Uncanny X-Men # 316, X-Men # 36, Uncanny X-Men # 317, X-Men # 37, X-Factor # 106, X-Force # 38, Excalibur # 82, Wolverine # 85, Cable # 16
Okay. This is a tough one. You see, this is another crossover, but it's a smidge different. So I'm going to give you the basic premise, then break it up into little nuggets. Ready? Here we go.
Cameron Hodge, old-schooler Stephen Lang, and a number of other humans that hate Mutants have used Warlock and Doug Ramsey's genetic samples to infect themselves with the transmode virus, which in turn, allows them to join in with the alien collective life-form known as the Phalanx. Fun ensues.
With the first third of the story (dubbed "Generation Next), Banshee finds that all of the X-Men save for Emma Frost, Jubilee, and Sabretooth have been replaced by Phalanx duplicates. The Phalanx, under orders from Hodge and Lang and working for the seperated being called Harvest, are after the "next generation" of Mutants - being Paige Guthrie, Monet St. Croix, Jubilee, Everret Thomas, Angelo Espinosa (take that, Chuck Austen), and Clarice Ferguson. Unfortunately, the Phalanx grab everyone but Everret and Jubilee. These two, along with the Emma, Creed, and Sean, go after Harvest and the next gen. A battle ensues and Clarice sacrifaces herself by "blinking" Harvest out of existence, thusly saving everyone else.
The second portion of the story ("Life Signs") centers around X-Force, X-Factor, and Excalibur. Professor X has summoned them after Muir Island is taken over by the Phalanx, the aliens hoping to find a way to find a way to transmode Mutants. It's while the teams assemble at an old Acolytes base that Cannonball, Forge, and Wolfsbane meet with Douglock. As it turns out, Douglock is a combination of the genetic templates of Warlock and Doug, whose cells were blah blah blah. You read two paragraphs up. Anyways, Cannonball doesn't trust Douglock, but Wolfsbane does and Forge is facsinated by the Phalanx. They foursome teleport to where one of Phalanx (another one that has broken off from the collective mind) named Shinar is building a transmitter to summon the rest of the Phalanx. Cannonball, Douglock, and Wolfsbane find a way to work together while Shinar manipulates Forge into maintaining, uh, baby Phalanx . . . es. A team them shows up, helps beat people up, and the day is saved! Except . . .
Just where are those pesky X-Men? And what about Lang and Hodge? In the final part of this story ("Final Sanctions"), Cyclops and Phoenix are reunited with both Cable and Wolverine on Muir Island, which is overrun with Phalanx. From there, the four track down the captured X-Men and the base of the Phalanx at the Mt. Everest. There's a battle, the X-Men are freed, Hodge and Lang kinda blow up, and all of the Phalanx are destroyed.
So what do I thnk of this? Well, to be honest, it's probably the worst X-Men crossover to date. Lousy coordination, thinly plotted, and just an overall mess. The writers - Fabian Nicieza, Scott Lobdell, and Larry Hama - don't seem to have a full grasp on what they want the Phalanx to be. One minute, they're an experiment gone wrong. The next, they're a new alien species. Then, they're the new generation of Warlock's race.
Secondly, there's very little characterization in this story. While yes, the Cable/Phoenix/Cyclops dynamic is pretty cool all post-"Adventures," it's one of the few shining character developments around. This really felt like a vehicle for Generation X and Douglock - both of which aren't around 10 years later. But there's nothing personal at stake here. We know the X-Men are captured, but we have no real sense of danger towards them. We know the world is at stake, but there's no clear picture of it. And while the idea and even the imagery of Phalanx is neat, there's nothing to them but a convulted, uninteresting mess. Half the time, the villians are breaking off from the collective mind to do things that are just as evil if they had remained connected. Having them disconnected adds far too much crap to the story. At the end of the story, I don't care about these characters like I did Magneto, Stryfe, Maddie, or Apocalypse. Heck, at least Sabretooth and Hodge were interesting back in "Mutant Massacre" and "X-Tinction Agenda," respectively.
The art is such a mixed bag, too. Joe Mad, Adam and Andy Kubert, and Tony Daniel kick ass. They bring some great texture to the story, fleshing it out best they can. But the work of Ken Lashley, Steve Skorce (which is a big surprise), and Jan Dureshma (sp) fails to interest or excite.
I'll grant that there are some nice moments to this story. Banshee and Emma get some nice development, setting up a nice foundation for what's to come. I mentioned the Summers family, but Logan has some good moments with both Scott and Jean, too. It's also neat to see a crossover that barely has the X-Men at all (save for Scott, Jean, Logan, and Sean) except for the very ending. On the same token, seeing Professor X boss around X-Force, X-Factor, and Excalibur is a nice switch.
But let's face it - even with all that, this story is flat and flimsy.
~W~
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