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Tuesday, November 27, 2018

X-aminations in December


After what seems like months and months of build up, this month finally sees the release of Generation X #1, the eighth(!) monthly X-book! Meanwhile, fresh off "Phalanx Covenant", X-Factor begins the lead-up to "Age of Apocalypse", all the books get the Deluxe treatment, and we look at the third series of Marvel Masterpieces cards.

On Sale September 1994
December 5: Uncanny X-Men #318
December 6: X-Factor #108
December 7: Wolverine #87

December 12: X-Men (vol. 2) #38
December 13: X-Force #40
December 14: Excalibur #83

December 19: Generation X #1

December 26: Unstacking the Deck: Marvel Masterpieces Series III

Power Rankings July 1994
In which "Phalanx Covenant" lifts some ships and sinks others. 

1. Uncanny X-Men #316
2. X-Men (vol. 2) #36

The flag ship books are in the top spots once again, with Uncanny edging out its little brother on the back of Joe Maduereira's art and a creepy horror movie vibe to kick off "Phalanx Covenant". 

3. Wolverine #85

Wolverine bounces back strongly thanks to the return of Adam Kubert and narrative relevance, with a a fun crackjack kickoff to "Final Sanction". 

4. Cable #15

Jeph Loeb comes aboard the series with a fun character-driven story. Some of the stuff involving the Morlock Ceremony of Light seems like nonsense, but Cable & Domino going on a date is inoffensive fun. 

5. Excalibur #81
6. Excalibur Annual #2
7. X-Men Unlimited #6

This is pretty much the "average" line for the month, with all three books featuring mostly fine, largely character-driven stories and art that ranges from "serviceable" to "swipey", with the end result straddling the line between good and bad.

8. X-Force #38
9. X-Factor #106

The boring, dirge-like "Life Signs" drags down a couple of titles that are routinely pretty strong. X-Force gets the edge thanks to Tony Daniel's art being slightly more interesting than Duursema's, and the fact that some of the X-characters actually fight some Phalanx in that one.

1 comment:

  1. I still barely manage to read along with your UNCANNY and X-MEN stuff, but I'm going to try to read along with GENERATION X and EXCALIBUR (now that Warren Ellis is aboard) as well. We'll see how long that lasts!

    (The problem, not that it's any concern of yours, is that when I read these issues, I want to binge them. So I might read like two or three issues each of UNCANNY and X-MEN, then wait for you to catch up with me, then realize -- uh oh! -- you're about to do a post about the next issue of one or the other, and I forgot that I haven't read it yet! It's really a surprisingly delicate balancing act...!)

    ReplyDelete

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