BISHOP: XSE #3 - March 1998

Final Ploy

Credits: John Ostrander (writer), Steve Epting (penciler), Andrew Pepoy & Mark Prudeaux (inks), Comicraft (letters), Brad Vancata (colors)

Summary: Bishop convinces Malcolm to disobey orders and help him stop the Rook. At Rook’s HQ, the Fanatix plan to impersonate the XSE and assassinate the anti-mutant crusader, Trask. Malcolm springs Shard, as the Fanatix bring a captive Randall to a gathering of disaffected mutants. Soon, the reunited XSE rescue Randall and chase Rook back to his headquarters. There, they discover his true identity. Rook is Jimmy Knox, the adolescent son of philanthropist Jerome Knox. Using his possession powers, which also work on LMDs, he hoped to spark a human/mutant war. Knox is arrested and Bishop is cleared.

Continuity Notes: The Rook kills Fanatix members Pulsar and Shadowbox during the story. Pulsar is killed for siding with Randall and refusing to murder him, but Shadowbox is killed for no obvious reason.

“Huh?” Moment: Bishop punches Malcolm in the face to make his escape look convincing. Later, Malcolm tells Shard to look at his chin as proof. His chin is actually covered with that metal face gear he wears, so it’s fine. His cheek, on the other hand, is swollen.

Review: First, an apology. So far, I’ve neglected to mention that every male protagonist in this series has a beautifully coiffed mullet. Overlooking a mullet reference is clearly a violation of Blogger’s Terms of Service, so I regret waiting until the final issue to use such references as “Tennessee Top Hat,” “Neck Warmer,” “Canadian Passport,” “Camaro Cut,” and “Mississippi Mudflap.” (I can’t speak for Wordpress, but I imagine they have a similar statute.) If you’ll accept my apology, we can move on.

Bishop: XSE concludes with all of the pieces put back into place, which isn’t surprising since it’s a prequel story. The finale introduces two new characters, a generic member of the Trask family and the junior Knox, that end up playing major roles in the conclusion. Actually, the unnamed Trask doesn’t even make a real appearance, but he’s mentioned on the final page to illustrate the irony of the XSE’s mission enabling him to continue preaching mutant hatred. I don’t mind the sudden reveal of evil little Jimmy Knox, since it’s obvious Ostrander was setting up Annabella Knox as a red herring in the previous issues. It is a bit of cheat that the Rook’s identity belongs to a character we’re only seeing now, but this is only a three-issue miniseries, and not a “Who Is the Hobgoblin?” prolonged mystery. Revealing that Rook’s power is possession, and that the shapeshifting only belonged to the LMDs he controlled, is rather clever. Like the previous Bishop and XSE minis, some of the dialogue is clunky and there’s of course a sense that this was a slot on the schedule waiting for a story, but overall, this is the strongest of the Bishop solo minis.

BISHOP: XSE #2 - February 1998

Rook vs. Bishop

Credits: John Ostrander (writer), Steve Epting & Nick Napalitano (pencilers), Mark Prudeaux, Robert Jones, Andrew Pepoy, & Steve Moncuse (inkers), Comicraft (letters), Brad Vancata (colors)

Summary: Posing as Bishop, Rook leads the Fanatix in a strike against the new Statue of Liberty. The real Bishop is notified of Rook’s machinations by Anthony Shaw, while the XSE targets their apparently renegade teammate. Bishop sneaks into their headquarters and convinces Shard to send him information on Annabella Knox. From Shard, Bishop learns that Knox is going to the courthouse to finalize her inheritance. Bishop’s partner Malcolm arrests Shard for insubordination, then confronts Bishop outside of the courthouse.

Continuity Notes: The original Statue of Liberty was destroyed during the Summers Rebellion, when humans and mutants united against the Sentinels. “Morlocks” is revealed as the name of a bar populated by deformed mutants in this future. According to Shard’s research, Rook’s shapechanging abilities come from organic Life Model Decoy technology from the final days of SHIELD.

Review: Remember when people actually wanted to see more of Malcolm and Randall? I think those days were over by 1998, but Ostrander is still trying to make use of Bishop’s established supporting cast. Ostrander dutifully goes through with the assignment, staying true to what we know about Bishop’s timeline, rather than going off on a tangent and just writing his own futuristic, sci-fi setting and cramming Bishop into it. The story covers some well-worn territory, but Ostrander to his credit does establish that none of Bishop’s friends believe he’s guilty, they just have an obligation to enforce the law. Malcolm doesn’t have any major internal conflicts about what’s he doing, he just doesn’t like doing it, which seems to fit the way XSE officers have been portrayed in the past. Seeing Bishop on the run also works as an inversion of his usual role. His solo stories usually involve him tracking down a fugitive he’s either going to arrest or kill, so there’s a bit of twist this time. Steve Epting drops out of the art chores halfway through the issue, leaving Nick Napalitano to finish the rest. Napalitano seems to be mimicking the worst elements of Andy Kubert’s early X-work, and I’m sure having four inkers rush to finish the pages doesn’t do him any favors, either.

BISHOP: XSE #1 - January 1998

Rook Takes Pawn

Credits: John Ostrander (writer), Steve Epting (penciler), Mark Prudeaux (inker), Comicraft (letters), Brad Vancata (colors)

Summary: The XSE confront Fantix, a mutant terrorist group that’s targeted Jerome Knox, a businessman who wishes to unite humans and mutants. After Fantix is defeated, XSE member Randall suddenly kills Knox without explanation. He’s placed in prison, but is soon broken out by Fantix’s Shadowbox and Pulsar. At Fantix’s hideout, Randall begins to regain his true personality. He encounters the leader of Fantix, a shapechanger named the Rook.

Continuity Notes: A brief scene establishes the future Hellfire Club is led by a man named Anthony Shaw. As “Annabella Knox” (which might actually be his/her true identity), Rook is auditioning to join.

Review: There was a third Bishop miniseries? And Steve Epting drew it? Huh, who knew. Ostrander’s first Bishop mini had nice art and a thin story, while the second had more ideas but wretched artwork, so it’s not as if these limited series have a great track record behind them. Bringing in Steve Epting (who the ‘90s X-office didn’t seem to know what to do with, for some reason) gives me some confidence that the quality will be improving. There is more to the plot than “Bishop chases bad guy,” so the story’s already ahead of the first miniseries. I’m not sure if we need another story set in his future, especially when the character had been left on a cliffhanger in the current continuity at this point, but Ostrander is making an admirable attempt at world-building. The relationship between humans and mutants in Bishop’s time, following their united opposition against the Sentinels, hasn’t been explored in any of the flashback stories yet, so there’s room for Ostrander to explore. I wish Marvel itself showed some interest in the comic, though. Aside from its nonexistent promotion, the first issue also suffers from some flagrant typos any proofreader should’ve caught (the opening scene’s society dinner is apparently for a “good causel.”)

XSE #1 - #4, November 1996 - February 1997

Time Lost

Credits: John Ostrander (writer), Chris Gardner (penciler), Terry Austin & Tom Palmer (inkers), Derek Bellman & Graphic Color Works (colors), Comicraft (letters)

The first Bishop miniseries was a deluxe format series on slick paper with high production values and Carlos Pacheco art. This is not. Aside from the awkward combination of computer colors and low-grade newsprint that marred many of Marvel’s titles during this era, the art comes from a not-ready-for-primetime Chris Gardner. At least Terry Austin and Tom Palmer are brought in to ink, and while some pages are almost reminiscent of Rick Leonardi (thanks to Austin’s inks), they’re not enough to save the comic. John Ostrander returns as writer, setting the story up as a flashback conversation between Bishop and Shard. Bishop wants Shard to join the X-Men, which somehow leads to a retelling of their life story. There’s actually a lot of Bishop continuity established here, and I have no idea if Marvel’s made any effort to keep it consistent over the years (based on Paul O’Brien’s review of the recent Bishop mini, I’m not sure if Marvel’s even consistent with his actual first appearances in Uncanny X-Men). In this issue…

- More about the Summers Rebellion, which briefly united humans and mutants against the Sentinels, is revealed (the XSE is later formed to police mutants in exchange for humans shutting down the mutant camps similar to the ones in “Days of Future Past”);

- We see Bishop’s grandmother, who may or not be Storm;

- The Exhumes, an anti-human mutant group, is introduced;

- We learn that Bishop met Fitzroy as a boy after he was recruited into the XSE;

- Several minor characters like Hecat’e (an XSE drill sergeant Shard admires) are introduced;

- And we learn the story behind the M on Bishop’s face (Bishop and Shard were two of the last mutants given the M in the mutant camps, the other members of the XSE earn them when they graduate).

Another one of the vague hints dropped by Lobdell in Uncanny X-Men is addressed, as Ostrander introduces the Emplates, a street gang with powers similar to Generation X villain Emplate. The story ends with the Emplates targeting young Bishop and Shard on an early XSE training session. That’s a lot for a first issue, and with the exception of the hint that Storm is Bishop’s grandmother (which is just wrong for numerous reasons), I can’t say that any of these are bad ideas. Unfortunately, it feels more like a checklist of continuity points than an actual story. The only real characterization comes from Shard, who resents living in Bishop’s shadow. That’s not particularly engaging, and it’s something the X-titles have already thoroughly explored with Cyclops and Havok.

Future Intense

Credits: John Ostrander (writer), Deodato Studios & Mozart Cuto (art), Derek Bellman & Graphic Color Works (colors), Comicraft (letters)

The final few pages of the previous issue had a sudden style shift, as the art suddenly turned into a generic ‘90s Jim Lee knock-off. I suspect Deodato Studios also did uncredited work on that issue, since they were the kings of that look circa 1996. This issue actually opens with a softer, Pacheco-style, but we get to the generic ‘90s look soon enough. The story picks up from the previous issue, revealing that young Bishop became the youngest cadet to become an XSE officer due to his performance in the Emplate attack. Bishop and Shard continue their conversation from the first issue, leading to a flashback featuring Malcolm and Randall, Bishop’s created-to-die partners from his early appearances. We learn that Randall was a lighthearted extrovert from a human/mutant commune, while Malcolm was a by-the-book rich kid desperate to prove himself. Bishop recounts the day the Exhumes massacred Randall’s commune, which cemented his bond with Malcolm. Like the art, this is all pretty generic, and Ostrander isn’t doing an awful lot to humanize the characters.

Future Betrayed

Credits: John Ostrander (writer), Deodato Studios & Mozart Cuto (art), Shannon Blanchard & Malibu (colors), Comicraft (letters)

And now we have a series of flashbacks that leads up to Shard’s death. Bishop previously claimed that he killed Shard, but it turns out he was really just a big drama queen. It’s revealed that Bishop and Shard’s relationship was often strained, mainly due to Shard’s jealousy. As a teenager, she even dates Trevor Fitzroy just to make Bishop jealous. Years later, after Fitzroy is apprehended, he gives Bishop info on an Exhume hideout. Bishop passes the report on to Shard, hoping that a large bust will give her another promotion and help her forgive him after a recent fight. Shard asks Bishop to stay behind, eager to prove herself. Instead of finding the Exhume terrorists, she’s blindsided by a group of Emplates. Fitzroy, by the way, has his backstory fleshed out. He’s the illegitimate son of Anthony Shaw, Black King of the Hellfire Club. Fitzroy kills his half-brother William but his father’s influence keeps him out of jail. He then forms a group of wealthy mutants called Hellions and causes chaos. So, over five years after Fitzroy’s introduced, and four years after he’s used on a regular basis, someone finally gets around to resolving a few of the vague comments he made in his first few appearances.

Conflagration

Credits: John Ostrander (writer), Deodato Studios & Mozart Cuto (art), Shannon Blanchard & GCW (colors), Comicraft (letters)

With Shard now transformed into an Emplate, Bishop must decide whether to follow XSE protocol and kill her. He of course can’t go through with it, and instead brings her unconscious body to the headquarters of Stark/Fujikawa. Apparently, the Witness (the mysterious old man who may or may not be Gambit) heads the corporation, and grants him permission to record Shard’s brainwaves and turn her into a hologram. Witness’ condition is that Bishop work for him for a year, which he agrees to. What exactly Bishop does during that year isn’t explained (Bishop “isn’t ready” to talk about it yet), but it conveniently brings us to the end of the miniseries. After his year with the Witness, Bishop rejoins the XSE and goes on the mission that sends him back to this timeline. Since the first Bishop mini was essentially a four-issue long fight scene, I am glad that Ostrander at least used this opportunity to fill in the gaps in Bishop’s history. Unfortunately, it came several years too late. Aside from being released in the middle of a glut of superfluous X-miniseries, it was also published years after most readers seemed to care about Bishop (I wonder how much of his early popularity was owed to fans who were just excited to have the first appearance of an X-Man). By the time you get to late 1996/early 1997, Scott Lobdell is already making references to how out of place Bishop is with the rest of the team in Uncanny X-Men, and setting up the storyline that writes him out of the series for several years. I can’t say this is a terrible book (well, some of the art is extremely weak), but I’m not entirely sure why it was published in the first place. I have a feeling I’ll be repeating that several times as I go through all of these limited series.