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~

Uncanny X-Periment # 107: "Imperial"

New X-Men # 122-126

The X-Men aren’t in best shape right now. With Cassandra Nova running the Shi’ar Empire into the ground and headed back to Earth, a weird flu (actually Nanosentinels) infecting the cast, and tensions between the school and the rest of the world, the X-Men need a good turn around. And – they do!

Cassandra Nova comes back during a very good-going tour of the school to the media. Ahead of her is the Imperial Guard, who are ordered to destroy all Mutants. Lilandria gets all messed up in the head. Eventually, everything comes together. Jean puts Professor X into her own mind, then every other Mutants, then back into his own head, casting Cassandra Nova out. Emma then places Nova’s mind into the body of a artificial life-form shape-shifter. In the end, we find out that during Xorn’s attack, he healed Professor X’s spine. So he can walk again.

Ultimately, this is among the best Morrison offers. The art goes from great (Quietly), to mediocre (Van Sciver), to really bad (Kordey – but there were problems behind the scenes). There’s some genius stuff here. The way the Shi’ar are portrayed is exceptionally good, perhaps one of the best I’ve seen. The Nanosentinels are a great concept.

The characterization is on high. Jean shines through, especially. All of the X-Men have great moments, here. Damn. What a good story.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 106: "Rescue Me"

New X-Men # 118-121; X-Treme X-Men # 5-9

With a mob outside their gates, the X-Men are also facing a problem in the form of the cult-like U-Men, who are out to make themselves into the Third Species by taking parts for Mutants and graphing them to their own bodies. They also seal themselves in suits so as to not be soiled the air and whatnot. Cyclops and Emma head to NYC to confront Sublime, but are then taken down by him. The U-Men then make for the mansion, but encounter resistance from Jean and the students. At the same time, Logan is bringing a fly-girl named Angel to the school after rescuing her from the U-Men.

Meanwhile, the X-Treme X-Men track down Gambit after he becomes the chief suspect in an assassination of a mobster. Three mobs go to war with a man named Father Gow running things. The X-Men secure the mobster’s children – Heather and Davis Cameron – and then have to deal with the mob war, Sebastian Shaw, and all sorts of complicated nuttiness. In the end, the X-Men have two new members, an ally in the warrior Red Lotus, and Gambit’s back!

One of the things I really enjoy about this era of the X-Men’s history is the desire to inject something new into the mythos. Whether it’s new concepts, villains, or new characters, we’re guaranteed at least something new to the world of the X. That being said, none of this new stuff is exactly perfect.

In New X-Men, the gang goes up against the John Sublime and the U-Men, and we get an introduction to the foul-mouthed, trailer trash Angel. Plus, the actual origin of Cassandra Nova is exposed. I applaud Morrison on the introduction of such a radical new villain in the U-Men. The cult-like U-Men make for a interesting foe . . . even though John Sublime is a little lame. I have to hand it to him by bringing in Angel, who Wolverine tries to take in like he did Kitty and Jubilee – only to find her to be a pain in the ass.

There’s also a good amount of explanation here and plenty of plot nuggets to go around. While we learn what and who exactly Cassandra Nova is, we also get more of the Phoenix raptor and the growing amount of distrust between Scott and Jean. Plus, the students are in action. Add to that the art of VanSciver and Igor Kordey, and this book is pretty good.

Over on the X-Treme side of things, we also get some new characters – Lifeguard and her brother Davis. Though both are a little flat, Lifeguard’s “whateverIneed” powers make for a cool concept. Plus, it’s great to see Gambit back and the chemistry with him and Rogue bubbling again. But the problem is that this story is about two issues two long. The silent issue and the “telepathic battle” issue are all just too much. Larocca’s art is beautiful and Claremont does a good job of bringing Jean into the picture to talk to Storm about current events.

The two silent issues are the perfect examples of the good and the bad of Marvel’s little experiment. Morrison’s “Telepathic rescue” is brilliant. Claremont’s is just confusing.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 105: "Poptopia"

Uncanny X-Men # 395-400, New X-Men Annual 2001, New X-Men # 117

This will kinda be split in two here. First up is “Poptopia” (plus two issues, though they should be included), which is the first real story by Joe Casey (with Ian Churchill, Sean Phillips, Tom Raney, Ashley Wood, and a bunch of others). The team is made up of just about everyone that Claremont and Morrison didn’t want – Archangel, Nightcrawler, Iceman, Wolverine (kinda) and Chamber. A bit of a sausage fest. They eventually bring a hooker onto the team. It’s a Bachelor Party-type team.

The X-Men go to London to investigate some Morlock-like Mutants. After being outright kicked out of their little subterranean community, the team is appalled when they found that they were later wiped out by a terrorist by the name of Mr. Clean. They hunt down Mr. Clean and eventually, Wolverine joins and helps finish him. This entire time, Chamber starts hanging out Britney Spears wannabe Sugar Kane . . . until he eventually learns that no, seriously, nobody likes Mutants. He eventually joins the team.

Shortly thereafter, the X-Men head out to Nevada to check out the X-Range, a brothel run by Mutant prostitutes. The X-Range is then coincidentally attacked by the Church of Humanity, who wipe out the house out . . . save for one, a pheromone lizard-like Mutant woman named Stacy X.

The X-Men investigate the Church of Humanity, even engaging in battle with them. As Stacy is accidentally teleported to their Montana base, Wolverine digs up information from one of their own that the X-Men managed to capture. The Priest-foot soldier tells Wolverine about the Supreme Pontiff, who was born a hundred plus years ago and was magical and whatnot. It’s a silly origin, but I suppose it work in context of the Marvel Universe.

Soon enough, the X-Men attack their Church of Humanity headquarters and manage to battle the bad guys and rescue Stacy. Nightcrawler encounters the Supreme Pontiff and something mysterious happens. Then the bad guys withdraw and that’s the end of that.

Up next is more “New X-Men” goodness. The other X-Men team (Cyclops, Wolverine, Emma Frost, and Beast) head to Hong Kong, where Domino is running the newly established X-Corporation. Apparently, Risqué (remember her? Crappy character from 1996? Yeah, it doesn’t matter) was murdered while investigating Mutant organ trafficking. The X-Men and Domino investigate, and discover that cultist John Sublime has been buying Mutant organs from a Chinese general. Why? To graft said organs onto his body in an attempt to become a Third Species. Now Sublime is after a Mutant with a star for a brain named Xorn. The X-Men intervene (during which, Emma comes to Scott’s room is a sexy outfit and a bottle of wine) and rescue Xorn.

Upon returning to the mansion (Xorn’s taking some time to spend with some monks), Professor X prepares to leave for the Shi’ar Empire for a vacation. This is after he’s opened the doors to a Mutant student body (152 Mutant students) and with a Mutie-hating mob at the gates. Meanwhile, Jean confides in Logan her marital problems and Beast is dumped by Trish Tibly. Beast then confronts Professor X in regards to his findings about Cassandra Nova. She and Professor X have the DNA. Professor X then reveals that when Cassandra Nova was in Cerebra, she switched bodies with Charles. She then takes control of Hank’s body, humiliates him, then has a bird-like student by the name of Beak beat the crap outta him. Then Professor X/Cassandra Nova heads off into Shi’ar space.

Starting with “Poptopia,” we’re introduced to some new concepts – not all of them work. First of all, I really like seeing Archangel actually do something. He’s been sitting on the sidelines for far too long and having him out there, leading this new team is good to see. Iceman’s fun to read; Nightcrawler is a bit dark, but he’s not in the best place right now. Wolverine is Wolverine. Chamber is just enough emo punk that it’s believable.

I like the idea of the Church of Humanity. I think they’re really underdeveloped here, but it’s so refreshing to get a decent human villain. Granted, Chuck Austen tears the entire concept apart later, but in the here and now, they’re kinda neat. I like the challenge it brings to Nightcrawler, even though nothing really comes of it.

Stacy is an interesting addition to the crew. I mentioned it’s a sausage fest, but . . . meh, I’m not sold on her. I’ll grant that she’s a curious addition to the team, but it’s nothing to write home about. I know it sounds odd, but I always thought she’d get along Marrow. The X-Range is a neat idea.

I was also impressed by the Sugar Kane. Er, maybe not impressed, but it was interesting. A nice little subplot that really seemed to inject some reality into the book.

Anyways, despite the fact that the Church of Humanity is actually a decent threat, everything about just doesn’t live up to its potential. The Supreme Pontiff’s origin reminds of something out of a 1970s horror comic. The Priests are generic. Mr. Clean is stupid beyond belief.

It’s a mixed bag with Casey – especially with this story.

On the other side of things, we’ve got the New X-Men. The Xorn story is actually the better of the two. Some of Leniel Yu’s best work on X-Men is in here. Morrison is getting better at nailing the characters. Cyclops is on a slow build to getting better. The Third Species idea is a little over the top, but we’ll get to that soon enough. Xorn’s premiere is great, though. A lot of promise with this guy (heheh).

The second New X-Men story is a home run. Morrison has got a bigger story to tell and this chapter is really where the action picks up – with most of the cast unaware. Cassandra Nova is written quite awesomely and becomes a greater threat. The art – by VanSciver – is a little flat, but he gets better in time.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 104: "E is for Extinction"

Uncanny X-Men # 394, X-Men # 114-116

We open up with a kid’s 18^th birthday. How does he celebrate? He goes to Cape Citadel to tear apart Magneto-style. Apparently, he has the power to draw people and objects into his mind and mess with them. After an argument with Scott, Jean and Logan head to the Cape to deal with Mutant teen. They’re both drawn into his mind. Cyclops and Archangel soon show up and start to put him down, but inside his mind, things are looking grim. As death seems to be staring them in the eyes, Logan and Jean kiss, then pop out of the kid’s mind. The kid takes and the X-Men head back home, with Scott none the wiser.

Later (I’m assuming), Cyclops and Wolverine are rescuing a Mutant named Steve (aka Ugly John) from a Sentinel gone rogue. Meanwhile, a female version of Professor X (best way to describe her) named Cassandra Nova picks up Bolivar Trask’s relative, his nephew dentist. They head to South America and find a Master Mold factory, which uses scrap parts from a 10 mile radius to build “wild Sentinels.”

Back at the mansion, Beast, Jean, and Professor X power up the new Cerebra unit (which takes the place of Cerebro), and the Professor catches a glimpse of Cassandra Nova. He sends the en route Cyclops and Wolverine (and Ugly John) to investigate. As they do, Professor X finds his mind under assault from Cassandra Nova, but puts a gun to his head and tells her to get out or he’d fire.

The Wild Sentinels get the best of Cyclops and Wolverine. They capture Wolverine and Ugly John, then (after killing Trask), Nova tortures Ugly John until Wolverine severs her vocal cords. Cyclops comes in, puts Steve out of his misery, and then helps Logan deal with Nova.

It then turns out that she and Trask sent Wild Sentinels to Genosha. They proceed to wipe out roughly the entire population – including Magneto (and, I hope, Jenny Ransome, because I’ve always found her annoying).

Beast and Phoenix check out the ruins of Genosha and locate Emma Frost, who ended at Genosha somehow (it’s easy to explain). They take her back to the mansion when they find that her skin can now change into diamond. She quickly leaves just as the threat of Cassandra Nova rises up. Nova tears through the X-Men, then heads to Cerebra, where she uses it for about a minute to gain “just one mind.” Emma steps in, snaps her neck. When Nova stands back up, muttering something, Professor X shoots the crap outta her. The X-Men try to recover. Scott and Jean discuss problems they’re having, but are suddenly interrupted when Professor X announces to the world that he is a Mutant.

It’s a lot of stuff going on in such a small amount of time, but that’s okay. I’m going to skip that Uncanny issue, as I mainly just put it there for continuity’s sake. We’ll do more about Uncanny in the next entry. But in the meantime, the “new beginning” continues with this story.

I’ve read “E is for Extinction” a number of times and find it to be a rather remarkable storyline. The dialogue is snappy and fun. The pacing is of particular note-worthiness, as it draws you in and keeps you reading. The art has a creepy feel, but at the same time, an energy to it that is almost refreshing. I’m a huge Quietly fan, and he some fantastic work here. The new costumes/uniforms are great, almost kind of a retro feel to them. I also have a weird love of the way he draws women’s hair.

There’s a whole host of new ideas and new concepts introduced here. The extinction gene, which has been activated in humanity – which means that within 3-4 generations, humans will be extinct and replaced by Mutants. There’s also a new villain in Cassandra Nova; plus a twist on the Sentinels. Magneto and Genosha have been wiped out. New costumes. New look for Beast. Secondary Mutations for Beast, Emma, and Jean (to a certain extent). It’s all great, all fresh, and all just in three little issues.

However, to say it’s flawless would be wrong. Morrison drops the ball a bit with characterization. I appreciate his handling of Scott, but he comes off as just not the same Scott I’ve been reading about. Granted, it’s explained a bit with the whole “I was possessed by Apocalypse and now I can’t deal with the thoughts he put in my mind,” but he just doesn’t seem like himself. Same with Professor X – he just doesn’t seem the same to me.

But that being said, it’s still a fantastic read and quite refreshing in the long-run. It’s a little hard to see it with all the history behind it, but it’s just the beginning of Morrison’s run. And thank God for that.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 103: "The Hunted"

Wolverine # 162-166, Deadpool: Agent of Weapon X # 1-4

There’s a lot going on here, so I’m going to summarize it rather shortly.

Wolverine finds himself dreaming of people dying – people who he later finds out are connected somehow. When he discovers that one of his dreams has come true and he is blamed for the death of a Senator, he and Beast go on the run. With the help of Nicky Fury, a mystical bounty hunter called the Shiver Man, and Maverick, Logan tries to unravel the mystery.

Unfortunately, SHIELD agent Brent Jackson tricks Logan and Beast and captures them. They end up in a prison called the Cage, where the pair are harassed by the various gangs and the guards themselves. Eventually, a French vampire-guy called Mauvis comes to kill Wolverine, but after eating Logan’s eye, he moves on. Then, Wolverine is freed by Sabretooth (who has his Adamantium back) and some soldiers. They take Wolverine and Beast to a facility, where Logan discovers that a new Weapon X project has begun. Led by a man who Logan scarred badly years ago, the new Weapon X project is quite different that the previous version. It’s so far separated from the old project that Wolverine was used as a sleeper agent to kill all those associated with the old project.

This Weapon X project gives Mutants the option to either serve them or die. If they serve, then they can get their powers augmented. If they don’t, they’re killed. John Wraith and Maverick are both approached due to their involvement with Team X all those years ago. Sabretooth kills Maverick for refusing and then kills Wraith for the helluva it.

Logan is just about to be given new implants with the Shiver Man shows up and helps free both Logan and Beast. Sabretooth tussles with Wolverine but loses and Wolverine and Beast return home.

In the meantime, Weapon X looks to recruit Deadpool. Deadpool agrees and spends a crapload of cash celebrating when they’re able to restore his face. However, when a Mutant kid is killed by Kane, Deadpool is fool of doubts. The Director then gives Deadpool a new mission – to kill his shape-shifting ex-girlfriend, Copycat. Deadpool instead tries to get her to safety, but fails as when he fights Kane, she is killed by Sabretooth. Deadpool then decides to go after Weapon X. He takes out a bunch of soldiers, crashes into their facility and almost gets away with killing them all, but is pretty much just wiped out. He dies giving the Director the finger. His hand (his only remaining body part, and bare in mind his middle finger is missing) is sent to Wolverine as a gift from Weapon X.

. . . er, he comes back later.

As a whole, this is an enjoyable bunch of issues. Tieri gets a little off course when he brings in the Shiver Man and Mauvis, but for the most part, it’s readable. The Wolverine issues are the stronger of the set, simply because Deadpool comes off as more annoying than funny. The art in both books is rather good, with Sean Chen being the better.

My major critism is that the characters spend too much time explaining to themselves what is happening. Sometimes it’s out loud, sometimes it’s in a thought boxes. It’s nothing new to comics, but it’s something that’s getting outdated fast. It makes this series feel like it’s coming from the mid-to-late 90s. Not that that’s a bad thing.

The really like the Weapon X concept here. Actually, what I like about is that while it’s somewhat based on the old Weapon X project, it’s pretty much become something new. It may have a tie or two to the old project, but it can stand on its own. Expect to see the Weapon X series to show up here on the X-Periment.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 102: "Destiny"

X-Treme X-Men # 1-4

It’s a new era for the X-Men and Storm’s team is on the forefront. Storm is leading a team consisting of Rogue, Bishop, Thunderbird, Psylocke, Sage, and Beast. Gambit and Gateway pop by as their adventures go on.

This rogue team of X-Men heads to Spain to find Destiny’s books, only to be attacked by Spain’s special military unit Action Force, which captures all but Rogue and Sage. The X-Men then go through a maze, with Beast and Psylocke getting separated. The pair then have to face off against the super-super-human named Vargas, who beats the crap outta Beast, then kills Psylocke. It turns out he was there for Rogue (who he also faces) and tipped off the Action Force. Action Force and the X-Men make amends and haunt for Vargas . . . to no avail.

Beast leaves this team of X-Men because of his injuries. The X-Men then claim Destiny’s house and plan their next move and mourn while Gambit himself encounters Vargas.

Claremont definitely brings it back with this. Granted, he’s not at the top of his game, but these four issues are better than the entirety of his whole “Revolution” fracas. This is really Claremont is his element – with characters he’s either good at writing (Storm, Rogue, Sage), apparently likes (Bishop, Beast), and characters he’s created (Gambit, Psylocke, Thunderbird). The characters are done rather well. The action is nicely handled. There’s promise and hope and a lot of potential in all of this.

However, on top of all this, the writing suffers from some of Claremont’s biggest failings. There are very, very long-winded monologues. The characters seem to have to explain their powers to each other, which is quite annoying. When the dialogue becomes skippable or just skimmable, it’s a clear sign it’s either no good or not interesting.

The art is quite excellent. The Claremont/Larocca team is one that works. Larocca’s designs, actions scenes, facial expression . . . they’re fantastic.

A nice start, even if it could use some work.

~W~

Uncanny X-Periment # 101: Origin

Origin # 1-6

A young woman by the name of Rose is brought to the Howelett estate to be (basically) a playmate for young James Howelett – the thin, sickly son of the rich John Howelett and the crazy Emily Howelett. They befriend the boy called “Dog,” how is the son of Thomas Logan, the groundskeeper. Logan is in love with Emily (who went crazy after her and John’s first child died). Eventually, trouble is a brewing and Thomas Logan and Dog get kicked out of the estate.

They return to the estate, kidnap Rose and make her take them to Emily, so as to take her with them. Once there, the commotion brings in both James and John. Logan kills John, and then James pops some claws from his hands, kills Logan and tears up Dog’s face. Rose is later blamed for the murders and she and James go on the run (with the help of James’ asshole grandpa).

They make their way to a small mining camp, where James begins to discover a wild, animal side to himself. His memory is all messed from the trauma. Rose calls him “Logan” to help protect them. So as Logan goes out and plays with wolves, then works in the mines and deals with a man named Cookie, Rose begins to fall for the leader of the camp, Smitty. There’s some rivalry between Logan and Smitty, but Logan eventually stands aside . . . and that’s when Dog shows up, now sporting blonde hair.

A fight breaks out between Dog and Logan, with Rose getting in the middle and getting stabbed. She dies, Dog runs off (I guess), and Logan just goes off into the wild.

I’m very mixed about this one, to be honest. On the one hand, it’s a well-told story and the first half is really quite good. On the other hand, it flakes out a little bit in the end.

The theme of the story is not so much “Hey! It’s young Wolverine!” as it is about this boy going through all this shit and growing into man – all the while dealing with this animal within himself that grew out of all the mess that his pretty young life covered up. It’s a very interesting and appropriate origin for Wolverine.

Unfortunately, while the theme holds it together, it suffers from being predictable in the end. You know from the moment that Rose shows up that she’s going to die. And while having James turn out to Logan is a surprise, having Dog turn out to Sabretooth (right?) is just a little too much; it was exactly what you’d expect. A show-down between Logan/James and Logan/Dog? Rose gets in the middle and James/Logan accidentally kills her? Yep. That was coming from a mile away. And just how does one die of a wound in the upper, right-side of the chest? Even in those days? It didn’t even look that deep.

Despite the predictability, there’s some fleshing out here. John Howelett (James not-real father), Dog (as a youngin’), Thomas Logan (James’ real father), Smitty, and Cookie all add so much to the story and really paint Wolverine’s early influences rather well. You can see a little bit of John’s honor in Logan in the modern day, just like you can see the gruffness of Thomas Logan (up-bringing versus heredity).

The art is phenomenal. Andy Kubert’s best work, hands down. Isanove also brings his A-Game. These two really bring to life almost every panel, breathing life into the story.

In spite of the predictability of the story as it neared it’s ending, “Origin” does offer a decent and somewhat insightful true origin of Wolverine.

~W~