X-Men #38

X-Men #38
Writing: Fabian Nicieza
Art: Andy Kubert

What Went Down: This issue is interesting because it is broken up into vignettes based on the characters they explore; there are headings at the top of the page and everything. We begin outside the institute where Scott, Jean, and the Professor are admiring the new sign and reflecting on all of the positive changes going on, such as Generation X and Scott and Jean’s wedding. Inside his lab, the Beast is hard at work studying the Legacy Virus. He discovers that there are three variations of the virus, all though we never find out why this matters. Iceman asks Beast if he wants to go to the pool, but he is turned down.

At the pool, Iceman and Rogue discuss her relationship with Gambit. Bobby plays a trick on her by freezing the pool as she dives in. Rogue gets mad and points out how pathetic he is for not being able to control his powers when he has the option to.

Psylocke and Jean Grey are in the Danger Room sparring on the Astral Plane—where telepaths go to fight. Psylocke apologizes for coming on to Cyclops so hard, explaining it off as an effect of her personality being fused with Kwannon’s. They also bring up Betsy’s new short haircut as an attempt to reassert her independence, and because she also misses the recklessness and wildness that Kwannon’s personality afforded.

After the girls leave, Cyclops sets up a training program for Sabretooth. Creed tries to bait Cyclops, but the X-Man doesn’t get angry. Gambit stops by and lies about Jean asking for Cyclops to move more furniture. After Scott leaves, Gambit turns off the safety parameters on Creed’s exercise.

We then get a weird interlude involving Adam X, a random Shi-ar character also known as X-Treme, talking to Carter Ryking, the villain who was last seen in X-Men #12-13 hassling Xavier about a wacky conspiracy involving both of their fathers, in prison. Adam asks Carter about a man named Milbury, one of Mr. Sinister’s aliases, and Carter tells him to go see Xavier.

In the remains of the war room that was destroyed during the Phalanx story, Xavier and Bishop look through the wreckage. Xavier once again expresses how sad he feels about losing his life’s work, but he has a plan to locate a mutant named Commcast, who receives and stores data transmissions, since he might have access to the lost information. Nothing ever comes of this, but since Xavier is able to rebuild his war room, just assume that he gets all of his files back as well.

The second interlude has Legion—David Haller, who also happens to be Xavier’s son, having a dream where he holds crystal statues of Xavier and Magneto and they crack. When he wakes up, he screams for Destiny—a mutant clairvoyant who died a couple of years prior to this issue.

Back in the Danger Room, Creed busts through the window to the control room. Gambit beats him up a little and threatens him, and Rogue overhears all of this. She tells Gambit that their pasts are equally screwed up, but they both have to accept what they’ve done.

In his lab, Beast explains his findings to Iceman, and then agrees to take a break and get a meal so they can discuss Bobby’s personal problems about his self-image and powers. The issue ends with Scott, Jean, and Xavier once again staring at the new sign and contemplating the changes in their lives and their hope for the future.

How It Was: Another action-free character piece, and for what it’s worth, it slightly edges out Lobdell’s character piece in terms of quality. This issue is a little bit more fun and has a little bit more action than its predecessor of the month. There’s actually a lot of humor in this issue; I still laughed out loud at Rogue’s reaction to Iceman’s prank in the pool after all of these years. Beast’s musings are really well scripted. And Cyclops is used perfectly as a well-meaning, but awkward goof.

The aspect that works most in this issue’s favor is that it manages to explore all of the different ways each of the characters feel sorry for themselves. From Beast’s attempts to find pride and satisfaction in work that results in only worse and worse news, to Gambit and Rogue’s frustrations with their pasts and their relationships, it is remarkable how Nicieza is able to find so much common ground and present it from so many different attitudes, degrees, and perspectives. Nicieza is very effective at summing up where all of the characters are at this point, which is pretty important since we’re about to take another break for the Age of the Apocalypse in a few months.

Of course it isn’t all perfect. Nicieza seems to struggle with a new direction for Psylocke to go in after the resolution to the Kwannon storyline; the best he can come with for now is a new haircut…oooh. But at least her conversation with Jean manages to put the whole Betsy/Kwannon fallout to bed for good. Plus, it isn’t like other writers haven’t struggled to make her interesting. The interlude with Carter Ryking is also a bit of a misfire, as it gives the impression that Nicieza is picking up the Almagordo subplot, but then it isn’t mentioned again for a very, very long time. If you’re curious, Almagordo and Ryking’s fears are eventually resolved in X-Men Legacy #211-212 in 2008.

The art’s pretty good, especially given that once again it is mostly an issue of people talking. There are a couple of confusing sequences with Sabretooth’s fight scene; at one point it looks as if he is being cut up by a bunch of buzzsaws, but then he turns up with no marks at all. The astral plane scene is another shameless attempt to shove an action scene into the issue, but it works well enough. This is a nice issue with perfectly spot-on personalities and voices for all of the characters.

B+

Uncanny X-Men #318

Uncanny X-Men #318
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: Roger Cruz

What Went Down: On the Xavier Estate, workers are removing the “Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters” sign because the name is being moved to the Massachusetts Academy for Generation X. While they work, the workers talk about Angelo Espinosa, the young mutant with distorted gray skin. Angelo has decided that he is going to try to hitchhike to get away from the institute, but he winds up getting picked up by the Beast, who has taken it upon himself to change Angelo’s perspective on the school. Angelo is very short with the Beast and sees Hank’s attempts at levity as stupid and annoying.

In Xavier’s living room, Cyclops and Jean Grey fill Xavier in on the events of the mini-series The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix. Cyclops expresses sadness and regret at having to leave his son behind; they also express hope since they witnessed the creation of the Legacy Virus, which might lead to a cure…but it doesn’t. Xavier loses control of his body for a second because of the strain of reading their minds, and Jean catches his mug. He also mentions the stress of having his life’s work destroyed to prevent the Phalanx from getting access to it.

At the mall, Monet has decided to buy new clothes for all of her Generation X classmates because she is rich. Paige and Everett are hesitant since they both come from more modest backgrounds. It is left open as to whether Monet is motivated by generosity, or if she just likes feeling superior to everyone else. At the food court, Banshee, Storm, and Bishop discuss Banshee’s new role as headmaster. They talk about the new recruits, and poke fun at Banshee a little.

In the car, Beast’s singing causes Angelo to lose control of his skin. Over at the estate, Emma Frost is supervising the workers replacing the sign with one that says “Xavier Institute for Learning.” Internally, Emma expresses frustration with not being able to just use her powers on them. She notices a shadowy figure in the woods, who turns out to be Bobby Drake. Drake wants to learn how Emma used his powers so well, and Emma uses her powers to manipulate his powers a little more. Then she tells him to go learn how to do it himself. Out on the road, Beast reluctantly gives Angelo the keys to the car and tells him to do whatever he wants.

At the mansion, Jubilee has finished cleaning out her room, and Archangel shows up to say goodbye. Jubilee gets angry at him for not spending more time with her at the mansion, which they both attribute to him being distant and not able to readily express his feelings. Then they hug it out.

On the edge of the estate, the Professor has given Cyclops and Jean the boathouse to live in, so they can have privacy as a newlywed couple. Gambit is helping Cyclops move, and he expresses envy at Scott’s ability to be happy and free from his past. Cyclops asks about Rogue and gets brushed aside. We also find out that Cyclops is a fan of The Three Stooges…who knew?

Banshee and Jubilee say goodbye to the Professor—it’s all very touching. Angelo shows up at the end in the car, and asks if he can still go to the institute, which he does.

How It Was: So after the four issue lead up to the new Generation X series, we get another Generation X lead up story! At least the X-Men play a role in this issue’s events. It’s also the issue after a major crossover, so that means that it’s a quiet issue with no action and a lot of character building moments. And I mean a lot. Since Lobdell sets out for such a broad focus, the threads themselves are hit or miss; Lobdell’s best quiet issues are the ones that focus on no more than three different threads at a time.

We get a recap of Cyclops and Jean’s mini-series, which is mostly exposition for people who haven’t read that series. Most of it, even the emotional responses, was all ready relayed in X-Men #35 and Wolverine #85, but I guess there is the slight possibility that some fans could have been reading Uncanny and not X-Men or Wolverine. The focus on Xavier’s frustration over the loss of his life’s work is a little more interesting, but it’s hard to get excited about it since it all gets forgotten in a couple of issues and Xavier ends up replacing everything. The Beast/Angelo scenes are adequate—some of the Beast’s lines are funny and the script is setting Angelo up as the angry/sad member, in case you didn’t get that from his Phalanx appearances. Ultimately Lobdell is even able to avoid the clichéd freak of nature story by making Angelo have to struggle to focus his powers. Still, every beat is entirely predictable, so it’s not really that engaging.

The scenes with Emma and Iceman are a little better, in that they cast a lot of doubt as to whether or not Emma can handle this new responsibility as co-headmaster and by extension, super hero. It’s also nice to see a conflict with a character that isn’t necessarily life or death, more of a simple nagging doubt. Arguably the best scenes go to Jubilee, a fan favorite at the time. The hardest sell of the new Generation X series was explaining why Jubilee would leave her surrogate family, and I think that Lobdell presents a believable series of events. I really like how Lobdell throws the curve ball of her goodbye scenes; instead of doing the traditional sad partings with the entire team where the characters explain how they’ve touched each other’s lives, the writer goes for the exact opposite. He chooses to acknowledge a non-existent relationship, and uses it to build on the idea of what love really is. It’s a very pleasant surprise.

Roger Cruz does a pretty impressive job of mimicking Joe Mad’s art style; I had to check the credits to make sure it wasn’t Maduiera. He does a pretty decent job for an issue that is all talking heads, although there is one really exaggerated scene that slaps you out of the story where Beast has to pull over the car, and he ends up making it spin like 520 degrees. It’s not horrible; it’s really abrupt and stands out as unnecessary. The issue as a whole is well done. It’s nothing special, and it’s a little grating that the X-Men books are still using space to promote Generation X after months and months of it already.

B-

X-Men Annual #3

 This review probably should have been before the Phalanx Covenant, but I forgot about it until now.  Oh well.

X-Men Annual #3
Writing: Ian Edington and Jim Krueger
Art: Gene Ha and Steve Yeowell

What Went Down: So…many…pages. ACK!

We open on a scene of a woman named Benazir playing chess with Shinobi Shaw. Coincidentally, the floor of the room they’re playing in has the same pattern as the chessboard. Of course, any time you have villains playing chess, it’s meant to symbolize how cunning they are and how strategically intricate their plan is.

Storm is taking time for a recreational flight over the mansion. When she returns, she watches a news report on a civil war in a war-torn country, most probably located in Africa. Archangel delivers some roses to her, which we find out were sent by Shinobi Shaw; he wants Storm to meet with him. She cuts herself on the thorns and goes upstairs to get a bandage; along the way, she can’t help thinking about a young boy shown on the news. Storm also starts to act short with the others, starting with Jubilee.

Storm reappears in her old leather outfit; at least she hasn’t given herself a mohawk again. Everyone is quite surprised by the change of wardrobe, and Storm gets in an argument with Professor X over whether or not it is safe for her to go to the Hellfire Club. Storm accuses him of thinking of her as an obedient daughter and “storms” out. Get it? Outside, Gambit gives her a ride on his motorcycle to the Hellfire Club.

At the club, Shinobi pulls out all of the stops to impress Storm with dinner and champagne. In the indoor rose garden, he invites Storm to join the Hellfire Club, claiming that he has reformed and his ultimate goal is now to help the world rather than rule it. He brings up the point that the X-Men, for all their battles, have failed to significantly impact the world, causing Storm to flip out and turn her powers on him. Storm agrees to consider the proposal and leaves. Candra comes out of hiding afterwards, and Shinobi reveals that the roses and dinner were laced with a drug that messes with her brain chemistry. This explains her erratic behavior, new outfit, and hostility towards the X-Men.

Professor X worries a lot in his study and considers reading Storm’s mind, but he decides against it. Storm has a surreal dream with doctors cutting open her brain to take her powers because she has wasted them by just fighting super villains. The powers are going to the boy on the news. When she awakens, Storm freaks out, busts through the wall in her room, and files to the Hellfire Club. The X-Men are all awakened by this.

After arriving, Storm shares her dream with Shinobi. Rather than prey on her sympathies, the villain reveals that he’s been drugging her instead. Conveniently, the drugs also mellow her powers. He then introduces her to the all-new Hellfire Club. Benedict, who can affect people’s nervous systems, subdues her.

The X-Men are flying around trying to detect Storm. Shinobi is about to give her a super dose of the drug to eradicate her personality. Xavier is able to use his powers to restore Storm’s. Storm attacks the group, and Gambit and Bishop show up to back her up.

During the big climactic fight, we are introduced to the other members of the new Hellfire Club. There is Benazir, from earlier in the issue, who can give people tumors…no, seriously. There’s also Reeva Payge who can distort people’s senses. Storm corners Shaw and threatens to kill him, even if she dies with him. The end features Storm and Xavier having a tearful reconciliation.

What Else What Down: The backup stars Banshee. It starts with Banshee bursting into the modern day Interpol headquarters; in case you didn’t know, before he was an X-Man, Sean was an agent of Interpol. Banshee is angry that the Interpol head has intel about an important person. Elsewhere, an old man named Patrick Lipton is on his deathbed.

We then flashback to an early mission of Banshee’s where he was assigned to protect Lipton from Hydra because he is a genius scientist. Hydra invades the train that the two men are on, but they escape. Instead of running, Banshee decides to push the tree blocking the rails out of the way, which leads to him getting shot.

Back in the present, Banshee invades the castle Lipton is dying in, which also happens to be a Hydra base. After beating up all of the Hydra agents, we flashback to Lipton using a grenade on the enemy soldiers. Rather than let the reinforcements kill Banshee, Lipton is inspired by his sacrifice, so he decides to give himself up to save Cassidy. Banshee comforts the man, right before Lipton dies.

How It Was: This turns out to be a fabulously written issue, by a writer I’m fairly unfamiliar with, that deals with a number of characters that we will never see again. Where this issue excels is in its exploration of Storm’s character, her role in the X-Men, and her history in that role. Storm is forced to confront the purpose of the X-Men itself, both its goals and actual accomplishments. Much like other peacekeeping organizations, the fact that there is still suffering in the world casts doubt on the idea that there is any justice, and Storm’s struggling with this idea is very intriguing. We also get a return of the uninhibited wild Storm from Claremont’s 80s run, which I would normally groan at, but it is actually used pretty effectively as a symbol for Storm’s crisis of conscience and her struggle for meaning and identity. Shinobi Shaw also gets an opportunity to come off as a worthy successor to his father’s legacy as a master manipulator for the first time ever, until he abruptly foils his own plot by explaining it to the person he is trying to manipulate. The script does a great job of placing real life conflicts and issues into the story, and reflecting on the helplessness that can result through the context of the heroes. Oh, and Storm’s nightmare sequence is very well done.

The issue does have its faults which revolve around Shaw’s actual goal and his new Hellfire Club. Really, Edington is tying his story to a premise that Fabian Nicieza started with Shaw asking Archangel and Psylocke to join the Hellfire Club in X-Men #29, but even that really never made all that much sense. It’s hard to tell if Shaw was serious with these invitations, which would make him an idiot, or if he had a grander scheme, which never got revealed. As far as I can remember, this is Shinobi’s last appearance in the X-Men books, and he floats around the Marvel Universe for a while before getting killed by his father Sebastian Shaw, who was supposed to have been killed by Shinobi himself.

The other real problem with this story is that the new Hellfire Club is really lame. There is a guy who attacks nervous systems and a girl who can give you tumors; I’ll give credit to the writer for trying to create some new powers, but these are dumb. This is the only appearance of Shinobi’s new club, to the best of my knowledge, so you don’t have to bother remembering any of them, unless you are into obscure X-Villain trivia. Also, Candra shows up for no apparent reason at all in the middle of the story, and then she just disappears.

Gene Ha’s art is superb—there is no better way of putting it. Some of the colors do come off as a bit muddy, but it works with the tone of this story. It’s not quite as amazing as his work on The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, but it still works surprisingly well given the difference in tone of the settings of both stories.

As for the backup, once again it is nothing to write home about. Jim Krueger, who would later go on to write a number of things for Marvel—including the Earth X series, tries really hard to stick this story into Banshee’s past in order to give it a sense of meaning to Banshee and his development. Ultimately it fails because nobody really cares about the scientist; there isn’t enough room to make him that sympathetic. And other than that, it’s a bunch of panels of Banshee beating up generic Hydra agents. Still, the main story is actually fairly compelling and worth checking out, despite the mediocre villains.

B+