Morlocks #3

Issue Date: 
August 2002
Story Title: 
Sinners & Saviors
Staff: 

Geoff Johns (writer), Shawn Martinbrough (artist), Gregory Wright (colorist), Richard Starkings and Comicraft (lettering), Pete Franco (assistant editor), Mark Powers (editor) Joe Quesada (editor in chief), Bill Jemas (president)

Brief Description: 

The Morlocks escape the Sentinels, but Shatter is badly injured and has lost one arm. Back in the tunnels, they are attacked by police officers while they are still arguing about the murder Eve committed. Trader, who took Eve’s side, takes a bullet meant for her and dies. Postman lashes out with his powers, but immediately regrets it as he completely erased the minds of all their attackers – a fate worse than death. The team moves on to fulfill their last wishes. Postman visits his comatose wife in a hospital, she is brain-dead after he accidentally hit her with his power. Postman leaves a note that he loves and her and will never forget himself. Angel Dusts visit her parents to tell them that she ran away because of her being a mutant, but her parents are not bothered by it. They ask her to come back home, but she has to leave though, because the Sentinels will otherwise track her down. Back in the Tunnels, Litterbug admits that when he was serving in the army before his mutant powers manifested, he belonged to a group that designed and built the Sentinels. He knows of a central command center and suggests to take it down, providing Angel with a chance to go home and the others could use the opportunity to escape from Chicago.

Full Summary: 

Hit by a blast by the Sentinels, Shatter has lost one arm but is still alive. Postman helps him as the Morlocks try to run away. Eve attempts to shoot one of the robots down, but she completely misses. The Morlocks escape into a stairway, with Postman blaming Eve for all of this. Angel notices that Litterbug has disappeared and when the reach the buildings basement, they see the gigantic foot of a Sentinel, who seems to have smashed Litterbug. The Morlocks freeze and then they see a blinding flash. It turns out that Litterbug burrowed through the Sentinels foot, leg and body to come out of it’s head. After doing some more damage to the robot, he jumps down and rips a whole in the street through which the Morlocks escape.

In the tunnels, Postman tells the rest that Shatter probably will survive. There is no blood loss, apparently the wound was fused close by the blast. Postman then tells Eve that she endangered them all, but she basically ignores everything he says. Cell defends Eve, saying that there were no conditions to their last wish, but when asked by Angel, he still doesn’t know what his own last wish will be, since he has no connections on the surface world. He then pushes an apple into where his stomach is supposed to be. His gelatinous body absorbs and digests it. Trader defends Eve by revealing that his last wish is also an act of murder : he was a successful man until someone noticed his strange markings and outed him as a mutant so that he could take his place within the corporation. Postman asks if he has anything more important for a last request, but suddenly they get interrupted.

The Morlocks are attacked by a special police squad, and Trader leaps in front of Eve taking a bullet meant for her. The Morlocks fight back with their deadly powers, Eve electrocutes several officers, Litterbug slices a few guts and Cell engulfs them with his fluid body to digest them. Meanwhile Angel Dust tends to Shatter who is still hurting from the Sentinel attack. Postman talks to Trader before he dies wondering about his actions as he had sworn to never again take a bullet for anyone. With his last words Trader agrees “Didn’t think I would“. After his death, Trader’s hair and eyes become normal and his markings disappear. Postman then erases the minds of the complete squad, but is shocked when he realizes what he has done. The other try to comfort Postman, but he isn’t convinced by their words – he knows that what he did t o these policemen is worse than death. Nevertheless they continue with their ‘last wishes’ and it now is Postman’s turn.

Elsewhere, the Sentinels return to their base. Dr. Metellus is told that the Sentinels can’t take much more damage, but he wants the Sentinels to stay active until the Morlocks have been killed. Additionally he orders to reprogram their safety setting. The robots are limited by trying to avoid public property destruction, but Metellus apparently wants to speed up their success. He then requests to link the video feed from the Sentinel’s confrontation to his office.

The Morlocks sneak into a hospital. Postman enters a room where a woman is lying in a coma. With a tear in his eye, he leaves a letter to the woman, Erica. Later after the Morlocks are already gone, a nurse enters and finds the letter. It is from Postman, whose real name is David, to his wife Erica in which he tells her that he will never forget her and never forgive himself.

The next stop is for Angel Dust. She hesitates to go up, but Shatter convinces her that she and her parents deserve some kind of closure. Angel enters her parents house (her real name is Christine) and her parents are glad to see her. She explains that she ran away because of her being a mutant, but they are not bothered by it and welcome her with open arms. However Angel tells them that although she loves them, she can’t stay. Down in the tunnels, Angel tells the others what happened and that she had to leave because of the Sentinels, so that they wouldn’t target her or her family. Eve tells Angel that she is sorry for her and they hug. They wish that there was something they could do.

Surprisingly Litterbug says that they can make a change. He tells the others that they need to take out the central command center of the Sentinels, allowing Angel to go back to her parents and the rest to escape. When Eve asks him how he knows all of this, Litterbug replies that he was a mechanic in the army and that he helped build the Sentinels.

Characters Involved: 

Angel Dust / Christine, Cell, Electric Eve, Litterbug, Postman / David, Shatter, Trader (all Chicago Morlocks)

Hank, Shatter’s dog

Erica, Postman’s wife

Angel Dust’s parents
Several officers of the Chicago Police Force

Sentinels

Dr. Tom Metellus

Story Notes: 
Issue Information: 
Written By: