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Monday, March 22, 2021

X-aminations in April 2021 & April 1996 Power Rankings

 


We head into month two of "Onslaught", which broadens to include more of the larger Marvel Universe, while a couple of X-books, having made their obligatory contribution to the crossover, move on to other things. And just because there's not already enough X-content out there, apparently, let's throw in an annual too, why not? 

On Sale July 1996
March 31: Uncanny X-Men #336
April 2: X-Factor #126
April 3: Onslaught Tie-Ins: Amazing Spider-Man #415, Spider-Man #72, Green Goblin #12 & Punisher #11. 

April 7: Cable #35
April 8: X-Force #58 
April 9: Excalibur #101 

April 14: X-Man #19
April 15: Generation X #19
April 16: Wolverine #105

April 21: X-Men (vol. 2) #56
April 22: X-Men Unlimited #12

April 28: Uncanny X-Men '96

Power Rankings On Sale April 1996
A much stronger month overall, as "Onslaught" draws nearer, with really only two issues falling below the "average" line. 

1. X-Men (vol. 2) #53: Onslaught's pitch to Jean Grey as the looming crossover draws nearer. 
2. X-Force #55: A (mostly) done-on-one that showcases X-Force at their most X-Force-iest as they rescue Cyclops from SHIELD. 

3. Uncanny X-Men #333: A mostly table-setting breather ahead of "Onslaught". 
4. Excalibur #98: The rare action-forward issue of the series. 
5. Wolverine #102: Adam Kubert's last issue gets the "silent" treatment. Slight, but points for doing something a little different.   

6. X-Men Unlimited #11: A great encapsulation of what this series does best, for better and worse. 
7. Generation X #16: In a weaker month, this would be probably be higher, but the lack of Bachalo keeps it down in the face of stronger competition. 
8. Cable #32: Like Generation X #16, not bad, but largely forgettable in the face of better issues this month. 

9. X-Man #16: Suffers from being more or less a straight rehash of the previous issue. 
10. X-Factor #123: Sabretooth's formal introduction to the book, and the introduction of the goes-nowhere Hound. 

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1 comment:

  1. Wow, X-Man ahead of X-Factor? Even if it's only slightly, dang.

    ReplyDelete

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