DEATHBLOW & WOLVERINE #2 - February 1997

Credits: Aron Wiesenfeld (story & breakdowns), Richard Bennett (finishes), Mike Heisler (letters), Monica Bennett (colors)

Summary: The mysterious man transports Deathblow and Wolverine to a mystical library where they meet the Librarian, a figure from Chinese folklore. The robed figure explains that Sung Li is the descendant of a priestess who placed the souls of her tribe in an urn. Sung has reached maturity and now has the power to bring these Chinese warriors to life. Descendants of the tribe want Sung to revive the warriors and have brought the urn to Chinatown. Its presence is causing the residents to behave oddly. Wolverine and Deathblow return to San Francisco, where they locate the urn and rescue Sung. After saying goodbye to Deathblow, Wolverine reveals to Sung that he knows she’s the Librarian. Sung claims that she was never using Wolverine, but he chooses to leave anyway.

Review: Well, of course Sung Li couldn’t just be a normal girl. Characters with foreign backgrounds are legally required to have ties to whatever folklore might be associated with their homelands. If the first issue didn’t make it clear, it’s now obvious that this mini is essentially an “art book” and the story isn’t a major concern. It is a ‘90s Image comic, after all. Although a few pages are spent on detailing the plot, the majority of the issue is dedicated to dialogue-less fight scenes. The parallels with the original Claremont/Miller Wolverine miniseries are more obvious now, as an extended sequence gives us several shots of Wolverine fighting a horde of ninjas against a white background (Miller’s cover of the Wolverine trade paperback). Although the art isn’t as finely detailed as the first issue’s, this is a nice looking comic. Is the art enough to carry the thin story? Not exactly, although I think the story is bland more than it is terrible. (The only major issue would be the lack of resolution to the story of Deathblow’s missing friend. The plot thread isn’t even brought up, which is ridiculous since it’s the reason why Deathblow is involved in this story in the first place.) Two issues of extended ninja fight scenes are a little much, but I probably wouldn’t have minded if it was just a one-shot. It is curious that Image produced a Deathblow/Wolverine team-up that was essentially a Wolverine story guest-starring Deathblow. I wonder how Deathblow’s fans felt about this.

DEATHBLOW & WOLVERINE #1 - September 1996

Credits: Aron Wiesenfeld (story/breakdowns), Richard Bennett (finishes), Mike Heisler (letters), Monica Bennett (colors)

Summary: In 1982, Wolverine is living in San Francisco with his girlfriend Sung Li. Sung’s mother is acting odd, so the couple goes to visit her. The elderly woman, who now inexplicably speaks English, slaps her daughter, just before a group of ninjas crash through the window and attack. An injured Wolverine is rescued by Deathblow. Deathblow learns that Wolverine’s address is the same address used by his friend Phil Chang, who just wrote a letter asking him for help. After facing more ninjas, they return to Wolverine’s apartment. A mystery man informs them that Sung Li is in great danger.

Continuity Notes: Deathblow is a paramilitary Jim Lee character from the Wildstorm Universe. Why this story is explicitly set in 1982 is beyond me. You would think this was done to place the story in Wolverine’s pre-X-Men, secret agent days. However, Deathblow finds a photo of Wolverine with the X-Men in his wallet, so that clearly wasn’t the reason.

Review: Another Marvel/Image crossover I’ve only recently discovered, Deathblow and Wolverine teams Wolverine with the hardened soldier whose name isn’t amusing at all. Not one bit. Despite the brief acknowledgment of the X-Men, the story is played as your standard Wolverine prequel story. Wolverine has an Asian girlfriend, some ninjas are involved, and he nearly dies but is saved by his miraculous healing factor. At least he hasn’t fought back his berserker rage yet. Deathblow is brought into the story through what appears to be coincidence, but we later learn that he’s in Chinatown to respond to an urgent letter from a friend. Why exactly Phil Chang is using Wolverine’s address adds some intrigue to the story, along with the bizarre behavior of Sung’s mother. The main draw of the mini is the art, which has Aron Wiesenfeld and Richard Bennett emulating the “open” style of European and Japanese comics, with little or no shading and a bit of Geoff Darrow thrown in. The architecture looks beautiful, and while we’ve seen a thousand Wolverine/ninja fights by now, this one is visually exciting.

CABLE #8 – February 1994

Fathers and Sons Part Three, Dayspring

Credits: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Aron Weisenfield (penciler), Holdredge/Vey/Sellers/Minor/Hanna/Conrad/Banning/Hudson (inkers), Chris Eliopoulos (letterer), Marie Javins (colorist)

Summary

Stryfe confronts Tyler, who is still holding the Askani captive. When Stryfe learns that the Askani’s presence was sent back in time to warn Jean Grey of his return, he shoots at her, destroying her containment field. The Askani’s memories are then channeled through Tyler, who shows Stryfe the details of his creation. Shortly after being cloned from Cable, Apocalypse’s soldiers break in, ravaging the Askani. The Askani Boak escapes with Cable, but the others are killed before Stryfe can be saved. Apocalypse takes Stryfe and raises him, taking advantage of his mutant powers. In Arizona, Zero reveals that Stryfe’s body was destroyed in the temporal vortex, but his consciousness was able to live in Cable’s body, taking control of it when “specific frequency alignments occur”. Zero teleports Xavier, Domino, Cyclops, and Jean Grey to Tyler’s base. Jean Grey links their minds to Styfe’s, and the Askani tries to talk Stryfe into letting go of his hatred. Stryfe gives Cable back his body, but says that he’ll continue to wreak havoc after death.

Continuity Notes

The Askani were largely destroyed shortly after Cable was cloned, but a few members carried on.

Tyler says that his mutant ability is the power to “telepathically affix myself to someone’s memories and visually display them”.

This issue marks the first time Cable and Xavier meet, although Xavier has “the oddest feeling” that they’ve met before.

Xavier says that Cable might be the key to curing the Legacy Virus.

Creative Differences

Quite a few word balloons have been poorly re-lettered towards the end. The altered lettering has Jean say that she tried to get info on the Legacy Virus from Strfye, even though it was futile. Xavier’s feeling that he’s met Cable before is also in a re-lettered balloon.

Review

The dangling mysteries involving Cable and Stryfe are resolved, but the resolutions are presented in such a cluttered way they don’t really feel like much of a payoff. One problem would be the number of characters involved in the story. Tyler doesn’t serve much of a role throughout the storyline (even disappearing “behind the scenes” at the end), and he mainly ends up as a distraction. Even though it’s confirmed that he was Tolliver, there’s no explanation for why he posed as an arms dealer in the 1980s in the first place. There’s also no real reason for Stryfe to kill him (other than simply wanting Cable’s son dead, I guess). There’s really no reason for Zero, Domino, Rictor, and Siryn to be brought into all of this, either. There’s also a tacked on explanation of how Cable and Stryfe survived the X-Cutioner’s Song, which distracts from the simultaneous flashbacks about Stryfe’s childhood. The basic idea behind the story, giving the answers about Cable and Stryfe in one place after years of vague hints, is fine. The delivery doesn’t work though, with so many characters and even more mysteries introduced before the story’s even over. The art doesn’t help things, either. This issue has eight inkers, which would average out to less than three pages per inker. It’s a rushed, ugly-looking mess.

CABLE # 7 – January 1994

Fathers and Sons – Act Two, Illuminated Knights

Credits: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Aron Wiesenfeld (penciler), Al Vey & Jon Holdredge (inkers), Chris Eliopoulos (letterer), Marie Javins (colorist)

Summary

Tyler probes the memories of the Askani, learning that Stryfe was a clone created of Cable when it looked as if he wouldn’t survive. Stryfe heads to X-Force’s headquarters to steal weaponry, attacking Siryn and Rictor. A wounded Domino arrives at the X-Men’s mansion, asking for help against Stryfe. Xavier, Cyclops, and Jean Grey travel to X-Force’s headquarters with Domino. Stryfe is gone, but they help Rictor and Siryn. Domino finds a taped message from Cable, questioning why he suddenly grew a goatee. Zero arrives, asking Cyclops if he’s willing to kill his son in order to put an end to a “weapon of war and destruction”. Stryfe infiltrates Tyler’s headquarters, prepared to kill him.

Continuity Notes

A flashback scene reveals what exactly happened to Cable after he was sent to the future as an infant. Mother Askani wants to clone him, fearing that he’ll die soon, but the other Askanis object. One claims that “eugenics is for El Nabin Sur, the Son of the Morning Fire” and that cloning would make them as guilty of “forfeiting the value and meaning of life” as Apocalypse is. Mother Askani demands that he be cloned because the “chosen one” must live. She also gives him the name “Dayspring”.

Tyler wants to know why Cable was never told the truth about his parents, but the Askani can’t answer. Tyler says that the Askani was crushed by the “Canaanite hordes”, and speculates that this is why Cable never learned about his past.

Commercial Break

The upcoming wedding of Scott and Jean is spoiled by an ad from “Entertainment This Month”. They’re not even engaged yet in the actual comics. Things like this happened all the time in the ‘90s.

Creative Differences

A few word balloons have been re-lettered, especially on page 21, when Xavier questions why Stryfe would go to Cable’s home.

Approved By The Comics Code Authority

Domino is covered in blood (or is it mud? It’s hard to tell) on page sixteen. On page twenty-three, virtually all of Siryn’s breasts are visible.

Review

Cable’s origin continues, and it’s not really that entertaining. Most of this information had already been heavily hinted at in previous stories, so having characters outright say some of this stuff is just dull. Maybe I’m prejudiced against the “big reveals” because I’ve already known them for almost fifteen years, though. It does seem as if nothing can be fully revealed in the X-books of this time. Even though we finally see what happened to baby Nathan in the future, the Askani are given more cryptic dialogue that hints at more untold stories. Tyler asks some basic questions (why wasn’t Cable told anything about his parents?) that aren’t answered at all. Plus, we see that Tyler is learning all of this information for the first time from the Askani. Last issue, he gave information about Cable to Mr. Sinister, and Sinister soon told Cable that he wasn’t a clone. I assumed that he got this info from Tyler, but Tyler only learns it in this issue. So how does Sinister know if Cable’s a clone or not?

The only scenes that really work for me are the ones between Scott and Jean. The tangled soap opera involving Madelyne Pryor and Nathan Summers was rarely brought up until this issue. Nicieza’s successful in creating an emotional moment between Scott and Jean where they actually talk about these things. It’s the only part of the story where you actually care about what’s going on. The latest rotating artist is Aron Wiesenfeld, still going for that early Image look. The amount of detail lines suddenly disappear by half towards the end of the book, as if the second inker didn’t want to be bothered with all of the unnecessary crosshatching.

X-MEN ANNUAL #2 – 1993

A Bluer Slice of Heaven

Credits: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Aron Weisenfeld (penciler), Milgom/Wiacek/Williams (inkers), Steve Dutro (letterer), Mike Thomas & Dana Moreshead (colorists)

Summary

Crimson Commando and Avalanche reunite with their former Brotherhood of Evil Mutants teammates on the island of Empyrean, an alleged haven for mutants. Unbeknownst to the Brotherhood, Commando and Avalanche are working undercover for the government. The island is owned by novelist Jonathan Chambers, a man who preaches the message of peace between humans and mutants. One of the scientists hired to work on the island is a member of Xavier’s Mutant Underground, and has tipped off the X-Men about the Brotherhood’s arrival. The X-Men arrive and talk to Chambers while Gambit, Revanche, and Psylocke investigate. A fight erupts with the Brotherhood, which is quickly stopped by Chambers. He reveals that he has the mutant power to drain the energies of other mutants. Brotherhood member Pyro tells the X-Men that he has the Legacy Virus, and that Chambers’ “energy vampire” powers ease the pain of the virus. Cyclops is skeptical about allowing Chambers’ research to continue, until Revanche reveals that she too is infected with the Legacy Virus. The X-Men leave the island, deciding that it is best to let other mutants make their own choice.

Gimmicks

This issue comes polybagged with a trading card of Empyrean. Chambers doesn’t actually use the name “Empyrean”, only saying that it is “not only my home, but my presence of character and my method of healing”. The card labels him a supervillain, which seems to miss the entire point of the story.

Continuity Notes

As far as I can tell, the phrase “Legacy Virus” shows up for the first time. Both Revanche and Pyro are revealed to be victims of the Legacy Virus in this issue.

Review

Another 1993 annual, another forgotten “brand new Marvel superstar!” To his credit, Nicieza could’ve just created a generic supervillain to fight the X-Men for thirty pages, but instead he tried to do something different. Creating morally ambiguous characters in superhero comics rarely works, as they’re usually pushed to be a hero or villain pretty quickly (as evidenced by this issue’s trading card). The setup for this story is interesting, and I like the fact that Chambers isn’t forced into a specific role in order to make the story work. However, I’m not quite sure why the X-Men seem so ambivalent about what he’s doing. Chambers absorbs energy from mutants to alleviate the pain of the Legacy Virus. He admits that he might have ulterior motives in helping mutants for his own “personal profit”, but the story’s extremely vague on this point. The story never says if he’s making money off of the mutants, and even if he was, does that make hospitals immoral? The story also establishes that he’s already wealthy as a writer and talk show host, so money wouldn’t be a convincing motive in the first place. If he actually wants the energy he absorbs from mutants, there’s nothing in the story that indicates this, or explains what he plans on doing with it. The only real issue raised is whether or not leeching off of the mutants’ energy could kill them. That’s a legitimate concern, but these are terminally ill patients, and Chambers is actively studying the effects of his power on the patients. Is all of this really so dodgy?

Revanche and Pyro are revealed to be suffering from the Legacy Virus, and the two of them actually do become casualties later on. Giving Revanche the virus already makes it seem as if Marvel regrets introducing the character. She really is the most expendable of the X-Men at this point, so singling her out doesn’t seem like such a bold move. Pyro is probably the best-known villain to die of the virus, and considering the fact that he lives on in the cartoons and movies, I’m surprised he’s never been revived. Considering how the Legacy Virus storyline fizzled out, it actually seems like a shame that any character had to die of it.

Aron Weisenfeld’s art doesn’t do the story any favors. It’s occasionally hard to follow, and just generally unattractive in that unique ‘90s way. On a few panels he produces some interesting work, reminiscent of Rick Leonardi, but the majority of this issue is just hard to look at. Even if the story is trying to do something different, the art’s exactly what you would expect from an early ‘90s annual.