X-MEN: ODD MEN OUT #1 - September 2008

Odd Men Out

Credits:  Roger Stern (writer), Dave Cockrum (penciler), Joe Rubinstein (inks), Andrew Crossley (colors), Dave Sharpe (letters)

Summary:  When Xavier reads an article about Fred Duncan’s security firm, he decides to pay his old friend a visit.  With Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, and Wolverine acting as bodyguards, Xavier and Fred have a chat inside Fred’s home.  Xavier reflects on his time in space with the Shi’ar, while Fred details his final days working as the government’s mutant liaison.  After a run-in with Henry Gyrich, Fred reveals he left to join the private sector.  Xavier and Fred bond over being “odd men out” and renew their friendship.

Continuity Notes:  

• This story was commissioned as an inventory issue, sometime in late 1991 or early 1992.
• Xavier isn’t using his hoverchair in the story.  In the early ‘90s, artists used to keep Xavier in a normal wheelchair when appearing in public, but that detail was lost over the years.  There’s no reason for Xavier to keep his hoverchair a secret from Fred, however.
• Xavier tells Fred that Cyclops is the oldest member of the original team; I seem to recall other stories listing Beast as the oldest.
• Flashbacks place Fred’s departure from the government happening “behind the scenes” of Uncanny X-Men #150.
• Let the record show that Fred Duncan’s address is specifically given as 1025 Sindoni Crescent in Hegeman, New York.  

I Love the ‘90s:  Since this story was originally penciled in the ‘90s, Wolverine is allowed to smoke.  Xavier is concerned about receiving secondhand nicotine, but I always thought it was the tar in cigarettes that was dangerous.

Production Note:  With the exception of the credits box, the story appears to be hand-lettered.  The colors are modern digital colors, meaning it wasn’t colored back in the early ‘90s of course.

Review:  “Odd Men Out” comes from the tumultuous period that had John Byrne attempting to write dialogue over the (often erratic) plots of Whilce Portacio and Jim Lee.  Roger Stern heard that the titles were in deadline trouble and pitched this inventory issue, which was accepted and given to Dave Cockrum to pencil.  It’s very possible this story would’ve stayed in the drawer had it been handed to any other artist doing fill-in work for Marvel in the early ‘90s.  At some point, Marvel realized that there was a Dave Cockrum X-Men story just collecting dust…oh, wait…and here’s a New Mutants job!  The two inventory issues were collected after Cockrum’s death in this one-shot.  Oddly enough, the front cover doesn’t feature Cockrum’s name in the title; it’s only barely visible in the credits section.  The back cover pays tribute to Cockrum, true, but it’s strange that the title of the book isn’t X-Men Lost Tales: A Tribute to Dave Cockrum, or something along those lines.  The book’s actual title is disappointing, since it simply recycles the title of the one-shot’s first story.  Maybe the idea is that both of these stories are “Odd Men Out” since they were never published, but it feels lazy.  Also, why isn’t Cockrum’s art on the front cover of this thing?

I’d like to say that the forgotten Roger Stern/Dave Cockrum issue of Uncanny X-Men is a lost classic, but that would be stretching the truth.  Since Stern knows this is a fill-in, he goes for a format often seen in the Bronze Age -- the issue-long recap.  There are legitimate gaps to be filled with Fred Duncan’s story, but the majority of this issue is dedicated to Xavier giving a Xavier-specific history of the X-Men.  Stern tries to smooth over some of the rough parts of past continuity, but there’s only so much he can do with the awkward retcon that revealed that Xavier wasn’t dead, he was just living in the X-Men’s basement preparing for an alien invasion.  This outright dumb story should’ve been forgotten as soon as it was published, but instead it became the modern inspiration for virtually every Xavier story.  Stern has Xavier express remorse over the dimwitted plan ("I developed a successful attack, but I had deceived my X-Men.  I'll always regret that."), but I wish he could’ve used his magic retcon skills to fix the real issues with the story.  In another bit of commentary, Stern has Fred react incredulously to Magneto taking over the X-Men’s school during Xavier’s absence, which isn’t much of a shock.  (Fred says it’s crazier than Xavier’s stories about "alien parasites and cloning.")  Stern’s X-Men vs. Avengers miniseries is filled with cheap shots against the concept of Magneto reforming, and when you consider that this is a story aimed at new readers, it’s a shame that Stern doesn’t even attempt to present any context for why this happened.  Stern just wants you to know that he thought it was a bad idea.

Those complaints aside, I’ll say that Stern’s penned a recap comic that has some personality to it.  The Fred Duncan angle is a clever one, and if you really wanted to know what happened to Duncan, the story provides pretty satisfying answers.  It’s still a recap comic, though, so there’s not much here for existing fans.  For the purposes of this one-shot, the real star is Dave Cockrum’s artwork.  It’s been digitally spruced up by modern color techniques, and in an era that has the major companies hiring artists with diverse art styles, it does look like a comic that could be published today.  Looking at it now as a historical artifact, it’s interesting to see Cockrum’s take on everything from the Jack Kirby to Jim Lee days.  Some of the flashback pages seem to have received more attention than others; I think Cockrum’s biased towards the earliest issues.  Most of all, Cockrum appears to be having fun inventing various alien species for Xavier to interact with during his Shi’ar flashbacks.  

Why didn’t Marvel publish this in 1992?  Hmm… There’s no exaggerated anatomy, no forced perspective, no cross-hatching, and it’s drawn in a traditional grid layout.  No speedlines, but plenty of backgrounds.  It seems like the last thing Marvel was looking for, which is a shame.  I think I would’ve enjoyed this as a kid; I know I would’ve been thrilled had it taken the place of “The Last Morlock Story.”

Think Again

Credits:  Michael Higgins (writer), Dave Cockrum (penciler), Joe Rubinstein (inks), Andrew Crossley (colors), Joe Rosen (letters)

Summary:  The Mad Thinker’s research leads him to an underground lab.  Using the technology he discovers, the Mad Thinker constructs a robot that quickly turns against him.  The robot then travels to the surface to confront the New Mutants.  He absorbs each of their powers and fights the team to a standstill.  Rusty rallies the team and convinces every member to attack the robot simultaneously.  The robot begins to malfunction, and is remotely terminated by its “master” for failing him.

Continuity Notes:  

• This is a never-before-published inventory issue of New Mutants created around 1989.
• All evidence points to the robot’s true creator being Apocalypse.  The underground lab has copious files on various mutants, the robot’s face has Apocalypse’s unique lip design, and the patterns painted on the robot’s body resemble the ones on Archangel’s costume.
• The New Mutants consist of Cannonball, Rictor, Sunspot, Boom Boom, Wolfsbane, Rusty, & Skids.  Apparently, this specific lineup never existed, which creates a major continuity problem.  It’s possible that’s the reason why this story wasn’t used after it was commissioned.

(Hypothetically) Approved By The Comics Code Authority:  Rictor’s thoughts are cut off before he can mentally finish the word “crap.”

“Huh?” Moment:  Cockrum draws Cyclops and Marvel Girl as background characters ice-skating at Central Park with the New Mutants, but they play no role in the story.

Review:  Just think, in some alternate reality, this comic was published instead of the first appearance of Cable.  The content of the story is about what you’d expect from a late ‘80s New Mutants inventory.  The plot’s simple, the characters describe their powers every few pages, a few romantic subplots are referenced, and the teens have a few pages to do “teen” things, like go ice-skating or shopping at Bloomingdale’s.  The major problem is Higgins’ dialogue, which alternates between simply generic and actively horrendous. (“Let’s hurry!  He’s so frightful!”)  Cockrum’s interpretation of the New Mutants is fantastic, although he does seem bored during the fight scene.  The modern production values help the visuals immensely, making sure the linework is properly reproduced and not faded into near-oblivion, as often seen in ‘80s flexographic printing.  There’s no compelling reason for this to be published, outside of paying tribute to Cockrum, although I’m slightly surprised that it wasn’t fished out of the drawer at some point due to its Apocalypse connection.

WOLVERINE Vs. SPIDER-MAN - March 1995

Life’s End

Credits:  Erik Larsen (writer & penciler), Joe Rubinstein (inks), Gregory Wright (colors), Jade Moede (letters)

Part One - Fist Fight

Summary:  Spider-Man spots Wolverine on a rooftop and impulsively attacks him, believing him to be an impostor.  Eventually, Spider-Man realizes that he was wrong.  Wolverine explains to Spider-Man that he’s staking out a warehouse where a young mutant and her father are being held captive.  Spider-Man’s shocked to discover the warehouse is where he caught his uncle’s killer years earlier.  Spider-Man and Wolverine enter the warehouse and trigger a trap.

Part Two - Child’s Play

Summary:  The heroes dodge the automated defenses, then face armed criminals and the supervillains Whiplash, Bloodlust, and Critical Mass.  Spider-Man’s stunned when he realizes that Critical Mass is his fourth grade classmate Arnie Gunderson.  The villains order the captive mutant to use her powers against Spider-Man and Wolverine.  They’re knocked unconscious by her blast of light.

Part Three - Breaking Point

Summary:  Spider-Man and Wolverine recover from the blast and retaliate.  Spider-Man’s in for another shock when he discovers that one of Critical Mass’ armed goons is his dentist.  To force the heroes to surrender, one of the villains puts a gun to the young mutant’s head.  Her powers erupt and destroy the warehouse.  Later, Spider-Man questions if the entire ordeal was a dream when talking to MJ.  Elsewhere, Wolverine sees the girl and her father off at the airport, as they leave to start a new life.

Continuity Notes:  

• The story is set pre-X-Men #1, when the X-Men are still believed dead.  That’s why Spider-Man thinks Wolverine is an impostor at the beginning.
• Based on Wolverine’s dialogue on the final page, no one was hurt in the explosion because the girl teleported everyone away.
• The mutant girl and her father are intended to be the original Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel, although they’re obviously not identified by name.  When writing the monthly Wolverine series, Larsen planned on reviving the girl as the new Marvel Girl, but Chris Claremont used the name for a character in Fantastic Four before Larsen had a chance to reintroduce her.
• Whiplash, Bloodlust, and Critical Mass all debut in this serial.  Whiplash and Bloodlust soon reappear in Amazing Spider-Man as members of the Femme Fatales.  Another one of Critical Mass’ henchmen is a thinly veiled version of Erik Larsen’s Dragon character. Looking online, he's been dubbed "The Savage Fin."
• Spider-Man’s dentist is dressed as Uncle Ben’s killer, as seen in Amazing Fantasy #15.  He claims that he owes Spider-Man for “what he did to my brother,” but no further information is given.

Creative Differences:  Erik Larsen complained in a Savage Dragon letter column about this serial being reprinted without his original credits, implying that it was an intentional slight on Marvel’s part.  The truth is, Marvel was bad about including credits in a few of the Marvel Comics Presents reprints, presumably because the credits were on the inside front cover in MCP and not written on the actual artwork.  Also, Larsen has said that Marvel’s lawyers claimed that Marvel owned the Dragon based on his cameo appearance here, overlooking that Dragon debuted years earlier in small-press B&W comics.

Production Notes:  This is a thirty-two page reprint of Marvel Comics Presents #48-50.  The reprint includes ads, but does have a cardstock cover and glossy paper at a $2.50 cover price.  Amazingly, nothing in the comic tells the reader it’s a reprint; however, the indicia is clearly recycled from the original Marvel Comics Presents issues.  A note at the bottom tells readers to write to Weapon X (the name of one of MCP’s longest-running serials) for subscription information.

Review:  It’s not hard to guess why this material was recycled by Marvel a few years after its initial release.  Not only does it feature work by an Image founder, but it’s also Spider-Man and Wolverine together in the same story.  They also fight for a few pages, which gives Marvel an excuse to name it Spider-Man VS. Wolverine, even though it’s hard to imagine that their three-page fight scene pleased any fan of hero vs. hero brawls.  Oddly enough, some of the more obvious MCP candidates for reprints remained untouched by Marvel in the ‘90s.  I’m specifically thinking of the Wolverine/Venom serial, featuring art by Sam Kieth, which didn’t earn a reprint special during the ‘90s.

This is one of Erik Larsen’s earliest writing jobs, which helps to explain why it’s so nuts.  For starters, this is Larsen from his “Name Withheld” era, which means he seems to have a chip on his shoulder regarding most professional comic writers.  Larsen starts the story with Spider-Man delivering an extensive monologue cataloging every coincidence that’s occurring in his life, a thinly-veiled jab at what Larsen perceived as lazy writing.  (Although all of the more recent examples cited by Spidey aren’t coincidences; Black Cat was dating Flash specifically to agitate Spider-Man, the Puma purchased the Bugle explicitly to repay a debt to Spider-Man, and Glory Grant was wooed by Eduardo Lobo in order to gain access to Daily Bugle files.)  Larsen then goes out of his way to write the most ridiculous coincidences he possibly can, making them increasingly absurd until it’s obvious he’s doing this as a joke.  In case anyone thinks this is too dumb, Larsen throws in a half-hearted “maybe this was all a dream…” conversation towards the end, although it’s unlikely to appease anyone who hates parody stories.  The overall tone of the story isn’t particularly jokey, and Larsen seemed serious about returning to these characters one day, so I’m not clear on what he thought he was doing.  Surely Larsen doesn’t want to establish that Peter’s dentist is his uncle’s murderer’s brother, but if the story is canon, that means all of the dumb coincidences “count” too.  

So, it’s not really a comedy story, but does it work as a simple superhero team-up story?  Yes and no.  On a very basic level, it’s entertaining.  Larsen was upfront at the time about not doing “boring” stories and giving the readers what he thought they wanted, which is relentless action.  Larsen crams a lot of action into the three brief chapters, and given that the eight-page format of MCP doesn’t lend itself to deep material, I can’t blame him for the choice.  Larsen’s art from this era can be polarizing, but I like his quirky Spider-Man and think his Wolverine doesn’t look so bad when Larsen is channeling Walt Simonson’s interpretation.  (On other pages, Wolverine looks very Liefeldian, and that ain't pretty.) Larsen’s art is certainly packed with energy, and I’ve always enjoyed Larsen’s panel layouts.  Every page grabs your attention, at the very least.  Not surprisingly, the weakest element of the serial is the story.  The parody elements make it impossible to take the plot seriously, and other elements, such as the girl developing vaguely defined powers whenever the story needs her to, are annoying.  Spider-Man also has a few lines of dialogue that are so random, such as spontaneously mentioning that his “friend” is a photographer to Wolverine during the fight, I have to wonder if some of the word balloons disappeared somewhere along the way.  Overall, it’s not nearly on the level of early Savage Dragon, and it’s certainly not much of an argument that Larsen can write anything better than the “hackwork” he was forced to pencil back in the day.  If you like simple team-up stories and have a high tolerance for shenanigans, though, you could do worse.

SPIDER-MAN, PUNISHER, SABRETOOTH: DESIGNER GENES - June 1993

Credits:  Terry Kavanagh (writer), Scott McDaniel (penciler), Keith Williams (inks), Joe Rosen (letters), Tom Smith (colors)

Summary:  Peter Parker discovers that numerous lab animals at ESU have been slaughtered by a mystery creature.  Nearby, the Punisher faces a group of arsonists called the Scorchers.  After the Scorchers are neutralized, a homeless woman shows Punisher the mutilated bodies of several of her friends.  Spider-Man and the Punisher’s investigations lead to an underground lab, where they discover Sabretooth.  They mistake Sabretooth for the killer until he reveals that he’s hunting a former Weapon X scientist named Phil Chambers.  Sabretooth leaves Spider-Man and the Punisher to fight amongst themselves and heads to Roxxon’s headquarters.  Spider-Man and the Punisher eventually follow and meet Roxxon executive Brandon Chambers, who has hired his brother Phil to conduct genetic research.  Phil, from his lab, unleashes his genetically modified creature to kill the heroes.  Brandon is shocked to discover the monster is their brother Mitchell, who Phil was allegedly treating for cancer.  With Brandon’s help, Mitchell is restrained.  Sabretooth kills Phil and escapes.  Later, Brandon tries to make amends by using his brother’s altered DNA to advance cancer research.

Continuity Notes:  Sabretooth remarks that “my claws only kill for money...and revenge.”  At this point, Marvel tends to portray Sabretooth as a mercenary rather than a serial killer.

I Love the ‘90s:  Phil Chambers tries to escape with his floppy disc archive of scientific research.  Also, the very concept of “designer jeans” seems unique to the ‘80s and early ‘90s.

“Huh?” Moment:  The Punisher escapes the Roxxon building when Microchip arrives in a helicopter.  The Punisher has his own helicopter…and chubby computer hacker Microchip knows how to pilot one?

Creative Differences:  An added line of dialogue has Spider-Man confirm that one of Roxxon’s guards is still alive after the Punisher forced another guard to shoot him with a laser rifle.

Production Note:  I hesitate to call this a bookshelf format one-shot, because an argument can be made that it’s a full-fledged graphic novel.  It’s not oversized like Marvel’s earlier graphic novels, but it is sixty-four pages of original material at the whopping price of $8.95.  (And that’s in 1993 dollars!)  The cover also has foil effects and raised lettering.

Review:  Do you think Peter David was kicking himself when Terry Kavanagh got to the pun “Designer Genes” first?  If only Peter David had written this one; the silly title probably would’ve remained, but I’m sure he could’ve done something with a Spider-Man/Punisher/Sabretooth team-up story.  Terry Kavanagh does pretty much what you expect Terry Kavanagh to do, which is fill pages with words but never really say anything.  To be fair, there is an effort to give one of the Chambers brothers a character arc, but at no point does Kavanagh actually make him sympathetic or believable.  Instead, Brandon’s redemption is just tossed in during the final pages to create the impression that this comic has more to it than mindless violence.  The story mainly consists of the three lead characters, most likely chosen for marketing reasons, having brief fight scenes with one another that are interrupted by quickie plot points, which lead to more running and fighting until the sixty-four pages are mercifully over.  While the dialogue isn’t as bad as some of Kavanagh’s later work, there are quite a few groaners in here.  The Punisher specifically is saddled with some hideous one-liners, like “He's a killer who needs being dead” and this egregious one: “Just get me to the hurt on time.”  Get me to the hurt on time.  Yeesh.

The back cover plays up the idea that the one-shot contrasts the idea of the hero, the anti-hero, and the villain, but that’s kind of a joke.  Sabretooth and the Punisher are essentially the same character in this story, with Spider-Man playing the part of the overwhelmed hero who accomplishes nothing by the end of the comic.  I will say that Kavanagh writes Spidey pretty well for most of the story, and I was relieved to see Spider-Man make some effort to apprehend the Punisher.  Stories where Spider-Man just accepts what the Punisher does aren’t true to the character, so I have to give Kavanagh some credit for trying to stay loyal to Spider-Man’s values.  However, not only does Spidey fail to apprehend the Punisher, he fails to do anything in this one-shot.  The Punisher escapes.  Sabretooth escapes and kills the main villain.  And the secondary villain gets a redemption arc that Spider-Man has zero participation in.  It’s almost as if Spider-Man’s only here to sell comics or something…

I’m not sure why someone thought that Scott McDaniel at this stage could handle a nine-dollar prestige format book, but he’s clearly out of his depth here.  While his interpretation of Spider-Man is remarkably consistent (and not a bad variation on Ron Lim’s portrayal at the time in Spider-Man Unlimited), the rest of this art looks like any other subpar Jim Lee impersonation from the era.  I’m assuming this was penciled before McDaniel began experimenting with his style on Daredevil; I wasn’t a huge fan of that run, but there was something stylized and cool about it.  Designer Genes just looks like any random Wildstorm comic from 1993, without the fancy computer colors.  This is pretty bad stuff all around.  In Marvel’s quest to reprint everything, I wonder if this is something they’re just going to overlook.

X-BABIES REBORN #1 - January 2000

Beware the Babymaker!

Credits:  Ruben Diaz (writer), Juvaun J. Kirby (pencils & colors), Caleb Salstrom (inks), Comicraft (letters)

Summary:  While training in the Danger Playpen, Sugah accidentally touches Psychilde, which leaves Psychilde in a coma.  Soon, the X-Babies realize that her neoplasm is unstable.  They travel to Mojoworld, where they hope to find a cure.  Spiral, however, wants Psychilde’s neoplasm to create more stars for Mojo.  Her latest creations, the Mitey ‘Vengers, are unleashed on the X-Babies, but eventually they realize that Mojo is the true villain.  Iron Ace and Sugah attempt to repair Psychilde’s damaged neoplasm, but in the process alter her body into that of an Asian ninja.  Soon, Mojo is defeated by the united teams.  Later, however, Mojo creates more new creations…baby villains. 

Continuity Notes:  This story introduces the Mitey ‘Vengers, which consist of Captain Amerikid, Iron Ace, Big Boy, Thunderson, Wisp, and Hawkey.

I Love the '90s:  One corner of Mojoworld is revealed to be the Fad Dump, which houses last year’s hits, such as “digital pets, teen boy bands, yo-yos -- again.”  Unfortunately, boy bands don’t die out in 2000 as the comic predicted.


Review:The cover might fool you into thinking this was released during the Quesada/Jemas days, since the company name is written across the top and there’s no corner box (the new look adopted to signal Marvel’s new direction in 2001).  Plus, the interiors bring us lower-case lettering, when the X-Babies speak at least, another “innovation” from the Quesada/Jemas era.  The comic’s actually from the final year of the Bob Harras days, however.  It might be tempting to think this comic influenced the future look of Marvel Comics, but I can’t imagine any of Bob Harras’ replacements ever glanced at it.  I don’t even recall much of a fan response to this one-shot, even though the first one was received fairly well.  X-specials were far from “special” at this point, and virtually anything with the X-Babies on the cover was probably automatically rendered unimportant to most readers.  And fans of the original one-shot possibly didn’t even know this existed, because I certainly don’t remember any promotion for it.  

X-Babies Reborn isn’t as much fun as its predecessor, but it has its moments.  Aside from some cute jokes, including a running gag about where babies come from and the introduction of ninja-baby Psylocke, there is some legitimately good character work between Sugah and Psychilde that evokes a Claremontian feel without turning the sentiment into parody.  The plot has more than its share of puzzling diversions, however, such as a detour to an abandoned library that doesn’t seem to serve much of a purpose outside of making a joke about kids not reading books anymore.  Too often the story just feels padded in order to fill up the double-sized page count.  Like the previous one-shot, the real highlight of the issue is J. J. Kirby’s art.  I think his X-Babies rival the original Arthur Adams’ versions, and the ‘Vengers are great cartoony reinventions the heroes (especially tiny Hawkeye and Iron Man.)  If Kirby could apply this style to six-foot superheroes, I don’t see how he couldn’t have had Ed McGuinness’ career.  

WOLVERINE & CABLE: GUTS AND GLORY - October 1999

Credits: Joe Casey (writer), Stephen Platt (penciler), Batt, Lary Stucker, Bob Wiacek, Mark Pennington, Johnny Greene, Scott Koblish, & Rod Ramos (inks), Colorgraphix (colors), Mike Heisler (letters)

Summary: In the past, Cable arrives in New York for the first time. He disrupts the Vulture’s first robbery attempt and is injured by a bomb the villain set to cover his escape. A former SHIELD agent named Franklin Rhodes takes Cable in and offers him guidance. Meanwhile, a New Canaanite soldier named D’von Kray materializes in Canada. After Wolverine subdues him for Department H, the agency’s scientists accidentally revive D’von’s memory during their attempt to reprogram him. D’von realizes he’s from the future and that his mission is to kill Cable. He tracks Cable to New York, and during his ambush, kills Franklin Rhodes. Wolverine arrives and helps Cable kill D’von. As Wolverine leaves, he warns Cable about his attitude.

Continuity Notes:

· Cable’s wife, Aliya, is already dead at this point, according to his flashback.

· The Vulture tells Cable that this is his “first endeavor as a master thief.” The implication is that the Vulture had at least some experience as a criminal before meeting Spider-Man for the first time, which seems compatible with his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #2.

· According to the opening narrative captions, this story begins two days after Cable arrived from Scotland. Presumably, this is taking place a few days after the events of Cable #-1. He’s still searching for Professor Xavier, which was his motive in that issue.

· If the story is set right after Cable #-1, which as a “Flashback” story had to be set before Fantastic Four #1, having Wolverine as a costumed Canadian agent is questionable. Alpha Flight #2 established that Mac Hudson was inspired to create Canadian heroes after seeing the Fantastic Four on television for the first time. Plus, even though Wolverine’s first appearance in Incredible Hulk #181 doesn’t explicitly establish this is his first mission as a costumed hero, Chris Claremont did have Wolverine say as much during a flashback in Uncanny X-Men. Aaaaand, wasn’t one of those Logan one-shots, which still featured Wolverine as a plainclothes secret agent, already set circa Fantastic Four #1?

· Franklin Rhodes arranges for Cable to get a haircut, which marks the end of Cable’s adventures with the flowing white hair.

· Joe Casey follows Jeph Loeb’s example and has Cable using his telepathy in the past again. Cable’s telepathy was treated as a surprise, even to him, during the X-Force/New Warriors crossover “Child’s Play.”

Production Note: This is a forty-eight page, prestige format book, priced at $5.99.

Review: I remember this comic getting a hostile reaction online; I was tempted to call it the first time the internet realized Joe Casey is far from perfect, but then I recalled the response to his Incredible Hulk run. I don’t think people were expecting Casey’s final Cable story to turn out like this, though -- a largely mindless collection of fight scenes straight out of the early ‘90s. It’s not that Guts and Glory is all bad, though. Using the Vulture in the story’s opening is an unexpected surprise, and it might even by a sly reference to New Mutants #86, which featured the Vulture and Cable in his first cameo appearance. Casey tries to add some meat to the story by pairing Cable with a veteran and discussing the psychological impact of war; he doesn’t have any particularly astute insights on the subject, but the scenes help to humanize Cable. And while Stephen Platt’s art is often too busy and poorly constructed, a few of the pages are at least on the level of a competent Silvestri clone (I’m assuming those are the ones inked by Bob Wiacek or Mark Pennington.)

Unfortunately, this is a six-dollar one-shot that was allegedly going to reveal Cable and Wolverine’s secret past, a mystery that was almost ten years old at the time. What the audience gets is a brief team-up by the characters that doesn’t answer any of the old questions (They don’t even fight! Cable and Wolverine are supposed to be old sparring partners.), art that’s slapped together by an army of inkers, and a story with no message deeper than “war is bad.” It’s hard to feel as if you got your money’s worth.

WOLVERINE: EVILUTION - September 1994

Credits: Ann Nocenti (writer), Mark Texeira (layouts), John Royle (penciler), Philip Moy & Andrew Pepoy (inkers), Dave Sharpe (letters), Monica Bennett (colors)

Summary: A vision sends Wolverine to Prescott, a nearby town with a controversial nuclear plant. He meets Red Waterfall, an Indian who refuses to sell land near the plant; land the plant needs to comply with federal regulations. Meanwhile, a teen named Jimmy starts a group called the Devos, youths determined to fight the technological age. Their rituals attract an ancient spirit, one that calls for a female sacrifice. Boom Boom is kidnapped and brought to the plant to be sacrificed. A young follower brings Jimmy the Spear of Destiny, recently stolen from Germany, which he plans to use on Boom Boom. Wolverine and Red Waterfall rescue her and confiscate the Spear. When the ancient spirit emerges, Wolverine uses the Spear to drive it away. The town returns to normal, and the plant is soon closed.

Continuity Notes:

• This story is set before Wolverine lost his adamantium skeleton in X-Men #25.
• The idea that Boom Boom regularly visits a small town north of Salem Center creates a few continuity problems. As a member of X-Force, she wasn’t living in Salem Center until X-Force moved in with the X-Men, which was after Wolverine lost his adamantium. It’s possible the story is set during the early days of X-Force, when the team lived in the Adirondack Mountains; however, X-Force were known fugitives at the time, which is hard to reconcile with Boom Boom casually walking through town and hanging out with teenagers.

Production Notes: This is a forty-eight page prestige format one-shot. The price is $5.95.

Creative Differences: Numerous lettering corrections in this one. Some are obviously done to add exposition, but others have no apparent significance.

Approved By The Comics Code Authority: Even though the prestige format books weren’t submitted for Code approval, Marvel’s reluctance to show blood probably explains why the chickens sacrificed by the Devos leave green blood behind.

I Love the '90s: Red Waterfall predicted trouble “in the 1990s, the anniversary years.” Also, the owner of the nuclear plant says the jobs it creates will help during the recession, although the early ‘90s recession was long over by 1994.

Review: An Ann Nocenti/ Mark Texeira Wolverine story? This has been on my “Must Track Down Someday” list for years, so of course I picked up a copy when I saw one in the discount bins. Unfortunately, Texeira only provided layouts, leaving the pencils to John Royle, an artist that would’ve been considered a midlevel talent at Wildstorm in 1993. And the story…well, I have no idea what happened here. It’s not hard to guess that this sat around in a drawer for years before publication, but sometimes the narrative is so choppy I wonder if it began life as a Marvel Comics Presents serial and was later cut down to forty-eight pages. For clarity’s sake, I’ll try to run down the rough spots in ye ol’ bullet points format:

· First of all, I’m half-convinced that Boom Boom was originally intended to be Jubilee. She’s repeatedly referred to as a “girl who wishes she were a boy,” which doesn’t fit Boom Boom, but does match Jubilee’s original appearances (remember when she was a tomboy?). Her powers are also described as firecrackers, which is the standard definition of Jubilee’s powers.

· Even if the female lead was always supposed to be Boom Boom, just using that version of her name dates the story. She’s been “Boomer” since the early days of X-Force. This couldn’t be fixed?

· The leader of the Devos, Jimmy, is revealed as the son of the nuclear plant owner about halfway through the story. There’s an obvious conflict between the two, but it doesn’t amount to much of anything. The only real confrontation between them is so rushed you have to wonder why it was even included; the story (as published) could work just as well without Jimmy’s father at all.

· By the way, aren’t nuclear plants public utilities? Could a lone individual even own one?

· The scenes of a ten-year-old boy casually stealing the Spear of Destiny from a museum are just mind-boggling.

· The theme of the story involves technology outlasting the men who create it, which has Nocenti connecting Wolverine’s metal skeleton with the ecological consequences of nuclear power. Just when you think she’s going for a blanket rejection of technology, though, she has Red Waterfall give Wolverine a speech about the futility of fighting destiny, and even has him speculate that it was inevitable that the white men would defeat the natives. Therefore, white men now control technology, even if it will poison the earth. It’s all a part of a great test, and perhaps nothing should be done about it. That’s certainly a strange turn for the story take; even stranger is the conclusion, which has the nuclear plant inexplicably shut down, and Red Waterfall happily planting herbs in his garden. So what was the point of his speech? Was there a dramatic reversal that got left on the cutting room floor? Like the rest of the story, I’m left wondering what on earth happened to this book.

WOLVERINE: KILLING - September 1993

Credits: John Ney Rieber (writer), Kent Williams (artist), Sherilyn van Valkenburgh (colors), Bill Oakley (letters)

Summary: Wolverine responds to a subconscious prompt that sends him to Tibet. The psychic who sent the message, Tane, is reluctantly obeying the wishes of Nirissa, who wants her grandchildren to inherit Wolverine’s healing factor. Tane loves Nirissa’s daughter, Serra, but must obey her command. When Serra discovers she’s to be bred like an animal, she runs away into the elements. After arriving in Tibet, Wolverine rescues Serra and takes her back home. When he discovers the life Serra lives in captivity, he agrees to travel outside of the mountains with her. Tane spies on them, and when he suspects Wolverine and Serra have true feelings for each other, he confronts Wolverine. In the battle, Wolverine spares Tane's life, proving he isn't what Tane thought he was.

Production Notes: This is a forty-eight page, $5.95 bookshelf format one-shot.

Review: Wolverine: Killing might be best known as one of the rare occasions Marvel was crazy enough to let Kent Williams draw Wolverine. This is an interpretation that makes Bill Sienkiewicz look conservative and restrained. I can live with his everyday Logan in a wifebeater, but that bizarre rendition of Wolverine’s cowl is something I’ll never understand. (I suspect Williams is the artist behind that memorable ad for the X-Men Sega Genesis game. This was certainly an...interesting way to go.)

Luckily, Wolverine is sans costume for much of this story, a story that covers much of the ground you expect these prestige format one-shots to cover. Wolverine’s uneasy about city life, but also with his bestial nature, outsiders want his powers, he discovers a new love interest (mysteriously Anglo in appearance even though the story is set in Tibet), he reflects on the nuances between an animal and man killing, and there’s some vague talk about the importance of survival…Wolverine’s animal instincts will never allow him to give up, while the “civilized” Nirissa is obsessed with the survival of her bloodline.

If you accept the plot as trippy dream logic and don’t ask too many questions, it’s a perfectly serviceable Wolverine story. Once you get into the “who, what, where, when, and how” you’re faced with mystery people from a mystery tribe luring Wolverine to Tibet through mysterious means because they mysteriously know of his healing factor. Plus, there’s an old man who picks a fight with Wolverine on his way to Tibet for no discernible reason, but that’s okay because Wolverine learns a lesson about changing the world in the process. Recognizing that this isn’t supposed to be the most literal story in history, I’m willing to accept it on its merits. I like the setting of Tibet, and John Ney Rieber’s philosophical divergences help to create a certain mood without violating the core of Wolverine’s character. It’s certainly a more rewarding experience than the previous year’s “artistic” Wolverine one-shot.