What’s Covered?
Uncanny X-Men # 399 - 409, Uncanny X-Men Annual 2001, Nightcrawler Vol 2 # 1 - 4,
Roster Watch
Synopsis
Uncanny X-Men # 399 - 400: The Church of Humanity
Writer - Joe Casey
Pencils - Tom Raney (399), Cully Hamner, Ashley Wood, Eddie Campbell, Javier Pulido, Sean Phillips
Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 #399 11/14/2001 Joe Casey Tom Raney
Archangel discovers that he owns a place called the X ranch
It’s a mutant brothel!
The X Ranch is attacked by the Church of Humanity
Everyone killed but Stacy X
Remember how I said that all the sudden the comics code is out the door? Yea, well now there's a fricken mutant brothel. We also meet The Church of Humanity who is like the next iteration of the Friends of Humanity.
Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 #400 2001 Joe Casey Cully Hamner, Ashley Wood, Eddie Campbell, Javier Pulido, Sean Phillips
Stacy X joins the team
The art for the home of the church of humanity is really trippy
Team based out of Worthington Industries
Church of Humanity Backstory
The supreme Pontiff has a fucked up backstory
Stacy X accidentally teleports to the HQ of the Church of Humanity
Tells a fake origin story
X-Men show up and fight them
UXM # 401 - 407: X-Corp
Writer - Joe Casey
Pencils - Ron Garney, Aaron Lopresti, Sean Phillips
Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 #401 2001 Joe Casey Ron Garney
Silent issue
Poor visual communication
Banshee recruits Jamie Madrox, Blob, and Lady Mastermind for X Corp
They tried to recruit Mystique, but she escaped
W attacks Stacey X but then ends up sleeping with her.
NC is mad about something...
This is the "Nuff Said" article for Uncanny. While New X-Men was brilliant, this one was just bad. It reminds me of back when I was a teacher and had to have 3 evaluations throughout the year. Sometimes I would put on a dog and pony show to play up for my evaluation, but other times I would just do whatever I was planning that day and just hope it looked alright. That's what they are doing here. Nothing special for this issue, they are obviously planning to plow ahead with the same story without any words and it goes terribly.
Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 #402 2002 Casey, Garney Ron Garney
XM question Banshee about X-Corp
X-Corp was created for the strict policing of the mutant population
Run by an army of multiple men
Sean sends in “the Bastard Squad” to deal with something in Germany
Avalanche
Surge
Blob dropped like a bomb
Two random mutants fighting.
Fever pitch (new fire guy)
One might be Abyss. (It is!)
NC not happy about the villains on the team
Some stupid group (Acculturation Resistance Movement) opposes them with a terrible written introduction
"We are about a small cell of a much larger organism… A variable army that exists in direct opposition to yours. We are the acculturation resistance movement we will not allow mutants to alter our society by overrun it with their own genetic politics. Their own ethics. Their own morality. To our last man… Until our last dying breath… We will fight to maintain that the earth is home to humanity… Now and forever!“
Sunpyre there too
Remember that Sunfire had a sister who goes by...Sunpyre! Oh, comics. I love you.
Banshee plans to use Lady mastermind to try to get the two new mutants under his brainwashed control
Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 #403 2/20/2002 Casey, Lopresti Aaron Lopresti
AA and SX called to Germany
ARM and XC show up
Back at XC
Jubilee, Husk, Monet are there saying Hi to Chamber
I love that these 3 are a package deal!
They think there’s a monster in the basement
Abyss?
Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 #404 3/6/2002 Casey, Garney Sean Phillips
Sunpyre trying to get Abyss out into the field
Warren questioning whether Abyss is being held against his will
Sunpyre is killed by Blob and Avalanche
Mind controlled by MM. Reporting to someone else?
ARM claims to have killed Surge
Banshee sends “The Angels” to avenge Surge in Zurich
Monet, Jubes, Husk
They are attacked as it was a trap
An army of Madrox supports the baddies
Mastermind (Martinique) is fucking with Chamber
Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 #405 2002 Casey, Sean Phillips Sean Phillips
Sean realizes that the villains were always planning on making a move
Mystique revealed as the true villain, and she stabs Sean in the neck
Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 #406 2002 Casey, Lopresti Aaron Lopresti
The Plot
Mystique invented Surge (She was really Surge all along)
There are two Mastermind heirs
The MM in the test tube was faking, instead controlling everyone
Mystique killed the ARM leader and impersonated him
She wants control of X-Corp to create chaos across Europe so she can disrupt Xavier’s peace initiatives
AA, M, and the sane Maddox’s fight bad guys
Avalanche destroys the Eiffel Tower
Husk, Jubilee, and Stacy X fight Blob
A stabbed Banshee frees Abyss
He swallows Mystique
Husk and Jubilee stop him from swallowing Banshee
Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 #407 2002 Casey, Sean Phillips Sean Phillips (Church of Humanity)
Warren is dismantling the X-Corp. headquarters
NC and Chamber were teleported out of a blown up jet to a desolate house in Germany where a former circus friend lives
NC mentions that he no longer spends time at the school. He thinks he would’ve been a good teacher. He’s been relegated to being a field operative.
Nightcrawler is refusing to call home
He’s having second thoughts
Chamber wants to go home so he uses his burgeoning psychic powers to contact the team but only Stacie X hears him
Jon says that he thought she was the only one who would take him seriously
Jean gives Warren a psychic call and tells him where to pick up nightcrawler and Jon
NC leaves with the team
UXM 408 - 409, UXM Annual 2001: The Vanisher
Writer - Joe Casey, Bill Sienkiewicz
Pencils - Bill Sienkiewicz, Ashley Wood, Sean Phillips
Uncanny X-Men Annual 2001 #1 1/16/2002 Bill Sienkiewicz Ashley Wood
The Vanisher is pushing a drug that creates temporary mutations
The source of the drug is a giant mutant kept under a lake
Chamber kills it/him
Vanisher is stopped
Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 #408 2002 Joe Casey Sean Phillips (Vanisher)
Stacy hooking up with Wolverine?
A dying mutant. Ask Stacie X to help him feel good before he dies.
XM taking on the Vanisher and his drug empire
Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 #409 2002 Joe Casey Sean Phillips (Vanisher)
AA seems to be acknowledged as the new leader
A cardinal takes the mutant altering drug, and then the church of humanity shows up and kills him in front of nightcrawler
Stacie sent to mess with the Vanisher and then to get him to meet with Warren
Warren buys out the Vanisher and Iceman freezes him and his cronies
Nightcrawler Volume 2
Writer - Chris Kipiniak
Pencils - Matt Smith
NC gets involved in the slave market
NC shuts down immigration abuse (deaf Mexicans)
NC vs pimps
Kurt is told by his mentor priest that fighting isn’t the way
NC walks into a trap and is shot
NC considers whether priesthood is right for him
My Connections and Creators
I'll have to admit, this little X-Corp story was pretty good. Much better than Poptopia and you all know how much I like it when a lot of characters are brought in. But if my analysis of X-Men lore is accurate, it's actually the next run, the Chuch Austen run, which is truly known for being terrible.
Stacy X is an interesting choice for a few character. You all know I like new characters, but...a prostitute fighter? That's a new one.
X-Corp is another one of those concepts I've been waiting to hear about. I ran into it when I started the Krokoa era reading and it was another one of those things that I didn't understand, so I naturally perked up when we got some good X-Corp love.
Mystique is a true villain. She had been getting nuanced for a while, but she's just evil. This the 3rd arc in a row where she's just straight up bad. Due to this, I hope they don't try to make her a hero again in the future.
Characters
Archangel
You know what, this might have been my favorite Archangel story yet. I'm not saying this was the best story, but I've NEVER been even slightly interested by him, and I didn't quite hate him here.
Casey did a pretty good job of naturally showing him taking over as team leader. Over the course of numerous issues, it just became clear that he was the centerpiece. He kept giving more and more orders. Nightcrawler was getting less confident. By the time they officially came out and said he was team leader (which is rare), I had already figured it out.
Nightcrawler
NC seems like a bit of a lost character to me, which makes me sad. He got very religious out of nowhere and quit being a superhero. Now he's kind of like a reluctant hero, but it's lame that his priestly collar is just a part of his costume. It seems like there are so many better places we could have taken him. I was actually relieved that he looked ready to quit again while in the mountains, but then he went back with the team so we'll just have to see how this goes.
Wolverine
I didn't officially demonstrate this on my graphic, but Wolverine left this iteration of the team this issue. He never really seemed like be belonged anyway, so I'm ok with it. I also can't decide how I feel that he's so openly sleeping with Stacy X.
Stacy X
A brand new character. She's not given much to work with in this opening arc, but she's not being terribly mismanaged either. I'm really not sure what to think of this character.
Iceman & Chamber
Were they in this story?