Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Uncanny X-Periment # 83: "The World As It Could Have Been"

X-Men # 73-76, Uncanny X-Men # 356-357, X-Men # 77- 78, Uncanny X-Men # 358, Cable # 57, Uncanny X-Men # 359, Cable # 58, X-Men # 79

Despite it being so short, I have to say that I really enjoy the Kelly/Seagle run on the X-Men books. They were really starting to get things moving before their plans were shredded and they were shuffled off.

Anyways . . .

Kicking things, we have Sabra going to the mansion to retrieve Joseph, whom she believes is really Magneto. Maggot convinces her he's not and Sabra and Joseph head off to figure out just who in the world he really is.

Meanwhile, Archangel and Marrow deal with the Abomination in the sewers of NYC. There's a lot of talk about beauty, as Abomination feels Archangel has no place in his world being so good looking. In, they handle him and Marrow decides to head back to the mansion.

In Salem Center, mysterious murders keep occuring. Maggot thinks it's his slugs, Eeny and Meany, but Wolverine soon discovers it's not them and that it is in fact some N'Gari-like creatures called the Ru'Tai, who are investigating humanity for invasion or something. Eventually, the X-Men deal with them.

We then learn the origin of Maggot, which is quite tragic. He ran away when he was kid, as his parents believed he was dying. Out in the desert, seeking to kill himself, he finds that his little brother tagged along. They are then rescued by old school Magneto, who releases Maggot's slugs. It's then revealed that the slugs are in fact part of his digestive system.

The original X-Men then gather together at Scott and Jean's Alaska home for a few reasons. The main one is to figure out why Jean is wearing the Phoenix costume. The second is to re-evaluate the dream and the goals of the X-Men. They don't get a chance, as the small town Scott and Jean are living in is suddenly attacked by massive amount of killer crows.

In Africa, Storm takes the team to her old village, where it's revealed that the Shadow King has returned. Not only that, but he's set a trap for Psylocke. Her power kicks off a chain reaction that nearly kills her and knocks out all telepathy world-wide (temporarily). The new X-Men are then offered to stand beside the Shadow King while the more veteran X-Men are tortured. Psylocke, with the help of the Crimson Dawn and Storm's old foster mother (the quasi-magician Ainet), is eventually able to overcome Shadow King by trapping him in her own mind.

Jean is struck with the telepathic black-out while preparing to leave. This prompts a decision to remain in Alaska, as well as clears out some tension that was brewing between the couple.

Cable is hit by the telepathic black-out just as he is rescuing Blaquesmith from a temporarily stranded Rama-Tut (who kidnapped Blaquesmith to help him get back to the 30th century).

Up in space, Bishop and Deathbird crash on a planet that is being invaded. Bishop nearly dies saving the world and he and Deathbird depart with some tension between the two of them.

Rogue finally agrees to go through with Doctor Agee's procedure to get rid of powers. Mystique intervines and eventually, Rogue destorys the machine fearing that too many wrong decisions could be made with it.

Cable, meanwhile, goes off to that Askani cult that Ch'Varye started up during his time in this era. There, he picks up the Psimiter, a weapon that would help him in the up-coming battle with Apocalypse.

In NYC, Storm and Callisto hunt down Marrow, who is on the rampage. What set her off? A crush on Cannonball . . . and finding out that he is going home for a few weeks to take care of his sick Mama.

All in all, a fairly nice batch. The Ru'Tari issues, unfortunately, aren't very strong. Neither is the Bishop/Deathbird story any good. Rogue's sub-plot remains nicely grounded and Marrow continues to break out as a strong character. The Psi-War is good, but it could have been better. Cable's actions these days get better and better. I also liked Maggot's backstory -- cool to see it grounded so very deeply in X-Men lore, while still able to stand alone.

The crowning achievement, however, is the original X-Men/X-Factor reunion. I love seeing these characters back together again. Seagle really did a great job at bringing a sense of family and brotherhood to the original X-Men gang.

Art is good, with German Garcia filling in at times. He's not the best X-Men artist, but he's pretty good non-the-less.

~W~

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