Mystique #6

History

The 2003 Mystique ongoing series was launched as part of Marvel's Tsunami imprint, founded in January 2003 with the stated goal of producing accessible, character-focused titles that could appeal to readers outside the traditional Direct Market superhero audience. Writer Brian K. Vaughan, then simultaneously producing Y: The Last Man and the early issues of Runaways, conceived the series as a Cold War-style espionage book built around the premise of a reluctant Mystique coerced into serving as Professor Xavier's deniable covert operative. Artist Jorge Lucas handled the art for the full 'Dead Drop Gorgeous' arc (issues #1–6), and the series was edited under editor-in-chief Joe Quesada; issue #6 specifically was edited by Teresa Focarile, with Stephanie Moore and Cory Sedlmeier as assistant editors. The Tsunami imprint itself was discontinued in late 2003, but Mystique proved durable enough to continue under the mainstream Marvel banner through issue #24, with Sean McKeever taking over writing duties after issue #13 as part of the X-Men: ReLoad initiative.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Shepard, the antagonistic double-agent recruiter who becomes one of the series' central villains and whose enigmatic 'Quiet Man' superior is not revealed until the book's final arc.
• Final issue of the six-part 'Dead Drop Gorgeous' arc — the debut story arc of Vaughan's run — which set the espionage framework (Mystique as Xavier's covert operative, Shortpack as her handler, Forge as tech support) that defined the entire series.
• Death of Evangelina Rivera, the Cuban mutant girl whose sacrifice resolves the Havana Sentinel crisis; her brother Lazaro Rivera survives and fires the fatal shot after Mystique cannot bring herself to do so.
• Written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Jorge Lucas (pencils and inks), with colors by Daniel Perez Sanchez and a cover by Joseph Michael Linsner — the same artistic team that produced the entire opening arc.
• Published September 24, 2003, under the Marvel Tsunami imprint, with a cover date of November 2003; a newsstand edition was published simultaneously.
• The issue was reprinted in the 2004 trade paperback Mystique Vol. 1: Dead Drop Gorgeous and again in the Mystique by Brian K. Vaughan Ultimate Collection (2011), confirming its status as essential to the arc's collected form.
• Mystique touches her new Shepard pendant while telling Xavier she chooses to stay in his service — the double-agent subplot launched here runs as a slow-burn thread through the balance of Vaughan's thirteen-issue tenure.
• Part of a series that earned critical acclaim alongside fellow Tsunami titles New Mutants, Runaways, and Sentinel, and went on to become the longest-running Tsunami-originated series (24 issues total).

Full credits

Key issues in Mystique

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#3 1st appearance — Shortpack

Variants (1)