In X-Men United #3, Steve Rodgers, Wolverine, Melee and Jitter get lost in time when trying to track down survivors of the early super-soldier experiments. While Emma, Kitty, Beast and Magneto bicker and try to get the team back in the same time, the team is split up fighting who they believe is Maurice Canfield, one of the Black soldiers who were experimented on in an attempt to recreate the super soldier serum. Jitter seems to be the only one making progress when the rest of the team get back to the same time and aggravated Maurice again. Eventually Jitter calms him down and Rodgers attempts to make amends when we find out that the man he’s talking to isn’t Maurice Canfield, it’s Vernon Weavor.
Marvel
We soon see Vernon’s story, which covers his life before and after he was experimented on by the US government. He grew up and worked on the same plantation in Georgia that his grandfather was a slave on. After his father was killed by the KKK when they set his house ablaze. He left Georgia to go up north and made his way to Philadelphia where the Canfield’s took him in and became his family, which explains why Rodgers thought it was Maurice. When the government shipped Maurice to Camp Cathcart, he enlisted as well. At Camp Cathcart, they experimented with him and other Black soldiers in an attempt to recreate the super soldier serum. After he left Camp Cathcart, he eventually made his way back to Philadelphia only to discover that his second family, the Canfields, had been killed.
Although this issue is moving, it feels short and somewhat out of place. The team being split up when fighting Vernon takes up almost the first half of this issue and it seems to be dragging. The conflict that seemed to be teased last issue with Magneto was briefly in this issue, but I would have liked to see it be built up more. Vernon’s story is important and I don’t believe it should have been shortened, but there’s only one page after he’s done telling his story, which makes the issue feel unfinished. Wolverine attempts to comfort him by telling him that only he can give the world more than the monster that the government created, which is touching given that she was made into a weapon too. However, Jitter telling him that he does have a family because he’s a mutant seems off-putting and insensitive as the loss of his family is largely because he and his family are Black. He wasn’t discriminated against because he was a mutant, the government wasn’t aware of that at the time. I’m a bit excited to see where Vernon will fit into the larger storyline, but unsure how he will fit in.
Tiago Palma’s art is a bit harsh but the fighting scenes feel dynamic. The coloring of the panels where Vernon is recounting his story is fitting for the time period in which the story takes place. Overall, X-Men United #3 feels like short setup story rather than a standalone issue.
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