X-FACTOR #69 - August 1991

 

Clash Reunion

Credits:  Fabian Nicieza (writer), Whilce Portacio (penciler), Task Force X (inkers), Dana Moreshead (colors), Michael Heisler (letters)

Summary:  Professor Xavier contacts X-Factor through Val Cooper, and soon they join him in a submarine manned by an international task force.  While X-Factor devises a way to reach Muir Island, Forge manages to free Rogue and Banshee of the Shadow King’s control.  After X-Factor invades the island and defeats a group of Shadow King-possessed mutants, FBI inspector Jacob Reisz reveals himself as the Shadow King onboard the submarine.  Mystique drops her disguise as Val Cooper and shoots Reisz.  On Muir Island, the united mutants discover Polaris is being used as the nexus between the physical word and the Astral Plane.  Shadow King possesses Legion and suddenly triggers an explosion.

Continuity Notes:  

• Rogue is now wearing her third outfit of the storyline.  This time, she’s wearing her standard uniform from the late ‘80s.  More wonky continuity -- Colossus disappears this issue, as he’s with Xavier in Washington DC, but not onboard the submarine or with X-Factor when they reach Muir Island.
• Marvel Girl’s telepathic powers have fully returned in-between issues.  Previous issues hinted that they might return, but the confirmation is treated as an already accepted fact.
• Banshee refers to Polaris as somehow becoming a “human catalyst for negative emotions.”  The Shadow King is using this ability to connect her to the Astral Plane.  If you’re thinking that this doesn’t make a lot of sense, bear in mind that this ties into an aborted Chris Claremont plot.  Apparently, Claremont wanted to reveal that Polaris’ powers aren’t inherently magnetism, but instead the ability to imitate other mutants’ powers.  After being in contact with Malice for so long, her powers mutated once again.  (More details in this Comics Should Be Good column - http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2012/11/17/the-abandoned-an-forsaked-what-happened-to-polaris-powers/ )

I Love the '90s:  Iceman works in a reference to the Bon Jovi song “Blaze of Glory.”

Review:  Okay, I’ll give Fabian Nicieza credit.  His second chapter of the crossover is much, much stronger than his first.  The scripting is noticeably better, as Nicieza shows he has a handle on the X-Factor cast, giving us brief glimpses into their personalities and the dynamics of their relationships.  He also addresses the issue of Nathan’s disappearance as well as could be expected, and does a decent job handling the team’s quickie reunion with Xavier.  There’s obviously not a lot of room for these scenes, as The Plot must be fed, but he accomplishes what he needs to do without making the conversations seem unnecessarily rushed.  Regarding the main plot, thankfully we’re not forced to endure too many pages of heroes vs. brainwashed heroes on Muir Island.  The scenes alternating between the “free” heroes on the island and Xavier’s task force plotting their next moves are much more interesting to read.  Plus, there’s Jacob Reisz finally being exposed as the Shadow King, and the revelation that Mystique didn’t commit suicide a year earlier in Uncanny X-Men, which are great moments for fans who have stuck through this storyline from the beginning.  This is also Whilce Portacio’s best issue so far, as he keeps the ugly faces to a minimum and is able to alternate between the conversation scenes and the action scenes (packed with numerous characters) quite well.

X-FACTOR #68 - July 1991

Finale

Credits:  Whilce Portacio & Jim Lee (plot), Chris Claremont (script), Whilce Portacio (penciler), Art Thibert (inker), Dana Moreshead (colors), Mike Heisler (letters)

Summary:  The Riders of the Storm attack X-Factor with the brainwashed Crystal and Medusa.  The team is taken captive, until the Inhumans arrive as reinforcements.  Askani helps Beast and Marvel Girl free Nathan from Apocalypse’s crèche.  They discover he’s been infected with a virus.  Nathan drags Marvel Girl into the Astral Plane, where she faces Nathan’s mental recreation of Apocalypse.  She pulls Cyclops into the Astral Plane for help, and in the physical reality, mentally guides him.  With an intense optic blast, Cyclops eradicates Apocalypse.  Askani offers to take Nathan to the future, where he can be cured of the strange virus.  Cyclops reluctantly agrees.

Continuity Notes:  

• Apocalypse claims that killing Nathan will, somehow, seal the fate of the Twelve.  Images of the Twelve flash during the story, but the only characters that can be clearly made out are Cable, Xavier, and Storm.
• After taking X-Factor captive, Apocalypse tells them that he can now pursue what has always been his true goal:  stealing their powers so that he can become a celestial menace.
• Marvel Girl still claims that her telepathy is gone, and is relying on Nathan’s powers during the story.
• Askani tells Cyclops that she’s the only one in her clan who can travel back in time, and that this is the final time he’ll see Nathan.  Why she’s so confident that she’ll never be able to time travel again isn’t clear.
• Ship tells X-Factor that he’s “intermerged (his) substance with Nathan’s” in order to slow down the virus’ growth.  When Cable is finally revealed as Nathan, we learn that Ship traveled with him in the future and later became his computerized companion, the Professor.
• The virus is never actually referred to as a “techno-organic virus” this issue, but the art does make it clear that some cybernetic technology is taking over Nathan’s body.
• The Watcher delivers a soliloquy on the final page, as images from other X-titles appear around him.  One of them features Cable, which inspired a lot of the early fan speculation that baby Nathan is now Cable.  Apparently, Jim Lee had already decided that Cable should be Nathan at this point, while Rob Liefeld had plans to reveal Cable as a future version of Cannonball.

Review:  Combine the dense plotting of Whilce Portacio and Jim Lee with the dense scripting of Chris Claremont and you get an issue-long fight scene that feels like it takes an hour to read.  As an excuse to write out an infant character that was now considered a nuisance, this is actually much better than it has any right to be.  Casting Cyclops as narrator of the story is a great decision, especially when you consider that the plot leaves virtually no room for the characters to actually interact with one another and process what’s going on.  At least all of those captions can sell some emotion.  As much as some fans would like to believe that Claremont “hated” Cyclops, I think he always had a firm grasp of the character and knew how to make the stoic Cyclops genuinely sympathetic.  

As the story races through numerous fight scenes and abrupt plot developments, Claremont keeps Cyclops’ voice as a steady presence, reminding us of his love for his son and his guilt for not being the father he wishes he could’ve been.  Claremont does a lot of the heavy lifting this issue; what easily could’ve been a ridiculous two-page scene that has Cyclops shipping his baby off into the future, never to be seen again, manages to be a be appropriately sweet and sad.  And the bizarre decision by Portacio/Lee to give the only conversation scene in the issue to Cyclops and Charlotte Jones is deftly handled by Claremont, as he allows Cyclops to rationalize his decision to a layperson who hasn’t seen a lot of time travel or techno-organic viruses in her day.

Aside from completing the mercenary act of getting rid of baby Nathan, the basic plot of the issue is easily forgettable.  Tons of characters, lots of fighting, but barely any room for any impact to be felt or plot threads to be resolved.  Why waste time on showing how Crystal and Medusa are freed from their brainwashing when those pages could be spent on more fight scenes?  The only hint that the plotters appreciate the significance of the issue comes on the final page, as the Watcher appears to deliver a one-page monologue, much as he did in the final chapter of “The Dark Phoenix Saga.”  And, once again, Claremont rises to the occasion, mirroring the Watcher’s original speech while also finding some poetic justification for Cyclops’ decision this issue.  The words are pretty enough to save the issue, but if you take the time to contemplate the story, it's a little too Image-y to be an approriate ending for this era of the franchise.

X-FACTOR #67 - June 1991

Endgame Part III: Lunar Opposition!

Credits:  Jim Lee & Whilce Portacio (plot), Chris Claremont (script), Whilce Portacio (penciler), Art Thibert (inker), Oliver & Thomas (colors), Mike Heisler (letters)

Summary:  The survivor modules containing X-Factor are discovered by the Inhumans’ royal family near the moon.  They’re teleported to a secret base, where X-Factor learns Apocalypse has overtaken the Inhumans’ lunar home and kidnapped Medusa.  Suddenly, the Riders of the Storm appear and abduct Crystal.  In response, X-Factor and the Inhumans raid Apocalypse’s base and free his captives.  X-Factor is soon lured into a trap, however, as a massive Apocalypse looms over the captive Nathan.  Elsewhere, in the future, Boak sends Askani to the present day.

Continuity Notes:  

• Askani’s trip to the present is presumably a flashback explaining how she got here two issues ago.  It this is supposed to be a different Askani’s journey to the present, that isn’t clear at all.  Askani’s dialogue drops more hints that she’s related to Rachel Summers, as she shares Rachel’s power to send her consciousness through time (future technology creates a body for her consciousness after she arrives here).
• Boak debuts.  You might remember him as the yellow robot from the early issues of the Cable solo series (and his cameo in the X-Men cartoon), although he’s colored like Deathlok at this point.
• Despite later claims that the Askani is a “sisterhood,” we only see one female member in this storyline.  In fact, Askani refers to her confederates as “brothers” before she leaves for the past.
• Ship isn’t dead, as Beast downloaded his persona into the survivor modules that protected the team from his self-destruct sequence.
• Gorgon tells X-Factor the Riders of the Storm are Inhumans that have been mutated by Apocalypse.  I don’t believe this is ever referenced again, even though (as the “Dark Riders”) these characters have appeared quite a few times following this storyline.
• Apocalypse explains that he has to kill baby Nathan because “his obliteration guarantees my ultimate preeminence…as does his survival, quite possibly my ultimate undoing.”  
• Archangel questions if Apocalypse had a base on the moon years earlier, and wonders if the weapon that killed Dark Phoenix was possibly his.

Creative Differences:  Two added word balloons on page four establish that Medusa has been kidnapped by Apocalypse.  I wonder if they were added later to explain why she doesn’t appear in the issue?

Review:  More running and fighting, and just like the previous chapters, Claremont’s script adds some gravity to the story, but there’s only so much he can do.  At the very least, he can create a dynamic between the characters that helps to cover just how much of this story consists of fight scenes and set-ups for fight scenes.  This issue is filled with those trademarked Claremont Vague Hints That Could Be Important Later, and many of these clues are actually paid off in future issues.  We learn that Rachel Summers is the Mother Askani in 1994, which was around the time Cable was confirmed as Nathan Summers, the “Chosen One” that will allegedly kill Apocalypse one day.  (Marvel came close to paying that one off in 1999, but chickened out.)  Bringing the Inhumans into the story is a decent surprise, even if the pacing is so frantic the characters aren’t properly introduced at all.  Just seeing the Inhumans in an X-Factor story, fighting Apocalypse of all villains, has a basic novelty appeal to it.  And setting the climax on the Blue Area of the Moon, where Jean Grey “died” back in Uncanny X-Men #137 is a smart decision, one that Claremont gets some mileage out of as he scripts his way past yet another fight scene.

Prologue

Credits:  Jim Lee & Whilce Portacio (plot), Chris Claremont (script), Whilce Portacio (penciler), Art Thibert (inker), Oliver & Thomas (colors), Mike Heisler (letters)

Summary:  Sebastian Shaw is furious to discover that he’s lost control of Shaw Industries.  His son Shinobi enters, bragging that he’s responsible.  Shinobi uses his mutant powers to reach into his father’s heart and induce a heart attack.  Explosives then destroy Shaw’s home.  Shinobi emerges from the rubble, smiling.

Continuity Notes:  This marks the debut of Shinobi Shaw, a main player in the upcoming Upstarts storyline.  Shinobi mentions that his powers, density manipulation, are closer to deceased Hellfire Club member Harry Leland’s, making him wonder who his real father is.

Review:  Regardless of the title, this is technically an epilogue.  Yes, this is a “prologue” in a sense to the Upstarts storyline, but it’s a separate story at the end of the issue.  I don’t know of any other back-up story that’s been labeled a “prologue” before.  Anyway, this is Sebastian Shaw’s big death scene, one that’s casually ignored years later by Jeph Loeb in X-Force.  Chris Claremont didn’t seem too enamored with this story either, considering that he ignored all of the early Upstart material that he even co-wrote when doing X-Men Forever.  In retrospect, the story is a pretty flagrant example of killing off an established character in order to sell a new one.  I was actually intrigued by this short story as a kid, though.  The trick hadn’t been beaten into the ground by this point, and I had no idea Shinobi would turn out to be such a dud, so hopefully I can be forgiven.

X-FACTOR #66 - May 1991

 

Endgame Part II:  Heroic Effort

Credits:  Jim Lee & Whilce Portacio (plot), Chris Claremont (script), Whilce Portacio (penciler), Art Thibert (inker), Glynis Oliver & Steve Buccelato (colors), Pat Brosseau (letters)

Summary:  Ship’s systems go haywire, attacking the citizens of Manhattan.  Inside, the Askani appears and steals Nathan from Foxbat.  X-Factor assumes she’s a villain and attacks her; in the confusion, Foxbat takes back Nathan.  Askani realizes she’s attacked Nathan’s family and flees.  Outside, Sergeant Charlotte Jones is somehow able to enter Ship’s forcefield.  She’s soon attacked by Gauntlet and rescued by Archangel.  Gauntlet and his teammates teleport away.  Ship manages to speak to X-Factor, and reveals that the only solution to Apocalypse’s corruption of his system is self-destruction.  He shoots into space and, even as Beast tries to override his commands, explodes.  

Continuity Notes:  

• Ship’s forcefield is supposed to keep out any non-mutants.  Why Charlotte Jones and (I believe) a few other humans were allowed to occasionally enter remains a mystery.
• Askani, who we still don’t know is just one of many, refers to Nathan as “The Chosen.”  Years later, we will discover Cable is baby Nathan, and that he’s the “The Chosen” to defeat Apocalypse.  
• Askani also refers to Nathan as her “little brother,” which does broadly fit with the later revelation that the Askani Clan was formed by his sister-from-another-reality, Rachel Summers.

Review:  It’s a Jim Lee/ Whilce Portacio production, so not surprisingly, we’re getting a fast-moving plot and an excessive amount of cramped, awkward fight scenes.  This isn’t nearly as incoherent as you might expect, however, and Claremont’s script is able to add a bit of humanity to the proceedings.  There’s no room in the plot for any member of X-Factor to exhibit an awful lot of personality, but Claremont does capture the sense that these characters are all old friends, and he seems to really enjoy writing the loquacious Beast (which probably isn’t much of a shock.)  Askani, on the other hand, still has that annoying robotic speech pattern that no one has ever made work, and the Dark Riders (of the Storm) are strictly generic at this stage.  Portacio’s art consists of a lot of scowling and dramatic poses, but there is an energy there.  I can see why a kid bored with whatever was going in Avengers at the time would get excited to see something so stylized and energetic. 

X-FACTOR #65 - April 1991

 

Endgame Part 1: Malign Influences

Credits:  Jim Lee and Whilce Portacio (plot), Chris Claremont (script), Whilce Portacio (penciler), Art Thibert (inker), Steve Buccellato (colors), Michael Heisler (letters)

Summary:  Hard-Drive, a member of the Riders of the Storm, uses his powers to hack into Ship’s network.  The Riders of the Storm spy on X-Factor’s training sequence, preparing for battle.  Later, Iceman and Archangel visit their respective girlfriends, as Beast watches footage of Trish Tilby.  Suddenly, Ship is attacked by the Riders.  Psynapse invades Marvel Girl’s mind, forcing her to relive the death of her childhood friend.  When Iceman and Archangel return, the battle goes in X-Factor’s favor, until Apocalypse appears.

Continuity Notes:  

• The next issue identifies Apocalypse’s servants as the Riders of the Storm, who will later go by the simplified title of “Dark Riders.”  As of this issue, however, they don’t even have a collective name yet.
• Following the ending of Uncanny X-Men #273, Guido has informed Cyclops that Lila Cheney teleported the X-Men away to save Professor Xavier.  Cyclops is holding the training session to be ready in case the X-Men need their help.
• Psynapse’s invasion of Marvel Girl’s mind enables her telepathy to return.  The creators drop hints this issue, but this isn’t confirmed until later.

Production Note:  The “Apocalypse Files” listed on the cover is a text piece of Apocalypse narrating profiles of three X-Factor members, written by Fabian Nicieza.  The back-up feature is actually called the “Apocalypse Manifesto” inside the issue.

I Love the '90s:  Trish Tilby is filing a report from the Persian Gulf regarding the possibility of super-powered beings entering Operation: Desert Storm.  Beast’s VHS copy of the broadcast is labeled 1/24/91.

Miscellaneous Note:  The Statement of Ownership has average sales at 268,307 copies, with the most recent issue selling 228,800.

Review:  Chris Claremont has said that he agreed to script X-Factor for a few issues in order to get a feel for Whilce Portacio’s art before Portacio moved over to Uncanny X-Men.  He need not have bothered, as it turns out, but as a reader at the time, having Claremont lend his name to X-Factor felt like a mini-event.  Claremont’s famous for reinventing Marvel Girl as Phoenix, and Cyclops was a steady presence for the early years of his run, but there is no definitive Claremont interpretation of the three other founding members of the X-Men.  For various reasons, Iceman, Angel, and Beast rarely if ever played a role during Claremont’s extensive Uncanny X-Men stint (even when Angel joined the team at John Byrne’s prompting, Claremont wrote him out as soon as possible), so it’s fun to see what how he handles mutants not normally associated with his writing style.  

Of course, the actual plot is being handled by Jim Lee and Whilce Portacio, a plotting duo that will be responsible for some truly terrible Uncanny X-Men issues in just a few months.  This issue shows some hints of the incoherence to come, but for the most part, it’s an effective opening chapter.  The Dark Riders have absolutely bizarre designs, but that’s probably why I have some affection for them.  The villains are each given an opportunity to show off their powers, as insane as some of those powers are, and there is some effort to work in some personal life scenes.  Those “check in on the girlfriend” scenes aren’t particularly imaginative and arguably slow down the story’s momentum, but I’m glad these romantic subplots are even acknowledged.  Those are the only slow scenes during this brief stint, as the book is about to enter a multi-issue fight scene involving the Dark Riders, the Inhumans, and Apocalypse.  I’m sure the fights thrilled the target audience at the time, but in retrospect, it’s a shame that this will be the last issue for several months, maybe years, to acknowledge the three long-running romances developed by Louise Simonson during her stint.

X-FACTOR #64 - March 1991

The Price
Credits:  Louise Simonson (plot/script), Whilce Portacio (plot/pencils), Art Thibert (inks), Michael Heisler (letters), Glynis Oliver & Steve Buccellato (colors)

Summary:  Hiro reaches out to Opal, explaining the details of her parents' secret love affair.  She still refuses to marry Hiro, however, leading Tatsu’o to declare that he’ll choose her mate.  Iceman soon arrives with Mariko and her ninja guard.  They’re met by Tatsu’o’s daughter, Shizu’ko, who reveals that she’s poisoned Tatsu’o’s tea in order to spare Opal.  Shizu’ko and the ninjas rescue Opal, while Hiro duels with Iceman.  Iceman agrees to fight without his powers after Hiro questions his honor, but Opal shouts that Hiro’s powers are built into his body, making him as superhuman as a mutant.  Hiro realizes she’s right and stops the duel.  Iceman escapes with Opal, as Tatsu’o’s compound burns.

Continuity Notes:  

• Hiro reveals that Opal’s father died while serving in her grandfather’s criminal empire.  Later, one of the Cyberpunks speculates that Tatsu’o favors Hiro because he looks like his deceased son.
• The term “Cyberpunk” actually doesn’t appear in this issue, even though it was the established name of Tatsu’o’s guard last issue.  This issue, they’re called “Cyber-Warriors” by Shizu’ko, and even “Cyber-Force” (!) by one of the members.

Review:  I can’t imagine Louise Simonson wanted this to be her final storyline, but after five years, this issue marks her departure.  Rob Liefeld, with Fabian Nicieza as scripter, has already replaced her on New Mutants, and beginning next issue, Chris Claremont will script X-Factor over Jim Lee’s plots.  This marks one of the few times in X-Factor’s run that it will share a writer (or writers) with Uncanny X-Men.  Considering that Simonson has spent the last five issues on this title either participating in a crossover or co-plotting a story with the new artist, I couldn’t blame her if she left out of simple frustration.  Anyone curious to see where Simonson would’ve taken X-Factor without editorial interference might be interested in the X-Factor Forever miniseries, which features her intended conclusions for the ongoing subplots, and surprisingly strong artwork by Dan Panosian. 
 
While the previous issue wasn’t quite Image Insane, we’ve reached that point now.  The story does have a decent start, as some time is spent humanizing Hiro and filling in the details of the past of Opal’s parents, but within a few pages the random violence and explosions begin.  To give you some idea of how rushed and chaotic the ending of this story is, the main villain dies off-panel after his daughter poisons his tea.  Now, getting demure Shizu’ko to the point that she’s willing to betray her father and even murder him isn’t a bad direction to take the story in, but when the details are skimped over in the course of two panels, something’s clearly wrong.  Portacio seems much more interested in drawing cyborg ninjas fighting each other, which means all of those pesky character subplots get pushed aside.  Iceman choosing to fight Hiro without his powers is also derisorily stupid, but I guess it kind of works in an old school superheroic soap opera kind of way.  Opal and Iceman’s scenes aren’t so bad, actually, but the rest of the issue just feels rushed and disjointed.  And Portacio is back to those ugly faces again, unfortunately.

X-FACTOR #63 - February 1991

Family
Credits:  Louise Simonson (plot/script), Whilce Portacio (plot/art), Homage Studios (art assist), Michael Heisler (letters), Glynis Oliver (colors)

Summary:  Iceman’s girlfriend Opal is kidnapped by Cyberpunks serving her grandfather, Tatsu’o.  After speaking to her adopted parents, Iceman learns that Opal has been hidden from her grandfather her entire life.  Meanwhile, Opal learns she is expected to sire a child with one of Tatsu’o’s Cyberpunks.  Iceman travels to Japan with Marvel Girl, and with Mariko’s help, attends a sumo match Tatsuo is observing.  When Iceman impetuously reveals himself, Tatsu’o’s Cyberpunks attack Mariko’s ninja guard.  Two of the Cyberpunks are killed, but none of Mariko’s men survive.  Tatsu’o teleports away with Opal, as Iceman vows to rescue her.

Continuity Notes:  

• Opal discovered she was adopted in X-Factor #59.  Her adopted mother is actually her birth mother’s distant cousin.  Opal meets her birth mother, Shizu’ko, at Tatuso’s compound.  

• Hiro, the only noble member of the Cyberpunks, debuts here.  He’ll go on to have a pretty forgettable death scene during the early Scott Lobdell issues of Uncanny X-Men.
• Jean Grey meets Mariko Yashida for the first time.  Simonson doesn’t play the scene for any drama, she merely has both women mentally acknowledge why Wolverine could be attracted to the other.  Years later, Chris Claremont will have a drastically different take on Mariko’s opinion of Jean in X-Men Forever.
• Ship is undergoing minor malfunctions.  This is an ongoing subplot that will be resolved in a few issues, after Louise Simonson is gone.  I believe the official explanation didn’t match her original plan, which saw its conclusion in X-Factor Forever.
• Finally, this issue establishes that Opal’s birthday is close to Christmas.  This is bound to come up again one day, so try to keep that straight, Marvel.

Review:  I was a sporadic reader of X-Factor during my early years of collecting, but rarely felt it was required reading within the X-canon.  (Actually, in those days, Uncanny X-Men really was the only X-book I felt obligated to buy, unless a crossover was going on.)  While both X-Factor and New Mutants spent years overshadowed by the main title, New Mutants had clearly jumped ahead of X-Factor in popularity in 1990 following the debut of Cable and the assorted Liefeld insanity.  After seeing the boost New Mutants received with a heavily stylized artist and an “edgy” ‘90s cyborg protagonist, I imagine editor Bob Harras wanted to duplicate some of that success in X-Factor.  Hence, the debut of Whilce Portacio as the new regular artist, and somehow, co-plotter.  And cyborgs.  Lots of cyborgs.  Any lapsed readers brought back by “X-Tinction Agenda” had to at least give this issue a try, right?

It’s hard to judge this issue in retrospect, because I’m not sure how tired all of these Japanese family/honor/cyborg ninja clichés were in early ‘90s.  I do remember reading Opal’s first appearances when she debuted, and even as a kid I liked the idea of a superhero falling for this kind of frumpy, average girl in glasses.  Revealing that she’s actually the secret granddaughter of a Yakuza crimelord doesn’t add an awful lot to her character, (frankly, it’s beyond ridiculous) and it’s hard not to view this portrayal of Japan as rather simplistic.  There’s a ninja vs. cyborg fight set at a sumo wrestling match at the issue’s climax.  All it’s missing is Mothra.

I will say that this is fairly subdued by Whilce Portacio’s standards.  None of his females have that weird, anorexic body type he sometimes reverts to, and most of the faces look fine.  He’s also got a flair for page layouts, which I’m sure impressed many of the readers bored by traditional six-panel grids in 1990.  Louise Simonson is also able to add some humanity to the story, giving Opal fairly plausible responses to the situation she’s faced with.  And someone actually remembered Mariko, a character that was oddly languishing in obscurity at the time, even though Wolverine had been headlining two books for years.

UNCANNY X-MEN #273 - February 1991

Too Many Mutants! (Or Whose House IS This, Anyway?)
Credits:  Chris Claremont (writer), Whilce Portacio, Klaus Janson, John Byrne, Rick Leonardi, Marc Silvestri, Michael Golden, Larry Stroman, & Jim Lee (pencilers), Scott Williams (inker), Tom Orzechowski (letters), Joe Rosas (colors)

Summary:  Following the Genoshan battle, the united X-teams regroup in the underground complex beneath Xavier’s mansion.  Storm, Cyclops, and Marvel Girl debate what to do next, while Cable makes his case for leading the united teams.  Later, Marvel Girl uses Cerebro to locate the missing X-Men.  She’s ambushed by the Shadow King and narrowly rescued by Psylocke.  Eventually, the X-Men emerge in new uniforms, ready to follow Storm.  Shortly after Cyclops and Marvel Girl say goodbye, Lila Cheney arrives and teleports the team away, claiming Xavier needs their help.

Continuity Notes: 

• Gambit “officially” joins the X-Men this issue, in the sense that Storm refuses to leave with him, so he decides to stick around.  At the end of the story, he’s wearing an X-uniform with the rest of the team.  Gambit’s casual decision to stay probably ties in to Claremont’s rumored original plan to reveal Gambit's a spy for Mr. Sinister.
• This is the issue that ignited the long-running fan speculation that Gambit was a reincarnated Longshot.  While Wolverine and Gambit are sparring in the Danger Room, Wolverine remarks that his moves are similar to Longshot’s.  On the next panel, a hologram of Lady Deathstrike emerges and attacks Wolverine.  In an altered word balloon, Jubilee questions who turned that sequence on.   The scene then cuts to Gambit smiling with his left eye glowing, much like Longshot’s.
• Wolverine is barely able to keep up with Gambit during their duel, which continues Claremont’s subplot regarding Wolverine’s slow recovery after the Reavers’ attack in Uncanny X-Men #251.
• Marvel Girl, yes still “Marvel Girl” at this point, only has telekinetic powers and must rely on Psylocke to rescue her from Shadow King.  Her telepathy will return a few months later in X-Factor.
• Wolfsbane and Havok are still in Genosha following “X-Tinction Agenda.”  Forge is working on a way to reverse the “Mutate transmodation” Wolfsbane’s endured.  He speculates that the longer she’s a Mutate, the harder it will be to cure her.
• Psylocke says the Hand used “magic as well as science” to physically alter her into their assassin.  The readers will receive a much, much more complicated explanation years later.

Creative Differences:  With eight pencilers, it’s not surprising to learn this issue had deadline problems.  John Byrne had this to say on his website years ago:
"Bob Harras, then the X-Editor, called and asked if I could do six pages for this issue. I was up to my eyeballs in work, so I declined. So he asked if I could do three. I agreed, and they sent me a plot. I drew the three pages
and sent them in. Then Bob called and said 'You drew three pages! That plot was for one page!'

Woulda bin a real time saver if they'd updated me on that before they sent me the plot! "

Approved By The Comics Code Authority:  When Marvel Girl takes a shower (right in front of Psylocke), Joe Rosas colors in the steam to match the contours of her body.  This is the first time I ever saw a colorist attempt to make comic art racier than originally intended.  Within five years, colorist-added nipple pokes will be all the rage.

Review:  Is this the first “quiet” post-crossover X-comic?  I believe it is.  Just think of all of the variations of this issue the X-office published in the ‘90s following Claremont’s departure.  Everyone knows that the numerous subplots and mysteries were inspired by Claremont’s work, but it’s easy to forget that even the downtime issue that followed almost every crossover has its genesis in Claremont’s initial run.  I can’t imagine Claremont thought he was starting a trend; he was probably just looking at the cast following “X-Tinction Agenda” and asking the same question the characters ask this issue -- what to do with all of these mutants?

I thought it would be interesting to look back at the era post-“X-Tinction Agenda,” as it paves the way for the 1991 revamps of the titles (the revamps that nudged me towards X-completism).  What stands out about this issue is Claremont’s ability to write the characters as rational adults, people capable of having a thoughtful conversation about how they’ve reached this point and how to go forward.  Storm acknowledges that faking the X-Men’s death was likely a mistake.  Cyclops is bothered that no one’s truly replaced Xavier and mentored the third generation of mutants.  Marvel Girl is concerned that Magneto has apparently reverted to villainy (not that she ever bought his conversion.)  Cable’s annoyed that the others can’t see that they’re in the middle of a war, and throws his hat in for leadership of all of the X-teams.  And as absurd as this might sound in a recap, Claremont handles the scene remarkably well.  Claremont writes Cable as more of a grouch than Louise Simonson has so far, but he's still rational, falling in more with Claremont’s “noble warriors” than the cheap Punisher clone he’ll soon turn into.  Cable’s position doesn’t come across as unreasonable at all, and even Storm questions if he’s right.

When the story isn’t focused on the main philosophical debate, Claremont has some fun with the rest of the cast.  Iceman and Boom-Boom get into a prank war, Archangel and Cannonball introduce the Danger Room to anyone not around since issue #225 or so, Gambit gets to outmaneuver Wolverine (something that almost never happened in these days), and a few of the ongoing subplots get touched upon.  As much as this issue might be remembered as “downtime,” there are three action sequences and a cliffhanger ending.  Two of those action scenes even advance ongoing subplots, which is a reminder of just how tight a plotter Claremont can be.  And even the pages that don’t tie in with the dozen or so subplots Claremont’s juggling are entertaining in their own right, as he’s clearly having fun writing characters he hasn’t touched in years.

Regarding the artist jam, the pages do have some level of consistency, since Scott Williams was somehow able to ink the entire issue.  I definitely thought this was a strange looking issue as a kid, but I never thought it looked rushed or shoddy.  The oddest pages to me were Michael Golden’s Gambit/Wolverine fight, although today they’re my favorite.  It’s also cool to see Scott Williams giving Rick Leonardi and Marc Silvestri highly polished inks, considering how rarely they’re inked in that style.  Compare this comic to some of the jam issues the ‘90s will later bring us and it’s practically art.  This is an issue that could’ve easily been a mess, but I enjoyed it a lot as a kid and I think it holds up very well.