X-Men Unlimited #10

X-Men Unlimited #10

Writing: Mark Waid

Art: Frank Toscano and Nick Gnazzo

This takes place after X-Men #50, but before Uncanny #331

What Went Down: Our story begins with a flashback to a young Hank McCoy fixing a school bus and annoying the heck out of Groundskeeper Willy.  The flashback is being retold by the former school principal, who is retelling the story with pride in the present at a hospital.  Unfortunately the principal’s visitor is the evil Hank McCoy from the Age of Apocalypse, who promptly suffocates the principal after learning everything he can about the Hank of this world.  As Dark Beast leaves the hospital, it is apparent that he’s killed everyone there, not just the principal, as he recounts his history up until now.

Meanwhile, the real Beast is using the Danger Room as a giant microscope to manipulate the molecules of the Legacy Virus for study.  Professor X and the other X-Men interrupt him to implore that he spend more time outside the lab.  In a secret lab, Dark Beast has hacked into regular Hank’s computer and is keeping track of his work.

Dark Beast meets with another person from Hank’s life—this time a former girlfriend named Mindy who recounts teenage Hank’s fixation with the robotics of a haunted tunnel ride.  As she tells the story, Mindy becomes ill, and Dark Beast reveals he infected her and the rest of the restaurant with a deadly virus. 

At the institute, Iceman is helping Beast with yet another experiment.  Bobby has to use his powers to keep a microscope from overheating, even though this eventually causes him pain.  The computer eventually overheats and blows up.  Afterwards, Bobby gets Hank to agree to leave the lab, but it’s a trick to get rid of him. 

Dark Beast then visits a priest who retells the origin of Hank’s fur to the villain.  The priest is repaid by having his church blown up.  After acquiring some files from the Brand Corporation, Dark Beast is able to turn his fur blue.  He heads to the home of Hank’s parents to learn more about the genuine article.  Evil Hank gets more of his origin filled in, pertaining to the radiation accident that may have given him the x-gene.  Both parents notice something wrong with their son, and just when it seems like Dark Beast might kill them both, he falters and leaves abruptly. On his way out of town, he kills a random passerby. 

As real Beast works on his computer, Dark Beast hacks his computer and leads him to the abandoned Brand Corporation.  Dark Beast traps regular Beast in a box and gloats about all the people in Hank’s life that he has killed.  Enraged Beast bursts free and a fight ensues.  Just when Beast has the upper hand, he realizes he is about to kill Dark Beast and lets up, allowing Dark Beast to knock him out.  When Hank wakes up, he is being bricked into a dungeon.  Beast begs him to let him go and help him cure the Legacy Virus, but the villain seals him in. 

How It Was:  Well when you have a dark version of a character hanging around a super hero universe, it is inevitable that he will end up facing his better self at some point.  While it’s not the most original set up for a comic story, Mark Waid wrote it, so there is actually a little substance to this tale.  Dark Beast is a problematic character because theoretically he shares the same temperament and personality with regular Beast, only without all the patience and ethical concerns; his vague fear of Mr. Sinister, who probably doesn’t know he exists at this point, seems unfounded.  Waid quickly defines the evil McCoy by making him a remorseless killer the likes of which we haven’t seen in the X-books up to this point.  Even when Sabretooth escaped and had a dozen chances to kill someone, he was never allowed to; compare that to Dark Beast who wipes out entire hospitals and restaurants full of people on a whim.  It’s off-putting, but the violence does serve a purpose.  Having racked up an enormous body count by the middle of the issue, I was almost certain Dark Beast was going to kill Hank’s parents, who are probably as crucial to the X-books as all the made-up characters from Hank’s life in this issue.  There is a marvelous sense of tension as Dark Beast reaches for the axe.  In fact, it might’ve ended up a more memorable story and cemented Dark Beast as a more palpable threat long term if he had gone through with it. 

Some of the flashbacks are a little hokey (why is Groundskeeper Willy at Hank’s school), but they establish that downhome mid-western Smallville charm that makes for an excellent contrast with the over-the-top violence of the Dark Beast.  Regular Beast’s experiments are shown for a little too long, and I don’t really get how an electron microscope can overheat and explode, but once he’s lead to the Brand Corporation, it’s worth it to see his reaction to Dark Beast’s remorseless crimes.  It’s unfortunate that most of this is forgotten after Onslaught because although he’s sort of derivative in terms of comics stories, Dark Beast would’ve made a more interesting obsession for Beast to focus on as opposed to the Legacy Virus plot that just kept going and going and going.

Waid injects personality and a hint of humor into the characters (I love the line about Bobby getting a 200 point lead in Scrabble).  And although the two Beasts couldn’t seem more different, Waid wisely uses the corny flashbacks to establish the commonality that both of them need to satisfy their own curiosities when it comes to how things work; Dark Beast just uses living people as opposed to machines and lab equipment.  Both are obsessed with figuring out how things work, and it’s a shame we aren’t given more of Dark Beast’s history to really drive home the similarities and differences.

This is probably one of the best issues of X-Men Unlimited I’ve ever read.  It feels like a narrower focused story, unburdened by the myriad of subplots that would undoubtedly be included in the main titles; however, for the first time most of the book doesn’t feel like padded filler.  Dark Beast seems like a genuine threat, even if he never does anything threatening or interesting while undercover at the X-Mansion.  This could’ve been the foundation for rehabilitating a contrived villain—it’s too bad it never was followed up on, so Dark Beast actually comes across in later appearances as C-level Mr. Sinister.  Still, this is quite a good one.

Everyone Should Read

Uncanny X-Men #326

Uncanny X-Men #326
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: Joe Madureira

What Went Down: Gambit is sitting on the mansion’s roof looking sad while he thinks about Rogue and his own past. Storm comes up to talk to him, but Gambit doesn’t feel like sharing. Instead, Gambit asks her about the fight with Marrow, and she avoids sharing her feelings as well. Gambit asks if she thinks people can change, and Storm wonders if the true nature of a person can ever be altered.

Over at the World Health Organization in San Francisco, Beast is giving a lecture on the Legacy Virus to a convention of scientists. Charles Xavier interrupts the lecture, alleging that there have only really been nine recorded cases of the virus and wondering if this virus really deserves to be classified as the enormous threat the media has made it out to be. Beast brings up the potential for an epidemic, but Xavier counters that this could have been a preexisting condition in some mutants. This enrages Renee Majcomb, a political leader in Genosha whose people have been dying of the virus quite regularly. Then they bring out Val Cooper to testify that the Legacy Virus isn’t a medical crisis.

On Muir Island, Moira MacTaggert watches the conference with the rest of Excalibur. In discussion they bring up that Legacy is more of a designer gene, whatever that means. At the Xavier Institute, Boom Boom of X-Force has been helping to take care of Sabretooth during his recuperation from his head wound. While the Danger Room is set to a calming forest setting, it seems that Sabretooth has started hunting the virtual animals, leading Tabitha to believe that Creed might be faking his newfound kindness. After Boomer leaves, Gambit shows up to confront Creed about his past.

Driving home from the conference, Beast ponders the seriousness of the PR stunt he pulled with Xavier; he wonders if they are risking public safety to deflate fear and prejudice. Beast slams on the brakes when he discovers Xavier’s empty hover chair abandoned on the side of the road. He finds Xavier sitting on a rock contemplating his own guilt. Charles shares his concerns about the Legacy Virus and Sabretooth, but Beast insists that Xavier is worrying about nothing.

Gambit uses the Danger Room to show Creed holograms of various people that he murdered; many of them were trying to help him. Sabretooth acts anguished and lashes out at the holograms. Then Gambit shows Sabretooth a hologram of the flashback scene from X-Men #33 where Creed had Gambit’s girlfriend and brother tied up and held off a roof. Gambit replays the scene over and over, and this seems to have an effect on Sabretooth. Storm interrupts and is angry that Gambit is seemingly torturing their prisoner. She locks Creed in a cage in the dark, but Creed repeats something from his memories that shows that he might be faking.

Beast insists that Xavier is not responsible for how Sabretooth is, and that he tried his best. In the end, Xavier realizes he tried his best, but he is still only human.

How It Was: For an issue that is really low on action, this one turns out to be really, really good. Both the A and B storylines tie together really well as they both deal with the themes of deception and redemption, but in totally different ways. This is Lobdell characterization at its best.

Xavier and Beast venture into the murky waters of ethical responsibility and the medical community. Once again Lobdell presents balanced arguments for both sides of the argument. On the one hand, Xavier wants to downplay the severity of the disease to prevent people from getting caught up in fear and prejudice, reflecting the very real world treatment of many AIDS sufferers. At the same time Beast is concerned that they are misleading people by contesting the dangers of the virus. It really makes you stop and think about the ways in which statistics and experts are used in the news today, and the ways in which people try to control the “spin” of certain stories.

The Xavier scenes at the end don’t work quite as well. First, the rock he is sitting on seems impossibly large for a paralyzed man to safely scale, and it is too far away from his chair. Emotionally, it does work quite as well as it should because a lot of it centers on Xavier’s frustrations to cure Sabretooth. Yes there is a lot of discussion of redemption and things being out Xavier’s hands that does tie in well thematically, but the fact is that up to this point we haven’t really seen any scenes of Xavier trying to help Sabretooth in any of the X-books. True this all could’ve been happening off-panel, but it still comes off as a little hard to believe, given how adamant Xavier was about not giving up on Sabretooth at the beginning of the story.

The Gambit story line is phenomenal with Remy taking the opportunity to both get back at Creed for screwing with his relationship with Rogue, while also trying to prove to himself that people can change. It all builds wonderfully off the opening scenes with he and Storm discussing whether people can change; Gambit needs to hear that they can so he won’t be haunted by his past, but Storm needs to think they can’t change so she can justify her killing of Marrow in Uncanny #325. When Gambit is parading out the holograms of Creed’s victims, he’s not just trying to torture Sabretooth, he’s desperately searching for remorse or compassion to show that if Sabretooth can change his nature, so can he. This is some dynamically effective writing. The only real glitch is the end where Storm chastises Gambit for his poor treatment of Sabretooth, and then proceeds to lock the prisoner in a cage that is too small for him and leave him in the dark. I would say that comes off a little bit like hypocrisy.

The art works really well in some parts; the opening sequence with Storm and Gambit sitting outside with lightning flashing in the background looks really great. My only real complaint is that Joe Mad makes Sabretooth’s body look a little too much like the Beast’s, which is especially apparent when Gambit projects the flashback of Creed’s original costume and design. Still, this is a fantastic issue that features a lot of great looks at different character motivations.

A

X-Men: Prime

X-Men Prime
Writing: Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza
Art: I’m not writing seven names in here. Look it up somewhere else.

What Went Down: It’s been two weeks since the Legion Quest storyline. Jean is in the woods searching for Wolverine. Wolverine is staying in the woods partly because he broke his promise to the X-Men about not hurting Sabretooth and partly because this latest fight has unleashed more of his feral nature, and he’s having trouble controlling it.

In the mansion, Bishop is discussing recent nightmares that he’s been having; he doesn’t know that they are a side effect of the Age of Apocalypse storyline.

A man named Dennis, whose mutation is beginning to surface, is trying to get to the Xavier Institute in hopes of finding the X-Men. He stops at a diner to get some food.

In a newsroom, a man named Clay asks Beast’s girlfriend Trish Tilby if she’s sure she wants to air a story about the Legacy Virus.

At a damn in Wyoming, Forge is leading X-Factor on a mission that involves disarming a bomb and capturing the villain Mystique. Mystique is about to escape, but a mystery person, who I think is supposed to be Onslaught, attacks her.

Cyclops and Beast are making food when Bishop has a flashback to the A of A. Since Cyclops and Beast were both villains in that reality, Bishop attacks them, but then he realizes his mistake.

Inside the diner, Dennis gets nervous about the other customers possibly discovering he’s a mutant. Also, a woman named Marrow kills a homeless man. She announces that she is a former Morlock, and that she is lighting a candle to contact the very first of her people.

Back at the mansion, we learn that Gambit is in a coma after kissing Rogue during the crystal event. This also seems to have had an effect on Rogue since she’s run off on a road trip with Iceman. In Florida, she dances with a bunch of guys, but Iceman interrupts when he feels that they are getting too close to touching Rogue.

At that moment, Trish Tilby goes on air and breaks the story of the Legacy Virus and the fact that it has spread to a normal human, Moira Mactaggert. We get some response scenes from the Gen X kids, Senator Kelly, and Moira and Rory Campbell.

The customers in the diner became very agitated by the story, so Dennis decides to leave; the customers take note and decide to follow him because he might be a sick mutant.

The X-Men try to comfort Beast, but he is very distraught that his girlfriend has sold them out. Professor X tells Cyclops to contact Cable, but he is interrupted by a huge psychic event that affects both him and Psylocke. This event turns out to be the arrival of Nate Grey from the Age of the Apocalypse universe.

In England, a villain named Emplates visits a woman named Gayle Edgerton. He asks her about Chamber from Generation X. In New York, Dennis is running, but the mob of angry humans catches up to him. Dennis accidentally turns into a lizard person, which scares the mob into attacking him.

Professor X feels this attack, but he cannot pinpoint where it is coming from due to all the interference from Nate Grey’s arrival. Apparently X-Force has moved into Arcade’s headquarters, Murderworld. They are busy training when a self-destruct sequence activates, forcing the team to flee.

In the X-Factor storyline, Mystique tries to impersonate Val Cooper, but Forge figures out the ruse. The team is about to leave when Havok explodes.

In Genosha, Excalibur is searching for information about mutate acceleration with the first mutate ever. The Sugar Man is observing them, and he activates a device that incinerates the mutate. Sugar Man also announces that he has existed in our time for twenty years now.

Up in space, Colossus is leading a group of Acolytes to inspect a piece of space debris that unbeknownst to them turns out to be the frozen remains of Holocaust. Marrow signals the first Morlock, who turns out to be the Dark Beast from the AOA.

Xavier and Storm are trying to save Dennis, but they can’t find him. Because of his telepathy, Xavier can feel every injury Dennis receives. The X-Men find him, but they’re too late; Dennis is dead. Xavier gives a sad speech to end the issue.

How It Was: Presenting X-Men Prime: either because we’re back in the prime Marvel Universe, or because the X-Men are only divisible by one and themselves. Bad math jokes aside, this issue is pretty important because it sets the direction of the X-books for months and months to come. Well…at least for half of them. The rest of the scenes are basically filler to pad out the comic, since there are no ads, although the central X-Men storyline is solid and does a good job with the central themes of the book.

Since we’ve already established that the Legacy Virus is a blatant metaphor for the AIDS epidemic, the writers choose to center the book on the consequences of people learning about it. The fear, the hysteria, the unjustified hatred of people who have no control over their condition: this issue handles them all pretty well. And even though Dennis is a pretty boring, generic guy, the scene where Xavier feels every bruise and broken bone does build tension, empathy, and sympathy. The scene is very jarring in how it basically mirrors very real world current events where youths were beaten to death for being homosexuals. It’s a powerful moment that feels as relevant today as it did a decade ago, and I’m impressed that the writers were brave enough to not let the X-Men save the victim to emphasize the seriousness of prejudice.

Unfortunately, teasers for all of the other X-book storylines keep sporadically interrupting the main story. The other stories range in quality, but the major problem is that most of them don’t tie into the main story in any important or thematic way; they’re just shoved into random parts of the book. As for what we get, well there’s one page of Generation X sitting on the couch and two more pages that introduce a new villain, so completely unnecessary. X-Force’s new headquarters blows up, so they’re “exciting” new direction involves moving into the X-mansion with the X-Men for a while…yawn. However, X-Factor and Excalibur’s scenes seem to be very significant and do a good job of making the reader possibly want to buy those books.

As for the effects of the Age of Apocalypse, the characters from the reality are seemingly slipped into continuity in the most convenient and contrived ways possible. Sugar Man has actually been in the Marvel U for twenty years? What the heck was he doing that he’s chosen right after the crossover he debuted in to make his move. Having Dark Beast as the retroactive founder of the Morlocks is kind of interesting, but nothing is ever really done with this.

The art is a mess here. The scenes with the main X-Men are pretty good, but this definitely wasn’t Bryan Hitch’s best work, a lot of characters have noses that are too big, and Storm’s hair is the wrong color in her scenes for some reason. The worst art easily belongs to the scenes with Rogue and Iceman in the dance club; it looks like an art style better suited for a comic strip in a newspaper with all the awkward looking figures and expressions.

It’s hard to believe that there was a $5 comic in the 1990s, especially when the regular books were still being sold for $1.95. While there are some good sequences, most of the book feels tacked on and unnecessary. This definitely would have worked better if it had stuck to the PRIMEary X-Men (get it), but Marvel was trying to bring all the X-Teams closer together so more people would start buying the side books. With its gimmicky see-through lenticular cover and needless side scenes, this book represents some of the best and worst aspects of comic books in the 90s. Nevertheless, it’s worth a look if you can get it on the cheap like I did.

C+

X-Men #27

X-Men #27
Writing: Fabian Nicieza
Art: Richard Bennett

What Went Down: A homeless mutant nicknamed Threnody is crying out in pain on a street in Los Angeles. Two cops find her and offer to help her, but Threnody loses control of her mutant power and accidentally incinerates them.

At Los Angeles General Hospital, Rogue, Iceman, and Beast are visiting onetime X-Factor villain Infectia, who has contracted the Legacy Virus. Rogue throws another tantrum about how unfair life is, and the group is interrupted by Dr. Nathan Milbury. The good doctor seems very amiable towards the mutants and takes a sample of Infectia’s blood. Milbury tells the X-Men that she was initially looking for Gordon Lefferts, a doctor looking for the cure and Mr. Sinister’s assistant who died of the Legacy Virus. After Milbury leaves, a nurse enters and lets them know that there is no Dr. Nathan Milbury working for the hospital.

Outside the mansion, Revanche is taking a jog when Psylocke decides it would be a good idea to jump out of a tree and attack her. The two women fight for a couple of panels, and Psylocke reveals that she wanted to see how Revanche was. Revanche realizes that Betsy is just testing her to see how much the Legacy Virus has affected her fighting abilities.

Beast modifies a device to find Lefferts’ old lab and the three X-Men track it down. Inside are a number of homeless people residing and looting; Threnody is also among them, but she runs off after Rogue tries to talk to her. Beast is fascinated by the advanced technology he finds and busies himself with it while Rogue searches for Threnody, who ends up running right into Mr. Sinister. Rogue attacks Sinister, but Threnody’s power acts up again, causing another huge explosion. It attracts the rest of the X-Men

The X-Men fight Sinister for a bit, but then he explains that he wants Threnody to aid in his research for a cure to the Legacy Virus. Her power is to absorb pain from anyone afflicted with the virus in question. Sinister wants to use her to find other sufferers of the disease; he also claims that Xavier would never allow the mutant to be used in that manner because it causes her pain, and that failure to sacrifice might come at the expense of the cure. Rogue asks why Threnody’s powers flared up when no one with the virus was around; Sinister claims he doesn’t know, but it is possible that he himself is infected since he was present at the canister’s opening. The X-Men leave Threnody with Sinister and go back to Infectia. Infectia is on her deathbed, and Beast offers to take her out of her room to see the sunrise, even though it risks his own health. She dies in his arms.

How It Was: The Legacy Virus continues to rack up casualties and make the virus seem more important. Unfortunately, this storyline is about to get pushed to the side for a bunch of issues to focus on Cyclops and Jean Grey’s wedding, followed by the Phalanx, Generation X, and the Age of Apocalypse; afterwards, the writers keep trying to get back to it, but the story never gets the same momentum going and drags on for years to come. Still, this issue does a good job of conveying the frustration and helplessness of characters that haven’t yet gotten to express their feelings about the virus. And Infectia, easily a C-list villain, gets a really great, emotional death scene.

Threnody is a neat idea for a character, but she doesn’t really work for me here. Maybe it’s because we never learn a great deal about her personality or background, or perhaps it is the fact that she is supposed to be homeless, but she looks and dresses like she is going out clubbing later.  Either way I’m just not a fan. Nevertheless, it is great to see Mr. Sinister back and there is once again great tension built by the ambiguous genuineness of the villain and the conflict over whether one person’s suffering is worth saving thousands or millions. Then again, I’m not sure about the X-Men’s decision to leave the girl with the villain because they are not willing to torture her themselves.

This isn’t the last issue to deal with the Legacy Virus, but it is the last one to feel like it was going anywhere. While the concept is revisited time and time again in the 90s, and many different characters get infected, it just never feels as central to the story as it did here. Also, we never learn if Sinister is infected or not, but many people consider it to be true.

B

X-Men Annual #2

X-Men Annual #2
Writing: Fabian Nicieza and Scott Lobdell
Art: Aron Wiensenfeld and Ian Churchill

What Went Down: On an island fortress, two shadowy figures arise from the water. Despite the cliché 90s battle armor appearance, these two characters are in fact the Crimson Commando and Avalanche, formerly of the Freedom Force. These two are still working for the US government after the rest of the team was captured in the Middle East during a back-up strip in all the 1991 X-Annuals. Anyways, the two run into the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, consisting of Toad, Phantazia, and former Freedom Force members Pyro and the Blob. Both groups are about to fight until they are interrupted by a man in a robe with dragons on it.

At Xavier’s school, Professor X, Beast, Banshee, and Moira are tracking new cases of the Legacy Virus. Beast is still giving Charles crap for not involving him in the initial case with Illyana Rasputin, and everyone is very serious about how serious the Legacy Virus is. In the Danger Room, Revanche is facing off against Jubilee, Gambit, and Rogue. She takes Jubilee out easily, causing the young girl to question when she is going to get better at fighting. Rogue then tackles Revanche, ending the session.

Up in the control booth, Cyclops, Psylocke, and Jean are discussing whether Jean should enter Betsy’s mind to confirm her identity and mental state, even though she absolutely refused to in X-Men #21. Betsy is more willing now because she feels guilty about almost breaking up Scott and Jean, blaming it on different aspects of the two personalities in her surfacing. Inside Psylocke’s head, we see a depiction of Betsy killing her brother Brian when they were children, demonstrating the savage influence of Kwannon’s mind on Betsy Braddock. Jean comes to the conclusion that the two personalities are now fused permanently.

Back on the island, called Empyrean, former friends Pyro and Avalanche are discussing what has happened since they last saw each other. After being captured, Blob and Pyro were forced to work as bodyguards for the commander that defeated them until the Toad got them out. Inside, the rest of the Brotherhood observes the pair. The man in the robe chastises the Blob for an inappropriate outburst and uses his power to keep him in line. Unbeknownst to the group, they are also being observed by Henry Peter Gyrich, who is searching for two missing scientists that allegedly now work for the mystery man named Jonathan Chambers.

In one of those wacky coincidences that only happen in comics, the X-Men’s Blue Team just happens to have also taken an interest in Jonathan Chambers. Chambers is a scientist and author of a book calling for unity between humans and mutants, and the X-Men want to investigate the sincerity of his claims. There are some doubts about Chambers since his father died at thirty-eight, but looking twice his age, and he has been seen with the Brotherhood on his island. One half of the team meets Chambers at his front door, while the other half sneaks in through the basement.

The sneaking squad includes Psylocke and Revanche, who argue the entire time until they discover the Brotherhood. Meanwhile Beast and the rest of his team have a polite discussion with Chambers. There is a big fight between the X-Men and the Brotherhood until Chambers stops both teams with his powers.

Time for some revelations. First Pyro reveals that he is suffering from the Legacy Virus. Then Beast explains that Chambers, or Empyrean, is an “energy vampire” as he absorbs ambient energies around Legacy sufferers like Pyro; however, this process also relieves the pain that the ailing patients feel, and allows him to conduct experiments to possibly find a cure. It also shortens the victims’ lives. As for the scientists, they have joined Empyrean freely. Finally, Revanche reveals that she is infected with the Legacy Virus as well. She encourages Cyclops to leave Empyrean alone since it is up to every infected person to choose his or her own path.

Gyrich shows up because he believes that illegal activities might be occurring, but Cyclops tells him that there is no evidence of anything illegal. Chambers threatens to expose Gyrich to the media if he does not leave. Then the X-Men leave the island peacefully.


What Else Went Down: The Beast starts this back-up strip falling down an elevator shaft that he has been thrown into. After stopping his fall and sabotaging an elevator full of security guards to protect them, Beast goes back up to save his girlfriend Trish Tilby and a scientist named Dr. Cahill. Trish has sprained her ankle and it appears that a giant muscle-bound creature named Malvin is assaulting her and the scientist. The Beast fights Malvin until he explains that Dr. Cahill is responsible for turning him into a monster. During the fight, Trish goes through the Doctor’s files and discovers proof of this.

The Beast, Malvin, and Dr. Cahill are all flung out the window. Beast holds each character in one of his hands before pulling them both up. Trish is surprised until Beast explains that he can bench three thousand pounds. The security guards burst in, automatically assuming that the Beast and Malvin are the villains, but Cahill admits his guilt. The story ends with one of those clichéd narrations about one person being a man in the body of a beast and the other being a beast in the body of a man.

How It Was: Another sixty-four pages of story; man I’m getting worn out from all of these double-sized comics. Once again, this year features another annual written by the regular writer, so actual plot points are addressed and furthered in this issue. We’re still focusing on the Legacy Virus, and at this point it still seems like the book is going somewhere with the plot. Overall it’s a pretty good issue, with the main problem being that the Chambers plotline never appears in these books ever again. There is an interesting conflict about the potential exploitation of mutants by Chambers, as well as tension created by the fact that we never learn if his intentions are sincere or not, and unfortunately we never get a resolution for any of these points. The concept of exploitation by a character of unknown sincerity is revisited soon in X-Men with Threnody and Mr. Sinister, so it is possible that Nicieza just didn’t feel like returning to the same theme.

Another dropped idea is this incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, which I always thought had some potential, minus the horrible straight out of the ‘90s armor revamped costumes. Between the ‘91 annuals and this issue, it at least seemed like the Toad had some kind of agenda going, but this particular team disappears after this issue. At least we get some closure from the previous Freedom Force story.

As for the X-Men, well their arc in this issue makes for more of a mixed bag. Once again we have an annual begin with a Danger Room sequence since the writer needs an unnecessary action sequence to take up a few pages. The fight scenes are all pretty good, if brief; it’s the first time the X-Men have fought a decent super-villain team in a long time. As for the major revelations of Legacy infected, they definitely felt significant at the time. Revanche feels more monumentous because if you’re like me, you’re excited that her storyline is about to end. Pyro’s struggle with the disease gets strung out for a great many years; the poor guy is on death’s door in every future appearance, until he finally dies in 2001. This issue is, once again, a nice opening issue to a story that never resonated. Could have been better if it went anywhere interesting.

The back-up strip is just terrible. Out of ten pages, the story takes five of them to show Beast escaping from an elevator shaft. The depiction of Malvin is ridiculous with so many muscles awkwardly sticking out everywhere. Plus Trish Tilby comes off as a knockoff Lois Lane, and the resolution centers on all of the characters underestimating the central character.

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.

A

X-Men #23

Chronologically I have the Gambit mini-series after this.  So read this, then go here.

X-Men #23
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Artist: Andy Kubert

What Went Down: Cyclops starts off the issue by blasting a hole in Mr. Sinister’s midsection; however, Sinister is actually immune to Scott’s optic blasts, and his death after the Inferno Saga was just a ruse to allow him to lie low. But Sinister isn’t here to fight. He wants to tell Cyclops about the Legacy Virus that Stryfe created and Sinister accidentally unleashed at the end of the X-Cutioner’s Song. We also learn that Sinister’s head geneticist died of the virus. When asked why he is telling Cyclops this, Sinister slips that he wants to protect Cyclops and his “brothers,” before correcting himself, since at the time Cyclops only had one brother, Havok of X-Factor. Some people also speculate that Sinister himself was infected, but this is never confirmed. This is the beginning of the “third Summers brother” subplot that goes on and on until it is answered in a little over a decade in X-Men: Deadly Genesis. As they talk, the Dark Riders ambush the pair to test them.

At Nyorin’s residence, the X-Men have Nyorin and Silver Samurai restrained and are interrogating them. Nyorin reveals that both women are Betsy Braddock, in that they are both a mixture of Betsy and Kwannon’s attributes that somehow fused after they touched. Nyorin also tells the X-Men about the Upstarts and Shinobi Shaw.

Back in the states, Wolverine and Rogue are telling Xavier that they found evidence that Magneto is still alive in the Savage Land during Wolverine #70-71. Xavier doesn’t want to believe it. Wolverine gets angry—you can tell because he is drawn with his angry red eyes.

For the first, and only, time ever, Sinister and Cyclops team up to beat the Dark Riders. After they are beaten, Sinister tells them not to kill Scott Summers before teleporting away. The Dark Riders take this command literally by trying to cripple Cyclops instead.

Gambit and Beast surprise Shinobi Shaw while he is taking a bath with many beautiful women. They tell Shinobi that they know about the Upstarts and make a couple of jokes about his nudity. Outside, Matsuo attacks Psylocke and Revanche, but is soundly beaten within two pages.

Poor Cyclops has to take on the entire Dark Riders team by himself. After losing his glasses, Tusk hits him and then the team returns his glasses claiming that the test is complete. The Dark Rider Hardrive announces that Cyclops has passed and that he is worthy to face the coming storm. This is a lead into the Ascension of the High Lord—a battle between Apocalypse and Stryfe…that never happens and gets forgotten about after the next issue. The Dark Riders teleport away, leaving Cyclops all alone.

How It Was: My, this issue is more of a mixed bag than a bag of delicious Chex mix. Ouch, that was painful to read, but not as painful as the double Psylocke storyline. Nyorin fills in a couple of blanks that the readers have already guessed, Silver Samurai contributes absolutely nothing, and then Nicieza remembers that Matsuo has something to do with this story, so he has the villain appear in a weak two page attempt to kill the Psylocke twins. The part where Gambit and Beast barge in to intimidate Shinobi Shaw is pretty entertaining, but since the Upstarts story is about to completely disappear from the X-Men books, now it reads as completely worthless material.

On the other hand, the scenes with Sinister and Cyclops are really good. These scenes manage to maintain some tension since Sinister is obviously a threat, but Scott knows that if what he is saying is true about the Legacy Virus, all of mutantkind could be threatened. The Legacy Virus is a solid storyline that dragged on way too long for its own good before becoming an on again, off again focus of the X-books for the rest of the decade. The fight with the Dark Riders also works really well; those poor losers just can’t win one. However, once again these scenes just serve as set up for plot threads that get forgotten about. In fact, I think this may be the last time we see the Dark Riders anywhere in the X-Men titles. Oh well, at least the X-office did set up one storyline with this issue that actually gets resolved—the Magneto thread that obviously leads into the Fatal Attractions crossover—coming soon to Illegitimate Children of the Atom. So we have three plot lines that go somewhere and two that go nowhere, which is really not a great way to run a comic book.

B-