Generation X #4

I've read this issue before. But it's such a Christmas classic that when I finally located an issue, I immediately put it in my read pile to read it again.

The main story is that while members of the Xavier School are out for a holiday field trip, they come across a hostage situation. Readings indicate that there is a mutant involved somehow and it's believed that the disfigured lad holding his teacher and classmates is what is causing sensors to go wild. However, in a twist, it's not the boy, though mutated he may look, that is the dangerous mutant on the scene. Instead, it's a character nobody really suspected and I'm not sure very many readers even know who the foe is. New costume notwithstanding...

Indicating that humans with deformities might make them looked upon as freaks in the eyes of society, but it doesn't make them mutants, is a poignant addition to X-Men lore. It had been, and still is debated, that birth defects should make humans into mutants in the Marvel Universe. Yet, this issue clearly states that those humans who might look different from the rest of society, while are not mutants, are classified as such and it's a tragedy that they get lost in the cracks. Mutants have groups like the X-Men to turn to for protection. Who do those with Dome Syndrome or Multiple Sclerosis have? 

While this 1995 issue is indeed thought provoking, it's not the writing of this story, by Marvel mutant veteran, Scott Lobdell, that makes this issue a classic. It's the artwork by Chris Bachalo. Almost every page oozes Christmas. There's an elf narrator throughout the book. His words are presented like scrolls of lost holiday lore. Panels of jingle bells and other holiday icons fill the borders between panels and pages. Not a single inch of space is wasted. It's like a classic TV Christmas special that I don't want to end.

Many, including myself, erroneously think that the title of this book is the 'Generation X Holiday Spectacular' and that this is the 4th edition. I've wasted several hours trying to find issues 1-3 to no success. No, this is 4th issue of the 1st volume of Generation X, which ran from 1994-2001. Adding to the confusion if you're trying to compete the run of this series, Generation X would be temporarily cancelled to make way for Generation NeXt, a 4-issue miniseries tie-in to the 'Age of Apocalypse' storyline that saw a changed mutant society after someone went back in time and assassinated Charles Xavier. 

I gotta say that this is a great issue and if the quality of this lone tale is any indication of the rest of the Scott Lobdell/Chris Bachalo run, then I want it!!! I already own Generation NeXt 1-4, so I should be able to collect them without much further annoyance. I just wish that the storyline of the troubled young man wasn't left so wide open. Did he get the help he so craved? Did he wind up incarcerated? Do we ever see this guy again. Too many questions prevent this from being a happy ending.

Worth Consuming.

X-Men: Rarities

I'm not really sure what this X-Men collection is titled Rarities, considering that I've read 2 of these 5 included stories before. 

The opening story, taken from an issue of Bizarre Adventures marks Bobby Drake, Iceman's first silo adventure which occurred about 3 full years before his 4-issue miniseries by J.M. DeMatteisx. The middle story, penned by Chris Claremont, originally appeared in the pages of Al Milgrom's Marvel Fanfare. It depicts a tense truce between Storm and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutant's Mystique over the soul of Rogue who at the time of the story has ironically gone rogue. 

Those were the two stories that I had previously read. The new-to-me stories include a peek at what happened after the Giant-Size X-Men rescued the Uncanny X-Men from the menace of Krakoa. An untold tale presented in Classic X-Men, it's a story that covers a period of mutant history that I had never really thought about and yet it's such a brilliant idea! When the introduction of the new X-Men concludes, there's like a dozen people now on the team. What happened that fateful first night together that caused Havoc, Angel and several others to decide to forgo membership as part of Professor X's team? Chris Claremont answers those questions with some stunning artwork by John Bolton.

Stan Lee and Steve Ditko are highlighted with a story developed for the pages of Amazing Adults Fantasy #14. 'The Man in the Sky' is a pre-X-Men story, considered by many to be the concept that gave birth to the Children of the Atom. It's a very short story that ends with a typical Ditko finale that is anything but. It makes me wonder if the character of Tad Carter, being Marvel's first official mutant, ever made an appearance in the X-Men universe of comics. (Turns out he has in the pages of X-Men: The Hidden Years.)

The last story, starring Generation X, is in my opinion the only real rarity in the book. An introduction for the all-new team of mutants led by Sean Cassidy, was a Comicon exclusive in 1994. Since this promo comic was only offered to the lucky few who tried to San Diego, I feel like this is a title that can officially be declared a rare find. If you ask me, X-MEN: Rarities should have been comprised of promo stories featuring the legion of mutants that house the Marvel Universe. That would have been more appropriate than putting in several stories that just happened to be published in more lesser known publications.

Finally, I want to comment on the story that starred Mystique. Originally published in 1988, the story offers a revealing glimpse at the character's gender fluidity, since Raven Darkholme is a shape shifter. But even more groundbreaking is what happens after Storm departs the underground club in which Mystique summoned her foe. Right in the middle of the club is Irene Hadler- Destiny! The woman who just recently wed Mystique in the pages of some X-Men book and caused countless fanboys to lose their minds! 'Woke Comics!', they cried. And yet, here's Raven and Destiny as lovers 36 years prior! Seems that these so-called Marvel comics experts know nothing about the history of one of the X-Men's most popular foes!

A fairly decent grab bag of X-Men stories. I think my idea of a collection of promo comics has merit and is more entitled to the title of 'Rarities.' But this is still a good read.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.