#wrongslide

Fall of the House of X #4 (2024)

From Fall of the House of X #004, “The Turn”

Art by Lucas Werneck, Jethro Morales and Bryan Valenza

In order to help the dying Krakoa, Apocalypse has to give blood and mutant energy from both himself and some mutant volunteers. Sunfire and the mutant flyers have to keep Orchis from interfering so that Apocalypse could continue his ritual. However, the ritual also requires sacrifice by doing the Mutant Crucible which means that the mutant volunteer must fight Apocalypse to the death (and it's a hopeless boss fight). Wrongslide volunteers to have a duel with Apocalypse in the hopes of coming back as the real Santo Vaccarro in case he revives. Apocalypse shatters his body and his pure mutant energy replenishing the tree. Before dying, Wrongslide asks Apocalypse to thank the "real" Santo for allowing him to live and exist for the few years he existed.

I know plenty of people just aren't a fan of Wrongslide, the guy who basically took Santo's place in the mutant world. If I could bring back Santo, I would probably do something bombastic. I would probably have his soul end up in Hell and his friends go to save him, only for them to see he's surviving like he's Doom Guy.

Maybe it could tie it in to my other idea, have it that the New X-Men initially go to Hell to save Laura only to find out Santo is also there. Maybe Mephisto notices their presence and tries to make bit of a deal or something: the New X-Men can only save one, Santo or Laura.

I've EXPRESSED before my disappointment (and anger) at Rockslide's death back during the X OF SWORDS event in 2020. And to add insult to injury, ever since his death at the hands of Summoner, we barely saw him... or, whoever was resurrected in his place.

In the most recent issue of X-Men: RED, we finally got to see this character, Wrongslide, as the kids call him, and he was no longer the barely-coherent, child-like character that was brought back. He spoke, and not only spoke, but spoke eloquently and showed that there was an actual character under the recognizable outer image.

Not to mention a self-awarness that we sometimes don't get from long established characters.

We have what is basically a new character (for all intents and purposes) openly acknowledging that his very presence causes emotional harm to those who knew Santo, not because of anything he did purposefully, but because or his resemblance to their friend.

The only other time I can recall something similar happening within the X-Books was when it came to Madelyne Pryor and the fact that she's a clone of Jean Grey. Most recently, in the early pages of Zeb Wells' HELLIONS run, where while not openly acknowledged, it was heavily implied that the reason the Quiet Council decided to not resurrect Maddie had to do with her appearance and how it made Jean and Scott feel. Nothing at all like what we've seen with Wrongslide, where we do get the former, but we also get acknowledgement from Wrongslide himself, as well as his thoughts on the matter.

And it makes me glad that we're finally talking about Death in an age of mutant immortality, recent events during the Hellfire Gala and the Eve of Judgment Day notwithstanding.

I was just as excited about the prospect of resurrection for mutants when Hickman took over the X-Office, if for no other reason than to see characters that were killed off for the shock value of it, characters that had so much potential and were now suddenly back on the board and ready to go. But along with that, we now had the moral quandary of "what next?"

What happens when death is meaningless?

We saw glimpses of it Si Spurrier's WAY OF X, with Kurt worried about what immortality was doing to mutants, particularly the children, with them treating it like a joke or a thrill. I'm glad for the conversation started in that book and I'm glad for the continuation of that conversation here. Not just with Wrongslide, but with Magneto on the Great Ring and Storm and the Galactic Council. While I was all for Storm telling off Orbis Stellaris, he did have a political point to counterweight the philosophical point.

What happens if your leaders can't die?

And as Magneto pointed out, he didn't want to end up like Moira, cracking under the weight of all those years and becoming an immortal despot.

Wrongslide answered those questions, the conversation flowing between all three parts (Magneto and the Great Ring, Storm and the Galactic Council ans Wrongslide and Sunspot) before the natural conclusion to the question of Death was said out loud.

It is life.

What is the purpose of life if it doesn't end? Do they all become like Sinister or Moira, obsessed with whatever they set their minds toward? I hope not. Personally, I love this whole issue (i love this whole run), because it acknowledges that life ends and starts again. And I love that Wrongslide openly says it.

I also love Berto's panicked expression

Overall, I love Wrongslide's take on the whole situation, particularly his specific circumstances where his progenitor died in Otherworld, thus paving the way for this lovely person we've now received. It offers a new perspective on death and life in a time where a lot of Marvel characters have "conquered" death.

And it brings me to my point (a point finally emerges), which is that the entire commentary of this issue reflects Marvel comics (really all comics) as a whole. We often mourn a character, not only when they die, but when they transfer from one writer to another, from one artist to another. We mourn the version of them that we've come to love, but they're just transitioning to the next stage of their "life", which will happen again, sooner or later.

There have been a number of characters that have changed hands where I've been either happy or sad at the new person controlling their strings. Quentin Quire, Akihiro, Betsy Braddock, Sabertooth, hell, even Sinister, have all gone from characters that I never particularly liked to characters I look forward to seeing. And that wouldn't have happened if they hadn't "died" and switched to a new creator.

It's like Tarot said during the X OF SWORDS event when Storm drew the Desth Card:

"Do not be afraid. This is not the card of failure and decay, but of the natural harvest. The season before can never come again. Metamorphosis."

So if there's a character you don't particularly like lately, whether it's how they're written or how they're drawn, just be patient and wait until their next Metamorphosis.

When all is said and done, even though I am still devastated by Rockslide's death and their (Marvel) general lack of dealing with it on an emotional level, I do enjoy this new incarnation and look forward to seeing him on Arakko in future issues of X-Men: RED as hinted at by Berto.

It's life.