Credits: Written by Scott Lobdell, pencilled by Brandon Peterson, inked by Terry Austin and edited by Bob Harras.
Plot: Scott ‘Cyclops’ Summers and Jean Grey face the Dark Riders in their attempt to escape Stryfe’s base. Back at the Xavier Mansion, Hank ‘Beast’ McCoy finds and extracts the bullet that infected Charles, who remains in a coma. The computer finally breaks into the virus’ code and it’s just a taunting message from Stryfe. His frustration gets the better of him. On Graymalkin, Bishop recaps recent events and how Stryfe, Xavier, Apocalypse and Cable are all connected in some way.
Back where Scott and Jean are, they find a baby connected to wires and attachments to the base, We move quickly to Xavier’s Mansion and Apocalypse is awakening and wants to continue negotiating with the X-Men. Considering he is near death after bursting into their living room, not sure how well he thinks he’d do. He realises that what he can do is the only thing they want, he knows enough about techno-organic viruses that he can save Charles Xavier. Havok and Storm are sceptical, but Archangel reminds them that he was transformed by Apocalypse and his wings, they are the proof of his genius.
Once again we’re back on Graymalkin and Cable, Bishop and Wolverine realise that Stryfe may be hiding in plain sight, so start thinking of places where his enemies have lived, but they are getting stuck. At the base they are looking for Scott and Jean are thinking of a way to free the baby when Stryfe’s astral form appears and informs them of the choice they can make. Be killed by the Dark Riders, or kill the baby and destroy the base from within as they two are inexorably linked. Stryfe thinks that they will sacrifice the baby, but is shocked when Scott and Jean turn on the Dark Riders. Scott blasts through the wall of the base and he and Jean are sucked outside. At that moment Wolverine works out something, the reason that they can’t find them, or haven’t received a psychic distress signal is that they are in the last known base of Apocalypse, the Moon. The last page is where we see that Scott and Jean have escaped, only to find themselves in a vaccumm.
Notes: As the 3rd quarter of this tale comes to an end, it’s clear that we’re now looking at bringing all the disparate groups and plots together. Scene and locations change drastically and you get a little whiplash from it all. The through line is Stryfe, who is aiming for Darth Vader levels of melodrama in his metal outfit that would struggle with most doors and helmet that looks like it would have cut his fingers the first time he put it on, maybe a few more times too. Maybe that’s why he looks so miserable. There are few scenes of note, one is Archangel explaining how Apocalypse is the man who can save Xavier, even though it’s killing him to praise the man who mutilated him. I liked the character work there. Also we get a good look at Stryfe’s insides when he sets up Scott and Jean to sacrifice a baby, to reinforce his opinion of them, when they don’t it tears him up a little as the beliefs he’s had for years now seem full of doubt. Too often villains are shown to be blind to other ideas and contradictory information, but here, Stryfe struggles with what he thought he knew, but his hate keeps him going along the path he’s on. That’s deeper stuff than you expect in a crossover like this.
Verdict: Writing :4 out of 5 – These quieter, setting up issues either before or after a big event were Lobdell’s bread and butter. He was good as the soap-opera stuff and the little hints of someone’s internal life. His opening narration about the different experiences of Scott and Jean, well it all makes perfect sense and has a poetry to it. He moves through the emotion as Claremont did, but in a different enough way to make you enjoy that difference. You can see the last page coming, but it’s executed so well.
Art: 3 out of 5 – Solid, rather than great art, but that’s not a bad thing, Peterson keeps it all on model and plays the emotion just right, he moves from Scott and Jean attacking, because the emotion of the scene is all Stryfe and that’s a good artistic choice, even the last panel (a homage to X-Men 98 I believe) is beautifully done.
Overall: 7 out of 10. Part 9 comes to an end with a cliffhanger ending and a hell of a reason to see this last month’s chapter’s through. I’m enjoying the hell out of this crossover.
Next Time: Ben Reilly’s issue 2s start here.
My Marvel Life 