X-amining X-Men 2099 #7

"Hurricane Force"
April 1994

In a Nutshell
The X-Men meet Mama Hurricane

Writer: John Francis Moore
Penciler: Ron Lim
Inker: Jimmy Palmiotti
Letterer: Ken Lopez
Colorist: Tom Smith
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Plot
The fight between the X-Men and the Freakshow is brought to a halt by the arrival of Mama Hurricane and her associate Rosa. Elsewhere, Krystalin arrives at the home of Victor Ten Eagles, the person Xi'an sent her to contact. Back in Iron Horse, Mama Hurricane brings the X-Men into her base of operations, where Cerebra realizes that Rosa is pregnant with a mutant as Xi'an attempts to heal Metalhead of the disease with which Contagion infected him. Later, Hurricane confirms she is the same person who helped shepherd mutants to the sanctuary of Avalon during the Great Purge. Just then, a group of armored Trackers, seeking the Freakshow, attack the base, but working together, the X-Men & Freakshow fight them off. Afterwards, Xi'an declares he is going to find Avalon. Meanwhile, Victor Ten Eagles shows Krystalin the reason she was sent to him: a shadowy figure flying in the night sky, bearing an uncanny resemblance to Archangel.

Firsts and Other Notables
A trio of notable characters make their first appearance in this issue. First is Mama Hurricane, who is confirmed to be the same Hurricane who once helped shepherd mutants along the Underground Railroad. She will make a few appearances throughout the series moving forward (as well as popping up in an issue of the 2018 Multiple Man miniseries).

Second is Rosa, introduced here alongside Hurricane and revealed to be pregnant with a mutant child (detected by Cerebra), who will become a factor later in the series' run. Rosa will stick around, making even more appearances than Mama Hurricane, while developing a relationship with Metalhead.

The third is Victor Ten Eagles who, like Junkpile, was a member of the Lawless alongside Xi'an. He is not a mutant and possesses no powers, beyond a predilection for cybernetic technology and holographic artistry. He is introduced in a scene reminiscent of Forge's introduction, shocking Krystalin with a holographic environment - goosed by actual physical alterations, like blowing hot air at her - before revealing the ruse, and like Forge, Victor is also Native American, in this case a member of the Keewazi, the fictional tribe to which Fantastic Four supporting character Wyatt Wingfoot also belongs.

Via Mama Hurricane detailing some of her origins, this issue introduces some additional backstory on mutant history, such as the existence of MUSE (Mutant Underground Support Network), the organization that tried to save as many mutants as possible during the Great Purge (and to which Hurricane belonged), as well as the Driver, a compatriot of Hurricane's tasked with delivering mutants to a safe haven called Avalon. The Driver will appear (in the present) for the first time in a few issues, while Xi'an decides in this issue to seek out the location of Avalon (a name which, of course, carried a fair amount of connotation for anyone reading the "present day" X-books at the same time, sharing its name with Magneto's Asteroid M 2.0 space station, similarly intended to serve as a safe haven for mutants, albeit ones who pledged fealty to Magneto).

Xi’an is able to stop the impact of Contagion’s disease on Metalhead, but is unable to reverse its effects, leaving him mishappen and unable to revert to human form (furthering his similarities to Colossus, another artistic X-Man with metal skin who, at this time, was trapped in his metal form as well).

The cover to this issue anoints Fitz with the code name of Skullfire, but it will rarely be used by the characters in the story.

At the end of the issue, Krystalin is shown the shadow of a figure who bears a resemblance to Archangel (spoiler alert: it’s not him).

A Work in Progress
Desdemona Synge (sans purple hair) appears briefly, the recipient of one of Mama Hurricane’s pirate broadcasts.

Xi’an continues to be haunted by manifestations of his younger self.

The Reference Section
Xi’an is referred to as “Lawrence of Arabia”.

In the Year 2099
Mama Hurricane’s base is inside an old movie theater advertising a Simon Williams retrospective. Simon Williams is Wonder Man, the Avenger who is also an actor.

The Grim 'n' Gritty 90s
The theater is also a cover for an old Cold War era nuclear warehouse.

Austin's Analysis
After turning the Freakshow/X-Men throwdown into a Misunderstanding Fight, Moore uses the rest of this issue to continue the efforts to both give the X-Men a mission statement while also fleshing out the more immediate mutant-related backstory of the 2099 universe. It's becoming more and more clear that these X-Men exist within the shadow of a great disaster for mutantkind, something which occurred not in the distant past but within at least their lifetimes (or close to it), a detail the series would have benefited from had that been made more clear earlier. And in Avalon, Xi'an is presented a more immediate action item on his quest to find & unite the remnants of mutatkind: if he wants to find mutants, tracking down Avalon is a good place to start, and suddenly, the series has a mission, on both the micro and macro levels. 

It's a little disappointing how quickly the Freakshow becomes allies (albeit reluctantly) of the X-Men, considering one of the X-Men is literally howling in pain due to the actions of the Freakshow while everyone else is busy making friends, but that aside, this is another strong issue that does a lot to give the series and the characters a narrative purpose - and it ends on a nifty cliffhanger, teasing the possible presence of one of the original X-Men, to boot.

Next Issue
The truth about that shadow in X-Men 2099 #8!

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