In a Nutshell
Writer: Terry Kavanagh
Penciler: Roger Cruz
Inker: Bud LaRosa
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colorist: Mike Thomas
Editor: Jaye Gardner
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras
Plot
Plot
Angry with the Brotherhood for using him to retrieve cannisters of a toxic gas called Coldsnap and not swayed by Havok and Fatale's arguments that the Dark Beast of Nate's reality is helping Aurora, Nate storms off to get Aurora and leave the Brotherhood. When he wakes her up, she immediately comes on to him, only to shortly thereafter freak out at her naked form as her Jeanne-Marie personality surfaces. Reluctantly, Nate realizes Dark Beast might actually be her best chance for help, and leaves on his own. He finds Havok waiting for him at the exit of the Brotherhood's secret base. Havok once again tries to convince Nate to stay, arguing that the Brotherhood is the antithesis of the X-Men: they simply believe mutants should fight for their rights instead of for coexistence with humans. After Havok leaves, Fatale arrives, and kisses Nate. Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, Sebastian Shaw presides over the induction of Madelyne Pryor to the Hellfire Club, much to Selene's dismay. Back at the Brotherhood base, Nate confronts Dark Beast, threatening him should he fail to help Aurora. Then he proceeds to where the Brotherhood is keeping the containers of Coldsnap, triggering an alarm that draws Havok and Fatale. When they arrive, they discover the containers emtpy and Nate either unconscious, or dead.
Firsts and Other Notables
Nate's musing on whether or not to stay with the Brotherhood prompt a mult-page flashback to "Age of Apocalypse" and his escape from the slave pens, which also highlights the fact that many of the people he's surrounded by now — Dark Beast, Havok, and Aurora — were in close proximity to one another in that reality.
Firsts and Other Notables
Nate's musing on whether or not to stay with the Brotherhood prompt a mult-page flashback to "Age of Apocalypse" and his escape from the slave pens, which also highlights the fact that many of the people he's surrounded by now — Dark Beast, Havok, and Aurora — were in close proximity to one another in that reality.
Also, Nate talks about reading Havok's mind to learn his motivations, and it sure seems like he's probing around deep enough to learn that Havok is faking being evil, as later stories will say he's doing at this point.
Madelyne Pryor is welcomed into the Hellfire Club (or, at least, Shaw's semi-official Hong Kong branch; he seems to have gained control of official club premises from Shinobi's Inner Circle at some point, a conflict that has yet to be dramatized) this issue, though it's not clear if she's being inducted into the Inner Circle as well at this time. Selene is not happy about Madelyne's induction, though I don't recall if that goes anywhere other than "typical Inner Circle in-fighting."
A Work in Progress
We're still working out Dark Beast's nomenclature; he's referred to as both the "Black Beast" and "Dark Beast" in this issue.
The Grim 'n' Gritty 90s
It needs to be underscored that under the blue jacket that is effectively his signature look, Nate is wearing a mesh t-shirt like he's heading out for a night at the club.
While I'm rarely excited to dive into an issue of X-Man, I have to admit, this isn't terrible. At it's core, X-Man #28 is relatively quiet issue — what little action there is mostly occurs in flashback or off-page — in which the drama is built around a character having to make a difficult choice. Where it falters is in the trappings of its time. Roger Cruz does perfectly fine work, but he's not exactly an artist adept at wringing drama out of characters arguing moral philosophy, so much of the issue is basically just characters standing and talking against different backdrops. It also doesn't help that the characters presenting the dilemma to Nate are the Josef Mengele of his world, a functionally-random purple lady, and Havok during his very weird "I'm evil now, I swear it!" period. Which is to say, Terry Kavanagh doesn't quite sell the idea that Nate wouldn't just tell this crew to take a hike once Dark Beast is shown to be in the mix, nor that readers should be terribly invested in whether or not this poor man's Cable is going to throw in with the fourth-most interesting (at best) iteration of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants or not. Compared to earlier issues of this series, this is absolutely a solid, well-constructed comic that presents a conflict and then resolves it. But all the specific details that go into that conflict make it hard to get passionate about it.
Next Issue
X-Factor #135 or Sabretooth & Mystique #1-4!
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Those have to be some of the most back-handed praise I have ever seen you heap on a comic in a review. Then again, "not being terrible" is a compliment for this series.
ReplyDeleteI had dropped this series around the time of Onslaught, and it doesn't look like I missed much.
I have a feeling this stuff with Selene, Madelyne, and the rest of the Hellfire Club doesn't really go anywhere.
Cruz is really at the peak of his Madureira knock-off era here.
What even is that top part of Havok’s “mask” (inside vs. on the cover, not seen in your scans) — a decal he sticks on his forehead?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had a slightly better time with this one than previous issues. No weird incestuous Nate/Madelyne stuff make for much more enjoyable reading.
ReplyDeleteAs a faithful reader of your blog since 2018, I just want to say the detail of your reviews are incredible! I learned of your blog by through Gene Kendell's Not Blog X. He really seemed to loath X-Man, and for good reason. I'd love to see you focus more on just the core X-Men titles and hopefully get to Mike Carey's run on X-Men Vol. 2 around the time of Messiah Complex. I loved that run and I can't seem to find other blogs reviewing that era. Any chance you'll give up on reviewing X-Man, like GK did, and focus more on the core titles?
In the meantime, keep it up with the great reviews!