Thoughts

This is probably the darkest issue of the Claremont Run so far, not just because the threat of Proteus continues to build in this issue and we watch as he commits another merciless murder/possession of an innocent.

No, the real darkness at the heart of this story lies in Moira McTaggart’s past and the origin of Proteus. It’s already been established that she is the mother of the monstrous mutant, but in this issue we meet the father. Her ex-husband Joe MacTaggert. a former Royal Marine commando and Member of Parliament. He’s wealthy enough to have a house in Queen Street, Edinburgh and even a Butler. And he’s quickly established to be a nasty piece of work.

This is first established by his clear refusal to have ever granted Moira a divorce – its convenient for his political career to be married, especially to a Nobel prize winner. But then Claremont takes the title into new territory. Because Moira drops a revelation that, when its fully understood, feels truly shocking.

The clear allusion to domestic abuse and rape in this one panel darkens and complicates the story. Proteus is a child born from this violence, and it is the hate that Moira feels for her ex-husband that is somehow seen as directly poisoning the child. The son then becomes the father, possessing him out of hatred but then enjoying his sense of power and selfishness.

Claremont knows not to overdo this – it doesn’t become central to the issue but a detail used to explain Moira’s actions and her sense of shame. And to set up the villain in his “completed” form in time for a showdown with the team.

Comics have a very difficult history with sexual issues, and rape in particular. Often used as a shorthand to make things “dark and gritty” and in a very clumsy attempt to shock. This isn’t the case here, even though I don’t quite think the concept fully works. The idea of abuse creating a monster in the next generation is an incredibly powerful one, the monstrous father and the defiant ex-wife brave new ground for comic book characters. But this isn’t a comic about that. It sacrifices exploring those ideas in order to tell a more conventional superhero comic.

But it heralds a writer willing to attempt it. And this is something that is going to become a feature in the Claremont Run. One the reasons I keep coming back to it.

Fun Panel

The comic remains steeped in death, and this is a deliciously dark murder.

Any Googling

The realisation that Moira’s surname stems from her marriage made me realise I don’t know what her actual name is. Its Kinross. Moira Kinross. Its maybe a reflection of how comics sometimes struggle with big ideas that Marvel keep her name as McTaggart. Which doesn’t really make sense – why keep her maidan name after all that happened and when her abusive husband who refused a divorce is dead?

None More Claremont

The international element of this title is reinforced by these Scottish adventures. And mercifcully this is not the sort of Scotland that would match the Ireland of Cassidy Keep and the Leprechauns. Like Calgary in the recent Canadian adventure, it feels like a modern city. Albeit one with a distinct flavour. Claremont switches between lazy global cliches and great local colour, but when he gets it right its great.