UNCANNY X-MEN #385 (October 2000)

Shell Game

Credits: Chris Claremont (writer), German Garcia, Michael Ryan, and Randy Green (pencils), Panosian/Pepoy/Ketcham (inks), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Richard Isanove (colors)

Summary: Gambit’s team of X-Men raid an upscale party in Madripoor, aiding the Goth and Crimson Pirates in abducting several attendees. Rogue’s crew of X-Men arrive, stunned to see their teammates working with the villains. The two teams fight, with Rogue’s side apparently losing. Unbeknownst to their opponents, Gambit has touched skin with Rogue, imparting unto her the means of defeating the Goth’s leader. After everyone is teleported to their secret Chinese base, the united X-Men attack Tullamore Voge and his slavers. Rogue, having absorbed Gambit’s power, overloads the Goth’s leader with energy. The resulting explosion kills him, and enables the X-Men to defeat the slavers. Gambit, recognizing Rogue’s discomfort with killing their opponent, offers her his support.

CABLE ‘99 - April 1999

Something Sinister This Way Comes

Credits: Michael Higgins & Karl Bollers (writers), German Garcia w/Alitha Martinez (pencilers), Matt Ryan w/Candelario & Koblish (inkers), Mike Rockwitz (colors), BenchMark (letters)

Summary: Mr. Sinister visits Cable’s hideout, revealing to him that he engineered Cable’s creation to use him as the ultimate weapon against Apocalypse. Cable refuses Sinister’s partnership offer, even after he’s warned of Apocalypse’s approaching emissaries. Soon, a local nightclub is attacked by mutants claiming to be Apocalypse’s servants. One of them erases Cable’s powers, triggering his techno-organic virus. Sinister rescues Cable, curing the virus and restoring his telepathic powers. Cable returns home and rescues Irene and Blaquesmith from the emissaries. He reveals to Sinister that he knows they’re actually his Marauders in disguise. Cable demands to know all of Sinister’s secrets, but he revives Cable’s virus and uses the opportunity to escape.

Continuity Notes: A flashback scene reveals that Sinister created the techno-organic virus in the early 1900s in the hopes that it could kill Apocalypse. Instead, it only made him stronger. Apocalypse allowed Sinister to flee, but promised to kill him in the future. Just a few months after this comic was published, another flashback in Uncanny X-Men #376 shows that Apocalypse and Sinister were allies again during the early days of the X-Men, behind-the-scenes of the Living Pharaoh storyline. As for the Marauders, none of them has the ability to erase another mutant’s power, although Scrambler can…yes, scramble his opponent’s powers and make them go haywire.

Review: It’s easy to dismiss this as annual filler, but the creators have worked out a plot that ties in to the regular series’ ongoing storylines, and establishes a few continuity points as well. I’m not sure if anyone was actually looking for important continuity to be established in a Cable annual by this point, but it’s there if you’re interested. The ongoing Cable series has never really known what to do with Mr. Sinister, perhaps because the character’s traditionally a behind-the-scenes schemer and rarely someone who takes an active role in supervillain plots. Yet, his entire gimmick centers around Summers’ DNA, and the precious offspring that will be created by Cyclops and Phoenix. Well, here he is. And he’s had an ongoing series since 1993. Why don’t you care, Sinister? Jeph Loeb tried to write around this by having Sinister hint that he’s been more involved with Cable’s life than he could ever realize, but that hint, of course, went nowhere.

So, the premise moves the book slightly past the “generic” marker, but unfortunately the execution is a disappointment. The art is clearly a rush job, making even the normally excellent German Garcia unrecognizable on many pages. Cable versus the Marauders should be a fantastic fight scene, one that’s been in the works since “Inferno,” but it’s pretty lifeless here. The story attempts to build a thematic link between Apocalypse and Sinister, but the conclusion we’re expected to reach -- Sinister’s no better than Apocalypse because he wants to save humanity for his own experimentation -- isn’t much of a revelation. Cable’s also supposed to learn some grand lesson about appreciating humanity instead of agonizing over his heavy responsibilities, but that’s an idea that Joe Casey's used more effectively in the monthly title. There are a few amusing lines, though, and the script is easier to read than Higgins & Boller’s effort in the previous annual. So, it’s not as terrible as you might expect a late ‘90s Cable annual to be; it’s just regular bad.

CABLE #51-#52, February-March 1997

Hellfire Hunt Part 4 - Faith and Deception

Credits: Joe Casey (writer), James Robinson (plot assist), Ladronn(penciler), Juan Vlasco & Bud LaRosa (inks), Comicraft’s Saida Temofonte (letters), Gloria Vasquez (colors)

Summary: Cable traces the Hellfire Club’s activities to Switzerland, and reluctantly takes Irene along. They’re attacked by Hellfire Club soldiers, and rescued by a mysterious older man named Wilhelm. Wilhelm knows of Cable’s powers and claims to be a Believer, but Cable doesn’t recognize him. Eventually, Cable scans his mind and learns his true identity -- Wilhelm is the Nazi supervillain Master Man.

Review: Welcome to the comics industry, Joe Casey. As Casey revealed in a Wizard interview later this year, he was an acquaintance of James Robinson who was interested in writing comics. When Robinson had to leave this title (to write a Freddy vs. Jason screenplay), Robinson gave Casey a chance to work on this issue. Casey thought it was a writing exercise until he was informed he just wrote Cable #51. Although Marvel apparently never officially confirmed it to him, Casey became the regular writer of the series.

I believe Casey has said before that he doesn’t have much of a connection to the X-Men (which was pretty obvious to anyone who had to suffer through his Uncanny X-Men run), so I wonder if bringing in a villain from the mainstream Marvel Universe was his idea. In terms of the “Hellfire Hunt” storyline, I have no idea what Master Man is doing here. Revealing that he might be a Believer (one of Cable’s “followers” we’ve never heard of until Robinson’s run) connects him to the title character, but I can’t help but to feel that this is a distraction from a story that’s already dragged on for months. The rest of the issue consists of exposition, exposition, and more exposition. Irene flashes back to the events of the past few issues, Ch’vayre recalls his first contact with Sebastian Shaw, and Shaw and Pierce needle each other while conveniently reminding anyone nearby of their plan to steal Apocalypse’s power. Ch’vayre’s flashback does introduce a brief new scene, which has Shaw informing him that he doesn’t need help from a refugee from the future, because Trevor Fitzroy has already joined the Hellfire Club. That’s a nice touch, but it’s obvious that most of this issue is just stalling for time.

Hellfire Hunt Part 5 - Beyond Belief

Credits: Joe Casey (writer), German Garcia (penciler), Jon Holdredge (inks), Comicraft (letters), Gloria Vasquez (colors)

Summary: Wilhelm confesses to Cable that he was Master Man, and swears that after befriending one of the Believers, he now wants redemption. Cable reluctantly accepts Wilhelm’s offer of aid, and puts Irene in a deep sleep to protect her from more violence. They travel through the Alps in a blizzard and are soon attacked by Hellfire soldiers. Before Cable can stop him, one of the soldiers kills Wilhelm. Cable mourns his death and carries on to his destination. He discovers Apocalypse’s fortress, and witnesses the Hellfire Club’s battle with its automated defenses.

Continuity Notes: The "secret" of Ch’vayre is just a flashback to his arrival in this time. This Master Man is the one who appeared in the early issues of the ‘90s Namor series. After failing to commit suicide, he retreated to the Swiss Alps. The super-soldier serum in his veins has begun to wear off, which explains his aging.

Review: So…why did Master Man show up? Casey actually uses the character rather well in this issue, as Cable has to deal with the “Could you forgive a Nazi?” question while continuing his mission. Master Man’s quest for redemption does add some humanity to the issue, but it still feels as if he’s mainly there to buy some time. Maybe if this weren’t a titled, multi-part storyline and just an old-school rambling Marvel narrative I wouldn’t mind him so much. If you call a story “The Hellfire Hunt” and make a big deal about the group finding Apocalypse, perhaps you shouldn’t have so many issues dedicated to the Hellfire Club doing virtually nothing. I could complain that novice writer Casey is overwriting every single page of this comic with melodramatic narrative captions, but that might not be fair. So long as Mark Powers edited this series (and Wolverine), every writer’s run had those turgid captions.

UXM #359 & X-MEN #79 – September 1998

Uncanny X-Men #359

Power Play

Credits: Joe Kelly & Steve Seagle (writers), Chris Bachalo & Ryan Benjamin (pencilers), Tim Towsend/Scott Hanna/Jon Holdredge (inkers), Shannon Blanchard (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Government agent Henry Gyrich watches on with Senator Brickman as Rogue begins Dr. Agee’s cure for mutancy. Mystique, who disguised herself as Brickman’s wife, swaps places with Agee’s nurse and opens fire on him. Rogue saves his life, and takes Mystique away to talk. Mystique argues with Rogue against removing her powers, which leads to Rogue touching Mystique and absorbing her consciousness. Rogue tracks Dr. Agee to the Mutopia building, where Mystique’s presence in her mind forces her to fight the government agents. Rogue absorbs Dr. Agee’s memories and learns that the first mutant he tested the equipment on died, and that his sister was only briefly cured. Knowing that the government would eventually use it on mutants against their will, Rogue destroys Agee’s equipment.

Continuity Note: Phoenix reveals to Cyclops that she has lost her mental powers, and the couple decides to stay in Alaska as she recuperates. This is a reference to the “Psi-War” storyline in X-Men, which I think was supposed to remove every telepath’s power. This is likely an indication that “Psi-War” was supposed to be a larger event, because I definitely don’t remember any character (outside of Psylocke) losing their powers for long. And we now have Cyclops and Phoenix deciding to stay in Alaska, one issue after they abruptly decided to move. I have no idea what the point of this back and forth was supposed to be (I would assume some last minute editorial decisions have happened in-between issues).

Production Note: When Mystique reveals that Dr. Agee’s research is based on the power inhibitor Forge built for the government, the editorial caption reads, “Whatever you want to say – Mark”. I’m sure it was supposed to point us towards the back issues of UXM where this actually happened. There are also a couple of word balloons in this issue that are so poorly printed they’re hard to read. Plus, Dr. Agee’s word balloons are incorrectly pointing towards Mystique during the issue’s climax.

Review: With a questionable plot, rotating artists, and numerous production mistakes, this one feels like a rush job. It might’ve been more tolerable if Bachalo drew the entire issue, or if a more compatible artist had been paired with him. Dan Norton, the cartoony fill-in artist from a few issues ago would’ve been a nice fit, but instead Bachalo’s paired with Wildstorm artist Ryan Benjamin. His early Image look is so hopelessly out of place next to Bachalo’s art, you’ve got to wonder what they were thinking when they made this choice.

We’re starting to enter the editorially driven era of the Seagle/Kelly run, so the Rogue storyline that Seagle’s been toying with for months is quickly resolved so that another brave new direction for the X-Men can begin. Having Mystique appear and talk Rogue out of the procedure is a decent idea, but the delivery here is botched by horrid dialogue and nonsensical plotting. Instead of a believable mother/daughter conversation between Mystique and Rogue, we’re saddled with lines like “Come with me…or perish,” “Don’t try to divert me from my rage, Rogue,” and “Has the momentary promise of your forbidden fruit freed you of your faculties?” A cameo by Alpha Flight’s Shaman (as the doctor examining Phoenix) also brings us this gem, “I no longer use the medicine magic of my people to serve Canada as the hero Shaman, but it was Alpha Flight that brought me to Anchorage.” Both Seagle and Kelly are credited with writing this issue, but I don’t recall such stilted dialogue from either writer in the past.

The actual plotting of the story is as shaky as the dialogue. For some reason, Rogue decides to touch Mystique during their conversation (I guess to validate her claims that the government is behind Agee’s research, although that’s not made clear), which leads to Mystique taking command of Rogue’s body a few pages later. This goes beyond a simple continuity mistake, it’s an outright misunderstanding of how her powers work. Making matters worse, Mystique soon reappears, claiming that Rogue didn’t absorb “enough” of her. So she has enough of Mystique’s consciousness that it overtakes her mind, but not enough to knock Mystique out for more than a few seconds? The story also can’t seem to decide if Dr. Agee’s sister is alive or dead. Agee claims that he “owed the machine’s perfection to her memory” right after Rogue absorbs his memories. This is odd enough, since she isn’t the character that died during his flashback. Two pages later, Rogue tells Agee to leave and take care of his sister. So, I guess she isn’t dead. The sister line is used to justify why Agee won’t rebuild his machine, which assumes that the reader buys into the idea that he’ll be so preoccupied with his sister he’ll lose all interest in his research. It’s a copout ending, and it also makes Rogue pretty callous for not seeking justice for the mutant who died when Agee first tried his treatment. (This reminds me that two skeletons are shown in the flashback to this character’s death. Why?) This is really a mess all around, and a clear sign that something odd was happening behind the scenes.

X-Men #79

Little Morlock Lost

Credits: Joe Kelly (writer), German Garcia (penciler), Holdredge/Mendoza/Alquiza (inkers), Liquid! (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Callisto enters the X-Men’s mansion, telling Marrow that she needs to stay with the team. Soon, Marrow overhears Cannonball’s plans to go back home, which pushes her over the edge. She races into the city, terrorizing the humans she comes across. Storm, Callisto, and Cannonball track her to Battery Park. Marrow encounters two police officers she put in the hospital months earlier. When they tell their story, Marrow realizes that she has behaved like a monster and apologizes. Storm makes peace with Marrow, as a shadowy figure watches on.

Continuity Notes: The shadowy figure is the same one who’s been looking over Callisto (for ominous reasons) in the previous issues. He claims that he has plans for Marrow, and at the story’s end, says that leaving the X-Men as her only family was his plan all along. It’s widely believed that the mystery figure was supposed to be the Dark Beast, although I don’t know if Kelly ever confirmed it, or if his specific plan was ever revealed.

The stage is being set for next issue’s overhaul of the team. Beast suggests Maggott join the Generation X team (which never happened), and Cannonball receives word that his mother is sick and needs his help.

The two policemen in this issue are supposed to be the ones Marrow knocked out in the opening pages of X-Men #68. These weren’t Prime Sentinels, as it’s emphasized in this issue that they were normal cops doing their jobs.

Review: It’s been widely accepted over the years that the September issues were the last “real” ones of the Seagle/Kelly era. Beginning next month, Excalibur is cancelled and Shadowcat, Colossus, and Nightcrawler join the team. The amount of internal logic in the stories takes a nosedive, as it becomes increasingly obvious that events are happening because the editors just want them to happen. Marrow is the only new member allowed to stay, which might explain why this is an entire issue dedicated to reassuring her place on the team. Marvel is still taking an odd approach to her past continuity, as the two cops she knocked out in a brief scene during the “Zero Tolerance” crossover are brought back to inspire some guilt and repentance. Marrow committed much larger sins than this during her early appearances, but these have been mostly ignored since she was forced on to the team. If you’re willing to go along with the whitewashing of her past, this is an acceptable story about Marrow finally embracing her role as an X-Man. I never bought the selective use of her backstory, though, and still feel as if Maggott or Reyes would’ve been more suitable members.

X-MEN #78 & UXM #358 – August 1998

X-Men #78

Stormfront Part 2

Credits: Joe Kelly (writer), German Garcia (penciler), Art Thibert (inker), Liquid! (colors), Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: Powered by Psylocke’s psionic attack, the Shadow King now has access to every mind on earth. He tries to tempt the new X-Men over to his side, while Psylocke unexpectedly reemerges in a shadow form. Realizing that the mystic Crimson Dawn is powering her inside the psionic plane, she rescues Ainet. With her help, Psylocke is able to free Storm from her psychic prison. As Storm rescues the other X-Men, Psylocke faces the Shadow King. When he tries to infect every mind on earth, Psylocke targets his unprotected “nexus point” with her shadow powers. The Shadow King disappears, but Psylocke realizes that if she uses her telepathy again, he could be set free.

Continuity Notes: The Shadow King explains that he was masking his presence from Xavier for months, until Xavier lost his telepathy after becoming Onslaught. He also claims that the psychic feedback caused by Psylocke’s attack “devastated the minds of all unshielded telepaths.” I think that this was supposed to be something of a big deal within the Marvel Universe, but it was only briefly referenced in a few of the X-titles.

Review: This two-parter might turn out to be Kelly’s strongest work on the title. There is a sense that this was probably supposed to be a larger story arc, but the slightly rushed conclusion doesn’t distract from the imaginative use of the Shadow King’s powers and some strong character work. Kelly’s skill with dialogue has previously given the characters some sharp one-liners that also reflect some aspect of their personality. This storyline goes deeper, as the X-Men are forced by the Shadow King to live out their greatest fears or deepest desires. This is a fairly standard route to take with telepathic villains, but Kelly is able to make it more engaging than the cliché “villain invades the hero’s mind” story. Not only is Storm forced to reenact the childhood trauma that created her claustrophobia, but she also expresses her guilt over failing her parents, being forced to “kill” Marrow, and using her powers irresponsibly as a youth. This is only a two-page scene, but it offers more insight into her character than any other '90s issue I can think of.

Psylocke also has her moments, as the previously pointless Crimson Dawn powers are actually used effectively. I wonder if Lobdell was planning all along to do a story where Psylocke loses her telepathic powers and has to embrace her new ones. It’s a pretty obvious way to go, but since Lobdell never even took the idea this far, the Crimson Dawn powers stuck around for years with no discernable purpose. Kelly actually uses the powers to move the character in a new direction, as the shadow powers enable her to redeem herself for last issue’s mistake. I’m sure the story was created with the goal of “doing something” about Psylocke, but Kelly never leaves you with the impression that he resents having to use the character. Making the story as much about Psylocke’s need to redeem herself as it is about stopping the villain gives it more weight, reminding me of the type of stories Claremont told during his original run.

Uncanny X-Men #358

Lost in Space

Credits: Steve Seagle (plot), Joseph Harris (script), Chris Bachalo (penciler), Tim Townsend (inker), Steve Buccellato (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Bishop and Deathbird are shot down by the alien Chnitt. They meet Karel, an alien from another planet that’s been ravaged by the Chnitt. Karel is collecting weapons to use against the Chnitt on his home planet. Bishop and Deathbird travel with him to the city of Kuth, where they hope to find a warp gate. When the trio arrives in Kuth, it’s under attack by the Chnitt. Bishop volunteers to stay behind and protect the city while the others head for the warp gate. After Bishop defeats the Chnitt, he finally reaches the warp gate. It collapses after Karel escapes, leaving Bishop alone with Deathbird.

Continuity Note: Cyclops and Phoenix have decided in-between issues to move from Alaska. Iceman, Beast, and Archangel are helping them move when Cyclops receives news that the realtor can’t sell their house. A child throws a brick through their window, shortly before Phoenix collapses (due to the events of the “Psi-War” storyline). It looks like Seagle was setting up a story about the town turning against Cyclops and Phoenix, but I don’t recall it going anywhere. I’m not sure why exactly the decision had been made to have them move so quickly. It’s even stranger knowing that Cyclops and Phoenix aren’t a part of the next team of X-Men anyway.

Approved By The Comics Code Authority: The Bullpen Bulletins announces the arrival of a new assistant editor, Zena Tsarfin, coming from High Times magazine. “There will be plenty of high times in the new Slingers book, but probably not the kind Zena is used to writing about!”

Review: After months as a subplot, Deathbird and Bishop are given the main story for an issue. Ideally, this would’ve offered some resolution to their subplot and actually moved their story forward, but instead the characters are essentially left in the same place they’ve been for the previous year – stuck in space with one another. A caption on the last page points readers towards an upcoming one-shot called Team X 2000, which is supposed to continue their story. I have no idea how this storyline was eventually resolved, but I do know that Bishop had his own solo series, set thousands of years in the future, within the next year. Joseph Harris, a new writer finding work at Marvel at the time and the scripter of this issue, wrote the series, so maybe it was already in the works when this issue was published.

Even though this story doesn’t actually resolve their long-running subplot, it’s an enjoyable action story that offers some insight into Bishop’s personality. The fact that he’s made no friends amongst the X-Men and has often stayed in the background is used as a characterization point, as Bishop spends the entire issue lamenting his status as a loner and perpetual outcast. He accepts his role as a loner by the end, declaring that his purpose is “fighting, protecting,” which is at least an attempt to make him seem more heroic. A potential romance with Deathbird is still being teased, but Harris’ script makes it more plausible by portraying Bishop's reluctance, and by casting Deathbird’s interest more as an obsessive crush than true love. Bachalo’s art is well suited for the outer space setting, as he excels at drawing the freakish alien monsters. It’s a little surprising that he ended up on an intermission issue, while he missed some issues that actually moved the main stories along, but his art helps to give the story some weight.

X-MEN #76 - X-MEN #77, June 1998 - July 1998

X-Men #76

A Boykie and His Dinges

Credits: Joe Kelly (writer), Mat Broome (penciler), Sean Parson w/Aaron Sowd (inkers), Liquid! (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Maggott tells Wolverine a story from his past. In South Africa, Maggott lived in a crowded home with his large family. At the age of twelve, he was no longer able to digest food, causing his family excessive medical bills. Feeling that he was a burden, he drove into the desert, hoping to die. Magneto suddenly appeared and released the two slugs living inside Maggott’s body. Magneto explained to Maggott that he was a mutant and took him back home. There, he discovered that his older brother had been killed by Apartheid soldiers. Magneto took Maggott into the city, where his father was fighting Apartheid. Magneto murdered the soldiers, horrifying Maggott. Magneto left, telling Maggott that one day they’ll fight as brothers.

Continuity Notes: The “mysterious package from Africa” subplot continues, as Storm picks it up from the post office. When she opens it, a mystical statuette appears, telling her that she must come home and stop “Ananasi”. The next issue clarifies that the statuette is of Ainet, a “village priestess” who took Storm in as a teenager.

It’s finally confirmed that Maggott’s slugs act as his digestive system. They feed on matter, and then return the nourishment to him by somehow merging with the hole in his stomach.

Approved By The Comics Code Authority: Letterers are traditionally careful with the word “flick”, as it tends to look like another word when written in all caps. “Flick” is used as a sound effect on page two, and the letterer has made the brave decision not to space the L and I far apart, but to have them actually overlap.

Review: It’s strange to read an entire issue dedicated to Maggott while knowing that Marvel is just a few issues away from consigning him to obscurity. It’s a suitable enough origin story, although it’s another indication that Joe Kelly’s interpretation of Magneto is out of whack (even though he was clearly a villain pre-Claremont, I don’t think he was the type for a casual, cold-blooded slaughter until the ‘90s). While the story does explain Maggott’s connection to Magneto, it still doesn’t resolve the character’s original mystery, which had him searching for Magneto for unspecified reasons. I did find this a satisfactory resolution as a teen though, and thought that Maggott had some potential as a character. However, even then I found the character’s speech pattern annoying. In this issue, Kelly is particularly bad about cramming his dialogue with South African slang (which Kelly pulled from some website) that’s often impenetrable. Mat Broome shows up as guest artist, years after his early X-Force fill-ins. His work on X-Force has aged horribly, but most of his pages here aren’t so bad.

X-Men #77

Storm Front

Credits: Joe Kelly (writer), German Garcia (penciler), Art Thibert (inker), Liquid! (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Psylocke uses her shadow teleportation powers to take the X-Men to Africa, where Storm finds her old village empty. Ainet appears, possessed by the trickster god, Ananasi. As Storm attacks Ananasi, the rest of the X-Men disappear, emerging inside various fantasies. Psylocke manages to find Storm, telling her that Ananasi is actually a telepath and not a god. They enter the psionic plane together, where Psylocke is goaded by Ananasi into pushing her powers to their limits. Storm realizes that she was never the real target, but is unable to stop Psylocke from stabbing Ananasi with a psychic sword. A psionic event covers the earth, as Ananasi is exposed as the Shadow King.

Review: This is the first part of “Psi-War”, which I think was originally supposed to be a much larger event than it turned out to be. The story mainly consists of getting the X-Men to Africa, a few fantasy sequences, and the last page reveal of the Shadow King. It’s not exactly a shock that a story about Storm returning to Africa would have the Shadow King as the villain, especially after Psylocke reveals that Ananasi is actually a telepath mid-issue, but Kelly manages to get an enjoyable story out of this. He’s aided by German Garcia, who has a nice grasp of most of the cast and an impressive design for Ananasi. Kelly tries to shift the focus to Psylocke, as it becomes more obvious that the story is about telepaths, which is the first time a writer has tried to make some sort of statement about her character in a while. He goes the predictable route by having the Shadow King mock her identity issues, and her redundancy as the X-Men’s third-tier telepath. I think he crosses the line with too much meta-commentary (“You’ve been transmogrified and obliterated and possessed and killed so many times…you’re everyone’s plaything.”), but it’s nice to see someone using this as the starting point for a story and not an excuse to just dismiss the character.

X-MEN #74 – #75, April - May 1998

X-Men #74

Rituals

Credits: Joe Kelly (writer), Carlos Pacheco (penciler), Art Thibert (inker), Comicraft (lettering), Chris Lichtner & Aron Lusen (colors)

Summary: Archangel revisits the scene of the Morlock Massacre, as Marrow attends to the wounded Callisto nearby. Archangel is attacked by the Abomination, who is now living in the sewers. Marrow, who has idolized Archangel since she was a child, helps him defeat Abomination. Meanwhile in Salem Center, Wolverine investigates a series of murders which might’ve been committed by Maggott’s slugs. He’s attacked from behind, and awakens with a scar on his chest. Maggott is standing nearby, asking forgiveness.

Continuity Notes: A mystery man is helping to keep Callisto alive. The implication is that it’s the Dark Beast, but this is another dropped plot.

The X-Men’s favorite tavern, Harry’s Hideaway, makes an odd appearance. It’s now a 50's-style burger joint that’s way off-model from its previous appearances. Harry himself is also off-model, and doesn’t know that Wolverine is a mutant, which contradicts hints Claremont dropped that he was in on the X-Men’s secret.

Wolverine presents the local authorities with a detective’s badge that reads “Jim Logan”. Years later, James was revealed as his real first name, but I refuse to give Bill Jemas and company credit for researching back issues and referencing this one.

Review: Marrow receives her softest portrayal yet, as Kelly picks up on the revelation that she witnessed Archangel’s mutilation during the Morlock Massacre and reveals that she actually idolizes him with a religious fervor. He takes the idea too far by having her pray “to he who was crucified and reborn”, but I can see where he’s going with it. It’s conceivable that a young Marrow, before growing up in a Darwinist alternate dimension, would’ve been enthralled by the sight of an angel and held on to it over the years. It gives her a connection with at least one of the X-Men, and presents a side of her personality outside of “horrifically nasty”. The fight with Abomination is just an excuse to give the two characters something to do together, but it’s excellently delivered by Pacheco, who has been producing solid work throughout this run. The tease for the next issue involving Wolverine and Maggott is also interesting, playing off the fact that Maggott is still a total mystery and might be capable of anything.

X-Men #75

Anatomy of a Monster

Credits: Joe Kelly (writer), German Garcia (penciler), Art Thibert w/Panosian, Hanna, & Holdredge (inkers), Digital Chameleon (colors), Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: Wolverine discerns that Maggott’s slugs weren’t responsible for the murders in Salem Center and heads for the N’Garai cairn near the mansion. He’s joined by Beast, Marrow, and Cecilia Reyes, while the rest of the team tracks down a distraught Maggott. After finding him, they’re suddenly teleported to the Ukraine. They enter the nearby N’Garai cairn and are reunited with the rest of the X-Men inside the N’Garai’s dimension. They soon learn that the murders were actually committed by Pilgrimm, a member of the N’Garai’s former slave caste, the Ru’Tai. The race is powered by the Eye of Kierokk, which Reyes manages to accidentally destroy. The X-Men rescue the Ru’Tai’s human captives and return to Earth. Pilgrimm, however, disguises himself as a human and escapes.

Continuity Notes: When Rogue tries to defend Marrow’s place on the team by mentioning her own criminal past, Storm responds, “You never took a life”. So I guess the X-Men do know that Marrow’s a murderer, which again makes me wonder why they haven’t placed her in custody.

The Ru’Tai were inspired to revolt against the N’Garai after witnessing Wolverine’s slaughter of the N’Garai months earlier. It’s not outright stated, but I assume this is a reference to the Wolverine ’95 annual. The Ru’Tai have labeled Wolverine the “Mai’Keth” and idolize him, although they doubt that he is the Mai’Keth when he stops fighting and berates himself for inadvertently causing the murders in Salem Center. Pilgrimm has been dissecting people because he was given the task of “study(ing) humans for enlightenment”.

Review: This one doesn’t entirely work, but it has its moments. Apparently, Carlos Pacheco is gone by this point (he signs his cover with “see you”), leading German Garcia to come in with a fill-in that the letters column admits was a last minute job. I recall disliking his work as a teenager, but I don’t see any real faults with it today. His work here somehow manages to merge John Romita, Jr. with Mike Wieringo, and while it probably suffers from having to work too many panels into most of the pages, it’s not bad at all. The plot is an entertaining action story with some nice character moments, but it doesn’t exactly work as a resolution to the ongoing storyline. There’s no explanation for why exactly Maggott’s slugs are so attracted to the Ru’Tai, or why they were abandoning Maggott over the past few days (perhaps because they were drawn to the Ru’Tai’s presence in Salem Center, but it’s not confirmed in the issue). And if the Ru’Tai are supposed to worship Wolverine as an idol, it doesn’t make sense for Pilgrimm to have attacked him in the previous issue. I also have no idea why half of the team was transported to the Ukraine, unless this somehow ties into a connection between Maggott and the Ru’Tai. It’s the characterizations that save the issue, as Kelly is able to keep the cast members distinct and maintain sharp dialogue throughout the story. The bits of comedy thrown in, such as Cecilia Reyes getting stuck in one of the Wasp’s old costumes that the Beast borrowed, also keep things fun.