Thread by @ClaremontRun

Knowing that Ricochet Rita is visually based on Ann Nocenti and that MojoVerse is a satire of media culture offers us the potential to read some aspects of Rita’s story as Claremont’s commentary on Nocenti’s role as X-Men editor. #xmen 1/9

The first thing to note is that Claremont sees Mojo as some commentary on the comic book medium. We see this quite clearly in Mojo Mayhem when the X-Babies escape into a Mojo-Verse building labelled “The House of Jack and Stan” as well as other Marvel signifiers. 2/9

In UXM Annual #12, Claremont presents Rita still attached to Mojo’s ship as a sort of pilot slave. The connection is especially obvious given that Nocenti herself is drawn on the previous page (in a 4th wall break moment) looking exactly the same as Rita. 3/9

Mojo desxcribes her “as my figurehead to guide me to glory!” Defiantly, she responds “These are wild rides you send me on. I’m starting to enjoy ‘em! Think about it. You may steer the ship. But I show it the way. So tell me then, who’s the master here; who’s the slave?” 4/9

If we allow the biographical reading, this would seem to be a commentary on the power of the line editor, of Nocenti’s role in ‘steering the ship’ so to speak - even of her potential enjoyment of the infuriating practice (depending on how much irony we read into her words). 5/9

Rita is freed by the X-Babies and becomes their caretaker (another obvious potential connection to Nocenti’s role with the X-Franchise). In Mojo Mayhem, she’s still in that role but is corrupted by Mojo into undertaking the Agent’s exploitative bureaucratic deceptions. 6/9

This too feels a bit like a portrayal of the business side of the editor’s role, where the creative side puts them in the role of caretaker. Rita’s duality as a bridge between art and business, thus again can be seen to infer a commentary on Nocenti’s role. 7/9

By the end of Mojo Mayhem that role is framed very lovingly, with the X-Babies sacrificing everything to save Rita, and Rita following them through the portal just the same. It’s “The Gift of the Magi” but with chibi X-Men instead of a self-sacrificing husband and wife duo. 8/9

Finally, we should note that the idea that serving Mojo would eventually turn Rita into Spiral (only confirmed post-Claremont) makes for a fun argument about how the grind of comics editorial turns even the most dauntless creator mad. 9/9

Just to emphasize the obvious: while this reading is invited by the text due to the fourth wall ruptures, it's still pure speculation - an emergent property of the text that might not confer, at all, with reality or the author's intent.