Friday, October 15, 2010

X-Men #28

X-Men #28
Writing: Fabian Nicieza
Art: Andy Kubert

What Went Down:  Jubilee has a dream where she is in some dark scary woods running for her life. She finds the lifeless body of Wolverine only to be attacked by Sabretooth. Jean Grey is alerted by the girl’s screams and comforts her as she wakes up. The reason Jubilee is having nightmares is that Sabertooth has moved into the mansion as of X-Men Unlimited #3.

Jean contacts Cyclops, Beast, and Storm, and the group meets at Harry’s Hideaway to debate the matter. Some argue that the X-Men have taken in dangerous characters before while others point out that Xavier’s recent decisions have been questionable at best. Jean is the most upset by Sabretooth living in the mansion.

In the medlab, Xavier is analyzing Revanche to track the progress of the Legacy Virus in her. He asks her if she will stay with the X-Men, but she wishes to die free. Moira calls and asks Charles for some assistance.

To catch up readers, Creed was dependent on his assistant Birdy, who would give him a telepathic stimulant known as “the glow.” When she died, Creed’s need for the psychic drug overcame him, driving him even crazier. So voluntarily, he requested help from Xavier. This is necessary to know because when Psylocke attempts to recreate the glow, Sabretooth humiliates her and says that her mind is so fractured that only Jean Grey can give it to him.

Next we have a scene where Rogue has volunteered to deliver food to Creed, and Gambit is quite hesitant to allow her. Sabretooth teases the couple, revealing that he knows Gambit from his past as well as the existence of Rogue’s half brother, who later turns out to be Nightcrawler; he also hints that Rouge would be unhappy if she ever heard his stories about Gambit.

Cyclops and Jean Grey confront the professor about Sabretooth living in the mansion. Like most couples, Jean does most of the talking. Xavier understands the arguments, but feels that it is against his personal philosophies to push Creed away. Afterwards, Cyclops tells Jean that he knows that her frustration has to do with Wolverine’s absence. Moira calls, and Jean says that she needs to be the one to confront Sabretooth.

Jean enters the cell, and Sabretooth expects her to give him the glow. He attacks her, trying to intimidate her, but Jean uses her powers to knock the villain around. Jean refuses to give him the glow and proves to him that she has nothing to fear because of how much more powerful she is. Later, Jubilee volunteers to bring up Creed’s meal to confront her own fears. She finds Creed meditating, and finds it just as disturbing.

How It Was: Sabretooth joins the X-Men, and wackiness ensues. Well, “joins” is a little hasty, and that’s pretty much why this story line works, even though it eventually goes nowhere. Because Wolverine is off in his solo book feeling sorry for himself, bringing in Sabretooth does succeed in adding something interesting to the cast. This issue especially works really well as it gives all of the characters an opportunity to react to Creed in a variety of negative ways. The depiction of Sabretooth is fantastic as he is presented as a Hannibal Lechter type who all of the characters fear and respect for his savagery and potential danger.

What’s great is that Nicieza uses Creed’s living at the mansion to explore some different aspects of the characters as well as introduce some new potential stories. Jean is forced to confront her feelings about Logan, Gambit and Rogue are confronted with some potentially unsettling events from Gambit’s past, and Jubilee is forced to reevaluate her position of weakness as a novice on the team. It’s also nice to see the X-Men scrutinizing Xavier’s decisions after recent events, and it’s great to see that the X-crew being overwhelmed by this new responsibility. Plus, the climactic confrontation with Jean and Creed is some of the best material that Jean has been given in a while.

Once again Psylocke and Revanche bring down the rest of the issue. Revanche’s lone scene isn’t too bad as it’s mostly just reiterating the fact that she has contracted the Legacy Virus…again. So it’s inoffensive, yet unnecessary if you read the annual. On the other hand, Psylocke’s scene shows her needlessly confronting Sabretooth, and getting humiliated after some vague comments from him about being internally scattered. Other than that, this is a really great issue with a lot of tension and compelling emotional responses.

B+

Uncanny X-Men #309

Uncanny X-Men #309
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: John Romita Jr.

What Went Down: We start out with Xavier flashing back to the blizzard back in X-Men Unlimited #1. It is finally revealed that Magneto was in fact the one who rescued him from dying in Antarctica. The majority of this issue takes the form of a dream where Xavier is having a conversation with Magneto; one could argue that this is simply an aftereffect of having destroyed Magneto’s mind, or even the beginnings of the formation of Onslaught.

Magneto and Xavier discuss the professor’s guilt. In a really great scene, Xavier chastises dream versions of Cyclops and Jean for abandoning the team and taking up the best of Xavier’s years. Xavier also remembers his mother, who was abused by Kurt Marko—his stepfather and the father of the Juggernaut. Magneto continues to probe the cause of Xavier’s resentment of Cyclops and Jean. He brings up Charles’ relationships with Gabrielle Haller, Lilandra, and Moira MacTaggert, but those don’t seem to be the source either.

We then get to learn about Xavier’s past relationship with current Acolyte Amelia Voght. Voght was a nurse assigned to take care of Xavier after he lost the use of his legs in battle with the alien Lucifer. During his recovery, the two fell in love. By coincidence, Amelia also turned out to be a mutant. Later, Voght became frustrated with Charles’ obsession with his dream and his school. As she was leaving, in a weak moment, Xavier reached out and used his powers to change her mind, just for an instant. He realizes that this is the true source of his guilt and regret.

Professor X wakes up to Jean putting a blanket over him. The two X-Men share a tender father/daughter moment where they say they love each other.

How It Was: One of my favorite single-issue stories, this one has such a wonderful surreal quality to it. It’s really just an excellent character study that offers an opportunity to show Professor X in a different light. While the revelation of Magneto saving Xavier from X-Men Unlimited #1 comes off as a forgotten detail, the internal conversation between Magneto and Xavier makes for a nice epilogue to the Fatal Attractions story. I like that this internal reflection is brought about by something as innocuous as Xavier’s reaction to Scott and Jean’s engagement, and the way this is explored through conversation, hallucination, and flashbacks is really engaging.

Once again Lodell demonstrates what he does best, humanizing the X-Men. Seeing Xavier give in to his own selfish desires, even for a brief moment, is just fascinating to read. His relationship with Amelia Voght, while not particularly deep, offers an interesting glimpse into the formative years of Professor X and paints him in a more tragic and human light. Romita’s art isn’t quite at its best here; some of the faces are a little flat and the bodies can be a little blocky. Still, this is a really great issue for the Professor; it does something new with his character, but still feels like it fits with everything that has come before.

A