X-MEN #102 (July 2000)

The Cruelest Cut

Credits: Chris Claremont (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Liquid! (colors)

Summary: Wolverine and Dani Moonstar investigate the remains of Mr. Sinister’s base in Sage, Nebraska. Using her powers, Moonstar recreates Domina’s assault on Sinister and Sabretooth. In Brooklyn, Cecilia Reyes attempts to fight off the Neo with the aid of the drug, Rave. Rogue’s team of X-Men arrives as backup, soon joined by Archangel and Wolverine. Domina channels the powers of her fellow Neo, embarrassing the X-Men in battle. The Neo known as Barbican seals up the church complex, forcing the X-Men to escape through a disappearing tunnel, leaving Reyes and Charlotte Jones behind. Elsewhere, Senator Kelly visits his wife’s grave. Tessa appears, broaching the subject of his presidential run.

UNCANNY X-MEN #382 (July 2000)

Lost Souls

Credits: Chris Claremont (writer), Tom Raney (penciler), Scott Hanna (inker), Comicraft’s Saida Temofonte (letters), Brian Haberlin (colors)

Summary: Cable offers the team psychic protection to enter Phoenix’s mind. Soon, he must also defend her body from a new attack by the Shockwave Riders. Phoenix successfully defends herself inside the mind of the dying Shockwave Rider, but is unprepared for the astral arrival of the Lost Souls. The shadowy Neo faction invade the minds of the X-Men, manipulating their greatest fears, pressuring them to give in to despair. Phoenix overpowers their dark force, then uses her powers to revive the dying Shockwave Rider. The X-Men attempt to part peacefully with the Neo soldiers. Later, Gambit urges the team to join him on a mission he declares more important than the Neo.

When X-Men: The Animated Series Killed Off Phoenix (Early)

How did X-Men: The Animated Series shock fans both old and new? And which two X-villains were named after jokes on the page margins? (Plus, it's an excuse to talk about the first John Byrne issue of Uncanny!)

X-MEN #101 (June 2000)

Hard Landing

Credits: Chris Claremont (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Liquid! (colors)

Todd McFarlane's Spawn - The Endgame...?!

This week at CBR, I examine the first season finale of Todd McFarlane's Spawn. Bonus -- we get to also relive the gruesomeness of the infamous Spawn #5!

UNCANNY X-MEN #381 (June 2000)

Night of Masques

Credits: Chris Claremont (writer), Adam Kubert (penciler), Tim Townsend (inker), Comicraft’s Wes Abbott (letters), Richard Isanove (colors)

           

Summary: In the midst of Venice’s Carnival, Phoenix takes Cable to an abandoned, underground “library” she first visited as a youth with Professor Xavier. While reminiscing, she notices psychic calling cards left by Gambit. Beast and Storm soon arrive, citing notes from Gambit, directing them to Venice. Suddenly, a Neo faction called the Shockwave Riders targets Phoenix and Cable. Their Psishark enters Phoenix’s mind, consuming her memories. Most Neo teleport after their defeat, but one remains for questioning. He wills himself to die; to the team’s shock, Phoenix enters his dying mind, determined to retrieve her memories.

Batman: The Animated Series - The Ultimate Shock Ending

Yell at me about the deceptive header image in the comments. Two shocking moments featuring the Demon's Head...

X-MEN #100 (May 2000)

End of Days

Credits: Chris Claremont (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Liquid! (colors)

Summary: Praying inside his church, Nightcrawler is ambushed by Rax, a member of a mysterious collective known as the Neo. Wounded, Nightcrawler locates Dr. Cecilia Reyes, unaware another Neo, Jaeger, is now hunting him. Reyes, panicked, shapes her forcefield into a spike and impales Jaeger. Elsewhere, a team of X-Men has joined Dr. Peter Corbeau’s crew in repairing the High Evolutionary’s orbital base. Seth, an undercover Neo, plants explosives and destroys the base. Combining their powers, Psylocke and Thunderbird rescue the crew inside a shuttle. Left behind, Shadowcat uses Seth’s spare space suit to return to Earth, certain it will take her to the Neo.

When X-Men: The Animated Series Went Full Sci-Fi

Jean Grey's reinvention as Phoenix is iconic. The costume Wolverine stole from an alien? Less so. More from the original Phoenix adaptation this week at CBR.

Parties Weren't Meant to Last - The Road to (X-Men) Revolution

Before stepping into the strange, distant land of early 2000, I thought it best to examine the context of the times.

In the year 2000, a president has emerged from a sex scandal with his highest approval ratings, the pop charts belong once again to actual pop acts, cable TV is attracting mainstream audiences with content too extreme for network broadcasts, and the average American has taken AOL up on those trial discs and ventured online.

The overall culture is recovering from the world-weary, ironic distance of the 1990s and embracing…mostly garbage, it seems. Or, at the very least, material that would’ve been deemed too vulgar for polite society only a few years earlier.