The origin of fan-favorite X-Man Colossus is finally revealed, brought to you by Chris Yost (New X-Men, Messiah Complex) and Trevor Hairsine (X-Men: Deadly Genesis). Deep in the wastes of Siberia, young Piotr Rasputin discovers his mutant abilities -- and becomes the newest target of the ruthless KGB! Guest-starring Professor Xavier.
Synopsis
Our story opens with Piotr talking with his brother Mikhail, as Mikhail prepares to leave for the space program; Piotr doesn’t want him to go, but Mikhail insists that he’s doing it, not just for Russia, but for him to, to make a better world. He says that, whatever happens, he’ll always be watching over him: “Just look to the stars, and know that I am looking back.”
Three months later, as young Piotr treks home, he sees a military jeep parked in front of his house, and excitedly exclaims that his brother has returned; however, he finds some military officers presenting his crying parents with a medal. Piotr starts crying and runs away. One of the men sees him running and follows (the man is later identified as Alexander Vazhin, a friend of Mikhail’s, so we’ll go with that from the start).
Piotr runs into the snowy field, and then kneels, yelling that his brother was supposed to come back; he smashes the Earth with his fists, which have just turned metal, resulting in a huge impact that kicks up snow, earth, and stone, and shreds his clothes. Piotr weakly stares at his metal skin, and then passes out in the middle of the little green clearing he’s created. Alexander sees him.
Back at home, Ma and Pa Rasputin try to convince Piotr that his brother had a gift, and had to leave. Piotr gets angry, and transforms again.
In Moscow, at the headquarters of the Federal Security Service, Alexander (who works there, it seems) talks with his superiors and basically lies through his teeth about what happened with Piotr. However, his superiors aren’t buying it, and, after he leaves, they order surveillance on both Piotr and Alexander.
Alexander visits the F.S.S. archives, and pulls up a New York Times headline from May 5th, [year conveniently obscured], “Mutant Attack at Cape Citadel?” with a photo that’s a partial from X-Men #1’s cover.
One year later, Piotr holds his newborn baby sister Illyana in his arms and promises that he will watch over her, no matter what.
“Time passes”; little Illyana runs up to her brother at the farm and insists that he paint another picture of her (conceited little bitch); Mr. Dubenko, an FSS agent posing as a farmhand, watches all this from afar, and complains that he’s been hanging out on a Siberian farm for four years with nothing happening.
In Moscow, Alexander is at a bar, and answers a cell-phone call; the voice says they need to have a private conversation, and that Alex shouldn’t be alarmed. Alex looks around and finds himself sitting on a bar stool in an otherwise completely white space; Professor X wheels up, and says he believes Alex has been trying to contact him. Professor X explains that they’re on the astral plane; Alex says that Mikhail was his best friend, and they promised to look after each others’ families if anything happened to them. He knows what Piotr is, and believes that if the Russian government finds out their first inclination will be to make him into a weapon, when he’s really an artist and poet. Professor X says he’ll be in touch, and “by the way, they’ve thrown your body outside. The barkeep assumes you’ve passed out.” Alex wakes up lying in an alley against a dumpster.
Two years later, Dubenko is still pretending to be a farmhand, but catches a glimpse of Piotr transforming and lifting a tractor to please Illyana (“Piotr! Shiny! Come on!!”). He radios the FSS; Alex sees the transmission, and picks up his phone to call Xavier; suddenly, Professor X cuts in psychically and tells him not to be alarmed when three FSS agents appear and arrest him for treason, which they do.
At the farm, a bunch of commandos arrive to abduct Piotr; long (well-drawn) fight scene, he wins, including, impressively, leaping into the air and punching a helicopter to the ground. He finds one of the commandos is Dubenko, and Dubenko tells him that the Russians will never leave him or his family alone. Suddenly, Alex appears and shoots Dubenko with a tranq. Alex says that, as of tonight, the Russian government no longer has any interest in the Rasputin family, as, thanks the ‘patronage’ of an unseen “guardian angel”, no one will remember what happened tonight and Alex has been promoted to Director of Intelligence.
“Time passes”, and we get a redo of the Giant-Sized X-Men #1 scene where Piotr saves Illyana from a tractor. He looks up and sees Professor X and Alex standing nearby; Alex introduces the Prof, who explains that he needs Piotr to join his X-Men. Alex angrily says that the point of all this was to prevent Piotr from becoming a weapon; Professor X says that Piotr already is a weapon, “but I need him to become a hero”. Prof says that dark times are coming, and while the Russians won’t be coming for Colossus for the time being, others will, as mutants are power and will always be pursued; further, that Illyana may also be a mutant, and Prof wants Piotr to help him create a world “where she need not live in fear.”
Piotr has a chat with his dad, and Pa says that Mikhail knew the answer to the question, and so does Piotr: they belong to the world, and must do what they have to. Piotr, in metal form, looks in on his sleeping sister, and vows that he does this to make a better world for her, and that he will always be watching.
We cut to Westchester, where Professor X and Colossus (now in his familiar uniform; “In all my life I’ve never seen such clothing as this.”) enter the study, where Wolverine, Storm, Thunderbird, Banshee, Nightcrawler, and Sunfire are waiting “Welcome, Colossus...to the X-Men.”)
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