Under
the brown fog of a winter dawn
Now that we’re into Uncanny X-Men #394 proper and have settled on the reasoning for each of our heroes, what of our villain? Or, to be more accurate, antagonist? Warp Savant was created by Joe Casey and Ian Churchill for this issue only and has not been used since (that I’m aware). I’d pin the lack of followup on the character’s seeming death were it not for the fact that the death was far from certain and that, even if it were, since when did that ever stop anyone in the superhero comicbook game? Warp Savant’s inspiration, Magneto, has died how many times only to return after each eventually? Is it the one-note nature of the character? Again, that’s never stopped anyone. The truly unbeloved nature of this issue? Or something more central to his core?
What do we know about Warp Savant coming out of this issue? He turns 18, he’s male-presenting, he’s heavily tattooed, he wears sunglasses on his head (but never over his eyes), he likes leather pants and mesh shirts, he goes to clubs, he has the ability to teleport objects inside his own head (and seemingly prefers to imbibe alcohol that way), and he’s a Magneto fanboy. No real name, no tortured origin, no real motivation other than mindlessly striking out at the world... The inciting event for action seems to be becoming an adult. Given that mutant powers present at puberty generally, that means Warp Savant has lived with his powers for around four or so years, maybe more, maybe less, and it’s only when he’s reached adulthood that he looks to use them beyond limited means (like ‘absorbing’ beer bottles).
As much as Warp Savant patterns himself after Magneto (more on that later), he’s paired with Cyclops here, acting as the opposite to him. Cyclops’s comments about there being a world beyond the mansion walls are key; just as Cyclops is looking past the world of the school, so too is Warp Savant, leaving behind the safety of childhood and going out into the larger world, looking to make a difference in the only way that makes sense to him. Both men are looking to ‘change the world’ in their own ways (Cyclops even makes reference to this idea at the end of the issue). While Cyclops is all repression and control, Warp Savant is the opposite. He’s mindless energy, letting loose his id, and not actually acting with a plan. When he storms Cape Citadel, it’s with a vague idea of ‘shaking things up’ and no real goal. Even when he’s defeated by the X-Men, he doesn’t seem that upset. He almost seems amused, ready to go with the flow, and embrace the next step by using his powers on himself.
Visually, the two characters are related but different. Both wearing leather jackets and sunglasses (almost identical save the colour), with Warp Savant never actually putting his over his eyes, unlike Cyclops who had to keep his over his eyes or else unleash his mutant powers. Given the twinkle in Warp Savant’s eyes when he uses his powers, the eyes seem important there – maybe he can only affect what he sees. It’s these little connections...
That Warp Savant waits until he’s 18 isn’t about him leaving school entirely, either. It also puts him beyond the reach of school – beyond the reach of the X-Men. He’s no longer young enough to immediately fall under the sway of Xavier’s teachings. Not in a literal sense, because plenty of X-Men joined the team as adults (an all-new, all-different concept, one might say). Warp Savant doesn’t exist in the realm of the literal, though. He’s a walking, talking, drinking, fucking metaphor for an alternative to Xavier’s dream. Every part of the character is designed to not fit into Xavier’s school and his teachings, including his patterning his first step into the wider world on the actions of Magneto. In The X-Men #1, Magneto’s attack on Cape Citadel is just as ill-conceived and pointless. An act of terror that declared that he would answer to no one – and that’s what Warp Savant is doing. It’s a declaration of his adulthood and unwillingness to be cowed by anyone. There is no message beyond that. “I’m a mutant and an adult and I won’t be told what to do!” He strikes against one of the most potent symbols of authority in the military and has no agenda past the lashing out. Even the declaration that he’s an evil mutant is merely in response to society around him that would classify him as such, trying to provoke him to change and conform, so, instead, he owns the label.
The final thing that Warp Savant stands in for is us, the readers. Or, rather, to keep harping on it: X-Men comicbook readers (because X-Men comicbooks are about X-Men comicbooks). The issue begins with him researching continuity online and he spends the issue collecting facts inside his head. In the aftermath of the X-Men movie, there was an element of comicbook fandom that pushed back against the mainstream success, wanting to assert that that wasn’t the real X-Men and the movie fans weren’t real fans. Warp Savant is a moody geek lashing out at the world that treats him like an outcasts because he knows the continuity. Jumping from there, it's not hard to see him as a stand-in for Joe Casey (except Joe is rarely seen without sunglasses covering his eyes), a notorious continuity hound and provocateur. It’s a stretch, honestly, but I do see the character as giving some insight into the ensuing Uncanny X-Men run that, in contrast to New X-Men’s school-based location, would be about going out into the wider world and encountering ideas that challenge Xavier’s view of human/mutant relations. Warp Savant is merely the first...
