Team X 2000 #1

Team X 2000 #1

Writing: Sean Ruffner and A. Smithee

Art: Kevin Lau

 
What Went Down:  Deathbird opens describing a vivid dream to Bishop where she is fighting Shi’ar vermin, then biting the head off of a bird.  Bishop attempts to interpret the dream while the two play chess; Deathbird cannot get over some of the rules of the game.  It is implied that the two have had relations with each other, though Bishop insists it was a mistake.  Their ship comes across an uncharted jump-gate, and then they are attacked by an Ursaa ship (the guys from Uncanny #358).  Bishop decides to chance going in the gate.

Upon exiting the jump-gate, the ship comes out in orbit around Earth, but the planet is surrounded by Shi’ar warships for some reason.  On Earth, it is revealed that Alanna Nermani, the daughter of Lilandra, is the ruler of a war-torn future version of Earth. Archangel, Sauron, Dazzler, and Vulture are all servants of Alanna.  The queen is alerted to the discovery of Bishop’s ship.

Taken aboard one of the warships, Bishop and Deathbird encounter some Shi’ar soldiers.  Deathbird attacks them, but she is shot by a stun blast; Bishop decides not to intercede, allowing himself to be taken prisoner.  Shi’ar scientists confirm to Alanna that Deathbird is the genuine article, so Alanna orders her released.  Deathbird learns that the year is 2018, and the Shi’ar have conquered Earth.  Meanwhile Bishop is stuck in a prison cell with a depowered Cain Marko, normally the Juggernaut. Cain isn’t sure whether Bishop is real, but explains some of the history of the planet.

Bishop is escorted to a healing pool where Deathbird is already bathing.  Bishop doesn’t trust Alanna, but Deathbird insists it is all right.  Alanna goes to a truth-seer, who informs her that Deathbird will be the key to her triumph or defeat.

The next day Alanna takes Deathbird and Bishop on a tour of New York to discuss restoring Deathbird’s name and royal title to her.  The people of New York are being starved by the Shi’ar for not turning in the rebels.  A disguised Longshot confirms Bishop’s identity and calls Cable.  Alanna is confronted by some starving peasants and demonstrates that she has psychic powers, due to the fact that her father was Charles Xavier.

The rebels of this world, the Morlocks, attack so they can liberate Bishop.  The group consists of  Cable, Longshot, Falcon, and Vertigo-the present day Jubilee. Vertigo is almost killed by Sauron, but Falcon sacrifices himself to save her, while Longshot is captured due to Deathbird’s interference.

Back at the Morlock base, Bishop is introduced to their leader, an eyepatch wearing Wolverine.  Dr. Doom is also a member of the rebellion. Wolverine explains that the Avengers, X-Men, Lilandra, and Professor X were all killed by Alanna, who studied the history of her aunt Deathbird.  This allowed her to take over the planet.  Beast, Doom, and Hank Pym planned on seeding the past with time gates to bring help from the past, but their plan was foiled by soldiers before they could finish; Bishop’s gate was a freak accident.

The Morlocks use Vulture to infiltrate the Shi’ar celebration for Deathbird.  When offered her birthright, Deathbird refuses saying that the title means nothing to her.  While Bishop takes on Sauron, Deathbird and Alanna fight as well.  Bishop sets off the explosives after the control is damaged, and uses Sauron to survive as they both absorb the energy from the explosion.  Alanna’s telepathic powers allow her to anticipate Deathbird’s moves, but Deathbird is able to defeat Alanna using a pressure point that Bishop taught her off-panel.  Deathbird shows mercy on Alanna and kisses Bishop.

With Alanna defeated, the Morlocks send Bishop and Deathbird back to their own time.  Doom leaves the base, telling Cable that next time they may not be on the same side. 

How It Was:  This is actually a fun little diversion for X-fans.  Regular readers will know that I’m a sucker for alternate reality/future stories, and for such a brief one, this does deliver some neat alternate moments.  I especially like the all too short visit with crazy Cain Marko, and the little touches like Falcon’s importance in the resistance, or Wolverine and Sauron’s rivalry.  Some aspects never get the room to pay off: Dr. Doom is introduced as an unknown quantity, but never affects the resolution one way or the other.  Also Jubilee has been renamed Vertigo for no particular reason, and I can’t tell if the team of rebels is supposed to be called the Morlocks or Team X because the script uses both.

I am wholly unfamiliar with the writers of this story, but I’m happy that they continue the solid relationship established between Deathbird and Bishop.  The romantic tension mixed with utter contempt and unpredictable motivations makes for great reading.  What I really like is that while Uncanny #358 focused mostly on Bishop’s history and perspective, Team X is much more about Deathbird.  From her cryptic dreams to confronting her relationship with her identity and family, it’s nice to see the character struggle with these conflicting aspects.  Although the reader can probably assume that Deathbird will side with Bishop, it’s still interesting to see how it all plays out.

The plot mechanics are a little frustrating.  The Morlocks’ plan to use time traveling gates to bring heroes from the past makes no sense; why not use them to travel back and change the future?  Plus I really don’t understand why they needed other heroes to implement their straightforward plan at the end.  It feels like the plot itself could’ve been resolved without Bishop or Deathbird; somebody else would’ve just had to kill Alanna.  Still, the fighting is solid and there are some hastily constructed, but solid character interaction.

The art style is manga, but for some reason it doesn’t bother as much as the style normally does.  Sure it does slip into ridiculousness with the scantily clad Shi’ar servants, and Jubilee’s redesign is super-cyberpunk anime influenced, but the action is clear, the expressions are never distorted or exaggerated, and just about all the characters are on model.  To tell you the truth, I like Lau’s work slightly more than I like Joe Madureira’s.

This is a little story that continues to build on the relationship between Bishop and Deathbird.  I like where it takes the characters, and I like the time travel gimmick because it doesn’t overstay its welcome.  Bishop traveling through time works a lot better with the character’s roots than Bishop in space.  This is definitely a peek if you can find it for cheap.

B+

Uncanny X-Men #358

Uncanny X-Men #358
Writing: Steven Seagle

Art: Chris Bachalo

What Went Down:  Bishop opens and narrates this one-off story as he and Deathbird have crash-landed on an alien planet.  Bishop internally recaps the circumstances that have led him to this point, and then rescues Deathbird from the wreckage.  They are beset by a group of alien scavengers who shoot Bishop with a harpoon, so he can’t absorb it.  They fight off the scavengers, and an alien named Karel, who speaks perfect English, offers to give them transportations.

Karel explains that the scavengers are called the Ursaa.  He also tells them that he is a freedom fighter whose world was invaded by the Chnitt, the same aliens who shot down Bishop’s ship.  The group discovers that Karel’s camp was attacked by Chnitt while he was rescuing Bishop and Deathbird, so he takes them to his friend Tu.  Karel tells Bishop that he has come to this planet to retrieve a weapon that will raze the Chnitt from his home.  The planet they are on is a trader’s planet, so Karel plans to use a warp gate to return home.  Bishop thinks he might have a chance to get back to Earth.  Deathbird internally chides him, saying that she loves him and will force him back to the Shi’ar.

Back in Alaska, the original X-Men are helping Scott and Jean pack their belongings; they are leaving Alaska because people around them know they’re mutants.  Scott tells Jean that the buyers for their house have backed out, so they don’t know what they’re going to do.  Some kids throw a brick through the window and scare everyone.  Scott tells them to let it go.  Suddenly Jean senses the psychic event from the Psi-War story (in X-Men #77-78), and is knocked into a catatonic state. 

Back on the trader planet, Deathbird is attacked by a Chnitt, which looks like a giant spider.  After killing it, Bishop realizes that Tu has sold them out, and probably died for his troubles. After acquiring a transport, the group is almost eaten by a giant monster.  Right before they reach the warp gate, the group discovers a giant ball that has been tracking them.  The ball is attacking the city, knowing that Karel has the secret weapon, nullifier charges, which eat metal.  Bishop decides he cannot allow the alien citizens to suffer on their account.  He takes one of the charges and tells Karel and Deathbird to go through the gate without him.  Bishop climbs a roof, throws a charge, and destroys the ship.

After destroying the giant ball, Bishop runs to the warp gate just in time to see it collapse for no reason.  Bishop laments his loneliness, until he discovers that Deathbird has remained on the planet to be with him. 

How It Was:  Bishop and Deathbird’s wacky space odyssey continues as they make their way to a completely generic sci-fi planet.  I don’t even think it has a name; it’s just called the trader planet.  It’s obvious that Marvel is testing the waters to see if Bishop might be able to sustain his own book—years later he would go on to receive it. 

While the designs for the Chnitt are really great, everything else is just so forgettable.  The reader knows right from the beginning that he’ll never see the bland Karel ever again, or his plot-convenient grenades.  Even the mothership at the climax of the story is just a giant ball that fires lasers. Some of the action set pieces do look pretty cool even if they don’t really drive the plot.

So why did I enjoy this issue so much more than I thought I would?  The answer lies in the Bishop/Deathbird dynamic.  It’s really not what super hero readers are used to.   Deathbird is so attracted to Bishop that she fails to pick up on how their worldviews are so different, and Bishop is so repulsed by the idea of being with a villain that he can’t see how attracted he is to her.  I like how Seagle forces Bishop to be the level-headed one of the group, while Deathbird is the wildly impulsive brawler.  Their interactions and the ways they play off each other are great.  It’s just great to see how even they can’t tell whether their feelings for one and other are genuine affection or familiar comfort. 

It’s also nice to see Seagle trying to address the problems writers have been having with Bishop since the Onslaught event.  With his purpose for existing nullified, nobody has known what to do with Bishop.  Seagle tries to play up how out of place he is, and how weird it must be to interact with people who are supposed to be dead.  It’s a bit of a stretch to say that Bishop hasn’t made friends with anyone from the team, but this might just be Bishop’s way of softening the blow of losing his teammates.  Playing up the fact that Bishop is always out of place is as good a way to go as any. 

The Scott and Jean scenes are rather abrupt; Scott’s injuries seem to have disappeared, and I can’t tell if the couple is supposed to be going back to the X-Men or leaving just to escape the townspeople.  I do appreciate that the Psi-War is tying into the greater Marvel Universe; it’s just a shame that there is only really one more issue where Jean deals with these events.  I don’t remember liking this as much when I first read it, but now I feel I can better appreciate just what Seagle was trying to do.

B