X-Men 97 Episode 4 Review: Motendo / Lifedeath Part 1

This week’s episode of X-Men 97 is a two-fold story where we first go to Jubilee’s birthday and in the second part, we see Forge and Storm working through life until a big reveal by Forge blows it up like a house of cards.

Motendo is the VR Game we all want

It is Jubilee’s birthday and she wants to be treated as if it is her birthday. But Magneto opposes her and adds that she should work on controlling and expanding her powers more rather than doing silly things like visiting a video game arcade.

Annoyed, she retreats to her room with Roberto DaCosta and complains like anyone else would. And out of nowhere, a Motendo appears next to the TV. The game console isn’t what it appears and before Roberto and Jubilee realize it, they are transported to Mojoworld. Jubilee is forced to relive some horrible life experiences in a video game.

This episode marks the first appearance of Mojo in X-Men 97 and 3rd appearance in the animated X-Men universe if you include the X-Men 92 series. Back in the 92 series, Mojo was pretty huge. To put it politically correct. But in this version, he is pretty skinny. It is like he participated in the TV show “The Biggest Loser”.

The memories of Jubilee take her to the enslaved mutants of Genosha but she is stopped by someone who looks like Rita. Rita was the babysitter of the X-Babies in the comic called Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem.

In that comic her evil doppelganger tried to steal the souls of the X-babies by having them sign a Mojoverse contract. The comic is enjoyable and funny; if you ever come across it, try it!

But the mystery person is none other than the older version of Jubilee and one who has more control over her powers. After beating Mojo in an epic last-boss fight, she tells young Jubilee that Magneto is right and that she should practice her powers more.

When both Roberto and Jubilee come back to the real world, Jubilee can’t hold back anymore and kisses Roberto full on the lips. So her birthday was saved by confessing her love for Roberto DaCosta who will become Sunspot.

The good part of the 1st half of this episode is that we get to know more about Roberto DaCosta. In the first episode, he was a spoiled brat trying to buy everything with money but barely accepting his mutant powers. In the episodes that followed he still barely used his powers but in this episode he was forced by Jubilee and circumstances, he was under heavy duress, and he started to use his powers a lot more. He is also slowly accepting his mutant self more. As a reason to not use them, he tells Jubilee that he is afraid that there will be cameras and that he is afraid of the reaction of his friends and family.

Who is Mojo?

Mojo is a spineless being who is the dictator of the Mojoverse. He was initially created to be the main villain of the X-Man called Longshot. He was created by Ann Nocenti, one of my favorite writers, and made his first appearance in Longshot #3 (Nov. 1985).

Mojo’s slaves are spineless and only worship him if he makes great shows. As a character his obnoxious and he is in terms of looks too. His sarcasm can be quite funny, however.

Lifedeath unfolds the love story between Storm and Forge

The 2nd part of the story is very interesting. Everyone watched as Storm got hit by a beam that took away her omega-level powers. Shortly after, Storm left the X-Men to do a bit of soul-searching because her world has changed so much that she has to reinvent herself.

Forge introduces himself as a friend of Xavier and any friend of his is a friend of Forge. This includes Storm. He intends to bring back Storm’s powers. He has created a machine for that and Storm undergoes therapy using the machine to get her powers back.

Storm tries to use her powers and we see the trees move when she calls for the wind and a second, I was hoping that her powers came back. But it was just a dud. The wind was birds in a big tree that were shaking it. Storm breaks down in tears and fears that her powers may never return.

Towards the end of the episode, Forge makes the big confession that he needed money to create the inventions that keep popping up in his mind. To do so, he closed a deal with the US Government and created several anti-mutant weaponry including the blueprint for the mutant collar used on Genosha. And the weapon that made Storm lose her powers. And you thought you had dating issues!

The storyline of the love story between Storm and Forge is so close to the comics. Storm and Forge were pretty much endgame and as a reader, I was rooting for the 2 of them. But Marvel’s plot twist of Forge being the person responsible for creating the weapon that made Storm lose her powers reached the level of “Luke, I am your father” back then.

In the comics, their relationship was scarred for life but they managed to overcome their issues and get back together. At some point, Forge even proposes to Storm, and just as she is about to say yes, he calls it off and tells her that she doesn’t know how to love and only lives for the X-Men. And that she doesn’t know how to live a normal adult life.

As Forge leaves the room, Storm breaks down in tears and sulks that her answer is yes. I hope Marvel doesn’t make that same mistake and give the couple a break. Oh and in case you wonder, Storm ends up marrying the Black Panther.

Towards the end of the episode, Storm and Forge’s home is invaded by a big bird who is the embodiment of evil for the Cheyenne Tribe. His name is The Adversary and his goal is to destroy the universe.

Who is Forge

Forge is a mutant whose powers are invention and an intuitive genius. He can create whatever pops into his mind. For instance, while battling off the influence of the Shadow King on Muir Island, Forge creates a chemical that will bring you back to normal and block the evil telepathic influence of the Shadow King.

But that is not all. In a chess game between Xavier and Forge, he installed a psi-blocker so that Xavier couldn’t read his mind to anticipate Forge’s moves.

Forge has bionic limbs as a result of war injuries sustained in the Vietnam War. He lost his entire platoon and suffers from survivor’s guilt.

He is a valuable member of the X-Men and his inventions have led to a new Blackbird plane and a holographic Danger Room for the X-Men to train in.

He was created by Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr. and made his first appearance in The Uncanny X-Men #184 (Aug. 1984).

I liked the episode and I understand that it is to set up the following episodes. But it was a bit confusing that it was a 2-in-1 episode.