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Wednesday, 21 September 2022

THE WILDWAYS (1986)

Mojo and Spiral jump from the pages of the 'Longshot' limited series and into the lives of Marvel's mutants, impacting both the New Mutants and the X-Men. THE WILDWAYS also marks the addition of Captain Britain, Psylocke and Longshot himself to the X-Men's corner of the Marvel Universe in a suitably deranged caper which set the tone for all future X-Men/Mojo stories!
Previous events that directly impact this story:
Related Events: The two stories can be read individually, but make a little more sense when read together with Mojo & Spiral as the protagonists in both.
  • New Mutants Annual #2
  • X-Men Annual #10

New Mutants Annual #2 
Mojo & Spiral kidnap the blinded Betsy Braddock and make her the star of the most popular animated series on TV - Wildways. Mojo grants Betsy cybernetic eyes that can steal souls, and kidnaps Sunspot & Wolfsbane of the New Mutants, Leon & Nga Coy Man - siblings of Karma - and Butch, Darla & Alfie of the Fatboys, transforming them into his adult Bratpack. The team manipulate the remaining New Mutants into joining them, but Cypher and Warlock escape and allies with Captain Britain - Betsy's brother - who's also been de-aged by Mojo. Cypher finds Betsy - who now resembles Mojo - and fully merges with Warlock in order to gain the means to free her and the others from Spiral and the real Wildways

Uncanny X-Men Annual #10 
The X-Men’s training session with Magneto is interrupted when Longshot is teleported in. Betsy Braddock rushes to his aid as the slime that came with him begins to de-age those present. Magneto leads the X-Men, Longshot and Betsy out of the school, driving them all to Central Park as they gradually get too young to display their powers. The New Mutants graduate themselves to become the X-Men - donning new costumes - to retrieve the ‘X-Babies’. Mojo & Spiral trap both teams in a performance at a Manhattan theatre. The X-Men gradually become adults again, gaining a more murderous edge as they age and Mojo’s hold grows stronger. Shadowcat phases through Mojo to push Magik off him, disrupting his tech and his magic and freeing the X-Men. Mojo teleports away, leaving Spiral to the mutants. Betsy demands her death, but Storm (dubbing Betsy ‘Psylocke’) barters her life in exchange for putting things back as they were. The New Mutants give up their X-Men uniforms and Longshot remains at the Xavier School.
Uncanny X-Men #212 (1986)
Betsy Braddock officially goes by the codename Psylocke and joins the X-Men during MUTANT MASSACRE.

Mephisto Vs #3 (1987)
Longshot is revealed to have joined the X-Men during THIS HALLOWED ARMOR.

X-Men Annual #11 (1987)
Captain Britain visits his sister and her fellow X-Men, joining them on a mission to the Citadel of Light and Shadow.

New Mutants #53 (1987)
Cypher begins to show detrimental effects from merging with Warlock.

Uncanny X-Men #226 (1988)
Forge helps Storm unlock her powers again during THE FALL OF THE MUTANTS.

New Mutants #60 (1988)
Still believing himself to be the team's weak link, Cypher takes a bullet for Wolfsbane and dies during THE FALL OF THE MUTANTS.

Uncanny X-Men #227 (1988)
The death of Psylocke and the X-Men is televised (though they allow the world to believe they're dead while they begin operating under the radar) during THE FALL OF THE MUTANTS.

Uncanny X-Men #229 (1988)
The X-Men relocate to the Australian Outback to remain off the radar; Roma's magic prevents them from being detected by technological means.

Excalibur Special Edition: The Sword is Drawn (1988)
Captain Britain learns of Psylocke's apparent death.

X-Men Annual #12 (1988)
Roma's magic blocks the transmission from Psylocke's eyes to Mojoworld, making Mojo believe the X-Men are truly dead; Mojo creates a new set of X-Babies from neoplasm to replace them for entertainment purposes; Ricochet Rita and the X-Babies escape Mojo.

Uncanny X-Men #244 (1989)
Darla's Jubilee persona is not to be confused with the mutant Jubilee who first emerges exhibiting similar powers during JUBILATION DAY.

Uncanny X-Men #256 (1989)
When an amnesiac Psylocke falls into Matsu'o Tsurayaba's hands, he grants her a new body - one without Mojo's cybernetic eyes - ironically with help from the Body Shoppe during ACTS OF VENGEANCE.

X-Factor #62 (1991)
After Cameron Hodge's failed attempt to absorb Warlock's Technarch abilities, Warlock's ashes are scattered over Cypher's grave during X-TINCTION AGENDA.

X-Force #99-100 (1991)
Shatterstar appears in the Danger Room in much the same way Longshot did, implying a connection between them during A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH.

Wolverine #52-53 (1992)
Mojo
 next encounters Wolverine.

X-Men Annual #1 (1992)
Mojo clashes with the X-Men, reigniting his feud with them during SHATTERSHOT.

X-Factor Annual #7 (1992)
Spiral is revealed to be Ricochet Rita, sent back in time by Mojo to set Rita on the path to becoming Spiral, during SHATTERSHOT.

Excalibur #55-56 (1992)
Psylocke is reunited with Captain Britain for the first time since she gaining a different body. 

X-Men #20-22 (1993)
It's revealed that an Betsy Braddock's original body is inhabited by an assassin named Kwannon.

X-Men #31-32 (1994)
Kwannon removes the cybernetic eyes Mojo implanted in Betsy Braddock's body; Psylocke destroys the eyes.

Excalibur #77-81 (1994)
A techno-organic being calling itself Douglock emerges, with some believing this to be the resurrected Doug Ramsey/Cypher merged with Warlock.

X-Men '99 Annual (1999)
Douglock is revealed to be a reanimated Warlock and he reclaims this identity during RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE.

X-Necrosha #1 (2009)
Cypher is one of many mutants resurrected by Selene & Eli Bard using the Transmode Virus (though Cypher remains alive while the majority of other 'undead' mutants return to the grave) during NECROSHA.

New Mutants #9 (2010)
The resurrected Cypher rejoins the New Mutants alongside Warlock.

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