Catch Up!

Professor Xavier and the X-Men #5 - By Fred Schiller and Steve Ellis

"I'm sorry, Mr. Nicieza is no longer with this title." It seem Fabian was only filling in for two issues, or possibly that after he took over editorial didn't really like the direction he was taking things and brought Fred Schiller back.

I was afraid that this title was going to diverge from the original X-Men run, but it seems the powers-that-be directed it back on course. However, in order to do that, they had to use this issue to cover all the material left out of the previous issue and get things back to the point where it matches up with the original again. I'll do the same here. I'll return to the dual format again next blog.

Schiller picks up the story where Xavier summons the X-Men and they plan to head off to Santo Marco to oust Magneto and his new Brotherhood. In this version, the X-Men don't even try to be subtle as in Stan Lee's original plot - they just burst on the scene in full costume and attack. This is really one of the first times we see the X-Men as the aggressors. Their motivations are solid and they're trying to free the people of the island nation, but we've never seen them go on the true offensive. I'd say their actions against the Vanisher and the Blob were more counter-attacks then real initiations of combat.

One key difference here is that Magneto is using an army of mercenaries to take and hold the island. In the original he only had to rely on Mastermind's powers of illusion to create an army and take the island. He later converted the island's own forces into his private army. This was a strange choice, but Schiller manages to use a couple of the mercenaries to flesh-out the story into a full issue. There are a few running gags that he places in the issue that really do recall some of Stan Lee's humor from the 60s. We see more of this in some exchanges between Iceman and the Angel that actually reminds me of their relationship in the Champions. But now I'm getting ahead of myself!

The combats and eventual ending are mostly the same. However, Quicksilver's motivation for disarming the nuclear bomb at the end is a bit different. He says he only did it because the Scarlet Witch begged him to. He would have been happy to let the X-Men die. He wasn't so selfish and cold-hearted in the original. This version makes it seem very much more obvious that he would choose the Brotherhood over the X-Men.

As in the original, the Toad and Mastermind get the short end of the stick in this part of the story. Their roles are overshadowed by Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. I really don't like Schiller's interpretation of the Toad - he's just annoying and stupid, not obsequious as he should be. And there simply wasn't enough of Mastermind to say anything about his character.

Overall, this issue was just a catch-up from the last to get the series re-synced with the original. Fabian Nicieza's sidetrack gone and the bad news is it took Jan Duursema with it. I'll miss her more masterful touch in the stylized look of all things 90's. Ellis is TOO stylized and exaggerated and things can look not only out of proportion, but oftentimes it's too easy to mistake exactly WHAT something is supposed to be.

And speaking of artwork, the cover features a rather dramatic pose of Cyclops entering a room through a hole he's evidently just blown through a wall. In the foreground are Magneto with the Scarlet Witch kneeling at his feet cradling an injured Quicksilver. Yeah, this never happens in the story. Oh, the events happen...just not at the same time nor in the same place. Ah, well...the 90's hype machine at work, right? And in the grandest of comic book traditions. Nice image by an artist I can't identify, but just NOT in the story.

As a retelling of the original tale it serves its purpose and entertains the reader. I liked the additions of the humor because it added to the characterizations, but there isn't really anything here that improves on the original.

Up Next: Uncanny X-Men #5 and Professor Xavier and the X-Men #6