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

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

X-amining X-Men (vol. 2) #64

May 1997

In a Nutshell
The X-Men, Kingpin, and Sebastian Shaw faceoff over the Elixir Vitae. 

Plot: Scott Lobdell
Script: Ben Raab
Pencils: Carlos Pacheco 
Inks: Art Thibert
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colorist: Chris Lichtner, Aron Lusen & Liquid Color
Editor: Bob Harras

Plot
The X-Men confront Wilson Fisk, the former Kingpin of New York crime, who has control over the Elixir Vitae now that he's the CEO of Fujikawa Enterprises. When Wolverine threatens Fisk, he reveals that he's captured Cannonball, and threatens to inject him with an experimental Legacy Virus vaccine. Meanwhile, Sebastian Shaw infiltrates the Fujikawa building. Upstairs, Cyclops tries to reason with Fisk. The villain refuses to hand over the elixir, as he plans to use it in the same way as Shaw, to create a Legacy Virus cure and corner the market for it. But Fisk does release Cannonball as a peace offering. Elsewhere, Bastion taunts a captive Jubilee. In Hong Kong, Shaw confronts Fisk and the X-Men. Fisk calls in his Si-Fan ninjas. But before violence erupts, Storm calls down a bolt of lighting, destroying the Elixir Vitae rather than risk it falling into Shaw or Fisk's hands. Later, as the X-Men are flying home, Jean is suddenly hit by a burst of psychic energy just as their plane is attacked by Operation: Zero Tolerance. 

Monday, September 16, 2024

Transformers #1 (September 1984) – The Commercial, Not the Comic

Gene Kendall returns again -- I guess I threatened to do this, so here we are. Having exhausted the known archives of animated G. I. Joe commercials for the Marvel series, it does make a certain amount of sense to cover the other Marvel/Hasbro collaboration of the day, those wily robots in disguise.