Eric J. Moreels
May 24, 2002, 03:19 am
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/parx01.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/parx01t.jpg" align=left alt="Paradise X #1"></a>Fans of <b><i>Earth X</i></b> wondering what happened to the text appendices in the final <b><i>Paradise X</i></b> trilogy can wonder no longer! Series writer Jim Krueger has been providing visitors to his <a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5658" target="_blank">Krueger X</a> forum here at X-Fan with the appendices to <b><i>Paradise X</i></b> after each issue has arrived in stores.
Without further ado, here is Krueger's Appendix for <b><i>Paradise X #1</i></b>.
REDWING
Written by Jim Krueger
"Aaron? Is that you?"
"Hello Wyatt."
"What’s the Watchman of Earth doing here in the remains of Washington D.C.?"
"What’s a hero like Redwing, Wyatt, doing in a place where he can do no good?"
"Steve’s dead, Aaron. Haven’t I done enough good already?"
"Steve’s death was not your fault. You weren’t even there."
"Yeah. I wasn’t there. And it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t know self-contradiction was part of your programming."
"Stop it, Wyatt. What you are doing here is something Steve would never have wanted."
"Why are you here?"
"I didn’t come to see D.C., Redwing. I came to talk to you. To tell you how Captain America’s death serves a purpose that he would want you to now fill in his absence."
"Why? Is there another army being formed that you need more dumb muscle for? Is there another banner you want me to wave while more of my friends die because I am not there to save them? While more heroes bite it so that I have less reasons to live than before?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"I wanted to tell you about my father, Abel Stack. About why he built me and what he wanted for me."
"Go on, Aaron, but you’re wasting your time. I will not be moved. Steve Rogers is dead. And that is the end of it."
"Why does Steve’s death have to be the end of you, the end of the good you could do? You tell me that you weren’t there to save him. And I’m telling you that Steve’s death was intended to save you along with the rest of mankind."
"I don’t feel saved, Aaron. This is more like damnation. Go on, then. Tell me about how I’ve been saved."
"Like Steve Rogers, Wyatt, I was built to be a soldier, to be a thinking weapon to be aimed at the enemies of the United States of America. I was built to fight enemies both foreign and domestic. But unlike Cap, I was not a symbol. I, like the rest of the entire X-series was to be fully disposable in fact.
"But my father, the man that constructed and designed me, had another destiny in mind, one which meant that I would not be deconstructed when the X-series program was dissolved for lack of funding.
"My father didn’t want me to fight. He wanted me to be human. He wanted me to know what it meant to love and be loved. He wanted me to know what it was like to be a part of humanity, to be a part of something instead of merely a collection of parts."
"You’re making me misty here, Aaron. What’s the point?"
"I was built with a self destruct mechanism in my assembly. When the X-series program was scrapped, I was also slated for destruction. But instead, by father chose to be destroyed himself. He chose death so I would not have to die."
"Your friend, Steve Rogers, wanted the same for you as my father did for me."
"What’s that supposed to mean? "
"You weren’t listening at Steve’s funeral, Wyatt. You weren’t thinking about what Steve gave his life for."
"He lost his life on another stupid cosmic crisis."
"That’s so small a view of what happened, Wyatt. Mar-Vell’s goal here upon Earth was to build an armory that he could use in the afterlife, not only to kill the being known as Death, but to create a place where mankind could go once it left this plane of mortality. Steve saw that. And he gave his life to make Death an antique concept, to make certain there was a place where we would go, where you would go when you die. Steve died making that a reality. He died so that we’d never have to be afraid of Death again. In many ways the super soldier of America helped to make a place for all those who died in war in all of history. Steve died for this, Wyatt. He died for you. For all of us."
"So I’ve heard. But look around you, Aaron. This world’s hospitals are full of people for whom death would be a comfort."
"Things are not as we expected them to be. Even the child, Mar-Vell is confused."
"We’re all confused. Are you really telling me that Steve died so that those he was preparing a way for could suffer for all time? Are you really asking me to join another crusade to save the world only to make it worse? The heroes gave Mar-Vell free reign to sell humanity into suffering. Look at Reed…"
"Reed?"
"Sure. Reed Richards calls Galactus, who I know is now his son Franklin Richards to come and save the Earth. Franklin comes and kills something that was living at the core of the planet. And when he does, he endangers the planet by setting off its polarity."
"Reed’s saved the Earth time and time again."
"Of course he has. Just like he’s endangered it time and time again by his discoveries of races and beings from other realties that would never had known of Earth if Reed hadn’t given them the keys to planet in the first place."
"Reed needs you now, Wyatt. He is planning to undo what Mar-Vell’s done. He doesn’t know how yet, but he’s going to try to help ease the suffering of mankind."
"That’s just like him. Have you thought of what danger this attempt to now ease our suffering will cause?"
"Are you saying Reed should do nothing?"
"No. But, I’m afraid of a world with no enemies for Reed to fight. Think about all the things Reed invented and created and discovered in the midst of fighting Doom, the Skrulls, Namor, Puppet Man and all the rest of them. I’m afraid of how much his mind will conceive now that all the enemies are gone. Did you even wonder how much better the world was with Doom in it. Doom kept Reed occupied. He kept him busy. I’m afraid of what Reed will do without an enemy to face."
"Then there is only one thing you can do, Wyatt."
"Yeah, what’s that?"
"Go to Reed. Help him. Give him perspective."
"You think I’ll be able to do that? You’ve seen Reed’s whole life, in ways I haven’t. I couldn’t give Steve perspective, and he died. If I even try to offer the same to Reed, he’ll send me on some mission half-way across the world where I won’t be able to stop him or his plans to save the world."
"But at least you’ll have tried."
"Yes, Aaron. At least I’ll have tried."
Without further ado, here is Krueger's Appendix for <b><i>Paradise X #1</i></b>.
REDWING
Written by Jim Krueger
"Aaron? Is that you?"
"Hello Wyatt."
"What’s the Watchman of Earth doing here in the remains of Washington D.C.?"
"What’s a hero like Redwing, Wyatt, doing in a place where he can do no good?"
"Steve’s dead, Aaron. Haven’t I done enough good already?"
"Steve’s death was not your fault. You weren’t even there."
"Yeah. I wasn’t there. And it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t know self-contradiction was part of your programming."
"Stop it, Wyatt. What you are doing here is something Steve would never have wanted."
"Why are you here?"
"I didn’t come to see D.C., Redwing. I came to talk to you. To tell you how Captain America’s death serves a purpose that he would want you to now fill in his absence."
"Why? Is there another army being formed that you need more dumb muscle for? Is there another banner you want me to wave while more of my friends die because I am not there to save them? While more heroes bite it so that I have less reasons to live than before?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"I wanted to tell you about my father, Abel Stack. About why he built me and what he wanted for me."
"Go on, Aaron, but you’re wasting your time. I will not be moved. Steve Rogers is dead. And that is the end of it."
"Why does Steve’s death have to be the end of you, the end of the good you could do? You tell me that you weren’t there to save him. And I’m telling you that Steve’s death was intended to save you along with the rest of mankind."
"I don’t feel saved, Aaron. This is more like damnation. Go on, then. Tell me about how I’ve been saved."
"Like Steve Rogers, Wyatt, I was built to be a soldier, to be a thinking weapon to be aimed at the enemies of the United States of America. I was built to fight enemies both foreign and domestic. But unlike Cap, I was not a symbol. I, like the rest of the entire X-series was to be fully disposable in fact.
"But my father, the man that constructed and designed me, had another destiny in mind, one which meant that I would not be deconstructed when the X-series program was dissolved for lack of funding.
"My father didn’t want me to fight. He wanted me to be human. He wanted me to know what it meant to love and be loved. He wanted me to know what it was like to be a part of humanity, to be a part of something instead of merely a collection of parts."
"You’re making me misty here, Aaron. What’s the point?"
"I was built with a self destruct mechanism in my assembly. When the X-series program was scrapped, I was also slated for destruction. But instead, by father chose to be destroyed himself. He chose death so I would not have to die."
"Your friend, Steve Rogers, wanted the same for you as my father did for me."
"What’s that supposed to mean? "
"You weren’t listening at Steve’s funeral, Wyatt. You weren’t thinking about what Steve gave his life for."
"He lost his life on another stupid cosmic crisis."
"That’s so small a view of what happened, Wyatt. Mar-Vell’s goal here upon Earth was to build an armory that he could use in the afterlife, not only to kill the being known as Death, but to create a place where mankind could go once it left this plane of mortality. Steve saw that. And he gave his life to make Death an antique concept, to make certain there was a place where we would go, where you would go when you die. Steve died making that a reality. He died so that we’d never have to be afraid of Death again. In many ways the super soldier of America helped to make a place for all those who died in war in all of history. Steve died for this, Wyatt. He died for you. For all of us."
"So I’ve heard. But look around you, Aaron. This world’s hospitals are full of people for whom death would be a comfort."
"Things are not as we expected them to be. Even the child, Mar-Vell is confused."
"We’re all confused. Are you really telling me that Steve died so that those he was preparing a way for could suffer for all time? Are you really asking me to join another crusade to save the world only to make it worse? The heroes gave Mar-Vell free reign to sell humanity into suffering. Look at Reed…"
"Reed?"
"Sure. Reed Richards calls Galactus, who I know is now his son Franklin Richards to come and save the Earth. Franklin comes and kills something that was living at the core of the planet. And when he does, he endangers the planet by setting off its polarity."
"Reed’s saved the Earth time and time again."
"Of course he has. Just like he’s endangered it time and time again by his discoveries of races and beings from other realties that would never had known of Earth if Reed hadn’t given them the keys to planet in the first place."
"Reed needs you now, Wyatt. He is planning to undo what Mar-Vell’s done. He doesn’t know how yet, but he’s going to try to help ease the suffering of mankind."
"That’s just like him. Have you thought of what danger this attempt to now ease our suffering will cause?"
"Are you saying Reed should do nothing?"
"No. But, I’m afraid of a world with no enemies for Reed to fight. Think about all the things Reed invented and created and discovered in the midst of fighting Doom, the Skrulls, Namor, Puppet Man and all the rest of them. I’m afraid of how much his mind will conceive now that all the enemies are gone. Did you even wonder how much better the world was with Doom in it. Doom kept Reed occupied. He kept him busy. I’m afraid of what Reed will do without an enemy to face."
"Then there is only one thing you can do, Wyatt."
"Yeah, what’s that?"
"Go to Reed. Help him. Give him perspective."
"You think I’ll be able to do that? You’ve seen Reed’s whole life, in ways I haven’t. I couldn’t give Steve perspective, and he died. If I even try to offer the same to Reed, he’ll send me on some mission half-way across the world where I won’t be able to stop him or his plans to save the world."
"But at least you’ll have tried."
"Yes, Aaron. At least I’ll have tried."