THE X-MEN COMETH!

MUTANT X #10 (MARVEL COMICS)

“In another place–in another life–Alex Summers led a team of mutants in a battle against oppression. His methods were extreme, his tactics questionable, but–in his soul–he knew that he was fighting for the greater good.

Now that soul has been transferred to another world, and Summers, also known as Havok, has found himself living a lie, allied with a team of mutants who are sinister, parallel versions of his friends and family. It is to this dark, new place that Havok has come, where he stands as a man alone… a mutant alone. Alex Summers is Mutant X.

Fear him. Fear for him.”

25 years ago, Marvel Comics launched Mutant X, a Havok led X-spinoff. I recently came into a complete run of the series, and so now I’m going to re-read the series once a week, and you guys get to come along for the ride!

This week, the X-Men’s alternate universe counterparts make their long-awaited debut in “The X-Men Cometh!”

THE ISSUE ITSELF

Mutant X #10 is cover dated July of 1999 and has story and art by Howard Mackie, Carey Nord, and Andrew Pepoy.

When last we left the displaced Alex Summers, Magneto had just arrived and interrupted a battle between the Resistance and Madelyn’s forces.  Magneto asks for an explanation of what has happened to the Earth while he and the X-Men have been in space, and looks for a solution to set things right.  Madelyn tells Magneto that the only solution is to do what Alex has been incapable of doing: killing her.  She then has her Sentinels attack the Resistance, and it is only with Magento’s assistance that she and her Sentinels are repelled.  Following the battle, Magneto collapses, and it is revealed that his feats of magnetism were an illusion, supplied by a nearby Polaris.  Magneto was wounded in space and has not fully recovered.  Polaris and Havok converse, with Alex internalizing his thoughts of his own Polaris, as this one reacts with bewilderment at his interest.  A short distance away, Madelyn tortures the Five for retreating from the battle, before revealing that Reed Richards has built her an army of upgraded Sentinels.  These Sentinels are sent to attack Havok, Polaris, and Magneto, who are saved by the arrival of Nightcrawler, Quicksilver, Rogue, and Mystique.  With the rest of the X-Men present, Havok, Polaris, and Magneto retreat, as Madelyn plans for conquest.

This issue is touted as the long-awaited arrival of the X-Men, which isn’t inaccurate, but it’s also not *quite* as advertised.  The cover shows the whole line-up, but we spend the bulk of the issue with just Magneto and Polaris.  The other four are really just a cameo appearance at the end.  It’s still pretty cool to get some small hints about what they’ve been up to all this time, though, and the scenes with Alex and Lorna provide some intriguing emotional drama, as he struggles to deal with his feelings towards her.  After Magneto’s arrival last issue, though, I was expecting a bit more momentum than we ultimately got.  This winds up as another vaguely on the run sort of issue.  It’s definitely building to something, though.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is another case of a cover showing promise that the contents don’t *quite* deliver.  Unlike the last issue, however, I don’t feel like what we got was totally lacking in weight; it’s just a different story than expected.  While it’s smaller in focus, I do like the decision to spend more time with Magneto and Lorna, and the bit with her compensating for his lack of power is actually pretty clever.  Overall, not what I was expecting, but I didn’t dislike it.

I snagged this whole run from my usual comics stop, Cosmic Comix, so I want to give them a shout out here, because it was a pretty great find.