As I prepare to read the X-Men crossover event
Onslaught from the mid 1990s (after having read the
Phalanx Covenant,
Legion Quest, and
Age of Apocalypse crossovers and most intervening issues of
Uncanny X-Men,
X-Men,
Generation X,
Excalibur, and
Wolverine), I read several X-Men solo miniseries (by which I mean, comic book series that were planned to be only a few issues long, focussing on one or two individual X-Men characters) from that time period.
In this post, I'll be discussing four such miniseries:
I purchased these comics on Comixology during various 99 cent sales. Though the Gambit and Rogue series are tightly bound, the others have little to do with each other, so I am skipping my regular "Story" segment.
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| Cover of Gambit #1. Image from Marvel Wiki. |
Thoughts:
Wolverine and Rogue have been among my favourite X-Men characters since I first became familiar with the franchise. But until recently I hadn't read many -- or any -- of their solo adventures in this time period. On the other hand, I have generally little experience with Gambit and Storm. I never understood Storm's wide appeal, and I simply lack the experience with Gambit. Reading these four miniseries helped give greater insight into why they are so well loved.
The Gambit and Rogue miniseries told a great story together about Gambit's past and his connections to the Thieves' Guild and Assassins' Guild of New Orleans, as well as to the immortal mutant Candra. It adds more depth and detail to the star-crossed romance of these two mutants, as well as the general tragedy that is Rogue and her inability to touch anyone.
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| Cover of Rogue #4. Image from Marvel Wiki. |
The Wolverine and Gambit adventure was a fun romp for the reader as these two characters pair up in London. Connecting Wolverine to a series of Jack the Ripper-style murders was a fascinating idea, especially given Wolverine's animalistic and uncontrollable tendencies during this time period (where he had lost his adamantium skeleton and was going feral outside of the Xavier school). Loeb and Sale would of course continue teaming up for years, writing in particular some amazing Batman stories.
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| Cover of Wolverine/Gambit: Victims #1. Image from Marvel Wiki. |
Though Warren Ellis is one of my favourite comic book writers of all time (and I am annoyed that I haven't yet read his more famous works), try as he might he could not sway me to care any more about Storm. In this story, Storm is pulled into a pocket dimension in order to help shepherd a mutant terrorist organization called Gene Nation, who are currently led by Mikhail Rasputin (evil older brother of fellow X-Man Colossus). She manages to escape the pocket dimension and sets the other mutants there free. This story built upon her role as the former leader of the Morlocks (a group of downtrodden and disfigured mutants that were trapped in the pocket dimension, the most extreme of which formed Gene Nation), and it was very well written and drawn. I remain unconvinced, however, that Storm is a character to whom I must pay close attention. Until some later story convinces me that she is as great as others seem to think.
: In a rough chronological reading of 90s X-Men titles, I will be reading the
Onslaught crossover event.
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