Warning: spoilers ahead for S.W.O.R.D. #5!
An X-Men villain has called out the creepiest part of the mutant resurrection ritual. In S.W.O.R.D. #5, somebody is finally talking about how bizarre it is that the mutant community of Krakoa is so casual about birthday suit presentations. After all, mutants were still raised in a human world.
Back in House of X #1, the process of mutant resurrection was introduced. The mutants living on Krakoa can generally be resurrected if they die. Their consciousness is regularly backed up and new bodies are grown using their DNA, allowing the X-Men to come back again and again if one of the X-Men die anywhere that isn't Otherworld. The process of resurrecting all mutants takes a while, but it has become common practice in Krakoa.
Now, Fabian Cortez - a foe of the X-Men - is pointing out the obvious. Created by Al Ewing, Valerio Schiti, Marte Gracia, and Ariana Maher, S.W.O.R.D. #5 has the villain asking why it is that resurrections involve being presented to the mutant community while naked. This is especially strange in this issue, where Fabian doesn't even have a welcome ceremony immediately after resurrection; he has an important council meeting.
Fabian Cortez - though a mutant - has had a villainous past where he hunted mutants for sport, specifically targeting Magneto numerous times. However, he certainly has a point despite his negative track record. Typically, the resurrection ceremony involves each mutant being reborn and then being part of a celebration where the mutants of Krakoa gather to affirm their belonging within the community. This ceremony is always done with every mutant being completely nude at center stage. Despite being mutants, most of the community was raised in a human world with the usual societal restrictions and mannerisms. Generally, this should have seemed incredibly odd to somebody long before this point.
Even though the X-Men and all other mutants would be okay with appearing before thousands of mutants while naked is peculiar.
Fabian even previously asked for clothes and a shower, highlighting how messy the resurrection process is for reborn mutants. They get covered in yolk! So naturally, everyone's first thought is to parade them around or ask them to argue the reason they should be included in the community. Even though mutants shouldn't be ashamed of who they are, this is asking a lot. It may get easier and feel more normal the more it happens and the more a mutant is resurrected, but it shouldn't have taken one of the X-Men's villains to point out the initial strangeness of the ritual.
