40) Inferno
Summary:
Madelyne Pryor has sold her soul to the demon
N’astirh. She then goes a little nuts,
calls herself the Goblyn Queen and goes and confronts Mister Sinister about her
origins. He reveals that she’s a clone
of Jean, given life from a small piece of the Phoenix force, and only created
to have a baby with Scott. She seeks
revenge on Scott and Sinister by being willing to sacrifice baby Nathan, and a
bunch of other babies, all to use this sacrifice to help N’astirh invade the
Earth. The X-Men and X-Factor intervene,
learn the truth about Maddie/Jean/Phoenix (Jean gains all three memories), and
eventually defeat her and the demons.
Meanwhile, the New Mutants fail to help Ilyanna into being manipulated
by S’ym and N’astirh and opening a portal to Limbo. Colossus helps her focus, and then she
overcomes a new transformation, and seals Limbo off from the Earth, then
reverts to childhood. X-Factor and the
X-Men track down Sinister back at the mansion, where they battle it out. Cyclops blasts Sinister apart and the two
teams go their separate ways.
Why’s It’s # 40:
I’m not a big fan of sorcery and demons in X-Men, but
this is a good story. It’s epic in
scope, full of huge revelations, big splashy fights, and a ton of character
bits. Everyone gets something to do,
there’s a real sense of drama and danger and the stakes are appropriately
high. We get lots of resolution to the
“who is Madelyne Pryor” question and a satisfying conclusion to Magik’s
journey. The art is beautiful, capturing
mood, character, and conflict very nicely.
Bottom Line:
Excellent payoff, great art, and a compelling and
revealing story. The threats are
terrifying, if a little overly-fantastic.
39) Murder at the Mansion (New X-Men # 139 -141)
Summary:
Jean catches Emma and Scott having a telepathic
affair. She confronts Emma and goes
through her memories, forcing Emma to revisit several horrible moments in her
history. Scott goes to Jean and makes
her see that he never had a physical affair with Emma. Scott takes off. Hours later, Emma’s diamond body is found
shattered. Bishop and Sage arrive and
put the school in lock-down. A spiraling
murder investigation takes place – and in the X-Men’s world, that includes
oozing eggs, mind control, temporary amnesia, fake confessions, a resurrection,
and a traitor amongst the team.
Why It’s # 39:
A key chapter in Morrison’s run, this arc peels back
several layers of characterization and shines a light on a growing mystery
within the team. Jean’s confrontation
with Emma is great; the payoff of Jean discovering their affair is
excellent. Bringing Bishop and Sage in
as outsiders adds a sense of credibility to the investigation. If this was just Scott or Logan walking
about, asking questions, you’d wonder too much if they were involved. Bishop and Sage are excellent additions to
the story. There’s some great X-Men
weirdness and some classic X-Men tropes that make it a solid read. Plus, the art is great too.
Bottom Line:
Good art, an intriguing mystery, some good
characterization, and just a nutty walk through the X-Men’s little world. Can’t ask for anything more!
38) House of M
Summary:
The X-Men and the Avengers come together to confront the
Scarlet Witch after she went crazy and destroyed the Avengers. But after arriving on Genosha, where’s been
being helped by Professor X and Magneto, the world burns white. Suddenly, Magneto is ruling the Earth,
Mutants are the dominant species, humankind is going extinct, and all the
Marvel heroes are living their dream lives, having gotten what they’ve always
wanted. Except Wolverine always wanted
his memories and now that he has them, he remembers everything that happened on
Genosha. With the help of Luke Cage,
Hawkeye, and mysterious young lady named Layla Miller, Wolverine gathers
members of the X-Men and the Avengers to attack Genosha. They do, find out that Quicksilver was behind
it all, piss off Magneto, and then Scarlet Witch, in one final act of revenge,
declares “No more Mutants,” thus ridding 98% of the Mutant population of their
powers.
Why It’s # 38:
From its opening panels to its final splash, House of M
is a huge ride through an alternate reality – that has major consequences on
the Marvel Universe. The main
mini-series smartly focuses on the attempts at getting the world back to
normal, leaving the world building to spin-offs and tie-ins. A lot of characters get the spotlight, with
Cyclops, Magneto, Quicksilver, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Doctor Strange lead
the charge. There are some powerful
moments, like when Quicksilver confronts Magneto about Wanda’s fate. There’s also some creepy stuff, like Wanda’s
meeting with Doctor Strange during the final battle. There are some interesting bits about this
might be the way that Mutants rise to power and become dominant. It’s some interesting bits like that, along
with great action sequences, and character pieces that bring this comic
together and make it greater than the sum of its parts.
Bottom Line:
An intriguing alternate reality, an unstable Marvel
family, some solid character beats, and ramifications felt throughout the
Marvel Universe. Nothing to lose here.
37) Second Coming
Summary:
Cable and Hope arrive from the future and hit the ground
running. They are immediately hunted by
the Right, the Sapien League, and the Purifiers. The New Mutants and the X-Men intercept them
and help them get to Utopia, though they take some loses on the way, including
Nightcrawler and Vanisher. Everyone
makes it back to Utopia, but Bastian manages to encase both Utopia and San
Fracisco in a force field. He then opens
a time portal and sends Nimrods from the future to wipe out Mutantkind. The X-Men and co. do their best to fight them
off, but it’s a mission into the future with X-Force that saves them. Ultimately, Bastian himself becomes involved,
but is brought down by a power-mimicking Hope (with some help from Wolverine
and Cyclops). The X-Men take their hits,
as Cable is killed as well, but they find their faith in Hope is justified.
Why It’s # 37:
This story is an epic rollercoaster. Once it gets going, it takes off. The writers do a great job maintaining the
story’s pace from issue to issue.
Cyclops really takes the cake here, putting all his faith into the X-Men
and into Hope. Cable plays a great role
as caretaker to Hope. I loved the use of
all the player available and the build-up to this story. Most of all, Hope has a great role in this
story.
Bottom-Line:
A big story building for a long comes together nicely and
neatly.
36) Avengers vs
X-Men (The Uncanny X-Men # 40-42, Avengers # 47-49, The Uncanny X-Men # 43-45,
Avengers # 53)
Story:
After the Black
Knight accidentally helps Magneto and Toad escape the Strangers prison planet, Magneto
lures Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch into a trap. They agree to join with Magneto in order to
give the Avengers time to get into action against him. Unfortunately, at the United Nations whilst
demanding Mutants get their own country, Magneto manipulates them into truly
joining his cause. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch then leave with him back to
his giant-rock-in-the-water base. Meanwhile,
the X-Men are given new costumes by Professor X and go and fight an underground
monster named Grotesque. Professor X
helps them and is killed, but it turns out he also had an incurable disease and
was going to die anyways (not really).
At the funeral, Quicksilver arrives to mourn with them. Quicksilver suddenly thinks the X-Men are
going to attack him and he takes off.
The X-Men convene at the mansion and watch a tape that Xavier has left
them, asking that they carry on with his dream and also defeat the returned
Magneto. They figure out that Magneto is
building a mind-control machine and put themselves on the ship carrying the
last component. Magneto takes the ship
and the X-Men use it to get aboard his base, but are swiftly defeated. Quicksilver asks Magneto to keep them alive
and Angel manages to escape. He goes to
get the Avengers, but is distracted by an adventure with Red Raven. Cyclops is able to free himself and then gets
in a fight with Quicksilver and defeats.
Of course, that’s when the Avengers arrive and behold Cyclops standing
above their defeated comrade. Magneto
uses his mind-control device to force the X-Men and the Avengers to fight, but
Angel turns it off and they go after Magneto.
Toad, fed up with being abused by Magneto, activates the
self-destruct. Everyone manages to
escape – except Magneto.
Why It’s # 36:
This is a classic
Silver Age epic, complete with twisting subplots and larger than life
villains. Magneto is boisterous and
fun. The X-Men and the Avengers are
dynamic. Quicksilver’s mad as hell;
Wanda is flailing about. The Avengers
and X-Men play greatly around the Magneto-Quicksilver-Scarlet Witch trio, which
is really the core of this story. It’s
interesting to put this story up against related tales, like “Bloodties” or
“House of M,” because it kicks off an arc of manipulation that Magneto doles out
on his children like candy.
Bottom Line:
Fun
Avengers/X-Men that swirls around a great Magneto family drama. Classic!
35) Schism/Regenesis
Story:
A newly-formed, all pre-teen Hellfire Club manipulate
Quiten Quire into attacking a UN summit, forcing many countries to take up new Sentinel
programs (being produced by the Hellfire Club).
As the X-Men around the globe trying to take down Sentinels all over the
world, Wolverine insists on going after Quire and bringing him to justice. Of course, that’s when Quire shows up
looking for asylum. Wolverine wants to
march him out to the Avengers, but Cyclops insists on keeping him there. Wolverine complies, but is pissed. Meanwhile, there’s a Mutant Museum opening
that night and Cyclops decides to send some X-Men and Generation Hope there as
a sign of peace. Of course, the
Hellfire Club attacks and take down everyone except for Idie. Cyclops wants Idie to use her powers to defeat
the Hellfire Club; Wolverine wants her to run.
Idie ends up using her powers and murders all of them. A bomb goes off and a new giant, Sentinel
begins to rise. Wolverine and Cyclops go
back to Utopia with Generation Hope; Cyclops wants them to fight since they’re
the only ones there. Wolverine wants to
them to run. After a confrontation,
Wolverine shows up with a bomb, ready to blow Utopia up when the Sentinel shows
up. He and Cyclops tussle and continue
to fight when the Sentinel shows up. Eventually,
Generation Hope shows up. Wolverine
throws away the bombs ignition and joins in against the Sentinel. It falls and the X-Men win . . . except
Cyclops and Wolverine are completely at odds.
Logan decides to reopen the school in Westchester. Half the X-Men and most of the students
follow him; the rest stay with Scott at Utopia.
Why It’s # 35:
I think what appeals to me so much about this is the
philosophic divide that breaks the X-Men up.
It’s far less the actual fight between Scott and Logan as it is the moral
and philosophical direct they want to the take the X-Men. It’s smart, it’s interesting, and it’s
shocking. Of all characters to take the
X-Men back to the school, Logan would be the last one I would have
expected. On the flipside, Scott is the
one I would not have expected to go the militarization route. It’s good stuff to chew on.
Bottom line:
Division in the ranks, deep philosophical divides, good
art, and excellent action scenes. It’s
the perfect 35th!
34) Fatal Attractions
Summary:
Humanity and Mutantkind are skirting the edge of
war. The Acolytes, at the command of
Fabian Cortez, attack a hospice.
X-Factor then learns that they are about to attack a new government
Sentinel program called Project Wideawake.
X-Factor is able to overcome them.
Meanwhile, shortly after the return of Cable, the mysterious Exodus
approaches some of X-Force with an offer of sanctuary. Some of them take up the offer, just to infiltrate
Exodus’ base. Cable rescues them, then
is confronted and severely injured by Magneto.
Shortly afterward, Illyana succumbs to the Legacy Virus. Magneto crashes her funeral and engages the
combined forces of the X-Men, X-Factor, X-Force, and Excalibur. He offers them a place on his orbital space
station of Avalon. Colossus, feeling
failed by Professor X, accepts this offer.
Professor X takes control of Magneto’s mind and accesses his powers to
throw Avalon away from the Earth. After
a failed assassination attempt whilst visiting Magda’s grave, SHIELD and the
United Nations institute a protocol to magnetically seal the Earth from
Magneto. Magneto retaliates by
unleashing a worldwide electro-magnetic pulse.
A small team of X-Men attack Avalon, leading to a battle in which
Professor X uses manipulated memories of Magneto’s failures to undermine
him. Magneto then rips Wolverine’s
adamantium off his bones. Desperate,
Professor X wipes Magneto’s mind out. The
X-Men return to Earth and save Wolverine.
Some of them head to Muir Island, kidnap Colossus, and help cure him
from being stuck in his metal form. He
still refuses to return to the X-Men.
But in the aftermath of this mission, a new Excalibur team is formed.
Why It’s # 34:
I’ll be honest, even though the summary I gave is for the
proper issues of the actual crossover, you almost need to add to it Uncanny
X-Men 298 – 306 and Annual 17, X-Men # 24, X-Men Unlimited # 2, Uncanny X-Men #
315, and X-Men # - 1. These books
provide context for what is happening in the X-Men’s world during this crisis –
attacks by the Acolytes, the manipulations by the Upstarts, the growing threat
of the Legacy Virus, the rise of the Friends of Humanity hate group. These all frame the larger threat of
Magnetos’ return from his latest supposed ‘death.’ It’s some dark times for the X-Men, that’s
for sure. This crossover does one of two
things, thematically. Firstly, it shows
just what lengths Professor X and Magneto will go to in order to stop the
other. The assaults of visceral, the
attempts making peace are genuine, and the annihilated friendship between them
is almost painful. The second is that
it challenges the various stars of the titles in deep, personal ways. X-Factor’s trust in their government allies
is tainted. X-Force is torn between
their old teachers. The X-Men are
brought down by tragedy and fairly unethical methods of attack. Wolverine must confront the demons with his
own mind to survive. Excalibur,
scattered and diminished, has to discover a new role in the world. Coupled with these excellent framing issues,
we have what is one of my own personal favorites.
Bottom Line:
Possibly the defining X-Men 90s story, along with some
extras, makes for an exciting and action-packed story.
33) Intifida (X-Treme X-Men # 31 – 35)
Summary:
In the small city of Valle Soleada, a family is killed
after some Mutant teens buzz their van.
The only survivor, a young woman by the name of Marie, later puts on an
explosive vest and plans to bomb a Lila Cheny concert. Rogue and Cannonball, who are attending,
manage to stop her and bring her in.
Rogue learns that after the accident, the relatively peaceful and
pro-Mutant/Human community, has been trying to push for more Mutant homes. She refuses to sell her parents house, but is
haunted by horrible nightmares – bad enough to push her uncle into
selling. It turns this move is being
sponsored by that branch of the X-Corporation, which is headed by Sunspot and
Empath. The X-Men – including Bishop and
Sage – look further into this. Valle
Soleada was the manifestation of Xavier’s dream, but is on track to being
Mutant only, thus causing tension between the species. The X-Men track down Revenant, who has been
responsible for the dreams. They
confront Sunspot, who assures them that he’ll look into his. Meanwhile, the kids responsible are found not
guilty due to lack of evidence. Marie, in the meantime, is taken in by the
X-Men and comes to grips with her anger.
All the while, Gambit and Storm infiltrate an informal
Mutant-related meeting in Texas, which consists of both major world leaders and
fictional characters like Val Cooper.
Why It’s # 33:
I’m betting some people are a little surprised to find
this one here, but it’s one of the most realistic takes on the Mutant/human
conflict I’ve ever read. It’s not a
battle between Sentinels and Evil Mutants.
It’s dumb kids with super powers and families in mini-vans. It’s by-standers at a rock concert. It’s politicians and world leaders. It’s cops trying to deal with a crazy,
untrained Mutant teenager. It’s a hate
group getting to the youth of America.
It’s lawyers knocking on the door with absurd pitches.
It’s not perfect, of course, and it doesn’t close this
story up completely, as it started in “Schism” and ended in “The Burning Eyes” (or
something). But it paints a picture of a
community caught in a transition and seeing the race card handed out. Most people don’t care, but those that do are
doing it loudly.
I also liked the politicians at Bush ranch. It’s always neat to me to see real
politicians alongside fictional ones. It’s also kinda interesting to see how much
impact just saying “9/11” had; not mention the frequent use of “Weapons of Mass
Destruction.” Geez.
Bottom Line:
Not the most perfect story, but definitely one of the
best of Claremont’s “second coming” (as it were). Nice realism and decent intrigue.
32) The Phoenix Saga (Uncanny X-Men # 98 – 108)
Summary:
The X-Men are attacked on Christmas Eve by some Sentinels
and Wolverine, Professor X, Banshee, and Marvel Girl. The X-Men mount a rescue and arrive at an
orbital space station, where they fight Sentinels before being confronted robotic versions of the original X-Men. More fisticuffs ensue, and the X-Men eventually engage Stephen Lang, the guy
behind the Sentinels, and after a confrontation and explosion, he is
killed. Unfortunately, the shuttle is
damaged and there’s a big ol’ solar flare coming. Jean volunteers to fly the shuttle and they
end up crashing into the ocean. Jean
then rises as Phoenix. Meanwhile,
Professor X is haunted by strange, alien dreams and visions. Eric the Red, a Shi’ar agent, unleashes foe
after foe against the X-Men, including a revived Magneto, Juggernaut and Black
Tom, and Firelord. Eventually, the X-Men
make to the heart of the Shi’ar Empire, where it’s revealed that the empire is
under the control of the vile emperor D’ken, who wishes to use the M’kraan
Crystal to . . . take over the universe?
Something like that. The X-Men
team up with the space pirates the Starjammers and D’ken’s sister,
Lilandra. They fight D’ken and then
Phoenix rises and uses her power and her love for the X-Men to bind the
crystal. And then the X-Men pack it on
home.
Why It’s # 32:
This is basically like the X-Men’s answer to Star
Wars. It’s a huge, sweeping space opera
that pits our heroes against intergalactic warlords, space pirates, kings and
queens, spies, and revitalized old enemies.
There’s a love story between Charles and Lilandra that, I feel, is very
unique and interesting. Jean’s sacrifice
into becoming the Phoenix is such a great, monumental moment. It’s solid storytelling that, while it sways
into silliness sometimes (Leperchauns?), is really quite awesome.
Bottom Line:
A huge X-Men space epic that serves as such a focal point
in their narrative. This is the first
big story that Clarement takes on and he knocks it outta the park.
31) All New X-Men (All New X-Men # 1- 14)
Summary:
Beast decides that, to show the present day Cyclops the
error of his ways, to teleport the original X-Men to the present. Things . . . kinda go wrong after that. The team decides to stay, they encounter
Cyclops’s X-Men, they meet up with the Uncanny Avengers, Angel leaves for
Cyclops’ team, and they fight Mystique, Sabretooth, and Lady Mastermind.
Why It’s # 31:
If you had ever told me that Bendis would be writing an
X-Men title about the original X-Men time traveling into the present and then
staying there – and that it would be good – I would have laughed in your
face. But the fact of the matter is,
Bendis nails it. Placing these
characters, who during the time period they taken from were barely sketches of
themselves, into a new context and a new situation brings out new strokes and
new characterizations. Scott, troubled
by his future self, goes inward. Jean,
confronted by her demise and her future, steps up as a pseudo-leader. Warren becomes more a rebel. Bobby and Hank basically remain the same,
but are a lot more fun. The threats aren’t
anything to be fussed about, but it’s the character moments that sell this
story, especially in terms of Scott and Jean.
Bottom Line:
Despite a few continuity blips, this is opening story. I
know including the first 14 issues is a bit of a cheat, but it’s the best open
and close of this particular saga. All
New X-Men is an interesting example of taking Silver Age era characters and
placing them in the modern world.
Sorry this took so long to get together, but I hope it was worth the wait. 30 - 21 should be here soon(ish)!
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