The elections here in Missouri went about as poorly as I expected. Pretty sure everyone I voted for lost. Badly. But since he won the Senate seat, now our dipshit of an Attorney General is the rest of the country's problem, too. But weed is apparently legal now, which is good for the people who like that. Assuming the state Congress doesn't ignore the results, which they've done on other election results in the last few years. Like when the public voted to establish an independent board to set up election districts in an attempt to block gerrymandering and Congress ignored it.
It's a lovely state except for all the people who live here. Anyway, comics.
Moon Knight drags, literally in Nemean's case, the two assassins into the Midnight Mission and lets it take the two of them apart. Grand Mal gets buried under a bunch of corpses, and Nemean thinks a bunch of stuff trapped him to be swarmed over by bugs over something. I'm not sure Cappuccio's art really works for this. Doesn't quite carry a traumatizing horror vibe to it.
And while Hunter's Moon did die, apparently Khonshu's Fists don't can't die, so he's back. I feel as though it would need to be pointed out that if they don't die, why does Khonshu need more of them? Shouldn't he just have the same two for thousands of years. Why does God need a spaceship, I mean, new fists? I suppose they can still die of old age.
That done, MacKay shifts to the big vampire conference. The Tutor makes his pitch, full of lovely buzz words like, 'Aggressive recruitment models', and 'Postmodern vampiric organization.' Apparently, being many centuries old doesn't keep vampires from being rubes ripe to be duped by hucksters. Fortunately, Moon Knight spares us from any further chatter by Vampire Marc Zuckerberg, by dumping Nemean and Grand Mal through the skylight, then walking through the door with Tigra. Tigra sporting something from the mid-2000s Jennifer Lopez collection, no less.
So Mojo's film plays out, but Wolverine and Shadowcat don't realize it's a film, so they're trying to kill each other, while other soldiers try to kill Mojo. Logan gradually notices that people are filming this and the fact his soldiers keep talking about acting and motivation finally sinks in. During this, Longshot lands on a mine that'll explode if he moves. So Kitty and Logan help him out.
During all this, Spiral is trying to undermine Mojo's film and make it into her own. I'm not clear on which parts are her doing, and which aren't. I assume when everyone stops trying to kill each other and they work together to survive. The blue snake idly watching in the foreground while a rabbit scampers in the background. Ooh, symbolism. That's definitely not Mojo, since his idea of symbolism would be a big red "STOP" sign. Also, Kitty opining that giving a bomb a female name (Bouncing Betty) is sexist. OK, Spiral's script writing needs some work.
Either way, Campbell lightens the hues a bit once that happens, as the first several pages were like someone was shooting through a dirty filter. Pina's art is realistic enough to give the characters convincing emotional reactions, which are just a little melodramatic in how they're framed. A narrow panel of Logan looking up (at what?) as he announces the danger Longshot's in. He looks appropriately grim about it, but in the weary way of someone who has seen this many times before.
There's a bit about the difference in how Mojo and Spiral see life, and how that informs what kind of stories they tell. Mojo puts people in situations, but sits back and watches as they destroy themselves. He doesn't know how it'll happen, but it'll happen. To him, that's life, unpredictable and ending violently. Spiral says that hers is about the story taking a different direction from what you expect, but it always loops back. No end, no escape. I've definitely watched some movies I thought would never end. But zigging instead of zagging is just being unpredictable, isn't it? Or maybe it's just being contrary.
Anyway, the mine, once tossed clear by Logan, opens a doorway that whisks the heroes off, Spiral intending to use them to start her own film franchise. That, does not work as she gets a little dragon fire in the face. The X-Men get sent home with no memory of what happened. Longshot, I'm not sure what happens to him, other than Spiral promises he'll end up in another of her films again. She wins a bunch of awards, Mojo fumes, but is intrigued by the idea of mutants.
Well, I like Nocenti's work because it's always got something going on in it. That doesn't mean I can figure out what that something is. Mojo doing no work, but claiming the credit for what Spiral does, letting the audience decide what happens based on their whims, rather than actually having an idea and committing to seeing it through. Spiral has one, and even if it doesn't all work, at least she took a chance. But even when she succeeds, Mojo's using it to springboard to something bigger for himself. The entirely derivative X-Babies. That's showbiz!
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