Book Review: X-Men Milestones: The Fall of the Mutants by C. Claremont et al.

X-Men Milestones: The Fall of the Mutants written by Chris Claremont and Louise Simonson, pencils by Mark Silvestri, Walter Simonson, and Bret Blevins, and inked by Dan Green, Bob Wiacek, and Terry Austin

In a late 1980s semi-crossover event, The Fall of the Mutants story appeared in Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, and The New Mutants. While thematically tied together as earth-shaking events for each group of mutants, the stories did not intertwine (though events in each are mentioned in the others). They could be read separately without loosing the continuity of storytelling but they are offered as a group in a trade paperback.

In Uncanny X-Men, the X-Men (led by Wolverine and featuring Colossus, Havok, Rogue, Psylocke, Dazzler, and Longshot) go to Dallas, Texas, where they search for their missing leader Storm. They go to Eagle Tower, a building that's home to Forge, a mutant whose ability is to construct technology. He and Storm have escaped to another dimension where they hope to get Storm's powers back. But in the normal world, Dallas is falling into chaos. Dinosaurs, prehistoric men, Native Americans, and humans from the future are pouring in and fight with each other and with the current-day Texans. If that was not enough, another group of mutants called the Freedom Force have shown up to arrest the X-Men. Freedom Force is led by Mystique and includes a lot of former Brotherhood of Evil Mutants members. So the two teams are natural opponents until they realize the bigger problems they all face. Then they cooperate to fix things. The story is fairly epic but suffers from the excessive verbosity of Claremont and the retreading of the same themes (X-Men as oppressed, misunderstood outsiders) with nothing new to show. I found it only mildly interesting, more like reading a re-run than a new story.

In The New Mutants, Magneto is in charge of Xavier's School, though the children are quite rebellious even though at this point in the story Magneto is a good guy. Most of the mutant children head off with Bird Brain, a half-human/half-bird that wants to return to his home and free the other animal-hybrids living there. They have all been created by a mad scientist who wants to build a slave race to menial work, freeing regular humans for the good life. The battle is very hard and costs one of the Mutants' lives. The roster of mutants was mostly unfamiliar to me so the story wasn't as impactful. Otherwise it was a fine adventure.

In X-Factor, the classic X-Men (Jean Grey, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman) face off against Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen who are about to wipe out Manhattan. Apocalypse has a surprise fourth Horseman--former X-man Angel, whom he has refashioned with new metal wings and named Death. The mutants spend their time fighting and getting angsty over whether mutants and humans can live together in peace. Apocalypse doesn't think they can live in peace so he is making war on humans to drive the two groups farther apart. The X-Men make the argument that mutants are humans too, though they have a hard time convincing the humans of the X-Men's humanity. Things work out in the end without any really earthshaking changes, other than the return of Angel and an upbeat ending for the downtrodden group.

The group I knew the least about, the New Mutants, had the most interesting story. They play hooky to help a friend and get embroiled in a plot that is almost too big for them. The story had some suspense and a different, more fatherly take on Magneto. The other stories are fine but did not have the substance I was looking for. They were more like typical stories than milestones.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Vol. 6 by C. Claremont et al.

Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Volume 6 written by Chris Claremont, penciled and co-plotted by John Byrne, penciled by Dave Cockrum, Brent Anderson, and Bob Wiacek, and inked by Terry Austin and Josef Rubinstein

This book starts with the famous Days of Future Past storyline, which I have reviewed as a Dual/Duel review comparing it with the movie. The story is a classic time-travel thrill ride with an adult Kitty Pride traveling from a dystopian future to try and stop the dystopia from happening. It follows the usual line but in an enjoyable way.

The second story is a self-conscious imitation of the movie Alien. Kitty Pride is left alone in Xavier's mansion and has to fight an ancient and horrible monster while everyone else is off celebrating the Christmas holidays. It works as a story on its own but is not particularly outstanding.

The next story follows Scott Summers, AKA Cyclops, who is on a leave of absence from the X-Men. He's in Florida and has been working anonymously on a fishing boat. He's still trying to deal with the loss of his beloved Jean Grey who died as Dark Phoenix. Scott gets drawn into a trap when the demon D'Spayre, who thrives on other intelligent beings' despair, has been tormenting some local people, including Man-Thing, the Marvel Comics version of Swamp Thing. The story is okay though it is very obvious about what it's trying to do. A little more creativity would have given it at least some subtly. 

Next, Doctor Doom has kidnapped X-Men villain Arcade and threatens to kill him. Arcade's henchwoman, Miss Locke, kidnaps some of the X-Men's loved ones to blackmail them into saving Arcade. Professor X sends one team of X-Men to Doom's castle to free Arcade while another team goes to Arcade's Murderworld amusement park to free the hostages. Lots of action ensues. The Doctor Doom half of the story is more interesting and enjoyable.

The X-Men have an uninteresting encounter with a subterranean mutant named Caliban while Scott is shipwrecked with Aletys, the female captain of the fishing boat. He loses his glasses and can't open his eyes lest his optic blasts destroy things, so she has to lead him around. They struggle with romantic feelings and then a big, mysterious island rises out of the ocean. They go to investigate, hoping for food and water. They discover Magneto. Scott has been reduced to rags so Magneto does not recognize him (the girl is also scantily clad, in case you were wondering). 

The other X-Men go to Antarctica to investigate Magneto's old lair, which has been excavated a bit. They have a run-in with some bad guys there. They fly back north when Magneto unleashes his big plan. He demands the entire world disarm and submit to his rule or he will destroy them. He wants to pacify all the homo sapiens so the mutants, which he refers to as "homo superior," will be safe from fear and oppression. A Soviet sub fires nuclear weapons at Magneto's island. He handily dispatches the nukes and punishes the sub. The X-Men's jet comes flying over and he downs it, forcing a confrontation. Meanwhile, Professor Xavier has come on a yacht and contributes to the battle from a distance. After a long conflict, Magneto's plan is defeated. In the course of the fight, Magneto thinks he's killed Kitty Pryde, which causes him to rethink his attitudes. He flees, leaving the X-Men victorious.

This book is bookended by the best stories, Days of Future Past and the confrontation with Magneto. The rest is okay, more like filler episodes between the big story arcs.

Recommended.

 

Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Vol. 5 by C. Claremont et al.

Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Volume 5 written by Chris Claremont, penciled and co-plotted by John Byrne, penciled by John Romita, Jr., and inked by Terry Austin and Bob McLeod

This book includes the finale of the Hellfire Club plotline (which introduces Kitty Pryde and Dazzler) and leads directly into the famous Dark Phoenix saga. I reviewed that storyline here, and it was just as enjoyable to re-read it. The book also has the aftermath, where Cyclops leaves the group and Storm is put in charge. The group has some smaller, single or double issue adventures afterward. Wolverine finally sorts out his relationship with the Canadian government; Nightcrawler faces his past in an interesting story involving Dante's Inferno; Kitty Pryde starts to gel with the team.

The book ends with some interesting bonus material. The original ending to the Dark Phoenix saga, where Jean Grey doesn't die but is only depowered, thus forcing the Phoenix entity out of her, is given. It's less satisfying than the published version. Another bonus story has Jean's older sister trying to connect with her younger sister while facing the possibility that Jean's nieces and nephews might have mutant powers. The story is in black and white and a little hard to read but interesting. There's also text from an interview with the X-Men creative team discussing the decision to switch the ending of the Dark Phoenix saga which had some nice insights but ran a little long.

Recommended.