Uncanny X-Periment # 68: "Back to Normal"

. . . or "Fall of Avalon, Rise of Gene Nation"

X-Men: Prime, X-Man # 5, Uncanny X-Men # 322, X-Men # 42-44, X-Force # 44, Generation X # 5-6, Uncanny X-Men # 323-324, Wolverine # 93, Uncanny X-Men # 325, X-Men # 45

Flashback: 1995

My Dad turned to me after a trip to the local comic book shop. In my hands were the last issues of the "Age of Apocalypse." He smiles amusingly and says "So, what happens when this is all over? Everything just goes back to normal and they look around go 'What was that?' and go on their way?"

Yes, Dad, they do.

Yep, the AoA is over. And despite having been an alternate reality, the ramifications into the real world ripple out from the event. Bishop retains some memories of the AoA. Nathan Summers (now going as "Grey") smashes onto Earth, causing massive telepathic shockwaves that devestate the Astral Plane for all telepaths. Holocaust appears to Avalon in a large hunk o' ice. Dark Beast, as it turns out, has been hanging out the Morlock tunnels for twenty years. Likewise with Surgar Man and Genosha.

However, events are in motion that change the X-Men. The various creators take this post-AoA time to enject some shake-up to the Mutant populace. Trish Tibly, betraying Beast, reveals to the public that humans are able to be infected by the Legacy Virus. Arcade blows up X-Force's base, prompting them to head to the mansion at Xavier's request. Excalibur is doing some stuff in Genosha. Havok loses control of his powers. Gambit's in a coma due to Rogue's kiss and Rogue and Iceman have hit the road to escape their troubles. Wolverine is back at the mansion, but refuses to come in since Sabretooth is in there, hangin' out. Sabretooth, might I add, is pretty harmless Wolverine popped a claw into his brain right before the AoA started.

And a young Mutant is lynched and killed by mob while trying to make it to Xavier's. This is all in X-Men: Prime, by the way.

So yeah, Nate Grey has crashed landed on Earth 616 and is so totally dazed and confused. He eventually is helped by some Swidish guy and falls asleep on his couch. Not long afterwards, a woman walks in and wakes him up. Who is it? Holy crap! It's Madelyne Pryor!

Meanwhile, in Hoboken, NJ, Pyslocke, Beast, and Bishop are stunned when the Juggernaut slams into the ground. Juggernaut wakes up and starts jibber-jabbering about being hit all the way from Canada and remarks on how it can't be a coincidence that he landed near some X-Men. The trio subdue him, which is strange considering how strong he should be. Juggernaut falls and tells them that a being called Onslaught slugged him there. He then goes catatonic. As this is unfolding, Archangel and ex-girlfriend Charlottle Jones check out a mass murder caused by mysterious Mutants. It's so disturbing, even Archangel is stunned.

Up on board Avalon, the Acolytes make a massive mistake by listening to crazy ol' Exodus and awakening the frozen Holocaust (note to Exodus: if he's not wearing red, white, and blue OR Brenden Fraser, it ain't safe to unthaw a person -- if you get that reference, pat yourself on the back). Holocaust promptly wipes out most of the Acolytes (including poor Rusty), while Colossus snags Magneto and gets him to an escape pod. Vought heads to Earth and grabs Cyclops and Phoenix just as they are pulling into Xavier's driving. With Holocaust and Exodus tearing apart Avalon fighting each other, Cyclops grabs the remaining Acolytes (Unuscione, the Klienstocks, Cargill, and Scanner) and helps them to the surface. Jean, in the meantime, makes to the Earth with Skids. Holocaust and Exodus just kinda crash. Vought meets up Xavier, they rehash some feelings, and she heads off. Cyclops and the rest of the Acolytes end up in Australia and wander to the X-Men's old town base, and subsequently contact the X-Men and have 'em pick their asses up.

Back at the mansion, Xavier asks Cable to have X-Force live at the mansion for a while. They do so, get new uniforms, Richtor takes off, and Caliban joins. Cannonball then becomes a full-fledged member of the X-Men! W00t!

In New York, some of the Generation X kids encounter a Mutant terrorist group called Gene Nation. They escape with Leech and Artie, who were captured by Gene Nation. Not long afterwards, Storm, Wolverine, and Cannonball encounter more of Gene Nation, where it's revealed they were the ones that were responsible for the mass murder that shook Archangel.

Then Juggernaut wakes up and takes off for the mansion. He bumps into Wolverine and Cannonball at a local bar, but decides not to duke it out and instead just takes off . . . only to end up caught in a dimensional rift (which takes him over to the Ultraverse, though I'm not sure if we're allowed to talk about that).

The X-Men and Generation X then have a baseball game. This is interrupted by the arrival of Colossus and Calisto, as Calisto rescued Peter after his escape pod crash landed in Antartica (with no sign of Magneto). They rally some X-Men together, revealing that Mikhail teleported some of the Morlocks to an alternate dimension where time runs differently. A girl named Marrow (who power is to make her bones into her own personal weapons) leads this team of vengeful young Morlocks called Gene Nation. And today, on the anniversary of the Mutant Massacre, they have captured and plan to as many humans as Mutants were killed. The X-Men rush down to stop them and Storm comes face-to-face with Marrow. Marrow has placed a sensor on her heart - if she dies, the bombs on the humans won't go off. But if Storm doesn't kill her in time "BOOM!" Storm is then forced to kill Marrow, which is quite devastating.

Then, Gambit goes after Rogue, who is in Seattle (where Gambit did some shitty things, I guess). There's an emotional confrontation, where it's revealed that Rogue is scared of the fact that Gambit is scared of the secrets he has and Rogue might know. Rogue rejects Gambit's offer to learn the truth and rushes off, leaving the X-Men AND Gambit. Iceman flies back to mansion while Gambit is confronted by Sinister, who is cryptic.

My fingers hurt.

Now, I know that I've been pretty light-hearted with all this stuff above, but I'll be honest when I say it's pretty good. There's some nice characterization all around for various members of the Mutant team. Some of the art teams take a well-deserved break, allowing for Bryan Hitch and Pascul Ferry to pop by and do some spectacular work. When Joe Mad and Andy Kubert come back, they're at the top of their game again.

I'll admit that I don't care for the interlacing and weaving subplots. Too many of these issues depend on other books to pick up on the subplots. It works, but it's a cheap ploy that really comes off as a bit . . . cheap.

But overall, this is a pretty neat period of X-Men history. We see the beginnings of another Marvel crossover here (Onslaught), as well as new and developing storylines and character arcs.

~W~

UXP # 67: Age of Apocalypse # 6: "Finale"

Astonishing X-Men # 4, Factor-X # 2, X-Man # 2-4 (until page 18), Factor-X # 3, X-Man # 4 (rest of issue), Factor- X # 4, Gambit and the X-Ternals # 4, Amazing X-Men # 4, Weapon X # 3, X-Universe # 1, Weapon X # 4, X-Universe # 2, X-Men: Omega (with Blink # 4)

And thus ends the Age of Apocalypse. I'll be doing a complete overview of the entire crossover in a bit, but first, let's get down to business people . . .

First, between Indianapolis, the X-Men encounter Holocaust and his genetic slushy factory. An awesome battle ensues, resulting in the freeing of the humans, the end of the cullings in Chicago and Indianapolis, and Holocaust barely escaping. Iceman then catches up with the X-Men (with a barely recovering Sabretooth by his side) and informs the team that Apocalypse has taken Magneto and Bishop captive.

Back in New York City, someone is letting prisoners out of the Pens (where humans and low-grade Mutants are held for experimentation and whatnot). One such Mutant - Lorna Dane aka. Polaris - is released by Cyclops. Cyclops gets caught by members of the EMF (Elite Mutant Force, remember?) Northstar and Aruora. Cyclops takes them down and get Lorna to Val Cooper, who is working with the Human High Council. Havok spies his brother doing this and vows vengenace.

In the mid-west, Nate Summers is pressured into using his powers by the ever-mysterious and untrustworthy man named Essex. This includes the destruction of a massive genetics plant that nearly gets Forge's little resistance cell killed. It also catches the attention of Caliban, Domino, and Grizzly (who have just killed Omega Red), who are hunting down Nate. Nate and the group takes them down, but they lose Mastermind and Toad in the process. Essex then kills Brute and Forge, before revealing himself to be Mr. Sinister! Gasp! Apocalypse then reveals Nate's origins to him - that he was the result of the bonding of Scott and Jean's genes, creating the ultimate living weapon against Apocalypse. Nate gets pizzed and blasts Sinister, then heads off to face his destiny. Sinister then dies.

At the same time, back NYC, Jean Grey arrives from Europe, out to warn whomever she can and to free the Pens. She is unfortunately captured and taken to the Dark Beast (McCoy). Havok then summons Scott to see her, with the evidence that he helped Lorna Dane just the night before. Scott is subdued, but with Jean's help, the pair escape and vow to free the Pens. When he learns this, Apocalypse orders the newly-promoted Havok to wipe out the Pens. As Scott and Jean slink around Apocalypse's base, they bump into Nate, who is off to kill Apocalypse. They part ways, Jean's power having been unleashed thanks to being around Nate, with whom they all felt a connection with.

The Bedlam Brothers (Jesse and Aaron) don't care for the idea of wiping out the Pens and join with Jean and Scott in freeing them. Dark Beast gets a taste of his medicine, the Bedlams take out the Guthries, and Scott punches Alex out (finally!). The survivors of the Pens then evacuate the base.

Not too far away, Gambit, Lila, Guido, and Jubilee arrive from the Shi'ar with M'Kraan Crystal. They then find little baby Charles, who is grabbed by Guido. After a confrotation with Richtor, it's revealed that Guido is a traitor and he takes both Charles and the crystal to Apocalypse. Richtor is subsequently executed for mucking up. Gambit, Lila, and Jubilee bump into Dazzler and Exodus, who take them back to the mansion, where they meet up with the just-arriving Rogue and her team of X-Men, plus Colossus, Shadowcat, Illyana, Nightcrawler, and Destiny. Rogue is non-too-pleased to hear about Charles' kidnapping on top of her husbands.

Quicksilver then arrives with Storm and Bishop. During his time rescuing Bishop, Banshee sacrifaced himself to kill Abyss (and, in turn, facing his own fears of death) and the heart of the Madri (Apocalypse's priests) is revealed to be Jamie Madrox, from which all of the Madri are duplicates of. Madrox kills himself and all of the Madri perish.

Across the pond, in Europe, things are a brewin' too. The Human High Council has moved their nuclear fleet over to the remains of Paris, but the navigation is still out. So Logan heads over to Wundagore Mountain to retrieve Gateway, who has basically absorbed as much human history as possible. He meets up with Carol Danvers, but the two of them are unable to convince Gateway to help. Pierce then shows up again and Carol sacrifaces herself to take him out. This is enough to push Gateway into at least listening to the Human High Council's plot.

Over in London, the Fourth Horsemen arrives, Mikhail. Mikhail has come to intiate a peace process with the humans and take some of them . . . for a reason that isn't really mentioned. The Human High Council's Chief of Security Victor VonDoom agrees to go, along with Clint Batron, Tony Stark, Ben Grim, Sue Storm, Gwen Stacy, Donald Blake, and Dr. Banner (who is secretly the traitorous Hulk). The humans emotions are being manipulated into trusting Mikhail by Empath (one of the few surviving Hellions in the regular universe), who is being controlled the mysterious Murdock. As it turns out, the humans are going to enhanced into killer cyborgs, but Tony Stark saw something like this coming and strikes out against Mikhail. With the rest of the group, they save the humans (led out of Mikhail's ship by a man named Bullseye) and seek to highjack the ship. Not everyone makes it, including Ben. VonDoom and Blake help take down Mikhail. The Hulk, who at this point has long since been revealed a traitor to the cause, is then betrayed when Apocalypse sets his Atlantic Defense Perimeter on the move to wipe out Europe and Asia once and for all. Banner, Gwen, Stark, Clint and VonDoom then charge forward, with Mikhail's ship leading the way to America to nuke the crap outta it.

But how will they get there? In Paris, the convoy comes under attack from Pierce and then now-cyborged Carol Danvers. Also, Brian Braddock is being controled by Pierce, but manages to break away from the mind-control long enough to save Emma Frost and the convoy. Pierce then kills Carol, who was also breaking away, and Logan slices up Pierce with his hidden claws in his stub. Gateway then opens a portal to America for the nuclear convoy to enter, just as the Atlantic Defense Grid strikes against the humans.

And now we come to it.

The X-Men attack Apocalype's base to rescue Magneto, Charles, and the M'Kraan Crystal. When they arrive, they're stunned to find that part of the base has been destroyed already (by Jean, Scott, and probably the Bedlam brothers) and the Pens emptied. After Angel (strapped with a bunch of explosions) slams into a force field generator, the X-Men enter into the base and soon find themselves facing down the M'Kraan. It's then Destiny reveals what is happening and confirms what Bishop has said. Bishop, Destiny, and Illyana must enter the M'Kraan to correct things. At that moment, Nate shows up to fight Apocalypse, but is distracted by Holocaust.

Upon learning that she isn't alive in the old timeline, Magneto must talk Illyana into helping them. She agrees. Meanwhile, across the city, Scott and Jean continue to help the humans evacuate into New Jersey. When the bombs start to fall all over the US, Jean flips out and holds the bombs in place from hitting New York and New Jersey. Logan arrives, but is too late. Havok kills her, then Scott. The bombs are ready to fall. Logan then kills Alex and mourns over Jean's body.

Back at Apocalype's HQ, Bishop flies back in time to Israel and manages to stop Legion from killing either Magneto or Professor X. He and Legion then fade away in a fury of temporal energy and the X-Men in that era vanish. It's as if Legion and the X-Men weren't even there at all.

In the present, the X-Men fight desperately, but there numbers have gone to shit as tragedy forms. Surgar Man leaps from Colossus' boot and goes into the M'Kraan, heading after Illyana. Colossus flips out, accidently kills Iceman, then Shadowcat. With such grief and pain, Gambit kills Colossus in response. Quicksilver manages to save Illyana, having also lost a sibling.

Rogue rescues Charles from Guido as Magneto battles it out with Apocalypse. He is then joined by Nathan and they both have Apocalypse on the ropes. Unfortunately, Holocaust steps up and engages Nate in battle. Nate shoves a shard of the M'Kraan Crystal in Holocaust and the pair vanish. Magneto then rips Apocalypse in half in what is probably one of the best X-Men scenes ever. As the Age of Apocalypse comes to an end, Blink vanishes and finds herself in a desert with a girl in her underwear.

Finally, with the bombs a droppin' and the timeline restorin', Magneto joins his wife and son as the Age of Apocalypse fades away . . .

SO.

That's that.

Let's take a look at the Age of Apocalypse as a whole, shall we?

For the most part, this is a fantastic epic that is (for the most part) able to stand on its own two feet and really seperate itself from the rest of the X-Men's big stories as being unique and creative. There are flaws, of course, but in the grand scheme of things, those can be overlooked.

Art-wise, I've said it before, is all top-notch. Fantastic new costumes and designs that really reflect the darkness that is the Age of Apocalypse. The settings are something incredible, too, bringing us terrible visions of places that are utterly familair - from the real-life London, Paris, Chicago, and New York to the fictional Xavier's mansion and Wakanda. If there is any high-point with the massive story, it's the art. Only once did I really think it was terrible, and that was with the fourth issue of Amazing X-Men, where Apocalypse also stole Andy Kubert's talent along with Magneto and Bishop.

In terms of art, this is most likely among the high-points of the X-Men long history, standing tall with Jim Lee's amazing run on Uncanny during the late 260s and up until early X-Men and Bryne and Adam's respective runs.

Writing-wise, with the exception of most of the "history" books, it good too. I'll admit that sometimes X-Calibre relies too much on cliches and Niecizia's dialogue comes off really corny at times, but for the most part, all is well-done. The new versions of these characters are good, for the most part, allowing for new personas and new coverings for old characters.

The weakest portions of the Age of Apocalypse would probably have to be the Marvel populated X-Universe, which seemed to be difficult to both place into the overall story and had trouble making sense of itself.

As a whole, the Age of Apocalypse is something to be proud of for that era. It's bold and epic, showing us everything that can possibly go wrong with the X-Men's world, while still maintaining hope and struggle against such terrible darkness. Indeed, it's not Apocalypse that defines the Age of Apocalypse, but the X-Men themselves. It's the X-Men that stand against such massive opposition. It's showing that no matter how terrible or shitty the world can be, the X-Men stand strong and tall against such awful offensives.

There are some great character moments, though too many to name here. There are also a number of "oh yeah, sweet!" moments that are just plain cool. Among these is the aforementioned Apocalypse/Magneto final battle.

At the end of the day, what does the Age of Apocalypse mean to the overall X-Men world and mythos? Well, it centainly has a profound effect on the X-Men, though not nearly as much as other events (Dark Phoenix Saga, for example). A number of character manage to survive - Nate Summers, Holocaust, Dark Beast, Surgar Man, Blink, and Sabretooth, to name a few. Bishop also retains memories of the AoA.

The Age of Apocalypse proudly stands among the very best X-Men stories I've read. Not the best, but most definetly among them.

~W~

UXP # 66: Age of Apocalypse # 5: "The Quest"

X-Calibre # 2-3, Gambit and the X-Ternals # 2, X-Calibre # 4, Gambit and the X-Ternals # 3, Generation Next # 2-4

As the X-Men teams and Weapon X deal with the Cullings in Chicago and Indiana, the Manie Evacuation, Europe's prepared nuke attack, and Apocalypse kicking the asses of both Magneto and Bishop, Nightcrawler, the X-Ternals and Generation Next are all off trying to fix time.

Nightcrawler continues on the Infernal Gallop, which is operated by his mother, Mystique. However, when things go wrong on the crappiest submarine I've ever seen, Nightcrawler and those humans on the Infernal Gallop end up on a ship Captained by Callisto. Callisto, on the other hand, kills them all except for Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler then takes revenge by killing all of Callisto's crew. Mystique shows up and takes care of Callisto. Nightcrawler then talks his mother into going to Avalon with him, despite her guilt over stealing everyone's riches that wish to go there. After killing Moonstar, Damask and Dead Man Wade follow Nightcrawler and Callisto into Avalon. Damask, however, is stunned to find just how beautiful and alive it is and decides to kill Dead Man Wade and live there with the rest of the group. In the meantime, Destiny is plaqued by visions that Apocalypse is on his way to destroy Avalon.

Across the universe, Gambit and the X-Ternals arrive on some random planet where they must fight the Imperial Guard. A battle ensues and Richtor ends up teaming up with the Imperial Guard. As he does, the X-Ternals find themselves with a Deathbird-led Starjammers and they race off, searching for the M'Krann Crystal.

Back in Avalon, the Shadow King attacks and nearly destroys it. At one point, he almost kills Destiny, but she is saved by her adopted son, Doug Ramsey, who then dies in the process. Shadow King is bested and Destiny agrees to go back to America with Nightcrawler.

Again, across the universe, the X-Ternals find the M'Krann Crystal and go after it. As Guido, Sunspot, the Starjammers, and Jubilee contend with Richtor and the Imperial Guard, Deathbird, Lila Cheny, and Gambit enter the Crystal. It's there they find D'Ken, who is catatonic. Gambit also meets Jahf, who confirms Bishop's story. Eventually, Gambit must "give up" something so as to retrieve a part of the M'Krann. He gives up his love of Rogue and without Sunspot (he's dead, I guess), the X-Ternals head on home.

Back on Earth, Colossus and Generation Next go to break into the Portland Core, the biggest power source in America, which is continually being mined by humans under Apocalypse's control. Running the show is Quentis and the vile Surgar Man. Vincete and Husk disguise themselves as Quentis while Skin and Chamber sneak their way in. Modo and Colossus are running the rescue. Eventually, the secrets all slip out, there's a riot, and no one makes it alive excpet for Shadowcat, Colossus, and Illyana, with the Surgar Man all small and tiny and hiding in Colossus' boot.

Overall, a fairly good installment of the Age of Apocalypse. Some parts are better than others, but none of them are really anything amazing. There are some cool scenes, and some general story elements that work really well. But other than that, pretty average stuff, both art and writing wise.

~W~

UXP # 65: Age of Apocalypse # 4: "Resistance"

Astonishing X-Men # 2, Amazing X-Men # 2, Astonishing X-Men # 3, Amazing X-Men # 3, Weapon X # 2

The AoA gets better, thank goodness.

As Rogue's team of X-Men head to Chicago and Indianapolis to stop Holocaust's cullings, Quicksilver's team continues to handle the situation developing with the Maine evacuation. Meanwhile, there's trouble England.

Rogue's team attempt to help evacuate citizens of Chicago from the on-coming force of Holocaust and his forces. At one point, Sunfire becomes overwhelmed and goes a little pyscho on some probes. Rogue powers him down with her touch and we get a fantastic glimpse at the history of Age of Apocalypse, featuring part of the downfall of Japan and the near death of Sunfire. After this, Sabretooth decides to take out Holocaust. Blink reluctantly sends him to Indianapolis (as he is her mentor and rescuer) and a battle follows. Holocaust wins after a great sequence.

Meanwhile, Quicksilver must take down Abyss to save a child and help the evacuees. He managest to do with a punch to the face. Not kidding. As this is taking place, the X-Men have to deal with the Brotherhood of Mutants (which is a hodgepodge of Copycat, Cyber, Box, Arclight, and Spyne) and reprogram the Setinels to help the humans. The X-Men succeed in doing so and the evacuation goes off without a hitch.

Back in Chicago, the cullings continue and its revealed that Holocaust has an Infinite (genetic/cyber soldiers of Apocalypse) processing plant in the area and will be taking the survivors of the cullings there. The X-Men learn of this and head off stop him, and find soon find Sabretooth's torn up body waiting for them.

As we go through all this, we're also following a subplot that involves Apocalypse tracking down Mangeto's base thanks to Blink's teleport. They find it, then use Karma (who works for Angel, who met with Gambit) to find out if there are any surprises waiting for them. Apocalypse then heads off to the Xavier Estate and a battle with Bishop and Magneto follows with Apocalypse coming out the victor. As this battle ensues, Magneto's son Charles is spirited aware by the robot Nanny (good this time) and disappears.

The Shadow King and Apocalypse's monks the Madri then uncover what the deal is with Bishop. When Quicksilver's team learns of this, he, Banshee, and Storm head off to free Bishop.

Now, across the pond, the evacuees arrive in England and with them come to members of the Brotherhood that Weapon X slices up. In London, a nuclear weapons fleet is prepared to strike North America. It's attacked by Donald Pierce, who is working with Apocalypse. Weapon X takes him out, but not before the navigational charts are destroyed. Afterwards, Jean leaves for America to warn people of the impending nuke attack.

Each entry into the Age of Apocalypse is an improvement over the previous one, which is good. The writing is well done, adding more drama and some nice twists to this dark world. Some nice character moments too for Magneto, Storm, Quicksilver, Rogue, Blink, Sabretooth, and Sunfire. The art is some of the best, especially from Joe Mad and Adam Kubert.

~W~

UXP # 64: Age of Apocalypse # 3: "The New Beginning"

X-Men: Alpha, Age of Apocalypse: The Chosen, Astonishing X-Men # 1, Generation Next # 1, Gambit and the X-Ternals # 1, X-Calibre # 1, Weapon X # 1, Amazing X-Men # 1, Factor X # 1, X-Man # 1

We're in it now.

The "Age of Apocalypse" slips into high gear and things get better from the lackluster new history we were privvy to last entry. We settle into what will be the basic plot threads of the "Age of Apocalypse." These plot threads being: (1.) Magneto's attempt at restoring the timeline; (2.) the Summers clan; (3.) the X-Men's resistance against Apocalypse; and (4.) the Human High Council's war against Apocalypse.

Magneto's X-Men (the roster consisting of Sabretooth, Wild Child, Rogue, Quicksilver, Nightcrawler, Storm, Iceman, Morph, Blink, Banshee, Exodus, Dazzler, and Sunfire) are in Seattle, battling it out with some of Apocalypse's croonies (called Infinities), whom are being led by Unus. It's there they also encounter the time-lost Bishop, who the X-Men take in.

Meanwhile, Sinister leaves his post among Apocalypse's Four Horsemen, leaving Cyclops in charge of the EMF (Elite Mutant Force). Across the ocean, Weapon X and Jean Grey deliever some vital information to the Human High Council (whose ranks include Moria and Bolivar Trask, Brian Braddock, Emma Frost, and Mariko Yoshinda).

Back at the X-Men's base (aka the decimated X-Mansion), Rogue is reunited her and Magneto's son, Charles. Bishop then does a funky mind-meld thingy with Magneto through Rogue, showing him how the world is really supposed to be. This sends Magneto into a tissy.

As Magneto tries to figure out just how to set the world right, the X-Men learn from Blink and Sunfire that Apocalypse has planned another culling in Chicago (culling as in culling the weak from the strong). Rogue leads a team consisting of Sabretooth, Wild Child, Blink, Sunfire, and Blink to Chicago, where the odds are against them.

Magneto then approaches Colossus and wife Shadowcat in the hopes of getting them to lead their students (Chamber, Husk, Mondo, Skin, and new-comer Vincete) to Portland to rescue the long-thought-dead Illyana.

Magneto then goes after Gambit, talking him and his gang of X-Ternals (Sunspot, Jubilee, Strong Guy, and Lila Cheny) into going to the Shi'ar Empire to retrieve a fragment of the M'Kraan Crystal. Just how does Magneto know about the M'Kraan Crystal? Turns out Dr. Corbeau works for Apocalype, cultivating information from the remains of Apocalypse's former senient vessel, Ship. And conviently, Corbeau owes Magneto a favor. As the X-Ternals leap into a Lila Cheny created portal into Shi'ar space, Apocalypse's Mudir-Commandant Richter in tow.

The final piece of Magneto's plan is getting Nightcrawler to go Avalon (aka the Savage Land) to retrieve Destiny to confirm what has happened. Nightcrawler is forced to go on the Infernal Gallop, which starts with a Ghost Dance led by John Proudstar and ends with meeting Cain Marko. As Nightcrawler makes preparations to go (and to meet his mother, Mystique in the process), a woman named Switchback arrives in Avalon. And, Danielle Moonstar, Dead Man Wade (Deadpool), and Damask are hot on Nightcrawler's tail. No pun intended.

In the meantime, the Human High Council asks Weapon X and Jean Grey to take a Sentinel to Apocalypse off-shore defense platforms and knock a few of them out. This leads them into a battle with Havok, who ends up getting teleported back to New York City with a Sentinel hand, the two of them arriving in NYC merged. Weapon X and Jean do their duty, knock out the platform, which allows for Sentinels and Transports from Eurasia to come to Maine to pick up some humans.

On the other end of this operation are the X-Men, who are seeking to help the humans evacuate. The X-Men (Quicksilver, Storm, Iceman, Dazzler, Exodus, and Banshee) even create a computer virus that allows them to go undetected by the newly arriving Sentinals. This virus promptly screws up and Iceman gets blasted. And Apocalypse's forces are on the X-Men's butts.

Back in New York, the EMF tracks down some Mutant escapees (Artemis, Phantazia, Pyro, and Avalanche) from the Pens. After taking them down, the EMF break up for R&R. Havok and Bedlam Brothers (Jesse and Aaron) head to Angel's nightclub, Heaven. When they get back, Cyclops has them figure out where Sinister is, which turns into a bigger question when they discover his personal quarters have been destroyed.

Finally, a young Mutant named Nathan and his traveling troupe of Mutant entertainers and freedom fighters (being Forge, Toad, Sauron, Mastermind, and Brute) continue to move across the mid-west, helping out here and there. Among those they help is a train full of humans headed to a genetic processing plant. The gang blows up the train and Nate forces Forge to take in a young Mutant with a sonic scream named Terry. We also learn that Nate really has no memory of his past, is a very powerful psi-talent, and that Forge is his mentor. Apocalypse leans of Nate's existence from the Shadow King and he therefore sends Domino to go kill him.

Over all, a much better group of comics than last entry. There's far more substance and structure here. The effort on everyone's part (from the writers to the artists) to create a new world shines through.

Great art from Roger Cruz, Joe Madureira, Chris Bachelo, Tony Daniels, Ken Lashley, Adam Kubert, Andy Kubert, Steve Epting, and Steve Skorce really breaks away from their usual work, and brings them up several notches on the art-scale. A fresh breath of artistic creativity really energizes the pages. The redesigns are well-done, matching the dark setting that is the Age of Apocalypse. The look of New York, London, and all of the other familair places are well-done, dark parallels to their real life or 616 reflections.

The writing is suberb, creating just enough drama to keep the characters interesting and new. It's fun seeing these characters in new shapes and forms. Even the cameo appearances of Magma, Karma, Sebastion Shaw, and a few others are enough to excite interest. The core plots are strong and it's cool to see various storylines weave throughout the various titles, such as the evacuation of Maine, Sinister's disappearance, and Apocalypse's tracking of Blink's teleportation signature.

There are a few problems I do have with the Age of Apocalypse, chief among them being the same problems I had before. Such as why do these character have the same code-name as their normal versions? Why is Beast so evil and Sabretooth so good? Questions like these are flaws in an overall well-done story.

~W~

UXP # 63: Age of Apocalypse # 2: "New History"

Age of Apocalypse one-shot, X-Men Chronicles # 1, X-Men Chronicles # 2, Tales from the Age of Apocalypse: Factor X, Tales from the Age of Apocalypse: Astonishing X-Men, X-Man # -1, Blink # 1-4

So far . . . so disappointing.

With Xavier dead, Magneto has chosen to create a haven for new Mutants at Wundagore Mountain. Thus far, the team consists of Marvel Girl, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Colossus, Ice Man (yep, seperated), Storm and the newly joined Weapon X (Wolverine) and Rogue. When Apocalypse attacks Cape Citadel with his Horsemen (Candra, Sabretooth, Gideon, War, and Death) the X-Men respond. As they fight off the Horsemen and the Big A himself, the son of Apocalypse (Nemesis aka. Holocaust) attacks Wundagore Mountain. All but Rogue are killed, including the Scarlet Witch. The X-Men fight off Apocalypse and return to Wunadagore to find it decimated.

Apocalypse, afterwards, begins his conquests of the world. At some point, Sabretooth gets sick of the dying and gives up. He's imprisoned with Wild Child aka. Kyle Dibney. The two become friends after a lengthy fight and they bust out, joining the X-Men.

A while later, Logan rescues Jean from the Pens (apparently Apocalypse has conquered the world or something) and they both leave the X-Men. Gambit and Rogue seek to comfort Magneto, but Magneto doesn't want it. A botched mission due to lack of confidence causes a Mutant assassin named Wolverine (not Logan though) under the command of Holocaust to follow the X-Men to their base. Before he attacks, though, Magneto finds a way for he and Rogue to be physical with each other, which pisses off the crushin' Gambit. A lame battle follows, Wolverine dies, and Magneto and Rogue grow closer.

Meanwhile, a Brood-infected Christopher Summers arrives on Earth, in New York. After being experimented on for a couple of years, he escapes. Now cronies under Apocalypse and Sinsiter, Cyclops, Havok, Northstar, Aurora, Emplate and the Monet Twins go after him. He kills Emplate and tramatizes the Twins, then is confronted by Cyclops and Havok. Emotions run high, but it's all concluded when Cyclops is forced to kill his own father.

After that, the X-Men mount a mission to the Moon to destroy Apocalypse, as he has a regenerating temple on the Moon's surface. The X-Men succeed in destroying the temple, the Horseman Death (Maximus of the Inhumans), and the new arrival Blink gets a valuable lesson. Cyclops helped the X-Men, too.

Back on Earth, Sinister has created the perfect combination of Grey/Summers genetics in the form of a very powerful little boy.

Colossus and Shadowcat decide to leave the X-Men in the pursuit of helping to secure the next generation of Mutants.

And Blink has some whacky adventures in the Negative Zone.

I've read the "Age of Apocalypse" before and I know it gets better. Thus far, disappointment. Marvel had recently done a one-shot and a mini-series that continued the "Age of Apocalypse." As neat as that was (it wasn't, really), I would have much rather seen Scott Lobdell go back and flesh out the back story of the AOA.

How did Apocalypse conquer America? When did Jean get captured by Sinister? Why was it we never saw the battle that cost Scott an eye and Logan a hand? Was is the Beast so insanely evil and Sabretooth a decent guy?

These are all questions that are raised and while, yes, it's good that an alternate reality makes one raise questions, all of these are unresolved.

These issues here don't do much to explore the more interesting nooks and crannies of the AOA. I'll grant that there are certain issues that stand out - the battle at Cape Citadel, X-Man's awakening, the Summers/Corsair story - all are great. But all of the other stories don't seem to matter nearly as much.

The "Wolverine" story may serve to kick off the Rogue/Magneto relationship, but it barely scratched the surface. Why did she choice to be in love with Magneto rather than pursuing one with Gambit? Is it because she can touch Magneto? What does that tell us about Rogue?

Blink's another one. Most of the story was spent with her in the Negative Zone with Anhillius and she amnesic. Why? This would have been the perfect chance to explore this cult classic character, to really dig into her past and understand who she is and how she came about.

The one-shot gives us glimpses of this dark world, but not nearly enough. I know things get better, but without a better foundation, the up-coming stories will have to beat out this lackluster bunch.

~W~

UXP # 62: Age of Apocalypse # 1: "Legion Quest"

X-Men # 38, Uncanny X-Men # 319, X-Men # 39, X-Factor # 108-109, Uncanny X-Men # 320, X-Men # 40, Uncanny X-Men # 321, Cable # 20, and X-Men # 41

Just a few things we need to address before we get moving along, here, gang.

First of all, we've reached the "Age of Apocalypse," which is a few massive crossover and story. Therefore, I've broken it down into various segments and have decided to go for a similair format we used with "Cleaning Out the X-House."

Secondly, I think I should talk very briefly about the role "Age of Apocalypse" seems to have played in the readership and overall X-Men fandom. From what I've seen, X-Men readers are divived in three ways:

1) That this is among the greatest X-Men stories ever to be produced (after "The Dark Phoenix Saga," according to some polls I've seen).
2) That this story is good, but not nearly as good as the 70/80s X-books and 2000s X-books.
3) That this was the story that turned readers off the X-Men.

Interesting make-up, huh?

So, let's go diving in, I'll share my thoughts and you can read them and not post any comments because I have no audience. :(

"Legion Quest" is pretty much the must-read kick-off of the "Age of Apocalypse." It is what starts off the massive change in the X-Men's universe.

David Haller (aka Legion) has comatose for quite a while. Recently, though, he's been having dreams about Destiny, the woman he had killed a number of years earlier. As he's having these dreams, we see the X-Men struggle with personal issues:

Trust problems between Gambit and Rogue. Scott's grandfather crashes his plan and meets up with Adam-X (the X-Treme!) and remarks how similar Adam and his grandsons are. Bobby and Rogue head up to have dinner with Bobby's parents and we once again learn just how much of an ignorant jerk his Dad is. Jean and Betsy resolve their differences. Warren and Betsy grow closer. Gambit threatens Sabretooth regarding Rogue.

It's not long, then, when Legion visits his Dad in Charles' dreams. In said dream, Charles and Erik (Magneto) talk about the effects that Erik had on Charles' dream of Mutant/human existence. David then shows his father that Erik ruined the dream by making Mutantkind viewed negatively in the public eye.

And that's when the shit hits the fan.

X-Factor track down Mystique to Israel, where David is currently being treated whilst comatose. Mystique is after him for killing Destiny in the first place, having been manipulating Forge for a good while to get to this position. They confront her in David's room with Gaby Haller (David's Mom), when he suddenly wakes up, his mind whole and no longer suffering from Multiple-Personalities. Mystique makes a run for it with X-Factor in pursuit. Meanwhile, David's got Destiny yapping in his mind and goes after both X-Factor and Mystique to deal with them. He sends X-Factor away, has a heart-to-heart with Mystique, and then wanders off.

And then, the X-Men get involved. Bishop, Phoenix, Iceman, Storm, and Psylocke head to Israel to deal with David. They discover that the Israeli army and PLO are working side-by-side near a massive energy dome erected by David to keep them out. The X-Men find a way in, fight with Legion, and learn just what he's up to. He plans on going back to when his father and Magneto were friends (about the time he was concieved) and killing Magneto so that he is unable to taint Charles' dream.

Storm, Psylocke, Bishop, and Iceman are all drawn back 20 years with him, leaving Phoenix in the present. She calls for help and the rest of the X-Men show up (being Cyclops, Beast, Rogue, Gambit, Archangel, and Professor X) to figure out what's going on. They then call upon Cable and Domino to access Cable's time machine, which is unfortunately deep under the ocean surface and unreachable (for the most part). If that's not enough, Lilandra contacts the X-Men, telling them that M'Kraan Crystal is acting all funky and the results of Legion's time tampering is causing the universe to crystalize.

In an attempt to reach the X-Men in the past and let them know what's happening with the M'Kraan Crystal, Cable is projected to Bishop and the others. As it turns out, the past X-Men are suffering with a bought of partial amnesia. Luckily, Cable's "reach out and touch someone" to Bishop works out and the X-Men go after Legion as he attacks the young Magneto. Legion tears through the X-Men and prepares to deliever the final blow to Magneto . . . when Xavier shoves himself in the way, saving his friend at the sacriface of his own life.

And Charles Xavier is dead, twenty years earlier. Legion, Storm, Iceman, and Psylocke are pulled from that time peroid and tossed back home to align themselves with the new changes in teh timeline. Bishop is left behind, as he is a chronological anomaly. In the present, the crystal wave comes to Earth. Xavier says a tearful good bye; Scott and Jean come clean about Redd and Slym with Cable; and as the wave overcomes them, Rogue kisses Gambit. The entire Earth - all of the X-Teams - are crystalized by the reality bending properties of the M'Kraan Crystal. Then everything (all of the Universe 616) shatters as per the crystalization wave.

So let's do a review of these events.

For the most part, "Legion Quest" is a good read. David Haller shines as a messed up character who (even though a little more than crazy) is willing to do anything for his father. His motives and demeanor are almost childlike, which works because David hasn't been David since he was a boy. Now, the X-Men themselves in dealing their deaths, are suberb. We see character arcs leap forward, esspecially with the Summers family and Rogue/Gambit. I also feel the need to appluad the acknowledgement of the crystalization effects in the other books released that same month (though I don't have them all and decided not to include the ones I do have) in the final pages. We really get a feel for where we're leaving these X-Men we know and love.

Now, for as good as "Legion Quest" is, there's a question that lingers for me. Why now? Was David somehow aware of the conflicts within his father (such as the results of wiping out Magneto's mind)? Did his telepathic powers make him hear the results of the EMP that Magneto launched during "Fatal Attractions?" Was it perhaps that he sensed that Mystique was after him and decided whatever he was going to do, he had better hop-to? And why Israel twenty years ago? Why not go after Magneto during the Holocaust? Or right after he stole Baron whathisnamefromHydra's gold? I suppose, though, now that I think about it, this time could be significant for David as it was the time he was concieved. (I feel the need to point that David kissed his Mom, disguised as Charles. It's slightly implied there's more to it. Could it be that David is his own father? VOMIT!)

The best part of "Legion Quest," at the end of the day, is showing Charles and Erik as actual friends. Before, all we had was "we were friends once" and three panels of them hanging out with Gaby between their first meeting and their battle with Hydra. Bringing the Charles/Erik friendship up front and center allows more grounding for us to see them not as advaries, but as buddies. It also makes us give a damn when they have to face off with Legion and when Charles sacrifaces himself for Erik.

Some great temporal drama here, folks. It only lead to bad things for the X-Men.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 61: "Generation X"

X-Force # 39, Uncanny X-Men # 318, Cable # 17-19, Generation X # 1-3

X-Force # 39 kicks off yet another foray into the X-Men world with an unusual story. As it turns out, the Phalanx sent an agent to X-Force's base at Camp Verde. Once there, however, it managed to absorb Cable's computer buddy, "Professor" (formerly known as "Ship," but that's a story for another time). The two of them merged being became known as Prosh. However, Prosh's newly gained body spells trouble for Cable, as it aggrivates his Techno-Organic Virus, causing it to go all whacky. Prosh then decides to leave for the stars, but takes out X-Force's base in the meantime.

Hoping over to the X-Men's world, Sean and co. are ready to head up to Emma's old Massachusetts Academy to form Generation X, where all the kids recovered from the Phalanx will train to become the next generation of X-Men. It's a surprising heart-warming story where we get a nice introduction to the characters without those pesky Phalanx guys runnin' around. Monet's a snob, Paige's a hick, Angelo's a freak, and Everett is the normal guy. Toss in an uncertain Jubilee and a testy Sean and Emma, and we've got a great bunch.

Meanwhile, Cable pops by the mansion with Domino at the behest of Scott and Jean. What follows, however, is the delievery of news to Storm that there might be Morlocks still alive. The trio head down there and discover Caliban being chased by a slightly revamped Dark Riders, testing Caliban to see if he is worthy to survive. After the guys help Caliban out, they track down the Dark Riders to Akkaba, Apocalypse's birthplace. There, Cable finds Tyler, looking to become Apocalypse's hier, Genesis. There's a ruse and then a battle in which Tyler vanishes, leaving Cable upset.

Then we get down to the main event. Generation X. The team interacts with each other before meeting up with Jonothon Starsmore (Chamber) at Logan International Airport. Jonothon's problems? His chest and lower jaw blew apart and consist of telepathic energy to keep him alive. As Jubilee, Everett (Synch) and Banshee pick him up, they're attacked by a Mutant vampire of sorts named Emplate. M, Emma, Husk (Paige), and Skin (Angelo) enter the fray thanks to new arrival Gateway. After defeating Emplate and heading home, Gateway drops off a little present for Generation X - a mute w0man with diamond hard skin named Penance (as named by Gateway, who spoke for the first time ever). Generation X chases her around the grounds before Chamber talks her into seeking refuge with them.

Generation X is among my favorite X-Men titles, perhaps even my favorite beyond the core books. There's a lot to love about these characters. They're very relatable and extremely well written. Add in Chris Bachelo in his prime, and it's a hit.

As for Cable, Jeph Loeb and Steve Skorce knock the story outta the park. This team has a way of taking the very convulted Cable and setting him on the right track by making his background interesting and accessible. Nieciza disappoints on X-Force, though he did manage to make the story interesting, at least.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 60: "Phalanx Covenant"

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~

Uncanny X-Periment # 59: "Developments"

X-Men # 31-32, Uncanny X-Men # 311-314, X-Men # 33-34, Excalibur # 78-80, Uncanny X-Men # 315, Cable # 15

I think "Developments " describes this peroid in X-Men history very well.

Things get started with Revanche going after her former lover and assassin for the Hand, Matsuo. We learn that Matsu had thought that she was dead after Pyslocke appeared to her after coming through the Seige Perilous. As it turned out, there was a telepathic surge and both Pyslocke and Revanche got all mucked up in their heads. When Matsuo found Revanche's body (now co-opted by Psylocke), he thought he could re-shape her into his love. But it back-fired. And now, Revanche (dying of the Legacy Virus and trapped in Psylocke's old body) has gone after Matsuo. Revanche then decides its over and dies. Psylocke, after an encounter with Spiral, heads over to Japan to deal with the loss of Revanche. Matsuo then takes away of all Revenache's memories from Psylocke's mind.

Meanwhile, back at the mansion, something happens to the power core and Sabretooth is freed. Bishop tracks him down, and the confrontation forces him to realize that he is literally living in the past and should therefore stop reflecting so much on his past/future. After the power core is restored, there's a energy surge that goes through Emma Frost's comatose body whilst Iceman is checking on her. Iceman then collapse. As Beast, Jubilee, and Professor X work on helping Bobby, Gambit and Storm meet up with Yukio in New York. Yukio fears someone is stalking her, hence the visit. Turns out she's right as techno-organic creatures calling themselves the Phalanx battle it out with the trio. Eventually, they're destroyed. Shortly afterward, Emma Frost wakes up . . . in Iceman's body. Turns out that the energy surge kicked her out of the coma and tossed her into his body. She then runs off, trying to figure out just what happened to her Hellions, as well as using Bobby's powers in ways he had never thought possible. The X-Men reveal the truth to her and restore both and she and Bobby proper.

Then, after hearing a story about Gambit and Sabretooth, Rogue and Gambit's relationship is shaken quite heavily. She finds she can't trust Remy. However, Beast gets some information from Sabretooth regarding the location of Mr. Sinister. Gambit, Beast, Rogue, and Psylocke (the remains of the Blue Team) head off to Scott's old and abandoned orphanage to retrieve information regarding the Legacy Virus. It's there they encounter Threnody again and after finding some shit-ass clones, Threnody sets the self-destruction sequence, and continues to help the X-Men from inside of Sinister's operation.

Meanwhile, some kind of Doug Ramsey/Warlock/Phalanx being calling itself Douglock breaks free from the Phalanx and meets up Stryfe's old right-hand robot, Zero. Zero, as it turns out, has information regarding the Legacy Virus, but is being hunted by Stryfe's robots as per an order to eliminate all of evidence of himself if killed. Zero, with a budding personality, heads off with Douglock, Excalibur and some cheese-whiz family as they search for what Legacy Virus info Zero has. This pretty much goes nowhere fast and Zero downloads any info he can into Douglock before 'spolding.

Back up in Avalon, the Acolyte known as Neophite is put on trail for helping the X-Men back a few issues. Colossus serves as his defense and some loud philosphying about Magneto and Xavier follows. In the end, none of the Acolytes trust Colossus anymore and Neophite is sent back to Earth in exile.

Then, Cable and Domino go on date and encounter the Morlock, Thornn. They then learn that there is the possibility that Mikhail didn't kill all of the Morlocks and had actually sent some of them into another dimension - including one named Sarah.

Overall, an interesting time for the X-Men. We're moving back into a crossover, with all sorts of subplots heading into one unified direction - with the Phalanx in the lead. In some ways, it's very Claremontian. Setting up sub-plots early on, developing just here and there, then having them manifest further down the line. However, Lobdell and Nicieza aren't as good with this as Claremont was. I don't think it's plum necessary to have so many subplots going on at the same time and in many ways, the fault lies on lack of coordination between the two.

Moving on, the art is great. Andy Kubert and Joe Mad take the cake as far as great and dynamic scenes go. Both are able to maintain both energy and intimacy in their artwork. Kubert has grown quite a bit from when he first started.

We get some nice moments with the X-Men, too. Betsy and Warren growing closer. Emma's complete distress. Jubilee bumming around, still dealing with Wolverine's running off. Bishop's angst. Storm's friendship with Yukio. Even Moira gets a shining, if not tragic moment, as it's revealed that she has the Legacy Virus.

Far from the best, far from the worst - it's definetly a middle of the road kind of time for the X-Men.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 58: "The Wedding Saga"

Cable # 6-8, Uncanny X-Men # 308-310, X-Men # 30, Excalibur # 75, The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix # 1-4, and X-Men # 35


Let's break it down.

Cable # 6-8 answers all the questions left over from the X-Cutioner's Song. As it turns out, Tyler sought to punish the two men who caused him pain in his own era. His adopted father, Cable; and the man that tormented and brainwashed him, Stryfe. It seems to get this revenge, he placed Stryfe's pysche into Cable's brain. Stryfe takes over, wrecks a little havoc, and then goes off and confronts Tyler. Meanwhile, a second Askani unit is sent back to prevent Tyler from doing this. She gets in touch with Scott and Jean and they - with Zero and Professor X - head off to get this all resolved. It is then finally revealed that when Nathan Christopher was sent forward in time, he was cloned by the leader of the Askani, Mother Askani. Stryfe grew up to be the clone under the careful gaze of Apocalypse. Nathan ended gaining the upper hand over the Techno-Organic Virus and grew up to become Cable. Stryfe then dies, as does the Askani unit. Tyler vanishes.

Uncanny X-Men # 308-310 and X-Men # 30 takes us with Scott and Jean's wedding. During a pre-Thanksgiving walk around the estate, Scott and Jean recall old times and we begin to understand their relationship. They've moved forward, putting everything else behind. Then, finally, Jean tells Scott she's ready to be married.

However, Professor X is uncertain. Scott and Jean's happiness causes him to come to term with a failed relationship from his own past. Shortly after the use of his legs and before the formation of the X-Men, Xavier falls in love with a fellow Mutant by the name of Amelia Vought. It falls apart, though, in the face of his dream for Mutants.

Then, on the night of Bachelor Party, Scott and Cable figure things out and take out the Executioner. Fences are mended and Scott arrives at his Bachelor Party a little late.

Finally, the big day comes. Scott and Jean get married. A ton of X-People guest star, including Rachel Summers, who (after a heart-to-heart with Jean), gets her future confirmed as pretty possible.

In Excalibur # 75, however, Rachel is dealt a blow when she learns that the only way to save the time-lost Captain Britain is to switch places with him. With herself pretty much in the cards for the future, Rachel vanishes into the timestream, restoring Captain Britain . . . pretty much.

Good for Rachel, though, she arrives in the far future (and in Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix). For a century, Rachel fights against Apocalypse and forms the Askani Clan, becoming the Mother Askani. She then sends for Nathan Christopher, who is dying the past from the Techno-Organic Virus. Yep. It all comes together when she brings into the present and clones him, creating Stryfe.

Except . . . her plans go hay-wire when Apocalypse attacks, steals Stryfe, and wipes out most of the Askani. Rachel summons her parents from the past (our present - during their honeymoon) and puts them into genetically engineered bodies. Here, they spend the next decade (!) raising Nathan Christopher as their so-called adopted son. It all concludes with a final battle with Apocalypse, in which the three of them are able to wipe out the big guy during a failed attempt to take control of Stryfe's body.

Immediately afterwards, Rachel "dies" and asks Jean to take the name "Phoenix" once more. Jean and Scott then return to the present - being X-Men # 35 (I know I skipped 31-34, but don't worry. I'll get to those next entry). They encounter a powful Mutant female after their return and allow him to know peace.

Let's give it up to Lobdell and Nicieza. Only these two have been able to take the entire Summers and Grey mythos - from early love to the Dark Phoenix to clones to the X-Cutioner's Song - and bring it all together in a neat little package that actually works. The thing that gets me about all of it, though, it that they are both able to take in a very massive, very complicated, and very messy past . . . and made it accessible and interesting.

Despite there being many more key moments for this family ("The Twelve," for example), this storyline is perhaps the best manifestation of the Summers/Grey clan. It feels very much like the emotional culmination of everything that's come before. The first hook-up, the Dark Phoenix Saga, From the Ashes, Nathan's birth, Rachel's arrival, Inferno, Days of Future Present, the X-Cutioner's Song - everything has been building up to this.

And there's more to it than just this. While in the future, we learn more about the time period after the X-Men. Apparently, after the Sentinels are overthrown, a century of peace prevails, lead by the XSE (Bishop's old pals) until Apocalypse returns 100 years after his greatest defeat and takes over. All of this, Cable was sent back to prevent.

In addition, we also get some insight into Xavier's past, which is always a treat. His relationship with Amelia is a trainwreck, but a good trainwreck. And having Magneto be the one in his dream bringing the flashbacks to life is a great choice.

There are tons of character moments in these issues that I could go on and on about. A good look at Scott and Jean's relationship. Great scenes with them and Xavier, with Rachel, and with Nathan that really make them jump off the page.

The story really spans X-Men history. From it's earliest incarnation through flashbacks provided by Jean and Xavier; to more recent history, with a look at the Dark Phoenix, Rachel, and Nathan Christopher; to the far future with the Askani stories -- all of this serves as a broad look at the X-Men from Day Zero all the way to Perhaps Day 5 Ka-Zillion.

Now, it's not all good. I, for one, would have rather seen the Cable/Stryfe/Askani revelation come out during the X-Cutioner's Song. It would have made so much more sense to do so and really would have made the crossover more complete. Instead, you practically have to read these three issues of Cable to know the hows and whys of that crossover.

Furthermore, I was disappointed with the wedding itself. The issue was told completely from Xavier's POV, which hurt the book. Not that it doesn't offer some nice insight, but I would have rather heard it from the prespective of the bride and groom.

But, the art is mostly on par. John Romita Jr.'s work is a mixed bag, but Gene Ha and Andy Kubert do a fine job with their issues, as does Dwayne Turner and Laim Sharpe.

Overall, perhaps one of my favorites stories throughout all the X-History.

(Granted, considering just how many stories I've been reading since I started this insanity and just how many more I have to go, that's may not be saying much)

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 57: "Guests"

X-Force # 29-30, X-Men # 27, X-Men Annual # 2, X-Men Unlimited # 3, X-Men # 28, X-Men Unlimited # 4, X-Men # 29, X-Force # 32, New Warriors # 45, X-Force # 33, and New Warriors # 46


Let's run through it . . .

X-Force # 29-30 has Shatterstar captured by Arcade and he faces the mysterious Adam-X, the X-Treme. They then team up and fight their way out of Murderworld. You know, other than his name, I always kinda liked Adam-X. I thought he was a fairly interesting character with a lot of potential.

X-Men Annual # 2 and X-Men # 27 both continue to deal with the Legacy Virus. Apparently, an island has been established by a Mutant named Empyrean to serve as a sort of Leaper Colony for Mutants dying from the disease. Apparently, Empyrean gets off on this or somethin'. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Anywhoo, it's revealed that Revanche is dying of the Legacy Virus as well. So . . . there's some development for her after all this time. The X-Men then find out that Mr. Sinister is searching for a cure to the Legacy Virus and he has recruited a woman named Threondy (whose power is to feel the pain and death of others) into helping him.

X-Men Unlimited # 3 and X-Men # 28 feature the best out of the bunch when the X-Men hunt down Sabretooth. There's all this silliness regarding Clan Yoshinda and whatnot, but eventually Xavier decides to help Creed deal with his problems rather than just beat him up. This means taking him into the mansion. Not all of the X-Men are happy with this decision, but they roll with it.

X-Men Unlimited # 4 reveals that Mystique is Nightcrawler's mother.

X-Men # 29, X-Force # 32, New Warriors # 45, X-Force # 33, and New Warriors # 46 finally take down the Upstarts. Gamemaster challenges all of them (including wannabes like Fernis) to hunt down the former members of the New Mutants and the old Hellions. Since there are characters spreading across both X-Force and the New Warriors, both teams are joined together and face off against the Upstarts. In the end, the game is called off and the Upstarts kinda scatter.

My response to most of these books: "meh."

And I blame Fabian Nicieza, who wrote all of these books. The stories are overly complicated, leading to a mostly boring read. When we do get in touch with the characters, they come off as cliches. There are exceptions to this rule, but we'll get to that in a moment. I'll credit him for using old characters like Arcade and bringing them up to snuff, but Arcade is still as crappy a character as he was when Claremont was writing him.

However, amongst the complicated storylines and the less than stellar super-villians, there are some diamonds in the rough. Despite my loathing of the whole Psylocke/Revanche subplot, I find that suddenly having Revanche contract the Legacy Virus a bold move and one that I was not expecting them to take. It also has put a spin on the relationship between the two. I'll also give kudos to Nicieza for making what could have been a ridiculas character in Adam-X and make him interesting.

I'll also credit him for shaking things up within the team by bringing Sabretooth on board. I know how it gets resolved, but it's cool to see Xavier attempt to almost seek redemption for what he has done with Magneto and his failure with Logan. Archangel's time in the spotlight is very much due. There's also a great scene with some of the X-Men when they go to Harry's Hideaway are 2:00 AM to discuss Sabretooth's incarceration at the mansion.

Where's Storm, by the way? She was Claremont's pride and joy, and despite not being among my favorite characters, I don't think she's had barely any development since pre-Fatal Attractions.

Despite the shining points, the stories fail to excite and interesting, leaving me feel bored and disappointed.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 56: "Bloodties"

Avengers # 368, X-Men # 26, Avengers West Coast # 101, Uncanny X-Men # 307, Avengers # 369

As many of you are aware, Magneto has a legacy that spans both the Avengers and X-Men's worlds. When civil war breaks out in Genosha as a result of Magneto's EMP and the Legacy Virus, the UN sends in Charles Xavier, Beast, Henry Gyrich, USAgent, Philip Moreau, and Jenny Ransome. Once on Genosha, Xavier breaks off from this group, though somehow (via a continunity mistake) they end meeting up with them again.

Meanwhile, Xavier has called in the X-Men to handle the Genoshan situation. On their way, the X-Men find out that Fabian Cortez has captured Luna and hopes to use her as a human shield to protect himself from Magneto (who Cortez doesn't realize is comatose). Seems Cortez is a mighty bit pissed at Mags for making him loose control of the Upstarts and the Acolytes.

When the Avengers find out that Luna has been captured, they look to hop-to. But no can do. Fury, SHIELD, and the UN are concerned that the Avengers will make the situation worse. After a quick battle with SHIELD, Captain America, Crystal, Scarlet Witch, War Machine, Sersi, and Black Knight end up in Genosha. There, they fight Exodus, who is seeking out Cortez and help with the X-Men in trying to cease the civil war.

Jean, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver finally meet up with Cortez and make a bid to take back Luna when Exodus shows up and a fight ensues there. The X-Men, the Avengers, and Xavier's entourage then free some captured, dying Mutates. Everything comes together as Exodus tries to destroy Genosha once and for all . . . but fails because, well, heck he's fighting both the X-Men and the Avengers. Who is going to win against that?

All in all, this summary is sub-par compared to the quality of the story. While, yes, it does stretch its credibility at times, "Bloodties" serves as a fine chapter in the overall Magneto story. More than that, really. It successfully joins together the X-Men and the Avengers, compouding their own subplot. Most of the X-Men/Avengers crossovers have to do with Magneto and his legacy. Remember the origial X-Men/Avengers crossover masterfully created by Roy Thomas? Or how about Magneto seeking out Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch to tell them he's their father? Or how about X-Men vs. Avengers (yeeeeaaah, I don't have that)? Anyways, it does a great job of bringing together these two teams and dealing with the ever-developing legacy of Magneto.

The stories are good, despite the annoying continunity problems regarding Jenny, Gyrich, and Philip (I'm so sick of Jenny and Philip). The art is fair, though Steve Epting and John Romita Jr. both seem like they're phoning it in.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 55: "Fatal Attractions"

X-Factor # 92. X-Force # 25, Uncanny X-Men # 303, X-Men # 24, Uncanny X-Men # 304, X-Men Unlimited # 2, X-Force # 26, Uncanny X-Men # 305-306, X-Men # 25, Wolverine # 75, Excalibur # 71, X-Men # -1

Just a quick note: I tossed in these extras issues to give the overall story a little emotion and energy. You'll see what I mean when I start writting about it.

For years, "Fatal Attractions" has been among my favorite X-Men stories. This reading has only made me appreciate it more. It's not your traditional storyline, as the actual titles that are involved don't all link up until Uncanny X-Men # 304.

The story kicks off with the Acolytes attacking a hospital at Cortez's command. When one of the Acolytes are captured, X-Factor finds out their next target: the military base of Camp Hayden. When we find that Senator Kelly and a new breed of Sentinals are there, it turns out that Camp Hayden is the home of an government operation called Project: Wideawake. This is revealed to X-Factor just before the Acolytes show up, but the bulk of the conflict is focused on Cortez and Quicksilver, as Cortez seeks to bring the son of Magneto over to his side, therefore solidifying his control of the Acolytes. He fails, of course, and the Acolytes take off.

On their way to Camp Hayden, X-Factor basically "bumped into" a character by the name of Exodus. Exodus appears then in X-Force, the team having just been reunited with Cable. Exodus takes the New Mutants of the team up to an orbital space station called Avalon - being comprised of parts of Cable's old Graymalkin station and Shi'ar technology. Aboard Avalon, the gang comes face to face with Magneto, who offers them haven from the trouble down on Earth. They reject the offer and Cable and the rest show up, rescuing them. Cable then goes after his little computer buddy, the Professor. He retrieves his files, but is attacked by Magneto, barely leaving Avalon with his life.

Back at the mansion, Illyana passes away. This sends ripples through the X-Men and their various related teams. It's at her funeral that Magneto shows up and gives the X-Men the same offer he gave X-Force - haven. Colossus, disillusioned with Xavier's dream, heads off with Magneto. Professor X and Magneto have a huge battle, then and Xavier forces Magneto to drag Avalon away from the planet (not too far, but it was sitting right above Westchester).

As the international community reacts to Magneto's return, the X-Men prepare themselves for another confrontation. Also, Cable recovers from his battle with Magneto.

Professor X, Quicksilver, and a small team of X-Men head up to Avalon. This is after Magneto unleashes a world-wide Electro-Magnetic Pulse in response to magnetic grid set up to keep him off Earth. The battle with Magneto is high-octane and emotional, with Xavier and Jean using Magneto's darkest memories against him in concert with attacks by various X-Men. This climaxes with Wolverine going against Magneto mono-e-mono. Magneto, fed up with Wolverine, tears the Adamantium off his bones. Xavier then, attacks Magneto unlike any other before - by going into his mind and shutting it down. Not killing him, but leaving him in a vegetative state. Colossus again remains by Magneto's side.

Trouble with the Blackbird occurs on the way, but the X-Men pull through. Wolverine barely does, his healing factor all screwed up and his Adamantium gone. After some time back on Earth, Wolverine starts to recover and we find out that he has had bone claws the whole time.

Professor X, Jean Grey, and Cyclops then head over to Muir Island. Excalibur, at this point, has been reduced to Nightcrawler, Phoenix, and Shadowcat. With Kitty's help, they get Colossus to Muir Island in the hopes of healing his head wound which has kept him in metal form. As they do so, Rachel fights Cable, who has come to settle some scores with the Acolytes. She stops him, then the team goes against some in-coming Acolytes. In the end, Colossus has still decided to follow Magneto, as he believes that he has the best intentions for Mutantkind.

We then take a look back at a meeting Xavier and Amelia Vought have with Magneto, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch a little while before Camp Citadel. It's at this meeting, they both offer the other one more chance at walking their own "right path" and of course, they both reject it, setting their courses into their futures . . .

At the heart of the story, we have a character study of both Professor X and Magneto. At many, many times, it's claimed that Magneto and Professor X have the same goals, just different dreams. It's clear that this is so, and the two actually begin to mirror each other, with Xavier walking (er, metaphorically speaking) a darker path. Magneto threatens the world at a funeral. Xavier comandeers his powers. Magneto issues a EMP against the world. Xavier uses his own memories against him. Magneto rips out Wolverine's Adamantium. Xavier wipes out Mangeto's mind. The two become twisted mirrors of each other. It's only through trying to save Wolverine and Colossus that Xavier tries to seek redemption for all this.

But where the Xavier and Magneto start to look like the other, the Acolytes and the X-Men take a firm stand opposed to each other. There's an interesting parallel to be drawn here. This all starts off with the Acolytes attacking a hospital and wiping out the sick and dying. It all ends with the X-Men and Excalibur helping the wounded Colossus.

Despite being mainly concentrated on Xavier and Magneto, various other characters get some great moments. Quicksilver, Cable, Cannonball, Jubilee, Shadowcat, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Rogue, Wolverine, and (of course) Colossus all shine brillantly above all the others. Each one gives the conflict at hand a different and unique voice, and brings to the story their own flavor.

The writing is top-notch, as Lobdell, Nicieza, and Larry Hama craft a remarkable story here. It's character driven, taking the time to get into characters head with an appreciation of detail and history. The art is good too, though shaky in some points. John Romita Jr.'s work comes off pretty bad here, as does Ken Lashley - both artists who I know are better than they appear in this story. Joe Quesada, Greg Capullo, Joe Bennet, the Kubert bros, and Carlos Pacheco all deliever. Andy Kubert is actually the best of the bunch, which is a bit of surprise for me because I'm not his biggest fan. But between the sketchy feel of the tension-building X-Men # 24 and the dynamic action and character-driven X-Men # 25, he really rises up to the occassion.

The Professor X/Magneto conflict has been around since the very beginning, from the clash of their ideals to the frayed friendship. This is perhaps the best example of their conflict.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 54: "Legacies"

X-Men Unlimited # 1, X-Factor # 90-91, Uncanny X-Men # 298-300, X-Men # 20-23, Uncanny X-Men Annual # 8, Uncanny X-Men # 301-302

It's not a good time to be an X-Man. Targeted by the Upstarts and dealing with a new disease that is going after Mutants, the rumors of Magneto's return do not make matters any better. Let's break it down . . .

X-Men Unlimited # 1 deals with the newest addition to the Upstarts, a young woman named Siena Blaze. She has the power to, um, make things go "boom" and disrupt the electro-magnetic spectrum. She targets Xavier, Cyclops, and Storm as they head home from visiting Ka-Zar in the Savage Land. The three of them must then survive in the shattered hull of the Blackbird after being gunned down. It ain't easy, but it allows for some great character interaction. (I think Scott's struggle over saying "Charles" is kinda stupid though) We also get a nice mystery. Xavier, who spotted a structure as they crashed, heads out to find it. He's rescued, but by whom? Hmmm. A confrontation with Blaze follows, and the three X-Men are rescued by Bishop and Pyslocke.

Over on Genosha, X-Factor tracks down a Mutate with a very deadly disease. They succeed, but not without Multiple Man being exposed to it.

Uncanny X-Men # 298-300 has the X-Men facing off with the Acolytes. It turns out that Magneto's death has inspired a cult-like following with disenchanted Mutants. They first attack a school for handicapped children, believing that one of the kids is a Mutant. The X-Men intervine, but only after Sharon Frielander (from waaaay back) is killed.

Meanwhile, Forge and Gyrich find the remains of Asteroid M and Xavier goes on Nightline with Senator Kelly and Graydon Creed (leader of the group "Friends of Humanity"). As they debate Mutantkind's place with humanity, the Upstarts meet up and plan. It's revealed the Cortez is a member of the Upstarts, gaining a lot of points by killing Magneto.

After Nightline is over with, the X-Men Gold Team (plus Cyclops and Wolverine) head off to a French Castle to take the fight to the Acolytes. A typical battle follows, with Cortez being left gravely injured by Wolverine, then teleported away. When Cortez returns to the Acolytes (who retreated or something), it's revealed that there is evidence that his points don't matter because Magneto might be alive. Back at the mansion, Illyana is sick and getting worse. Xavier and Moria fear that it is same disease that infected the Mutates back on Genosha.

The Blue Team ain't fairing much better. The mounting flirtations between Pyslocke and Cyclops explodes when she kisses him. Scott flips out, goes upstairs, packs his bags and leaves. Storm tries to talk him out of it (considering all the drama she just went through with Forge), but he pushes her away. Jean goes to confront him, but he says nothing to her and leaves her in tears. He's getting good at that. Jean, pissed as hell, goes to Betsy to get some answers. More questions arise when ANOTHER Pyslocke appears, she in her old, European. An overly-compliacted story follows, but here's the gist: Pyslocke appeared on the docks in Japan after she went into the Siege Perilous. A Ninja Assassin named Kwannon found her, some crazy mind-meld followed, and both ended with scrambled minds. As the end of the day, Pyslocke is Psylocke and Revanche (European body) is Half-Psylocke and Half-Kwannon.

As all this unfolds, Cyclops is confronted by Mr. Sinister and learns about the Legacy Virus, which was released as the end of the X-Cutioner's Song. A vacation to Alaska never ends well for Scott.

Uncanny X-Men Annual # 8 features a human assassin named the Executioner going after Mastermind. The X-Men show up first and are pulled into Mastermind's mind. This allows for a unique look at all that has been happening lately through Jean's eyes. Mastermind, as it turns out, also has the Legacy Virus. Colossus suffers yet another blow - this one to the head, preventing him from returning to his human form.

Uncanny X-Men # 301-302 has a showdown with Fitzroy. Colossus, uber-pissed, let's loose on the guy. Plus, Illyana just keeps getting worse . . .

I have to credit the writer's here. A fine job is done in making the Legacy Virus into a real threat, one that is slowly cirlcing the X-Men, chipping away at them slowly. The Upstarts are the other show-stealers, coming off much better than they did the first time they appeared.

Lobdell is the winner above all though. As much as I love Nicieza, the whole Pyslocke story is too complicated and really, not necessary. The Cyclops story is good, but it's overshadowed by the insanity of the Pyslocke story.

Lobdell, however, brings in a more personal flair. We get into Jean's head, really taking in the insanity that has been her life. I'll admit that of all the characters we've seen post-Claremont, Jean has been the hardest one to relate to. But Lobdell (and Nicieza to an extent) nails it. He also brings in some good angst for Peter, who really has been stagnate since the 190s.

The art is fairly good, though I find Andy Kubert lacking at times.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 53: "Recovery"

X-Factor # 87, X-Men # 17-19, X-Force # 19, Cable # 1-2, Excalibur # 66-67

In the aftermath of the "X-Cutioner's Song," the X-teams barely have time to recover. So, let's roll with their punches.

X-Factor # 87
Peter David's best issue. Val Cooper has all over X-Factor pyscho-analyzed. We really get a true, pyschological look at Wolfsbane, Havok, Polaris, Multiple Man, Quicksilver, and Strong Guy. To really explain it would be impossible. Best of the bunch, though, and among the best X-books ever.

X-Men # 17-19
When a Russian town is taken over by the Mutant psychic-vampire named Soul Skinner, Omega Red is called in to deal with him. When he fails, the Russian government calls in the visiting X-Men - Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Jubilee, and Psylocke. However, even they fail to defeat him. The Ruskies then activate a protocol that calls of the assassinations of Colossus' parents and the taking of Illyana. The hope is to jump-start Illyana's powers and destroy the entire town - taking Soul Skinner with it. Colossus fights back, frees his sister. Omega Red escapes. It's an okay story, but the premise is a little shaky. Colossus just can't catch a break.

X-Force # 19
The issue in a nutshell: Cannonball argues with Xavier as to whether or not X-Force are allowed to leave the mansion. Eventually, they do. It's a good issue and serves an interesting take of the whole Cable vs. Xavier's methods arugement. Emotionally grounded, this is a pretty good one.

Cable # 1-2
Oh come on, you knew he wasn't dead. Cable arrives in the future in the aftermath of his self-destruction in the time vortex with Stryfe. Cable rallies Clan Chosen, we learn some backstory of Cable. He then gathers up Kane and attacks the latest and final time machine project run by the evil Cannites. Cable and Kane then travel back in time. It's a fairly good story, if not slow and muddled at times.

Excalibur # 66-67
Rachel has returned, having seperated from Phoenix, yet still retaining its powers and name. To set things right in the future, then, she forms a connection with the creature Widget, which is really the transformed Kate Pryde. Through this connection, Excalibur travels into the "Days of Future Past" time peroid. Joining some old Marvel UK characters (really), the group is able to reprogram Master Mold and the Sentinals into protecting all sentient life. Anti-climatic, but neat.

For the most part, this is a fair time for the X-Teams. Not all of them are winners, but there are certainly worse peroids.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 52: "X-Cutioner's Song"

Cable # - 1, Cable: Blood and Metal # 1-2, X-Cutioner's Song trade, Uncanny X-Men # 297, X-Men: Stryfe Strike Files

This crossover event is the first since the end of the Claremont/Simonson era and is the benchmark for the Lobdell/David/Nicieza peroid. The creative teams have finally settled down, establishing their own voice for their respective series, and have locked in until the end of the tenure.

I decided, for good measure, that I'd toss in Cable # -1. I figure it'll add context to the story. I also added in the "Cable: Blood and Metal" limited since it ties in nicely, plus the Stryfe Strike Files one-shot and Uncanny # 297 for a proper epilogue.

Years ago, Cable arrived in our era near Muir Island. He used his powers recklessly to save himself from a lynch mob and met up with Moria MacTaggert. The two became quick friends. Cable, as it turns out, was on a mission from the future. His goal is simple - to prevent the rise of Apocalypse and to create a peaceful future.

Present day, Cable has broken off his ties with X-Force to hunt down Stryfe and the MLF. As it turns out, the MLF is after certain artifacts bearing the symbol of Apocalypse for reasons unknown. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn that Cable learned that Stryfe came to this time peroid after him and has been planning on shaping his own future. Cable and his team at the time (Six Pack) were hunted down for years before Six Pack fell apart. Presently, Cable and his former ally/enemy Kane tracked down Stryfe, where Cable learned that underneath Stryfe's mask, he has Cable's face. Kane nearly dies helping Cable and Cable takes Kane back to the future with him to help him recover.

So, meanwhile, Professor X goes off to make a speech at a free World Unity concert in NYC. However, he is shot during his speech by a man looking just like Cable. The various X-Teams leap into action. At the same time, Cyclops and Jean are captured by Caliban and the Four Horsemen as the behest of who they think is Apocalypse, but is really Sinister. Sinister and Stryfe trades Scott and Jean for a canister with his the Summer genetic matrix within. Both are happy.

As Scott and Jean are treated like children by Stryfe, the X-Men and X-Factor hunt down X-Force for some answers. In short order, X-Force is captured and imprisoned in the Danger Room. At the same time, various X-Men go searching for Scott and Jean and eventually meet up with a barely alive Apocalypse (still recovering from the last battle). Both teams retreat and Sinister reveals to the X-Teams that it's Stryfe's who is behind the scenes, manipulating these events.

With Professor X dying the Techno-Organic Virus, Cable returns from the future and is confronted by Wolverine and Bishop. After a great battle, Cable convinces them to listen to him when he claims he didn't shoot Xavier. Wolverine believes him . . . for now. With these three trying to track down Stryfe, the X-Men, X-Factor, Cannonball, and Boom-Boom take down the MLF. As they do, Apocalypse and Stryfe battle it out, with Apocalypse heading the X-Mansion to offer his help. He cures Professor X.

Cyclops and Jean make their escape then and found themselves on the surface of the Moon. This shock causes Jean to unleash a psi-call for help, the call reaching Wolverine. A team consisting of the X-Men, X-Factor, Apocalypse, and Cannonball head to the Moon, confront the upserped Dark Riders, and it all comes to head. Stryfe, Cable, Havok, Cyclops, and Jean battle, trying to make sense of Stryfe once and for all. Cable eventually activates a self-destruct program and blows up while taking on Stryfe in a time vortex. They both vanish.

The X-Men return home. After spending an evening walking and rollerblading with Jubilee due to an after-effect of the T.O. virus, Professor X checks out a disc containing Stryfe's files. They hint that his legacy has been unleashed.

WHEW!

Okay, let's talk about this.

First of all, great story. Love the epic feel to it and I love the character arcs and the way that everyone moves across the chessboard. Apocalypse, Sinister, Stryfe, Cable, Wolverine, Bishop, Havok, Storm, Archangel, Cannonball, Polaris, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Professor X . . . all just basically steal their scenes. Great character moments. Havok and Storm taking command. Cannonball's struggle with the hostility between the X-Men, X-Factor and his own X-Force. Archangel's hatred for Apocalypse. The bad-assness (word?) of Bishop, Cable, and Wolverine. The tension between Cable and Cannonball. The hard struggle of Cyclops and Jean as they try to figure out what Stryfe's problem is.

And let's talk about Stryfe . . .

Stryfe, at his best, comes off as a character who is driven by very primal and dark scars. At his worst, he's a rabbling, loud-mouthed super-villian. The point the writers are trying to make but never come out and say is that Stryfe may be Nathan Christopher, who Scott gave away (about a year ago, Marvel Time). Branching off from that, that would make Cable a pale imitation, a half-man. Stryfe's whole point of this attack was wipe out all those that he thinks harmed and destroyed him: Professor X (for creating the dream); Cyclops and Jean, for giving him up; Apocalypse, for raising him wrong; and Mr. Sinister, for screwing him over in the first place.

Between a great, intricrite plot and great character archs, the story is fantastic. Well-coordinated; makes you think you're reading just one big comic with different artists. Very character-driven - never forgetting about the small characters.

The art is mostly good, with Greg Capullo and Andy Kubert being the best. Jae Lee does his work on X-Factor, but it doesn't mesh well with the rest of the artists. Brandon Petersen works on Uncanny and it's . . . okay.

A great story. One that felt long in coming. The creative teams have finally hit the ground running, now establishing themselves from Claremont.

However, as indicated, Stryfe's legacy isn't dead yet . . .

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 51: "The Tragedy of Wolverine"

Wolverine # 55-57, X-Men # 12-13

Wolverine goes to Japan to rescue Jubilee from customs, which sets off quite the terrible series of events. Hydra (led by his former love, Silver Fox) activates the former female Reaver Cyclia and has her hunt him down. Meanwhile, the Hand goes after Logan as well, and end up fighting Sunfire and Gambit - all the while, negotiating with Mariko to cut off their ties with his Clan (so she can ultimately marry Logan).

Both the Hand and Hydra catch up to Logan and manipulate Mariko into getting herself posioned. Once posioned, she begs Wolverine to kill her. He does and it's sad.

Meanwhile, Logan confronts Xavier over some of his files linking up with some of his own. This makes Logan mad, of course. Professor X goes off to investigate and eventually comes into contact with a childhood friend, Carter Ryking, whose father worked with Kurt Marko and Brian Xavier. Supposedly, the nuclear facility they worked at was a cover for a genetics lab. Unfortunately, Carter (aka Hazard) is unable to control his powers. Xavier helps him, but at the cost of the facility and any valuable information.

These are both interesting stories, though they really don't have much to do with each save Wolerine being a prominent connection. The Mariko story is interesting, though it certainly lacks subtly that I would have wanted from such a major Wolverine event.

The Hazard story is just as interesting and I can tell that the creative teams have stablized themselves since taking over the reigns from Claremont and Jim Lee. However, it lacks in the payoff (which it's touched on for nine years), and comes off pretty mediocre.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 50: "Cutting the Old Threads"

Excalibur # 52, X-Men # 10-11, Uncanny X-Men # 289-293

In a similar way to the earlier post-Claremont issues, these books seek to cut off old plot threads and addresses sub-plots that have basically been left behind for a while.

In "Excalibur" # 52, Professor X and Jean Grey go to visit Excalibur in the hopes of reviving a comatose Rachel Summers. In doing so, they learn the origin of the Phoenix. Ready? Here is comes. Phoenix, as it turns out, is a powerful entity, uncontrollable and highly emotional. It was born out of the Big Bang, was on Earth for a while, but then disappeared. It returned when Jean called out for it. It took over/replaced her (I'll get to that at some point down the line), learned passion, love, and hate and became Dark Phoenix - and then died. It floated around - did the "Inferno" thing where it gave Maddie Jean's memoires. Meanwhile, Rachel's mind journeyed back in time to investigate how Kate Pryde's "Days of Future Past" mission got mucked up. The Phoenix was drawn to Rachel's mind as it was similair to Jean's. It hooked up with her and went into the future with her. Once there, she and Kate went to destroy a Sentinal/Nimrod facility. When things got despereate, Phoenix spirited Rachel into the past, where Rachel's memories were all a jumble.

WHEW!

A few things about this issue. First of all, I have to say that I like the origin story for Phoenix. This is one of the few post-"Dark Phoenix Saga" and non-Morrison Phoenix stories I like. It provides some interest for the character, despite my disagreement that Phoenix shouldn't even be alive. Secondly, I like that it roots ties together two of Claremont's finest stories: the "Dark Phoenix Saga" and "Days of Future Past." Finally, we finally get to understand Rachel and recieve the full explanation of her origins. I wish there was a little more - maybe even tightening the theory that Jean and Phoenix were on and the same, but it was good for what it was.

Next up deals with Mojo. Mojo is among my least favorite characters and this story is sub-pair. Big time. Longshot, Dazzler, and the X-Men Blue Team overthrow Mojo. Longshot and Dazzler are then revealed to be expecting a baby - that gets no development barely at all after this point. Baby? What baby? Anyways, it's also Jim Lee's last X-Men issues. There's an amazing two page spread that caps off his run. And what a run. Jim Lee is definetly among the very best artist ever to grace these pages.

Then comes Uncanny. First, we get a real soap opera story. Forge demands to know what is going on with he and Storm. This results in a marriage proposal. However, knowing that she will say "no," Forge leaves to take care of Mystique, breaking Ororo's heart.

This takes us right into the next storyarch, where we deal with the remaining Morlocks. Callisto has arrived at the mansion, asking for the X-Men's help. The Morlocks have gone insane, being mind-controlled by a traumatized Morlock telepath. Mikhail, tortured by his own demons, joins up with Callisto and floods the Morlock tunnels, killing off all those that remain.

The Morlock story is good, but it's the characters that shine through. Storm is heart-broken and unsure of her personal life and sacrifaces she has had to make for the X-Men. Colossus, as well, is presented in a great light. His hope for his brother and ultimately his loss, are portrayed nicely. Iceman also gets some of the spolight, as Mikhail shows him just what his powers can really do; not to mention his asshole of a racist father (and some stupid cyber-Ninja story). Archangel also deals with his own issues as he comes to terms with the fact that his inner rage has resulted in his wings "acting out." Heck, even Professor X has to handle the second loss of his legs.

Some good stuff here. An improvement by leaps and bounds from previous issues.

~W~

PS - I had this big thing planned out for entry # 50, but . . . well, I got lazy. Maybe when we hit 100!