Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Marvel Comics, X-Men | Tagged: Beast, hank mccoy, krakoa, marvel, x-force, x-men

Hank McCoy, Fascist Beast Of The X-Men, Official (XSpoilers)

It's time for The Beast to goose step.

Today sees the publication of X-Force #35, Immortal X-Men #9 and X-Men Red #9. There will be spoilers. Not massive ones, but enough to put the wind up a maiden aunt. Because we are here to talk about Hank McCoy, the Beast, an original member of the X-Men, former member of Avengers and Defenders, and now the resident mad scientist of Krakoa. Bleeding Cool has followed his descent into said madness, doing the supposedly necessary things that no one else will ensure the survival of the X-Men and Krakoa, but we have our doubts.

Even before Krakoa, in Brian Bendis' All-New X-Men, he decided to completely disrupt the time-stream by dragging the original five X-Men younger selves to the present day, all to stop a make-believe mutant genocide he claimed Scott Summers would be responsible for. This of course is an outright lie to convince them to come with him, abducting teenagers on false pretences, which would even cause the Watcher to be disgusted. In Inhumans vs. X-Men,  when he learns the dire fact that the Mists were impregnating the entire atmosphere of the planet and would leave Earth uninhabitable to mutants, instead of standing up to fight or sharing his findings with the Inhumans, he decides that it means all mutants should run away. The war between mutants and Inhumans ends, as does the threat of the Terrigen Mists when Queen Medusa is actually told that the point of no return is fast approaching, and she destroys the Mists herself, rather than see an entire group of people suffer and die for it. Beast only had to have told her, and the whole war could have been avoided. And in Secret Empire, does a deal with Hydra and the Nazi Captain America for a mutant nation in Canada, in return for propping the fascist government up.

During the Krakoa Era, he has been launching hit squads, creating genetic methods of warfare, with his mistakes getting out of hand and having to be dealt with, with any dead dismissed. He has pushed for interning any Russian mutants on Krakoa, in public, aiming to create fear and paranoia amongst Krakoans. He is consistently lying, deceiving and trying not to get caught. So naturally, he might as well be opposed to mutant immigration to Krakoa.

And in recent X-Force, stepping outside the judicial restraints of Krakoa by opening a space prison, outside of the jurisdiction of Krakoa, Earth or Arakko. And also using whichever prisoners end up there as genetic experiments. We called him a space Nazi and asked if the Beast was worse than the Dark Beast now? Is he up there with Mengels? Can he ever be redeemed? Well, today's X-Force #35 sees his genetic experiments at play.

And then commit cold-blooded murder. And who are the subjects of his work? Some of them are indeed villainous types, murderers, mercenaries and the like who have no value for the lives of others. But not all.

Some are just aliens who the Beast happened across out in Deep Space, or petty criminals. One of them just got in the way. So when he gets challenged on his work…

…being called a fascist seems entirely appropriate. We prefer Space Nazi, but whatever gets the job done.

And he's quite happy to turn his prisoners into an instant defense mechanism when it all goes pear-shaped as well. Talk about biological weapons of mass destruction. Now, during all of this, some have thought that maybe, just maybe, the Beast was actually the Dark Beast from Age Of Apocalypse, hiding out on Krakoa. And this might be your get-out. Well, in Immortal X-Men #9 today, with Mister Sinister up to all manner of nonsense, that possibility is dismissed…

As it emerges that Mister Sinister has the Dark Beast all to himself. And acknowledges that the original Hank McCoy is even worse… but does he have a challenger?

With Abigail Brand's machinations amongst the stars revisiting her on Earth and Arakko… she's a pretty good bad guy too.

IMMORTAL X-MEN #9
MARVEL COMICS
OCT220903
(W) Kieron Gillen (A) Lucas Werneck (CA) Mark Brooks
VOTE. DIE. REPEAT. Putting the "Meat" in office meeting. Trust me, bad spelling is the least of the Quiet Council's problems as everything hits the fan.
Rated T+In Shops: Dec 07, 2022 SRP: $3.99

X-FORCE #35
MARVEL COMICS
OCT220909
(W) Ben Percy (A) Christopher Allen (CA) Joshua Cassara
JAIL BREAK! BEAST'S off-the-books plans go belly-up when SEVYR BLACKMORE stages a space prison break that even MAVERICK and the MERCS can't keep it in hand! A major turning point for X-FORCE as a team?and breaking points for more than one key X-character! Parental Advisory In Shops: Dec 07, 2022 SRP: $3.99

X-MEN RED #9
MARVEL COMICS
OCT220897
(W) Al Ewing (A) Stefano Caselli (CA) Russell Dauterman
CHECK AND MATE? Abigail Brand enters her endgame – and on Arakko, the Diplomatic Zone is beset by a firestorm of violence. On the World Farm, Cable is learning the secrets behind it all. But the biggest secret has yet to be revealed? It's Roberto Da Costa's turn to play. And you won't see it coming.
Rated T+In Shops: Dec 07, 2022 SRP: $3.99

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