ASKANI’SON #1-#4, February - May 1996

The Shadow Lengthens

Credits: Scott Lobdell (plot), Jeph Loeb (script), Gene Ha (penciler), Andrew Pepoy (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Kevin Somers & Malibu (colors)

This is more of a sequel to The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix than The Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix turned out to be. The creative team of Scott Lobdell and Gene Ha is reunited, with Jeph Loeb relieving Lobdell of scripting duties. The story takes place a few years after the initial miniseries, presenting the world that’s developed after the death of Apocalypse. The New Canaanites run the corrupt government, a snotty teenage Cable is rebelling against the Askani teachings, and Apocalypse’s former aide Ch’vayre is trying to raise Stryfe. Since Cyclops and Phoenix, the retconned mentor Blaquesmith was introduced in Cable, making him a natural inclusion for the series. After Teen Cable and his friend Tetherblood are arrested for suspected ties to the Askani, they meet Blaquesmith in prison. Blaquesmith uses his mystic powers to release the Professor from Cable’s techno-organic mesh, and is apparently killed covering his escape. Meanwhile, a government official named Umbridge is assigned to apprehend Cable, while Stryfe and Ch’vayre create the Zero robot.

I’ve avoided reading this for years, as I’ve never cared for any of the stories about Cable’s future and I find pretty much anything relating to the Askani incredibly boring. Leaving my biases aside, I did find myself enjoying this issue. Revealing that Cable is angry after being abandoned by Redd and Slymm is a decent starting place, and I’m glad the story isn’t opening with him as the hardcore anti-Apocalypse rebel since we’ve already seen that a million times. The conflicts are set up well and there’s only a minimal amount of new age gibberish dialogue from the Askani. Ha’s art is successful in creating this new world, and it just feels like there’s more going on here than Cyclops and Phoenix, which sometimes felt aimless.

A Tiny Spark

Credits: Scott Lobdell (plot), Jeph Loeb (script), Gene Ha (penciler), Andrew Pepoy (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Kevin Somers & Malibu (colors)

The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix often seemed like an excuse for Gene Ha to show off his idiosyncratic design sense, and this issue follows slightly in those footsteps. However, there is a sense that things are actually happening, as the major characters are all pointed towards the remnants of the Askani Clan in Ebonshire. The individual scenes of Umbridge, Cable, and Stryfe learning of Ebonshire are all fine, and Ha is given the opportunity to draw strange landscapes, weird technology, and a (disgusting) failed attempt at human cloning along the way. We also learn that Blaquesmith is still alive, which I would’ve expected to be a final issue reveal.

An Ember Glows

Credits: Scott Lobdell (plot), Jeph Loeb (script), Gene Ha (penciler), Andrew Pepoy (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Kevin Somers & Malibu (colors)

The issue opens with Teen Cable coming across the wreckage of a ship, which has been destroyed by some kind of monster called a Daegon. Cable wants to rescue the sole survivor of the crash, which as fate would have it, is Umbridge, the Canaanite agent sent to kill him. After defeating the monster, he meets his future wife, Aliya, who mistakes him for a pirate. Both Cable and Umbridge are injured, so Aliya takes them away to safety. This is a solid action opening, bringing together some of the plotlines and creating a nice dynamic between Cable and Aliya. It also gives Gene Ha some crazy monsters to draw, which is fun. On the way to Aliya’s home, we see a Psimitar lance for the first time, which surprised me. I always thought it was something pulled out of the air during Joe Casey’s run on Cable. The story ends with Aliya taking Cable and Umbridge home, where she’s been training under Sanctity, the last of the Askani. Sanctity immediately recognizes Cable as the fabled “Askani’son,” which is where this mystical savior nonsense begins. Meanwhile, Ch’vayre attempts to assassinate Stryfe, but he’s powerful enough to sense the attack before it happens. I like bratty teenage Stryfe, even though he hasn’t topped the ridiculous rants on the back of those “X-Cutioner’s Song” trading cards yet.

A Bright and Shining Light

Credits: Scott Lobdell (plot), Jeph Loeb (script), Gene Ha (penciler), Andrew Pepoy (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Kevin Somers & Malibu (colors)

In the final chapter, Sanctity presents the Askani’son to her followers, who seem to have blossomed in-between issues. The New Canaanites attack, as Umbridge reveals her true loyalties. Teen Cable and Aliya are saved by Tetherblood, while Stryfe abducts Sanctity. He offers her a partnership, and because she’s usually portrayed as insane, she agrees. I’m a little disappointed that Stryfe’s story arc just seems like a setup for a future miniseries, and I’m not sure if anyone did anything with the Stryfe/Sanctity partnership anyway. Cable, Aliya, and Tetherblood form the Clan Chosen, establishing the group we saw Cable fight with in the early issues of his regular series. I’m stunned this mini didn’t establish Apocalypse’s return, since Cable allegedly spent his life fighting him, but I’m also glad the series didn’t go in a too obvious direction. I am surprised at how much I enjoyed this. Gene Ha was given more interesting things to draw this time, and I think Lobdell and Loeb were able to make the main characters engaging enough to follow throughout the four issues. Usually, stories about Cable’s future involve characters with dumb names wearing dumber outfits shooting Liefeld-guns at each other on barren battlefields. This is definitely an improvement.

THE ADVENTURES OF CYCLOPS & PHOENIX #4 – August 1994

Sacrifice

Credits: Scott Lobdell (writer), Gene Ha (penciler), Al Vey, Bill Anderson, Al Milgrom, & Joe Rubinstein (inkers), Kevin Somers (colorist), Starkings/Comicraft (lettering)

Summary

Nathan’s techno-organic virus is out of control, apparently as a reaction to his body going through puberty. Turrin tells Scott and Jean that he’ll probably die in a few hours. Rachel Summers mentally appears to Nathan and tells him that he’ll need to use his telekinetic powers to overcome the virus. Jean leaves on a mission to destroy another one of Apocalypse’s labs while Scott stays with Nathan. When she arrives, Ch’vayre asks her to help him stop Apocalypse from overtaking Stryfe’s body. Nathan pulls his body together and returns to consciousness. He tells Scott that he senses that Jean needs their help. Jean and Ch’vayre try to stop Apocalypse, but are unsuccessful. When Apocalypse senses that Stryfe is a clone and not the original, he alters his plan to only temporarily take his body until he can find the original Nathan Summers. Scott and Nathan arrive and use their powers in unison with Jean to fight Apocalypse. Nathan blocks Stryfe’s telepathic connection to Apocalypse, as Jean senses nothing in Apocalypse’s host body. Jean and Scott begin to fade away from the timeline. Rachel appears to them, explaining that her physical body died hours ago and that she can no longer keep them here. As they prepare to return to their original bodies, Rachel asks Jean to take the name “Phoenix” back. Scott says goodbye to Nathan as he disappears, and Nathan pledges to restore the dream that Apocalypse destroyed.

Continuity Notes

Apocalypse says that he named Stryfe after an “ancient enemy” who almost killed him, forcing him to grow stronger. He’s referring to Stryfe’s actions in “X-Cutioner’s Song”, which means that Stryfe was named after himself.

Rachel tells Nathan that his powers are strong enough to “sense a stray thought a continent away” and “extinguish a star with something less than a conscious effort”. This is the first time Cable’s been referred to as super-powerful.

Apocalypse lists Holocaust as one of the mutants he’s outlived. Holocaust still hasn’t appeared in continuity yet, but he did receive a profile in Stryfe’s Strike File.

Jean Grey takes the name “Phoenix” again for the first time since 1980. She takes it back to honor Rachel and the work she’s done in the future.

Review

It’s just as dull as the previous issues, unfortunately. I guess there’s nothing egregiously terrible about the story, but there’s absolutely nothing engaging about it either. At no point in any of these issues did I care about any of the characters, nor was I surprised by any of the plot developments. It’s just four straight issues of complete tediousness. Scott Lobdell did an admirable job on the Scott/Jean engagement issue, so I’m sure he could’ve turned out a miniseries about the characters that was at least competent. Instead, we get four pointless issues about Li’l Cable and his boring parents. If aging Cyclops and Phoenix ten years in the future was supposed to add something to the characters, I’m at a loss to explain what it was supposed to be. I think Ha’s art was supposed to carry a lot of the story, but most of the future designs he developed for the series aren’t that impressive. It’s a forgettable series, and it’s sad that Marvel charged twice its normal cover price for each issue.

X-MEN ANNUAL #3 – 1994

Heart and Soul

Credits: Ian Edginton (writer), Gene Ha (penciler), Rubinstein/Lowe/Green/Wiacek/Sellers/Pepoy/Moy (inkers), Pat Brosseau (letterer), Joe Rosas (colorist)

Summary

Storm receives roses from Shinobi Shaw, with a message inviting her to dinner. She cuts her finger on a thorn and begins to behave strangely. Against Xavier’s wishes, she joins Shaw for dinner at the Hellfire Club. After the meal, Shaw explains to her that he’s changed his ways after Psylocke’s psychic knife opened up his repressed memories, forcing him to realize that he was pointlessly following his father’s example. He now wants to use the Hellfire Club’s power to stop famine and war throughout the world. He asks Storm to join him, and she agrees to sleep on the decision. After she leaves, Candra comes out of hiding. Shaw brags that Storm will soon belong to him, but Candra says that she will belong to her, just as he does. That night, Storm has a nightmare about having her powers taken away and given to a young African refugee, who will use them to help more people. Storm leaves her bed and returns to the Hellfire Club’s mansion. She meets Shaw and the new members of the Hellfire Club. Shaw reveals that he drugged the flowers and her meal, causing her to let go of her inhibitions and embrace her darker nature. When Storm tries to resist Shaw, she’s kidnapped. The X-Men arrive as Shaw is attempting to inject her with more drugs. They fight the new Hellfire Club, until Storm corners Shaw. If he uses his phasing powers to stop her heart, the electromagnetic field she’s generated will electrocute him. When Storm asks him if he’s willing to die for his beliefs, Shaw lets her go. Back at the mansion, Xavier explains to Storm that the feelings Shaw exploited exist within everyone, and that sparing Shaw’s life showed how strong her will truly is.

Continuity Notes

The new Hellfire Club members, Benedict Kine, Benazier Kaur, and Reeva Payge, are introduced. Kine can manipulate nervous systems, Kaur apparently can accelerate diseases, and Payge uses sonic powers to control the brain’s neurochemistry. These are characters so obscure I don’t think even Frank Tieri bothered to kill them off.

For some reason, I decided as a kid that this comic must take place before the Phalanx crossover. Looking back, I have no idea why I placed it before those issues even though it came out months later. Does anyone have any ideas?

Commercial Break

There’s an ad for the “First Annual Marvel Survey”, which asks such prescient questions as “Should Wolverine get his adamantium skeleton and claws back?”, “Would you buy two Wolverine titles per month?”, and, of course, “Do you think Spider-Man should stay married or get a divorce from Mary Jane?”. To show their gratitude towards the respondents, Marvel only charged two dollars to participate in the survey. (The two dollars was to cover the shipping cost of an X-Men poster and a Wolverine newsletter, but I still find it funny that Marvel expected people to pay money to participate in a survey).

Review

Like most annuals, this is a self-contained story that doesn’t tie into any of the existing plotlines, but it looks like it might have been laying ground for some ideas that never took off. It does introduce a new version of the Hellfire Club, but I’m almost positive these characters were never seen again (looking online, it appears as if only one of the new members showed up again, in the first issue of Spider-Man Team Up). The story also reveals that Shinobi Shaw is secretly working for Candra, but this idea was also dropped without explanation. Candra’s role is especially odd, since she’s only in two pages and then disappears from the story. I have no idea if there were any plans to go anywhere with these ideas, but it seems odd that a writer not working on the monthly books was able to introduce new continuity threads in an annual story. Edginton won’t return to the X-books until X-Force is revamped in 2000, I believe.

Blurring the lines between Uncanny X-Men and X-Men, Storm is given the spotlight in this story, even though she’s officially a lead in Uncanny X-Men (Uncanny’s annual for this year also starred none of its cast members). I don’t know if there was a point where the books officially disavowed the “blue” and “gold” teams appearing in separate books, but it certainly seems as if Marvel had given up on the idea at this point. Storm hasn’t received a lot of attention in the post-Claremont era, and this story is an admirable effort to do something with the character. The basic idea is that Storm, on some level, resents the X-Men for not doing more to help people suffering throughout the world. Shaw wants to exploit those feelings in order to bring Storm over to his side. It’s not a bad idea, but the execution has some major flaws. For one, the story seems to assume that Storm has this great history with the Hellfire Club. Shaw even claims that he chose Storm due to her “prior association” with the club. What is he talking about? There was a story in the early ‘80s where Emma Frost briefly switched bodies with Storm, but I doubt that’s what he’s talking about. A few years later, Magneto tried to align the X-Men with the Hellfire Club, but that idea went nowhere, and I don’t recall Storm playing a large role in the story. Unless I’m totally blanking on something, it seems as if Edginton is referencing some prior story that never happened.

Another flaw in Shaw’s plan is the idea that bringing out Storm’s “dark side” would help convince her of his humanitarian motives. How does that work? I don’t see how bringing out the worse in Storm would make it easier to sell her on the idea of turning the Hellfire Club into the Peace Corps. Who thinks of humanitarian aid in Africa when they’re turning to their darkest instincts? If Shaw simply drugged her to make her less guarded and more open to his ideas, that would be one thing, but the story goes out of its way to point out that the bad side of Storm is coming out. The “Bad Storm” element just seems like a weak retread of the earlier chapters of the “Dark Phoenix Saga”, so the story would have been better off without it.

Showing that the X-Men don’t do enough to help real world problems is an interesting concept, but it’s the type of idea that rarely works in superhero comics. Realistically, Reed Richards would have cured cancer by now, Sentinels would be replacing American troops in war, and Storm would have stopped the droughts in Africa. The only reason why these things don’t happen is because Marvel doesn’t want its universe to differ that drastically from the real world. Bringing up these problems in the comics actually makes the characters seem kind of heartless for not stopping the situations sooner. There’s actually no resolution to this conflict in the story, not even a token scene where the X-Men say that they’ll be paying more attention to these problems in the future. Despite these flaws, though, there is some nice character work with Storm and Xavier. Edginton does seem to have a decent grasp on the X-Men, and I actually wouldn’t have minded seeing more from him at this time. Ha’s art is, thankfully, miles away from the Image look the X-books kept going back to during this era, so it’s also a decent looking comic.

A Moment of Silence

Credits: Jim Krueger (writer), Steve Yeowell (artist), Dave Sharpe (letterer), Dana Moreshead (colorist)

Summary

Banshee infiltrates a Hydra base to be with a dying scientist during his final moments. Years earlier, when Banshee was an Interpol agent, the scientist allowed Hydra to capture him in order to give Banshee his freedom.

Review

Typical annual backup material, which probably stars Banshee only because Marvel decided to start using the character again at this time. I might have placed this comic before the Phalanx story and formation of Generation X because of this backup, but I don’t see why Banshee couldn’t have starred in the story after Generation X formed.

THE ADVENTURES OF CYCLOPS & PHOENIX #3 – July 1994

Through the Years

Credits: Scott Lobdell (writer), Gene Ha (penciler), Vey/Pennington/Austin/Rubinstein (inkers), Kevin Somers (colorist), Starkings/Comicraft (lettering)

Summary

Eight years after being sent into the future, Scott and Jean are still posing as “Slym” and “Redd” while raising a young Nathan Dayspring (Cable). Meanwhile, Apocalypse’s prelate, Ch’vayre, begins to have doubts about the brutal way Stryfe is being raised. With the help of the human rebellion, Scott and Jean infiltrate one of Apocalypse’s genetic labs and learn that he’s planning on releasing the Legacy Virus into the human population. Ch’vayre and Apocalypse’s men suddenly appear, forcing Scott and Jean to reveal their mutant powers. Stryfe is with them, disobeying Ch’vayre’s orders that the rebellion members are to be taken alive. Overlooking the lab, Nathan beings to receive mental instructions from Rachel Summers on how to detonate the building. Stryfe discovers him, and the two fight. Rachel’s voice guides Nathan on how to use his psionic powers to stop Stryfe. He defeats Stryfe, but the techno-organic virus briefly overtakes his body. The rebellion escapes the lab shortly before it explodes. Later, Scott visits Rachel’s comatose body inside a secret location, while Ch’vayre begins to make plans to stop Stryfe before he becomes the “Chaos Bringer”.

Continuity Notes

Jean shows Nathan how to “morph” his body to disguise his metal arm. I can’t tell if he’s only using a mental projection to make his arm look normal, or if he’s actually changing the metal to flesh. Later on in the story, Nate loses control of the techno-organic virus and we see it consuming most of his body. This is setting up the idea that Cable’s psionic powers keep the virus in the check, although I have no idea why his powers would be preventing it from covering all of his body except his arm. The story seems to be assuming that only Cable’s arm is metal, while the rest of him could be consumed by the techno-organic virus if his psionic powers didn’t stop its growth. Previous stories in X-Force showed that half of Cable’s body, including his face, is metal and that he covers most of it with synthetic skin. In an early issue of Cable, he tells Moira McTaggert that he leaves his metal arm exposed because it reminds him of where he’s been. I guess it’s possible that, despite his powers, the virus overtook more of his body as he grew older, which is really the only way to rationalize all of this.

This issue is the first chronological meeting between Cable and Stryfe. Apocalypse has already accelerated Stryfe’s powers while Cable’s are still dormant (until Rachel shows him how to use them).

Ch’vayre claims that Apocalypse has always professed that “the true strength of homo superior …lies in the compassion and understanding of all life forms.” This implies that Apocalypse has always been hiding his true goals, but since he came to power in the first place through a brutal war, why would he bother?

Review

It’s more of the same, really. The series still doesn’t actually focus on the title characters, and the information given on Cable’s backstory isn’t interesting. I guess the point of this issue is to highlight his first meeting with Stryfe, but the confrontation is very short and there’s nothing in it to lead you to believe that these characters will become mortal enemies someday. There’s some attempt to develop Ch’vayre as a character, as he turns against Apocalypse. If he’s only now realizing that Apocalypse is sadistically evil, though, you’ve got to figure that he’s an idiot. At this point, it looks like this entire miniseries could have been done as a one-shot special or in an annual. Aside from collecting a few more dollars from the audience, I don’t see the justification for four full issues of this story.

THE ADVENTURES OF CYCLOPS & PHOENIX #2 – June 1994

Tenure

Credits: Scott Lobdell (writer), Gene Ha (penciler), Al Vey & Terry Austin (inkers), Kevin Somers (colorist), Starkings/Comicraft (lettering)

Summary

Five years after being brought into the future, Scott and Jean continue to raise Nathan. Assuming the human identities of "Slym and Redd Dayspring", they travel to the city of Coastcrest to comply with Apocalypse’s law that “every ten years…every non-mutant unit must return to the city of their origin for a genetic scan”. While on the trail, a fellow traveler overhears them speaking in “Old Englishe”. When they arrive at the gates of the city, the guards have been tipped off, believing that only people with something to hide would use the old language. The guards are prepared to kill the Daysprings when the cyborg Prior Turrin appears. Turrin convinces the guards to let the family pass, and allows them to kill the man who turned the Daysprings in. Turrin is apparently a human who has been allowed to oversee the city, which he describes as a morgue. Turrin thinks that Nathan can bring hope to the city of “humans, synthcons, and low-grade mutants”. Meanwhile, Apocalypse (in another new body) has accelerated Stryfe’s power, as Prelate Ch’vayre oversees his education. Stryfe uses his power to disintegrate a teacher he doesn’t like. Ch’vayre tries to discipline him, but Apocalypse encourages Stryfe’s behavior.

Miscellaneous Notes

In order to reinforce the series’ religious imagery, Apocalypse’s men are given designations taken from Christianity. A “prelate” is a high-ranking member of the clergy, and a “prior” is either “an officer in a monastery of a rank below abbot,” or just a religious superior in general.

Continuity Note

The city the Daysprings are traveling to is referred to as both “Coastcrest” and “Crestcoast”.

“Huh?” Moments

There’s an odd use of foreign language brackets (these things: <……..>) during Scott and Jean’s dialogue. In an early scene, only Jean’s dialogue has them when she’s talking to Nathan and Scott. Later on, Scott suddenly has them in the middle of a conversation with Nathan. I understand the idea that our English is supposed to be outdated, but even if the brackets are supposed to represent another language, they’re used totally at random. Why would Jean speak in one language when the two people she’s having a conversation with are speaking another?

In a flashback page set at the Scott/Jean wedding, Ha draws Cable with a short ponytail for some reason.

Review

Wow, this is a dull comic. The creators seem to be under the assumption that they’ve created this enthralling future world, which I guess makes any story set inside of it automatically more interesting. It doesn’t. For some reason, Cable’s future is now portrayed as the New Testament with a few cyborgs thrown in. I understand that casting Scott, Jean, and Nathan as Joseph, Mary, and Jesus is supposed to parallel Nathan’s role as a savior, but this is going pretty far. Not only do Scott and Jean travel to their birthplace, just as Joseph and Mary travel to Joseph's ancestral home in Bethlehem in the Christmas story, but they even dress in ancient Middle Eastern garb and take a mule with them. Good grief, we get the point. I guess Gene Ha’s art is supposed to sell the idea of the past and future coming together, but it doesn’t really look that interesting to me.

The series continues to go in a science fiction direction by giving all of the characters some type of future speak, which mainly serves to distance the reader even further from the story and just get on my nerves. Lines like “be a download if’n we got no more Y chromes” and kid Nathan’s expressions like “Oath!” and “Hyperbolic!” get old fast. Scott and Jean are allowed to still speak normally, but it’s not as if they’re given interesting to say to one another. So far, very little of this story has even focused on the characters. It’s mainly served to establish the setting and to flesh out Cable’s backstory. Scott and Jean do have a connection to Cable, of course, but just placing them in a parental role doesn’t mean the story’s really about the characters themselves or their relationship.

THE ADVENTURES OF CYCLOPS & PHOENIX #1 –May 1994

“Wish You Were Here!”

Credits: Scott Lobdell (writer), Gene Ha (penciler), Al Vey (inker), Kevin Somers (colorist), Starkings/Comicraft (lettering)

Summary

Two thousand years in the future, Cyclops and Jean Grey awaken in human bodies, inside the “Askani Cloisters”, the headquarters of the future religious order. Apocalypse’s soldiers are destroying the monastery, when they’re attacked by Mother Askani, Rachel Summers. Ch’vayre, one of Apocalypse’s men, places the weakened Rachel inside a psionic cocoon. Jean tries to rescue her but realizes that she doesn’t have any mutant powers. Cyclops uses a gun taken from the body of a soldier to blast Ch’vayre. While escaping, Rachel explains that Apocalypse has been burning through the bodies he inhabits at an increasing rate in recent years. He ordered an attack on the Askani, hoping to kidnap Nathan Summers and use his powerful mutant body as his new shell. The healthy clone of Nathan was kidnapped by Apocalypse’s men, while the synthetic robot Boak escaped with the infected Nathan. Rachel tells Cyclops and Jean that she arranged to have their consciousnesses sent into the future to raise Nathan and overthrow Apocalypse. Using remnants of the Phoenix Force, Rachel gives their human bodies (cloned from DNA remains of their descendents) powers that closely resemble the ones they had in their original bodies. Ch’vayre reappears with more soldiers, claiming that Apocalypse’s men have taken Nathan from Boak. They offer Rachel in exchange for baby Nathan. Cyclops and Jean use their powers to flood the chamber and escape with Nathan. They reach safety, but discover that Rachel is in a coma.

Gimmicks

Every issue of this miniseries has a cardstock cover and glossy paper.

Continuity Notes

The events of this story take place shortly after the future scenes in Cable #8. Young Nathan Summers was infected with the transmode virus and sent to the future in X-Factor #68, a story that was referenced endlessly after Cable was revealed to be a grown-up Nathan.

Despite the title of the mini, Jean doesn't take the codename "Phoenix" in this issue.

I believe that the idea that Apocalypse inhabits different bodies is introduced for the first time in this issue. There are some diehard X-fans who have always hated this idea, thinking that it cheapens the character somehow. Rachel explains that Apocalypse is currently residing in a woman’s body.

Rachel arrived in this timeline “almost a hundred years ago” after taking Captain Britain’s place in the timestream in Excalibur #75. How exactly Rachel ended up in a specific time period when Captain Britain seemed to be in-between all time isn’t explained. Rachel says that the Phoenix Force left her eighty years ago to presumably search for a younger host, although she claims that she still has a residue of the force. Since Rachel was in her late teens/early twenties when she arrived in this time a hundred years ago, and the Phoenix Force left eighty years ago, that means that Rachel was only in her forties when it considered her body too “old and fragile” (the Phoenix Force must be the Donald Trump of cosmic entities). Alan Davis established in Excalibur #64 that the Phoenix Force was no longer inside of Rachel’s body, but that Rachel was tapping into its power (I’m still not entirely sure what difference this makes, and it’s hard to say if this issue contradicts that story).

Apocalypse has taken over in this time period, broadening the term “human” to mean anyone weaker than the strongest mutant caste. A century before Apocalypse took over, Rachel says that the world experienced racial harmony during the “Age of Xavier”. Apocalypse took advantage of the long period of peacetime to begin his war. Rachel formed Clan Askani, which means “family of outsiders”, to oppose him. Later, Ch’vayre brags that the Askani have fallen, just like the “Xavier Collective”, “The Scions of Genetics”, and the “X.S.E.” before them. The X.S.E. are the future mutant police force Bishop belonged to. This is the first indication that Bishop and Cable might be from the same timeline, or very similar ones.

Review

This is the start of a special format miniseries, presumably designed to fill in some of the gaps in Cable’s history and give him a stronger connection to Scott and Jean. It cost twice what Marvel’s standard line cost at the time, without any extra content, just better paper quality. Imagine Marvel selling a comic with twenty-two pages of content for $6.00 an issue today (I haven’t seen an Ultimate comic in years, but if they still have cardstock covers, they have the same production values as this series). I resented having to pay such an inflated cover price as a kid, but what was I supposed to do? The cover clearly says “An X-Men Book”, so I was obligated by my internal completist to buy this thing (“An X-Men Book” is probably the dullest description of a comic ever, by the way. It’s not even “An X-Men Event”; it’s just “An X-Men Book”). I wonder if similar branding would have helped short-lived spinoffs like District X and Jubilee in recent years.

I’ve never really liked it when the X-books go deep into science fiction territory, and that’s what we have here. All of the Starjammers and Shi’ar material can be fun in a “what if the X-Men starred in Star Wars?” way, but it gets old quickly. The sci-fi setting presented here, however, isn’t any fun at all and just comes across as “Days of Future Past” set so far in the future, it might as well take place on an alien planet. A character goes from being called “Rachel Summers” to the ridiculous “Mother Askani”, and the villains have unpronounceable names I hate typing out like “Ch’vayre”. Gene Ha designs a future landscape that doesn’t do much for me, but I can live with it. The future clothing and technology, however, are really just ugly. There’s a lot of bulky body armor, giant shoulder pads, and overly complicated weapons that just look awful. Ha seems to be basing the future gear on the weapons and clothing Liefeld gave Cable, which means we’re getting a mix of Ha and Liefeld, something I know I never wanted to see (check out that gun on the cover for an example of what I’m talking about).

The main appeal of this mini for longtime fans is seeing Scott and Jean in their own series for the first time. Lobdell does handle their characterizations well enough, but so far it doesn’t feel like a story that’s actually about the characters. Connecting Scott and Jean to their two time-displaced children isn’t a bad idea, but placing the characters so far into the future and in different bodies takes them too far away from how the audience is used to seeing them. It seems like the story has to go though all of these hoops to reunite the pair with Nathan only because Cable’s backstory was just made up as the creators went along. There’s more time spent on establishing the location of the story than on focusing on the title characters, which feels wrong. Knowing that the events of this miniseries were just ignored as soon as it was over probably prejudices me towards viewing all of it as pointless cash grab. I think the first slump after the ‘90s speculation boom came in summer 1994, which means this miniseries was lucky to slip in while the money was still around.