Shaman's bag is a dangerous place - almost like the phantom zone or negative zone but more compressed and far, far more dangerous. I like it being left a mystery as to what the insides are like. I loved having Smart Alec go comatose after looking into it all those years ago. Magic = dangerous, not for the untrained.
So glad to read here that JB never intended Mac's resurrection to be anything but an over the top tale. I remember falling for it at the time and loving the twist even though I also wanted Mac back. I hated it when Marvel made it so that was what happened years later. Ah well, head canon ignores that. I could live with Heather taking on the suit (again against what was shown before) but not that silly Mac returns story. Just goes to show what one writer thinks is way over the top another will incorporate into the story as if it was the most logical thing ever.
Smart Alec's problem (IIRC) was that his senses were greatly enhanced. Not only that, but with his superior intellect, what he saw might have affected him more profoundly than a casual viewer. If he *understood* what lay within the medicine bag...
It's possible that anyone looking inside would suffer some harm, perhaps even mental obliteration, but Alec Thorne's attempt to study the insides of the medicine bag, combined with the above, suggests (to me) he was more vulnerable than your average looky-loo.
Edited by Andrew Bitner on 11 October 2021 at 1:44pm
I always imagined it as a mega-intense version of looking into Vincent Vega's briefcase, like the secrets of the universe that us mere mortals were never meant to grasp.
Well technically, that would depend on when I read the stories and when I saw the movie :)
More importantly, I just meant to refer to a common reference most could likely relate to, not to imply that one borrowed from the other. If that were the case, you win!
Gotta say, what really impresses me about the art on these Shaman pages is just how clearly the energy is being sucked *in* to the bag. It would be so easy to just draw a mess of energy that could be an explosion if not for some exposition, but it's so clear in the art.
Real Shaman is impressive as hell. A true professonial.
And a chapter of X-Men history is neatly closed...
Bye bye N'agarai!
Though I do wonder... Is it possible for something to force it's way out of Shaman's medicine bag? And on that point, does he need to exert some form of control over the bag to keep the forces of darkness inside it at bay?
Questions probably best left unanswered, but questions nonetheless.
I love the way Michael in the last panel is reminiscent of Mac’s big entrance in 109… this has been awesome, mate. Any Northstar/Aurora cameos planned…?