X-Man, X-Men Unlimited

X-Man 15-17

I must have kept buying this after the crossover with Cable.  The Onslaught tie-in probably had something to do with it.  It’s completely forgettable, but I’m keeping it because my wife saw it on the pile and decided that she likes the Steve Skroce art.  (It’s fine, but it’s not like he hasn’t done much better work elsewhere.)  Still, keeping three cuttable issues because it makes her happy is a small price to pay.  

The art that saved these issues.

Cringe.

Regret buying: Yes

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Boring

X-Men Unlimited 1-4, 10, 11, 38

This quarterly, double-sized title felt like a cash grab when it first came out.  (It worked on me, of course.) For the most part, it didn’t live up to the epic possibilities - Marvel could just have split these up into stories for the main two X-Men titles.  They certainly would have fit there; Some major events happen in these issues - Professor X invites Sabretooth to live in the mansion (Issue 3).  Mystique officially recognizes Nightcrawler as her son (4). Dark Beast switches places with the original Hank McCoy (10). Rogue encounters Joseph (the de-aged Magneto thing that I completely forgot about until today) (11).  

It’s unfortunate that most of these stories are pretty boring to read.  (Primarily written by Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza.) There are a couple of exceptions: The first issue is really a ton of fun - Cyclops, Storm, and Professor X struggle to survive in an Antarctic blizzard after Siena Blaze shoots it out of the sky.  Their interactions have the familiarity of old friends, the teamwork is exquisite, and the final page speaks volumes about the bond between them. Chris Bachalo does a great job with this, a wonderful pairing with a strong Lobdell outing.

Aww.

THAT WON'T STOP YOUR OPTIC BLASTS!!!

Issue 38 is also very well done.  By this point, the title had returned to the regular number of pages.  This issue deals with Kitty Pryde’s reaction to the one-year anniversary of Colossus’ death.  It’s a personal story with no action at all, just some fine character work by Greg Rucka and art by Darick Robertson.  Nightcrawler makes a friendly appearance, as does a cop who bears a striking resemblance to Peter. The ending is melancholy and sweet, giving Kitty a small measure of closure.

 

As for the rest, some are worth keeping.  Issues three, four, and ten will stick around for their plot importance.  Two and eleven are easily cut. (Both Magneto stories, coincidentally.) It’ll be a bit of a shame to lose the nice Ian Churchill cover.

I like the clever positioning of the axe and face panels here:

Very Cask of Amontillado.  Thanks to Wikipedia, I now know that this is an example of immurement:

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No (Yes for 1 and 38)

Would read again: No (Yes for 1 and 38)

Rating: Pretty good for 1, Nice for 38, Boring for 11, Didn’t suck for the rest