GENERATION X #62 - April 2000

 

Prey

Credits:  Jay Faerber (writer), Matt Smith, Nelson DeCastro, Yancey Labat, & Darren Auck (pencilers), John Czop, Jason Martin, & Rodney Ramos (inkers), Kevin Tinsley (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary:  Using her telepathy, M is able to fend off DeLaCorte’s psychic influence.  M tries to expose DeLaCorte to the local police, but he’s immune to sunlight.  That night, she’s attacked by Tabby, a girl DeLaCorte “turned” earlier.  She impales Tabby on a stake, then seeks out DeLaCorte in his office.  His secretary, Mrs. Hilmersson, exposes herself as a vampire and covers DeLaCorte’s escape.  Eventually, M catches up with DeLaCorte and impales him on a building’s spire.  Following his death, the school closes down and M returns to the Massachusetts Academy.

Continuity Notes:  According to M’s research, being bitten doesn’t make you a vampire (unless you’re actually killed), but does enable the vampire to mentally control you.  As for DeLaCorte’s ability to withstand sunlight, he credits a process credited by Captain America villain Baron Blood.

Review:  Jay Faerber concludes his run, and as I suspected, there’s no room to resolve any of the ongoing subplots he left growing in the background.  I suppose he could’ve resolved this vampire plot in just a few pages and spent the rest of the issue rushing through Adrienne Frost’s story arc, or providing some resolution to the romantic entanglements amongst the team, but that would’ve surely shortchanged all of the storylines.  Instead, he devotes the entire issue to M, who narrates the story in what I’m assuming is an homage to Buffy.  Her unwillingness to call in Generation X for help is treated as an intentional plot point, driving home the idea that M is determined to move away from the team.  Unfortunately, the story doesn’t give her much of an arc to go through, so her decision to return to the school at the end feels largely arbitrary.  The extremely inconsistent art, which makes M sometimes unrecognizable, doesn’t help things either.  Not a great issue to go out on, but Jay Faerber’s stint as writer is still a clear highlight of the book’s run.

X-FORCE #95 - October 1999

Magnetic Distraction

Credits: John Francis Moore (story), Jim Cheung & Nelson DeCastro (art), Mark Morales/Rod Ramos/Rob Stull (inkers), Marie Javins (colors), Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

Summary: As X-Force tries to escape with the cybernetic brain Archie, Magneto arrives to block their exit. Moonstar’s new quantum powers are the team’s only advantage. When her powers short out, Cannonball is forced to call Jesse Bedlam, who’s waiting at a nearby power plant. Using his powers, Jesse creates a massive blackout, which enables the Magistrates to penetrate the capital. Magneto is forced to abandon X-Force, and with Quicksilver’s help, the team escapes. Archie is connected to a Life Model Decoy, and Cannonball is given another Memory Box. Absorbing the memories, he realizes his father and uncle might be guilty of murder.

Continuity Notes: Jesse Bedlam drops a vial of his pills near Domino. He’s forced to admit that he takes electro-neural inhibitors because his powers interfere with his brain chemistry.

Review: So, as it turns out, Peter Wisdom and his friend the sentient brain don’t serve any great purpose, although this storyline does inadvertently set up Wisdom’s role in X-Force’s upcoming relaunch. One disadvantage to John Francis Moore’s dense plotting is the occasional lack of gratifying payoff when a story’s concluded, which is what Wisdom’s story falls victim to. Moore does establish Archie as an old friend of Wisdom’s and gives them a reunion scene (and something of a happy ending for Archie) at the conclusion of the issue, but their story has been so rushed it’s hard to care. I get that Moore’s trying to make Archie more than just a plot device, but cramming his history with Wisdom into a couple of panels isn’t a very effective way of pulling the idea off.

Overall, though, this is still a decent arc. X-Force’s past with Magneto is acknowledged in a brief flashback, and although Moore’s writing Magneto as the villain Marvel wanted him to be during this era, he’s not as irrational and aggressive as he often appeared during these days. He’s actually able to maintain a conversation with X-Force and present his point of view somewhat reasonably. And Jim Cheung undeniably draws a great Magneto, so the fight scenes look fantastic. This has largely been a diversion from the big story Moore’s been building for months, but it’s entertaining in its own right and unlike some of the previous issues, doesn’t come across as flagrant time killer.