X-MEN UNLIMITED #26 - March 2000

Day of Judgement

Credits:  Joe Pruett (writer), Brett Booth (penciler), Sal Regla/Rick Ketchum/Scott Koblish (inkers), Matt Hicks & Jessica Ruffner (colors), Sharpefont (letters)

Summary:  On the Moon, the X-Men and Excalibur unite to stop the invading Shi’ar, led by the Four Horsemen.  After Mastermind uses her illusion powers to simulate the return of Dark Phoenix, the Shi’ar retreat.  Xavier swears that the Shi’ar’s ruler, Apocalypse, will not succeed.

Continuity Notes:  

• The story is set in the future, not as far into the future as Wolverine #148, but years after Cyclops’ death.  A new member, Siphon, now has Cyclops’ powers.
• The Four Horsemen consist of Deathbird, Caliban, Ahab, and Eric the Red.  The identity of Eric the Red is unrevealed, but he’s a far more monstrous version of the character than we’ve seen before.
• Lilandra has been killed by Deathbird in this reality.
• Professor Xavier is returning from space with his army of Skrull students.  (Remember them?)  He attempts to mindwipe Deathbird in battle, something he swore never to do again following X-Men #25.
• The Excalibur of this reality consists of Nightcrawler, Banshee, Colossus, Shadowcat, X-Man, Captain Britain, and Mastermind’s daughter.

Miscellaneous Note:  The title misspells the American spelling of “judgment.”

Review:  So, are all of the “Ages of Apocalypse” chapters supposed to be a part of the same reality, or is each one its own world?  It’s slightly ridiculous that Marvel was so unclear on this point.  Even when the same writer handles two separate issues, the continuity is muddy.  Joe Pruett’s story in Cable #77 establishes that Apocalypse merged with X-Man and became a new, deadly High Lord.  In Pruett's next story, X-Man is a member of Excalibur and remains a background figure during the big fight.  And like the Wolverine chapter, this issue features numerous characters in main roles that weren’t actually in Apocalypse’s chambers when reality warped.  It’s just a Generic Shocking Future that takes elements from current storylines and extrapolates on how important they’ll be later.  In that regard, some of this actually isn’t so bad.  Taking Deathbird’s role in the “Twelve” storyline and inferring that the Shi’ar will one day serve Apocalypse makes sense, and giving the members of Excalibur a chance to react to Ahab (who’s supposed to be their friend Rory Campbell) is a nice use of existing continuity.  Most of the changes feel arbitrary, though, and the tepid script isn’t enough to draw you into the story.  This just reads as crossover filler, which is exactly what Unlimited wasn’t supposed to be at this point.

Full Circle

Credits:  Matt Nixon (writer), Toby Cypress (artist), Joe Rosas (colors), Sharpefont (letters)

Summary:  While delivering food to the homeless, Wolverine encounters a woman searching for her son.  He follows Chuck’s scent and discovers he’s been abducted by an internet friend, Professor Gibbon.  Wolverine severely wounds Gibbon and sends Chuck back home to his mother.

Review:  There isn’t much to the plot; in fact, it reads as if Nixon just runs out of pages at the end, but this is a fairly decent back-up story.  The story’s helped a lot by the first-person narration, which is quintessential Wolverine without relying on too many of the clichés.  Too many writers fail to realize that Wolverine solo stories are tolerable when the guy actually has personality, and isn’t just spewing catchphrases and cutting people open.  The art should go down in the Off-Model Wolverine Hall of Fame.  Toby Cypress’ work looks like a weird combination of Rob Guillory and Kevin Nowlan, and while I don’t care for his Wolverine specifically, I think the overall look is interesting.

WOLVERINE #148 - March 2000

 

Same As It Never Was

Credits:  Erik Larsen (writer), Roger Cruz (penciler), Andy Owens & Scott Koblish (inks), Wilson Ramos (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary:  Annihilus and Blastaar attack the Fantastic Four, but are soon defeated and sent back to the Negative Zone.  The team takes a break, but is recalled when President Kelly is assassinated by Dr. Doom.  The FF investigate, and learn “Dr. Doom” is actually a clone under the command of Arnim Zola.  When the Doom clone self-destructs, Zola is left in the blast zone as the team escapes.  Outside the remains of the White House, Graydon Creed is sworn in.  The heroes watch in dismay.

Continuity Notes:  

• The Fantastic Four of this reality consists of Wolverine, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, and Hulk.  You might remember them as the “New Fantastic Four” from Fantastic Four #347.  According to Wolverine, the “new” team reformed after the original FF died battling “the High Lord.”
• Wolverine is dating Stacey, Cable’s girlfriend at the time in our reality.
• Spider-Man and MJ are married in this reality, and their daughter May lives with them in the FF’s headquarters.
• Wolverine reminds the rest of the FF that Doom died along with several of this reality’s heroes fighting X-Man, “after he defeated Apocalypse and became the High Lord.”  Just imagine if X-Man actually did have something worth doing in this crossover…

I Love the '90s:  Wolverine remarks that President Kelly won’t be eyeing the interns any longer.  Larsen also sneaks in a reference to “Advantageous!” -- readers of this site might catch the joke.

Review:  You might recall the premise behind “Ages of Apocalypse” had Apocalypse warping reality within his chamber, in order to….do something.  That’s why the previous chapters of the crossover only featured characters already present for the “Twelve” storyline in lead roles.  Apparently, no one at Marvel realized that Wolverine wasn’t present for that section of the story at all, so his solo title ended up participating in the crossover anyway.  It’s a boneheaded mistake, and yet, this issue is perhaps the most enjoyable of the “Ages of Apocalypse” crossover issues.

As I’ve said before, one reason why people responded so viscerally to the original “Age of Apocalypse” event was because it placed the reader inside a fully-formed world.  Astonishing X-Men #1 could’ve easily been the Uncanny X-Men #322 of the AoA world, assuming Apocalypse allowed comics to be published and humans could gain access to them in their slave camps.  This feels as if you’re walking into the middle of a New Fantastic Four comic (don’t ask me why it’s being published as Wolverine), and it’s actually a fun place to hang out.  Annihilus and Blastaar want revenge on the new FF just based on their name, Bruce Banner’s wife has become the Harpy again, Graydon Creed is scheming for ways to replace President Kelly, and Arnim Zola has an evil cloning scheme in the works (which is a reference to a storyline Larsen has already been building in Wolverine).  There are also the kind of character-driven subplots you’d expect to see in a long-running book, as Ghost Rider and Wolverine separately wonder if they fit in with their teammates, Bruce Banner remains unable to control which incarnation of the Hulk he transforms into, Wolverine mourns the X-Men, and Peter and MJ adjust to life as parents in an insane world.  It’s honestly fun to read; utterly pointless, but very entertaining.  The only true shortcoming of the issue is Roger Cruz’s art, which works fine as a Joe Mad pastiche for most of the story, until he has to draw normal civilian characters.  I don’t know of any artist that’s managed to make Peter Parker and Bruce Banner look interchangeable, but apparently Cruz doesn’t seem to notice the difference.

CABLE #77 - March 2000

False Hoods

Credits:  Joe Pruett (writer), Bernard Chang (penciler), Andy Owens & Rod Ramos (inkers), Hi-Fi Designs (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary:  In Egypt, Cable leads a group of rebels against the Living Pharaoh.  He’s joined by his wife, Aliya.  After invading his sanctuary, Cable’s team is ambushed by Living Pharaoh and the amalgamation of Cyclops and Apocalypse.  The Living Pharaoh boasts that he allowed some of the mutants to live in order to serve his purposes.  Cable realizes that this reality is a fraud, and that Aliya is truly dead.  He awakens in Apocalypse’s lair, questioning if Apocalypse can ever be defeated.

Continuity Notes:  

• According to Cable, Apocalypse still maintains some of the Twelve’s combined reality-warping powers after merging with Cyclops.  He’s created this new reality in order to “recreate the Twelve circuit.”
• The alternate reality designs on cover don’t exactly match the ones inside the issue.  Sunfire’s design is entirely different, as he merely dresses like a samurai inside.

Review:  This is a good example of how badly Marvel misunderstood the initial popularity of “Age of Apocalypse.”  Overlooking that the quasi-sequel “Ages of Apocalypse” lacked the scale and issue count to truly sell the new reality, it fails because it just assumes that new realities are automatically interesting.  If that were true, What If…? would have never been cancelled.  “Age of Apocalypse” connected with readers because they had never seen dark dystopia done with such conviction in the X-titles, and because it’s actually fun to discern the new continuity.  Without Xavier to found the X-Men, how would the life of every mutant in the Marvel Universe be different?  You could play that game for hours.

This storyline doesn’t give us a firm breaking off point for the new continuity, which leads to each chapter reading like random alternate realities that the writers are killing time in this month.  Apparently, there’s nothing more exciting for Cable to do in this new reality than lead soldiers into battle, and then get captured in time for the issue to be over.  There’s some effort put into selling his feelings for his late wife, but the scenes lack any real emotion (and Jeph Loeb already did a similar bit earlier in his run.)  The only redeeming element of the issue is Bernard Chang’s art, which doesn’t present any brilliant alternate reality makeovers, but is still well-constructed and nice to look at.

UXM #378 & X-MEN #98 – March 2000

Uncanny X-Men #378

First & Last – Part One

Credits: Alan Davis (plot), Terry Kavanagh (script), Adam Kubert & Graham Nolan (pencilers), Tim Townsend & Jimmy Palmiotti (inkers), Liquid! (colors), Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: Jean Grey relives her first meeting with the X-Men, only the team now consists of Storm, Beast, Iceman, and Gambit. The team travels to a circus, where Colossus is a sideshow freak. Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, consisting of Polaris, Sunfire, Rogue, and Marrow, arrive to recruit Colossus. Nearby, a mob is chasing Cyclops. Jean rescues him, and he tells her that this is a false reality created by Apocalypse. When his body suddenly morphs into Apocalypse’s, the X-Men attack. The unstable energies around him explode, returning the mutants to reality. Xavier claims that Cyclops never truly existed in the false reality, which angers Jean.

Review: Yes, this crossover really is called “Ages of Apocalypse”. The original idea was that all of the mutants present in Apocalypse’s chamber have been shifted into different realities, but Marvel botched the idea by dragging Wolverine into the event. Wolverine wasn’t with the rest of the X-Men during the previous storyline, so there’s no reason for him to be experiencing an alternate reality. His solo title just used the event to do a riff on the “New Fantastic Four” gimmick (none of those characters were present either).

Davis stays loyal to the premise, remaking the original X-Men from the characters available to him. Gambit takes Cyclops’ place on the original X-Men, presumably because they both have red eyes (this might’ve also been a hint that he’s the third Summers brother, which is where Claremont apparently wanted to go with the idea), and Storm replaces Angel, I guess because both can fly. The Brotherhood is remade with heroes who were once villains (well, labeling Sunfire and Polaris as villains is debatable, but Sunfire’s always been antagonistic, and Polaris was possessed by the villain Malice for years), casting Rogue as Mastermind, Sunfire as Quicksilver, Polaris as Scarlet Witch, and Marrow as Toad. This is really just an excuse to put the characters in the wrong outfits, and Kubert pulls it off well. Polaris in Scarlet Witch’s original green costume looks surprisingly natural, and the hideously ugly version of Marrow in Toad’s outfit is just absurd enough to work. The basic plot is a riff on the Blob’s first appearance, only now Colossus is the circus freak discovered by Cerebro. All of this is fun, but I have no idea what the point is supposed to be. Why on earth is Apocalypse warping reality into a pastiche of the Lee/Kirby issues of this book? I guess you could argue that he’s being influenced by Cyclops, but there’s nothing in the story to indicate that. Really, the ongoing storyline about Apocalypse just stops for an unrelated alternate reality story. Davis has some clever casting choices, but it’s an odd detour to take.

X-Men #98

First & Last – Part Two

Credits: Alan Davis (plot & pencils), Terry Kavanagh (script), Mark Farmer (inker), Marie Javins (colors), Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: In the year 2099, the X-Men are an interplanetary organization. Phoenix returns to their global base and learns that Xavier is near death. She reveals to Storm that they grew apart after Cyclops’ death, while Storm tells her that Xavier never forgave himself for asking Cyclops to rejoin the X-Men. A Shi’ar scientist unveils a healing pod that might save Xavier. The X-Men combine their powers to charge the pod, but it’s revealed as Apocalypse’s new power conduit. Apocalypse returns to the past, charging himself with temporal energy. The conduit explodes, forcing Apocalypse to teleport away. Phoenix asks Xavier if he felt Cyclops inside Apocalypse, but he doesn’t respond. Later, Xavier watches Phoenix leave the mansion, wondering if they’re destined to grow apart.

Continuity Notes: According to Apocalypse, the 2099 scenes aren’t an illusion, but the actual future. He’s shifted time and space so that he can take advantage of the X-Men’s “frailties” at the end of their lives. This doesn’t quite work, since Xavier is the only character that’s actually dying at this time. Most of the X-Men appear to be middle-aged, due to medical advances in the future.

Phoenix mind-scans Apocalypse during their fight and still senses that Cyclops is inside, working to sabotage him. A few months later, Marvel released the X-Men: Search for Cyclops miniseries. Future president Bill Jemas cited it as an example of what was wrong with the X-office, claiming it was a rip-off to kill a character that everyone knew was coming back anyway.

Gambit and Marrow are married in the future, which might be viewed as a sign Davis really was trying to build a relationship between the pair. The healing pod used on Xavier resembles the one Gambit used to save Marrow a few issues earlier, which is a nice callback. Rogue, for some reason, hasn’t aged at all in a hundred years, and is now in control of her powers. Storm is now a weather elemental. X-Man now resembles Cable, and Cable is fully mechanical.

Miscellaneous Note: The cover to this issue features the same characters in the same poses as this month’s UXM issue.

Creative Differences: Alan Davis campaigned against Cyclops’ death, as seen in this fax sent to the editors.

Review: This is the very rushed, rather unsatisfying, conclusion to the big “end of the millennium” Apocalypse storyline. I actually like the scenes set in the future, and think Davis does an admirable job of connecting it to the previous issues of his run. Davis’ art is elegant as always, and the world building he manages to pull off in just a few pages is pretty impressive. There’s also a conflict set up between Xavier and Jean, which is something the books had never tried before. Making Xavier aware that he’s destined to grow apart from Jean adds some weight to the ending, and Kavanagh’s script actually manages to pull the idea off. Killing off Cyclops right after Xavier asked him to stay with the team could’ve created some interesting story threads for Xavier, also. However, this is all pointless, since Cyclops returns less than a year later, thus negating all of the conflict.

As entertaining as the future scenes are, they’re really just taking away space from the big X-Men/Apocalypse confrontation. Apocalypse has just killed Cyclops by stealing his body, and the story fails to make this feel like anything approaching a big deal. The team never even gets to fight Apocalypse; his power conduit explodes and he just teleports away (all in the course of one page). It’s rushed, anti-climatic, and just feels half-hearted. The “Ages of Apocalypse” gimmick was obviously supposed to recall fond memories of the ambitious “Age of Apocalypse” event, but it seems like an editorially-driven idea that just mangled the ending of the actual storyline (and anyone looking to these issues for more AoA was bound to be disappointed anyway). Apparently, Marvel couldn’t decide if they really wanted to kill Cyclops off or not, so Davis has to keep the door open for his return and just get rid of Apocalypse as soon as possible. It’s a copout, and it’s a shame that a storyline that was so clearly mapped out at the beginning just fizzles out at the end.