Sunday, December 17, 2006

Uncanny X-Periment # 80: "New Beginnings"

X-Force # 70, Uncanny X-Men # 347-350, X-Men # 70

In the aftermath of "Operation: Zero Tolerance," the X-Teams pull back. X-Force pick up Domino, then meet up with Cable. Cable offers them a chance to start over with brand new identities. Domino, Rictor, and Shatterstar all leave. Sunspot, Meltdown, Syrin, Moonstar (she's back), and Warpath (eventually) reject Cable's plans and decide that they're strong enough to chose their own fates. Cable then leaves them.

Now, down in Antartica, the other X-Men team (Gambit, Rogue, Joseph, Beast, and Trish) all awaken in what at first appears to be an alien world, but turns out to be a massive series of underground tunnels. Gambit is captured by bounty hunters (and former friends) Spat and Grovel, who want Remy to pay for his past crimes. They meet up with Rogue and Joe, and then they are ALL captured by Nanny and her cohorts (remember Nanny?). Joseph is taken to a special cell, where he learns about OZT (which is running parallel with this story) and he starts to get pissed.

Meanwhile, powers shut off, Rogue starts to have memories of Gambit's past float up to the surface of her mind. Uncertain and full of doubts, Gambit tells her to push them away. He then tells her that they have one night that could be their first and last.

They make love.

The next morning, Gambit is full of angst. Sooner or later, Joesph is able get freed and meets up with them. Gambit, Rogue, Spat and Grovel then break loose and when it comes time to face Nanny, Trish and Beast pop by and take her out. Gambit then turns himself over to his former pals and current bounty hunters so that he can finally face down his terrible secret.

Meanwhile, in NYC, the mysterious Mutant named Maggot is on the trail of Joseph. Psylocke, sensing a darkness within him, goes to investigate him. Archangel gets involved from there. Eventually, they end up teleported down into a massive structure in Antartica.

Rogue and co. go searching for Gambit, but soon, all end up in a massive citadel. It's there Gambit is put on trail by Erik the Red, a cover name once more. Then, the truth is revealed. Mr. Sinister hired Gambit (during a peroid of despression) to not only assemble to Marauders, but also to lead them into the Morlock Tunnels to wipe them out. This stuns all those there. However, in revealing this truth, Erik the Red forced Rogue to kiss Gambit. This allowed her to gain his powers and free Maggot and the X-Men. The place crumbling around them, Psylocke gets everyone but Gambit and Rogue out of there. Instead, Rogue rescues Gambit . . . only to drop him off right outside - abandoning him. With the X-Men gone and Erik the Red on his way out, Erik the Red changes into his real attire . . . that of Magneto!

WHA - ?! But what about Joseph?!? What the -- ?!

Anyways, Iceman, Reyes, and Marrow arrive at the mansion . . . stunned to find it stripped bare. It's then that the other team of X-Men (Cyclops, Phoenix, Wolverine, Cannonball, and Storm) show up with Scott, who has a nanite-assembling bomb in his belly. Doctor Reyes soon leaps into action, trying her best to save Scott. However, things get complicated as tensions are high with Marrow hanging around, giving Storm trouble. Things get even more worse when the Juggernaut shows up with a lawyer, trying to claim the mansion as his own.

Luckily, the rest of the X-Men (sans Psylocke and Archangel) show up, with newcomer Maggot. There's a brief skirmish, but Juggy and his lawyer depart, laughing at the poor luck the X-Men are having. With the help of Marrow's bones, Reyes gets the bomb out just as it's ready to denonate. They give it to Maggot, who has one of his maggots eat it. The X-Men breathe a sigh of relief as Scott lives, but problems are around them. Scott, though, remains optimistic.

Oh, and Bishop is lost in space.

Hands down, one of my favorite X-Men stories. Lobdell has left the building, which isn't great because he did a pretty good job, all things considered. But it's nice to have some fresh air in the X-House - and with Joe Kelly and Steve Seagle, it's a good air.

The whole Gambit/Rogue subplot takes another step forward and it's very nicely done. The "sex scene" (which is kinda subtle and sad) is nice, and all the angst that Gambit carries with him is well done. His involvement in such a big event is nice addition, really making his actions resonate with the history of the X-Men.

I love seeing the characters interact, from the oldies like Iceman and Beast to fresher charcters like Reyes and Marrow. Splendid work from all involved. Good character development and it's nice to see some new changes taking place in the X-Men's (and X-Force's) world.

Below the surface, there's a nice story here. The X-Men, despite going through all the crap of the Onslaught, the Creed assassination, OZT, Gambit's trial and the bomb scare, are pulling themselves out of that tunnel of darkness. Just like they always do.

And that's one of the reasons I just love the X-Men.

~W~

2 comments:

shmoo said...

I can't believe you're following X-Man, of all comics, but skipped through New Mutants and the original X-Factor!

Yes, you have a reader.

KHW said...

Wow! A comment that doesn't link to Gay porn! Awesome!

The reason I'm including X-Man (and I should point out that I'm not including the entire series)is that there are issues that tie heavily into the main X-Men mythos. It's the same reason why I didn't include more of New Mutants and X-Factor - because not all of the issues tie into the overall X-Men story.

Thanks for your interest!

However, a second reason is also that I don't have the complete series of New Mutants and X-Factor. Perhaps, when I'm finished with the main X-Men comics, I'll try and fill in the gaps of my collection and attempt to get a hold of the complete runs of all the X-Titles. If and when that happens, you'll see me do a similair thing that I'm doing now.