Mr. and Mrs. X No. 7 review: Mojo breaks through the fourth wall
By Alex Widen
Rogue and Gambit are in the thrall of Mojo! Yet does this satire cut too close to the mark?
Mr. And Mrs. X No. 7
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Oscar Bazaldua
Colorist: Frank D’Armata
Cover Artists: Terry & Rachel Dodson
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Many of the X-Men’s enemies are darker mirrors of themselves. Magneto is the easiest example, who represents the polar opposite of their motivations. Yet Apocalypse represents the corruption of raw power, and Mister Sinister represents mad science gone wild. Even the Juggernaut offers a polar opposite to the X-Men’s founder. And then there is Mojo, who, like Arcade, is a villain who usually represents a lighter and crazier diversion from the usual morally grey drudgery the franchise often engages in. Both rogues favor deathtraps, and at times have bordered on satire.
Image by Marvel Comics
While there have been long stretches of time where Arcade has been taken seriously (Avengers Arena, Avengers Undercover), that’s been thankfully rare of Mojo. Existing as a bloated satire of TV network executives at best, he’s been the primary nemesis of Longshot and branched out to other heroes on occasion. His gimmick is abducting random superheroes to provide fodder for intergalactic TV programs to the bloated masses of Mojoworld. Now, he has Rogue and Gambit!
Image by Marvel Comics
How Many Production Offices Have Such a Wheel?
The newlywed X-Men finally arranged an engagement party, which featured their teammates, ex-lovers, and an attack by the Thieves’ Guild! Yet thanks to a mysteriously placed box, the pair have found themselves chained up over a vat of crocodiles! Yet not even their trademark banter and talk of biting rear ends can amuse their abductor, Mojo. Flanked by his minions Spiral and Major Domo, he’s seen it all before and wants something both fresh and retro. Bring on the “Wheel of Genre!”
Image by Marvel Comics
Easily the strongest joke within this issue, the “Wheel of Genre” is what it sounds like. Mojo spins the wheel and his TV show gets relaunched in whatever trite stereotypical genre is listed. They include things like “horror,” “western,” “musical,” “noir,” and of course, “clowns” (which Mojo is fondest of). Considering Marvel Comics’ own fondness for the relaunches of titles, some readers might imagine a similar apparatus existing in some senior executive editorial offices!
Image by Marvel Comics
Much to Spiral’s chagrin, the wheel gets spun and Mojo hit on “Noir.” As a result, Gambit and Rogue find themselves cast in a shameless relaunch of Moonlighting, dubbed “Honeymoonlighting.” The special effects are higher, Rogue is in a leather outfit that Cybill Shepard would never be caught dead in, while Gambit is narrating with his worst Bogart impression. Despite the modern trappings, Spiral takes Mojo to task a little on reviving such an old franchise.
Image by Marvel Comics
Back from a Time When Bruce Willis Had Hair!
As with most victims of Mojo, neither Rogue or Gambit seem aware that anything is the matter. This is just their life now — being leather clad private eyes trading flirty innuendo at each other. Yet isn’t this what the pair have been known for the most? The pair’s scene in an air vent parallels a bit from Rogue & Gambit No. 2. Their “plot” involves finding a trinket from a horde of villains, which is as routine for them as Gambit throwing a card or Rogue punching someone thru a wall!
Image by Marvel Comics
For a short while it seems like “stock” Rogue and Gambit. They’re hopelessly outnumbered by villains, but they’re more interested in flirting with each other. As per the reboot, Moonlighting was the prime example of a TV show which relied on smoldering romantic tension between the two leads, which was said to have lost its edge when they “finally” consummate their relationship midway through its third season. Ever since, plenty of other media franchises, including comics, seem to operate under the premise that a progressive romance dooms a narrative’s life.
Image by Marvel Comics
And this works for the titular pair, who for many fans are better known for teasing than getting serious. Mojo pushes against the “fourth wall” between fantasy and reality by noting to Spiral that these two are the only major X-Men couple who are still both popular and still together. Their marriage was done in the ashes of a story which split up Kitty and Colossus (again), for instance. As a result, this issue seems like a satire of not just TV, but with some of Marvel’s own past policy.
Image by Marvel Comics
Mojo Is the Ultimate Corporate Tool!
Unfortunately, after a while Rogue begins to realize something is horribly wrong. This is due not purely due to her willpower, but because Xandra’s meddling has drastically altered her powers beyond what any of their captors have seen before. As a result, Rogue begins to literally drain the energy from the world itself, including Gambit. Before she knows it, her powers have withered him to a husk. Not only is this horrible for Rogue, it’s ruined a perfectly good take for Mojoworld!
Image by Marvel Comics
With Major Domo continuing as a fawning toady, Spiral is what passes as a voice of reason. She notes that Rogue’s powers are like nothing they’ve recorded before, and that Mojo is working off old ideas, rather than anything genuinely innovative. He proves her point with another spin of the wheel and another genre, this time a fantasy romance. Gambit’s fate remains unknown as Mojo has decided to recast him entirely with his realm’s original star attraction — Longshot!
Image by Marvel Comics
Kelly Thompson displays an educated understanding of the antagonist of her piece. Some writers make Mojo a generic villain, or an annoying comic relief. Thompson may shift towards the latter, yet she totally gets that he’s the embodiment of vapid media producers. He cares only for ratings, nostalgia, and manipulating everyone around him for personal gain, not art. His best ideas are old ideas someone else made eons ago. In fact, her satire is so biting that she comes close to even mocking some of her own storytelling choices.
Image by Marvel Comics
Like Most Good Satire, There Is a Message behind the Gags!
After all, this run started out with a honeymoon in space, which felt almost as random as if done by spinning a wheel. As West Coast Avengers readers may realize, Thompson is hardly shy about dangling heroes over vats of aquatic predators. And even the shift from a previous issue focusing on personal subplots to this one which shifts gears to satire, for better or worse Mr. And Mrs. X feels like a series which hasn’t found its feet and is trying a variety of storytelling choices.
Image by Marvel Comics
The Moonlighting comparison is apt, because it’s a point which fans and some creators in comics often miss. Contrary to popular beliefs, it wasn’t simply having the main couple “finally do it” which crippled the show. In fact, much of the show’s doom was due to other factors, such as the leads wanting to focus on families and/or film careers. Yet so many fictional romances have been stuck in a rut for decades precisely because people learned the wrong lesson, so who better to expose this folly than one of the primary targets? Do fans really want to see these bits endlessly?
Image by Marvel Comics
Finally, the appearance of Longshot also allows for some comparisons. Debuting in his own 1985 one-shot, he could easily be seen as an inspiration to Gambit. Longshot is agile, uses throwing weapons, has a fashion sense connected firmly to a particular decade, and has a bombastic personality. What Longshot was in the mid 1980s, Gambit seemed to be for the early 1990s. It will be interesting to see how much or little in common the pair have in the next issue.
Image by Marvel Comics
Can This Series Have Its 4th Wall and Break It Too?
Oscar Bazaldua returns on regular art, and he’s given an off the wall plot to run with! Much like with the space sequences, he excels with the scenes with Mojo and Spiral. From the ranting and raving of the bloated alien cyborg to the magical weaving of the techno-witch herself, these villains have rarely looked better. And while Rogue and Gambit have battled nameless minions many times before, the action panels always have a sense of kinetic flow and excitement.
Image by Marvel Comics
Next. Survive an X-Men Engagement Party in No. 6!. dark
Yet what makes this issue memorable is the spoof behind Mojo. He is a character published by a company which does relaunches more often than the wind blows who makes a mockery of the practice. He exposes just how lazy, haphazard and ultimately ineffective such tactics can be. The fact that a Marvel editor actually signed off on this reveals a tremendous sense of humor. While this series can sometimes feel like it is throwing things at a wall to see what sticks, it also wants to genuinely explore what Rogue and Remy being married feels like. Hopefully it can straddle both urges effectively.