New Mutants #5
Nov 2009
After capturing David Haller, a.k.a. Legion, son of Charles Xavier, the New Mutants turn to the Science Team to figure out what to do with him. They bring him back to Utopia, the X-Men’s new island nation, where he undergoes a complex set of deprogramming techniques to repair his profound multiple personality condition. Madison Jeffries appears as a regular member of the X-Men Science Team, having joined up in Uncanny X-Men #505.
The Science Team attempts a technological solution to healing the fractured mind of arguably the most powerful mutant on Earth. It’s not clear why they don’t pull in any one of the many experienced telepaths or general mind-experts from the rank and file of mutants on Utopia: Emma Frost, the Cuckoos, Psylocke, and, uh, his dad, where are they? Instead they go old skool: electro-shock therapy. They build a machine to build neural pathways with electrical impulses, along with a massive video screen to display an avatar of each unwanted mental inhabitant inside David Haller.
This art in this issue is handled by a guest artist, Zachary Baldus, whose painted style is markedly different than the art in previous issues, resembling a color-washed Bill Sienkiewicz for New Mutants fans looking for something familiar. Baldus does Jeffries with one huge improvement and one sort of odd moment. He strips off that flannel shirt and lab coat we’ve seen him in recently, releasing him from the simply wrong combination of lumberjack/research scientist and dresses him in a wife-beater, returning the character back to his orginal coarser self. However, he also puts a soldering iron into his hand to manually repair a circuit board. What does Madison Jeffries need with a soldering iron? Except for that oddity, this is a respectable little cameo for Jeffries, his first in the post-Utopia storyline.
Oh, man this is just like in Crimson Tide when that Petty Officer has to fix the radio or a billion people are gonna die and Denzel is all "Scotty, I need more power", awesome!
Tags: Madison Jeffries
Alpha Flight Collector 
October 3, 2009 at 11:53 pm |
Wow, I think Jeffries is making more appearances than Wolverine these days, LOL!
Maybe Marvel should give Mister Jeffries his own mini series.
Just look at all these Jeffries appearances in the past 7 weeks:
Aug 26th – New Mutants 4
Aug 26th – Dark Avengers 8
Sep 10th – Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus
Sep 16th – X-Men: Legacy Annual 1
Sep 16th – MODOK: Reign Delay
Sep 23rd – Uncanny X-Men 515
Sep 30th – New Mutants 5
Oct 7th – House of M: Masters of Evil 3 (non continuity)
Oct 7th – X-Men vs. Agents of Atlas 1 (he’s mentioned in the previews)
Chris
October 4, 2009 at 12:54 am |
Oh, didn’t know about that Agents of Atlas issue, good on ya man!
Also, you might want to put “(non continuity)” next to the M.O.D.O.K. issue in your comment, unless you think that actually happened in continuity. That issue is sure to be a Monday FUNday post someday.
Yeah it’s great how The All-New, All-Different Jeffries is popping up all over. It’s a good thing he joined that Science Team AND that so many storylines are tech-centric just now. We just need some Snowbird and Talisman appearances now to balance out as mystic counterparts.
October 4, 2009 at 8:36 am |
Oops! I forgot to mark M.O.D.O.K. as non continuity.
I started noticing back in Uncanny X-Men 505 that Jeffries is getting some grey hair. Is my memory hazy and I’ve not noticed this before? Or did his hair start turning grey from all that brainwashing he received from the Zodiac and the Weapon X program?
October 4, 2009 at 8:55 am |
It’s likely that his signature grey temples and transformation from ditch-digger to research scientist was the result of manipulation from the Weapon X program. Look what they did to Chamber, Aurora, and Washout (oh man, too bad about that Washout guy, eh?). Jeffries hasn’t been seen since the awful torture he endured as depicted in Weapon X: Days of Future Now #5 (Jan 2006), so who knows what the backstory is, but you’re probably right on: Zodiac or Weapon X, likely Weapon X.
October 7, 2009 at 1:39 pm |
Yup, Madison Jeffries appears in the middle of X-Men vs Atlas of Agents 1. I’m looking forward to your reviews of X-Men vs Atlas of Agents 1 and House of M: Masters of Evil 3.