Aw Yeah, Art Baltazar...and the X-Men too!

It's time to pick another random book to review, but before we do that I have to relate an experience that I had at the recent Motor City Comic-Con that makes being a comics fan a lot of fun.

I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with Detroit's twice-yearly comic book convention, but it's the area's largest show. It's not Chicago or New York level big, and it's a far cry from 15 years ago when I was waiting in line to get Neil Gaiman's signature on my Season of Mists leatherbound hardback, or having to walk single file through the aisles trying to avoid to the snaking lines to get Todd McFarlane or Rob Leifeld's autograph (or was that line for the Spawn-mobile...I'm not sure).

Anyway, this con has long since seen it's glory days, but they still manage to pull in a respectable list of attendees and events. At the very least, it's an opportunity for my son to get his picture taken with whatever assorted Star Wars characters happen to walk by.

One of the creators who usually shows up is Art Baltazar of Tiny Titans. My four year old son is a fan, and can name all of the characters, so we always stop by to pick up a few books and let Art now how much he enjoys the book. This year, Art Baltazar went above and beyond and worked up a sketch in marker and crayon of my son dressed as Superman!



Aw Yeah, Art Baltazar! You're the best, and you really made my son's day, not to mention making this a con to remember.

So that's one of the things that make being a comic book fan so much fun, but how about another thing? Gee, I don't know, something like picking another completely random book to review. Take it away Randomizer...

...and that book is X-Men (Vol. 2) #1 from October 1991, published by Marvel Comics!

Well it had to happen sooner or later, as the odds were in this issues favor. I was a bit of a naive comic book collector in the early 90's, so when the speculator boom was in full steam barreling down the tracks, I was was right there pulling the steam whistle. I believe this title holds the record as the most copies of a single book that I own.

It came with five different covers and I bought two of each one. So yeah, that's ten issues of a book that I only ever read once. Now, however, I get to double the enjoyment from my initial investment as the randomizer has picked this book for me to read and review next.

Besides, when my son gets ready for college these ten issues are going to pay his way into a master's degree, right? Hello? Anyone?

Well, at the very least he'll have this blog post to read while he's standing in the financial aid lines at the administration office. See you in a day or two for the review.

Odds and sods

• George Tuska dead at 93. The Random Longbox encountered him only once so far, and it was an issue that meant a lot to me. Thanks George.



• Joe Rosen has also passed away, sadly none of his lettering art has made it's way through our website...yet.



• Posting has been light lately, my apologies. I made the decision to get caught up on a bunch of reading after the RL headquarters was quarantined with the croup. Expect regular posting to resume shortly.



• While rereading the Conan issue, I found the Stan's Soapbox column to be kind of entertaining. In it, he's crowing about how James Cameron has just signed on to do the new Spider-Man movie, as well as spearhead the X-Men cartoon franchise. I know that Stan tended to get carried away on his soapbox, but he even teases that when Cameron finishes all of that, he's going to do the live action X-Men film as well. Ahhhh, we were such naive film-loving, comic book fans in the early 90's.



• During my aforementioned reading marathon, I read the first six issues of The Unwritten, and damn if that wasn't the best kickoff to a series that I've read in a long time. Carey, Gross, and Vertigo have another solid title on their hands. Let's just hope it keeps an audience.

The X-Men vs. The Avengers #2

TITLE: The X-Men vs. The Avengers #2

PUBLISHER: Marvel

COVER DATE: May 1987

COVER PRICE: $1.50

23 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

So here's a deep mystery. It's the spring of 1987. I'd been reading comics for a couple of years, and as I've mentioned ad nauseam already, I was a big time Avengers fan. I was also about a year into my decades long X-Men obsession.

So why, pray tell, do I only have the first two issues of this 4 issue mini-series?

Like I said...a mystery for the ages, but let's try to break it down anyway.

Was it the creative team? I don't think so, as this is written by Roger Stern. He was the only ongoing Avengers writer I knew up to his point, as his run predated my first issues. It's drawn by Marc Silvestri, and while he was not a bankable name just yet, he still drew a nice looking comic.

Was it the X-Men? I don't think it was their fault either. This team has far too much good going for it than bad. Between mohawk Storm, brown and yellow Wolverine, pre-Gambit Rogue, reformed Magneto, and Havok's hypnotic costume...I couldn't be happier. Well I suppose I could if Nightcrawler and Kitty were still around, but I already talked about their absence over here.

Was it the Avengers? We actually may be on to something here, as the Avengers were in a bit of decline at this point. This period in time is when Stern is nearing the end of his run, leading to Walter Simonson's ill-fated team. While we have Cap and She-Hulk (who always brightens up whatever team she's on), we also have armored Thor and Dr. Druid. Yikes! Captain Marvel and Black Knight round out the team, and while they're both great c-listers, they need more than just other c-listers to interact with to make the team interesting.

I suppose all that's left to do now is to read the actual book and find out.

Uneasy Allies

• Writer: Roger Stern
• Penciler: Marc Silvestri
• Inker: Josef Rubinstein
• Letterer: Joe Rosen
• Colorist: Christie Scheele
• Editors: Mark Gruenwald & Ann Nocenti
• Editor in Chief: Jim Shooter

Thank god for pre-90's comics, as the first page gives me everything I need to get me up to speed on what happened in the first issue. Long story short...Magneto's old base of operations, the recently destroyed Asteroid M, is crashing back to earth. Magneto is wanted for crimes related to his sinking a Russian sub in his pre-reformed days, so the international community sets a trap to catch him as he tries to salvage his old base from falling into the wrong hands.


We enter the story in the middle of a classic Mexican standoff, with Magneto in the middle. The Avengers want to bring Magneto in for a fair trial, the X-Men are backing up one of their own, and the Soviet Super-Soldiers want Magneto in Russian custody.

Needless to say, a brawl ensues.

That's right Ororo, somehow this character made the cut.

The X-Men prove more wily than their foes, and make off with Magneto in tow. Dazzler absorbs all of the ambient jungle noise and blinds everyone by turning it into a burst of brilliant light, covering their escape.

They did seem to forget, however, that one of the Avengers can transform herself into pure light. That's a little like trying to stop Aquaman by summoning a tsunami.

Captain Marvel gets more than her fair share of ridicule, but I for one dig her signature flying formation. It's practically oozing with condescention.

She continues to keep tabs on the X-Men, while the Avengers take the time to put the Soviet Super-Soldiers in their place.

Meanwhile, Magneto isn't making any headway into getting the X-Men to trust him more as he rushes off alone to salvage Asteroid M.

Once there, Magneto finds some intact memory chips and circuits...oh yeah, and his old bucket helmet. Trust me on this one Magneto, putting that old helmet on is not really going to help any of the three teams trying to catch you to trust you.

But put it on he does, right in time for the Avengers to come upon him. Of course, the Avengers fear that he's up to no good and don't realize that he's actually trying to stop his old technology from falling into the wrong hands. They barely have a chance to take him down before the X-Men are once again on the scene.

We now get a true X-Men vs. Avengers fight without those pesky Russians.

Blade versus blade, as Wolverine takes on the Black Knight.

Brawn versus brawn, as She-Hulk takes on the Rogue.

The battle appears to be a draw, when the explosives that Magneto lined the asteroid with go off. Magneto proves he's actually one of the good guys by protecting both teams from the full front of the blast. Granted, he knows which side his bread is buttered on as the Avengers are all left unconscious from the explosion while the X-Men make their escape in the Blackbird.

Proving that I've been too hard on him, Dr. Druid is the only Avenger to come out on top, as he stows away on the escaping blackbird jet while mentally masking his presence from the X-Men.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

I'm no closer now, after having read this issue, to realizing why I never bothered to pick up the rest of this mini-series. I rather enjoyed this issue. So much so, that I'm going to have to go back-issue hunting for the last two parts.

It wasn't good like Watchmen is good, this was more like a rediscovery of a lost tale from a period of X-Men history that makes me happy. It's like one of those hyped-up DVD extras that is actually entertaining! The art by Marc Silvestri makes it seem even more so, as he would start pencilling his vaunted Uncanny X-Men shortly after this series wrapped.

This is another one of those type of books that make doing this blog so much fun. The fact that the Randomizer has chosen it hot on the heels of the big X-men/Avengers crossover that just recently wrapped with the resurgence of Asteroid M is just icing on the cake.

I look forward to seeing what the Randomizer has in store for me next.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics.

Related links for your surfing pleasure...

• Jason over at Marvel Comics of the 80's just did a pretty thorough 4-part look at this series. If you're hungry for more, go here and enjoy.

Comic Book Review: The Uncanny X-Men #285

TITLE: The Uncanny X-Men #285

PUBLISHER: Marvel

COVER DATE: February 1992

COVER PRICE: $1.25

22 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

This period of X-Men stories was really the beginning of the end of my obsession with the X-Men. I'd been reading for about 100 issues, and things had been building up to a fevered pitch over the last two years.

Jim Lee came on and took the title by storm and really rejuvenated things. Chris Claremont seemed to be refocused as well, and I was looking forward to the new titles and teams.

The actual execution, however, once everything was underway was underwhelming. After Claremont left, it didn't seem to be a cohesive universe anymore. There were too many people with too many ideas of what they wanted the X-Men to be, and not enough editorial control on what was best for the X-Men. As much flak as he gets for dangling subplots that last for years, you have to give Claremont credit that he kept that train rolling for far longer than it seems logically possible.

So Claremont was gone, with Jim Lee soon afterward, and it was a long time before any creator on the X-Men got me excited again. You can see my review here of an issue from The Age of Apocalypse storyline, which was the last gasp as far as my Marvel Zombie sensibility was concerned.

So yeah, long story short...this issue wouldn't have been on my top ten list of issues to reread, but here we are. Let's man up and see what's in store.

Down The Rabbit Hole

• Plot: Whilce Portacio & Jim Lee
• Script: John Byrne
• Pencils: Whilce Portacio
• Finishes: Art Thibert & Al Milgrom
• Lettering: Tom Orzechowski
• Coloring Joe Rosas
• Editing: Bob Harras
• Editor-In-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with Jean Grey and Colossus arriving on a different world after going through a portal of some sort. The trip puts the whammy on Jean Grey as well as their travelling companion, the Primate, who originally hails from this world.

As they try to get their bearings, they are set upon by a group of rebels who are desperate to get the primate back. Jean is able to use her psychic blasts on one of the soldiers, but there are just too many of them and it's only a matter of time before she is overrun.

They want her alive, but Colossus is not so lucky. Against a barrage of energy blasts, he falls to the ground, reverting to his human form in the process. The rebels take one look at his human face and stop in their tracks. They recognize his face as the one from the prophecy who shall return.

Elsewhere on this world, Storm has landed alone in the middle of an arid desert. She tries to coax some water from the desert winds, but fails. Weakened and delusional, she is found by a lone nomad in the desert.

He carries her back to his dwelling and offers her food and drink. Feeling she can trust this stranger, she eats and tells the tale of how she got to this world. At the mention of the portal, the stranger grows uneasy and upset. He feels her breach of the portal that brought her from her world will result in the destruction of his!

We now cut to another location on this world where a battle rages between some native soldiers and more rebels. They are all surprised by the sudden appearance of Archangel, who soon makes short order of the rebels.

The soldiers are not the only ones surprised by the ferocity of this winged warrior, as Archangel is not aware of the actions of his wings, which acted as if they were alive. Coming out of his trance like state, he is feted as a savior by the soldiers.

Finally, we turn our attention to find the last of the X-Men to have landed on this world...Iceman and Sunfire. It seems they have landed in the middle of a local tavern. That would all be well and good, but they came through the ceiling and it appears the owner is none to happy with him.

Back to the desert, and it would appear that Storm has regained her strength, at the expense of her outfit. Dressing in more appropriate desert/end-of-the-world armageddon garb, she and her new found companion are heading back to the portal to seal it before it destroys both worlds.

Colossus and Jean Grey, meanwhile, are being led back to the rebels base to spread the word of the "saviors" return.

If I was Colossus, I think I'd be starting to get a complex about going to other dimensions. If he's not being praised as it's world savior, he is being persecuted as it's destroyer.

Back at the tavern, Iceman and Sunfire have solved their problem with a little fire and ice teamwork. How these two never ended up as roommates in a 70's sitcom is a true travesty of justice.

Out in the streets of the town, there is something else that has everyone's attention. A town crier is announcing the return of the savior...a warrior forged of steel!

Archangel has arrived at the palace of the Wordly Avatar of the Triumvirate, who leads the soldiers that he has previously saved. In return for his bravery in battle, he is bestowed the honor of Protector General of the realm.

His coronation is cut short as news of Colossus' arrival is brought to the Avatar's attention. A ceremony of honor is turned to one of duty, as she turns to Archangel to lead her troops against the rebel saviour. I smell some X on X violence coming up.

Back at the rebel camp, Jean and Colossus realize that they must find their other teammates before things get any worse. Ororo beats them to the punch, as she has snuck into the compound to track them down. As surprised as they are to see her, the are even more shocked about the identity of her companion, for it is none other than Colossus' brother!

As if all of the scene changes weren't enough, we have time for one more...this time jumping to our earth where two murdered mutants lie on the street. Trish Tilby is reporting that the murderers appear to be fellow mutants, who are also tattooed with giant M's on their faces.

It would seem that Bishop is determined to stop the his future from happening, and if that means some nasty mutants need to be exterminated, thne he will not shy from his duty.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

If you would've asked me before I started this blog what some of my least favorite X-things were, somewhere on that list would've been Colossus' family and Whilce Portacio. Neither of those two have worn well with me over the years.

With Mikhail and Ilyanna and all of their dimensional and otherworldly adventures, it just seemed to not mesh well with the down to earth personality of Colossus. It was like their situations were wasted on Colossus as a foil. How many times can you go to the "farmboy in the big city" trope? It was cool and all the first time, but enough is enough.

And as for Whilce Portacio, his style seemed new at the time, but hasn't aged well. All his characters and faces seemed to look the same, and he didn't get much of a chance to refine his take on the team as he left within a year of coming onto the title.

But after reading this issue, I may have to revise both assumptions. Mikhail was nowhere near the bore that I was anticipating. Of course, he's not really in this issue too much as it's mostly just the setting of the stage for the coming conflict between rebels, soldiers, and X-Men.

And as far as Whilce Portacio goes, maybe it's Art Thibert on inks, but his pencil work seemed a bit more varied and spontaneous than I remembered. Granted, it's still not really my thing, but I found myself enjoying more panels than I grimaced through.

So there you go, an x-title that I wasn't looking forward to ended up being mildly entertaining. That sounds suspiciously like "damning with faint praise," so I better stop while I'm ahead.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics

Related links for your surfing pleasure...

• The Illegitimate Children of the Atom took a look at this very issue too

Comic Book Review: The Uncanny X-Men #232

TITLE: The Uncanny X-Men #232

PUBLISHER: Marvel

COVER DATE: August 1988

COVER PRICE: $1.00

22 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

I actually don't remember a whole lot about this particular issue. The Brood have never been one of my favorite X-Villains, and I guess I just sorta let this storyline drift from my memory.

I already mentioned previously what I love about the X-Men from this period, so I'll spare you once again.

One thing I do remember vividly about Uncanny X-Men as a title, was that it was the first book where I really paid attention to the credits above and beyond writer and penciler.

Dan Green was probably the first inker that I knew by name. From the day that I started reading the X-Men he was the inker and finisher for Uncanny, and he definitely helped smooth the series over from penciler to penciler.

The other name that will probably stick in my mind until the end of time is Tom Orzechowski. His lettering defined the look of an X-Men book like no one else. So strong was his presence that it was instantly noticeable when absent. I'm not too much of a lettering aficionado, but an X-book just isn't a real X-book if it's not lettered by Orzechowski.

And with that, let's dive in and see what trouble the Marvel mutants have gotten themselves into this time.

Earthfall

• Writer: Chris Claremont
• Penciler: Marc Silvestri
• Dan Green
• Colorist: Glynis Oliver
• Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
• Editors: Ann Nocenti & Bob Harras
• Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

The first page is pretty much what every Chris Claremont book needs...a recap page to bring us up to speed, as Claremont has split the roster up into three teams.

Ororo and Logan are in upstate New York dealing with murderous WWII super heroes turned vigilantes. This here is the version of Storm that I love. The first issues of Uncanny X-Men that I started reading off the racks were from when she returned to the team with the mohawk, leather and no powers. I know people like to poke fun at the punk Storm, but I could never get into the more traditional tiara and half cape.

Wow, two paragraphs in and I'm already waxing nostalgic about the good old days. I'll try to keep it in check a little bit better for the rest of this review.

Over in Scotland, Juggernaut is being given a hard time by Longshot, Rogue, Dazzler and Psylocke. Finally, in New Mexico, we catch up with Havok and Polaris who are enjoying date night at a local fiesta.

Not far from the fiesta, a group of local twentysomething's are camping at the foothills of the Rio Diablo mountains. Unfortunately for them, their peaceful night is shattered by the sudden appearance of a meteor crashing from the heavens and landing right next to them.

Surprised that they're not dead, they rush over to investigate and find a giant shark has crash landed? Yeah, I don't remember that...nor do I really understand it, either.

But wait, it gets even more incomprehensible! The shark is still alive and it eats one of the campers.

But wait, it gets yet even more incomprehensible! The ground turns out to be littered with The Brood, who begin to attack the remaining campers. So wait...The Brood traveled through space in a giant shark!?

On a side note, it turns out they do! I googled Brood Shark and the first web site to pop up was this one. It's truly an interesting read, even more interesting is that I have absolutely no memory of these star sharks, even though the apparently date from the earliest Brood appearances.

Let's just let it slide and move on. The Brood at least look cool, so we'll give their questionable choice of space travel a break this time.

Only one camper lives through the experience, and we catch up with him a couple of days later. He's back on his job as a paramedic in Denver, and is tearing through town in his ambulance on the way to an emergency.

He comes upon the scene of a mutant who has suffered a heart attack. During his cardiac arrest, he lost control of his powers and ended up scorching his office.

Our paramedic camper approaches him alone, but just when you think he's going to help him, it turns out that he's really a Brood now and he unfurls a tentacle to infect the lawyer as well.

We now cut to a scene of one of my favorite X-Men hideouts...the old Reaver base of operations in the Australian outback.

On a mesa in the distance sits Gateway and his bull-roarer. I always liked Gateway, and the idea of the silent, enigmatic teleporter. I wonder if he's still around in any capacity these days? I confess to not being up to date on my Marvel continuity, so he could be a full fledged member of the X-Men for all I know.

But on this day, he uses his powers to teleport Madelyne Pryor back to the outback. She was off doing some shopping, and returns to find the base deserted as the X-Men are all out on mission right now. Madelyne's husband, Cyclops, has left her and the team by this point, but she has stuck around with the X-Men to help assist them.

Relaxing in the base's computer room, she turns on a monitor to find an interview with Cyclops and Jean Gray as part of the newly formed X-Factor. So here, my x-timeline is getting a little shaky. From the dialogue, this is the first time that she has seen Scott in his capacity as leader of X-Force and that his first wife is back from the dead and by his side.

This book is from 1988 and I remember that X-Factor came out in 1986. So that's 2+ years of books where the X-Men were unaware that X-Factor existed? I know that they worked in secret for a while, but this surprised me.

Back to the story, Madelyne overreacts to the images on the screen and punches the monitor. The feedback causes a mini-explosion, which renders her unconscious (and so begins the road to Goblin Queen Madelyne Pryor).

Back in Dallas, Harry Palmer, the brood infected EMT, returns to his apartment after his shift. He is unaware that the Brood is making him infect other mutants, having just a vague feeling that something is not right.

He enters his apartment to find the X-Men, now recently reassembled as a complete team, waiting for him. Thanks to their previous encounter with the Brood, Wolverine was able to track Harry from the crash site in New Mexico to Denver. The X-Men are taken by surprise as Harry summons heretofore unknown strength and takes them down singlehandedly.

The X-Men recover to find that Harry has ditched them once again. Psylocke is concerned that they are chasing an innocent man, as she detected no mental impressions of the Brood within Harry's mind. Wolverine trusts his senses more than Psylocke's mutant powers and heads off to find him once again.

Aboard a bus, hoping to get as far away from the X-Men as possible, Harry is surprised to see Rogue turn around in the seat in front of him. Wolverine has obviously found him, and brought Rogue along for some extra muscle.

Once again, his Brood powers kick in giving him extra speed and strength. Rogue, apparently not learning from the experience just two pages ago, is caught off guard by his quickness. Harry's Brood tentacle emerges again, and just as he is about to infect Rogue he is yanked from the speeding bus by Wolverine.

Trapped in a dead-end alley, Wolverine approaches him to end the Brood threat once and for all. Rogue tries to quell Wolverine's berserk rage until Psylocke can try to learn more with her telepathy. It's all for naught, however, as she is soon interrupted by the arrival of the police, who order Wolverine and Rogue to stand down.

Wolverine lunges at the cops and takes them down in two quick panels. Rogue tries to hold him back, surprised that he would murder two cops in cold blood. The rest of the X-Men catch up, and it's revealed that the cops were actually Brood.

Trapped in the same dead-end alley, the X-Men are now surrounded by a horde of Brood descending from all angles. It appears they are back in full force to turn the X-Men into Brood as well.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

My ennui towards the Brood has not lessened over the years. This was a rather dull story, compared to the high esteem with which I hold this run of books in my memory. I'm not a biggest "X-Men in space" fan, so seeing them go up against a generic alien race never really excited me too much.

Still, it was fun to see some old favorites back in action like I remember them. Even a boring X-Men book from the late 80's is better than what's been going on in the X-world post Morrison/Quitely.

I've always enjoyed the work that Marc Silvestri did on The Uncanny X-Men, even more so when he moved over to Wolverine. I've been hoping that the Randomizer would pick one of his Wolverine issues written by Larry Hama, as I remember enjoying the hell out of that run and am curious to see how it holds up.

This issue was also the downfall for Mohawk Storm, as she starts to grow her hair out and get a costume that looks more like her "all new, all different" debut. Oh well, nothing perfect lasts forever.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics