181: UXM # 362 - 365, XM 82-84 (Hunt for Xavier)

What’s Covered?

UXM # 362 - 365, XMV2 # 82 - 84

Roster Watch

Synopsis

UXM # 362: Setting the Scene

Writer - Steve Seagle

Pencils - Chris Bachalo

• Pyro burning a farm Under a helicarrier

I'm not going to lie. I was pretty confused for a majority of this issue. We're dropped right into Pyro burning a farm. I thought he died of the legacy virus. Why is he on this farm? What is he mumbling about? Why is a helicarrier here?

• Gambit still Possessed

We're reminded that Gambit is still possessed (As seen in XMV2 # 81)

• Pyro Vs XM

• Some cyborg was in pyro’s flame

Ha, I know what the cyborg was now, but didn't when I originally took these notes.

• Kitty borrows cerebro from Moira

• Half of team will go to SF, the other half to Tajikistan

The X-Men use Cerebro to track down Xavier and find two equal reads on him, both on opposite sides of the world. So the team splits up here to track him in two locations.

UXM # 363 - 364: Half of the team in San Fran

Writer - Steve Seagle, Ralph Maccio (Script, 364)

Pencils - Chris Bachalo (363), Leinel Francis Yu (364)

• Prof x stuck in Alcatraz with Toad.

• The San Fran team consists of W (Wolverine), NC (Nightcrawler), Kitty, and Marrow

• Some robot thing attacks a girl whose power hasn’t manifested yet.

Ok so it’s Cerebro, which has been modified by bastion to hunt down and catalogue mutants

• Black Crane, some random Asian fortune teller, tells Logan and the team to head to Alcatraz

The definition of a random scene. I almost wonder if Kelly tried to turn in the comic and an editor told him that he was a few pages short, so he was like "Can someone do me a favor and throw something in for me? I don't care what it is. You can even just say it's a random fortune teller who Wolverine knows from his past who tells him to go to Alcatraz."

• Kurt buys Kitty a Star of David necklace, reminds her that the XM are her family.

Aww, these two are cute.

• New Brotherhood of Mutants

  • Toad, Post, Mimic, Blob

Woah, Post getting some action after Onslaught. I'm going to be honest, I never thought I would see him again. Also, Mimic. He's so hot right now.

• Kitty challenges mimic for being friendly 2 weeks ago in Excalibur

Good point, Kitty!

• Prof x still powerless. Trained the brotherhood, who broke him out of Hulkbuster.

Seems like a stretch, but ok. There's a story here about why these villains decided to put their faith in Xavier, but I forgot what it was and don't care to look it up. What?! Fine, stop reading my blog if you don't like my laziness!

• Cerebro (Cerebrite Beta), manipulated by Bastion, arrives

• XM and Brotherhood Vs Cerebro

Awww, the Brotherhood and the X-Men fighting together.

• Cerebro may have killed Toad

Yea, totally looked like he died here.

• Mimic and NC teleport Cerebro away

• W and Blob fight over who is taking X

• Everyone falls into a sub basement

UXM # 82 - 83: The other half in Tajikistan

Writer - Joe Kelly

Pencils - Andy Kubert

• Storm, Rogue, Colossus, Gambit falling into a snow statue, making up the other team.

• Gambit denies Rogue

I'm still unclear if Gambit is denying Rogue because he's possessed or if he doesn't forgive himself yet. Either way, I'm still ok with it for now because it would be weird if they immediately got back together...but please don't drag this out too long.

• Col tells Rogue he’s better off without him

Dafuq does Colossus know about romance?

• All 4 get stuck in a reality warping world

I like the touch that Rogue is unaffected because she's used to having multiple personalities floating through her head and learning how to orient herself. Nice touch.

• Nina and Renee Majcomb are on other side.

Remember Nina from the Onslaught Epilogue?

• Cerebro Alpha is let in

• XM83

  • XM defeat Cerebro Alpha with help of Nina

  • Alpha bonds with Colossus

This seemed unnecessary, but it did help to drag out the battle.

• Storm put in a box

  • Her electricity zaps Gambit bad

Since Cerebro knows how to neuter the X-Men, claustrophobia is used against Storm.

• Cerebro takes Nina

• Rogue might have seen that Gambit is possessed

• XM believed to be dead

X-Men # 84: The Conclusion

Writer - Joe Kelly

Pencils - Andy Kubert

• NC picks up the San Fran team in a stealth bomber

• Cerebro was created by a combo of original programming and Bastion

• All good guys converge on Cerebro

• NC and Gambit “teleport up”

This was pretty cool. Nightcrawler and Gambit were falling down, then teleported to a new location moving up, instead of down. This was a creative way to use the earth's gravity and their own inertia to their advantage.

• Nina gives Charles his powers back

• Xavier Protocol being used by Cerebro

  • It was a trick in the Astral Plane (I think)

Yea so for a minute we see all of the X-Men dying, being beaten one by one using the tips from the Xavier Protocols, but then we see it was all a trick, happening on the Astral Plane (I think) to help the X-Men get in position to take him down. Don't ask.

• He’s beaten. Xavier shows him the minds of every human. It humanizes and destroys him.

UXM # 365: Epilogue

Writer - Steve Seagle

Pencils - Chris Bachalo

• Col sees a ghost?

• The ghost was Illyana, wanting Piotr to remember her.

Wow, what a throwaway issue. Really, Illyana haunting him as a ghost. That's the best we can do for Seagle's last issue!?

• W having a party with Gambit and Puck

• NC teleports a Xmas tree into the mansion

My Connections and Creators

This is the end of the road for Steve Seagle. I looked him up and it looks like this is pretty much the end of his time at Marvel (assuming I looked it up right). I mean, he wasn't terrible, but clearly editorial considered this era as lackluster as I did.

Joe Kelly will be saying goodbye pretty soon too as both of them are making way for Alan Davis to both write and draw (at least on one issue).

This arc was ok, not great. I seem to like the runs better when Xavier isn't around. It's funny how big of a prick her is when that's totally not who is in the X-Men cartoon or as depicted in Hollywood. One positive thing I will say though is that this mini arc established a set team of Storm (as leader), Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Gambit, Kitty, Marrow, and Colossus. I was getting annoyed with the team being too big again so I welcome this. Also it's great to see Storm in the lead again, and this opens up more screen time for some great pairings between these 8 characters.

Character Beats

• Storm

I'm pretty happy to see more focus on Storm, letting her be the unchallenged leader, and to watch her great pairings with Wolverine (friend/fuck buddies?), Kitty (friend/mentor), and Marrow (former enemy turned unlikely ally).

• Nightcrawler

It took a while, but Nightcrawler directly addresses the issue of leadership while admiring Storm:

• Wolverine

Wolverine doesn't get a lot of great scenes in this arc, but still love seeing him with his best friend Kurt and former mentor, now equal Kitty. He also gives plenty of shit still to Colossus and leaves time to boss Marrow around.

• Kitty

She's pretty fab even though nothing fantastic happens in this arc.

• Marrow

Inching closer and closer to belonging with this team. I love seeing her react to the new team members.

• Rogue & Gambit

The only real advances here is their relationship being stalled.

• Colossus

I like that he's getting more attention, but he's getting pretty boring again.

My Rating - 6/10

Previous Post - 181: 1998 Tier List

Next Post - 182: UXM # 366 - 367, XM # 85 - 87 (Alan Davis Starts the Magneto Wars)