CABLE #78 - April 2000

 

I Still Believe I Cannot Be Saved

Credits:  Joe Pruett (writer), Juan Santacruz w/Michael Ryan (pencilers), Andrew Pepoy (inker), Gloria Vasquez (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Summary:  Cable returns to his warehouse to discover it’s been ransacked.  According to Blaquesmith, the burglars were attempting to access the building’s secret room, where he’s working on a cure for the techno-organic virus.  Meanwhile, representatives of the Ranshi Empire search for time travelers in Manhattan.  Later, Cable meets with Stacey and erases her memories of their relationship.  As he leaves, he admits he loves her.  On his way home, Cable’s techno-organic virus goes out of control.  Irene Merryweather later discovers him in the streets.

Continuity Notes:  

• Cable loses control of his techno-organic virus (again) due to the events of Uncanny X-Men #379.
• Ozymandias gets a subplot page, pondering what he’ll do now that Apocalypse is dead.  Linger in obscurity would be my guess…
• Speaking of Apocalypse’s “death” -- this issue makes the same mistake a few of the spinoffs made during this period.  Cable claims Apocalypse has been “defeated” and Cyclops is dead, ignoring the actual ending of X-Men #98, which had Apocalypse merging with Cyclops’ body and then teleporting away.  How do you get “dead” or “defeated” out of that?

I Love the '90s:  The title of this issue is of course a reference to the Smashing Pumpkins’ 1995 hit, “Bullet with Butterfly Wings.”  And, yes, this is not technically a ‘90s comic, but I couldn’t ignore that one. 

Review:  What a weird issue.  This is the final issue of Cable before the “Revolution” relaunch of the early 2000s, which means it’s also Joe Pruett’s final issue of the title.  And he spends the issue wrapping up a romantic subplot from the Joe Casey days that’s already been pretty definitively resolved, setting up new characters for what I’m assuming is the next writer’s run (or else this Ranshi Empire stuff makes no sense at all), introducing a new Blaquesmith subplot for some reason, and closing the issue with a quickie tie-in to a storyline occurring in the main X-titles.  So, judged as a single coherent story, there’s barely anything here.  And if you’re actually intrigued by that cliffhanger, I hate to tell you that the next issue picks up six months later. 

The only plotline that’s reasonably lucid this issue is Cable and Stacey’s break-up.  Pruett handles their conversation fairly well, but the scene is marred by Juan Santacruz’s tendency to draw human faces that are abysmally inhuman.  I don’t want to be too hard on the guy, but it’s shocking to me that Santacruz found work on a mainstream title at this point in his career.  He spends much of the issue imitating Ladronn’s backgrounds and Bernard Chang’s anatomy, creating this bizarre blend of two disparate styles we’ve already seen in the book, but botching both badly.  Inserting an interlude by former Wildstorm artist Michael Ryan, the next penciler on the book, adds yet another clashing style to the issue.  And even if Michael Ryan’s pages are kind of bland, he does draw competent human anatomy, making the switch back to Santacruz’s pages even more frustrating.  I don’t think anyone will tell you Cable was particularly good during this era, but this is still a pretty sad way to close out this run.

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.

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.

CABLE #76 - February 2000

In My Eyes
Credits:  Joe Pruett (writer), Bernard Chang (penciler), Jon Holdredge (inker), Brain Miller & Hi-Fi Design (colors), Comicraft’s Saida Temofonte (letters)

Summary:  Cable wakes to discover he’s being held captive with the rest of the Twelve.  A strange energy signature appears, and suddenly Cyclops and Cable are in Cable’s future.  The two discuss their relationship, and Cyclops reassures Cable that he is the son he’s always wanted.  Suddenly, Cable finds himself in the snow, alone.  He enters a cabin and discovers Madelyne Pryor is inside, holding Cyclops captive.  Madelyne offers to live with Cable in peace within the Psionic Plane forever, but he refuses.  He demands she release Cyclops and allow them to face Apocalypse.  Madelyne agrees and says goodbye.

Continuity Notes: 

• This story is continued in X-Men #97.
• Cable grows progressively younger while talking to Cyclops in the Psionic Plane.  He’s a teenager (virtually identical to X-Man, of course) holding his wife’s body while flashing back through his life.  I don’t think the implication is that Cable actually was a teenager when Aliya died, he just happens to mention her while stuck in this age.  Just to be clear, Cable was well into adulthood when Aliya (then using her codename “JenSkot”) was killed in Cable #1’s flashback.
• Cable declares himself an X-Man, “just like my father,” which appears to be setting up his membership during Chris Claremont’s brief return to the main titles.

Review:  Following the worst issue of the series’ entire run (and perhaps the worst X-comic of the ‘90s), there’s nowhere to go but up.  And this issue is actually Joe Pruett’s best so far, as he takes the space he’s been given to fill before the next stage of the crossover and simply uses it for a Cable/Cyclops character piece.  In retrospect, it’s obvious that the editorial staff had already decided to kill Cyclops off at this point, which explains his discussions with Cable regarding death and sacrifice.  Of course, we all know that Marvel never had any commitment to this death, so the scenes don’t have the impact Pruett probably thought that they would have, but they stand on their own fairly well.  After reuniting Cable with Cyclops, Pruett then moves on to crazy ol’ Madelyne Pryor.  Madelyne was used horrifically following her resurrection in X-Man, but there is at least a nice sentiment here.  Sensing Cable near death, she’s called him and his father together in the Psionic Plane where they can be reunited as a family.  This is as sympathetic as Madelyne gets, following “Inferno,” and it’s actually a surprisingly sentimental scene.  Cable refuses to hide from his destiny, and the story ends with everyone back in place to be bored by Apocalypse for a few more months.  Unfortunately, this is the first issue in the run to give an indication of what Pruett might be capable of, and it’s almost his last issue.

CABLE #75 - January 2000

Who is Worthy to Break the Seals…?

Credits:  Joe Pruett (script), Rob Liefeld (penciler), Lary Stucker (inker), Optic Studios (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Summary:  Apocalypse taunts Cable, who is now his captive.  He leaves Cable’s psimitar in front of him as a final insult and leaves the room.  Death enters, shocking Cable.  Cable telepathically uses his psimitar to attack Death and free himself.  He tries to draw Wolverine’s persona out of Death, but fails.  Eventually, Apocalypse returns and fights Cable to a standstill.  Cable’s forced to give up when Death appears with Caliban as a hostage.

Continuity Note:  Rob Liefeld (or perhaps the inker) is still unable to decide which of Cable’s eyes have pupils.  On one page, both of them do.  On other pages, neither has a pupil.  Occasionally, he gets it right and remembers that it’s Cable right eye, the one surrounded by scars, which has a pupil.  (Although the colorist screws this up on one page and gives Cable’s right eye the mechanical glowing effect.)

“Huh?” Moment:  Death/Wolverine falls down a seemingly bottomless pit to his death during his fight with Cable.  A few pages later, he magically returns with Caliban as a hostage.

Creative Differences:  There is no credited plotter for this story, only Joe Pruett and Rob Liefeld as “storytellers.”  Pruett was very clear at the time that he did not plot this story and was only responsible for scripting the pages sent to him.

Miscellaneous Note:  The title of this issue is a reference to the fifth chapter of Revelation.

Review:  Not that Rob Liefeld’s run on Cable was very popular on the internet in the first place, but this issue was especially loathed.  This double-sized anniversary issue, the one people believed for years would be the ultimate battle between Cable and Apocalypse, is instead a collection of clumsy fight scenes that advance the ongoing storyline not one inch.  Literally -- the first and last page of the story have Apocalypse lording over the restrained Cable, with the same narration detailing Cable’s failure on both pages.  And even as a mindless fight scene, this is awful.  Splash page after splash page of awkward poses, ugly faces, and nonexistent backgrounds.

As far as I know, no one’s ever taken credit for plotting this issue.  The fan theory at the time was that Liefeld was told to just draw a big fight scene for the issue, but I believe Liefeld denied having any role in plotting the story.  If the story wasn’t plotted by Pruett or Liefeld, that probably leaves editorial.  And since editor Mark Powers already had a reputation as a heavy rewriter, many people just assumed this was something he slapped together during his lunch break.  Who knows the truth, but I can’t blame whoever is responsible for not wanting his or her face revealed.

CABLE #74 - December 1999

Mind Games
Credits: Joe Pruett (writer), Bernard Chang (penciler), Jon Holdredge (inker), Gloria Vasquez (colors), Comicraft’s Saida Temofonte (letters)

Summary: Caliban attacks the team, injuring Proudstar. He abruptly leaves, following the call of Apocalypse’s new Horseman of War, Deathbird. X-Force follows, only to be ambushed by Caliban’s new psionic pestilence powers. Cable enters the Astral Plane to rescue the team, not realizing that this was a trap designed to steal Cable’s physical body while his consciousness was distracted. Cable later awakens in Apocalypse’s custody. Meanwhile, Stacey and Irene reflect on Cable’s impact on their lives.

Continuity Notes: Apocalypse has given Caliban pestilence powers that somehow don’t work physically, but instead attack the mind. For unexplained reasons, Moonstar, Domino, Meltdown, and Jesse Bedlam aren’t affected by his powers.

Review: This is Joe Pruett’s strongest issue so far, and perhaps not coincidentally, it’s also another non-Liefeld issue (the second in four issues). Pruett’s awkward prose is paired back dramatically this time, and he actually manages to write adequate exchanges between the cast. It’s not perfect, of course, as he clumsily hammers home the idea that this is a “new” compassionate Cable, but this is much easier to read than his previous issues. Pruett, or perhaps someone in editorial, has seen fit to outright state that this warmer, fuzzier Cable will be rejoining X-Force in order to look after his former charges, which is likely a hint that no one working on the books had any idea what “Counter-X” was going to be at this point.

And while it’s easy to mock Liefeld for missing half of the issues of his run so far, at least we got Bernard Chang as a fill-in. Some of his facial expressions are still bizarre, but for the most part, he’s able to do a great action issue in that “chunky” post-manga style that was emerging during this time. His scenes in the Astral Plane, which cast the action as a montage within a film strip, are particularly nice.

CABLE #73 - November 1999

Pestilence!
Credits: Joe Pruett & Rob Liefeld (story & art), Lary Stucker w/Dan Fraga (inks), Optic Studio (colors), Comicraft (letters)


Summary: Caliban emerges from a cocoon in San Francisco and immediately follows Cable’s trail. While hunting Cable, Caliban befriends a young boy who isn’t afraid of mutants. Unfortunately, Caliban is chased off by his father and the boy is hit by a truck when he follows Caliban. A crowd forms and threatens Caliban, reviving his bloodlust. Meanwhile, Cable meets with X-Force, giving them information on all of his safehouses in case he doesn’t survive his fight with Apocalypse. Suddenly, Caliban, now calling himself Pestilence, crashes into X-Force’s headquarters.

Continuity Notes:
• Siryn’s appearance on the cover is a mistake, as she isn’t a member of the team at this point. She isn’t in the story, but the presence of Domino and Sunspot together makes it hard to pinpoint where this issue could fit in X-Force continuity.
• Blaquesmith and Ozymandias have formed an alliance against Apocalypse. Ozymandias asks Blaquesmith if his pupil, presumably Cable, is “ready.” Ozymandias’ connection to Caliban’s disappearance in X-Force #70 isn’t mentioned.

Review: So, now that Joe Pruett and Rob Liefeld are being credited as “storytellers,” does that mean Liefeld actually did co-plot these stories? I was always under the impression that Liefeld took this simply as an art assignment because he missed drawing the character (and his publishing company had folded.) I do distinctly remember Joe Pruett denying that he was involved with plotting issue #75 at all, and Liefeld claiming the plot didn’t come from him, leading to the theory that one of Marvel’s editors mapped out the story uncredited. Was that the only issue plotted by editors? Regardless, we’re getting deep into crossover territory, which means if Joe Pruett ever did have a clear vision for this book, it’s going to be buried anyway.

I don’t want to keep harping on Pruett, but his work on the X-books so far has placed him in sub-Kavanagh territory. There is a bright spot this issue, as Cable learns of Siryn’s injury in X-Force #90 and laments ever recruiting Feral into the team, but that’s essentially it. The rest of the issue is just cardboard. Almost every page is overloaded with supposedly deep text that’s so clumsily written you almost feel sorry for the poor letterer who has to type it out. “A famous writer once asserted that ‘you can never go home.’ As Cable sits among his former students…enjoying the closeness and warmth that only comes from the cohesive bond that is a family…he thinks of this literary line and is glad it is the exception and not the rule.” And that’s just one of the clunkers. Pruett’s prose is just a chore to read, and it chokes almost every page of the book. (This is assuming that Pruett and not an editor wrote these lines, of course.)

But, hey, Rob Liefeld’s back after that exhaustive stint of one issue, so that counts for something, right? Most of the issue is a conversation scene, which displays Liefeld’s talent for never drawing backgrounds, or believable facial expressions. Sometimes X-Force has a floor, but usually their couch just manages to float four feet off the ground. Liefeld’s been in the industry for over ten years at this point, and he still can’t draw a credible conversation scene to save his life, or figure out little things like “How does furniture touch the floor?” or “How do normal human beings bend their knees and sit down?” He’s also forgotten, again, which of Cable’s eyes is the mechanical one. I bet the creator of Cable was just furious to see someone get a basic detail like that wrong…

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.

CABLE #71 - September 1999

Nightmares & Prophecies

Credits: Joe Pruett (writer), Rob Liefeld (penciler), Lary Stucker (inker), Tanya & Richard Horie (colors), Comicraft’s Saida Temofonte (letters)

Summary: After having a nightmare about Cannonball’s death, Cable visits Stacey in the diner. She explains that she can’t handle Cable’s life at this point and asks for a break. Later, Cable’s visited by Rachel Summers, who takes him to her reality to show him what life was like without him. After rescuing Cannonball from Ahab, Cable’s brought to the rebel camp where he meets this world’s Stacey, a nurse who aids mutants. Soon, the camp is attacked by Sentinels and a mystery figure. Rachel sends Cable back to the present, telling him to use his knowledge of the Twelve to stop Apocalypse.

Continuity Notes:

· A brainwashed Gideon and Sunspot serve Ahab in this reality. Sunspot implies that he murdered Husk months earlier.

· Other mutant rebels Cable encounters include Warpath, Meltdown, and Domino. Domino is apparently killed by the Sentinels.

· The mystery figure who attacks the camp is wearing a helmet reminiscent of Magneto’s, and has a scar over his right eye that resembles Cable’s.

Review: This is Rob Liefeld’s grand return to Cable, even though the cover is by Adam Kubert. And next issue’s is penciled by Andy Kubert. Did Marvel want to make a big deal about this or not? It’s also odd that Liefeld did this run with little-to-no plot input (that’s how I remember him describing his contribution at the time, anyway). Doesn’t that go against the spirit of the Image founders?

Liefeld’s art offers no surprises. If you already hate it, there’s nothing here to change your mind. If you buy into the idea that his “energy” compensates for his lack of technical skills, there are plenty of splash pages and impossible poses for you to enjoy. He’s joined by an inker for this run, Lary Stucker, but Stucker’s style is indistinguishable from Liefeld’s mid-90s inks, and he certainly isn’t cleaning things up by adding backgrounds or varying textures to the inks. I wish someone would’ve caught the lack of a pupil in Cable’s “good” eye (the scarred one, ironically). Cable’s left eye is the bionic one; that’s the one that isn’t supposed to have a pupil. Liefeld gets this wrong not for a panel or two, but for most of the issue.

There’s also a storytelling glitch that has Meltdown, who for some reason doesn’t get an introduction from the narrator with the rest of her teammates, suffering a serious injury off-panel during the Ahab fight. And Cable declaring that the team is horribly outnumbered when we’ve only seen as many villains as heroes during the battle. And Liefeld doesn’t see any reason to age the characters a day, even though the story is set decades in the future. What I’m saying is that perhaps Liefeld’s art ill serves the script.

The story is yet another play on “Days of Future Past” with no real point, unless this was intended to be the “official” explanation of what happened to the assorted X-Force characters in that timeline. Pruett isn’t able to add any drama to the concept, and going for the predictable “Everybody dies!” ending doesn’t do the story any favors. Plus, doing a break-up scene with Stacey has got to be the most obvious move the new creative team could’ve made. Everyone was expecting them to do this, regardless of how much Liefeld claimed to love the Casey/Ladronn run. On top of all of this, Comicraft has somehow discovered an even uglier font than the bizarre one chosen during Ladronn’s run. So, really, this is one bad decision after another, and I’m not sure if anyone is that surprised.

X-MEN UNLIMITED #24 - September 1999

Search and Destroy

Credits: Joe Pruett (writer), Pascal Alixe (penciler), Koblish, Collazo, Ramos, Pepoy, Czop (inkers), Mark Bernardo (colors), Sharpefont & P. T. (letters)

Summary: An injured Japanese girl is taken to Dr. Cecilia Reyes’ office for treatment. Discovering that the girl was in a plane crash with her father, Cecilia and Wolverine search the woods for survivors. They soon learn that the plane was escaping Japanese authorities, who have accused the girl’s father, Inazo, of selling military secrets. The heroes rescue the survivors from Silver Samurai and his army of soldiers. Cecilia nurses Inazo’s business partner Tokitoshi back to health, only to have him turn on her when it’s revealed that he is the true traitor. Cecilia uses her powers to defend herself, then demands that everyone receive medical attention at her office before Tokitoshi is taken into custody.

Continuity Notes: According to Cecilia, her forcefield is an extension of her body that “still sends signals to my brain to alert me to the pain…but it does protect me from bodily harm.” This is the first time that I can recall a story suggesting that Cecilia actually feels pain when objects hit her bio-field. It seems to me that she would’ve been more whiney and obnoxious in her initial appearances if that were the case.

Review: Okay, perhaps Magneto Rex wasn’t entirely Joe Pruett’s fault. This isn’t so bad; not that the story isn’t filled with holes (Silver Samurai represents the Japanese government now? Fugitives escape Japan for…its ally, America? Their plane is flying over America’s east coast instead of its west?), but it’s structured well and Pruett manages to write plausible, cliché-free dialogue for most of the issue. It’s also nice to see Cecilia again, given the embarrassing way Marvel forced her out of the book during the previous year. Pruett seems to be hinting at Cecilia’s return to the team, as the story centers around Cecilia finding the inner strength to be the hero Wolverine believes her to be, and ends with a message about the importance of family. (Not that Cecilia’s X-Men “family” seemed too broken up over her departure, but that’s the state of the titles in the late ‘90s.) The art is provided by Pascal Alixe, whose style is about as far away from the Jim Lee and Joe Mad imitators of the day as you can get. His work is a strange amalgam of John Paul Leon and Steve Leialoha, and while it’s not always pretty, I would say it’s a step above X-Men Unlimited’s usual caliber of artists.

Aftermath

Credits: Joe Pruett (writer), Tom Raney (penciler), Holdredge, DeCastro, Perrotta, Martinez (inkers), Mark Bernardo (colors), Sharpefont & P. T. (letters)

Summary: Magneto meets with his cabinet: Quicksilver is given permission to free the Legacy Virus infected Mutates from their camps, Alda Huxley cautions against Genosha’s isolationism, and Phillip Moreau warns of a Magistrate uprising, while Fabian Cortez studies footage of Magneto’s initial appearance in Genosha. Magneto demands he leave the room, and then reflects on his new position.

Continuity Notes: There’s a brief hint of romantic feelings for Alda Huxley on Magneto’s behalf. Was this the reason why Marvel felt the need to insert her into Genosha’s new status quo?

Review: Oh, and now we’re back to being terrible. This is just as clunky and overwritten as the Magneto Rex miniseries it follows, which is a shame. It’s hard to believe the same writer is responsible for both stories in this comic, but for whatever reason, Pruett simply seems unable to produce readable Magneto/Genosha material.

Finally, the letters page reveals that the next issue begins X-Men Unlimited’s new direction. Accompanied by a Brett Booth pin-up, the editors ask readers to “expect stories that will be a part of the ongoing X-Men saga from over in the pages of Uncanny X-Men and X-Men.” Translation: “We know we’re filler. You know we’re filler. We know you know we’re filler. Maybe we can do something about that.” The plan doesn’t work, but I’ll give them points for at least acknowledging the problem.

MAGNETO REX #3 - July 1999

Once We Were Kings

Credits: Joe Pruett (writer), Brandon Peterson (penciler), Batt (inker), Richard Isanove & Monica Kubina (colors), Jon Babcock (letters)

Summary: Magneto defeats Zealot by wrapping him in metal and shooting him into space. Amelia Voght takes Quicksilver to the Mutate camp for Legacy Virus victims, convincing him to stay and attempt to influence Magneto’s actions. Magneto formally takes control of Genosha, expelling most of the remaining humans. The Avengers are stunned to see news reports naming Quicksilver as a member of Magneto’s cabinet. Finally, Magneto thanks Amelia in private for pushing Quicksilver into staying.

Continuity Notes: Zealot’s mutant ability is revealed as the power to control the earth, making his claim of being “one with Genosha” a very literal one. Apocalypse makes a one-page cameo, just to remind us that he’s the star of the next big mutant event.

Review: Actual dialogue from this issue: “I will never embrace your perverted ideologies and become as corrupted in spirit and soul as you have! You have become so twisted in your thinking, so far removed from humanity that Ferris -- a thing of metal and of your own construction, is the only thing in which you place your trust -- while Amelia, who has stood by you for what she perceives to be the right reasons, has not even garnered a glance of affection -- even as she risked her life for your cause.” Yikes. And this isn’t an isolated example used to make the comic seem worse than it is -- the issue is essentially twenty-two pages of turgid nonsense.

So, what’s accomplished by the conclusion of Magneto Rex? We don’t learn any more about Zealot, aside from another claim that he’s Philip Moreau’s brother. No more information than this is given, and apparently we’re supposed to take the retcon at face value. The idea that the Gengineer would callously transform his firstborn son into a Mutate doesn’t exactly match what I remember of his original characterization, considering that Claremont at least tried to make him a sympathetic figure. Now, was there ever a point in tying Zealot and Philip Moreau together? Apparently not. Then again, was there a point in dragging Rogue into this mini? Her previous pairings with Magneto worked very well, so it’s understandable that the creators would want to use her in this series, but she clearly has no impact on the plot.

Let’s see…did Pipeline’s conversion to the other side serve a purpose? Nope, although Magneto did need a teleporter for one scene, so apparently that’s reason enough to justify his presence. How about Fabian Cortez -- did he engage in any of his famous deal making and backstabbing? Did Magneto punish him for trying to kill him, usurping the Acolytes, and kidnapping his granddaughter? Of course not. In fact, he’s gone back to using Cortez as a power battery, even though he should know by now what an idiotic idea this is. What of Alda Huxley, the mysterious new character introduced to facilitate Magneto’s rule of Genosha? Sure, she was just a plot convenience in the original “Magneto War” crossover, but surely she wouldn’t have been brought into the miniseries without some plan for her character. Eh…you know the answer to that by now.

This is Magneto Rex. A flagrant cash grab that coasted on the back of a high-profile crossover and a famous lead character. The story offers absolutely no insight into Magneto’s character, other than the repeated claims that he’s even nastier than ever before. Marvel already tried that angle earlier in the ‘90s and didn’t exactly succeed, but there was at the very least an acknowledgement of the inherit tragedy of the character in most of those stories. And even the worst of those comics, like Uncanny X-Men #304, didn’t give Magneto such horrendous dialogue, or force him to star in stories that clearly had no point outside of existing as product. The only contribution to the ongoing continuity, which would have to be the major appeal to any reader who stuck around after the first issue, is the addition of Quicksilver to Magneto’s cabinet. And, to the creators’ credit, the use of Amelia Voght as a sleeper agent luring him to Magneto’s side actually works as a surprise. But was a three-issue miniseries required to execute this idea? It honestly couldn’t have worked as a few subplot scenes, or an X-Men Unlimited issue? The audience had to pay almost eight dollars to reach this point? I can’t say that I’m shocked that an X-spinoff miniseries is this bad, but I’m genuinely surprised that a limited series that was clearly supposed to be important in many ways could be so appalling.

MAGNETO REX #2 - June 1999