Warning: contains spoilers for X-Factor #6!
The X-Men‘s new island paradise comes with plenty of awesome new features, including Krakoa’s ability to grow buildings to order for the various teams who keep the new nation running. But while X-Factor‘s Boneyard already has one of the creepiest monikers a base could possess, the addition of a grotesque new feature ensures the name fits. Krakoa has a place for all mutants, but that doesn’t make the Boneyard any less gross as the main base of this unusual team.
While the Krakoan nation is able to resurrect any mutant who dies, there are still issues with the system. X-Factor has become the de facto organization responsible for all issues surrounding the death and resurrection of mutants on Krakoa. Tracking down missing individuals, studying corrupted resurrections and investigating the deaths of mutants when necessary, have all fallen under the purview of Polaris, Northstar, Prestige and the rest of their team. The facility they live and operate out of is the Boneyard, created collaboratively by Polaris and Krakoa itself.
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X-Factor’s work is inherently macabre, and Prodigy’s most recent project adds a necessary and supremely creepy aspect to their headquarters. In X-Factor #6, Prodigy uses his psychomimetic abilities to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary for a medical examiner, as the team delves into whether the mysterious, multiple deaths of Siryn have been accidents. Prodigy realizes there could be immense value in studying the leftover cadavers of mutants who have since been resurrected by the Five and requests to have access to them. Northstar throws a fit upon finding out the remains of their friends, allies and loved ones have been moved to the Boneyards’ Hanging Garden. The awkward potential this presents is immediately apparent as the resurrected Siryn reports to the Boneyard to be questioned and has to be steered away from spotting her former lifeless body in the garden.
Lairs, headquarters and bases often have as much character as the characters they’re used by, and there’s no shortage of off-putting base camps in comics. The Joker always seems to locate an abandoned amusement park in the DC Universe when there’s a scheme afoot, but for him being horrific comes with the territory. For a time, Image’s Spawn squatted in Rat City, a disgusting collection of alleyways. In fact, even the Avengers have set up home base inside the corpse of a Celestial, and Knowhere, a city located inside the severed head of another Celestial, is a frequent stomping ground for the Guardians of the Galaxy. But despite living inside the hollowed-out husks of long-deceased space gods, the Avengers and Guardians still aren’t living among an ever-growing garden of their own dead teammates and friends.
As unpleasant as the Boneyard’s new body farm may be, the knowledge collected is certain to benefit mutants in unforeseen ways. During X of Swords, the X-Men discovered new frightening limitations to their resurrections that had unforgivable costs paid by their beloved teammate, Rockslide. As he successfully argued, Prodigy may discern workarounds for other obstacles in the future while pioneering the academic field of Mutant Decomposition. The immortality the X-Men have achieved is delicate and complex. For the members of X-Factor, the discomfort of residing in the midst of the lifeless bodies of their mutant brethren is a necessary price to pay. But that doesn’t mean it’s not weird, even for the X-Men.
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