The History of the X-Men in October Pt. 1

For the gist of what this is, see the last time I did it…

UNCANNY X-MEN #489 (2007)

This was (I believe) the penultimate chapter of “The Extremists” by Ed Brubaker and Salvador Larroca, where Masque was trying to twist ancient prophecies to serve his own ends and rally the Morlocks around him while Storm and the X-Men were trying to stop him. This was the issue with the “Skids is an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.” reveal I liked. That would be a neat plot thread for somebody to follow up on even today. Skids is an interesting character in that she was something of a blank slate personality-wise when she first showed up in X-Factor (spunky teen girl), but probably because she was seen as expendable, she’s been subjected to so much trauma through the years (getting brainwashed by Stryfe, getting brainwashed by Magneto, watching Rusty get killed, getting kidnapped after trying to start a normal life) it makes her a potentially interesting character by default, and the S.H.I.E.L.D. angle would be cool to explore.

The Morlocks are another X-Men standby that to the best of my recollection have been recently untouched, possibly even since this story. They’re a great classic Claremont creation—the mutants so ugly and disenfranchised they make the X-Men seem accepted—who have actually always translated well to other mediums for my money (I love the Morlock episodes of the 90’s animated series and there was some great stuff in X-Men: Evolution as well). I’ve also always been intrigued/disturbed by Masque, who doesn’t seem to have a particularly dangerous power, but uses it in aggressive ways like taking away people’s ability to breathe, and makes up for physical shortcomings with a cult of personality approach.

This issue also guest-starred The Thing, as Storm was part of the Fantastic Four at the time. That was a fun era that flew by too briefly, but what I liked here was getting to see a relationship between Ororo and her new teammates, as her hubby The Black Panther got the bulk of the attention elsewhere.

UNCANNY X-MEN #410 (2002)

With the first part of a story arc called “Hope” began the controversial X-Men writing tenure of Chuck Austen, so because while he had some fans, he had more—or at least louder—detractors who point to his run as among the weakest in franchise history.

I’m not going to talk about that run as a larger body here, though, but rather this issue, which I dug at the time and felt represented a great jumping on point for new readers and a nice more classic super hero alternative to what Grant Morrison was doing over on New X-Men (and Joe Casey had done in his preceding work).

The issue began with the introduction of Sammy, a boy with a squid head who would become the poster child for those who did not enjoy Austen’s work, but here represented a mutant living with an outward curse and no real awesome gift to balance it—he could breathe underwater—tormented by bullies and without a stable home life. Professor X and Beast come to retrieve him and bring him to the Xavier School, basically his wish fulfilled, and in the process Austen gives a nice microcosm of what X-Men is all about: outcasts who are able to find safety and grow in a safe haven populated by those with similar experiences.

On the action end of the spectrum, the X-Men team Casey left behind of Archangel, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Iceman and Stacy X plus somewhat random addition M respond to a distress call from Muir Island and end up crashing. Professor X must psychically coach Stacy to save the lives of the others and then Juggernaut shows up for the cliffhanger.

There was a lot more character development and soap opera than fighting, which would become a knock on Austen’s run, but I still like this 10 years later as a decent comic to hand to a neophyte and say “Here, this is X-Men.” One of the best of all-time? Not even in the discussion to be in the discussion, but a story that accomplishes what it set out to.

UNCANNY X-MEN #348 (1997)

I’m pretty sure I’ve read this issue. I may even own it. But I don’t really remember it. It came out during the period I wasn’t reading comics in high school, so it’s likely I picked it up during my binge attempt to fill any X-Men gap I had around 2003-2004 (still haven’t read much of Claremont’s second run or the next issue on this docket).

What I can recall from context is, given that it’s two issues prior to #350 and Rogue and Gambit are on the cover, it probably focuses in large part on the latter’s secret past finally being revealed as a result of machinations by Magneto. I can also see from the cover that this group of X-Men was still clad in the weird Shi’ar space miner outfits Joe Madureira put them in for an outer space storyline—which also means this issue had sweet Joe Madureira art!

Searching the Internet tells me this issue was significant due to Rogue and Gambit having their powers dampened and thus sleeping together for the first time (or so it was heavily implied in those innocent days!), so there’s that, but this was really during the period where Scott Lobdell seemed to be spinning his wheels after the awesome run that extended over most of my childhood, so not much more to say.

UNCANNY X-MEN #293 (1992)

Another issue I’ve never read, and another Morlock story, in fact (billed as “The Last Morlock Story,” which, if you didn’t make the odd choice to start reading this post from this section, you know was not true). I believe this was the story where Colossus and Magik’s crazy brother, Mikhail Rasputin—who was first mentioned way way back around issue #98 or so as an astronaut who died on his big mission but was revealed to be alive, living in another dimension and a mutant like 15 years later because X-Men—drowned most of the Morlocks because he had been named their leader and though that was a the only solution to their suffering. I know this mostly because I just read a flashback about it in Cable Classic Vol. 3 recently.

I would like to someday get to checking out the brief blank spot I’ve got from between Bishop’s arrival and X-Cutioner’s Song, and I believe the Essentials should allow me to do so soon if not already.

To be continued…

Underrated/Overlooked: X-Factor: The Longest Day

I’ve long wanted to (and really should) ask Peter David how he landed on Havok, Polaris, Wolfsbane, Multiple Man, Strong Guy and Quicksilver as the at-first-glance (and really any glance) eclectic line-up for his wonderful and legendary original run on X-Factor. Was this the group he personally wanted to work with? Was it the leftover mutants who weren’t already on one of the X-Men teams or X-Force? Did an editor or pitch from another writer hand it to him?

Reading the Muir Island Saga, they were obviously setting something up (Polaris, Strong Guy and Multiple Man all figure into the story), but I’d be interested to know who came up with the team and why.

Regardless, it worked, as that mesh of personalities, temperaments and powers made for an entertaining, intelligent and unique era of X-Men stories that were as funny as anything to ever creep out of the mutant corner of the Marvel Universe but also powerful and emotional. So much of that came from the relationships between the characters, whether it was Havok and Polaris trying to make their romance work (and Wolfsbane getting in the midst against her will), Strong Guy and Madrox’s great friendship, Val Cooper trying to get a handle on this rowdy bunch, or everybody hating Quicksilver.

This group dynamic made for one of my favorite stories of the time, which featured little in the way of action and much more in the way of character development. Interestingly, it was also not written by Peter David, though it utilized much of what he had set up during his tenure on the book. The story was “The Longest Day,” a two-parter by Scott Lobdell that ran in issues #93 and #94, putting some bows on things PAD had done and setting up the status quo for incoming writer J.M. DeMatteis, with veteran artists Paul Smith and Paul Ryan switch hitting.

Issue #93 kicks off with Havok and Wolfsbane visiting the familiar setting of Xavier’s School for the Gifted to pay their respects following Illyana Rasputin’s death from the Legacy Virus. There’s a chilling moment where Rahne goes to hug Illyana’s despondent brother, Colossus, and he stands expressionless and motionless (perfectly portrayed by Paul Smith’s simple but pronounced line work) to the gesture. Wolfsbane also has a nice sequence with Professor X demonstrating how far she’s come from being the wallflower of the original New Mutants while also highlighting some of the tragedy in her life that will be explored a bit more next issue.

The highlight of the Xavier School sequence for me though is the “bonding” time between Havok and his older brother Cyclops. I wrote last week about how interesting I find this dynamic and this issue is a good example of its potential in action. While Rahne does her thing, Scott and Alex have a “friendly” game of handball in the Danger Room that, like everything with them, quickly becomes an intense competition with Cyclops having the natural advantage and Havok doing his best to keep up. As they play, they discuss their differences in everything from their love lives to their leadership styles and Scott plays archetypal older brother, “helpfully” chiding Alex on needing to lock things down with Lorna and rein in control over his team. In a nice twist, rather than have a tantrum, Havok stands his ground, justifying solidly why he does things the way he does, and in the process starts winning the game—then things get heated enough that Cyclops pulverizes the ball with an optic blast (of course). They part with a smile and handshake, but you can still see the tension, and I personally applauded Alex’s little pyrrhic victory.

Meanwhile, across the universe—literally—Strong Guy has been abducted by his old boss Lila Cheney, intergalactic rock star and mutant teleporter, who wants Guido to come back to work as her bodyguard. Lila pulls Guido straight out of bed, and since the man sleeps in the nude, it gives Smith some fun sight gags to play with as a giant, naked man finds himself in the midst of an alien rock concert. The long and short of it is that Guido has matured—slightly—from being a purely comedic character thanks to the work of Peter David, and he makes that case here to Lila, who reluctantly kicks him back to Earth; it’s another bit that will be picked up more next issue, but it’s a cute sequence with fun art.

Lastly, there’s a smaller side plot where Quicksilver has been ordered to start wearing a uniform more in line with the rest of the team—Polaris has also been asked to swap her provocative Joe Quesada-designed number for something more wholesome—and he’s not happy about it. After putting on his new costume—which is a pretty funny send-up of 90’s gear with a million pieces of tech, a dozen pouches, a visor and more—he complains about not liking it and not wanting to be part of any team anyhow, in the process using his super speed to discard all the extraneous junk and come out with a sleek look he reluctantly admits is cool, thus also reluctantly admitting he’s part of the team (unfortunately he was gone literally the next issue, shunted over to Avengers, a shame because this was a development that could have led to some neat stuff).

Issue #93 ends with Val Cooper revealing Forge as the new government liaison for X-Factor (to the audience, the team doesn’t find out until #95), then #94 picks up with a framing sequence of her briefing her successor as we get parallel narratives featuring Havok and Polaris as well as Wolfsbane and Strong Guy.

The Havok/Polaris stuff is basically them out to dinner discussing life and their relationship, which may sound a bit mundane, but considering this is a couple that has been fighting for years to have a nice, quiet life together that’s been interrupted by aliens, possession, amnesia and more, it’s a refreshing breather and plenty interesting to boot; it also segues nicely from Alex’s chat with Cyclops about why he and Lorna are different than Scott and Jean. There’s also a recurring bit where they’re seated near an anti-mutant bigot who keeps offending Alex, but Lorna tells her man to relax…until the guy goes too far and she uses her magnetic powers to have his silverware attack him; fun stuff.

Probably the most deeply emotional sequence of the entire two-part story is the stuff with Wolfsbane and Strong Guy. Rahne is headed to Genosha where they’re going to try and undo the previous corrupt government there made of her mind and body—bonding her to Havok in a way that makes him more or less her master and her seem like a bit of a crazy stalker in the process—though there is a good chance it could end up making her worse. Guido assumes he was asked along because he’s funny and can lighten the mood, but he learns that’s not the case.

Rahne tells a story about how when Guido had the team up to his childhood home (I think—it wasn’t a story that actually occurred, just a flashback) she was up early and saw him outside meditating, looking like the saddest guy in the world; she asked him along because she thought he was the only one who could understand the pain she was in. This calls back to the famous Doc Samson “X-Aminations” issue of X-Factor by David and Quesada wherein Guido confesses that his powers leave him in constant physical agony and being the class clown is one of the ways he distracts himself.

Guido doesn’t out and out admit any of this to Rahne, but lets her know that he does indeed understand, leading to a tender moment where she resumes her human form for the first time in years and falls unconscious into his arms.

And that’s it (well, a cliffhanger of Random saying he’s going to kill Polaris is “it,” but still): two issues, no fights, no real action of any kind to speak of, just a lot of talking and unburdening of emotions.

And it’s awesome.

These two issues have never fit nicely into a collection (that I’m aware of), but if you happen upon them at a store or convention, I’m sure they’re cheap and you’ll be getting more than your money’s worth, whether you’re an X-Factor fan or just looking for some touching writing and quality art. And to come full circle, it’s a testament to this line-up and what Peter David laid down with them that another writer can come in for a two-part quickie like this and do such impressive stuff.

Would still love to know where this grouping came from…

Underrated/Overlooked: Fatal Attractions

The thing most people remember about the 1993 X-Men semi-crossover Fatal Attractions is, frankly, the holograms.

Fatal Attractions spread the long-awaited return of X-Men uber villain Magneto (he’d only been “dead” for a couple years, but there were so many X-Books with so much happening every week at the time that a couple years felt like decades) over six chapters. What made it somewhat unique on the heels of stuff like Inferno, X-Tinction Agenda and my beloved X-Cutioner’s Song and the reason I call it a “semi-crossover” was that unlike those events, where each chapter bled into the next and readers had to adjust to shifting creative teams trying their best to tell a seamless story, each installment of Fatal Attractions more or less stood alone as pieces of a larger puzzle that could still be savored individually and gave every writer and artist their own chance to shine without having to worry about any baton.

But back to the holograms for a moment.

Gimmick covers were of course all the rage in 1993. The gimmick du jour for Fatal Attractions was that the front of each cardstock cover had a hologram of one of the book’s stars as designed by the series artist in the upper right hand corner under the logo. I’ve heard from the walls that can talk at Marvel HQ that these babies were not exactly the easiest things to pull together—and to the best of my knowledge we haven’t seen them since—but they sure did look sweet, particularly as you could really see each guy’s design sense in the one he created (Joe Quesada did Havok for X-Factor, Greg Capullo did Cable for X-Force, John Romita Jr. did Magneto for Uncanny X-Men, Andy Kubert did Gambit for X-Men, Adam Kubert did Wolverine for…well…Wolverine and I’m not sure who did Nightcrawler for Excalibur, maybe Joe Madureira, but it looked nice—and I’m sorry if I just got any credits wrong).

However, this was one case where the 90’s sizzle on the outside has perhaps caused folks to forget that the work in between the covers brought the steak in spades. Like I said, each chapter really did work on its own, so let me touch quickly on what I dug about each.

The story kicks off in X-Factor #92 by Peter David and Joe Quesada, although more than any other part of Fatal Attractions, this one ties in more thematically than anything else and serves truly as the prologue. Magneto’s groupies, the Acolytes, led by the guy who “killed” him, Fabian Cortez—they don’t know that—attack a government Sentinel-building factory really as a way to draw Quicksilver, X-Factor member and son of Magneto, into the fray. The main event of the issue is Cortez attempting to sway Quicksilver to become his ally and take his place as Magneto’s heir, which does a nice job filling any new readers in on what Mags’ deal is and why he’s such a nasty piece of work. While this is going on though, you also get a pretty killer X-Factor vs Acolytes throwdown—with a literally killer Jamie Madrox moment—gorgeous formative Quesada art, the balance of wit and morality that PAD always brings to the table, and a pretty powerful ending where the team confronts their government liaison and supposed friend Val Cooper about the whole Sentinel thing. There’s also a cameo from Exodus, who becomes more important down the line.

X-Force #25 by Fabian Nicieza and Greg Capullo has its own big time non-Magneto comeback, as Cable, who had been “dead” for an even shorter amount of time, returns to the team he founded to discover maybe they don’t need him anymore. I’ve said before how much I absolutely loved this era of X-Force and the Cable-less issues in particular, but this remains a personal favorite because it highlights how much Cannonball and company had grown over such a short time and forces Cable to have to prove his worth to his old charges, a neat 180 from the first year or so of the series where he was the gruff and mysterious drill sergeant they were all eager to please; you also get the beginnings of Cable as far more of a fully realized character as opposed to a 90’s cliché, with him relaxing a bit and demonstrating that he cares about and appreciates this kids just as much as his pouches and guns. But if that wasn’t enough to entice you, Exodus makes his first extended appearance to beat the crap out of X-Force and attempt to invite Cannonball and Sunspot to join his “master,” a cloaked guy in a space station who they tip toe around naming until the very end where he dons the full Magneto regalia as awesomely depicted by Capullo. It’s definitely the “warm-up” issue for the main event X-Men one-two, but it’s again a great story on its own that once more effectively shows a side of Magneto—in this case the teacher who wants his students back—as well as bringing Cable back in style and elevating X-Force since each guy wants to guide them (and Cable’s awesome “I don’t want them to follow my path—I want to follow theirs!” speech coupled with Magneto’s brutal disassembling of his machine side makes for a fantastic close).

So then we come to Uncanny X-Men #304, the first round of the true prize fight by Scott Lobdell and John Romita Jr., and you’ve got a lot going on. First off, Colossus’ kid sister Illyana, at one time Magik of the New Mutants, had died of the Legacy Virus, and it is in many ways the death of innocence in the X-Men’s world. Lobdell does some really nuanced character work covering the reactions, from Colossus’ refusal to show his feelings (or his non-metal form), to Professor X’s guilt, to Kitty Pryde’s gamut of emotions (she’s us, remember); there’s also a great bit where Bishop tries to pull his whole cryptic warnings of a doomed future routine with Banshee and Banshee deadpans “And what if I just go toss myself in front a bus? What happens then?” Interwoven with the grieving and the X-Teams coming together, there are pages written by Lobdell with powerful art by Jae Lee revealing pieces of Magneto’s earliest days in a Nazi concentration camp, some of which had been covered, but never with such raw detail (I believe this is the first time he’s called Erik and it’s not a stretch to say the great opening to the first X-Men movie borrowed heavily from here, intentionally or not). The two worlds come crashing together as Magneto, flanked by his Acolytes—Exodus revealed Cortez’ treachery to them and crushed him earlier in the issue—has the audacity to make his showy official return in the midst of the funeral and earmark this failure on the X-Men’s part to protect the most innocent among them as proof positive that Xavier’s dream has failed. Over the course of several Romita Jr. pages packed with characters and details, the more-powerful-than-ever Magneto dominates his heroic adversaries while also engaging with the usual philosophical battle of wills with his old friend Xavier, maybe making better points for why he’s right than ever before. It all builds to the heartbreaking moment where X-Men stalwart Colossus can stand no more tragedy and does the unthinkable, choosing to side with Magneto and become an Acolyte, breaking Professor X’s heart in the process and perhaps shattering his dream as well. The final page, where Xavier is dropped from the sky by Magneto, caught gently by Archangel and then assures his X-Men he knows he can count on all of them is extremely poignant; it’s an impressive pairing of action and pathos in that unique way only super hero comics can do it.

There’s less talk and more action in X-Men #25, as Nicieza comes back for his second go around, this time with Andy Kubert on art. Magneto fries most of the world’s electrical grid with an electromagnetic pulse mostly to show he can, so Professor X decides enough is enough and he’s taking a small strike force of X-Men—Jean Grey, Wolverine, Rogue, Gambit and Quicksilver, on loan from X-Factor—to finish this once and for all; he also dons a sweet Shi’Ar exoskeleton that allows him to walk so he can be front and center, despite the protests of many of his students. When Xavier essentially tells Cyclops he needs him to stay behind to carry on in case they don’t come back, you believe it. The strike force storms Avalon and teleports the Acolytes off the base so it’s straight up X-Men vs Magneto with the good guys being more ruthless than ever at Xavier’s insistence. Quicksilver and Rogue both play up their personal connections to Mags while assaulting him simultaneously; Professor X and a reluctant Jean barrage him with a psychic slew of bad memories, including Cypher’s death while he was in charge of the New Mutants; Wolverine goes full berserker; I’m not quite sure why Gambit was there other than to justify being in the cover hologram, but maybe he picked some locks or something. Despite it all, Magneto just keeps coming and neither side looks to give an inch. Then, out of nowhere, Wolverine makes a vicious swipe at his opponent’s guts—and Magneto responds by tearing the adamantium clear off Wolvie’s bones and out of his pores!

This is of course nearly 20 years in the rearview at this point, but you have to understand, as a fan reading at the time, the splash page image of the most popular and untouchable X-Man screaming in agony and quite possibly meeting his end in visually grisly fashion was beyond shocking. An enraged Xavier responds to that knockout with a ruthless uppercut of his own, full-on mind blasting Magneto like he never has before and wiping the dude’s brain clean, leaving him catatonic (we wouldn’t see him operational again for another six years, so really Fatal Attractions was more a blip on the radar than a full return, but what a blip). The postscript has Wolverine and an exhausted Xavier both in critical condition as Colossus shows up to help his former teammates get out before the other Acolytes return and then silently cradle Magneto’s limp body in a powerful closing panel.

To demonstrate just how standalone these books were, I have never actually read Wolverine #75! I know it’s by Larry Hama and Adam Kubert and that it deals with Wolverine ultimately recovering then electing to leave the X-Men, but I’ve never cracked the cover; it’s one of my white whales.

Everything wraps up in Excalibur #71, written by Lobdell with an assortment of artists helping him out, but this is really an “It’s all over but the crying” situation, as the big action was out of the way and now it was just a matter of dealing with the fallout; it’s a nice bookend to X-Factor in that it’s a true epilogue you don’t always get to see when you’re running from one big story to the next. Professor X, Cyclops and Jean Grey come to Muir Island, where the remaining members of Excalibur—Nightcrawler, Shadowcat and Phoenix—have stopped in to help Moira MacTaggert with some business. After some serious persuasion—and some nice “Professor Xavier is a jerk” thematic callback—the X-Men persuade Kitty to lure Colossus to the island, as apparently he has an outstanding head injury and they fear it may have influenced his recent decisions. Colossus shows up, feels the sting of his one-time love’s betrayal, but gets the help he needs while Cyclops and Nightcrawler beat up the Acolytes cannon fodder—including CKT favorite Katu!—and Rachel Summers has a somewhat random but sweet meeting with her alternate reality half-brother (neither knows yet, but the readers kinda did) Cable. In the end, Colossus forgives Kitty and offers thanks to the X-Men, but still chooses to remain an Acolyte, putting a bow on Fatal Attractions and what it was really trying to say as a whole: There are no absolutes in the X-Men Universe and neither Professor X nor his dream may be quite as infallible as we thought. Also, Excalibur decides to stay on Muir Island with Moira, but that’s another story.

It’s come to be a mantra from me here and elsewhere, but the 90’s get a bad rap. The X-Men in the 90’s get a particularly bad rap. A story like Fatal Attractions, remembered more for its posters, gimmicks and splashy returns was actually a deft ballet of awesome action and harrowing emotional betrayal, with healthy doses of humor and character growth mixed in plus pretty consistently great art throughout. It’s a true example not to judge a book by its cover.

Regardless of if the cover has a sweet hologram.