Uncanny X-Men #310

Uncanny X-Men #310
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: John Romita Jr.

What Went Down: The opening splash involves Banshee and Cyclops responding to an intruder alert, which is postponing their journey to Cyclops’ bachelor party. They enter the Danger Room to discover a program replaying Cyclops’ past with X-Factor, specifically the scene when he had to give up his son Nathan to the Askani so he could be cured of a techno-organic virus in the future. Cyclops shuts down the Danger Room with an optic blast. It turns out that Cable is the one responsible for programming the scene to play; Cable is curious about an invitation to Cyclops’ wedding, so Cyclops asks Banshee to leave so he can have a long talk with his son.

At the party, all of the X-Men, plus Nightcrawler, are waiting for Cyclops’ arrival. Bishop doesn’t understand the purpose of marriage, leading to a lecture on relations in the future, leading to all of the heroes begging him to shut up.

Following Cable’s bodyslide signal, the X-Cutioner teleports into another part of the mansion. Meanwhile, Cable is convinced that Cyclops abandoned him. Cyclops is angered by these accusations, so he brings up another simulation that shows him breaking down and questioning his decision. Cyclops tells Cable how much he regrets not being able to raise him, and Cable tells him that it is okay because there were two people who helped bring him up. These two people turn out to be a time displaced Cyclops and Jean Grey, but this occurs after their wedding in their own mini-series. At the party, Gambit is attempting to stir up animosity against Sabretooth. Back at the mansion, Sabretooth smells an intruder from his cell, and he calls Cyclops and Cable to let them know.

It turns out that the X-Cutioner’s master plan is to kill Emma Frost because he thinks she is responsible for the deaths of the Hellions, and killing evil mutants is his gimmick. Cyclops and Cable defeat him pretty easily. Cable says he’ll attend the wedding and teleports Scott to his bachelor party.

How It Was: This month’s Uncanny dives headfirst into the quagmire that is X-continuity, and the results are pretty good. Up to this point Cable and Cyclops’ relationship hadn’t really been addressed, due to the fact that it is a weird mixture of time travel and soap opera. Lobdell finds a good balance by approaching Cable as an abandoned son and ignoring the absurd fact that Cable is now older than his father. By having Cyclops reconcile with his son, we also get some scenes that build on the original X-Factor stories that really underplayed Scott’s initial reactions.

The bachelor party scenes are okay, but really they’re just reiterating points that have already been addressed in other issues; Gambit doesn’t like Sabretooth, Archangel is somewhat jealous of Cyclops, Bishop talks too much about the future. The villain of the issue is also kind of underwhelming; X-Cutioner’s only real purpose is to remind us that Emma Frost is still around and establish that she’s been in the mansion for the past two years so Lobdell can dust her off and use her in the next couple of issues. Plus it feels like the villain could have found a stronger motivation to kill her since Emma used to be a pretty major villain in her day.

The art is not really representative of Romita’s best work. While the majority of it is good, there are some scratchy looking panels, especially the X-Factor flashback with baby Nate. His Cable sometimes has shoulders that are too wide (although he is definitely not the only artist to have this problem), and I’ve always felt that he draws Sabretooth too skinny. Consequently it’s not an amazing issue, but it does have some pretty good character moments for Cyke and Cable to recommend.

B

X-Men #29

X-Men #29
Writing: Fabian Nicieza
Art: Andy Kubert

What Went Down: Sabretooth and Psylocke are having a rematch in the Danger Room. Professor X and the Beast are hesitant about this, but feel it is necessary to allow Creed to get some exercise and test his new manacles. Betsy gets Creed at swordpoint, vindicating herself after her embarrassment last issue. Psylocke’s behavior borders on flirting with Sabretooth, causing Archangel, Beast, and the Professor to wonder about her. Beast asks Warren about his on again/off again relationship with Charlotte Jones…apparently it is off again. Warren spends a couple of pages brooding about how alone he is, until Jubilee brings by the mail and gives Warren an invitation to the Hellfire Club.

Psylocke walks in, and the two discuss their families’ histories with the Hellfire Club, as well as the Inner Circle’s battles with the X-Men. Warren and Betsy decide that they should go to the party to see what the Circle is up to.

At the Hellfire Club, Betsy and Warren mingle with all of the rich people, and the couple bumps into Dwayne Taylor—Night Thrasher of the New Warriors. He’s hanging out at the Club because he’s about to take part in the Child’s Play crossover that ends the Upstarts storyline. They also run into Ronald Parvenue, a character who claims to be a friend of Warren’s father who then disappears. The two X-Men are next approached by Tessa—Shinobi Shaw’s assistant who later turns out to be a spy working for Professor Xavier. She leads them to a hall away from the party, and then she knocks them both unconscious.

Both characters wake up in a basement room wearing even fancier clothes. Shinobi Shaw is sitting on a chair near them; surprise, he wants them to join the new Inner Circle. After Shaw attacks Psylocke, Archangel flips out and a big fight ensues. Both characters get in a stalemate where if Shaw solidifies his body, both characters will die. While they’re fighting, Psylocke wakes up, sneaks up on the villain, and uses her psyblade on him, causing him to have multiple flashbacks about being abused by his father Sebastian, but loved and comforted by his warm mother. Archangel tells him that he’s empty inside, and the issue closes on Shinobi Shaw sitting alone looking sad.

How It Was: This issue is an experiment in trying to shine the spotlight on two of the less popular X-Men, and unfortunately it fails for the most part. At this point the X-offices have realized that the Psylocke/Revanche stuff isn’t working too well, so the idea here is to shift the focus to another aspect of Betsy’s character, namely her wealth and affluence. And who has that in common with her? And thus begins the infamous Archangel/Psylocke relationship. A relationship that no one would question in real life (two pretty, rich people getting together seems common sense), but within the context of a monthly narrative, there wasn’t really anywhere for the relationship to go. It doesn’t have the conflict of the Gambit/Rogue relationship or the familiarity of the Scott/Jean relationship; there just isn’t a lot here for the writers’ to explore and this starts to show in future issues.

But enough with that tangent, the actual issue is what I’m here to talk about. The first half is standard, by-the-book continuance of already established plot lines. Both Sabretooth living at the mansion and the Cyclops/Jean Grey wedding get mentioned so readers don’t forget about them. There is some gratuitous brooding by Warren over his appearance and his inability to stay in a relationship. Then the issue takes a weird turn with Shinobi Shaw’s big plan of the day—asking Psylocke and Warren to join him. It just feels like Nicieza was struggling to create a conflict for this issue, and Shinobi’s actions don’t even make sense. If he wants the X-Men to join him, why attack them and then ask them? Having the resolution involve the revelation of Shinobi as a spoiled brat with daddy issues is pretty anti-climactic and reveals what a boring character he is. Sebastian Shaw was a master manipulator who carried a level of stoicism and sophistication, and it is obvious that his whiney son can’t hold a candle to him.

The art is very good, but I will mention that in an issue that is trying to build up Psylocke as a character, it is hard to take her seriously when her boobs are always gratuitously on display. One scene in particular where she and Warren are reading mail in the living room, and both her shirt and the tiny jacket she is wearing are wide open at the top, feels particularly uncalled for. This issue does tie in to an annual coming up where Shaw asks Storm to join the Inner Circle, but after that Shinobi will thankfully disappear from the pages of X-Men. This issue is just another false start for a story that never happens. Between the lame villain and the lack of any real developments, this issue is definitely for hardcore fans only. At the very least I respect it for trying to develop two characters who had been out of the spotlight for a long time, but I can’t say that it succeeded in inspiring any interest in them.

C-

X-Men #28

X-Men #28
Writing: Fabian Nicieza
Art: Andy Kubert

What Went Down:  Jubilee has a dream where she is in some dark scary woods running for her life. She finds the lifeless body of Wolverine only to be attacked by Sabretooth. Jean Grey is alerted by the girl’s screams and comforts her as she wakes up. The reason Jubilee is having nightmares is that Sabertooth has moved into the mansion as of X-Men Unlimited #3.

Jean contacts Cyclops, Beast, and Storm, and the group meets at Harry’s Hideaway to debate the matter. Some argue that the X-Men have taken in dangerous characters before while others point out that Xavier’s recent decisions have been questionable at best. Jean is the most upset by Sabretooth living in the mansion.

In the medlab, Xavier is analyzing Revanche to track the progress of the Legacy Virus in her. He asks her if she will stay with the X-Men, but she wishes to die free. Moira calls and asks Charles for some assistance.

To catch up readers, Creed was dependent on his assistant Birdy, who would give him a telepathic stimulant known as “the glow.” When she died, Creed’s need for the psychic drug overcame him, driving him even crazier. So voluntarily, he requested help from Xavier. This is necessary to know because when Psylocke attempts to recreate the glow, Sabretooth humiliates her and says that her mind is so fractured that only Jean Grey can give it to him.

Next we have a scene where Rogue has volunteered to deliver food to Creed, and Gambit is quite hesitant to allow her. Sabretooth teases the couple, revealing that he knows Gambit from his past as well as the existence of Rogue’s half brother, who later turns out to be Nightcrawler; he also hints that Rouge would be unhappy if she ever heard his stories about Gambit.

Cyclops and Jean Grey confront the professor about Sabretooth living in the mansion. Like most couples, Jean does most of the talking. Xavier understands the arguments, but feels that it is against his personal philosophies to push Creed away. Afterwards, Cyclops tells Jean that he knows that her frustration has to do with Wolverine’s absence. Moira calls, and Jean says that she needs to be the one to confront Sabretooth.

Jean enters the cell, and Sabretooth expects her to give him the glow. He attacks her, trying to intimidate her, but Jean uses her powers to knock the villain around. Jean refuses to give him the glow and proves to him that she has nothing to fear because of how much more powerful she is. Later, Jubilee volunteers to bring up Creed’s meal to confront her own fears. She finds Creed meditating, and finds it just as disturbing.

How It Was: Sabretooth joins the X-Men, and wackiness ensues. Well, “joins” is a little hasty, and that’s pretty much why this story line works, even though it eventually goes nowhere. Because Wolverine is off in his solo book feeling sorry for himself, bringing in Sabretooth does succeed in adding something interesting to the cast. This issue especially works really well as it gives all of the characters an opportunity to react to Creed in a variety of negative ways. The depiction of Sabretooth is fantastic as he is presented as a Hannibal Lechter type who all of the characters fear and respect for his savagery and potential danger.

What’s great is that Nicieza uses Creed’s living at the mansion to explore some different aspects of the characters as well as introduce some new potential stories. Jean is forced to confront her feelings about Logan, Gambit and Rogue are confronted with some potentially unsettling events from Gambit’s past, and Jubilee is forced to reevaluate her position of weakness as a novice on the team. It’s also nice to see the X-Men scrutinizing Xavier’s decisions after recent events, and it’s great to see that the X-crew being overwhelmed by this new responsibility. Plus, the climactic confrontation with Jean and Creed is some of the best material that Jean has been given in a while.

Once again Psylocke and Revanche bring down the rest of the issue. Revanche’s lone scene isn’t too bad as it’s mostly just reiterating the fact that she has contracted the Legacy Virus…again. So it’s inoffensive, yet unnecessary if you read the annual. On the other hand, Psylocke’s scene shows her needlessly confronting Sabretooth, and getting humiliated after some vague comments from him about being internally scattered. Other than that, this is a really great issue with a lot of tension and compelling emotional responses.

B+

Uncanny X-Men #309

Uncanny X-Men #309
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: John Romita Jr.

What Went Down: We start out with Xavier flashing back to the blizzard back in X-Men Unlimited #1. It is finally revealed that Magneto was in fact the one who rescued him from dying in Antarctica. The majority of this issue takes the form of a dream where Xavier is having a conversation with Magneto; one could argue that this is simply an aftereffect of having destroyed Magneto’s mind, or even the beginnings of the formation of Onslaught.

Magneto and Xavier discuss the professor’s guilt. In a really great scene, Xavier chastises dream versions of Cyclops and Jean for abandoning the team and taking up the best of Xavier’s years. Xavier also remembers his mother, who was abused by Kurt Marko—his stepfather and the father of the Juggernaut. Magneto continues to probe the cause of Xavier’s resentment of Cyclops and Jean. He brings up Charles’ relationships with Gabrielle Haller, Lilandra, and Moira MacTaggert, but those don’t seem to be the source either.

We then get to learn about Xavier’s past relationship with current Acolyte Amelia Voght. Voght was a nurse assigned to take care of Xavier after he lost the use of his legs in battle with the alien Lucifer. During his recovery, the two fell in love. By coincidence, Amelia also turned out to be a mutant. Later, Voght became frustrated with Charles’ obsession with his dream and his school. As she was leaving, in a weak moment, Xavier reached out and used his powers to change her mind, just for an instant. He realizes that this is the true source of his guilt and regret.

Professor X wakes up to Jean putting a blanket over him. The two X-Men share a tender father/daughter moment where they say they love each other.

How It Was: One of my favorite single-issue stories, this one has such a wonderful surreal quality to it. It’s really just an excellent character study that offers an opportunity to show Professor X in a different light. While the revelation of Magneto saving Xavier from X-Men Unlimited #1 comes off as a forgotten detail, the internal conversation between Magneto and Xavier makes for a nice epilogue to the Fatal Attractions story. I like that this internal reflection is brought about by something as innocuous as Xavier’s reaction to Scott and Jean’s engagement, and the way this is explored through conversation, hallucination, and flashbacks is really engaging.

Once again Lodell demonstrates what he does best, humanizing the X-Men. Seeing Xavier give in to his own selfish desires, even for a brief moment, is just fascinating to read. His relationship with Amelia Voght, while not particularly deep, offers an interesting glimpse into the formative years of Professor X and paints him in a more tragic and human light. Romita’s art isn’t quite at its best here; some of the faces are a little flat and the bodies can be a little blocky. Still, this is a really great issue for the Professor; it does something new with his character, but still feels like it fits with everything that has come before.

A

Uncanny X-Men #308

Uncanny X-Men #308
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: John Romita Jr.

What Went Down: Cyclops and Jean Grey are taking a nice walk around the school grounds on Thanksgiving morning. They reminisce about when Jean first felt attracted to Scott: a flashback shows Cyclops falling from a ladder and Jean catching him with her powers back when they were teenagers. Back in the present, Jubilee and Beast are jumping into piles of leaves, irritating Storm since she, Banshee, and Forge are the ones who are raking them.

On another part of the grounds, Gambit, Rogue, Iceman, and Bishop are making a scarecrow resembling Dr. Doom. Bishop fails to understand the purpose of the activity, despite it being explained to him. Cyclops throws Iceman a football, and Jean describes another flashback where she was sharing her feelings for Scott with the Professor. Apparently Jean’s love for Scott helped to strengthen her telepathic powers, even though Professor X placed them behind mental barriers to protect her. Cyclops then recalls the Dark Phoenix storyline and explains how Jean’s humanity transcended into the imposter Jean and caused her to noblely sacrifice herself.

In Missouri, a man leaves his wife and kids to go join the Phalanx; you can tell this because he gets on a bus that says Phalanx.

The X-Men play football while Scott and Jean sit at the top of a hill and talk. During the game, the ball is fumbled into Professor X’s lap and he is accidentally tackled. Cyclops and Jean are about to go in for dinner when Jean asks him to marry her. By the way, a pretty significant word balloon is left blank by accident on this page, so you’ll have to wait until the letters column of the next issue to read it. Cyclops says yes.

Xavier (now sporting bandages from his injuries) gives a wonderful speech at the dinner table. Scott announces the engagement and everyone goes up to congratulate them except for Xavier. The narration tells us that he has reservations, but he is going to hold onto them until next issue.

How It Was: This is a sappy issue, but then again the X-Men kind of need a sappy issue after Fatal Attractions, Bloodties, and the whole Legacy Virus killing off mutants problem. My usual complaints about Scott and Jean being too mushy when placed together do apply, but here it feels more appropriate and natural. Where Lobdell’s script really shines is the scenes with the other X-Men interacting. Beast especially is amusing, and there is a nice portrayal of the X-Men as a dysfunctional family unit. The scene with Xavier getting tackled at the end is a little much, but it is well intentioned. Lobdell makes up for it with Professor X’s hidden resentment at the engagement announcement, which I always thought was a nice touch and leads to a really great issue coming up.

The art on the other hand isn’t looking too hot this issue; Romita’s faces and characters are looking a little too blocky and over shaded in many instances. There is also the matter of the phantom voice balloon that does kind of ruin the moment. Other than that, this isn’t a particularly spectacular issue, but it is better than average, even though it is a little over-sentimental.  There just isn't much more to say about this one.

B+

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