UNCANNY X-MEN #290 – July 1992

Frayed

Credits: Scott Lobdell (writer), Whilce Portacio (pencils), Scott Williams (inks), L. Lois Buhalis (letters), Kevin Tinsley (colors)

Summary

Iceman and Hiro fight the Cyburai while his parents escape. When Iceman leaves to get Opal to safety, Hiro activates the self-destruct sequence in his armor and apparently kills himself and the Cyburai. Meanwhile, Mikhail Rasputin, now suffering from intense headaches, uses his powers to transform a clumsy pizza boy into a tree. Forge interrupts a confrontation between Mystique and Bishop and realizes that Mystique is growing insane. He retracts his proposal to Storm and leaves with Mystique. As he leaves, Storm says that she was going to accept his proposal.

Review

Another messy issue. I don’t even know where to start. The Iceman plot is sequel to an X-Factor storyline I’ve never read. There’s no effort to clearly introduce the Cyburai at all, or explain their connection to Opal. From what I can pick up, they’re related to Opal, they blame Iceman for breaking up their family for some reason, and they want to kill his parents as retaliation (I should point out that Iceman’s parents leave on the very first page and these guys don’t seem to notice). This Hiro character is also a member, I think, but he’s protecting Iceman’s family from them. Opal is also his cousin and he’s apparently in love with her. Hiro then blows himself up, because of “honor”. How much of this makes any sense? And who on Earth thought it was a good idea to attach all of this cybernetic ninja crap to Opal, who was introduced as an average, frumpy girl who fell for a superhero?

Mikhail Rasputin returns this issue, and now he’s insane. I don’t really know where this characterization is coming from. In his initial appearances, he was a hermit who isolated himself because of his guilt over accidentally killing his friends. I didn’t pick up on him being insane in those issues; he was certainly melodramatic, but that doesn’t equal crazy (especially in X-Men comics). Now, his grief has apparently driven him insane, his insanity being expressed by doing something horrible to a teenager who bumps into him. If Lobdell didn’t have any good ideas for this character, he could’ve just ignored him. Re-introducing him just to have him suddenly turn crazy doesn’t make sense. Showing that he’s still haunted by accidentally killing his friends also undermines his character arc from his initial appearances. This is a really bad idea that won’t play out well.

The soap opera between Forge and Storm continues, not making any sense either. Forge is upset that Storm wanted time to think about his proposal, even though he told her in the last issue that he didn’t expect an answer immediately. Forge acts like such an idiot in this arc that you can’t relate to anything that he’s going through. Storm doesn’t receive a lot of characterization, there’s actually only one page devoted to her considering Forge’s proposal. When Forge tells her that she’ll never have a life outside of the X-Men, she just cries and mumbles as he walks away. This isn’t exactly compelling drama.

Continuing this issue’s theme of nonsense and insanity, Mystique is suddenly crazy, too. Why exactly? She’s grieving for Destiny, a character that had been killed off almost four years earlier and hardly referenced since. She goes from taunting Bishop about his dead friend to speaking in baby talk to Forge over the course of two pages. It’s really one of the most bizarre and abrupt characterization shifts I’ve ever seen. How exactly did this nonsense come about? “So, what do we do with Mystique?” “Uh…let’s make her crazy!” “You mean develop a storyline that chronicles her slow descent into madness, using her shapeshifting powers to parallel her identity issues?” “No! I mean, let’s make her crazy! Right now, with this issue!”

X-FORCE #14 – September 1992

Payback!

Credits: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Terry Shoemaker (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Chris Eliopoulos (letters), Kevin Tinsley (colors)

Summary

Cable and Vanessa are separated from X-Force after the destruction of their headquarters. SHIELD arrives as back-up and attempts to arrest X-Force. Rictor switches sides and helps X-Force defeat the SHIELD soldiers and hijack their ship. After making plans to hide out at Warpath’s reservation, Crule bursts into the ship and grabs Cannonball. Meanwhile, Cable forces Vanessa to take him to Tolliver’s hideout. They are both shocked to discover the real Domino in chains. Deadpool suddenly appears and stabs Vanessa in the back.

I Love The ‘90s

Boom Boom tells Rictor that he has a Skid Row haircut. This issue was released during the summer of 1992, at which point Nirvana and Pearl Jam were the hottest acts in music, and hair metal was on its last leg. The last page of one of Pacella’s issues was a splash page of every X-Force member reflected on Cable’s metal face. The amount of detail he put into drawing every character’s giant, perfectly styled hair is astounding. It always seems like comics are at least a year behind pop culture, and the hair metal stylings of X-Force are proof.

Continuity Note

Cannonball is able to extend his blast field so that it protects everyone from last issue’s explosion. That’s a use of his power that certainly isn’t brought up very often.

Cable teleports to place called Graymalkin, which is also the name of the street address of the X-Men's mansion. This was another clue that Cable might be Cyclops' son.

Miscellaneous Notes

On the Entertainment This Month page, there are ads for eight separate Image titles, three of which are advertised as being from Rob Liefeld. Some of the letters comment on Liefeld leaving (one even saying that it’s a mistake on his part), but the editor’s responses don’t mention Liefeld at all. All of these letters name Mark Pacella as a great replacement.

Review

After stalling for several issues, the plot finally begins to move again. X-Force spends most of this issue fighting generic SHIELD agents, but it’s actually more entertaining than last issue's poorly choreographed fight with Weapon Prime. A lot of this probably has to do with Terry Shoemaker, the first competent artist to draw a full issue of this series (Mignola only drew sixteen pages). I didn’t care for Shoemaker’s art at all as a kid, but I look at it now and see that his compositions are strong and the storytelling is clear. He lacks a lot of that early ‘90s style, which is probably why it originally didn’t stand out for me. Nicieza is still trying to tie up all of the loose ends left by Liefeld, by touching on Weapon Prime, SHIELD, the Externals, Sunspot, Domino, Tolliver, and Vanessa. Rather than feeling disjointed, there’s actually a sense that the various plots are going somewhere. The pacing of X-Force has always been odd, with Liefeld throwing out three or four ideas, and then suddenly abandoning them for fight scenes that drag on for three issues. Nicieza is starting to make it seem as if there was a plan for this stuff all along,

UNCANNY X-MEN #289 – June 1992

Knots

Credits: Scott Lobdell (writer), Whilce Portacio (pencils), Scott Williams (inks), Tom Orzechowski (letters), Joe Rosas (colors)

Summary

Storm continues to tutor Bishop, making Forge jealous. Mystique, staying as a guest at the mansion, antagonizes Archangel and upsets Bishop and Storm. Forge defends Mystique and is confronted by Storm. They discuss their relationship and Forge proposes to her. Meanwhile, Iceman introduces his girlfriend Opal to his parents and is interrupted by Hiro. Another group of strange men appear, declaring that Iceman’s parents must die.

Continuity Note

The characterization of Iceman’s father as a bigot begins here. This apparently contradicts his previous appearances, which bothers some fans to this day.

Review

This is the debut of Scott Lobdell as plotter, after only scripting the previous issues. Whilce Portacio is still around as artist, but isn’t given any plot credit. I don’t know if he was removed from plotting based on his previous performance, or if Lobdell took over to give him more time to draw. There are a lot of missing backgrounds in this issue, and several pages where the characters just seem to be floating on white space. I don’t know if Portacio was going for that look, or if it was the result of tight deadlines. At any rate, this reads like a very different comic than the previous issues, with no action scenes at all and a heavy focus on characterization. Lobdell seems to realize where this title has gone wrong, and even has characters acknowledge that haven’t even spoken to one another for months. This seems to be a strange meta-commentary, and it’s not really necessary. Since the Portacio issues took place right after one another, it really hasn’t been “several months” since the characters interacted, it’s just been several months since the readers saw this in a comic. He could’ve just picked where the character arcs left off, but instead it’s now a plot point that no one’s addressed Archangel’s depression, or that Forge and Storm don’t speak. I can appreciate what he’s trying to do, but it actually makes the X-Men out to be heartless and a lot less likable.

An issue set aside to focus on character subplots is exactly what this title needs after so many months of non-stop (nonsensical) action, but it’s impossible to relate to the way anyone’s portrayed. Forge comes across like a moody teenager, and Storm acts almost like a robot, so it’s hard to really care about their relationship. Iceman’s father could potentially be interesting, but his portrayal goes so far it stretches any credibility. Why would he dress up and go out to dinner in a fancy restaurant just to insult his son’s Asian girlfriend? If he had such a problem with their relationship, why did he go agree to dinner in the first place? Wouldn’t he just stay at home (or is he going to dinner out of active maliciousness)? If he’s such a jerk that he would go out of his way to call interracial dating “vulgar”, why on Earth is Iceman introducing Opal to him in the first place? He’s only now finding out that his dad is racist? The soap opera elements seem to be as poorly thought-out as the action elements in the previous issues.

X-FACTOR ANNUAL #7 – 1992

The Historians of Tales to Come (Shattershot Part Three)

Credits: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Joe Quesada (pencils), Joe Rubinstein (inks), Richard Starkings (letters), Kevin Tinsley (colors)

Summary

Spiral is on a rampage, trying to find Arize. As a former member of Freedom Force, Val Cooper feels obligated to stop her former employee. X-Factor locates Spiral as she is about to kill Arize. After defeating her, X-Factor convinces Spiral to explain why she wants to kill him. She explains that she was once Longshot’s human ally, Ricochet Rita, and that Mojo will force Arize to transform her into Spiral in the future. Spiral and Arize decide to change the future together by stopping Mojo now and teleport to Mojoworld.

Continuity Note

There is a reference to Quicksilver’s power being used against him, which was a subplot that had already been resolved at this point. You could say that this story takes place before that was resolved in X-Factor #75, except that issue showed Moira McTaggert still living with the X-Men, which was months before Bishop joined the X-Men, and Bishop already was an X-Man in the previous chapter of this storyline. Isn’t continuity fun?

Review

An improvement over the previous chapter, but it’s still not very good. There’s an attempt to mimic the team’s humorous interactions from the monthly series, but it doesn’t really work. Having Val Cooper reference Spiral’s past with Freedom Force is a good justification for using this team, but this still doesn’t feel like an issue of X-Factor. In fact, this chapter doesn’t even seem to have a lot to do with the previous two chapters of this storyline. After two issues, all that’s been established is that Arize has escaped Mojoworld and is plotting to overthrow Mojo. Now, Spiral suddenly shows up, determined to stop her own creation and end Mojo’s reign. If she feels that way, why is she hunting Longshot for Mojo in X-Men, and why did she agree to teleport his men to Earth in the first part of this story? I vaguely recall that Spiral’s conflicting views on Mojo are an established aspect of her character, but that idea isn’t stated clearly here. Spiral also makes some comments about being created as Longshot’s savior, which doesn’t coincide with the backstory she gives a few pages later.

This is the first time Joe Quesada shows up as artist, several months before he takes over the monthly series. I’ve heard a few people say that Quesada’s early art was heavily Mignola-influenced, but to me it looks more like a combination of Michael Golden, Bart Sears, and Todd McFarlane. He’s able to pull off the early ‘90s “exaggerate everything” mentality without sacrificing storytelling or composition. Speaking of future superstar artists, Darick Robertson and Joe Madureira draw the two goofy back-up stories.

I should point out that I've never read X-Force Annual #1, the final part of this storyline. If what I've read is true, the story shifts a hundred years into the future and doesn't resolve anything from this story arc. Is this true? I can't say that it would surprise me, but I'd be curious to know if it's true.

UNCANNY X-MEN ANNUAL #16 – 1992

The Masters of Inevitability (Shattershot Part Two)

Credits: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Jae Lee (penciler), Jan Harps, Joe Rubinstein (inks), Tom Orzechowski, Lois Buhalis (letterers), Joe Rosas (colorist)

Summary

Apparently to embarrass Mojo, a rival network sends the Death Sponsors to Earth to retrieve Arize. The Death Sponsors track Arize to the X-Men’s mansion, where they battle the gold team. During the fight, one of the Death Sponsors revives Arize’s memory before they attempt to teleport away. Bishop shoots their teleporter, scrambling the Death Sponsors and leaving Arize behind. Arize decides to travel the Earth to learn more about it and how to improve his own world.

I Love the ‘90s

Bishop actually says “Hasta La Vista, Baby” when he blasts the villains at the end of the story.

“Huh?” Moments

Colossus asks if the X-Men were right to prevent the Death Sponsors from taking Arize back to Mojoworld. He really wants to know if they were wrong to stop a group that just tried to kill them, called the DEATH SPONSORS, from kidnapping someone against his will.

After Bishop shoots his gun, he’s asked how he could still use his mutant powers after the other team members had theirs blocked. Shooting a gun is a mutant power? If the idea is that Bishop somehow channels his powers through his gun, that hasn’t been established clearly.

Review

And now I remember why people hate this storyline. The first part works because it’s a basic story about the X-Men protecting someone from a group of villains with a clear motive for capturing him. Now, a separate group of X-Men is protecting the same character from different villains with an unclear reason for kidnapping him. It’s essentially the same story as the first chapter, only it makes less sense. Unlike the first part, the main story only now has one artist, Jae Lee. This was very early in his career (I believe he was only 19), and his work suffers from a lot of ugly faces and weird poses. It’s still better than a lot of early ‘90s stuff, but he would certainly improve in later years.

The TV references have already gotten old. The Death Sponsors consist of Sweepzweak, Deadair, Lead-In, Cancellator, and Timeslot. Most of them look like the monsters from that Fred Savage and Howie Mandel movie from the '80s. The original Mojoworld villains were pretty odd inventions of Ann Nocenti and Art Adams, but they did look cool and have distinctive personalities. These guys just have annoying speech patterns and really ugly costumes.

Bishop also receives some odd characterization in this issue. In his first appearance, he was almost insane (explained away by saying that time travel is “disorienting”). Then, he was in great awe of the legendary X-Men and eager to impress them. Now, he acts like a jerk towards them. Nicieza seems to be under the impression that Bishop would be the same headstrong, arrogant outsider that Cable is during this time, but that’s not consistent with his depiction in the main titles.

X-MEN ANNUAL #1 - 1992

The Slaves of Destiny (Shattershot Part One)

Credits: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Jim Lee (layouts), Russell/Stelfreeze/Hughes/Immonen/Panosian/Capullo/Texiera (pencils), Russell/Stelfreeze/Rubinstein/Candelario/Panosian/Texiera (inks), Orzechowski/Buhalis (letters), Joe Rosas (colors)

Summary

On Mojoworld, Mojo’s troops attempt to capture the “toy maker” Arize, the creator of Mojo’s humanoid slaves. They do capture Quark, a rebellion leader who was protecting him, but Arize is able to teleport to Earth. The X-Men are alerted by Cerebro to a mutant “non-humanoid” that has suddenly appeared in Afghanistan. The X-Men discover that this is Arize, who is now comatose after teleporting to Earth. Mojo has Spiral teleport a group of his soldiers, including a brainwashed Quark, to Afghanistan to capture Arize. The X-Men successfully defeat Mojo’s soldiers, and Mojo suddenly decides that he doesn’t need Arize to create his own slaves.

Review

It’s hard to view a comic that has one layout artist, seven pencilers, six inkers, and two letterers as anything but a rush job. The various art styles are distracting, but most of the artists still produce good work. There’s just no smooth way to put P. Craig Russell and Mark Texiera on the same story. The actual plot itself isn’t bad. A lot of fans don’t like Mojoworld stories, but I think they work in moderation. This storyline tries to move away from the broad humor of previous Mojo stories and goes back to some of the dark themes introduced in the original Longshot mini-series. Nicieza also tries to draw parallels between tribal violence in Afghanistan and the X-Men’s battles with fellow mutants, which isn’t the type of thing you would get in X-Force at this time. It’s an okay issue, even if you get the impression that it might have been put together over the weekend. The rest of the annual is filled with pin-ups, Handbook-style pages of the X-Men’s mansion and plane, and a back-up written by Dan Slott. It counts down the X-Men’s greatest foes and, as a sign of the times, places the Upstarts and Omega Red ahead of the Sentinels.

X-FORCE #13 – August 1992

Everything Hits The Fan

Credits: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Mark Pacella (pencils), Dan Panosian (inks), Chris Eliopoulos (letters), Steve Bucellato (colors)

Summary

Weapon Prime attacks X-Force, as Cable prepares to destroy their headquarters. Cable’s computer, the Professor, teleports his technology away as X-Force easily defeats Weapon Prime. X-Force’s headquarters then detonates ahead of schedule, thanks to a trigger override implanted by Vanessa. Meanwhile, Gideon is conducting deadly experiments on Sunspot.

Continuity Note

In his third appearance, Tygerstryke finally speaks…one line. Apparently, he has a super-powered suit that allows him to fly. It’s hard to imagine a less engaging character.

Approved By The Comics Code Authority

Feral is drawn at certain angles so that her breasts are almost totally visible, with her costume looking as if it’s only a pair of triangle-shaped pasties. Of all of the female characters in comics, Feral is the probably the last one I’d like to see used as cheesecake. If there's a market for furry, poorly drawn, half-human, half-cat comic book character T & A, I'd rather not know about it..

Production Note

The art actually is full bleed in this issue, an effect that an Uncanny X-Men issue from just a few months earlier couldn’t pull off. It’s something everyone takes for granted now, but having the art extend across the entire page was a huge advancement at this time for regular-priced comics.

Review

This is the first post-Liefeld issue, and I wish I could say that it’s the end of an era, but it’s virtually identical to the preceding issues. The confrontation with Weapon Prime has been building since the first issue, and is finally resolved in an anti-climatic fight scene that lasts for only a few pages. Not one member of Weapon Prime is really allowed to be credible threat, as X-Force tears through them without any problems. I assume that Nicieza was as bored with this storyline as I was and just wanted to be done with it. I can’t blame him, but as the payoff for a year-long subplot, this doesn’t work.

It’s interesting that Rob Liefeld's departure isn't acknowledged at all. Less than a year earlier, when Todd McFarlane left Spider-Man, he was given the entire letters page to say goodbye. Marvel doesn’t even recognize that Liefeld is leaving, or that he was ever there. A letter is printed that complains about the title’s slow pacing, and the response is that the writer should “hold tight” until the Nicieza/Capullo run begins. I can’t imagine that Marvel was thrilled to find out that the first issue of Youngblood sold more than one million copies. Maybe they thought that even acknowledging Liefeld’s departure would draw even more attention to Image.

X-FORCE #12 – July 1992

Traitors To The Cause

Credits: Rob Liefeld (plot), Fabian Nicieza (script), Mark Pacella (penciler), Dan Panosian (inks), Chris Eliopoulos (letters), John Cebollero (colors)

Summary

In Madripoor, Gideon recruits Crule to kill Cable. When he returns to Denver, Gideon pummels Sunspot for asking too many questions and wasting his time. Now that X-Force knows that Domino is a spy (but not that she’s an imposter), Cable makes plans to fake the team’s death and destroy their headquarters. Weapon Prime approaches X-Force’s headquarters just as Cable announces that the team is going after Tolliver.

Continuity Notes

Gideon’s mutant power is revealed to be the ability to duplicate the “genetic-energy templates of any super human” in his proximity.

Vanessa, disguised as Domino, claims that Tolliver sent her to spy on Cable because he wants revenge for the job Cable “screwed up in Cordillera de Carabaya.”

Rictor claims that he watched Cable kill his father over ten years ago.

Review

This is another issue in the transitional period before Rob Liefeld is officially gone. It’s a pretty odd time for this series, characterized by a heavy focus on the X-Ternals, imitation Liefeld art, and Cable missing half of his face. The coloring during this run also looks a little washed out for some reason. I can understand the reasoning behind hiring a Liefeld stand-in to finish the story, but it really doesn’t work (aside from the obvious reasons). Rather than coming across as a seamless transition, these issues just seem like a pale imitation of earlier issues of the series. My memory is that this goes on until the X-Cutioner’s Song crossover, which is about four issues away. Greg Capullo will take over as artist, giving the title a huge boost in quality.

Weapon Prime is given a full introduction in this issue. Its members are Bridge, Kane, Wendigo, Tygerstryke, Rictor, and Grizzly. Some of the characters had cameos in the last issue, but this is the first time that every member is named. I’m assuming that Tygerstryke is making his first appearance in this storyline; I don’t think anyone with a name like “Tygerstryke” was showing up in Quasar. He’s not given any dialogue, or any reason for wanting to hunt Cable. Why exactly Wendigo is there is also a mystery. Even as a kid I was bored by these issues, and I think the poor introduction of Weapon Prime is one of the main reasons.

UNCANNY X-MEN #288 – May 1992

Time and Place

Credits: Jim Lee & Whilce Portacio (plot), John Byrne & Scott Lobdell (script), Andy Kubert (pencils), Bill Sienkiewicz (inks), Joe Rosas (colors), Richard Starkings (letters)

Summary

When the X-Men take Bishop out to New York, he recognizes Styglut, another escaped criminal from the future. Bishop fights Styglut until his apparent death, and then realizes that the fight has caused collateral damage and injured several civilians. Humbled, Bishop later gives Storm his command insignia to show that he is no longer a leader but a student.

Review

This is a rare self-contained story from an era known for never-ending storylines. The purpose is to transition Bishop into the X-Men, and it accomplishes that much at least. It’s not a very interesting story, especially since it’s probably the fifth time we’ve seen Bishop fight these future fugitives, but the characters are at least heroic and the story actually goes against the early ‘90s “kill ‘em all” ethic. Andy Kubert used to show up as the fill-in artist during this time, and he’s inked by Bill Sienkiewicz for this issue. It’s not exactly a great pairing; a lot of the art is murky, some of the action is confusing, and the male characters all have the same faces. Iceman also looks like he's sixty years old on the first page. Kubert’s art would greatly improve in the coming years, including another issue with Sienkiewicz that looks a lot better, but this isn’t a great effort.

Showing that Bishop is able to be humbled and willing to learn from the team is an important characterization shift. He’s already more likable than Cable at this point. Bishop actually opens the door for a number of potentially interesting storylines. Bishop idolizes the X-Men but the X-Men are appalled by his actions, leading Bishop to adjust to a new moral code. The X-Men can question if their method is working if the future is so bleak (although admittedly Phoenix II already raised that question). Are Bishop's parents alive yet? Is he curious about his family? The introduction of Bishop could've lead to any number of stories. Unfortunately, Bishop never developed much of a personality beyond this issue and his popularity has continued to wane since the early ‘90s. There have been various attempts to revive interest in him, but he’s been going to character limbo and back for ten years now. I follow some of the x-books today and actually have no idea if he’s currently being used.

X-FACTOR # 82 – September 1992

Sittin’ By The Dock Of The Bay

Credits: Peter David (writer), Rurik Tyler (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Glynis Oliver (colors), Richard Starkings (letters)

Summary

The X-Patriots, a group of mutants that fled Genosha months ago, are trying to enter America but the government refuses to grant them asylum. The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants attempt to recruit the X-Patriots, but they’re stopped by X-Factor. Havok tries to convince the X-Patriots that Genosha is now safe, and pledges that X-Factor will travel back with them to prove it.

I Love the ‘90s

Madrox is wearing a Ren & Stimpy t-shirt.

Continuity Notes

Sauron was in a “regenerative state” after getting shot in X-Force. He revives himself by feeding on a bum at the bay. For some reason, Sauron made quite a few appearances during this time after living in obscurity for years.

The letters page explains that Madrox is able to duplicate his clothing because it’s made out of unstable molecules, and that he cannot duplicate objects he’s holding. This contradicts the current portrayal of the character, which has Madrox duplicating anything within the field around his body.

Review

X-Factor continues to move in a more conventional direction with this issue, but it’s still enjoyable. The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants are a natural choice for villains when you consider that Quicksilver used to be a member, and that Pyro and Blob used to be in Freedom Force, the government-sponsored mutant team before X-Factor. This version of X-Factor never developed an opposing team to act as a recurring threat, but I think it should have been this incarnation of the Brotherhood. As opposed to their X-Force debut, the Brotherhood actually seem threatening, and all of the members have something to do.

X-FORCE #11 – June 1992

Friendly Reminders

Credits: Rob Liefeld (plot), Fabian Nicieza (script), Mark Pacella (pencils), Dan Panosian (inks), Chris Eliopoulos (letters), Steve Buccellato (colors)

Summary

Cable, Warpath, Boom Boom, and Cannonball carry Thornn, Masque’s cloak, and Sauron’s dead body into the Morlock tunnels to “send a message” that they’re not to be messed with. Back at X-Force’s headquarters, Deadpool takes out Siryn and Shatterstar and threatens Vanessa (in disguise as Domino) not to betray Mr. Tolliver. Inside Tolliver’s headquarters, the real Domino is chained in a dungeon. Meanwhile, Kane has formed Weapon Omega to stop Cable, who he wrongly believes is Stryfe.

The Image X-odus

Cable remarks to Cannonball that “Image is everything, Sam.” I’m assuming that this is a Peter David-style meta-reference from Nicieza. Youngblood #1 was already on sale at this point, with a million copies in print. Liefeld was still drawing covers and plotting this book, and many fans were under the assumption that he wasn’t really leaving. Years later, in the first issue of Fantastic Four after Heroes Reborn, Reed would tell Johnny that “Image isn’t everything.”

Review

The title of this issue is a little amusing. Nicieza does seem to have some fun with this book occasionally. Pacella’s art has improved a little since the previous issue, maybe because he has fewer characters to draw. It’s still typical of the lower standards of the era, though. This is another X-Force issue that focuses entirely on the new Liefeld characters, even ignoring Cannonball who is supposed to be in the middle of an important storyline. This issue reveals that the Domino we know is an imposter, and that the real one has been kept prisoner for over a year. I’m not quite sure what the point of this is since Domino is still a new character and the audience knows nothing about her anyway. Who cares if she’s an imposter? She’s the imposter of a character we haven’t actually seen yet. That’s either really brave or really inept plotting. Making this even worse, there’s already a storyline going on with Stryfe impersonating Cable, so I’m not sure why the book introduces another imposter plot before the first one is resolved.

The highlight of this issue is Deadpool, who always stood out amongst the sea of early ‘90s characters. His personality is basically “evil Spider-Man”, but at least he has a personality. He’s also one of the few characters Liefeld created for Marvel who still has his original design. He’s gone on to appear in over a hundred comics, often as a headliner or a co-headliner, so I think his creators must’ve been on to something.

X-FORCE #10- May 1992

Answers (And Questions)

Credits: Rob Liefeld (plot), Fabian Nicieza (script), Mark Pacella (pencils), Dan Panosian (inks), Chris Eliopoulos (letters), Dana Moreshead (colors)

Summary

Gideon explains to the other Externals (Saul, Nicodemus, Burke, and Absalom) that he knows who the new High-Lord is and how to retrieve him. Meanwhile, Stryfe unmasks in front of Kane, taking off his helmet to reveal Cable’s face. Stryfe knocks Kane out and teleports him back to Department K’s headquarters. Kane is convinced that Cable is Stryfe, and is determined to stop him. Department K teams Kane up with Rictor. Elsewhere, Tolliver sends Deadpool on a mission to retrieve Domino.

I Love the ‘90s

Marvel has an ad asking readers for their opinions on16 bit video games. Some of the questions include “Will you continue to buy 8 bit games?” and “Do other people ask your advice about which games to buy?” It’s a very dull looking text ad that I just read for the first time. You would think that Marvel would’ve at least pasted Spider-Man somewhere on the page. As I kid, I completely skipped over this ad. If you participate in the survey, you could win 16-bit games like “Super Castlevania IV”.

Continuity Notes

Cable’s arm has a little flap that opens up to reveal circuitry inside.

“External” is another term for “High-Lord”. In the long run, the word “External” won out.

Kane refers to a fight between Cable and Stryfe that happened seven years ago. He also says that he’s endured “seven years of hurt”. I’m pretty sure that this mystery is resolved in the Cable mini-series.

“Huh?” Moments

Cable explains to Cannonball that he’s an immortal High-Lord. One page later, Cable claims that High-Lords can die; they’re just hard to kill. That’s not very immortal.

Kane quotes “Get-Into-The-Groove” again. This is his fourth appearance and the third time he’s used that stupid catchphrase. It’s like he’s in a SNL skit or something.

Review

Another issue that mainly serves to set up future storylines. It’s not as bad as #5, since some of the ongoing storylines are getting resolved and there is a sense that the story is actually moving. It is amusing to read an entire issue about Cannonball and the Externals knowing that Marvel would soon dismiss this idea. This is Mark Pacella’s first full issue as penciler. Rob Liefeld never returns as artist, so Pacella sticks around for a few issues to do an impression of his style. This issue looks exactly like the comics Extreme Studios would soon be doing for Image, without the computer coloring. Pacella shares Liefeld’s aversion to drawing pupils and his shaky grasp of anatomy (Cable is about twelve heads tall on page eleven). I don’t know if Pacella is someone with his own style who was drafted into doing a Liefeld impression, like Herb Trimpe, or if he really wanted to draw this way.

Fabian Nicieza’s script improves over the previous issues, probably because he’s given more than just a fight scene to dialogue. He’s able to convey personalities for most of the Externals in a few pages, and does a decent job with Cannonball’s reaction to his own death and immortality. Unfortunately, Cannonball is drawn without pupils for the entire scene, which undermines any attempt to make you care about his reaction.

GHOST RIDER #27 – July 1992

Vengeance: Pure And Simple.

Credits: Howard Mackie (writer), Ron Wagner (artist), Mike Witherby (inker), Janice Chiang (letterer), Gregory Wright (colorist)

Summary

The X-Men recover the children of the Thieves and Assassin Guilds in the tunnels underneath New Orleans (yes, I know). Ghost Rider, Gambit, and Wolverine leave the others to track down the Brood Queen. After facing the Assassin from the last issue, John Blaze arrives and helps Ghost Rider decapitate the Brood Queen, and the X-Men help to destroy its head. After their victory, the Assassin watches overhead, promising that this isn’t over.

Review

It’s always amusing during crossovers when the most popular characters break off from everyone else and have their own adventure. This comic is definitely from the “because you demanded it!” school with Wolverine, Ghost Rider, and Gambit facing the Brood Queen on their own. It’s a good thing this wasn’t a team-up with Slapstick and Nightwatch or else nothing would’ve gotten done. It’s hard to believe that Gambit and Ghost Rider were once almost as popular as Wolverine. It’s ironic that a crossover designed to capitalize on Gambit’s popularity would introduce so many elements that would end up damaging the character.

For no real reason, the Ghost Rider/Brood story keeps on going. The X-Men already fought the Brood for an entire issue and freed Ghost Rider in the last installment. I suppose this is the “vengeance” issue where Ghost Rider repays the Brood for possessing him, and Gambit avenges Bella Donna’s death. There’s no attempt to make you care about what happened to either of them, though, so you get a pointless, repetitive issue with a predictable ending. The last Ghost Rider installment was okay, but this one is just boring.

X-FACTOR #81 – August 1992

Belles of the Ball

Credits: Peter David (writer), Larry Stroman (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Kevin Tinsley (colors), Richard Starkings (letters)

Summary

Madrox discovers that Rhapsody did accidentally kill Sharp and leaves her in jail. He returns to Washington with Quicksilver. Guido takes an antidote to Cyber’s poison and the team has a rematch against Cyber and the Hell’s Belles, leading to a conclusive victory for X-Factor.

I Love the ‘90s

Guido jokes about the Dan Quayle/Murphy Brown and “I didn't inhale” stories from the 1992 presidential campaign.

Creative Differences

On page 20, two word balloons obviously not lettered by Starkings explain that Quicksilver and Madrox will be acting as back-up. This wouldn’t be so bad if Madrox’s later appearance wasn’t treated as a surprise.

Review

The Hell’s Belles story concludes, ushering the characters away to obscurity. This has been the most traditional story arc in the book so far, and Guido even comments on the fact that they actually have a clear victory for once. It’s not a bad story, but it’s not nearly as interesting as the earlier Madrox and MLF storylines. Stroman’s art isn’t up to his usual standards, but most of it still works. When the Image exodus first happened, Stroman was announced as Marc Silvestri’s replacement on Wolverine, but that never happened. He left for Image not long after the other artists, did a few issues of Tribe, and then disappeared from comics (until recently, that is).

Guido isn’t very heroic in this issue, but not in the creepy X-Force “shoot the villain in the back” way. He’s more than willing to trade Shrew back to the Hell’s Belles in exchange for the antidote, rationalizing that they can just save her later and that her testifying against drug lords won’t change things anyway. Rather than making Guido unlikable, David actually makes Guido more human and uses it as an opportunity to expand his characterization. There’s also a great scene with Havok on the last page.