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Thursday, November 5, 2015

X-amining New Mutants #98

"The Beginning of the End Part One"
February 1991

In a Nutshell
Gideon, Deadpool & Domino make their first appearances as Rictor quits the team. 

Plot & Art: Rob Liefeld
Script: Fabian Nicieza 
Inker: Bob Wiacek
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: S. Buccellato
Caretaker: Bob Harras
Beginning, Middle and End: Tom DeFalco

Plot
In Colorado, the mysterious Gideon hones his mutant ability against a group of combat droids, then tells his assistant to inform Eve to proceed as planned with Emmanuel Da Costa. At the X-Mansion, Cable and Cannonball train together, while at the headquarters of Da Costa International, Eve delivers Emmanuel his coffee. Drinking it, he dies. At the X-Mansion, Rictor complains to Boom-Boom about leaving Rahne behind in Genosha, just as Cable is attacked in the library by a masked mercenary named Deadpool, sent by Mr. Tolliver to kill him. Cable and the New Mutants, drawn by the commotion, fight back, but it's ultimately a mysterious woman named Domino who defeats the attacker, answering Cable's request for help. Later, after mailing Deadpool back to Tolliver, Cable and Domino go over a list of former New Mutants, ultimately deciding they aren't left with much to work with, though Cable says he's taking steps to remedy it. That night, Rictor takes off on his own, leaving a note for Boom-Boom explaining that he's going to Genosha for Rahne. Later, Gideon steals into Roberto's room, waking up his old friend with the news that Roberto's father has died of a heart attack.

Firsts and Other Notables
New Mutants #98 features a trio of first appearances. In order of significance/longevity (least to most), the first is Gideon, a mutant with metal arms (or metal-covered arms, at least), green hair and the power to mimic the abilities of those around him (and not just mutant abilities, as he uses the "abilities" of the robots attacking him). He will shortly be revealed as an old friend of the Da Costa family and serve as the vehicle for writing Roberto out of the series, and eventually we'll learn that he is one of a handful of immortal mutants named Externals, but after burning relatively bright in the early days of X-Force he'll mostly fade into memory, popping up every once in awhile before receding away again.


Next is Domino, a mysterious woman with ties to Cable whom he contacted (off panel) to join and help him with the New Mutants. Eventually, she'll be revealed to be a mercenary with a luck-based power similar to Longshot's. However, this is technically the first appearance of not Domino but Copycat/Vanessa, a shapeshifter who was hired to replace Domino in order to get close to Cable (with the real Domino held captive by her employer), which will be revealed in X-Force #15. I'm not sure if anyone really considers her a member at this point, but I suppose technically Domino/Copycat joins (what's left of) the New Mutants with this issue.


Finally, we have Deadpool, the unqualified success story of this issue's debuts. Here presented as a basic albeit somewhat talkative/quippy mercenary figure dispatched to capture/kill Cable, he'll eventually develop into a talkative, fourth-wall breaking "merc-with-a-mouth", with ties to the Weapon X program that gave Wolverine his adamantium and a similar regenerative mutant ability. Given his own solo series in the mid-90s, the title was moderately successful but eventually cancelled. However, somewhat inexplicably, the character discovered newfound popularity in the late 00s and received a guest role (albeit more or less in name only) in the first Wolverine solo film, and is today one of Marvel's biggest success stories, often carrying several series/one-shots while starring in two (and counting) movies of his own (in a form more consistent with his comic book appearances). 

Just for fun (and because the seemingly-random commercial success of Deadpool boggles my mind), let's look at some numbers (taken from ComiChron): In 2014, Marvel had 512 different issues land in the overall Top 1000 of all comic books sold in American, for a total of 26,563,989.

Of those, just under 8% (2,062,527 copies) were headlined or co-headlined by Deadpool. For comparison, issues headlining or co-headlining Wolverine, including Wolverine and the X-Men and the "Death of Wolverine" miniseries (which took up four spots in the top ten, industry-wide), accounted for just under 10% of Marvel's print sales last year (2,602,505 copies).

The combined X-books (including Wolverine and Deadpool comics) sold 9,311,024 copies in the Top 1000 last year, roughly 35% of Marvel's total print sales. Of those 9 million or so X-books, Deadpool accounted for 22% of sales and Wolverine just under 28%.

As a final point of comparison, all series headlined or co-headlined (not counting any team books in which he appeared but didn't receive title-billing) by Iron Man, the obvious star of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, totaled 428,772 copies, or just over 1.5% of Marvel's total sales of comics in the Top 10000 in 2014.

Deadpool's employer, who sent him after Cable, is Mr. Tolliver, mentioned here for the first time. He'll eventually make a physical appearance in X-Force, his identity serving as one of that series' early ongoing mysteries, and while here it's suggested he's simply some kind of shady figure with whom Cable has had past dealings, eventually Mr. Tolliver will be revealed to be Cable's adult son (a reveal that couldn't possibly have been planned when the character was mentioned in this issue).

The next New Mutant to leave the team is Rictor, who quits in New Mutants #98 and heads back to Genosha to rescue Rahne, even though she clearly stayed behind of her own volition (to be clear, I'm not criticizing the issue — that Rictor would refuse to believe that and erroneously think she needs to be "rescued" is entirely within character). From here, he disappears from the X-books entirely for awhile (we never see him reach Genosha, or Rahne), before popping up back in X-Force as a member of the anti-Cable SHIELD-backed team Weapon PRIME


Roberto's father Emmanuel Da Costa, technically still the White Rook of the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle and a minor character in this series, dies this issue, seemingly poisoned by his assistant on orders from Gideon. His death will serve as the vehicle for Roberto's departure from the team next issue.


This issue features narrative captions placed throughout the story which declare the (seemingly random) date and time events are apparently taking place, a somewhat-annoying device Liefeld will continue to use in later issues and in other series he creates. 

Creator Central 
Rob Liefeld receives full plotting credit on this issue, and his buddy Fabian Nicieza is brought in to script the story, thus beginning Nicieza's long regular association with the X-books. He will eventually become the outright writer of X-Force, outlasting Liefeld and actually crafting that series into an enjoyable and decently-produced one in that time, and eventually take over as writer on the upcoming second X-Men title as well.

Collection Recollection
This is easily the most valuable X-book from this era on the back issue market today, with a slabbed 9.8 newsstand edition (the one with the barcode on the cover) recently selling on eBay for $849.00 and unslabbed copies regularly going for between $250-$300. You'd have to go back to notable Bronze Age issues (like Giant-Size X-Men #1 and Wolverine's first appearance) to find an X-book to beat those kinds of prices in today's market.

The copy of this issue that I own I acquired back in middle school via a trade with a friend (the same friend who got me into comics by introducing me to the Marvel Universe trading cards). I gave up my copy of Youngblood #1 to get it. I was just trying to complete a New Mutants run and, at the time, he certainly seemed to win the trade (the first issue of a hot new series for the third-to-last issue of a dead one), but I think I came out ahead in the end.

A Work in Progress
In his introductory scene, Gideon is suggested to be a well-connected business man of some sort, having dealings with both Shaw Industries and Roberto's father's company.

Cable is working with Cannonball to mute his blast noise while flying, which will become something of a recurring bit for the character for awhile. Cable also mentions Cannonball learning to expand his protective field (the thing which makes him nigh invulnerable while blastin'), another piece he'll be working on in future issues.


Laying out the X-Force mentality, Cable also tells Cannonball that life is war.


Given that, it's somewhat curious that, despite his all his tough guy talk, Cable mails Deadpool back to Tolliver, instead of just, you know, killing the guy who was sent to kill him. But of course, Liefeld wants to keep Deadpool around for later appearances (which is always the problem with "strike first, this is war!" characters in serialized fiction).

Cable and Domino go over a list of former New Mutants, deciding all aren't ultimately fit for the team but giving us a reminder/update on their respective current statuses.


Gideon and Roberto are shown to be familiar, as Gideon mysteriously arrives in Roberto's bedroom to tell him about his father's death.


The Cable Guy
Deadpool refers to Cable as "Nathan", the first time we've gotten any kind of real name for the character, and the first time he's indirectly linked to Cyclops' son, Nathan Christopher.

Cable has apparently added a blasting mechanism to his bionic arm, something that I don't believe ever gets referenced again.


The Reference Section
Rictor apparently has a Bart Simpson poster on his wall.


501 Genes
Gideon is introduced on the first page with a pair of hands floating in front of him. Oh, wait, those are supposed to be *his* hands.


Deadpool's anatomy, as has been mentioned before, is all kinds of wonky in his introductory panel. And of course, Liefeld can't even get Bart Simpson right.

The recruitment scene, in which Cable & Domino look over images of former New Mutants, does more than anything to underscore the fact that Liefeld can only draw one type of face - remove the hair from those images, and you'd have no idea who was who. 

Teebore's Take
As the cover loudly proclaims, this issue features a trio of new characters appearing for the first time: Gideon, perhaps the most Liefeldian of the bunch, and thus the one who, not surprisingly, doesn't stick around long after the artist leaves; Domino, who mostly on the strength of a strong visual and the requisite mysterious past manages to hang on as fairly significant character in this corner of the X-universe for most of the 90s; and Deadpool, the one who surprisingly and somewhat inexplicably became the biggest star of the bunch, and arguably Marvel's biggest solo character success story since Wolverine (I can't think of another single character created after Wolverine who can account for almost 10% of Marvel's total sales at any point in time). Thus, this is perhaps the most historically significant issue of the series, one which is still sought after by collectors today, and perhaps the one modern single issue of an X-book that is most often considered first and foremost in the context of being a collectible, rather than a chapter in an ongoing serial narrative.

But aside from the three debuts of variable significance, this issue is also, effectively, the first appearance of X-Force (which is why it and the next two issues often get put into X-Force collections), as a Simonson-less Liefeld begins to transform the book into his own vision for the series. With the cast already whittled down by the events of "X-Tinction Agenda", with the death of Warlock and the departure of Wolfsbane, Liefeld quickly writes out Rictor, even as he brings in Domino (whose only connection to the team is, notably, Cable) to start talking change with Cable. It's an issue that, while best remembered for being "in with the new", is really more about "out with the old": out with old writers, old characters, old ways of doing things. The road to X-Force began a while ago, almost immediately after Liefeld came aboard, but this is where things kick into high gear. There's technically two more issues left in the series, but for all intents and purposes, New Mutants as it was is already gone.

Next Issue
Tomorrow, cybernetic ninjas attack in X-Factor #63. Next week, the new Fantastic Four debut in Fantastic Four #347-349, and the conclusion of "Girls School from Heck" in Excalibur #34.

Collected Editions
 
 

30 comments:

  1. As someone who hasn't followed current comics for some years now, Deadpool's popularity astounds me too. Back when I was an undergraduate his first series was regularly battling for survival with Marvel openly running a "Save Deadpool" website to boost subscriptions. It was a niche favourite but nobody could envisage all this.

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  2. Dani Moonstar, arguably the breakout star of the book and Claremont's hands-down favorite New Mutant: "Forget about it. Forget about her."

    Kind of says it all right there, doesn't it?

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    1. That whole scene just reads like Liefeld evaluating his predecessors' characters and going "Nope, mine are kewler". It's so gross now.

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    2. The points by both of you are extremely valid, but in-universe Cable would so totally not want anyone like Dani there to question himself. She wouldn't be taking any of the crap Cable is shoveling there at Cannonball.

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    3. Oh, absolutely... no argument there. In-universe, X-Force never happens if Dani is around.

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    4. Maybe, maybe not. When the Warren Ellis relaunch started back in 2000, Dani vented her frustration at the new direction of the team and in the end just walked away. Something similar might have happened here.

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  3. Mr. Tolliver will be revealed to be Cable's adult son (a reveal that couldn't possibly have been planned when the character was mentioned in this issue).

    Eat your hearts out, Onslaught & Lobdell.

    Roberto's father Emmanuel Da Costa, technically still the White Rook of the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle and a minor character in this series, dies this issue, seemingly poisoned by his assistant on orders from Gideon.

    It starts.

    "Powerful but not worth the effort."

    Translation: her booms are bigger than those from Cable's guns -> discard.

    Deadpool refers to Cable as "Nathan", the first time we've gotten any kind of real name for the character, and the first time he's indirectly linked to Cyclops' son, Nathan Christopher.

    Which connection Liefeld totally disowns, I believe. Curious. Was he going for to usurp the name from the young Summers for whatever reason, and had it blow into his face magnificently?

    Domino appearing right behind the bended-over Deadpool in her first panel of X-treme suggestiveness... we do not give the Rob the benefit of the doubt, right?

    Deadpool. Not a DC fellow, me, so how obvious do you guys feel the connection was here to that other *ade Wilson on the basis of the visual appearance and the moniker?

    Could it be Deadpool is lovable nowadays on the strength of his back catalogue that is 1) stand-alone enough for any potential new fan of his to get into and 2) good enough in terms of the utterly bonkers 4th wall breaking that occasionally got him mix his blurbs and yellow boxes with hilarity ensuing?

    Though I have wondered myself of him appearing on various internet fora as the avatar for posters of who I don't get the vibe of being into superheroics generally. It's like he was Che Guevara of the generation of disillusioned consumerists or something.

    Of course, he's the ultimate Liefeldian comic book hero in the way that he can plausibly be dropped from a plane to any old facility on the first page with little to no backstory to it and he can still deliver enjoyable story in his own terms. Or then people just like folks getting impaled with katanas. Worked for Hama's Wolverine too.

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    1. I like Deadpool, sometimes at least, but I don't get his insane popularity these days either. The Joe Kelly and Gail Simone issues of his solo series were mostly really good, and I absolutely loved Nicieza's CABLE & DEADPOOL (now rebranded in Omnibus format as DEADPOOL & CABLE, to give an idea of who wears the popularity pants in that relationship these days) -- but I find that most writers just use him as a vehicle to point out what they believe is the inherent stupidity of comics, and that just rubs me the wrong way. But -- not to come across as too Byrne-ish -- I wonder if that's not why people like the guy so much -- he sort of justifies their interest in superheroes by reassuring them that yes, this is all ridiculous, but it's okay because Deadpool is in the universe telling them so.

      Also, I've read where people consider him a bit of a ripoff of Deathstroke, though based on what little I've read of the Terminator I don't see that -- but I somehow never noticed the "__ade Wilson" connection, Teemu. That had to be intentional on Liefeld's part, right?

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    2. Was it Liefeld who gave him that civilian name, or was it someone else at some point, maybe a teensy bit to underline the obvious-to-the-namer homage? Won't scholar it up myself now, as we are entering area I have never read yet myself and want to do freshly.

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    3. @Teemu: // [H]ow obvious do you guys feel the connection was here to that other *ade Wilson on the basis of the visual appearance and the moniker? //

      I always figured there was some pretty direct, um, inspiration going on, particularly as concerns the mask and Deadpool packing both firearms and swords on his back. While I haven’t read much in the way of Deadpool stories, I’m under the impression too that he’s called “Wade” more often than “Wilson” even by folks who don’t know him that familiarly, and Deathstroke is infamous for being referred to as “Slade” all the time in situations where his first name is not appropriate. I don’t know how much you can blame Liefeld for non-visual similarities, though, like you say.

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    4. I too have a soft spot for Nicieza's CABLE & DEADPOOL series. I also read the Gail Simone/Udon issues of DEADPOOL (towards the end of his original series), the ones with Taskmaster as a supporting cast member, and mostly enjoyed them. I'd probably enjoy the Joe Kelly run, if I ever get around to reading it. I mostly didn't mind him in the various X-FORCE relaunches of the last few years. But I haven't read any of his series since he became the huge hit that he is now. I think a little goes a long way.

      As for the similarities to Deathstroke, I mean, some of that has to be intentional, though I could totally see Liefeld totally coming up with him on his own and the similarities were just a coincidence, and then later creators winkingly played them up.

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  4. But, really: people willingly pay several hundreds for the issue? Reading it now for the first time ever caused me actual physical pain and I'm wondering if the future oath of "Stab my eyes!" didn't in fact come from some Marvel employee who didn't get caught by the reality distortion field back in the day. Hundreds of bucks, and then they see their beloved Deadpool bound, gagged, posted and possibly dominated on-panel on his first appearance.

    Any info how much does the first (?) Deadpool solo limited series with Siryn and Black Tom fetch on the markets? I would think it's too superheroics for the modern day fans of Deadpool.

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    1. I'm fairly certain anyone paying hundreds of dollars for any issue at this point is paying that simply to have the issue, not to actually read it (which in the case of slabbed books would be entirely beside the point). Barring some obscure Golden Age/Silver Age stuff, pretty much everything is available nowadays, either in a reprint, a collection, digitially, etc. if all you want to do is read an issue in question. But collecting, the simple act of getting and having something, is still an active part of the hobby (see also: variant covers).

      I myself am on a quest to own a physical, readable (but they don't have to be mint) copy of every issue of X-MEN and AVENGERS, despite the fact that I've already read the stories contained therein and probably won't ever read the actual physical issues (instead re-reading them via collections or digital editions), though I'd be hard pressed to spend hundreds of dollars on any one issue outside the first.

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  5. (to be clear, I'm not criticizing the issue - that Rictor would refuse to believe that and erroneously think she needs to be "rescued" is entirely within character)

    I am. "It's been weeks!"... so he has been like this the whole time then? It's hardly conceivable that he's been like meh for three weeks but just today woke up fuming about it.

    It's just Boomer of the new New Mutants who made it past this point, right? And it's getting sparse with the old ones, too. They could technically have given Liefeld a completely new title to play with.

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    1. I can totally see Rictor whining like that for weeks. It would even play into Boom-Boom's "I didn't think he was serious..." comment when his absence is discovered next issue.

      And yeah, Boom-Boom is the only one of the New New Mutants left, and after next issue, it'll just be her and Sam that have been around since before #87.

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  6. And no, I'm not trying to push the comments counter to Cable-premieresque figures all by myself, but as I feel it's subtly hinted here that Deadpool's popularity belies all sensibility, I'll own up here and now that I have been rooting for him since learning of the incident where it was revealed that he misunderstood Taskmaster wanting to infiltrate to the SHIELD Helicarrier because of stealing some pimp articles and, moreover, was totally unquestioning about it, to the utter consternation of Taskmaster.

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  7. Tolliver's name means "metalworker" so I wonder if Liefeld initially intended him as Magneto?

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    1. Technically "ironcutter", which sounds more like the fifth member of the Wrecking Crew who left before they became famous.

      Though, I was longing after Loki as an X-villain very recently, so it'd be fine by me if it would be revealed that it was Loki (of Wrecking Crew connections) behind it, having his vengeance on Cyclops by having his son killed by one of Loki's "it's your own hand that's hitting you" maneuvers meant to circumvent the dictate by Those Who Sit Above In Shadows.

      Would fit nicely really with the 'Nathan' reveal on the very same issue, and Cable of course is already onto him at this point enough to not want Dani of Asgard there to see through it with her valkyrie powers and ruin everything.

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    2. I frankly have a hard time imagining Liefeld intending anything, other than "here's a cool new mystery! Don't worry, I'll figure it out later!"

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    3. Has there ever been any explanation of Cable’s name, in-story or just what prompted Liefeld (or Simonson, or Harras) to go with that?

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    4. I have way too easy time imagining Liefeld (and/or Tyler) settling on pseudonym "Tolliver" just because it's kind of close to "Tyler" (if they have settled up with that yet). Because nothing shouts "cool new villain" like the name Tyler Tolliver. (he said, painfully conscious of his own alliterative name)

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  8. That reveal in X-Force that Domino had been an impostor and a traitor from the start was so hacky. As if we needed another evil doppelganger after the Stryfe reveal. Or the Madrox story in X-Factor. Or the "traitor from within" deal that had just been teased with Gambit. Or ...

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    1. Yeah, that was one of the earliest plot developments that didn't sit right with me. I pretty much ate up whatever the creators were putting out around the time (it was early in my comics reading). I don't know that I had a critical enough outlook at the time to say "that was dumb and unnecessary!" but I definitely didn't think it was awesome, and the idea that the Domino I'd been reading about wasn't the real deal didn't sit right with me.

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  9. Isn't this whole issue one big long 501 Genes? Just from the panels you posted:

    *Why is Domino attempting to mount Deadpool? For that matter, why can't Liefeld get her costume details from one panel to the next correct? Not to mention the anatomy and proportions of her body...
    *That must have been the world's most painful poison used on Emmanuel Da Costa.
    *Is Cannonball landing/jumping in that panel with Cable?
    *For that matter, if they are having a civil conversation in the next panel, why is Cannonball doing the patented Shouting at Someone With His Eyes Closed look?
    *Speaking of bad anatomy/proportions, Boom-Boom's pose while talking to Rictor looks painful. And why aren't they facing each other?

    Yeesh, this hasn't aged well at all. Granted, even back then, Liefeld's art had certain tics which I never really liked, but that, that is just some shittastic artwork right there. And it honestly hasn't gotten better. I can't believe he still has fans to this day who would spend money him.

    You can really feel Simonson's absence from the title. Whatever lip service Cable gave towards trying to find Rusty and Skids is pretty much shrugged off. The tone of Cable as a character has shifted as well. Before, he was a hard case but at least he seemed to have some interest in teaching the kids. Now he's shifted to being a stone cold general looking to fight a war. And yes, the way former characters are dismissed as being too lame for Liefeld's Kewl Kids squad is kind of a slap in the face to long term readers of this title (well, the ones who were left at this point).

    And the worst is yet to come...

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    1. Isn't this whole issue one big long 501 Genes? Just from the panels you posted:

      Pretty much, yeah. I just highlighted the things which stuck out at me as being more humorous than most.

      The tone of Cable as a character has shifted as well. Before, he was a hard case but at least he seemed to have some interest in teaching the kids. Now he's shifted to being a stone cold general looking to fight a war.

      This really becomes apparent next issue. His dismissal of Sunspot is so...petulant and nonchalant that it reads like the character is supposed to be mind-controlled or making some kind of larger point, but nope, he's just a dick now.

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  10. I’m kind-of impressed that Liefeld even bothered trying to draw some furniture in Boom-Boom’s room, but… Oy. Never mind that her bed appears to simply be a mattress straight on the floor, since that could actually be explained away as makeshift appropriation of the space for living quarters, but her night table is enormous.

    // as he uses the "abilities" of the robots attacking him //

    So I guess he could absorb those of a camera or an airplane or a dishwasher.

    // eventually Mr. Tolliver will be revealed to be Cable's adult son //

    Is that Terry or Tad or whomever? Wait — Tyler! Just remembered!

    // Rictor, who quits this issue //

    I’ll take your word for it that he’s no longer considered a team member going forward, but this seems like not so much quitting as defying Cable to (attempt to) bring Wolfsbane into the New Mutants fold.

    // as Gideon mysteriously arrives in Roberto's bedroom //

    Maybe Deadpool and Gideon could break into the X-Mansion bunker, fine, but it doesn’t scan for them to do it without setting off alarms.

    // Gideon is introduced on the first page with a pair of hands floating in front of him. //

    Liefeld definitely has a thing for splayed fingers. Hands pretty much do either that or make fists unless the situation absolutely demands otherwise, like when Roberto’s father is grasping his Magical Deadly Cup of Strange Metal and Changing Size.

    // Liefeld can't even get Bart Simpson right //

    I’m actually going to mildly defend him here and point out that, to my eyes at least, it’s not a terrible Bart Simpson, and furthermore I know from both observation and first-hand exerpience that it’s much, much harder to draw characters with such inflexible parameters of style on-model, your Mickey Mouse and old-school Archie and Richie Rich, than it is to do creditable jobs on superheroic figures in general; I once saw George Pérez's version of Sergio Aragonés’ Groo and he didn't quite get it right.

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    1. Never mind that her bed appears to simply be a mattress straight on the floor, since that could actually be explained away as makeshift appropriation of the space for living quarters, but her night table is enormous.

      That's another recurring Liefeld-ism (the boxspring-less mattress). I'm pretty sure there's other examples in his Image work of characters' mattresses just sitting on the floor, but then in close ups, they're sitting on the mattress like its raised up off the floor, as a normal one would be.

      So I guess he could absorb those of a camera or an airplane or a dishwasher.

      Right? That just seems like a power a twelve year old scribbling in a notebook would come up with, something that seems cool on the surface ("absorb the abilities of anything around you!") but falls apart the moment you give it any thought. Which, I guess, is Liefeld in a nutshell.

      Is that Terry or Tad or whomever? Wait — Tyler! Just remembered!

      Gold star! Poor Tyler. His super-villain name (Genesis) is as unremarkable as his given name (no offense to the Tyler's of the world. It's just that when we meet him, "Tyler" seems like an ill-fit for the character).

      I’ll take your word for it that he’s no longer considered a team member going forward, but this seems like not so much quitting as defying Cable to (attempt to) bring Wolfsbane into the New Mutants fold.

      Yeah, a better creative team, one more interested in legitimately transitioning NEW MUTANTS into X-FORCE, would return to this character at some point in time, but Liefeld is simply clearing the deck of the characters he doesn't like, and it falls on Nicieza to bring back Rictor.


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    2. Genesis is a name that Bishop and Trevor Fitzroy will soon enough try to slag on Forge too. Would've been better if someone did think twice.

      But the most horrifying part is that Tyler would be what the Summers bloodline will come down to.

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  11. One thing? Was Domino MEANT to be Copycat at this point in time, or was she thought of as the real Domino? Because by the time the "revelation" happened Rob was already off the book. Was this an example of utelizing Liefeld's original idea to completion, or was this a way of Nicieza creating a sudden "shocking twist" to needlessly complicate a situation (which he has an unfortunate habit of doing, as we'll see when we get to the awful, awful "Revanche" storyline.) I just have to wo der because this seems like a bizarre thing to do with a BRAND NEW character.

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  12. I read this issue for the first time ever last night... and was literally laughing out loud, which has never happened to me when reading comics. Even as someone who enjoyed The Rob's artwork as a 10 year old, now, at 38 it is just straight comedy.

    Some of the more entertaining pieces:

    1. The top portion of Senor DaCosta's office chair changes shapes 3 times in two pages.

    2. The coffee "cup" DaCosta drinks his poison from looks more like an infamous Liefeld pouch than a cup.

    3. DaCosta doesn't just sip his coffee, nor does he even drink it like a normal person... rather, he opens his mouth and throws it down his throat (this had me laughing the hardest).

    4. During the conversation between Boom Boom and Rictor in Rictor's room, Boomer takes a liking to a large pot on the dresser (you know, because Rob decided to randomly draw SOMETHING to make the place not look so sparse) and ends up pointing at it a lot while speaking to Rictor.

    5. The books on the bookshelves in the library when Cable is attacked by Deadpool are absolutely gigantic. They look like they are maybe two and a half feet long, each.

    6. The pistol Deadpool is pointing at Cable has either no hand grip or a bent one.

    7. Domino mounting Deadpool (glad I wasn't the only one who caught this... I don't feel so pervy now).

    8. Boomer's nightstand is at first, huge, then in the next panel it shrinks and both a digital clock and Rictor's note magically appear on it.

    That said, I did still enjoy the issue. I look at it as just a silly Rob comic and still find the fun in it that I did as a kid.

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