"Welcome."

I finished this strip, before I bought Giant-Size Age of Apocalypse #1, the third of five one-shots with the now-mutant Ms. Marvel travelling back in time to various big X-events to fight what's left of Legion. (The David Haller persona, that used to rein the others in, was gone; leaving a power-hungry monster.) Legion even mentions, this is one place he maybe never saw, because he caused it by killing his dad Xavier. Forced into a truce, Ms. Marvel and Legion eventually find the X-Men, the few that are left, preparing to die: this was the night before their final battle with Apocalypse, which of course turns out differently here. (And not in a good way!) I'm not sure how Legion would know this, but he mentions that world was about to "die in hellfire," which may or may not be overdramatic. 

If memory serves, since I don't have it next to me: in 1995's X-Men: Omega, the humans bomb Apocalypse and his forces, which maybe wasn't necessary, since Magneto tears him in half. Which also maybe wasn't necessary, since doesn't Bishop use the M'kraan Crystal to fix the timeline? I don't recall, exactly how big a nuke the humans were dropping, though: a good-sized one to get Apocalypse, or a planet-killer like the end of Beneath the Planet of the Apes. We next see the Age in What If...? #81, which you could consider an alternate reality or just a continuation: Magneto saves his X-Men from the explosion, and his world goes on to face Galactus. (That one's interesting, but the AoA Night Thrasher and his brother get a lot of the page time!) Sometime also in '96, we get X-Man '96, where Nate returns to the AoA, but I don't think he sees any X-Men. There's a number of one-shots and such, then in 2005 for the tenth anniversary there's a 6-issue Age of Apocalypse mini-series. (The GCD says that's written by C. B. Cebulski, but it was under his pseudonym "Akira Yoshida.") Then, the AoA returns in 2011's Uncanny X-Force #11. 

Anyway, out of all of those, I'm not sure the continuity lines up smoothly anywhere.

Read more!

I'd kinda like to see this in the current X-Book!

It's a triple gatefold cover, but the front one makes it look like Rogue has fainted at DH II's manliness, while Gambit acts like he knows he's sleeping on the couch tonight. From 1992, Death's Head II #1, "The Lotus FX, part 1: X-Treme Prejudice" Written by Dan Abnett, pencils by Liam Sharp and Bryan Hitch, inks by Andy Lanning and Cam Smith.

This was Death's Head II's first regular series, and shows remarkable restraint by not putting Wolverine front and center on the cover. DH II and his sidekick Tuck were hanging out in Paxton, OR; which seemed like it would be a nice quiet place for Tuck to study the Sapphire Lotus, a mysterious power object. Instead, more and more weirdos keep showing up in town, apparently drawn by the Lotus; and some might have appeared innocent or incompetent but maybe weren't. The X-Men get involved, since whatever was happening also set off Cerebro; and decide Death's Head II is the "main aggressor" at first sight. It's a fair cop!

Psylocke, Beast, and Jubilee can't get into the back bar room where Tuck is doing something weird with the Lotus, but the Lotus lets Wraithchilde through: he had seemed like a Spawn-cosplayer, but maybe there was more to him. Rogue tries to use her powers on DH II, but he had like a hundred-and-four other personalities in there, which was too many voices for her head. Wolverine and Cyclops step up the fight...to be continued!  

Read more!

It wasn't the first annual I ever read--that was probably Star Wars Annual #1, co-incidentally also by Claremont--but X-Men Annual #6 was one of the first for me; which in hindsight is almost a shame, since it's better than just about any annual since? Great story, Sienkiewicz art, friggin' Dracula; the only misstep is it kills off a Tomb of Dracula character in such a way that I don't think she's ever come back. Just as a package, though, pound for pound, it's a great comic, in a way annuals would rarely be later. Like today's book! From 1993, X-Men Annual #2, "A Bluer Slice of Heaven" Written by Fabian Nicieza, pencils by Aron Wiesenfeld, inks by Al Milgrom, Bob Wiacek, and Keith Williams.

I had to look this up, since to compare this to X-Men Annual #6 again, that one was only 39 pages; I definitely would have said it was longer, as way more happens in it. This one's 64 pages, but the lead story is 45, then a 10-page throwaway Scott Lobdell/Ian Churchill Beast story. Although there were annuals chock-full of back-up features and pin-ups before--Amazing Spider-Man Annual #15 comes to mind, although the lead story is so good it carries it--for several years, starting maybe around X-Factor Annual #3 and the Evolutionary War crossover, it became exceedingly rare for an annual to make full use of it's page count, instead featuring a slightly longer lead-story, then shorter stuff of often varying quality. And we're nattering on about this, rather than getting into this issue's plot, since...? Most of the story is incremental steps of the larger ongoing plotline, and brief character bits. Or caricature: here's Scott and Jean being melodramatic about their relationship and the hardships of X-life, here's Beast in the lab grinding away, here's Gambit borderline sexually harassing. Beast does have a line about having to act all "morally perturbed and angst-ridden as everyone else" just to be taken seriously; he was just getting started on work on the Legacy Virus, and in a brief shot is drawn more lean than his usual broad-shouldered cartoon version. It probably isn't intentional, but it feels like a last goodbye to the old, fun Beast; you wouldn't be seeing him anytime soon. (Ah, I say that, but also feel like Joe Madureira maybe made him look fun, briefly.)

This also tries to set up a new villain, or at least antagonist: what he actually wants is supposed to be morally grey but instead just feels vague? It's Jonathan Chambers--no, not Chamber, this was Empyrean, who had some empathic emotion absorbing/redirecting powers. He was also setting up what he as much as calls a "leper colony" for mutants with the Legacy Virus, so he had the stricken Pyro there, along with the rest of the Brotherhood; who are reunited with estranged members Avalanche and the formerly Crimson Commando, now just Commando, saying he felt like the Crimson had been bled out of him on their last failed mission. (Although created in the 80's, CC had been a WWII hero, now cyborg'd up, not unlike Erik Larsen's Superpatriot.) There's a bit of a fight, but it's supposed to be open as to whether Empyrean is helping stricken mutants, or exploiting them; I think that would come down pretty solidly on the exploiting side later. Recurring government-man d-bag Henry Peter Gyrich makes an appearance, which I don't think was entirely common for the X-books? I'm used to him making things worse for the Avengers, and can't recall if he had any particular racism or was just always on the government's side.

Also, this was an early appearance of Kwannon, as Revanche, a name I never got: so, Betsy Braddock had got put in her (Japanese) body, while she got Betsy's British, purple haired one. Which, this issue, is revealed to have contracted the Legacy Virus. There's almost the germ of an idea, with Kwannon and Betsy playing off of each other; but it's ground to pulp in the mill of the X-Men soap opera long before anything really comes of it. She'd be back, much much later. The Legacy Virus plotline would run, usually in the background, from 1992 to Uncanny #390 in 2001: it was maybe intended as a metaphor for HIV/AIDS, but is somewhat muddled, since mutants could get it randomly. Read more!

Well, at least most of that was as advertised.

Yet another X-title picked up randomly, because it had a lot of X-Men on the cover. This was promoted in the checklist as "guest-starring ALL the current X-Men!" And maybe it will illustrate some of the problems of the line at the time, at least for me: from 2005, X-Men #174, "Bizarre Love Triangle, part 4: Election Day" Written by Peter Milligan, pencils by Salvador Larroca, inks by Danny Miki and Allen Martinez.

Previously, a new mutant named Foxx entered the Xavier Institute; and in short order started pursuing her team lead, Gambit. Gambit had been going through a rough patch with Rogue, but rejected Foxx and was going to move her to another squad, when she revealed herself to be Mystique, and tried to seduce him again! Once discovered, Mystique then made an unusual plea: to join the X-Men. The team had a history of rehabilitating former foes, and a vote was scheduled. Rogue confronts Mystique, about whether anything happened between her foster mom and her slightly sketchy boyfriend: Mystique remained tight-lipped, if suggestive. Even Rogue's powers couldn't see the truth: she later describes it to Gambit as "a wall of white mental noise. She's had something done to her, or--" Which would line up with current continuity! Gambit denies everything, and Rogue apologizes to young mutant Bling for momentarily suspecting her of something as well. Rogue tells Bling the story, which she passes to her teammates, including Onyxx, who had been sprung on Foxx. (Onyxx was an odd design: Thing-like skin, a weird skull and metal helmet, four eyes.)

Rogue approaches Emma, suggesting she could read Gambit's mind without him even knowing it--not necessarily suggesting she do it, just that she could. Emma might deflect that, by telling Rogue Havok had asked her to do the same to Polaris; which Rogue decries as "sneaky." Before the vote, Mystique stands before 15 X-Men--with a notable exception--and pleads her case: she was 80 years old (lie!) and her mutation developed when she was 12. She had been forced to do things to survive, and hadn't had the same opportunities or support anyone there had received. She had never had a chance, to be "good." Mystique is taken to a cell by Colossus, and doesn't appear particularly contrite: bored, she asks if he'd be up for strip poker...?

The X-Men aren't a unified front here: Rogue absolutely doesn't want Mystique there, but others point out that's what was said when she joined the team, and she turned out pretty good. On the other hand, Mystique. Gambit sides with Rogue, and Iceman says he's just trying to score points: I get the feeling Iceman didn't have strong feelings about it, and was just being contrary. Polaris suggests the team could use more women, Wolverine says it ain't about that, Storm turns on Wolvie a bit there. No one there seems to be making a real strong argument for Mystique. Meanwhile, in her cell, Mystique is confronted by Onyxx, who wants her to be Foxx again. They fight, interrupted by someone, and Mystique finishes the fight by smashing a toilet over Onyxx's head. He seems like he's only staggered, but Mystique may or may not be seriously hurt; as she's confronted by Nightcrawler, who asks a favor: whichever way the vote goes, go away for a while, so he could sort his head out over it. Mystique's answer is a scowl. (I don't love this: it feels more selfish than Kurt would let himself be. Also, feels like the other X-Men maybe should've asked how he felt about the situation, which we don't see here.)

Disappointingly, we don't see how the actual vote went, but Mystique is awarded probationary status. Rogue is sullen, and Gambit tries to cheer her up, but they find Mystique's cell smashed open, and her gone. Onyxx is hospitalized by Beast, who notes Onyxx had signed a waiver, "admitting culpability" in their fight. Mystique escapes with a shadowy figure, "Augustus," who would later be revealed as Pulse, a mutant Mystique seemingly intended to replace Gambit in Rogue's heart. That...that's weird, right? Mystique also says, she didn't want to stick around for the verdict, since she "could see in their miserable faces they were going to turn me down." But, she felt she had opened a wound between Rogue and Gambit, that would now fester. She'd be back, in relatively short order. Read more!

Is Gambit here just for a gratuitous sales-bump?

My main local comic shop has a spinner rack they salt with dollar comics, and sometimes they load it up with crap of course I'm going to buy, even if I just ended up buying Daredevil #327 again...from 1994, Daredevil #330, "Tree of Knowledge, part 4: Disinformocracy" Written by D.G. Chichester, pencils by Scott McDaniel, inks by Hector Collazo and Rich Rankin.

Gambit gets the guest-spot on the cover, but he's not in this for very long: Daredevil is still fighting System Crash, a high-tech HYDRA team. Gambit had told the X-Men he was heading into town "for some jambalaya" and said he'd check it out; and appreciates how the "new" armored DD is seen with more distrust than he probably deserves. Meanwhile, Karen Page has been approached by her old porn producers, about making newfangled interactive smut, which probably would've been point-and-click back then; but she also finds hidden, probably illegal pictures on their disc. Elektra has ordered a fancy dinner for Matt, who shows up late and also doesn't seem to be in the mood: that seems unlikely...And at a local S.H.I.E.L.D. branch, Nick Fury can't get the cyborg-y parts out of John Garrett: he isn't willing to kill him in cold blood, but doesn't want him just running around doing whatever, so he gives him a "babysitter," the cyborg Siege. (I like him! I always hear the old dial-up modem noise when he shows up...)

"Jack Batlin" is getting a new building-slash-jungle gym; and has a brief discussion with a media professor about "the 'computerization' of the public," which comtemplates but isn't even close about how online the average person was going to get. Later, in disguise at a "wetware rave," Captain America and Daredevil continue that vein of discussion: Cap presents a very G-rated, "Jeffersonian ideal" of what the internet could be, while DD plays "Devil's advocate" with a darker vision. Neither were very predictive of what actually happened, although Chichester seems to guess money-laundering would be a big part of cybercrime. Really think Cap and DD's rave costumes deserved more page time then they got: Cap with product in his hair is somehow simulataneously both unrecognizable and unmistakable. And downtown, information activist Spectrum is visited in jail by one of System Crash's killers, but possibly only with a job offer...

Yeesh, I think I skipped mentioning at least two more subplots: Foggy Nelson gets approached by Wilson Fisk's radio station, WFET, about working for them; which would be like working for an even sleazier Fox. And Baron Strucker spars with some of System Crash: they don't seem very unified, and Strucker seems fed up with their nerdery. But for the next couple issues, all these plots and possibly more get like two or three pages each, which paradoxically feels like too little and too much. (Actually, Karen's plot doesn't go super-far: she goes to the cops the next issue, and they're even less helpful than you'd expect, as the officer remembers her from porn.) This whole thing wants to be industrial and cyberpunk, and it totally is! Like Billy Idol's Cyberpunk. That thing was dated when it came out...OK, "Shock to the System" isn't a bad track, but still. In other news, I haven't loved the last couple new issues of Daredevil, as the ongoing Hand/Punisher storyline is wearing thin for me. Among other things, I'm worried Elektra will be out of her DD suit before her figure gets here... Read more!

"Impossible."

Yay, new camera! I'm...not loving it yet, since it's not responding exactly like my old one. With a little work I should be over-exposing everything again soon enough.

Between the camera and poor Felicia's hair, we kind of pushed through to the ending of this little storyline. And I wanted to wrap the Black Cat plotline up, since she's got her own comic right now. I tried the first issue, and it wasn't bad, and I think she had a job in her second issue at Dr. Strange's Sanctum. I might have to keep an eye out for that.
Read more!

"Tear-ass."

I hit a wall with today's strip: Black Cat finally took too many shelf dives--her little feet don't help--and her hair-piece came loose! Ugh, how much to get a new one--holy crap! Solid forty bucks at best. And that's after spending $20 on the newer Black Cat figure...which is fine, but not the classic. Still, we might not have too many more Black Cat strips anyway...

Read more!

"Smash."

I couldn't be positive Old Man Logan was a Fox News viewer--okay, probably not, unless there's some loyalty to the parent company for the films! But he's definitely in the "fall asleep with the TV on full blast" demographic.

I don't think the school is currently present, but Jubilee, Blink, and Caliban were probably never there at the same time. They were all in the same wave and purchased around the same time, though. Jubilee made the cut probably for this strip, because I could definitely see her being the one to accidentally-on purpose say something snarky and set Gambit off. And I'll admit, aside from "recently married" I have no idea what Gambit's current status is. I didn't think he and Rogue got sucked into the Age of X-Man crossover, but I haven't exactly checked, either.
Read more!