Talking about comic books, TV shows, movies, sports, and the numerous other pastimes that make us Gentlemen of Leisure.

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

X-amining X-Men (vol. 2) #59

"Touched"
December 1996

In a Nutshell
Cyclops goes to the movies while Hercules visits the X-Mansion. 

Story: Scott Lobdell
Script: Ralph Macchio 
Pencils: Andy Kubert
Inks: Art Thibert
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft AD
Colorist: Joe Rosas
Enhancement: Graphic Colorworks
Editor: Bob Harras

Plot
In the aftermath of his recent encounter with his brother, Cyclops is watching Mr. Smith Goes to Washington at by himself at a theater, until Jean finds him. Meanwhile, Hercules arrives at the X-Mansion, seeking out surviving Avengers. Quicksilver is brooding by the lake, and Wolverine tries to help him deal with the loss of his wife and sister. Later, Quicksilver encounters Joseph, and angrily reminds him of all the lives he ruined as Magneto before running off. At Graydon Creed's campaign headquarters, the undercover Iceman worries about his father, who was arrested for speaking out against Creed, while Cannonball has a strange conversation with Creed about his parents. Back at the X-Mansion, Quicksilver leaves with Hercules, who cautions him not to hold grudges. At the theater, Cyclops and Jean discuss Professor X and conclude that Xavier never took the time to appreciate the simple things in life, while Cyclops and Jean at least have each other. With Xavier gone, it's up to them to carry on his dream. 

Firsts and Other Notables
This is Andy Kubert's final issue as the series' regular artist, a run which stretches all the way back to issue #14 (albeit with the occasional fill-in) and outlasted two different regular writers. He leaves to pencil the new Ka-Zar series, launched as part of Marvel's wave of post-"Heroes Reborn" new series. 

Hercules guest stars in this issue, seeking out Quicksilver as part of a quest to bring together whatever Avengers remain on Earth (Hercules was off Earth during "Onslaught", helping return fellow Avenger Deathcry to her Shi'ar home). Though the pair leave together, the Avengers never really reform (despite there being more than a few former members still hanging around). Instead, Hercules will end up as part of the cast of a new Heroes for Hire series, while Quicksilver will get his own book where he leads a team of the High Evolutionary's Knights of Wundagore, two more of Marvel's "gap filling" series. 


When discussing the campaign with Iceman, one of Creed's staffers uses the phrase "What is...is" (aka the mantra of the Askani) in a way that suggests it is deliberative, possibly teasing some kind of connection between her and Cable's future religious sect, but nothing ever comes of this (if anything was ever actually even meant to). 


Cyclops spends most of this issue watching Mr. Smith Goes to Washington at a revival (presumably) theater, and the movie is depicted via stills of the film being inserted into the art, with dialogue laid over it.  

A Work in Progress
Wolverine gives Quicksilver a pep talk about grief, referencing the death of Mariko and telling him he believes the dead would want them to go on living. 


Joseph is working on his device to help Rogue control her powers in the chamber beneath the mansion where Xavier fought off the Z'Nox and Jean hid Juggernaut from Onslaught (briefly). 

Quicksilver reminds Joseph that as Magneto, he was kind of a shitty person. 


Iceman's dad has been arrested as a result of his outburst in the previous issue

Remember "Onslaught"? 
Beast gives Hercules a new-reader friendly recap of "Onslaught". 


Artistic Achievements
I know the idea in this panel is supposed to be that Cannonball is closer to the "camera" and thus appears larger than Creed due to perspective, but it just looks like Cannonball is enormous and Creed is especially diminutive. 


The Grim 'n' Gritty 90s
As Cyclops and Jean leave the theater, there is a post for Independence Day, as well as one advertising a Ka-Zar movie coming soon, presumably a reference to Kubert's new gig.  


Austin's Analysis
More of the same, really, with Lobdell giving the both series a similar "between crossovers" approach of structuring issues around a bunch of different events, some of which are setups and some dealing with the ramifications of previous events, rather than a specific self-contained or multi-part narrative. So here, for example, there's more Graydon Creed setup (leading in to events in Uncanny X-Men #340), and some more development of the Joseph/Rogue stuff from last issue (which will culminate in Uncanny X-Men #341), while, looking back, there's more dealing with the aftermath of "Onslaught", as Hercules shows up looking for fellow Avengers survivor Quicksilver, as well as the more immediate fallout from the revelation (to the X-Men) of Havok's apparent heel turn in Uncanny #339. All of which is fine for what it is, and certainly in keeping with Lobdell's general approach to both books post-"Onslaught", but it is a shame that Andy Kubert isn't given something more definitive or significant to draw in his swan song as the series' longest serving artist. 

Next Issue
Tomorrow, Wolverine does his thing in Wolverine #108. Next week, X-Factor #129!

Like what you read? Then support us on Patreon & gain access to exclusive reviews of Ms. MarvelThe Champions, and more!

14 comments:

  1. Never liked the scene of Cyclops in the movie theater. He was always a loner, but not weird. I can imagine him walking alone in a park, but not watching an old movie and eating popcorn like a maniac, while dressed as a sex offender waiting for a victim. It’s not like he’s a celebrity and has to avoid recognition. Why is he dressed like that? Even Cyclops would think it’s odd to sit alone there. A fine example of “flanderization”.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What's wrong with seeing a movie by yourself? I used to do it all the time.

      Delete
    2. I'm more concerned with the outfit. He looks positively Poochyfied.

      Delete
    3. Austin, you misunderstood me. The problem is not watching a movie by yourself (I’ve done that as well), but watching it in an empty theater while dressed as a potential sex predator.

      Delete
    4. Ah, gotcha. Yeah, I definitely took it more as an attempt to make Scott look "trendy", but there's definitely some creepy vibes to it.

      Delete
  2. I know I've said this a million times -- though I feel like it's been a while -- but I'm always kind of amazed at how many action-free (or vey light action) issues of X-MEN and UNCANNY there were in the 90s. Especially between crossovers, it often feels more like you're reading the comic book equivalent of a daytime soap opera than of, say, a primetime action/adventure series.

    Not making a value judgment, by the way! When done well, I love the soap opera stuff -- often more than the action stuff. Lobdell and Nicieza did a great job of it earlier in the decade, circa between "X-Cutioner's Song" and "Age of Apocalypse". I just kind of feel like Lobdell is running on fumes with that stuff at this point, aside from, perhaps, the Rogue/Joseph material.

    "He leaves to pencil the new Ka-Zar series, launched as part of Marvel's wave of post-"Heroes Reborn" new series."

    Maybe it's a little "elitist" of me, but I remember thinking at the time what a waste it was that Marvel was putting an A-list penciler on a C-list character like Ka-Zar. Of course, Kubert didn't stick around too long, eventually leaving the series for CAPTAIN AMERICA after the first year or so.

    On a side note, I remember reading KA-ZAR and not enjoying it all that much. Though my main sticking point was actually with the series' use of Thanos. It didn't jibe with Jim Starlin's version, which drove me nuts. I have this weird thing where, for the most part I believe that the characters belong to the companies and no single creator has claim to any of them -- except when it comes to Thanos, Adam Warlock, and Starlin's other signature characters. I really hate when anyone other than Starlin, or someone with his exact sensibilities, handles them.

    "When discussing the campaign with Iceman, one of Creed's staffers uses the phrase "What is...is" (aka the mantra of the Askani) in a way that suggests it is deliberative, possibly teasing some kind of connection between her and Cable's future religious sect, but nothing ever comes of this (if anything was ever actually even meant to)."

    It's so weird... just about an hour ago, I was at the Marvel Wiki doing research on a post for my own blog, and I wound up going down a bit of a rabbit hole which led me to Graydon Creed's entry. There's a note at the bottom of his page, stating that Lobdell's original intention was for the Sisterhood of the Askani to assassinate Creed, pointing to this issue as a hint that they had planted someone in his campaign. I have no idea where the Wiki got this idea, if Lobdell has ever spoken about it anywhere, but it's interesting.

    (Side note: I was quite surprised to learn that Creed has apparently come back to life, died, come back to life again, died again, and come back to life for a third time since I stopped reading X-books!)

    I feel like I heard Lobdell was blacklisted recently, and I'm sure it's probably deserved -- but it's unfortunate he got himself in that position. I would've loved to see him do an arc on X-MEN LEGENDS. There are so many random tidbits he could revisit.

    "I know the idea in this panel is supposed to be that Cannonball is closer to the "camera" and thus appears larger than Creed due to perspective, but it just looks like Cannonball is enormous and Creed is especially diminutive."

    Yeah, I did a crazy double-take when I got to this one! I think Kubert positioned the "camera" too low to the ground. If he'd framed it so their waists were around the same level, it would look better.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I really wish we had been given an in universe reason as to why a new Avengers team wasn't formed. It is really strange since the characters who got "Onslaught red" have left the team in other heroes hands before. Most of them were still around, if I'm not mistaken. Ultimately, there's only so many ways I can complain about that point.

    I am glad to see Lobdell using the space to lampshade events of Onslaught while moving the characters into place for their next story arcs. I do think Lobdell is strongest when he's only working on the Uncanny series. You can definitely tell, though, that he's not exactly sure where to go next to keep things running until O:ZT.

    It is too bad Lobdell got himself in trouble as I, also, would have liked to seen him on X-Men Legends. I wonder what the odds are of getting Mark Waid to do an arc on that series.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder what the odds are of getting Mark Waid to do an arc on that series.

      Probably pretty long; from what I understand, Waid still doesn't reflect fondly his brief time in the X-office, and generally has little to no interest in the X-Men overall.

      Delete
    2. I think there was an annual that touched on that where Widow tried but it was halfhearted and everyone she approached was disinterested.

      Delete
    3. I'm not sure it was an annual. There's possibly something in the Hulk/Hercules Unleashed one-shot which sees Herc return to Earth (although I can't actually recall Avengers making anything of his and Deathcry going off into space at the time - it didn't help that the book didn't have a regular writer for its last eight issues or so) to learn what's happened and then he seeks out the Hulk to invade Olympus to use some tool of Zeus's or other. And it seems the Black Widow, Hercules and Quicksilver did make a guest appearance as the last Avengers standing in the Imperial Guard limited series. But by the end of the year the Black Widow was off a mission of vengeance against old Avengers foes when she appeared in Daredevil.

      Delete
  4. Why is Lobdell blacklisted? what happened?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I still find it funny that my introduction to Thanos was via that Ka-zar book. It was the first time I'd picked up a series solely for the creative team and i remember it being really good. I allways assumed Kubert would make his way back to the X-men at some point but besides the stint on Ultimate with his brother he never did and it still bums me out. Hopefully one day

    ReplyDelete
  6. Its kind of sad that this is Kubert's final issue of Vol.2 He really seemed to gel with Nicieza. His run actually is longer than John Byrne on Uncanny vol.1 if you count the Amazing x-men (AOA) issues which puts him at 40 issues total from 1992-1996.

    ReplyDelete

Comment. Please. Love it? Hate it? Are mildly indifferent to it? Let us know!