X-amining Starjammers #1-4

"Cepheid Variable" / "Nebulae" / "Collapsar" / "Nova"
October 1995 - January 1996

In a Nutshell
The Starjammers are caught in a war between the Shi'ar and the Uncreated!

Writer: Warren Ellis
Penciler: Carlos Pacheco
Inkers: Cam Smith, Mike Miller (issue #2), Mike Christian, Art Nichols & Andew Pepoy (issue #3),  Bob Wicek, Dan Panosian & Mark Pennington (issue #4)
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colors: Joe Rosas
Computer Color: Malibu
Editor: Suzanne Gaffney
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

Plot
Following the annexation of the Kree Empire by the Shi'ar, the Starjammers have been helping resettle Kree refugees on worlds of the Clench, a loose confederation of worlds independent of the Shi'ar, operating out of a Clench world called Standing Still. Meanwhile, planets - both Clench & Shi'ar - are being wiped out by the alien Uncreated who, having killed the being they believed to be their god, are wiping out all worlds which practice any sort of religion. When a small fleet of Shi'ar battlecruisers engage the Uncreated, they discover they only possess three ships, despite their massive power. During the ensuing fight, one of the three craft is damaged, though the Shi'ar sustain heavy losses. The Starjammers get caught in the crossfire, and end up hiding inside a nearby nebula. As Lilandra orders her Minister of Peace, a former supporter of her mad brother, to assemble an armada to face the Uncreated, the Starjammers discover the damaged Uncreated ship is hiding in the nebula as well. They manage to destroy it - gaining access to valuable intel about the Uncreated in the process - but the Starjammer is badly damaged and stalled as the Shi'ar close in.

X-amining X-Men (vol. 2) '95

"A Sinister Heart" / "Words"
November 1995

In a Nutshell
Genesis targets Mr. Sinister through his relationship with a former actress.

Writers: J.M. DeMatteis & Ralph Macchio, Scott Lobdell with Matt Idelson (2nd Story)
Pencils: Terry Dodson & John Paul Leon, Ramon Bernardo (2nd Story)
Inks: Jon Holdredge & Shawn Martinborough,  P. Craig Russell (2nd Story)
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colors: Mike Thomas, Mike Rockwitz (2nd Story)
Editor: Mark Powers
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

Plot
Beast & Jean Grey are at Beast's cabin in the Catskills, awaiting the arrival of Cyclops & Archangel for a weekend of relaxation, when they're attacked by the Dark Riders. Jean is captured, but manages to leave a faint telepathic trail for Beast to follow. Jean is taken to a Hollywood mansion, where Genesis, master of the Dark Riders, has captured an old woman named Faye Livingstone, drawing the attention of Mr. Sinister. Genesis wants Jean to read Faye's mind in order to learn why Mr. Sinister secretly visits her every year. Sinister, held at bay with Faye captured, recalls his romantic relationship with her in Depression Era Hollywood, how she ultimately found his secret lab and he was forced to hold her captive in order to conduct genetic experiments on her. Beast arrives and fights his way inside the mansion, where he convinces Jean to do as Genesis is asking and connect Sinister and Faye's minds. Once she does so, the pair share a final dance, and Faye tells Sinister she knows that, despite his cruelty, he truly did love her. Faye then dies, and Genesis leaves, having found no weakness in Sinister to exploit. Mr. Sinister then allows Beast & Jean to leave as well. They return to the cabin, ruminating that it is not their powers, but their capacity for love - which Sinister rejected - that gives them their strength.

X-amining X-Men Unlimited #8

"First Contact"
 October 1995

In a Nutshell
Chris Bradley learns he's a mutant, meets the X-Men, and is diagnosed with the Legacy Virus.

Writer: Howard Mackie
Pencilers: Dan Lawlis & Tom Grummet
Inker: Iam Akin
Letterer: Matt Webb
Colorist: Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Cover: Adam Pollina & Ian Akin
Editor: Kelly Corvese
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

Plot
High school freshman Chris Bradley is excited to get to school and ask out his crush, Donna, but when his mutant ability to control electricity manifests, he's has to stay home as his parents try to figure out what's happening to him. Later, when he returns to school, he gets up the nerve to ask out Donna, but when his power again manifests, he runs out of the school and into Jean Grey & Gambit, who have been watching him. They meet with Chris' parents and offer him a place at the Xavier Institute, but Chris turns them down, until his friend Jeff rejects him for being a mutant. At the X-Mansion, Chris meets the X-Men and learns about the Danger Room. He begins learning to control his powers under the mentor-ship of Iceman. However, a routine blood test reveals that Chris has also contracted the Legacy Virus. He is overwhelmed by the news, but after a heart-to-heart with Iceman, comes to accept his fate. His powers under control, he decides to return home and live the best life he can. He attempts to reunite with Jeff, but Jeff still wants nothing to do with him. Donna, however, does, even after Chris tells her about his terminal illness, and Chris rushes home to call Iceman and tell him all about it.

X-amining Wolverine #94

"The Lurker in the Machine"
October 1995

In a Nutshell
Wolverine visits Generation X

Script: Larry Hama
Pencils: Chris Alexander
Inks: Mike Sellers & Al Milgrom
Lettering: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Coloring: Joe Rosas
Separations: Violent Hues
Editor: Bob Harras

Plot
The Dark Riders arrive in the devastated city of Akkaba, and proceed from there with Cyber to their master's citadel. Meanwhile, Wolverine arrives at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters at Jubilee's request, and Emma declares him the school's first guest lecturer. He gathers the students inside the biosphere for a lesson in hand-to-hand combat, but during the session, he senses something and orders everyone out. The next day, Jubilee & Skin tell their classmates about waking up in the middle of night and witnessing Wolverine enter the biosphere. As they watched, Wolverine confronted some sort of malevolent spirit, one which forced him into a berserker rage and radiated anger in visible waves. Wolverine managed to drive it out, before leaving the school himself. Banshee says he believes Wolverine encountered a Token, a spirit of the dead which can't abide its own kind, which is how Wolverine forced it to leave. 

X-amining X-Force #47

"Breakout"
October 1995

In a Nutshell
Deadpool breaks Siryn out of the Weisman Institute.

Writer: Jeph Loeb
Penciler: Adam Pollina
Inker: Mark Pennington
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colorist: Marie Javins
Separations: Electric Crayon
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

Plot
Deadpool breaks into the Weisman Institute and frees Siryn from her power inhibiting collar. However, the pair are unknowingly watched by young Jeremy Stevens. Meanwhile, working together, X-Force manages to fly the damaged PACRAT back to the mansion. At the Weisman Institute, Siryn & Deadpool fight their way to Dr. Weisman, who insists she's done nothing wrong before a brief moment of seeming clarity. Just then, Siryn & Deadpool are telepathically knocked out by Jeremy. Back at the X-Mansion, the boys check in on Shatterstar in the med bay, while Boomer calls her father. Later, Siryn suddenly returns to the mansion, much to Warpath's delight, but Siryn simply tells him she needs to speak to Cable, to whom she declares that everything is fine at the Weisman Institute. Outside, Sunspot laments endangering the team in Siberia, but Cable telepathically assures him everyone makes mistakes. Sunspot thanks him in the language of Askani, shocking them both. Inside, Boomer visits Sabretooth, and is dismayed to learn he can talk. He asks for the Danger Room setting be changed to the forest outside, but gets scared when a holographic Wolverine is included in the simulation. Meanwhile, back at the institute, Dr. Weisman interrogates Deadpool under the direction of Jeremy, who is pleased to have another player in his game.

X-amining Cable #24

"Lost Souls"
October 1995

In a Nutshell
Cable learns he has to go back to the future while Domino battles Grizzly.

Writer: Jeph Loeb
Penciler: Sal Larroca
Inks: Bud LaRosa, Al Milgrom & Bob McCloud
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colors: Mike Thomas
Editor: Lisa Patrick
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

Plot
Grizzly attacks Domino, and their fight spills out of Grizzly's cabin and into the woods. Meanwhile, Cable brings the unconscious Jenskot to Blaquesmith. When she wakes up, she tells them she was sent to the past to bring Cable to the future in order to save the life of her beloved, Nathan Dayspring. In the Rockies, Domino & Grizzly's fight escalates, and Domino is forced to kill him in self-defense. Before he dies, he tells her Tyler, Cable's son, made him savage as an act of revenge. Back on Blaquesmith's ship, Jenskot realizes that Cable is an older version of Nathan, and reveals that she needs him to go back to the night of an important battle for the Clan Chosen, when Nathan has grown mysteriously ill. He agrees, and Blaquesmith sends them to the future, after which Mother Askani appears, reminding him his work isn't done. In the Rockies, Domino buries Grizzly, then disappears as Blaquesmith also sends her into the future, while Grizzly's cabin burns.

X-amining Excalibur #90

"Dream Nails Part 3: Blood Eagle"
October 1995

In a Nutshell
Kitty & Pete Wisdom take down the Dream Nails base.

Writer: Warren Ellis
Artists: Ken Lashley, David Williams, Carlos Pacheco & Larry Stroman
Inkers: Tom Wegrzyn, Mike Miller, Cam Smith & Larry Stroman
Letterer: Richard Starkings
Colorist: Joe Rosas, Ariane Lenshoek & Malibu
Editor: Suzanne Gaffney
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

Plot
A captive Wisdom awakens to find himself being tortured by Shrine, a telepath who intends to trigger painful memories of Wisdom's past which will stress him out, thereby activating the Blood Eagle virus Black Air has created which causes physical pain tuned to stressful reactions. Elsewhere, Kitty searches Dream Nails for Wisdom. Meanwhile, Wolfsbane arrives on Muir Isle. Back at Dream Nails, Kitty discovers specimens of alien species encountered by Black Air, and runs into the escaped Uncreated, the aliens whom Black Air weaponized to create Blood Eagle. At Muir Island, Rory assures Amanda Sefton he has no intention of letting anything happen to put him on the path to becoming Ahab, but when he resumes his treatment of Spoor, Spoor reveals he knows that Rory has run out of the mood stabilizers which make him immune to Spoor's powers. At Dream Nails, Kitty phases past the Uncreated while Wisdom turns the tables on Shrine, overwhelming him with the horror of Wisdom's memories, allowing him to escape. At the same time, Spoor goads Rory into attacking him, which triggers the defensive laser grid, slicing off Rory's leg. At Dream Nails, Wisdom & Kitty reunite, then trigger an explosion which destroys the base. Flying back to Muir, they set the Midnight Runner on autopilot as they succumb to their romantic feelings for one another.

X-amining Generation X #8

"What Happened to Cassidy Keep?!"
October 1995

In a Nutshell
Generation X investigates the disappearance of Cassidy Keep.

Writer: Scott Lobdell
Penciler: Roger Cruz
Inkers: Mark Buckingham and Al Milgrom
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colorist: Steve Buccellato & Electric Crayon
Editor: Bob Harras

Plot
Standing on the edge of a vast canyon, Banshee, alongside Emma and the rest of Generation X, wonders where the heck his ancestral home, Cassidy Keep, has gone, something which interests Black Air agent Scicluna as well. As the adults discuss the situation, Synch discovers he can use his powers to connect to the dimension into which the castle disappeared, which pulls him and the nearby Chamber into that realm. The rest of the group follow them by jumping into a plume of purple mist, and end up scattered in the realm of faerie. Elsewhere, Mondo's friend Cordelia dives into the ocean, and when she fails to emerge, Mondo goes in after her. Back in the faerie land, Chamber & Synch are battling a group of armored knights, while Banshee & Emma wake up in a dungeon alongside Eamon O'Donnell, the leprechaun keeper of Cassidy Keep. The rest of the students are confronted by Grand Dame, a fairy queen, who needs their help to repair the glamour machine, the source of the realm's magical power. Approaching the machine, M once more goes catatonic, then begins working, even as an angry dragon beats down the door, wondering who is messing with the glamour machine.

X-amining X-Men (vol. 2) #45

"The Enemy of My Enemy..."
October 1995

In a Nutshell
Gambit confronts Rogue over the memories she absorbed from him.

Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Pencils: Andy Kubert
Inks: Cam Smith
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colorist: Kevin Somers & Malibu Hues
Editor: Bob Harras

Plot
As they make their way towards Seattle, Iceman continues to push Rogue to discuss the memories she absorbed from Gambit, but she relents. Meanwhile, Gambit arrives in Seattle himself, hoping to find Rogue and settle things between them. He tracks down Iceman at a local college bar, shortly after Rogue flew off, exposing her and Iceman as mutants. In New York, Graydon Creed watches a news report on Gene Nation's attack, and toys with the idea of running for President. In Seattle, Gambit & Iceman track Rogue to an rundown theater, a place she was led by Gambit's memories. Gambit tries to convince Rogue to return with him to the X-Men, but she refuses, saying she needs to find out for herself what the memories she took from Gambit are and why they cause him so much pain. When she presses Gambit to tell her about the memories, he won't do it, fearing it would destroy everything he's attained for himself. But he does offer himself to Rogue completely, extending a hand to allow her to touch him once again. Rogue, however, turns away. They both declare their love for one another, but Rogue says she needs more time away to settle her feelings, and flies off. Gambit tells Iceman to return to the mansion, but remains in Seattle himself for a few more days to clear his head. During his wanderings, Mr. Sinister appears, telling him that nothing is settled, and he'll need to reckon with their past together eventually.

X-amining X-Man #8

"Hitting Bottom"
October 1995

In a Nutshell
Nate battles Rex on a yacht.

Story: Jeph Loeb
Guest Script: John Rozum
Pencils: Steve Skroce & Scott McDaniel
Inks: LaRosa, Miller, Russell, Pennington & Ryan
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colorist: Mike Thomas & Malibu’s Hues
Editor: Lisa Patrick
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

Plot
Still mourning the absent Madelyne, Nate has taken a job as a deckhand on a small yacht. His powers fluctuating, he acts churlish towards the rest of the staff and passengers. In Maryland, Blaquesmith detects his energy output and recognizes it as being similar to Cable's. Meanwhile, Rex arrives on the yacht and begins slaughtering the crew. Sensing something amiss, Nate goes up on deck and finds Rex, who he blasts with a massive burst of telekinetic energy. Detecting this surge, Blaquesmith decides such power can't go unchecked, and heads out to find Nate. Back on the boat, Nate & Rex fight, but Nate's fluctuating powers leave him vulnerable. Rex gains the upper hand and is about to kill Nate when he suddenly collapses. Standing behind him is Dark Beast, who offers Nate some long overdue answers.

X-amining X-Factor #115

"Reaching Out to Yesterday"
October 1995

In a Nutshell
Mystique & Forge and Cyclops & Havok have heart-to-heart talks.

Writer: Howard Mackie
Penciler: Steve Epting
Inker: Al Milgrom
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Kelly Corvese
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

Plot
Still struggling to control his powers, Havok has returned to Alaska, and is thinking back on the plane crash that separated him and his brother from their parents when Cyclops finds him, telling him they're going to get through this together. Meanwhile, in X-Factor's new base, Mystique tries to hack into Forge's files but is stopped by her inhibitor. Observed by Wild Child, the pair agree to keep each other's secrets for now. Elsewhere, Forge is visited by a vision of his deceased mentor Naze, who tells him he must return to the ways of the shaman, but his meditation is interrupted by Mystique. She tries to get Forge to open up, and he does, activating his holographic files to show her a collage of important moments in his life. One that catches her attention is Destiny telling Forge he's destined to be with Mystique. He is still pondering what she meant, while Mystique insists Destiny just wanted them to be happy together, something Forge won't accept. In Alaska, Cyclops & Havok go to a bar, and eventually get into a bar fight with some ignorant locals to blow off steam. After the fight, Cyclops insists that, no matter what, they'll always be there for each other. Elsewhere, Dark Beast reforms Random, telling him to infiltrate X-Factor, and bring him the head of Havok. 

X-amining Uncanny X-Men #325

"Generation of Evil"
October 1995

In a Nutshell
Gene Nation launches their attack on the anniversary of the Morlock Massacre.

Writer: Scott Lobdell
Penciler: Joe Madureira
Inkers: Townsend & Ryan
Letters: Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Colors: Steve Buccellato & Electric Crayon
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

Plot
The X-Men & the visiting Generation X are enjoying a spirited game of baseball when Colossus suddenly teleports onto the mansion grounds, holding an injured Callisto. When she regains consciousness, she informs the X-Men that Gene Nation, comprised of renegade Morlocks, is planning to kill one human for every mutant who died during the Morlock Massacre, on the anniversary of the massacre, which is today. Meanwhile, a recovering Gambit receives a phone call from Rogue, and learns she & Iceman are heading towards Seattle. Later, the X-Men arrive in Manhattan, their movements watched by Mr. Sinister & Threnody, who also note Gambit's departure, heading towards Seattle. Storm, Colossus & Wolverine enter the Morlock tunnels alongside Callisto. After skirmishing with Gene Nation, Storm confronts their leader, Marrow, who reveals she has attached a series of bombs to a group of captured commuters, and rigged a device to her heart that will soon detonate the bombs, unless Storm kills her first. As payback for Storm's failures as leader of the Morlocks, Marrow challenges Storm to a duel, forcing her to either let the humans die, or sacrifice her morals to kill Marrow. Storm draws first blood, and eventually triumphs, ripping out Marrow's heart, disarming the bombs but killing the young woman. In the aftermath, Wolverine tells her she did the right thing, and Storm agrees, troubled by how relatively easy the decision was for her.