12 Days of X-Mas: Uncanny X-Men #326 (1995)

Happy New Year!

Today's issue has us getting more glimpses into Gambit's mysterious past before he joined the X-Men. In case you don't remember, Gambit was working for Mr. Sinister back in the old days, and he led the Marauders to the Morlocks before the Mutant Massacre. The guilt is ripping Remy LeBeau up, so he takes out his anger on the lobotomized Sabretooth the X-Men are "rehabilitating."

It's not even much of a fight, because Sabretooth is basically in a child-like state of mind. Now whether or not he's faking is still not clear as of this issue, but it is still a neat scene when Gambit has holograms of Creed's victims start showing up and accusing him of his past murders.

I'm not certain the continuity lines up anymore though. Since James Howlett and Sabretooth were kids around 1900, it makes the timeline for Creed's first murders when he was 9 seem a little bit off. Either way, it is a good scene. And at the close of the issue it sure looks like Sabretooth might be turning back into the bad guy we know and love.

There are a lot of pages dedicated to the Legacy Virus too. These pages don't hold my attention too well, as the whole arc seemed weird. I know the X-Men always stand in for the current persecuted people of the day, but the HIV/Legacy Virus thing was a big heavy handed.

It certainly doesn't help that the Legacy Virus took out Moira MacTaggart, a valuable supporting cast member who deserved a better send off.

Joe Madureira's art was so revolutionary at this time, I remember loving it. Now I'm struck by the lack of backgrounds and the heavy use of computer-generated images to try and give each page a sense of place. It's a pity that the foreground characters look so dynamic yet the primitive photoshop work doesn't. Again, Mad's Beast is the highlight of the issue, but he draws a mean Gambit too. I like the simplified outfit Storm has in this era too.

Good

X-Men Legacy #267

I love Rogue. I love She-Hulk. In fact, they may be my top two comic book ladies. So seeing the two of them go at it is pretty great. Especially with Rogue channeling She-Hulk’s powers!

Rogue beat the Avengers single-handedly in her first appearance, so it only makes sense that she’d tear up this smaller team now. Sure, she gets a little back up from the other X-Men, but for the most part, this is her show. (How cool was it seeing Gambit fight Moon Knight? I want more of that in the Versus title!) I figured Iron Man was a little too busy to appear in this book, but Gage makes the most of it. At this rate, Iron Man could show up in every title and you could just try to figure out which armor was the newest, and therefore, occupied.

It’s nice seeing Shadowcat show up and take some action. Since I read Wolverine & the X-Men in trade, I haven’t seen much of her in awhile. More importantly, this book is the catalyst that sends more big names over to the X-Men’s roster in AvX. Rogue, Gambit, Shadowcat, even Cannonball will be welcome additions.

Rafa Sandoval does not like to draw backgrounds. There are a lot of good fights in this, and they look great (She-Hulk vs. Rogue, people). He does have a habit of just going with a solid color in the background of almost every panel. Even if he does put in some other detail, it’s pretty simple. It also would have helped to put Shadowcat in her costume, I miss those blue puffy sleeves.

Good

AvX: Versus #2

Man, poor Gambit doesn’t get too much respect in this one, does he? Cap spends the entire issue talking with Iron Man on the phone while Gambit desperately tries to get Cap’s attention. It’s a great battle, with Steve McNiven delivering some great visuals with Gambit’s powers. Gambit has been around long enough that he seems like he should be able to stand up to Cap for a bit longer than this, but Cap’s powers are almost off the charts these days. Immense mainstream popularity seems to be a nice power-boost in the source material!

The art is the star of the show, of course. McNiven gets to write a bit, but it’s hardly high-level drama.

In the second story, Spidey takes on the new Juggernaut-ified Colossus. I was pleased to see the underdogs finally get a win here; too bad it’s taken four rounds for it to happen. And in fact, Spidey doesn’t totally lose this encounter; it’s more accurate to say that nothing he does fazes Colossus in the least. In fact, Colossus spends the entire issue begging Spidey to give up so that he doesn’t kill Spidey by accident!

I’m not up to date on the Cyttorak powers that Colossus has, but it’s a tad disappointing that Salvador Larrocca has to draw this issue featuring Colossus with this obviously intermediate look. There is no way this is the long-time status quo for Colossus. I really missed Larrocca’s “pencil” work, his Invincible Iron Man material is all so digital and textured looking. I’m really excited to see him working in his old style. I remember loving his Ghost Rider work that looked a lot like this!

Fair

X-Men Legacy: Aftermath TPB

These bridge trades are always a bit odd. X-Men: Legacy needs some time to catch up from two recent X-crossovers, Second Coming and Age of X. The first couple issues of this trade deal with the first, and then the last few issues all deal with the fallout from Age of X. Mike Carey wrote Age of X, so those chapters make a lot more sense and entertain me more than the first couple issues.


In the aftermath of losing his hands, Hellion’s actions are under review. Cyclops and some of the other X-Men are worried that Hellion is turning bad. They’re worried after he used excessive force in taking down erstwhile X-Man Sentinel Prime. (That’s her name, right? The Indian lady from the beginning of Carey’s run?) I don’t know Hellion at all, and I’m not a huge Hope fan yet. For me, the most interesting part of this story is seeing Random, the mutant hit-man, working with the X-Men. I wouldn’t have guessed he’d be a hero, but here he is.

I do find the idea of a powerful telekinetic missing his hands to be pretty interesting. If you can manipulate everything with your mind, why do you even need those primitive things? Hellion doesn’t see it that way yet, but I think there is a lot of potential with the character after that development.

I like seeing the fallout from Age of X in the rest of the trade; it’s worthwhile to see Carey wrap up some of the interpersonal strands he’s created. When given the chance to forget what happened in the alternate world, most of the X-Men choose to forget it, the time is just too painful. But Frenzy wants to remember the time she was actually a hero, and involved with Cyclops’ alter ego of Basilisk. Now I’m starting to see how the character was softened up for her appearances in the current Legacy title.

Carey also puts the Gambit/Rogue romance to bed for a bit. Gambit is certain of his feelings for Rogue, but he tells her he’s going to back off until she’s sure. I guess that’s leaving Magneto a nice opening to try and get back on the scene. (I’m firmly in the Gambit camp, he’s a much better match.)

It’s too bad that after such a dramatic cover, the interior art is so much weaker. Paul Davidson is OK, but his art is a bit generic, almost like the DC house style. Harvey Tolibao typically puts a weird reflective sheen on the faces of too many characters. Are their skins all made out of metal?

Rafa Sandoval is more solid, but I’m not a huge fan of his work either. I think Carey’s best work on the title has been with Chris Bachalo and Scot Eaton. Too bad Carey didn’t ever get matched up with a top-tier or more classic artist.

Fair

X-Men Legacy #266

Now that’s how you write a crossover! The Avengers vs. X-Men event has been built around normally reasonable heroes not talking things out. Simply put, Cap and Cyclops, if written normally, would not be sending their allies against each other.


However, this book is different. When each side has a psycho (Moon Knight and Frenzy), it’s a lot easier to get a rumble started. She-Hulk, Falcon, Rogue, and even Gambit can all be reasonable, but man, Moonie and Frenzy push things along nicely, and now we’re set up for a sweet throw-down.

I couldn’t be more pleased at how this issue comes together. I like all the characters involved, and I was worried about choosing a side. I worried that one team or the other would come out looking like the bad guys. Gage dodges that bullet like a pro. I ALMOST find myself rooting for the X-Men here, but since this is their comic, I think that makes sense.

It is worth mentioning that Gage also addressed another concern from the core book. Iceman, Rachel Grey, and possibly Mimic all decide to throw in with Cyclops. The Schism isn’t going to last long, it seems. I would have enjoyed seeing a few more faculty members leave the X-campus, though; even with the Avengers getting some very big name support, I think Shadowcat, Rogue, Gambit, Frenzy, Cannonball, Husk, and ALL the students should be able to wrap up that mini-Avengers squad pretty easily. Heck, it’s a good thing Hellion got taken out so quickly, he’d be a big factor all by himself!

I didn’t think Rogue could copy non-mutant powers, either. If she can, this is going to be really ugly for the Avengers.

Rafa Sandoval’s art is solid. Again, Mark Brooks’ covers are simply amazing, so the interiors have a lot to live up to. But Sandoval carries the load and gets the job done. He has to draw a ton of characters (mostly unnamed) but every character looks on-model. I like his Rogue and Gambit too; he has a nice handle on the stars.

Good

X-Men Legacy #264 & 265

I didn’t really expect to enjoy this story as much as I did, but Christos Gage packed enough emotional punch into the generic story to make this entertaining.


Weapon Omega, the ill-conceived mutant who killed Alpha Flight back in the day, has been looking for a place to fit in for awhile now. I suppose it only makes sense that he’d hook up with Mimic, the 6th X-Man back in the day. The two of them seem to be looking for somewhere to fit in, the problem is that Omega is literally a ticking time bomb, about to blow up and do a whole lot of damage. The story unfolds pretty generically; the expanding threat is a neat idea, and I like the use of the Beast as team scientist.

I’m even more pleased that Mimic will be sticking around. He was a fun character back in the Exiles series, so maybe this incarnation has some untapped potential too. I have faith that Gage will make Mimic into another interesting cog in the X-Men faculty-machine.

I definitely got a vibe from Mimic and Omega. I don’t remember either having a girlfriend or anything, so I this didn’t strike me as being a timely retcon or anything, just the fleshing out of some under-used characters. Was the emotional bond between the two more obvious to other folks, or am I reading into it?

I will say Gambit needs to toughen up. He's not going to retain his bad-boy image very long if he keeps following Rogue around like a lovesick puppy!

The art is solid enough, but I’m still not enamored with the whole look of this title. Legacy has been saddled with above-average artists, but not much more than that. I think part of the problem is those fantastic covers by Mark Brooks. I wonder what a more classic-looking artist could accomplish with these characters.

Fair