Ever since I was a kid, I have conducted a ritual called “Swirly Face” with my friends. When one of us shouts the name of the game, all of us start spinning wildly like whirling dervishes. After a thorough disorientation has been achieved, we stand as straight as possible and try to watch the dizzying optical illusions on each other’s faces. We’d laugh uncontrollably every time.
But sometimes, it could almost be terrifying. The human desire to dominate is the root of all evil. When we examine ourselves from a biological perspective, however, we can see that this desire is not completely our creation. Natural selection drives each species to thrive and prosper. The history of this planet is a chronicle of domination, through and through. Evolution is fueled by mutation, and each adapting species must control its environment in order to continue into the future.
Such is the case with Morlocks.
For those of you who are only here to see the card, your eyes do not deceive you. Morlock Justice is an uncommon combination of Blind Sided and Last Laugh. It can only be played if you control a Morlocks character, so you will need to crawl underneath the city and into the sewers. Morlocks really know how to benefit from a bad situation.
The Morlocks character on the left with the Michael Jacob hat is Ape. He is my favorite, since he has the amazing ability to restructure the matter in his body completely according to whim or necessity. He could be a very powerful character in Vs. System, as his reality creation mutation allows for nearly unlimited problem-solving potential. The guy on the right is Hump. Ignoring the possible connections to a certain member of the R&D team, this Morlocks character is simply a big green beatstick that will probably be pretty dangerous in combat.
Those two don’t scare me much, but the task they are performing on the Morlock Justice card does. They are acting as henchmen for one of the most devious and cruel villains in all of comic myth. They are restraining this beautiful young girl so that Masque can sculpt her face.
When I started my research for this article, I was chilled to the bone. Ape died in a concentration camp called Neverland. Most of the Morlocks were brutally murdered in a vicious act of genocide. It was almost more than I could bear. Masque really turned my stomach when I studied the depravity of his deeds, so I turned to one of my closest online friends for assistance. His name is Robert “Bizarro#98” Santos, and he is sometimes a bit frightening himself. Although I have not yet had the pleasure of playing Swirly Face with him, we have plenty of years ahead of us for that. Right now, I would like to introduce him as one of the most knowledgeable comic myth experts in the community (in my humble opinion). He is going to tell you a little more about Masque, and I am going to take some deep breaths to clear away my fear. I’ll be back when he’s finished.
Masque’s mutant power essentially lets him shape-shift others. He was originally a scarred, ugly guy, but later on he found a way to change his own shape and disguise himself as a woman.
Masque is also a sneaky weasel who uses his abilities to steal and seize power from others. After the Marauders massacred most of the Morlocks, Masque changed the appearance of the Morlocks’ original leader, Callisto, and then had her brainwashed into thinking she was a model to get rid of her.
Ruling the Morlocks wasn’t enough for greedy Masque, so he disguised several of his followers as X-Men and tried to steal their advanced weaponry. He was unsuccessful—the X-Men defeated the army of monster-like Morlocks that Masque had created. When Masque allied his Morlocks with Toad’s New Brotherhood, Cable got tired of tolerating him and had the X-Force try to destroy him.
Masque proved difficult to get rid of, though, and he reappeared later in the above-mentioned female disguise. Then, he gave Callisto tentacles and forced her to fight Storm in an underground coliseum, but Callisto and Storm eventually teamed up and overpowered him.
That concludes my preview. I hope you weren’t too disturbed by it. The room will stop spinning soon and I will be back around Valentine’s Day for an expedition into the halls of love. I’ll see you then.
Rian Fike is also known as stubarnes, and his face won’t quit swirling. If you have any theories on the nature of love and fear in Vs. System, write them down and send them to rianfike@hattch.com.
Tomorrow's Preview: