NEW WARRIORS Annual #1 - August 1991

Kings of Pain Part 1 - Errant Knights

Credits:  Fabian Nicieza (writer), Mark Bagley (penciler), Jeff Albrecht (inker), Tom Vincent (colors), Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

Summary:  X-Force and the New Warriors battle until Cable calls a truce.  Two executives at Genetech swear that the Alliance lied about working for them, leading Cable to break into Frenzy’s prison cell.  She reveals that their true employer is AIM, who used them as bodyguards for Harness and Piecemeal.  Soon, a team lead by Marvel Boy breaks into a warehouse owned by AIM, discovering inside “humanoid shell casings.”  In Japan, Harness and Piecemeal absorb more energy, as Piecemeal grows more bloated.  Meanwhile, Cannonball’s team travels to Xavier’s underground bunker to cross-reference Cerebro’s mutant database with the information given to them by Genetech.  When the teams reunite, Cable realizes that Harness and Piecemeal are trying to revive Proteus.

Continuity Notes:  

• Frenzy is being held in the Quebec Provincial Prison, which is a superhuman prison within the Marvel Universe that’s totally new to me.
• Cable recognizes New Warriors member Chord (Chord?!) from his mercenary days (“North Africa, ‘73” to be exact.)  Chord knows Cable as “Winters,” leading him to respond “The name's Cable...this year. ”  “Winters” could obviously be seen as a play on “Summers,” providing another early clue that Cable is Nathan Summers.
• Cannonball is able to use his blast shield to protect the entire X-Force team after Chord throws a grenade at them.  I don’t recall him being able to expand his shield in such a way on other occasions, even if the early issues of X-Force paid some lip service to his developing powers.
• Shatterstar uses his energy channeling/sword-blast powers twice this issue, which is probably more than he ever used them during the entire run of X-Force.
• The locks on the bunker under Xavier’s mansion have been changed.  Boom-Boom comments that “they” changed them, with “they” being X-Factor I assume since the X-Men are off in space until “The Muir Island Saga” begins.
• According to Cerebro’s records, Proteus died on 10/13/1987.  That means the late ‘70s Claremont/Byrne run on Uncanny X-Men happened four years ago Marvel Time at this point in continuity.  Four years seems a bit much, in my opinion.  Considering how slowly characters like Kitty Pryde aged during that period, I would place it closer to two years.

I Love the '90s:  Boom-Boom understands the scientific jargon spoken by the higher-ups at Genetech…NOT!

Review:  X-Force and the New Warriors fight, which I imagine was a huge deal for at least some portion of the audience.  New Warriors wasn’t a book I followed as a kid, so the fight doesn’t mean a lot to me, but I know both teams had pretty hardcore fanbases in the early ‘90s.  As far as superhero fights go, this isn’t so bad, as Nicieza is able to explain who each of the characters are fairly naturally and work in a few decent jokes.  Having Mark Bagley pencil the fight doesn’t hurt, either.  He clearly knows how to keep the New Warriors on-model, and I like his interpretation of X-Force.

Once the obligatory fight is over, that means it’s time for the story to really begin, and it’s certainly one worthy of Nicieza’s reputation for…intricate plotting.  The New Warriors are working security for their friends at Genetech.  Genetech was hired by Ophrah Industries to “create a DNA matrix for a cellular mix…etc. etc. etc. ...blah blah blah.”  A front organization for AIM hired the Alliance of Evil to guard two of its associates (or pawns, maybe?), as they leech energy from various locations, which is somehow what Genetech has also wanted to do.  (What does that have to do with DNA?)  The Alliance (perhaps) lied and pointed X-Force towards Genetech, who swear they don’t know the Alliance, but surely they’re also lying to the heroes, right?  The Genetech exec stuttered before he gave an answer, and we all know people only stutter in comics when they lie.  Later, the heroes discover that AIM is working on shells similar to SHIELD LMDs that can contain energy and be controlled like toy soldiers.  All of this leads to the revelation that new characters Harness and Piecemeal are absorbing Proteus’ energy from all across the globe.  In the background, a shadowy figure that’s obviously Gideon is playing chess with an even more shadowy figure, laughing about how these pawns are being used.

I can’t imagine the bulk of the audience at this time really wanted to keep track of so many plot points.  Most of the kids reading this probably just wanted X-Force and the New Warriors to start fighting each other again by the time they reached the end.  (And I can't imagine what a kid thought about the abused, horribly bloated Piecemeal.)  Older readers who might have the patience to try and follow all of the plot details were, I'd wager,  just annoyed by the attempt to revive Proteus.  Having Harness and Piecemeal traveling all across the globe absorbing his leftover energy is automatically going to upset any continuity purist who remembers that Proteus never traveled outside of Scotland, for starters.  In fairness, Nicieza establishes that the energy wavelength is strongest in Edinburgh, where Proteus died, implying that his energy signature was so strong it reached out across the world.  That’s comic book science plausible, sure.  But spreading the energy out is yet another wrinkle that’s been added to an already dense plot.  It also complicates the opening with the X-Terminators from the last chapter.  So those kid mutants just happened to be living in a boarding school where energy from a dead mutant killed years earlier has accumulated?  But what’s really grating is just the concept of reviving Proteus.  The original story is a classic, in part, because people left it alone after it was over.  Nicieza toyed with the idea of reviving Proteus earlier in a Classic X-Men back-up, but he didn’t actually go through with it.  Now, he’s teasing the readers again, but this time it looks like he’s serious, and that’s not a good thing.

Origins of the New Warriors

Credits:  Eric Fein (writer), Tom Morgan (breakdowns), Marie Severin and Jeff Albrecht (finishes), Kevin Tinsley, Suzanne Gaffney, and Ed Lazellari (colors), Rick Parker (letters)

Summary:  The origins of the New Warriors are recapped in various stories.

I Love the '90s:  Namorita compares her family drama to Dallas.

Review:  Every New Warrior has his or her origin recapped in a different story, which probably wasn’t a bad idea since some of these characters have origins from the most obscure corners of the Marvel Universe.  The stories do the most basic job of conveying the information, which is all I really expected them to do.  They might not be too exciting to read today, but as a kid who wanted to know more about Marvel history, these kinds of recap stories were greatly appreciated.

To Bounce or Not to Bounce

Credits:  Dan Slott (writer), John Calimee (penciler), Don Hudson (inks), Kevin Tinsley (colors), Rick Parker (letters)

Summary:  Chord gives Speedball a serum that will allow Genetech to study his kinetic field.  While he waits for an hour for it to kick in, he tries to patrol the city, but is continually rescued by heroes when attempting to activate his kinetic powers.  Later, he discovers that the serum could temporarily cancel his powers.

I Love the '90s:  Speedball worries that the green serum will turn him into a Ninja Turtle.  On the very next panel, he also gives us the second “NOT!” of the issue.

Review:  It’s a comedy story by Dan Slott, a Marvel staffer destined to go nowhere in the comics industry.  The joke is that Speedball is trying to activate his powers by doing dangerous stunts, such as jumping off a building, but is continually rescued by various Marvel heroes.  On the final page, we learn that he actually could’ve died at any time since his powers were cancelled during the previous hour.  It’s funny, but here’s the real highlight…

I swear to you, there’s a joke in this story about Speedball adding spikes to his costume!  It’s there on page 58, I promise.  How did this not get scanned and posted all over the internet in 2007?  Sure, no one probably cares now, but Dave's Long Box could've made gold out of this had it been discovered back in the previous decade.

DARK CLAW ADVENTURES #1 - June 1997

Face to Face

Credits: Ty Templeton (writer/breakdowns), Dan Slott (plot assist), Rick Burchett (finishes), Tim Harkins (letters), Linda Medley (colors)

Summary: Undercover as Patch Malone, Dark Claw is attacked by Cyber-Ninjas while playing poker. Their master, Lady Talia, follows the tracer left in Dark Claw’s skin to his hidden lair, the Burrow. She incapacitates his sidekick Sparrow and engages Dark Claw in battle. Dark Claw, sympathetic towards Talia’s anger, stops the fight. Talia slashes his heart. After she realizes what she’s done, Talia prepares to commit suicide. Dark Claw comes to, resurrected by his healing factor, and talks to Talia. Having learned a lesson about revenge, Talia decides to move on.

Continuity Notes: Dark Claw (Wolverine and Batman) and Sparrow (Jubilee and Robin) first appeared in the initial wave of Amalgam titles in 1996. “Patch Malone,” perhaps my favorite amalgam, is a combination of Batman’s “Matches” Malone identity and Wolverine’s “Patch” persona. Lady Talia (Lady Deathstrike and Talia) is the daughter of Ra’s-A-Pocalypse (Apocalypse and Ra’s al Ghul). Lady Talia burned most of her body searching through the flaming wreckage of her father’s plane, which was shot down by Dark Claw in the “Legacy of Apocalypse” episode of Dark Claw: The Animated Show.

Review: Considering the obvious popularity of a Batman/Wolverine mash-up, it’s not a surprise Marvel and DC wanted another Dark Claw comic during the second Amalgam event. Doing it as a tie-in to a fictional television series, and hiring the creative team behind the actual comic tie-in to Batman: The Animated Series, was a stroke of genius. I’m a massive fan of the DC Adventures comics of the ‘90s, especially the ones written by Ty Templeton. This is a man with a deep love for Batman, obvious on every page he writes, and a knack for the animated style developed for the show. I realize some comic shops didn’t even bother to order the Adventures comics in the ‘90s (because, y’know, they’re not the “real” Batman and Superman), so many readers missed out on them, but they’re well worth an eBay hunt. Not every issue is a gem, but the overall level of quality maintained by the various incarnations of Batman Adventures over the course of ten years is amazing. Any issue by Mike Parobeck, Ty Templeton, and/or Rick Burchett is worth your attention.

As established in last year’s Dark Claw one-shot, Dark Claw is essentially Wolverine if he had been born into wealth, lost his parents, and later decided to don a long cape and fight crime. Despite the Batman trappings, Wolverine’s personality and power set remain the same. The concept is automatically biased towards the Marvel side, so it’s perfectly fair to incorporate Batman: The Animated Series and move the hero a little more towards DC’s neighborhood. While Templeton is very much a Batman guy, he effortlessly switches over to Wolverine’s persona, writing Wolverine Dark Claw as a grizzled brawler/noble warrior with a highly developed sense of honor. In fact, Dark Claw’s willingness to sacrifice his own life in order to grant Lady Talia some level of peace is virtually identical to one of the Wolverine/Lady Deathstrike confrontations from Larry Hama’s run. Not that the scene feels tired or recycled; it’s just true to the character. Considering that much of this comic, along with the rest of the Amalgam event, is tongue-in-cheek humor, the final scene between Dark Claw and Lady Talia has a surprising amount of heart. It’s one thing to use these meta-textual characters as vehicles for jokes, but to do an emotional sequence -- with the fictionalized cartoon versions of these in-jokey characters, no less -- takes real skill. I’m not sure if this qualifies as my favorite Amalgam comic (that probably remains Kurt Busiek and Paul Smith’s Iron Lantern) but it’s definitely a strong runner-up. Plus, it’s one of the best Adventures comics I’ve ever read…although my ‘90s X-completism might be influencing that decision.

X-FORCE Annual #1 - 1992

Previously…in “Shattershot”: Arize, the geneticist responsible for creating bipeds in the spineless Mojoworld, escaped to Earth. After avoiding attempts by Mojo and a rival network to retrieve him, he agreed to team up with Spiral to end Mojo’s rule once and for all.

The Mirror Liars - Shattershot Part Four

Credits: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Greg Capullo (penciler), Harry Candelario (inker), Mike Thomas (colors), Chris Eliopoulos (letterer)

Summary: Over a hundred years in the future, Arize has successfully overthrown the Spineless Ones in Mojoworld with X-Force’s help. Shatterstar is now the ruler of the planet, and despite his misgivings, oversees the Biped’s oppression of the Spineless Ones. Arize comes to Earth, approximately ten years from the present, to inform X-Force that Shatterstar has followed in Mojo’s footsteps. They travel to Mojoworld, where they disrupt a gladiator game Shatterstar is overseeing. When Shatterstar sees his creator Arize fighting with the Spineless Ones, he realizes he’s made a mistake. The Scheduler, the man who posed as Shatterstar’s assistant but was secretly manipulating him, refuses to give up power to the Spineless Ones. He stabs Shatterstar in the back and nearly kills Arize. Shatterstar fights back, and refuses to honor the crowd’s demand that he kill the Scheduler. He promises that Bipeds and Spineless Ones will find a peaceful way to live together in freedom.

Continuity Notes: The X-Force of ten years in the future consists of Cannonball, Cyberlock, Magik, Sunspot, Powerpax, & Siryn. Cyberlock resembles Douglock, Magik is a teenage Illyana Rasputin, and Powerpax is "Frankie Power" from Power Pack (apparently an altered version of Alex Power). Cable is supposed to be dead at this point. An elderly Longshot has a brief cameo at the end, approving of Shatterstar’s new direction.

Review: So, after many, many years, I’ve finally come across the final chapter of this storyline. I’ve occasionally seen this cited as one of the strangest conclusions to a story Marvel’s ever published, and I can only assume it came about because someone wanted to leave the Mojoworld continuity of the present day alone. Jim Lee’s final X-Men arc was published around this time, and since it ended with Longshot overthrowing Mojo (who had Spiral as an aide again, even though she left with Arize in the last chapter of this storyline to overthrow Mojo), I can see why this story might’ve gone through a rewrite or two. Nicieza shifts the scene to the future, dropping hints about potential storylines that haven't happened for the most part. We did get “Cyberlock” as Douglock in a few years, but none of the other clues ever paid off. In fact, literally ten years from the publication of this comic, X-Force was in the process of becoming X-Statix, which is something no one in 1992 could’ve seen coming. Doing stories set in the future can work if you have an audience naïve enough to think there’s a master plan and every vague hint will have a payoff, which is a place the comics industry hasn’t been for a while. I probably would’ve eaten this up if I read it when I was twelve, though. This issue is somewhat notable for being Greg Capullo’s first X-Force work, and while it’s a little shaky (Shatterstar looks awful on the cover, doesn’t he?); the majority of the art is pretty solid.

The Crush

Credits: Gavin Curtis (writer & penciler), Dan Panosian (inker), Ed Lazellari (colors), Joe Rosen (letterer)

Summary: Wiz Kid is jealous of Patrick Conrad, his teacher’s new boyfriend. While spying, Wiz Kid learns that Conrad is actually an anti-mutant activist. He convinces Artie and Leech to help him pursue Conrad. After Conrad nearly kills the boys, the police take him into custody. Wiz Kid asks Ms. Huntington to wait for him to grow up, which cheers her up.

Review: I assume this sat in a drawer for a few years, waiting for a New Mutants annual that never arrived. Actually, these guys are castoffs from the original incarnation of X-Factor, aren’t they? At any rate, this is a dated reminder of the pre-shoulder pad era, where kids with innocuous powers could be peripheral X-characters and clutter up the back of an annual. There’s not much of a story here, but I do like Gavin Curtis’ Cockrum-esque art.

Know Your Enemy

Credits: Dan Slott (writer), Sandu Florea (penciler) Brad Vancata (inker), Dana Moreshead (colors), Richard Starkings (letterer)

Summary: Cable drills X-Force on their potential foes. Cannonball and Boomer leave in protest after seeing Sunspot and the X-Men on the list. Cable tells Domino that X-Force can’t stay dreamers while fighting a war.

Continuity Notes: The foes listed include Masque, Kane, Black Tom, Juggernaut, G. W. Bridge, Deadpool, the new Brotherhood, Sunspot and Gideon, Proteus, Stryfe, the MLF, and the X-Men. There’s really nowhere for this to fit in continuity, unless Cable is briefing X-Force on characters he thinks they’re going to meet.

“Huh?” Moment: Proteus? Proteus? X-Force never fought Proteus! I know the final New Mutants annual featured a storyline that had someone trying to resurrect Proteus, but this is still an odd addition.

Review: Dan Slott wrote a similar backup in this year’s UXM annual, which had Wolverine counting down the X-Men’s most dangerous foes to Jubilee. (The number one threat? Human intolerance. You just learned a lesson, Jubilee.) This is obviously filler, memorable only for Sandu Florea’s attempt at out-Liefelding Liefeld by giving Cable the largest shoulder pads in history. I think all of these top villain countdowns should just be given to Fred Hembeck. Can’t we all agree on that?