200 Posts Strong and Growing

I have to admit I'm kind of surprised, and impressed, that this is still going on, and going as well as it is.  Thanks to everybody who continues to visit.  There's a good chance I might take the next week off to work on school work, but I'll play it by ear.  As for what's down the line, we have the end of Scott Lobdell's run, Marvel's horribly conceived Minus One Month, and the criminally underrated Steven Seagle/Joe Kelly run.  So please continue to visit and thanks again!

X-Factor #130

X-Factor #130
Writing: Howard Mackie
Art: Eric Battle

What Went Down: Before I start, I just want to point out that the end of this issue is completely spoiled by the bottom left corner of the first page. If that’s not an indicator of the quality of a creative team, I don’t know what is?

Anywho, the issue starts off with Mystique performing target practice on a poster of her son Graydon Creed. Pyro is by her side, even though he was forcibly abducted in Uncanny X-Men #338. He asks her how they are going to complete their plan, and Mystique demonstrates that she has hacked her inhibitor collar to allow herself to morph into Val Cooper.

Val Cooper is at a hotel with Graydon Creed right before the election. Creed is insistent that he be allowed to perform his final speech even though he has received numerous death threats. Cooper tells him that he either has to accept X-Factor’s help or cancel the speech. The rest of the team bursts in through the window and starts searching for explosives; Creed is incredibly unhappy to see his psychotic father Sabretooth on the team. Creed’s bodyguards confront X-Factor, and Val and Forge recognize Cannonball as one of them. Forge demonstrates that Sabretooth has a collar that prevents him from getting too close to Graydon, so he reluctantly agrees.

Outside the rally, Val is ambushed by the real Val Cooper, and it is revealed that the one we’ve been following was Mystique. A group of protestors get into a riot with some of Creed’s supporters, and Mystique is able to slip away in the crowd. Val tells X-Factor to search for Mystique, and they catch her in disguise aiming a weapon at the presidential nominee. Polaris takes the gun, and Mystique is restrained and hauled away, even though she is claiming that she was trying to help.

Creed confronts his mother and tells the authorities to take her away, but the team insists on doing it themselves. In an armored truck, Mystique swears to Val that she was trying to save Creed, along with some vague mutterings about conspiracy theories in the government. Later, as Graydon Creed takes the stage, the X-Factor team spots Pyro in the crowd. Graydon Creed gets shot and incinerated. X-Factor captures Pyro and escapes, but they claim that Pyro and Mystique are innocent because their weapons turned out to be forcefield generators. Mystique even consoles Pyro by saying that they tried. On a computer screen, a mysterious text message appears claiming that Creed was the first, but Mystique is next.

How It Was: With the month of the actual election already past in the real world, the X-offices had to decide where exactly they were taking the “Creed runs for president” plotline. I can understand not wanting to have a fundamentalist racist as president of the Marvel Universe. This however stands as a good example of a neat idea that was not thought through all the way. While the fate of Creed is shocking, and it is understandable how the death of a presidential candidate would fuel anti-mutant sentiments, it is clear that the resolution of this thread hasn’t been created yet. So once again we get a couple of months of people talking about the assassination like it’s the major direction of all the X-books, and the influence of every villain, before it’s completely abandoned and forgotten about. Yes, it’s this old song again. If you’re curious, the identity of the assassin is actually revealed in Fabian Nicieza’s X-Men Forever mini-series from around 2000 or 2001. But enough about the ill preparedness of the X-offices, lets get onto the quality of the issue.

This is one of those events that should have happened in an X-Men book, but was probably editorially demanded to boost sales of the flagging X-Factor book. Not only does X-Factor come off looking really awful in this issue, there are a number of irregularities with what has already been established in the X-Men books. Uncanny #338 saw Pyro running for his life from “her”, who was obviously meant to be Mystique. This issue finds them working toward their goal mutually, and without the aid of Avalanche, who had been mentioned previously. Sam Guthrie does appear, but only in a one panel cameo as he’s recognized by Forge and Val; he literally has no impact on the story after months of set up, which couldn’t have been the initial plan. Realistically he gets pushed to the side because X-Factor has to be assigned to Creed at the last minute for this plot to make sense in an issue of X-Factor.

Then there is just the sheer ridiculousness of the plot structure. Mystique and Pyro are actually trying to save Creed, so they decide to hide in the crowd with force field weapons that look exactly like guns, and Mystique thinks the best way to accomplish her goal is to destroy what little trust her handlers have put in her and do everything herself. After she’s caught, she makes a halfhearted attempt to explain away the flaws in her plan as a contingency against some vast conspiracy, but what really comes off as stupid is how the members of X-Factor keep interrupting her as she’s trying to explain. And why did she even bother to take Val’s place in the first place? It’s just really silly how the script tries to add in all these twists that make no sense whatsoever. Even the sheer fact that the government would assign a mutant super hero team with two former terrorists on it to defend a presidential candidate strikes as pretty dumb. Yes that does fit into the vast conspiracy theory, but you’d think that Val or Forge might question this a little harder.

I didn’t read a lot of X-Factor during this period, but I have to say that this roster isn’t very interesting at all. Polaris seems to have nothing to do now that Havok has left the team. Forge and Val seem to have the same personality, while Wild Child just grunts a lot. Sabretooth does have some funny scenes where he mocks his son by pretending to be a proud father, but once again I have to question his purpose on a government super hero team. Mystique is super stoic, but you’d think she’d be a little more aggressive about saving her son if that was the initial storyline.

This is a legitimately interesting course for the X-Books to take; the execution is just forced and deviates too much from the initial setup. Worse is that the story feels like it has no real direction as red herring after red herring is introduced to try to build on the mystery of the assassin. And while this was a perfect opportunity for the Marvel offices to get people interested in X-Factor, I can’t say it does a very good job at that either. The characters just don’t do anything to make the audience care about them in this issue, and they don’t really have anything to do in the actual story. Overall it’s disappointing.

D-

Uncanny X-Men #340

Uncanny X-Men #340
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: Joe Madureira

What Went Down: Bobby Drake’s father is in the hospital after being beaten up by members of the Friends of Humanity. Bobby is sitting alone with him in the hospital room when Storm shows up and asks him what happened. Elsewhere Cannonball is still undercover within Creed’s campaign. He tries to visit Creed, but two hulking bodyguards prevent him. Just as Sam is leaving, Creed shows up and invites him into his office.

Storm and Iceman have moved onto the roof of the hospital where Bobby explains how he discovered his father. Creed’s campaign members were going to catch a jet when Creed asked Bobby to help solve a problem. Because Creed uses Iceman’s real name “Robert” it’s an indication that something is wrong, and sure enough Drake finds his father badly beaten in a clearing in the woods. Bobby feels guilty, and wonders why his father didn’t give them any information, to which Storm replies there is only one answer.

Outside Creed’s headquarters, Creed asks Sam about his father. Guthrie describes his father as hardworking and loving. Then he asks about Creed’s dad, knowing that Graydon’s father is the villain Sabretooth. Creed crushes the glass he was drinking from and just claims that his dad was a disappointment.

In Mr. Drake’s hospital room, Gambit is watching over the man. Mr. Drake asks him why Remy fights for mutant rights, and Gambit replies it’s for the same reason he did. Outside a van pulls up at the hospital. Human extremist soldiers are preparing to kill all the mutants that they can detect. Wolverine opens the trunk door and appears to jump in and kill all of them.

Storm talks about how she wonders if her parents would’ve approved of her lifestyle as a super hero; she wishes that her parents were still alive. In a bar, Jean telepathically contacts Cannonball to tell him that Iceman’s cover was blown; Sam is determined to stay until the end. Back at the hospital, Bobby tells Storm that he’s taking a leave of absence from the X-Men to be with his father. The X-Men leave and he tells his father that he loves him.

How It Was: This is easily the best issue of either X-Men title in a very long time. It’s also some of the best material Iceman has been given in a very long time, especially since it has nothing to do with guilt over how his powers developed. Iceman gets a very relatable storyline involving his father getting put in the hospital, and Lobdell handles it perfectly. Yes it’s still a little contrived that Mr. Drake has had this eleventh hour turn of conscience, but it is justified well as an understanding that even mutants have families.

All the characters talk about their fathers, and while it should come off as corny, it doesn’t. Storm gets a rare sensitive moment talking about her thoughts about her dead parents, and even Cannonball and Creed share just enough to show how their fathers have impacted their lives. This just works as a quiet, contemplative issue that places the focus squarely on characterization. Also Wolverine’s part works perfectly with the mislead that this quiet, contemplative mood is about to be shattered by human bigots, but than at the last minute Wolverine just kills them all. It’s cathartic for the reader because it’s alluded that these are the same people responsible for beating up Mr. Drake, and it’s also just an undeniably cool moment of Logan acting tough.

What isn’t really working is the overall direction of the story. Cannonball and Iceman’s infiltrations haven’t turned up any information at all, and they never will. I do like how Creed’s asking about Cannonball’s father also works as a thinly veiled threat, but it doesn’t make up for the fact that this subplot is a waste of the character and nothing ever really comes of it. This is Scott Lobdell at his best, which he hasn’t been at since he took over both books again. All the heroes are warm, familiar, and handled in a mature, realistic, and very human way. Highly recommended.

A

X-Men #59

X-Men #59
Writing: Scott Lobdell and Ralph Macchio
Art: Andy Kubert

What Went Down: Cyclops is in a near-empty theater watching Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Instead of drawing scenes from the movie, the art department has decided to Photoshop screen shots of the movie onto the screen. Jean shows up and surprises Scott, even though he knows that she’s a telepath. Although the theater is empty, someone tells them to be quiet. Jean asks him about Alex, but he just wants to watch the movie.

Back at the Institute, Bishop is getting beat up again by the second guest hero in two issues. Hercules has thrown Bishop through the wall and seems confused as to how his greeting could have hurt Bishop that much. Beast explains the Onslaught storyline to Hercules, and Bishop threatens to beat up Herc, but is held back by Beast. Hercules has stopped by looking for Quicksilver because he wants to team up with the remaining Avengers, since he has been condemned to Earth by his father Zeus.

Quicksilver is outside wondering how he’s going to face his daughter and tell her that her mother is dead. Wolverine gives him a pep talk about being strong for her like Crystal and Wanda would have wanted. Quicksilver runs into Joseph, who is busy building a machine to block Rogue’s powers. Quicksilver yells at him for not realizing all the lives he’s ruined, and then runs away.

Back in the theater, Scott tells Jean how he always liked movies as a way to escape from the reality of being a sickly orphan whose brother was adopted. The two kiss each other. At Creed’s campaign headquarters, Iceman reads a fax that says his father was arrested after Trish Tilby’s talk show and refused to give his name. Cannonball walks in on Creed talking on the phone; he claims he was discussing strategy with his parents. Sam knows who his parents are so he wonders what Creed meant. Outside, Bobby asks Carly if she thinks Creed is going to be elected. Carly responds, “What is, is,” which is the motto of the Askani in the future.

As Quicksilver and Hercules depart, Joseph flies up to the plane and apologizes to Quicksilver, who responds that maybe someday it will mean something. Hercules cautions the dangers of holding a grudge, but Pietro is distant. Cyclops and Jean exit the theater and he wonders if it’s silly that he wasted the day watching movies. He realizes that the fate of the X-Men is up to him, but he’s hopeful because Jean is by his side.

How It Was: Alright, Hercules stops by the mansion for no good reason other than to force a recap of the Onslaught storyline and write Quicksilver out of the book. Hercules comes off as a bit of a tool here, throwing Bishop through a wall and then acting surprised by it. Quicksilver gets some nice development, although it’s a couple of months too late in my opinion. Shouldn’t he have gone to visit his daughter many issues ago? Wolverine’s speech to Pietro feels a lot more like common sense than pearls of wisdom, but how else can Lobdell explain why Quicksilver is still around unless he goes the route of fear.

The Creed storyline is still around, and a whole lot of nothing is still happening there. The reveal that Carly Alverez might be an Askani from the future is interesting, but like so many things in this era, it is totally forgotten about later. Cyclops’ scenes are an unexpected choice. There’s nothing really special about his interactions with Jean, but it’s nice to see him acknowledging the weight of being in charge of the X-Men in the Professor’s absence.

At this point it’s been three months since Onslaught wrapped up, and it still feels like nothing significant has happened at all. Instead of following up on Archangel’s transformation or Havok’s terrorist activity, we’re left with the very boring Creed storyline, and Hercules’ unnecessary visit. This is just filler until somebody can come up with a proper direction for the books to take, and it’s a shame because there are so many possible directions. Very weak plotting, and Macchio’s script can’t compare to Lobdell’s normally insightful character interaction.

D

Uncanny X-Men #339

Uncanny X-Men #339
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: Adam Kubert and Cedric Nocon

What Went Down: Spider-Man (the Ben Reilly Spider-Man, that is) shows up at the mansion at the middle of the night and is attacked by Bishop. Because this Spider-Man was a clone, he doesn’t recognize a lot of the characters’ changes, and he calls Jean Marvel Girl. Spidey has showed up to warn the X-Men that Jameson is digging around about Graydon Creed, and he might be in danger.

At X-Factor headquarters in Virginia, Mystique is watching Graydon Creed on the news and contemplating killing him to protect mutantkind, even though he is her son. She recognizes Iceman in one of the shots, from the back of his head no less, and announces that this changes everything.

At JFK airport, the X-Men have decided to send the Beast on the plane in order to watch over Jameson without raising suspicion. Of course he’s recognized by Jameson, who is excited that he must be getting close. To be fair, Cyclops is also on the plane and remains undercover. In the Blackbird, Joseph has been trying to understand the history of the X-Men and asks about the connection between Cable and Cyclops.

In a hotel room, reporter Nick Bandouveris has just discovered files proving that Graydon Creed’s parents were Sabretooth and Mystique. Back on the X-Jet, Joseph tries to synthesize and paraphrase the history of Cyclops and Cable, much to the amusement of Storm. On the plane, a mutant telepath from Havok’s Brotherhood of Mutants tells the passengers to remain calm and buckle their seats. Havok rips off the roof of the plane, and Jameson asks what he is doing. What is Havok’s reason for attacking? He is upset that Jameson is investigating Creed, because he doesn’t want it to look like mutants need help. No really…that’s his reason for trying to kill Jameson.

Cyclops blasts Havok to establish to the reader that their powers cancel each other out. Cyclops instead blasts Havok’s anti-gravity generator, and they both fly out the plane. Cyclops asks his brother what is wrong, and Havok says some cryptic things about finally being in control. Lobdell tries to establish Havok’s history of being mind controlled multiple times as motivation for his frustration with Xavier’s methods. Meanwhile, Joseph stops the plane from crashing.

The Brotherhood plane fires on Joseph, but he is able to shoot it down. Havok activates a teleport machine and leaves Cyclops to die, but Storm rescues him in the nick of time. Joseph lands the plane at an airport, and Jameson recognizes him as Magneto. Joseph contemplates how much he enjoyed saving the plane.

At the same time, Nick is waiting for Jonah, who has been delayed by the plane crash. Bastion shows up, kills Nick, and steals the files because Graydon Creed is still valuable to Zero Tolerance.

How It Was: This is an odd one, but most of it has nothing to do with Scott Lobdell. See at the time in X-Factor, Havok had left to join the Dark Beast because he was brainwashed. After Dark Beast was defeated during Onslaught, the writer of X-Factor set up Havok as a permanent villain. Initially he was written as insane, later it’s established that Havok just wants to save mutantkind with a more active stance than the X-Men, and finally it’s established that he was undercover. Either way, it is hard to reconcile later stories with this portrayal of Havok, since at this time all his appearances were so inconsistent. Lobdell tries his best, using Havok’s numerous times mind controlled as a kind of internal motivation, but really this is just silly. All Havok does is complain about control while he plummets out a plane, and his reason for attacking Jameson in the first place is absolutely absurd.

Spider-Man’s appearance is also kind of silly. We get the traditional heroes misunderstanding fight, followed by Spidey just delivering the plot to the X-Men. Isn’t this the kind of thing that, I don’t know, Iceman could have picked up on to give him something to do for his assignment—to give it a purpose. It is nice that they acknowledge how long it’s been since the X-Men and Spider-Man teamed up, but other than that these scenes are kind of a waste.

Joseph actually gets a few more good scenes. It’s nice to see him get the opportunity to save actual people for a change, and it’s also amusing to see him poke fun at the sheer impenetrability that is X-Men canon by way of using Cable and Cyclops as an example. I do feel like his debut to the world should affect the team more; after all, Jameson brings up the point about Magneto being bad PR, but nothing ever comes of it. The subplot with the reporter goes absolutely nowhere, other than to show that Bastion isn’t a nice guy, and I’m pretty sure that a lot of people already knew who Creed’s parents were, including the X-Men.

While this issue continues the Jameson subplot, nothing really compelling is going on here. Jameson claims he’s getting close to a discovery, but if it’s one that readers already know, then what’s the point? All of this is going to be made moot in a couple of issues anyways when Creed dies, but more on that later. This is just an odd one, with an odd villain who has odd motivations that never quite add up. Some good stuff for Joseph, though.

D+