Writing: Steve Seagle
Art: Chris Bachalo
What Went Down:
We open on Rogue running through the woods and crying. Meanwhile, Sauron is in a big fight with the
other X-Men. Thanks to Wolverine’s absorbed
energy, Sauron is able to take down Cannonball.
While chasing Iceman, Sauron remembers the events that led him
here. After fighting Ka-Zar in a
one-shot, Sauron hid in the jungle lord’s luggage when he moved to New
York. After absorbing the life force of
a random mutant off the street, he was drawn to the mansion because of the heat
wave, since pterodactyls are cold-blooded.
Sauron pulls a gun out and shoots Storm. Iceman knocks it away, but Sauron is able to
hypnotize him into thinking Jubilee is a monster. Maggott jumps on Sauron’s back in his blue
super-powered form, but Sauron shakes him off, taking out Cannonball in the
process. In space, Bishop is now able to
talk. He questions Deathbird about not
saving the other X-Men, saying he understands.
His internal monologue reveals that he knows Deathbird is insane. Then their ship is attacked by a giant sphere
shaped ship.
Rogue returns to the mansion to find Joseph lying in a
wrecked room. It’s unknown if Magneto
beat him and destroyed the room, or if Joseph just lost control of himself. Rogue starts CPR, and Marrow walks in on her,
commenting that Rogue should know better.
Joseph wakes up, and Rogue runs off again.
Jubilee takes on Sauron by herself. Impressively, she manages to hold him off for
a while, but she’s eventually knocked out.
In Alaska, Cyclops is trying to shoot holes through the middle of snack
chips as part of personal training and rehabilitation. Jean walks in wearing her Phoenix costume.
As Sauron decides which X-Man to absorb first, Wolverine
wakes up and the two fight. Sauron is
about to triumph when Jubilee blasts his ears at full power, knocking him
out. We learn that Storm was only grazed
by the gun, and Wolverine wants to find Rogue.
Speaking of Rogue, she’s in a taxicab on her way to the Agee
Institute to learn about getting her powers removed. Rogue has a flashback that reveals that she
did indeed touch Wolverine while he was unconscious.
How It Was: I
cannot remember the last the time the majority of the X-Men team took on a
threat together; it may’ve been Onslaught.
All I know is that most of Lobdell’s run was small pieces that focused
on smaller groups of characters, or even solo characters. Outside of the Sentinels from OZT, this is
the first serious threat they’ve faced in a while. And as unlikely as it is that Sauron could
take on six X-Men, Seagle sells it by having the villain dismantle the team
quickly. Pulling a gun is an odd choice
for an X-Men villain, but I’ll let it go.
Sauron’s reason for being there, that he was drawn to the warmer
climate, is a little harder to swallow, but it’s still a pretty good fight.
I’m confused about the direction of the Joseph thread. After his seizure was ignored by Wolverine
last issue, Rogue finds him unconscious in a demolished room. Was he attacked by Magneto? Did he lose control of his powers? It would be nice if I could tell what the
heck was happening here. Marrow’s undefined
status on the team is also confusing.
After X-Men #72 it seemed like Marrow was leaving the team, but she keeps
popping up in Uncanny and interacting with the characters.
Rogue is still the driving force this issue. She starts out slow this issue; always
running off and crying does get a little old after a while. But the end is so good when it’s revealed
that she did touch Wolverine while he was unconscious. This is a pretty dark place to take the
character, but also an intriguing one. I
like the idea of her fighting her own temptations to touch, and not always
being able to win.
This is a pretty decent fight, with some great moments from
Jubilee. Characters like Joseph and
Iceman do get slighted, but the developments with Rogue are really
intriguing. While Sauron doesn’t have a
great reason to be here, he makes for a good random villain of the week. I’m just happy to see the X-Men being super
heroes again.
B
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