UNCANNY X-MEN #344 – May 1997

Casualties of War
Credits: Scott Lobdell (writer), Melvin Rubi (penciler), Joe Weems w/Hanna/Alquiza/Candelario/Townsend (inkers), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Steve Buccellato & Team Bucce! (colors)

Summary: The X-Men watch in hiding as Lilandra is tortured by the Phalanx. Deathbird and Bishop are sent to “The Nest”, where the Shi’ar offspring are birthed, to protect the embryos from the Phalanx. Joseph begins to flash back to the Holocaust as he reflects on the carnage the Phalanx have created. His powers begin to flare out of control, blowing the team’s cover. As the rest of the X-Men fight, the Beast finishes building a weapon that separates the organic portions from the Phalanx’s bodies. He unleashes the device, which shreds the Phalanx apart. Trish Tilby is ecstatic that the threat is over, but Gambit isn’t optimistic. Meanwhile, Senator Kelly expresses concerns over Operation: Zero Tolerance to Henry Gyrich.

Continuity Note: According to Gyrich, Congress hasn’t sanctioned Operation: Zero Tolerance, but Bastion “has people sympathetic to him inside the House, the Senate, and every other ruling party in the world”.

Review: The previous chapters of this storyline were able to coast quite a bit on Madureira’s artwork, but now we’re treated to an entire issue of Melvin Rubi’s terrible Jim Lee impression. The early ‘90s look had almost disappeared from the titles by the end of 1995, but many of the fill-in artists were returning to the early Image look by late 1996 (Coincidentally or not, Marvel had turned over four titles to Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld by this time. I think it’s possible that someone at Marvel made a conscious decision that this was the style of art the kids really wanted). I can live with a competent Jim Lee impersonator, but Rubi’s deformed faces and relentless crosshatching are just hard on the eyes. The story doesn’t do a lot to redeem the issue, either. The goals of the issue are apparently to pair Bishop and Deathbird together and to finish off the Phalanx. Both objectives are accomplished with no real excitement, and the Phalanx’s defeat is particularly annoying. After two full issues of fight scenes, the villains are defeated by a macguffin the Beast whips up in a few panels. The Phalanx were the major villains in a multi-part crossover a few years prior, and now they’re taken out with the press of a button. It’s extremely anticlimactic, and it’s one of the reasons why this storyline always felt like a giant waste of time.

GENERATION X #26 – April 1997

Adrift Credits: Scott Lobdell (writer), Joe Bennett (penciler), Joe Pimentel (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Marie Javins (colors) Summary: After emerging from Black Tom’s bio-pod, the members of Generation X are stranded in a large body of water. M flies ahead to find help, and later returns exhausted. She tells the team that they’re as good as dead. Meanwhile, Banshee runs a computer scan but is unable to find his students. Inside an Operation: Zero Tolerance base, Jubilee fights against Bastion’s First Strike team. When she accidentally harms one of them, she risks capture and performs CPR on him. After she escapes the building, she runs out into a snowstorm and collapses. A man in a parka takes her back inside. Continuity Note: Nightmare speaks to Emma Frost again, telling her that his vision has come true (which is a stretch, since his vision in #22 was a lot more gruesome than what actually happened in the last issue). He still wants her to work with him, but she refuses. I’m under the impression none of this was ever resolved. Review: For some reason, a local drug store started selling this title after it stopped carrying the rest of the X-titles. Since the next few issues lead into the Zero Tolerance crossover, and my collection of the spinoffs gets spotty at this point, I’ll do full reviews for the next two or three issues. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot to say about this one. Half of the issue is devoted to establishing that the team is stranded in the middle of nowhere, which worked great as a cliffhanger last issue, but the story doesn’t advance at all over the course of the issue. The Jubilee subplot isn’t bad, but it also ends exactly where it began. There’s a hint that Bastion is actually impressed by Jubilee’s respect for human life, which may or may not tie into the ending. Because Joe Bennett’s art is so generic, it’s impossible to tell if the man in the parka who saves her in the end is supposed to be Bastion (of course, this raises the question of why Bastion would need a parka). It’s always strange to see someone outside of Chris Bachalo draw these characters, but Bennett’s combination of early Image art and the faux-manga look really doesn’t work.

WOLVERINE #113 – May 1997

The Wind from the East
Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Edgar Tadeo (inker), Comicraft (lettering), Joe Rosas (colors)

Summary: Wolverine notices that the juggling mime has taken the ancient cube Zoe Culloden left in his care. He suddenly remembers the first time he saw it, years earlier in Shanghai. Two Japanese soldiers were chasing an old man and his apprentice, who had allegedly stolen the artifact. Wolverine interrupted the fight, and one of the soldiers was killed by his captain for disgracing his uniform. The captain respected Wolverine’s bravery and offered to train him in the martial arts. In the present, the mime attacks and Wolverine realizes that he’s being possessed by a familiar force. Soon, Phoenix and Storm arrive to visit Wolverine. After they join the fight, the spirit possesses Phoenix. When Wolverine leaps in front of a blade that’s headed for Storm’s chest, the spirit is stunned by his selflessness. Phoenix casts out the spirit, which travels nearby and quickly possesses Wolverine’s new friend Helen Bach. Meanwhile, Damian Hellstorm senses the return of the dangerous artifact.

Creative Differences: There’s an entire page of third person narration describing Helen Bach that’s incorrectly lettered in Wolverine’s distinctive font. This issue is actually filled with third person captions, which Hama has always claimed that he doesn’t write. Mark Powers is the editor by this point, so this would seem to coincide with other writers’ allegations that he was a heavy re-writer.

Review: This issue is significant for introducing Lenil Francis Yu to Marvel’s audience. He’s done work for other companies in the past, but most of his career has been spent at Marvel, and he’s someone the current regime apparently has a lot of faith in. His style here is still evolving, but it is recognizable. He has more of a European influence in the early issues, and seems to enjoy drawing tiny detail lines on every wall, building, and prop in the comic. Some of the poses are a little stiff and a few of the faces are awkward, but it is a strong debut overall. The story is mostly a fight scene that throws in a few hints about the spirit’s identity. Yu’s art makes the visual of Wolverine fighting a mime work better than it probably should, and Hama uses Storm and Phoenix pretty well. There’s an amusing scene where “real woman” Helen Bach spots Storm and Phoenix and offers a meta-commentary on their bombshell appearances (unfortunately, Helen isn’t drawn that differently from the X-femmes, so the execution doesn’t entirely work). Most of this is competently done, but it doesn’t seem like it does enough to advance the storyline.

GENERATION X #23 – #25 (January 1997 – March 1997)

#23 (Lobdell/Byrd/Martin/Story/Comicraft/Buccellato/GCW) – Shockingly enough, this is a quiet issue with no action that focuses on the characters. It’s unfortunate that the fill-in artist draws faces so inconsistently, since the entire issue consists of conversation scenes. I’m honestly surprised that at least half of these faces weren’t redrawn after the pages were sent in. Chamber goes home with Husk for Thanksgiving, which is the best thread in the issue. Chamber’s insecurities prevent him from getting close to her, and instead of Husk giving him an inspiring speech that convinces him that everything’s okay, she calls him a jerk and lets him walk away. There are also a few pages dedicated to M and Banshee, which set up a few ideas but don’t really go anywhere with them. Apparently, Banshee feels guilty about missing out on Siryn’s childhood and Emma believes that M is a potential threat to the team. The Daydreamers miniseries starring Franklin Richards, Artie, and Leech is teased for a few pages. Over the past few issues, they’ve discovered a “blue lady” named Tana Nile (who is colored green). Like the Banshee and M scenes, there’s not enough here to really invest in, but it manages to kill a few pages. The Husk/Chamber scenes are fine, but it feels like the rest of the issue is filler.

#24 (Lobdell/Leonardi/Byrd/LaRosa/Martin/Comicraft/Buccellato) – Husk, Jubilee, M, and Emma Frost spend Christmas in Monaco (the third holiday issue in a row), and proceed to talk for the entire issue. The issue has some plot significance, as each character recounts the day they discovered they were mutants. Jubilee accidentally blasted a pair of cops after getting caught shoplifting, Husk finally shed her skin after months of trying to prove that she was a mutant, and M tells a blatant lie about flying around her father’s estate like a storybook character. Frost claims that she was institutionalized by her wealthy parents, but eventually used her powers to escape (and then burn the building down). Some of the scenes are cute, and Rick Leonardi does a nice job with them. Emplate makes a brief cameo, making even more vague references to his origin. This wouldn’t be so bad, if so many of the preceding issues hadn’t been quiet character stories with vague hints about various mysteries.

#25 (Lobdell/Bachalo/Vey/Hanna/Comicraft/Vancata) – Chris Bachalo returns, as the series drastically departs from the slow pace of the earlier issues. This is the debut of the tree-monster version of Black Tom, who can send his consciousness across any plant life, and somehow mentally control people. Black Tom and his “version” of Mondo unite to attack the team. Everyone except Jubilee and Penance are kidnapped, as Bastion suddenly appears and takes Jubilee (and apparently kills Mondo), while Penance is presumably just forgotten. Black Tom hides the students in a secret location and taunts Banshee about becoming their new mentor. I like the idea that Tom is jealous of Banshee and wants to raise his students the same way he raised his daughter, but the idea isn’t fleshed out particularly well. Penance reemerges at the end of the issue and slices Black Tom in half, which ends the fight. After Penance rips him in two, the “bio-organic” transport he was controlling underneath the ocean falls apart. M, Skin, Synch, Husk, and Chamber emerge in the middle of nowhere. I like the cliffhanger, but the rest of the issue is a little too chaotic. Apparently, this Mondo isn’t the real one, which means we’ve been following a plant creation of Black Tom (even though “our” Mondo has his own consciousness, and was seen communicating with Tom as recently as the last issue). Ending the fight by having Penance rip Tom in two doesn’t work either, since it’s established just a few pages earlier that he can’t be hurt because he can shift his consciousness around. Bachalo’s redesign of Black Tom is impressive, but it veers so far away from the established character, you have to wonder why they didn’t just use the design on a new villain.

UNCANNY X-MEN #343 – April 1997

Where No X-Man Has Gone Before!
Credits: Scott Lobdell (writer), Joe Madureira (penciler), Tim Townsend (inker), Steve Buccellato & Team Bucce! (colors), Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: Deathbird regains consciousness as Gambit and Joseph return from their mission. Deathbird smells that they aren’t human and steals Bishop’s gun. After she guns them down, Gambit and Joseph are revealed as Phalanx imposters. Meanwhile, the Phalanx are storing the real Gambit and Joseph in pods. Rogue arrives and rescues them. During the fight, Gambit saves Rogue after she’s briefly absorbed by the Phalanx. After touching the Phalanx, Rogue learned that they destroyed the Shi’ar homeworld and are heading towards Earth. Later, Beast devises a plan that enables the team to abandon their ship in an escape pod after the Phalanx destroy it. They land on a nearby moon, where Deathbird keeps a hidden base in an abandoned mining station. The team teleports away with Deathbird, unsure if she can be trusted. Meanwhile, Bastion arrives at his base with Jubilee as his captive.

Continuity Note: Another form of the Phalanx debut here. The techno-organic components are apparently kept underneath their black outer layer. They claim that the Phalanx the X-Men fought earlier were “transient units” and “our foreguardians”. I think Louise Simonson eventually reconciled all of the Phalanx continuity in the short-lived Warlock series.

Review: The space arc continues, and moves at its own leisurely pace. (An ad that ran in several Marvel books from around this time claimed that this was a three-issue storyline. This might’ve contributed to my exasperation over how long the story eventually ran.) This issue establishes the Phalanx as the behind-the-scenes villains and pairs the team with Deathbird. It seems like this could’ve been established in ten pages or so, but the plot stretches out for the entire issue. As usual, the art is slick and the character interactions aren’t bad, but nothing in the issue is really engaging. For whatever reason, someone at Marvel apparently thought it would be a good idea to reform Deathbird, which is a direction the storyline will explore over the next few issues. Lobdell handles her nasty, belligerent personality very well here, so it seems like kind of a waste to make her more likable.

X-FORCE #64 – March 1997

The Haunting of Castle Doom!
Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Anthony Castrillo & Mark Pajarillo (pencilers), Jon Holdredge & Marlo Alquiza (inkers), Comicraft (lettering), Marie Javins (colors)

Summary: After the Time Platform malfunctions, X-Force is transported with Doom’s castle to 1941. Because the castle already existed in 1941, the castle and everyone inside exist as ghost-like apparitions. Dimitri Fortunov overhears Baron von Strucker making plans to kill his grandfather, who objects to an experimental machine Strucker is building. X-Force agrees to help Dimitri stop Strucker’s men, even though they’re not sure if they’re damaging the timeline. After X-Force destroys Strucker’s “storm-catcher” machine, Nathaniel Richards manages to repair the Time Platform and return everyone to the present day. Cable destroys the Time Platform, and talks G. W. Bridge out of arresting him. Nathaniel Richards says goodbye, while mentally declaring that he won’t be on Cable’s side for long.

Review: I wonder if Moore wrote these issues as fill-ins, not knowing that he would be taking over the title. It’s unusual to see a new writer not introducing any new plot threads or touching on any ongoing story arcs during his first two issues. Jeph Loeb managed to move the location of the series and alter the cast within a few pages during his first issue. Moore has simply plugged the team into a generic story that probably could’ve starred any other superhero team. The plot itself is mostly unobjectionable, although I do have to wonder about the decision to make the team “ghosts” during the time travel sequence. The story keeps reminding us that they’re intangible, yet they’re able to physically assault Strucker’s men, which doesn’t make a lot of sense. The art is a combination of Castrillo’s blatant Byrne imitation (which is odd, since he backed off of the aping in the previous issue), and Pajarillo’s blatant “Image circa 1993” impression. Neither one is particularly good, and both help to reinforce the idea that this storyline was thrown together at the last minute to kill time.

ONSLAUGHT: EPILOGUE #1 – February 1997

Prisoner M-13
Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Randy Green (penciler), Jon Holdredge w/Hilary Barta (inkers), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Dana Moreshead & Digital Chameleon (colors)

Summary: Inside a secret military installation in Nevada, Henry Gyrich looks on as Bastion interrogates Professor Xavier. A psychiatrist named Dr. Ingrid Thysson arrives to evaluate Xavier. She’s accompanied by special operative Darryl Smith, who objects to Bastion’s treatment of Xavier. Bastion places Smith in custody for questioning him. Another prisoner inside the facility, Nina, uses her psychic powers to escape her cell and comfort Xavier. Nina has a child’s mind and is empathetic towards Xavier’s suffering. Xavier convinces her to use her strange powers and generate a phone. Soon, Bastion declares that Nina is too dangerous to live. When Bastion learns that Smith has a natural psi-shield, he decides that Smith should be freed and ordered to exterminate Nina. After Dr. Thysson meets Nina, she agrees to help Xavier free her. During their escape attempt, Darryl Smith knocks Thysson unconscious and brings the body of Nina to Bastion. The operatives who dispose of the body soon learn that her body bag is empty, but refuse to tell Bastion because they’ve been ordered to never ask questions. Hours later, the psychic telephone Nina created appears in front of Xavier. Renee Majcomb speaks to him, telling him that she’s followed his instructions and found Nina in the desert. Nina tells him that Darryl Smith taught her how to fake her death and escape. Xavier tells Nina that there may be others like her, and they need her help.

Production Note: This is a thirty-two page one shot with no ads. The cover price is $2.99.

Continuity Notes: The cover story for Xavier turning himself in to the government is that he’s volunteered to help the government research Onslaught. The story goes out of its way to reinforce the idea that the government doesn’t know Xavier is a mutant. Bastion clearly knows, but refuses to tell anyone. Valerie Cooper knows because of her relationship with the X-teams, but she hasn’t told anyone else that Xavier is a mutant and had a role in Onslaught’s creation. Xavier claims that Cooper doesn’t know that he’s been taken into Bastion’s custody and is being treated like a prisoner.

Darryl Smith is the government agent who was referenced in Wolverine #108 but not seen. An editorial footnote says that he first appeared in the Wolverine ’96 annual (which I’ve never read). It’s established that he has a natural psi-shield, but Bastion is adamant that he’s not a mutant (presumably because Bastion can detect mutants). It seems like Hama had plans for this character, but I don’t think anything came of them.

Nina appears for the first time. It’s established that she’s some sort of government experiment called a “Manite”. Xavier describes her as a “little person abrim with compassion, totally devoid of prevarication.” According to Nina, another prisoner named Tuesday was recently killed by Bastion. She also tells Xavier that his powers aren’t gone, they’ve just been “turned off”, and she could restore them if he wishes.

Review: This is one of those one-shots that would randomly appear with no discernable purpose. This could’ve easily been published in X-Men Unlimited, but Marvel apparently wanted to pump out even more X-product than normal during this era. Labeling this an epilogue to the Onslaught storyline is a bit of a stretch, especially since UXM and X-Men already dedicated a few issues to dealing with the aftermath of the crossover. Instead, the story mainly serves to continue Bastion’s buildup, and apparently to introduce Nina. Nina didn’t seem like the type of character that would’ve received a lot of attention, but she ended up playing a large role in several stories around 1999 or so. I don’t know if she was created by Hama just to give Xavier someone to interact with, or if editorial had a hand in her creation and always had plans for her. I don’t have a problem with her in the context of this story, but I’m not sure why she was featured so heavily in the late ‘90s.

The story is enjoyable enough, and Randy Green’s art has an attractive, cartoony style. Hama’s able to give Xavier an erudite speech pattern without making him seem too uptight, which is a problem you’d probably have to address when doing an Xavier solo story. Adorable little Nina could easily become insufferable, but she’s at least tolerable throughout this issue. The only real issue I have with the storytelling is the non-introduction of Renee Majcomb, who’s dropped into the story with the assumption that we should automatically know who she is. For the record, she’s an associate of Xavier’s from Genosha who had made a couple of appearances by this point. I’m pretty sure I owned all of her appearances at the time, and even then I had only the vaguest idea of who she’s supposed to be. Her only role in the story is to escort Nina away, so perhaps you could argue she gets all the introduction she needs, but it feels distracting to me. It also raises the question of why Xavier is calling this obscure character, and not any of his X-Men to tell them that he’s being held in a secret prison. Despite its flaws, it’s still a decent enough comic, even if you have to wonder why exactly it exists as a one-shot in the first place.

X-FORCE #63 – February 1997

Wish You Were Here
Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Anthony Castrillo (penciler), Mark Morales w/Chad Hunt (inkers), Comicraft (lettering), Lee Ann Clark & Graphic Color Works (colors)

Summary: Meltdown wakes up in Liddleville, and soon discovers Dimitri Fortunov. She flashes back to the events that lead her inside Dr. Doom’s castle. Cable lead X-Force on a mission to ensure that Doom’s Time Platform doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. Nathaniel Richards joined the team and helped them break into the castle. After facing a group of Doom’s robots, Meltdown was abducted and her consciousness was placed inside Liddleville. Fortunov explains that Doom’s castle once belonged to his family, and that he broke into the castle to arm himself while fighting to unite Latveria. Soon, X-Force manages to free Meltdown and Fortunov and return them to their proper bodies. The group locates Doom’s Time Platform, as G. W. Bridge and two SHIELD agents arrive. Bridge claims that the UN has jurisdiction over everything in Doom’s castle. Fortunov declares that no one outside of Latveria has the right to the technology, and throws a grenade. A SHIELD agent blasts Fortunov into the control panel, activating the Time Platform. Meanwhile, Sunspot, Warpath, and Caliban act as backup and hide amongst the gypsies. One gypsy touches Warpath’s hand and has a horrific vision of the future. Seconds later, the gypsies receive word that Doom’s castle has disappeared.

Continuity Notes: Dr. Doom is believed dead at this time, after the events of Onslaught: Marvel Universe. Liddleville is the miniature town Dr. Doom created with the Puppet Master to imprison the Fantastic Four in FF #236. The gimmick is that a person stays in a dream state as his thoughts are animated by the tiny synthetic doppelganger in the town. Fortunov has a companion, Sergei, who was apparently killed when his mind was placed into his Liddleville doppelganger. Who exactly was making tiny replicas of Meltdown and the others isn’t explained.

We Get Letters: Actual editorial responses to reader comments on the recent “Origin of Shatterstar” debacle: “We hope you enjoyed the solution, even if it was a tad bit complicated.” “Star’s life has certainly changed, and it’s been way too complicated for Star or his fans to follow.” “Needless to say, evidence regarding the truth about our man Star does appear to contradict itself, doesn’t it?” And finally, “We have to admit that the final explanation for Shatterstar’s origin ended up being a wee bit complicated and pretty confusing. Although we may tell you more somewhere down the road, we will make sure that whatever we add will only clarify what has become somewhat of a temporally challenged origin story”. I wonder if Jason Liebig, the assistant editor, wrote these responses. In one interview, he claimed that he told Bob Harras during his job interview that he considered the buildup to Onslaught to be bad storytelling, so this sounds like something he might’ve written.

Review: This is John Francis Moore’s debut on X-Force, although it still feels like the series is in fill-in mode. This is a plot-heavy issue that isn’t outright terrible, but manages to be extremely dull. I’m not sure why so much of the issue is dedicated to Liddleville, since it doesn’t appear to add anything to the story and forces many other plot details to get cramped into too few pages. It seems like Moore assumes we’re already familiar with the town’s first appearance in an early ‘80s FF issue and the gimmick is amusing enough to justify such a lengthy digression. It isn’t. The rest of the issue consists of getting the characters where they’re supposed to be and setting the Time Platform up for whatever Moore wants to use it for in the next issue. Again, it’s not necessarily a bad setup for a story, but it all feels pretty generic and dull.

WOLVERINE #112 – April 1997

The Light at the End of the Day
Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Anthony Winn (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Comicraft (lettering), Joe Rosas & Graphic Color Works (colors)

Summary: Wolverine passes through Manhattan’s East Village and stops two thugs from accosting a man in a wheelchair and his girlfriend. The woman, Kirstin, offers Wolverine a place to stay in the building she works in as a super. A juggling mime who watched the confrontation is lured into a basement by a mystery figure. That night, Wolverine tries to sleep, but can’t stop thinking about the events of the past few months. The next day, Kirstin guides him to a construction site, overseen by Helen Bach. Wolverine offers to work for free, hoping to spend time doing honest work. Later, while walking home with Helen, Wolverine spots the two thugs he stopped earlier defacing his motorcycle. Wolverine’s surprised when Helen attacks the men. After fighting them off, Wolverine pushes his motorcycle into his apartment. He’s greeted by the mime he saw earlier, who is now juggling butcher knives.

I Love the ‘90s: The letters page finally gives an actual email address where letters can be sent.

Review: This is another issue that sets up the new status quo of the series. It largely serves as a character piece, but it also manages to introduce a decent amount of plot and offer a few hints about the new supporting cast members. Nothing really came of the new supporting cast, but I like what little we see of them. Clive, the man in the wheelchair, and Helen both chastise Wolverine about using violence, which helps to reestablish the idea that Wolverine himself isn’t entirely comfortable with his violent nature. Helen’s willingness to become violent herself when provoked adds some mystery to the character, one that actually was resolved a few issues later.

Hama tries to build the new direction from the previous issues, as Wolverine claims that living in the city is his response to hunting deer on Xavier’s grounds, essentially having him test himself by going from one extreme to another. It’s a quickie way to resolve the “feral Wolverine” arc from the post-AoA issues, but that story had already played itself out by this point, and using it to justify a new direction is preferable to just forgetting it or dragging it out any longer. The Onslaught storyline is referenced again, but Hama gets decent material out of it. The building Wolverine is helping to rebuild was damaged by Onslaught, and another scene reveals that Wolverine’s guilt over his role in indirectly creating Onslaught keeps him awake at night. Hama finds a clever application of Wolverine’s powers, as he works out relentlessly, hoping to force himself to sleep after tiring himself out. However, his healing factor prevents him from staying exhausted long enough to sleep. It’s a smart idea, and it’s another example of Hama “getting” Wolverine in a way few writers do.

UNCANNY X-MEN #342 – March 1997

"Did I Miss Something ?!"
Credits: Scott Lobdell (writer), Joe Madureira (penciler), Tim Townsend (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Steve Buccellato &Team Bucce! (colors)

Summary: The X-Men are transported inside a spaceship that’s flying out of control, approaching an asteroid belt. Beast recalibrates the ship, and Joseph protects the team from the asteroids. They enter a stargate and travel to the Shi’ar Empire. On the way, Rogue comforts Bishop, who feels lost after Xavier’s transformation into Onslaught. The team reaches a Shi’ar space station, and is shocked when the ship’s computers claim that all of its occupants are dead. While searching the wreckage, Beast realizes that the power core is gone. Meanwhile, Bishop discovers Deathbird, who is barely alive.

Continuity Notes: The team change into new outfits after boarding the spacecraft. Rogue’s new uniform has a “low-field force field” that enables her to almost touch someone. Marvel tried to make this Rogue’s new costume after the storyline was over (while ignoring the force field bit), but it didn’t catch on.

“Huh?” Moments: Three pages after a computer scan shows “0.00” bodies alive inside the space station, Bishop finds Deathbird. I guess you could argue that the scan missed her because she was clinging to life, but this always bothered me for obvious reasons.

A brief scene has Storm, Cyclops, Phoenix, and Wolverine returning home after their adventure in X-Men #60 and #61. Those were the issues that took place on the day Graydon Creed was killed (or at least on the day of his funeral, depending on which scene you believe), which was Election Day in November. This story explicitly takes place on Christmas day. So, apparently, it took over six weeks for these X-Men to get from Manhattan to Westchester.

Gimmicks: For some reason, this issue has an alternate Rogue cover.

Commercial Break: There are four pages in this issue dedicated to selling the final issues of Ghost Rider; the ones that gave him a bright outfit that made him look like a clown. These are the “extra pages” Marvel used to justify the higher price after dropping the nicer paper stock.

Review: I guess this was Lobdell’s attempt at doing one of the “X-Men in Space” stories that occasionally showed up in the Claremont run. My memory is that this storyline went on forever. In fact, I’m pretty sure that this title was unable to participate in the “Operation: Zero Tolerance” crossover because the space storyline went on longer than expected (I know a separate story involving Marrow had to be presented for one issue in order to justify at least one tie-in). Judged on its own merits, this issue isn’t so bad. The opening sequence with the out of control spaceship doesn’t really work, since it has no plot significance and comes across as Lobdell trying too hard for an “action” opening (what exactly is wrong with the spaceship is never even made clear). The issue improves as it moves along, though, providing some decent character moments amongst the cast.

Lobdell offers some variation on the “innocent civilian unfairly dragged into the hero’s adventure” cliché, as Trish Tilby acts thrilled to be in on the action, while also keeping her fears to herself, which at least makes her characterization more believable. Bishop has an inner monologue that finally gives his take on the resolution of the “X-traitor” storyline. He not only wonders what his role in this time is, but questions if he has any friends on the team. This could be another meta-commentary on the lack of connection between the cast by this point. There have been plenty of scenes with the romantic couples on the team in recent years, but little effort on showing Bishop forming relationships of any kind with the rest of the cast. Bishop was written out of the book after this storyline was over, so maybe this was intended as foreshadowing. I wonder how much of an interest was left in the early ‘90s characters within Marvel at this point. Bishop did get his own series a few years after this, but Marvel was giving everyone in the X-universe their own series by 1999. Reading this scene, it almost seems to be an acknowledgment on Lobdell’s part that Bishop just hasn’t worked out as an X-Man.

Outside of the character moments, you’re mostly left with a setup issue. In that regard, the characters move to where they need to be quickly enough, and the behind-the-scenes threat hovering over the team seems appropriately ominous. I’m sure this would be a lot duller with a different artist, which is how I often feel about the Lobdell/Madureira issues, but it mostly works as the opening chapter of a new storyline.

X-FACTOR #131 – February 1997

Brotherhood
Credits: Howard Mackie (writer), Jeff Matsuda (penciler), Art Thibert (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Glynis Oliver & GCW (colors)

Summary: Inside the remains of the Morlock Tunnels, Havok makes plans to form his own Brotherhood. Elsewhere, the Dark Beast is assaulted by two of the guards looking over him in custody. A female guard named Barnes orders them to back off, even after the Dark Beast severs one of their thumbs. Soon, Havok breaks into the facility, searching for the Dark Beast. Barnes takes him away in an escape pod, which Havok blasts to the ground. He recruits Fatale, who is also in custody, to teleport him to the craft’s location. Havok frees Dark Beast from his restraints, and offers him a role in the new Brotherhood. Dark Beast shows his gratitude by attempting to kill Barnes, but Havok stops him. He claims that the new Brotherhood won’t kill humans, but will take the initiative to help mutants.

Review: We’ve now arrived at my final issue of X-Factor, ending a complete run of over sixty issues. Like most issues of this era, this one is a poorly written mess that can’t hold up to any real scrutiny. After a dream sequence, Havok decides that he’s lived as the pawn of other people for too long, and is going off in his own direction. It’s an odd characterization shift that never worked for me, and it’s an extremely weak rationalization for making him a villain. Havok’s insecurities about living up to his brother’s reputation, and his past experiences with mind control, are used to justify the new characterization. The mind control angle seems silly to me, as comic book heroes are often mind-controlled, and Havok was never been under someone else’s influence for more than a few issues, so it’s never defined him in the past. His insecurities involving his brother are just normal human emotions that were supposed to make the character seem more real, not drive him towards villainy. It’s extremely forced, and even though last issue’s letter column promised that this story would explain Havok’s new motivation, it’s just as unconvincing as the previous chapters of this storyline.

It seems as if Marvel’s already responding to negative fan reaction to Havok going bad, as he backs off of the maliciousness he’s exhibited in the more recent stories. According to one of the extensive narrative captions, Havok was still under Dark Beast’s influence when he tried to crash a commercial airplane a few weeks earlier in Uncanny, which is obviously a quickie way to dismiss that story (even though that issue went out of its way to sell the idea that this was the “real” Havok). Now we’re really really seeing the real Havok, and Marvel means it this time. Even if he’s not an outright villain now, it’s obvious they’re serious about making him an ongoing antagonist, so his actions end up making even less sense than usual. Havok now claims that he doesn’t want any humans to die, and prevents Dark Beast from killing his guard. Even if you buy the retconned explanation for his behavior in Uncanny, it’s hard to justify why he would recruit the bloodthirsty Dark Beast as a teammate. What does he think is going to happen? And if he’s so angry about being manipulated so many times, why is he recruiting the man who brainwashed him just a few issues ago?

Even if you have a lax attitude towards continuity and characterization, I don’t see how this issue can work. The scripting is often bland and clunky (Havok apparently can’t use contractions, giving us lines like this: “Everything that has happened in the past month is going to give the world even more reason to lash out at mutants all over again!”), many of the pages are bogged down with too many captions, and most of the characters are devoid of anything resembling a personality. Matsuda’s artwork works in a few places, especially in the opening dream sequence, but the storytelling and anatomy seem to deteriorate as the issue goes on. His manga-influenced designs also go too far when he gives Barnes, the morally superior guard who risks her life to protect Dark Beast, a bizarre hairstyle that resembles Bugs Bunny’s ears. I can’t imagine why Marvel thought this art style was appropriate for the darker, grittier tone they wanted for the series. Of course, it’s hard to justify anything Marvel did to the title by this point.

UNCANNY X-MEN #341 – February 1997

When Strikes A Gladiator!
Credits: Scott Lobdell (writer), Joe Madureira (penciler), Tim Townsend (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Steve Buccellato & Team Bucce! (colors)

Summary: Cannonball, Gambit, Bishop, Joseph, Rogue, Beast, and Trish Tilby gather in New York on Christmas Eve. Joseph leaves with Rogue and shows her a device he’s constructed from Xavier’s “Z’noxx (sic) Chamber”. The large construct protects him from Rogue’s powers, enabling him to kiss her on the forehead. Meanwhile, Cannonball is suddenly attacked by Gladiator while Christmas shopping. The other X-Men in the city notice the spectacle and arrive, just as Cannonball fights him to a standstill. Gladiator admits that he staged the fight in order to gain the X-Men’s attention. He reveals that the Shi’ar Empire needs help, and he’s been ordered not to interfere. He sends transit spheres to teleport the group away.

Continuity Notes: Cannonball manages to channel the kinetic energy from Gladiator’s punch and direct it towards his forcefield, which is the first time he’s had that level of power. A footnote says that the Imperial Guard miniseries explains why Gladiator isn’t able to help the Shi’ar.

The “Z’nox Chamber” is the psi-shielded chamber Xavier used to prepare for the arrival of the alien Z’nox way back in UXM #65. It also showed up during the buildup to the Onslaught crossover. It’s odd that a long-forgotten area of continuity would show up twice in six months after being forgotten for almost thirty years. The explanation for how it blocks Rogue’s powers is that it can filter powers in either direction (Joseph claims it “clothes” the mind she touches, which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me).

I Love the ‘90s: Marvel debuts its second official website, Marvelonline.com (it redirects to Marvel.com today). Also, Joseph and Rogue’s kiss takes place on top of the World Trade Center.

“Huh?” Moment: Gladiator refuses to send Cannonball with the rest of the team, because it would be dishonorable to send a young person “into such danger”. Aside from the fact that Gladiator just spent ten pages fighting him, he also sent non-powered civilian Trish Tilby into the alleged danger.

We Get Letters: A letter writer correctly points out that Colossus and Gambit have never had a scene together, and the editor’s response just acknowledges that it’s true without offering much of a defense. Come to think of it, I can’t even remember a dialogue exchange between the characters at this point.

Review: This is another issue that’s light on plot, but is saved by Madureira’s energetic artwork. The majority of the issue is dedicated to a gratuitous Cannonball/Gladiator fight that ends up having no story significance at all. I guess having Cannonball defeat a Superman analogue was supposed to finish the long-running “Cannonball feels insecure about being an X-Men” subplot, but the idea’s not really emphasized in this issue, and it seems like it had already been dropped by this point anyway. The small character moments, such as Cannonball trying to shop on Christmas Eve, and Joseph and Rogue floating over the city in a horse-drawn carriage, are nice enough, but don’t have a lot of depth. It’s still enjoyable in an almost mindless way, but most of the issue would’ve been pretty dull with another artist.

X-MEN #61 – February 1997

Bolt
Credits: Scott Lobdell (writer), Cedric Nocon (penciler), Hunt & Miller (inkers), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Joe Rosas & GCW (colorist)

Summary: Undercloaks from the Crimson Dawn dimension attack Psylocke in the apartment she shares with Archangel. When he arrives to help, the apartment is empty and Psylocke is meditating. Gomurr appears, telling them that a price must be paid for the Crimson Dawn. Meanwhile, Storm faces Jamil, who is apparently possessed by the Shadow King. After she freezes him in a blizzard, the Juggernaut appears. Storm deduces that this is Jamil changing forms. Soon, Jamil impersonates Cable and blasts Candra with the red gem. Storm decides that Jamil’s forms aren’t coming from her mind or Candra’s. When Candra recovers, Storm reveals that Jamil never existed, and was always a creation of Karima’s mutant power. Storm tosses the ruby gem in the air, as Cyclops arrives to blast it. Candra disappears, and Storm leaves with Karima. Meanwhile, Sebastian Shaw schemes in Hong Kong.

Continuity Notes: The Archangel/Psylocke scene is a tease for their upcoming miniseries, which or may or not make as much sense as what we see here (I only read the first issue).

Storm reveals that Achmed knew that Candra was after his mutant pupil, so he ordered Karima to use her power to give “form and function to desires pulled from the minds of others” to create Jamil. Jamil was created by projecting Candra’s desire to find the gem and Karima’s own desire for companionship.

The opening narration claims that this story takes place on the night Graydon Creed died, even though last issue had a brief scene with Cannonball on the day of his funeral. I guess you could say that only the Archangel/Psylocke scene took place on that night, and the rest of the story happened a few days later.

As Cyclops, Wolverine, and Phoenix arrive to help Storm, Phoenix turns the corner and is suddenly alone. She wonders why Manhattan is abandoned for a few panels, and then everything is back to normal. This is obviously some type of foreshadowing, but it's never resolved.

“Huh?” Moment: Storm decides that Jamil isn’t pulling memories from her mind because “his creations would have been more focused on their goal of destroying me”. I have no idea what this means. If she’s saying that Jamil isn’t trying hard enough to kill her, I’ll give her that much, but that still doesn’t eliminate the possibility that he’s pulling images from her mind. Storm’s odd deduction directly leads her to the revelation that Jamil is actually a creation of Karima. Huh? How does Karima know about the Shadow King, Juggernaut, or Cable?

Creative Differences: Some awkward re-lettering shows up sporadically throughout the issue. It mostly interrupts exposition, such as the explanations that Psylocke is a ninja, Candra is an External, and Sebastian Shaw is a mutant.

Review: What is this? Last issue was a bland story about Storm and Candra fighting over a plot device. Now, the story veers off in an utterly nonsensical direction, revealing that two minor characters from a 1994 X-Men Unlimited issue weren’t who we thought they were. Well, that’s a load off my mind. I’m so glad an entire issue of this series was dedicated to resolving something that no one found confusing in the first place. The revelation that Jamil was always Karima’s projection almost makes sense, but the thought process that Storm goes through to reach this conclusion certainly doesn’t. I’ll give Scott Lobdell the benefit of the doubt and assume that someone somewhere had some last minute rethinking and the final result isn’t the story he set out to tell. Lobdell can be an inconsistent writer, but I don’t think he intentionally set out to produce something this disjointed. The alternating subplots are also frustratingly vague, making this issue an even larger mess.

X-FORCE #62 – January 1997

Human Nature
Credits: John Dokes (writer), Kevin Lau w/Adam Pollina (pencilers), Andrew Pepoy w/Norman Lee (inkers), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Leeann Clark (colorist)

Summary: Shinobi Shaw has kidnapped Nga Coy Manh and Leon Coy Manh, the siblings of former New Mutants member Karma. Shaw’s scientists are experimenting on them, hoping to find a way to neutralize the mutant x-gene (which will give Shaw power over other mutants, including his father). X-Force infiltrate Shaw’s base and are confronted by his henchmen, Clear-Cut and Mindmeld. While Clear-Cut duels with Shatterstar, Mindmeld forces Domino into Caliban’s mind and Meltdown into Sunspot’s mind. The team is taken into custody, as Domino and Meltdown’s unconscious bodies are taken away for experimentation. After Spiral takes Nga and Leon away, Shaw reveals that he knows Clear-Cut is a double agent. Mindmeld possesses him, which inadvertently returns Domino and Meltdown back to their own bodies. Domino uses the key Clear-Cut slipped her to free the others, and the team soon destroys Shaw’s headquarters and frees Clear-Cut. After escaping, Clear-Cut tells the team that his debt to Cable is paid.

Continuity Notes: Final Fantasy rejects Clear-Cut and Mindmeld appear for the first time. Clear-Cut claims that Shaw didn’t detect the mutant gene in his body because not everyone with special powers is a mutant (he has a magic sword that spontaneously appears, which is apparently his power). I’m assuming that his past with Cable has never been revealed. Mindmeld, who is outright androgynous, can possesses minds and transfer them to other bodies. Domino refers to Mindmeld as a she, but Meltdown refers to her as “Mr. or Mrs.”.

Spiral shows up for literally one panel to take the Coy Manh kids away, which is presumably a setup for the Beast miniseries that’s mentioned on the last page.

Review: Did you want more filler? I know I did. There are a few decent ideas here, but the story’s cluttered with too much nonsense and bad artwork. Kevin Lau returns with more of that generic manga look that gives virtually every character the same face and body type. I have no idea if Mindmeld is supposed to be androgynous, or if Lau just draw an extremely effeminate man and the writer decided to have fun with it. Adam Pollina is credited as co-artist, but none of the actual drawings look like his work. Some of the page layouts and poses on the final pages are definitely his, so I’m assuming he provided some last minute layouts, or very rough breakdowns.

The basic idea of the story has potential; a one issue story that has the cast trapped in one another’s bodies while an inside agent tries to stop Shinobi Shaw is fine. However, there are too many characters in the story, and no one is properly introduced. The mutants Shaw is experimenting on didn’t have to be Karma’s siblings (who were long forgotten at this point, although the story acts as if they’re recurring supporting cast members), unless this story only existed to setup the Beast mini in the first place. Clear-Cut and Mindmeld are treated as if they’re established characters that we’re already familiar with, and Spiral shows up with no explanation of who she is or what her connection to Shaw is supposed to be. Even if you’re already familiar with all of the continuity elements, the story still comes across as needlessly convoluted. This is the stereotypical “too complicated” X-story, the type that critics used for years to condemn the entire line.

X-MEN #60 – January 1997

Night
Credits: Scott Lobdell (plot), Ralph Macchio (script), Cedric Nocon (penciler), Chad Hunt (inker), Comicraft (lettering), Joe Rosas & GCW (colors)

Summary: In her greenhouse, Storm is attacked by Cyclops. Candra reveals that she is possessing him, and gives Storm a message. Storm pulls a red gem out of storage and leaves before Cyclops can inform the others. Storm flashes back to the day she stole the gem from a mansion near Cairo as a child. Her mentor, Achmed, held it for years and returned it to Storm when she left Egypt. At a museum in New York, Storm meets Candra. Candra demands that Storm return the gem to her, or else her hostage Karima will die. Jamil, Candra’s young follower, appears and uses his psychic powers against Storm. When she fights back, Jamil tricks both Storm and Candra and steals the gem. The Shadow King shows himself, revealing that he’s possessed Jamil.

Continuity Notes: Jamil and Karima first appeared in X-Men Unlimited #7 as two street kids under the care of Storm’s former mentor. Candra says that she’s only recently learned that Storm stole her gem (which she refers to as her “heart”) through Jamil’s telepathic powers.

The story implies that the red gem is the same one Storm wore on her original costume. Chris Claremont also had Storm receive a red gem (called the "cameo crystal") from M'Rin in the backup story in Classic X-Men #22. This could still work in continuity if you figure that the initial gem Storm wore was Candra’s, and she later swapped it with M'Rin’s (assuming you believe that Storm ever wore M'Rin's gem in the first place).

Candra claims that an External can be killed by “running a blade through the heart in order to absorb the arcane energy within”. That’s not how Selene was killing Externals just a few months earlier in X-Force, and I seem to recall early issues of that series implying that Externals could only be killed through decapitation.

Miscellaneous Note: The Statement of Ownership lists average sales for the year at 432,119 copies with the most recent issue selling 389,626.

Review: This is more filler, and it’s pretty lame. It’s not as offensively bad as Graydon Creed’s assassination, or the payoff of the Onslaught mystery, or Havok’s turn as a villain, but it’s still a chore to read. The art looks like early Image work, with thousands of ugly lines everywhere, weird faces, and awkward poses. I remember hating the artwork in this issue when I first read it, which probably means that the early ‘90s style was really, really dead by this point. The story involves the increasingly dull Candra fighting Storm over an inane plot device until another villain decides to show up. It reminds me of the filler that used to run in Marvel Comics Presents, only this kills twenty-two pages instead of eight. Ralph Macchio’s script doesn’t help things either, giving all of the characters very stiff (and boring) speech patterns. I had been able to tolerate filler storylines in the past, but I found this one particularly grating as a teenager.

X-MAN #20-#22 (October 1996 – December 1996)

#20 (Kavanagh/Skroce/LaRosa/Comicraft/Morsehead/Malibu) – X-Man’s new logo debuts with this issue, and if I were cynical, I’d say it’s been redesigned to trick readers with poor eyesight into thinking it’s a more popular title. This issue reveals that the shadowy figure Threnody ran into in the last issue is the Abomination. Conveniently enough, Threnody actually has a past with him. When she was younger, the group of outsiders that Abomination leads took her in. Her powers went out of control, accidentally killing two of his people, forcing Abomination to kick her out of their home. I’m not quite sure where the idea that Abomination leads a group of outcasts comes from (is this what Peter David decided to do with him after the “Hulk Smash” era ended?), but this issue certainly runs with it. When the group learns that Threnody has taken a leather jacket that belonged to a deceased member, she’s attacked. X-Man finds her and saves her, and then spends the rest of the issue fighting the Abomination. X-Man learns about Threnody’s past from Abomination’s memories, but decides to trust her because she doesn’t deny what happened. There’s a slight variation on X-Man’s powers, as he mentally tricks Abomination into thinking that he won a physical fight him, allowing him to escape with Threnody. This is at least preferable to seeing his powers explode for the five hundredth time. This is a mediocre issue, but X-Man doesn’t behave like a total idiot in it, and the art has its moments, so it’s above par by X-Man standards.

#21 (Kavanagh/Cruz/LaRosa/Comicraft/Thomas/GCW) – This begins a new direction for the title, as X-Man and Threnody move to New York and Roger Cruz debuts as artist. Cruz’s art is extremely inconsistent, but you can see some promise on a few pages. Moving X-Man to New York seems like a waste, since the character could live anywhere and NYC is already overpopulated with Marvel heroes. However, Kavanagh manages to use the city well in this issue. X-Man actually uses his powers creatively, by conning the con artists in Central Park, and connecting to the normal people around him in a human way. He spends a nice day with Threnody until he accidentally uses his telekinetic powers in public, which of course causes a riot. X-Man surprisingly doesn’t behave childishly, declaring instead that he’s actually going to grow closer to humanity. This seems like a deliberate attempt to address some of the more egregious problems with this series, and it’s a stronger story than I would expect from Kavanagh at this point.

The Selene subplot continues, as she proposes reuniting the Hellfire Club with Sebastian Shaw. Trevor Fitzroy, who is now serving Selene, makes the argument that the time is right for mutants to unite because of the threat of Operation: Zero Tolerance. It’s implied that Fitzroy knows Bastion’s plans because he’s from the future, which isn’t a bad way to use the character. Forcing disparate mutants to unite in the face of OZT has a lot of potential, and it’s too bad the actual crossover did little with this. For the record, the Statement of Ownership in this issue lists average sales for the year at 227,315 copies, with the most recent issue selling 243,916.

#22 (Kavanagh/Cruz/Clark/LaRosa/Geiger/Comicraft/Thomas/GCW) – Not an awful lot going on in this issue. X-Man kills a few pages stopping an arsonist, and then travels to Central Park, where he’s developed a following. He charges for his services and uses his telepathic powers in positive ways, such as helping the mother of a kid fighting cancer find her inner courage. I like this direction, as it gives the character some type of purpose and answers the basic question of “how does he afford food and shelter?”. There’s an inordinate amount of time spent on X-Man and Threnody shopping for clothes and looking for an apartment, which unfortunately drags the issue down towards the end. The alternating scenes have Selene introducing Madelyne Pryor to Sebastian Shaw, teasing the idea that Madelyne will help them defeat the X-Men. It seems like every issue has Selene/Madelyne subplot pages, and they never go anywhere. Last issue’s scenes had promise, but now it looks like the characters are just being gathered to fight the X-Men (who, you know, aren’t the stars of this book). There's also a one-page scene that teases a Bastion appearance in Silver Surfer of all places. Overall, this isn’t too impressive, but the new direction has promise.

WOLVERINE #111 – March 1997

Restoration
Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Anthony Winn (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Dana Moreshead & Graphic Color Works (colors)

Summary: Wolverine returns to the mansion, as Iceman prepares to leave the X-Men. The team throws Iceman a party, but Wolverine feels uncomfortable. A package from Zoe Culloden arrives for Wolverine. A holographic display of Zoe tells him to take care of the artifact she’s sending him, and that dark times are coming. The next day, Wolverine trains in the Danger Room. A mystical entity appears, overriding the computer program. He tells Wolverine that he can resurrect his deceased fiancée Mariko, but he has to do a favor for him. Mariko’s corpse suddenly materializes, dragging Wolverine into the ground. Wolverine stabs the mystery man with his own sword, forcing him to retreat. Stick suddenly appears, and forces Mariko back into the ground. Stick tells Wolverine that it’s time for him to move away from the places that protect him and the people he loves. The next day, Wolverine leaves his new motorcycle with Cannonball for safekeeping. He tells him that he’ll be away from the mansion for a while.

Continuity Notes: The artifact Zoe gives Wolverine is a tiny box with Xs written on the sides. I’m pretty sure it appears again, but I don’t recall a payoff for all of her cryptic comments. I assume the mystery figure that approaches Wolverine in this issue (the character on the cover who is never named) ties in with the artifact in some way. I don’t recall his cryptic comments being resolved, either. Stick claims that he sent Elektra to help Wolverine stay on “the path” because of this mysterious entity.

Anthony Winn is still drawing Wolverine normally, even though last issue’s fill-in artist went back to the more feral design. The image inducer explanation doesn’t work here, as Wolverine has no motive to disguise his appearance when he’s with his friends, or alone in the mansion.

Review: This is intended to set up a new status quo that doesn’t last for long -- Wolverine living outside of the mansion and making new friends in New York City. It’s similar to the early issues, which had Wolverine spending time away from the X-Men in Madripoor, and it’s a reasonable direction to take the series. However, Hama only had a few issues left as writer, and the subsequent writers quickly abandoned the idea. All of the mysterious comments feel annoying, simply because the X-office’s reputation for paying anything off is shot by this point, but it does work as a nice character piece.

The entire issue is Wolverine narrating his feelings about the X-Men, which is something you rarely see in his solo series. The repeated theme in this issue is that Wolverine is still a loner by nature, and isn’t bound to Xavier’s school the same way most of the X-Men are (he even disses Harry’s Hideaway, the X-Men’s classic hangout). Hama has Wolverine acknowledge that he isn’t close with most of the current X-Men, which almost comes across as a meta-commentary on the post-Claremont era’s inability to recreate the “family” feeling amongst the team. When Wolverine tries to console Iceman about his father, Iceman’s response is that he barely knows him and it’s too late to start being pals. It’s rough, but it’s true. Wolverine and Iceman have barely had anything to do with one another, even though they’ve been teammates since 1991. It reminds me of the Archangel/Jubilee exchange in UXM #319, although in that scene, Lobdell seemed to be drawing attention to the problem and not doing much else with it. Hama at least uses it to make a statement about Wolverine as a character. It’s too bad the ideas established here never go anywhere, since the new direction Hama’s going in seems to have promise.

EXCALIBUR #105 – January 1997

Hard Truths
Credits: Keith Giffen (writer), Bryan Hitch (penciler), Paul Neary w/Bryan Hitch & Robin Riggs (inkers), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Ariane Lenshoek & Malibu (colors), based on a story by John Acrudi

Summary: Even after viewing Doug Ramsey’s corpse, Kitty Pryde remains convinced that Douglock is Doug. They travel to a pizzeria the New Mutants used to frequent, where Kitty is stunned to learn that Douglock doesn’t like Doug’s favorite pizza. Meanwhile, the Mutant Liberation Front continues their assault on Muir Island. Moira and Nightcrawler try to close the vault doors that guard the Xavier Protocols, but are unsuccessful. When Nightcrawler teleports away to fight the MLF, Moira shuts down the forcefield that’s keeping the villains outside. Nightcrawler is forced to abandon the fight when the MLF use Meggan and Captain Britain as hostages. As the MLF approach the Xavier Protocols unit, the lack of security makes them suspicious. They throw the unconscious bodies of Meggan and Captain Britain in front of the unit as test subjects. Moira reactivates the forcefield, now that the entire team is inside its range. Moonstar, looking for a way to botch the MLF’s mission, declares that Excalibur now has the advantage and orders the team to teleport away. Elsewhere, Kitty visits Doug Ramsey’s home. When she sees that Doug’s parents have turned his bedroom into a den, she realizes that he really is gone. She returns to Doug’s grave to say goodbye, finally accepting the truth.

Continuity Notes: This issue raises the question of why Douglock takes Doug Ramsey’s form, but doesn’t give an answer. I don’t recall the initial Phalanx storyline explicitly spelling this out, but I’m fairly certain it ties into the early appearances of the Phalanx, which had them mimicking the forms of deceased associates of the X-Men (like Archangel’s dead girlfriend, Candy Southern). Douglock was their version of Doug Ramsey, yet he managed to break free of his programming in his earliest appearances in this title.

I Love the ‘90s: The letters page in this issue solicits responses in the form of email, which is the first time I’ve seen that happen in an issue I’ve reviewed. They don’t actually give an email address, though, they ask people to submit letters through the “Marvel: Online” site (without telling anyone how to actually access the site).

Review: The filler issues continue, as Keith Giffen is brought in to finish last issue’s story. It is an improvement over last issue’s script, as Giffen manages to give the characters personalities and write a few sharp lines. It’s a little too jokey in a few places, but it’s definitely preferable to the generic, dull script of the previous issue. I’m not aware of the behind-the-scenes circumstances that lead to Giffen finishing off another writer’s story, but he actually seems to be enjoying himself. When an emotional Kitty accuses Douglock of planting the body in Doug’s grave, Giffen has Douglock check off all of the reasons why her allegation is ridiculous. Rather than dwelling on it, Kitty acknowledges that she acted like a jerk and the characters move on. Kitty’s portrayal in this story is a tricky thing to pull off, since discovering Doug’s body is the most definitive confirmation of his death you’re likely to find, yet she still has to stay in denial until the end of the issue. Giffen manages to make Kitty appear more desperate than truly delusional, and uses the story to make the broader point that Kitty has a hard time letting go of the past (she’s shocked to learn that an employee at the pizzeria is gone, even though she hasn’t visited in over a year).

There are some plot points that bother me, such as the two most powerful members of the team getting easily knocked unconscious by the MLF, the MLF totally forgetting about last issue’s plans to steal Moira’s Legacy Virus research, and the nonsensical scene that has Moira dramatically ripping out the forcefield’s wiring, yet being able to just turn it back on a few pages later. The issue has its flaws, but it’s an enjoyable read, and it’s much better than I remembered it being. This turned out to be my final issue of Excalibur, as my local newsstand vendors dramatically reduced the number of comics they ordered. I visited the comic shop in a nearby town every month or so, but was so disenfranchised with the direction of most of the X-books, I made no effort to search the back issue bins for any of the titles I had been regularly buying.