Uncanny X-Men #365

Uncanny X-Men #365

Writer: Steve Seagle

Art: Chris Bachalo

What Went Down:  It’s Christmas Eve in Salem Center when Colossus is awakened by a mysterious voice leading him to the attic.  The voice tells Peter to “remember” after doing some crazy things with his perceptions.  Peter immediately goes to Storm, who brushes it off as a bad dream.  Peter thinks the voice has something to do with his latest drawing, but his canvas has mysteriously vanished.

Peter starts to recreate his drawing, but notices a light outside.  Wolverine, Gambit, and Alpha Flight’s Puck are in a cabin enjoying a fire.  Colossus returns to his room and finds his drawing returned with writing on it telling the story of an ice princess who lost her face.  Peter starts a new drawing, but is again interrupted by a noise downstairs.  It turns out that Nightcrawler and Kitty have obtained a tree to decorate for the team. 

After excusing himself, Peter finds Xavier in his study contemplating photos of his students that have passed away over the years.  The two heroes talk about ghosts and spirits, until Peter takes his leave.  Peter begins yet another drawing, believing he is being compelled by the spirit.  It again visits him, leading him again to the attic.

Peter finds a teleportation ring and meets the spirit of his dead sister Illyana.  She explains that she left the portal there before she died, and she needs someone alive to do something for her, but she cannot say it out loud.  After talking, Peter realizes that he has left his picture of Illyana packed away.  After unpacking it, his sister is able to move on.  Peter makes one more sketch before falling asleep.

In the morning it is revealed that Marrow was the one writing on Peter’s pictures; she frames one of them in bones as a thank you for the picture he gave her in X-Men #81. 

How It Was:  Seagle takes a stab at a Dickensian Christmas tale in the Marvel Universe for a post crossover downtime issue.  While this issue is somewhat of a nightmare for continuity enthusiasts, it does capture the somber tone perfectly without becoming too grim and broody.  Colossus is definitely a character who has faded to the background up to this point, so it’s great to see him get some time in the spotlight.  Although he had plenty of time to reflect on his sister’s life in Excalibur, X-Men fans never got a chance to see Peter really process his sister’s death; he just went off to Avalon and then came back one day.  This issue serves as a nice bookend to bridge his previous affiliation with the X-Men up to the here and now.

I also like that it is the members of the Claremont/Byrne era, back from such a long absence, who are again in charge of pulling the “modern” X-Men out of the doldrums of holiday depression.  Even though they don’t have any subplots of their own going on, it’s nice to see Kitty and Kurt serving a consistent function on the team.  The scene with Xavier is also a nice touch, tying well into the themes and resolution of the story.  It also reestablishes Xavier’s sentimentality after being away from the books for two years.

While the tone of Peter’s confused journey is spot on, there are still some odd choices for the issue.  Puck makes a baffling cameo for no purpose whatsoever.  Also the climax of the story is a little strange if you look at it literally.  Illyana can’t “move on” unless Peter figures out her vague riddle for her?  Unfortunately she cheats by saying “get the picture,” robbing Colossus of the personal victory of being able to help his sister on his own.  And of course with Illyana recently resurrected, I don’t know what that means for this story continuity wise.

I’m also not sure how I feel about Marrow’s turn as sneaky secret Santa.  It feels like a bit of character whiplash; I get that Peter’s efforts last issue were very selfless and well-intentioned, but Marrow’s personality is seemingly changed overnight in one issue.  She’s gone from the new Wolverine to the new Jubilee: smiling, friendly, and excited about Christmas.  To me Marrow should be reluctant to celebrate Christmas, but eventually discover a personal meaning in it for her.  You could argue she does do this, just all off panel.  It is after all Peter’s story.

It’s not the best sentimental issue, but it’s far from the worst either.  Despite the weird mechanics and out of place fairy tale shoehorned in, the dialogue and art make this a relatively enjoyable read.  It’s probably not going to the top of anyone’s reading stack, but it does manage to feel like genuine X-Men Christmas, with a few extraneous parts tacked on.  While it’s odd to see Illyana pop up again, it’s nice to see Peter get some closure sixty-some issues after her death in the X-Men titles.

For X-Men Fans

Uncanny X-Men #364

Uncanny X-Men #364

Writing: Steve Seagle

Art: Lenil Francis Yu

What Went Down:  The Prime Cerebro unit is monitoring world events and notes that it is likely that Magneto will be surfacing soon. It orders a self-destruct sequence of its base, which includes the forms of the fake X-Men from Uncanny #360 to hide any evidence. 

At Alcatraz the X-Men and the Brotherhood are trying desperately to defeat the Beta Cerbrite.  Kitty tries to evacuate the Professor, but Post of the Brotherhood refuses to allow it.  The Cerebrite fires a beam at Toad, causing him to disappear, just as Storm did last issue. Nightcrawler and Mimic use Kurt’s teleportation powers to teleport the Cerebro robot away.

Blob and Post won’t let Kitty take the Professor because they see Xavier as their only hope. The X-Men fight the Brotherhood until Cerebro returns.  Exhausted from teleporting the Cerebrite, Nightcrawler returns to the Blackbird and radios the other team of X-Men for help. Of course, they’re busy with their own Cerebrite, so they don’t answer.  Kitty and Marrow try to rescue Xavier, but they manage to phase right where the battle is occurring.  The Cerebrite chases Kitty, and the robot shoots her, making her disappear as well.  It then takes out the remaining members of the Brotherhood.  Xavier explains that they’re not dead, just moved to the main Cerebro; Wolverine decides he and Marrow need to be captured to rescue their allies.  Nightcrawler sees everyone get shot as he brings the Blackbird in to rescue them.  He decides to take the plane to Russia to get reinforcements from the other team.

How It Was:   The opening of this issue feels like somebody remembered that the phantom X-Men from Uncanny #360 were tied to this Cerebro story at the last minute.  So those characters are all conveniently disposed of in three pages.  The rest of this issue is another big fight with a Cerebro robot.  Lenil Francis Yu replaces Bachalo, and boy…their styles couldn’t be farther apart if the editors tried.  Yu specializes in darker tones and more realistic proportions, which works for the most part.  He draws Post like a ghost made out of rocks, and his Marrow is a little too attractive, but overall it looks great.  I love the detail of Kitty, Toad, and Nightcrawler using Marrow’s bone shards to attack the robot since none of them have offensive powers. 

This fight is a lot less interesting, and I think it basically comes down to the fact that all the X-Men and most of the Brotherhood here just don’t have a big variety of offensive powers.  All of them pretty much just hit people, and that’s not as exciting too look at.  Plus the Brotherhood has to have an obligatory disagreement with the X-Men in the middle that makes no sense; if they care about Xavier, as a mentor or asset, why wouldn’t they want the crippled and powerless man out of the way of the huge battle?

Once again we have a Seagle book ending the same way the previous Kelly issue did, this time with the Cerebrite flying away triumphant with its quarry after soundly defeating the X-Men.  And once again the ending is diminished by the fact that we just saw this very thing happen last issue.  It’s a shame that Seagle has to follow up all the Kelly issues with the exact same structures, plus he’s been saddled by a weaker and less visually engaging team.  Even the addition of the Brotherhood can’t make this one stand out.

For X-Fans

Uncanny X-Men #363

Uncanny X-Men #363

Writing: Steve Seagle

Art: Chris Bachalo

What Went Down:  We open on what I think is a number of the creators of this very comic discussing chocolate at Ghiradelli Square when they are interrupted by falling debris from the sky.  It turns out to be another Cerebro unit—this one being the Beta unit.  At Alcatraz the Toad, who now speaks only in rhyme for some reason, takes an apple to a captive Charles Xavier. 

At the Golden Gate Park, the other four X-Men discuss how they are going to proceed.  Nightcrawler gets to show off the cloaking device he installed on the Blackbird.  Because the X-Men only own one portable Cerebro, this team is depending on Wolverine to track Xavier.  As the X-Men strategize, a local couple is attacked by the Beta Cerebrite, which overwhelms and “catalogs” them.

Despite having a futuristic space age cloaking device for their ship, the X-Men have neglected to bring normal clothes to walk the streets of San Francisco in.  Kitty is forced to take coats from a homeless vagrant, but she leaves some money for him. As they walk the streets, Nightcrawler finds a twenty in one of the pockets and buys a necklace for Kitty. 

Wolverine finds a building with Charles’ scent, but all they find is a smashed up wheelchair.  Marrow gets into a confrontation with a punk, but Logan diffuses it.  In a secret base called Area 52, another Cerebro robot sneaks in and retrieves some nanotechnology developed by Bastion.

After failing to find Professor X, Wolverine takes the team to Chinatown where they meet a wise Chinese person named Black Crane, who is from Logan’s past.  Black Crane is able to see that Professor X is at Alcatraz, but another is searching for him.  Outside Kurt gives Kitty the necklace he bought her.

Arriving at Alcatraz, the X-Men are attacked by the new Brotherhood of Mutants.  The X-Men are thrown off because the Brotherhood is utilizing teamwork and tactics that they normally do not display.  The fight is stopped by Professor X, who has been training the Brotherhood to combat Cerebro.  The Brotherhood is also responsible for breaking Xavier out of the Hulkbuster base.  The issue ends with the Beta Cerebro bursting through the wall and attacking. 

How It Was:  Note to publishers: maybe you shouldn’t spoil your one minor twist on the cover.  One could argue that this reveal is spoiled by the first scene with Toad and Xavier, but up to this point Charles is only revealed to be a prisoner.  Not that this is a huge spoiler, it’s just that after months of buildup, one would think that the discovery of Xavier might hold some type of surprise.  Either way it doesn’t really matter since the Xavier training the Brotherhood angle is dropped as quickly as it is introduced. 

As for the rest of the issue, it’s mostly more stretching out the hunt.  The first half of the issue has the X-Men doing such exciting things as shopping in downtown San Francisco, threatening hipsters, and meeting a stereotypically wise elderly Asian man who just tells the where to go.  Why didn’t they talk to this guy months ago? While Seagle is teasing a potential romance between Nightcrawler and Kitty, it’s really subtle and almost completely forgotten after this issue if I remember right.  Other than that, the characters really don’t have much to do except reiterate events of past issues leading up to this point and agonize over not having enough money to shop for jewelry.  This team is so terrible that they don’t even think to bring clothes to change into when they’re visiting downtown San Francisco!  The other team had enough time to put on coats and boots for the snowy mountains…it’s not hard.

After being told by Black Crane to get the story moving, the X-Men fight the Brotherhood for a couple of pages.  Bachalo’s art shows off the scope of the destruction and craziness quite well, but his superdeformed style makes some of the characters look odd.  His Wolverine looks more like Beast, his Blob changes sizes by the panel, and his Marrow has dreadlocks somehow. 

Of course if you read X-Men #82, you already know that the cliffhanger is once again going to be another Cerebro robot, and it’s pretty sad that a six part story has to use the same ending twice in a row.  Yes we’re supposed to glimpse the events from each team’s side, but this is a pretty unoriginal structure they’re using.  The X-Men issues at least had some novel uses of artwork to move the story, as well as the wonderful tension between Gambit and the rest of the team.  Here there is none of that, so all we get is an average story that ends with a very lackluster reunion with Xavier.

For Completists

Uncanny X-Men #361

Uncanny X-Men #361

Writing: Steve Seagle

Art: Steve Skroce

What Went Down:  We open on a fight between Storm and an army of Korean monk warriors, with  Kitty Pryde as back up.  After dispatching the bad guys, Storm’s contact shows up—X-villain Black Tom Cassidy.  Black Tom swears the warriors weren’t allied with him, and claims he needs the X-Men’s help. 

Back at the mansion, Wolverine discovers Rogue returning from a trip to Antarctica searching for Gambit.  Rogue explains that the only reason she left him there was because Gambit’s memories and personality were subconsciously telling her to.  Outside the room, Colossus and Nightcrawler are chasing Marrow, who has stolen Peter’s sketch pad.  After getting the pad, Kurt is attacked by Marrow, who in turn is stopped by Rogue.  Marrow is chastised, but explains that she just wanted to look at the pad because it was pretty.  Then she storms off.  Wolverine announces that he is moving outside the mansion to return to nature and such.

Back in Seoul, Black Tom explains that the Juggernaut is dying.  He was led into a trap based on false information about a second Cytoraak Gem.  The gem in question instead sucked the power from the villain.  When they arrive at the hideout, Juggernaut has left and smashed through a wall.  Storm and Kitty accuse Tom of lying, but go out to search for Cain anyways.  There’s also someone in the shadows watching. 

Enraged by his situation, Juggernaut has decided to go on a rampage, even without his full power.  As Storm tries to contain the damage, Gambit shows up on a motorcycle and puts down the bad guy.  Storm then yells at him for not contacting his loved ones in all this time and for attacking the dying villain.  Fortunately the X-Men find a map in Juggernaut’s pants that leads them to a temple where the crystal is being held. 

Colossus draws a picture for Marrow and accidently walks in on her making a magazine collage, which embarrasses her.  Over at the temple, Kitty, Gambit, and Storm fight off more of the mystical warriors, as well as various temple traps.  Kitty reaches the gem first, but leaves it with Gambit to go check on Storm.  Finding that Gambit has vanished, the two X-Women decide to return to Black Tom.  They are surprised to find Gambit already there, and the Juggernaut returned to full health.  Cain begrudgenly thanks them, and Storm invites Gambit to return to the X-Men.  When asked how he got out of the Arctic, Gambit says he walked, and we see a flashback of two sets of footprints in the snow. 

How It Was:  Ah now this is a fun one.  This is the return of Gambit, gone for eleven issues since his trial.  It’s also a preview for his new ongoing series drawn by Steve Skroce. 

There’s a lot of action in this book; we get an opening fight, a battle with Juggernaut, and the finale with more ninjas and temple traps.  All of it is rendered with Skroce’s keen eye for choreography and framing.  The Juggernaut fight, which is relatively brief, becomes one of the moments of the issue thanks to a gorgeous sequence of Gambit doing a flip on a motorcycle while showering exploding cards onto the villain.  The warriors and their temple have some really awesome designs as well, and there are loads of them in every fight panel.  Skroce’s style really emphasizes action and movement well, like when Gambit uses some spears to cross a moat, or the aforementioned motorcycle sequence.

While this issue could’ve gotten by on its action, there is a lot going on in the character department as well.  We have Storm torn between her principles as a hero and distrust of Black Tom.  Kitty is torn between her respect for Storm and her knowledge that the villains will screw them.  There’s a humbled though in denial Juggernaut which is a refreshing take.  And then everyone gets even more emotionally conflicted and tense when Gambit pops up out of nowhere.  What started off as a story about ambiguous trust gains a whole new layer at just the right moment.  The dialogue works really well, especially Gambit’s equips and attempts to pretend like nothing happened.

It’s not perfect; the stuff with Marrow feels a little off.  Marrow was originally this jaded teen that has seen more in her short, traumatic life than any of the X-Men.  Here she’s played off as kind of bratty.  I do like that she’s embarrassed of her appreciation of beauty, but I feel like there are better ways than the teen girl collage, such as her previous crushes on teammates.  The idea is great; I’m just not thrilled with the execution.

This is a fun one and a great jumping on point for the time.  This may be Seagle’s best script as he finds a great mix of action, humor, and emotional tension that opens up character directions for months to come.  A welcome return for Gambit.

Everyone Should Read

X-Men #1/2

X-Men #1/2

Writing: Todd Dezago

Art: Mike Wieringo

What Went Down:  We begin in a medieval fantasy city named Salaam Centaur (see where this is going?) full of knights, horses, fairies, and traders.  Nightcrawler is there, but he’s dressed like someone form Lord of the Rings and going by the name Kurt of the Ulfen Warriors.  Kurt comes into contact with a beggar, who is actually Marrow.  While the warrior gives Marrow some coins, she picks his pocket and takes the rest of his money.  However, when she returns to her hiding spot, the coin purse disappears from the spot she left it. 

Elsewhere, Ororo the Goddess-of-the-Winds is visited by Kit, an elven ambassador of Phaerie.  Of course these characters are actually Storm and Kitty Pryde.  At a tavern, Kurt comes into contact with a mercenary named Logan, who of course is Wolverine.  Wolverine and Storm simultaneously tell the story to their respective companions of a dark wizard that clouds men’s minds and his army of townspeople who protect him.  Both Logan and Ororo want to rescue the kidnapped people.  As both groups leave, Storm and Kitty are tracked by Colossus while Nightcrawler and Wolverine are tracked by Marrow.

Outside the castle, Kurt confronts Marrow, and Colossus confronts all of them.  The group decides to join forces, although Marrow is reluctant, thinking it is not her fight.  The Dark Wizard confronts the X-Men and commands his horde of townspeople to attack.  As Kurt teleports he notices reality flickering, revealing present day people fighting in a mall.  Kitty confirms the illusion when she phases. 

Logan gets an idea to stop the wizard.  Individually all the heroes attack the wizard and are one by one mind controlled.  The wizard reveals himself to be X-Men villain Mesmero, who is obviously hypnotizing the X-Men and the civilians into believing the medieval illusion.  After Colossus is possessed, Kit phases through him to punch out Mesmero. With Mesmero unconscious, the world turns back to normal and all of the civilians are freed.  The X-Men decide to leave with Mesmero, assuming that they will get the blame for this.

How It Was:  This issue was a special that could be ordered from Wizard Magazine.  Every month they would have a different ½ issue to be solicited from Marvel or Image (and rarely DC).  Most of these were one-off stories that never affected the major plot lines of the characters, since the issues were only available to Wizard Magazine readers and inaccessible to most regular X-Men readers.  So hence we have this little diddy that fits in after the Excalibur group joins, but before Gambit does.

What really works in this book is the setting and fantasy redesigns for all the characters.  Mike Wieringo really went above and beyond; from the first page it captures the feel of a swords and sorcery epic like Conan.  The costumes for all the characters are phenomenal.  They’re completely different form their regular costumes, but still feel true to the characters. 

The story is hampered a little by its brief length; it’s only sixteen pages long.  And the first half of the story is just introducing the characters, the characters introducing themselves to each other, and then explaining the big wizard that they need to fight. Again the art carries the book as the scope of the final battle is pretty impressive; there are a dozen townsfolk on any given page for the heroes to fight.  It’s just too bad the fight is only like four or five pages long. 

The reveal of Mesmero is quite random, and he doesn’t have any motivation here for making a mall full of people and the X-Men believe they live in a Tolkien novel.  He just does it for the sake of doing it.  Mesmero’s plot doesn’t even make sense.  He obviously has to have hypnotized the X-Men in the first place to make them believe the illusion of the fantasy world, so why not just make them his slaves to begin with; probably because that already happened when he made the X-Men circus performers in Uncanny #111.  Still, he tries to convince the X-Men to join him, then he takes over their minds at the end, but he still has to have some control over them for the fantasy world to work.  I just don’t know.

This is pretty easily skippable.  It has no bearing on the plot of either of the main titles.  It’s essentially filler that would have wound up in an issue of X-Men Unlimited if Wizard hadn’t approached Marvel to make a gimmicky collectable for the most popular comics franchise at the time.  Having said that, it is still worth a look to see the fantasy spins Wieringo gave the X-Men; between this and his FF run, it’s obvious Wieringo was a truly amazing talent.  Other than that it’s too short and inconsequential.

C

X-Men #80

X-Men #80

Writing: Joe Kelly

Art: Brandon Peterson

What Went Down:  Kitty starts off the issue making her escape while the evil X-Men pursue her.  She manages to make it down to the sewers where she finds the captive Peter Corbeau.

Elsewhere in the Florida swamplands, Colossus and Wolverine tear themselves out of the crashed Blackbird.  Wolverine acts abrasive towards Peter, angry about his time as one of Magneto’s Acolytes.  Storm appears to remind him that it is not worse than his marriage to Viper.  Rogue wakes up powerless and is saved from a hungry alligator by Marrow. 

There is more exposition from the blond news reporter, followed by a scene where a scientist and a general discuss the rockets true purpose…to hunt down and kill mutants.  Back in the sewers, Corbeau warns Kitty that she has to stop the rocket from launching.  Kitty escapes, forced to leave Corbeau behind. 

With Storm and Rogue powerless and Nightcrawler badly injured, the X-Men are forced to hike through the swamp.  Colossus helps Marrow remove some of her broken bone shards so new ones will grow.  Marrow mentions that Peter’s brother used to do the same thing for him.  With the team’s spirits down, Storm gives an impassioned speech that inspires them to continue on.  Kitty appears at a copy shop and sends a fax to SHIELD that is intercepted by Xavier.

The X-Men make it to Cape Citadel, just in time for Nightcrawler to feel better and Rogue and Storm to get their powers back.  Kitty also shows up at the control tower, just in time for it to be attacked by the alternate X-Men.  Fortunately the real X-Men show up to save her.  The Grey King is tinkering with the rocket when the true X-Men attack.  A fight ensues and the control team tries to launch the rocket.  In the middle of the fight, Xavier confronts our heroes and demands that they stop interfering with his goals.  The X-Men question his behavior, but Xavier explains that the Benassi Rocket contains hardware to complete a network that can identify and kill mutants with satellite lasers at will.  The X-Men are conflicted about what to do until Wolverine smells him and realizes that this Xavier isn’t even human.  After being attacked, the false Xavier turns into a being of blue energy. 

The Grey King removes the satellite from the rocket to help Xavier catalogue mutants.  The rocket is triggered with the X-Men right where the engines are, but Kitty is able to phase the team to prevent them from being disintegrated.  The rocket has to be stopped because it contains a nuclear payload, so Rogue absorbs Nightcrawler and Colossus’ powers as well as Wolverine’s military knowledge to stop it.  The X-Men stop the other “X-Men” and destroy the satellite while Rogue disarms the rocket.  The blue energy Xavier is appalled that the X-Men stopped him and vows vengeance, and the X-Men steal their enemies’ jet to get home.  The final two pages show the scientific, military, and government officials being grilled about attempting to wipe out mutants through the Benassi rocket.  The last page reveals that the false X-Men are just hard-light programs, and the false Xavier is really Cerebro, the X-Men’s mutant detecting computer, brought to life.

How It Was:  I’ve always liked Joe Kelly’s issues just a little more than Steve Seagle’s, and reading them side by side with the exact same cast and plot makes this preference even more apparent to me.  Both writers have a great handle on the characters, but Kelly just adds more small touches, more humor, and more of an emotional impact altogether.  The scene that exemplifies this the most is Marrow saving Rogue from the gator.  Whereas Seagle’s Marrow is more of an angry kid who rubs everybody the wrong way and doesn’t always realize what she’s saying, Kelly’s Marrow is a jaded, battle hardened youth who points out the weaknesses that others take for granted.  When she stands up to Storm about their odds against the evil X-Men, she’s being realistic, not condescending, and even Rogue and Strom agree with her a little.  Plus the scene of her killing the gator just makes me laugh.  Other stand out moments include Storm’s pep talk and some of the characters’ reflections on Xavier’s meaning to them.

Of course there are some nitpicks.  The worst offense is Rogue being drawn with her pink outfit from Uncanny #342-350 instead of her original green costume that she was wearing last issue.  This always, always bothers me every time I read this story.  Wolverine’s behavior towards Colossus feels a little hypocritical, considering how conflicted Wolverine has always been about straddling the line between hero and killer.  It still kind of works as Wolverine reacting to missing his friend in the only manner he can while maintaining his gruff persona, but it feels a little forced.  Also, there are some issues with the order of events in the story.  Xavier tells the X-Men to process Kitty towards the end of Uncanny #360, then the bad X-Men take out the real ones, then the next issue opens with them trying to capture Kitty, which they should’ve done before attacking the real X-Men.  Oh, and Peter Corbeau serves absolutely no purpose in this story; yeah he warns Kitty about the rocket, but fake Xavier is the one who explains to the X-Men why it’s important.  Corbeau doesn’t even show up in the end; there’s just a brief mention about the officials under investigation because of his testimony.

As for the villains of the story…they’re okay I guess.  They’re not funny, they’re not scary, they’re not really noble…they just kind of do whatever the plot requires of them.  As for the reveal at the end, I like the design of the living Cerebro, even if the concept is a little silly.  Plus the reveal confuses the origins of the all-new X-Men; my understanding of it is although they think they’re real mutants, they’re just programs constructed from Cerebro, made up of file combinations from all the mutants Cerebro knows.  So Rapture is a combination of Angel and Mystique; Landslide is a combination of Sabretooth and Blob; etc.  I can’t remember if this is from future issues, or if I just read this theory somewhere online.  I guess we’ll see.

There is a nice conflict here, not between the two teams, but with the idea of the X-Men’s identities being robbed from them, both by these new villains and the unfortunate circumstances that have left them down and out.  Kelly manages to make it feel significant that the X-Men are reclaiming their agency and their purpose.  Again, all the X-Men just feel perfectly characterized, and although their villains here are forgettable, the stakes of being supplanted or made obsolete feels very real.  It’s nowhere near as good a starting point as X-Men #70 was, but this is admittedly a likeable cast, and both writers have a strong handle on them.

B+

Uncanny X-Men #360

Uncanny X-Men #360

Writing: Steve Seagle

Art: Chris Bachalo

What Went Down: On the anniversary of Magneto’s first battle with the X-Men in Uncanny X-Men #1, a news reporter is covering the controversial launching of the Benassi rocket.  While the government insists it is just carrying camera equipment, skeptics are protesting the secrecy of the project and the nuclear components on the rocket. 

A mysterious bald figure in a wheelchair is collecting a new team of mutants to help him save the world.  There is the Grey King, a graduate assistant with telepathic dampening powers; Chaos, an autistic who can shoot psycho-plasmic force blasts; Mercury, who has liquid metal limbs; Rapture, a nun who is blue and has angel wings; Crux, an ice skater who can shoot fire and ice; and Landslide, a giant brawler.  At the end of the recruitment we see that it is none other than Professor X inviting the mutants to join the X-Men.

On a cruise ship named Titania, Colossus, Kitty Pryde, and Nightcrawler are enjoying a vacation after the disbanding of Excalibur.  The group discusses how it is the anniversary of the X-Men going public, and the ways that this event changed their lives.  Their reverie is interrupted by the new X-Men, who attack the cruise ship.  While Nightcrawler evacuates passengers and Colossus tries to plug a hole created by the fake X-Men, Kitty is captured by the group.

In the sewers of Washington D.C., Marrow, Rogue, Storm, and Wolverine are fighting a high tech security system.  Finding a door with an X on it, the group enters it to find a room outside a lab.  Although they were invited by sometime X-ally Peter Corbeau, it appears Corbeau has been abducted.  A tape left at the crime scene incriminates the X-Men. 

In a bunker in the Florida swamps, the evil X-Men are holed up with the captured Kitty.  Kitty is shocked that the mutants call themselves X-Men, and even more shocked to find that they have intimate knowledge of the real X-Men.  Professor X shows up to chastise Kitty for her behavior.

Inside the Lincoln Memorial, the four remaining X-Men meet with Val Cooper to discuss Corbeau’s disappearance.  Val offers the X-Men resources to help them clear their name.  Over in Salem, Nightcrawler and Colossus have gone to the mansion to enlist the help of the other X-Men.  The mansion is empty except for a shotgun wielding Cecilia Reyes, who is housesitting for the team.  After a brief misunderstanding, Cecilia leads the two heroes to the hanger where the original Blackbird is being housed after it was salvaged in Uncanny #353.  Kurt thinks he can fix it.

Back in Florida, Xavier tells Kitty that he cannot access his emotions because Bastion attempted to bind his functions to a computer with a virus.  Xavier’s detached behavior worries Kitty, as does the fact that he didn’t just ask for her help.  On the X-Men’s borrowed jet, the team observes a press conference outside the Cape Citadel rocket launch where a US director is seemingly assassinated.  We then get a scene where some shadowy government figures discuss how this was a fake distraction to take people’s attention away from what is really on the rocket.

Kitty manages to purge the virus from the computer.  Xavier rewards her by having his X-Men recapture her and prepare her for storage.  Up in the sky, the X-Men’s plane is dismantled in the air.  They assume Magneto is attacking, but it’s actually the fake X-Men.  A mid-air battle takes place, but Storm and Rogue lose their powers due to the Grey King.  Wolverine is left plummeting to the ground, but he is saved by Nightcrawler.  After saving the rest of the team, the Blackbird is shot down by Mercury.  

How It Was:  I had assumed I was done with gimmicky shiny foil cover double-sized issues, but lo and behold here we have two in a row.  Uncanny X-Men #360 and X-Men #80 are celebrating the 35^th anniversary of Uncanny X-Men #1; to my recollection these are the end of the foil-cover era for the X-Men.  These issues also mark some drastic changes to the books, mostly forced upon the writers by editors.  The team has been scaled back to a core cast of seven regulars, Uncanny and X-Men tie into each other regularly making for essentially a bi-weekly reading experience, and the former members of Excalibur are being shuffled back on the team. 

I’m torn about the inclusion of Nightcrawler, Kitty, and Colossus.  On the one hand I’m overjoyed as an X-Men fan to see them since these characters haven’t been on the main X-Men team in almost a decade (Excalibur lasted 125 issues).  On the other hand, it’s clear there is no real reason or story behind having them back on the team—somebody just thought it would be neat, which it is.  But there is something to be said for picking a cast because of potential stories to do and picking a team because people like the characters.  Worst of all, the majority of the new X-Men (Maggott and Cecilia), who had tons of story potential as the characters grew into their heroic roles, have completely been thrown out without any warning.  I really liked both these characters and the books feel more directionless without them.

But I should probably talk about the comic itself.  It’s double-sized, and fairly padded out, although there are some nice action sequences towards the end. A lot of the fluff revolves around the tedious newscaster exposition scenes that just aren’t very interesting.  There’s an incomprehensible attempt to make them more relevant by having a government conspiracy with a faked assassination that makes no sense at all.  If you wanted people to not pay attention to you’re high profile satellite launch, pretending to kill a member of the staff seems like it would be counterproductive.  Having the story take place at Cape Citadel is a nice call back to the first issue of the series, but many of these scenes feel tiresome, constantly reminding the reader about the rocket and that mutants are a divisive issue.  There’s a whole four-page sequence with Val Cooper that serves no purpose other than to say out loud that the X-Men are still hated and mistrusted, and for Val to give the X-Men a TV and a plane.  Also, the necessity of Kitty to “Xavier’s” plan seems arbitrary.

While I really like the homage to Giant-Sized X-Men #1 with Xavier collecting his new team, none of the characters really stand out.  Most of them do feel derivative, although that does tie into their origins, and none of them really come off as likable or menacing.  Plus Chaos, the autistic character, speaks in these one-word fragments, and I’ve never known any autistic person to do that.  Strangely it is played for comedy most of the time; Nightcrawler even mocks him for it at one point in the story.

Bachalo does a great job making the cruise ship and air battles seem frantic and chaotic.  The X-Men versus guns in the sewer feels a little forced for the sake of action, and I don’t understand how a door in the sewer leads to a vent on the surface where the X-Men can see the hole their friend was abducted in.  Peter Corbeau is pulled out from comic limbo for no other purpose then he was a scientist in that one space story in the seventies.  You know, the Phoenix Saga. 

The mystery over Xavier’s cold demeanor does work really well, and it’s about time the books actually addressed what is up with Charles.  And although I still think the Excalibur recruits feel forced onto this team, they do get some nice moments.  I enjoy the discussion of life without the X-Men where Kurt realizes he’d probably be dead.  There is also a sense of exhilaration from the team when Colossus and Nightcrawler first show up to save them. 

This issue could work a little better as a normal-sized issue.  Take away some of the exposition from the newscaster and Val Cooper, maybe a little more time for us to get to know the evil X-Men and care about them one way or the other, and this could’ve been one of the greats.  It does succeed in feeling like a new direction, it gets the characters right, and it is bookended by two solid action sequences. 

B-

X-Men: Omega

X-Men: Omega
Writing: Scott Lobdell and Mark Waid
Art: Roger Cruz

What Went Down: Holocaust is toying with his captive, Magneto, while his father Apocalypse watches. Apocalypse taunts his prisoner and explains the trap that has been set for his X-Men. The villains still have possession of the M’kraan Crystal, which the X-Men need to fix the time stream. Elsewhere, Angel takes the time to rescue Karma, but she apparently dies in his arms.

Blink teleports the X-Men to the pens, and they fight some soldiers. After the fight, Gambit pulls the Dark Beast out of some rubble to use him to get into Apocalypse’s base. In another part of the city, Cyclops and Jean Grey are leading the prisoners of the pens to freedom. Unknown to them, Cyclops’ jealous brother Havok is following them. At the same time, Angel flies into a defense tower carrying a load of explosives, freeing up the way for the X-Men, and making it possible for Nate Grey to escape.

The Shadow King tells Apocalypse that the southwest territories have been bombed; Apocalypse prepares for reprisals. He’s about to finish off Magneto when Nate Grey shows up and attacks. Magneto finds his helmet, and the two prepare to battle Apocalypse and Holocaust.

Blink teleports the X-Men to the chamber holding the M’kraan crystal, and another fight begins. Destiny glimpses the regular universe in the crystal and announces that she, Bishop, and Illyana are the only ones who can approach it. Holocaust and Nate fall through the ceiling, and Magneto approaches his X-Men. He gives a speech about the necessity of sacrifice and the fate of the universe. Colossus has issues with his sister potentially being sacrificed, but the X-Men begin fighting anyways.

Outside, Jean projects a telekinetic shield to try to protect the prisoners from the bombs that have been triggered by the Human governments. Wolverine, known as Weapon X, makes it through the shield with a parachute. Nate beats down Holocaust some more.

In the midst of the main battle, the Sugar Man escapes from Colossus’ boot to the M’kraan crystal, so he’ll show up later in our universe. Colossus freaks out and decides that he has to be with his sister. Iceman tries to stop him, but Peter shatters him. Gambit attacks him to hold him off. At the crystal, Destiny tells Illyana to use her powers to create a portal for Bishop to go through.

At the Human High Council in Europe, Apocalypse’s defense grid is attacking England. Magneto busts in on Apocalypse and creates a suit of armor out of stray pieces of metal. However, Magneto is forced to hesitate because Guido is holding his son. Outside, Havok attacks and kills Cyclops and Jean. Weapon X kills Havok, and then sits by Jean as she passes away. Logan is reminded of a legend about the Phoenix.

Bishop travels back to the moment right before Xavier jumped in front of Legion. He’s about to interfere when he is stopped by himself from the past.

Back in the AOA, Morph is injured, and Dark Beast makes his way to a teleportation device. Quicksilver quickly scrambles the coordinates, since Dark Beast’s destination is the crystal. Shadowcat decides to get in front of Colossus, hoping their love will stop Colossus’ rage. Instead, he accidentally kills her, and Gambit in turn kills him. Peter apologizes to his sister, but Quicksilver is forced to intervene and save Illyana from enemy guards.

Rogue uses her powers to remove Guido’s mass and rescue her son. Nate Grey attacks Apocalypse and steals a shard of the M’kraan crystal that the villain was holding. In the past, Bishop beats up his past self and tackles Legion out of the way. Bishop stabs himself with Legion’s energy blade, absorbing and redirecting the energy until it consumes Legion. Legion sees the Age of Apocalypse and apologizes, saying he only wanted to help. Legion dies, and the past X-Men are sent back to the present. Charles, Magneto, and Gabrielle forget all about the recent events in Legion Quest, although they all have a sense as if something important just occurred.

Magneto and Nate have Apocalypse on the ropes, but Holocaust interrupts the fight by shooting Nate. Nate has no choice but to stab Holocaust with the M’kraan shard, sending them both into the regular Marvel Universe. Apocalypse wonders why Magneto isn’t fighting back, but it is because he is concentrating. Magneto tears Apocalypse in half, then walks off to spend his final moments with his family before the nuclear weapons go off. He takes the time to thank Charles Xavier for changing his life.

How It Was: Well, it’s double-sized, shiny, and there’s not an advertisement to be seen in it. Nevertheless, it still feels really rushed as Lobdell tries to plow through the storylines of nine books in one single finale, plus the whole Age of Apocalypse story has to be resolved so that everything can revert back to normal next month. So this book goes at a pretty fast pace. A lot of inconsequential characters like Dazzler and Exodus completely disappear because there isn’t enough room for them, and poor Roger Cruz already has more than enough characters to draw. A lot of other characters are left up in the air; Morph gets injured, but we never see what happens to him. Nightcrawler and Jubilee get forced into the background as nothing but fighters.

All the same, there are some really awesome moments in this issue. Rather than discuss them all, because it is a really big book, I think I’ll list my favorites.

1. Colossus accidentally kills Kitty Pryde
2. Magneto rips Apocalypse in half.
3. Magneto and Nate Grey vs. Holocaust and Apocalypse.
4. Weapon X avenges Jean.
5. Nate Grey to Apocalypse, “This is for Forge!”

I will elaborate on my number one pick. I can see how many would see Colossus’ reactions as out of character, but I think that given his reactions to Illyana’s death in the Marvel Universe, his behavior isn’t that far-fetched. I mean Illyana’s death pushed Peter to join the evil Magneto’s Acolytes and later he sacrifices himself to help cure the Legacy Virus (much, much later, we’ll get to it). Plus you throw in the fact that his students all died under his care, and I think it’s perfectly natural for AOA Colossus to become overwhelmed by his emotions. And the speech he gives to Illyana as he’s dying is so well done down to the part where he wants her to stay with him, but she can’t.

Not every moment is solid. The fact is that the only way that this story could have any impact on the greater X-universe was to have some of the characters make it back to the normal universe; the ways in which these characters make it to the Marvel Universe are rather contrived, and none of them have had any groundbreaking moments in the last decade or so. Yes, X-Man had his own book for a while, but most X-collectors never really bothered with it, and it rarely affected the wider X-Men franchise.

I must say that the end is superb; I love how the panel is engulfed in white and you’re left to figure out if it’s a nuclear holocaust or reality fixing itself. And while the story doesn’t have very many ramifications for the characters, it is a well-constructed story with a solid direction that opened a lot of possibilities for writers to play with the characters and themes of the X-Men and present them in a new light.

B+

Amazing X-Men #4

Amazing X-Men #4
Writing: Fabian Nicieza
Art: Andy Kubert

What Went Down: The Madri cult members are in the middle of a ceremony where they are about to sacrifice Bishop. Storm bursts in and attacks the cult members. She unhooks Bishop from his restraints with her lockpicks and helps carry him away.

Meanwhile, Banshee and Quicksilver are looking for the prime Madri because if they kill him, the rest of the Madri will be defeated. They find him, and it turns out that the Madri are duplicates of Jamie Madrox, the normal universe’s Multiple Man! After years of being experimented on to increase his duplication powers, Jamie has been reduced to an insane infantile state, all though his speech patterns are quite mature and lucid for his supposed state of mind.

We cut to the Astonishing X-Men team returning to the mansion. They find Colossus and Kitty Pryde already there; all of Kitty and Colossus’ students were killed in the rescue of Peter’s sister, Illyana (read Generation Next). Sabretooth and Rogue then go into the sewer to try to find Charles, only to discover Dazzler, Exodus, and the remains of Gambit’s team. Rogue flips out and attacks Gambit, wondering where her son is; Gambit tells her that Guido, normally Strong Guy, betrayed them and captured the boy.

Back in Quebec, Bishop and Storm are fighting against a seemingly endless supply of Madri armed to the teeth. Jamie Madrox keeps telling Pietro and Sean to kill him, but they don’t want to since Madrox is innocent. Their debate is postponed by an attack from Abyss. Banshee decides to sacrifice himself to kill Abyss by flying into the villain and unleashing a huge sonic scream. After the explosion, Madrox decides to kill himself by slowly shutting down the Madri by sheer will.

Back at the mansion, Rogue freaks out more about her husband and son. Nightcrawler teleports in with Destiny, so his mission was a success. The rest of the Amazing X-Men return, and it is established that everyone succeeded except for Gambit’s team. The X-Men strike dynamic poses and announce that they are going to rescue Charles and Magneto and defeat Apocalypse.

How It Was: This issue is paced really well, and the A and B plots really complement each other nicely. I like how the high action scenes of Storm and Bishop facing off against gun-toting priests contrasts with scenes of Banshee and Quicksilver working through their moral dilemma. It works surprisingly well, except for the fact that at no point do we believe that the X-Men are going to kill Jamie. And there is the inconsistency of Jamie Madrox’s dialogue, which isn’t really consistent with his appearance in this issue; he’s surrounded by baby toys and wearing diapers, giving the impression that his mind has been severely debilitated, yet he is fully aware of what is happening the whole time.

Seeing the remaining X-teams come together is also a nice treat. Sure it doesn’t directly tie into the story, but it does build up anticipation for the final chapter, X-Men: Omega. Nicieza saves some nice character moments for these scenes, like how Kitty phases so Rogue can’t touch or comfort her about the death of Kitty’s students. The sad fact is that the deaths of characters that never appeared in this book carry more weight than the death of one of the main characters this issue. Banshee’s death doesn’t carry any emotion because really we never learn anything about him other than the fact that he was retired, but came back to help Magneto. Plus he kills Abyss in a two-page fight; it took Quicksilver one page last time. All in all this book is a little bit of a disappointment since it fails to inspire me to care about any of its main characters, but it does offer a couple of cool moments.

B

Uncanny X-Men Annual #18

Uncanny X-Men Annual #18
Writing: Glenn Herdling and Jeph Loeb
Art: Ian Churchill and Tim Sale

What Went Down: Another annual, whoopee—64 more pages to describe. This exciting issue starts out with some young boys gathered around a campfire. While passing around a skin mag, one of the boys is made fun of for reading what appears to be a New Mutants comic book. Anyways, the boys are then surprised by a hooded creature that turns out to be Caliban, the Morlock and former Horseman of the Apocalypse. The boys run away frightened, and Caliban steals all of their junk food. He needs all of this food because it turns out that he has kidnapped Jubilee and chained her up in the sewer. His plan is to get the X-Men to send Sabretooth down so that Caliban can kill him and take revenge for the Morlock Massacre.

Back at the mansion, the X-Men have discovered Caliban’s ransom note asking for Sabretooth in exchange for Jubilee. Stevie Hunter is there to feel sorry for not being around to stop him, as if it would have mattered or she was still relevant to the X-books. Xavier decides to ask Sabretooth for his assistance, but the villain refuses unless Jean Grey will give him the “glow.”

Back in the sewer, Jubilee tricks Caliban into unchaining her, and she escapes. Because it is dark and there are monster alligators in the sewers, Caliban catches up to and recaptures her. Over with the X-Men, Kitty Pryde has showed up in a special guest appearance from the pages of Excalibur because she has the closest relationship with Caliban. She’s still a little bitter about betraying Colossus’ confidence during the Fatal Attractions storyline, and she seems very sensitive about this plan as well. Jean gives Sabretooth the glow with her powers, but she doesn’t stop and overwhelms him with it. Kitty and Sabretooth, in his restraints, are then sent off to find Caliban.

Caliban re-restrains Jubilee and goes off to “save” Kitty from Sabretooth. Sabretooth starts off his partnership with Kitty by attacking her, but Kitty holds her own. We also learn that one of the panels on her costumes turns out to carry nunchucks, which she uses to beat the tar out of Creed. After threatening to solidify her arm in his brain, Sabretooth agrees to play ball.

Caliban manages to shut the gates and flood the area where the heroes are. Kitty refuses to save just herself, and instead saves Creed as well. But in a radical twist, they are both attacked by a giant sewer squid. No, really. Caliban shows up to save Kitty from the squid, and Jubilee tries to convince Sabretooth to save them all, which he does.

After Sabretooth kills the squid, Kitty uses her powers to free Jubilee from her restraints; Sabretooth takes the opportunity to exploit Pryde’s powers and get himself free as well. Once free he attacks Caliban, but Jubilee and Kitty manage to get the restraints back on. Caliban refuses to accept help from the X-Men, and the narration at the end describes his state as the passing of the Horseman and the birth of the Hound, whatever that means.

What Else Went Down: Bishop is in the middle of an adventure with his former XSE partners Malcolm and Randall. They are um… escaping from somewhere while getting shot at from the air by… someone. Malcolm falls off a platform, but Bishop manages to pull him up. Malcolm thanks him, and then we find out that the whole story was a Danger Room sequence. As Bishop  leaves the Danger Room, Jubilee asks him if he wants to go rollerblading. Bishop refuses at first, but then reconsiders after her disappointed reaction. He asks if they can go walking instead, and Jubilee seems very happy.

How It Was: Another year’s worth of stories, another giant annual. The real question is why this story is in Uncanny when it stars one character from Excalibur, and two characters that normally appear in the other X-Men book. Oh well.

Looking at the story, it’s very average…kind of mehhh. There are some good moments; I like the animosity and tension between Kitty and Sabretooth, and Jubilee gets some really good humor in. I’ve never heard of Glenn Herdling, but he does write a really cool Kitty Pryde—with nunchucks. It’s awesome to see that Kitty has progressed from a scared new girl like Jubilee to a badass who can hand Sabretooth his behind with total confidence.

Unfortunately other than the fighting between Creed and Pryde, the only other action in this issue involves the X-Men fighting a giant squid, which is very silly. There are some okay scenes in the beginning with Sabretooth, but they only really establish that Creed is a jerk, which we already know. Caliban is one-dimensional and while his motivation is understandable, his execution leaves a little to be desired as far as being an interesting or fearsome villain. And this may be a nitpick, but I still can’t understand why Stevie Hunter is still appearing in these books. I have no idea what purpose or relevance she has to the team at this point, since she was originally Kitty Pryde’s dancing instructor when Kitty was a child. There’s certainly an opportunity to make her relevant, but her and Kitty never interact with each other at all.

Churchill’s art is really dark and edgy, which is appropriate since most of it takes place in a sewer; plus it’s a Sabretooth story. Churchill shows up years later as the regular artist in the 2000s, so this is a pretty good precursor to that brief run.

As for the back up strip, there is not really anything to it at all. We never even see whom the XSE are supposed to be fighting during their mission, and we really don’t get anything from their interactions that we didn’t get from their first appearance in Uncanny. There’s nothing really substantial at all; if you hadn’t figured out that Bishop was trying to get over his feelings about the future and adjust to the present, then you really haven’t been paying attention. The only thing notable about this story is that its creative team is the same one behind the very successful Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory stories, and they worked together on the show Heroes.

Really, this is a forgettable one-off story that, while consistent, isn’t really anything to write home about. There are some cool moments for Kitty Pryde fans though. The back up story isn’t even worth mentioning again, it’s so inconsequential.

C

Excalibur #71

Excalibur #71
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: Ken Lashley, Darick Roberson, and Matthew Ryan

What Went Down: Part 6 of Fatal Attractions: This issue opens with Nightcrawler fighting the Acolyte Spoor on Muir Island. Since the X-Factor part of this crossover depicted Spoor as a prisoner, he has been transferred to the Muir Isle, but he escaped. Spoor’s powers affect people’s emotions, so Nightcrawler almost kills the mutant. Luckily Kitty Pryde pops in and phases Spoor so he doesn’t get his skull bashed in. Moira thanks Rachel, Kitty, and Nightcrawler for bringing Spoor back, and then Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Professor X show up for a visit.

Xavier reveals that he has a plan get Colossus to return to the X-Men; he believes that Peter is suffering from the effects of his injuries from the X-Cutioner in Uncanny X-Men Annual #17. He wants Kitty to trick Peter into coming to Muir Isle so the X-Men can capture him and fix the trauma. Kitty is initially appalled, but eventually she reluctantly agrees.

Kitty sends a message to Avalon. Colossus is convinced that Kitty would never betray him, so he gets permission from Exodus, the new leader of the Acolytes, to journey down to Earth. Exodus tells Amelia Voght to give him an hour before bringing him back. Kitty lashes out at Cyclops and the Professor for forcing the deception. Rachel identifies that Kitty is really just scared that Colossus’ condition won’t affect his decision.

Cable’s computer the Professor identifies a signal from Avalon. Cable says that he has unfinished business with the Acolytes, and thinks it might be a trap for Xavier. Back on Muir Isle, Cyclops and Nightcrawler prepare the device to cure Colossus. Nightcrawler explains the state of Excalibur and the fact that most of its members have either left or been lost. Cyclops comforts him by comparing Excalibur to the original X-Men and showing that change can be good.

Outside, Jean Grey reconciles with Rachel Summers after freaking out on her when they first met. Jean reveals that she and Scott might be getting married soon and having a child. Rachel calls Jean “Mom” for the first time.

Colossus teleports down from space and the X-Men subdue him. On the other side of the island, Cable is climbing up the rock face looking to hunt the Acolytes. Phoenix intercepts him, and reveals her real name. Cable and the Professor both appear to recognize the name Rachel Summers—this is because in the future Rachel founds the Askani, the group that raises Cable. Cable and Rachel fight—at one point Rachel’s body turns into Captain Britain’s—a subplot from the regular series, I’m sure.

Colossus is strapped into a machine that utilizes Cyclops’ optic blasts to burn a hole in his head, somehow repairing the damage. Nightcrawler decides to respond to an intruder alert. Rachel tricks Cable into thinking she’s weakened, and then blindsides him with her telepathy. Nightcrawler confronts the Acolytes Voght, Katu, and Unuscione, and does a fair job of holding them off. Back in the lab, the trauma to Peter is fixed and he is finally able to return to human form. Cyclops and Phoenix (Rachel) join Nightcrawler outside in fighting the Acolytes. The fight ends when Colossus shows up and decides that he still wishes to remain with the Acolytes. The Acolytes teleport away, and the remaining three members of Excalibur decide to stay on Muir Isle to assist Moira in her work.

How It Was: Like the X-Factor issue of the crossover, this issue doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the return of Magneto. However it features characters from the X-Men guest starring, it deals with an important plot point from the crossover, and it has a hologram on the cover, so it’s still part of the crossover. While the Fatal Attractions story really ends in Wolverine #75, this issue serves the dual purposes of following up on Colossus’ defection and trying to lure in new readers by presenting a new status quo that is perfect for jumping on. Sneaky.

The good first. Nightcrawler, Kitty, and Rachel have always been fan favorite X-Men characters, and I always thought that it was a shame that they were condemned for so long on the British X-Men. Excalibur fans might argue with me, but I still think that they belong on the actual X-Men. Besides, nobody read Excalibur for Kylun or Megann, they read it for the big three, if you will. But Lobdell does a great job of bringing their personalities to life, bearing in mind that for a lot of X-Men fans, this is the first time we’ve seen these characters in a while. Nightcrawler’s humor really shines through in his fight scenes. Kitty’s internal conflict and angst over Colossus and her struggles to be seen as an adult fit right into where straight X-Men fans saw her last, but there are still signs of character growth as well. And Phoenix’s sensitivity is used to make peace with Jean, and drop some more hints about Cable’s past. All in all, these are three really likable, relatable characters, and I’m sure this issue succeeded in selling a few more later on.

Now for the bad. Filling a double-sized issue of Excalibur can’t be easy, especially since most of the team is gone. First off, the central plot of fixing Colossus kind of makes sense, but this is something that really should have been done way before Illyana died. And while it was nice of the X-Men to fix Peter so he could return to human form, couldn’t Jean and the Professor read his mind and figure out that it was his decision to be an Acolyte? The major problem is the Cable/Rachel fight, since Cable has absolutely no reason to be there. There’s some grumbling about wanting to confront the Acolytes, but really there is no reason for Cable to show up other than to talk to Rachel and reveal some clues that she is his foster mother/sister from another time stream. Then he gets knocked out... the end. The Acolytes finally get another chance to be in the forefront, and they get completely trounced. I guess there is no better way to build up a villain team than to have them easily dispatched with no tension built whatsoever.

As for Excalibur’s new status quo, it’s not exactly mind-blowing or exciting. They’re moving from England to Scotland—whopee. Part of the reason Excalibur never really took off as a book was that it was never really clarified why there needed to be an international team of mutants; plus this meant that the team was far removed from the other teams and the rest of the Marvel Universe, which can be good or bad depending on how you look at it. And while Excalibur made it for another fifty-some issues, it was almost always the lowest selling of the X-books.

As far as being a finale to a major crossover, this story doesn’t really carry a lot of weight. As a whole, Fatal Attractions is one of the only crossovers I can think of that peaks in the middle and fizzles at the beginning and end; most major storylines save their biggest moment for the epic finale (see X-Cutioner’s Song, Onslaught, Messiah Complex, etc.). Overall the crossover works okay, but there are a lot of unnecessary issues attached; you could basically treat Uncanny X-Men #304-Wolverine #75 as the crossover in its entirety, with X-Force #25 acting as some kind of prelude. This crossover had its moments, almost none of them occur in this issue, and since nothing changes with Colossus, there’s really no need to dig this one up unless you’re a completist.

C-

X-Men #24

X-Men #24
Writing: Fabian Niceza
Art: Andy Kubert

What Went Down: We open on Rogue and Gambit finally getting around to sharing a date. They are trying to enjoy themselves in spite of all the tragedy surrounding Illyana’s death and Psylocke’s personal problems.

Outside the X-Mansion, Banshee returns after leaving in issue number four to go after Moira MacTaggert. Since Moira had to return for the X-Cutioner’s Song and the Legacy Virus, it seems that he must have given up after a while. The two make up, but not much more comes out of their relationship, since Banshee is going to be busy teaching Generation X in a couple of months.

Xavier and Beast are inside looking at the data from Illyana’s illness. Xavier apologizes for not including Beast in the study sooner, and Beast concludes that even he can’t solve the mystery of the cure to the Legacy Virus.

Jean picks up Cyclops at the airport. She is hesitant at first, but after they embrace, they both promise to face their problems together.

Psylocke and Revanche are in the woods sparring; both women find that they are too evenly matched. Wolverine appears and tells them to get over their hatred of each other.

Kitty Pryde comforts Jubilee as she cries in Illyana’s bed with her doll. Kitty suggests she keep the doll to remember the little girl by.

Back on their date, Gambit tries to get a kiss, but is once again shut down. To compensate, Rogue offers to reveal her real name, but Gambit stops her, saying that names don’t mean anything.

In the mansion, everyone welcomes Cyclops and Banshee. Cyclops reiterates what he learned from Sinister last issue. At the dock, Wolverine comforts Jubilee, the Psylocke twins share another moment of accusing each other of being imposters again, and Cyclops and Jean go to bed after reaffirming that they both need each other.

How It Was: Another quiet, contemplative issue. Niceza shows that he’s no slouch in the emotional department either, while still furthering, or at least paying lip service, to some ongoing storylines. Jubilee is responding to Illyana’s death, the Betsys are still at each other, and Sean and Moira begin their relationship anew after breezing over her breakdown in issue number four. The most important facts are those on the Legacy Virus since this is going to be the focus of the X-books after the upcoming crossovers. That being said, nothing new is really learned as everyone just reiterates what they’ve learned about the virus thus far.

The main purpose of this issue is to finally resolve the Cyclops/Psylocke relationship, show that he is definitely choosing Jean, and explore the Gambit/Rogue relationship some more. This offers some interesting polarities to highlight as one relationship is based on comfort and familiarity, while the other is based on hesitance, danger, and excitement. Rogue’s teasing of her real name is kind of a disappointment for long time fans, but seeing Gambit evolve from pure seduction to a place of comfort and understanding in a natural way is well worth it. Or is Gambit just afraid of revelations since he is hiding things from Rogue and the X-Men? Ooo, so many potential glimpses into the character.

This is a well done issue, but at the same time it doesn’t really stand out all that much. Still, everyone feels true to character as well as down to earth, so it succeeds as a nice prelude to the big bombastic Fatal Attractions crossover next month.

B

Uncanny X-Men #303

Uncanny X-Men #303
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: Richard Bennet

What Went Down: Jean Grey is looking to comfort Jubilee after the death of Illyana Rasputin. Jubilee retells her experiences in an attempt to appease Grey as well as try to understand her own feelings better.

In the flashback, Xavier and Moira struggle to cure Illyana while Jubilee plays with her. When Kitty Pryde shows up with fresh sheets, Jubilee shows signs of jealousy for the relationship the two girls share. In the present, Jean explains Illyana’s former life as a teenager to Jubilee, even though Iceman already explained this to her in X-Men #17. Although Illyana has no memories of being a teenager, Kitty has managed to stay in touch with her best friend all these years.

Back to the flashback, Jubilee comes to the Professor for a prognosis, but only discovers his frustration as he is running out of options. Jubilee goes back to Illyana’s room, and the three girls spend the afternoon getting to know each other.

As the Gold Team is returning from its mission last issue, Illyana’s symptoms flare up suddenly; she is about to die unless something is done. Xavier suggests using Shiar technology to freeze her until a cure can be found, but Kitty explains that Illyana wouldn’t want to live like that. While the adults talk, Jubilee puts the girl’s doll back in her arms and later reads to her before she passes away.

Jubilee then recounts the Gold Team’s reaction to the young girl’s death; Colossus completely shuts down emotionally. In the present, Jubilee finally breaks down and cries, and Jean comforts her.

How It Was: One of the very rare instances of a comic promising to be the best of the year and actually fulfilling that promise. Of course, the mandate is made a little easier by a year full of Upstarts stories, but this is still an exceptional comic.

Once again Lobdell demonstrates how relatable the X-Men can be by choosing Jubilee as the center of the story, as she is fairly unfamiliar with Illyana, yet nonetheless affected by her death. Because Illyana is an innocent little girl as opposed to a costumed combatant, the death really hits home on a level that pretty much anybody can appreciate, and the confusion Jubilee suffers at trying to understand the nature of this tragedy is brilliantly depicted. Also, having Jean Grey, the symbolic mother of the team, coming to console the girl works really well for this story.

There are really too many great character moments to explore; one standout moment would be Xavier’s breakdown in front of Jubilee. Even something as subtle as Iceman cutting off his own joke conveys the utmost sense of discomfort and tragedy. Plus the scene where Jubilee picks up Illyana’s doll is just perfect.

Minor pet peeves include the clunky exposition of Illyana’s history, but realistically it is necessary information for readers unfamiliar with the character, who hasn’t been an active super hero for a number of years now. Meanwhile guest artist Richard Bennet’s art is perfectly suited for this type of story. His characters are smooth and detailed—very closely resembling the style of the cartoon. The emotion displayed on characters’ faces is actually moving, yet there are some misfires—the first appearance of Kitty in this issue resembles the Joker a bit. Minor bits aside, the backgrounds are detailed and the characters are full of expression where it counts. The debate over whether to pull the plug works and manages to stay out of the realm of cliché. Despite the absurd looking helmet Xavier puts on the girl’s head, it still can’t take away from the tension of this issue.

This is easily one of the best character death issues ever. It contains gravity, it’s down to earth and accessible, and it actually manages to convey a sense of loss and make the reader feel something. Of course, like most great things in comics, it has recently been undone, leaving Illyana alive and well in the current issues of X-Men and New Mutants. However, recent events still can’t take away from how well this issue was done.

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