X-MEN/WILDC.A.T.S - THE DARK AGE - May 1998

Credits:  Warren Ellis (writer), Mat Broome w/Bret Booth (pencils), Sean Parsons (inks), Wendy Fouts & Wildstorm FX (colors), Comicraft’s Dave Lanphear (letters)

Summary:  In 2019, the surviving members of the X-Men and WildC.A.T.S are kept in concentration camps by the Daemonite/Sentinel hybrids.  Warblade removes his power-dampener in order to cut out the other heroes’ inhibitors, knowingly sacrificing his life.  Led by Lord Emp and Shadowcat, the heroes break into a Daemonite/Sentinel facility and free Phoenix, Cable, and Savant.  Merging their powers with Lord Emp’s, they execute their plan to travel into the past and prevent their teams from forming, which will stop the Daemonites and Sentinels from ever merging.  As they enter the timestream, Wolverine and Grifter arrive from Canada and bomb the facility.  Reality warps, then returns to normal in the present day.

Gimmicks:  A variant cover laid out by Michael Golden was also released, although the pencils and inks were provided by Richard Bennett, which probably didn’t thrill anyone expecting a Michael Golden cover.

Review:  Yet another take on “Days of Future Past,” which I suppose isn’t a surprise considering that every chapter so far has moved up and up the timeline.  Warren Ellis predictably wrings every drop of bleakness he can out of the concept, but while he’s an obvious choice to write a dark science fiction story set in the future, casting Mat Broome as artist is a questionable decision.  The previous chapters consistently featured the best artists working for Wildstorm during these days, which is a list Mat Broome (especially the Mat Broome of 1998) can’t compete with.  He seems to be going for a Travis Charest look on many pages, which unfortunately leads to needlessly elaborate layouts and pointless insert panels that ruin the flow of the page.  And while his designs for the alien/robotic technology are kind of impressive, his human figures are often too flat and awkward to be taken seriously.  And the bondage outfits he’s designed for the future X-Men, especially Wolverine, would make even Joel Schumacher roll his eyes.  

Ellis’ story covers much of the ground you expect these “Days of Future Past” sequel/parody/pastiches to go, right down to the team’s leader making a dramatic entrance in a wheelchair (previously it was Magneto, then Peter Wisdom, now WildC.A.T.S’s Lord Emp.)  Taking the Daemonites from WildC.A.T.S continuity and merging them with the Sentinels isn’t a bad idea, helping to make the story less obviously an X-Men story and adding a science fiction element that we haven’t really seen in any of the mutant dystopian futures yet.  Ellis also has a nice hook for the time travel element of the story, as Shadowcat explains that the Daemonites and Sentinels only exist because of the WildC.A.T.S and X-Men respectively, so the best way to ensure they never merge is to go back in time and prevent the teams from forming.  (Somehow, in the course of one page, the plan changes to prevent just one team from existing, and the WildC.A.T.S volunteer, but I think the concept is still interesting.)  Simultaneously, Wolverine and Grifter arrive, totally ignorant of what’s going on, and just blow up the Daemonite/Sentinel base.  Oops.  The ending makes little sense, but I guess the idea is that all of the previous X-Men/ WildC.A.T.S have been wiped from continuity.  That’s one way to end a series of crossovers that was never going to “count” in the first place.  

Overall, despite a few good ideas, The Dark Age is the weakest of the X-Men/ WildC.A.T.S books.  Aside from the disappointing art, the story wastes too much time gratuitously killing off established Wildstorm characters instead of fleshing out the main cast or actually exploring some of the time travel ideas introduced by the plot.  Alan Moore already did a “Days of Future Past” riff in the Spawn/ WildC.A.T.S miniseries that included quite a few superfluous death scenes for the Wildstorm heroes…I don’t need to see yet another gruesome slaughter of a character I barely recognize from 1995.  The cast also lacks any real diversity, as everyone does little more than snap and swear at each other, when they’re not busy bemoaning their wretched existence.  It gets old fast.  The previous chapters might’ve been thin reads, but I think they’re genuinely entertaining in a way this isn’t. 

WOLVERINE ANIME and BLADE ANIME on DVD

Review copies provided by the studio.

When the Marvel/Madhouse anime projects were announced a few years ago, I thought Wolverine was going to be a one-off movie, starring an extremely off-model Wolverine, and I had no idea Blade was even under consideration. As it turns out, Wolverine and Blade were both ongoing series, and they’ve already aired in America on G4. I only know this now because the series are being released on DVD, which the 99% of the nation that can’t watch G4 anymore might appreciate.

Following that original teaser, most of the responses I heard regarding Wolverine were complaints about the design of the character. And, while Madhouse abandoned the Wolverine-in-name-only look from the original teaser, the design for the regular series is still likely to annoy purists. Wolverine should not be tall, thin, and fifteen. He probably shouldn’t be voiced by a young, handsome actor trying to sound gritty, either. The justification for the redesign is that Madhouse has externalized Wolverine’s inner “James Dean” persona, which is certainly an odd rationalization. Isn’t Wolverine supposed to be Dirty Harry?

The story (written by Warren Ellis), however, does bring the character closer to familiar territory. The series is essentially an adaptation of the original Claremont/Miller Wolverine miniseries, stretched out over twelve episodes. Ellis uses the extra space to touch on various other elements we’ve seen in the comics. Flashbacks to his secret agent days, a Weapon X callback or two, a new female sidekick, Madripoor, and…Omega Red? Yes, there now exists in the world a big-budget anime project that prominently features Omega Red. And Madhouse does an incredible job bringing the Jim Lee design to life. I wish the rest of the designs were as loyal to the original comics, but I guess that’s my western bias showing through.

If you want uncensored Wolverine claw action, this is for you. However, the action often comes at the expense of story. The plots of several episodes are amazingly thin, testing the patience of anyone who doesn’t want to see twenty straight minutes of Wolverine cutting up Madripoor pirates. Obviously, adapting four comic issues into 250 minutes of television is going to require some filler, but the pacing of the show is absolutely glacial at times.

Blade isn’t a specific adaptation, which leaves Ellis free to do a “wandering warrior” take on the character. According to the DVD extras, the vampires in the story are taken from various vampire myths found in Asia, which is a welcome break from the standard Victorian interpretation. These vampires are absolutely freaky, and perfectly suited for Madhouse’s animation style. Blade’s been redesigned with head and face tattoos, along with earrings, making me wonder if this came from the Japanese producers or Marvel employees who wanted to add “edge” to the project. He doesn’t look totally ridiculous, thankfully. His redesign is easier to accept than Wolverine’s, at least.

Ellis doesn’t seem to have a novel take on the character, he’s essentially a brooding, silent hunter throughout the entire series, but the flashbacks in the earlier episodes help to flesh him out. I don’t know if this was ever established in the comics, but in the series, Blade’s partial motivation for hunting vampires is to make amends to the people he killed before he was able to control his own urges. Young Blade is an interesting, sympathetic figure…who’s barely in the show. Adult Blade mutely kills vampires, travels to another Asian location, then kills more vampires. The action’s great, the animation is beautiful, but like Wolverine, the focus is rarely on plot or character. As pure popcorn entertainment, they’re enjoyable, though. I’d again like to repeat my request for a Spider-Man anime, or maybe even Daredevil. If we can get an anime Omega Red, why not an anime Bushwacker?

X-MEN ANIME and IRON MAN ANIME on DVD

Review copies provided by the studio.

My satellite provider dropped G4 over a year ago, so I haven’t been able to watch the Marvel/Madhouse anime collaborations. (I’ve barely seen a reference to them online since the project was announced, making me wonder if G4 is somehow blocked in every comic fan’s home.) Thankfully, the X-Men and Iron Man series have been released on DVD, without any of the annoying clutter that G4 no doubt pastes all over the screen during pivotal moments of the episodes.

Both series are written by Warren Ellis, and apparently translated into Japanese by the Madhouse production staff, then translated back into English for the American airings. I initially thought these guys were very serious about making this authentic anime, since my DVDs were already set for Japanese language with English subtitles when I hit play. Only after watching the first X-Men episode did I realize that you can turn off the subtitles and listen to an English translation. And, surprisingly, the English dubs are very enjoyable. The X-Men receive some of their best voice acting ever, and the dubbed Iron Man is mercifully not the annoying voice chosen for the recent Avengers Disney XD cartoon. By the way, I wouldn’t be so quick to turn off the subtitles. The translated text often doesn’t match the spoken English dialogue, and some of the incongruities are interesting.

Much of the look of the X-Men series comes from the movies, while New X-Men and Astonishing X-Men serve as the main inspirations from the comics. Speaking as someone who doesn’t particularly like much of this new-fangled continuity, I’ll give Warren Ellis some credit for providing more reasonable rationalizations for many of the events he’s adapting (Emma Frost’s secondary mutation, for instance). His use of Armor as the latest replacement for Kitty Pryde also makes sense, giving the series an organic connection to Japan. One of the DVD extras features an interview with Madhouse’s producers, which reveals that they found Ellis’ original ending far too depressing (Warren Ellis, you say?) so they changed it to better reflect Japanese sensibilities. The story is still clearly Ellis, though, for better and for worse. The pacing of the series is leisurely to say the least, and the show never quite creates a balance between extremely long conversation scenes and extremely long fight scenes. Conversely, the character interactions work pretty well, the dialogue is often sharp, and the “horrors of science” villains blend perfectly with Madhouse’s art.

Iron Man might as well be named Iron Man: The Movie: The Anime. This is flagrantly the movie interpretation of the Iron Man mythos, minus Pepper Potts, whose role is downplayed in favor of two potential Japanese love interests. Visually, the series is amazing (with one glaring exception I’ll get to later), while the stories are mostly done-in-one action pieces that pit Iron Man against mech-influenced interpretations of the old Avengers villains, the Zodiac. It doesn’t pretend to be as deep as the X-Men series, but it’s very entertaining and I think most Iron Man fans will really enjoy it, although the return of one major character from Tony Stark’s past might infuriate them.

Now, these are absolutely beautiful cartoons. I would have to be a spoiled, obnoxious fanboy to complain about the visuals in these shows, but I will. Assuming that the X-Men movies have done well in Japan, I can understand going for an amalgam of the movie and Frank Quietly comics when designing the costumes. And, Cyclops’ ridiculous shoulder pads aside, these costumes look fine. And yet…the first episode opens with a flashback to the previous year, featuring the X-Men in their retro-style costumes from the early issues of Astonishing X-Men. Not only are these superior designs, but they finally bring us an anime interpretation of Wolverine in his cowl. I’ve wanted to see the “real” Wolverine animated anime-style since I was twelve…and I get it for about five seconds in this series.

The Iron Man series also has a design element that perplexes me. The producers have decided to do Iron Man’s armor as a CGI model, along with most of the mech villains he fights. These aren’t bad CGI models, of course, but I have no idea what they’re doing here. When the Iron Man anime series was announced, I think most of us had a very specific style in mind for the armor, and it wasn’t CG. When I think of anime, I think of the classic armor and robot designs from Robotech, Gundam, and Transformers: The Movie. There is a specific anime look for this material, and it’s not reflected by computer-generated models. Any animation studio could create a CG Iron Man -- the movies are filled with CG Iron Man models, so it’s not like we haven’t seen one -- I wanted to see a genuine anime Iron Man armor.

Those are all very fannish complaints, I understand. These shows are pure eye candy, and the stories are solid enough to attract fans of the comics and the movies. Hopefully, the DVDs are going to perform well, because I’d like to see a second season for each show. And maybe someday, we’ll be lucky enough to get a Madhouse interpretation of Spider-Man. This horrible Ultimate Spider-Man thing wouldn’t prevent a simultaneous Spider-Man cartoon, would it?

STARJAMMERS #1-#4, October 1995 - January 1996

Cepheid Variable

Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Carlos Pacheco (penciler), Cam Smith (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Joe Rosas & Malibu (colors)

The Starjammers occasionally show up in their own miniseries, usually with an X-Men branding on the cover. I believe one of the more ridiculous moments of the Jemas era was a Starjammers miniseries that was not only disconnected from the X-Men, but also disconnected from the existing Starjammers. (Remember Marvel’s sad attempts at launching new properties under old names?)

This is written by Warren Ellis, and not surprisingly, it has some connection with his work on Excalibur. The story has the Starjammers acting as rebels against the Shi’ar once again, ferrying Kree refugees to a neutral planet. I was disappointed to see the Shi’ar played as straight villains in the opening of the issue, but Ellis pulls back towards the end. Corsair (who wants to drop the name because it doesn’t suit him anymore) chides Hepzibah for destroying a Shi’ar ship when she didn’t have to, leading her to remind him of the Shi’ar slave camp where they first met. Corsair claims that Lilandra isn’t as bad as her mad brother D’Ken, which Hepzibah finds laughable. If you’re familiar with X-continuity, you know she’s wrong, but it’s true to Hepzibah’s character not to trust any Shi’ar after they conquered her race.

Why exactly the Shi’ar are occupying the Kree is attributed to their religion, which has two gods forced into an uncomfortable marriage that they eventually realize is beneficial. Religion comes up again as planets with religious systems are destroyed by the Uncreated. So, we’ve got Ellis working on his science fiction and religious themes, with Carlos Pacheco on art. There’s a little too much sci-fi babble for my tastes, but this does set up the conflicts well and there’s at least some variation on the ‘90s “Shi’ar-as-bullies” status quo.

Nebulae

Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Carlos Pacheco (penciler), Cam Smith (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Joe Rosas & Malibu (colors)

After losing a Shi’ar ship in battle, Lilandra declares war on the Uncreated. Soon, the Starjammers are caught in-between a Shi’ar battleship and an Uncreated vessel. The Uncreated fires on the Starjammers, forcing the Starjammers to respond, which announces their presence to the Shi’ar. Most of this issue consists of Carlos Pacheco drawing giant spaceships in combat, which suits his style very well. Ellis adds a bit of humanity, as the Starjammers spend a few pages fraternizing before going off on their mission. Corsair is upset that an alien beat him in a drinking contest because he has multiple bladders, and Raza gets angry at a coffee machine. There’s also more talk of religion, as Raza explains his people consider dying in combat the highest honor. Shi’ar experimentation has left him essentially immortal, which he considers a great insult.

Collapsar

Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Carlos Pacheco (penciler), Cam Smith (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Ariane Lenshoek & Malibu (colors)

The last issue’s cliffhanger is dismissed quickly, as the Starjammers escape from the Shi’ar. There’s more character work, as Corsair and Hepzibah debate the merits of living as pirates. Corsair is beginning to suspect that Hepzibah just wants the lifestyle and isn’t concerned about any specific causes. She’s also just as interested in killing the Uncreated as the Shi’ar, as she disobeys Corsair’s orders and drops bombs on both races as the Starjammers escape. Elsewhere, Ellis shows Lilandra’s reluctance to act against the Starjammers, making her more sympathetic than Hepzibah at least. Later, there’s some more techno-babble that leads to Ch’od uncovering the origin of the Uncreated by examining the wreckage of their vessel. The Uncreated are on a “reverse crusade,” killing all religious cultures because they feel faith in deities is “dangerously backward.” Ch’od wonders if they should save the Shi’ar from the Uncreated with this information, which is a smart way to tie the conflict back to the first issue.

I should point out that the art, colors, and production values are very impressive this issue. This was a “Marvel Select” miniseries, costing twice the normal price of a standard Marvel book during this era. I always thought the format was a rip-off, but this does at least look contemporary with something published today.

Nova

Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Carlos Pacheco (penciler), Cam Smith (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Joe Rosas & Malibu (colors)

The Starjammers never get a chance to educate the Shi’ar on the Uncreated, as the team discovers the Shi’ar and Uncreated are headed for a battle right above the neutral planet that serves as their base. Fearing a battle that would destroy the planet, Corsair and the Starjammers intercept the fight and generate a hologram of the Uncreated’s god, which they believed destroyed. The Uncreated commit suicide in horror, thus ending their threat to the cosmos. This might come across as a cheap ending, but Ellis has spent the past two issues setting up the Starjammers’ ability to create holograms, and putting a few obstacles in their path, so it doesn’t feel too contrived. Lilandra resumes Shi’ar protection over the Starjammers, and is blackmailed into avoiding any future imperialistic activities by a representative of the neutral planets (since the Shi’ar shouldn’t have traveled to this sector in the first place).

The main conflicts are resolved, but there is an ominous ending with the Phalanx threatening the cosmos. The origin of the Phalanx continuity confusion from the later Lobdell UXM issues begins here. Ellis seems to have mixed the Phalanx up with the Technarcy. The Phalanx were humans who infected themselves with the transmode virus, which they stole from the body of Technarcy refugee Warlock. Basically, Phalanx = human, Technarcy = alien. I’m guessing now that Lobdell’s later use of the Phalanx as aliens was intended as a follow-up to this dangling subplot.

Aside from the science fiction elements, which Ellis keep interesting for most of the run and are flawlessly rendered by Pacheco, the story also has its fair share of character moments. Corsair is humanized in a way we don’t normally see, as his desire to have a normal life is contrasted with Hepzibah’s violent nature. Corsair de-arms her command of her ship without her knowledge, and watches her disobey his orders and attempt to fire on the Shi’ar. At the end Corsair tries to convince himself that Hepzibah now realizes that she’s become an extremist and can be saved, which Ellis paints as slightly delusional. I also like some of the political intrigue within the Shi’ar. Lilandra’s ministry of peace, T’Cahr, turns out to be a self-serving, imperialist thug who has to be arrested at the story’s end. This is a stock plot element, but T’Cahr stands out because he’s a friend of Lilandra’s late brother D’Ken. Realistically, the Shi’ar Empire couldn’t go from fascist to magnanimous overnight, so it’s reasonable that elements loyal to D’Ken (who are shown secretly plotting against Lilandra on the final page) would still exist. The idea that Lilandra is dealing with rogue elements within her empire, and the pressures of her own religious beliefs, makes her a more believable character. This interpretation of the Shi’ar Empire is much preferable to the bullies who occasionally showed up in the ‘90s.

PRYDE & WISDOM #1- #3, September - November 1996

Mystery School

Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Karl Story (inker), Ariane Lenshoek & Malibu (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Warren Ellis’ run on Excalibur occasionally turned into a Pryde and Wisdom team-up book, so it’s fitting that this mini ran during his final days on the series. The story has Kitty Pryde and Pete Wisdom searching for a mutant serial killer who’s targeting ministers and priests. They’re brought into the case by Mr. Jardine, one of Wisdom’s friends who’s worried about his daughter, a photojournalist who is also investigating the case. The duo gets into contact with the Mystery School, the police department that investigates unusual deaths. The victims’ bodies have strange markings, which Wisdom believes only his family could identify. Throughout the story, men in black try to kill Pryde and Wisdom, providing the standard action sequences. Ellis leaves a lot of room in the story for the lead characters to interact, playing up the “good girl/bad boy” relationship while moving the plot along and throwing in some action. The characters have enough personality to make this work, and Terry Dodson delivers his usual high-quality artwork.

Mystery Walk

Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Terry Dodson & Aaron Lopresti (pencilers), Simmons, Pinnock, Lopresti , & Martin (inkers), Ariane Lenshoek & Malibu (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

The issue opens with the introduction of Harold Wisdom, Pete Wisdom’s father. He’s a deranged, paranoid old man who’s played for comic relief. Ellis writes British, old, and crazy very well, so it is pretty funny. Harold suggests they contact Pete’s sister if they want to know what the markings on the bodies mean. After leaving his father’s house, Wisdom has one of his spontaneous “softer” moments and tells Kitty about his mother’s death (he feels guilty because she was waiting by the window for him to visit, which he had no plans of doing, when a spree killer suddenly shot her).

After returning to their hotel, Pryde and Wisdom fight off more attackers, then make out on the couch. Wisdom’s sister, Romany, abruptly enters. They escort her to the Mystery School, where she uses her occult knowledge to converse with one of the victims. After reading the symbol on his body, she discerns that the killer believes himself to be Cain, humanity’s first murderer. When Wisdom casually mentions John Gideon, an agent he briefly met last issue, the Mystery School staff suddenly races to a nearby pub in a panic. There, a woman pulls a gun on them. Ellis is doing a good job of building the mystery, dropping in just enough vague clues and cutaway scenes without making them an annoyance. Even if you’re not interested in trying to piece together the pieces of the mystery, the main story has enough humor and action to keep things entertaining.

Mystery Train

Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Terry Dodson & Aaron Lopresti (pencilers), Simmons, Pinnock, Lopresti , Martin, & Martin (inkers), Ariane Lenshoek & Malibu (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

The armed woman in the pub is never named, but she identifies herself as Britain’s answer to Charles Xavier. She wants mutants to keep a low profile in Britain for their own protection (she also confesses to sending people to kill Pryde and Wisdom in the previous issues to keep them off the case), and wants to be the one to take down the mutant serial killer. A conversation between her and the Mystery School police reveals that the killer is John Gideon. Gideon is an unhinged Mystery School agent who called in to work earlier from the pub, bragging that he met a woman. After Kitty knocks out the Xavier wannabe, everyone travels to Gideon’s home. There, they discover Mr. Jardine’s daughter, Amanda, who placed herself as bait in the pub. Harold Wisdom has also arrived, after deducing the killer’s identity. Gideon uses his powers on Harold, fossilizing his left arm. Kitty chases Gideon into the subway (or “tube” as it’s apparently called), which of course leads to a train collision. Gideon refuses Kitty’s help and apparently dies in the crash. Later, Wisdom has a tense goodbye with his family members and threatens to kill Kitty for suggesting he meet her family.

Intercut with the serial killer storyline are more revelations about Pete Wisdom’s family. Just to drive the point home that Wisdom is secretly a softie, it’s revealed that he refused to see his mother earlier because she told him she never loved him, and that he’s been secretly paying his father’s rent for years. When Gideon threatens Wisdom’s father, he of course steps up to the plate and defends the man he doesn’t like very much. I don’t mind the occasional glimpses of humanity, but I do think revealing that he disliked his mother because she openly hated him is a little much. That virtually absolves him for not visiting her the day she waited by the window, making it a less significant part of his backstory. I also wonder what the point of “Britain’s Xavier” was supposed to be, outside of serving as a throwaway explanation for most of the earlier action sequences. It seems like Ellis had plans for her (for no real reason, he throws in that she’s an alchemist who's older than she seems), but her appearance is so rushed it’s hard to get a feel for the character. Aside from those minor complaints, this is a fun series that’s on the level with Ellis’ best Excalibur issues. Actually, because it’s only three issues long, the pace moves along faster and the gratuitous padding that occasionally made its way into Excalibur is absent. The basic idea of a serial killer who thinks he’s Cain, writing an apology letter to God on dead bodies, is a great starting point, and Ellis manages to use it as a nice introduction for the Wisdom family.

WOLVERINE #121 - #122, February 1998 – March 1998

Not Dead Yet, 3 of 4

Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Edgar Tadeo & Gerry Alanguilan (inkers), Jason Wright (colors), Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: As Wolverine escapes the city, he’s attacked by assassins with adamantium bullets. He claws through them and heads deeper into the woods, hoping to find McLeish. A flashback to Hong Kong shows Wolverine saying goodbye to his girlfriend, Ai-Chia. She refuses to touch him, knowing now that he’s as much of a killer as McLeish. In the present, Wolverine passes a recording of McLeish’s voice. In the trees, he discovers the body of Ai-Chia. Wolverine explodes in anger, promising to give McLeish his animal side.

Review: Wow, this really is padded. It’s hard not to notice how slowly the story’s going when almost every page only has three or four panels, or is a splash page. The flashback with Ai-Chia is interesting, since it least raises the question of why Wolverine would go drinking with someone like McLeish in the first place. He doesn’t have much of a defense outside of his claim that they were a part of a similar lifestyle. This bothered me the first time I read the issue, but the final chapter does make an effort to redeem Wolverine (albeit in a rather predictable way). Since the plot is so thin, the art is left to carry a lot of the issue. Yu certainly excels at drawing things like motorcycles and guns, so at the very least it’s a nice looking book.

Not Dead Yet, 4 of 4

Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Edgar Tadeo (inker), Jason Wright (colors), Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: Wolverine follows McLeish’s trail to a small village, where every citizen is dead. He’s confronted by a young man who claims to be McLeish’s son. He says that McLeish died years ago, and he was the one who mimicked his voice on the recordings. Wolverine kills him, and walks deeper into the house. He tells McLeish to show himself. A feeble McLeish emerges, revealing his revenge plan that’s been ten years in the making. When he lunges at Wolverine, he’s quickly killed. Wolverine disposes of the body, wondering if he really isn’t any different than McLeish.

Review: More slow-motion storytelling. It’s not that this is a bad premise for a storyline, since it does manage to say a few things about Wolverine’s character and it suits Yu’s art style, but there’s no way this should’ve ran for four issues. To his credit, Ellis does add a few twists to the story. After McLeish tells Wolverine that everything he’s heard tonight is a lie (which means the man who attacked him earlier wasn’t McLeish’s son), Wolverine responds that he actually did know McLeish’s son, and killed him years earlier. After McLeish is dead, Wolverine admits that he was lying, also. He killed him with “lies and fear”, which is exactly what McLeish wanted to do to Wolverine. The idea that Wolverine is just as ruthless as any other killer isn’t a new one, but it does at least turn the climax a little more than just an action scene. I like the use of the fake son during the opening scene, since he provides a plausible explanation for the previous events of the story, shortly before Ellis goes for the more conventional comic book revelation that McLeish actually is alive. The final twist is the revelation that Wolverine was working undercover for the Canadian government the entire time he was close to McLeish. It’s not that big of a surprise, but I prefer it over the implication in the earlier issues that he just liked hanging around the old killer. As a climax, this is readable enough, but it suffers from the same decompression that marred the previous issues.

WOLVERINE #119 - #120, December 1997 - January 1998

Welcome to the all-new, all-different Not Blog X, which is remarkably similar to the old one. I’m going to continue reviewing the main X-titles until the end of the Alan Davis run, which will take us to early 2000. My current plan is to write shorter reviews and cover at least two issues in each post, with updates on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. When it’s over, this site should be a fairly comprehensive review of the ‘90s era of the X-Men, even though I will be missing out on many of the spinoffs from the late ‘90s. After I’m finished with the X-Men, I’m sure I’ll find other things to write about.

Not Dead Yet, 1 of 4

Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Edgar Tadeo (inker), Jason Wright (colors), Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: In the past, Wolverine spends time with McLeish, a Scottish hitman, in Hong Kong. After McLeish kills the movie producer father of Wolverine’s girlfriend, Wolverine seeks revenge. After breaking his back and triggering an explosion that sends McLeish to the bottom of the harbor, Wolverine assumes he’s dead. In the present, Wolverine returns home to his apartment to discover the body of a local homeless man. A bomb with admantium shards explodes, leading Wolverine to question if McLeish is still alive.

Miscellaneous Note: According to the Statement of Ownership, average sales for the year were 251,738 copies with the most recent issue selling 214,991.

Review: This is the start of Warren Ellis’ four-part run. Marvel publicly hinted that Ellis might become the regular writer, even though he always claimed he was only going to do four issues. This is virtually an entire issue spent on selling McLeish as a credible threat to Wolverine, so you end up with pages of dialogue with the character describing all of the kills he’s made since he was thirteen. It really is overkill, but it fits the nature of the story. A lot of these elements have been done to death over the years (character from Wolverine’s past returns for vengeance, flashbacks to Wolverine’s days before the X-Men, another previously unseen girlfriend), and I can’t say that this felt particularly fresh even in 1997. It’s entertaining as a straightforward action story, though. Ellis removes virtually any superhero trappings from the story, which gives Yu’s detail-oriented, more realistic style some room to show off. Certainly not a bad start for a filler run.

Not Dead Yet, 2 of 4

Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Edgar Tadeo (inker), Jason Wright (colors), Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: Wolverine escapes the explosion and flees the city. Two hitmen allegedly sent by McLeish crash cars into him, but Wolverine manages to suppress his rage and spare the life of the surviving driver. He faces another hitman while picking up his motorcycle from a garage, and avoids killing him, also. As Wolverine drives out of town, a man in the shadows awaits his arrival.

Review: I seem to recall feeling that this storyline was unnecessarily padded, and this issue is the first hint. The plot consists of Wolverine avoiding hitmen while flashing back to a few of his conversations with McLeish. There’s no real connection between the flashbacks and the main story, outside of reaffirming that Wolverine isn’t comfortable with McLeish’s work, and establishing that McLeish knows about Wolverine’s berserker rage. The idea is that McLeish is doing everything he can to push Wolverine over the edge so he’ll no longer think like a rational human, which will make him an easier target. Giving Wolverine enough credit to figure this out adds another element to the story, forcing him to once again fight against his baser instincts. None of these are bad ideas, there’s just not enough here to justify twenty-two pages. Giant panels of Wolverine getting smashed by cars are fine, but large drawings of snowy hamlets and shadowy old men in rocking chairs feel like cheats.

EXCALIBUR #103 – November 1996

Bend Sinister Reprise
Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Carlos Pacheco (penciler), Scott Koblish & Bob Wiacek (inkers), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Ariane Lenshoek & Graphic Colorworks (colors)

Summary: Kitty Pryde wakes up and discovers that Muir Island is gone, and her room is in the middle of a small village. Leaving her bedroom, she discovers an elderly, despondent Colossus. Nightcrawler finds her and reveals that an alternate version of Kitty just tried to kill him. They look out of the window and see hundreds of alternate versions of Kitty, Nightcrawler, and Colossus. Colossus smashes through the wall, defeating one of his doppelgangers. The trio walks around the town, trying to discern what’s happened. After Kitty discovers what makes one of her alternates different from her, the doppelganger disappears. The trio confronts their alternates and makes them vanish by revealing which aspect of their personality they represent. After all of the alternates are gone, Kitty, Colossus, and Nightcrawler are sent back home. Belasco tells his prisoner, Margali, that he’s been testing them in preparation for their future confrontation. Back on Muir Island, Peter Wisdom confesses to Kitty that he loves her.

Continuity Notes: Belasco boasts that he has the Soul Sword now that Margali is his captive. Issue #101's revelation from Captain Britain that Peter Wisdom has to tell Kitty he loves her in order to change the future is undermined by a one-line joke. Captain Britain says, “He fell for it” when Wisdom confesses his love. Whether or not everything Captain Britain told Wisdom was a lie in the last issue is unclear. I’m relatively certain that he no longer had any flashes of the future after issue #100.

Creative Differences: Wisdom’s clothes are scattered around Kitty’s bed, even though the narrative caption claims that he’s sleeping across the hall. There were rumors for years that Ellis wanted to make Kitty’s relationship with Wisdom more explicit, but the editors wouldn’t go for it.

Miscellaneous Note: According to the Statement of Ownership, average sales for the year were 160,838, with the most recent issue selling 166,510 copies.

Review: Warren Ellis’ run on the title concludes with this issue. It’s not as strong as most of his previous issues, but it’s still fun. Having the cast meet alternate versions of themselves is a nice idea for a one-shot story, and the ending manages to tie everything back to Ellis’ early issues of the title. Ellis has always been able to give the cast distinctive voices, so it’s disappointing that the three major characters all speak in similar, sarcastic speech patterns for the entire story. The method used for vanquishing the duplicates isn’t fleshed out very well, and it leads to such rushed resolutions as Colossus realizing that he doesn’t have to give in to violence and Nightcrawler finally laughing again. However, the mystery of the story is executed well, and the setup gives Carlos Pacheco several cool things to draw. Not only are previous alternate reality renditions from this series and the Age of Apocalypse revived, but Pacheco also creates dozens of new takes on the three former X-Men. They’re reinvented as drunks, S&M freaks, priests, amongst other designs. My favorite is Colossus as a 1980s Communist officer. Overall, it’s a light read, but it has its moments.

EXCALIBUR #102 – October 1996

After the Bomb
Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Casey Jones and Rob Haynes (pencilers), Jason Martin & Scott Koblish (inkers), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Ariane Lenshoek & Malibu (colors)

Summary: The members of Excalibur reflect on the loss of the heroes during the Onslaught battle. Meanwhile, Colossus, Wolfsbane, and Amanda Sefton search for Margali Szardos at her home. The house is empty, but her maniacal laugh is in the air. Outside of a pub, Peter Wisdom and Kitty Pryde are attacked by representatives of the White House, who warn them to stay out of America. They take the leader of the group to Muir Island, and ship him off with the mutant criminals that Alistaire Stuart is taking into custody. A note attached to him says that he should be shipped back to the American embassy in a box.

Continuity Notes: The name of Alistaire Stuart’s new government agency is called “The Department”. The mutant prisoners on Muir Island (apparently, there’s eleven, even though Spoor is the only one that’s appeared on-panel) are shipped to The Department, which now has authority over them.

Review: Like last issue, this is mostly dedicated to having the cast react to the Onslaught event. Last issue, they were depressed that Xavier had turned into Onslaught. Now, they’re depressed about the apparent death of the non-mutant heroes, the rising anti-mutant sentiment in America, and Xavier’s inevitable arrest. Ellis handles the emotions well enough, there’s just barely anything else going on. The action comes from Peter Wisdom and Kitty Pryde fighting non-descript government agents for almost a third of the issue, and while Ellis plays it for laughs, it’s still pretty dull. The idea that the White House itself would send agents overseas just to tell some dirty mutants to stay out of America doesn’t work for me, because the only time the government has been shown to go after mutants indiscriminately is when rogue agents have been in charge. The government only officially sends Sentinels or troops after mutants accused of crimes, based on my recollection. The only time the federal government itself goes after all mutants is in dark, alternate futures, so Ellis’ treatment of the American government here seems mistaken (it reminds me of Mark Millar having the non-registered heroes arrested in Civil War, before the actual registration bill was passed). Aside from this complaint, there’s some nice character work in this issue, but it mainly feels as if Ellis is marking time until his last issue.

EXCALIBUR #101 – September 1996

Quiet
Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Casey Jones (penciler), Tom Simmons (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Ariane Lenshoek & Malibu (colors)

Summary: Excalibur returns from their mission in London and learns from Moira MacTaggert that Charles Xavier has gone mad. Onslaught’s EMP attack is keeping planes out of the air, preventing the team from flying to New York. Captain Britain suggests taking their medical craft to the outskirts of New York to provide medical care, but Nightcrawler tells him that it was damaged by Black Air. As the team reacts to Xavier’s transformation, Alistaire Stuart receives word that Black Air has been shut down. He’s been offered directorship of a new department that merges W.H.O., Black Air, and all paranormal research. He offers Rory Campbell the role of Mutant Liaison, which requires him to move off Muir Island. The team watches news reports about the blackout in New York, and tries to think of another way to help. Moira tells them that they are the last hope for Xavier’s dream, and demands that they stay away.

Continuity Notes: Captain Britain tells Peter Wisdom that his vision of the future that had Excalibur killed by Black Air couldn’t happen now, and it’s because Wisdom chose to join the team in this timeline. He also tells him that his visions of the future have stopped, inferring that all of them were visions of a reality where Wisdom never joined Excalibur. According to Captain Britain, Wisdom has to tell Kitty he loves her to make sure the future is altered.

Review: As the title implies, this is a “quiet” issue, which mainly exists to have the cast react to major events and finish up a few storylines. Black Air is dissolved off-panel, and Alistaire Stuart is returned to his previous status quo (although I’m sure Black Air has shown up again over the years). Rory Campbell gets a quickie resolution to his arc, as he’s suddenly given a job elsewhere that allows him to help mutants. This doesn’t work at all, since discovering and aiding new mutants gives Rory just as many opportunities to disdain them (and later become Ahab) as working at Muir Island would. The idea that Peter Wisdom’s presence on the team stops all of Brian Braddock’s visions of the future is also odd. The original idea had Braddock seeing visions from across the entire timestream. Claiming that just one character’s presence changes everything and cures Braddock of his visions elevates Wisdom to a ridiculously lofty position.

Ellis handles the team’s reaction to Onslaught well enough, although it seems like he’s stretching for a reason not to bring the Excalibur cast to New York. If the heroes really wanted to help out their friends, they would’ve found a way. The real reason why they aren’t helping is because Excalibur wasn’t scheduled to fully cross over with the other titles during the event. Why exactly I’m not sure, since the Demon in London story could’ve been shortened and the team brought to New York with everyone else, if that’s the way Marvel wanted to play it. Maybe someone still cared enough about quality to give Ellis room to finish his storyline comfortably and have it conclude with the anniversary issue. Even if the story has to find excuses to keep the team away from Onslaught, I am glad that this title didn’t have to waste an entire issue fighting Sentinels in New York, or crafting futile plots with the other heroes.

It’s interesting that Ellis explicitly states that half a million died in London during the demon’s attack, but the other X-writers refuse to acknowledge any casualties in New York during the Onslaught incident. In fact, one previous issue of the storyline even outright said that no one has died yet, thanks to the work of the heroes. This is of course absurd, as we’ve seen an electromagnetic pulse shutting down power across the city, Sentinels inciting panic in the streets (even if they’re only targeting superhumans), and numerous fires. It’s amusing that Ellis gives his storyline a massive body count, but his more traditional American counterparts won’t list any casualties. As we’ve seen over the years, Ellis’ darker, British sensibilities have prevailed in mainstream comics.

EXCALIBUR #100 – August 1996

London’s Burning
Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Casey Jones, Randy Green, & Rob Haynes (pencilers), Tom Simmons, Jason Martin, Rick Ketcham, & Rob Haynes (inkers), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Ariane Lenshoek & Jim Hoston and Malibu (colors)

Summary: Excalibur arrives in London, as the city riots under the demon’s influence. Outside of Black Air’s headquarters, Peter Wisdom spots Scratch running away. He demands that Nightcrawler drop him off so that he can take care of him. The rest of the team enters Black Air’s headquarters, where the agents are going mad. Wisdom and Scratch fight throughout London, and the battle doesn’t end until Lockheed burns Scratch with his fire-breath. Meanwhile, Amanda Sefton teleports on to Muir Island. She tells Moira MacTaggert that her mother, Margali Szardos, has taken a new body and used the Soul Sword to kill all of the magicians ahead of her on the Winding Way. Margali told her personally that there’s a devil under London and she’s going to control it. Amanda’s story is interrupted by the arrival of the X-Men, who inform Moira that Professor Xavier has gone insane. Moira takes them to a secret room Xavier kept under Muir Island. When they enter, a pre-recorded message from Xavier plays. He unveils the Xavier Protocols, which are detailed plans on how to kill any X-Man, should they go rogue. Included is a blueprint of an anti-psionic armor that should protect the wearer from Xavier’s powers.

Inside the Hellfire Club, Brian Braddock emerges in his Captain Britain uniform. The Black Queen, who has just killed the mad Black King, tells him that she’s immune to the demon’s influence because she’s a mutant. Captain Britain assumes she’s Mountjoy, but he’s attacked from behind by Scribe, who is actually the member overtaken by Mountjoy. Captain Britain uses his newly enhanced suit to defeat the Black Queen, leading Mountjoy to target him with mutant bullets. He evades the bullets and punches Mountjoy into unconsciousness.

Meanwhile, Excalibur faces techno-organic versions of the Brood, and the Red King, who is still in love with Margali. Nightcrawler defeats him in a sword fight, and soon discovers a comatose Margali, who is still connected to Douglock. Amanda Sefton teleports in, telling them that the demon under the city has to be contained. Amanda teleports with Wolfsbane under the city, where she uses her claws to sever the link between Douglock and the demon. Amanda then recreates the prison that caged the demon. Margali suddenly begins screaming and disappears. The team emerges and is saluted by the local authorities. Wisdom tells Nightcrawler that he’s used his connections to make sure they get the credit for saving London.

Miscellaneous Note: The title of this issue is a Clash song (and apparently a UK TV show).

Continuity Notes: The X-Men scenes are supposed to be a continuation of Uncanny X-Men #335, but it doesn’t work. Cannonball didn’t leave with this group of X-Men to travel to Muir Island, and Moira is only now learning about Xavier, even though she was told by videophone in the UXM issue. Excalibur were also shown in the meeting with Moira in that issue, but here they’re in London fighting the Hellfire Club. Moira also doesn’t know anything about the Xavier Protocols here, even though she’s the one who brought them up in UXM. While I’m nitpicking, I’ll also point out that Psylocke’s facial tattoo is missing.

In the Xavier Protocols, Xavier claims that the enhanced healing factor that resulted from Wolverine losing his admantium skeleton means that attacks that were lethal “three years ago” wouldn’t work now. Three years ago is the amount of real time since Wolverine lost the adamantium, so it seems as if Ellis might be under the impression that these stories happen in real time.

Brian Braddock unveils a newly designed Captain Britain uniform. He claims that it’s his previous costume, and he’s spent weeks altering it. I’m not sure what exactly happened to the Captain Britain uniform after he was lost in the timestream and came back (in another outfit) as Britanic. The narration says that the suit now enhances his inherit powers rather than restricting them (a reference to an old Marvel UK storyline). Captain Britain uses the forcefield that surrounds his suit to attack the Black Queen, which seems to be a new use of it.

The mutant bullets Mountjoy fires at Captain Britain are the ones allegedly designed by his father years earlier (first mentioned in Ellis’ earliest Excalibur arc). I’m not sure if this issue is supposed to clear the senior Braddock or not. Mountjoy says that Captain Britain’s father resigned from the Hellfire Club after he found out his designs had been sold to Genosha, because he thought that his theories were only being applied “to a benign mutant detector for the government.” If this is supposed to present him in a more sympathetic light, it still doesn’t address the earlier revelation that the bullets were taken from the actual body of a dissected mutant.

Mountjoy reveals that he infiltrated the Hellfire Club in order to take control of their demon project. He could then rule the world, and keep humans in pens as food. The Black Queen (the still-unnamed British one, not Selene) is presumably his accomplice, and is immune to the demon’s influence because of her psychic powers.

Review: I’ve always liked big anniversary issues that have a lot going on. This one certainly fits that bill, as we have Excalibur attacking Black Air’s headquarters, the revival of Captain Britain at the Hellfire Club, Wisdom’s street fight with Scratch, the return of Amanda Sefton, and some crossover material thrown in. Ellis has a huge cast here, but he tries to give each character something to do, even if it’s just assigning them specific threats to take care of (Meggan uses her elemental powers to disrupt the Brood-Phalanx, Shadowcat debugs Douglock, Colossus takes on the crazed Black Air agents, etc.). There’s not a lot of room for each character to shine, but I like the fact that there’s an effort to make each cast member seem useful. It makes the team feel less generic, and gives you sense that there’s more than a little thought being put into the action.

After so many months of leisurely buildup, it’s odd to read an issue with such a dense plot. I can see why Amanda Sefton’s revelations about her mother couldn’t have happened until Margali was revealed as the Red Queen, and reviving the Captain Britain persona is a great fit for a hundredth anniversary issue, but I think Excalibur’s infiltration of Black Air and the Wisdom/Scratch fight could’ve taken up at least some of the previous issue. (Even with all of the various threads, the issue rarely feels rushed, leading me to believe that Ellis could’ve created another storyline while building up to #100 and fit it organically into the previous issues.) I suppose you could argue that the Wisdom/Scratch fight goes on for too long in this issue, but it’s fun to read and it serves as a nice contrast to the “end of the world” drama happening in the other scenes.

The Onslaught tie-in is relatively unobtrusive, as the crossover is just used as an excuse to have the X-Men visit Muir Island and pick up some information. The previous issue implicated Onslaught in the Hellfire Club’s plan, but this issue thankfully ignores his role and just finishes the story. The Xavier Protocols scenes could’ve been a dull intrusion, but Ellis actually gives the scenes some emotional weight, as the X-Men realize that their mentor has spent a lot of time figuring out ways to kill them. The scene doesn’t offer any real judgment of Xavier for creating the files (and, considering how often heroes are mind-controlled, he had a reasonable justification for doing this), but instead just gives the X-Men a purely emotional reaction. Ellis also does an admirable job with Nightcrawler’s scene with Margali, when he realizes that his foster mother is responsible for what’s happened. It’s brief, but it works. Other moments, such as Brian’s return as Captain Britain, and Amanda’s repeated attempts to reach London and help the team, are memorable because Ellis' characterizations seem very real. The art also helps to sell the character’s emotions, along with the action. The pencils are split up amongst three artists and four inkers, but the art manages not to look like sloppy rush job. The final four pages aren’t as strong as the rest of the issue, which is a shame since that is the climax of the story, but it’s still a decent-looking issue.

EXCALIBUR #99 – July 1996

Fire with Fire
Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Casey Jones (penciler), Tom Simmons (inker), Ariane Lenshoeck & Malibu (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: Peter Wisdom explains to Excalibur that Douglock is probably already dead if Scratch has him. Meggan looks through the files Shadowcat stole from Black Air and notices payments to members of Parliament. Wisdom contacts his friends in the spy community and sends them proof of the bribe money Black Air used to gain power. In London, the column of fire begins to fade. Scribe explains to Brian Braddock that this is the testing stage of their plan, which involves the Red Queen magically accessing an ancient power source. The Black and Red Kings and Queens of the Hellfire Club travel to Black Air’s London headquarters to view the latest development of their project. The Red King unveils Douglock, who is being used to as a pure electronic link to their power source. As Excalibur flies into London to attack Black Air’s headquarters and find Douglock, Brian Braddock unpacks his Captain Britain helmet and prepares to face the Hellfire Club. Meanwhile, Onslaught asks the Black Queen if she’s ready for the upcoming gathering. Hours later, the Red Queen reveals herself as Margali Szardos and tries to use Douglock to access the demonic power underneath London. The power overtakes her body, and creates columns of fire throughout the city. The citizens of London go mad, as a giant devil emerges over the city.

Continuity Note: The mysterious package Sebastian Shaw gave Black Air in a previous issue is revealed. It’s described as “chips from a trident that…belonged to the devil’s son”. The Hellfire Club is using it as an interface connecting Douglock to the ancient crypt under the city. I suspect the trident referenced belongs to Damian Hellstrom, a character who is supposed to be the son of Satan (and one of the first Marvel characters Ellis handled).

Review: The pace picks up considerably in this issue, as the Black Air and Hellfire Club plotlines begin to converge, and the almost forgotten Margali Szardos thread is revived. Onslaught also gets thrown in, since this is an X-book and it’s summertime in the mid-90s, but it’s just a one-page cameo. I seem to remember the next issue tying in more closely with the crossover, but for now it’s not a distraction from Ellis’ story. Despite the fact that Ellis is still setting up the big anniversary issue fight, there’s also some attention paid toward the ongoing character arcs. Wisdom differentiates himself from his Black Air co-workers by claiming that he only killed people “in the life”, while others, like Scratch, were willing to kill innocents. He then tells an anecdote about beating Scratch’s face off when he learned that he had killed everyone inside a school to cover his tracks. It comes across as a pretty flagrant attempt at making Wisdom seem intimidating and vicious, but Ellis also uses it as an opportunity to emphasize the doubts that Kitty would realistically have about getting involved with him. Ellis continues his rehabilitation of Brian Braddock by teasing the return of his Captain Britain persona. It’s important to remember that Braddock was an Olde English speaking buffoon named Britanic when Ellis took over, so the return of his true persona has to be one of the highlights of Ellis’ run on the title. I wish he could’ve done more with Braddock, because Ellis seemed to have some affection for the character, and no one seemed to know what to do with him after Alan Davis left. Casey Jones returns again as the fill-in artist (even though the letters page assures us that Excalibur is still Carlos Pacheco’s “real home”). I like his sparse, stylized character designs, and he’s able to pull off some of the satanic images in Ellis’ script. The image of Margali Szardos’ eyes being replaced with the demon’s teeth is appropriately disturbing.

EXCALIBUR #98 – June 1996

Fireflies
Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Carlos Pacheco (penciler), Bob Wiacek (inker), Ariane Lenshoek & Malibu (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: Excalibur watches footage of Douglock’s abduction and plots their attack against Black Air. Peter Wisdom speculates that Douglock has been taken to their acquisition station in North Yorkshire. Soon, Meggan uses her elemental powers to disrupt the forcefield covering Black Air’s base and the team infiltrates. After easily taking over the base and causing massive property damage, Shadowcat hacks into their computer system and learns that Douglock isn’t there; he’s been assigned as agent Scratch’s responsibility. Nightcrawler gives the Black Air personnel five minutes to evacuate before Meggan forces the earth to swallow their base whole. Meanwhile, Brian Braddock receives word from the Hellfire Club’s Scribe that the Red King has led the club in a new direction. Their plans now revolve around the new Red Queen, who is a magician. Suddenly, sections of London explode. Elsewhere, scientists dismantling Douglock learn that he has information on the Legacy Virus.

Continuity Notes: The Black Queen identifies herself as “Ms. Steed” (a reference to the old Avengers TV show, I guess), making her the first member of the London branch to have more than a code name.

Review: This is an action-heavy issue that mainly serves as a showcase for Pacheco’s art. The action scenes are a little odd, as Black Air offers literally no opposition to Excalibur. There are a lot of explosions and bodies flying, but no real fighting. The story tries to justify this by saying that the Black Air agents are so powerful, they’ve just become used to getting away with whatever they want to do. You’d think that Ellis would’ve had the villains offer at least some resistance, though, rather than using the scene just to have Excalibur show off their powers. At the very least, Pacheco does an impressive job conveying the action. The end of the issue has some brief scenes touching base on the other plotlines. The Hellfire Club storyline advances slowly, as some hint of their plan is given (and a subplot about Brian possibly giving into his darker urges is introduced). The “Douglock has the key to the Legacy Virus” subplot, which was dropped as soon as it began, makes a surprising comeback on the final page. I don’t recall it going anywhere, but at least there was some effort to keep the idea from falling into total obscurity. Overall, it’s another issue that’s mainly setup, but some of the action is fun and the art isn’t bad at all.

STORM #1 – #4, February - May 1996

STORM #1 – February 1996

Sunburst & Snowblind

Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Karl Story (inker), Rosas, Lenshoek, & Malibu Hues (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: Storm walks across the mansion’s grounds, still upset about her decision to kill Marrow. She talks to Wolverine, who tells her that she had no choice. Storm questions if her inability to plan long-term lead to the Morlocks becoming Gene Nation. She talks to Cable about the Ceremony of Light, which she wants to perform to honor the Morlocks’ memory. She calls Forge, who is upset she won’t open up to him, and then leaves for the city. She finds the Morlock’s cathedral underneath the city and performs the Ceremony of Light. A space/time warp appears in front of her, and a hand emerges. Cable walks into the cathedral, looking for Storm, and discovers what appears to be her dead body, covered in debris. Elsewhere, Storm opens her eyes and realizes that she’s in the world Mikhail Rasputin took the Morlocks to months earlier.

Gimmicks: This is another installment in the “Marvel Select” series. Every issue has a cardstock foil cover and costs $2.95.

Continuity Notes: The Ceremony of Light was first referenced in Cable #15. It’s the yearly ceremony the Morlocks performed to bring light into their tunnels (later retconned into being a way to summon the Dark Beast). Marrow was apparently killed in Uncanny X-Men #325.

It’s virtually impossible to make this series fit into continuity, due to the debut of Storm’s new look in the last issue and Wolverine’s appearance throughout the series. Storm’s new haircut and costume don’t show up until the Onslaught crossover starts, which is after Wolverine #100. Wolverine #100 is the debut of his new bestial appearance and personality, which he doesn’t have in this mini. In order to make this fit, you have to figure that it takes place before Wolverine #100, and any instances of Storm with longer hair and her old costume from around this time are just art mistakes.

Review: I’m not sure what the point of a Storm miniseries was supposed to be, outside of the fact that X-related minis probably sold pretty well. Storm normally wasn’t the focus of the storylines during this era, and she often went issues at a time without making more than cameo appearances. I imagine she still had a decent fanbase left over from the Claremont era, and she was one of the stars of the immensely popular cartoon, so that might’ve played a part in the decision. The emergence of the “bad girl” trend and the presence of Terry Dodson on art might lead you to believe that this was supposed to be a cheesecake project, but there’s really no hint of sexiness here. Warren Ellis, from what I remember, once dismissed this mini on his website by saying that the art is pretty but there’s not a lot going on inside. The first issue mainly serves to reestablish her conflict from Uncanny X-Men #325, hint at a romance with Cable (something Jeph Loeb also tried in his solo series, but nothing ever came of it), and move her to the story’s main location. Not a lot is done with her character, outside of showing the burden leadership has taken on her and reviving the idea that she keeps her emotions distant from everyone else. It’s all capably handled, but not very interesting.

STORM #2 – March 1996

The Ghost Has No Home

Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Karl Story (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Ariane Lenshoek (colors)

Summary: Storm examines the barren, mountainous world. Acid rain begins to sprinkle from the sky, and she uses her powers to stop it. She discovers the first sign of vegetation she’s seen, a rose. Examining it, she realizes that it’s actually mechanical. Storm notices a group of settlements filled with mutants wearing hi-tech armor, similar to that worn by Gene Nation. After fighting the mutants off, one of them explains to her that this world is called the Hill. They travel up the Hill, fighting anyone higher above them on the mountain, and mating periodically to create stronger offspring to advance further. Storm flies to the top of the Hill, suspicious that Apocalypse might be behind the Darwinian world. She reaches the base at the top of the summit and discovers Mikhail Rasputin. He admits to being the one who brought her to this world and offers her the role of his queen. Meanwhile, Cable deals with his feelings over Storm’s apparent death and talks to Cyclops and Phoenix.

Review: It’s pretty much an entire issue dedicated to establishing the new world, as Storm wanders aimlessly throughout it. There’s not much of an attempt to connect the story to Storm’s character, outside of Phoenix reciting her backstory and reminding us of how strong Storm really is. Obviously the Hill setting is supposed to parallel the concepts of evolution and survival of the fittest, but that ties in with the X-Men in general more than Storm specifically. The introduction of sparse technology seems like a way to make the setting consistent with the clues given in Uncanny X-Men #325, but it doesn’t exactly work. If technology has advanced so far, why is this such a desolate, barren world? (Or is this supposed to be civilization after a major fall?) The story’s also filled with splash pages and large panels that slow the story down, even if the art looks nice.

STORM #3 – April 1996

The Tinderbox of a Heart

Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Karl Story (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Lenshoek & Hoston (colors)

Summary: Cable contacts Forge and tells him that Storm is dead. Forge is shocked, and reveals to him that he suspects Storm wanted to end their relationship. Inside the Hill, Storm rejects Mikhail. Mutants on lower levels of the Hill shoot her with a harpoon, and she responds with a lightning attack. Mikhail promises her that they’re not dead and that people only die of old age in this world. Mikhail takes Storm inside her castle and introduces her to Gene Nation, revealing that he has been sending them to Earth to conduct their terrorist acts. Callisto appears, jealous that Storm might take her place with Mikhail. She reveals that Mikhail killed a Gene National who looked like Storm when he saw her performing the Ceremony of Light on Earth. He then used her body to cover Storm’s entry into this world. When Callisto objected, Mikhail cast her down the Hill for being weak. Mikhail is suddenly overcome with pain, as a space warp appears behind him. Storm holds a blade to his throat and threatens to kill him if he doesn’t take her home. Gene Nation threatens to detonate their bomb and kill him if he’s weak and gives in to her demands.

Continuity Notes: Three of the Gene Nation members from Uncanny X-Men #325 (Hemingway, Sack, and Vessal) are back on the Hill. How they got back isn’t explained, although Mikhail’s ability to enter our world still hasn’t been clarified yet.

Mikhail claims that no one dies on this world, that their wounds are mysteriously healed, leaving only scars. This is contradicted a few pages later when Gene Nation threatens to kill Storm, and Callisto claims that Mikhail killed a female member in order to cover Storm’s entry. Mikhail also claims that time “moves in strange cycles” in this world and that it’s now moving slower than Earth time. This is also contradicted later in the issue, when he claims that Forge will already be dead of old age by the time Gene Nation arrives to perform their terrorist act against X-Factor’s headquarters. The story never resolves these inconsistencies.

Review: This is turning out to be extremely padded. The majority of this issue is spent recapping the previous two issues and reestablishing what Gene Nation is. The storyline tries to connect to Storm as a character by making her question if she’s responsible for the grim society the descendants of the Morlocks inhabit. That’s not a bad idea for a story, but her insecurities are barely dealt with, and there’s no human connection to what’s going on. All of the mutants in this world are sick and hideous, and it’s impossible to care about anything that happens to them. So far, the story has mainly consisted of Storm hanging around some crazy mutants and a few sentences of her wondering if she should be held responsible for what they’ve become. There’s not enough of an effort to make Storm sympathetic, and the plot itself isn’t particularly interesting.

STORM #4 – May 1996

She Will Destroy You

Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Karl Story (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Ariane Lenshoek & Malibu (colors)

Summary: Storm demands that Mikhail send everyone in the surrounding area back to Earth. He relents, and they reappear in the Morlock Tunnels. A few minutes beforehand, Cable arrived in the tunnels to pay his final respects to Storm. Mikhail’s teleportation portal drops the Gene Nationals right on top of him. Cable calls the X-Men for backup, as Storm creates a gust of wind to blow Gene Nation’s bomb away, sending it high above Manhattan before it explodes. When Callisto draws a gun on Storm, she blasts the gun with electricity, which sends hot debris into Callisto’s face. A scarred Callisto runs away and is greeted by Marrow. Mikhail teleports away, as Storm sends a bolt of lightning after him. The Gene Nationals mistakenly believe that she killed him, which gains her their respect. The X-Men arrive, and Storm declares that the Gene Nationals will be sent to Africa to help an impoverished village. After the team leaves, the Dark Beast declares revenge on Storm for foiling his plans for Gene Nation. Later, Storm introduces her new costume and hairstyle to Cable, Cyclops, and Phoenix.

Continuity Notes: This is the issue that reveals that Marrow didn’t die in UXM #325. The explanation given is that she has two hearts (which always felt extremely lame to me).

The Dark Beast is revealed as the person controlling Mikhail’s teleportation power, and the true force behind the Hill. He’s angry because he feels that Gene Nation was one year away from becoming his elite soldiers. He declares vengeance on Mikhail for failing and Storm for interfering, but I think nothing comes from this.

Review: The final issue manages to resolve Storm’s internal conflict, that her decisions never work in the long-term, by connecting it to an African village (inferred to be the one she encountered during Claremont’s run) suffering from short-term solutions that did more harm than good. It’s an adequate resolution, but like everything else in this series, it feels shallow. I’m not quite sure what the faked death angle was supposed to accomplish, other than to force Cable to reflect on Storm for several pages. Since their relationship (platonic or otherwise) never went anywhere, it feels a little pointless. Storm also asks Cable why they never verified that the body was hers, and he doesn’t have an answer. The throwaway explanation in the first issue was that her face was crushed by the debris and the authorities wouldn’t let the X-Men near the body, but that doesn’t seem like something that would stop them from verifying a teammate’s death. The fact that the story actually draws attention to this errant plot thread in the final issue is strange. The revelation in the final pages that Dark Beast was secretly behind the Hill is a nice twist that makes logical sense, but it also goes nowhere. In the end, the four issues don’t add up to an awful lot, mainly because the story has very little to actually say about Storm. The final result gives her a new costume and a vague breakup with her boyfriend, and that’s it. The art is consistently superb, though.