Peter Milligan // Mike Allred
June 2001
*****
Having killed off the whole team, Milligan gives a new set of mutants the reality-star treatment. The focus is on Mr. Sensitive, so hyper-delicate he’s got super-senses & an emo attitude! In a twist on an old Marvel formula, the former New Mutants challenge the team over the trademark for “X-Force”!
last issue: X-Force #116
next issue: X-Force #118
also indexed for Jun. ’01
Avengers #41
Daredevil #17
Jeph Loeb // Steve Skroce
May 1995
*
All-combat issue: a troupe of uglies & a squad of assassins kill each other to control this ‘verse’s Cable analog. Like many ’90s comics, X-Man is so melodramatic it’s silly. Its emotions are histrionic, its action is mock-tough proclamations. But just try to describe the protag’s character? Nada.
last issue: X-Man #2
next issue: X-Man #4
also indexed for May ’95
The Amazing X-Men #3 of 4
The Astonishing X-Men #3 of 4
Factor X #3 of 4
Gambit and the X-Ternals #3 of 4
Generation Next #3 of 4
Weapon X #3 of 4
X-Calibre #3 of 4
X-Universe #1 of 2
Jeph Loeb // Steve Skroce
April 1995
*
As X-Man tests the limits of his psi-power, he’s torn btw two mentors: tough-love Forge & indulgent Mr. Sinister. To fill out Middle America in this dystopia, Loeb exploits Holocaust iconography like trains of human cargo & charnelhouse experiments. Skroce’s 4 inkers undercut that w/ blank locales.
last issue: X-Man #1
next issue: X-Man #3
also indexed for Apr. ’95
The Amazing X-Men #2 of 4
The Astonishing X-Men #2 of 4
Factor X #2 of 4
Gambit and the X-Ternals #2 of 4
Generation Next #2 of 4
Weapon X #2 of 4
X-Calibre #2 of 4
Jeph Loeb // Steve Skroce
March 1995
**
Cable’s iteration in this alt-dystopia is a teen mutant messiah unaware of his birthright. Conceptually, X-Man goes further than any other mag in the Age of Apoc metaseries; in execution, it’s one cliché after another. Skroce seesaws btw ugly, Image-like posturing & Quesada’s doe-eyed influence.
continued from X-Men: Alpha #1 of 1
next issue: X-Man #2
also indexed for Mar. ’95
The Amazing X-Men #1 of 4
The Astonishing X-Men #1 of 4
Factor X #1 of 4
Gambit and the X-Ternals #1 of 4
Generation Next #1 of 4
Weapon X #1 of 4
X-Calibre #1 of 4
X-Men: Chronicles #1 of 2
Jeph Loeb // Ian Churchill
February 1995
**
The coda to an X-Men crossover adventure that ended in mission failure & resulted in the end of the universe! Cable‘s remit is to provide an elegiac sense of closure, but it’s all ’90s mutant whinging. Churchill, tho’ an Image-style hack, surprises by giving his char’s faces some personality!
see also The Uncanny X-Men #321
last issue: Cable #19
next issue: Cable #20
also indexed for Feb. ’95
The Uncanny X-Men #321
X-Men #41
X-Men: Alpha #1 of 1
Fabian Nicieza // Andy Kubert & Ron Garney
February 1995
***
Finale to an X-over that kills off a young Professor X to create an alternate future. Writer Lobdell & editor Harras deserve a story credit for #41, & so does Chris Claremont, who created (a) the Prof-Magneto friendship, (b) Xavier’s son Legion, & (c) the cosmic crystal that threatens the multiverse.
continued from The Uncanny X-Men #321
continued in X-Men: Alpha #1 of 1
see also Cable #20
last issue: X-Men #40
next issue: X-Men #42
also indexed for Feb. ’95
Cable #20
The Uncanny X-Men #321
X-Men: Alpha #1 of 1
Scott Lobdell & Mark Waid // Ron Garney
February 1995
***
The illegit son of Professor X seduces his mother while psychically disguised as his father! It’s a provocative moment in a routine Terminator-type ’90s X-comic. Lobdell contrasts the arc’s Oedipal theme w/ his beloved Cyclops/Jean Grey/Cable triangle—his namby-pamby notion of a proper X-family.
continued from X-Men #40
continued in X-Men #41
last issue: The Uncanny X-Men #320
next issue: The Uncanny X-Men #322
also indexed for Feb. ’95
Cable #20
X-Men #41
X-Men: Alpha #1 of 1
Fabian Nicieza // Andy Kubert
January 1995
**
Time-traveling amnesiac X-Men putz around post-war Israel as their modern comrades learn that mission failure means universal collapse. Nicieza artificially inflates the stakes via a chorus of Watchers, while the better Kubert son does mainline ’90s X-art (his Legion is unrecognizably off-model).
continued from The Uncanny X-Men #320
continued in The Uncanny X-Men #321
last issue: X-Men #39
next issue: X-Men #41
also indexed for Jan. ’95
The Uncanny X-Men #320
Kurt Busiek // Mark Bagley
April 1999
***
The second anniversary ish serves as climax to T-bolts‘ second act: a brawl w/ 25 super-goons! Moonstone has been the mag’s protag, & ever since her regicide, she’s provided it w/ plenty of character. #25 fills in her backstory (a childhood of class resentment & manipulation) as she weighs betraying her team to usurp the megalomaniac plan of Crimson Cowl, femme leader of the Masters of Evil.
last issue: Thunderbolts #25
next issue: Thunderbolts #26
also indexed for Apr. ’99
Avengers #15
Avengers Forever #5 of 12
Grant Morrison // Leinel Yu
September 2001
****
The team investigates an alliance btw Red China, a US pharm corp, & a self-help guru whose pro-mutant stance covers an evil agenda. Organ harvesting, international espionage, a beatific mutant w/ a star for a brain: GM’s ’01 Annual tells a rare X-tale that feels essential & a la mode, if not quite coherent. Yu flips the page for letterbox effect, tho’ his raspy layouts echo GM’s style for + and -.
continued from New X-Men #116
continued in New X-Men #117
last issue: X-Men Annual 2000
also indexed for Sept. ’01
Avengers #44
Avengers Annual 2001
New X-Men #116
