X-Factor #126

X-Factor #126

Writing: Howard Mackie

Art: Stefano Raffaele

What Went Down:  Forge starts of this issue repaying Mystique and Sabretooth for saving him by painfully reactivating their inhibitors with technology around him.  They regroup with the rest of X-Factor to find that Havok and Random have been captured.  Polaris and Shard are left to guard the prisoners while the rest break up to look for Beast.

Mystique and Wild Child trade banter while overcoming some traps within the building, while Creed fights off some metal tendrils with Forge.  Forge deactivates them, and they continue on while Forge contemplates the series of strange orders Washington has been giving him, the most recent of which has been to work with Sabretooth.  Creed discovers the Beast hooked to manacles that shock him with every step taken on the floor.  Above, Fatale ambushes the two agents, but she is ambushed by Wild Child and knocked out. 

Outside, Polaris lectures Random for lying to her.  Random explains that Dark Beast was helping him control his powers and keeping him from becoming just a pile of goo.  In fact Dark Beast created the Random identity.  He also admits Dark Beast has been messing with Havok’s head. 

Once freed, Beast is eager to rejoin the X-Men to fight Onslaught.  Sabretooth notices that this Beast is actually Dark Beast.  Forge threatens to put Creed down, even though he acknowledges that Creed’s collar should be stopping him, and Wild Child confirms that it’s the Dark Beast.  Meanwhile Alex tricks Lorna into setting him free.  Random breaks out of his restraints in an attempt to save her from Havok.  Havok blasts Random, turning him to a puddle that oozes into the sewer.  Shard leaves Polaris to guard Havok while she goes after Random.  This gives Havok the perfect opportunity to knock out Polaris and admit his treachery. 

Back inside, Forge is still pointing a gun, convinced Sabretooth is attacking the real Beast.  Creed knocks down a wall, revealing the real Beast restrained in a different room.  Dark Beast still tries to convince Forge that he is the good one, but the original Hank McCoy attacks him and knocks him out. 

Shard returns to find Polaris unconscious and dying.  She gives CPR and tells Forge they need to get to the hospital.  Forge orders Fatale to teleport them all, and Dark Beast tells them to do it so that they can bid their time as prisoners, exactly where he wanted to be.

How It Was:  I’ve already written about how bizarre it is that the Beast/Dark Beast plot resolution appeared in, of all places, X-Factor.  So let’s forget about the randomness and ineptitude that lead to that decision and instead focus on the pay off.  After months of being held captive and chained up in a small room—after having dozens…potentially hundreds of people from his life, as well as innocent bystanders, murdered—Beast finally gets his payback on the cruel, sadistic version of himself.  So he kicks the villain once…and then the fight and issue are both over.  What??!!  It’s one thing to shunt the focus of the majority of this story to X-Factor, and Sabretooth and Mystique in particular, but to offer absolutely no satisfaction in the triumph of our hero who has been put through the ringer the last few months is the worst.  The absolute worst!  The only reason X-Men readers were picking up X-Factor was to see how Beast was rescued, and the abrupt and anticlimactic end robs the story of any sense of closure or gratification.  In fact Dark McCoy is gleeful to be captured, in regards to another conspiracy theory with no payoff.

Aside from the lousy Beast thread, nobody else comes out looking too great in this issue.  The plot decisions just seem antithetical to telling an interesting story.  The villains without restraints…that’s pretty cool, but it gets undone by the first page this issue.  Random’s betrayal…apparently he’s been working with Dark Beast since the beginning, retroactively tainting all his previous appearances.  Oh, and the tough bounty hunter is actually a teenager, which is a little weird and disappointing. 

If not for the Beast letdown, the worst offense would be the obvious ruse Havok uses on Polaris to get free, making her look all kinds of awful.  All she had to do was be patient and wait for the authorities to pick up the bad guys, but she frees Havok because…?  Similarly Forge refuses to believe both Sabretooth and Wild Child about Dark Beast, even though they have no reason to lie, and Creed’s inhibitor is letting him hurt the Beast.  Everything is just too predictable…it’s no fun if the audience expects what is going to happen.  It’s fun to have the villains pulling the strings, but not if the heroes are so obviously dumb that there’s no challenge or sense of tension. 

Completists Only

X-Factor #125

X-Factor #125

Writing: Howard Mackie

Art: Jeff Matsuda and Stefano Raffaele

These two issues take place prior to X-Men #55

What Went Down:  Dark Beast has taken Onslaught to his lab, and Onslaught is conducting a painful looking probe on McCoy.  Fatale tries to free her master, but fails miserably.  Former hero, and Cyclops’ brother, Havok shows up too, and Onslaught says he has plans for him.

Over at the Fall’s Edge base, X-Factor is being attacked by a training Sentinel that has somehow been reprogrammed.  Random suggests calling in the X-Men, but Forge orders Mystique to go free their “heavy-hitter” Sabretooth.  Mystique threatens to kill Sabretooth, but frees him anyway.  Both discuss how they are biding their time in X-Factor to fulfill their own agendas.  Creed mentions that Mystique might have feelings for Forge.  Suddenly Fatale appears and abducts both of them.  She also teleports the Sentinel away. 

Forge seems convinced one rogue Sentinel is more dangerous than a missing Mystique and Sabretooth, so he sets X-Factor to finding it.  Random tries to warn Polaris not to go on this mission.  Back at their base, the emergency transmission from Jean Grey warning about Onslaught plays for the empty room. 

X-Factor tracks the Sentinel’s signal to the abandoned Brand Corporation.  Havok and Fatale attack the team; Polaris is heartbroken that Alex has turned villain, while Random again tries to warn her away.  While Polaris shields everyone from Havok’s power, Random reveals that he is a traitor as well. 

Inside the Brand facility, Forge discovers an army of Sentinels.  He is attacked by someone off panel.  Outside, Polaris tries to reach Havok.  Fatale and Havok are about to kill the team, but Random protests about killing them.  Dark Beat appears to tell him the bargain has changed.  Forge and Onslaught’s henchman Post bursts through the wall, interrupting the proceedings and giving Polaris a chance to take out Havok.  Random tries to help Polaris, but Havok shoots him, revealing that Random is really a teenager.  Polaris again tries to reach Alex, and it appears to work; however, instead of trusting him, Polaris decides to knock him out.  Post grows bored and escapes, having succeeded in his mission to distract X-Factor long enough for the Sentinels to launch.

What Else Went Down:  The second story deals with what happens to Sabretooth and Mystique after being teleported.  After surviving a steep drop, the pair is confronted by the Dark Beast.  McCoy explains everything about Onslaught and holding his other self hostage.  Dark Beast wants them to join Onslaught, and offers to deactivate their inhibitors and let them kill Forge.  Mystique and Sabretooth consider it, but decide if they weren’t sanctioned operatives, they couldn’t use their positions for their own purposes. 

Sabretooth attacks Dark Beast; McCoy gets the upper hand, but Mystique uses her shape-shifting abilities to create pointy armor for herself.  Dark Beast almost kills both her and Forge, but Sabretooth saves them both and continues to fight.  Creed is about to kill him, but Forge stops him because they need information.  Dark Beast activates a teleporter, explaining that the real Beast will be dead before they can find him. 

How It Was:  A double-sized Onslaught tie-in issue.  How did I get so lucky?  After Peter David left X-Factor, the book struggled to find an identity.  No longer the quirky, funny book with the C-list X-Characters, it tried to become the edgy, violent book with C-list X-characters.  Too bad nobody at the X-offices realized that title was already called X-Force.  X-Factor’s attempt to stay interesting and relevant to fans was to have Mystique and Sabretooth recruited by the team and forced to work with more traditional mutant heroes. 

As for its attempt at ecking out its own identity, Mackie seems to be going the conspiracy angle with multiple characters having different conflicting goals and motivations, from the villains to the government funding X-Factor itself.  This is all well and good considering they are the government based X-team—why not introduce some X-Files like government conspiracies and political intrigue.  The problem of course exists that none of these motivations or conspiracies feel planned ahead; Sabretooth, Mystique, and Dark Beast all insist that they have specific reasons for the things they are doing, with no substantial hint as to what they might be.  Forge recognizes there might be strange motivations for including villains on the team, but again nothing is done with this. 

As an Onslaught tie-in, this story offers a unique opportunity to bring in new readers by showing how great and interesting the team is.  Instead we see a team that struggles to take down one Sentinel.  One!  And it’s a Sentinel that Forge was rebuilding.  Right off the start the X-Factor team isn’t looking great, especially when over in books like X-Men and Uncanny, the X-Men, Avengers, and FF are taking out Sentinels left and right by themselves. 

Another problem is how telegraphed the twists are.  Random warns Polaris twice that she shouldn’t go on the mission, and then we’re supposed to be surprised when he says he’s working for the villain of the issue?  None of this feels laid out or natural to the character as established.  Havok being a bad guy is interesting, since he is the character that became synonymous with X-Factor after the original X-Men left.  The downside is that his defection (at this point the story was that he was being brainwashed by Dark Beast) reduces Polaris to a simpering and whiny character that gets tiring after a while. 

This issue should feel bigger than it does: Post shows up for like four panels (?!), the Sentinels that attack New York are activated here, and Sabretooth and Mystique get their inhibitors deactivated.  Of course failing to stop the Sentinels makes the team look incompetent, and the other two things are quickly brushed to the side.  It feels like the plot is trying to cram in as many Onslaught related concepts in it as possible without actually contributing to or moving the story along in any meaningful way; of course, this was the main problem with the majority of Onslaught tie-ins.

Finally, we pick up on the captive Beast subplot that has appeared in all three X-Men titles.  Why the X-offices would choose to resolve this months’ long story in X-Factor is beyond me. None of the characters have a close connection with Hank; it just feels like the team had nothing better to do than resolve this plot line that has nothing to do with them.  Just some baffling choices.

Completists Only

X-Men Unlimited #4

X-Men Unlimited #4

Writing: Scott Lobdell

Art: Richard Bennett

What Went Down:  Mystique kills a US General for working with the Friends of Humanity.  In a mansion in France, Graydon Creed has been living with some random woman.  The couple is interrupted by a private investigator Graydon has hired; the investigator confirms that Sabretooth and Mystique are his parents and offers to reveal the identity of his brother for more money.  Enraged, Creed beats the man, offering to spare him if he reveals the information.  After the man whispers it to Creed, Creed kills the man.  When his sugar momma demands Creed leave, Creed threatens her and mentions he has issues with being kicked out and abandoned.

At Dulles Airport, a disguised Nightcrawler scares an abusive father into being nicer to his son.  Rogue shows up and chastises him, as both mutants wonder why Forge has summoned them.  They go to Arlington Cemetery for the funeral of the murdered general.  Both notice Graydon Creed in attendance right before the priest insults the dead man and kicks over the casket.  The corpse has a bomb attached to it, and the priest is revealed to be Mystique.  Rogue gets rid of the bomb while Nightcrawler pulls Mystique from the soldiers firing on her.  Mystique punches Kurt, mentions some vague hints about his birth, and escapes.  As the guards close in on Nightcrawler, Rogue flies him off. 

Forge questions Graydon Creed about Mystique’s appearance.  After he leaves, Rogue and Kurt come out and discuss Mystique.  Forge reveals that during Mystique’s treatment, she went through his files.  Forge then tells the two X-Men that they may have a chance of reaching the good part of Mystique, although he refuses to tell Nightcrawler why.

Rogue and Nightcrawler fly to Mystique’s house in Caldecott, Mississippi.  Rogue recalls her first meeting with Mystique, before she took Rogue in and raised her.  The two split up, and Nightcrawler flashes back to a memory flirting with his foster sister Amanda Sefton. 

Creed confronts Nightcrawler and reveals they are brothers as he attacks Kurt, and that Mystique is their mother.  Graydon explains that Mystique was posing as a German Count’s wife, but was discovered when Kurt was born a mutant.  While a mob chased her, Mystique lost the baby and it was thrown over a waterfall. 

As the two brothers fight, Rogue remembers the triggering of her powers with a boy she liked named Cody.  When Cody appears in the present to comfort and taunt her, Rogue realizes it is Mystique in disguise.  Rogue wants to know if she ever knew the real Mystique.  While the two women argue, Graydon shows up with the unconscious Nightcrawler.  Mystique explains he abandoned Graydon when he turned twelve and didn’t develop mutant powers, and that he killed Kurt as an act of self-preservation.  Mystique actually turned into a villager and was the one who threw baby Nightcrawler in the waterfall. 

In the present, Mystique shoots at Graydon, who teleports.  This Graydon was Nightcrawler using an image inducer, with the real Graydon dressed in Kurt’s costume.  Creed summons an attack helicopter to kill Nightcrawler, Rogue, and Mystique.  Rogue attacks the gunship, but is forced to stop in order to save Kurt and Raven.  Mystique lets go of the cliff on purpose so Rogue will rescue Nightcrawler.  As Nightcrawler wonders why Mystique did what she did, Rogue flies him off into the sunset.

How It Was:  Continuing the trend of focusing more on villains than heroes in the last two issues, here we get the spotlight placed on Mystique.  The problem is that the Mystique in this issue is very inconsistent, going from tragic and misunderstood to completely psychotic and unremorseful in the span of mere panels.  Lobdell picks up on some vague hints Chris Claremont had put in about Mystique and Nightcrawler looking similar back in the eighties.  The revelation that the two characters were mother and son didn’t do a lot for either character.

As with every issue of Unlimited, the story is quite padded out.  The opening murder scene is seven pages just to establish Mystique killing a random general for working with the Friends of Humanity.  Many of the flashbacks also seem unnecessary; it’s good to include the scene of Rogue first meeting Mystique (Question: Why does little girl Rogue have a shotgun?), but the scene of Rogue’s powers first triggering is an unnecessary retread.  Also Nightcrawler’s flashback to the circus doesn’t do anything but establish his pattern of hitting on foster sisters (he hits on Rogue earlier in the book). 

But I’m nitpicking.  One aspect that works really well in this book is the idea that Rogue doesn’t know how to rectify the mother of her childhood to the Mystique of present day.  That’s a great angle since Rogue obviously has love for her, but doesn’t know if she was being manipulated or if Mystique really cares about her.  Nightcrawler doesn’t fair as well; he gets beat up a lot this issue, and while Mystique does sacrifice herself at the end for him, there’s every indication that she doesn’t really care about him.  Speaking of which, the end is completely absurd where Nightcrawler can’t teleport to safety and Rogue, who can lift cars and take out helicopters, can’t carry Nightcrawler and Mystique at the same time.

So the plotting is pretty scattered and drawn out, and things happen for no clear reason (why wouldn’t Forge tell Nightcrawler his relation to Mystique right there?), and Mystique and Creed both come off as homicidal maniacs as opposed to villains with believable motives.  While the main attraction is supposed to be the revelation of Nightcrawler’s mom, the real highlights involve Rogue trying to come to terms with her own feelings towards Mystique. 

Completists Only

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 #306

Uncanny X-Men #306
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: John Romita Jr.

What Went Down: Archangel and Jean Grey decide to take some time off at Warren’s Colorado vacation house on the anniversary of the death of Candy Southern--Archangel’s girlfriend during the days of the original X-Factor. The two friends reminisce about growing up in the X-Men, comfort each other over the death of Candy, and then they are both shocked to discover Candy still alive in Warren’s house.

At the mansion, Xavier is training with Quicksilver in the Danger Room. Beast and Quicksilver are both concerned that Xavier is becoming obsessed over Magneto. In an anti-gravity challenge, the two combatants fight to a standstill. Xavier refuses help from Pietro, and Quicksilver warns him about being too proud to ask for help.

Back in Colorado, Archangel is understandably disturbed, and Jean confirms that whoever she is, this Candy has all of the old Candy’s memories. In downtown New York, Storm meets Forge at a fancy restaurant. Forge has invited her out to ask if they can still be friends, to which she agrees. The couple then proceeds to engage in one of those awkward dancing without music scenes that never comes off as cute as it’s meant to.

Jean decides to take Archangel and herself into Candy’s mind to witness her last memories in order to figure out just who she is. Apparently Candy was aware of being kidnapped by Cameron Hodge the whole time. The next thing she knew, she was under some sheets being resurrected by some shadowy characters. A trap in Candy’s mind stuns Jean and Warren long enough for the Phalanx infected Cameron Hodge to materialize. Hodge reveals that this Candy was created from parts of himself, so that when Archangel attacks Hodge, he hurts Candy. Candy refuses to once again be a pawn of Hodge, so she rips herself apart. Hodge explodes, and Candy’s mangled body lasts just long enough to thank Warren before expiring.

How It Was: Another Lobdell issue where the relationships shine. The interactions between Warren and Jean are pitch perfect for the entire issue, whether they are casually flirting with each other or comforting one another over various tragedies in their past. The back and forth between the two is just wonderful. Once again we also get a chance to see Xavier obsessing over Magneto; however, this particular scene doesn’t resonate as well since it contains a Danger Room exercise that has no real relation to anything that might actually occur in a confrontation with Magneto. The interactions between Archangel and Candy also manage to get some sadness and emotion out of the reader as well. It’s a nice little story that brings some closure to the relationship that never really existed in the original “death of Candy” story. Even though a fake, we discover that Candy’s feelings for Warren were strong enough for her to give her life for his. The only weakness character-wise would probably fall on the villain Hodge, since he has no real motivation for screwing with Warren other than just being a tosser.

John Romita returns after taking an issue off to work on the double sized issue #304. Some pages really shine, especially any page depicting techno-Cameron Hodge or Candy after her body starts to break down. Conversely, there are some spots that feel a little rushed, as if Romita was struggling to get back on schedule. Quicksilver particularly bears little resemblance to what he is actually supposed to look like, and many of the characters’ faces appear too heavily shaded at times. Plus the flashback of Candy’s death is depicted in some truly hideous neon colors. Still, I really like this issue because it is one of the few that manages to make Archangel both likable and interesting, a truly impressive feat.

B+

Uncanny X-Men #302

Uncanny X-Men #302
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Art: John Romita Jr.

What Went Down: Because the top of Eagle’s Aerie was blown up last issue, Storm is forced to use her powers to deflect the debris from bystanders. The problem is that she can only use the wind, and it is a very imprecise process. To many of the bystanders, it appears that Storm is causing the wreckage to fall as opposed to protecting them from it. At the same time, Bishop uses his powers to shoot through the wreckage at the top. He discovers a weird structure erected where Forge’s base should be.

At the mansion’s medical wing, Illyana’s condition is worsening, and Professor X is trying his hardest to help her. Illyana asks for her brother, but since Colossus is away on a mission, Xavier uses his powers to impersonate Colossus and comfort her.

Some debris strikes Storm, and an angry mob descends on her, blaming her for putting them in danger. A lone police officer with a shotgun gets the crowd’s attention, giving Storm a chance to collect herself. Inside the building, Bishop inspects the dome and finds Forge alive and in a horrible mood.

On the street, the crowd has decided that they can take on the police officer, but the rest of the Gold Team arrives to protect him. Iceman gets to make an ice web to catch the remaining debris, freeing Storm from her task.

As Bishop tries to get Mystique and Forge out of the building, Fitzroy attacks again. Unfortunately for him, Jean Grey pops his armor from the inside with her powers. Fitzroy manages to get a hold of Bishop and Forge, but before he can drain them Colossus tackles him and starts wailing on him. Peter comes close to killing the villain, due to his pent up rage over his sister’s health, but the rest of the Gold Team stops him. In a reversal of roles from his first appearance, Bishop ends up being the one to calm Colossus down.

Inside the X-mansion, Jubilee answers the door to find that Kitty Pryde has come to visit Illyana.

How It Was: It’s the conclusion of a big fight, and it’s not bad. Not great, but not bad. The fight with Fitzroy is essentially over, and he gets defeated twice this issue in summarily anticlimactic fashion. The real conflict comes from the mob outside, but the angry mob attacking the X-Men has been done many times before, most recently in Uncanny #300. In a nice change of pace, there is one representative human who is not an intolerant idiot, yet the rest of Texas gets portrayed as angry bumpkins. There are few nice character moments, such as the scene with Professor X and Illyana. Colossus’s breakdown comes off as somewhat hysterical and melodramatic, but in hindsight I think that it does a great job of setting up Colossus’ decisions in later issues. It’s also nice to see Bishop demonstrate his growth over the last couple of issues, but his argument isn’t very strong. He claims that the criminals he killed were okay because he was a law enforcement officer carrying out a sentence, but the problem is that Fitzroy belongs to that same group of criminals that he was killing. Another major flaw with the story involves the fact that Forge was supposed to do something incredibly important if he lived, and at the end of the story he doesn’t do anything.

The art has more sideways pages, which is something to dislike. Also, there is a panel where Forge is using a crutch in the wrong arm. Barring that, there are some great panels in this issue, like Jean shattering Fitzroy’s armor…no matter how lame that scene is. It’s another mediocre issue—it has action in it, but it’s rather uncompelling. The great news is that this is the last issue to have anything to do with the Upstarts. Of course, that’s probably also the reason that all of the Upstarts issues are so uninteresting. Still, this issue does lead into some interesting events over the course of the next couple of issues.

C

Uncanny X-Men #301

Uncanny X-Men #301
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Art: John Romita Jr.

What Went Down: Selene, the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club is being held captive by Trevor Fitzroy. Her body is being shredded and reformed by technology Fitzroy brought from the future. Fitzroy is using Selene’s suffering to gain the attention of the Gamemaster. Selene reveals that she is the one who formed the Upstarts in an attempt to forge the next generation of mutant leaders.

Gamemaster sets up a telepathic meeting with all of the Upstarts and introduces Siena Blaze to all the other members. This meeting is to decide the next high priority target of the Upstarts; since Fitzroy called the meeting, he gets first chance to attack. Gamemaster chooses Forge because his actions are about to affect every mutant on the planet unless he dies.

At the mansion, Colossus has a big dent in his head from the X-Cutioner’s weapon in this year’s annual. Because of the injury, he cannot return to human form. Peter is in the middle of comforting his sister Illyana, who is still sick, while Professor X and Moira observe him on a viewscreen. Moira wants to tell Colossus that his sister is infected with the same disease that killed Mastermind, but Xavier wants to wait until there is more evidence.

All the way in Dallas, Texas, we find Forge looking out a window and questioning why he didn’t alert the X-Men to Magneto’s potential return. Mystique interrupts him asking if he wants to work out; he agrees because Mystique has kept her deal to hold a single form for three days because she is still having identity problems after the death of her friend Destiny. Meanwhile, Storm and Bishop are enroute to Forge’s base, Eagle’s Aerie, to ask Forge for help in curing Illyana’s illness.

As Forge and Mystique exercise, an alarm goes off and Fitzroy bursts in. Forge uses weapons and traps in his base to hold Fitzroy off.

Back at the mansion, Iceman’s girlfriend Opal Tanaka has stopped by for a surprise visit. They are about to take the opportunity to discuss their relationship, but Archangel interrupts and tells Iceman that they have to go to Texas to help fight Fitzroy. Opal tells him that it is okay for him to go, but secretly feels jealous that Iceman prioritizes the X-Men over herself.

In Texas, Forge thinks that he has defeated Fitzroy, until the villain kicks off Forge’s mechanical leg and crushes his mechanical hand. The explosion of the hand distracts Fitzroy long enough for him to get away. Bishop appears and engages Fitzroy, but it is really Mystique in disguise, and she is injured in the attempt. Storm approaches the tower from the outside, but the top of the building suddenly explodes.

How It Was: This is another Upstarts story, so the same complaints of the other ones apply to this one. Thankfully, this is the last of the Upstarts stories to appear in the X-Men titles. It’s pretty average as far as X-Men stories go, but it does offer some nice set pieces for Forge and Fitzroy; poor Forge hasn’t had anything interesting to do since X-Men #3. Here he gets some cool one-liners and some solid action sequences where he gets to give and take some damage. Even the scenes with Mystique and Forge prior to the fight are really good as they explore Mystique’s new status quo as well as the potential romance between Forge and Mystique.

The rest of the issue is nowhere near as strong. Iceman and Opal’s relationship is still circling the tube. Colossus is still concerned about his sister, rightfully so, and complaining about villains who take him away from her. Plus the scenes with the Upstarts are all unnecessary exposition recapping everything the reader should know up to this point. The information that Selene founded the Upstarts is interesting, but once again nothing ever comes from this revelation. Although I will admit that the conversation between Storm and Bishop is pretty interesting, and subtlely reveals Storm’s own still conflicted feelings about Forge… and potentially Bishop; I just love how Bishop was unsure whether he and Storm were dating or not.

John Romita Jr.’s art is very good. Once again, my only complaint is the four pages that you have to turn the book sideways to read. This issue is entertaining enough, but overall it isn’t that memorable. Definitely a few good character beats in it, though.

B-

Uncanny X-Men #290

Uncanny X-Men #290
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: Whilce Portacio

What Went Down: Storm’s on the cover standing in the rain; that means a happy ending for her subplot, right? At any rate, the book opens on Iceman’s girlfriend Opal and his parents hiding behind an ice wall. Iceman’s father, an incredible racist, hates Opal because she is Asian (although it’s the 90’s, so it’s still considered politically correct to say Oriental). He also blames her for the appearance of the Cyburai. In case you haven’t guessed it, the Cyburai are samurai warriors who have cybernetic enhancements to their bodies.

On the other side of the wall, Iceman is fighting the four Cyburai with the assistance of Hiro, Opal’s former boyfriend/cousin.

Back in Westchester, Colossus and his brother, Mikhail, are outside a travel agency. Peter is going to get tickets so that they can both go to Russia, and Mikhail can be reunited with their family. You might be asking why they don’t just take one of the X-Men’s jets. All I have to say is that is a very good question. After Peter goes inside, Mikhail has a flashback to when he killed all of the people in the void with his powers. As this is happening, a pizza boy bumps into him, and Mikhail turns him into a tree. Yes, he has very vague powers that seem to change to fit the occasion. Colossus doesn’t see what happens, and both men go home.

At the same time Storm is flying around and considering Forge’s proposal. At the mansion, Forge and Jean Grey are discussing the proposal. Forge is bitter that Storm had to think about the proposal when he loves her more than anything. He asks Jean if the stray thoughts she picks up off Storm indicate whether or not she reciprocates that love as much as he does. Strangely, Jean’s answer seems to indicate that Storm does not.

Back at the restaurant, the fight is still going on. When asked why they want to kill Bobby’s parents, the Cyburai just mutter a bunch of generic stuff about honor. During the fight, Hiro says some impressive things about Opal that impress her a lot. Hiro realizes that he and Iceman are outmatched, so he tells Iceman to get Opal to safety because he has a plan.

Outside the mansion, Bishop is meditating in the rain. Mystique comes out to taunt him by turning into Randall to make him feel guilty. Right as Bishop is about to shoot her, Forge comes out to stop him.

As Iceman and Opal make their getaway, Hiro blows himself up, taking out the Cyburai with him. Iceman thinks he teleported away, but Opal claims she can feel that he is still there. She is devastated and resents Bobby for this.

Finally, Storm returns to talk to Forge, but before she can say anything, Forge tells her he’s leaving with Mystique because she actually needs him. After he leaves, Storm reveals that she was going to say yes.

How It Was: Pretty much the same as what I said about the last issue. The stuff with Storm is great; the stuff with Iceman…not so much. The real problem is that the Cyburai are just really crappy villains. None of them have names or personalities, and they just come off as so generic. If you play any kung-fu fighting game, you’ll probably see the same designs for the Cyburai as you will for the game’s enemies: the fat, bald guy, the long haired guy with a goatee, the shorthaired, skinny guy. Hiro is no better, and all anybody can do is talk about honor or reiterate plot points from the X-Factor story where they first appeared. Absolutely horrible.

The plot with Storm is much, much better as it is not predictable, and it explores the complexities of their personalities. Forge comes to believe that Storm has developed a façade as a tough, emotionless leader and that she is afraid to allow herself to be viewed in any other light. That’s not a bad assessment, since while the character of Storm has always been established as the tough but wise leader who gets the job done, the stress of maintaining that presence would start to wear on a normal person. The dialogue here is subtle and very well done. As for the parts with Mystique, she jumps in and out of lucidity at pretty convenient times, although this might be intentional to show that she is faking it. Otherwise, it’s just annoying.

Quick note—what’s up with Mikhail’s powers? First he can control portals, and then he can turn people into trees. In the next arc he gains even more powers, and it’s a little frustrating.

This is Portacio’s last issue of Uncanny, and it’s a pretty good one to go out on as far as the work on Storm goes. And even though it’s a dreadful storyline, the Cyburai parts still look good.

This issue ends a quaint little story about why it sucks to date superheroes—whether they have issues of their own or they are always getting attacked by villains. I’d still recommend it, but only for the Storm/Forge material.

B

Uncanny X-Men #289

Uncanny X-Men #289
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: Whilce Portacio

What Went Down: We begin with Storm and Bishop together in the mansion. They are looking at portraits of the X-Men over the years, and Storm is reiterating how the X-Men strive for peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants. Poor Bishop continues to insist that he understands, but he hasn’t had an opportunity to prove it yet.

Several floors below, Iceman is getting ready for a date with Opal Tanaka and needs help with his bow tie. He asks for help from Forge, who also has no idea. Bobby asks Forge if he wants to talk about his relationship with Storm, but he declines.

Outside Jean Grey and Professor X are having a tender father/daughter type moment where they discuss the reasons they do what they do and the sacrifices that they all have made. Jean Grey tries to bring up the Professor’s paralysis, but he also declines.

Over in Long Island the Drakes, Iceman’s parents, are getting ready to go to dinner and meet Bobby’s girlfriend Opal; Mr. Drake is an incredible racist, and it boggles the mind why Bobby or his mother would agree to this dinner. Hiro, Opal’s cousin/ex-boyfriend I think, is observing the Drakes when a police officer surprises him. The cop tries to arrest Hiro, but Hiro knocks him out instead.

Bobby finally gets help with his tie from Archangel, who is also depressed because he feels that he isn’t good enough to date anybody, what with having blue skin and all. After Bobby leaves, Archangel is surprised by a version of himself from before he was transformed by Apocalypse. After beating up the imposter, the false Angel turns out to be Mystique, who is staying with the X-Men since Wolverine #52. Mystique is suffering from some kind of dementia due to the death of her good friend Destiny and as a result from her constant shape changing.

Mystique claims she was only trying to help Warren by having him confront his depression; Warren flies away angry as Storm chews out Mystique for meddling. Forge comes to Mystique’s defense, although it is unclear whether he actually agrees with her or if he is just doing it because he is mad at Storm. Storm senses that Forge is projecting his emotions about their relationship, and he storms off.

Storm and Forge finally acknowledge their relationship for the first time since the relaunch. Forge accuses Storm of being too afraid to live any role other than that of X-Man, and that she refuses to have a life of her own. Then he asks her to marry him.

At the restaurant, Bobby introduces Opal to his folks; his mother is warm and friendly, while his father is a complete jerk. Right as Bobby is about to confront his father about his behavior, Hiro shows up in the restaurant saying that his family is about to die. Bobby mistakes this as a threat against his family, so Hiro informs him that he is not the one who wants them dead. Just then the Cyburai burst in, pronouncing that Robert Drake’s parents must die.

How It Was: This is somewhat of a landmark issue as far as the creative team goes. It marks the beginning of Whilce Portacio’s last story arc before abandoning Marvel to cofound Image Comics, and it marks the beginning of Scott Lobdell’s run on the book. While not quite as long as Claremont’s, Lobdell wrote Uncanny from this issue to issue #349, as well as X-Men on and off throughout that period. So get used to him because I’m going to be writing a lot about his work for the next couple of months.

As for the issue itself, it is a textbook example of your average Scott Lobdell work; the quiet character scenes at the mansion are very good, and the action scenes are kind of dull and boring. Lobdell does his best work when he’s having characters express feelings and emotion, but when they go to fight actual villains... well I think the use of the Cyburai says it all. More on them next post.

The highlight of the book is Storm and Forge’s relationship. At this point the two characters hadn’t had very many opportunities to interact in any of the books. Rather than just forgetting about the relationship, Lobdell capitalizes on the fact by having Forge question why Storm hasn’t made an attempt to make their relationship a priority. Some people might say that Forge goes a little overboard on her, but I think he’s perfectly in the right. When she answers her duties as an X-Man, it gives him all the justification to lay into her about how she views herself and others. It’s really nice to see a super hero relationship struggle for such a common, normal reason, as opposed to having ex-wives pop up or one of the characters die.

The stuff with Archangel struggling with his identity is also quite good, and Lobdell makes good use of having to be stuck with Mystique in the mansion. The scenes with Iceman and his parents are slightly harder to get through. His father is just so blatantly over the top, I just can’t believe any member of his family would think this was a good idea. I’m not saying it’s completely awful, since most prejudices are narrow-minded, unjustified, and illogical; it’s just that every reader knows that the only place for Bobby’s father to go as a character is to have him realize what a fool he’s been and become more enlightened. And he does…it just takes about six years until it happens.

The arts fine—Storm’s eyes are back to normal…thank goodness. You know the words, so sing along—Portacio draws some beautiful characters, but the majority of his backgrounds are just solid colors. Oh and somebody forgot to color in Storm’s face on a page. This issue’s not bad, just nothing special.

B