X-Men: Liberators #1

X-Men: Liberators #1

Writing: Joe Harris

Art: Phil Jimenez

What Went Down:  The intro involves a flashback to the Claremont/Byrne era circa Days of the Future Past.  Our three stars of the mini, Wolverine Colossus, and Nightcrawler, enjoy a test in the Danger Room.  In the present, these same three X-Men are on a plane to Russia to visit the graves of Peter’s parents.  Nightcrawler scares a little girl by coming out of the restroom before turning on his image inducer. 

At a military base called Province 13, the Russian equivalent of Area 51, General Sergei observes a room of children playing with toys, some using super powers.  The general slides back a panel on a dark cell, looks at the shadowy figure inside, and laughs internally at his current predicament. 

Arriving at the Moscow Airport, Wolverine decides to take his friends to a local pub full of a “certain element.”  Back at Province 13, a rookie soldier relieves the guards of the mystery cell; he is afraid of the monsters that might be lurking here, and he is teased by his peers. 

Back at the bar, Wolverine has talked Peter into arm wrestling one of the thugs who taunted them.  During the bout, one of the other thugs tries to steal the X-Men’s bags, so they start a bar fight and totally dominate the locals. 

Back at the base, the shadowy creature hides from its captors during meal time, tricking them into opening the door. Once the creature touches the soldiers, their bodies start to decay. 

After trashing the bar, the X-Men leave some money and go on their merry way.  We also learn that the mystery creature’s name is Nikolas as he kills more soldiers.  Nikolas coincidentally winds up stowing away on the same train that the X-Men are taking.

How It Was:  Liberators is a mini that is all but forgotten; it has no effect on continuity, it doesn’t have anything profound to say about its characters, and its plot is basically a takeoff of any Frankenstein story: the misunderstood monster that’s been seen time and again.  The only thing that could possibly set it apart is the emphasis on the three X-Men and their long history.  The flashbacks do go a ways of drawing out this history; these X-Men joined the team at the same time, and as such their growth as teammates and friends has had profound influence on each other and the team.  Conversely, their interactions in the present don’t really highlight this history in any meaningful way.  Most of their brief conversations deal with polite teasing and Colossus’ discomfort at the situations Wolverine drags him into. 

Still, I’m willing to give this one the benefit of the doubt since it’s only the first issue, and so much of it is dedicated to the antagonists.  This project is fueled by pure nostalgia, highlighting a friendship that has been missing from comics for almost a decade, due to the heroes frequenting other teams over the years.  It’s excusable to start out with some lighthearted joking and bar fighting, with a promise of possibly something more substantial in later issues.  Plus fans of the X-Men never really got to see Peter deal with the death of his parents before he joined the Acolytes (although he probably dealt with it in Excalibur, I would assume).

This leaves the Russian military who are trying to weaponize mutants—all setup and exposition up to this point.  Again, this is nothing special, with all the soldiers sharing the same personality and Nikolas’ escape being easily predictable.  I will say that the design for Nikolas is quite grotesque, although it doesn’t really stand out in any way.  This is an okay start to the series.  Not much happens; the characters are all characterized well and their dynamic is well defined: Wolverine’s the wild one, Colossus is the shy one, and Nightcrawler is a little bit of both.  Nothing to write home about, but nothing offensive either. 

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