Transformers/G.I. Joe: Dreamwave's Stylish, Chaotic Crossover

 

2003's Transformers/G.I. Joe was perhaps style over substance, but has its fans to this day. I revisit this week at CBR.

UNCANNY X-MEN #304 – September 1993

…For What I Have Done

Credits: Scott Lobdell (writer), John Romita, Jr, Jae Lee, Chris Sprouse, Brandon Peterson, & Paul Smith (pencilers), Dan Green, Dan Panosian, Terry Austin, Tom Palmer, & Keith Williams (inkers), Mike Thomas (colorist), Chris Eliopoulos (letterer)

Summary

Exodus reveals Fabian Cortez’s role in Magneto’s “death” to the Acolytes. The Acolytes follow Exodus to Avalon while Cortez is left to be a victim of “someone else’s legacy.” During Illyana’s funeral service, Magneto and the Acolytes appear. Magneto punishes Senyaka for the Acolytes’ attack on the hospice, while saying that he would have approved of the action if only he had been asked permission. Bishop absorbs the magnetic power being used to hold the X-Men and blasts Magneto. The X-Men try to charge him up with more energy. When Magneto reappears, Avalon is glowing, preparing for an attack on Westchester County. When Bishop attacks again, Colossus strikes him from behind, siding with Magneto. Desperate, Xavier takes over Magneto’s mind and uses his powers to send Avalon back into orbit.

Gimmicks

This issue has a cardstock hologram cover.

Continuity Notes

Magneto is referred to as “Eric Lehnsherr” for the first time. Even though Xavier has always referred to him as “Magnus” in flashbacks, he suddenly starts calling him “Eric” now. Years later, “Eric Lehnsherr” was revealed to be a false identity, but Marvel seems to have forgotten that.

In a flashback, Magneto is seen running with the body of his daughter, Anya. Previous stories establish that she was burned alive in a fire, but she certainly doesn’t look burned in this issue.

Fabian Cortez being a victim of “someone else’s legacy” is presumably a reference to the Legacy Virus.

Review

This is a comic I can remember actively hating for years. Looking back on it, I can almost see how someone divorced from X-Men continuity might enjoy it, but in terms of building upon existing characterization and giving characters legitimate motivations, it fails miserably. I started buying Uncanny X-Men in 1988, so I missed most of the “reformed Magneto” era. The Magneto I remembered was from the later Claremont issues, an occasional ally who wanted to do the right thing but was constantly being pushed in the wrong direction. I think the only comic I had read featuring Magneto as an X-Man was the final issue of the Fantastic Four vs. X-Men miniseries. The scene where Magneto laments that no one can accept the fact that he’s changed really stuck with me as a kid. Reed Richards shaking hands with Magneto at the end was one of my favorite moments in comics at that point. Reading this issue, with a psychotic Magneto who crashes a little girl’s funeral, advocates a hospice slaughter, kills one of his followers, and then tries to destroy an entire town…let’s just say it didn’t go over very well. Magneto doesn’t exist as a character at this point; he exists solely to be the villain in an overpriced company-mandated crossover. There’s some lip service paid to Claremont’s reformation of the character, but it just seems like a weak attempt to add depth to a one-dimensional villain.

Colossus finally joins Magneto, after months of build-up. The titles have done a good job of establishing Colossus’ anguish over the loss of his family, but siding with Magneto still doesn’t make a lot of sense. Colossus’ sister died of a virus created by an evil mutant. Why join another one? Why would the actions of an evil mutant cause Colossus to doubt Xavier’s dream, when the X-Men were created to fight these villains in the first place? If anything, this would strengthen his resolve to fight people like Stryfe. In order for Colossus to logically side with Magneto, he should have a motivation to side with him against humans. It’s true that his parents were murdered by the Russian government, but even then, this wasn’t done as an attack against mutants (actually, why it was done was never clear). Colossus has a reason to be upset in these issues, and perhaps to leave the team to grieve, but not to join someone planning to wipe out the human race. If Colossus had a specific reason to hate humans (his sister killed in an anti-mutant riot or something), that could work. If Colossus had grown closer to Magneto over a period of time and begun to understand his point of view, this might have worked. But Colossus joining Magneto after he crashes his sister’s funeral and tries to kill an entire city doesn’t work at all. It’s the type of cheap shock value that would characterize much of the ‘90s.

In an attempt to tie the two storylines together, Magneto uses Stryfe’s Legacy Virus as a justification for killing humans. His nonsensical explanation is that mutants wouldn’t be fighting against one another if humans weren’t out to kill them. Think about this…mutants are fighting each other because a separate group wants them dead. Wouldn’t this lead mutants to unite together against humans? I take it Magneto is one of those people who didn’t like the ending of Watchmen. If Magneto is going to justify anything to attack humans, wouldn’t the government’s revival of the Sentinel project be a better excuse?

There’s some attempt to mark this as an anniversary issue, rather than just another chapter in a crossover. All of the X-teams assemble for Illyana’s funeral, giving cameos to former members and other characters from the spinoffs. Former artist Paul Smith returns to draw a few pages, although it’s hard to recognize his style. Storm and Kitty Pryde have a scene reminiscent of the one they shared after Storm’s mohawk makeover. Oddly enough, John Romita, Jr. drew the original issue, but Chris Sprouse draws the homage scene while Romita draws most of the other pages. Most of the artwork is fine, but nothing can save this story.

X-FACTOR #86 – January 1993

One Of These Days…Pow! Zoom!

Credits: Peter David (writer), Jae Lee (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Steve Dutro (letters), Glynis Oliver (colors)

Summary

By satellite, Wolverine explains to the other X-Men that Jean subconsciously contacted him, telling him her location. Cable recalibrates his instruments to teleport himself, Bishop, and Wolverine to the moon. Stryfe continues to taunt Cyclops and Jean on the surface of the moon as they grasp for air. At the mansion, Apocalypse drives the technorganic virus out of Xavier and kills it. He agrees to transport the rest of the X-Men to the moon. A strike team of Havok, Psylocke, Archangel, Iceman, Polaris, Cannonball, and Storm is selected to rescue Cyclops and Jean. Cable, Wolverine, and Bishop finally arrive on the moon, only to face the Dark Riders.

Gimmicks

This is part ten of the X-Cutioner’s Song. It comes polybagged with a Dark Riders trading card.

Review

More stalling. Professor Xavier is cured in this issue, so at least something happens, but the rest of the issue reiterates things that have already happened. We already know that Wolverine has deduced where Jean is, so having him wait around for “instrument recalibration” for a full issue is a waste (and why is Cable sitting around with the rest of them when he was supposed to be working on his teleporter?). Stryfe has already been taunting Cyclops and Jean for the last three chapters, so nothing’s really added to that story thread, either. This crossover really shouldn’t drag on for twelve issues, especially when X-Factor’s ongoing storylines are getting pushed further back with each issue. It does look nice, though. Jae Lee does an impressive job, dropping a lot of the unnecessary blacks and providing great versions of Apocalypse and Archangel.

X-FACTOR #85 – December 1992

Snikts & Bones

Credits: Peter David (writer), Jae Lee (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Glynis Oliver (colors), Richard Starkings (letters)

Summary

Cable fights Bishop and Wolverine, until Wolverine is convinced that there’s a chance he didn’t assassinate Xavier. X-Factor, X-Force and the X-Men track the MLF to a small town in Arkansas, where Havok discovers their underground base. During the fight, Archangel accidentally decapitates MLF member Kamikaze with his metal wings. Meanwhile, the X-Patriots drug Madrox’s dupe and plan to escape the hospital. Back in Arkansas, Reaper cuts Quicksilver’s leg and prepares to kill him.

Gimmicks

This is part six of the X-Cutioner’s Song crossover. It comes polybagged with a Havok & Polaris trading card.

Continuity Note

Apocalypse explores one of Cable’s hideouts and recognizes that Cable’s technology is derived from his work. He speculates that Cable has a connection to the original X-Factor since they’re the only others with access to his Ship.

Approved By The Comics Code Authority

Kamikaze’s decapitated head bounces around for a few panels.

Review

So, this is an issue of X-Factor? Of the four titles participating in this crossover, X-Factor definitely gets the short end of the stick. The other titles needed the crossover to deliver some sort of direction and to tie up ongoing plotlines. X-Factor already had its own direction, mostly removed from the events of the other X-books. There’s only one page in this issue devoted to advancing a storyline that’s already been stalled for three months at this point. X-Factor has lost its identity at this point, just filling in the gaps for the next installment of this crossover. It’s not really fair to the creators and fans of this book. In terms of advancing the storyline, this issue doesn’t go very far at all. The issue is divided between two fight scenes; one is a lengthy, pointless fight between Wolverine, Bishop and Cable, and the other is a fight with the MLF that’s continued into the next chapter. Jae Lee is well suited for a fight scene with Wolverine, Bishop and Cable, but he skimps too much on the backgrounds in the MLF fight. As one part of a crossover, it's not that bad. As an issue of X-Factor, it's disappointing.

X-FACTOR #84 – November 1992

Tough Love

Credits: Peter David (writer), Jae Lee (penciler), Al Milgrom (inker), Brad Vancata (colors), Richard Starkings (letters)

Summary

The members of X-Factor wait at the hospital for news on Xavier’s condition. To keep them preoccupied, Havok sends Strong Guy and Wolfsbane to Central Park to investigate the crime scene. While there, they run into X-Force. A fight breaks out as the remaining members of X-Factor arrive. X-Force retreats and Havok blasts their ship as it leaves. Meanwhile, the Horsemen deliver Cyclops and Jean Grey to Apocalypse, who is really Sinister in disguise. Back at the hospital, they learn that Xavier has been infected with a technovirus, transferring his living tissue into a mechanical organism.

Gimmicks

This is part two of the “X-Cutioner’s Song” crossover. It comes polybagged with a Caliban trading card

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Creative Differences

The last two pages are clearly done by a different letterer. On top of that, the last three balloons on the last page are done by yet another letterer. The final three balloons establish that Xavier is being moved to the X-Men’s mansion, leading in to the next chapter.

Review

It’s no secret that Peter David left X-Factor because he didn’t like the impact that crossovers had on his ongoing storylines. This issue is a classic example of that problem. Remember a few issues ago when Havok dramatically declared that the team was traveling to Genosha? It still hasn’t happened. And it won’t happen until this crossover is over in a few issues. David tries to tie the X-Patriots story into the crossover, but it’s obvious that their storyline isn’t a priority at this time. Even if there can’t really be an organic connection from X-Factor’s ongoing storyline to this crossover, David does use past continuity to give certain X-Factor members an investment in this storyline. The characters with a history with Xavier react strongly to what’s happened, and Wolfsbane has a confrontation with her former New Mutants teammates. These connections between characters were a big draw for the X-overs of the ‘90s. As a fan, I was excited to see X-Force and X-Factor finally confront one another.

Jae Lee is the fill-in artist for the crossover issues, doing a bizarre amalgam of Bill Sienkiewicz and the exaggerated early ‘90s style. In some panels it works, but a lot of it is needlessly dark and ugly. Normally, Lee would be a terrible match for David’s approach to this title, but having him draw a crossover issue with X-Force makes for a smoother transition. As a kid, I thought that these issues looked pretty cool. Wolverine has a cameo on page twenty-nine, and he looks like a monster. I think that’s exactly what most twelve year olds want to see, but it just looks strange now.

UNCANNY X-MEN ANNUAL #16 – 1992

The Masters of Inevitability (Shattershot Part Two)

Credits: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Jae Lee (penciler), Jan Harps, Joe Rubinstein (inks), Tom Orzechowski, Lois Buhalis (letterers), Joe Rosas (colorist)

Summary

Apparently to embarrass Mojo, a rival network sends the Death Sponsors to Earth to retrieve Arize. The Death Sponsors track Arize to the X-Men’s mansion, where they battle the gold team. During the fight, one of the Death Sponsors revives Arize’s memory before they attempt to teleport away. Bishop shoots their teleporter, scrambling the Death Sponsors and leaving Arize behind. Arize decides to travel the Earth to learn more about it and how to improve his own world.

I Love the ‘90s

Bishop actually says “Hasta La Vista, Baby” when he blasts the villains at the end of the story.

“Huh?” Moments

Colossus asks if the X-Men were right to prevent the Death Sponsors from taking Arize back to Mojoworld. He really wants to know if they were wrong to stop a group that just tried to kill them, called the DEATH SPONSORS, from kidnapping someone against his will.

After Bishop shoots his gun, he’s asked how he could still use his mutant powers after the other team members had theirs blocked. Shooting a gun is a mutant power? If the idea is that Bishop somehow channels his powers through his gun, that hasn’t been established clearly.

Review

And now I remember why people hate this storyline. The first part works because it’s a basic story about the X-Men protecting someone from a group of villains with a clear motive for capturing him. Now, a separate group of X-Men is protecting the same character from different villains with an unclear reason for kidnapping him. It’s essentially the same story as the first chapter, only it makes less sense. Unlike the first part, the main story only now has one artist, Jae Lee. This was very early in his career (I believe he was only 19), and his work suffers from a lot of ugly faces and weird poses. It’s still better than a lot of early ‘90s stuff, but he would certainly improve in later years.

The TV references have already gotten old. The Death Sponsors consist of Sweepzweak, Deadair, Lead-In, Cancellator, and Timeslot. Most of them look like the monsters from that Fred Savage and Howie Mandel movie from the '80s. The original Mojoworld villains were pretty odd inventions of Ann Nocenti and Art Adams, but they did look cool and have distinctive personalities. These guys just have annoying speech patterns and really ugly costumes.

Bishop also receives some odd characterization in this issue. In his first appearance, he was almost insane (explained away by saying that time travel is “disorienting”). Then, he was in great awe of the legendary X-Men and eager to impress them. Now, he acts like a jerk towards them. Nicieza seems to be under the impression that Bishop would be the same headstrong, arrogant outsider that Cable is during this time, but that’s not consistent with his depiction in the main titles.