X-MEN: TRUE FRIENDS #3 - November 1999

Claiming the Crown

Credits:  Chris Claremont (writer), Rick Leonardi (penciler), Al Williamson (inks), Shannon Blanchard (colors), Tom Orzechowski (letters)

Summary:  Phoenix briefly breaks free of Shadow King’s control and telepathically gives Shadowcat Lilibet’s location.  Shadowcat leaves with Wolverine and Alasdhair for the Holyrood House.  By the time they arrive, Phoenix is again under Shadow King’s control and chasing Lilibet.  Shadowcat kisses Alasdhair goodbye and follows Lilibet into an underground treasure chamber while Wolverine fights Shadow King’s men.  Using an ancient sword, Shadowcat breaks Shadow King’s hold over Phoenix and forces him to retreat.  Suddenly, they return to the modern world, at a party commemorating the opening of the new Scots Parliament.  They discover Lilibet is now the Queen.

Continuity Notes:  

• The Queen reveals that Alasdhair died during the war fighting with the Royal Air Force.
• Destiny and Mystique, in her guise as a male detective, discuss Shadowcat with Wolverine.  (Claremont has toyed with the idea in the past that Mystique was actually born male.)  Destiny directed Wolverine to rescue Shadowcat last issue, explaining his sudden appearance.  She now has a convoluted reason for why Shadowcat must be allowed to decide for herself if she wants to kill Hitler.
• Baron von Strucker refers to Wolverine’s claws as “blades,” perhaps indicating that Claremont really did intend for Wolverine to have his adamantium claws as far back as 1936.  
• Claremont also has Wolverine strongly imply that he personally knew Benjamin Franklin this issue, which is just…well, I’m just going to pretend I didn’t even read that.

Production Note:  Despite the date listed in the indicia, this issue shipped several months late.  I distinctly remember buying this issue new off the stands on Christmas Eve 1999.  The first issue shipped in July 1999, and I don’t recall any delays on the second issue, making this one noticeably late.  There are also two pages printed out of order towards the end of the issue, causing the ending to appear even more jumbled than it already is.

Review:  True Friends #3 seemed to be universally panned upon its release, and I don’t think time has been too kind to it.  The first thing anyone has to notice when reading the issue is the sharp decline in Rick Leonardi’s art.  Al Williamson is still here as inker, so it’s hard to say what went wrong, aside from the obvious guess of “deadline issues.”  Leonardi’s art can occasionally be sloppy in a creative, unique way, but for most of this issue it’s sloppy in a rushed, unattractive way.  This is not how you want the final chapter of a story ten years in the making to look.

Regarding the story, it’s still as dense as ever, as Claremont rushes through his period piece to get to the cute ending, the revelation that Lilibet is actually Queen Elizabeth.  Um…okay.  I think the bulk of the audience cares even less about the monarchy than it does the political climate of 1936, so I doubt this had the impact he probably intended.  Before getting there, Claremont resolves the Shadow King plot by having the female cast members conveniently stumble upon a treasure chamber and discover a magic sword that can stop the villain.  It’s rushed and creatively unsatisfying; just as unsatisfying as Kitty’s sudden decision not to kill Hitler, which she abruptly realizes would be wrong after giving a speech to Rachel against killing the Shadow King.  Kitty’s romance with Alasdhair is also shortchanged, as he merely disappears before the story’s climax, allowing his new love to run off into danger while he stays behind and does nothing.  

I can’t say the entire issue is a wash; there is a touching scene that has Kitty futilely trying to contact her relatives in Poland and warn them about what’s coming that's a highlight of the series.  The ethical and metaphysical ramifications of changing the past are briefly touched upon in an intelligent way, as you would  expect Claremont to handle them.  Those brief moments aren’t enough to save the issue, though, which is such a cluttered and bewildering ending it only serves to drag the entire miniseries down. 

X-MEN: TRUE FRIENDS #2 - October 1999

 

Royal Hunt

Credits:  Chris Claremont (writer), Rick Leonardi (penciler), Al Williamson & Jimmy Palmiotti (inks), Shannon Blanchard (colors), Tom Orzechowski (letters)

Summary:  Shadowcat and Alasdhair escape from the Shadow King-possessed Phoenix and arrive in Edinburgh.  At a party hosted by Lady Windermere, they search for Phoenix and Lilibet.  Alasdhair is captured and forced to participate in an occult ceremony that will erase certain bloodlines and place Lady Windermere on the throne.  Instead, Windermere dies during the ceremony after Shadowcat rescues Alasdhair.  While escaping, Shadowcat and Alasdhair crash into the docks and are rescued by Wolverine.  After defeating more of the Shadow King’s men, Wolverine agrees to search for Lilibet and Phoenix.

Continuity Notes:  

• This is the first flashback story to feature Wolverine with bone claws.  Previously, Wolverine had no idea if he was born with bone claws or if they were somehow related to his adamantium claws.  The 1998 “Children of the Atom” crossover was the first hint that he was born with them, however, as Rogue grew bone claws after absorbing his powers.  (Which might’ve been an artist’s mistake, but it’s long been considered canon now.)  It’s possible Claremont didn’t even intend for Wolverine’s claws to be bone when the story was first written, since I’m not sure if Claremont ever set a date on when exactly Wolverine went through the Weapon X project.  The claws look more bone than metal, though, so at the very least a decision was made at some point to go with bone claws in the past.
• I believe that this is the earliest date, 1936, that we’ve seen Logan referred to as “Wolverine.”
• The Shadow King finds Shadowcat’s mind almost impossible to read, due to her intangibility.  She’s also able to make Alasdhair immune to Shadow King by making him intangible.

I Love the '90s:  Kitty exclaims “As IF!” after Geist suggests they meet again in the future at the party.

Review:  So, the complicated plot involving the British throne continues, as Claremont throws in more time travel elements, and romance, and the Shadow King, and mysticism, and finally, somewhat abruptly, Shadowcat’s vow to kill Hitler.  At the close of the issue, just as Wolverine agrees to search for their missing friends, Kitty just throws that in there.  I’m not necessarily opposed to a time travel story that involves Kitty dealing with that old moral quandary (even if Hitler’s not a baby in this situation, WWII hasn’t started yet), but this story is already packed and we really don’t need any more diversions.

Even ignoring Kitty’s sudden bloodlust at the end, the compressed nature of the story is its largest failing.  Most of the individual elements of the story are fine, the problem is none of them have room to breathe.  The romance between Kitty and Alasdhair is cute, the revelations about the Shadow King are potentially interesting (especially if you remember some hints dropped during Claremont’s Excalibur run), and the attempt to merge X-continuity with historical fact is admirable.  Little moments, like Kitty humoring the Nazi Geist with small talk at a party, are also nicely done.  But crammed together, there’s no room for any thread to have much of an impact.  Plus, there’s an annoying tendency to play fast and loose with continuity that’s sure to annoy many readers.  Kitty’s casually given a power upgrade that prevents even the Shadow King from touching her mentally, and we discover that Wolverine of all people just happened to stop by during this time travel adventure.  Yes, we soon learn the identities of the people who pointed him in Kitty’s direction, but that merely adds more coincidences and random X-connections to the plot.

X-MEN: TRUE FRIENDS #1 - September 1999

True Friends

Credits:  Chris Claremont (writer), Rick Leonardi (penciler), Al Williamson & Co. (inks), Shannon Blanchard (colors), Tom Orzechowski & Bullpen/DS (letters)

Summary:  Shadowcat and Phoenix get into an argument while visiting the Scottish Highlands.  When Phoenix becomes angry, her power causes nearby standing stones to activate with energy, creating an image of occultists sacrificing a girl.  Shadowcat flees, and is rescued by Alasdhair Kinross and his young cousin, Lilibet.  Shadowcat soon realizes she’s in the year 1936.  While looking for Phoenix, they search a nearby castle owned by Lady Windermere.  They soon discover that Windermere is in league with the Nazis.  After Lilibet is kidnapped by the Nazis, Shadowcat and Alasdhair travel to Edinburgh to rescue her in a plane owned by Alasdhair’s friend.  They’re soon attacked by a brainwashed Phoenix.

Continuity Notes:  

• This story is set during the early days of the Excalibur series.  The “Phoenix” mentioned here is of course Rachel Summers, Phoenix II.
• Baron von Strucker and Geist make cameos as Nazis visiting Lady Windermere.  There are also references to Hitler taking advice from “The Egyptian,” who we later learn is Amahl Farouk, the Shadow King.

Production Notes:  This miniseries is printed on glossy paper and has no interior ads.  The price is $2.99, as opposed to Marvel’s standard $2.25 at the time for comics with ads and newsprint paper.

Review:  True Friends began life as an Excalibur graphic novel in the late ‘80s, one Rick Leonardi began but famously never finished, I believe because Marvel discontinued its graphic novel line.  Chris Claremont mentioned this project a few times in interviews after leaving Marvel in the early ‘90s, citing it as one of the books he’d love to finish if he hypothetically returned to Marvel one day.  So, the announcement of this miniseries in 1999 was greeted with a decent amount of enthusiasm by a certain segment of fandom.  I’m not sure if too many readers viewed it as a lost classic after it was done, however…

This is not a quick book to read.  That’s not to say the first issue’s poorly written or drawn, but it is a large investment of your time; a much larger investment than readers have come to expect from a standard “floppy” comic.  Claremont sets the story in 1936 and seems to assume the audience a) knows and b) cares about European politics of the day.  Yes, Nazis are the perfect bad guys, but focusing on their political maneuvering pre-WW II is a risky starting place for a story, especially one where the audience has a reasonable expectation of a superhero adventure.  Large sections of the comic consist of massive word balloons dropping references to the constitutional crisis involving Edward VIII’s engagement to Wallis Simpson, how this impacts the Ramsey MacDonald government and Winston Churchill’s credibility, and the chances of Oswald Mosely and the British Union of Fascists taking power.  Not standard X-Men material.  Assuming you didn’t recall 11th grade World History that well, this was pretty frustrating reading in the pre-Wikipedia days.  And it’s even more of a chore to read when the Tom Orzechowski pages disappear and Marvel’s in-house lettering begins.  I believe this is the lettering style usually credited as “Sharpefont”, an early computer font that’s always looked too wide and poorly spaced to my eyes.  Giant info dumps aren’t fun in the first place, but at least Orzechowski can add some style to them.  Giant Sharpefont balloons just make me want to turn the page.

To Rick Leonardi’s credit, there doesn’t seem to be a noticeable difference in the art drawn after the ten year gap in the book’s production.  (I’m assuming he initially stopped at around page 20, because that’s where Orzechowski’s lettering ends.)  It appears that the early pages in the book were intended to be printed on larger paper, the old format for graphic novels, but the actual quality of the drawings is consistent.  Leonardi spends most of the issue drawing “real life” elements such as cottages, castles, landscapes, pubs, and horses and doing a capable job of it.  I’ve always been a fan of his Kitty Pryde, so it’s also nice to see him return to the character.  And when Chris Claremont is writing Kitty and Rachel as stars in a teen drama, the story’s pretty entertaining.  The human element is still there, but it’s buried under so much plot it’s often hard to care about the characters.  And, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, the story’s turned into another brainwashing scheme by the issue’s end, so already we’re moving into some well-worn territory.  How self-indulgent will this series become by the final issue?