Comics on the Bubble: The Phalanx Covenant

Ugh. This storyline has commits some of the worst crossover crimes. Tons of characters stand around talking, not doing anything. There are totally unnecessary chapters dealing with secondary characters irrelevant to the main plot, and too many people have terrible, terrible mid-90s hair.

Uncanny X-Men #316 & 317: Wow, Joe Mad really did re-define the X-Men for a while, didn't he? Complain all you want how everyone looks like bubbly manga characters, but Banshee, Jubilee, the White Queen, they never looked better or more heroic. Scott Lobdell's writing moves the plot along nicely and really gives Banshee a nice spotlight. KEEP

X-Men #36 & 37: The chapters dealing with the Generation X cast are actually pretty good. The art by Andy Kubert is easy on the eyes and Fabian Nicieza does a great job bringing the anonymous Phalanx down to a relatable level. Perhaps most surprising is how cool Banshee seems here. KEEP

X-Factor #106: Forge is not a leading character. The storyline loses track in this crossover, the villains get confusing, and I can't make myself worry for the legion of secondary X-characters standing around waiting for something to happen. I'm going to go over this whole era of X-Factor, but for now... SELL

X-Force #38: Man, Tony Daniel just drew Wolfesbane with no pants. Seriously, she has a piece of string on her rear end, that's it! I mean, people look pretty, but she's about nude! Fabian Nicieza can't save the meandering story here, it's honestly the same arguments with Cannonball and Douglock that have been going on for issues and issues. SELL

Excalibur #82: I actually already dumped this one!

Wolverine #85: Man, Cable used to have BIG guns. I mean, people can make fun now all they want, but in these old issues his guns are so huge that they actually have tracking mounts on his giant shoulder pads. Crazy! This issue has a lot of characters dodging questions, and Cyclops and Phoenix have just returned from the future and they don't want to give away too much about what happened there. The interpersonal drama doesn't play out well, involving a bunch of telepathic mumbo-jumbo. I never do well with TP plots. SELL

Cable #16: By this point, I don't think I care if the Phalanx win. SELL

Summary:
KEEP: Generation Next story
SELL: All other Phalanx issues