Era #7, Part 1: Toy Soldiers

Grade: B-

X-Force finally has a little down time after 25 issues of action and mayhem, but another mission threatens to tear the team apart. This is a good run as Fabian forces the team to finally slow down and reflect on their lives since joining Cable's paramilitary squad. The mission is also good reminder of what the book is suppose to be -- a mutant strikeforce willing to take action when the X-Men can't (or won't). As an added bonus, we see the the possible return of a New Mutant favorite.

[3-Stars] 26 - "Shadows on the Rock" Cable finally awakens after weeks in a coma from the events of Fatal Attractions. The team is still recovering. Cannonball and Sunspot leave for Madripoor to Xi'an of Illyana's death. It is revealed that Siryn is drinking heavily with Warpath quietly taking care of her. Cable is unsure how to proceed with soldiers that are so young yet processing so much death. Meanwhile, a new threat emerges. Reignfire makes his first appearance breaking the MLF out of prison for a special operation.

[4-Stars] 27 - "Liberation Through Subjugation" Reignfire sets the MLF's sights on Henry Peter Gyrich. They breach his highly secure estate, and it is up to X-Force to launch a rescue mission. The team discovers two new members of the mutant terrorist groups: the teleporting sadist Locus and -- Moonstar?

[4-Stars] 28 - "The Axe Falls" Cable leads his team on a mission to rescue Henry Peter Gyrich from the MLF. Some of the members X-Force are not pleased to be saving an ungrateful and unapologetic anti-mutant government agent. The tension leads to a surprising defection.

[3-Stars] 29 - "Toy Soldiers" Shatterstar walks the streets of Phoenix in an attempt to get accustomed to our dimension (he still needs to acclimatize after two years on Earth?). His private time is rudely interrupted by Marvel's flamboyant assassin for hire Arcade. To survive, Shatterstar must find his way out of Murderworld.

[3-Stars] 30 - "Something Worth Fighting For" Shatterstar and Adam-X are forced to fight each other in Arcade's Murderworld.

[3-Stars] 31 - "Cry Uncle!" Warpath joins Siryn on her trip back to Cassidy Keep. She reveals that she is still having a difficult time dealing with the trauma of the Muir Island Saga (again, two years ago?) which has torn open old family wounds regarding her father (Banshee) and uncle (Black Tom Cassidy). The later is also back in Ireland demented from the experimental surgeries that saved his life (he was shot and believed killed by Cable back in the X-Force #4). Both Juggernaut and Warpath look for a way to save their friends.

Starting Era #7: Onslaught

We are back into the main story and the onto Era #7 (January 1994 to October 1996). I end my tour at Fort Irwin after only being stationed there for only a year. I elect to go back to Augsburg, Germany where we stay for 3 more years. My life is back to normal, and I am again going to the Stars & Stripes bookstore on Quatermaster Kaserne.

We begin recovering from the financial burden in which we placed ourselves while living in California. I briefly return to the states to attend Basic Non-Commissioned Officer Course (BNCOC) at Fort Huachuca, Arizona (January 1995 - March 1995), but I am back in Augsburg in time to welcomed into the world our second daughter, Rebecca, on April 14, 1995 at the Zentralklinkikum. It was another difficult pregnancy. Samantha was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and Becca is born nearly a month early. Fortunately from there, our lives fall into mundane rut for the rest of the tour with a few exception (like a small vacation to Budapest, Hungary).

The X-Men stories also find a groove with steady writing from Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza. The memorable arcs of this era include the Phalanx Covenant, Legion Quest, Age of Apocalypse and Onslaught. With no cell phones, limited computer access, one TV channel, extra responsibilities and little cash to go out, comics again become a primary form of escapism for me.

X-Force: Toy Soldiers (#26-31)
Fathers & Sons (Cable #6-8)
X-Men: The Wedding of Cyclops and Phoenix
Uncanny X-Men #311-315
Douglock Chronicles (Excalibur #78-80)
X-Force: Child's Play (#32-37)
Phalanx Covenant: Generation Next
Phalanx Covenant: Life Signs
X-Men Unlimited #6-7
Generation X Classic, Vol. 1 (#1-4)
Rogue Limited Series
Legion Quest Prologue
Legion Quest
Gene Nation
X-Force #44-48
Generation X Classic, Vol. 2 (#5-11)
X-Men: In the Red
X-Force #49-51
X-Men: Wrath
X-Force #52-56
Generation X #12-17
Onslaught Prologue
Onslaught Phase 1
Onslaught Impact 1
Onslaught Phase 2
Onslaught Impact 2
Onslaught Epilogue

Ending Alt 928: Marvel 2099

Alt 928: C

I liked the idea of resetting common themes in different setting, so when Marvel announced their dystopian 2099 line that included a version of the X-Men, I remember being pretty excited. The stories started strong and the new characters were intriguing, but I eventually lost interest and wanted to remove the title from my pull list (the number of issues I was paying for each month was getting a bit too hight for me). Samantha became attached to it and wanted to see where it was going, so we kept collecting and reading them until the entire imprint was cut and consolidated into a single series. By that point, even she was over it and ready to move on. At least we had the Hildebrandt Brothers.

X-Men 2099 (C+): Solid start of a team book that ends in a collection of individual stories of interesting characters in uninteresting situations.
John Francis Moore & Ron Lim (C+): The definitive X-Men 2099 creative team.
John Francis Moore & Jan Duursema (D): Unfortunate timing for this duo. Ron Lim leaves as the 2099 imprint folds, and it is up to Jan to help John wrap it all up.

X-Nation 2099 (D): There was a lot of buzz that started flat and fizzled from there. There are too many characters that just can't seem to coalesce into a coherent tale. I can't help but wonder if things would've made more sense had the title been allowed to continue.
Tom Payer & Humberto Ramos (D+):  There is so much happening both in the narration and manga inspired art that it is nearly impossible to find (much less enjoy) the story.

Alt 928, Part 9: X-Nation (2)

Grade: D

A company wide cost-cutting exercise spelled the end of Marvel 2099. The line editor, Joey Cavalieri, was fired which prompted most of the talent to walk away. Ron Lim (artist) ends his run with the X-Men after 31 issues, and both Tom Payer (writer) and Humberto Ramos (artist) leave.

All of the Marvel 2099 stories are wrapping up leading to an apocalypse that nearly destroys the world of 2099. It culminates into a single title called 2099: World of Tomorrow which lasts for 8 issues. I thought about collecting that title, but the end of both X-Men 2099 and X-Nation 2099 was so disappointing, I thought it best to let my collection end here.

[2-Stars] X-Men 2099 #32 - "Old Wounds" Mongrel is the last living member of the Lawless to arrive. He joins Xi'an, Auntie Maim, and Victor Ten Eagles in developing a plan to lure their attacker into the open. The Foolkiller is seeking revenge for what the Lawless did to his town and has already killed one of their members, the Reverend. Metalhead, Rosa, and Bloodhawk are in Halo City. They reveal that Rosa' baby, Joachim, has already revealed some mutant powers.

[2-Stars] X-Men 2099 #33 - "Fools Rush In" The Foolkiller uses Mongrel as draw the the Lawless to his hideout, and they knowingly take the bait. Krystalin, Tim Fitzgerald and La Lunática also arrive to provide their assistance. Meanstreak races to the location but must first deal with the "Zoomers" that started chasing him after being released from Halloween Jack's Virtual Unreality machine. Sham spends some time with Rosa and Metalhead when they mysterious Vulcann and two of his large hellhounds arrive to take Joachim.

[2-Stars] X-Nation 2099 #5 - "Gimme Shelter" X-Nation return to the shelter only to watch it explode. In the ruins, they find Sister Nicholas near death. She is able to give them one last piece of advice before she passes: to make something of their lives before she passes. The grieved kids spend time at the Negative Zone Milk Bar where the Wild Boys decide the get their revenge. The battle is joined by a new threat when Exodus arrives.

[2-Stars] X-Men 2099 #34 - "The Drowning City" Vulcann transforms Joachim from a baby to a young adult and then returns him to his mother. Vulcann explains that Joachim will be the savior to lead the people into a new world. The storm that started raging in earlier issues is getting worse, and the X-Men attempt to save as many people as they can. Xi'an races to the infirmary to use his healing gifts but discovers that all of the Sisters of the Howling Commandments are dead. He finds Shakti and Nostromo after their battle with Exodus and trying to control Nostromo's runaway powers.

[2-Stars] X-Nation 2099 #6 - "Exodus" X-Nation versus Exodus while Shakti tries to help Nostromo regain control of his techno-organic body.

[2-Stars] X-Men 2099 #35 - "Lifeboat" Defeated La Lunática is returned to the X-Men with news that Tim Fitzgerald is dead at the hands of Joaquim and Vulcann. Shakti, Xi'an and Nostromo reach Doom's hidden shelter and find a teleportation unit that sends them to the X-Men. The storm gets worse as the Atlantean warships arrive to attack Halo City. Tim is not quite dead but transformed into a energy being. He joins the X-Men in a final showdown against Vulcann and Joaquim.