ClanDestine #1: Suddenly Ms. Marvel-Adjacent

ClanDestine #1
“Apparently Unrelated Events”
Creator/Writer/Pencils: Alan Davis
Inks: Mark Farmer
Letters: Pat Prentice
Colors: Sophie Heath
Editor: Paul Neary
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco
Released: Aug. 16, 1994

Some time ago while browsing Marvel Unlimited, I added “ClanDestine” #1 to my library. It's a series I remember seeing advertised quite a bit in the mid-90s, but, like “Ravage 2099” and others, I had little knowledge of it.

Suddenly, thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Disney+, ClanDestine is relevant, despite being more obscure than the pre-movie Eternals and Guardians of the Galaxy combined.*

I won't spoil anything beyond saying the ClanDestine name has been dropped on “Ms. Marvel,” which is about halfway through its run on Disney+. So with #XofClaws having wrapped, I was looking for another series to read through and blog about beyond “Secret Defenders,” and this is clearly of a different era, having come out a whole year later.

I'm all for dramatic, over-the-top title, but there's something to be said for accuracy. This one hits that nail on the head with “Apparently Unrelated Events.”

First, “years ago,” M.O.D.O.K. and A.I.M. attempt to subdue a powerful being wreaking havoc on their underwater base. M.O.D.O.K. seals off the chamber and incinerates everything inside before flooding it with sea water. (It's a brutal sequence, but somehow doesn't feel as over the top as some more recent comic violence. Perhaps it's nostalgia goggles or maybe it's just the right amount to tell the story.) But the target survives, unbeknownst to the big floating head and his lackeys.

Jumping ahead to the then-present, a pair of young British superheroes going by Crimson Crusader and Imp thwart a robbery by the Rainbow Quartet, who appear to be a group of Cyclops cosplayers inspired by the naming conventions of “Reservoir Dogs.” Crimson Crusader is strong and bulletproof; Imp fires energy blasts; both of them fly. They discuss the need to keep their mutant powers secret from their uncle and grandmother.

The next character we meet is fashion designer Kay Cera, and I'm a bit sad it took me nearly 30 years to find out a character with that name existed. This might be her only appearance though, as her liaison with a male model is interrupted by some creepy folks looking for something called the Gryphon. Kay powers up (with telepathy, according to one of the new arrivals), but the interlopers start to mutate, displaying claws, fangs and stretching limbs. Kay is knocked out a window and appears to recreate Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman origin sequence from “Batman Returns.” The final panel of this sequence lingers on one of the alley cats, so maybe she telepathically jumped into it?

The next page features Silver Surfer discovering a brightly colored Volkswagen van floating in space, the driver somehow alive.

Next, we see Maurice, whose poolside evening with two ladies is interrupted by more of the creepy, Gryphon-seeking shapeshifters. A monk in Nepal has a vision of Maurice's death and says he fears he's the first of many.

Our cast is rounded out by Walter, a romance novelist struggling to meet his publisher's demands for the latest installment of his “Vanessa” series. Florence, the elderly woman who lives with him, cries out in alarm, telling him Maurice is dead and “they know about us.”

The McGuphyon-hunting monster people teleport into the room, followed shortly by Crimson Crusader and Imp. Not only do we learn Walter and Florence are their aforementioned uncle and grandmother, but Walter joins the fray, revealing himself to apparently be the hulking creature who laid waste to A.I.M. in the opening pages (though that silhouette did not appear to have flaming hair, so perhaps I'm mistaken).

Walter makes short work of the hunters, but Florence is mortally wounded. He then tells the kids they aren't mutants and they're all actually siblings. They have to figure out who is targeting them and why, so they can fight back.

Other than being long-lived and having powers, there's little in common so far with what we've seen in “Ms. Marvel.” I don't believe the ClanDestine name is even mentioned in-story. But it's a good first issue that sets up the mystery and potentially interesting characters. There's a bit of an Eternals vibe, although the scale appears smaller (minus the flower child in space). Davis' art is strong, as always. I'm curious to see where it goes from here, whether it sheds any light on the Ms. Marvel show's influences or just illuminates another small corner of the comic book universe for me.

* - I'm not sure if that's how obscurity math works, but you get my drift.