GENERATION X #60 - February 2000

Christmas Cheer Fear
Credits:  Jay Faerber (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Dodson (inker), Kevin Tinsley (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary:  Cordelia Frost is stalked in the woods outside the school.  Eventually, she crashes through a window, leading Gen X to investigate outside.  They’re soon ambushed by Mondo.  Banshee’s sonic scream knocks him unconscious, but he’s shocked by the sudden arrival of Black Tom and Juggernaut.  Meanwhile in the Alps, one of M’s classmates is attacked by a vampire.

Continuity Notes: 

• Numerous brief subplot scenes in this issue:  Penance runs off, apparently in anger, after watching the team wrap Christmas presents.  A mystery figure leaves a folder on Emma’s desk, detailing the members of the New Hellions.  Banshee confides to Tom Corsi that he doesn’t understand Siryn’s behavior following her injury.
• Mondo (or more accurately, his clone) was apparently killed by Bastion in Generation X #25.
• Chamber implies that his rich, out-of-touch parents probably don’t even know it’s Christmas.  I believe this is the first reference ever made to Chamber’s parents.   Skin reminds the reader that his mother believes he’s dead, and reveals that his father vanished years earlier.
• Penance makes an ice sculpture of what appears to be Gateway, although Jubilee doesn’t recognize who it’s supposed to be.  

Review:  Jay Faerber begins his final arc on the book, and has apparently decided to use this time to placate the fans that kept asking for Mondo’s return.  Mondo has a strange place in Generation X history.  He debuted in the Generation X preview special along with the rest of the team, the implication being that he would join in the early issues of the book.  The fans kept waiting, but would only receive sporadic subplot pages that had Mondo lounging on the beach with a brunette beauty.  In the ensuing months, “Age of Apocalypse” consumed the X-line, bringing us an alternate reality that prominently featured Mondo as a member of the team.  But no Mondo when everything returned to normal.  He even showed up as a member in that FOX made-for-TV movie, but couldn’t be found in the comics.  

Eventually, Mondo made his way into the books, in a storyline that revealed his brunette girlfriend was actually Emma Frost’s sister, making Mondo (or, wait, his clone) her accomplice in crime.  And, somehow, the mysterious “Barrington” from Maverick’s early appearances got dragged in.  Then, “Operation: Zero Tolerance” happened, things got confusing, and “Mondo” was killed.  You would think this bizarre character arc would’ve been reason enough for fandom to forget Mondo, but instead, a segment of fans demanded his return.  (Perhaps these are the same fans that couldn’t let Blink go?)

I suppose there’s nothing inherently wrong with using Mondo again.  He was never truly fleshed out in the mainstream Marvel continuity, and his powers are more interesting than most of the energy blasters and telepaths that are usually pitted against the X-teams.  Tying Mondo to Black Tom, who was present for his big moment in issue #25, uses past continuity well.  (Faerber is definitely using continuity to his advantage on this book.  Picking up on the New Hellions from X-Force and giving Emma time to respond to them is another smart move.)  Unfortunately, Mondo’s visuals are unique to Chris Bachalo’s style, so the readers who wanted more of the Mondo they got in AoA’s Generation Next are likely to be disappointed.  Also, the identity of Cordelia’s attacker is kept secret until the end of the issue, but of course it’s been horribly spoiled by the cover.  As a setup for the next issue’s resolution, this is fine, although I think the pace is a little leisurely given that Faerber only has a few issues left to finish his run.

GENERATION X #59 - January 2000

Artie and Leech’s Day Off!

Credits: Jay Faerber (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Dodson (inker), Kevin Tinsley (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Artie and Leech sneak out while Gen X visits a museum in New York. The team searches for the duo, as Artie and Leech aid Spider-Man against Sandman. Emma pairs with Tom Corsi, who explains his reluctance to join the school considering his past with Emma. Chamber futilely tries to talk to Husk about her new attitude, while Skin and Synch run into She-Hulk and ask for an autograph. Finally, Artie and Leech are caught by the Avengers after impersonating Thor and Captain America. When the team arrives to pick them up, Emma makes peace with Firestar.

Continuity Notes:

· Banshee and Jubilee aren’t with the team, because they’ve traveled to the X-mansion following the “death” of Wolverine. The footnote points to Uncanny X-Men #375.

· Tom Corsi reminds Emma of the time she had Empath force him and Sharon Friedlander to, well, mate like animals in New Mutants #39. Later, Emma has to apologize again for manipulating Firestar in the past, and sending the Hellions to retrieve her in an early New Warriors story.

I Love the '90s: Artie and Leech impersonate two of the Backstreet Boys (the blonde one and the “bad boy”…I’m not going to look up their names), and cause a riot.

Approved By The Comics Code Authority: Chamber uses “wanker” again, this time to describe Artie and Leech.

Review: I think the only two X-titles not directly involved with some aspect of the big Apocalypse crossover are Generation X and X-Force. And while X-Force is embroiled in John Francis Moore’s extensive Deviants storyline, Generation X isn’t caught up in anything so dramatic. Even the major storylines at the time, Emma’s sister becoming the new White Queen and the acceptance of humans into the school, aren’t so important that they must be addressed in every issue. So, they kill an issue in New York, and it makes for a decent story, although it clearly looks diminutive when compared to the rest of the line.

Mixed in with the comedic scenes and character moments, Faerber’s used the opportunity to address some continuity issues surrounding Emma’s role as a hero. It’s clear the character was not created with the goal of one day being reformed, so her blatantly evil actions from the past must be addressed. And Faerber handles the past continuity well, allowing Emma to say the only thing she can say -- “sorry.” This could come across as lazy or insincere, but the scenes do feel genuine and Faerber is able to make Emma as sympathetic as she’s been since this book was launched.

While it’s easy to dismiss this issue as filler, maybe there is a lasting significance to the story. Is this the first time Terry Dodson was asked to draw Marvel heroes outside of the X-universe? Faerber’s given him quite a list of heroes to handle throughout the story, and to be honest, the results are mixed. The cover is a good example…some of these characters look amazing, others just look wrong. In fairness to Dodson, he was still new to any of the “mainstream” Marvel figures, and it’s obvious he got a lot better as the years went on.

GENERATION X #57 - November 1999

A Night to Remember

Credits: Jay Faerber (writer), Terry Dodson & Chris Renaud (pencilers), Rachel Dodson, Scott Elmer, & John Czop (inkers), Kevin Tinsley (colors), Comicraft’s Saida Temofonte (letters)

Summary: A weakened Emplate stalks the team as they prepare for the school dance. Emplate makes his presence known during the dance, distracting Gen X from his real goal of abducting Penance, who’s targeted by Emplate’s followers in the dorms. Half of the team stops Emplate’s flunkies, only to discover that Emplate has converted the other half in their absence. Synch pushes Jubilee into breaking Emplate’s influence, which leads to her destroying the social hall. In the wreckage, the St. Croix twins are discovered yet again next to Penance’s body. As the twins recuperate, Penance regains consciousness and escapes the school.

Continuity Notes: Because this is very important, the following people pair up for the dance:

Husk pays off her debt to Tristan and takes him as her date, Jubilee and Synch go “as friends,” M goes with Skin, and Chamber is paired with a goth human student. When the team suggests Banshee take Emma, she recruits Iceman as her date during his training session with Gen X to avoid being asked.

I Love the '90s: Skin on his physical appearance before developing mutant powers: “I wasn’t no Ricky Martin, but I did okay.”

Approved By The Comics Code Authority: Chamber refers to Emplate’s follower Vincent as a “wanker.” Apparently, Jay Faerber knew “wanker” as a British insult, but didn’t realize that it’s not generally used in “all ages” material.

Review: A double-sized five-year anniversary issue? That’s unusual, especially just a few issues after a double-sized fiftieth issue. That fiftieth issue was partially squandered on an X-Man crossover, so I wonder if perhaps this was originally Faerber’s plan for the double-sized fiftieth issue. “The big dance” isn’t really a strong enough concept to justify a double-sized story, but adding the return of Emplate into the mix creates a packed issue that balances the character scenes and action quite well.

Unfortunately, the return of Emplate also means the return of the M/Penance/Emplate sibling fiasco, and yet another wrinkle is added to the mystery this issue. The first time the St. Croix twins spontaneously appeared after a giant explosion wasn’t exactly a highlight for the series, and I’m not enthused to see the idea resurrected. We’ve already had a conclusion to the M/Penance/St. Croix twins storyline; it was mostly nonsense, but the story did create a clear status quo for the characters moving forward. M has her own body back and the twins are magically combined into the form of Penance. Now, the twins are back in their own bodies, yet somehow Penance endures. Add this to Emplate’s unexplained illness, and we’re left with -- hooray -- more St. Croix family mysteries.

The character moments, as always, are the real highlight of the story. The drama leading up to the dance, as each character deals with the internal high school politics of who-asks-who to go, is executed masterfully. Husk uses this as an opportunity to finally go on that blackmail date with Tristan, only to discover that she likes the guy. Synch asks Jubilee to go as a friend, not realizing that she honestly has feelings for him. M is too pretty and intimidating for anyone to ask out, so she’s stuck going with Skin. He never considered asking her; she only asked him after Artie and Leech asked on his behalf (following his revelation to them that having a beautiful date would help his self-esteem). When Skin finds out he was her pity date, he’s annoyed, while she refuses to admit that she might be capable of feelings like “pity” in the first place. And Chamber is stuck with an anonymous goth girl. So, there’s still a lot of humor and genuine character work, even if the main story is potentially moving into a dodgy area.

GENERATION X #56 - October 1999

Sins of the Past Part Two: Heal Thyself

Credits: Jay Faerber (writer), Terry Dodson & Karl Kerschel (pencilers), Rachel Dodson, John Czop, and Rod Ramos (inks), Kevin Tinsley (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: M uses her telepathic powers to reenter the fantasy world that’s ensnared Generation X. When Donald Pierce teleports in, he’s followed by an army of Sentinels. Gen X successfully counters the Sentinels in combat. Using M’s telepathy, Synch senses the mental presence of Emma. Combining his powers with M, they release Emma, as the X-Men turn on the team. Emma uses her powers to erase the fantasy and wake the team up. Adrienne Frost appears, boasts about creating the fantasy, and teleports away.

Continuity Notes: Synch remarks that he’s somehow able to use M’s powers better than she can, just as he’s able to expand upon Chamber’s powers.

Review: And now the previous issue’s high concept is explained, which is almost always a letdown. Still, there are some decent character bits this issue, and watching the team relive the Hellions’ final battle remains entertaining. It could be argued that they’re able to defeat the Sentinels far too easily when compared to the Hellions’ quick deaths, but I think this is an intentional point on Faerber’s part to show that Emma really has done a better job preparing this team for battle.

The real purpose of this storyline, aside from playing to nostalgia and setting up an amazingly impossible premise, is to introduce Adrienne Frost as a true villain for the series. She proclaims that she’s going to be the next White Queen, and for some reason, she’s chosen this stunt as her villainous debut. I have no idea what she’s hoping to achieve, but it would be nice if Faerber’s able to resolve this before his run is over.

The only real flaw in this arc is abrupt shift in art style this issue. Karl Kerschel’s pencils are an amalgam of early Salvador Larroca and Pop Mhan...not exactly art styles you associate with Terry Dodson. There are quite a few artists in comics in the Adam Hughes/Gary Frank/Terry Dodson vein (Erik Larsen even found one to replace Adam Hughes on a Savage Dragon miniseries after he grew tired of waiting on Hughes), so I have a hard time believing that this is the best replacement editorial could’ve found. If this arc just had to have an artist with an incompatible style fill in, it might’ve been interesting to have Whilce Portacio himself step in.

GENERATION X #55 - September 1999

Sins of the Past Part One - In Another Man’s Shoes

Credits: Jay Faerber (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Dodson (inker), Kevin Tinsley (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Generation X wake up to discover that they’re in the past; their mirror images reflecting them as members of the Hellions. Jubilee realizes that they’re reliving the day the Hellions were killed by Fitzroy and his Sentinels. The team goes to the planned Hellfire party, where they meet the only Hellion not reflected by the team, Jetstream. Despite their efforts, fate is not changed and Jetstream is killed by Fitzroy. During the battle, M is struck by one of Archangel’s ricocheting blades. She awakens in the Danger Room and realizes that her arm is bleeding.

Continuity Notes: This story swaps Gen X for the Hellions during their final battle in Uncanny X-Men #281. Much of the dialogue spoken by the characters is from the original script written by John Byrne.

Review: What a great high concept for a story. Of course, it’s not hard to guess that the resolution is going to involve the Danger Room and/or some telepathic manipulation, but that doesn’t undermine what an incredible hook this is. Trapped in the past in bodies destined to die, the team debates their next course of action, which for Skin and Chamber is clearly to avoid this fateful party at all costs. Jubilee conjures up an inspirational speech from her days with Professor X and convinces the team that since they know what’s coming, they’ll be better prepared to face Fitzroy. Arriving at the party, they’re soon confronted by 1991’s Emma Frost, who’s still a sadistic aristocrat in trashy lingerie. Faerber handles the team’s response to the villainous Emma quite well, and it’s hard to deny that the Dodsons make the X-Men of this era look fantastic (they certainly has a better handle on these costumes than Whilce Portacio did). This is a remarkable opening chapter and I’m definitely looking forward to the next installment.

GENERATION X #54 - August 1999

Land of the Rising Sons Part Two

Credits: Jay Faerber (writer), Terry Dodson & Derec Aucoin (pencils), Rachel Dodson & Scott Elmer (inks), Kevin Tinsley (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Summary: After evading the Rising Sons, the team joins Jubilee and Paladin on Noy’s train. Jubilee discovers that Adrienne’s sword is worthless; Noy simply enjoys keeping it because it annoys Adrienne. She takes the sword, and with Skin’s help, rescues Paladin from Dragonwing on top of the train. Upon returning home, Gen X learns from Emma that the sword killed Adrienne’s husband. She thinks Adrienne wants to use her psychometric powers to stay connected with her husband’s final hours. In reality, Adrienne ordered her husband’s murder and wants the sword as a keepsake.

Continuity Notes: Viper is shown video footage of Generation X in Madripoor by one of her subordinates. She comments that she should pay them a visit, but doesn’t appear in the rest of the issue.

Review: It’s another issue of Gen X fighting the Rising Sons, with barely a subplot in sight. Faerber avoids making the issue a simple-minded slugfest by throwing in a few twists to the story, such as the revelation that the sword is actually an old piece of junk. Noy is simply keeping it out of spite, Emma mistakenly believes Adrienne has an emotional connection to her husband through the sword, and finally Adrienne’s inner monologue reveals that she’s even more of a sadist than anyone suspected. The final page reveals more about Adrienne than any of the previous issues, so in terms of the ongoing continuity, there is still some significance to the storyline, even if the vast majority of the arc was spent setting up and executing fight scenes. Not that there’s anything wrong with the occasional action arc in Generation X, anyway. I’m still puzzled by the Viper subplot scene, though…

GENERATION X #53 - July 1999

Land of the Rising Sons

Credits: Jay Faerber (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Dodson (inker), Kevin Tinsley (colors), Comicraft’s Liz Agraphiotis (letters)

Summary: Paladin reveals that he was injured by the Rising Sons in Madripoor, while on a mission for Adrienne. Later, Gen X travels to Madripoor with Paladin to retrieve Adrienne’s missing sword from the mysterious Noy (M stays behind to bond with her sisters, Penance). As Jubilee and Paladin spy on Noy in a restaurant, Gen X tries to search his apartment, only to be ambushed by Nightwind of the Rising Sons. Nightwind retreats, but rejoins her teammates as Jubilee and Paladin are tricked into following Noy inside a bullet train.

Continuity Notes: The Rising Sons consist of Dragonwing (a human/dragon metamorph), Spoilsport (a girl with gravity-defying skates), The Sign (a magician with power-specific tattoos), Jet-Black (a human/motorcycle hybrid), Nightwind (girl with magic sword), and Tough Love (the resident strongman who’d rather read than fight).

Review: Paladin gets his own guest-starring arc, apparently just because Jay Faerber likes the guy. Nothing wrong with that, of course; creators should be working with characters that excite them, and it’s not too hard to fit Paladin into most action-oriented stories. The characterization hook for the issue is that Jubilee has a massive crush on Paladin, which she uses to justify the team’s jaunt to Madripoor. Adrienne apparently has no qualms about sending the team into danger, especially if it’s to help her retrieve a vague plot device that she wants back, so it’s off they go.

To counter the team, Faerber and Dodson have created the Rising Sons. I don’t think anyone else has ever done anything with these characters, and while on the surface they appear to have a similar genesis as Alpha Flight (“create a team that can fight the X-Men”), they’re perfectly suited as villains for a short arc. Each of the X-teams needs at least one opposing team to regularly fight, and Gen X really doesn’t have any. You might argue that some of the Rising Sons too closely resemble fighters from Street Fighter II or Mortal Kombat, but Dodson makes them look credible as villains. Setting the story in Madripoor also allows Terry Dodson to show more of his design skills, and create the sense that the team really is sneaking out and getting into too much trouble this time (Banshee’s in San Francisco and Emma’s too busy to notice when Adrienne allows them to leave). It’s nice to see the characters out doing something, especially if it doesn’t involve another X-Man crossover.

GENERATION X #52 - June 1999

Secret Identities

Credits: Jay Faerber (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Dodson (inker), Kevin Tinsley (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Gen X’s classmate Tristan Brawn threatens to expose their secret after he catches them training in the woods. His condition for keeping quiet is for Husk to go on a date with him. To everyone’s surprise, she agrees. Meanwhile, Emma gives Artie and Leech image inducers, which they soon misuse as toys. Later, Tom Corsi is introduced as a new teacher at the school, Banshee receives word of Siryn’s injury, and Jubilee discovers a disoriented Paladin outside of the school grounds.

Continuity Notes:

· Synch tries to show Chamber how to fly by using his powers. Chamber is unable to grasp the ability, and is annoyed that Synch can use his powers better than he can.

· Colossus makes a cameo as a guest art instructor.

· Spider-Ham and Ducktor Doom (I’m guessing that was his name) are not in this comic. That would be Artie and Leech playing with their image inducers.

I Love the '90s: Jubilee comments that they don’t know Tristan Brawn from the Backstreet Boys. Artie and Leech’s hidden room is filled with Furbie dolls, and an original Playstation.

Review: Jay Faerber never hid the fact that he was more interested in character drama than superhero fights, so it’s not a surprise that this issue only hints at possible violence in the future. This is largely a collection of subplots, and while none of them are particularly bad, none of them are really stand outs, either. A human student is blackmailing the team, which is a decent idea but similar to one Larry Hama explored early in his run; some old continuity is dredged up, as Chamber’s non-existent ability to fly is finally addressed in an actual story, and Tom Corsi returns from the Realm of the Almost-Dead; cross-title continuity is acknowledged for the first time in a while, as Banshee is notified of Siryn’s injuries in X-Force; and a few character subplots continue as Jubilee prepares to make her claim on Synch while Husk tries to make Chamber jealous. Faerber’s still getting some mileage out of the integrated school concept, with an amusing scene that has M quickly ruining Chamber’s reputation as sexiest male on campus, and it’s hard to complain about a Spider-Ham cameo, even if the cover is slightly deceptive. So, nothing too exciting, but Faerber writes the characters well and the Dodsons are doing a great job even in the “quiet” issues.

GENERATION X #50 - April 1999

War of the Mutants Part One: Divided We Fall

Credits: Jay Faerber (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Dodson (inker), John Kalisz (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: As the school is opened to human students, Dark Beast and his minions spy on Gen X. When Emma Frost sees footage of X-Man on television, she telepathically reaches out to him. He senses her presence and discerns that Emma has a past with the Dark Beast. Meanwhile, Banshee sees surveillance footage of a helicopter abducting a student and races after him. In town, Gen X is attacked by the Dark Beast’s men. Gaia reaches Emma for help, but they’re suddenly interrupted by X-Man. Finally, Banshee tracks the helicopter to Vermont, where he's attacked by a large man.

Continuity Notes: The Dark Beast comments that he’s hidden in the sewers for decades to avoid being mistaken for this reality’s Hank McCoy. That’s irreconcilable with his earlier appearances, which audaciously claimed that he never even considered this reality had a Hank McCoy.

Emma’s sister Adrienne remarks that it’s good the school has changed its name back to “The Massachusetts Academy” given the public’s mistrust of Professor Xavier following the Onslaught event. That implies that the general public is aware that Xavier was Onslaught, which doesn’t work with continuity. At this point, even his identity as a mutant was still a secret.

Banshee is on the phone with a mystery man (?) who he’s recruiting as the school’s new gym teacher.

Dark Beast’s flunkies consist of new characters Membrain and Fever Pitch, along with a few leftover Gene Nation members, Hemingway and Vessel (whose names don’t seem to appear in this issue, which is annoying given how obscure these villains are).

Review: Generation X #1 and X-Man #1 didn’t debut in the same month, but due to the “Age of Apocalypse” storyline suspending Generation X for four months and X-Man continuing after the AoA stunt ended, they’ve run concurrent issue numbers since #5. No one thought to unite them for their twenty-fifth issues, but aren’t we lucky that someone’s decided to do a crossover during their fiftieth issues. (Of course, just two years later, they’ll reach cancellation together with their seventy-fifth issues. And the world is saved from gratuitous X-spinoffs forever…)

There is one obvious connection between X-Man and Generation X that hasn’t been explored yet, and that’s the teen angle. If Generation X is supposed to be training the next generation of mutants, and X-Man is a teenage mutant, the most powerful in the world, it makes sense to exploit that for one story. Another link would be Emma Frost’s past with X-Man’s arch-nemesis (whenever he bothers to remember X-Man), the Dark Beast. The exact nature of their relationship hasn’t been revealed at this point, even though Scott Lobdell hinted at their shared past early in Generation X’s run, and James Robinson detailed their first meeting in Generation X #-1.

I’m not sure if Jay Faerber was eager to participate in a crossover so early in his run, but he still works in a few decent ideas. Integrating the school with a new human student body opens the door to numerous story possibilities, making me wonder a) why no one’s done it before and b) why the concept was dismissed so quickly after Faerber’s exit. I’ll never understand the attitude that the X-teams shouldn’t be interacting with normal people. Isn’t this the entire point -- to train mutants to use their powers responsibly and be able to enter mainstream society? These titles have to be grounded in reality in order to work, so making the school a literal school and giving the team dozens of potential supporting cast members to interact with makes perfect sense.

Unfortunately, there’s no room to flesh out any of the new students this issue, but Faerber does find the space to split the team up into small groups and work in some characterization scenes. Husk is still angry at Chamber for brushing her off. Chamber doesn’t want to share the school with humans. Skin isn’t willing to believe all humans are bigots. M wants a tattoo to symbolize her ownership of her body. Synch is apparently the object of affection for M, Gaia, and Jubilee. Thankfully, the crossover material is simply used to justify the fight scenes, making this read like a standard Generation X issue that just happens to be concluded in X-Man.

GENERATION X #49 - March 1999

Trophies

Credits: Jay Faerber (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Dodson (inker), Felix Serrano (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Summary: While sledding with their newest member, Maggott, Generation X is ambushed by the prize hunter Slaughter. Slaughter restrains the team and leaves with his trophies -- Maggott’s slugs. Synch mimics Maggott’s power and creates his own slugs, which free the team from their bonds. They rescue Maggott’s slugs, but Slaughter escapes in a flash of light. Maggott turns down membership in the team in order to track down Slaughter. Meanwhile, Emma visits her older sister Adrienne. When Adrienne’s psychometric powers reveal the true nature of Emma’s school, she agrees to pay its debts. Later, Emma returns to the school with its new headmaster, Adrienne.

Continuity Notes: Synch is able to fly after copying Chamber’s powers, much to Chamber’s surprise. This is presumably a reference to the original Generation X preview special, which claimed that Chamber will one day don a specially-made harness and use his powers to fly.

Review: Maggott was written out of X-Men with a one-page scene that had the Beast suggesting he join Generation X. For approximately six months, fans wondered when exactly this was going to happen. With this issue, the dangling plot thread manages to be resolved, only for Maggott to be shipped off into obscurity twenty-two pages later. New writer Jay Faerber was apparently sympathetic enough to the fans to give them an answer, but as he admitted online, he absolutely hates this character. I guess Faerber is willing to be nice to the readers, but he isn’t going to be a doormat.

I wouldn’t say the issue makes it obvious that Faerber hates Maggott, but he does seem to view him as something of a cartoon. He exceeds Joe Kelly’s quotient for annoying South African slang in virtually every word balloon, for example, which may or not be an intentional joke. When he isn’t speaking in impenetrable catch phrases, Maggott does have a few funny lines (he wants to meet this headmistress that’s always walking around in her underwear), and he’s given a heroic motivation for leaving the team so soon. Then again, you’ve got to wonder why Banshee’s letting him go out on his own to find the villain instead of volunteering Gen X’s help, so maybe it is a little obvious that Faerber can’t wait to be rid of him. Meanwhile, the “Emma’s broke” subplot continues. Adrienne is apparently supposed to be Emma if she never reformed, so her addition to the cast has potential.

GENERATION X #48 - February 1999

Foxes & Scorpions

Credits: Jay Faerber (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Dodson (inker), Felix Serrano (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Irritated by M’s attitude, Jubilee challenges her to a duel in the Danger Room. Elsewhere, Emma learns that she’s lost considerable money in the stock market. When she suggests telepathically manipulating investors, Banshee convinces her to try a legitimate path. She decides to call her older sister, Adrienne. Meanwhile, Husk returns home and is disappointed by Chamber’s cold reaction. Unbeknownst to her, Chamber is following Skin’s advice. Later, Maggot arrives outside the school.

Miscellaneous Note: The title of this issue is a reference to an old middle eastern fable about a fox that carries a scorpion across a river. In Aesop’s fable, the fox is replaced by a frog, but the moral is the same.

Review: Jay Faerber debuts, and while his main story is essentially an extended Danger Room sequence, he introduces enough subplots to keep things fresh. The school’s going broke, Skin is giving Chamber bad relationship advice, Gaia can’t give Husk relationship advice because she’s been strapped to a rock her entire life, and several months after a set-up in X-Men, Maggott finally arrives. The momentum’s starting to pick up again, and it doesn’t hurt to have Terry and Rachel Dodson back, either.

The M/Jubilee fight is mainly there to provide some action and give the Dodsons something interesting to draw, but Faerber also uses the sequence to address how M feels about the months she spent trapped in Penance’s body. Jubilee thinks M shouldn’t be so hostile to her, given the time she spent with Penance. M responds that Jubilee treated her like a pet. Apparently, she’s deeply offended by all of those apples Jubilee brought her during the Lobdell/Bachalo issues. It’s not a very logical grudge to keep, but it’s fitting with M’s character. As M uses the old fable to illustrate, it’s her nature to be this way. Faerber shows very quickly that he gets the characters, so even if this is mainly a set-up issue, it doesn’t feel like a waste of time.

GENERATION X #45 - Early December 1998

Lost & Found

Credits: Jay Faerber (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Dodson (inker), Nic Musolino (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Summary: While Emma continues to sulk, Jubilee and Skin try to cheer up Chamber, M questions Artie and Leech on the Biosphere’s disappearance, and Gaia flirts with Synch. During a boxing match, Banshee goads Emma into talking about her feelings. After she declares that she doesn’t need her telepathic powers, they return. Soon, the team realizes that Chamber’s powers have also returned. Later, Emma gathers the team and makes two announcements -- Gaia is joining the school, and the team will adopt new uniforms.

Continuity Notes: Emma’s telepathic powers actually returned at the end of the previous issue. That scene is dismissed as a brief “telepathic fluctuation” this issue.

Review: I remember reading that this was done as a try-out issue for Jay Faerber, who editor Frank Pittarese was considering as Larry Hama’s replacement. Faerber got the job, ending Hama’s long history of monthly freelancing for Marvel. The internet was indignant over Hama’s run, and overall sales were down by this point, so I’m sure Pittarese thought that a new writer could slow the bleeding at least.

Faerber’s run was quite popular amongst X-fans, even though his initial fill-in is pretty unremarkable. There’s apparently some behind-the-scenes confusion going on, since the entire story centers on Emma finally regaining her powers, an event that already occurred in the previous issue. Sure, they try to cover it with a few lines of dialogue, but I think it’s a safe bet that this issue was commissioned before the ending of #44 was written. The lengthy build-up to her powers’ return is a bit superfluous, and the gratuitous use of splash pages and large panels leads me to believe that there just isn’t enough of a story here. The brief cutaway scenes with the rest of the cast aren’t so bad, though. M’s upset that no one’s asked her how she feels about losing her telepathic powers, which serves as the once-a-year reminder that she also has psychic powers. Faerber handles Synch’s response to her attention-seeking well. Chamber, it’s revealed, actually regained his powers three days ago. He just didn’t feel like saying anything. He was brooding at the beginning of the issue because he missed Husk; a nice twist and character beat. Faerber’s real strength is characterization, and his dialogue is usually sharp, so I think he’s a decent choice to appeal to the fans of the Lobdell days.

GENERATION X #44 - November 1998

Comings & Goings

Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Dodson (inker), Nic Musolino (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Bianca and her seven dwarves work to repair the Biosphere, while Banshee picks Siryn up from the airport and Husk says goodbye to Chamber before leaving for Kentucky. When Synch leaves campus holding Skin’s cigar box, Jubilee’s afraid that he’s going to shoot Dorian and Weasel. Instead, she learns he’s pooled his savings with Skin to give them money to replace their totaled car. Later, the Biosphere disappears with Bianca and the dwarves. A Polaroid is left behind, showing a dilapidated Biosphere in what appears to be the future.

Continuity Notes: Synch says that Skin got rid of the gun in his cigar box following the events of Generation X #1/2. Husk is leaving to visit her sick mother, a subplot that ties into Cannonball’s recent X-Force appearance. Emma notices that her telepathic powers have returned while talking to Gaia. And, finally, a massive continuity blunder has Banshee apologizing for not making enough time for Siryn during her youth. He actually wasn’t aware of her existence until she reached adulthood.

Review: Following a wacky action issue, this one largely consists of tender character moments, with a mystery ending thrown in for good measure. This is arguably one of Hama’s better Generation X issues, but the Banshee/Siryn continuity error is just grating. It’s not as if it’s just one line of dialogue that could be misinterpreted as a mistake. Banshee goes on for several pages, apologizing for not making time for Siryn and justifying his behavior by repeatedly commenting on how young he was. He even remembers “shakin’ in me youthful shoes back at the dispensary where ye came howlin’ into the world all red and wet and wee hands grabbin’” in spite of the fact that it’s a vital part of Siryn’s origin that Banshee had no idea his wife was pregnant the last time he saw her. The rest of the plots thankfully fare better. I’m glad Lucinda Guthrie’s sickness isn’t being ignored in this title, and Hama’s take on forgiveness is certainly unique. Most writers would at least have Synch beat the living crap out of Dorian and Weasel before forgiving them. Hama skips the violence and even has Synch give his assailants enough money to buy a car because he knows they need their pizza delivery job. “Hatred is a cycle…fueled by ignorance, envy, and fear…somebody has to break the chain, you know?” That’s the strangest resolution to a hate crime story I’ve ever read, but it says a lot about Synch’s character. (This makes him the most pious hero this side of Superman!)

GENERATION X #43 - October 1998

An Eye for an Eye

Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Dodson (inker), Felix Serrano (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Following the psionic pulse, Banshee trains the team in hand-to-hand combat. Soon, the pizzas Jubilee ordered arrive, delivered by Dorian and Weasel. Bianca LaNiege’s spacecraft crashes on top of their car. Bianca’s dwarves attack Generation X, while Emma leads Bianca into the kitchen. The dwarves surrender after witnessing Chamber’s power, as Emma knocks Bianca unconscious with a watermelon.

Continuity Notes: Bianca reveals that her company, LaNiege Industrial Concepts, was acquired by Emma in a hostile takeover. Hoping to discover new technology that would drive Emma into bankruptcy, Bianca used one of her inventions to travel to another world. Instead, she was “trapped in a hellish dimension” where she “endured unspeakable torments” but somehow gained psionic powers.

Review: A lot of action, much of it slapstick, in this one. Since Hama’s well versed in martial arts, the rules of fighting Banshee and Emma teach certainly sound plausible, and he’s able to connect the training sequence to the actual fight scene in a clever way. It’s obvious this isn’t meant to be taken too seriously, which probably didn’t make the people who already hated this run feel any better, but I personally found it amusing. I like the occasional kidney-punch in my comics, especially when it’s Emma beating Banshee up during a training session. While the Danger Room rarely feels dangerous, Hama’s going with the idea that these training sessions are actual fights with real consequences, so the Banshee/Emma match is surprisingly brutal. And, even if Terry Dodson is more famous for pretty drawings than gritty fights, he still handles the action capably. I don’t know if the inclusion of mayonnaise and watermelon in the Emma/Bianca fight is a sly commentary on his cheesecake proclivities, but it’s hard not to laugh.

GENERATION X #42 - September 1998

She Came From the Stars

Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Dodson (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Felix Serrano (colors)

Summary: Bianca and her dwarves spy on Generation X as they play miniature golf. When a psionic pulse hits the Astral Plane, Chamber, Emma, and Bianca are left without their psychic powers. Driving home, they come across Gaia, who crashed her car when the backlash hit. She’s aided by Chief Authier, who reveals that he’s also lost “the sight.” Later, Bianca’s spacecraft is clipped by Elsie Dee and Albert, who are passing by in a modified Blackbird.

Continuity Notes: Bianca’s dwarves used to be alien cockroaches and hate their new bodies. They’re working for Bianca in the hopes that she’ll restore their true forms. Although Bianca gained her psionic powers through “alien means,” she’s still struck by the psi-wave. Gaia, meanwhile, has used her telekinetic powers to build an alien home in Snow Valley since her previous appearance.

“Huh?” Moment: Chamber’s chest still emits energy after losing his psionic powers. If this energy wasn’t psychic in nature, what is it? And if we were to believe that his psionic powers (somehow) kept him alive after his chest was blown open, how exactly is he alive now?

Review: I’m not sure if any of the spin-offs dedicated so much time to characters merely reacting to the events of “Psi-War,” but apparently Hama felt the need to sell the premise. What’s odd is that he’s used this opportunity to reveal that two of the new characters, Bianca and Chief Authier, have psychic powers before we’ve even seen them use the powers. I actually do like the idea that Chief Authier is a mutant, apparently a low-level one who simply viewed his powers as a paranormal gift, since it shows that not every mutant has to follow the traditional X-path. I’m assuming Hama had plans for Chief Authier, but I doubt they were realized since he’s already at the end of his run. I have no idea why Bianca is getting such a slow build-up, but I do like the dynamic between her and the dwarves. When the psi-wave knocks her out, the first response of the dwarves is to kill her in her sleep, but they think better of it when they realize they might never return to their proper roach bodies without her. When Bianca realizes what happened, she proceeds to beat them mercilessly. All of this is fairly random silliness, but it livens up the mini-golf scenes and continuity work.

GENERATION X #40 - July 1998

Pride & Penance!

Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Dodson (inker), Felix Serrano (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: At the hospital, a comatose Synch subconsciously mimics the powers of Emma and the St. Croix twins. The revived Synch refuses to implicate Dorian and Weasel in his beating, and insists that the St. Croix twins reveal their family’s secret when they get home. Later, the twins reveal that their brother Emplate transformed Monet into the mute Penance in a fit of anger. The twins used their powers to banish him to another dimension, unaware that Penance would actually follow him. To cover Monet’s disappearance, they merged bodies and imitated her form. Later, “Monet” would become Generation X’s M. The twins decide to return Monet to her true body, but in the process are merged into Penance’s form. Meanwhile, Bianca Laneige transforms seven aliens into obedient dwarves and sets course for Snow Valley.

Continuity Notes: Bianca Laneige is a white-skinned super-powered being who’s escaped from another dimension. She blames her exile on her former Hellfire Club compatriot, Emma Frost. When Synch mimics Emma’s powers, he suddenly becomes telekinetic. Fans complained, but Larry Hama’s defense was that Emma has done things in the past that could only be explained by telekinesis. (I’m not sure which scenes he’s referring to, but I don’t pretend to have every Emma Frost appearance ever, either.) At the issue’s end, Husk speculates that the autistic twin, Claudette, is controlling Penance, which is apparently the new explanation for why she doesn’t speak.

Creative Differences: So, what was Scott Lobdell’s original plan for these characters? Via the interview at http://www.sugarbombs.com/genx/lobdell.htm:

M - “Well, it unfolded pretty much the way I wanted it too up until the moment that M split. From BEFORE her first appearance, the plan was to have her split after that wall fell on her . . . they would go through the wreckage and find the TWINS! After that, EMMA and SEAN were going to be forced to make a truly difficult decision: Do you allow the TWINS to stay together as the supper powered M--thereby putting their lives in constant danger--or do you force them to stay apart and live relatively normal lives (except that would mean the autistic one would never know the freedom she enjoyed as M! Ahhhh, the tragedy.) As you can see, they strayed as FAR away from the original idea as possible.”

Emplate -“ It was short for TEMPLATE--the idea was going to be, as we saw in his first appearance, that he was going to be something of a tabula rasa . . . so that as he feasted on the genetic marrow of mutants, he would eventually take their powers from them as well. Imagine a vampire who could become the person he bit, so to speak.”

Penance - “Penny was short for PENANCE -- the only word GATEWAY spoke when he dropped her off after kidnaping her from EMPLATE. But it wasn't her name, it was GATEWAY explaining this was his penance for his part in the murder of the Hellions. It would ultimately have been revealed that her name was YVETTE, and that she was a sixteen-year-old survivor of the warring in Yugoslavia. She was deaf since birth, which explained her childlike naivete as well as he inability to communicate with others. She was supposed to be the first deaf mutant . . . I think it is kind of sad that she was never allowed to be who she is.”

Review: Well, what can you say about this one? People hated it, the snide comments carried on for years, and Larry Hama was tarred with a “Worst Writer” label that he didn’t really deserve (considering all of his previous work, and his assertion that he revealed M’s origin as it was explained to him by editorial), but that’s the way online fandom goes. I’m surprised this story hasn’t been retconned over the years, but that’s likely because the two writers who’ve penned most of the subsequent M stories (Jay Faerber and Peter David) had a “just move on” attitude regarding the mess.

It’s a silly explanation that’s needlessly confusing, and requires the twins to suddenly develop whichever superpowers might be necessary in order for the idea to work. Even if you take the story at face value, some elements still make little sense. Most notably would be the beginning of the flashback, which has the twins reiterating the conversation between Monet and Emplate that took place in her bedroom. They weren’t there, so how do they know what happened? They weren’t telepathically eavesdropping, since they didn’t know a few seconds later that Monet was now Penance, so that can’t be the explanation. I could buy the merged twins learning the details later from Penance after she joined Gen X, but I think it’s been fairly well established that Penance’s mind is a virtual blank that can’t be penetrated.

Another continuity problem is the fact that the M that exists from Generation X #40 on isn’t the same M from the previous thirty-nine issues of the book. She’s not going to have the memories or emotional connection that go along with all of her previous adventures in this series, or the original “Phalanx Covenant” crossover that introduced the character. All of those feelings are now inside the new Penance, who’s still mute, and isn’t the same Penance from the past thirty-nine issues, either.

While Lobdell’s original idea had more potential, I’m not entirely sold on it either. His initial idea was that the St. Croixs’ father was obsessed with the number two after the loss of his twins. If his twins were really Monet, then where did Monet come from? Mr. St. Croix treats Monet as his daughter, but are we to believe that he’s raised her from birth? If so, what happened to the original Monet after the twins merged and took on her identity? Perhaps this was all a part of a plotline he’d already worked out, but I wonder just how long it would’ve taken him to spell out all of the details.

This is comics, folks. You can’t just introduce a “mean girl” with superpowers and let her agitate her fellow teammates as a part of an entertaining group dynamic. You have to add mystery, and you have to drop vague hints for years, hints that will later be misinterpreted by future creators, leading to the mess you see above. That’s how comics should be done, and you know you’re doing it right when you’ve lost around a quarter of your audience along the way.

GENERATION X #39 - June 1998

Return from Forever

Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Terry Dodson w/Dan Lawlis (penciler), Rachel Dodson w/Jon Holdredge (inker), Comicraft (letters), Felix Serrano (colors)

Summary: Dirtnap explodes, unleashing the elements of M-Plate: the St. Croix twins and Emplate. Chamber attacks Emplate, unaware his energy burst will destroy the Citadel. As the Citadel collapses, Emplate and DOA teleport away, while Gen X boards the train with Elwood. Synch and Penance disobey orders and stay behind to free Gaia. Gaia takes them through a hidden Warp Chamber, as the Token leads Skin and Emma to a train station, where they’re reunited with the team. Meanwhile, Synch, Penance, and Gaia emerge from the Warp Chamber in the diner. Synch encounters Dorian and Weasel, who mercilessly beat him.

Continuity Notes: The Token possesses some form of magical power that enables him to lead Emma and Skin to a train station that magically appears under the Biosphere’s treehouse. Gaia runs away as soon as she reaches Earth, and Penance follows Synch’s order to chase her. Dorian and Weasel are angry at Synch for causing a mess when he falls through the Warp Chamber. They throw in a “boy” when talking to him before suddenly turning violent.

Review: Wow, this never ends. This story has so many disparate elements, just touching base on each thread takes up over half of the issue. Taken on their own, most of these ideas have potential. Gaia feels she has an obligation to stay in the Citadel, even as it collapses. Synch risks everything to save her, granting her her first taste of freedom. Dirtnap learns about friendship and honor from the team (who don’t seem broken up about his apparent death, by the way). The daughter of the police chief blackmails her way into the school and runs into an extradimensional Token. Two teenage punks discover a Warp Chamber in the local diner. All of these stories could work as Generation X issues…but why are they all crammed into the same arc? And why shove all of them into the origin story of M, Penance, and Emplate? What do Tokens, or Universal Amalgmation, or Synch getting a beatdown by local hoodlums have to do this? This is the major mystery that goes back to the first issue of the series, and instead of focusing on the central characters in the story, the series devotes issue after issue to unrelated, half-formed ideas. I disagree with the people who hated these issues with a burning passion, but I can understand why they were disappointed.

GENERATION X #37-#38, April-May 1998

In Dark Woods, the Right Road Lost

Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Andy Smith (penciler), Sean Parsons (inker), Comicraft (letters), Mike Rockwitz (colors)

Summary: At the Citadel of the Universal Amalgamator, M-Plate unveils a girl strapped to an altar. M-Plate demands Synch copy her powers. Elsewhere, Dirtnap guides Banshee, Husk, and Penance into a strange, cold dimension. They find warmth inside a train, which they take to the Citadel. Meanwhile, Elwood the Pooka, Chamber, and Jubilee continue their search for Synch. They fall from the sky into a world named “Moria,” landing on train tracks just as their teammates’ train races into the dimension. On Earth, Chief Authier gives Skin and Emma advice on how to deal with a Token, before taking Dorian and Weasel to Mr. Timmons’ diner for community service.

Continuity Notes: The diner has a “WC” room, a la the Landau, Luckman, & Lake warp chambers. When Skin and Emma check inside the treehouse, they find Tracy having a polite tea party with Artie, Leech, and the Token. Last issue, the kids were shackled with energy-chains. Also, Police Chief Authier seems to have lost interest in finding Tracy rather quickly.

Miscellaneous Note: The title of this issue is a reference to Robert Pinksy’s translation of Dante’s “Inferno.”

Review: It’s another issue of wacky dimension-hopping, not-so-capably rendered by fill-in artist Andy Smith. Hama’s script is filled with images that a credible artist should’ve had a field day with (such as the Snark, a monster that resembles a T-Rex until four eye-tentacles emerge when Chamber blinds it, and later runs around without its head when Chamber really lets loose), but Smith is way too green to pull this off. Even overlooking the subpar art, the story’s essentially a mess at this point. If the point of this story is to reveal M’s long-awaited origin, why is so much of the focus on Pookas, Tokens, Snarks, Chimera and her Plasma Wraiths (who have disappeared in-between issues), alternate dimensions, teenage punks, cosmic trains, LL&L warp chambers, and Dirtnap? The story has split off into so many diversions, it’s hard to focus on any one thread and care anything about it. Some of the character work is still nice, such as Banshee explaining the concepts of honor and loyalty to Dirtnap when he questions why they’re risking their lives for Synch, but even this moment makes little sense. Dirtnap started this arc as a villain, suddenly helped the heroes last issue by taking them to another dimension to find Synch, and now abruptly questions why they’re on this dangerous mission and wants out. Unlike some fans, I don’t mind a Wolverine character like Dirtnap showing up in the book, but at least try to keep whatever character arc you have in mind for him consistent from issue to issue.

Mystery Train

Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Dodson (inker), Comicraft’s Liz Agraphiotis (letters), Felix Serrano (colors)

Summary: Banshee hits the breaks and narrowly avoids running down Elwood, Chamber, and Jubilee. When the train accelerates to escape a giant spider, Dirtnap falls out of a window, but is rescued by the team. At the Citadel of the Ultimate Amalgamator, Chimera is reduced to ashes when she questions M-Plate’s plan to amalgamate the entire universe. The train finally reaches the Citadel, but M-Plate captures the heroes. Elwood boosts Dirtnap’s power, allowing him to swallow M-Plate. On Earth, Tracy explains that the Token can help Gen X find their friends, while Dorian and Weasel enter the restricted WC room.

Continuity Notes: Hey, Chimera's back. The enchained mutant girl from the last issue is identified as Gaia, and according to the recap page, she’s supposed to be the protector of the Citadel. She claims that her galaxy was wiped out when she refused to let others use her powers for evil. She also says that her chains are her responsibility and she isn’t “meant to be free.” According to Tracy, the Token was originally “miffed” that the students were trespassing on his property, but after talking to him, they’ve become friends.

“Huh?” Moment: On the opening splash page, Banshee is described as “co-member of a group of fledgling mutants.” I assume they meant “co-teacher.”

Review: Well, Terry Dodson’s arrived, so that solves the “ineffectual artist” problem that’s plagued the series for over six months at this point. The book’s still crazy, though, and not in the charming or cheerful way I’m sure it was intended to be. Although the various threads are starting to come together, the story isn’t much different from the previous issues. If you really like seeing a divided cast go on wacky alternate reality adventures, goofy anthropomorphic fantasy characters, and a vaguely defined villain and his/her vaguely defined plan, this is for you. I’m sure I would’ve enjoyed this arc more if Dodson drew the entire story, but I still think it’s a questionable idea that’s dragged on for too long. Although the Lobdell issues had their share of silliness, the stories still left room to focus on the cast. Hama does work in some characterization, such as Synch’s interaction with Gaia (she’s angry he briefly went along with M-Plate’s plan after he/she threatened Synch’s teammates; he responds that “the universe and all sentient beings is too abstract a notion compared to the suffering of my friends”), but there are so many threads going on, the characters are definitely taking a backseat to the plot.

X-MAN: ALL SAINTS DAY - November 1997

Credits: Ben Raab (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Dodson (inker), Comicraft (letters), Lee Ann Garner (colors)

Summary: X-Man befriends Jerome, a terminally ill boy, in the park. Hearing word of a Transylvanian doctor with the secret to eternal life, X-Man travels by train to meet her. He encounters Sebastian and Teresa, Interpol agents secretly posing as newlyweds in need of Dr. Cindy von Mort’s help. X-Man accompanies them to von Mort’s castle, where he soon discovers von Mort’s true identity as the eternal Absynthia. Teresa is killed by Absynthia’s followers, Augustine and Boniface, after discovering one of her kidnap victims. Sebastian helps X-Man defeat Absynthia, but his grief over Teresa’s death pushes him into suicide. With Absynthia in custody, X-Man returns home to spend time with Jerome. He realizes they must make the most of the time they have left.

Continuity Notes: Absynthia reveals that she was a countess obsessed with cheating death after losing her young husband. After giving up, Diablo appeared, offering her a suicide potion that would reunite her with her husband. Instead, the potion granted her eternal life. She now recruits followers to aid her vendetta against Diablo.

Production Notes: Forty-eight pages. Prestige format. Six dollars.

I Love the ‘90s: X-Man also exclaims “NOT!” while taunting Absynthia. Was “NOT!” really still around in 1997?

Review: X-Man got a six-dollar prestige format book? X-Man?! I’ll give the creative team credit for producing a story that’s miles above the average quality of the monthly series, but I don’t think “X-Man” and “prestige” should ever be used in the same sentence. Ben Raab writes the character for what I believe is the first time, bringing a different interpretation than what we’ve seen in the regular series. Raab writes X-Man as a prototypical teenage hero; he isn’t snotty or irrational, but instead fairly good-natured and willing to help the random people he comes across. X-Man doesn’t usually speak in slang (which makes sense, as he comes from a hellish alternate reality overseen by a genocidal maniac), but he now sounds like a cast member on an early WB drama, to the point that he even refers to little Jerome as “m’man” or “m’man J.” This is slightly annoying the first time it happens, but Raab doesn’t let up. Every time X-Man thinks about the sick little kid, it’s “m’man needs help” or “I hope m’man J is able to live a long life.” I can understand Raab’s desire to make X-Man more likeable, but it’s pretty obnoxious.

Ideally, a prestige format story has something to say about the lead character, which puts Raab in an awkward position since the best things to say about X-Man probably came out of Peter Wisdom’s insults when Warren Ellis used the character in X-Man. Raab picks up on the idea that Absynthia is experimenting on her kidnap victims, much as Sinister experimented on X-Man in his reality, which inspires X-Man to stop her. Jerome’s terminal illness also parallels X-Man’s “burnout” problem, which will allegedly kill him before he’s eighteen. The story doesn’t spend a lot of time with the concept, but pairing him with a kid who’s also dealing with his own mortality is a solid idea. X-Man learns that he isn’t the only person with problems, and can perhaps learn some lessons that don’t involve giant explosions. If only the regular series explored this type of a story. Although the monthly title has mostly ignored X-Man’s feelings on death, it is a major theme of this story. Absynthia was cheated out of death, X-Man wants to fight death on Jerome’s behalf, Teresa is murdered, and Sebastian joins her in death; submitting to the desire that caused Absynthia’s dilemma in the first place. Just think, Marvel hired someone to write an incidental X-Man one-shot, and he actually put thought and effort into it.