UNCANNY X-MEN #280 - September 1991

One Step Back -- Two Steps Forward

Credits:  Fabian Nicieza (writer), Andy Kubert w/Steven Butler (pencilers), Inks-R-us (inks), Joe Rosas (colors), Tom Orzechowski (letters), Lois Buhalis (lettering assist, not credited)

Summary:  Xavier arrives on the remains of Muir Island to discover Marvel Girl has telekinetically protected her teammates from Legion’s explosion.  The possessed Legion attempts to kill Xavier, but is chased away by Storm.  The heroes split in two -- one group will sever Shadow King’s link to the physical realm and the other will protect Xavier as he fights Shadow King in the Astral Plane.  During Xavier’s battle in the Astral Plane, Shadow King shatters Xavier’s back, crippling him.  Meanwhile, Forge forces Psylocke to use her psychic knife on Polaris, which breaks Shadow King’s connection to the physical realm.  Shadow King disappears, but Legion is left in a coma.

Continuity Notes:  

• According to Xavier, there “isn't much left of Muir Island."  Not that any giant explosion has ever had a real impact on Muir Island.
• Colossus has suddenly arrived on Muir Island in-between issues.  Rogue is also wearing a different outfit once again, as she’s back to her tattered clothing from UXM #274 (!).
• Xavier arrives with two SHIELD psi-operatives, DeMarco and Heacock.  They’re killed by the possessed Legion.
• Rogue comments that Polaris has shrunk after she’s rescued from the Shadow King’s “psychic magnifier” device.  This ends her period as a super-strong female bodybuilder, which has never received an in-continuity explanation as far as I know (even though we do have some idea of Claremont’s original plan.)

Review:  Considering the behind-the-scenes chaos that was going on at the time, this is a better conclusion than I would’ve expected.  The story does get dragged down by more repetitive scenes of the heroes fighting brainwashed heroes (including another uninspired Wolverine vs. Gambit rematch), but that isn’t as large a part of the issue as I remembered.  In reality, Nicieza does a credible job bringing everything to a close, keeping track of most of the massive cast while also leaving enough room for Xavier to be the star of the issue.  His first-person narration isn’t quite a match for what Claremont was able to accomplish in the previous issue, but the sentiment feels genuine and the scripting is true to Xavier’s character.  Nicieza’s strongest moment is when he introduces Xavier’s fear that Legion legitimately enjoys being under the Shadow King’s thrall, and that it might just be Shadow King who’s cured Legion of his schizophrenia.  That’s the kind of character work that’s usually forgotten in these densely packed crossovers, and it’s a relief to see such a Claremont-esque idea show up so soon after his departure.

What doesn’t work about the issue isn’t too hard to guess.  There are too many characters, many aren’t properly introduced, and the conclusion to this giant battle that’s been teased for literally years occurs over the course of a few panels.  Apparently, all that was needed for the Shadow King to fall was Psylocke to stab Polaris with her psychic knife -- which means Psylocke was so weak as a telepath that she couldn’t fight off the Shadow King’s influence, but did possess enough power to ultimately defeat him.  Okay, then.  The most irritating aspect of the issue would be the crippling yet again of Professor Xavier, which is such an obvious play to nostalgia that it’s hard not to roll your eyes.  This is an early sign of the Bob Harras “Back to Basics” approach, which sees nostalgia trump even rudimentary plot development.  There’s no great story following Xavier’s injury -- he just goes back to living in a chair (albeit in a space-age one designed by Jim Lee.)  There’s no compelling reason for the X-Men and X-Factor to rebuild the school and live together again -- it’s not as if they show even the slightest interest in treating it as a school for the next few years.  There was never much of a reason for the fully-grown Peter Parker to suddenly act like a teenager again in the late ‘90s either; but hey, those old stories are classics, which means they must be milked for all eternity.  There is a time for “Back to Basics,” as evidenced by the late ‘90s revamps of books like The Avengers and Captain America, but there has to be more to the concept than simple nostalgia.

X-FACTOR #69 - August 1991

 

Clash Reunion

Credits:  Fabian Nicieza (writer), Whilce Portacio (penciler), Task Force X (inkers), Dana Moreshead (colors), Michael Heisler (letters)

Summary:  Professor Xavier contacts X-Factor through Val Cooper, and soon they join him in a submarine manned by an international task force.  While X-Factor devises a way to reach Muir Island, Forge manages to free Rogue and Banshee of the Shadow King’s control.  After X-Factor invades the island and defeats a group of Shadow King-possessed mutants, FBI inspector Jacob Reisz reveals himself as the Shadow King onboard the submarine.  Mystique drops her disguise as Val Cooper and shoots Reisz.  On Muir Island, the united mutants discover Polaris is being used as the nexus between the physical word and the Astral Plane.  Shadow King possesses Legion and suddenly triggers an explosion.

Continuity Notes:  

• Rogue is now wearing her third outfit of the storyline.  This time, she’s wearing her standard uniform from the late ‘80s.  More wonky continuity -- Colossus disappears this issue, as he’s with Xavier in Washington DC, but not onboard the submarine or with X-Factor when they reach Muir Island.
• Marvel Girl’s telepathic powers have fully returned in-between issues.  Previous issues hinted that they might return, but the confirmation is treated as an already accepted fact.
• Banshee refers to Polaris as somehow becoming a “human catalyst for negative emotions.”  The Shadow King is using this ability to connect her to the Astral Plane.  If you’re thinking that this doesn’t make a lot of sense, bear in mind that this ties into an aborted Chris Claremont plot.  Apparently, Claremont wanted to reveal that Polaris’ powers aren’t inherently magnetism, but instead the ability to imitate other mutants’ powers.  After being in contact with Malice for so long, her powers mutated once again.  (More details in this Comics Should Be Good column - http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2012/11/17/the-abandoned-an-forsaked-what-happened-to-polaris-powers/ )

I Love the '90s:  Iceman works in a reference to the Bon Jovi song “Blaze of Glory.”

Review:  Okay, I’ll give Fabian Nicieza credit.  His second chapter of the crossover is much, much stronger than his first.  The scripting is noticeably better, as Nicieza shows he has a handle on the X-Factor cast, giving us brief glimpses into their personalities and the dynamics of their relationships.  He also addresses the issue of Nathan’s disappearance as well as could be expected, and does a decent job handling the team’s quickie reunion with Xavier.  There’s obviously not a lot of room for these scenes, as The Plot must be fed, but he accomplishes what he needs to do without making the conversations seem unnecessarily rushed.  Regarding the main plot, thankfully we’re not forced to endure too many pages of heroes vs. brainwashed heroes on Muir Island.  The scenes alternating between the “free” heroes on the island and Xavier’s task force plotting their next moves are much more interesting to read.  Plus, there’s Jacob Reisz finally being exposed as the Shadow King, and the revelation that Mystique didn’t commit suicide a year earlier in Uncanny X-Men, which are great moments for fans who have stuck through this storyline from the beginning.  This is also Whilce Portacio’s best issue so far, as he keeps the ugly faces to a minimum and is able to alternate between the conversation scenes and the action scenes (packed with numerous characters) quite well.

UNCANNY X-MEN #279 - August 1991

Bad to the Bone

Credits:  Chris Claremont & Fabian Nicieza (writers), Andy Kubert (penciler), Scott Williams (inker), Glynis Oliver (colors), Tom Orzechowski and Lois Buhalis as “Team Append-X” (letters)

Summary:  Xavier and Stevie try to escape Colossus in the mansion’s underground complex.  Inside the Danger Room, Xavier sets a trap.  As Colossus continues to resist, Xavier realizes that the only way to break the Shadow King’s hold is to reach into Colossus’ mind and revive his memories of the X-Men.  On Muir Island, Forge attempts to place a neural inhibitor on the X-Men in order to block the Shadow King’s influence.  When Rogue attacks, he’s forced to fight back.  In New York, Xavier stops a Shadow King-possessed mob from killing a child.  He then proclaims that he must call on X-Factor for help.

Continuity Notes:  

• Colossus, at this point in continuity, was living as artist Peter Nichols after having his memory erased by the Siege Perilous.
• In-between chapters of the story, the X-Men on Muir Island have regained consciousness and begun fighting each other.  Rogue is also wearing a new costume that’s appeared with no explanation.
• Wolverine warns Gambit not to throw any more of his "psyche-charged knives" at him, as Gambit’s knives make perhaps their final appearance.  (Although the art is so unclear, you could just as easily say that Gambit threw playing cards at Wolverine.)  This is also the only time Gambit’s powers are referred to as "psyche-charged,” which I can only assume was a mistake made by Nicieza, who had never written the character before.

Creative Differences:  This issue marks Chris Claremont’s final issue of the series, although there are no editorial remarks regarding his departure.  As Claremont explained in previous interviews, "The editor (Bob Harras) at that point made the decision that I should no longer plot the book," Claremont told Seriejournalen.dk. "And when he made that decision I made my decision, which was that I wasn't going to stay on it if I wasn't plotting it and left. The transition occurred on page 12 of Uncanny X-Men #279 (in 1991). That's the last page I wrote."  Source: 
http://www.uncannyxmen.net/showarticle.asp?fldAuto=2989

Review:  I don’t think anyone imagined Chris Claremont’s UXM exit happening like this; no double-sized farewell, no poignant look back on the past, no career retrospective.  He just leaves in-between pages eleven and twelve, replaced by a writer that was still largely unknown at the time.  And, let's be honest, that second half of the issue is kind of terrible.  I have no idea if Claremont left any concrete plans for the rest of the issue, or if he even plotted all of the issue and Nicieza was left only to script it, but it reads as flagrant time-killer.  The X-Men, magically recuperated since last issue’s cliffhanger, waste most of the final twelve pages getting into pointless fights, on a Muir Island that suddenly resembles a South American jungle for some reason.  Jubilee runs off in a huff to join the female half of the team, while Gambit and Wolverine have a half-hearted rematch of their fight in UXM #273.  And of course the speech patterns are all wrong.  The dialogue brings us classics like “Pitstain Potpourri!  Wol-VER-ine!  Do we have to be stinkin’ an’ sweatin’ out here?!” along with some melodramatic posturing from Wolverine about “hunters” and “prey.”  

Let’s not dwell on the negative, though.  The first half is a dramatic chase sequence, with Claremont doing a fine job scripting Xavier’s first-person narration, reminding me of the work done to save his final issue of X-Factor.  Having Xavier revive Colossus’ memories of the X-Men is a bit of a copout, an editorial necessity that has to be executed before he rejoins the team, but Claremont’s script actually makes you feel for both Xavier and Colossus during the moment.  (As Xavier points out, he’s effectively ending the only peace Colossus has known in his adult life.)  And Andy Kubert, making his debut as a fill-in artist, does a decent job of following the Jim Lee style without turning into a copycat.  You can see some early examples of his aversion to drawing feet, but overall, Kubert is able to emphasize just how scary Colossus could actually be and add some excitement that was missing from the previous issue.  With the help of Scott Williams’ inks, he also keeps the cast “on-model,” even giving Stevie Hunter that unique look that didn’t exist until Jim Lee got his hands on her. 

X-FACTOR Annual #6 - August 1991

King of Pain

Credits:  Fabian Nicieza (writer), Terry Shoemaker (penciler), Al Milgrom (inker), Brad Vancata (colors), Joe Rosen (letters)

Summary:  X-Factor investigates the energy release in Edinburgh and is soon attacked by the Proteus/Piecemeal hybrid.  The team is sent to a white void, where they meet the rest of the heroes.  Marvel Girl explains Proteus/Piecemeal’s plan to recreate the world to represent mathematical structure and order, inspired by the peace Proteus found during his “death” as he witnessed the patterns created by his energy signature.  Cyclops declares that since Proteus/Piecemeal cannot be defeated, the best option is to convince him to commit suicide.  Soon, Moira makes this case to Proteus, as Harness continues to verbally abuse Piecemeal.  Repulsed by human emotions, Proteus/Piecemeal commits suicide.  Later, Harness is placed in custody while Gideon and Toad finish their chess match.

Continuity Notes:  

• This story marks the first time X-Factor meets the New Warriors.  Cyclops, oddly enough, seems to already know the new members of X-Force.
• Yes, Toad was the mystery chess player throughout the storyline.  According to Gideon, AIM and Genetech were manipulated into recreating Proteus.  Gideon wanted to weaponize Proteus’ powers, while Toad desired Proteus to join the Brotherhood.
• Cable refers to Jean Grey merely as “Grey,” which actually fits with continuity, since he didn’t figure out his parentage until after the Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix miniseries.  It is worth noting, however, that Marvel Girl, Legion, nor the Shadow King recognize Cable’s limitless telepathic powers this issue…
• Moira identifies Harness as “an AIM assassin,” although I’m not sure how she would know that.  At the story’s end, we do discover from faceless AIM higher-ups that Harness has a second mutant child, a seven-year-old girl that they’ll use as leverage if she speaks out against them.

Review:  So, that’s “Kings of Pain.”  And it turns out they were crazy enough to revive Proteus.  In all honesty, I can’t say this arc has been terrible; Nicieza has some themes of abuse and neglect to explore, and he’s developed a few ways to use Proteus as more than just a magic prop.  And even if there’s no way to really use each member of the massive cast, Nicieza still picks a few characters out and gives them little moments.  Cable is humanized for perhaps the first time, as he sides with Marvel Girl against Cyclops’ “Trick the Kids into Suicide” plan.  Beast points out that this seems out-of-character, leading Cable to snap that Beast has no idea who he truly is.  These brief exchanges are what make Cable tolerable in his early years, and it’s too bad the ongoing X-Force series drops them in favor of shoot-you-in-the-back Cable.  The closing, which shows that Moira pushed Proteus away because she knew that the Shadow King would never allow her to truly love him (and, presumably, to prevent Shadow King from possessing someone as powerful as Proteus), is also a smart use of the current status quo.  Previously, the ongoing Shadow King plot has been a nuisance that Nicieza had to ignore, but he finds a way to use it quite well this issue.  

It’s always grating to read a sequel that doesn’t match up to the original, however, and in comparison to the initial Proteus storyline, this simply lacks the heart, innovation, and sheer creepiness of the original.  The plot’s needlessly complex, there are characters everywhere and almost none of them contribute to the actual story, and Proteus and Piecemeal are never as sympathetic as I think Nicieza wanted them to be.  There’s also the suicide plan, hatched by Cyclops of all people, which could’ve lead to a serious ethical dilemma for the teams, but the debate turns out to be pretty tepid.  Plus, the ending hints that there’s a sequel coming…a sequel to a sequel that didn’t need to be told.  Please, no.

The Killing Stroke Part Three - Sacrificial Lambs

Credits:  Fabian Nicieza (writer), Steven Butler (penciler), Joe Rubenstein (inker), Mike Thomas (colors), Joe Rosen (letters)

Summary:  Pyro and Blob fight back against Desert Sword, while Avalanche rescues Crimson Commando and accompanies him on their helicopter.  When Avalanche discovers Pyro killed Dr. Kurtzmann, he orders the helicopter to leave so that Commando can receive medical attention.  Realizing they have no options, Pyro and Blob surrender to the remaining members of Desert Sword.

Continuity Notes:  

• Desert Sword member Veil is killed by Pyro, and the Arabian Knight is seriously wounded by Blob.
• As far as I know, no story has explained how Pyro and Blob escaped Iraqi custody.  They soon reappear in X-Force #5.
• Crimson Commando was supposed to appear next in Erik Larsen’s Spider-Man #18, but was altered at the last moment into “Cyborg X.”  At one point, Fabian Nicieza and Erik Larsen pitched a run on X-Factor that included a cybernetic Crimson Commando as a member.  Years later, Crimson Commando will reappear as a cyborg, just not Cyborg X, in X-Factor #102.

Review:  The end of Freedom Force, paving the way of course for the X-Factor revamp, and the return of Blob and Pyro to the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.  By the standards of annual back-ups, this is rather intense material, and it might even be the earliest example of a team just getting eviscerated during their final battle.  As I’ve said before, this serial seemed daring in 1991, and while not all of it holds up, there is a sense of unreality to the story that still appeals to me.  Given that most of the Freedom Force cast consisted of horrible people, maybe it’s just fun to see them meet horrible fates.  Characters getting mutilated, killed, left for dead…it’s a cheap way to close out a concept now, but I was absolutely enthralled by it at the time.

Tribute the Third

Credits:  Peter David (writer), Guang Yap (penciler), Joe Rubenstein (inker), Steve Buccellato & Marie Javins (colors), Joe Rosen (letters)

Summary:  As Mystique prepares to spread Destiny’s ashes, she flashes back to their previous cruise on the ship.  Mystique recalls Destiny’s futile desire to hear her laugh.  In the present, Mystique releases the ashes at the precise moment Destiny asked her to, which results in the wind blowing the ashes directly in her face.  Mystique finally laughs, as she sings the lyrics to the Beatles song “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.”

Continuity Notes:  Mystique is actually believed dead at this point in continuity, which means this story must predate her “death” in Uncanny X-Men #266.

Review:  I wonder how Marvel got away with using copyrighted Beatles lyrics.  I know we were a less litigious society twenty-three years ago, but this would seem like something a lawyer would’ve caught even then.  Regardless, this is Mystique’s farewell to Destiny, running in the X-Factor annual because…why not?  The idea is to contrast Mystique’s perpetual anger over mutant oppression with Destiny’s peaceful view on life, a perspective her precognitive powers give her as she sees the world from a much larger perspective.  The major problem with the story is Mystique’s portrayal, since I seem to remember Mystique acting like a fairly well-rounded individual when around Destiny.  Destiny didn’t have to go through some elaborate plot to get Mystique to laugh; that seemed to happen naturally (even if her “laugh” might occasionally be an evil cackle).  This wouldn’t be the first inconsistent Mystique portrayal, however, and David is able to use Destiny’s powers in some creative ways over the course of just a few pages.  As a simple story about two friends (and that's still the official line at this time) saying goodbye, it’s enjoyable.

UNCANNY X-MEN Annual #15 - August 1991

Kings of Pain Part 3 - Queens of Sacrifice

Credits:  Fabian Nicieza (writer), Tom Raney (penciler), Joe Rubenstein & Co. (inks), Brad Vancata (colors), Joe Rosen (letters)

Summary:  X-Force and the New Warriors arrive on Muir Island and are promptly attacked by its Shadow King-influenced inhabitants.  When Cable explains to Moira MacTaggart that Harness and Piecemeal are absorbing her son’s energy, she stops the fight.  The teams unite and travel to Edinburgh to stop Harness and Piecemeal.  During the battle, Harness’ armor is damaged, revealing Harness as a female.  The teams are even more shocked to discover Harness is Piecemeal’s mother.  Soon, Piecemeal absorbs so much energy he disappears in a fog; in his place is a shadowy figure claiming to be both Proteus and Piecemeal.  Suddenly, the energy explodes.

Continuity Notes:  

• Who exactly is supposed to be on Muir Island at this point is hard to keep track of.  Madrox and Siryn are now there, following the Fallen Angels miniseries, but characters last seen on the Island like Amanda Sefton, Sharon Friedlander, and Tom Corsi are gone.
• Shatterstar uses his energy-blasting powers yet again this issue.  Feral is also still in a developmental stage, as she’s deferential to Cable during battle.   The Feral we’ll see in the ongoing X-Force series is relentlessly nasty and would only grudgingly obey any orders.

Creative Differences:  Some added word balloons on page thirty-three clarify what Silhouette’s powers are.

Approved By The Comics Code Authority:  Both Namorita and Polaris have gratuitous thong shots this issue.

I Love the '90s:  Harness is totally going to surrender to the Edinburgh police…“NOT!”

Review:  So, how did this end up as the Uncanny X-Men annual?  Well, during the “Shattered Star” period that had the X-Men split across the globe, most of them suffering amnesia, the closest thing Marvel had to a united X-team was the collection of minor characters on Muir Island.  (Many of them not even mutants.)  I seem to recall the Muir Island team was actually listed as the X-Men on some piece of merchandising Marvel released circa 1990; Marvel couldn’t really point to another group of characters and call them the X-Men, so they had to make do.  

By the time of the 1991 annuals, however, there was a united X-team; a large lineup that famously posed together for the cover of Uncanny X-Men #275.  Figuring out how to cram that team into a story that’s taking place before the big crossover set on Muir Island was problematic, however.  Plus, it’s possible that work began on these annuals long before the specific lineup in the monthly title was nailed down (at one point, Guido used to make it into group shots of the X-Men on promo images).  So, working in one final appearance of the Muir Island team before “The Muir Island Saga” makes sense, plus it gives Nicieza an opportunity to use Moira MacTaggart in the story.  This might not be the X-Men that people actually wanted to see in an Uncanny X-Men annual, but I can understand the logic behind the decision.

Much of the story is spent recapping the previous installments, along with the original Proteus storyline from the late ‘70s in Uncanny X-Men.  The plot also has to address the fact that the Muir Island team is currently possessed by the Shadow King, which gets hand-waved fairly quickly after a pointless fight scene.  (And even Bob Harras’ footnotes seem to indicate he’s not entirely sure what’s supposed to be going on at Muir Island.)  Given the circumstances of the plot, this should be an opportunity for Nicieza to do some heavy, emotional work with Moira, but she spends the bulk of the issue merely barking out orders to the teams or spouting pseudo-scientific gibberish.  There are around two dozen characters in this story by now, and because they spend most of this story fighting one another, there really is no room for something thoughtful and quiet, like Nicieza’s previous portrayal of Moira in Classic X-Men #36.  That’s not to say the characters are entirely generic, though.  The idea that Piecemeal is being exploited because of his powers ties in with an early (and quickly ignored) theme of the X-Force series; that this team isn’t going to take mutant oppression lightly.  And Nicieza is still able to work in some fun interactions amongst the New Warriors cast, so it’s not a complete loss.  

Visually, Tom Raney’s art is all over the place, which is probably a combination of him being a new artist and being inked by an unknown number of unnamed inkers.  The best pages show Raney has a real talent for drawing multiple characters and complex designs.  I also remember being genuinely grossed out by his portrayal of the corpulent Piecemeal as a kid.  That stuff is disturbing.

The Killing Stroke Part Two - The Razor’s Edge

Credits:  Fabian Nicieza (writer), Jerry DeCaire (penciler), Joe Rubenstein (inker), Mike Thomas (colors), Joe Rosen (letters)

Summary:  The surviving members of Freedom Force flee with Dr. Kurtzmann.  When Blob and Pyro are cornered, they decide to kill Dr. Kurtzmann to prevent Desert Sword from taking him.  Meanwhile, Crimson Commando and Avalanche are severely injured by landmines outside the Kuwait International Airport.

I Love the ‘90s:  I would say most of the members of Desert Sword are too politically incorrect to appear today, at least not without a few indignant internet editorials.

Review:  The dismantling of Freedom Force continues, and this time the tiny page count actively works against the story.  Because everything feels rushed, Pyro’s decision to kill Dr. Kurtzmann and the possible death of more Freedom Force members just lack any real drama.  And once Desert Sword exits the shadows and makes a real appearance, it’s obvious that most of these guys are Marvel Comics Presents material at best.  Jerry DeCaire’s art is very attractive, though, reminding me of Kerry Gammill’s work from this era.  Despite its flaws, this is still more entertaining than most annual backups.

The Origin of the X-Men

Credits:  Len Kaminski (writer), Ernie Stiner (penciler), Don Hudson (inker), Kevin Tinsley (colors), Joe Rosen (letters)

Summary:  Major Domo presents the history of the X-Men to Mojo.  Mojo refuses to believe it, however, telling him to do more research.

Review:  It’s another history lesson back-up.  There’s little here for anyone who already knows the history, but the Mojo angle thankfully isn’t used as an excuse for a thousand Hollywood references this time.  Ernie Stiner’s art is reminiscent of early Mike Mignola, which helps to alleviate some of the boredom.

The Enemy Within

Credits:  Len Kaminski (writer), Kirk Jarvinen (penciler), Brad Vancata (inks/colors), Mike Heisler (letters)

Summary:  In a nightmare, Wolverine is stalked by his adamantium skeleton.

Approved By The Comics Code Authority:  Wolverine is nude throughout the story, covered by tastefully placed shadows.

Review:  I’ve always liked this back-up, mainly due to Kirk Jarvinen’s art.  He’s the first non-Jim Lee artist that I thought could draw a Jim Lee-style Wolverine right.  The visual of an animated adamantium skeleton forcibly merging with Wolverine also creeped me out as a kid.  The story’s too short to really work as a psychological piece, but Kaminski gets the basic idea across.  Not a bad way to close out the annual at all.

NEW WARRIORS Annual #1 - August 1991

Kings of Pain Part 1 - Errant Knights

Credits:  Fabian Nicieza (writer), Mark Bagley (penciler), Jeff Albrecht (inker), Tom Vincent (colors), Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

Summary:  X-Force and the New Warriors battle until Cable calls a truce.  Two executives at Genetech swear that the Alliance lied about working for them, leading Cable to break into Frenzy’s prison cell.  She reveals that their true employer is AIM, who used them as bodyguards for Harness and Piecemeal.  Soon, a team lead by Marvel Boy breaks into a warehouse owned by AIM, discovering inside “humanoid shell casings.”  In Japan, Harness and Piecemeal absorb more energy, as Piecemeal grows more bloated.  Meanwhile, Cannonball’s team travels to Xavier’s underground bunker to cross-reference Cerebro’s mutant database with the information given to them by Genetech.  When the teams reunite, Cable realizes that Harness and Piecemeal are trying to revive Proteus.

Continuity Notes:  

• Frenzy is being held in the Quebec Provincial Prison, which is a superhuman prison within the Marvel Universe that’s totally new to me.
• Cable recognizes New Warriors member Chord (Chord?!) from his mercenary days (“North Africa, ‘73” to be exact.)  Chord knows Cable as “Winters,” leading him to respond “The name's Cable...this year. ”  “Winters” could obviously be seen as a play on “Summers,” providing another early clue that Cable is Nathan Summers.
• Cannonball is able to use his blast shield to protect the entire X-Force team after Chord throws a grenade at them.  I don’t recall him being able to expand his shield in such a way on other occasions, even if the early issues of X-Force paid some lip service to his developing powers.
• Shatterstar uses his energy channeling/sword-blast powers twice this issue, which is probably more than he ever used them during the entire run of X-Force.
• The locks on the bunker under Xavier’s mansion have been changed.  Boom-Boom comments that “they” changed them, with “they” being X-Factor I assume since the X-Men are off in space until “The Muir Island Saga” begins.
• According to Cerebro’s records, Proteus died on 10/13/1987.  That means the late ‘70s Claremont/Byrne run on Uncanny X-Men happened four years ago Marvel Time at this point in continuity.  Four years seems a bit much, in my opinion.  Considering how slowly characters like Kitty Pryde aged during that period, I would place it closer to two years.

I Love the '90s:  Boom-Boom understands the scientific jargon spoken by the higher-ups at Genetech…NOT!

Review:  X-Force and the New Warriors fight, which I imagine was a huge deal for at least some portion of the audience.  New Warriors wasn’t a book I followed as a kid, so the fight doesn’t mean a lot to me, but I know both teams had pretty hardcore fanbases in the early ‘90s.  As far as superhero fights go, this isn’t so bad, as Nicieza is able to explain who each of the characters are fairly naturally and work in a few decent jokes.  Having Mark Bagley pencil the fight doesn’t hurt, either.  He clearly knows how to keep the New Warriors on-model, and I like his interpretation of X-Force.

Once the obligatory fight is over, that means it’s time for the story to really begin, and it’s certainly one worthy of Nicieza’s reputation for…intricate plotting.  The New Warriors are working security for their friends at Genetech.  Genetech was hired by Ophrah Industries to “create a DNA matrix for a cellular mix…etc. etc. etc. ...blah blah blah.”  A front organization for AIM hired the Alliance of Evil to guard two of its associates (or pawns, maybe?), as they leech energy from various locations, which is somehow what Genetech has also wanted to do.  (What does that have to do with DNA?)  The Alliance (perhaps) lied and pointed X-Force towards Genetech, who swear they don’t know the Alliance, but surely they’re also lying to the heroes, right?  The Genetech exec stuttered before he gave an answer, and we all know people only stutter in comics when they lie.  Later, the heroes discover that AIM is working on shells similar to SHIELD LMDs that can contain energy and be controlled like toy soldiers.  All of this leads to the revelation that new characters Harness and Piecemeal are absorbing Proteus’ energy from all across the globe.  In the background, a shadowy figure that’s obviously Gideon is playing chess with an even more shadowy figure, laughing about how these pawns are being used.

I can’t imagine the bulk of the audience at this time really wanted to keep track of so many plot points.  Most of the kids reading this probably just wanted X-Force and the New Warriors to start fighting each other again by the time they reached the end.  (And I can't imagine what a kid thought about the abused, horribly bloated Piecemeal.)  Older readers who might have the patience to try and follow all of the plot details were, I'd wager,  just annoyed by the attempt to revive Proteus.  Having Harness and Piecemeal traveling all across the globe absorbing his leftover energy is automatically going to upset any continuity purist who remembers that Proteus never traveled outside of Scotland, for starters.  In fairness, Nicieza establishes that the energy wavelength is strongest in Edinburgh, where Proteus died, implying that his energy signature was so strong it reached out across the world.  That’s comic book science plausible, sure.  But spreading the energy out is yet another wrinkle that’s been added to an already dense plot.  It also complicates the opening with the X-Terminators from the last chapter.  So those kid mutants just happened to be living in a boarding school where energy from a dead mutant killed years earlier has accumulated?  But what’s really grating is just the concept of reviving Proteus.  The original story is a classic, in part, because people left it alone after it was over.  Nicieza toyed with the idea of reviving Proteus earlier in a Classic X-Men back-up, but he didn’t actually go through with it.  Now, he’s teasing the readers again, but this time it looks like he’s serious, and that’s not a good thing.

Origins of the New Warriors

Credits:  Eric Fein (writer), Tom Morgan (breakdowns), Marie Severin and Jeff Albrecht (finishes), Kevin Tinsley, Suzanne Gaffney, and Ed Lazellari (colors), Rick Parker (letters)

Summary:  The origins of the New Warriors are recapped in various stories.

I Love the '90s:  Namorita compares her family drama to Dallas.

Review:  Every New Warrior has his or her origin recapped in a different story, which probably wasn’t a bad idea since some of these characters have origins from the most obscure corners of the Marvel Universe.  The stories do the most basic job of conveying the information, which is all I really expected them to do.  They might not be too exciting to read today, but as a kid who wanted to know more about Marvel history, these kinds of recap stories were greatly appreciated.

To Bounce or Not to Bounce

Credits:  Dan Slott (writer), John Calimee (penciler), Don Hudson (inks), Kevin Tinsley (colors), Rick Parker (letters)

Summary:  Chord gives Speedball a serum that will allow Genetech to study his kinetic field.  While he waits for an hour for it to kick in, he tries to patrol the city, but is continually rescued by heroes when attempting to activate his kinetic powers.  Later, he discovers that the serum could temporarily cancel his powers.

I Love the '90s:  Speedball worries that the green serum will turn him into a Ninja Turtle.  On the very next panel, he also gives us the second “NOT!” of the issue.

Review:  It’s a comedy story by Dan Slott, a Marvel staffer destined to go nowhere in the comics industry.  The joke is that Speedball is trying to activate his powers by doing dangerous stunts, such as jumping off a building, but is continually rescued by various Marvel heroes.  On the final page, we learn that he actually could’ve died at any time since his powers were cancelled during the previous hour.  It’s funny, but here’s the real highlight…

I swear to you, there’s a joke in this story about Speedball adding spikes to his costume!  It’s there on page 58, I promise.  How did this not get scanned and posted all over the internet in 2007?  Sure, no one probably cares now, but Dave's Long Box could've made gold out of this had it been discovered back in the previous decade.