X-Men Legacy #2 - "Prodigal, Part 2"

[laughing_tree]

'All too often David really has just been used as a convenient plot device. "We need a big threat!" "We need a ticking time-bomb!" "We need a mutant who gouges holes in the galaxy's alabaster face every time he sneezes!" -- which is all well and good, but misses an amazing opportunity to get inside the head of such a remarkable, tragic, heroic character.' -- Si Spurrier









Meanwhile, while David meets his mysterious helper face-to-face, the X-Men are investigating his situation:

















"Just a coupla hundred to go."

Comments

[gnarll]

I used to think Legion was misdiagnosed.

When he debuted, he had three extra personalities, with three strong, basic powers. Telepathy, telekinesis, and pyrokinesis.

The the whole"No more mutants" happened. We saw all that energy floating around and trying too root itself in an issue of the Avengers.

And when we next saw Legion, he had more than a thousand personalities and powers, mostly bad people.

My notion was that Legion simply has the power to create mutant minds. Maybe bodies too if you let it develop. (Or use Mardox). His dad has a smidgen of that power too, both the Entity and Onslaught came about that way. Thats the power Legion inherited, was my theory.

So what do the X-men do? They diagnose him as a multiple personality, somewhat understandably -and they try to reintegrate all those mutant minds, blocking him up completely. No wonder things have gone a bit septic in there.

[obsidianwolf]

IIRC in his first appearance it was said that when David's mind first shattered it was said hundreds possibly thousands of personalities were created. However, the mind of the repentant terrorist that he'd absorbed had been trying to rebuild him by erasing those personalities one at a time and reconstructing the original David. The other two who stuck around were simply the most stubborn and managed to hang on to their individuality.

[wizardru]

I think it's more that Chris Claremont had no more understanding of Schizophrenia, MPD or other mental ailments than what he got from pop culture when he created Legion, so it's not that he's misdiagnosed so much as miswritten for his powers/abilities/affliction.

I'm really of mixed minds about Spurrier's take on the character. I like the notion more than the execution, really.