GENERATION X #28 – June 1997

Oh, Now I Get It…
Credits: Scott Lobdell (writer), Chris Bachalo (penciler), Al Vey (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Joe Andreani (colors)

Summary: On a mysterious ship, each member of Generation X finds themselves inside their own fantasy, with a talking seagull as narrator. Chamber’s body is back to normal, which enables him to sing a song for Husk. Synch owns a daycare center with his girlfriend Jubilee. M spends time alone with her brother Marius, who is no longer Emplate. Skin refuses to give in to the fantasy, which forces Glorian, Shaper of Dreams to reveal himself. Skin tells him that he only sees his team on the surface, and doesn’t understand what they truly want. Glorian demands to know what Skin really wants, and he reluctantly reveals what it is. The team suddenly materializes in Los Angeles, revealing Skin’s desire was to return home. Meanwhile, Jubilee continues to resist Daria’s offer of food.

Continuity Note: Glorian, Shaper of Dreams is an obscure character who once appeared in Fantastic Four and Incredible Hulk. He can alter reality, just like his mentor, the Shaper of Worlds.

Review: I guess this is one way to write yourself out of a hole. There’s no way the “lost at sea” cliffhanger could’ve been resolved without at least a little cheating, and bringing Glorian into the story is, if nothing else, something no one could’ve seen coming. This could’ve been a dull story that only served to move the characters out of an impossible situation, but I found myself enjoying it. Giving every cast member their own fantasy is an old cliché (one that showed up a few months earlier in X-Force), but Lobdell does add a twist to it. Glorian only knows the characters on a surface level, so he assumes that Husk wants to be protected, Chamber wants his past life back, Synch just wants to nurture, and M only wants to change someone else. Rather than using the fantasy sequences to make obvious statements about the characters, Lobdell at least raises the idea that they’re deeper than they appear. Bachalo’s art adds a lot of charm to the story, and using a seagull as narrator is the type of goofiness his cartooning can easily pull off.

Ye Double Feature
Credits: Scott Lobdell (writer), Bryan Hitch (penciler), Paul Neary (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Joe Andreani (colors)

Summary: Emma Frost scans Banshee’s memories for information on Krakoa, the sentient island he believes Black Tom sent his students to. On their way there, Banshee comforts Emma, who still feels the loss of the Hellions. They’re shocked to discover an old ship where Krakoa is supposed to be. After a scan reveals no life inside, they respond to Cyclops’ distress call and leave. Meanwhile, Jubilee lashes out at Daria. This forces Daria to create a nanotech defense against her.

Continuity Note: Emma still refers to herself as the White Queen, which is odd. This issue also goes out of its way to suggest that Daria isn’t serving Bastion willingly.

Review: This is a ten-page backup story that presumably exists because Bachalo wasn’t able to do the full issue. It pays off the previous issue’s suggestion that Banshee knows where the kids are, but doesn’t offer any details on why exactly he thinks Krakoa is involved. I think this was my last issue of Generation X, so I have no idea if Banshee and Emma actually do anything to help the X-Men (I don’t recall them showing up in the main crossover titles, and I also seem to remember Jubilee getting rescued in Wolverine). Hitch does a nice job during the opening flashback scene, but some of the later pages look stiff. This probably would’ve worked better as an alternating subplot with the main story, but Hitch’s art is so incompatible with Bachalo’s, I can understand why it shows up as a backup.