Uncanny X-Periment # 131: "Golgotha"

X-Men # 166-174

Note: Just putting this out there. From here on out, expect up-dates to come weekly, usually Sundays or Mondays. I'm as of now back-logging, so there will certainly be up-dates every week. This is done so that current storylines are caught up by the time we get to them. Thanks!

Well, first off, the X-Men are confronted by strange, fungus-like aliens who feed off people's inner demons, sparking 24 hours of craziness before the alien break out of their shell and head somewhere else. After messing around in the Antartic, Calvary, and LA, the X-Men face down the alien at the mansion. Emma faces aging; Gambit and Rogue struggle with their lack of touch - culminating with a shared kiss between Rogue and Wolverine; and Alex, Lorna, and Bobby act like high schoolers. In the end, the team heads into space and destroys a whole fleet of them. During this, Lorna claims to have 'seen something.'

After this, the X-Men get a new student in the form of the sexual Foxx, who joins Gambit's group. She flirts with Gambit, hitting on him and wanting him, which furthers the wedge between he and Rogue and causing all sorts of problem with his group. It's then revealed that it's really Mystique, who is making sure Gambit is right for her and not just another floozy to him. She even offers herself up to Gambit, looking like Rogue. When everyone else finds out, Rogue asks to join the team. As the senior X-Men vote, Nightcrawler confronts his mother and asks her to leave so he can "wrap his head" around the idea of her being an X-Man. Mystique takes off even after the X-Men are prepared to offer her a probationary place with the team.

We've entered into Milligan's run here and it's definetly a strange one in comparison to other X-Men runs. The threat of Golgotha and Foxx are almost non-existent compared to the drama that has overcome the characters. Milligan has taken to treating the Lorna/Bobby/Alex love triangle like it's something straight out of the 10th grade. The dialogue is pretty immature. Granted, none of these characters are in the best place, but still . . .

Rogue and Gambit get a better treatment, with their relationship going from cute (the space-suit kiss was adorable) to pure self-destruction. The touching thing was not as much of an issue during the "will-they/won't-they" part of their relationship, as the issue back then was if they can trust each other. However, now that they've gotten together and Rogue's powers are back in full, where does this leave their future? Milligan does a good job here, and we see the little things about Rogue and Gambit's relationship come out. Sleeping in the same room, telepathic attempts at being intimate. It doesn't compeletely work out, but it's far more than just "I can't touch you! Wahhh!"

And of course, there's always the trust issue, which comes back here with the temptations of Foxx/Mystique. Rogue is a little firery and quick to blame considering that she had just locked lips with Wolverine. Milligan seems to forget that pretty quickly.

And she also has new fire powers.

It's not a bad start and certainly a lot better than Austen's work . . . even if it does feel shallow at times.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 130: "Phoenix Endsong"

X-Men: Phoenix Endsong # 1-5

Basically, what we have here, is a bunch of Shi'ar decide to bring back the Phoenix so they can destroy it. The Phoenix survives the Shi'ar's attack and heads to Earth, where it accidently wakes up Kid Omega, then tries to get to Scott to feed off his optic blasts -- and to love him like it did when it was Jean.

The Phoenix eventually revives Jean's body. The X-Men chase after her while Kid Omega emerges, pulls up Sophie's corpse, and wants the Phoenix to bring her back to life. Jean "kills" herself and the Phoenix joins with Emma Frost. Phoenix revives Sophie, who promptly rejects Kid Omega. Jean emeges then and pulls the Phoenix out of Emma and into her. She then has a chance to say good bye to all of her loved ones and dies again.

There's something odd about this story. It comes off very much like a swansong for Morrison's run. I'm a little surprised to see it, to be honest. The Phoenix was pretty much dealt with. Kid Omega was done. The Shi'ar hate the Earth. There wasn't much point to this story other than to run around with Morrison's toys.

However, despite the lack of necessity for this story, it's enjoyable. It's sentimental. Jean/Phoenix are both very well-written. Scott really shines through as someone who has control over his actions, despite the fact that he's struggling between his wife and his girlfriend. He's probably the best portrayed here; very well-rounded and aware. His relationship with Emma is shone is a great light, making it seem more than just simply "we're having sex" -- which is what it came across as for a while.

I have to question just why the Shi'ar brought the Phoenix back when it was already dead? It's a confusing point. Wouldn't that be like resurrecting Hitler just to kill him again? Whatever.

The art is quite beautiful, though from what I've heard about Greg Land, I'm not sure if I can trust it. The Phoenix effect - while tired at this point - is really quite awesome-looking in here. And he does do great facial expressions.

Ultimately, it's an enjoyable book. I wish there was more of a point to it, but it's a good farewell to Jean. Again.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 129: "Enemy of the State"

Wolverine # 20-32

The son of Mariko's cousin Ichiro is kidnapped by mobsters supposedly, leading Logan to step in and make the drop-off. However, Wolverine is attacked by the Hand, "killed" by the Mutant cult leader Gorgon, and brainwashed by Hydra into becoming a super-agent.

Wolverine then goes on a rampage, tearing through the Hellicarrier, busting through the Baxter Building and eventually faces off with Daredevil . . . leading to the capture of Elektra, who was tracking him. Eventually, Wolverine breaks into the heavily secured Xavier Insitute, grabs Marvel Girl and forces her to use Cerebra to kill the President. Rachel manages to disarm Wolverine and the X-Men, SHIELD, Iron Man, and Captain America chase him into the woods. Wolverine goes off to kill Kitty, but she phases and Northstar gets the kill. The rest of the group intercept him, with Captain America giving the final blow.

SHIELD cleans Wolverine out while Hydra/the Hand/Dawn of the White Light (Mutant cult) go after super-people. They bring down the Hellicarrier and afterwards, Wolverine promises Ichiro's family that he'll find their son's body. Wolverine confronts the now-ressurected and brainwashed Northstar, is captured, then rescued by Sentinels. He takes Northstar in, then goes after the Hand, where he finds out that Elektra was working deep undercover when she returned to the Hand. Eventually, Gorgon goes after Nick Fury, but Wolverine takes him. Gorgon accidently uses his own power on himself, gets turned into stone/sand/whathaveyou and is defeated. Wolverine then tracks down the body of the boy.

The summary I've just given is pretty poor when compared to the actual story. I've obviously read a a lot of Wolverine stories, but this one . . . is probably among the best, if not the best. Wolverine is perfect here - feral, honorable, funny. He's brillantly written, captured so perfectly. The internal dialogue is very well done, really showing the struggle he's going through.

The plot itself is rather simple, but I like it. Really, with so many super-people out there, why wouldn't the Hand and Hydra want to bring them over to their side?

In terms of pacing and action, it's all rather great.

John Romita Jr.'s art is pretty good, though at times, his background characters just don't look that great. For example, all of the students at Xavier's school look like they're preteens, when in fact, most of them are teenagers. It's distracting. However, Romita is spot on when it comes to catching the action and the suspense of the whole adventure.

Millar's a genius.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 128: "Disassembled"

X-Men # 165, Excalibur # 5-7, Avengers # 500-504, Excalibur # 8-11 (first half)

The X-Men celebrate Christmas by rescuing a family in a insane car wreck, teaching X-23 to not be crazy, and giving Gambit his eyesight back.

Over on Genosha, the target and Professor X/Magneto’s groupies are ambushed by pirates looking to take what they can from the island. Hired by Unus and his thugs, they are all then attacked by none other than Dark Beast. Eventually, Dark Beast is overwhelmed and taken into custody.

In NYC, the Avengers are attacked by insane threats. An exploding Jack O’Hearts; a hidden Ultron command within the Vision; Iron Man getting drunk for no reason; She-Hulk, er, Hulks out; the Kree attack. It’s a very devastating attack and brings about the deaths of Hawkeye, the Vision, and Ant-Man. Eventually, with a full load of Avengers and with the help of Doctor Strange, the Avengers discover that it’s the Scarlet Witch behind all this. Turns out she remembered she had kids and went crazy. There’s a confrontation, in which the Scarlet Witch is left comatose afterwards.

Magneto then comes to her rescue and uses a wormhole to take her back to Genosha. As he does this, Callisto, Dark Beast, and Omega Sentinel contend with the Sugar Man over a hidden vault of supplies. Magneto brings the Scarlet Witch to Xavier and practically begs him to help her.

There’s a lot of controversy in regards to “Disassembled,” and despite it being an Avengers story, the ramifications it has in the X-Universe are quite important to the mythos. So, saying that, we’re going to take a good look at the good and the bad of this story, then move on to the Excalibur issues.

First of all, the positive. In terms of style, it’s usual Bendis, which people generally love or hate. Beyond that, the script is pretty strong. There’s great work in terms of pacing and structure. Nice and subtle reliance on facial expressions here, which adds to the unfolding drama. I like that the Scarlet Witch was the culprit. I like that she was the one responsible – but not because she’s evil, but because she’s unwell.

Now, that being said . . .

Wanda here is presented as nothing more than a plot point. She basically goes crazy and blows up the Avengers because she feels like it. It’s silly. There’s no subtly, no real reason. From what I understand (though I’m not 100% sure because I don’t have the issue), the whole “babies are a secret” thing is a continuity problem because apparently, she already knew about them. And just a few choice words from Jan unravels her completely? It just doesn’t work. It’s like going from Point A to Point E in one leap. Sure, you get there, but you skip a lot of points on the way.

The Avengers themselves are portrayed as fairly unprofessional. This really comes across during a scene in front of the hospital. No one talks like that and it’s all really far fetched, even for a Bendis book. Now, certain characters shine through, like Cap and even Hawkeye, but for the most part, the book fails itself in regards to characterization.

I have to really ask this of Marvel: was this story necessary? Now, I like “New Avengers” and “Mighty Avengers” and a lot of what came after this, but was “Disassembled” really a story that had to be told like this? The Avengers betrayed? Not original. The betrayal tearing the team apart? Doesn’t seem likely. Never had before. Tony Stark out of money? Ugh.

See, the whole story just kinda sucks. It’s depressing. And overly so. I can certainly handle the death of Ant-Man. The “death” of the Vision feels . . . wrong. And Hawkeye’s was laughable. The whole Ant-Man/Jack Of Harts thing was enough to drive home the emotional point. The others were too much.

Finch’s art is mediocre with spurts of good and bad. I’m actually a big fan of Finch, as he can really churn out great works of detail and scope. There’s one particular shot of Doctor Strange during his battle with Scarlet Witch that is just awesome. That being said, the scene where all of the Avengers are assembled is very generic, with everyone looking like everyone else.

Overall, “Disassembled” gets more things wrong than it gets right. It should have been developed more and there should have been a stronger effort to not alienate older fans, who are rightly pissed off by this story. Bendis tore down the house so he could rebuild it; but he did so in a way that just wasn’t quite right.

Now, over in “Excalibur” . . .

It’s nothing out of the ordinary, really. I wish we had more time spent on the actual rebuilding of Genosha and getting things down rather than regular ol’ super-heroics. The addition of Dark Beast is an interesting move, but certainly not unwelcome. Same goes for dealing with the Sugar Man (at long last). The pirates and the Trolls were pretty stupid, though.

Strong moments from Xavier and Magneto, I must note. Great characterization . . . however, I find myself shaking my head at certain moments. Half the time, Magneto just doesn’t like Magneto. He’s so limp and blah. I don’t want him batshit crazy, like the Xorn imposter, but let’s make him a little more imposing.

And why not just having Magneto reveal himself to Unus’ gang? Wouldn’t that solve the “we hate each other” problem?

There’s the usual Claremont clichés, but there are some nice moments of insight that are appreciated. Art isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s far from bad.

The X-Men Christmas story is just waaaaay too happy for it’s own good.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 127: "Danger"

Astonishing X-Men # 7-12

The X-Men, out to continue to make their reputation a positive one, team up with the Fantastic Four to tackle a huge monster in NYC. Meanwhile, a cured Mutant by the name of Wing commits suicide in the Danger Room. When a defunct Sentinel attacks the school, Kitty herds the kids into the Danger Room . . . where they find Wing's dead body. Trapped within the Danger Room, Kitty learns that the Danger Room has come alive.

Eventually, the Danger Room (now calling itself Danger) takes a humanoid form and pretty much massacres the X-Men, then heads to Genosha to confront the Professor. The Professor manages to take her down, but it activates one of the dormant Sentinels and it attacks the restored (by Elixer) X-Men. Kitty shows the Sentinel what exactly it did on Genosha. The Sentinel, now having an AI, can't deal with it and leaves the Earth. Danger is defeated, but it's revealed that the Professor knew that Danger existed, and yet "ignored" her and continued to use her in the Danger Room.

And in the end - we learn that Emma Frost is reporting to a new Hellfire Club consisting of Shaw, Cassandra Nova, a hooded figure, and one of her students on Genosha.

Again, this story isn't very original. Danger reminds me a lot of a more emotional Cerebro. We have Emma reporting to the Hellfire Club. We have word of a mole within the team. The X-Men have lost a little more faith in Professor X. It's nothing new, I'm sorry to say.

Now, again, that's not to say it isn't told well. Incredibly well, really. Pacing, art, dialogue . . . it's all really great. I just wish there was more to the substance than there was to the flash.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 126: "Choosing Sides"

New X-Men # 1-6

It’s a new semester and the kids are getting back in the game. First up, after some fretting, the school is divided into teams with advisors: Alpha Squad (Northstar), Corsairs (Cyclops), Hellions (Emma Frost), New Mutants (Dani Moonstar), Paragones (Wolfsbane), and a pair of unnamed squads – one under Gambit and one under Rogue. There might be more and I’ll point you over Uncanny X-Men.net for more info.

Anyways, there’s still a rivalry between the New Mutants and the Hellions. This overflows into the Field Day exercise, which brings about more tension between the team because the Hellions manage to win it. After that, there’s the returned Kevin Ford. At first, he’s all about the New Mutants, but when the FBI come calling and Dani thinks it’s best if he goes with them, the Hellions are the ones that step up. Eventually, the FBI let him go and because he’s pissed at Dani and the New Mutants, he joins the Hellions, allowing Jay Guthrie to take his place.

I’ve had, for the longest time, an issue with “New X-Men” and really wasn’t until this reading that I realized just what it was that bothered me so much. Now I know. I don’t really like this book. Don’t yell at me, yet, please.

First of all, let’s address what I generally do like about this book. I like the characters. I like David, Josh, Laurie, Sophia, and Kevin. I even like Julian and Santo. Dani and Shan do well with me here. Scott comes across nicely, breaking from the stern and stiff mold and being supportive and reasonable. I appreciate the scope of the series too, but that’s where the problem lies . . .

There’s simply too much going on here. And beyond that, the focus isn’t in the right place. Concepts and goings on in this series thus far? Okay, well . . .

Laurie is crushing hard on Josh, who is making out with Rhane (who is a teacher) in his spare time. Meanwhile, David and Nori might have a crush on each other. Nori doesn’t like her roommate, Dust, because Dust thinks that Nori dresses like a slut (basically). Nori works at the Grindhouse coffee shop, whose boss has a thing for Shan. Julian has a thing for Sophia, even though they are on separate teams. There’s also Cessily, who has a thing for Kevin, despite being on separate teams (though Kevin heads over there soon). Then there’s Jay, who has post-Austen angst. So there are two teams – the New Mutants and the Hellions – whose rivalry stretches even to the team advisors, Dani and Emma.

And on top of all this, there’s also the fact that these characters are in school and have to do school things and training with powers things.

It’s just too much. What I want out of this series is for it to be about a group of teenagers attending – basically – X-Men school. “Mutant High,” y’know? We don’t get that. We get Drama City, which makes things messy and ugly. The characters are not very unique and we don’t spend much time understanding them. They’re good characters, but they simply don’t fulfill their potential. There’s no depth given to them and in the rare moments there is, it’s brief and we get into mediocre relationship stories.

Had the writers focused more on one tight group of characters as they made their way through “Mutant High,” this would have been a stronger book. Even bringing the rival characters in the Hellions would have worked better. Rivals in class, rivals outside. Instead, it’s a messy, tangled web of characters and crushes that are just too complicated for me to care about . . .

And the art is pretty bland too.

~W~

Intermission: Just a Few Things

Hello Interweb land! It's me, thew40!

I'm pausing in my reading/reviewing for just a moment to put a few things out there.

First of all . . . how many people read this thing? I'm aware of three (a fellow blogger, a guy who commented, and someone from the Avengers Assemble! boards), but who else is out there? I'm not begging of course, but I'm just curious and wouldn't mind some feedback.

Secondly, I need to make mention of a couple of issues/problems this blog could be facing down the line. The biggest one of all is the fact that we are slowly but surely catching up the regular MU. By my calculations, I'll be up to speed by the time the current "Endangered Species" story concludes at the end of November. Now, that being said, here's the issue we have . . .

The "Onslaught Reborn" mini-series suffered a major delay. Even though there is one more issue to come out, I have no idea when it'll be. This may mess us up a bit.

Then there's the current story in "Astonishing X-Men," which is hard to place continunity-wise, as well as needing 2-3 more issues until it wraps up. This is major problem. What I may end up doing is reserving a number for it and then, when the last of it comes out, go back and retroactively post the review. What does everyone think of that?

As far as the frequency of up-dates go, I can't promise anything. I'm working, I'm going to school, and I'm planning my wedding. Life is busy and sometimes comics need to take a back seat. But I'll do my best, dang it!

Okay, well, back to the show . . .

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 125: "Gifted"

Astonishing X-Men # 1-6

Kitty rejoins the X-Men just as the new year starts. Scott has decided that his team (Cyclops, Emma Frost, Kitty, Wolverine, and Beast) are coming to be the more public/super-hero face of the X-Men. This becomes quite true when an alien named Ord leads a group of mercenaries and takes hostages. As the X-Men intervine (and are rescued by Lockheed), Dr. Kavita Rao of Benetech announces a "cure" for Mutants.

The X-Men regroup at home as Hank gets a sample of the cure. He cross-references it and discovers that it matches up with someone in their database. The X-Men head back to Benetech, where the team handles security; meanwhile, Ord (who is an ally of Dr. Rao and provided her with the research to create the cure) heads to the school and encounters students Wing and Armor. He "cures" Wing as a warning to the X-Men, then heads back to Benetech.

Kitty, in the meantime, explores beneath Benetech and discovers a starship below . . . and an alive and well Colossus. She takes him back up to the surface, where he beats down on Ord before SHIELD and Agent Brand of SWORD (an organization that keeps an eye on other planets) shows up and tells the X-Men Ord has diplomatic immunity. Turns out Ord's planet of Breakworld is destined to be destroyed by one of the X-Men. Instead of wiping out the Earth, Ord made a deal with SWORD and gave Rao the means to create a cure to use against Mutants. Colossus was taken as a test.

Ord decides to take off and wage war against the Earth, but Wolverine and Colossus manage to stop him by using the old "Fastball Special." Ord is then taken into custody.

Joss Whedon is the new writer (obviously) and does a pretty good job at handling the team. The characters are well-realized, the dialogue is smart, the story has a good pace to it, and he does a good job at capturing nostalgia.

The story itself isn't anything new, though. An X-Man is destined to do something terrible isn't anything new, as we saw something similar with the whole "traitor" subplot back in the 90s. The idea of Mutant cure isn't exactly a new one either, as we've had two cases of it (that I know of). The return of a dead X-Man (Colossus) is far from new.

But it's the style in which all this comes back that makes it fresh and crisp. Honestly, if you had told me that basics of this story a year before I actually read it (the first time), I would have rolled my eyes. Yet, reading it, the story jumps out with a great energy and pace that just draws me right in.

The art is what really helps make the difference. John Cassaday's work here is amazing. His action scenes leave a little to desired, but other than that, he really captures the heart of the characters and produces a damn fine product.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 124: "The New Age"

X-Men Unlimited # 11, Uncanny X-Men # 444-459

A gaggle of books. We'll break down by arcs.

X-Men Unlimited # 11
Alex and Rachel have dinner together, where they try and figure out Emma and Scott's relationship.

The End of History
The X-Men (this team comprised of Nightcrawler, Storm, Wolverine, Bishop, Sage, Cannonbal, and Marvel Girl) launch the XSE initiative. Wolverine and Nightcrawler have trouble in Washington while some of the others fight off a group called the Weaponeers of Al-Khalad. Meanwhile, Marvel Girl, Cannonball, and Bishop end up fighting a creature from the Captain Britain comics called the Fury. The rest of the team joins in and they are eventually able to destroy the creature.

Guess Who's Back in Town
After their last little adventure, the X-Men reunite with Captain Britian and Meggan. After this, they all go off to meet with the Queen of England (because Logan, Kitty, and Rachel saved her in the past or something). Turns out, though, the Viper has kidnapped the Queen and is threatening to blow up London. However, she comes across Courtney Ross, who is interested in rising into a high level position with the Hellfire Club. She and Viper join forces and England is spared.

X-23
Back in New York, the X-Men encounter a female, teenaged Wolverine named simply X-23. She's a hothead like Logan and is brought in from District X to the X-Men.

Chasing Hellfire
The X-Men investigate the recent return of Sage to the Hellfire Club and bring Emma Frost along for the ride. While Rachel and Emma face off in a high-stakes game with Ross and Viper (with Selene tagging along - and ultimately defeated Rachel), the rest of the X-Men get caught up with Sebastian Shaw and the newly-reinstated Hellfire Club leader Sunspot. Pierce joins in and attacks, wounding Shaw. Sage - who defected to the Hellfire Club to help manuever Sunspot into a better position to change the group - remains to guide Sunspot's now commanding hand.

World's End
Psylocke, out of nowhere, reappears alive in Spain. The X-Men respond, trying to unravel the mystery, but are called down the Savage Land by Wolverine and X-23. Once there, the gang is drawn into a class conflict that brings in the Mutates and the Ka-Zar. You know. The usual Savage Land stuff.

First off, great art all the way around. Alan Davis, Coipel, and Park all do a great job of projecting some incredible scenes. Well done.

However . . .

The stories aren't that great. There are moments. Whenever Claremont focuses on the Mutant/human conflict, he does a solid job. We luckily get plenty of these - even inside the Institute.

The Hellfire Club stories feel like they're just set-ups for set-ups. There's not a whole lot to them. It feels like classic Claremont with the building of stories early, but with just being unable to wrap up the subplot. It also feels like Kelly/Seagle - stories that start, but don't see an ending.

The Fury story is pretty good for a straight-up super-hero adventure. I don't quite understand the characters, but I can live with it. X-23 is merely the entrance of a character of some questionable interest for me. It's enough to wonder a bit about her, but not enough for me to completely care.

The Savage Land story is pretty typical Savage Land. There's trouble. The Mutates are involved somehow. Ka-Zar gets involved. A fight ensues.

Psylocke's return . . . again, this is Claremont. He's thinking ten steps ahead. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work here. Esspecially in terms of the Hellfire Club. While things do eventually get resolved with Psylocke, the Hellfire Club just kinda peters out. Which sucks, because I actually felt like there was going to be a great story there.

I'll say this, though. The characterizations are just fantastic. Storm is very well defined - emotional, but in control. Nightcrawler is loveable again. Bringing Rachel back was probably among Claremont's best ideas since his return to the X-Universe in 200x.

There's a great moment with Wolverine and Nightcrawler, where they're sitting in a cafe in France, drinking coffee. It's one of those great character moments Claremont nailed back in the day and had left out in recent years. It's one of those moments that miss the most.

It's a mixed here, to be honest. Good art and fine characterization try and make up for lackluster and, at times, unfortutely pointless stories.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 123: "Day of the Atom"

X-Men # 157-164

(Side-Note: There's - again - a continunity problem here. So, therefore, I'm declaring that the adventures in this entry as well the next one both occur during the summer break. The students present at the rebuild Insitute are staying over the summer)

The X-Men are rebuilding after all the recent losses. The teams are reassigned and reorganized. Havok's team now consists of Polaris, Iceman, Juggernaut, Rogue, and Gambit. When trouble arises in China, the team heads over to see what the issue is. Turns out Xorn is there. Another Xorn. Xorn Jr. Or something. Anyways, he's killed a bunch of people with his black hole head. The X-Men try and retrieve him, only to be intercepted by a team called the Eight Immortals. A tussel follows, in which Gambit is blinded. Then, the whole gang is attacked by a Madrox-like group named the Collective. Well, in the end, the X-Men take Xorn Jr. back home.

Then, the X-Men fight with a new Brotherhood, this one consisting of Exodus, Sabretooth, Nocturne, Black Tom, Avalanche, and an elephant named Mammomax. With a fear of this new team attacking the mansion, Alex advises Annie that she should get somewhere safe. Annie, upset about something stupid, decides to just up and leave. Even a chat with Northstar doesn't stop her. Meanwhile, Sammy Pare discovers Juggernaut is working with the Brotherhood as their mole. Jugg's even proves this when he "attacks" Nocturne (though he really let's her get away). Sammy is pissed at Juggernaut, prompting Black Tom to kill squidboy. The X-Men and the Brotherhood then fight at the school. The battle ends with Xorn Jr. opening his mask and pulling Exodus, Avalanche, and Mammox into his black hole head - along with Juggernaut and Nocturne, who ended up helping the X-Men. Xorn Jr. then leaves and it turns out that Carter has an evil invisible friend.

Exit stage left, Mr. Austen.

Well, okay, I'll grant him this. These stories aren't too terrible. They're far from great, but they're spared the usual lack of Austen illogic, which helps. It's pretty much straight forward super-hero action.

Definetly didn't like the take on Rogue and Gambit. Rogue gets upset with Gambit because he's angsty? Yeah, it shouldn't be that big of a deal. Overall, Rogue is underused. I appreciate the parallel to Rogue being blinded back in the day by Strobe (post X-Cutioner's Song, remember?), but it doesn't quite work with Gambit. Hate the whole vision thing, too.

Polaris is characterized better, thank God. Iceman's a total jerk. Wolverine's fight with Sabretooth apparently happened all off panel. Mmmmmno. Havok and Annie were pretty much the same as always.

Juggernaut - which has been the shining light of Austen otherwise disasterous run - had a decent amount of characterization in the end, but I question why he was even a member of the Brotherhood at all. He's not a Mutant and never gave a rat's ass about Mutant rights and authority. Sorry, not buying it.

In the end, Austen took just about all of his toys with him when he left. Annie, Carter, Juggernaut, Sammy, Xorn Jr. and even Nocturne (which he dumped in 616 during his "Exiles" run) all left the series with Austen. Nocturne and Juggernaut would return later. Now, if he had only taken away the memories of Azazel and the Church of Humanity too . . .

Austen's run one of controversy. It's actually not bad in the beginning, gets a little worse, then gets really bad, then gets just stupid, then goes to an "above avegerage" status. He shook things up, that's for sure. Not all for the good. Definetly. But hey, Juggernaut had a lot of great moments. So . . . thanks for that.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 122: "War of the Programs"

Weapon X # 19-28

So, the new Weapon X project is kinda reformatting. Sabretooth's gone, Jackson is the new Director, and Marrow has left to form a new Gene Nation bent on destroying Weapon X. As Chamber discovers Neverland, Marrow is confronted by Agent Zero, who wipes all of Gene Nation. Agent Zero then fights Maverick and we discover the "new" Maverick is some kid from a while ago (issues I don't have) that's buds with Mav and that Agent Zero is Maverick himself.

Also, Director Colcord and Box are building an army of Sentinels.

Wolverine goes off to track down Chamber and he ends up at Neverland . . . which has been abandoned. The only clue is the word "Roanoke." Ditto goes for Maverick at the Weapon X base and Fantomex with John Sublime's empty grave. The three converge on a field, where it's revealed that Wolverine wiped out an entire town that had been sitting there as part of his intense testing.

Then, we're treated to a nice explaination regarding Weapon X and Weapon Plus. Turns out that the Weapon X Professor broke off Weapon X from the Weapon Plus Project (which was being run by John Sublime), thus all the other Weapon X creations over the years. When Director Colcord took over, he made a deal with John Sublime that they would stay out of each others way - except they would share Neverland.

Now, however, Jackson has a change of thought. The Weapon X program has gone underground and Sublime is out to find them. Or something like that. Wolverine, Fantomex, and Agent Zero fight off U-Men. Fantomex gets shot down.

Then Sabretooth is hired by a front for Weapon Plus to bring in Mr. Sinister. Eventually, there's some putzing around, but Sinister is brought in and meets Sublime. Sabretooth then joins the Brotherhood.

THE END!

Yeah.

Talk about unresolved. I know that Tieri tried to wrap things up in a mini-series, but it actually isn't very good. Really. It's not. So I'm not including that. And if I did, there would still be about ten questions left in the air.

Where is Weapon X? What happened to Chamber? Is Fantomex dead? Where is Agent Zero? What about Colcord's Sentinel army? What about Reyes?

It's frustrating because - despite the sometimes terrible dialogue - this was a pretty enjoyable book. I certainly liked it. But no sense of closure. I kinda blame Tieri for that, but in the end, it's Marvel's fault. This was a book that was still telling it's story. They can't pump out five more issues to finish that story? Really? They could have even had the X-Men proper show up.

Which they should have.

Now, in this post-Decimation and mid-Endangered Species world, we've seen the ulimate fate of Weapon X. I'll cover that when we get closer to it. Now, however, I'm just left disappointed.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 121: "Picking Up the Pieces"

X-Treme X-Men # 46 (first half), New X-Men # 155-156, New Mutants # 13, X-Treme X-Men # 46 (second half), Uncanny X-Men # 442-443, Excalibur # 1-4

In Valle Soleada, the X-Treme X-Men and their pals (Kitty, Rachel, Amara, Lila, Callisto, and Roberto) learn of Magneto/Xorn's attack on New York City. Sage reactives Rogue and Gambit's powers, they grab as many willing Mutants as they can and head on out.

Back at the mansion, Scott is still unsure of how to handle things with Emma. He pretty much tells her this and she runs off to Salem Center. Scott and Beast then head down into the remains of the mansion to make sure that Cassandra Nova is still secure. A Danger Room robot then goes crazy and attacks them, but they are able to repel it. They are then summoned to the temporary X-Corporation branch in Slame Center, which is under attack by humans. Scott and Hank get there too late, as one Mutant student is killed.

Dani, Rahne, and Shan are then reunited with Sam, Bobby, and Amara. They check in on the kids, but there's trouble afoot. Pierce is back, looking to attack Josh Foley. The old New Mutants intercept him and take him down.

The reconstruction efforts still continue in New York, with the city being repaired in a quick fashion. Archangel talks with Storm and they head to Harry's Hideaway, where Storm announces the X-Men's newest status as the XSE and asks who will help shoulder it.

In Genosha, Wolverine and Professor X drop off Magneto/Xorn's body. The two bicker and ride each other about Magneto. Polaris, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver then show up and join in. It goes on and on, but ends with Polaris re-shaping the Magneto/Sentinel statue with Xavier's head on it too.

Everyone then leaves Professor X there alone with the corpse. Professor X gets some supplies out from where he had hidden them in the coffin and goes on his merry way. He encounters Unus, but is rescued by a I-can-make-ghosts mutant named Wicked and a dragon-type called Freakshow. They help him to a house near the shoreline, where Magneto shows up, alive and well.

Eventually, Callisto shows up and decides to join in on the fun. Not long after this, Magistrates attack, carrying with them two "living weapons" in the form of Shola and a Omega Sentinel (kinda like a Prime Sentinel). Professor X and Magneto save Omega Sentinel and the whole Genoshan gang fights off the Mangistrates.

It's a nice step back from the norm and makes for an interesting aftermath-like non-crossover reaction to "Planet X." It's good to see the various factions of the X-Men come back together. That being said . . . it's not very good. All of it. The continunity if funky in places. The X-Corp building is torched in one issue, but is fine in the next. It's . . . messy. There is a nice continunity moment, though, when Sam asks Dani a question off-handedly in "New Mutants" and it gets answered in "X-Treme X-Men."

The whole Magneto-is-alive thing rips a whole in "Planet X," but . . . meh. I'm glad he's back, though he and Professor X playing "The Odd Couple" on Genosha gets old.

Don't even get me started on the Chuck Austen issues . . .

And the art ranges from "okay" to "pretty bad." Even the Larocca stuff looks phoned in.

Oh well. Moving on.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 120: "Planet X"

New X-Men # 134-154

Again, much like the last entry, we'll be doing various stories in one fell swoop. The reasoning is the same - these basically all form one large story.

Riot at Xavier's
The X-Men find that young Omega-level Mutant Quentin Quire is not only on the verge of a major mutation, but also that he's starting to revolt and completely question Xavier's practices and ideals. In due time and with use of the drug Kick, Quire forms his own following - the Omega Gang. On Open Day, when humans are invited to come to the school and check it out, the Omega Gang captures Professor X and launches a full-scale riot. Some die in the riot and the Stepford Cuckoo's end up stopping Quire, but at the cost of Sophie, one of their own. Quire then begins to mutate into energy while the rest of the gang are dealt with. At Prizegiving, which is the end of semiester, Professor X decides to step down after the gripping events. In addition to this, Angel is pregnant by Beak; and Emma and Scott once more begin their telepathic affair . . . only to have Jean find out.

Murder at the Mansion
After discovering the affair, Jean puts Emma through the emotional ringer by using her own memories against her. Jean eventually finds out that Scott and Emma didn't actually sleep together (neither recently nor in Hong Kong), but have been having a telepathic relationship. Scott then leaves the team and Jean storms off. Later, Emma is found shot and shattered in her diamond form. Bishop and Sage affair on the scene and begin a full investigation. As they close in on the shooter, Jean and Beast put Emma back together. Clues involving Angel's children, the supplier of the Kick drug, and Beak's "confession" eventually leads to the pair to incriminate Esme Stepford, who manages to slip and meet her "contact." However, the question remains - where is Scott Summers?

Assualt on Weapon Plus
Scott goes off to drown his sorrows at the Hellfire Club, which is a sort of neutral ground for Mutants with money. Wolverine tracks him down and the two bump into Shaw and Sabretooth while drinking and discussing why exactly Scott turned to Emma. Eventually, the pair team up with Fantomex and barge into the surreal living lab of the Weapon Plus Program, called the World, to stop both them and Weapon Fifteen. AIM gets in the way and it all goes to hell. The trio chase Weapon Fifteen to a Weapon Plus sattelite, where it's revealed that Fifteen was to be part of a public-loved, reality televised super-hero team that goes after Mutants. John Sublime is involved. As Wolverine opens files on himself and is confronted by what he finds AND Weapon Fifteen, he blows up the station.

Planet X
Professor X monitors the situation. Phoenix goes up to rescue Wolverine, only to have her ship blown up after she and Wolverine end up on an Asteroid M - which is being shot into the sun. Beast and Emma go off to save Scott and Fantomex as they crash to the surface in EVA, but crash as well. Professor X then discovers that - this whole time - Xorn has been Magneto. Magneto cripples Professor X again (as he had fused his spine using Nanosentinels) and ravages New York. He's on Kick, which is making him loopy, and Esme and the Special Class make up his new Brotherhood. As Magneto wrestles for control of the city and prepares to flip the electro-magnetic field upside down, Logan and Jean are stuck in space and headed for disaster. Logan, hoping to release the Phoenix, kills Jean. Beak finds Cyclops, Fantomex and various students in Mutant Town after being kicked out of the Brotherhood. Phoenix then emerges, rescues Hank and Emma and they join in on the attack against Magneto. Everyone questions Magneto/Xorn. In the end, he gives Jean a planetary-scale stroke, then demands to be killed so that his legacy will live on after his death. Logan gives Magneto this as Jean dies in Scott's arms.

Here Comes Tomorrow
150 years in the future, Beast is evil and is after the Phoenix Egg, which houses the slowly regenerating Jean Grey-Summers. The current X-Men (being EVA; Tom Skylar and his Sentinel named Rover; Tito, Beak's grandson; Wolverine; Cassandra Nova and Martha; and Three-in-One) go off to rescue her from him. Turns out Beast is really being possessed by John Sublime, a force of living extinction and wants to use Phoenix as a force of extermination. Jean eventually figures things out when Wolverine dies. Turns out that after she died, Scott lost all hope, rejected Emma's love, and went off on his own. Beast just couldn't carry on, gave in to Kick, and was taken over by John Sublime. To save everything, Jean gives Scott a push towards Emma, which will hopefully lead him to re-opening the school.

Whew.

Okay.

“Riot” is the best of the bunch and, really, the best of Morrison’s entire run. It’s smart and incredibly well-written. You can feel for Quire and understand all of his problems and issues. The arguments he brings up are exactly what a teenager would say. The characters are handled perfectly. There’s a fantastic amount of tension as it leads into the big event – the riot itself - and its aftermath is handled very nicely. The dialogue snaps, the pace is nice and suspenseful, and the whole story is just well-done. Combined with great art from Frank Quietly, and it’s a winner.

“Murder” is good, juts not as. It’s nicely complicated, but not overly so. It really concentrates on the character who isn’t there – the traitor, the man behind the Kick and meeting Esme. It’s almost tragic with Emma falling in love with Scott. The art is rather good here, too.

“Weapon Plus” is . . . not as good. The opening issue is fine, though. We start to understand what is wrong with Scott. After everything Apocalypse put him through, he just can’t talk to Jean about it because he feels like it would ruin her image of her. Plus, all these great things are happening and he just doesn’t want to hold her back. Hence, Emma Frost, who has no expectations and just accepts him for him. It’s sad and tragic, but there’s a great deal of realism there. Now, the whole thing afterwards with Weapon Plus is rather blah and nutty, but has some good points here and there. Bachelo’s art is, unfortunately, not one of them.

“Planet X” is pretty good. I found Logan/Jean “we’re about to die” parts better than the whole, as well as Jean’s death. My issue is Magneto. I know it’s been firmly established that this isn’t Magneto, but I want it to be. Kinda. Magneto is out-of-his-mind whacky on drugs and probably Post-Stress-Disorder. The problem is that Xorn was such a well-done character that even with all the various clues planted throughout Morrison’s run, Xorn just doesn’t seem like Magneto. Magneto seems like Magneto, just on drugs. But Xorn doesn’t. Does that make sense? Whatever the case maybe, the central idea of this story is not “Xorn is Magneto,” but that in death, ones legacy can do more than his entire life. In “Planet X,” Magneto’s cause falls apart when he reveals he’s alive. But when he was dead, it lived on nicely – even in the form of Quentin Quire.

In “Here Comes Tomorrow,” it’s Jean’s death that carries on a legacy. Alive, Scott was unhappy. Dead and with a push from Jean, Scott finds happiness in the end, and ultimately, renewal. Just like a Phoenix, huh?

“Here Comes Tomorrow” is not a great story from Morrison, but it’s far from bad. I would rather have had a story about the X-Men picking up the pieces than this, but I can live with it. The characters are hard to relate to, but I loved Tom and Rover. In the end, there’s a certain feeling of love – though it’s hard to describe. I really liked what Jean did to Scott to help him move on. It was so self-sacrificing, helping her husband live and move on. Granted, it helped save the world, but there’s a deep emotional impact behind it. It reminds me of the original “Dark Phoenix Saga,” when Jean sacrifices herself to save the world and it impacts Scott so deeply. It’s similar, but it’s the emotional impact from Jean’s telling Scott to move on that saves the world.

Oh, and Marc Silverstri still draws the best damn Sentinels.

In the end, we’re faced with the last from Morrison. I’m disappointed we didn’t see more from him. I’d have loved to see his tackle the Savage Land or take us back to the Age of Apocalypse. But, in the end, it’s perfectly all right. We got great stories that changed the X-Men, breaking them from a super-hero mold they’ve been stuck in since the early 1990s. The X-Men became teachers, the mansion became a school, and all hell broke loose with new villains and new ideas. Morrison had a great impact on the X-Men and his legacy still continues. It was great to have him on board.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 119: "Intifada"

X-Treme X-Men # 31-45

Here we have the final three arcs of X-Treme X-Men. I've decided to have them combined like this because, simply enough, they're one big basic story. Let's roll . . .

Intifada
The X-Men reunite with Rogue in a California town called Valle Soleada, near Hollywood. For some reason, this town is exactly what the X-Men have been fighting for. Mutants and humans co-exist happily with each other here. However, a gang of young Mutants wrecked a van, killing the family of a teenager by the name of Marie D'Ancanto. This sends Marie into a fit of terrorism and she tries to blow up X-Corp LA's leader, Sunspot, at a concert. The X-Men intervine and subsequently dig a little deeper. Turns out that a lawyer as been pushing human families out of the town and gives them terrible nightmares if they don't comply. They track the lawyer down to the X-Corp with Magma's help. The tension existing between the two major X-Men factions seems to have spread between the X-Men and the X-Corps. However, in the end, all signs point to Bogan.

Meanwhile, Storm and Gambit crash the President's range when he invites world leaders to come and have a meeting regarding Mutants. The two X-Men talk the world leaders into allowing her X-Men to have a global peace-keeping status as the X-Treme Sanctions Executive. The XSE.

The Arena
As the X-Men continue their search for Bogan, Storm jets over to Japan to investigate some arena battles. Guido shows up, she hangs out with a suddenly healed Yuriko, she fights Callisto, Masque is involved. Yadda yadda yadda. It's not good.

Prisoner of Fire
The X-Men continue their hunt for Bogan. Bishop purposely gets himself captured while the rest of the team - joined by Shadowcat, Skids, and Sunspot - go on the hunt. Bishop is taken under Bogan's control and faces off with Cannonball, Skids, Gambit, and Sunspot - they all lose. Rogue, Sage, Magma, and Shadowcat go searching underground for Bogan and discover some catacombs beneath the X-Corps office. They are then confronted by Bogan's telepath and the captured, mind-controlled X-Men. BUT! It turns out that Gambit and Bishop were faking it and they all help take on Bogan's little dork-faced minions. The X-Men free Bogan's telepathic pet and it's discovered to be none other than Rachel Summers! They take her back to the house and then they all finally deal with Bogan - who was hanging out in a glass egg the whole time. He's killed, destroyed, whathaveyou and the X-Men head on home.

"Intifada" is the strongest of these three stories. It's intriguing, it's got a strong mystery feel to it, it has a lot of energy and action. I absolutely loved it. Claremont does a great job making Valle Soleada into a place that I can actually care about. Claremont handling Mutant culture is a good thing, and it tends to bring out his best work. Marie is a character I can sympatheize with. Seeing old friendly faces like Sunspot, Skids, and Magma brings me into this story even more. Storm and Gambit's playing around in Bush's woods gets old but it adds a great sense of realism.

Then . . . it's time for the "Arena." Which is terrible. There's so many BDSM allusions and out of character moments that it just turned me off. Plus, it's such a terrible break from the more intersting story - that of the X-Men versus Bogan.

"Prisoner of Fire" isn't as good as "Intifada," but it's far better than how I remembered it. There are some rather stupid moments, such as when various characters cover themselves in lava, but there are great moments too - like when we are reunited with Rachel Summers. It's a decent story, one that wraps up the X-Men's story for the past few months rather. I wish that Bogan had been a developed beyond "I'm Shadow King lite" and actually had a reason to be evil. I also wish it hadn't been six parts. This could have been done easily in five.

We got some nice moments with Sage, which helped me enjoy her character a lot more. Rogue and Gambit also had some good scenes, even if they were a little corny. Good development all the way around.

I honestly have to say that Igor Kordey's art here is pretty bad. Don't get me wrong. I think he's a fine artist. Really. He has great talent. But he's not suited for X-Men. It's just not something he should be working on. He did great work on Cable and Soldier X, but X-Men . . . meh.

Overall, decent quality. There are parts of this trio that outshine other parts, but in an overall way, it seems to represent Claremont's second run on X-Men. Good ("Intifada"), generally fine ("Prisoner of Fire"), and awful ("The Arena").

If for some reason I decide to re-read this, I'm cutting out "The Arena" and am just concentrating on the good stuff.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 118: "The Ties That Bind"

Exiles # 28-30, Uncanny X-Men # 437-441, Weapon X # 15-18, New Mutants # 7-12

We've got four different stories here, but they all generally take place around this time, so here they are.

Unnatural Selection (Exiles)
The Exiles arrive in the Marvel Universe proper (616) to help stop Mutant X Alex from emerging in good Alex's body, thus preventing him from killing a Wolf-Mutant named Nick and our buddy Carter. While the X-Men and the Exiles deal with that, Maximus Lobo and the Werewolves return. Of course, both teams manage to take down the enemies thanks to some smart thinking on Nocturne's part (Scarlet Witch and Nightcrawler's daughter from an alternate timeline).

She Lies With Angels (Uncanny X-Men)
The X-Men play a bad version of Romeo and Juliet with the Guthries (save Sam) and a whos-who of a small town in Kentucky. Robots show up and Jay Guthries' girlfriend dies.

The Defection (Weapon X)
Chamber has a falling out with the X-Men (though it's all staged) and becomes a member of Weapon X, which is now under the control of Brent Jackson. His first order of business is killing John Sublime, who has a connection to Weapon X.

The Ties That Bind (New Mutants)
As the students continue to struggle with bringing Josh into their midst, Rhane returns to the mansion. There's sadness and drama at Parent's Week. Then, Laurie, Josh, David, and Sofia bring in a homeless Mutant girl named Nori (who can generate electricity). Even though Laurie is crushing on Josh, Josh is drooling over Rhane. He makes a move on her, reactives her powers, and she hurts him. Laurie saves Josh, who then heals himself and turns himself gold.

With the exception of "She Lies With Angels," all these stories are quite good. "She Lies with Angels" is really bad, but it's very beautiful.

It's great to see evil Alex and the Werewolves show back up, and the X-Men/Exiles team-up was very much appreciated. The senior X-Men were a little too accepting of the Exiles, but considering everything they've been through, it's understandable.

"The Defection" is pretty good as well. Jono is such a great character and Tieri captures him perfectly. Great to see some advancement for Jono.

"The Ties That Bind" makes some nice reading, being far less nostalgic than the first arc. There's more focus on the kids than the old New Mutants, which works much better. Nice development for all the characters, I must say. The art is terrible . . . just awful.

Overall, this is decent stack. One thing I've noticed about all these is that it really deals with the whole "next generation" X-characters. Werewolf student Nick and Carter are the focus of "Unnatural Selection," with hotheaded alternate reality Illyana and the lovely Nocturne appearing. Former Generation Xer's Chamber and Husk play big roles in Uncanny and Weapon X. Dani, Shan, and Rhane all play staring roles in New Mutants, along with the new students themselves. It really makes for interesting reading, seeing these older students integrated so well into the X-Men mythos, now training and teaching for new students.

Good stuff.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 117: "The Draco"

Uncanny X-Men # 427-435

I knew this moment would come. The “Draco.”

Here’s the brief. We have three stories, all running parallel, and each one dealing father issues.

In one subplot, we have Professor X and Annie (along for the ride) getting a tour of Lorna’ loony-tunes mind. We discover she’s crazy because she’s A) Magneto’s daughter, for real; and B) she survived Genosha. Okay, we’re okay here. It’s not great, but it’s okay.

In another subplot, we have the Juggernaut heading up to visit Sammy, then finds out that Sammy’s father beat him. Juggernaut beats up Sammy’s father, then battles with Alpha Flight, before being arrested. A little later (though included), he does She-Hulk and finds the kid from a while ago who was abusing animals and somehow gained Juggernaut’s powers.

In the main plot, it’s revealed that Nightcrawler is the son of a Mutant/Devil guy named Azazel. It turns out that Mystique and Azazel did the nasty years ago on Earth so that she would have a Mutant baby that could one day free Azazel from his prison – even though he escaped before to whore himself out so that he could lay the seeds to escape. Yeah. That’s right.

So, Nightcrawler has brothers in Abyss and a new character that we never see again named Kiwi Black. The X-Men get pulled to Azazel dimension, it’s revealed that angels and demons are really Mutants (making Christianity moot, I guess), and of course an obligatory battle scene plays out.

Azazel falls down, goes boom. Nightcrawler comes home with his new brothers (love that anime smile on Abyss’ face!) and they all live happily ever after. The end.

I hate this fucking story. I’m sorry. It’s the worst X-Men story ever. I mean that completely. I’ve read some whoppers here, too. Crimson Pirates? The Neo? Candra? Revanche? Secret War 2? All of it is better than this.

The art is horrendous. Even Ron Garney’s work is subpar here. It’s like someone drew some form of pose and action on the pages, toss some ink on it and said it was done. The fill-in on the last issue is such a drastic style change, my eyes actually had whiplash (okay, well maybe not, but you get what I mean).

The pacing is quite all over the place. The story in it of itself is absurd. Other than the MASSIVE FREAKING PLOTHOLE I listed above, it’s just stupid. Why make Nightcrawler the son of the Mutant Devil? What is the point of that? We’ve already had his faith shaken and the priesthood cast away. Why go the next step? There doesn’t even appear to be any ramifications from this, either. He just kinda accepts it.

The biblical Mutants concept is like an insult to Christians. What’s the point of that too other than for me to say “No, that’s stupid?”

And Mystique is not a crazy person. I’d rather just take that Mystique as the one that stabbed Banshee’s throat and not the one doing secret missions for Professor X (which I unfortunately couldn’t include as I don’t have those issues).

Furthermore, Lorna being Magneto’s father is just lame. It was lame in the 60s and it’s lame now. Plus, wasn’t it proven in the Age of Apocalypse that it wasn’t true?

The only redeeming point is the Juggernaut story, only because Austen has done a fairly good job with Cain Marko. It could have all been done in one issue, mind you, but whatever.

This is as bad as it gets.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 116: "God Loves, Man Kills"

X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills OGN, X-Treme X-Men # 25-30

Here we go. Religion in X-Men. It's a bit of hot topic in this little era of X-Men, as was covered by Joe Casey (kinda) and Chuck Austen (overly). Time for ol' Chris Claremont to handle it, but first we need to flashback to a comic that is just about impossible to fit into the continuity.

The original tale takes place probably somewhere between the Brood Saga and From the Ashes, though the lack of New Mutants is questionable. Maybe they're off on a field trip to Muir Island or something. Anywho, the X-Men find themselves trapped in a conflict with one Reverend Stryker, who is preaching the Mutants are pure evil and should be wiped out. Professor X is kidnapped and his telepathy is used to strike out at Mutants, revealing them to the world.

Magneto and the X-Men team-up and take Stryker down. Xavier suffers a crisis of his own faith when Magneto tempts him to leave the X-Men, but he comes around.

YEARS later, Stryker's plane goes down while traveling to a new prison, but it turns out he was rescued by his associate, Lady Deathstrike. The two then become involved in a tug of war with a town full of Mutant children run by a Christian AI named Paul who sees only Mutants. With Kitty kidnapped the X-Men stuck in the middle, a conflict builds between Paul and Stryker until - in the end - Stryker joins Paul in a link-up to teach him the error of his ways.

God Loves, Man Kills is perhaps among the best X-Men comics ever. It's brilliant. It's X-Men for adults with really bad cuss words like bastard, hell, shit, damn, and even the n-word! Neat! There's guns, not lasers.

But ultimately, it's a great story because it's so honest to its self. Stryker, as nutty as he was, was relateable and interesting. One could understand his position, even if it was very extreme. I also very much enjoyed the fact that it wasn't Christianity that was the source of the problem - it was the use of it to do ones selfish bidding. And it blows up on him.

There's a great theme of faith throughout this story. Not only the faith in God and Christ, but also in Xavier's and Magneto's dream. Magneto and the X-Men are fighting together because they both want the survival of Mutantkind and their friends back - but also because they have faith in their dreams. In the end, Xavier even falters in his faith, but is brought back to it by his friends and family.

It's beautifully rendered story and with amazing art and a great story.

The sequel isn't nearly as strong, but it's not too bad. It lacks the religious and spiritual deepness that the original had, but it's not too bad. Drags on and has some golden moments, though it's not Claremont's best. Still, when he handles Mutants, Claremont does quite well.

NEXT UP: We had the good, now comes an example of how religion can be terribly portrayed in X-Men.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 115: "Schisms and New Mutants"

X-Treme X-Men: X-Pose # 1-2, X-Treme X-Men # 20-24, New Mutants (volume 2) # 1-6

Note: My apologies on the lateness of this blog entry. School had to take the priority for the past few weeks, meaning that this all got pushed back. So, without further ado . . .

In the first of three stories, we have the news magazine program "Spotlight" wanting to do a piece of Mutants and the X-Men. Manoli and Conan (from "Fall of the Mutants," remember?) are there to cover it all. However, as they explore Mutant culture and talk with various X-Men members, they find their producer is looking to create the most negative image of the X-Men. Eventually, Archangel's company has the production shut down.

After that, we're served with a rather complex story. Basically, a kid named Jeffery Garret accidently kills his family when they and their guests are threatened by the mind-controlling telepathic Bogan. Except, nobody knows that. While the X-Men grant Garret amnesty and allow him to come to the school, the X-Treme X-Men are trying to bring him to justice. In the end, they discover it's Bogan that did it, but it forms a rift between the two teams.

Then Cannonball - after helping to clean up the Chunnel - joins the X-Treme X-Men team.

I'm going to breeze (heh) through this last one. Dani Moonstar brings a young wind-manipulator named Sofia out of her poor family situation and to the school. While Professor X tries to talk Dani into staying, Sofia becomes friends with Laurie, a phermone controler - and meets with resident jerk, Julian Keller. In due time, Karma and her siblings join, along with a boy named David who pulls information from anyone standing around him. There's also Kevin Ford - who can't touch anything that's not synthetic without it decaying.

Eventually, the whole group ends up facing off against Donald Pierce and the new Reavers (a street gang), and bringing in a new recruit, a healer named Josh. Pierce goes off to fight another day while Kevin leaves.

The X-Treme X-Men stories are the best and are probably among the best that Claremont has written since his return to the X-Men in 2000. He does a great job tackling Mutant culture and putting the X-Men in a place where they've never been. You see, the X-Men have always been Mutants and always stood for Mutant rights, but when was the last time we just saw them interacting with other Mutant groups without fighting them. It's great spotlight and it's about time it's been shined.

The Garret story is overly-complicated, but it's still pretty good. I like seeing the two teams at odds with each other. Adds a nice sense of tension and drama to the overall X-Men dynamic.

The New New Mutants (not a typo) is . . . okay. Simplistic, and the characters are a little bland at first. The art is terrible and just doesn't fit the book. But it's not bad. I've certainly read worse.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 114: "Holy War"

Uncanny X-Men # 417-427

The X-Men investigate a subsidary of Worthington Industries run by Maximus Lobo. Wolveirne, Northstar, Archangel and Husk confront Lobo, and it turns out he's a Mutant Werewolf thingy. As Northstar rushes Logan back to the mansion, Husk and Archangel are hunted by Lobo and his fellow Werewolves. Eventually, they're gravely injured and left in a field . . . however, Archangel's blood heals the both of them. A new theory is presented to them - what if Mutants of the same type begin to battle it out for supremacy?

Lobo eventually runs off when the rest of the X-Men show up. The X-Men return to the mansion, where (in the meantime) one crazy-ass Polaris has assualted Annie because she's banged on Havok's head after Carter kinda got locked in a telepathic hold with him. Professor X shows up, saves the day, and Alex is awake! Yay! And now Husk and Archangel kinda like each other. Yay . . . uh . . . huh? Okay, more on that later.

So, Alex is awake and Lorna immediately proposes. Annie is devastated because she has a crush on Alex, which started when he was in a coma. Nightcrawler (who is experiencing a crisis of faith), Alex, and Lorna head off to the Bermuda Triangle and are attacked by the Church of Humanity (who are subtley wiped out by Polaris). Back at the mansion, Alpha Flight shows up, tussels with the team, and takes away Sammy Pare - much to his buddy's Juggernaut's dismay.

The X-Men then wake up to a bunch of their friends crucified on the front lawn - including Magma, Jubilee, Bedlam, and Skin. In due time, it's revealed that Skin is dead, but everyone else pretty much survived. The X-Men hunt down the Church of Humanity - again. The Church of Humanity's plot is then revealed. There's something about the Pope and Kurt and Revelations and a part of the Christian faith that Catholics don't believe in. Again, more on that later. In the end, it turns out the Supreme Pontiff is a woman who was sexually abused, then punished for it by the Catholic Church. She dies.

Well, after all that, the wedding day comes. There's some zany times at the Bachelor/Bachelorette Parties, but when the big day comes, Alex realizes he loves Annie and not Lorna. He dumps Lorna at the alter. Lorna goes UBERCRAZY and chases them all around the estate until Juggernaut jumps in and takes care of things. Annie and Alex then hook, having telepathically dated during his time in the coma thanks to Carter.

Then, there's a poorly research but decently enjoyable story about Skin's funeral and Archangel at a hospital.

I think the best way to tackle this little era is to take a look at the characters who are the most promenient (well, except for Iceman and Northstar) (Northstar's gay, by the way. Did you know that? He's gay. He's gay, just so you know. That means he likes men. Dudes. Not chicks. Men. He likes men because he's gay).

Anyways . . .

Alex-Lorna-Annie-Carter
Where do we start? Let's go alphabetical.
I like that Alex is back, but the whole "all I remember is that the plane exploded, then I was in darkness" comments bothers me. So Mutant X never happened? Everyone who bought that comic and watched as Alex's character developed was pretty much swindled? Plus, the whole handling of Lorna was just wrong on Alex's part. Alex isn't as emotionally reserved as Scott. He would have put the breaks on the marriage bus before it got out of control and given his history with Lorna, he most certainly shouldn't have broken things off at the alter and then sprinted off to Paris to make out with Annie.

As for Annie . . . well, I'm all for human characters joining the cast, but Annie just doesn't fit. She comes in, shows everyone up, is played up like a saint next to Loony Lorna. I understand that Lonra is nutty, but she watched an entire country get ripped apart right in front of her very eyes and then had the thoughts and memories of all those dead people transmitted through her. Yet, instead of making her sympathetic, Lorna is a super-huge jealous crazy-ass quasi-Magneto bitch. Annie, who had a obsessive crush on a comatose man is portrayed as Mary freaking Poppins whose only major flaw is that she struggles with being around mutants.

Lorna is getting the short end of the stick. Throughout every issue, Lorna is portrayed as either a snotty bitch or a total crazy. It's just not Lorna. It looks like her, they have the same power, but it's not Lorna Dane. Despite what she went through, she's acting more like Malice than Polaris. Heck, if Malice had shown up at some point down the line and said something like "Haha! Ever since the X-Men snagged me from Genosha, I was taken over by Malice! Haha!" then the story would have actually been fifty frillion times better.

Juggernaut
I actually very much like what Austen has done with the Juggernaut. He's actually developing quite nicely, moving away from the thug of old and into an enjoyable, relatible character.

Nightcrawler
I don't completely understand why there was a need to completely destroy Kurt's priesthood. The Church of Humanity didn't really shake his faith at all. Exploding wafers? Gimme a break. All Kurt would do is laugh at that.

Husk-Archangel
I still don't understand this pairing. It just doesn't work. I mean, hey, Paige has a crush on Warren . . . but it doesn't make any sense. She's young, but she's also not mature enough for Warren. Warren has always gone out with women who were mature and strong. Candy Southern was rich and super-confident, Charlotte Jones was a cop, and Betsy was a pyschic British Ninja thing. Paige? She's confident and in a hurry to grow up, but is still so young and lacks the maturity we've seen in Warren's previous suitors. It's just a very confusing pairing.

Maximus Lobo
I really wish we had seen more of these nutty guys. The concept was neat and worth exploring.

Church of Humanity
I . . . I can't even bring myself to comment.

Little things:
I hated the way Stacey-X was just kinda dismissed. Y'know, Casey may have written her to be a prostitute, but he at least gave her class and development. Austen was just kinda like "she's a whore, so let's have her be the dirtiest person EVER!"

Chamber was well-handled, but left far too open.

And please tell me soomeone wrote a fanfic about why Angelo's name was spelled wrong and please tell me it had to do with his faking his own death years ago. Please. Because I'll immediately accept that as canon.

The art wasn't too bad, even though Garney and Tan both kinda fell apart towards the end there. But to be honest, the whole Austen run is like that. It starts off okay, and with every couple of issues, it just goes down and down . . .

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 113: "New Worlds"

New X-Men # 128-133

A bit of a comment first. Continunity. Yes, it's a big pain in the butt. However, when you have three writers working within the same universe, and characters are going to bouncing around between them, isn't it a good idea to make sure it all works okay? In this time peroid, Jean and the Professor are on a world tour. Next time we see them, they're back at the mansion. Then, Jean's gone and the Professor is back. It's confusing. It's frustrating. So, I've done my best here and this is where this goes and we can just assume that Jean left to take care of X-Corporation business after the up-coming "Schism" story. And that while she was at the mansion, Emma and Scott stopped their affair until she left again. How's that? Everyone happy? Good, because I'm not.

Down to business . . .

As I said, Professor X and Phoenix are on a little world tour, stopping over and visiting the X-Corporation Europe office, which is home to Darkstar, Cannonball, Richtor, Syrin, Maddrox, and Monet. The X-Corp. team gets pulled into an emergency at the chunnel, while Professor X investigates Jean's re-manifestation of the Phoenix before they're side-swiped by the mysterious Fantomex. Fantomex claims to be a part of the World Plus Program, which had spawned the Weapon X project (Weapon 10) and had now created the loose-in-the-chunnel Weapon XII. The X-Corp. team gets their asses handed to them as everyone who touches Weapon XII because a part of it - including Darkstar. Professor X, Fantomex, and Phoenix arrive on the scene and stop Weapon XII. As everyone cleans up, Fantomex reveals to Jean that he's Weapon XIII.

During Darkstar's funeral, Scott seeks Emma's help with his marriage. Scott just feels like Jean can't accept him for what's he changed into and that they're just grasping at old feelings. Emma takes advantage of this and they begin a telepathic affiar, in which they have sex telepathically.

Also, Beak and Angel have begun a relationship.

Professor X and Phoenix then head off to Genosha, where they meet up with Storm, Thunderbird, Sabra, and Quicksilver. They investigate the possibility of ghosts of being present, meet with Toad who is building a monument to Magneto, and eventually come across Polaris, who has captured the voices of the people of Genosha - including Magneto's. Magneto's message then spills out across space.

The duo then arrives in India to meet with X-Corporation Mumbai, where Thunderbird, Sunfire, Feral, and Thornn are stationed. Wolverine arrived earlier with a Mutant girl named Dust, whose power was to turn into dust and sand. While Jean helps her, Professor X meets up with the leaving Shi'ar, who have cut off all relations with the Earth due to the Phoenix reappearing.

Overall, the typical Morrison fair, though it's nothing to write home about. The Weapon Plus stuff comes up later, so we'll talk about it then. The highlights of this run include Professor X's talk with the Phoenix entity and the great concept found in the X-Corporation.

I'm a little bothered by the Emma/Scott affair. Not because of the affair itself, but because it seems to belittle Scott and Jean's relationship. In the end, it doesn't come as harshly, but at this point, in kinda does.

The art is a mix and match. Kordey's is a major improvement over his last issues. John Paul Leon's is pretty good, though Bill Sienkiewicz's inks just don't work well with it. Phil Jimenez's work is great, with tons of detail applied to the devastated Genosha. Eathan Van Sciver is the show-stealer. His art is the superior in the group, esspecially his renditions of Jean.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 112: "Hope"

Uncanny X-Men # 410-416, X-Men Unlimited # 44

We'll get to Chuck in a bit . . .

I decided to include these issues as it fits together the best. However, it makes for some unfortunate continunity glitches - which are apparent, as continunity just doesn't seem like it was a priority back then. Oh well . . .

The X-Men head across the ocean to a castle in response to an emergency call we discover was placed by the Juggernaut to help his buddy Black Tom, who has gone totally plant. The X-Men break out, Warren turns to white, Black Tom kinda vanishes, and a slowly depowering Juggernaut decides to bum out at the mansion for a while.

In the meantime, Professor X brings in a new student, a fish-boy by the name of Sammy. Scott finds out that Alex is in a hospital and that a nurse named Annie is in love with said comstose Alex. She, Alex, and her son Carter (secretly a Mutant) all head to the mansion.

Eventually, Northstar is invited to join the team as a teacher. He pretty much rejects, but after desperately trying to save the life of a blowing up Mutant teen, he agrees and joins the X-Men - again, kinda. Iceman, as it turns out, is slowly turning into ice. Stacy hates Husk, M popped by, and the X-Men fought some teens that torture animals.

Out of the gate, it's not too bad. On the art-side, Garney is doing an admirable job. Phillips is the better of the pair, this time around, as he really captures the darkness and angst in the comic. There's a recurring theme about child abuse that is just a little too heavy-handed for my tastes and really, when read like this, it's just way too much. Esspecially combined with the animal abuse story.

Austen's point? Don't abuse children or animals.

I'm not sold on Annie. Northstar is handled fairly well. Stacy isn't; I really think that Austen just doesn't know what to do with her. Blame that on Casey, though.

So, we're off! It all goes down-hill from here . . .

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 111: "The Hunt for Sabretooth"

Wolveriner # 173-176, Weapon X # 1-5

Sabretooth is on the loose and has decided - on Mariko's death anniversary - that he's going to tear down Logan's world. Recruiting Omega Red and Lady Deathstrike, they go after Nightcrawler, the Hudsons, Yuiko, and Amiko. Logan - his powers removed by Leech - eventually confronts the trio in Vegas. There, he squares off with all three - until Sabretooth, the captured Amiko, and himself are all teleported to the old Weapon X facility.

There, Logan and Sabretooth have a beat down. Thanks to Weapon X, Sabretooth's powers are removed, but he manages to teleport out of there quickly enough to evade capture. Wolverine kinda dies, meets up with Colossus and denies himself the answers he's sought (he had early learned that his own healing factor was hiding his memories from him). Logan returns to the mansion and is reunited with Amiko.

Afterwards, Weapon X hunts down Sabretooth, who has set himself up as an information broker. He goes after various Mutants, eventually leading to a confrontation with Aruroa and Wild Child. He tears Aruroa apart, tramuatizing Wild Child in the process. Eventually, as deals are being brokered within the program itself, the mysterious Agent Zero takes Creed down and brings him back in. Sabretooth is then reintegrated into the program.

Meanwhile, Weapon X has constructed what is basically a Mutant Concentration Camp called "Neverland." A family of Mutants is brought there and offered to join the Weapon X program. They refuse. The Mutants are then given either a red M or a green M. Ex-X-Man Maggot is there (with Reyes) and he gets a red M. He gives one of his slugs - Eeny or Meany - the children of the family and then is executed. The kids are then smuggled out by a Doctor named Widsor.

Not bad. Overall, the art is decent. The story is actually pretty good, but the dialogue is not so much. There are a lot of cliches catchphrases that have caused these books to not age well. The issues of the "Weapon X" are the superior ones here, as I like seeing the depths of these villians. At this point, having villians as the main characters is nothing new, but it's nice to see it done in the X-Universe.

They're like the anti-X-Men!

I also have the compliment Tieri on the use of "old" X-characters. Kane, Marrow, Maggot, Reyes, Mesmero, and Wild Child all would have been in limbo if not for Tieri coming in and using them in new and interesting ways.

Though I would have liked to have seen some Marrow/Reyes/Maggot interaction . . .

And Maggot's dead. Put that one on the "Dead X-Men List." I wish that the X-Men actually knew he was dead, but I'm sure they found out somehow . . . from Chamber or something . . .

It might be a while before we see "Weapon X" pop up in the X-Periment, simply because of the continunity was during this particular peroid of time. But no worries, true believer . . . they'll be back.

Just like Maggot will be.

Maybe.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 110: "Mekanix"

X-Men Unlimited # 36, Mekanix # 1-6, X-Men Unlimited # 38

Oooooh Kitty Pryde.

We follow Kitty in her new life away from the X-Men. She deals with the death of her father on Genosha, then is targeted by a college hate group called Purity. Between dodging Purity attacks, FBI raids, and meetings with a therapist, Wild Sentinels attack Chicago. Kitty also gets a fun supporting cast: Karma and her siblings; her boss Devon; and Sholoa, a Genoshan. After all this, she continues to deal with the death of Colossus on the one year anniversary of his death.

I love Kitty Pryde and despite some rather silly and boring moments here and there, this is a fairly nice character story. We really get into Kitty's head, catching up with her since she was last an X-Man circa "Revolution." I applaud both Claremont and Rucka.

The "Mekanix" limited series does drag on a bit. The art isn't the best. Where's Lockheed? But really, beneath all of the cliches and lame scenes, the character of Kitty shines through and that seems to be point of it all.

Awww, lil' Kitty's all grown up!

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 109: "Rocktopia"

Uncanny X-Men Annual 2001, New X-Men # 127, Uncanny X-Men # 401-409

Uncanny X-Men Annual 2001 – The X-Men investigate a new drug ring. It’s being run by the Vanisher and is based on humans using Mutant gene therapy to have temporary powers. The X-Men find out its Vanisher, but he gets away before they are able to do any real damage to him.

New X-Men # 127 – Xorn investigates a Mutant in the newly-established “Mutant Town” in NYC. Unfortunately, the mission ends in tragedy, but Xorn gets some musing.

Uncanny X-Men # 401-409 – The X-Men confront Banshee, who has formed a paramilitary unit called the X-Corps. Run by Banshee and with members including M, Jubilee, Husk, Maddrox, Sunpyre, and Radius; as well as “former” criminals the like of Blob, Avalanche, Abyss, and Fever Pitch. Turns out that Banshee is using illusionist Lady Mastermind to control these former criminals. Unfortunately, Mystique is using Lady Mastermind and an anti-Mutant terrorist group called ARM to manipulate Banshee and to ruin it all. Eventually, Mystique gets sucked into Abyss and Banshee gets his throat slashed. During all this, Nightcrawler and Chamber ended up with Kurt’s out circus buddy and Kurt is trying to figure out what’s wrong with him and what the Church of Humanity did to him. In the aftermath, the X-Men investigate the Vanisher again, which brings Kurt into conflict with a priest turned Mutant-wannabe who is then killed by the CoH. With the help of renewed-in-the-X-Men Stacey, Warren is able to take apart Vanisher’s drug empire by buying it out.

Let’s start at the beginning . . .

Uncanny X-Men Annual 2001
Kudos on making the Vanisher interesting. However the story suffers from Vanisher’s power to vanish and the art. Ashley Woods’ work is great . . . but not very good with storytelling.

New X-Men # 127
A nice introduction to Mutant Town. A good look at the (supposed) inner musings of Xorn. Good art. Good comic.

Uncanny X-Men # 401-409
You know, it’s surprisingly hard for me to write this. Seriously. In the entire time that this entry has not been up, I’ve been struggling with what to write here. I’ve finally just decided to let it all out . . .

There’s just something not right about the “X-Corps” story and I finally think I know what it is. While it does kinda serve a metaphor for “the end of X-Men spin-offs,” Banshee just isn’t portrayed right. Moira or no Moira, Sean just doesn’t feel right here. His character arc is interesting, but too many things happen that Sean just knows better about. Bringing in criminals to do his job and controlling them using another criminal? Come on!

The arc after that is an improvement, as it uses the best elements of Casey’s run – the Vanisher/Drug story and the Church of Humanity. Wish it could have been better and it never really was revealed just what was wrong with Kurt during Casey’s run, meaning it was up to Austen . . . and we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

Casey’s run was intriguing, but never really achieved its potential. It constantly felt like he was trying to find a balance between Claremont’s old school super-heroics and Morisson’s “new” feel and direction – and he just never found it. He brought a darker, more brooding edge the X-Men that fit some characters – like Chamber and Stacey – but hurt others, like Kurt. I also would have liked to have had a stronger conclusion to his overall story involving the Church of Humanity.

But oh well.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 108: "Invasion"

X-Treme X-Men 2001, X-Treme X-Men # 19

Okay. Let's something out into the open before we kick this off. For the record, things are going to be changing a bit here. In order to speed up up-dates, expect to see shorter story summaries. This story in particular is going to be the Reader's Digest version. Other than speeding up the amount of up-dates, this will also serve to help me as my schedule has suddenly gone quite insane with me working and going to school. I now only have one day off a week.

So, with no further ado . . .

-------

After dealing with the Shadow King and the mind-controlled Pierce and his Reavers (told you they'd be back) and subsequently imprisoning the Shadow King, the X-Men are faced with a new threat. Someone stole a ruby that was part of a set from Madripoor - this was the one that that crimelord had in the last arc. Anyways, a new lizard-like villian by the name of Shaitan attacks the X-Men and kidnaps Gambit and Lifeguard and takes Storms' ruby (which is also part of this set). He then uses the rubies and Gambit to open a portal and to establish a slowly materializing tower from which the evil Khan has conquered hundreds and/or thousands of cross-time Earths.

The X-Men take Khan captive, but he is rescued and Storm is dragged along to the tower with him, being proclaimed his new queen. The X-Men split up, with an all-powers-accessing Rogue and the newly-activated Davis Cameron (a portal opener now code-named Slipstream) to handle the invasion forces of Khan's army and Thunderbird, Sage, Lifeguard and Bishop to rescue Storm and shut down the tower.

Eventually, Storm strings Khan along and he loses focus. Vargas shows up, looking to kill Gambit, but Rogue gets there in the meantime and hangs onto her lover. Then Storm and the X-Men flood the tower. Shortly after returning and blowing the crap outta Khan's ship, the portal is closed when Vargas "kills" Rogue and Gambit (who was laying right under her). In the aftermath, Rogue (accessing Logan's healing factor) goes after Vargas and kills him. However, she also manages to channel Destiny's power and reveals that the "wheel of destiny is broken" or something.

Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Kitty, and Beast show up to help the gang recover. Davis runs because his sister is scary now. Heather and Thunderbird go off to help him or something. Gambit and Rogue, their powers kinda dead, decide to build a relationship. This leaves Storm, Sage, and Bishop to figure out what they want to do with themselves.

I have to say, out everything Claremont has offered up since his return the X-Universe, this is actually among his best. Sure the dialogue is cheesy and cliched at times. Storm being nominated Khan's queen is dumb. The dropping of the Books of Destiny subplot just like "that" is just a litte unbelieveable.

That being said, there's so much good material here. Tons of action, great characterization, a great threat. It's old-school, but it's good old-school, which is rare for Claremont. A little too drawn out, though. How many aftermath books did we get? Three? But that's okay, I can live with it.

And kudos for jetisoning Lifeguard, Thunderbird, and Slipstream (who just happened to have a power they just happened to need right then and there). I'm not keen on these characters, though I have to admit Neal's grown on me a bit.

Larocca's at his prime here, though it can get a little too cluttered here and there. Nice easter eggs tossed in there too, for those of you paying attention.

So, not bad. Very old-school, which works in it's favor. Actions-packed, exciting, a little cliched, but enjoyable nonetheless.

~W~