Era #9, Part 19: Counter X (Vol 2)

Grade: C+

Revolution reaches the Massachusetts Academy with devastating results. Warren Ellis and Brain Woods use the X-Men reboot to take Generation X into a new direction with another set of grim stories. It is clear from the start that something tragic occurred in the six months since the events of Powerless (Era #9, Part 15). The team no longer shares a school with normal students, much of the campus is destroyed, and something happened to Everett (Synch). Banshee and Emma Frost continue to mentor the otherwise traditional team lineup of Chamber, Husk, Jubilee, Monet, and Skin. 

There are two separate arcs in this collection. In Correction, Generation X learns that teenagers exhibiting any sign of anti-social behavior are being abducted. Their investigation leads them to a government program run by Warden Coffin, a well-connected authoritarian figure with a long history of incarcerating young people who challenge society. 

Come On Die Young reveals what happened over the six months between issues #62 and #63. Adrienne Frost sets in motion a plan to exact her revenge on Emma and Generation X for foiling her original plot against her younger sister back in Era #9, Part 06. She manages to create panic in the school full of privileged students by revealing to them and their rich parents that there may be mutants among them. Tensions escalate leading to a horrific conclusion. 

I like the direction. It is a departure from Jay Faerber's more typical comic book approach. There are still some hard to believe elements, but the dialog, costumes, and interactions are closer to the original Generation X run. I think Correction had an interesting core concept (social worry over troubled teenagers), but the execution felt underdeveloped. I especially connected with the sinister, more subtle plot that unfolded Come on Die Young. It was one of the more memorable Generation X stories that I enjoyed -- except for the art of one issue and the rushed finale.

Correction

[6-Stars] Generation X (1994) #63

[5-Stars] Generation X (1994) #64

[5-Stars] Generation X (1994) #65

[4-Stars] Generation X (1994) #66

Come On Die Young

[6-Stars] Generation X (1994) #67

[6-Stars] Generation X (1994) #68

[5-Stars] Generation X (1994) #69

[6-Stars] Generation X (1994) #70

Collected in Counter X (Vol. 2)

Era #9, Part 18: Counter X (Vol 1)

Grade: C+

The Revolution reboot brings a new creative team to X-Force. Warren Ellis and Ian Edgington shift the title from a para-military strikeforce to a shadowy covert-ops team. X-Force continues their mantra of taking the fight to the enemy, but their attention is more focused on international, rogue, behind-the-scenes intelligence agencies. 

Revolution introduces a few other changes. As with the X-Men titles, the stories start six months after the events of Powerless (Era #9, Part 15). The lineup is down to four: Cannonball, Bedlam, Proudstar, and Meltdown. Mutant super-spy Pete Wisdom becomes their new coach and leader. They also swap out their spandex for a new look. 

There are two distinct arcs in this collection. In Games Without Frontiers, X-Force returns to San Fransico to stop a horrific experiment long-ago abandoned by the CIA. The original director, Dr. Niles Roman, orchestrates his new world vision as every resident of the city is turned into a monstrous mutant. Domino returns in Murder Ballads, and she needs X-Force's help. She was has a mysterious, intelligent growth on her back and a mutant assassin, Marcus Tsung, hunting her for it. 

I really like the new look and the new direction, but it isn't without some issues for me. The foremost is the heavy reliance on exaggerated spy cliches. It takes itself too seriously to be a caricature but remains too small in scope to be intriguing for the genre. The villains, Dr. Roman and Tsung, are only plot devices. What little character exposition we get is over-the-top cardboard cutout version of super-spy villainy. 

One big bonus: Whilce Portacio! Another one of my favorite artists back on the X-Books.

Games Without Frontiers

[6-Stars] X-Force (1991) #102

[6-Stars] X-Force (1991) #103

[6-Stars] X-Force (1991) #104

[5-Stars] X-Force (1991) #105

Murder Ballads

[5-Stars] X-Force (1991) #106

[4-Stars] X-Force (1991) #107

[5-Stars] X-Force (1991) #108

[5-Stars] X-Force (1991) #109

Collected in Counter X (Vol. 1)

Era #9, Part 17: Revolution (Part 2)

Grade: C-

Chris Claremont continues his run by introducing even more new villains. That normally isn't a bad idea, but it is important to remember that the X-Men movie was just released. New readers were looking for something a little more familiar with what they saw on the big screen. Instead, they got a set of completely new stories that do not comfortably fit within the established X-Men mythos.

This run opens with both X-Men teams independently investigating intergalactic slave trading on Earth. It is a much bigger operation led by Tullamore Voge and his hired help the Goth and the Crimson Pirates. Later, Angel and Psylocke are attacked by the Twisted Sisters after an undisclosed bounty, and the X-Men race to save Lee Forrester and her crew caught in a hurricane off the coast of New Orleans.  

The run ends in a final showdown with the Neo. We left the last post with Dr. Cecilia Reye and Detective Charlotte Jones stuck in the Neo's stronghold. The X-Men finally find a way into the sealed compound to save their allies and confront the angry invaders.

It is sad to say that Chris Claremont's return was a forgettable event. I applaud the attempt to try something new with the X-Men, but Revolution introduces elements and characters that never go anywhere (and are often forgotten).

[4-Stars] X-Men (1991) #103
[5-Stars] Uncanny X-Men (1963) #384 
[5-Stars] X-Men (1991) #104
[4-Stars] Uncanny X-Men (1963) #385 
[5-Stars] X-Men (1991) #105 
[4-Stars] Uncanny X-Men (1963) #386 
[5-Stars] X-Men (1991) #106 

Collected in X-Men: Revolution by Chris Claremont

Era #9, Part 16: Revolution (Part 1)

Grade: C+

Chris Claremont is back! After a decade away, the legendary X-Men scribe (and my favorite writer) returned to the team that he placed at the top of every fanboy's read pile. He took both of the core titles just as the X-Men movie hit the theaters. The comic stars aligned, and I was excited. Alas, my enthusiasm was tempered when this first set of books reached the racks. I still had hope, but these were not the X-Men tales of my youth.

Marvel reset the X-Men franchise with a reboot they called Revolution. The new direction starts six months after the events of Powerless (Era #9, Part 15) in which the X-Men manage to stop the High Evolutionary and Mr. Sinister. This first set does a nice job of telling two separate stories (a problem that plagued the Alan Davis run).

In the X-Men, Colossus, Psylocke, Rogue, Shadowcat, and the newest member Thunderbird (whose origin is told in X-Men Unlimited #27) work to rebuild the High Evolutionary's space station to hand over to Dr. Peter Corbeau and NASA. A new threat emerges to sabotage their efforts. Another advanced branch of humanity was decimated by the High Evolutionary's energy pulse. They call themselves the Neo, and they plan to take their revenge on everybody.

The X-Men also follows Nightcrawler who left super-heroics behind to become a student priest, but he is nearly killed by a Neo ambush. He turns to Dr. Reyes for immediate medical attention. She again finds herself back into the world that she thought she had left behind. Archangel and Detective Charlotte Jones are dragged into the growing confrontation outside the Church of St. Michaels.

In the Uncanny X-Men, Beast, Cable, Phoenix, and Storm meet in Europe to reluctantly help Gambit pay back a Thieves Guild debt owed to Russian spymaster Colonel Alexei Vazhin. The trip brings the team face-to-face with Neo Shockwave Riders, the Neo Lost Souls, and a rogue Neo slave trader. 

Chris Claremont creates an entirely new society that has been secretly living amongst us without anybody noticing. That is a tricky thing to pull off (even in comics), and it does not work here. We never really get an understanding of who the Neo are or what makes them different from humans and mutants. The most mind-boggling unanswered question to me: where have they been living this entire time? We get a glimpse of the tribal dynamics but there a lot of inconsistencies. For example, they appear both low or high tech. The only thing we know for sure is that they are in pain from what the High Evolutionary attempted to do, but that is about as deep as we get. I thought maybe the Neo would be an unfolding mystery over the next year, but that was not the case.

Claremont does a good job of getting into the characters. Nightcrawler left the X-Men for the priesthood. Kitty found love and looks to a future outside the X-Men. Pyslocke deals with her newfound power (and the loss of her primary abilities). His excellent handling of Dr. Cecelia Reyes really stands out and is reminiscent of his style with strong women. She never wanted to be an X-Men, but she is forced to learn new ways to use her powers to survive the Neo and to protect Nightcrawler. Claremont really captures her personality, and we see her dealing with a life she still dislikes under extreme circumstances. On the downside, Claremont introduces a new character with the confusing codename Thunderbird (did we really need another one?). He is an introductory character for us to see the new team from an outsider's point of view, but Thunderbird isn't explored as much as I would've expected in that role.

I am a huge fan of Leinel Francis Yu's and Adam Kubert's artwork, and I had enough faith in Chris Claremont to give this batch a read. It was almost there, but not quite.

[5-Stars] X-Men Unlimited (1993) #27
[6-Stars] X-Men (1991) #100 
[6-Stars] X-Men (1991) #101
[6-Stars] X-Men (1991) #102 
[5-Stars] Uncanny X-Men (1963) #381
[5-Stars] Uncanny X-Men (1963) #382 

[5-Stars] Uncanny X-Men (1963) #383
[5-Stars] X-Men Unlimited (1993) #28

Collected in X-Men: Revolution by Chris Claremont