Uncanny X-Men #308

Uncanny X-Men #308
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: John Romita Jr.

What Went Down: Cyclops and Jean Grey are taking a nice walk around the school grounds on Thanksgiving morning. They reminisce about when Jean first felt attracted to Scott: a flashback shows Cyclops falling from a ladder and Jean catching him with her powers back when they were teenagers. Back in the present, Jubilee and Beast are jumping into piles of leaves, irritating Storm since she, Banshee, and Forge are the ones who are raking them.

On another part of the grounds, Gambit, Rogue, Iceman, and Bishop are making a scarecrow resembling Dr. Doom. Bishop fails to understand the purpose of the activity, despite it being explained to him. Cyclops throws Iceman a football, and Jean describes another flashback where she was sharing her feelings for Scott with the Professor. Apparently Jean’s love for Scott helped to strengthen her telepathic powers, even though Professor X placed them behind mental barriers to protect her. Cyclops then recalls the Dark Phoenix storyline and explains how Jean’s humanity transcended into the imposter Jean and caused her to noblely sacrifice herself.

In Missouri, a man leaves his wife and kids to go join the Phalanx; you can tell this because he gets on a bus that says Phalanx.

The X-Men play football while Scott and Jean sit at the top of a hill and talk. During the game, the ball is fumbled into Professor X’s lap and he is accidentally tackled. Cyclops and Jean are about to go in for dinner when Jean asks him to marry her. By the way, a pretty significant word balloon is left blank by accident on this page, so you’ll have to wait until the letters column of the next issue to read it. Cyclops says yes.

Xavier (now sporting bandages from his injuries) gives a wonderful speech at the dinner table. Scott announces the engagement and everyone goes up to congratulate them except for Xavier. The narration tells us that he has reservations, but he is going to hold onto them until next issue.

How It Was: This is a sappy issue, but then again the X-Men kind of need a sappy issue after Fatal Attractions, Bloodties, and the whole Legacy Virus killing off mutants problem. My usual complaints about Scott and Jean being too mushy when placed together do apply, but here it feels more appropriate and natural. Where Lobdell’s script really shines is the scenes with the other X-Men interacting. Beast especially is amusing, and there is a nice portrayal of the X-Men as a dysfunctional family unit. The scene with Xavier getting tackled at the end is a little much, but it is well intentioned. Lobdell makes up for it with Professor X’s hidden resentment at the engagement announcement, which I always thought was a nice touch and leads to a really great issue coming up.

The art on the other hand isn’t looking too hot this issue; Romita’s faces and characters are looking a little too blocky and over shaded in many instances. There is also the matter of the phantom voice balloon that does kind of ruin the moment. Other than that, this isn’t a particularly spectacular issue, but it is better than average, even though it is a little over-sentimental.  There just isn't much more to say about this one.

B+

X-Men #27

X-Men #27
Writing: Fabian Nicieza
Art: Richard Bennett

What Went Down: A homeless mutant nicknamed Threnody is crying out in pain on a street in Los Angeles. Two cops find her and offer to help her, but Threnody loses control of her mutant power and accidentally incinerates them.

At Los Angeles General Hospital, Rogue, Iceman, and Beast are visiting onetime X-Factor villain Infectia, who has contracted the Legacy Virus. Rogue throws another tantrum about how unfair life is, and the group is interrupted by Dr. Nathan Milbury. The good doctor seems very amiable towards the mutants and takes a sample of Infectia’s blood. Milbury tells the X-Men that she was initially looking for Gordon Lefferts, a doctor looking for the cure and Mr. Sinister’s assistant who died of the Legacy Virus. After Milbury leaves, a nurse enters and lets them know that there is no Dr. Nathan Milbury working for the hospital.

Outside the mansion, Revanche is taking a jog when Psylocke decides it would be a good idea to jump out of a tree and attack her. The two women fight for a couple of panels, and Psylocke reveals that she wanted to see how Revanche was. Revanche realizes that Betsy is just testing her to see how much the Legacy Virus has affected her fighting abilities.

Beast modifies a device to find Lefferts’ old lab and the three X-Men track it down. Inside are a number of homeless people residing and looting; Threnody is also among them, but she runs off after Rogue tries to talk to her. Beast is fascinated by the advanced technology he finds and busies himself with it while Rogue searches for Threnody, who ends up running right into Mr. Sinister. Rogue attacks Sinister, but Threnody’s power acts up again, causing another huge explosion. It attracts the rest of the X-Men

The X-Men fight Sinister for a bit, but then he explains that he wants Threnody to aid in his research for a cure to the Legacy Virus. Her power is to absorb pain from anyone afflicted with the virus in question. Sinister wants to use her to find other sufferers of the disease; he also claims that Xavier would never allow the mutant to be used in that manner because it causes her pain, and that failure to sacrifice might come at the expense of the cure. Rogue asks why Threnody’s powers flared up when no one with the virus was around; Sinister claims he doesn’t know, but it is possible that he himself is infected since he was present at the canister’s opening. The X-Men leave Threnody with Sinister and go back to Infectia. Infectia is on her deathbed, and Beast offers to take her out of her room to see the sunrise, even though it risks his own health. She dies in his arms.

How It Was: The Legacy Virus continues to rack up casualties and make the virus seem more important. Unfortunately, this storyline is about to get pushed to the side for a bunch of issues to focus on Cyclops and Jean Grey’s wedding, followed by the Phalanx, Generation X, and the Age of Apocalypse; afterwards, the writers keep trying to get back to it, but the story never gets the same momentum going and drags on for years to come. Still, this issue does a good job of conveying the frustration and helplessness of characters that haven’t yet gotten to express their feelings about the virus. And Infectia, easily a C-list villain, gets a really great, emotional death scene.

Threnody is a neat idea for a character, but she doesn’t really work for me here. Maybe it’s because we never learn a great deal about her personality or background, or perhaps it is the fact that she is supposed to be homeless, but she looks and dresses like she is going out clubbing later.  Either way I’m just not a fan. Nevertheless, it is great to see Mr. Sinister back and there is once again great tension built by the ambiguous genuineness of the villain and the conflict over whether one person’s suffering is worth saving thousands or millions. Then again, I’m not sure about the X-Men’s decision to leave the girl with the villain because they are not willing to torture her themselves.

This isn’t the last issue to deal with the Legacy Virus, but it is the last one to feel like it was going anywhere. While the concept is revisited time and time again in the 90s, and many different characters get infected, it just never feels as central to the story as it did here. Also, we never learn if Sinister is infected or not, but many people consider it to be true.

B

X-Men Annual #2

X-Men Annual #2
Writing: Fabian Nicieza and Scott Lobdell
Art: Aron Wiensenfeld and Ian Churchill

What Went Down: On an island fortress, two shadowy figures arise from the water. Despite the cliché 90s battle armor appearance, these two characters are in fact the Crimson Commando and Avalanche, formerly of the Freedom Force. These two are still working for the US government after the rest of the team was captured in the Middle East during a back-up strip in all the 1991 X-Annuals. Anyways, the two run into the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, consisting of Toad, Phantazia, and former Freedom Force members Pyro and the Blob. Both groups are about to fight until they are interrupted by a man in a robe with dragons on it.

At Xavier’s school, Professor X, Beast, Banshee, and Moira are tracking new cases of the Legacy Virus. Beast is still giving Charles crap for not involving him in the initial case with Illyana Rasputin, and everyone is very serious about how serious the Legacy Virus is. In the Danger Room, Revanche is facing off against Jubilee, Gambit, and Rogue. She takes Jubilee out easily, causing the young girl to question when she is going to get better at fighting. Rogue then tackles Revanche, ending the session.

Up in the control booth, Cyclops, Psylocke, and Jean are discussing whether Jean should enter Betsy’s mind to confirm her identity and mental state, even though she absolutely refused to in X-Men #21. Betsy is more willing now because she feels guilty about almost breaking up Scott and Jean, blaming it on different aspects of the two personalities in her surfacing. Inside Psylocke’s head, we see a depiction of Betsy killing her brother Brian when they were children, demonstrating the savage influence of Kwannon’s mind on Betsy Braddock. Jean comes to the conclusion that the two personalities are now fused permanently.

Back on the island, called Empyrean, former friends Pyro and Avalanche are discussing what has happened since they last saw each other. After being captured, Blob and Pyro were forced to work as bodyguards for the commander that defeated them until the Toad got them out. Inside, the rest of the Brotherhood observes the pair. The man in the robe chastises the Blob for an inappropriate outburst and uses his power to keep him in line. Unbeknownst to the group, they are also being observed by Henry Peter Gyrich, who is searching for two missing scientists that allegedly now work for the mystery man named Jonathan Chambers.

In one of those wacky coincidences that only happen in comics, the X-Men’s Blue Team just happens to have also taken an interest in Jonathan Chambers. Chambers is a scientist and author of a book calling for unity between humans and mutants, and the X-Men want to investigate the sincerity of his claims. There are some doubts about Chambers since his father died at thirty-eight, but looking twice his age, and he has been seen with the Brotherhood on his island. One half of the team meets Chambers at his front door, while the other half sneaks in through the basement.

The sneaking squad includes Psylocke and Revanche, who argue the entire time until they discover the Brotherhood. Meanwhile Beast and the rest of his team have a polite discussion with Chambers. There is a big fight between the X-Men and the Brotherhood until Chambers stops both teams with his powers.

Time for some revelations. First Pyro reveals that he is suffering from the Legacy Virus. Then Beast explains that Chambers, or Empyrean, is an “energy vampire” as he absorbs ambient energies around Legacy sufferers like Pyro; however, this process also relieves the pain that the ailing patients feel, and allows him to conduct experiments to possibly find a cure. It also shortens the victims’ lives. As for the scientists, they have joined Empyrean freely. Finally, Revanche reveals that she is infected with the Legacy Virus as well. She encourages Cyclops to leave Empyrean alone since it is up to every infected person to choose his or her own path.

Gyrich shows up because he believes that illegal activities might be occurring, but Cyclops tells him that there is no evidence of anything illegal. Chambers threatens to expose Gyrich to the media if he does not leave. Then the X-Men leave the island peacefully.


What Else Went Down: The Beast starts this back-up strip falling down an elevator shaft that he has been thrown into. After stopping his fall and sabotaging an elevator full of security guards to protect them, Beast goes back up to save his girlfriend Trish Tilby and a scientist named Dr. Cahill. Trish has sprained her ankle and it appears that a giant muscle-bound creature named Malvin is assaulting her and the scientist. The Beast fights Malvin until he explains that Dr. Cahill is responsible for turning him into a monster. During the fight, Trish goes through the Doctor’s files and discovers proof of this.

The Beast, Malvin, and Dr. Cahill are all flung out the window. Beast holds each character in one of his hands before pulling them both up. Trish is surprised until Beast explains that he can bench three thousand pounds. The security guards burst in, automatically assuming that the Beast and Malvin are the villains, but Cahill admits his guilt. The story ends with one of those clichéd narrations about one person being a man in the body of a beast and the other being a beast in the body of a man.

How It Was: Another sixty-four pages of story; man I’m getting worn out from all of these double-sized comics. Once again, this year features another annual written by the regular writer, so actual plot points are addressed and furthered in this issue. We’re still focusing on the Legacy Virus, and at this point it still seems like the book is going somewhere with the plot. Overall it’s a pretty good issue, with the main problem being that the Chambers plotline never appears in these books ever again. There is an interesting conflict about the potential exploitation of mutants by Chambers, as well as tension created by the fact that we never learn if his intentions are sincere or not, and unfortunately we never get a resolution for any of these points. The concept of exploitation by a character of unknown sincerity is revisited soon in X-Men with Threnody and Mr. Sinister, so it is possible that Nicieza just didn’t feel like returning to the same theme.

Another dropped idea is this incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, which I always thought had some potential, minus the horrible straight out of the ‘90s armor revamped costumes. Between the ‘91 annuals and this issue, it at least seemed like the Toad had some kind of agenda going, but this particular team disappears after this issue. At least we get some closure from the previous Freedom Force story.

As for the X-Men, well their arc in this issue makes for more of a mixed bag. Once again we have an annual begin with a Danger Room sequence since the writer needs an unnecessary action sequence to take up a few pages. The fight scenes are all pretty good, if brief; it’s the first time the X-Men have fought a decent super-villain team in a long time. As for the major revelations of Legacy infected, they definitely felt significant at the time. Revanche feels more monumentous because if you’re like me, you’re excited that her storyline is about to end. Pyro’s struggle with the disease gets strung out for a great many years; the poor guy is on death’s door in every future appearance, until he finally dies in 2001. This issue is, once again, a nice opening issue to a story that never resonated. Could have been better if it went anywhere interesting.

The back-up strip is just terrible. Out of ten pages, the story takes five of them to show Beast escaping from an elevator shaft. The depiction of Malvin is ridiculous with so many muscles awkwardly sticking out everywhere. Plus Trish Tilby comes off as a knockoff Lois Lane, and the resolution centers on all of the characters underestimating the central character.

B