Uncanny X-Men # 225-227, X-Factor # 24-26, The New Mutants # 59-61
The second offical X-Men crossover is something like the first. While the stories interconnect somewhat, they don't necessarily need to all be read to be understood. They are all linked - each tale - by one recurring theme: death.
When the creature known as the Adversary attacks Dallas, it's up to the X-Men and Freedom Force to team-up to stop him. While they handle damage control, Storm and Forge work through their powers on an alternate planet Earth. During their long stay, Storm's hair grows out and her powers are returned. Long story short . . . she stops being some damn angsty.
Storm and Forge are then captured by the Adversary, who has taken over Roma's omniverisal citidal. Don't know who Roma is? She's a goddess who is in charge of protecting the omniverse. What's the omniverse? All of the alternate realities.
The X-Men have the Adversary on the rocks and ultimately, to stop him, they must allow Forge to cast a spell that will driven him away forever. However, it requires the X-Men (and Maddie) to sacriface themselves to do so. I personally think this was a shitty idea on Storm's part, but oh well . . . the X-Men die and Forge leaves, full of guilt. Mystique's reaction is priceless to hearing that Rogue is dead. Roma, however, restores the X-Men to life, telling them they'll be legends.
Meanwhile . . .
Apocalypse has assembled his Four Horsemen and one of them (Death) is Angel! GASP! They attack New York and X-Factor attempts to stop them. They succeeded, but just barely. A confrontation with Apocalypse on his massive Ship (called Ship), leads to Iceman being able to break Apocalypse's mind-control over Warren. Angel and X-Factor attack Apocalypse, who then escapes with his Horsemen, allowng the team to keep Ship. X-Factor then reveals the truth about themselves to New York, help in the rescue efforts and eventually win big for Mutantkind's PR.
Meanwhile . . .
The New Mutants embark on a mission to save Bird-Brain's people and . . . I dunno. I don't have issue 60. But it looks stupid. Who the fuck is Bird-Brain, anyway? Doug Ramsey dies and it's tragic. The kids get an unfortunate taste of death and this is only made worse by Magneto. Magneto, who I must note, has some of his old human hatred return when he sees Doug's body.
The New Mutants (despite the great issue with Magneto and the team) presents the lowest point of crossover, as it's just too silly to take seriously - even Doug's death. Uncanny is the middle ground, because it is a very ambitious story with some good development for Storm, but the story dragged out too long, with too much set-up and not enough of a pay-off.
X-Factor is top of the line. Though I don't know why Beast is getting dumber, Scott and Jean have moved on from the whole Maddie fracas. They're falling in love, all over again, with Jean promising to help Scott find Nathan and Maddie. Apocalypse fulfills a lot of the potential he had when he first appeared, becoming a even bigger badass. Great moments for the rest of the gang too, from Iceman to Beast, to Warren to Caliban.
~W~
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