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Mystique
Mystique, Vol. 2: Tinker, Tailor, Mutant, Spy
Mystique is a shape-shifting mutant and former terrorist, recruited by Professor Xavier of the X-Men to be a secret agent. Her current mission: to find and destroy a deadly new strain of smallpox...one that's spread telepathically Problem is, she's not the only mutant who wants to get her hands on this potentially apocalyptic bio-weapon.
collecting: Mystique 7-13
collecting: Mystique 7-13
168 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2004
2 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
About the author
Brian K. Vaughan
1,062 books14.2k followersBrian K. Vaughan is the writer and co-creator of comic-book series including SAGA, PAPER GIRLS, Y THE LAST MAN, RUNAWAYS, and most recently, BARRIER, a digital comic with artist Marcos Martin about immigration, available from their pay-what-you-want site www.PanelSyndicate.com
BKV's work has been recognized at the Eisner, Harvey, Hugo, Shuster, Eagle, and British Fantasy Awards. He sometimes writes for film and television in Los Angeles, where he lives with his family and their dogs Hamburger and Milkshake.
BKV's work has been recognized at the Eisner, Harvey, Hugo, Shuster, Eagle, and British Fantasy Awards. He sometimes writes for film and television in Los Angeles, where he lives with his family and their dogs Hamburger and Milkshake.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 2, 2023
Asides from a few great fight scenes this Brian K Vaughan 'blip' in his great body of work is still quite readable, although ultimately I didn't care that much for any of the characters / way they are written, although I had an overall interest how Marvel/Vaughan would treat this shockingly underused in an interesting challenging way female character. 5 out of 12, Two Stars
2018 read
2018 read
July 3, 2022
This collection is not quite as original as Brian K. Vaughan's first run. These three missions increasingly feel less like spy thrillers and a bit more like conventional comic books. I appreciate the growing intrigue of the Quiet Man subplot, however, as Mystique must decide if she is going to double-cross Professor X who is forcing her to work for him through threats of exposure to international law enforcement. I wish he was able to conclude this thread before his departure.
"Tinker, Tailor, Mutant, Spy" (issues #7-10), Mystique must travel to Johannesburg in order to obtain a mutant version of the smallpox virus designed to kill anyone who is inoculated against smallpox. With another mutant after this deadly virus for her own purposes, it is a race against time to protect both humans and mutants from the threat of a global pandemic.
"Maker's Mark" (issues #11-12), Forge and Mystique go on a date to see where they stand after years of a shakey on-again, off-again relationship, but their night is interrupted by an Amber alert. A mutant boy has been kidnapped by his father, but the situation proves to be less clear than their feeling for each other.
"Nevermore" (issue #13): Mystique's mission takes her to in Rio de Janeiro to secure the locate the hand of a mutant who could turn lead into gold.
Brian K. Vaughan portrays Mystique as a cynical yet compassionate anti-hero, but it is hard to reconcile her morally conflicted decisions in this title with her totally amoral behavior in the core books. Despite this one inconsistency, I really enjoyed his ability to incorporate and subtly expand her sexuality without making it the focus of the story. Even more surprising, he casually adds a transgender element to a Marvel comic.
"Tinker, Tailor, Mutant, Spy" (issues #7-10), Mystique must travel to Johannesburg in order to obtain a mutant version of the smallpox virus designed to kill anyone who is inoculated against smallpox. With another mutant after this deadly virus for her own purposes, it is a race against time to protect both humans and mutants from the threat of a global pandemic.
"Maker's Mark" (issues #11-12), Forge and Mystique go on a date to see where they stand after years of a shakey on-again, off-again relationship, but their night is interrupted by an Amber alert. A mutant boy has been kidnapped by his father, but the situation proves to be less clear than their feeling for each other.
"Nevermore" (issue #13): Mystique's mission takes her to in Rio de Janeiro to secure the locate the hand of a mutant who could turn lead into gold.
Brian K. Vaughan portrays Mystique as a cynical yet compassionate anti-hero, but it is hard to reconcile her morally conflicted decisions in this title with her totally amoral behavior in the core books. Despite this one inconsistency, I really enjoyed his ability to incorporate and subtly expand her sexuality without making it the focus of the story. Even more surprising, he casually adds a transgender element to a Marvel comic.
August 3, 2018
Sadly, Vaughan's second volume of Mystique doesn't reach the heights of the first.
Bigpox (#7-10). The second Mystique arc leans heavily into James Bond tropes ... and it's not nearly as interesting as the first. Forge makes gadgets that have all kinds of potential problems. Haha. And Raven fights and runs and runs and fights. There's still some interesting double-and-triple-crossing going on, but otherwise this second arc is pretty shallow [3/5].
Forge (#11-12). Forge and Mystique working together on a domestic case offers some great nods to their X-Factor continuity — and generally, their interactions are electric. There's also a plot here, and though it has a nice twist, there's also lots of fighting, which drags this otherwise strong arc down a bit [3+/5].
Carnival (#13) Vaughan ends his run with another 007-like heist, but this one is more enjoyable than the previous take, because he keeps it light and mixes in some humor and some empathy. It's a nice final story, because we see some of the strength of his early Mystique. [4/5]
Bigpox (#7-10). The second Mystique arc leans heavily into James Bond tropes ... and it's not nearly as interesting as the first. Forge makes gadgets that have all kinds of potential problems. Haha. And Raven fights and runs and runs and fights. There's still some interesting double-and-triple-crossing going on, but otherwise this second arc is pretty shallow [3/5].
Forge (#11-12). Forge and Mystique working together on a domestic case offers some great nods to their X-Factor continuity — and generally, their interactions are electric. There's also a plot here, and though it has a nice twist, there's also lots of fighting, which drags this otherwise strong arc down a bit [3+/5].
Carnival (#13) Vaughan ends his run with another 007-like heist, but this one is more enjoyable than the previous take, because he keeps it light and mixes in some humor and some empathy. It's a nice final story, because we see some of the strength of his early Mystique. [4/5]
October 8, 2017
как ни парадоксально, вторая лучше первой. сюжет выправляется и рисовка тоже. ну, или я просто привыкла.
February 22, 2021
Continuing the x-citing x-read of 2017…
I mentioned in my review of volume one how excited I was that Brian K. Vaughan was writing one of the x-men books and how I was kind of left a little cold, wanting something a bit more. Well, this is that bit more and I am no longer cold.
It’s a fun spy romp at its heart: Attractive people, silly and cool spy gadgets, double and triple agents, twists and turns galore. There’s a seriousness to it as well, but it kind of hangs out underneath the James Bond persona that makes it such a fun read.
There are some interesting moments (I particularly liked an unexpected gender bending moment early in the book that takes place in an airport and kind of upends your expectations in a clever and fun twist.) throughout the story and some very strong character work – particularly when dealing with the communication between Forge and Mystique. I do wish that Shortpack was given a little more than being the sidekick and comedic element but it feels like Vaughan may be slowly building him up so I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on that count.
Overall, it felt like a really strong volume for me, definitely in the top tier of my x-books catch-up reading so far. I am definitely intrigued to see where the story goes next and what decisions Mystique will make regarding her service to Xavier. And I am looking forward to more fast paced mutant super spy hijinks.
Edit: reread February 2021. I was knocked on my butt sick yesterday and wanted some comfort literature so I reread all four volumes of this series. And man, do I still love it. I even broke one of my (loose) rules and changed the rating from 3 to 4 stars on volume 1. I have to say that I like the nuance of Vaughan's writing a little more than McKeever's (which is interesting since I seemed to feel the opposite on first reading) this time around. Overall, I thought the series was really great (and luckily since my memory is crap, there were still a few surprises for me) although I will say that I felt that the ending was a little bit of a letdown. Still, this remains one of my absolute favorite X-men spinoff series and I wish more writers of Mystique would read it. (Don't get me started on how poorly she is often written after this series...) Oh, and where is shortpack? I can't remember him ever showing up anywhere else.
I mentioned in my review of volume one how excited I was that Brian K. Vaughan was writing one of the x-men books and how I was kind of left a little cold, wanting something a bit more. Well, this is that bit more and I am no longer cold.
It’s a fun spy romp at its heart: Attractive people, silly and cool spy gadgets, double and triple agents, twists and turns galore. There’s a seriousness to it as well, but it kind of hangs out underneath the James Bond persona that makes it such a fun read.
There are some interesting moments (I particularly liked an unexpected gender bending moment early in the book that takes place in an airport and kind of upends your expectations in a clever and fun twist.) throughout the story and some very strong character work – particularly when dealing with the communication between Forge and Mystique. I do wish that Shortpack was given a little more than being the sidekick and comedic element but it feels like Vaughan may be slowly building him up so I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on that count.
Overall, it felt like a really strong volume for me, definitely in the top tier of my x-books catch-up reading so far. I am definitely intrigued to see where the story goes next and what decisions Mystique will make regarding her service to Xavier. And I am looking forward to more fast paced mutant super spy hijinks.
Edit: reread February 2021. I was knocked on my butt sick yesterday and wanted some comfort literature so I reread all four volumes of this series. And man, do I still love it. I even broke one of my (loose) rules and changed the rating from 3 to 4 stars on volume 1. I have to say that I like the nuance of Vaughan's writing a little more than McKeever's (which is interesting since I seemed to feel the opposite on first reading) this time around. Overall, I thought the series was really great (and luckily since my memory is crap, there were still a few surprises for me) although I will say that I felt that the ending was a little bit of a letdown. Still, this remains one of my absolute favorite X-men spinoff series and I wish more writers of Mystique would read it. (Don't get me started on how poorly she is often written after this series...) Oh, and where is shortpack? I can't remember him ever showing up anywhere else.
June 6, 2012
It's amazing that Vaughan was writing this at the same time as Runaways, which was so clever, cute, and interesting. Or maybe it's not--maybe he was phoning this one in. Anyway, it's not entirely devoid of merit. There are some occasional humorous moments, but the plot is shallow, the story has none of the lovably flawed characters Vaughan usually writes, and there just isn't any hook to make this stand out from the hundreds of other Marvel C-list books.
Also, there's a pretty serious plot hole in the resolution of the first story (involving the Host's powers) and Vaughan's use of Forge borders on Gilligan's Island silliness--I was just waiting for Forge to build a television out of some coconuts. I mean, none of this makes sense if you think too deeply, but you have to at least slap a coat of believability over the top of it.
Also, there's a pretty serious plot hole in the resolution of the first story (involving the Host's powers) and Vaughan's use of Forge borders on Gilligan's Island silliness--I was just waiting for Forge to build a television out of some coconuts. I mean, none of this makes sense if you think too deeply, but you have to at least slap a coat of believability over the top of it.
July 12, 2012
Slight improvement from the vol.1, still pretty boring
Want to read
December 21, 2012Tengo el equivalente a este tomo USA en revistas de Panini: Mística #4 al 6. No sé si me lo leeré salteando la primera saga o qué, pero queda to-readeada hasta nuevo aviso.
February 8, 2013
finished 2/5/13
Probably should have read the first volume first but when I got it from the library, I didn't know it was part of a series. I enjoyed it and will look for the other volumes.
Probably should have read the first volume first but when I got it from the library, I didn't know it was part of a series. I enjoyed it and will look for the other volumes.
Read
April 18, 2017her choices make me so mad but i really appreciate the artistry and the plot so much
Read
January 11, 2018I can't see how people find this boring. Mystique is an extremely interesting and fun character. The characters around also have a story to tell.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews