web hosting short URLs photo sharing

Previous Issue Reviews

X-Men 93:
To start off, this was a pretty darn good issue. It's the first core x-book in quite a while to make many people on Usenet happy, which is no mean feat :) It does present a few continuity problems, though: it's revealed that Mystique has just spent three months off by herself, posing as a popular model and basically partying---which begs the question of where the chronology-minded are to put the X-51 story. A minor nitpick from my stand-point (though, granted, I seem to be the only person bothered by this type of thing) is the implication that she currently doesn't have any allies, and that she must go in search of some. Now, looking for Rogue because she's tough and resourceful is one thing; implying that Mystique has no other people to turn to is quite another! But ah well. On with the story.

The issue starts off with some generic ninjas attacking Mystique, who's morphed into Sabretooth and is kicking some booty. However, she's hurt during the battle, and has to go seek out help for her current troubles (this is where the "allies" comment comes in). She finds it in Rogue and Shadowcat, who are off partying after leaving the X-Men during the Shattering storyline. In the meantime, Mastermind (who you may recall died of Legacy some time ago) and Mesmero discuss how "the Master" wants her eliminated, as she apparently was "observing" them and has ties to the X-Men. Mastermind dismisses the risk she poses to them, and mentions sending the Japanese military after her---which we saw earlier, tracking her. Incidentally, Mastermind and Mesmero are probably not as they seem (check out their shadows...kudos to the sharp-eyed person on racmx who caught that)...

Mystique takes Kitty and Rogue to a fancy house, "my sanctum, the closest thing I have to home. Where I keep all that I most cherish". It belongs to one of her oldest identities, a wealthy recluse, though it's worth noting that daughter Rogue didn't know about either the identity or the house. I wonder how many people did! Kitty looks at an old happy-looking photo of Mystique, Destiny, and Rogue, and it's noteworthy because Raven is touching Rogue's bare skin (which boosts the original Claremont story that stated that they adopted her before her powers emerged, rather than the later Lobdell version which had Mystique meeting the girl after her powers had manifested). Neat! Nice photo, too.

Mystique hints that she'd met Kitty some time before their ostensible first meeting in UXM 141-142 (interesting...maybe from the 'True Friends' LS?), and goes on to tell Rogue about her life over the past few months. Seems she'd decided to cast off her old responsibilites and do something different---namely, creating the new identity of a popular model, and doing everything that goes along with that life (partying, photo shoots, etc). "For the first time since Destiny was killed, I felt truly alive". But then recently, while off in that identity, she was attacked by ninjas and has been running ever since. Rogue agrees to help find out who's chasing her.

But naturally, no review of this issue would be complete without a discussion of Destiny! Mystique mentions how they met: "She was a damsel in distress...and I, her consulting detective. Afterwards, we became...partners". Nice way of putting it :) Rogue and Mystique talk about her death, and Rogue is saddened that she didn't foresee her own end, at which Raven (rightfully) scoffs. "She knew what was coming, yet gave none of us a chance to save her. No reason, no explanation, not even a chance to say goodbye. After all we'd been through, how could she have been so cruel? It was like she had cut out my heart. I thought I would never forgive her. But time does heal all wounds". It's unfortunate that we all put blinders on ourselves...perhaps Mystique doesn't realize that she did the exact same thing to the rest of her friends in UXM 266, when she knew that Val Cooper was coming to shoot her (warned by Irene, of course) and yet did nothing to tell the others. One could easily imagine the same words coming out of Pyro's mouth, though referring to Raven herself. Of course, both Destiny and Mystique had their reasons for doing what they did, but that probably doesn't help assuage the feelings of those left behind.
Erp. I'm getting philosophical. On with the review!

Rogue goes to another of Mystique's residences in order to check out the evidence. It's just plain destruction, which suggests to her that it's the (Japanese) government and not the mob. And when she examines the telescope that's pointed in a specific direction---presumably at Mastermind et al's operations---an alarm goes off, and ninjas burst in. She puts them on the run, but Sunfire shows up and tells her "if you would ally yourself with a wanton murderess...then you will share her fate!" He attacks, and it's cliff-hanger time.

A couple of nitpicky things: it's been stated that Mystique can heal injuries through her shape-shifting powers, so that shouldn't have been a problem here. Also, Rogue thinks to herself that it was because of her uncontrollable powers that Mystique "sent me to Xavier...she'd tried and failed. Now it was his turn". Um, oh dear. Rogue ran away to go to Xavier, and Mystique hatched an elaborate plan to get her back, as seen in the events of UXM 177-178---recall that there, Raven accused Xavier of stealing her daughter. Ah well. Just a historical glitch, I suppose.

I will admit to being a little annoyed by the idea that Mystique is off partying for months while Pyro, who is/was arguably her closest friend since Destiny's death, is having serious troubles. It's a bit easier to swallow her apparent lack of concern when she's got schemes and plots to work on (such as the Mallory Brickman identity, watching Dr Agee, retrieving X-51, and of course, being with X-Factor), but it's quite another thing when all she's doing is living it up as a model. Granted, he would never mean as much to her as Irene did, but she is a loyal person to those she cares about, and if she could show concern for Forge when bad things happened to him, then she can at least be sorry for her most loyal employee, who even became a friend.

On the other hand, it was nice to see Mystique and Rogue interacting without yelling and sniping at each other. We haven't seen anything like this since X-Factor 70 (just after the collapse of Freedom Force, incidentally). A pleasant change.

X-Men 94:
Okay, here we go...first the synopsis, then some idle chatter.
The issue starts off with Sunfire attacking Rogue (as seen in the previous story), whom he believes to be Mystique and is accusing her of murdering several Japanese agents. My first reaction was "Duh, Mystique can't fly. How stupid is he?", and wondered if Davis had dropped the ball on this one. Happily, he hadn't; Rogue quickly points this out, beats Sunfire up (proving that not all recent writers have to make her into a wuss), and eventually he concedes her point. Of course, that doesn't make him any less stupid for believing what he did...

The next interlude has Kitty Pryde poking around Mystique's house---ostensibly guarding her---while Raven sleeps. Shadowcat examines a rather creepy shrine to Destiny, complete with her oracle mask on a stand and a nice photo of the female members of the Brotherhood (which could only have been made more perfect by putting the guys in there as well, but I digress...). Kitty muses about Rogue's mysterious past as she rifles through more photographs (which include pictures of a family ski trip and a happy photo taken at Christmas), and decides to look for embarrassing Rogue photos "with blackmail potential". She then finds a note on the back of one, apparently written by Destiny, telling her to "reach in", so she does and pulls a journal out of the frame.

Back with Rogue and Sunfire, he explains that Mystique is guilty of murder, and describes his evidence, which Rogue refutes. She's able to prove that Mystique is innocent by pointing to some Ronnie Lake magazines (a current identity, remember) that state that she was in Switzerland for the entire month in question. He realizes he's been tricked, and uses his powers (in an unusual and new way for him) to find 'Mesmero' and 'Mastermind'. Thankfully, Rogue points out that the latter should be dead (showing again that Davis is more on the ball than I originally believed; I'm glad to be proved wrong), and the two heroes battle the enemy forces. Eventually, Mesmero kills Mastermind, blows up the complex in a panic---believing "the Master" will kill them anyway---and Rogue and Sunfire barely escape.

Meanwhile, Kitty reads the journal, which is full of odd and cryptic scribblings relating to the upcoming "Twelve" plotline. It frightens her, especially because of its pessimisstic and disturbing predictions, and while she's not sure she believes them, she can't dismiss it, either.

Cue some odd and mildly creepy scenes involving Nightcrawler and a strangely-behaving Polaris, who believes that someone is chasing her, that Havok is alive, and is animating his empty suit when she's alone. Brrr.

Sunfire and Rogue wrap up their loose ends, figuring that Mastermind and Mesmero were the real culprits responsible for the murders blamed on Mystique. Shiro says that Mystique is currently unaffiliated---hmm---and thus was a convenient target for framing. The Japanese agents spying on the two of them remark on what a good operative he has turned out to be, and seem to have ominous plans for him...

Finally, to wrap up the story, Mystique, Rogue, and Kitty walk in the park and discuss the adventure with Sunfire. Raven thanks her daughter for the help, saying some kind and loving words to her and reminiscing about the past before disappearing into the crowd, Mystique-style. After she's gone, Kitty worriedly brings up the journal, which apparently she never mentioned to Raven and will obviously play a fairly large role in the upcoming storyline.

For the most part, I didn't find this issue as good or satisfying as the previous one. There were several reasons for this; some I can't quite put my finger on, but rather only say that they left things unresolved and not to my liking. Perhaps it's a matter of taste. For one thing, Destiny's strange prophecies made her sound a bit crazy, and Mystique's shrine and Polaris' animated Havok uniform make the two seem a bit unbalanced as well. Unfortunately, none of the interesting hints we saw in the last issue (Mystique and Kitty meeting early on, who's chasing Polaris, etc) were even furthered in this one, leaving me wondering when we'll see them resolved---especially now that we have a new writer on board. Also, it's a bit of a continuity error to have Kitty claim that Mystique's tried to kill her "a half-dozen times or so", when as far as we know, it's only been once (that would be UXM 141-142. The only other time they've met, UXM 199, Freedom Force had no interest in her until the X-Men attacked them, and of course, FF wasn't actually trying to kill them anyway...or, on occasions when the two groups clashed, Mystique was notably absent). And finally, the grand conspiracy against Mystique turned out to be rather small, which was a mild letdown, though it works as a plot device set-up to tell this story, I suppose.

The real bright spot in this story is Rogue. Not only is she back to being smart---it was she that did most of the detective work, though Sunfire seems to get the credit---she's tough and brassy again, just like she ought to be. And, like last issue, she and her mother share some genuinely warm and loving moments, to which Davis goes to great lengths in order to emphasize in the past and present. This was what I liked best, because as I said in the X-Men 93 review, it's been too long since we've seen it.

The one thing that really gets me---and you'll see this mentioned in my other review---is that Mystique is supposed to have been off doing extensive partying. She was in Switzerland for a whole month! Now, while I think this is out of chracter for her, and wish she was not being written like this, I also think that as written now, she doesn't deserve a damn bit of loyalty from any of her former comrades, Pyro especially. But, being the guy he is, he'll probably still give it anyway :P

Also included in this issue is a preview for The Hidden Years, a series set during the X-Men's reprint era. It's mildly interesting, mostly because Blob 'appears'---but actually only as a sort of illusion dredged up from the X-Men's memories.

Amazing Spider-Man 11:
Here's a review that'll be much shorter, honest. Not quite the heady stuff of XM 93. Well, it starts off with Mary Jane Watson-Parker having problems with someone who makes threats over the phone. This naturally has everyone distressed...but this ain't a Spider-Man page---on with the FF-related stuff! Eventually, Peter finds himself on the scene of an incident involving Blob, who's decided to "get back to my roots" with a simple robbery of an armoured car. Blob declares his annoyance with "the stinkin' mutant political game", mentioning some of his recent escapades with the BoEM, Hunt for Xavier, and X-51 (well, it's good continuity, at least). This is interesting, because it's something we haven't seen from him in a long time. In the past, he used to mutter about how much he disliked the mutant and super-powered scene, and would even seemingly retire for short periods of time (though eventually come back, probably because he's one of those characters who'll never be forgotten/put into limbo). This changed when he joined Mystique's BoEM, however, and until now he's been cheerfully in the fray ever since, his reluctance a thing of the past. Mind you, I suspect that these renewed doubts will soon be forgotten---it's just that they're interesting to see again.

Mostly, though, this is a fight scene, and other than what I mentioned above, there's not a whole lot to say about it. After the usual witty banter, Spider-Man defeats Blob in a mass of expanding webbing, and leaves him for the police.

Thunderbolts 33
Overall, a very good issue. I don't regularly follow Thunderbolts, but do pick it up occasionally, though naturally got this month's for the Blob and Unus appearance (once I get a decent job, I'll be able to pick up the book every month...right now I'm so broke I have to be very choosy about what I can buy). Anyway, the issue mainly details Jolt's traumatic past and her transformation into the superhero she'd always wanted to be, as well as the story of the Ogre, a minor villain who appeared in one issue of X-Men way back in #28 of the original series. He was a member of Factor Three, a group which also consisted of Blob, Unus, the Vanisher, the Changeling, and Mastermind. There are a couple of flashback scenes, both of which can be seamlessly inserted into the continuity of the period; the first is of an angry Changeling on a video monitor, reprimanding the Ogre for fouling up the plan, while the rest of the group look on in disapproval. The hapless fellow is told to stay at their base to await punishment, and he does so, for many years.

The second scene takes place some years later, after the events of Amazing Adventures #13 (which, by a nice coincidence, arrived in the mail for me the day after T-bolts 33 came out. As a side note, it was a very good issue, very fun, and highly recommended). The Ogre overhears them when they return to the base at which he'd been hiding out all this time, and they discuss the misadventures they had in AA #13. Blob says that Factor Three has been re-started again, and that they have plans based on information stolen from Cerebro; soon after, they leave the Ogre alone again, and there he stays for many years while different invading groups come and go.

One thing I liked is that Ogre implies to the Thunderbolts that Factor Three was a reasonably nice bunch of guys, more so than the groups that inhabited the base after them. This is a good piece of continuity and a pleasant change---people tend to forget that some of the groups Blob et al have participated in were really not all that bad (for instance, though Mystique's BoEM definitely did some bad things, they're rather small-time next to groups like the Acolytes, the MLF, and Gene Nation). It's nice to have something like this acknowledged, though it's almost expected from continuity nuts like Busiek :)

In the end, the Tbolts invite the Ogre to join their group, and he happily accepts (I also rather liked the characterization of him...I've never seen his previous appearance, and have heard that he was a bit mean in it, but it's easily acceptable that he could mellow after years of hiding. Anyway, he was very endearing and likable here). Unfortunately, Techno sneaks up behind him, conks him out, and impersonates him, suggesting he has evil things planned for his former teammates. Boo! Well, at least the Ogre's not dead. Overall, it was a very good issue, definitely recommended, and gives oodles of backstory (in fact, that might be its only flaw, if that sort of thing bothers a particular reader. Most of the story is recounting past history, but at least it's new history---or new information to the reader, anyway, so you're still getting a full story's worth. Backstories at their finest, ladies and gentlemen.

Uncanny X-Men 379
A good issue, albeit with a few plot/continuity problems. In the fallout of Cyclops' death, Xavier leaves for space in order to teach some Skrull mutants (which is odd, to say the least), while the X-Men spend some fun 'family' time together. The story is also nicely filled with several subplots highlighting some other characters not currently hanging out with the X-Men, including Mystique, and a short vignette with Blob's Brotherhood.

Firstly, Mystique. She's infiltrating a government spy agency, seeking to find out who's been comprimising some of her secret identities. At first when her narration says that she's looking for information and that the agency can "track a body pretty near anywhere on Earth", I'd hoped to finally see some Mystique/Pyro resolution. But 'twas a futile hope, of course. Any rate, she borrows the form of a government man to get in and gain access to the organization's computers.

Secondly, Blob. He's got his Brotherhood back together again, oddly enough. We last saw Mimic a couple of months ago in X-51 (remember, the team's last mission took place in that book), when he was trussed up in government custody and being tricked by Val Cooper, and Post was last seen somewhat of a broken man in the Cable series. Blob of course was defeated by Spider-Man and presumably arrested. But here they are again, and Blob's back in charge---and he's surprisingly clever and scheming (looks like he really can lead!), with a plan for stealing stuff and making some easy cash.

But the High Evolutionary has plans of his own, and activates an energy field which negates the powers of every mutant on Earth. They painfully lose their powers, and the effects are devastating. Mystique, for instance, is in the middle of working at the spy agency, and morphs back to her blue form before slowly reverting to her 'natural' non-mutant state, which turns out to be an ordinary Caucasian woman with regular-coloured red hair and hazel eyes. Unfortunately, as has been pointed out, perhaps she should have reverted to look her true old age, since it's a known fact that her powers have kept her cells regenerated and young! She's caught and held at gunpoint, much to her obvious displeasure.

Blob's Brotherhood devolves, too. Post's guns and plates drop off (leaving an ordinary-looking bald guy), Mimic's wings begin to fall out, Toad becomes a handsome man---to his absolute delight, and Blob shrinks back down to normal size (where did all that mass go?). He doesn't seem to have finished devolving when we see him, so he's left with all the folds of excess skin, which even he finds disgusting. The scene is rather funny.

All in all, very interesting. It's a shame that this plot will either be resolved in only one more issue or the ending will be left untold when Claremont comes on board (and brings the six-month gap with him), as it's an interesting idea. I'd like to see at least several issues showing how the X-Men and the various mutants around the world deal with becoming ordinary humans. Obviously many would be upset, but some, like Toad, are thrilled and will be unhappy when their powers are returned. In the case of Pyro, it might cause his Legacy to go into remission, since he now has no powers to kill him. Certainly, his powers can't go out of control right now, and he might be glad for the temporary reprieve. Conversely, Crimson Commando would probably revert to a regular old man, as his mutant powers are what gave him a strong body that has resisted aging. So he'll be a decrepit old man with heavy cyborg parts! Yuck, as if his life didn't suck enough.

The art was fairly nice, if a bit weird in places (there was a truly horrible picture of James Proudstar on page 2). Artist Tom Raney drew a strange-looking Blob, but his Mystique was very nice, and handsome Toad was great. The colouring job on Iceman was particularly impressive, and makes him look remarkably like, well, ice.
A lot of people are complaining about Kitty Pryde officially being de-aged to 16 years old---which really does present quite a few continuity problems---and fussing that only two X-Men are seeing Xavier off while the others play baseball despite the recent death of Cyclops. All valid complaints. It's a good issue, and has some really interesting ideas and character pieces (especially the non-X-Men/baseball bits, which were refreshing to see and nicely carried on many stories all at once) but it has some flaws.

I'm also particularly interested to see how Mystique gets herself out of the delicate situation she's trapped in. If anyone can do it, she can, but without her powers it'll be difficult.

X-Men 99
Part two of the devolving mutants story (see UXM 379), but with a terrible cover. I can't stop staring at that horrible picture of the High Evolutionary! Anyway. One or several weeks (depending on the scene) have passed since the HE stripped all mutants of their powers, and the X-Men are learning how to cope as normal people whilst various individuals around the world scheme about taking advantage of the situation. The most interesting scenes are probably the ones taking place in Genosha, as Magneto and crew (with the help of Beast and Iceman) attempt to fight off the Magistrates, who see the opportunity to re-take the country for themselves. Polaris has become a willing supporter of Magneto, her doubts as seen last issue vanishing, much to the surprise of Iceman. It's nice to see her with a purpose and a backbone again, so it's a welcome development.

We also see Rogue, in the guise of a lawyer, travelling to prison to visit Mystique. Rogue tells her that the list of identities Mystique was trying to delete when she lost her powers have been published, and that all her real lawyers have deserted her---and probably filing fraud suits as well! Raven isn't pleased, as she's feeling stressed at being stuck in prison---facing many, many charges---and having lost her powers. She pleads with Rogue to break her out of jail. Of note, of course, is that this is probably the first time she's spent any significant amount of time in prison, though some of her colleagues in the Brotherhood were jailed for quite some time prior to joining Freedom Force.

This power devolution is an interesting concept. The issue itself doesn't go very far with regards to long-term plot development (except for the bits with Sinister), but it has nice character scenes, and I liked seeing the various people dealing with the loss of their powers. It's odd that in some cases, the situation has brought unlikely foes together whilst separating others from their friends (like the X-Men who have gone off to do other things), an idea which could be explored in the future.
The art is okay, but the penciller (Brett Booth) draws some strange-looking faces, particularly noses. And Mystique looks somewhat stoned in one panel...frankly, the art style wasn't what I generally like to see. But it could be worse---see the backup story in X-Men Unlimited 26!

Uncanny X-Men 380
The finale of the devolving mutants story (see the reviews for UXM 379 and XM 99). This time the cover is better...quite nice, actually. The X-Men are determined to stop the scheme of Sinister and the High Evolutionary before everyone on Earth begins rapidly mutating like the Genoshan mutates, and so plan to go into space to destroy their machines. What they don't know is that the High Evolutionary is opposed to Sinister's goals, and would stop him if not for being imprisoned.

Rogue calls Mystique, still stuck in prison, using the guise of lawyer "Irene Adler" (which was the name of Destiny, for those who have forgotten). Rogue tells Raven there will be a delay due to the X-Men's plans to go into space, and Mystique is furious, shouting at her for calling while using Destiny's name "a woman we both loved, a woman who loved you like the mother you never had", to say that she's choosing the X-Men over her again. She vows this will be the last time that she'll have to hear excuses from Rogue again before angrily hanging up the phone, much to her daughter's dismay.

As the mutate and Magistrate situations in Genosha worsen, the X-Men head up to the space station to confront Sinister. They're met by some evolved quasi-New Men, and find it difficult to fight the creatures since they have no powers, but several are able to break off to find Sinister. Wolverine, who's been dying of adamantium poisoning since losing his powers, is still able to perservere, and terrifies Sinister by clawing him. Worried, Sinny shoots him repeatedly, and while it hurts him, it doesn't kill him; Shadowcat then realizes their powers have begun to return (including his healing factor). The X-Men start doing some damage, which is enough to release the imprisoned High Evolutionary, and he destroys his own work to save the day (yay! A self-sacrificing villain smart enough to fight against Really Bad Things!). Sinister gets his butt out of there as mutants all over find their powers returning...

...including Blob, who is horrified as he begins increasing in size while in public, especially when his pants shred and he has to cover himself up as people look on in shock. Poor Blob, he never catches a break. He probably really enjoyed being normal, as did Toad, though we don't see Toad in this issue. Not surprisingly, Mystique breaks out of jail at first opportunity when her powers return, swearing silent revenge on everybody who's "betrayed what little trust I had, took advantage of recent...vulnerabilities...". Apparently she really disliked prison.

The best scene in the entire issue was the finale in Genosha. Magneto starts kicking booty, looking scary, and frightening the attacking Magistrates into a quick retreat by destroying all their weaponry. Having regained control of Hammer Bay, and the mutates' evolution seemingly ended, his supporters hail him as winner. But it was actually Polaris, using an image inducer! As said in an earlier review, it's really good to see her showing backbone and initiative, and having her kick ass and take names in Magneto's stead is great. Could this be a new start for her, one which doesn't have her moping about Havok, being possessed by every mind-controlling dude on the block, or generally acting wimpy? Let's hope so. And I'm becoming increasingly interested in the Genosha story, which is good, because there's an upcoming mini-series about it :)

Another good issue, and a good storyline overall, especially since it was probably intended just as filler whilst awaiting the arrival of Claremont in a couple of weeks (speaking of which, since he's stated he doesn't want to use old villains for a year, is this the last we've seen of these guys for a long time? I hope not). One thing never quite explained, though, was the pseudo-science behind the mutates' rapid evolution, nor how Beast knew every creature on Earth was about to suffer the same fate, but presumably it wasn't overly important to the general plot, so the writers glossed over it (which isn't a good thing, but it's a minor quibble). There was more Tom Raney art, which was quite good, though some of the faces and expressions were rather stilted and unusual, particularly Storm's, and Sinister looked weirder than usual. The X-Men were plucky in the face of fighting evil without powers and thus kind of interesting, but they had this strange habit of finishing each others' thoughts...almost as though they shared some kind of hivemind (just kidding. But it was odd). So Alan Davis ends his run on an up note, with a story quite a sight better than any silly Twelve plot or innumerable things about Skrulls. Good show, sir!

The X-Men Movie
So every X-fan's dream---the X-Men movie---has finally come true! I don't think too many people ever thought it would really be made...let alone any good. However, the film is indeed a very nice piece of work. It's not perfect, but it is well-done, entertaining, and very true to the characters and concept.

It focuses on Rogue and Wolverine, two people on the run from their pasts (which aren't delved into too much, but are mostly like their comics origins---the notable exception is that Mystique does not seem to be connected to Rogue in any way). Rogue is given a real name, which is a nice touch, although she doesn't use it after absorbing her boyfriend and running away from home. She meets Wolverine in Canada, and they travel together until being attacked by Sabretooth; Storm and Cyclops arrive and rescue them. They go to the school and attempt to get settled, but the Brotherhood of Mutants has its own plans....Mystique and Toad kidnap Senator Kelly and submit him to Magneto's mutating machine. Magneto's goal is to change the humans of the world into mutants so there will be no more discrimination against mutants. He also has other plans, and sends Mystique to set them into motion.

Rogue is happy at the school until she absorbs Wolverine's healing factor in order to save herself after he accidentally stabs her with his claws. 'Bobby Drake', who had up until then been friendly to her, tells her she should leave because of that, so she runs away again. Bobby was actually Mystique in disguise, who uses her visit at the school for two purposes: getting Rogue to leave, and sabotaging Cerebro. As Rogue leaves on a train and is then persuaded to return by Wolverine, Magneto attacks and kidnaps her. The other X-Men are beaten by Sabretooth and Toad, and Magneto has a tense showdown with the police and his old friend Professor Xavier; however, to save human lives, Xavier lets the Brotherhood escape with Rogue. Later, while attempting to use Cerebro to find her, Xavier is incapacitated by the feedback implanted by Mystique. This leaves the X-Men without a mentor as they attempt to deal with the plans of Magneto and the tragedy befalling Senator Kelly, who mutated into a sea creature and then apparently dies from cellular instability. They realize that if the machine is used on anybody else, the victims will likely die from its effects.

Magneto plans to use Rogue to operate his machine (after having absorbed his powers), for using it weakens him severely. He knows it will kill her, but feels that the ends justify the means. Their first target is a group of human world leaders at a UN summit, so the Brotherhood prepares for their mission as well as an anticipated attack by the X-Men. The X-Men do arrive, and battle the lower-ranking members of the Brotherhood at the Statue of Liberty for a time---Toad and Sabretooth are apparently killed, but Magneto forces Rogue to absorb him, and she starts the machine. However, Wolverine and Cyclops manage to stop it before it can affect the humans, and Wolverine touches Rogue so that her life is saved by his healing factor.

The end of the movie definitely sets up possible sequels. Recovered, Xavier gives Wolverine some clues of where to find out about his past, and he sets off for Canada. He promises Rogue (who's happy at the school and has made friends) that he'll return. And Xavier visits Magneto in his plastic prison, from which Magneto vows to soon escape.

The characters were fairly well-done. The actors did a good job of conveying their characters, but some were very much under-used, particularly the Brotherhood. Magneto comes off well and gets plenty of screen time/lines, but the rest had only a few lines each (Mystique has only one line while in her true form, if I recall correctly). The unfortunate result is some under-developed and stereotypical minion villains---my least favourite genre convention. The X-Men come off much better in this regard, although Storm and Cyclops could have used some more screen time. I'm not sure if this resulted from cut scenes (of which there clearly were a lot), or the script, but they didn't get to do much aside from participating in battles or being in action. It's not that they didn't have talky scenes (Storm teaches a class and talks with Senator Kelly, and Cyclops speaks to Xavier while he's in a coma as well as conflicting with Logan), but when compared with some of the other characters, they come off as under-used. This really was Wolverine and Rogue's film.

Wolverine was one of the best things about the movie. People complained bitterly before it was released that the actor was too tall (a silly thing to be upset about, but maybe that's just me...), but Hugh Jackman was magnificent as Wolverine. He looked the part and acted it very well. My one quibble is that it is mentioned that he may be very old (just like in the comics), but the character didn't seem old to me. However, it's a minor complaint. He faced a major challenge of carrying the film on the strength of his performance and character, and he pulled it off.

Magneto was very well played. I heard someone complaining that he was too sympathetic a villain (we see a scene of him in a concentration camp as a child) and that he needed to be eeevil, but I totally disagree. I can't stand cardboard villains. He was portrayed as a man who is morally wrong (or at least very harsh), but has valid arguments and an understandable point of view. The script could have played up his Holocaust connections throughout the film, but did not, and so perhaps the point wasn't quite driven home, but the viewer---even one unfamiliar with the comics---is made quite aware of where his fears and experiences come from. Ian McKellen did a fine job of portraying him as regal, dangerous, and intelligent, and his scenes with Xavier (at the beginning and end of the film) were very interesting.

There's not much to say about Mystique, because she didn't get to say much or do as much as I would have liked. However, she does play a crucial role throughout the film as manipulator and trouble-maker---she drives Rogue from the school and sabotages Cerebro; she tricks Senator Kelly and captures him; she fights with Wolverine; she impersonates Senator Kelly and attempts to get the Mutant Registration Act blocked; and she seems to have an interesting relationship with Magneto (putting her arms around him in a loving gesture). She utilizes her powers well and takes advantage of them, and is a skilled hand-to-hand and martial arts fighter. Her powers also seem to be a bit different in the movie than in real life, because she apparently forms working metal claws when she fights Wolverine, though they're obviously not adamantium. She is definitely dangerous and a threat, with eerie theme music which really helped to emphasize this---an excellent use of the score, especially when she morphs from Gyrich into her true form and attacks Kelly. But I'm very much surprised that she didn't have an established connection with Rogue, for it seems like the perfect way to set up conflict and ties between the villains and the X-Men. Early on I'd heard rumours that she did reveal herself to be Rogue's mother in the movie; either these were wrong or that aspect was cut out. It's also particularly strange given that a dangler with her was left open at the end (that she's impersonating Senator Kelly), and she was the only one of the Brotherhood minions to survive.

And of course, the famous cameos! Pyro does indeed make a brief appearance as John, a flame-controlling (but not flame-generating---he requires a lighter) teenager studying at the X-mansion. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't make it clear---there were definitely some scene cuts---but according to the novelization of the screenplay, he and Bobby (Iceman) are competing for the attention of new girl Rogue. So while they're in class, John surreptitiously uses his lighter and creates a small fireball, which he holds behind him in order to impress her until Bobby freezes it and it shatters on the floor. Storm notices and rebukes John for this, and he replies "sorry" (his only line).
Another possible cameo of interest is a heavyset boy at the school. Since the novel and some early rumours mentioned a mutant named Frederick, and a large boy appears in one scene, this may well be Blob. However, I've heard a girl who was an extra on the movie claim that it was not him, so who knows.
Particularly notable other cameos include Kitty Pryde (who phases through a door), Bobby Drake, Jubilee (shown in her traditional yellow raincoat and sunglasses), and a possible Colossus (shown sketching). Other kids demonstrate mutant powers but aren't overtly obvious cameos.

All in all, it was a very entertaining movie, and quite watchable and enjoyable. The acting was good, the effects were good, and the plot was reasonably good (if a bit thin in places). The cut scenes are noticeable, which is a problem, but I'm not inclined to blame the director for that since all comments have indicated this was the doing of executives. The characters were fun and showed that the director and writers understood them, and the tone and 'mood' of the film were suitable. All in all, it felt like the X-Men and comic books without being too cartoony or silly, and that's a pretty high compliment to pay it, I think.

Gambit 21
There are several plots going on in this issue, all of which are rather complex, and would require a great deal of explanation for anyone not already reading the Gambit series. For this reason, I won't discuss or describe the ones not pertaining to the story with Mystique.

The relevant scenes begin when Gambit's associate Jacob Gavin Jr. (Courier) infiltrates the Commission on Superhuman Activities, using his shapeshifting powers to impersonate Charles Xavier. While doing so, he encounters Mystique (impersonating an attache named Millicent Hardwick), who corners him and keeps him prisoner until Gambit comes looking for him. She is curious about what he's looking for in Washington, and wants answers, mentioning how information is valuable to someone like her. Gambit is reticent (he had sent Jacob there to find information about a woman they met while time-travelling), and the two play a game of one-upmanship and double-cross with each other until she points out that they both have compromising information about the other and that they have reached a stalemate. She warns him that he may be going too deep and that his perspectives are too narrow for what he seeks, although she doesn't elaborate when he asks about what she means. They allow each other to leave the building, she mildly annoyed to be denied the information she wants from him, and he allowing small hints of what his true purpose was.

Some notes:
Far from the tense fight scene boasted by the cover, this issue is actually fairly calm and the duo generally hold their conversation in a reasonably peaceful manner, brief skirmishes aside. Mystique attempts to use her skills---subterfuge and sneakiness---to best Gambit, but learns that he's simply too powerful for her to deal with. She also wasn't aware of his recent power-up (I love the Gambit series, and have been reading it since it debuted, but that's my biggest problem with it: he's just been way too powered-up. He's impossible to beat). However, she then puts her skills towards another avenue and shows him that she can get him into trouble with the information she has on him---thus evening the odds. This issue is a good showing for both of them in the sense that they are both allowed to be intelligent though not able to beat the other---a far cry from the many issues in which the villain has to be dumbed-down in order to be beaten.

Mystique claims (and her attitude towards Gambit certainly seems to indicate that she's telling the truth) that she's sorry he and Rogue aren't seeing each other anymore. Personally, I always figured she'd be hostile to him---although maybe that's the result of reading too much fanfic on the topic ;)

Mystique and Gambit have a rather cerebral chat about knowledge/information and covert ops. She, of course, is the master of such things---making it her business to know everything---and while he's no slouch in the sneak department, she could teach him a lot. Were it not for his power advantage, she would have made short work of him.

As an aside, the more I see of how she's written these days (well, since the early 1990s, really), the more I wonder why she would ever hire/associate with the Brotherhood in the first place. Rogue was her daughter and protege...Destiny was her lover and work partner...but she's been depicted as quite the loner and most effective when alone (including retconned scenes taking place in the past, before the BoEM). Why would she need---or want---to associate with Pyro, Avalanche, and Blob? True, they are raw power and originally were just hired muscle, but if she has always worked best in covert ops and behind the scenes, why would she want to work in the open with a high-profile terrorist group and with extra people to bog her down or possibly betray her? Why go to so much trouble to get them out of prison, especially when she made it clear back then that she was irritated with their performance? It almost surprises me she didn't fire them (and her other operative, Centurion, who was a complete incompetent) after the first day, let alone recruit them in the first place. Was there a specific reason for her wanting to hire them and then keep them around? (referring, of course, to the time before she actually liked and cared about them, as she clearly came to at some point). This is a topic I would like to see addressed some day...

Overall, a very good issue, though the art was a bit iffy in places. Paquette's Mystique is a bit 'off' to me, and he certainly gives her some very strange proportions (ahem), although it's preferable having him back rather than the fill-in artist from last month's issue! However, this issue will be very confusing and difficult for someone who has read few or no issues of the Gambit series---it's not exactly newbie-friendly. There are plenty of references to the rather complex plot that's been arcing throughout the series, and these will be difficult for someone unfamiliar with the book. The main strength of Gambit is the long-running and complex plotting, but it makes the series fairly inapproachable for a new reader. Still, I recommend the series very highly---it's one of only two books I buy regularly, though I plan to quit after December because Fabian Nicieza was fired off it and that will be his last issue.

X-Men: The Hidden Years 12
I have never read any issues in this series before, so I'm coming right into the middle of an existing storyline. All the same, it's very easy to follow without being childishly obvious. This series is about the unseen adventures of the X-Men while their comic was in reprints, and thus while we know ultimately how things turn out (they all survive!), we don't know what happened along the way, which is where the book gets its mileage. It's written and drawn by John Byrne (with the help of Tom Palmer), and although I haven't really enjoyed anything he's done in quite a while, I very much liked this issue. It was very good, and definitely recommended.

Iceman is in the Savage Land with Karl Lykos, but he (Bobby) has amnesia and doesn't know he's hanging around with the alter ego of Sauron. Meanwhile, Magneto and Amphibius have secret plans to control the geothermal energies of the Savage Land---which also happens to be Lykos' goal. Havok and Polaris arrive and crash just as Lykos becomes Sauron, so Sauron and Magneto fight over control of the geothermal devices as the X-Men watch. Ultimately, Magneto fails to get Sauron on his side, and Sauron allows Mags to fall to his apparent death in lava; Sauron then decides to let the X-Men go after discovering his equipment has been destroyed. He is happy in the Savage Land, so he wipes their memories of him and allows them to leave. Magneto is later rescued by Namor, which apparently leads into an issue of Fantastic Four (102) that I've never read.

The main subplot of this issue is one involving the other X-Men and Candy Southern. A man named Krueger (the one thing I didn't understand about this issue is who he was exactly and why he had some funny-looking comrades with him) has captured Marvel Girl and Cyclops. He wants to sell them to the...well, I don't know what to call them. They imply that they're the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, but I'm not sure that they can technically be called that. Well, we'll go with BoEM for simplicity's sake. He's selling them to the BoEM, just like he earlier sold Angel to them, and Unus and Mastermind show up to make the transaction. They strongly imply that Blob is the boss of their team---which really should not be the case, as he was never in charge in those days---but he's staying ashore for the time being, having given them permission to negotiate with Krueger. Unus and Mastermind bicker and jockey for position, and manage to capture the escaping Candy Southern, and then they pay a hundred thousand dollars for the captive X-Men.
Back at headquarters, the BoEM is naturally rather jubilant. The money was a Mastermind illusion, of course, and the bickering had been faked because they assumed Krueger would expect it and thus underestimate them due to their 'unprofessional' attitude. Blob is very pleased with their performance (as he lounges in the bath, attended by bikini-clad beauties, who may or may not be Mastermind illusions---it isn't stated either way), and the three of them are thrilled to have Candy and three captive X-Men in their clutches. The subplot will no doubt be continued in a following issue.

It's interesting that Blob is in charge. As stated above, that really shouldn't be the case in that era (he was never leader of any of the groups he was part of back then---and Mastermind was the leader in a later group consisting of just the three of them), but it is perhaps a forgiveable error. He's also made rather intelligent, which is also a change for that era---really, until he became leader of his own Brotherhood in 1998, he was never depicted as leadership material or particularly clever, but when writers thrust him into the leader role, he suddenly showed that he had actual skills to do the job. It's possible that he has always had hidden potential, although I remain dubious on the matter.

Overall, the main story was interesting and the BoEM subplot was utterly charming and delightful. The BoEM was wonderfully portrayed, and for once made intelligent and with a real sense of camaraderie (which is interesting, because Byrne often tends to favour less positive portrayals of villains. It's possible he'll undo this all in the next issue, of course, but I prefer to hope he will not). The art was also surprisingly nice---I have not liked Byrne's art for a few years, but this was good, and I especially liked the way he drew the Brotherhood. A good story all around, which makes me wonder if the rest of the series is this good--?

I never did get around to reviewing X-Men: The Hidden Years 13, and probably won't be reviewing #14, either. In brief: I didn't like them nearly as much as #12, which is too bad. Byrne undid all the neat things he established in #12 (namely, that they could get along fairly well in order to work together), and they descended into typical squabbling villains who ultimately fail in their schemes due to their own hubris and inability to co-operate. But I always enjoy seeing Blob and Unus, so at least that was nice.

X-Men 104
There's only one page of particular interest in this issue (to me, anyway), and it details the brief subplot of Mystique---impersonating Val Cooper---meeting and talking with Senator Kelly. He tells her that humans have become second-class citizens, and that it's important to do something about mutants in order to protect normal people. He doesn't feel that superheroes are a reliable defence against the threat of villains. When she leaves, Mystique clutches Destiny's diary and mentions that it had foretold the threat posed by Kelly, and that she should have killed him on her first try. She says that he must be stopped, because "the future depends on it".

Well. On the one hand, we've definitely been down this road before. On the other, it's nice to see Mystique doing something proactive again, rather than reacting to and panicking over things being done to her. And I must admit that it's nice to see that someone remembers that old story and is at least paying lip-service to the characters (although my guess is that the rest of the Brotherhood will not be putting in an appearance...but then again, you never know). Hopefully Claremont will take this in a different direction than the obviously predictable one---while none of Howard Mackie's X-Factor issues were very good, at least he put a new twist on the 'BoEM goes after bigoted politician' story. And, if there's another future at stake---one which doesn't involve the overused Days of Future Past/apocalyptic horrors future, all the better. Mystique's words beg the question: what future did Destiny see? And if she kills Kelly, will we be on the road to the now-cliched DoFP scenario, or something else? I will be watching this plotline with interest, and hoping that some of the forgotten BoEM will show up at some point, or at least be mentioned. Not much has been done with them lately.

The rest of the issue is a different thing entirely. To be blunt, I didn't much like it, nor did it interest me. And sadly, that's pretty much the way of all Claremont's new issues so far: rather disappointing. His new villains aren't very good or particularly deep; this may well be the reason he's broken his own promise of "no old villains for a year". I'm relieved that we've at least seen a few older characters here and there, because obviously they're my favourite characters in the Xbooks, and it's been no fun having them put in storage while some boring new guys caper about. Claremont was the writer who made many of the old guys great, and it's a shame that he's been ignoring most of them since his return. Whether it's the way the X-Men have been written recently, or the lack of the characters I like best---who knows---I haven't enjoyed the core Xbooks recently. More old villains, sez I. You can leave the overused ones alone for a while, but let's have a few more classics rather than (or at least, in addition to) all these silly Neo/Goth/whoever.

Yes, I'm picky. But in general, I haven't liked what I've seen, and it's making me cranky. I know Claremont can do better.

X-Men 105
Going to skip straight through the X-Men fight scenes of this issue, and go right to the two pages with Mystique. Why not, eh?

Mystique watches an interview with Senator Kelly as she infiltrates Moira MacTaggert's home. He feels he has a good chance of winning the presidential race, and declares that he'll announce his position on the mutant issue at the eve of the election, which concerns her. She knows how problematic it could be if the public likes what he has to say, and reiterates her intention to kill him if it is necessary to preserve the future. As she notices that Cable appears to be working as Kelly's aide---which causes her to wonder what he's up to---Wolfsbane interrupts her work. Mystique is forced to finish up quickly, and continues flipping through Destiny's diaries, which appear to be in the possession of Moira MacTaggert (hence her impersonation of Moira herself). While doing so, she makes a cryptic remark about possibly having to kill Kelly "or those who were once my closest friends".

There are several interesting and notable points about this scene:
1) she refers to Destiny as "my beloved", which is a nice allusion to their relationship.

2) Is Kelly's aide Cable or Stryfe? Mystique thinks it's Cable, but it seems implausible that it could be him---he's involved in the plots of his own book, and those of his team in the core books---how could he find the time to be with Senator Kelly? Since Mystique didn't do an exhaustive scan, it could well be Stryfe sneaking around, though it really doesn't sound like his style. Also, this sounds a lot like the Creed plotline (in which Mystique was also seemingly gunning for a bigoted presidential candidate, only to discover that Sam Guthrie and Bobby Drake had infiltrated Creed's campaign), so I hope Claremont is going somewhere different with this.

3) Why does Moira MacTaggert have Destiny's diaries? Kitty took one back in X-Men 94, but Moira's got a whole bunch of them. And at least we know that Moira shouldn't be dead (unless Mystique is impersonating her all the time, which is unlikely), although the issue doesn't say where she is while Raven is impersonating her. If Moira isn't dead, then there's a chance that Pyro isn't either (though I'm not betting on that, to be honest).

4) Mystique mentions the possibility of killing her former "closest friends" (if she must) to nab Kelly. Well, she might have meant Wolverine until she said friendS. Who are the other people? She's not referring to the former members of her Brotherhood, is she? I'm suggesting them because we know a Brotherhood in some form will be involved in this story (according to Claremont's comments in an interview), and she doesn't have too many people closely associated with her. There is always the possibility that somebody will be retconned into her history (since her past with Wolverine, referenced in this issue, is a recent addition) to fit this role, but has she become estranged from the BoEM for some reason? (I could think of a reason why, and have mentioned it frequently on this page). This potential plot thread intrigues me more than anything else.

5) Mystique makes reference to once wanting to kill Hitler to prevent WWII, but that Logan prevented her from doing so. However, in the scene Claremont refers to (X-Men: True Friends #3), Raven seemed to be opposed to Shadowcat's intention to kill Hitler (or at least she was backing up Destiny, and Irene was definitely against it). Why is she now talking as though she'd wanted to do it? At any rate, she now bears a grudge against Wolverine for stopping her, which may play into the Kelly plotline.

Anyway, the rest of the issue was a big fight scene between the X-Men and some new lame villains, which I don't much care for. The art doesn't overly impress me either----although Yu does draw a nice Mystique, and mimicked the art/look of True Friends very well in the flashback panel.

Bottom line: for me at least, the issue is worth it for the Mystique scene. It, and only it, is good. The rest is fair to dull.

Postscript for this review: it's been suggested in discussion that the "new lame villains" who fight the X-Men may have something to do with Spiral, or possibly even be Spiral herself (one wears a helmet which is vaguely reminiscent of hers, and all the characters have names that are related to spirals). I didn't notice this, but it's a good theory, and I shall be watching the plot closely after all.

X-Men 106
This issue introduces the readers to several members of the new Brotherhood of Mutants, and furthers along the Senator Kelly assassination plot (which culminates in November), while the X-Men tie up some loose ends with the Neo.

It's a relief to know that Claremont wasn't yanking my chain when he said that members of the team would include a new Super Sabre, a new Crimson Commando, and a new Mastermind! We see Super Sabre II---a youthful speedster---and he seems like a catty troublemaker, already incurring Mystique's irritation with his rude insults directed at Blob. She points out that he is as of yet unproven, whereas Blob is a known resource. With Sabre II is an un-named young woman who I'm guessing is the new Commando (although she might be Mastermind) because she's paired up with Sabre---though she doesn't seem very tough or commando-like!

Toad bears a striking resemblance to the X-Men movie's Ray Park, and does indeed have a long tongue, as well as new venom/pheromone abilities. He's surprisingly nervy---which Mystique recognizes and appreciates---even if not exactly trustworthy. He attempts to mind-control her into being his puppet, although her shapeshifting abilities render her largely immune to his controlling toxins. Poor Toad...how many different phases has he gone through by now? (pathetic toady, criminal genius, insane loser, and now Ray Park. Oy). Claremont's comments at the convention I attended a month ago strongly suggested that we'll be seeing a meaner Toad, and this issue certainly gives a hint of it.

The appearance of Avalanche is probably a Danger Room-like simulation, but it sure gave me a start at first. He/it is training against Blob, and Mr. Dukes makes the erroneous claim that Av cannot move him (of course he can. Blob can be moved by disrupting the ground beneath him, which is precisely what Avalanche does for a living).
Postscript note: he was indeed the real Avalanche.

Mystique will have her hands full with this bunch. The team is huge---the largest Brotherhood ever---and as of yet she doesn't have anyone who seems truly loyal to her to help keep the others in line (Pyro's loyal efforts with her past teams cannot be underestimated). The woman is clearly a masochist! All jokes aside, it may be impossible to keep such a crew together---if even now some of them (Toad) are trying to usurp their leader, she may have difficulty maintaining her authority and keeping them working as a team.

Overall, I found this issue to be above average. The scene with the Brotherhood was great (except for Toad, on whom I am ambivalent-to-negative). The art was jarring, though, due to multiple artists and inkers; for instance, Rogue looked completely different from one artist to the next, and had a multitude of hairstyles. But the writing problems that have plagued many of Claremont's recent issues were absent or toned down---he let the art tell the story, for the most part, rather than captioning it to death (aside from Domina's monologue, which required narrative captions). The dialogue was not awkward, albeit not entirely clear in a couple of panels. The story was not dull, and the Neo actually got some personality. He cleaned up several dangling plotlines. There's not much more to ask for! I might even go out on a limb and say it was the best of his recent works, although that's an entirely subjective judgement, and of course, the issue does have its faults (the main one being all the fighting). However, it's an improvement, and had he not just been canned from the core titles, perhaps would be cause for optimism :P

A brief note for continuity geeks: this issue takes place before Mystique's appearance in Gambit 21 (although I get the feeling that continuity's going to be further buggered up), because Shadowcat has already returned to the X-Men in the Gambit series (see the Gambit 2000 annual)---obviously, the Gambit issues take place in the near future.

Uncanny X-Men 388
Part 1 of the Dream's End crossover.
Remember when I said in the review for X-Men 106 that it looks like the Brotherhood's lineup has changed from what Claremont told me at the August convention? (mostly due to the apparent presence of Avalanche in the issue). Looks like it has! Here's who appeared with the Brotherhood in this issue: Mystique...Toad...Blob...and SABRETOOTH. Yes, Sabretooth. That was completely out of left field...and yet I'm not surprised. See below.

This issue does not tell us the whereabouts of Sabre II, the un-named woman (see below for their picture), and (maybe) Avalanche. They're not shown or mentioned. They may appear in the next issue, because it's doubtful that Mystique would split up her forces too much and send only Blob and Toad after Senator Kelly (she and Sabretooth are on Muir Island concocting some fiendish plan for the X-Men). If Avalanche is not around, I can accept this, because frankly I thought he was a simulation in the first place. However, if Sabre and the other woman are not on the team, there had better be a good reason for it other than 'the editor wanted the lineup to look more like the movie' (hey, I'm sick today, and can be as cranky and cynical as I want! ;) ).

The Brotherhood of Mutants has Big Plans. Mystique is impersonating Moira again, and goes to Muir Island to set a trap for the X-Men, which Rogue and Bishop and Wolverine fall right into (the cliffhanger). Blob and another shadowy figure go after Senator Kelly in a scene very much like the original one in UXM 141---which might suggest that Avalanche is indeed there, because not too many characters can send the door and walls crumbling inwards. Unfortunately for everyone, Kelly had just made a comment about not attacking mutants, which makes their timing very bad!
Before these acts, though, part of the team went aboard a yacht and infected the passengers with a human-specific strain of the Legacy Virus, for reasons they don't actually explain other than a general comment about ushering in world peace---probably through eradicating humans (it'd be nice to think they're trying to help find a cure for their normally-forgotten sick comrade Pyro, but probably unlikely). They also kill a few people here and there, and talk about people making sacrifices for the good of the many and "culling the human herd". General nasty stuff.

The X-Men know that Mystique is gunning for Kelly, but they realize that she probably has some greater agenda, and are frustrated that they don't know what it is. They're determined to protect Kelly, though a few have their doubts about his worth. And when Rogue's new powers enable her to see that Mystique's up to something on Muir, she goes to investigate, which is when she and her comrades are caught in an explosion as they arrive at the island.

First things first, to make my biases clear: I hate Sabretooth, and am tired of seeing him everywhere. It irritates the hell out of me that he's on the team, because it's a very transparent attempt to make the comics BoM like the movie team (just as is giving Toad the long tongue and making him look like Ray Park). And Mystique willingly has him on her team, and is allowing him to kiss her--? You may recall that the reason she ran away from X-Factor was so she could kill him for kidnapping Trevor Chase and killing Trevor's parents (Trevor's mother was strongly hinted as being Destiny's daughter). She also made it clear through her stint on the X-Factor team that she hated him and was afraid of him. He's tried to kill her several times. So what's with this sudden closeness and tolerance on her part?

The art was nice in this issue, and I much prefer this artist (Salvador Larroca) over Leinil Francis Yu in X-Men. Mystique's new outfit is a welcome change from the constantly-switching 'old white dress/white X-Factor garb' that she's been wearing whenever artists can't decide what to put her in. This outfit is black, practical, and attractive without being skimpy. It was time for a change in outfits for her, and this is a nice one to use for a while. Of course, Blob is still wearing his old wrestling suit, just as he's always worn since joining Mystique's first Brotherhood. He only appears briefly, but he's still his typical fun self.

Cable 87
Part 2 of the Dream's End crossover.
Pyro is dead. He was secretly present during the Brotherhood's attack on Senator Kelly, and saved Kelly's life. He warns the X-Men about the presence of Mastermind and her illusions, and then attacks (and kills?) Post to protect Kelly from imminent death. This causes his Legacy to worsen, and he dies in Kelly's arms, pleading with him to stop the hatred and war between humans and mutants, because "you're the only one who can". Kelly promises to try, and Pyro thanks him before he dies.

Seeing this issue was a bit of a relief, actually---I saw an early review of it about 24 hours before the issue came out (thanks to a blabbermouth on a message board; they mentioned that somebody from the Brotherhood dies, and I had to find out). The review strongly implied that Pyro died but didn't make that terribly clear, so I spent 24 hours wondering what the hell happened :/ Naturally, I'm upset about the whole business. It annoys me that Marvel killed him off only a couple of months before the Legacy cure is supposed to be found (although maybe he'll indirectly contribute to the cure? That'd be nice)...but at least they gave him a meaningful, and even heroic, death. He'd made it clear in earlier issues that he didn't want to croak in bed, so it's nice that he was able to go out with a bang (or, as he said in Daredevil 355, "a blaze of glory"). And hopefully, he made a difference; Senator Kelly now has direct experience that some mutants are willing to die for peace, and Cable seemed to grasp the significance of a villain caring about Kelly's life when he (Cable) was questioning why he was protecting him (Kelly).

Also present in this issue are Blob, Avalanche, Mastermind II, and Post. Frankly, Avalanche is well out of character here (and his helmet looks weird). Like Pyro, Avalanche has slowly been winding down and leaning towards good rather than fanatical evil, so to have him zealously declaring that Kelly is dangerous enough to die is odd, to say the least. The entire Brotherhood acts like fairly generic thugs, which is a disappointment (and since when can Blob create earthquakes?). The entire fight scene is rather generic until the end bit with Pyro, which was unexpected. I skimmed over most of it pretty quickly and have little to say about it.

My main question: where are Sabre II and his un-named companion? Mastermind was apparently the female Mastermind we saw years ago (Martinique Wyngarde), so the African-American woman we saw in X-Men 106 isn't her. Perhaps Mystique has placed them somewhere else to nab Kelly.

Somehow I don't think Mystique will be pleased to hear that one of her closest friends sabotaged her plans---but darn it, I'm glad Pyro did something. My feeling upon reading UXM 388 (in which she wants to wipe out humanity with a modified Legacy Virus) was that Pyro would be horrified to learn that she was deliberately infecting people with the disease that is killing him. If there was ever a time for him to object to the actions of his comrades, now would be it. Good to see Marvel didn't miss the boat on this. Now, let's hope Marvel doesn't miss the boat on having his friends react to his betrayal and death. Avalanche in particular should be affected by the death of his best friend, albeit possibly with conflicted feelings.

The art was kind of strange and I didn't like the way the artist drew most of the Brotherhood, especially Avalanche's face and armour. Cable was also drawn too large in the flashback with Rogue, which is jarring and out of place. Speaking of the flashback, what was the point of it? Okay, it establishes that they met a long time ago, but it doesn't really fit in with this story. Since Marvel is now retconning a past relationship between Cable and Mystique (see X-Men 105), I was sure that she'd be in this, but she was nowhere to be seen. Also, the sublplot with Mystique and the rest of the Brotherhood on Muir Island was not continued; presumably, another part of the crossover (Bishop 16 and X-Men 108) will deal with it.

Overall, I'd give this issue a pretty low mark for being rather dull and ordinary, but it's got the pathos factor for the heroic death of my most beloved character. Thus, the issue shall live on in infamy :P

Bishop 16
Part 3 of the Dream's End crossover.
I didn't like this issue. A conflict with Sabretooth takes up the first nine pages, whereas we only get to see one panel of Toad, already beaten and tied up with his long tongue (eww...). Mystique acts as crazy and fanatical as she was described in the previews a few months back---not only is she most assuredly committing genocide by attempting to wipe out humanity with her modified Legacy Virus, but she shoots Wolfsbane with a Neutralizer gun (the one that shot Storm back in UXM 185---it had been intended for Rogue at the time). So Wolfsbane is now apparently powerless, and Rogue confronts her mother about it. Mystique declares that after humanity is gone, mutants will be able to take their rightful place in the world, yadda yadda, and she'll use the Neutralizer as a threat to keep other mutants in line (in other words, she wants to be a petty tyrant. Since when?). She talks about mutants never having to fear humans again, and that she's doing it for "all of us...the Brotherhood...the X-Men...all mutants! We can finally be free!"

She yells at Rogue a bit, kicks her in the face, and then later stabs her in the gut with a big knife---only Rogue's mutating powers (she's manifesting Wolverine's healing factor) save her life. Rogue points out that her near-invulnerability should have prevented injury, but Mystique says something cryptic---and plot convenient---about how moms know their own daughters' flaws and weaknesses. However, as Mystique is doing the eeeevil gloating villain routine, Rogue struggles up and stabs her with her new bone claws, much to her mother's shock.

The art was not to my liking, nor was the writing. I could really see the hand of Scott Lobdell in this issue (he's credited as co-writer)---he's always written a nasty, unbalanced Mystique, and he's admitted that he dislikes the Brotherhood (referring to Mystique's first BoEM, and Freedom Force too, strangely enough). I enjoyed seeing Sabretooth get beaten up, but not nine pages of him. As mentioned in the review of UXM 388, I don't think he belongs on this team, for a variety of reasons (see the 388 review), and I don't like him. Toad was barely in this crossover; we should have seen more of him, especially since Claremont talked about him at great length back at the convention I attended in August. But then again, it's clear that a lot of changes were made to the BoM lineup and the story that hadn't been anticipated in August (mainly, the inclusion of Sabretooth and Avalanche on the team, and the dropping of several team members---Super Sabre II and the supposed Crimson Commando II). Sabre II and the un-named woman from X-Men 106 should have at least been mentioned in this issue or the next; the fact that they weren't is something I consider to be a plot dangler and an error.

I don't recommend this issue. Buy it if you're a completist, or deathly curious about why Mystique would act like a crazy uber-witch...but better yet, just flip through a copy!

X-Men 108
Part 4 of the Dream's End crossover.
More movie-fication in this issue. Cerebro's chamber now looks exactly like the big room/platform in the movie! Man, they're not even trying to be subtle anymore. This issue barely has any Brotherhood in it---just Mystique, all trussed up and unconscious after being stabbed in the last issue. Wolverine sneaks into her room and is about to kill her for her attempt on Rogue's life, but Wolfsbane interrupts him and sends him away. Then she thinks to herself about how she plans to kill Mystique soon, for taking away her powers and possibly causing the death of Moira, but first will "make sure t' hear you scream!" The X-Men mention how Sabretooth has been left for dead or unconscious, but they don't say anything about the fate of Toad...presumably, the two guys are still on the remains of Muir Island, which is in shambles after the BoM blew it up at the end of UXM 388.

Moira's in a bad way; she was severely injured in the explosion, and is dying. But she has a cure for Legacy, and wants to tell it to someone before she dies (she says the cure came from an idea inspired by Mystique's modified disease). The X-Men are hurrying her back to the X-Mansion from Muir, trying to save her life, but everyone knows she won't survive. Meanwhile, the X-Men who fought the Brotherhood in Cable 87 return home...Beast is utterly jubilant, partying it up, and they barely pay lip service to the efforts and death of Pyro (grumble).

Senator Kelly chats with Cable at his wife's grave...they make peace, and Kelly seems to move ever closer to resolution with mutants. Kelly then goes off to make more public speeches, and Cable is still guarding him---but Cable's called away to help Xavier and Moira. Xavier won't let go of Moira on the Astral Plane, and he'll die with her if he doesn't; Cable and Jean try to persuade him to let go, and he does so at the last moment. Moira dies. However, while Cable is occupied, a human man shoots and kills Kelly during his speech, for being a "race traitor" to the anti-mutant cause. The end.

It was an okay issue. The art was so-so, but much better than the Bishop one...unfortunately, there were two artists working on this issue, and the change in style is jarring.

Ahem...so Pyro died just the issue before somebody found the cure for Legacy, eh? How nice. That he saved Kelly just before the guy died anyway wasn't a total loss---at the very least, a human killed Kelly instead of a mutant, which technically ought to avert the Days of Future Past scenario seen back in UXM 141-142. It---and Kelly's touching promise to him in Cable 87, now useless---still feel a bit hollow to me, though, maybe because I'm still bummed over Pyro's death.

Who knows if or how Mystique will be redeemed from this nutty behaviour...unless Marvel pulls what it did in the early 1990s, and simply declares that she was pretending. This feels just like those bad old Lobdell days all over again. Here we've got a dead Pyro, a dead Post, a crazy evil Mystique, an out-of-character Avalanche, a completely-changed-and-barely-seen Toad, and an out of place Sabretooth (and Mastermind was barely used). These guys didn't come out of the crossover very well!

In all, I'd say that Cable 87 was the best issue of the crossover. Certainly it was the least confusing and irritating, although the pointless early scene with Rogue drags its overall rating down, as does the bewildering depiction of Avalanche. However, it gets points for the well-written death of Pyro, and the nice art.

UXM 389
First off, Pyro does not get a funeral in this issue---he's not even mentioned, even though Xavier blathers on about how Moira MacTaggert and Senator Kelly were good people who died for hope, peace, and the cause, et cetera. This is a real shame, because a large chunk of the issue was devoted to flashbacks of the past---it wouldn't have been difficult to squish in one panel acknowledging St. John's existence.

But I guess that would have been too much to expect.

That aside, it was a pretty good issue, and for once, the art wasn't a muddled mess. It's 'official' in my books: Salvador Larroca works better with Chris Claremont than Leinil Francis Yu does....good thing that Larroca will soon be moving over to Claremont's new book so they can continue working together. This isn't to say that Yu is a bad artist (although I am not overly fond of his work), but certain writers and artists gel better together.

As said above, much of the issue is devoted to flashbacks about Xavier's relationship with Moira when they were young. It sounds like it could be very dull, but it's actually interesting, and covers some unseen ground. Xavier is very angry at Mystique for causing Moira's death, and is sorely tempted to kill her in revenge, believing it's a fate she richly deserves. He questions why Moira and Senator Kelly died whilst Mystique survives.
Moira and Kelly have dignified funerals in several flashback scenes, both with plenty of honours and mourners. It's also mentioned that scientists are strongly optimistic that a vaccine will soon be developed for Legacy, thanks to Moira's discovery right before she died.

Rogue and Wolverine sneak into Shadowcat's room, and open up Destiny's diary (you may recall that Destiny left a diary for Kitty back in X-Men 94). They discover that Destiny left a running play-by-play of events (complete with sketches), and Rogue and Wolverine read them in real-time as they see the picture she drew of them reading it! Irene sketched a few odd-looking pictures of Mystique and the prison she's currently incarcerated at---plus some pics of Gambit sneaking into the hospital to kill her. She also sketched Storm confronting him in Mystique's hospital room, and copied down the conversation they were going to have. The story switches between Destiny's entries and the events as they're actually happening, which is an interesting effect...Irene managed to get the dialogue pretty much correct, too.

Mystique seems to be in bad shape after being stabbed in Bishop #16, but can still converse with the X-Men in her usual indomitable style. She tells them that everybody's fate is sealed, because Destiny had foreseen all of this and so far everything's come true---naturally, she assumes that everything else Irene wrote will also come true, and those predictions are ominously dire (although we aren't told what they are). Mystique and Destiny spent their whole lives together trying to figure out what it all means...and this is why Raven left all the diaries she owned to Xavier---so he can muddle them out. The rest of the diaries are missing somewhere. All she knows is that death n' doom are coming, and if the planet was populated solely with mutants (a veiled reference to her attempt to destroy humanity with the Legacy Virus), they might survive. As it is, she believes mutants are doomed. Gambit seems to lay off killing her, although he and Storm are skeptical of her words.

Also interesting is what Mystique tells the X-Men (as written in the diary, without grammar or punctuation): "When Irene turned thirteen her power of precognition catalyzed she started auto-writing transcribing as best as she could the visions cascading through her head".
Mystique continues in her own words: "She didn't comprehend any of what she 'saw', she simply felt compelled to put it down on paper. It took her a year. When she was finished, she was also blind."
(Note: this contradicts what Destiny herself said in a dream monologue in UXM 254---there she said she'd been blind since birth).

Between this diary and what we saw of it in X-Men 94, one might get the impression that Destiny was a bit nuts. On the other hand, if her visions really came to her like this, could anyone really blame her?

Meanwhile, Cecelia Reyes is also going nuts over her drug addiction, and various X-Men are trying to help her work it out whilst trying to survive her kooky rages---eventually, Xavier is able to calm her down, which provides the opportunity for a speech about The Dream and the death of Moira. A nice uplifting ending---which is fitting, given that this is Claremont's last issue on Uncanny X-Men.

The issue is recommended (unless you hate flashbacks, because it has plenty)...it's well-written, isn't too verbose, has nice art, and the stuff with Destiny's diary is just weird enough to be appealing. I would have given it more points if they'd at least mentioned Pyro, though...as it is, it feels like a bit of a slap in the face. Has he already been forgotten? :P

The Brotherhood 1
After including a revolutionary quote from Chairman Mao, the series starts off with the destruction of a nightclub by a young kid named Oswald. He's overseen by the leaders of the Brotherhood, Hoffman and Orwell, who congratulate him for work well done (hundreds are killed). A timely bit of continuity is provided early on when Hoffman is shown reading a newspaper with a headline telling of Senator Kelly's assassination; obviously, this series begins somewhat earlier than current Marvel continuity. The story then cuts to a kind of loserish kid named Mike Asher, whose main goal in life seems to be to lose his virginity. As we find out later in the story, he's a mutant, but he doesn't know it yet, and his father holds some anti-mutant views. A politician named Ross Ludlum is campaigning to outlaw mutant marriages, on the belief that they'll only produce more mutant offspring and soon outnumber humanity.

Hoffman and Orwell are watching Mike as he goes to school, and send in their recruiter, Fagin, to talk to him. Fagin is an easy-going and fairly tough fellow (supposedly Australian, given another character's comments), and stops a bully from beating up Mike. He persuades Mike to cut school, and the two of them go out on the town, running away before paying their restaurant bill (Fagin's idea again), and then Fagin gives a speech about how society sucks and "I'm not going to stand for that crap". Mike is confused and doesn't realize that he's a mutant, while Fagin is incredulous about how ignorant he is. They then come across a mob beating a mutant, and Fagin is infuriated, saying he won't stand for it---and then tells Mike that they're both mutants. As Fagin gets involved in the fight, Mike begins to manifest his powers, but everything is stopped by the sudden arrival of Hoffman. The Brotherhood leader appears to have some kind of persuasion/mind control/empathy powers, and persuades the crowd to let the mutant go. He urges Mike to come with them, and the mutants (not including the beating victim---he disappears, apparently not to become a member of the Brotherhood) leave...until Oswald shows up and kills the anti-mutant crowd.

Hoffman seems to persuade the confused Mike to join the group, telling him "there's something sick and broken in society. An establishment that keeps millions in economic slavery, separated by hate. This must change. By fire. By force. Whatever it takes. The revolution is coming."

That last quote pretty much sums up the theme of this book, I'd wager. This is supposed to be a series about terrorists who don't get involved in the regular super-powered scene of costumes and secret identities. They're supposed to be more like real-life terrorists than our beloved Magneto and Blob and the rest. They certainly talk in more ideological terms than any of the previous BoEMs...although in practice they're not very different from Mystique's teams, I'm guessing (costumes aside). Marvel terrorists have been gradually getting meaner over the years; most of the 60s, 70s, and 80s mutant terrorists were fairly tame, and then got nastier with the introduction of the MLF, Gene Nation, and Mystique's second Brotherhood. Hoffman's Brotherhood carries on the tradition by killing off hundreds of people in the first issue!

We don't see much of Hoffman or Orwell in this issue, nor do we get a good sense of what most of the characters' powers are other than a few hints. Orwell is a telepath (and a mutant tracker, from early interviews) who apparently doesn't speak. Oswald may be a pyrokinetic. Hoffman can obviously persuade people to do things, and gives off a chilling air of calm in the face of death and violence and that probable mind control. So far, he's gotten others to do the killings for him. Apart from Fagin, most of the characters are still ciphers; the writer (known only as X, widely believed to be Howard Mackie), will have to ensure that they receive more characterization in future issues if he's to keep my attention. Obviously, the Brotherhood members have names that are historical/literary allusions rather than power-based codenames (like Avalanche or Toad); Fagin from Dickens, Orwell (George Orwell, writer of 1984, which included a group called The Brotherhood), Lee Harvey Oswald (?), and Abbie Hoffman (?). We'll see if the writer ever expands on the reasoning behind the names.

I thought the issue was good. Not great, not fabulous, but solid and good. So I've been puzzled by the highly negative reviews I've seen elsewhere...the art is sketchy and weird, but not necessarily bad (it does sometimes make it difficult to tell who's who, though, which is its biggest sin). The dialogue is clunky in places, but most of it is fine. My main complaint is that Mike is a dull character that I don't particularly care about. Hell, I was an awkward and loserish teen like he is, and I'm not identifying with him! Plus, the outsider-kids-plotting-to-kill-their-schoolmates subplot is just a weeeeee bit overdone and cliched (though presumably the writer thinks it's a very timely issue; that's fair enough, given the state of schools these days).

When it's all said and done, I'd generally recommend the book to villain/Brotherhood fans...which, oddly enough, there are plenty of right here! :) Some people might be bored by the talkiness or the subject matter or the lack of X-Men and superheroes; personally, I love the concept of this book, and am willing to give it a chance to impress me. If it starts to bore me, then yeah I'll drop it. But for now I'm optimistic about the future of this book, and will continue to read it.

The Brotherhood 2
Fagin and Orwell remain the only things I truly like about this book so far. I had very mixed feelings whilst reading this; partway through, I thought to myself that the issue wasn't very enjoyable and that it'd be nuts to buy the next one. By the end I was kind of curious to see the next issue. For me, at least, this is important, as I'm currently trying to decide whether or not I want Brotherhood #3 (and beyond) put on order for me at the shop. And a lot of readers give the first two or three issues of a new series a try before deciding to keep it or drop it....if the book can't draw people in with this issue, it's in trouble. Time will tell if other people felt similarly to me.

Anyway, this issue spends more time setting up the menace of the Brotherhood, as well as the officials' reaction to the group. The US government is so keen to stop them that it sends elite soldiers in to attack a supposed Brotherhood hideout (with fatal results, thanks to the Brotherhood's keen planning), and there are government officials who seem to specialize in tracking down the group. Meanwhile, an anti-mutant/concerned citizen talk show host speaks out about the mutant menace on his TV show with a moderate politician who was implied to be the successor of Senator Kelly. And Hoffman and co keep watch over Mike Asher, feeling he'll join them once he's had to time to absorb the fact that he's a mutant. Mike is stressed and withdrawn, spending days hiding out in his room, and continues to get beaten up by the local bully from the last issue. He ends up talking with the two punk/Goth guys, and they tell him about their plans to attack the school; he then reveals he's a mutant, and they freak out and run off after threatening to hurt him. Mike hooks up with Fagin again after he attempts suicide, and Fagin takes him off to be with the Brotherhood.

The running subplot through the issue is about the soldiers who went to the Brotherhood hideout in Colombia; they are all apparently burned to death by a pyrokinetic mutant (the story doesn't say if she died or not). One badly-burned survivor is brought back to the US, and is questioned about what he saw at the hideout. In the end, he apparently turns out to be a Brotherhood member, and kills a general and some soldiers in an apparent suicide attack. This really confused me. Who was the burned soldier? If he was a Brotherhood member, why was he so badly burned, and where did he come from? Why was he so fanatical? (or are they all that fanatical?) None of this was explained, which left me frustrated. I hope we'll see more about the rank-and-file Brotherhood members, because they'll come off as generic angry killer muties if we don't get to see more about what they're like and what makes them tick.

As said above, I'm still intrigued by Fagin and Orwell. But so far they're the only characters I like in the book, and thus the only thing to read for. To be absolutely honest, I wish Mike would leave the series, because he's annoying. A tedious central character, especially one we're supposed to empathize with, makes for tedious reading. Hopefully, he doesn't bother other readers quite so much, for the book's sake :)

As mentioned above, there was stuff lacking in the story that made it weaker. The non-main characters are ciphers, and certain plot points were confusing. Hoffman's dialogue is weird (sometimes he speaks formally, other times he's spouting stuff like "dude", which is a bit jarring). The two goth guys are fairly cliched. On the plus side, the sketchy art suits this kind of series; I like Fagin and Orwell; it's still nice to have a villain/terrorist series, and it's fairly unique amongst Marvel output. This alone makes the series worth sticking with, in my mind, to support the book. I just hope that the problems that have made the series somewhat lacklustre so far can be eased out soon to make the book truly unique. I guess I will buy #3, although the book is still on probation until it blows me away or at least significantly improves.

The Brotherhood 3
I suppose my biggest problem with this series so far (and the individual issues) is that I never know quite what to make of it. Whenever I finish an issue, I don't know what to think. It has good aspects and bad.

The story is fairly simple; Mike learns more about the Brotherhood, loses his virginity with a woman from the group, tries to stop the goths' attack on the school, and is outed as a mutant. He destroys the facilities of the "Red Cross" group testing for mutancy in teenagers, and says goodbye to his father to join with the Brotherhood.

The best parts of this issue are the reasonably mature topics that are covered (or at least touched on)---date rape, government testing and violent heavy-handedness, killing to protect others, and general discrimination. As in a lot of Marvel's mutant books, the mutie-hating goes over the top at times, but that isn't exactly a new concept that only this book is guilty of.

A cute touch was the humanizing (and poking fun at) of D & D when they kowtow to one of their mothers at home. It went a long way to ensuring that the audience knows they're not a pair of faceless monsters. The mention of the Legacy Virus was good, too, because it would obviously have been a major concern for the mutants of this book before it was cured. And the disparaging mentions of Professor Xavier and Magneto clearly state Hoffman's disgust with the major mutant players in the Marvel Universe, as well as indicating that his group is supposed to be different.

My biggest complaint about the issue was the ending. It was fairly abrupt, and left me thinking that there should have been another page of it or so. Mike chooses to go with the Brotherhood, and says goodbye to his dad, all pretty quickly. This wasn't helped by the different inker who worked on the final page, and made the art look noticeably different from the rest of the issue. The final few pages were the weakest part of the book.

But the issue is still kind of dull. I still don't like Mike very much, although I liked him more in this issue than the other ones---his sense of decency comes through pretty well, which is nice. We know that he's a good person, basically, which makes his defection to the Brotherhood seem shocking or a very good example of what happens to a person when they're pushed too far (as Mike was with all the negative reaction he received when he was outed as a mutant).

In the end, I think the series is still so-so thus far. Not great, not terrible, but probably not worth reading unless you're really keen on the concept or characters. I suspect it'll be cancelled soon---too bad Marvel decided to switch it from a 12-issue series to an ongoing, because it really hurt the book, in my opinion. Many readers would have probably found it an intriguing maxi-series, but seemingly a dry ongoing one. Unfortunate.

The Brotherhood 4
All right, here's my opinion of Brotherhood #4: it ain't worth reading. The plot consists of some mutants from the Brotherhood (not ones we've seen before, aside from a cameo by Orwell) chasing a spoiled rich mutant girl. That's it. They break into her house, chase her all over the place, and eventually catch her. That's. It. The rich girl isn't even a sympathetic character; she's a snob stereotype who is highly annoying. I was rooting for the murderous Brotherhood guys to off her.

There's not much to be said about this issue, since the plot was so basic and the characters so shallow and undefined. So...no point in saying much more about it.

The cover, which is fairly striking, is the best thing about the issue. Unfortunately (for me), though I usually love the artwork of Leonardo Manco, who did the inside pencils, his art didn't do much for me here. It didn't even seem like his usual style, which can likely be attributed to the inker (all those who like to joke from 'Chasing Amy' about how an inker is just a "tracer" can see here that an inker can dramatically change a penciller's work---they certainly contribute a lot of their own style).

So, after four issues, I've had enough. No more Brotherhood for me! I think it's a failed title, and since sales are going down, it probably won't be long before it's cancelled.

X-Men Forever 1
A year ago, Fabian Nicieza came on RACMX (rec.arts.comics.marvel.xbooks; he's a semi-regular) and asked us for the plot danglers we wanted to see resolved. At the time, he didn't say what it was for, but in retrospect it was obviously for this project.

The main story is set not long before the Dream's End crossover. The X-Men are trying to protect Senator Kelly from assassination, and they catch an assailant---Ruckus, once of the Nasty Boys. He was sent by Mystique, who is working for Kelly as an assistant named "Mr. Adler" (this never came up during the crossover), but she also warned the X-Men that he was coming. Why she set up poor Ruckus is not explained. She's working for Kelly in order to influence him on matters of policy...although again, why she then decided to have the Brotherhood kill him during the crossover isn't explained either.

Anyway, Prosh returns to Earth after a long absence, and gathers the five main characters (Mystique, Toad, Iceman, Phoenix, and Juggernaut) to warn them about the eventual destruction of the human race. The various cosmic forces of the universe (Eon is pictured among them, but he's dead, isn't he?) will destroy humanity before they/we get too powerful, and Prosh wants to save the human race. To do this, he's sending the minds of the five back into the past in order to understand how and why things happened, and how the present leads to the future. The first time period he sends them to is the day Graydon Creed was assassinated (X-Factor 130), and they all end up in their own bodies, at wherever they were that day. Mystique's at Creed's rally (Pyro should be lurking around somewhere, though he's not shown), Iceman's taking care of his injured father, Toad's at a mental hospital, Jean's working on protecting Creed, and Juggernaut isn't shown. The blurb for the next issue promises that we'll finally find out who killed Creed! (incidentally, that was one of the things I asked for in Fabian's plot dangler thread. Then again, I also asked for the cure of Legacy and that Pyro and Moira survive it, and we all know how that turned out).

This brings us to the first possible continuity error. All the characters mention that the assassination happened a few months ago, though it should have been longer ago than that. The xbooks created an artificial gap of six months' time between Alan Davis' run and Chris Claremont's, so there should have been at least six months plus however much 'comics time' passed between 1996-2000. Ah well. It certainly does compress time very easily.

Toad doesn't look like Ray Park, so obviously that appearance change was recent. The story explains his changing personality and appearance---his body has chemical imbalances due to his mutant physiology, which causes him to fluctuate. In other words, part of the problem is that he's mentally ill and physically unstable. He says he's taking a drug which helps to control these changes, and he's currently in 'sweet softie' mode. Guess he stopped taking it in time for Dream's End, in order to become Parkized and mean.

Mystique acts like...normal, non-crazy Mystique. Not sure what else to say about her, other than that the revelation of her working on Kelly's campaign is an odd thing to add to this series and/or leave out of the crossover. One would think it should have been mentioned in Dream's End, or the lead-up to it. Prosh impersonates Destiny when he goes to talk to Mystique, which is significant because he chose appearances that would provoke a specific reaction from all the people he gathered.

The issue was decent. I'm hedging my bets, because I had high expectations but admit to being somewhat disappointed with it. There was a rushed feeling and almost a slight sloppiness to the writing, in my opinion (which is odd for a Nicieza-written piece). The art wasn't to my liking (cover's great, though), but not awful, either. However, it may just be the set-up that's weak---I'm not going to slam a 6-issue series right out of the gate. The beginnings of stories often come out a bit shaky because of the need to establish the story and characters in limited space, from my experience as a fanfic writer. On the other hand, other people might think this is absolutely perfect, so please judge it for yourself.

The continuity is both great and iffy---as mentioned, the 6-month gap thing could pose a continuity problem, and any changes made to an existing story (say, a re-telling of the Creed assassination) can confuse matters on which is the 'correct' version. Let's not even get started on how this will fit into the Mystique chronology! At the same time, there are some nifty little details worked in which show that Nicieza did a lot of homework, as one would expect. There's a handy guide on the back page which provides some annotations for some of the more obscure continuity...and to my delight, I finally know what issue that scene of Toad in the ridiculous frog exo-suit comes from! :) This guide is a great addition, and hopefully they'll continue it through the entire series. It should make things more accessible for readers who haven't read all the stories referenced here (such as myself).

X-Men Forever 2
Since there are 6 issues in this series and 5 characters, a good guess would be that each of the characters is going to get a showcase issue (after the intro in #1, of course). #2 seems to be the Mystique issue, as she and her past are heavily featured....and since the issue ends with the death of the Phoenix, #3 will probably be the Jean Grey issue. Kind of tidy how that all works out. The other characters are still around thoughout the story, though, so it's not like any given issue has only one character---we get to see what the other characters were doing at the time of the main star's flashbacks.

Mystique's flashbacks in this issue include a memory of her holding baby Graydon Creed, a trip back to the assassination of Creed, a trip back to the aftermath of Destiny's death, and a trip back to the days of the Brotherhood. All are well-done except for the bit about baby Graydon soon being given up for adoption; this is an existing continuity mess that has conflicting versions (the Sabretooth LS #3 stated he'd been abandoned as a baby, though #4 strongly implied that she kept Graydon until he was almost a teenager. X-Men Unlimited 4 outright stated that she kept him until he was 12. So this just adds to the confusion).

The big revelation is that Mystique was the killer of Graydon Creed---or rather, it was done by her future self inhabiting her body. This is an old dangler from X-Factor 130 that had to be cleared up sometime and needed some major work---for those who don't remember the story, in the issues leading up to the assassination, Mystique was talking about how she would kill him. Then Pyro was talking about how he'd be making up for past misdeeds by helping her with her plans. Then he was telling her that she didn't have to do whatever their unrevealed plan was. Then Creed was killed, and it seemed that Mystique had been protecting him on the grounds that he'd become a martyr if killed. And she and Pyro had been taken into custody before Creed died.
So, how does this issue resolve these problems--? It states that Mystique was going to kill Creed all along (explains her early comments about killing him), but she tricked Pyro into believing they were going to save Creed (explains his apparent belief in making up for misdeeds, without contradicting him), and she set a time-delay weapon so Creed could be killed while she was in custody (explains how she did it). This also makes her look considerably less incompetent in her activities during X-Factor 130, which seemed a rather bungled rescue job. It does seem very cold to dupe Pyro, though. A trivia note: the Creed assassination storyline was the only one in which the two of them---depicted as friends during their Freedom Force days---were shown together after the breakup of FF. That she would only associate with him to trick him into helping her does not make her look like a nice lady....but then again, that's probably the point. Her one redeeming feature in this flashback is her grief and silent apology to Graydon as she sets up the weaponry to kill him.

Her next flashback goes to Muir Island, right after the death of Destiny. She's obviously upset that Prosh is sending her to these painful moments, especially since he isn't offering her the chance to save Irene, just to relive the experience (he is not intending for people to change history, but rather to learn from it). Future Mystique takes over the body of her past self as she's standing over Destiny's body, and the survivors of the Muir mission (Pyro, Avalanche, Blob, and Forge; all are unaware that she is actually her future self) look on with concern and sorrow. This is a nice addition to continuity, as there had always been a curious lack of follow-up to that story, despite its major ramifications and sheer tragedy for the characters involved. The only real drawback to this lovely and touching scene is the lack of coverage for or real mention of dead Stonewall---and his name is even misspelled as "Stone Wall"! It's curious that Avalanche is up and about so quickly, after his gutting by Lady Deathstrike's Adamantium claws only a short time before, but he was in fighting form shortly afterward in the original stories (see Avengers 312), so there was precedent for this. Also strange is Mystique's reaction to Legion; at first she seems quiet and very reluctant to kill him, even though she once tried to do it in retaliation for his killing of Destiny. She then flips and furiously attacks him when he mindlinks with her and shows her images of various things. It almost seems like the story is trying to imply that she's just finding out he was responsible for Destiny's death---but this is future Mystique, so she already knows. I suppose she may have simply become angry when he linked with her and dredged up some old memories.

The next trip to the past takes place sometime after UXM 158 and Rom 31-32 (since Destiny is already out of prison). It is supposed to be four days after UXM 158, which places the Rom story in a very narrow timeline and may conflict with the established continuity of the X-Men or Rom (I don't know). This is during the time when the men of the Brotherhood were still in prison but "the Sisterhood of Evil Mutants" was active, and Mystique, Destiny, and Rogue are living together as a family. Future-Mystique-in-the-past gets an opportunity to look at a disk containing important info, though Prosh sends Toad and Iceman to prevent her from seeing it. They attack her, and she angrily retaliates (having had enough of Prosh's meddling), but eventually decides to slip away during the scuffle. She returns home and speaks to Rogue and Destiny; Irene is aware that she is speaking to the future version of Mystique, and they discuss Destiny's precognitive abilities and the information at her disposal. Irene tells her that the worst of her life is yet to come, and they have a tearful reunion/parting, calling each other "my love"---Marvel seems to be getting a bit more bold in implying their romantic relationship; could it be that it will eventually be outright stated in plain English in the near future?
Anyway. As Destiny quietly expresses distress and remorse at her own future, Mystique goes off to look at the disk. She finds information on Black Womb, an old government research project on mutants (this is a plot from the Gambit book---Fabian's obviously trying to continue it even though he's off that series---but it seems like a confusing addition for someone who hasn't followed the Gambit series. I wonder how well it will go over with people who don't know or understand the reference). Other files involve Charles Xavier, Juggernaut's father, Mr. Sinister, the study of mutation and something to do with aliens, though she's pulled away from them by Prosh before she can actually read them. Everyone is then pulled to the past at the moment of Phoenix's death on the moon, ending on a cliffhanger.

Phew! And that doesn't even cover the activities of the other characters! If you're still reading, there are some cute bits involving the others, including Toad's previously-unseen past as an employee at fast food restaurants (his past has pretty much been undocumented during most of Claremont's stint on the xbooks, so there's a lot of freedom to give him one). Iceman is his usual goofy and slightly-tormented self. But it seems likely that the others will each take their turns in the spotlight and Mystique will probably step back from now on...which may or may not make placing these appearances in her chronology easier ;)

The art was nicer than the last issue, and the cover gorgeous (actually, all the covers in this series seem to be gorgeous, or at least very nice). My biggest complaint about the last issue was that not a whole lot was happening, and it was mostly set-up for the plot---this issue does not have that problem at all, and there is plenty of story. I hope it doesn't confuse people too much, as the continuity is fairly involved in places. But the guide at the back really helps, and is an excellent addition to the book...and how many people are going to be overly concerned about precisely placing each flashback? Not many, aside from geeks like me :) I can follow the events of Mystique's history fairly easily because I know it pretty well, but when it comes to say, Juggernaut's history, I'll probably be left in the dark. We'll see.

But, surprise surprise, my favourite scene was the FF flashback. It was gratifying to finally see at least a little bit of the aftermath of UXM 255, something I've always wanted ever since first reading it. It's a nice scene which captures the grief of the incident, probably better than the original story. It was long overdue. So yes, I'd recommend this issue, especially to fans of Mystique---there's plenty of her, some Destiny, some cameos of the rest of the gang, the first FF appearance in nearly 10 years...what more can we ask for? ;)

X-Men Forever 3
This is the Jean Grey spotlight issue, and thus naturally centres more on her than any of the other characters. Well, Jean's my least favourite of all these time-jumpers, so please forgive me if I skip over her stuff a bit. Her story is mostly about the Phoenix force, and since it's always been a contentious issue, filled with retcons and confusion, there's a lot of time devoted to it and how it related to the Marvel Universe as a whole. Since the reason for Prosh's time-jumping is to save humanity from peeved cosmic beings, there's a lot of detail on why Jean/Phoenix would catch their attention and start the process of annoying the cosmic guys. Also, Death talks to her about why she wanted to accept the Phoenix in the first place---a desire to save her friends, but also very much a longing for power.

The rest of Jean's story focuses around her early days with the X-Men. She is shocked to discover that Xavier was always aware of the vast potential possessed by herself and Iceman. A retcon, yes, but a sensible one. Xavier would look awfully foolish if he was unaware of the potential that Bobby would later come to wield---although it does beg the question of why he never helped Iceman tap it. Bobby's always been the ultimate slacker, and it took the work of Emma Frost to help him realize the amount of power he can wield.

The rest of the characters jump back into what they were doing during the crucial points in Jean's life. For Toad and Juggernaut, it equals a lot of wasted experiences, though Toad is upset to leave what was one of the happier times in his life (running an amusement park). Mystique rarely wasted her time, and she jumps back into varying activities from her past:

There's a scene of Mystique's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants prepping to assassinate Senator Robert Kelly (the first time, natch)----but Pyro, Mystique, and Avalanche are all dressed in their Freedom Force costumes, with even the FF logo! Hee hee. Maybe Destiny told them in advance about that gig, so they designed their costumes early or something :) It's a very curious and silly error. Nice picture of them, though.

Going backward through time, there's also a scene taking place soon after Senator Kelly was elected to the Senate, in which Mystique overhears him talking to Fred Duncan about mutants. Too bad we don't know when he was elected---that'll require some guesswork in the Mystique chronology. This is a real tough one....it'd be so much easier to place if we knew if the Brotherhood was operating at that time...argh. I'm tentatively putting it between Classic X-Men 44 and Marvel Fanfare 60.

Unfortunately, there are several more Mystique scenes that are difficult to accurately place. One depicts her being attacked by HYDRA agents, and takes place when Jean and Iceman were kids with recently-emerging powers. It's tentatively being placed before X-Force -1, at least until there's more information provided about it (probably in the next issue).

The other scene involves her obsessively washing herself and very distressed over killing somebody (making a cryptic comment about how "he gave me no choice..."), while Destiny comforts her. Once again, Irene is aware she's been time-jumping, although in this case she's less forthcoming about her knowledge, choosing only to console her companion. This scene takes place during the early days of the X-Men. It's tentatively being placed in the chronology just before the entry with the HYDRA agents...this era of her history is so undocumented that there are huge gaps in it.

This issue wasn't as interesting to me as the previous one, partly because it was heavily Jean-oriented, and partly because it doesn't involve as many revelations. The Phoenix stuff has mostly been seen before (and if you're a Usenetter, already been discussed to death). It's still good stuff, but nothing new to me. And while the revelation that Xavier knew of her potential all along is new, it doesn't interest me much, as I'm not a fan of either character. Still, it's worth checking out to see for yourself, because everyone sees plot developments differently, and this is by no means a bad story. The artwork is what I've come to expect from Kevin Maguire---generally nice and solid, a few odd facial expressions, overall quite good---but that error with the Brotherhood's costumes is quite glaring (and amusing).

The next issue is the one featuring Toad, which will surely be very interesting. The set-up for what will probably be explored (his first meeting with Magneto and his study of the Stranger's tech---the latter given as an example of wasted potential...Nicieza is really keen on some of the characters realizing just how many opportunities they've wasted) is included in this issue, so we have hints of what's to come. It seems that Magneto saved Toad from a beating by yokels (much like the origins of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch), which probably explains how the little guy hooked up with the big M in the first place. I'm looking forward to the rest of it.

So far, this is proving to be a very solid series. Definitely worth picking up, especially if you like heavy continuity and exploring the pasts of these particular characters.

X-Men Forever 4
Okay, so maybe this wasn't the Toad issue after all :P Could've sworn it was supposed to be, although this was more of a Juggernaut story than anything else...and since he was on the cover, I suppose this was the Juggernaut issue.

The story starts out with Toad and Magneto, in the early days just before the first Brotherhood (it's mentioned that Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are still in Transia, their home until Magneto rescued them from an anti-mutant mob). Magneto is dressed like movie Mags, annoyingly enough. Astra (everybody's favourite retcon BoEM character) shows up and acts snotty with Magneto after retrieving yet another object for him and not receiving the promise of cash in return. She's interested only in money, whereas he is on a radical bent, looking out for "the fate of mutantkind". When she leaves, Magneto's so angry that he takes out his rage on Toad, who was innocently minding his own business. Toad wonders unhappily to himself why he stayed so long with Mags, quite properly pointing out "How could I have ever expected him to respect me, when I didn't respect myself?"

There's a brief tableau depicting Mystique's fight with the Hydra agents (she defeated them and ran away), though it never states why they were conflicting.

Cut to Alamogordo, which finds teenage Juggernaut visiting a creepy eugenics chamber. He discovers baby Toad floating in a tank, but can't do anything about it because he's interrupted at gunpoint by a disguised Mystique. She was there at the time, too...spying on Destiny, who was working there. Destiny was an "archivist" for Amanda Mueller's genetic research (Mueller is a plot thread from the Gambit series. She was a long-lived woman who bore children for Mr. Sinister's studies, and later went on to research genetic mutations. She was hinted at being an ancestor of Scott Summers). Irene seems to have been well-versed in the goings-on at the lab, discussing the project with Juggernaut's dad; it seems that all the mutant babies in the tanks were kids referred to the lab because of their mutancy. The kids were only being held temporarily, to map out their genetic information for future reference, and then were presumably to be returned home to their parents. But Toad is distressed to learn that he was one of the "reject" kids, and that the scientists could easily have fixed their genetic abnormalities with a bit of tinkering---but Mueller wanted to see how they developed, so they were left, unchanged, to their own unhappy futures. What's particularly chilling about this scene is how Destiny so casually mentions it, despite the obviously grave impact it would have on the kids.

Mystique finds all she needs to know as she listens in on the conversation between Irene and Kurt Marko and Alexander Ryking. Apparently Destiny had told her that she was at the facility for Raven's benefit, and ultimately for all mutants' benefit. Mystique mentions that she hadn't known exactly what that meant, and didn't question Irene about it, but gets angry at Juggernaut and says an anti-human slur when he suggests that she should have.

Then, everybody goes on a backwards tour through time, witnessing events like the dinosaurs, the creation of the Inhumans, the early days of Sinister, the creation of the universe, and so forth.

At the end, we go to a scene in the future...and apparently the future is just like the X-Men movie :P Mystique is a naked scaly chick, and Toad looks vaguely Ray Park-ish. Certainly not like the Toad we know and love, anyway. This annoyed me; the movie was cool and everything, but I do so tire of it bleeding into the comics (more like hemorrhaging, these days). They find themselves in the desert, where they are attacked and presumably killed by Sentinels. Iceman does what he can to stop the big ol' robots, but they squash him and move in for the kill, leaving us at the cliffhanger.

Unfortunately, this issue seemed a bit rushed, and shorter than the pace I've become accustomed to in the rest of the series. I didn't like this issue as much as the others; it was kind of slow in places, a bit meandering, and frankly I wouldn't recommend it unless a reader is interested in following the story, or is collecting for completism's sake. I wouldn't recommend it to a casual reader. It wasn't a bad issue, but something didn't sit right with me....perhaps the movie stuff left a bad taste in my mouth, perhaps the time jumps weren't as interesting in this issue...or maybe even the bit about Destiny being a part of the Black Womb project. Maybe a combination of all three. The bit about having regularly-born babies from around the world at the American lab---including English-born Toad---seems a bit far-fetched to me, at least without more explanation. How did all those obstetricians know all those babies were mutants? Why did the parents give them up for study? Was every mutant we know from the Marvel Universe brought there (there certainly were a lot of babies)? It definitely needed more explanation, as did the scene with Mystique and Hydra. Also, showing scenes from the future make me leery; generally, we know they won't come true, so how do we annotate them (this is the chronologist in me speaking here :) ), and should they really be considered canon? Aargh...my brain hurts.

X-Men Forever 5
Not much time-jumping in this issue, mostly talking and fighting in the present. Last issue's cliffhanger (that of Iceman about to be killed by Sentinels) is picked up, and Iceman is obliterated by everybody's favourite robots. Juggernaut, now a resistance fighter in the year 2014---but without his armour---swoops in and battles them with some familiar tech. He's about to be toasted, though Iceman uses his near-limitless powers to resurrect himself, and then destroys the Sentinels. Bobby and Juggy wander through the Black Womb facility, at which Mystique and Juggy had visited in the past and saw Destiny and baby Toad, although it's deserted in this future.

Meanwhile, Jean is somehow inhabiting the body of Rachel Summers, and is sitting with Kate Pryde. However, despite the presence of Kate and Rachel together, this is a different future timeline than the one the X-Men found out about during Days of Future Past. In this timeline, Kate still went back in time and the X-Men still stopped the Brotherhood's first assassination attempt on Senator Kelly, but the timeline diverged at some point so this future is a different one. Mind you, I dislike all these "alternate timelines and futures" gimmicks; they needlessly complicate things even as they provide an out for writers to come up with multiple futures. The time travellers interpret from all these alternate futures that all futures will be horrible and dark....and, given Marvel's fondness for these things, they may well be correct.

Prosh then takes them back to our present, which finds all the travellers back in their real bodies (and in the case of Mystique and Toad, alive after having been killed in that future). They're not pleased with Prosh, since he's been jerking them around and is making light about it. Mystique is angry enough to threaten him with a gun, though Toad curiously wanders off and begins looking at some of the technology around him, discovering that it looks familiar. He's rewarded with an angry reprimand...but we'll get to that later. In the meantime, Prosh is lecturing them about what they've learned from their time jumps, expressing disappointment towards them, and claiming they "failed" in their mission. While he's ranting at them, Mystique and Jean quietly come to the realization that Prosh was the threat they'd been warned about. Prosh confirms this, telling them that the Celestials tricked him into returning to Earth, "so I could serve as their harbinger of annihilation!" He splits into dozens of entities, and attacks them, and although he's been fighting his programming---by trying to warn them, and showing them how to save themselves in this roundabout way---he continues to attack them even as he cryptically explains things to them. With a bit of prompting, Iceman uses his increased power control (which he learned during his trip to the future) to freeze the entire Prosh ship. Pleased at Iceman's skill, Prosh is left harmless. However, at that moment, Toad flees from his explorations, shouting that it wasn't actually Prosh or the Celestials who were the threat---it was actually the Stranger, the being that once captured Magneto and Toad and imprisoned them on his ship in order to study them. The Stranger tells them that they and Prosh have been pawns in a cosmic scheme that he plans to win.

Okaaay. Prosh was sent by the Celestials, but it wasn't really the Celestials? It was actually the Stranger? I'm not sure I fully understand this. Was it the Stranger who tricked Prosh into believing that the Celestials had sent him to destroy humanity, or were the Celestials still involved in this plot in some way? Aaack, I hope the next issue clears this up.

You know, when it comes down to it, I don't have much to say about this issue. It was kind of muddled, and there was a lot of fighting...two of my least favourite things in comics. I'm afraid that I've liked the middle issues in this series a lot more than the two most recent ones, for whatever reason, which is unfortunate. This issue had some humourous and realistic character-specific dialogue that was done well, and the art was as always very nice, so no criticisms there. If anything, Maguire improves his work on characters' fac