The Cat vs. Dog Dynamics of ThunderCats: Dogs of War

 

A new Nostalgia Snake! In 2003, Chew co-creator John Layman assumed writer duties on Wildstorm's third ThunderCats series, moving the cast decades beyond the cartoon. I examine the first chapter this week at CBR.

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. 

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.

X-MEN UNLIMITED #28 - December 1999

In Remembrance

Credits: Joe Pruett (writer), Brett Booth (penciler), Sal Regla (inker), Marie Javins & Jessica Ruffner (colors), Sharpefont & PT (letters)

Summary: After discovering Wolverine is alive, the X-Men reflect on his past with the team. When Jubilee learns that the X-Men were unable to rescue Wolverine from Apocalypse, she angrily walks out. Marrow volunteers to speak to her, which inspires Jubilee to write a letter detailing what Wolverine means to her.

Review: This is the first issue of X-Men Unlimited’s new direction as non-filler, and it’s a weak start. Aside from the fact that Brett Booth is not an artist suited for quiet conversation scenes, the story largely consists of unimaginative flashbacks to old stories and lengthy homilies about Wolverine’s importance to the team. It seems like the X-Men would be more likely to be having these conversations back when they still thought Wolverine to be dead, but even overlooking that, the dialogue is too wooden to make the characters believable. Actual dialogue from this issue: “Chere, th’ look on your face reveals a lot ‘bout th’ passion in your soul. I know in times like t’is it’s best t’let you work it out for yourself -- don’t mean I gotta like it, though.” There are a few decent ideas, such as Marrow unexpectedly volunteering to calm Jubilee, or Jubilee writing a letter to Wolverine similar to the one he left for her in Wolverine #75, but the execution is faux-Claremont at its worst.

Game

Credits: Doug Moench (writer), Mark Texeira (art), Marie Javins (colors), Sharpefont (letters)

Summary: Wolverine encounters a group of illegal trophy hunters in Canada. He scares them off into the woods and creates a funeral pyre for the animals they’ve killed. Reflecting on the differences between animal and man, Wolverine decides that he doesn’t want to go to Heaven if animals don’t have souls.

Continuity Notes: There’s no effort made to identify when this story is supposed to take place, although Wolverine does have his adamantium claws.

Review: It’s another Wolverine vs. Hunters story, although this story puts more effort into elucidating Wolverine’s stance on hunting. His issue with the “hunters” in this story is the callous way they kill animals only for sport, leaving the actual meat behind for scavengers. The fact that they’re doing this illegally gives Wolverine a nice Comics Code approved excuse for attacking them. Throughout the story, Wolverine reflects on the differences between animal and man, debating under which group he belongs. It’s a fairly stock Wolverine plot, but it’s executed inoffensively, and it’s always great to see Mark Texeira draw Wolverine.

UXM #379 & X-MEN #99 – April 2000

Uncanny X-Men #379

What Dreams May Come…

Credits: Alan Davis (plot), Chris Claremont (script, uncredited), Tom Raney (penciler), Scott Hanna (inker), Brian Haberlin (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Professor Xavier leaves the X-Men to train the Skrull mutants in space. In Washington DC, Mystique disguises herself as a federal agent to steal files from the NSA. Iceman and Beast sneak into Genosha, where Beast plans to research the Legacy Virus. Nearby, Polaris begins to question her decision to aid Magneto. At the X-Men’s mansion, a hologram of the High Evolutionary appears. He tells the team that mutant powers are too much of a threat to the planet, and that he will remove the mutant genome and make humanity whole. Suddenly, mutants across the globe lose their powers.

Continuity Note: Shadowcat describes herself as “barely sixteen” in this issue, which caused a firestorm online. Most fans seemed pretty adamant that she was at least eighteen.

Review: This is the start of Davis’ final arc, which sounds like more of an event than the Apocalypse storyline on paper, but really only lasts three issues. The majority of this issue is spent on having characters react to Cyclops’ death, which wasn’t that convincing when it happened the first time, and just reads like an editorial blunder in hindsight. Most of the character bits, such as Phoenix telling X-Man to finally live up to his name and the X-Men’s baseball game, aren’t bad, but the pacing of the issue is odd. The first half of the story consists of conversation scenes and a few montages of what various mutants are up to, and then High Evolutionary appears out of nowhere and declares that everyone’s powers are going away. The High Evolutionary isn’t given a villainous motivation; he just thinks mutants are too dangerous to have around, which at least keeps him broadly in character. Professor Xavier leaves the team, yet again, and Shadowcat isn’t happy about it. This seems like a more realistic reaction than having everyone just solemnly accept that Xavier needs to help the little green men in space. This is really just filler before Claremont’s official return, but the majority of the issue works pretty well.

X-Men #99

Oh, the Humanity!

Credits: Alan Davis (plot), Terry Kavanagh (script), Brett Booth (penciler), Sal Regla (inker), Hi-Fi Design (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Magneto and Polaris rescue Beast and Iceman from the human Genoshans that are targeting former mutants. Beast soon realizes that the genetically altered Mutates did not lose their powers, but were instead stalled in mid-transformation. Meanwhile, Colossus tries to console Nightcrawler, who misses his powers. Rogue disguises herself as Mystique’s lawyer and visits her in prison. Storm and Marrow work at a children’s camp. Jubilee discovers Wolverine is sick, unable to deal with adamantium poisoning. Dani Moonstar has a psychic vision of Cable, leading her to believe that her powers still exist. Inside the High Evolutionary’s satellite, his assistant Dr. Essex freezes the circuits in his armor. Essex reveals himself as Mr. Sinister, who plans on manipulating all DNA on Earth for his experiments.

Continuity Notes: A very extensive narrative sequence on the first page explains that the High Evolutionary removed the X-gene by manipulating the electro-magnetic field that surrounds human DNA. It’s revealed that one of his mentors as a young man was Dr. Essex, who he doesn’t know is Mr. Sinister.

The number of mutants listed on Earth is listed in the “hundreds”, which surprised me until I remembered that it was Grant Morrison who expressly increased the mutant population. I know that Marvel greatly reduced the number of mutants in the Marvel Universe a few years ago (originally claiming that only 198 still exist, but it seems like they’ve backtracked). The move has widely been viewed as a mistake, to put it mildly. I wonder if the “Decimation” idea would’ve worked if Marvel simply tried to revert to the pre-Morrison status quo, instead of overstating their case.

The Neo appear for the first time in a one-page cameo. One of their children (who resembles a mermaid) drowned when the High Evolutionary’s devolution wave hit the Earth. Of course, they’re declaring revenge. This is a setup for Chris Claremont’s first storyline, which is the source of his second run’s horrid reputation. I seem to recall his post-Neo stories were fine, but the unwieldy first arc was such a mess it was used to justify removing him from the titles.

Review: I have no idea why Marvel limited this idea to such a small storyline. This is an event that actually should impact the entire X-line, opens doors for numerous story possibilities, and actually needs to last a few issues in order to sell its importance. If any storyline deserved its own crossover name and special trade dress, it would be this one. Instead, it runs through two issues of UXM, one X-Men issue, and apparently one issue each of X-Force and Wolverine. (I'm basing this on one footnote during Wolverine's scene and X-Force's description in the Bullpen Bulletins' Checklist section. I remember fans asking if any of the mutants in the Avengers would be affected by this, and Kurt Busiek responded that no one at Marvel even told him about the event.) There’s no name for the storyline and nothing on the covers to indicate any connection between the titles. I can see why Marvel was saving its hype machine for the upcoming revamping of the entire line, but why waste this story idea as filler?

This issue takes place weeks after the UXM chapter. Most of the X-Men have now moved on to normal lives, so we get a montage of things like Rogue riding the subway and Storm and Marrow working at a summer camp. Nightcrawler’s having a hard time adjusting to having five fingers and losing his tail, which throws off his balance. Colossus is now an up-and-coming painter and doesn’t seem to miss his old life at all. There’s a lot of potential here (well, Storm and Marrow at the summer camp probably wouldn’t be a winner under any circumstances), but the story doesn’t go into any real detail. We’re given glimpses of a few possible storylines, but the lack of depth makes it hard to care too much. The book is also thick with unnecessary captions and dialogue. Many fans at the time pegged this as another Claremont ghost-job, and it’s possible that at least a few pages are his, but most of this script reads like Kavanagh’s recent issues. At one point Rogue works the phrase “high-price legal teams” into her dialogue twice in one panel. Not to emphasize a point or for comedic effect, but apparently because the scripter couldn’t be bothered to think up a different phrase. The guest art comes from Brett Booth, who was doing X-Men Unlimited at the time. He does a very obvious Art Adams imitation, which seems to mirror the weaker elements of Adams’ early work. Most of the characters are too lanky, his faces are too narrow, and there are pointless scratchy lines everywhere.