My Quest to Read All X-Men Related Comics in Order from Beginning to Present time

[Seedz]

LOVED "The Other" in wolverine,

A lot of american readers had no idea how..... scary it was that The Fury showed up. I expected somebody to die, at least. Lots of "Somebody"s. The Fury is a Universe Killer. Unfortunately, it got watered down. That's the kind of stuff I want to see in "Events", with events happening only every 4 to 10 years or so. The Fury shows up. shyt Yourself.

Whedon's X-Men is a masterpiece, but it got needlessly picked apart by folks who were really just trying to sound smart

Cable/Deadpool...

This is all coming up to the time where a bunch of bullshyt "Events" started derailing perfectly good stories.

Funny you say that because recently I went back and started reading recommended other Marvel series from around this time, so I'm basically reading All X-Men + any other good series parallel. Coming up to Bendis' New Avengers. Any good?

Also of the new ANAD Marvel, which series would you recommend?

 

[Seedz]

X-Men v2 #157-160

Havok and Annie Ghazikhanian get into an argument about whether or not she did anything with Iceman the night of Polaris’ bachelorette party. But the discussion goes unanswered, as Havok, now a team leader, has X-Men responsibilities to attend to, such as tending to Jay Guthrie, who at his mothers’ request is going to be attending the Academy. Jay is going to be roommates with Squidboy, and they show Jay around, eventually running into Iceman, angry that the Juggernaut is allowed to know certain X-Men secrets and is using the Danger Room. Havok thinks Bobby’s attitude has something to do with the fact he has permanently become ice, and on the way to see Cyclops, who is now headmaster, they run into Rogue and Gambit, who also want to be taken off Havok’s team, but won't say why. Upon entering Cyclops’ office, they discover that everybody else has some problem with their team, or in Northstar’s case no team, however Cyclops will not let anyone change teams. Soon, Havok and all his team – Polaris, Iceman, Wolverine, Rogue, Gambit and Juggernaut – meet with Emma Frost who has an assignment for them, hoping it may help them to work as a team, and the seven journey to China, where sometime ago a disaster happened. It was prophesied by the local monks as an “apocalypse”, but it went as far as to affect the Earth’s magnetic field, causing Lorna some pain. However as they search the rubble of the village, they discover someone who looks remarkably like…Xorn.

Juggernaut informs everyone that the original Xorn had a star for a brain, and suggests that a leak in his helmet had something to do with the destruction of the surrounding area. The X-Men are about to take Xorn back to the mansion when they are stopped by Eight Chinese Immortals. The Immortals attack, one of them seriously injures Polaris, while Gambit gets trapped in another Immortal’s controlled vines as his playing card blows up while he was holding onto it, and he is blinded.

Havok manages to knock out any remaining Immortals and they board the plane when something leaks from Xorn’s cracked head and begins to tear apart the X-jet. Havok manages to keep Xorn from opening another black hole by channeling his power through himself. The Eight Immortals return and remind the X-Men of the helmet Xorn was kept in which prevents his powers from acting out of control. They reveal that it is being held at a nearby military base, and so while the Eight Immortals lead Wolverine, Polaris, Rogue and the blinded Gambit some of the way, the squabbling Iceman and Juggernaut remain to keep an eye on Havok and Xorn – until the Collective Man shows up with some military aid, informing the heroes that they will die for setting Xorn free. Wolverine, Polaris, Rogue and Gambit are also confronted by the Collective Man when they arrive at the military base. At the Xavier Institute, Jay Guthrie has a run-in with Mindee of the Stepford Cuckoo’s while Squidboy tries to warn the White Queen that Black Tom Cassidy is on campus, but she doesn’t believe him.

The X-Men fight off the Collective Man and the Chinese army, Iceman and Juggernaut having to set aside their squabbling as they protect Havok from danger. When the Collective Man becomes a giant, Iceman matches him in height, and manages to fell him. Elsewhere Wolverine fights his way through more Collective Men, as Polaris clears the base of all the other Collective Men and soldiers, before using magnetic resonance imaging to locate Xorn’s helmet and displaying her incredible powers further by bringing it to them, before flying them all back to Havok and the others.

Later, back at the Institute, Havok and Annie make up after their fight, Havok telling her that he doesn’t want to know if she and Bobby slept together, while Bobby himself spends the night looking at photos of him and Lorna and him and Annie. Squidboy tries to convince Juggernaut that Black Tom Cassidy is amongst the trees, but Cain pretends to not believe him, however after sending Sammy inside, he calls out to his long time friend.

 

[Seedz]

Weapon X #19-22

During the months after defecting from Weapon X, Marrow has reorganized her old group, Gene Nation, and incorporated the leftover rebel cells of Cable’s Underground. Following her orders, the mutants have performed various terrorist attacks at some Weapon X training facilities for foot soldiers, but not all of the rebels like this change of course, as, under Cable, no innocents were harmed. Another of Marrow's problems is her control over her bone growth fading, again some structures growing on her temples. That is when Maverick sneaks into the base and points his gun at her, only to be subdued by Vessel and Hemingway. However, Maverick gets free, but Marrow manages to get him to listen – as they have the same cause, bringing down Weapon X, and with the rest of Cable’s Underground disassembled, why not join Gene Nation instead? Reluctantly, he agrees, neither of them aware of a second invader in the base – Agent Zero. Meanwhile, at the Weapon X compound, Jono romances a staff member and pressures her for information on how the compound is impervious to telepathic inquiries. He learns of some secret project called The Paths but, when checking out the chamber it’s supposed to be in, he finds that Paths is short for telepaths, about two dozen of them being held in stasis tubes.

Marrow joyfully watches TV reports on Gene Nation’s latest activities, when, suddenly, Agent Zero breaks in and flips a wire around her neck. He threatens to choke her to death, unless she reveals him where her terrorists will strike next. Having no other choice, Marrow says that the next target is Grand central Station, but at least she catches him off-guard with the revelation that Maverick has joined her cause and will be performing the bombing. Zero distracted, Marrow breaks free and summons her most loyal members of Gene Nation. Knowing that fighting all of them would take too long, Agent Zero escapes, to try and stop Maverick before its too late. Before long, he spots him among the crowd at Grand Central Station. Although he could easily kill him, Zero approaches Maverick and asks him to reveal who he really is under that mask. Maverick has no intention of telling and, when he reaches inside his coat for a gun, Zero shoots him in the chest. However, Maverick wanted to shoot the real bomber, a female mutant who blows up, taking along most of Grand Central Station. Both Zero and Maverick survive, the latter just barely, and Zero curiously unmasks Maverick only to be shocked by the sight of a familiar face. Meanwhile, Chamber intends to free the many telepaths exploited by Weapon X to shield the compound from outside probing, but they tell him they are beyond saving; instead they tip him off to what’s happening at Neverland. Shocked by the dark events going on at the concentration camp, Jono gets overeager and uses his mobile phone to cancel the scheduled meeting with Logan, for he plans to stow away on a prison transport to Neverland. Despite Logan’s warnings, Jono goes through with his plan.

Agent Zero demasks the badly injured Maverick and is startled to find that he is Chris Bradley, aka Bolt, Maverick’s old sidekick. Evidently, after having been informed of Maverick’s apparent death, Chris had decided to make the name live on and to make his mentor proud by hunting down and killing the Weapon X Program. However, he failed and he dies in Zero’s arms, before he has a chance to tell him that he is the real Maverick and that he indeed is proud of Chris’ actions. After grieving for his friend’s death, Zero wants revenge and hunts down every single member of Gene Nation and kills them. He even gets to Marrow and is ready to shoot her, but realizes that this would make her a martyr and would further inspire her terrorist cause. Therefore, he spares her and promises to kill every single mutant that supports her, until she realizes that she is all alone and useless. Meanwhile, Logan receives a phone call from Chamber, who has discovered Neverland and transmits him the coordinates of the place, when suddenly the connection breaks down. Logan travels to the coordinates, somewhere in the Canadian woods, and finds the concentration camp abandoned. Returning to the Weapon X compound, Agent Zero finds the place empty as well and he wonders what has happened and where everybody went.

Following the Underground’s attack on the Weapon X compound, Aurora has flown herself, Malcolm Colcord and Jeffries to safety. Instead of taking them to their intended destination, Aurora drops both men in some desert and attacks Malcolm with her super-speed, in a new, third, never-before-seen persona, she has developed to cope with her emotional and physical trauma. Malcolm begs Aurora to finish him off, but she instead decides to abandon them and flies away. Jeffries takes the Director to the original, now abandoned Weapon X complex. Weeks pass, and Malcolm tries to drink himself death, much to Jeffries’ concern. Eventually, Malcolm becomes delusional and sees Wolverine, the man who was responsible for disfiguring his face. Surprisingly, “Wolverine” offers Malcolm his aid stating he needs to go back into the game. Malcolm refuses Wolverine's help and contacts his former superiors of the Weapon X Program. They thought he was dead by now and laugh at the thought of working together with him again. This time, Colcord lets himself be inspired by the hallucination of Wolverine, and he orders Jeffries to get the old Weapon X complex running again with his robots and to create a new army of Sentinels at their disposal. Jeffries does as told, and while he is happy to see Colcord smiling again, he is somewhat concerned about his mental state, for he keeps talking to himself - or actually to the hallucinatory Wolverine.

 

[Seedz]

Weapon X #23-28
End of Series

At the end of World War II in a recently liberated concentration camp, a man the army troops call the Professor finds the journal from Nathan Essex, which quickly peaks his interest. Years pass and the Professor and his co-workers, Cornelius and Hines, observe the rather savage mutant known as James Howlett. Howlett is but one of several mutants the Professor is considering for the latest Weapon Plus program, for which he has been given charge of. As the programs are named by their number, this one will be "X." He gets a phone call from John Sublime, who is with the more advanced Weapon Plus Programs. When Sublime informs him that the government is shutting him down, the Professor responds by breaking off from the Plus Program. Years pass, and the Professor is dead. Sublime stands over his grave and meets Malcolm Colcord, who had an accident at the closing days of the Weapon X Program. Sublime suggests they work together so that he can get his revenge on Wolverine, the mutant responsible for his disfigurement. Colcord accepts. Years pass, and Colcord is happy with his restarted Weapon X program and its new side project, something called Neverland. He also finds his second-in-command, Brent Jackson. In the present day, Agent Zero walks through the deserted Weapon X Program and can only find the word "Roanoke" on the computer screens. Wolverine walks through the deserted Neverland, and finds the same. Fantomex digs up John Sublime's grave and finds out that it's empty. In the coffin, he finds a card that reads "Roanoke."

In the town called Roanoke, a grandfather tells his grandchildren the story of a mysterious town that once also shared the same name. When a sea captain called John White, after three years, finally returned to his home colony, he found out that all 116 men, women and children who once lived there, had all went up and vanished into the air. White tried to find out what happened to the town and spent 20 years searching for survivors, but no one was ever found. When the story’s over, Wolverine shows up in Roanoke and unsheathes his claws and kills everyone living here. Later, sitting in a train, Wolverine wakes up from his nightmare and tries to calm himself down. Meanwhile, Fantomex arrives at the deserted Weapon X compound. There, Fantomex is caught by Agent Zero and the two have a little fight with each other.

E.V.A. rushes into the building and calms the two gentlemen down and takes them aboard. E.V.A. lands in a grassy area, where nothing is left but grass and some trees. E.V.A. finds out that there was a civilization here once, but is now destroyed. There is also a man-made complex hidden underground here. Fantomex and Zero try to figure out what happened to the civilization. Their talking is cut short by Wolverine, who snikts his claws open and reveals that he happened to it.

Wolverine reveals to Agent Zero and Fantomex that he killed the people in Roanoke, back when he was mind-controlled and working for Weapon X. He has also found a tree trunk with the word “Croatoan” on it. On the second “O,” there’s a button. When they push the button, a video-screen appears. As the screen opens, John Sublime reveals himself to be alive! Sublime explains that the Weapon X faculties have moved underground, because they are at war with the Weapon Plus Programs now and believe that they are harder to find underground. Sublime also reveals to Wolverine that he let him read the files at the World, and that one of the three men is the heart and body to Weapon X; but none of the three mutants realize which one of them it is. Sublime sends his various U-Men out to kill them. The mutants fight their way through and E.V.A. rescues them. Sublime lets them escape, knowing that Weapon X has made a move against them now, but as of today, so has he made a move against them. Later, a damaged E.V.A. lies in a grassfield, crippled and burning up in flames. Beneath her lies Fantomex, badly injured and not moving. Wolverine and Agent Zero are nowhere to be seen.

Sabretooth’s employer, Megacorp, gives him his next mission: he has to kill his former boss, Mr. Sinister. After getting a quick history brief on Sinister’s past and current guise of Dr. Windsor, Sabretooth decides to go for it. Meanwhile, Dr. Windsor is still at it and is now the head of the Center for Homo Superior Medical Care. He convinces a mutant’s parents that there boy, Louis, is soon to die. The parents decide to let their boy be and leave. Sinister’s happy with his new test object and tells Scalphunter to move it to their faculty. Sabretooth makes it in but Sinister orders his new employee, Hans, to take care of him. Sabretooth and Hans fight, and Hans is the apparent winner of the fight by burning up Sabretooth’s body.


In the year 1968, Sabretooth was on vacation in Vietnam when he was approached by Scalphunter. He and Sabretooth came to an understanding, if Sabretooth promised not to stick his nose into Scalphunter and his boss’ business. In the present day, Sabretooth is defeated by the Marauders known as Hans. Believing his enemy to be defeated, Hans walks out but Sabretooth lives and defeats Hans, making him fall off from a rooftop. Sabretooth wants to continue his search for Mr. Sinister, but is attacked by another new Marauder, a little guy that looks just like Hans! The little guy kicks Sabretooth down, but Sabretooth eventually defeats the little guy. Just as Sabretooth wants to kill the little Marauder, he is hit by another optic beam and drops off the roof. Exhausted, Sabretooth finds himself challenged by nine other new Marauders, all looking like Hans. Sabretooth gets up and wants to fight, but is too exhausted and faints. Luckily, Creed is found by his employers of Megacorp. They are a bit disappointed that Sabretooth failed them and want to give the assignment over to Wolverine. Sabretooth promises that he will find Mr. Sinister and walks out of the office building. Once outside, he is approached by Scalphunter, who finds it the right time that they come to an understanding.

Scalphunter explains to Sabretooth how Hans and the other Children were created by Mr. Sinister. Scalphunter is afraid that he might die for good, now that Sinister has the Children, and reveals to Sabretooth how to get to Sinister’s secret location. Meanwhile, Sinister himself wants to eliminate Hans because he failed to stop Sabretooth. Suddenly, Sabretooth drops into Sinister’s castle and activates a device installed on his head, which defeats the Children. Sabretooth wants to fight Sinister and bring him to his bosses at MegaCorp. Grand and Tomes show up by themselves and pay Sabretooth with a big amount of money for his services. Sabretooth walks out, while Grand talks to Sinister in private. Grand reveals his true identity: that of John Sublime! Sublime makes a deal with Sinister. Sinister agrees and hands over Hans and the Children to Sublime and, in exchange, gets to take a peek at the mutant files that Sabretooth stole from Weapon X. Afterwards, Sabretooth returns to Satan’s Circus, where Peepers hands him over a note. Sabretooth leaves and drops the note, that reads “Brotherhood.”

 

[Seedz]

Uncanny X-Men #448-449

The X-Men return to Braddock Manor, following their battle with the Fury, and find the building mysteriously intact. Brian Braddock and his wife, Meggan, wait for them at the door. Inside, Brian explains that the manor is magic, and somehow takes care of itself. Despite being happy to see her old friends, Rachel senses something is wrong with the whole scenario. Once outside, she accesses a portion of her power and, in place of the pristine manor, she sees Jamie Braddock again. This time, he is standing amidst the ruins of the building. As quickly as the image hits her, it is gone. She seems to shrug it off and the team head to London, chauffeured by a woman with green lipstick. They change into evening dress for dinner with the queen but, once inside their car, they are gassed by their chauffeur, Viper. They wake up inside see-through spheres and with a large hologram of Viper standing beside them. She informs them that they are inside Murderworld and the object of her game is to kill them; especially Sage. They must also find and rescue the queen of England, because, if they don’t, she will die. Rachel is the first to emerge from her sphere, but she is severely beaten up by Viper. Without their powers, courtesy of some well-placed nanites, Viper has an advantage over the X-Men in that she knows the terrain. In their new environment, Kurt saves Storm from being swept underwater, but knows that, in escaping this trap, there’s bound to be another one waiting for them. Bishop and Sage emerge next to an illusion of the Tower of London. Sage somehow breaks her sphere using her fist, which surprises Bishop. Viper then appears and beats up Bishop before shooting Sage.

Only her uniform protects her from certain death. She then holds a gun to Sage’s head and, despite Bishop’s warning that she will be hunted to the ends of the Earth, she pulls the trigger.

Having shot Sage in the forehead, Viper proceeds to best Marvel Girl in physical combat, leaving Rachel and Bishop to face a squad of soldiers. Inexplicably, Sage stands up and shows her X.S.E badge to the captain, ordering him to stand down. She then wills the bullet from her forehead and switches off her image inducer, revealing that it is, after all, Wolverine. Bishop can’t believe he didn’t figure it out earlier. The queen, however, is still in danger, but Wolverine knows where she is. Meanwhile, Storm and Nightcrawler intrude on a Purity conference and Ororo has strong words with the organizer, Alice Tremaine, before taking her leave. Arriving at the London Eye, Alistaire Stuart informs the team, who now have their powers back, that the hostage is in the topmost car and two bombs are keeping her there. Viper’s voice tells the X-Men that there are two bombs. One conventional bomb will explode if they do nothing, or a baby nuke will explode if they try to rescue her. Also, it’s not really the Queen of England. It is Ella, one of her housemaids. The X-Men, despite Stuart’s objections, attempt a rescue and Storm creates a Jovian pressure field to crush the car, once Nightcrawler has teleported Ella to safety. Bishop blasts the car high into the sky, where the nuke explodes, harmlessly. Logan tells Alistaire that it was a risk, but Ororo made the right call. Meanwhile, Viper is on a mission to eliminate Courtney Ross. Before she kills her, however, Ross makes her an offer she can’t refuse. Later, Sebastian Shaw meets with them both and, together, they agree to rule the Hellfire Club, leaving the world theirs for the taking.

 

[Seedz]

X-Men v2 #161-164

A new Brotherhood consisting of Sabretooth, Exodus, Black Tom Cassidy, Avalanche, Nocturne and Mammomax attack a presentation in Philadelphia, but the X-Men are there and prepared for them - only during the course of the battle, the Brotherhood escape, and the X-Men do not learn what it is they want. At the Institute, Squidboy is looking for Juggernaut, which causes Iceman to argue with his teammates, reminding them that Juggernaut is on parole and needs to be accounted for at all times, especially as he was not with them during the mission. Squidboy’s mother also asks Sammy how he would feel if she started dating Juggernaut, which the boy doesn’t like. Rogue apologizes to the still-blinded Gambit for her part in his injuries, but when he goes off at her, she leaves. When Havok lets slip that the Brotherhood got away to Annie, she panics, and fearing the Brotherhood will come to the Institute she realizes she cannot be there anymore. Havok suggests she go somewhere safe, but what he doesn’t know is that she packs up and leaves forever, telling only Polaris. The Brotherhood argue about how the X-Men could have known they were going to attack, when Black Tom brings in his back up plan, which he has had in plotting for quite some time - Juggernaut!

The new Brotherhood of Mutants learns Black Tom and Juggernaut’s plan, including the part about Cain being a mole within the X-Men all this time. However Nocturne isn’t so sure about things, and when she tries to make her exit, she is beaten by Cain, the extent of her injuries unknown. Squidboy sees his “hero“ beat on Nocturne and gets seriously upset, but before Sammy can alert the X-Men, Black Tom attacks kills him.

This causes Cain to go on a rampage, tearing Black Tom’s head off, and attacking the other members of the Brotherhood. Shen Xorn reveals to Havok and the Emma that firstly it was not Magneto who did the things to them, but someone acting as an impostor, and that secondly, the person behind it all is still within their midst and has been for sometime. The telepathic Xorn feels that the mysterious assailant will strike again. Meanwhile, Havok is informed by Iceman that Juggernaut is still missing, and Jay Guthrie reveals that Sammy has gone looking for him. Alex realizes finally what is happening and assembles as many X-Men as he can, to go looking for the Brotherhood. Wolverine, Polaris and Rogue set out in one direction, while Havok, Iceman and Xorn go in another - and run into the Brotherhood. Havok manages to blast Juggernaut away with a plasma blast, but at the same time Sabretooth guts Xorn and Avalanche shatters Iceman, before opening up a gully and causing Havok and Xorn to fall in it. Black Tom puts himself back together, and Exodus is glad that his plan has not turned into a complete failure, before telling the others that they need to go kill the rest of the X-Men.

As they drive out of the Institute, Carter complains to Annie that they cannot leave without saying goodbye, when Annie’s close friend Northstar appears before them and converses with Annie about her departure. Suddenly the telepathic Carter reveals to them that Sammy has been killed and now the Institute is under attack. The blinded Gambit has a vision of the Brotherhood attacking and seeks help, but can only find the snobbish Mindee of the Stepford Cuckoos, who is reluctant to help him, until Sabretooth attacks them and she uses her telepathy to guide Gambit’s kinetically charged cards.

Avalanche joins in the battle, only to be taken out by Mindee as Sabretooth is rushed away by Northstar. Northstar uses his super speed to push Sabretooth through the forest as the ferocious mutant tells Jean-Paul he is more of a girl than his sister was. The mention of his missing sister Aurora gets Northstar so worked up that he beats Sabretooth until he is unconscious, ready to get an explanation as to his sister’s whereabouts when he wakes. Wolverine and Polaris discover the body of Sammy when they are approached by Nocturne, who is worried she may have helped the Brotherhood kill everyone at Xavier’s. Juggernaut and Iceman bicker as they dig for the buried Havok and Xorn, eventually uncovering them as Gambit and Mindee are cornered by Exodus and Rogue begins to get crushed alive by Black Tom. Wolverine, Havok, Polaris, Iceman, Northstar, Juggernaut, Xorn and Nocturne all regroup and prepare for battle against the Brotherhood.

Icarus rescues Mindee and Gambit from Exodus, as the school chef Marilyn takes on Black Tom, who has trapped Rogue. Black Tom is repulsed by Marilyn and jibes Rogue as she tries to convince him not to hurt the four-armed chef. Wolverine, Havok, Polaris and the others regroup and run into Sabretooth. Logan is left to deal with Sabretooth on his own as Exodus, Avalanche and Mammomax argue and try to move onwards with the plan - until Havok, Polaris and the others arrive and begin to battle them. Northstar comes to the aid of Marilyn and after telling Black Tom the chef’s life story, Jean-Paul breaks the plant-mutant into nothing but twigs and leaves. However, Black Tom is not defeated, and vines spring forth from all over the Institute grounds, trapping the X-Men and their allies. Mindee is unable to use her telepathy to take control of Black Tom’s mind because it is so scattered, but Nocturne is able to phase into Tom, but finds herself unable to centralize his consciousness. Shen Xorn believes he has the only answer, which involves taking off his helmet and opening the black hole within his head. Mindee mind wipes the Brotherhood in case they are able to return from wherever it is that they are going to be sucked away too, and Juggernaut agrees to be sucked away with them so that he can protect Nocturne wherever they may wind up. With that, Juggernaut, Avalanche, Mammomax, Exodus and Black Tom with Nocturne inside him vanish into Xorn’s black hole. Xorn then requests to leave his place at the Institute, to which Havok agrees. The X-Men find Wolverine, who claims to have finished off Sabretooth, and Northstar is about to inform Havok that Annie has left, when Havok reveals that he already knows. However, Annie may find it no safer away from the Institute, as Carter reveals he has a new friend, who is not imaginary, and two eyes glow next to him inside the car as Annie is driving from the Institute.

 

[Days of Future Piff]

Anyone miss how fun the X-men used to be?

Good lord when was the last time they played a baseball game.

I miss the X-men being a family too. I miss hero teams being like family in general and not being at each other's throats 24/7.
If anyone who follows the more recent stuff more closely can disprove me on this, then touche, but I feel like a lot of comics now are trying way too hard to be Watchmen. You've got heroes spending more time beefing amongst each other instead of actually fighting villains. Pretty much everyone's been turned into a violent, morally-questionable anti-hero. Like it's not cool for heroes to be fundamentally good people anymore.

For me, the sliver and bronze ages >>>>>>, with a few exceptions.

 

[Seedz]

Cable/Deadpool #7-10

Deadpool fights ninja monks in Hong Kong to get an item they are guarding. He defeats them but is then defeated by the mercenary known as the Cat, who steals the item.

Cable gives an interview to Irene about his recent actions and plans. Though, he has been helping people all over the world, Irene is afraid that he is abusing his powers. However, Cable says that, as a telepath, he knows what people want and they want what he can give them. Later, S.H.I.E.L.D. monitors Cable trying to establish peace in Chechnya. G.W. Bridge wants to stop Cable, but Nick Fury isn’t convinced that he has done anything wrong yet. He does give G.W. an order to assemble a team to stop Cable, should he make a mistake. Cable (still in Chechnya) shows them that he heard the whole conversation and that Nicholas is right. The X-Men try to find a way to defeat Cable but 75 Danger Room simulations later, they still haven’t found a way. Weasel tracks the Cat to Tokyo and Deadpool attacks the Cat at Roxxon’s base and the two fight again. Taking an employee hostage, Deadpool forces the Cat to give him the item he wanted back in Hong Kong. The Cat shows him the item and its counterpart, saying that it’s the only way to stop Cable. Deadpool grabs the item and bodyslides out. Merged again by the teleportation tech, Cable and Deadpool rip apart again after the bodyslide, but Deadpool doesn’t tell him about the item. After Cable leaves, Deadpool’s employer tells him about the next part of the item: it’s in the Savage Land. G.W. Bridge sees Cable leaving Deadpool’s apartment and finds this reason enough to deploy the new Six Pack to stop him.

Deadpool steals another mysterious, high-tech device, but is knocked out by the Cat. The Cat takes the device and wants to escape, but is defeated by the X-Men, who take the device and Deadpool back to their mansion. Irene remains skeptical of Cable and wonders what is going to happen if people will resist. S.H.I.E.L.D. sends the new Six Pack to Cable’s base, Providence, where Cable defeats members Solo and Anaconda and shows the other members that Providence is not a military installation.

G.W. Bridge isn’t convinced, but Domino sees that Cable is trying to do good. The X-Men turn out to be Deadpool’s employer and the devices he stole, all parts of Cable’s old space-station Greymalkin, can be used together to stop Cable. They don’t agree on their plan of action, though: Wolverine wants to use Deadpool, who is undetectable to Cable and capable of entering Cable’s base whenever he wants and plant the device. Emma doesn’t trust Deadpool and Beast is not sure yet that they should take action. Nick Fury has a teleconference with the presidents of the U.S.A and Russia, Reed Richards and various other heads of state where they try to decide what to do about Cable now they lost contact with the Six Pack. Nick Fury is against military action, but the two presidents disagree. Reed Richards is thinking about another, non-military solution, but is interrupted as Cable teleports in (with Deadpool in tow) and tells them that he’s tired of their actions and gives them 48 hours to dismantle their weapons before he throws all their weapons into the sun. He teleports out again and Deadpool lands back in the X-mansion. Cable ultimately makes Beast agree with the other X-Men that they should stop Cable now.

24 hours in, the U.S. sends fighter planes against Cable and his floating city, but Cable easily stops their attack. Nick Fury does note that Cable’s nose has started bleeding, which means that he’s weakening. The X-Men are contacted and they are the next wave of attack: One group will cause a distraction, while Nightcrawler will set special charges that will disrupt Cable’s power temporarily. Their whole plan is depended on Deadpool, though, who has to use a special device against Cable. During the attack, Deadpool betrays the X-Men by shooting Bishop and Wolverine in the back and telling Cable of their plan. It turns out that Cable already had foreseen this attack. Nick Fury and Dugan note that the time limit they set for this attack has passed and the X-Men have probably failed, so Fury asks Dugan to contact Reed Richards. He faces the other X-Men, but sends his new allies Domino, Constrictor, Solo and Anaconda against them, while he goes back to talk to Deadpool. Cable finds out that, no matter how hard he tries to deny it, Deadpool actually believes in Cable. He tells Deadpool that while he’s surprised and flattered, he actually wanted Deadpool to succeed: his whole plan was to unite humanity against a common enemy. Cyclops attacks Cable and thinks that Cable’s plan will never work. Cable and Cyclops talk and Cable reveals that his powers won’t last for long but, as long as he has them, he needs to use them to make a difference. Cyclops thinks humanity isn’t ready yet for Cable’s plans and that others will be sent to attack him. Dugan tells Nick Fury that Reed Richards has contacted the ‘alien,’ but that, after hearing their cause, the alien just flew away. On Providence, Cable, who has foreseen everything till now, is surprised by the coming of the alien, who turns out to be the Silver Surfer

The Silver Surfer attacks Cable and, although Cable tries to reason with him, the Surfer continues to fight. While Cable and the Surfer are fighting over the Pacific Ocean, Cyclops and Deadpool watch the fight for a few seconds, then Deadpool leaves “to do what I came here to do.” He runs into the Cat, who tells him to cooperate if he wants to save the planet and his friend. At this point, the gravity generators that keep Cable’s base afloat seem to ‘hiccup.’ The base trembles and Storm suggests to Domino that their teams stop fighting and try to repair the gravity generators. Solo, Domino and Nightcrawler make their way to the generators, while Cyclops, Cat and Deadpool will try to stop Cable and the rest try to save the humans on board Providence. Cable breaks the Surfer’s board, but the Surfer gets up and removes Cable’s metal arm with an energy blast, stating that Cable’s passion will consume the world and he can’t allow that to happen. Nightcrawler calls Cyclops and tells him that the gravity generators don’t work: Cable is keeping Providence afloat with his telekinesis. And now the Surfer has defeated Cable, Providence starts to crash. Deadpool wants to use the device he has been assembling on Cable’s equipment, but Cyclops doesn’t trust him. The Cat knocks out Cyclops and Deadpool activates the device, then bodyslides to Cable’s Swiss Cabin. Rachel keeps Providence up telekinetically, but is straining, while Deadpool uses the device on Cable. The device activates the last bit of Cable’s powers and he lowers Providence into the Ocean and connects the minds of humanity for a few moments so they can see what is in each other’s heart. Irene explains to Nick Fury and the X-Men that the device Deadpool used lobotomized Cable to limit his powers. Deadpool stands over Cable’s comatose body.

 

[Seedz]

New X-Men: Academy-X #10-12

Following another mocking from Julian, David believes that he’s useless if he can’t keep the knowledge he absorbs. After a session with Emma Frost, he finds out that a mental block in his mind prevents him from keeping it. He wants it removed. After a discussion with Dani, David decides to go for it. The plan works and, day after day, David absorbs everything he can: from science knowledge to fighting skills. But his attitude too changes, and not in the good way. Meanwhile, Kevin holds another session with Dr. Sean Garrison, who’s interested to learn more about Laurie after Kevin mentions what her powers are. Later, new Field Day contests are held, and this year the New Mutants win! David also gets a trophy for all-around academic excellence. A few hours later, David announces that the school has got nothing more to offer him and leaves. However, he promises to help Josh find the full potential of his powers. Three months pass. In this time, David creates his very own Alleyne Enterprises and gathers a press conference. Proudly, he announces to have found a cure for both cancer and AIDS! And he did that together with Josh Foley, who agreed to serve as test object. But unfortunately, this caused Josh to die.

Eighteen years later. Dani gets summoned to David, who is now the president of the United States! He informs her about his plan to bring world peace, and is close to reach it. But not all countries have joined America yet, and therefore David wants to destroy China, in the hope that the other countries will join his land peacefully. Dani tries to fight back, but gets bound on a chair and killed by toxins. He regrets the decision, as he once loved Dani and would have done everything for her if he ever showed some affection back. David’s wife, Noriko, sees it all happening and runs away from him. She gathers the entire New Mutants team, and they plan a counter attack. Despite their many differences, they make a truce with the Hellions and attack the White House. David has foreseen it all happening, and had a back-up plan. He faked a threat in outer space the Hellions were responsible for, and sent the entire X-Men team to investigate it. They did and, once on the crime scene, David blew it up, killing all the X-Men. Everyone fights back, but David kills most of the Hellions and the New Mutants. Noriko is left, and she overloads her powers. Thereby killing herself, David and blowing up the entire White House. Emma Frost and Dani stop the session, and hope that Dani has seen why he isn’t ready for his mental block to be removed. David’s freaked out, but Dani and Emma make it clear that it was all just a mixture of telepathy, and Dani used her fear powers on David to make him experience it all like it was very real. David agrees for the block not to be removed, and wants to study and hope that his future achievements will all be earned. He walks out with Dani, and they clear up their relationship and both agree that David’s affections towards her can never become reality. Later, Josh is approached by Kevin. He threatens Josh to break up his relationship with Laurie, or else he’ll tell the entire school about Josh’s former relationship with Wolfsbane, and they’ll both be expelled.


It’s another Field Day. Wolfsbane’s Paragons Squad manages to fulfill their mission in perfect time and with minimum civilian casualties, and are about to win. The New Mutants are the last ones to go. They prove to be better than the Paragons Squad, and manage to defeat “the Hulk” in even less time. After the session, the team cheers about their victory. Kevin notices that Jay and Laurie are still together, and decides to go on with his earlier threat. He visits Emma, and informs her about the former relationship Josh and Rahne had. They aren’t happy about it, and contact Wolfsbane. She fears that she’s going to get fired, and decides to leave the school, planning to work for Jamie Madrox fulltime. Laurie learns of it too, and angrily breaks up her relationship with Josh. He even gets into an argument with David about it. Meanwhile, Sofia and Jay go to learn swing dancing together in the Hunter Dance Studio. At the school, David continues to avoid Noriko after the future session in his head. Dani tries to cheer him up, but he doesn’t know how to deal with it yet. Later, Scott and Emma contact Dr. Sean Garrison and offer him to become the Institute’s counselor. He’s interested, but can’t come this semester. Emma and Scott send him some files about their students and, after seeing pictures of Laurie and her mom, Sean contacts the Headmasters again, and tells them he can join them next school year. Once the phone is down, Sean smiles, and says that he’s got big plans.

 

[Seedz]

Uncanny X-Men #450-454

At the Xavier Institute Nightcrawler and Marvel Girl complete a Danger Room training session and share a short yet passionate kiss. They are interrupted by Wolverine and Storm who are headed out for a “night on the town.” Meanwhile, on Manhattan’s lower east side, a terrorized girl named Jade Parisi runs through the streets screaming for help. She is brutally attacked by four young men who are promptly and violently dispatched by a clawed mutant seen only in shadow. After killing the four would-be attackers, the silhouetted mutant stares ominously at the hysterical Jade who screams out in fear. In the Xavier institute’s library, Sage shuffles through old photographs as she remembers her days in the Hellfire Club. Her reverie is interrupted by the sound of an argument between Marie D’Ancanto and several mutant students. Sage promptly ends this argument. Logan’s and Ororo’s night on the town is interrupted by a page from the medical examiner in District X’s morgue. The M.E. reports that four slaughtered young men, mutant-bashers, were discovered in District X. The slash marks on the bodies indicate claws very similar to Logan’s. The X-Men also learn that Jade Parisi, daughter of a powerful mob boss is missing and believed kidnapped. Later, outside a night club in District X, the X-Men interrogate an informant for information on Jade. Logan investigates the night club and discovers a young girl with a familiar scent. After a short scuffle, the girl pops two claws from each forearm and stabs Logan through the chest.

As the terrified crowd continues stampeding out of Wannabee’s club, a wounded Wolverine attempts to confront X-23. She thoroughly trounces Wolverine and makes her escape. Nightcrawler pursues her, while Storm and Bishop tend to Logan's and Rachel’s wounds. X-23 exits the club and pursues the group of Bacchae that opened fire in the night club until she is apprehended by the X-Men. Logan and Kurt watch over X-23 while the remaining X-Men defeat the Bacchae gangsters on their own turf and rescue Jade Parisi’s boyfriend Matthew. The X-Men learn from X-23 and Matthew that Jade had been on her way to meet Matthew when she was attacked. As X-23 informs the others that Jade is quite safe, Geech (an enforcer for the mob) drops from the sky and begins throwing the X-Men around like paper dolls and demanding to know Jade’s location. Just as the X-Men gain the upper hand, Kurt appears with Jade and calls Geech off. After things have cooled down, X-23 leaves. Sage watches the events of the evening through her communicator lenses, cuts contact with the X-Men and makes her way back to the Hellfire Club.

The X-Men are aided in their search for the missing Sage by Emma Frost. Emma leads them to the lower levels of the Hellfire Club and helps them by using a global transmat system to follow Sage’s path across the globe. Rachel and Emma are transported to Hong Kong, while the remaining X-Men are surprisingly dumped into a sewer beneath Paris. Rachel immediately blames Emma for the X-Men’s disappearance. A grudge match between the two women ensues on the astral plane. Rachel gains and loses the upper hand but relents when Emma demonstrates the unconditional love that Scott has for Emma.

An uneasy alliance is formed between the two women and they move into a high stakes auction event at an exclusive Hellfire Club party where mutant slaves are being sold to the highest bidder. Emma moves in to confront “Courtney Ross” (The White Queen) and Viper (The White Princess) in a high stakes game of cards while Rachel moves to release the prisoners that the Club is preparing to sell. What neither realizes is that Selene (The Black Queen) is following Rachel and that she is hungry. Meanwhile, in the sewers of Paris, Bishop suddenly turns on his teammates and shoots them all down.

As Nightcrawler awakens, Bishop explains that he shot his teammates in order to cleanse them from a nannite infection that had invaded their bodies when they appeared in the sewers. Nightcrawler teleports the team away from the sewers to prevent further infection and give them time to gain their footing. As the team recovers, they determine that the nannite trap was more than likely set by Sebastian Shaw and possibly Sage. Storm tells Nightcrawler to take the wounded Wolverine to X-Corp Paris to recover while she and Bishop track down Shaw and Sage. Storm and Bishop are able to locate Shaw and Sage at a sprawling estate. Shaw introduces Sunspot (Roberto DaCosta) as the Hellfire Club’s new Black King. It seems that Sunspot, Shaw, Sage, Courtney Ross, Viper and Red Lotus are reworking the Hellfire Club from within to make it an institution to help mutants in the world. They are secretly trying to bring this slaver’s network down. The X-Men express grave reservations about this scenario, but Shaw insists that he has changed and now wants to embrace Xavier’s ideals and goals. Before the X-Men can digest this information completely, they, Sage, Sunspot and Shaw are all attacked and incapacitated by Donald Pierce.

Meanwhile, Emma Frost and Courtney Ross come to a draw in their high-stakes card game in the Hellfire Club Hong Kong. Rachel also continues her invisible search through the club for the mutant slaves being sold at auction. Her search is fruitless until she accidentally stumbles across an Asian couple who demand that she identify herself. Rachel tries to bluff her way through, but the girl attacks. Rachel is suddenly rescued by Red Lotus who claims he needs to take her to see the White Queen. Selene also intervenes and tells the Asian girl to let them go. Selene wants the starchylde for herself. Red Lotus then explains the new reformed Hellfire Club concept to Rachel.
Wolverine and Nightcrawler are enjoying coffee in a Paris bookstore while they discuss the recent romantic entanglements of the team: the Kurt, Ororo, Logan triangle, and Kurt’s recent kiss with Rachel. Without warning they are attacked by a large group of armed soldiers.


The X-Men conclude their two-fold battle against and at the side of the new Hellfire Club. Donald Pierce and his Cleaning Crew attack the X-Men, Roberto daCosta, Sage, and Sebastian Shaw. The X-Men successfully escape Pierce’s attack, and a mortally wounded Sebastian Shaw decapitates Pierce. Sage also reveals her duplicitous role in the formation of the new Hellfire Club. In Hong Kong, Rachel defeats Selene while Viper, Courtney Ross and Emma Frost upset the Hellfire Club’s mutant slave ring.

 

[My Girl is Bow Legged]

I like my emma frosts BBW

 

[Seedz]

Cable/Deadpool #11-12

After lobotomizing Cable on his own request, the world now blames Deadpool for killing their savior, while Deadpool tries to find a way to save Cable. He infiltrates an A.I.M.-base and negotiates with MODOK after a long fight to get a techno-organic alien embryo. He contacts Weasel, who tells him to bring the embryo to his apartment in London. On Providence, Irene and Nick Fury talk: despite Cable’s disappearance, Providence, now an island, is still growing and Irene wants to use it to fulfill Cable’s wish: a place where thinkers can meet and find a way to improve the world. The Six Pack finds Cable’s floating body in his Switzerland safehouse, but they are transported into his mind. Inside his mind, Cable tells that they will be there till he dies, because he doesn’t have enough power to free them. Weasel tells Deadpool that he needs to contact the Fixer to help them merge the alien embryo with Cable. Outside, an unseen stalker is listening in on the conversation. Deadpool travels to Florida Beach where the Fixer is staying and Fixer, having worked with Deadpool before, refuses to help him. Deadpool can’t remember meeting Fixer ever before, but Fixer mentions several times they worked before and each of them was a disaster to him. He tries to kill Deadpool, but when Deadpool mentions what he wants Fixer to do, he’s interested. When he hears that this is going to save Cable he’s even willing to do it for free (though he finally settles for half price). Back on Providence, Rabbi Rosen tells Irene that he heard that some people hired an assassin to stop Cable’s resurrection and that this assassin has a good chance of succeeding, because he knows Deadpool better than anybody else. In Weasel’s London apartment, Fixer looks at the alien embryo and decides that he can do what they ask of him. The still-hidden stalker then tries to shoot the alien embryo, but hits Fixer’s hand instead. The container with the embryo is knocked over and opens. Finally revealing himself, Agent X crashes through the window, ready to kill.

Deadpool and Agent X take the fight out of the window, while inside the Phalanx Baby has escaped and is making life difficult for Fixer and Weasel. After a long fight, Deadpool gets up a bit quicker than Agent X and uses his sword on him. He then goes back inside and shoots the Phalanx Baby off Fixer’s face. They now need to take the baby to Cable and, thanks to a comment of Fixer, Deadpool remembers where Cable is. The Six Pack is in Cable’s safehouse in Switzerland, where an out-of-control Cable has pulled them inside his mind. His mind is a warped cartoon world, where he tells them all that he is dying and happy no longer having to fight. He also tells them that they will all die once he dies, because they are linked to his mind. Deadpool and Fixer arrive at Cable’s safehouse and Fixer merges the Phalanx baby with Cable. Inside Cable’s mind, the Phalanx Baby becomes a giant monster that battles Cable. Cable is not fighting back until Domino convinces him to do so. Cable gains control over the techno-organic creature. Agent X shows up and wants Deadpool to give back his pancreas; Deadpool having took it while using his sword on him earlier. Deadpool and Agent X are at a standoff for a while, but in the end Agent X is willing to let his mission go if he can have his pancreas back.

Deadpool agrees, but tries to get Agent X to tell who hired him. Agent X is unwilling to say, but hints that it is somebody who doesn’t want to see Cable resurrected three days after his death. By now, Cable wakes up again and has shaped the alien baby into a new arm and other missing body parts. The Six Pack is still out of it, but slowly coming around. Cable thanks Fixer and Deadpool, then turns to Agent X and asks him to tell his employers that he is no threat to them. Cable then moves to Providence to rest and heal. One week later, Nick Fury and Cable talk about Providence slowly becoming a country in itself. Nick Fury leaves with the advice to Cable to not mess with him. Irene enters and asks Cable if he is going to keep messing with them. Cable says he will.

X-Men v2 #165

The X-Men help rescue survivors of a major car crash that happens near their home. X-23 gets into a fight with one of the boys she is trying to help, and later, Wolverine places her as roommates with Shadowcat and Marvel Girl. Hellion, much to his annoyance, is forced to go on a trip with other students to help at a hospice, and Archangel and Husk come home for Christmas, also go to help. Iceman, Gambit, Kitty, Rachel, Beast and X-23 play a prank on the students at the Institute, resulting in a huge snowball fight. Lila Cheney puts on a concert for the students, while Storm teaches Wind Dancer about her powers. Archangel and Cannonball play a prank on Hellion while Polaris surprises Iceman by kissing him. Elixir and Sage come up with a plan to restore Gambit’s eyesight, and it works. Rachel gets an interesting gift in the form of getting to meet Jean Grey’s parents - John and Elaine Grey. Xavier and Magneto watch the Christmas party via astral projection, and when a family that the X-Men rescued from the crash come by, including the boy who hit X-23, the family are invited to join the party by the forgiving X-23. Charles and Magneto see that moment as representative of this season of joy, and hope.

 

[Seedz]

Uncanny X-Men #455-459

The X-Men return home from Paris and Hong Kong only to be called back out to France to see a rather angry Psylocke who has recently returned from the dead. The mystery deepens as Psylocke’s mind proves to be unreadable for Marvel Girl. Wolverine and an old friend of his, Mary McKenna (unknowingly accompanied by X-23), tackle a solo mission in Canada which ends tragically. The X-Men come to the rescue, but may be too late.

While Psylocke waits imprisoned in the X-plane and has a strange encounter with her mad brother on the Astral Plane, the X-Men are ambushed and do battle with a band of costumed humanoid dinosaurs. The dinosaurs use their superhuman abilities to usurp Rachel’s mind causing her to think she is a dino-mutant. Rachel turns her telepathy against her teammates and helps the dinosaurs defeat the team. The X-Men are taken captive and carried through a glowing portal. X-23 alone escapes and frees Psylocke from the X-plane who single-handedly defeats the remaining dino-humanoids; together, she and X-23 enter an open portal to rescue the kidnapped X-Men including Wolverine, but are stopped by their attackers.

Rachel continues in her delusional belief that she is a Saurian, and she even subconsciously begins to alter her DNA structure telekinetically to reflect this. Storm, Bishop, and Nightcrawler attempt an escape and the latter two succeed while Storm is once again subdued by the delusional Rachel. Bishop and Nightcrawler are reunited with a strangely powerful Psylocke and X-23 who have been joined by the Savage Land Mutates and Ka-Zar.

The X-Men form an uneasy alliance with the Savage Land Mutates and a fierce battle ensues between the allies and the reptilian Hauk’ka. At Bishop’s request, Psylocke hesitantly agrees to use her unpredictable psychokinetic katana to restore both his and Nightcrawler’s mutant abilities, and the battle continues. R’Chel, still under the dino-delusion, attacks and very nearly ends the battle, but Bishop takes her down with his newly restored power. The X-Men and Mutates defeat the Hauk’ka and capture one of their number, Raina. Nightcrawler teleports the X-Men and their allies to a cave out of the range of the Hauk-ka as the defeated Saurians carpet-bomb the jungle. Kaidan commands Masano to return with R’Chel to the citadel which she does. Despite the growing doubts of some of the Hauk’ka, Rachel begins to usurp control of Storm’s mind with the goal of world-domination. Snow begins to fall in the Savage Land.

All over the world, sub-zero temperatures are sending civilization into a frosty panic. The X-Men wait in a cavern in the Savage Land until the time is right for them to strike. After X-23 frees Ka-Zar and Raina from Leash’s mind control, the X-Men and the remaining Mutates teleport to the citadel to confront R’Chel. They fight their way through the Hauk’ka soldiers and enter the stasis vault where R’Chel is controlling Storm. With the help of Brainchild’s invention and Betsy’s psychic katana, the group is able to stop R’Chel, but Brainchild’s treachery sets the ice-storms in motion even worse than before. After X-23 dispatches Brainchild, R’Chel accepts the advice of Kaidan, Raina, and Masano that this plan was ill-conceived and will result in the deaths of the Hauk’ka as well. She merges minds with Storm and is able to stop the global freeze. In the process, she is freed from her dino-delusion. Later, Kurt’s skillful use of charismatic diplomacy convinces the Hauk’ka to live at peace with the world.

 

[Seedz]

X-Men v2 #166-170

Havok, Polaris, Iceman, Rogue and Gambit arrive in Antarctica after receiving distress calls from a mutant colony trying to set up their own Utopia. Discovering masses of mutant bodies, either dead by suicide or killing each other, the X-Men also discover “Golgotha” scrawled on the wall in blood.

The White Queen telepathically informs them the biblical meaning of Golgotha, before a mutant reveals himself to be alive still - only to kill himself in front of them. Polaris is then attacked by a perverse mutant, and ends up killing him. Havok scolds Lorna for using her powers to kill, when a group of zombie like mutants approaches them. Rogue uses her powers to go into the mind of one of them and learns little, before they are attacked by another group of mutants. They manage to subdue one of them, who, after telling them that they will never escape, bites his tongue off so he doesn’t have to tell them anything about Golgotha. The White Queen then arrives, and after riling Havok, the mutant has a heart attack, but before he dies Emma learns who Golgotha is, and where it is.

The X-Men find Golgotha and debate whether or not to bring him back to the States. The White Queen wants to study him, but Havok thinks he is too dangerous, eventually Wolverine convinces them to compromise. Some of the X-Men comment about Polaris’ mental stability, while Iceman makes a joke about Gambit and Rogue not being able to touch - Gambit admits that it is getting to him, and later Rogue reveals that it is getting to her also. Some of the X-Men travel to Calvary, which turns out to be only one of several possible Calvary’s, but while there, Rogue and Gambit discover a small trinket shaped like the Golgotha they found in the South Pole. The White Queen hooks herself up to Cerebra and links to Golgotha - and suffers for it, as she is collapses while trying to leave and warn the others of something. Meanwhile, a mutant called Boy is let go by his rich human employers who used him as a servant. He recruits dozens of mutants in Las Angeles, and later they murder the rich family and their friends, leaving “Golgotha” scrawled on the wall in blood.

Emma regains consciousness and warns the X-Men in Calvary, who are fighting a second “Golgotha” that there is still trouble in LA, as Boy and his gang kill restaurant patrons, before making their own headquarters at a Western film set, and later kill some television executives. After Wolverine comments that Havok does have a problem with Iceman and Polaris, the three of them go to LA and after Wolverine gives Bobby some advice on how to deal with Polaris and Havok, they locate Boy and his followers and bring Boy back to the Institute. Boy’s arrival sparks some trivial problems between the friends and teammates in the X-Men, and he jibes Wolverine by telling him he is too old to be hanging around the X-Men. Later, Wolverine considers what Boy said and decides to leave to clear his head - only to discover that Emma has imposed a twenty-four hour quarantine on them all.


During quarantine they search for the real Golgotha, which is smaller than a pea, but grows as it feeds on people's fears and demons. They all deal with their own fears: Polaris deals with insanity, Iceman has to contend with everything around him turning to ice. Gambit and Rogue are forced to confront not only their feelings for each other, but Rogue kisses Wolverine and absorbs his life energies, believing that she is actually Wolverine. Gambit also fights an imaginary Mr. Sinister. Wolverine is confronted by his age and whether he still belongs with the X-Men, as Havok is compared to Cyclops and must deal with Polaris and Iceman being an item. The White Queen meanwhile looks into a mirror and sees herself old, and is about to perform plastic surgery on herself, until Havok stops her. Believing him to by Cyclops she attacks him. Eventually, Polaris rises above the madness and after seeing Golgotha on the x-jet which she apparently checked, she knows she is not insane. The X-Men regroup and destroy Golgotha. However it is not all over, as a mutant known as Gazer who lives aboard a space station informs Emma that there is some kind of space storm headed for Earth, and indeed, hundreds of Golgotha are making their way to Earth.

The X-Men try to convince General O’Shea to let them go into space to deal with the Golgotha, but he doesn’t like the idea - until, as Emma Frost later reveals, he realizes that they probably won't survive, which suits his anti-mutant agenda. After taking a NASA spaceship to a space station, the X-Men prepare for the battle against over three hundred Golgotha, while dealing with all the emotions and events that Golgotha has recently caused them. Havok suggests to everyone that they pretend what Golgotha did to them never happened. Everyone has mixed feelings about that, before they don their spacesuits and head into space for the battle, where Havok and Polaris, the two most powerful X-Men, will be using their powers to tear through the Golgotha, and the others are to pick up any they miss. Iceman is annoyed about Lorna having to work with Havok, and soon Alex and Lorna are separated from the others after a large power surge from Havok. While Wolverine, Emma, Iceman and the others discuss what to do, Alex and Lorna soon return, with Havok deciding that perhaps they shouldn’t pretend what Golgotha did never happened. Polaris is acting rather strangely, before suddenly unleashing a powerful blast which kills the remaining Golgotha after she whispers that it looked right at her. Afterwards though, Lorna reveals that she cannot remember what happened. Later, O’Shea and the President discuss what happened, with the President stating that he doesn’t want the world to know that the world was saved by mutants, not that he has anything against them, but because he doesn’t want them turned into heroes.

 

[Seedz]

X-Men: Pheonix Endsong #1-5

The Phoenix force is resurrected, only to be shattered again by a Shi’ar crew. It heads to Earth, very weakened and in the form of a firefly, it arrives at the home of the X-Men, and flutters around Wolverine, the Stepford Cuckoos, and Beast, while discovering that Quentin Quire is still alive and held in a tank in Beast’s lab. The Phoenix finds Cyclops and the White Queen, and causes Scott to dream about he and Jean Grey, resulting in him losing control of his powers temporarily. After Cyclops talks to Beast, a very disgruntled White Queen reminds Scott that Jean Grey, his first love, is dead. The Phoenix finds the graveyard and calls to Jean Grey, who, even though she is not ready, climbs out of her coffin and back to Earth.

The Phoenix and Jean struggle, before the Phoenix once again takes up residence in Jean’s body. Wolverine discovers the resurrected Jean and tries to learn what she is doing alive. The Phoenix forces Jean to don the Dark Phoenix colors, before Logan gets ready to kill her again - except the Phoenix stops him, and with Jean struggling to take control, it flies away.

Cyclops and the White Queen try to resolve their relationship conflicts over Jean Grey, when Wolverine informs them that Jean is back. Several X-Men discuss their options on what to do regarding the return of the Phoenix who has resurrected Jean Grey. They mostly agree that Jean is fighting the Phoenix, who has again become Dark Phoenix. Cyclops gives everyone their orders and sets about his plan, having Beast make a containment egg to hold the Phoenix once they capture her. Everyone is shocked when Quentin Quire is resurrected and goes in search of his beloved Sophie, only to find that she has died. He brings her body to the surface and decides that he will see what the Phoenix can do for them. Storm and Nightcrawler deal with a hurricane that is moving in the wrong direction, before coming into contact with the Shi’ar crew that have been harassing the Phoenix. They confront the Shi’ar vessel which is set on destroying the Phoenix and the second Omega mutant, Quentin Quire, who is moving North. After much debate, the Phoenix and Wolverine are bombed with a Shi’ar weapon, before Storm convinces them to help her stop Quire, not kill him.

Meanwhile, Cyclops, the White Queen, Shadowcat, Archangel and Beast prepare for their battle with the Phoenix / Jean, who is currently antagonising Wolverine. Wolverine and the Phoenix survived the bomb from the Shi’ar, and Logan goes about killing the Phoenix over and over again.

Jean seems to take control, and plunges into the frozen waters beneath them. Cyclops and company arrive, and the Phoenix returns, and the X-Men realize that it was not Jean who returned for Cyclops, but the Phoenix!


The Phoenix Entity holds Cyclops in her grasp, using his optic blasts to power itself, while Wolverine, the White Queen, Beast, Shadowcat, Archangel try to defend Cyclops. The X-Men know that the Phoenix thinks it wants Cyclops for love, because Jean Grey used to want him too. Cyclops has Kitty ready to crush his heart. The Phoenix says things that Scott knows he wanted Jean to say, until Emma re-enters the fray, offering the Phoenix her help, as the Phoenix cannot get Cyclops on her own. Before Emma can let the Phoenix consume her, Kitty grabs her, reminding everyone that Emma was once one of their greatest enemies, until Wolverine talks Kitty out of it.

The Phoenix consumes Emma, and while it gets used to the new form, Cyclops grabs her and seals them both in the containment egg. Inside, Emma / the Phoenix bathes in Cyclops’ optic blasts, while Beast monitors the egg, assuring everyone that no cosmic energy is escaping. But after a while, Emma can no longer contain the Phoenix, she is not strong enough for it, and adding to complications is the arrival of Quentin Quire at the Phoenix’s location.

Wolverine engages Quentin Quire in battle while Beast and Shadowcat defend the egg housing the Phoenix, Cyclops and Emma, however Quire manages to crack it, at the same time as Emma gives in to the Phoenix’s power. The X-Men turn their attention to stopping the Phoenix, but Quire manages to intrigue her, and they protect themselves from the others. The Shi’ar learn that Quire has claimed the Phoenix and begin the Endsong as they prepare for an Event Horizon, to destroy both the Phoenix and Quire, which Storm does not object to. Storm and Nightcrawler leave the Shi’ar to be with their friends, and watch as the Phoenix resurrects Sophie, who learns that Quentin expects her to be his girlfriend. Sophie is disgusted and kills herself, causing her sisters who are watching telepathically to jibe Quire, who goes insane. The Phoenix proceeds to leave in Emma’s body, until Storm stops her temporarily. Cyclops and Wolverine agree that they need Jean’s help, and as Scott blasts the ice where Jean is frozen, she emerges, firstly freeing Emma from the Phoenix’s hold, before she once again bonds with the Phoenix, to her friends’ protests. Cyclops informs a cosmic Jean that he knows why she came back, and with the help of the Stepford Cuckoos Emma uses her powers to telepathically “bring” the other X-Men to Jean, including Polaris, Rachel and Xavier. Various images of Jean’s time with her friends are seen, before Jean creates a new white and gold outfit for herself, just as the Shi’ar launch their Event Horizon, killing everyone. Cyclops finds himself elsewhere with Jean, and Cyclops fills Jean with assurance of who she is, and optic power. The X-Men wake, knowing that Jean saved them, and they saved her. Quentin dissipates and returns to his tank at the Institute, while later, a firefly lands at the window of the Stepford Cuckoos. One of the Cuckoos wakes up and asks the firefly what took it so long.