Essential X-Men Volume 2Writer: Chris Claremont
Artists: John Byrne, Terry Austin, and Brent Anderson
So what can I say about the TPB?
THIS IS THE GREATEST THING I EVER READ IN MY LIFE!!!
Well, one of the best things I read in my life.
Anyway, why is it freaking good? The Dark Phoenix Saga? Days of Future Past? Wolverine being “a bad mother—shut your mouth?” Well, that and a whole lot more.
The same team (Chris Claremont and John Byrne) is back and kicking more butt than ever. The art is all-around good, the stories are great, and even all of that “Claremont exposition” is good too. The issues in here are UXM 120-144. So here I go go with the highlights starting with:
1. Wolverine
As I said earlier, Logan (I’m getting tired of typing Wolverine) is totally awesome in this volume. This is pretty much where he began to be one of Marvel’s most beloved characters. Before Hugh Jackman made him cooler (as well as taller), he was COOL. He’s everything here:
• Jerk – He’s still the team's go-to jerk, ticking off Cyclops, Storm, and the Professor.
• Fighter – He’s truly the best at what he does, and that’s kicking all sorts of butt. Monsters, henchmen, and Canadians (wait, what?), Logan simply beats them all. His “Berserker Rage” is well known, especially in Australia for some reason.
• Lover – Throughout the volume, Logan continues to pine for Mariko. He also feels little something for Jean (Hey, who wouldn't?).
• Friend – Well, I’ll just say that I wouldn’t want Logan as an enemy.
So Logan has two big arcs in this volume, with both of them involving his old Canadian team, Alpha Flight. The first story involves the X-men landing somewhere in Canada after they leave Japan. The authorities find out that he's there and they send in Alpha Flight to bring him in.
So in the present, the X-Men fight for their friend and pretty much fight Alpha Flight to a standstill. Eventually, Logan decides to turn himself in and then somehow escapes from them. Then they head back to New York. His next big arc happens after the Dark Phoenix Saga where he and Nightcrawler head to Canada to deal out his issues with the nation of Canada. They also have a little fun with a beast named WENDIGO.
Wendigo: WENDIGO!!!!! WENDIGO!!! WENDIGO!!! Wait! Can I say anything else?Claremont: Nope.
Wendigo: wendigo!!! :(
All in all, Wolverine is a awesome character in this volume.
2. Arcade
After the X-Men get back to the Mansion, they get used to being back home. Unfortunately, Black Tom and Juggernaut, enemies of the X-Men, hire another villain to take them out. His name is Arcade, an assassin who kills his victims with a theme park called Murderworld. His henchmen kidnap the X-men from whatever they are doing and take them to Murderworld. There, they run into all kinds of traps and stuff set up by Arcade. Eventually, with a little bit of innovation, they get escape Murderworld, but Arcade escapes as well.
Meanwhile, in the Shi’ar Empire, Xavier is with Lilandra, who is now Empress of the empire. In a library containing all sorts of things about the Shi’ar, he looks up stuff about the Phoenix. After he learns a lot more about Phoenix, he realizes that he shouldn’t have left Earth and head back there. What could have scared the crap out of Ole’ Baldy? Find out.....eventually!
3. Proteus
Proteus is probably one of the most powerful mutants the X-Men have had to face in battle. From what I can tell, his ability is to alter reality (pretty powerful) and he also feeds off of human energy. He’s actually teased about in the previous volume where he’s mentioned as “Mutant X.” No one knows what he does or what he wants. Eventually, we find out that he is the son of Moria McTaggert, a former lover of Xavier and ally to the X-Men. She also deals with some domestic issues involving her jerk of a husband, Joe. This arc is also where the X-Men find out that Beast and Jean are alive, but their reunion is cut short when they find out about Proteus. When the X-Men first face him in battle, he messes them up, literally. Wolverine and Nightcrawler get the worst of it.
The TKO of Proteus.
After all that, they regroup and come with another plan. Ultimately, they win (since they’re the good guys and all). Overall, the Proteus arc is pretty good and even gets into Jean’s story a bit, which ends up leading to...4. The Hellfire Club
Imagine rich dudes with mutant powers and their goal being world domination (Of Course!) and you get the Hellfire Club. Anyway, their goal here is to mess with the X-Men. One of their members, Jason Wyngarde (aka Mastermind) has been trying to gain control of Jean and her new power to get her to join the Club. Throughout the early part of the volume, he had been purposely trying to interact with Jean by using his mind-altering powers to impersonate anyone. At this time, Jean was in Scotland mourning her dead friends (they weren’t dead, but still). Anyway, during the Proteus arc, Wyngarde had been entering Jean’s mind and making her believe she was one of her ancestors (Yeah, weird, I know. I'll explain it later). After the X-Men deal with Proteus and head back to NY, they find out that Professor Xavier is back from his time in space. They also find two new mutants via Cerebro. They run into a trap set up by Emma Frost, a member of the Hellfire Club. Anyway, she is soon dealt a crushing blow by Jean. Next, after the X-Men try to infiltrate the Club’s hideout, they get captured again. This time, Jean does become one of them and is made the Black Queen.
Stuff happens (I'll explain it later), and eventually, Jean snaps out of her mind control and frees the X-Men from their shackles and a fight occurs between the Hellfire Club and the X-Men. Jean finds Wyngarde and pretty much messes him up because of all he had done to her. After dealing with the Hellfire Club, things get so bad for the X-Men, that Jean starts wearing red.
5. Phoenix to Dark Phoenix
This part got longer that I thought it would get. It got so long, I decided to put it in another post so you won't be bombarded with all of my talk. I will tell you this, it doesn't end pretty.
Here's the link To Highlight 5. CLICK HERE.
6. Days of Future Past
“Days of Future Past” is a great story that puts the X-Men up against a much tougher foe: the future. The story starts out about 30 years in the future, and it’s one of those bleak, apocalyptic ones, too. We see an adult Kitty (Kate) Pryde meeting up with an Older Logan about mounting a resistance against the Sentinels. Then, she heads back to her “cage”, as I’ll put it. As we see her travel, we find out that the Sentinels have taken over America and that mutants and other super powered folk have been either killed off or imprisoned. We also find out that they are on the eve of a nuclear holocaust.
We see an older Colossus, Storm, Magneto, Franklin Richards (son of Reed and Susan Richards), and some woman named Rachael there in this prison. They plan to do two things. The first thing is to send Kate’s mind back in time to stop this from happening via Rachel’s psychic powers and some technology. The next thing is to break out of this prison and stop the upcoming war from happening (Spoiler Alert: They don’t and they all die except for Kate and Rachael).
We cut to present day (1980) and the X-Men are doing their ordinary Danger Room stuff while the Professor is in Washington D.C., and suddenly Kitty falls out cold. They rush her to the infirmary and notice that something’s a little off with her vitals. Kitty wakes up and it turns out that Kate is in control (yeah, weird). Anyway, she tells them of what happens this day in Washington D.C. Senator Robert Kelly, a senator who’s against mutants, gets assassinated, and mutants become America’s worst enemy. The Sentinels are reactivated and programmed to destroy all mutants. Instead, the Sentinels take control and you get the future Kate comes from. So, the team goes to Washington to stop the assassination.
Meanwhile, we see that the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants has started up again. This time they’re led by Mystique. They are the ones who want to kill Kelly and inadvertently screw things up. The X-Men get there and tell Xavier of the situation. All of the sudden, the Brotherhood show up to assassinate Kelly. Luckily, the X-Men are ready, and a fight ensues.
They fight, and the X-Men are kind of overwhelmed by the Brotherhood. Suddenly, they both are attacked by the military (Well, that’s what happens when you fight in D.C. like that). Meanwhile, Mystique knocks out the Professor and Moria McTaggart (who’s here for the reason Xavier came to D.C.). Eventually, The Brotherhood is beaten, Kate/Kitty stops Sen. Kelly from being assassinated (and Kitty comes back), and the X-Men escape. Has the future changed from what it once was? Well...I’ll tell ya sometime, or you can look it up online.
I like this arc because it takes this stuff that is way out there (time travel, horrible futures, and mutant powers) and makes them look somewhat relevant and cool. You’ll notice that this whole concept was used on NBC’s “Heroes” during the first season (and the second season, and the third season…..dang, they used that a lot! No wonder that show’s not on anymore!)
Peter: Why didn't we just call the show "X-Men"?
7. Other things
After all of that awesomeness, we get two not so memorable issues at the end of the volume. The first one revolves around Kitty as she is alone at the Mansion for the holidays. All of the sudden, it gets Halloween-esque when some demon from way way back when tries to kill her in the mansion. She wins, but there is a little mess left in the mansion. I guess this issue is important because it’s John Byrne’s last issue as penciler and co-plotter. It’s been said that he left because of creative differences. I like his art, especially when it's inked by Terry Austin.
The last story in the volume pretty much goes into what Scott has been doing since he left the X-Men. He’s traveling and working as a fisherman way up North. But then, to save a friend, he must don his costume once again to beat some demon with the help of Swamp Thing….I mean, Man-Thing. It’s pretty forgettable, but it’s cool to see what Cyclops has been up to since Jean died. It’s also weird that this is basically another demon story. I thought that the X-Men were pretty much supposed to be an metaphor on discrimination and all that stuff.
Actually, when I think about it, it’s good to have some stories (good stories!!!) about time travel, aliens, the supernatural, and whatever else with that too.
Well, that is all I have to say about this volume of Essential X-Men. Should you buy it or borrow it? Yeah! It’s that good. If you’re a fan of the X-Men, you should get this, and get one that isn’t falling apart.
Well, time to pull out the glue!
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