Delay

It turns out I might actually be going on a proper vacation for spring break, so the next post may be a week or two away.  Sorry about any inconvenience, and I hope those few of you who have visited this site continue to do so after I return. 

Uncanny X-Men #288

Uncanny X-Men #288
Writing: Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, Scott Lobdell, John Byrne
Art: Andy Kubert, Bill Sienkiewicz

What Went Down: The issue opens with Colossus, Archangel, and Iceman of the Gold Team hiding in the shadows of a hall in the mansion. They’ve decided that the X-Men need more fun in their lives, and their best idea of fun for people who fight for their lives on a daily basis is to jump out of the shadows and tackle them. And that is exactly what they do to Cyclops and Beast. After Cyclops scolds everyone, and everyone tells Cyclops to lighten up, Cyclops and Beast go off to debrief the Professor on the Omega Red story (X-Men #4-7).

Meanwhile in the Danger Room, the Professor is testing Bishop with some kind of training sequence. I say some kind because we see Bishop firing his gun at something, but we never see what he is firing at. Cyclops and Beast walk in, and since they already seem to know Bishop then this issue must take place after X-Men #8-9. The Professor tells Bishop to learn as much as he can from Storm, so Bishop asks Storm to take him to New York to learn about the present.

Cut to New Jersey where Opal Tanaka is reading a letter in Japanese. For those of you saying “Who the #@$% is Opal Tanaka?” Opal is Iceman’s girlfriend who appeared as a supporting character in X-Factor. Anyway, Iceman surprises her with flowers, and they leave to go catch up. The letter turns out to be from her cousin, Hiro, and this leads to a plotline in the next issue.

Back at the mansion, Archangel is listening to a message from Charlotte Jones, another X-girlfriend/former X-Factor supporting member. She makes a reference about Warren being her archangel which makes him really angry, so he decides to go outside and fly around while naked.

Meanwhile… again (Hey, if this comic can use it as a transition, why can’t I?), most of the Gold Team, plus Jubilee, Opal, and Forge, are walking around downtown New York. They just happen to run into a mutant named Styglut, who just happens to be the very last of the fugitives from the future that Bishop hasn’t killed yet.

A very large fight ensues between the two, with lots of collateral damage along the way. Storm tries to get Bishop to stop, saying that killing is not the only way. Bishop disagrees, and kills Styglut.

As he’s being restrained by Colossus, Bishop sees the rest of the X-Men helping the bystanders caught in the wake of his battle. Storm drops a lot of guilt on him and tells him that all X-Men must put the lives of civilians before their own. He feels remorse, and swears that he will dedicate himself to the X-Men’s ideals from now on.

Later Bishop spends some more time in the Danger Room shooting at something we again don’t get to see. Then he goes to Storm’s room and gives her his command insignia as a symbol that he still has much to learn.

How It Was: Andy Kubert guest pencils, and he is pretty hit or miss; he later went on to be the regular penciler on X-Men, where his style improved greatly. The scenes with Bishop in the Danger Room are just perplexing since I can’t understand why the artist wouldn’t show us what the character is doing. Also, all the scenes where characters have shadows over them have the shadows depicted as criss-crossing lines, like a checker board, that look just awful. And Storm’s eyes are way too wide and narrow, as are her eye brows. She looks strange the entire issue.

The scene at the beginning with the two teams exists for no other reason except to fill space. I think it’s meant to be silly and heartwarming, but it definitely isn’t. There is an allusion to the Betsy seducing Scott plotline that Jean Grey picks up on, but other than that it’s just plain weird.

As for the good, well the fight between Styglut and Bishop is very entertaining, and has some good writing behind it. Although Storm is meant to be in the right by stressing that killing is wrong, Bishop makes a compelling argument that Styglut is from the future, and as the representative law enforcement from that time, it is his responsibility to hold the bad guy accountable to the rules of that period. It’s no different than a criminal getting extradited to his home country, except that option isn’t available here.

As for Styglut himself, he is totally one dimensional and doesn’t do much to define his personality outside of killing two women. And apparently all criminals in the future are stupid because once again we have an issue of Uncanny where the bad guy shoots Bishop with energy, even though he knows him and his powers. He claims to be trying to overload Bishop, but that seems like a pretty crappy plan.

Unfortunately, the issue ends on a pretty predictable note. Bishop figures out that “Gee, the present sure is different from the time I grew up in.” But I guess it is something that had to be addressed, and this is a convenient means to get it out of the way. A good issue for Bishop, though there is not much for anybody else.

B

X-Men #9

X-Men #9
Writing: Jim Lee and Scott Lobdell
Art: Jim Lee and Art Thibert

Update: Click here for Part 2 and Part 4.


What Went Down: Once again, sorry I’m missing part two. This is part three of a four part crossover with Ghost Rider; I’ve never read the Ghost Rider issues, but presumably Ghost Rider randomly goes to New Orleans, encounters the Thieves and Assassins Guilds, and learns that they have been infected by the Brood before being infected himself. Also the X-Men are probably there to.  Update: After reading the issues in question, turns out I was right.  Am i good or am i good?

Anyways, the beginning of this issue starts with the Blue Squad plus Bella Donna (Gambit’s wife, or is it X-Wife—get it, ah ha ha) encountering Ghost Rider as he transforms into a half Brood/half Spirit of Vengeance. Yes, it’s Motivation for Pointless Super Hero vs. Super Hero Fight #56, the bad guy gains control over one of the parties involved.

Some Brood “slaymasters” also show up, and a very large battle ensues. Belle demonstrates some pretty impressive energy powers, which leads Gambit to question where she got them. Also, Jubilee freaks out and runs away because the Brood are supposed to be really scary, and Brood Ghost Rider is supposed to be even scarier.

The floor collapses. Afterwards Belle reveals she still has feelings for Gambit when she demonstrates concern for his wellbeing. Meanwhile, the reason you bought this comic in the 90’s—Wolverine and Ghost Rider fight for two whole pages. Ooooh. During the fight, Ghost Rider demonstrates signs that his human host, Dan Ketch, is fighting the Brood possession, so he runs away.

Elsewhere, Cyclops helps Psylocke out of some rubble, and Psylocke makes a pass at him. He responds as you’d expect; he acts incredibly uncomfortable and then pretends to ignore it.

Somehow Jubilee winds up alone, and ends up stumbling into a chamber where the aliens are holding members of the two guilds prisoner. Rogue finds her and both of them free the prisoners. They mention that the guilds’ children are being held in a different place. Then Ghost Rider shows up again.

All of the X-Men wander in to help fight Ghost Rider. Using her psi-blade, Psylocke manages to enter Ghost Rider’s mind. Surprisingly, Bella Donna goes in with her, although neither woman knows how. Together they fight the Brood essence controlling Ghost Rider, but Belle gets injured before killing it. Upon returning to the real world, Ghost Rider is back to normal, but Belle is dying. Gambit comforts her as she dies.

The comic ends with everyone striking a dynamic pose and explaining how they still have to save the captive children. Unfortunately, I don’t have Ghost Rider #27 either, so just assume that the kids get saved, and nothing monumental happens to the X-Men.  Update: click the link above.

How It Was: Well, it’s a big, dumb issue long fight scene; it’s not the best comic battle you’ll ever read, but it’s nice, light fun. The highlight of the issue is the dialogue by Scott Lobdell; he writes some exceptional funny banter, especially for the Beast and Jubilee. Moreover, he manages to convey some tragedy during the death of one-off character Bella Donna. The scene where Gambit tells her he would’ve chosen her is just perfect, as the panel cuts to both Rogue and Jubilee looking completely shocked and devastated.

The art is spectacular as always, although it’s never really clear where the fight is taking place. While it’s probably explained in the second part of the story, it would still be nice for the writer or artist to place a reminder or something. At first it looks like everyone is in a sewer, but then the floor gives out, and everybody falls into what still looks like a sewer. Furthermore, how do all the X-Men get separated when they all fall straight down through the floor?

My big problem with this issue is that it seems like an unnecessary crossover; the only reason this story exists is because the X-Men and Ghost Rider were both really popular characters at the time, and Marvel wanted to see if they could get some cross promotional action going. I guess I’ve just never really liked Ghost Rider as a character because he just comes off as a generic antihero with a really cool design, especially during the 90’s when comics were overflowing with antiheroes. Some people might say that I haven’t given the character a chance, and if I read the series regularly I’d discover how complex and interesting he is.

Here’s how I see it, when it comes to comic characters, there are certain defining stories that any fan could hand to an interested party to experience the best of what the book or character has to offer. This isn’t one of those stories, but the X-Men have a bunch of them, as do Batman, Spider-Man, etc. My point is that I don’t see a lot of people waving around any specific Ghost Rider story like X-Men fans might mention ‘The Dark Phoenix Saga’ or ‘Days of the Future Past’ or even possibly ‘Messiah Complex.’ Every story I have ever read with Ghost Rider in it, as well as the atrocious movie, has only reinforced my opinion that he was briefly popular in the 90’s because he’s visually interesting, not because there is any substance behind his character.

Man that was a heck of a tangent, but still relevant. Anywho, it’s a fight that is nice to look at, but doesn’t do anything to utilize Ghost Rider, other than to make him look even more bigger and over the top. But some nice X-character moments push this comic above mediocre.

B

X-Men #8

X-Men #8
Writing: Jim Lee and Scott Lobdell
Art: Jim Lee and Art Thibert

Quick Note: This is the start of a four part crossover, but I only have the X-Men parts. Sorry, but I’ll make it up to all of you when I review the X-cutioner’s Song, which I do own all of. The missing parts of these reviews take place in Ghost Rider #26-27 if you’re interested.

Update: Click here for Part 2.

What Went Down: We begin with Wolverine on the computer, looking for files about his past. It’s unclear whose files he’s looking at—if he were looking at Xavier’s files, surely the Professor would grant him permission, and he wouldn’t get so many “access denied” screens. Jubilee tries to talk to him, but he tells her to go away.

Bishop is getting a tour of the facilities from Storm, who still doesn’t trust him, and the Professor. When they encounter Forge, Bishop tells him that in the future he will be called Genesis; nothing ever comes of this. Forge alludes to the neglected relationship between Storm and himself, which will be brought up again over in Uncanny #289.

The Blue Team meets Bishop for the first time. He displays his characteristic hero worship, lets us know that Jubilee will be known as the last X-Man (also never goes anywhere), and informs Beast that in the future he is a well known philosopher.

When he gets to Gambit, Bishop recognizes him as Lebeau the Witness from his future; he automatically assumes that Gambit is the X-traitor alluded to in Uncanny #287. All of the X-Men ignore Bishop’s concerns, and then they all go off to have a picnic.

Wolverine somehow discovers a connection to the name Barrington. This gets resolved in a back up story in X-Men #10-11.

Next we have the beginning of a very unusual subplot where Psylocke attempts to seduce Cyclops, and Cyclops acts like a babbling idiot. To make matters worse, this begins right in front of his girlfriend Jean Grey while she is trying to discuss the possible effects of the Professor’s recent re-paralyzing, thus making her very jealous. Basically Scott ignores Jean because he is too busy staring at Betsy in her swimsuit.

Rogue apparently baked food especially for Gambit, so you know that they are getting serious. Bishop interrupts and gets in a fight with Gambit, as the cover indicates. The fight ends, I kid you not, when Gambit hits Rogue in the face with a pie, and both men start laughing so that Rogue will think they made up. After resolving that problem, a woman named Bella Donna shows up and announces that she is Gambit’s wife.

Back inside the mansion, all of the X-Men act very surprised. Gambit takes the opportunity to relay some of his past; Gambit was a thief and Belle was an assassin, he married Belle when they were young to bring the two clans together, he accidently killed her brother in a duel, and he was exiled. The Blue Team agrees to go with Gambit to help stop the infighting between the clans.

Ghost Rider shows up at the end of the issue and freaks out a traffic cop in New Orleans; this scene is very important because without it you can’t call this the first part of a crossover between the two books.

How It Was: In the span of one issue there is an awful lot going on here. We have the introduction of Bishop to the team, the revelation that Gambit might be the traitor, the revelation of Gambit’s real name, and the revelation of Gambit’s wife Belle and some of his past; it’s a heck of a lot to take in.

But that’s okay because the next issue is just a big, loud fight with the Ghost Rider, so I guess it all evens out. This issue works really well because everything going on revolves around the theme of trust. Bishop is trying to get the X-Men to trust him. In turn, Storm and Rogue try to convince him that Gambit should not be judged for actions he has not yet committed, when all of a sudden this icon from his past shows up to remind everyone how mysterious and dangerous Gambit is. Plus Belle adds some much needed drama and conflict to the Rogue/Gambit love train. There is some pretty funny dialogue in this issue that comes at Gambit’s expense.

It’s also nice to see Wolverine following up on exploring his past since it always comes back to haunt him and his friends; however, as I mentioned before it’s a little unclear exactly where he is looking for this information or what exactly he is searching for. The Cyclops/Psylocke plot continues for a while, but nothing really comes of it except for some awkward encounters; I guess there is some humor to be found in Scott’s awkward reactions.

As for the art, it has the leg up on Uncanny in that background art actually exists in it; nothing fancy, but most of the panels at least give some clues as to where the characters are. Of course, some of the trees look hastily drawn, but overall it’s a nice change of pace to see some bright outdoor scenes as opposed to the single color backdrop of past issues. Also, we get some nice designs of the X-Men in their swimwear.

This is an enjoyable issue with some really great character moments, and also some not so great ones. It’s also very important for Gambit fans. Enjoy it because the next three issues are pretty light on characterization.

B+