to help Forge, getting a vision that he was in trouble, and the two make their way to the penthouse.

Forge is under attack by several Wraiths and Helhounds while Naze and Ororo make their way up the building. Forge manages to activate his automated defense while Ororo manages to trap a Wraith out in the snow. The storm has turned to snow, in Dallas, due to an ongoing storyline in issues of Thor and the “Casket of Ancient Winters” and the Wraith succumbs to the cold. As Ororo resumes her journey to the penthouse, both her and Forge are hit by a psychic assault as something has happened to Naze; a cliffhanger story for another time.

As Ororo makes her way to Forge, the two fight the Wraiths and, with the arrival of Colossus and Rogue along with using Forge’s holograms to think that Spaceknights ROM and Starshine have arrived, distract the Wraiths long enough for Forge’s weapons to destroy the rest of the Wraiths. However, a new danger appears as the fabric of reality starts to break down and shadow beings start to emerge.

Forge realizes there must be another Wraith still alive and is possibly the cause and Ororo remembers the one she trapped outside in the snow must still be alive. Forge, with Ororo’s help, manages break free to go after the Wraith and, realizing they must fight magicks with magicks, Nightcrawler recruits his girlfriend, Amanda Sefton and the Professor sends Illyanna, Magik of the New Mutants to battle the sorcerous Wraiths.

Elsewhere in the building, Naze, still alive, is conducting a spell, contacting a “great one” to help his people in the hour of their need. In return, he offers the world. The spell gets out of hand as the “great one” recognizes Naze but sees his soul is now alien and easily defeats him; taking over his body and soul.

Amanda Sefton, Magik and the rest of the X-Men manage to hold back and defeat the shadow beings while Forge and Nightcrawler defeat the final Wraith. Storm then once again leaves Forge, telling him not to follow her or try to contact her again.

In the end of this episode, we are left with a cliffhanger. Forge and Ororo are attacked by a demon being who identifies itself as The Adversary who feeds off of anguish and despair and Ororo is a feast to be savored.

Forge and Ororo’s story picks up years later in the comics along with a conculsion as to what happened to Naze as well as introducing the Adversary. As there is an episode titled “Lifedeath Part II” in a couple of weeks, we’ll see how the series continues to adapt these stories.

Brian's Comic Book Insights

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