"The End" Week: Generation X #75!

Excalibur was my ancilliary X-book, so I'm not sure I even read the crossovers with this title. But most of the characters have gone on, so...from 2001, Generation X #75, "Brand New Day" Written by Brian Wood, pencils by Ron Lim, inks by Sandu Florea and Randy Elliott.

The kids of Generation X are wondering if their time there hasn't run it's course; since Emma and Sean are both acting weird: Emma had killed her sister Adrienne (who had set a bomb that killed Synch) and appeared to dream about it and really enjoy it. She also used her powers to mindwipe an investigating cop, while Sean was hitting the bottle after the death of Moira MacTaggert. (Pre-House of X stuff. I'm not sure they were a couple then, but it still hit him pretty hard.) Husk is trying to be the adult and organize missions for her team, but Emma won't approve one to help "tree-huggers" since it might hurt her bottom line. And Chamber got a letter from Xavier's, offering him a table at the big-boys' table, with the X-Men! Jubilee encourages him to take the spot, but he was already sold.

When Chamber tells the rest of the team, Monet scolds Husk for not even pretending to be glad for him; but she's not mad about that: what are they even doing there? Was there an end goal, or a graduation, anywhere in sight? In the middle of their discussion, there's a balloon from Jubilee that appears to be altered from the usual lettering, like a late correction? But she decides to go back to L.A. and sort out her life; with Skin accompanying her. Husk opts to head north and help the environmentalists, claiming she doesn't want to be an X-Man. Uh-huh. Monet says she'll head home as well, and together the kids tell Sean their decision. He didn't feel like he'd been doing a good job for them, so he couldn't blame them; and says he'll return to Ireland to get himself together. The kids still love him...but ask him to tell Emma, who had gone over all scary.

From an upstairs window, Emma watches the kids make their goodbyes, then takes a call from the Professor, who has sent a helicopter and some X-uniformed guys to pick her up. Sean, who looks about twenty years too young with Ron Lim drawing him, locks the place up, happy he saw the kids (that lived!) grow up. Of course, he'd next be seen--with Jubilee, and Husk!--around Uncanny X-Men #403, as part of the short-lived mutant cops team X-Corps. Why Sean would be part of that, and why Jubilee and Husk would join him; well, that one wasn't a great idea and wasn't executed well, either: they needed somebody on that team. Emma might have been on her way to Genosha there, since she would shortly turn up in New X-Men #115: her secondary mutation and relationship with Cyclops were coming up. Those have been around so long it feels like forever, doesn't it? Read more!

"Oh, I'll never finish Stilt-Man; I don't see that happening." Lies, all lies!

The local toy show returned for the first time in two years, and while I didn't buy much...actually, I think I spent more on comics at that show, but okay...it was a lot of fun just to walk around and see some stuff. But, I also got a ton the last week or so: The new M.O.D.O.K.! The Hellfire Club! And surprisingly, Stilt-Man! Mercari came through with several of the parts at once, so here we are.

At the show I picked up the recent Rogue from the Rogue/Pyro set, a couple of Fantastic Four bodies that I thought I needed but now wonder why, and some Build-a-Figure parts. I'm two short on both Crimson Dynamo and Demogoblin, and wonder when or if I'll finish them up. Or get any more Hand Ninjas to make Stilt-Man taller...seems unlikely. Read more!

That really doesn't seem like enough food...

We saw the previous issue a couple months back, and we're not going to get anywhere near all the way through the AvX crossover; but we'll check out another one today: from 2012, Avengers #28, written by Brian Michael Bendis, pencils by Walt Simonson, inks by Scott Hanna.

This was midway through the crossover, when Cyclops, Namor, Emma Frost, Colossus and Magik each had a piece of the Phoenix Force; and things were looking bad for the Avengers. Through the skirmishes with the mutants, the Red Hulk, former general "Thunderbolt" Ross, wonders what he brings to the proverbial table. Is he just a blunt instrument, or does his military experience give him something else to offer? Since Ross decides he can do what Captain America or Wolverine couldn't, maybe; but since he decides to assassinate Cyclops, maybe not.

Changing back to human, Ross infiltrates Utopia Island, but runs into Emma before he can kill Cyclops. Emma's mental powers shut him down, and she nearly forces Ross to slit his own throat before he Hulks out again. Facing the Phoenix Five (and Magneto, for good measure) the Red Hulk is outgunned, but they also know he would be too tough to contain or kill. They settle for sending him back to the Avengers in Wakanda, with a big 'X' carved into his chest. Still, Ross feels like Cyclops and his team just lost, by not killing him.


Since the previous issue featured Protector washing out of the team, I had half-expected this to be Red Hulk's swan song, but he wasn't out yet. Still, if you're asking yourself, what do I have to contribute? and the answer's murder; you may want to reconsider your life choices. Also, Ross's ego must be visible from space; since how could he consider his military experience the equal of Cap's? Ross lost how many campaigns against the Hulk?

Read more!

Timing, part twenty-four.

And yet, Cyclops receives better treatment from me, than he did in X3: The Last Stand. Just throwing that out there. Read more!

Timing, part twenty-three.

When Hasbro took over the Marvel Legends line, it was probably a bad sign that in their first wave, I only wanted one figure, Hercules. And he wasn't an overly popular figure, either: I remember some didn't like his grin, or thought he looked too plasticy. The Ultimate Iron Man and Planet Hulk figures seemed to sell well enough, but the White Queen and Banshee were huge pegwarmers.

Later, Toys R' Us had this exclusive Diamond White Queen, representing her secondary mutation. She didn't come with an Annihilus part, but I did not do very well on building him anyway, and this one looked a little better than her regular version. (I think the same body was used for a Jean Grey as Black Queen exclusive that turned out pretty well, but the regular Emma Frost wasn't high on anyone's list of favorites.)

Somewhere, I have a pile of Emma Frost comics I haven't read yet, given to me by a friend clearing out his collection. I'm not a huge fan of the character, but I do like the fact that she's completely unapologetic for being the way she is, and wanting what she wants. Then again, at least some of that is a facade, covering her pain over the many, many people she's lost in her life. She's like Professor X, in that she's trying very hard to prepare the next generations of mutants, but with a huge fatality rate: she's lost Hellions, members of Generation X, Genoshan mutants...her presence in Norman Osborn's Dark Reign may be an indication of how far she's willing to go to keep the few remaining mutants safe.

In other news: I love the Ant-Man and Isis on that page. The Ant-Man is from the Avengers line a few years back, and to me, seems to look a lot like the current Irredeemable Ant-Man. (EDIT: No, Irredeemable really doesn't look like that, but the full facemask doesn't make me think of Hank or Scott Lang.) Haven't read that, so I might have to look it up to confirm. Isis will be back in this story later, and Ant-Man...maybe. Just had an idea for him, but I'm not sure I know the bad Ant-Man well enough to do it.

Of course, Cyclops was more-or-less only bought because he had a Build-a-Figure piece of the Sentinel; but more bagging on him next time.

I don't know if anyone enjoys these strips as much as I like doing them--it's just fan-entitlement nonsense, but I bought the damn toys, and if I can make a comic I'd want to read with 'em, so much the better. I'm up to part thirty-three scheduled for March, and it keeps going; although I swear I almost have an ending in mind. Really! Read more!