What’s Covered?
X-Treme X-Men # 10 - 18, X-Treme X-Men Annual 2001 #1
Roster Watch
Synopsis
The Wrath of Khan
Writer - Chris Claremont
Pencils - Salvador Larocca
X-Treme X-Men Annual 2001 #1 12/28/2001 Chris Claremont Salvador Larroca
Davis Cameron (Slipstream) can teleport the team anywhere by riding a wave through the time stream…or something.
An ugly bad guy monster (Shaitan) shows up and tries to steal Storm’s gemstone.
He teleports off with Gambit, Lifeguard, and the stone
Sage tells Davis that he has latent mutant powers, but she has the ability to make them become active
Thunderbird has a huge problem with Sage forcing somebody to become a mutant, however, Davis is open to it
Bishop thinks that he wishes he would’ve stood with Neal
Rogue wonders if Sage has the power to turn someone’s mutant powers off
Davis takes the team to Madripoor
Met by Viper, who is the Queen or something (Prince?)
Shaitan uses Gambit’s power to charge a portal
Rogue shows up and says to take hands off her man
Aliens, or something come through the portal
The X-Men take their leader (Khan) hostage
X-Treme X-Men vol. 1 #10 2/13/2002 Chris Claremont Salvador Larroca
XM still have the alien monarch, Khan
The president calls the avengers for help
IM, Cap, Ms Marvel, Viz, Wanda, QS, wonder man
Viper kills some alien hostages and then Storm bitch slaps her.
Storm saves Khan and starts to impress him.
Red Lotus is seriously injured (and exits stage left from the Marvel Universe)
It’s off putting that these aliens are talking just like any American
Viper attacks Storm but then Khan saves her and claims she will be his Queen
X-Treme X-Men vol. 1 #11 and 12 3/13/2002 Chris Claremont Salvador Larroca
The empire has taken over multiple worlds. Khan is a beloved and deserved leader.
Shaitan takes the form of Storm to trick the XM (This goes nowhere)
Rogue uses a new set of powers that creates illusions (Mastermind's powers?).
Thunderbird looks like Wolverine, Bishop looks like Hulk, and Rogue look like sabertooth (What was the point?)
Storm makes out with Khan
X-Treme X-Men vol. 1 #13 2002 Chris Claremont Salvador Larroca
Rogue asks Sage to jump start her powers so that she can have better control of every person she’s ever absorbed.
Sage tells Rogue that she doesn’t trust her because she was once a villain, which is kind of funny, and you know why. Rogue is offended.
Rogue uses her superpowers to distract the army, while other members of the X-Men transfer over to their world to try to save Gambit and bring down the force field
When she uses Magneto's power, she channels his personality and becomes a little egotistical
X-Treme X-Men vol. 1 #14 2002 Chris Claremont Salvador Larroca
Rogue takes on the alien military solo
Vargas (randomly) shows up to challenge Rogue
Lifeguard may have Shi’ar royal blood (random)
Storm is attacked by Khan's harem
X-Treme X-Men vol. 1 #15 2002 Chris Claremont Salvador Larroca
After getting stabbed, Storm beats the Harem and reunites with Sage.
Vargas says that one of the diaries predicts Rogue will kill him so he wants to kill her first
Vargas attacks Slipstream and hurts him
Lifeguard takes the shape of a Royal Shi’ar
Gambit sends out a charged stone to bring down the temple as Vargas comes to kill him
X-Treme X-Men vol. 1 #16 2002 Chris Claremont Salvador Larroca
Rogue jumps on Gambit, prolonging his life but putting both of theirs in jeopardy
Khan finds Storm and holds Sage hostage to get her back
Lifeguard saves Sage
Vargas fights Shaitan in his Storm form
Khan fights Storm
Bishop floods the complex and the army retreats
TB, Storm, and Bishop use all their might to bring down Khan’s spaceship while it’s between worlds
Everything explodes. All of the XM are hurt
Vargas jammed a sword through Rouge and Gambit on the portal!
X-Treme X-Men vol. 1 #17 2002 Chris Claremont Salvador Larroca
Somehow, Rogue and Gambit are still Alive.
Rogue turns into W to activate his healing (I think that's what happened?)
Rogue says she can see the future as Destiny
Rogue flies off to kill Vargas
She shows up looking like Psylocke. Takes on his two lackies first
Storm shoots Viper with a gun to get revenge, then Sage puts a knife to her face and threatens her to never to touch their team again.
Rogue, absorbs Vargas, and then has a chance to kill him, just as the diary predicted, but she chooses not to to make the diaries false, and to say that the X-Men live for hope
X-Treme X-Men vol. 1 #18 2002 Chris Claremont Salvador Larroca
The Avengers carry Storm, Rogue, Slipstream, and Sage to medics
Storm is crashing and Rogue watches her soul leave her body
Rogue also dies and runs into Jean
NC, Jean, Beast, and W teleport in to help
Davis is disgusted by his sister‘s new look but then Nightcrawler gives him a chat about how it’s what’s on the inside that matters
Storm introduces Jean to her parents in the Astral Plane
Gambit is ready to die, but rogue is holding on for dear life in the Astral plane
Davis took off and left a note for his sister with Nightcrawler
He won’t be seen again for 20 years (in publishing)
Storm, Rogue, and Remy all live
My Connections and Creators
Alright, time for a "Does X-Treme X-Men suck?" check in. I didn't hate this story arc. It certainly had no business running for ten issues (when you include the annual). However, Claremont knows where his bread is buttered and leans in hard on his best characters. This became really obvious to me when I created the team graphic as I couldn't find a new usable image for Thunderbird, Gambit, or Bishop over these ten issues. But everywhere I looked was a glamour shot of Storm, Rogue, Sage, and Lifeguard. Notice a theme? Claremont still loves his strong women, and so do I!
I'm really impressed with what he's doing with Sage. She's practically like a new character, but Claremont is leaning hard on her and using retcon's to inflate her importance. Brandon Zachary even wrote an article about her on CBR saying:
"Sage was potentially poised to be a founding member of the X-Men -- and in many ways serves as a precursor even to characters like Cyclops, who is often considered the first X-Man. But thanks to the fast mastery of her powers and more pragmatic approach to survival, Xavier gave her a different role. He convinced Sage not to become an X-Man, but instead to serve as his spy in the Hellfire Club."
I also need to give Claremont credit for quickly moving on from characters like Red Lotus and Slipstream. It's not easy to create new characters, but it takes resolve to recognize quickly that they aren't working and move on from them. I think Thunderbird's days are numbered as well.
Characters
Storm
Storm goes from dating young Davis Cameron to Khan, a king of a vast empire.
Rogue
She becomes even more overpowered as Sage helps her to control the powers of every person she has ever absorbed.
Gambit
Almost dies and officially joins this iteration of the X-Men
Thunderbird
We're really struggling here to give him an identity, so this arc he starts getting a strong moral compass.
Bishop
No oxygen for cop Shenanigans.
Sage
More evidence of her deserving second in command and we are taken further past being skeptical of her once being a villain.
Lifeguard
I thought she was on a fine trajectory, but now she's randomly Shi'ar Royalty. It's weird and unnecessary.
Slipstream
He becomes a full fledged mutant but someone must have realized a teenager who can ride through time on a surfboard is lame so he was given the boot from the comic.