Era #6, Part 4: Brood Trouble in the Big Easy

Stub: C+

It is the end of Jim Lee's run. While his art is fantastic, his storytelling is not particularly original. I like this set well enough, but I find it hard to believe that he would've been able to carry the title much further. Both arcs are pretty typical comic fare. The first is a X-Men / Ghost Rider crossover that introduces us to more of Gambit's past. The second gives us the return of Longshot and Dazzler. I love the humor and constant movie references when Mojo is in town. Jim adds to that fun.  

[3-Stars] 8 - "Tooth and Claw" Bishop begins his readjustment to this timeline with an X-Men picnic, but he still has a unresolved concerns about Gambit eliminating the X-Men in the future.

Ghost Rider #26 - "Blood Feud" X-Men go to New Orleans to help Gambit and his wife Belladonna resolve the cause of a new feud between the Thieve's and Assassin's Guilds. Ghost Rider is also in New Orleans discovering that a criminal vendetta has an alien origin.

[3-Stars] 9 - "The Not So Big Easy" The Assassin's Guild has been infiltrated by the Brood who plan to assimilate the Thieve's Guild as well. The X-Men's attempt to stop the aliens is hampered by the Brood's newest infected warrior -- Ghost Rider!

Ghost Rider #27 - "Vengeance. Pure and Simple." The X-Men and Ghost Rider versus the Brood. [Note: I do not have a copy of this issue]

[3-Stars] 10a - "Where Happy Little Bluebirds Fly..." Dazzler reaches out to the X-Men to help Longshot's rebellion against Mojo.

10b - "Last Stand" It is a Maverick solo story as he searches for Dr. Ryking and the Xavier Files.

[3-Stars] 11a - "The X-Men vs. The X-Men! (Again) with our special guests...the X-Men!" The X-Men join Longshot, Dazzler and Mojo II, the Sequel in an attempt to overthrow Mojo's tyrannical rule.

11b - "Over...Again" Maverick finds Dr. Ryking who is protected by an old X-Men villain, Warhawk.

Era #6, Part 3: Under the Gun

Grade: B-

Rob Liefeld ends his tenure with the New Mutants / X-Force one a relative high note. Most of the shock and awe of his bombastic approach of turning students into soldiers started loosing some of its steam. I am not positive he would've been able to keep the momentum, but he has enough here to keep my interest.

The transition to Fabian Nicieza is noticeable and disappointing. The direction of the X-Ternals, Tolliver and Weapon PRIME seems to end abruptly and without the oomph that we've come to expect from X-Force.

[3-Stars] 5 - "Under the Magnifying Glass"  The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants are back and under new leadership. To complete his roster that already includes the Blob, Pyro, and Phantazia, Toad forces Karl Lykos to steal the life force of his girlfriend to again become Sauron.

[3-Stars] 6 - "Under the Gun" Toad's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants attempt to form an alliance with Masque's Morlocks. To seal the deal, Toad agrees to eliminate one of Masque's newest enemies -- X-Force.

[3-Stars] 7a - "Under the Knife" The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants attack X-Force at their not-so-secret base in the Adirondack Mountains.

7b - "X-Tenuating Circumstances (Part 1)" Kane's investigation for Canada's Department K into a smuggling ring leads him to the MLF.

[4-Stars] 8 - "Flashed Before My Eyes" This is one of the few fill-in type stories that I absolutely enjoyed. It is a flashback tale where we learn more about the Wild Pack. They are on a mission to steal from Hydra for A.I.M. We also learn more about Cable's origin and his purpose in returning to this time period to lead the New Mutants.

[3-Stars] 9a - "Underground and Over the Top" Masque's Morlocks join the battle between the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and X-Force. Cable reveals that Cannonball is an immortal X-Ternal.

9b - "X-Tenuating Circumstances (Part 2) Kane versus Stryfe and the MLF.

[3-Stars] 10 - "Answers (and Questions)" Cable leads a team into the Morlock tunnels to leave Masque's dead body as a warning. Kane returns to Canada's Department K to join Weapon PRIME after learning that Stryfe is Cable.

[3-Stars] 11 - "Friendly Reminders" Deadpool slips into X-Force's not-so-secret base in the Adirondack Mountains to confront Tolliver's mole within Cable's team. Domino is actually Deadpool's ex-girlfriend, Vanessa. She hasn't been reporting back to Tolliver, and Deadpool was dispatched to give her a clear message.

[3-Stars] 12 - "Traitors to the Cause" Gideon is also an immortal who believed Sunspot was the newest X-Ternal. He was wrong and now considers Sunspot a waste of his time. He sends his former protege to be experimented upon. He then refocuses his attention on acquiring Cannonball from Cable. He seeks out Crule, one of the wildest and feral X-Ternals, for the job. Meanwhile, a new task-force called Weapon PRIME leaves for their mission to arrest Cable. Most of the member holds a personal grudge against X-Force's leader including GW Bridge, Kane and Rictor.

[3-Stars] 13 - "Everything Hits the Fan" Weapon Prime versus X-Force. Fabian Nicieza takes over the title.

[3-Stars] 14 - "Payback!" X-Force must defend themselves against Weapon Prime and S.H.I.E.L.D.

[3-Stars] 15 - "To the Pain" Cable and Vanessa are separated from X-Force after their base is destroyed by Tolliver. Cable takes the opportunity in the chaos to rescue Domino and finally deal with Tolliver. Meanwhile, Cannonball leads the rest of the team to rescue Sunspot from the Gideon's deadly experimentation, but they must first deal with Crule.

Era #6, Part 2: The Coming of Bishop (Part 1)

Grade: B

The Uncanny X-Men also starts strong in the post-Claremont era. With Jim Lee telling the tales of the X-Men Blue Team in X-Men (v2), Whilce Portacio runs with the X-Men Gold Team. He introduces Bishop to the X-Men mythos and explains what happened to Colossus's cosmonaut brother. It is another beautifully drawn set from Whilce who remains one of my favorite artists.

[4-Stars] 281 - "Fresh Upstart"  The Upstarts are a group of spoiled, wealthy players competing in a game to eliminate the powerful to gain points. Matsuo and Fenris are now joined by Trevor Fitzroy who sets his sights on the Hellfire Club. He sends his Sentinels (based on a future design Fitzroy brought back with him) to the Australian Outback to kill Donald Pierce and his Reavers. Meanwhile, Emma Frost figures out somebody is out to kill her and asks the X-Men to help her identify who. The Gold Team arrives at a Hellfire gala to start negotiating with Emma despite the tension with the Hellions. It turns into a Battle Royale as Fitzroy's two-pronged attack culminates in several deaths.

[4-Stars] 282 - "Payback" Jean Grey survived the initial attack by hiding herself in Emma Frost's mind. The Gold Team tracks her to Trevor Fitzroy's liar but are not in time to save the Hellions. Fitzroy uses the Emma Frosts's student's life-force to open a portal to his future where he brings back the most dangerous criminals from their imprisonment. He also inadvertently brings back three policemen in pursuit -- Bishop, Malcolm and Randall of the Xavier Security Enforcers (XSE).

[4-Stars] 283 - "Bishop's Crossing" Both the X-Men and the XSE try to contain Fitzroy and the criminals of the future. The X-Men turn their attention to the Bishop's team when they realize the three are murdering the escaped prisoners. The XSE retaliate believing that the X-Men are impostors. It is a chaotic scene as all three forces battle each other.

[3-Stars] 284 - "Into the Void" The Russian and Japanese government agree to help each other investigate a dimensional rift near the disputed Sakhalin Island. They outfit Sunfire with a special armor to better harness his atomic power, but his intrusion into the void opens the portal and releases an alien strikeforce from the other side. The X-Men intercept the distress call and lend a hand. 

[3-Stars] 285 - "Down the Rabbit Hole" Sunfire and the X-Men are sucked into the dimensional void and separated. They are each drawn to the struggle between warring factions while trying to close to the portal before both worlds are destroyed.

[3-Stars] 286 - "Close Call" Sunfire and the X-Men learn that Colossus's long-lost cosmonaut brother, Mikhail is alive within the void's dimension. He used his mutant power to close the portal when he entered many years ago, but he killed many people as part of that process. He is asked to do it again to save both worlds despite his haunted memories.

[4-Stars] 287 - "Bishop to King's Five" The origin of Bishop! We see his future and the path that lead him to the X-Men. It ends tragically for both Malcolm and Randall, but the X-Men attempt to stop Bishop from killing the remaining criminals from the future.

Era #6, Part 1: Mutant Genesis

Grade: A

The new X-Men title (which I will be calling X-Men (v2)) opens with a memorable bang! I mean Guinness World Record for Best Selling Comic big. I won't disagree that this run helped fuel the speculation market, but that doesn't mean the stories weren't good. OK, maybe not the best stories, but I really like them. Jim Lee sets a colorful, beautifully-drawn and action-packed tone with these to first two arcs.

[4-Stars] 1 - "Rubicon" Magneto comes out of hiding to save religious zealots calling themselves the Acolytes (first appearance). They have have been seeking the Master of Magnetism to protect them and all persecuted mutants. The sudden revelation of Asteroid M above Russia has created international unrest made worse by the Acolytes subsequent attack on Genosha. Cyclop's Blue Team must try to defuse the situation before it gets worse, but they are unable to prevent Magneto from reclaiming the nuclear warheads left aboard the Soviet submarine Leningrad he sunk years earlier.

[4-Stars] 2 - "Firestorm" Magneto abducts Professor X and Moria MacTaggert after learning that she altered his DNA when he was a child in her care. With Magneto's possession of the nuclear warheads, his position above Russia and the damage to Genosha, the United Nations reluctantly agrees to initiate the Magneto Protocols. It is a powerful weapon that will destroy Asteroid M and everybody on it.

[4-Stars] 3 - "Fallout!" Storm must lead the Gold Team to Asteroid M to stop Magneto and save their friends and teammates before the Magneto Protocols is executed. Their task is made much more difficult after Magneto forced Moria MacTaggert to alter the Blue Team's DNA to make want to join Magneto and the Acolytes.

[4-Stars] 4 - "The Resurrection and the Flesh" Matsuo Tsurahaba is back, and he is using the resources of the Hand and Fenris to resurrect Omega Red (first appearance), an icon of the collapsing Soviet Union. Their plan relies on capturing Wolverine, so Matsuo sends his assassins on a stealth attack against the unsuspecting X-Men.

[4-Stars] 5 - "Blowback" Wolverine was once part of a black ops team that he no longer remembers. Matsuo and Fenris are scouring the X-Man's repressed memories for the location of the Carbonadium Synthesizer he hid over 30 years ago while on a mission. Another member of that team, Maverick (first appearance), secretly helps the badly wounded Wolverine while the X-Men arrive to find their missing teammate.

[4-Stars] 6 - "Farther Still" Sabretooth is the third member of the black ops team, and he has arrived to help Matsuo Tsurahaba and Fenris. Psylocke is back under Matsuo's influence (remember her origin in Acts of Vengeance?) and is instructed to join Sabretooth in a hunt to find Wolverine and his benefactor, Maverick.

[4-Stars] 7 - "Inside...Out!" It in the story ender, we learn more about the black ops team's team (Wolverine, Sabretooth and Maverick) and their final mission to procure the Carbonadium Synthesizer. The final battle pits Marverick and the X-Men against Matsuo, Fenris, Sabretooth and the Hand.