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WARNING : Contains elements that might liquefy your baby if you're pregnant. Attacks by marrow-eating freaks are not covered by our insurance...

Since these days, we're in need of a little levity , I guess it is time to pull the trigger and deal with this review that has been in my head for a while now.
Ladies and Gents, since this is my favorite "teen" book (along with PAD's Young Justice), I've been meaning to give it the proper exploration so to speak. I mean If I can do that for Renart's bastard son and a self-loathing sardonic sadist, then I can do it for some of the most nuanced and varied protagonists of this peculiar slice of life book. And since someone is gonna ask about it, yes, the TV movie EATS. But then again, I already said it a bajillion times : X-men and live action DO NOT MESH WELL, NONE OF THEM TO THIS DAY WAS WORTH MY TIME.[insert Giraffe's angry roar here...] And I know the upcoming one is playing me for 3 main reasons, but even then I am not setting my expectations too high !
Now, if Generation X is to be (and I hope so) properly translated/adapted on-screen, it NEEDS a similar art style to this 2.bp.blogspot.com/-fqBhXaEv-Co… , this a400.idata.over-blog.com/2/95/… , or this i37.mangareader.net/gunsmith-c… or 1.bp.blogspot.com/-KQiBxfSTaTE… or a mixture of all of them.

Or if you wanna crank up the bizarre atmosphere www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNAchR… XD (if you have any suggestions , I am all ears...).

So , Last Time ; following what happened in the "Phalanx Covenant", new characters are introduced and genuine organic development will ensue. Many say that this book ended up to hell after the very first run, that it lost direction, etc.etc. Errr...Okay look, the former statement is incorrect. Yes, the book has its flaws like anything else but it gets way more rights than wrongs AND there's nothing that can't be fixed/streamlined through an OVA adaption. As for "direction"... no, most of the plots were solved by the end (for better or worse) AND it is a "slice of life" book, the characters have to deal with what is thrown at them. There is no predefined direction in a "slice of life" story, hell look at "Diamond Is unbreakable"'s narrative progression for example.

Characters-wise , and while I really do like each one of them, my preference kinda goes this way : Jubes = Emma > Skin = Jono > Sean > Ev = Paige > Yvette > Monet :
* Finally, and especially for those who've been following me for a while now, we reach the 3rd, last and best aspect of Jubilation Lee. This book took a genuinely great character and had us know more about her. It did not deny her friendship with Wolverine (avuncular bonding at its best !) or when she was trying to find her place within the X-men (and yes, it is kind of a running gag through the series. She likes to say "when I was with the X-men..." just for the sake of being impish). It did expand on those dimensions , put her through hazardous or pleasant situations and as such , Jubes cements herself as one of the most rounded, passionate and downright polyvalent characters ever made. Hell she manages to make an impression on me even when she's not the focus of the story.
* I will leave the White Queen for later , it 'll be a blast .
* As for Chamber and Skin, I swear to God the more I reread their scenes, the more they remind of these guys www.bedetheque.com/media/Couve… . And considering I am big fan of the Onibaku duo , that says a lot. And did I mention that they get to meet Howard The Motherfucking Duck ?!
* Banshee finally gets some overdue spotlight. I mean seriously, in the past Sean was pretty much stuck in Muir Island.Here we get a much better sense of who he is.
* Husk and Synch to me work perfectly as straight men to their teammates antics.
* Penance is cool , though the whole mystery behind her was so fucking easy to solve that it hurts !
* Finally M...while I don't dislike her, I honestly find her to be the weakest character of the bunch even if she is the most powerful member of the team... outrageous ain't it ? This is partly due to the fact that, as opposed to Gambit or Sinister, the original concept was far more unconventional and interesting than what we got (though thankfully it ain't Cool World-level of let-down...).She generally works for me when there's a stronger/funnier character to play off of.

I LOBDELL/BACHALO'S THIRD GENESIS

Well this is the part that's more than often considered to be the best in every department, to the point where some readers only stick to the 25-27 issues (being the issues where the creators were much more in-control of their baby). While I disagree vehemently with the latter, I did base my drawing purely and simply on the Lobdell/Bachalo vision of the characters...so yeah I do think it's the most complete run too.
The characters are all pretty nuanced and the kids do feel like friends from the get go. Same thing goes for the general pacing,emotional responses and character dialogue (I have no problem with Lobdell's dialogue. Neither here nor in his UXM stint.). Everyone has their own conflicts and we get into each one's head and heart and while some can feel cynical, they are more like grounded teens than anything else.
Unfortunately, if one element underwhelms my experience , it is the lack of closure. If there is ONE book that fucking deserves a closing mini-series in the "Forever" line , it is THIS one ! Though, I am not sure if I'd bring back Chris Bachalo on art...
In this stint, Bachalo's artwork is prefectly fine within the series (it is better when his drawings are inked by Mark Buckingham) and I had no problem with his shift in style (even if it looks cutesier...). His more current output though...errr...not for me.
Other remarks about the plots and "what could/Should've been? 'kay...
* While I do like the antagonists (Black Tom, Omega Red, Bastion...), Emplate is the one that's more synonymous with this book. Thing is, Marius belongs to the same category of mutants that contains Selene,Rogue or Holocaust; he needs to "feed" on others to be properly powered. In fact, the more he feasts on the genetic marrow of mutants, the more he would take powers from them as well. The drawback is that it is necessary for him to do so since for all his abilities, he's basically on life support. Hence he why he kept Penance locked for nourishment. And of course, she escapes. Woops... one Interesting detail is that Bishop is pretty familiar with Emplate since there are "Emplates" in his timeline. The difference? The ones Bishop know are fucking RABID. You get bitten by one, you become one. That's how Bish lost his sister...
* Emma finding out the Dark Beast (yup the AOA one)when she was a teen was a pretty smart move, but unfortunately not exploited like it should have been (then again post AOA, the editors seemed to really go for the same old same old instead of giving new villains their fair share of the pie...). As it is, I still enjoy the issue itself and it is along with the confession story, the only TRUE Emma origin for me. But if I were to animate that, I'd settle for a deal with Sinister or Weapon X. It is absolutely fitting for me that Emma worked with shady organisms, it makes her redemption arc only stronger!
Oh and another thing ? Apparantly the first official couple was supposed to be Jono (when he turns 20) and Emma. Not that I am really against or for it, but from now on, Chamber's new title will be "British Ryuji Danma". And that's no shame !
* The whole dilemma Skin lives with ? Hoo boy ! In the past, Angelo joined a gang and fell in love with a fellow member named Tores.However, after one particularly violent shoot-out with a rival gang, Angelo was forced to fake his own death and entrusted his cousin Gil with the knowledge that he was still alive. What ensues is him being hunted by the Executioner (yup the same guy that will hunt then end up helping Gambit !) and doing his best so that no one recognises him. I do wish they did more with that ! Hell they could have had a Noir-style 4 issues story-arc based on that concept alone .
* Howard the Duck appears in the book and... I am glad that he's used as a grumpy sane dude with a heart of gold rather than a joke. Not to mention that his plotline is ended very satisfyingly with the DeMatteis "Daydreamers" mini-series. And I mean SATISFYINGLY. Not bad for the part of the book that very few people even address ; the guest character that I honestly did not expect to read about or to find in this book played out beautifully.
* The M plotline on the other hand is the exact opposite. The part that MOST Gen-X do TALK about (and how !) did not get solved properly. Despite the fact that the reveal was right THERE the moment it was drawn ON PAGE ! So what's the deal with Monet St Croix ? Very easy, the Monet as most of you know her is basically Gogeta with a tan XD. But more seriously , there never was a real M. She was always the fusion of 2 twin girls, and the clues were there from her first appearance. And that's a genius explanation as to why she is perfect and semi-haxxed ! After that, the dilmena would be whether to allow them to stay on the team as perfect superpowered M, where they could live out their dream and have fun but have their lives in danger or preserve their youth and innocence by forcing them to stay separate (to avoid fusing again) and live a normal life. Aaand Marvel fucked that up as we'll see...oh well, in a "Concept VS Context" situation, there's bound to be some losses. Though I'd stick to this concept in animation.
* Penance's origin is , as I stated, very HARD to fuck up (though they did...good job !). She is JUST a deaf mutant. Her true name was Yvette, she was found by Emplate from wartorn Yugoslavia and the reason she was nigh-impossible to explore psychically is that she was never taught to communicate properly. It's that simple! Plus she was apparantly the key to explain what the fuck was Gateway doing there (though I am glad to see him there!).
* As for the whole Mondo story, wellll... we only see the REAL Mondo ONCE , in his first appearance with Cordelia Frost (that I tend to forget about !). As bizarre this dude is, I found him more memorable in AOA. What was to happen was that Banshee was supposed to find the real Mondo on the island cool, laid-back and relax (a True Wise man !). Sean would decide not to involve him and leave him to live his happy, danger free life.
* Finally, I do not mind at all that they never brought back Blink. AOA Clarice Ferguson far more than made up for that loss !

So as it is, and despite the hiccup that is the lack of closure and tied hands by editorial, I fucking love this run !

BEST ISSUES : -1,4,6,11,14-17,19,21,22,24,27

Before we to the other good stuff, I'll address what I think or Larry Hama's tenure.
On the one hand, it was short , so people saying that it ruined everything can get off their high horses. But on the other hand, the tone was just not right. Maybe if they told him to go for a darker/more grounded approach,it could have turned out better (see his Wolverine...no... THE GENUINELY GOOD WOLVERINE run ! It has lots of bizarre stuff in it but it was more in the bleak category of weirdness ). As it is the whole Pooka, M-Plate and Bianca LaNeige stuff ... PFAH. I'll cut him some slack on the whole M/Penance stuff though since he worked with what the editors gave him (I wonder if they were on Blotter acid on that one ?!). However, despite the somewhat campier dialogue, there is some silver lining there since Hama has a good handle on Synch , Skin (I did like the resolution of Angelo's plotline. Sure, it could've used some improvement but it does the job fine !), Jubilee ( no surprise here, Hama has one the best handles on Jubes' character. And much like in his Wolverine run, she gets one of the best speeches ever. Behold her defense of Emma Frost! “It’s gotta take a lot of guts to stand up here and lecture us kids about morality when we all know what a devious witch she used to be! I mean, she used to plunder retirement accounts and savings of old, crippled widows! You really gotta hand it to her!” Matt Murdock, eat your heart out ! XD ) and even Emma (funny that he's the guy that wrote her AOA version for the most part !).
So the issues that aren't a total bust are 33,41,0.5,48. But it does remain the weakest part of the series.

II FAERBER/DODSON 's NEW SCHOOL DAYS

I love Faerber's run almost as much as Lobdell's. In fact, reading these 2 takes back to back, I'd say that Jay's goes for a more light-hearted approach without losing what makes the cast compelling. I even felt that he advanced them; Synch started to grow as a leader, Husk was more assertive (and we thankfully have the whole will/won't they with Jono ditched... even if their interactions are fun rather than tedious) , Skin mellowed out (well his cat is out of the bag...), Chamber quit being depressing and even has a more deadpan sense of humor, and Jubilee started to show more feelings towards Synch (who's fucking oblivious to that...).
I'd say that the general atmosphere of Faerber's Gen X is a lot similar to his Dynamo 5 (with maybe the exception of the last arc of Dynamo 5...did I mention that that series rocked ?). Even the Dodsons artwork goes better with this particular take on the team.
I will add that Adrienne Frost felt more memorable than Cordelia from Lobdell's run (though if there's one constant in the whole series it's that Emma fucking loathes her family in general...). It was also a good move to bring in human students (Tristan was rather compelling BTW) since our pals have to be more cautious as to when they should use their mutant abilities.

My one problem in this run is him
p.dreamwidth.org/79cc15378d5e/…
In all honesty, and I know full well that my feelings run contrary to Jay's on the matter, I REALLY would have retired M and put Maggot instead. Reason ? Very simple. He's the best fucking character in the Kelly/Seagle run (even if there are some other positives) and considering how NEUTERED that run was it is quite a FEAT. Why would have he worked better ?
* Personality-wise , he's far more likable and would get along with pretty much anyone. Monet as she is at this point,however, entirely depends on conflicts to work (for instance, in this run she's only there to be the Bugs to Jubilee's Daffy. And most, if not all, the fun comes from the latter might I add...)
* Power-wise, Japheth's mutation is far less conventional AND incredibly polyvalent (his digestive system was the two slugs, Eeny and Meany. As the slugs ate nearly any material known to man it made him bigger, stronger, increased stamina and durability. Maggot also has psychometry.). It has both its pros AND cons. M on the other hand, while indeed more powerful, is pretty much "been there done there" in the power department. Plus she did not really struggle to obtain said powers and they even took away the weaknesses Lobdell's M had to deal with ... you could say that she's playing in nigh-God mode.
* When they did not go the Gogeta way with M's character, they fucked up royal . But with Maggot ? Joe Kelly pulled a completely different origin (making him south african rather than australian was one aspect, but his whole ordeal was definitely worth its while...) that improved upon the original concept.
* And last but not least : "When do I get to meet the headmistress ? Bobby tolds me she walks around in her lingerie.".... PURE.FUCKING.WIN.

Now as for the other elements in this particular run that were intended to be expanded upon :
* Iceman was to play a more prominent role as a supporting character. Quite the inspired choice since Emma's been inside of him... it did happen that way. In fact, his dynamic with the White Queen was supposed to shift between friendly and adversarial. Why adversarial ? Well mainly because the New Hellions (led by King Bedlam and introduced in JF Moore's X-Force) were supposed to be their next opponents.Emma would realize that by reading Sean's mind (without his permission).
Even better, Sean and Emma would put an end to their partnership since the latter, while generally kinder and more relaxed in Faerber's hands, is ungodly scary when you properly tick her off. Hell, during their battle with the New Hellions, she would have taken control over Bobbie's body in order to massacre her sister !
* There was supposed to be an adventure in space where they would team up with the Imperial Guard trainees to combat an intergalactic menace.
* Jubilee finally shares her true feelings with Synch ! Which surprises him ! Things get trickier when Jubes would start to miss the old Synch... Funny that there is a What-if, based on DOFP, where these 2 are indeed a couple of survivors (and I mean that in both senses of the word couple !). Hell, adult Jubilee does remind me a lot of Jolyne now that I think about it !
* Skin would try to convince Torres to stay at the Academy after the fight against the New Hellions.
* Emplate will be rescued by Gayle Edgerton, Chamber's wheelchair-bound, psychotic ex-girlfriend. This one astounds me considering that Jay really doesn't like Emplate as a character! Oh well...

BEST ISSUES : 49,54,55-57,58, Annual'99,59

III COUNTER X AND ADIEU

Okay, the curtains fall is close and this is the last time we see most of them. Cuz after this, they die.
So as a whole , I did enjoy what Ellis and Wood did with Counter X more than most, even if it's dark to a fault in places ...
The Good:
+ I loved the Correction arc ! You have the team taking on Johnston Coffin, a psychopath creating robots powered by mauled teenagers that he had kidnapped ! Why is he doing such a thing ? To fight decency deficit ! Well sure, any reason is good to create Geigeresque monstrosities I guess... And did I mention how badass the Gen X crew was in this arc ? Well it bears repetition...
+"They know we know where they are,we know they know we know that. So since they know we know what they probably know, we know what to do." And yes, it totally worked! I am not kidding .
+ Angelo finding new ways to use his skin powers and saving Sean on his own www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfT0fe…
+ Monet and Jubilee finding some common ground. It's the 3rd time but hey, who's counting ?
+ Jono's entire solo issue.
+ Paige meeting ghosts and helping said ghosts.
+ Emma dealing with her sister like she was Old Yeller...and scaring the fuck out of Monet.That stare...
+ Issue 75... www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFoEol…

The Bad :
- Synch dies. Not only was it a fucking mistake to off Everett, but the way he was killed was pretty asinine and preventable. And had Maggot been there he could have eaten the bomb, saving everyone...I am not even joking.
- I can't tell how fucking underplayed some deaths feel after the whole cancellation of the book.
- I do wish Art Adams or Ron Lim pencilled the whole run... I don't think Steve Pugh was all that fitting.

BEST ISSUES : 65-66,71-75

As for the addendum , well I'd say : X-Men Unlmited 20 & 34, The Chamber Mini-series and the Gen X Underground one shot.

Now for all the downsides the series had in its running time, it did much better than what people are willing to admit. Everyone had their own personal conflicts and narratives progress and they did what occurred in the other stuff I draw posters about...for kicks...or ego: develop.
The best example is my other favorite character from this book. So let's talk about Emma Frost...

... hdwallpapersfactory.com/wallpa… img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20… Assistant, show me these worthless cum dumpsters again and your cranium will be renamed "Arc De Triomphe".Capice ?

imgc.allpostersimages.com/imag… img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20… ...'kay, an undeniably major improvement in your search. Those are genuinely good alternate interpretations and cool characters on their own rights. May I have the Classic version now ?

static.comicvine.com/uploads/o… mracaud.pagesperso-orange.fr/G… THANK YOU, for God sake...

Since I am not one of those poor CBR-dwelling morons or ComicsAlliance lobotomized clodplates that get off comparing Emma to Jean or vice versa because some drug-addled hack told them to BUT someone who has an ACTUAL respect and appreciation towards both women, I will sum up Emma's development as comprehensively as I can. Oh and the TV tropes page about her ? It can be used as an ass wipe.
(BTW, the first time The White Queen ever meets the real deal Jean was in the "Bishop's Crossing" arc in 1991. Quite impressive that it took them 11 years to actually fucking meet IN PERSON, ain't it ?).
When the character first appeared, she was the lieutenant of Sebastian Shaw and would pull 2 distinct moves against the X-men. (Since it's the Claremont/Byrne line-up she is going against, then I root for her XD ) The first was to extract informations from the team and it would have succeeded had Kitty not interfered. Then "Jean" (actually the phoenix) K.Oes her...that's pretty much her part in the Overrated Pyro-chicke..errr...Dark Phoenix Saga.
In her 2nd stint, she'll pull a Captain Ginyu against Storm in order to use Ororo's powers so that the Hellfire Club takes its revenge on the X-men. It almost worked except for Kitty's interference (I feel I'm gonna type that a LOT when I'll review Claremont's runs !) and the fact that the guard she's set to keep an eye on Stormy must be related to Averell Dalton.
After that... Surprisingly she didn't really antagonize the X-men all that much ! Neither does Shaw for that matter ! Her appearance in the "New Mutants" is where she becomes a lot more interesting, not to mention intriguing : she never really let the reader be sure of her actual intentions. Was she really giving a disinterested helping hand ? No, she's way too pragmatic and maffiosi-like to do that. Was she indifferent to the kids fate ? No... she genuinely shows concern for her students.
And that's the last element Lobdell expanded upon. After the Hellions got massacred by Trevor Fitzroy (and got avenged by Bishop but fuck it, nobody gives Bish credit for anything !), something happened : Emma actually showed remorse. And since the 90's X-men are all about "fight your fucking flaws and soldier on", she accepted to work with Xavier to rebuild her dream of helping younger mutants. THIS new direction is actually complementary to the 80's version ! The White Queen found a purpose that means a LOT to her (she'll even risk her life for her students !) and this ever-growing altruism gave her darker and muderous impulses a proper focus.
90's Emma is a way more terrifying character than people let on: having people under her care tends to make her much easier to tick off and way more inclined to kill. The origin that it gave her does not discard her time as a villain for one bit and while she seems sociable, you barely have any idea what she might exactly be thinking.
She more or less lived under the same motto as Gambit: "you eat or get eaten. There's no justice, just us", basically grew up believing that "might makes right" and yet, her time at the side of genuinely good people DID show her that "doing the right thing just because it is the right thing to do" was a lot more fulfilling than she'd ever thought before.
Generation X is Emma's tale (and that's saying a lot!) and farewell to the comic scene. She grew. She changed her mindset and she was damn fascinating to read from start to finish both in her flashbacks and her "present" form. This title IS the character, plain and simple.
After that ? What do you mean "after that"? There's nothing after that. And not a damn thing has proven me wrong ever since.

REFERENCES... what would I do without those ? : www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Nnl0y… www.youtube.com/watch?v=07uUSE… www.youtube.com/watch?v=04mfKJ… www.youtube.com/watch?v=phAoCh… www.youtube.com/watch?v=RElsIT… www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm-ihS… www.youtube.com/watch?v=szg1rG… www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL4t8-…

P.S. : In case anyone is wondering, yes, the kid at the right bottom corner is Emma when she scrammed from the Looney bin. You're welcome...

Description
WARNING : Contains elements that might liquefy your baby if you're pregnant. Attacks by marrow-eating freaks are not covered by our insurance...

Since these days, we're in need of a little levity , I guess it is time to pull the trigger and deal with this review that has been in my head for a while now.
Ladies and Gents, since this is my favorite "teen" book (along with PAD's Young Justice), I've been meaning to give it the proper exploration so to speak. I mean If I can do that for Renart's bastard son and a self-loathing sardonic sadist, then I can do it for some of the most nuanced and varied protagonists of this peculiar slice of life book. And since someone is gonna ask about it, yes, the TV movie EATS. But then again, I already said it a bajillion times : X-men and live action DO NOT MESH WELL, NONE OF THEM TO THIS DAY WAS WORTH MY TIME.[insert Giraffe's angry roar here...] And I know the upcoming one is playing me for 3 main reasons, but even then I am not setting my expectations too high !
Now, if Generation X is to be (and I hope so) properly translated/adapted on-screen, it NEEDS a similar art style to this 2.bp.blogspot.com/-fqBhXaEv-Co… , this a400.idata.over-blog.com/2/95/… , or this i37.mangareader.net/gunsmith-c… or 1.bp.blogspot.com/-KQiBxfSTaTE… or a mixture of all of them.

Or if you wanna crank up the bizarre atmosphere www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNAchR… XD (if you have any suggestions , I am all ears...).

So , Last Time ; following what happened in the "Phalanx Covenant", new characters are introduced and genuine organic development will ensue. Many say that this book ended up to hell after the very first run, that it lost direction, etc.etc. Errr...Okay look, the former statement is incorrect. Yes, the book has its flaws like anything else but it gets way more rights than wrongs AND there's nothing that can't be fixed/streamlined through an OVA adaption. As for "direction"... no, most of the plots were solved by the end (for better or worse) AND it is a "slice of life" book, the characters have to deal with what is thrown at them. There is no predefined direction in a "slice of life" story, hell look at "Diamond Is unbreakable"'s narrative progression for example.

Characters-wise , and while I really do like each one of them, my preference kinda goes this way : Jubes = Emma > Skin = Jono > Sean > Ev = Paige > Yvette > Monet :
* Finally, and especially for those who've been following me for a while now, we reach the 3rd, last and best aspect of Jubilation Lee. This book took a genuinely great character and had us know more about her. It did not deny her friendship with Wolverine (avuncular bonding at its best !) or when she was trying to find her place within the X-men (and yes, it is kind of a running gag through the series. She likes to say "when I was with the X-men..." just for the sake of being impish). It did expand on those dimensions , put her through hazardous or pleasant situations and as such , Jubes cements herself as one of the most rounded, passionate and downright polyvalent characters ever made. Hell she manages to make an impression on me even when she's not the focus of the story.
* I will leave the White Queen for later , it 'll be a blast .
* As for Chamber and Skin, I swear to God the more I reread their scenes, the more they remind of these guys www.bedetheque.com/media/Couve… . And considering I am big fan of the Onibaku duo , that says a lot. And did I mention that they get to meet Howard The Motherfucking Duck ?!
* Banshee finally gets some overdue spotlight. I mean seriously, in the past Sean was pretty much stuck in Muir Island.Here we get a much better sense of who he is.
* Husk and Synch to me work perfectly as straight men to their teammates antics.
* Penance is cool , though the whole mystery behind her was so fucking easy to solve that it hurts !
* Finally M...while I don't dislike her, I honestly find her to be the weakest character of the bunch even if she is the most powerful member of the team... outrageous ain't it ? This is partly due to the fact that, as opposed to Gambit or Sinister, the original concept was far more unconventional and interesting than what we got (though thankfully it ain't Cool World-level of let-down...).She generally works for me when there's a stronger/funnier character to play off of.

I LOBDELL/BACHALO'S THIRD GENESIS

Well this is the part that's more than often considered to be the best in every department, to the point where some readers only stick to the 25-27 issues (being the issues where the creators were much more in-control of their baby). While I disagree vehemently with the latter, I did base my drawing purely and simply on the Lobdell/Bachalo vision of the characters...so yeah I do think it's the most complete run too.
The characters are all pretty nuanced and the kids do feel like friends from the get go. Same thing goes for the general pacing,emotional responses and character dialogue (I have no problem with Lobdell's dialogue. Neither here nor in his UXM stint.). Everyone has their own conflicts and we get into each one's head and heart and while some can feel cynical, they are more like grounded teens than anything else.
Unfortunately, if one element underwhelms my experience , it is the lack of closure. If there is ONE book that fucking deserves a closing mini-series in the "Forever" line , it is THIS one ! Though, I am not sure if I'd bring back Chris Bachalo on art...
In this stint, Bachalo's artwork is prefectly fine within the series (it is better when his drawings are inked by Mark Buckingham) and I had no problem with his shift in style (even if it looks cutesier...). His more current output though...errr...not for me.
Other remarks about the plots and "what could/Should've been? 'kay...
* While I do like the antagonists (Black Tom, Omega Red, Bastion...), Emplate is the one that's more synonymous with this book. Thing is, Marius belongs to the same category of mutants that contains Selene,Rogue or Holocaust; he needs to "feed" on others to be properly powered. In fact, the more he feasts on the genetic marrow of mutants, the more he would take powers from them as well. The drawback is that it is necessary for him to do so since for all his abilities, he's basically on life support. Hence he why he kept Penance locked for nourishment. And of course, she escapes. Woops... one Interesting detail is that Bishop is pretty familiar with Emplate since there are "Emplates" in his timeline. The difference? The ones Bishop know are fucking RABID. You get bitten by one, you become one. That's how Bish lost his sister...
* Emma finding out the Dark Beast (yup the AOA one)when she was a teen was a pretty smart move, but unfortunately not exploited like it should have been (then again post AOA, the editors seemed to really go for the same old same old instead of giving new villains their fair share of the pie...). As it is, I still enjoy the issue itself and it is along with the confession story, the only TRUE Emma origin for me. But if I were to animate that, I'd settle for a deal with Sinister or Weapon X. It is absolutely fitting for me that Emma worked with shady organisms, it makes her redemption arc only stronger!
Oh and another thing ? Apparantly the first official couple was supposed to be Jono (when he turns 20) and Emma. Not that I am really against or for it, but from now on, Chamber's new title will be "British Ryuji Danma". And that's no shame !
* The whole dilemma Skin lives with ? Hoo boy ! In the past, Angelo joined a gang and fell in love with a fellow member named Tores.However, after one particularly violent shoot-out with a rival gang, Angelo was forced to fake his own death and entrusted his cousin Gil with the knowledge that he was still alive. What ensues is him being hunted by the Executioner (yup the same guy that will hunt then end up helping Gambit !) and doing his best so that no one recognises him. I do wish they did more with that ! Hell they could have had a Noir-style 4 issues story-arc based on that concept alone .
* Howard the Duck appears in the book and... I am glad that he's used as a grumpy sane dude with a heart of gold rather than a joke. Not to mention that his plotline is ended very satisfyingly with the DeMatteis "Daydreamers" mini-series. And I mean SATISFYINGLY. Not bad for the part of the book that very few people even address ; the guest character that I honestly did not expect to read about or to find in this book played out beautifully.
* The M plotline on the other hand is the exact opposite. The part that MOST Gen-X do TALK about (and how !) did not get solved properly. Despite the fact that the reveal was right THERE the moment it was drawn ON PAGE ! So what's the deal with Monet St Croix ? Very easy, the Monet as most of you know her is basically Gogeta with a tan XD. But more seriously , there never was a real M. She was always the fusion of 2 twin girls, and the clues were there from her first appearance. And that's a genius explanation as to why she is perfect and semi-haxxed ! After that, the dilmena would be whether to allow them to stay on the team as perfect superpowered M, where they could live out their dream and have fun but have their lives in danger or preserve their youth and innocence by forcing them to stay separate (to avoid fusing again) and live a normal life. Aaand Marvel fucked that up as we'll see...oh well, in a "Concept VS Context" situation, there's bound to be some losses. Though I'd stick to this concept in animation.
* Penance's origin is , as I stated, very HARD to fuck up (though they did...good job !). She is JUST a deaf mutant. Her true name was Yvette, she was found by Emplate from wartorn Yugoslavia and the reason she was nigh-impossible to explore psychically is that she was never taught to communicate properly. It's that simple! Plus she was apparantly the key to explain what the fuck was Gateway doing there (though I am glad to see him there!).
* As for the whole Mondo story, wellll... we only see the REAL Mondo ONCE , in his first appearance with Cordelia Frost (that I tend to forget about !). As bizarre this dude is, I found him more memorable in AOA. What was to happen was that Banshee was supposed to find the real Mondo on the island cool, laid-back and relax (a True Wise man !). Sean would decide not to involve him and leave him to live his happy, danger free life.
* Finally, I do not mind at all that they never brought back Blink. AOA Clarice Ferguson far more than made up for that loss !

So as it is, and despite the hiccup that is the lack of closure and tied hands by editorial, I fucking love this run !

BEST ISSUES : -1,4,6,11,14-17,19,21,22,24,27

Before we to the other good stuff, I'll address what I think or Larry Hama's tenure.
On the one hand, it was short , so people saying that it ruined everything can get off their high horses. But on the other hand, the tone was just not right. Maybe if they told him to go for a darker/more grounded approach,it could have turned out better (see his Wolverine...no... THE GENUINELY GOOD WOLVERINE run ! It has lots of bizarre stuff in it but it was more in the bleak category of weirdness ). As it is the whole Pooka, M-Plate and Bianca LaNeige stuff ... PFAH. I'll cut him some slack on the whole M/Penance stuff though since he worked with what the editors gave him (I wonder if they were on Blotter acid on that one ?!). However, despite the somewhat campier dialogue, there is some silver lining there since Hama has a good handle on Synch , Skin (I did like the resolution of Angelo's plotline. Sure, it could've used some improvement but it does the job fine !), Jubilee ( no surprise here, Hama has one the best handles on Jubes' character. And much like in his Wolverine run, she gets one of the best speeches ever. Behold her defense of Emma Frost! “It’s gotta take a lot of guts to stand up here and lecture us kids about morality when we all know what a devious witch she used to be! I mean, she used to plunder retirement accounts and savings of old, crippled widows! You really gotta hand it to her!” Matt Murdock, eat your heart out ! XD ) and even Emma (funny that he's the guy that wrote her AOA version for the most part !).
So the issues that aren't a total bust are 33,41,0.5,48. But it does remain the weakest part of the series.

II FAERBER/DODSON 's NEW SCHOOL DAYS

I love Faerber's run almost as much as Lobdell's. In fact, reading these 2 takes back to back, I'd say that Jay's goes for a more light-hearted approach without losing what makes the cast compelling. I even felt that he advanced them; Synch started to grow as a leader, Husk was more assertive (and we thankfully have the whole will/won't they with Jono ditched... even if their interactions are fun rather than tedious) , Skin mellowed out (well his cat is out of the bag...), Chamber quit being depressing and even has a more deadpan sense of humor, and Jubilee started to show more feelings towards Synch (who's fucking oblivious to that...).
I'd say that the general atmosphere of Faerber's Gen X is a lot similar to his Dynamo 5 (with maybe the exception of the last arc of Dynamo 5...did I mention that that series rocked ?). Even the Dodsons artwork goes better with this particular take on the team.
I will add that Adrienne Frost felt more memorable than Cordelia from Lobdell's run (though if there's one constant in the whole series it's that Emma fucking loathes her family in general...). It was also a good move to bring in human students (Tristan was rather compelling BTW) since our pals have to be more cautious as to when they should use their mutant abilities.

My one problem in this run is him
p.dreamwidth.org/79cc15378d5e/…
In all honesty, and I know full well that my feelings run contrary to Jay's on the matter, I REALLY would have retired M and put Maggot instead. Reason ? Very simple. He's the best fucking character in the Kelly/Seagle run (even if there are some other positives) and considering how NEUTERED that run was it is quite a FEAT. Why would have he worked better ?
* Personality-wise , he's far more likable and would get along with pretty much anyone. Monet as she is at this point,however, entirely depends on conflicts to work (for instance, in this run she's only there to be the Bugs to Jubilee's Daffy. And most, if not all, the fun comes from the latter might I add...)
* Power-wise, Japheth's mutation is far less conventional AND incredibly polyvalent (his digestive system was the two slugs, Eeny and Meany. As the slugs ate nearly any material known to man it made him bigger, stronger, increased stamina and durability. Maggot also has psychometry.). It has both its pros AND cons. M on the other hand, while indeed more powerful, is pretty much "been there done there" in the power department. Plus she did not really struggle to obtain said powers and they even took away the weaknesses Lobdell's M had to deal with ... you could say that she's playing in nigh-God mode.
* When they did not go the Gogeta way with M's character, they fucked up royal . But with Maggot ? Joe Kelly pulled a completely different origin (making him south african rather than australian was one aspect, but his whole ordeal was definitely worth its while...) that improved upon the original concept.
* And last but not least : "When do I get to meet the headmistress ? Bobby tolds me she walks around in her lingerie.".... PURE.FUCKING.WIN.

Now as for the other elements in this particular run that were intended to be expanded upon :
* Iceman was to play a more prominent role as a supporting character. Quite the inspired choice since Emma's been inside of him... it did happen that way. In fact, his dynamic with the White Queen was supposed to shift between friendly and adversarial. Why adversarial ? Well mainly because the New Hellions (led by King Bedlam and introduced in JF Moore's X-Force) were supposed to be their next opponents.Emma would realize that by reading Sean's mind (without his permission).
Even better, Sean and Emma would put an end to their partnership since the latter, while generally kinder and more relaxed in Faerber's hands, is ungodly scary when you properly tick her off. Hell, during their battle with the New Hellions, she would have taken control over Bobbie's body in order to massacre her sister !
* There was supposed to be an adventure in space where they would team up with the Imperial Guard trainees to combat an intergalactic menace.
* Jubilee finally shares her true feelings with Synch ! Which surprises him ! Things get trickier when Jubes would start to miss the old Synch... Funny that there is a What-if, based on DOFP, where these 2 are indeed a couple of survivors (and I mean that in both senses of the word couple !). Hell, adult Jubilee does remind me a lot of Jolyne now that I think about it !
* Skin would try to convince Torres to stay at the Academy after the fight against the New Hellions.
* Emplate will be rescued by Gayle Edgerton, Chamber's wheelchair-bound, psychotic ex-girlfriend. This one astounds me considering that Jay really doesn't like Emplate as a character! Oh well...

BEST ISSUES : 49,54,55-57,58, Annual'99,59

III COUNTER X AND ADIEU

Okay, the curtains fall is close and this is the last time we see most of them. Cuz after this, they die.
So as a whole , I did enjoy what Ellis and Wood did with Counter X more than most, even if it's dark to a fault in places ...
The Good:
+ I loved the Correction arc ! You have the team taking on Johnston Coffin, a psychopath creating robots powered by mauled teenagers that he had kidnapped ! Why is he doing such a thing ? To fight decency deficit ! Well sure, any reason is good to create Geigeresque monstrosities I guess... And did I mention how badass the Gen X crew was in this arc ? Well it bears repetition...
+"They know we know where they are,we know they know we know that. So since they know we know what they probably know, we know what to do." And yes, it totally worked! I am not kidding .
+ Angelo finding new ways to use his skin powers and saving Sean on his own www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfT0fe…
+ Monet and Jubilee finding some common ground. It's the 3rd time but hey, who's counting ?
+ Jono's entire solo issue.
+ Paige meeting ghosts and helping said ghosts.
+ Emma dealing with her sister like she was Old Yeller...and scaring the fuck out of Monet.That stare...
+ Issue 75... www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFoEol…

The Bad :
- Synch dies. Not only was it a fucking mistake to off Everett, but the way he was killed was pretty asinine and preventable. And had Maggot been there he could have eaten the bomb, saving everyone...I am not even joking.
- I can't tell how fucking underplayed some deaths feel after the whole cancellation of the book.
- I do wish Art Adams or Ron Lim pencilled the whole run... I don't think Steve Pugh was all that fitting.

BEST ISSUES : 65-66,71-75

As for the addendum , well I'd say : X-Men Unlmited 20 & 34, The Chamber Mini-series and the Gen X Underground one shot.

Now for all the downsides the series had in its running time, it did much better than what people are willing to admit. Everyone had their own personal conflicts and narratives progress and they did what occurred in the other stuff I draw posters about...for kicks...or ego: develop.
The best example is my other favorite character from this book. So let's talk about Emma Frost...

... hdwallpapersfactory.com/wallpa… img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20… Assistant, show me these worthless cum dumpsters again and your cranium will be renamed "Arc De Triomphe".Capice ?

imgc.allpostersimages.com/imag… img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20… ...'kay, an undeniably major improvement in your search. Those are genuinely good alternate interpretations and cool characters on their own rights. May I have the Classic version now ?

static.comicvine.com/uploads/o… mracaud.pagesperso-orange.fr/G… THANK YOU, for God sake...

Since I am not one of those poor CBR-dwelling morons or ComicsAlliance lobotomized clodplates that get off comparing Emma to Jean or vice versa because some drug-addled hack told them to BUT someone who has an ACTUAL respect and appreciation towards both women, I will sum up Emma's development as comprehensively as I can. Oh and the TV tropes page about her ? It can be used as an ass wipe.
(BTW, the first time The White Queen ever meets the real deal Jean was in the "Bishop's Crossing" arc in 1991. Quite impressive that it took them 11 years to actually fucking meet IN PERSON, ain't it ?).
When the character first appeared, she was the lieutenant of Sebastian Shaw and would pull 2 distinct moves against the X-men. (Since it's the Claremont/Byrne line-up she is going against, then I root for her XD ) The first was to extract informations from the team and it would have succeeded had Kitty not interfered. Then "Jean" (actually the phoenix) K.Oes her...that's pretty much her part in the Overrated Pyro-chicke..errr...Dark Phoenix Saga.
In her 2nd stint, she'll pull a Captain Ginyu against Storm in order to use Ororo's powers so that the Hellfire Club takes its revenge on the X-men. It almost worked except for Kitty's interference (I feel I'm gonna type that a LOT when I'll review Claremont's runs !) and the fact that the guard she's set to keep an eye on Stormy must be related to Averell Dalton.
After that... Surprisingly she didn't really antagonize the X-men all that much ! Neither does Shaw for that matter ! Her appearance in the "New Mutants" is where she becomes a lot more interesting, not to mention intriguing : she never really let the reader be sure of her actual intentions. Was she really giving a disinterested helping hand ? No, she's way too pragmatic and maffiosi-like to do that. Was she indifferent to the kids fate ? No... she genuinely shows concern for her students.
And that's the last element Lobdell expanded upon. After the Hellions got massacred by Trevor Fitzroy (and got avenged by Bishop but fuck it, nobody gives Bish credit for anything !), something happened : Emma actually showed remorse. And since the 90's X-men are all about "fight your fucking flaws and soldier on", she accepted to work with Xavier to rebuild her dream of helping younger mutants. THIS new direction is actually complementary to the 80's version ! The White Queen found a purpose that means a LOT to her (she'll even risk her life for her students !) and this ever-growing altruism gave her darker and muderous impulses a proper focus.
90's Emma is a way more terrifying character than people let on: having people under her care tends to make her much easier to tick off and way more inclined to kill. The origin that it gave her does not discard her time as a villain for one bit and while she seems sociable, you barely have any idea what she might exactly be thinking.
She more or less lived under the same motto as Gambit: "you eat or get eaten. There's no justice, just us", basically grew up believing that "might makes right" and yet, her time at the side of genuinely good people DID show her that "doing the right thing just because it is the right thing to do" was a lot more fulfilling than she'd ever thought before.
Generation X is Emma's tale (and that's saying a lot!) and farewell to the comic scene. She grew. She changed her mindset and she was damn fascinating to read from start to finish both in her flashbacks and her "present" form. This title IS the character, plain and simple.
After that ? What do you mean "after that"? There's nothing after that. And not a damn thing has proven me wrong ever since.

REFERENCES... what would I do without those ? : www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Nnl0y… www.youtube.com/watch?v=07uUSE… www.youtube.com/watch?v=04mfKJ… www.youtube.com/watch?v=phAoCh… www.youtube.com/watch?v=RElsIT… www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm-ihS… www.youtube.com/watch?v=szg1rG… www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL4t8-…

P.S. : In case anyone is wondering, yes, the kid at the right bottom corner is Emma when she scrammed from the Looney bin. You're welcome...