The tragic ballad of Paige & Mortimer, Part I

[flint_marko]

I've had a lot of problems with Wolverine and the X-Men, but I enjoyed the romance between Toad and Husk, even though their storyline had a lot of flaws.

In X-Men: Regenesis #1, Toad wants to leave Utopia with Wolverine's side.



In Wolverine and the X-Men #1, we see the opening of Wolverine's Jean Grey School.





One of the problems with the storyline is how the X-Men treat Toad. They treat him like crap and it's used as comic relief, but I just ended up feeling sorry for him and thinking they were jerks.

In #9, the X-Men are teaching the students flight training.



Quentin Quire has a vision of the Phoenix and falls to the ground.




In #14, Kitty is trying to hold down the school with the remaining staff during AvX.





I wasn't too crazy about this scene either, and it doesn't really make sense for Toad to be acting like this anyway since we already know that Husk is interested in him. 

In #15, Toad takes Husk to the caves under the school.




In #18, Paige is in Kitty's office.



We see Paige zoning out while Quire and Glob Herman get in a fight.










Another problem I had was with how of much of their relationship happened offscreen. I think it would have been more interesting to see them go on a date instead of Iceman and Kitty Pryde.

Toad and Husk's storyline continued in the Hellfire Saga, which I'll be posting next.

Comments

[his_spiffynesss]

Yeah, Toad has been the X-men's sad sack since forever, and sadly the Ray Park transformation in the first X-men movie didn't stick.

[big_daddy_d]

Kinda don't mind that he doesn't look like Ray. Let's have a big guy get the beautiful person. Also really glad she's not with Angel anymore... just... wow that was, I rather forget that ever happened.

[icon_uk]

Bachalo is one of those artists who, whilst I can appreciate the talent and style, just can't bring myself to actually like.

Is Paige's issue, whatever it is, ever actually addressed?

Yeah, the treatment of Toad, who everyone knows has the self esteem of a hole in the ground, is pretty damn shitty. His having the skin-shell is indeed pretty creepy, but as for him already knowing Paige was interested in him, with his track record, he's probably already talked himself into not believing it to be what actually happened.

Oh, and Kitty, Paige may have been one of Emma's students, but she's also Sam's sister (like he'd ever give up on her as easily as that) and as you've already noted she does have some sort of a problem, her time with Emma is hardly germane to the matter at hand, or helpful.

[flint_marko]

Is Paige's issue, whatever it is, ever actually addressed?

Yeah, at the end of the series it's revealed that it's part of a secondary mutation, and she gets help with it.

[protogarrett]

What was it? O.o

[shadowpsykie]

It;s the whole problem i had with the series.. the ART.

and the excess of logan and his self righteousness... i could have borne with one or the other.

[razsolo]

So whose bright idea was it again to neuter nearly every single mutant enemy the X-Men have? I mean it's the Toad, it's not like he accomplished a lot as a bad guy but he's still the dude who killed Sauron's girlfriend and tried to murder a bunch of different X-Men on occasion...

I really feel like lumping all mutants under the X-banner after M-Day was very short-sighted...it's like Mystique and Sabretooth are the only mutant bad guys anymore (and Mystique flip flops more than a fish out of water)

[crinos]

Yeah, that's kind of the problem when you wipe out 90 percent of the mutants in the universe: Most of your bad guys are either depowered or end up joining you because both your and their numbers have been cut down drastically.

Which is why I HATE M DAY. I HATE IT. I WANNA KICK IT IN THE NUTS! AHHHHH! *Smashes head on desk*

Sorry, its just... someone on the atomic think tank is doing Initiative builds, and its bring back some bad and angry memories about some of the stupid crap Marvel has done over the years.

[crinos]

Also, while Today having a date with Husk's discarded skin is creepy yes, but you know what else is ceepy? Leaving your shedded skin, dressed in clothes, sitting in a chair next to you for no real reason.

Seriously Paige, you're like my favorite Gen X member after Penance. What the Hell?

[cainofdreaming]

How does that even work? She rips through the old skin to get out of it, so she'd had to have taped it together again or something for it to be whole like that.

[crinos]

My only explanation is that she shed her skin in her room, stuffed it with shredded newspaper (or maybe her own offal), dressed it up in her clothes, and sat it at the table for the express purpose of fucking with Kitty. Like some crazy human skin scarecrow.

Seriously, if not for the fact that is her entire super power to shed her own skin, that would be the most horrifying thing ever.

And why the heck does it look like her skin is falling apart in all of this?

[flint_marko]

She's having trouble controlling her powers.

[halloweenjack]

I think that part of the problem is that Aaron likes to go for the cute/funny moment over something that would make sense.

[beyondthefringe]

Seeing the way Toad changes between Regenesis and WatXm is really, really jarring. I know he's always been subject to what I can only guess as evolutionary misfires with his body and powers, but I don't think anyone ever even comments on how his looks and personality change overnight.

But then again, here's a guy who's had more personality adjustments than almost any other X-character, from fawning sycophant to delusional megalomaniac, from confident rebel to lilypad-livered janitor...

[sir_mikael]

When Mr Sinister used The High Evolutionary to turn of every mutant's power, Toad went from being a short chubby dude and turned into a tall well-built guy. That changed back when everyone's powers returned. But I think it was the first acknowledgement that his mutation has screwed his body over big time.

Toad constantly changing was later addressed in X-Men Forever (the mini about x-heroes & x-villains time-travelling, not Claremont's continuation). He was a baby in an experimental program run by Destiny and Juggernaut's dad (and ultimately Mr Sinister, I think) and either his weird mutations were caused by them or they decided against fixing it just to see what would happen with him.
At the end of the story adult Toad has to get fixed and turns into movie-Toad cus that's the ultimate expression of his mutation. At the same time Mystique got turned into movie-Mystique.
Both of these changes have since reverted. I think Toad's lasted a lot longer tho. Actually I guess his movie-look really lasted until the pages above. Guess his genetic template fell apart again? Or something. Wanda did it?
So I think Toad more than many other characters have a built in explanation for constant changes in appearances. And as far as personality goes, it's possible that could be affected by changing body chemistry or more likely has to do with some mental illness which he probably has.

[crinos]

Plus there was all that time he was hanging around with the Stranger.

[silverhammerman]

Weird that no one's ever drawn parallels between him and Beast in that regard.

[crinos]

Well Beast hasn't changed looks nearly as often as Toad does. Beast has gone from humanoid to blue yeti to blue cat to back to Blue Yeti (Or is he still a blue cat I can't even keep track anymore.

Toad changes his looks just about every time there is a new artist.

[silverhammerman]

True, with Beast there's actually a story explanation when it happens, barring some minor style differences, whereas Toad tends to just be affected by artists' preferences.

Still, I think it's a link that a writer could explore if they felt like it.

[randyripoff]

The series wasn't perfect, and I've heard my fair share of complaints about Jason Aaron, but I enjoyed it while it lasted. It's always nice to see a title--especially an X-Title--that neither takes itself too seriously nor wallows in "The Mutant Angst".

[minervasolo]

I'd love to see a Paige mini series at some point. Her emotional arcs are complex and interesting and never fully explored. For example, her preferences for men who can't pass for human, and her desire to save them - Jono's depression can't be cured so easily, Angel moves on from Psylocke's death without her help, but Toad really wants redemption and they could actually really work together. If it were a novel written by one author I'd be impressed by her complexity, but considering it's mostly different writers and as much chance as anything else, she's a surprisingly coherent character.

I feel like secondary mutation is a bit of a cop out here. I didn't read the hellfire storyline, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it works out. She's undergone a huge amount of emotional trauma, and the x-men have completely failed to offer any support (they never do). That being an x-men and a hero has been her heart's desire ever since Sam joined them just makes it more tragic.

With four of Gen X's students now at the Jean Grey Academy, you could do a lot with a mini-series, maybe pulling back one of their old villains, and really explore what the hell is going on in all of their heads.