A few months ago, I mentioned how every time there’s a big (uber-big) shift in the creative end of the X-Men’s world, we see things get wrapped up. Not just little things, but big subplots. It happens once back in 1990-1991, with the “Cleaning Out the X-House,” with signaled the end of the Claremont era and the coming of all those after him: Nicieza, Lobdell, Waid, Kelly, Seagle, Davis, Claremont (again), and Lobdell (again). It was in that “Cleaning Out the X-House” we saw most of Claremont/Simonson’s plots and subplots come together and allow for a new era of the X-Men to begin. Well, that era came and went. Now, we prep for a new era by having all the old 90s subplots wrapped up. Therefore, behold the “Changing of the X-Guard!”
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X-Men Forever # 1-6
A lot happens here and it’s very confusing. Thus, I will just summarize it briefly.
The gist of this story is that Prosh returns from his journeys out in space. Upon his return, he grabs Juggernaut, Toad, Mystique, Iceman, and Phoenix and sends them through time to unlock a mystery. Their journey and destination are all based on the characters themselves.
Phoenix hits key points involving her time with the Phoenix, because it was the first time a Mutant had come into contact with an upper force in the universe. Iceman was sent because he hadn’t achieved the full potential of Mutant powers. Juggernaut was sent because he was jealous of Mutants and their powers, but when he had gained powers his own, he squandered them. Mystique went back saw glimpses of a behind-the-scenes conspiracy and saw the rest that humans and Mutants offered to each other. Toad was sent because he too had yet been able to achieve his ultimate Mutant potential, as well as being in contact with both the conspiracy Mystique had seen and the true power behind the throne.
It turns out that someday Mutants will replace the upper powers of the universe (Chaos, Order, Living Tribunal, etc. – all those really powerful guys that got their asses handed to them by Thanos during the “Infinity Gauntlet”).
This team explored the power and potential of Mutantkind . . . and then, after returning, learned that they were sent on that mission by Prosh in the hopes of stopping themselves from getting to that level. Why? Because the Stranger had taken control of Prosh in the hopes of using Mutantkind to achieve the upper power levels.
Eventually, they are able to defeat the Stranger by freeing Prosh. Prosh then captured the Stranger and they go out of time/space together in exile. This leave Mutantkind with the choice of determining what direction they need to take.
There’s a lot to love here, but a lot to dislike too. So let’s talk about the love, huh?
This really wraps up some plot threads from the 90s, including who really killed Graydon Creed (Mystique did, using timed delayed weapons); how Astra left Magneto; Jean’s relationship with the Phoenix (to an extent); the connection between Marko and Ryking; and how Legion learned what he had to to head back in time. This is all revealed, on top of some very great character development, especially on the parts of Juggernaut, Toad, and Iceman, who find that they just haven’t lived up to their full potential.
The art by Kevin Maguire is fantastic. I love it. He captured the action, the emotion, and the broad ideas of this story so very well.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot left unsaid. The conspiracy is really cool . . . but we barely even see it. And that’s all we get of it. We’re left back at square one with that plot point. The story is a bit overly-complicated. We’re left with an impression that these guys should be able to figure it all out . . . but they don’t. Leaving us readers scratching our heads until it’s spelled out – using big words. This is my third reading of this mini-series and I’m just now understanding what Nicieza.
In that way, it’s probably the best and worst aspects of Nicieza’s writing. We get a great story with good character development and big ideas . . . that proves to be too complicated and leaves too much dangling. The good thing is that this is one of the best of his X-Men stories.
There’s a real big feel of the mini-series and I love that we see it stretched from end-to-end of the X-Men’s history. It’s too bad it pretty much gets ignored, though.
~W~
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