X-amining Magneto #1-4

"Return of the Messiah" / "Atonement" / "Kill Zone" / "Specters"

November 1996 - February 1997

In a Nutshell

Joseph battles Exodus and comes to terms with his past as Magneto. 

Plot: Peter Milligan

Script: Jorge Gonzalez

Penciler: Kelley Jones
Inks: John Beatty, Mark Heike & Jim Sanders III (issue #4)
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colors: Brad Vancata

Separations: Graphic Color Works

Editor: Kelly Corvese

Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras
Separations: Digital Chameleon

Plot

Haunted by his past as Magneto - a past he doesn't remember - Joseph seeks out the ruins of Magneto's fallen space station Avalon. He encounters a group of Acolytes being hunted by Humanity's Last Stand. They decide Joseph is indeed Magneto reborn. Reaching Avalon, Joseph is horrified after he reviews Magneto's personal logs. Elsewhere, Exodus remains the leader of another group of Acolytes, who plan to launch a New Avalon which, when launched, will kill millions of humans. Determined to stop Exodus, Amelia Voght grudgingly makes an alliance with Fabian Cortez, telling him about Joseph. Cortez locates Joseph and convinces him to pretend to be Magneto in order to stop Exodus. Joseph's efforts to pass himself off as Magneto reborn are strengthened when he helps fight off Humanity's Last Stand, but the Acolytes are perplexed when he spares the life of their commander, Colonel Armstrong. However, Armstrong ultimately dies of his injuries anyway. 

X-amining The Further Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix #1-4

"Digging Up the Past" / "Unnatural Selection" / "The Origin of a Species" / "Beginnings"

June 1996 - September 1996

In a Nutshell

The origin of Mister Sinister is revealed as Cyclops & Phoenix are sent to the past to stop Apocalypse! 

Writer: Peter Milligan
Penciler: John Paul Leon
Inker: Klaus Janson (issue #1-2), Shawn Martinbrough (issues #2-4), Tommy Lee Edwards (issue #3)
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colors: Kevin Somers

Enhancements: Malibu's Hues

Editor: Mark Powers
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

Plot

Issue #1: In Victorian London, when scientist Nathanial Essex has his theories of evolution dismissed by the Royal Society, he decides to continue his work in private. A chance encounter with a man named Cootie Tremble leads Nathanial to the various freaks and outcasts which Cootie and his gang, the Marauders, have assembled in the sewers beneath the city. Essex presses Cootie and the Marauders (and their captives, as the subjects of his experiments) into his service. Elsewhere, Apocalypse emerges from hibernation, and learning of Essex' work, seeks him out. Meanwhile, Cyclops and Phoenix suddenly appear in London, cast apart from one another and unsure where - or when - they are. 

X-amining Archangel #1

"Phantom Wings"
February 1996

In a Nutshell
Archangel meets a guilt-ridden, bird-attracting, telepathic ghost woman. 

Writer: Peter Milligan
Artist: Leonard Manco
Letters: Jonathan Babcock
Editor: Mark Powers
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

Plot
Archangel flies off alone after an argument with Psylocke. Flying over New York City, he is psychically attacked & wakes up in a fortress-like building, the captive of woman named Tuesday Bird, who is deathly afraid of birds. She helps heal his damaged wings, while Psylocke & Jean search for him. Eventually, Archangel learns how Tuesday killed her abusive husband by causing their private plane to crash, which also killed a flock of birds. He realizes that her psychic powers are causing her guilt over the death of her husband to subconsciously call the attacking birds to her. He helps her escape the birds, and she lets him go, just as Jean & Psylocke discover that Tuesday died in the crash with her husband. In the wake of his encounter with Tuesday, Archangel finds himself more at peace with himself and his metal wings, though Psylocke is unsure how she feels about another woman - a ghost - being able to reach him when she couldn't.