Marvel’s Sins of Sinister was always meant to call back to small details of House of X/Powers of X, the founding text of the modern X-Men line. And yes, technically, Rasputin, a kickass genetic experiment who looks like a cross between Colossus and his sister Magik, was a “throwaway character,” destined to live only in a limited glimpse of a possible future timeline. But it’s not a slam. Characters are not necessarily less cool just because they don’t stick around — and Rasputin is a great example of the strengths of brevity.
HoX/PoX was a story in which alternate futures and timelines rose and fell so often that writer Jonathan Hickman and his collaborators straight up gave the reader a chart to keep track of them. What made HoX/PoX work was a commitment to making those timelines extremely memorable. We might not have spent much time in them, but we would sure as hell know they were cool.
So, while Rasputin, with her crystal-clear visual design, might have had a smaller role to play than expected, it was a good freakin’ time. Which is why I’m so happy to see her back for another finite alternate-future plotline in Sins of Sinister. I get more Rasputin, a badass gene-splice with five different mutant gifts — but there’s no chance of her outstaying her welcome as a completely overpowered and bizarre character with five different mutant gifts.
What else is happening in the pages of our favorite comics? We’ll tell you. Welcome to Monday Funnies, Polygon’s weekly list of the books that our comics editor enjoyed this past week. It’s part society pages of superhero lives, part reading recommendations, part “look at this cool art.” There may be some spoilers. There may not be enough context. But there will be great comics.
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