Off the Rack: X-Men Forever Edition #1

Off the Rack: X-Men Forever Edition #1

It’s 1991. Professor Xavier had just lost the use of his legs (again). The X-Men teams were just divided up into two teams, X-Men Blue which is led by Cyclops (Scott Summers) and X-Men Gold led by Storm(Ororo). The comic titled X-Men (not to be confused with the comic Uncanny X-Men) was fresh out of the gates and just saw the death of Magneto in issue #3. Jim Lee was the artist of this book and helped make it such a hit, selling over eight million copies of issue #1, the best selling comic of all time (still holding that record today). Chris Claremont was the writer of those first 3 issues. Claremont left the book after issue #3 and Marvel altogether over what was deemed “a series of clashes with editor Bob Harras”.

Cover to X-Men Forever #1 by Marvel Comics

After Claremont, the book “X-Men” continued on and ran ten years before becoming “New X-Men” by Grant Morrison with issue #114. Once Morrison departed the book it dropped the “New” back to just “X-Men” in issue #155. The book was then renamed again with issue #208 being called “X-Men: Legacy” and is still in that current form today.

Make sense so far? Here’s where Claremont and chaos join together. Now some 18 years later, Chris Claremont is back and wants to pick up where he last left the “X-Men” at the end of issue #3. So this series “X-Men Forever” is like “What If? Chris Claremont never left the X-Men in 1991… the Series”. This creates a new tangent X-Men continuity all for ole Chris himself to play with.

Right off the bat you can see this is the “X-Men” book Claremont wanted to do back in 1991. On the opening page you get a little back story explaining that these events happen after X-Men#3, etc. etc. etc., with a head-shot of all the characters on the team with their respective names underneath. Most X-Men fans will notice right away that the card throwing, Cajun mutant known as Gambit has had his name changed from Remy LeBeau to Remy Picard. Since we know that Gambit’s real name didn’t surface until after Claremont left the book, one can assume Claremont had the “Picard” name for Gambit long before those writers after him. Great job Chris; way to establish immediately that this comic is yours and your vision only. Finally after 18 years I got to see Gambit’s true name as it was always meant to be, Remy Picard.

Remy Picard? 1991? Sounds familiar? I think someone was a Star Trek: Next Generation fan. Enough back story let’s get to the comic.

The book opens up with the X-Men playing softball and having a picnic, just joking! The book opens up with Jean Grey (yes it is 1991 so she is there) and Logan making out on a beach. We find out on the next page Jean is just daydreaming while her and her fellow X-Men; Wolverine (Logan), Cyclops, Nightcrawler Kurt Wagner), Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde), and Gambit are all on the Blackbird (X-Men Jet) tracking down Fabian Cortez after the events of X-Men#3. Fellow X-Men flyers Storm and Rogue are seen outside the plane.

Over the next few pages we see that Nick Fury is at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters working with Professor X and the X-Men to help track down Cortez. During the exchange of words between Fury and Xavier, we go back to the X-Men and all of them have at least one panel or more dedicated to a lot of long boring thoughts. The characters seem to talk or say something just for the sake of speaking or filling up the panel with words. During these pages I am reminded that sometimes less is more, Claremont seems to be on the more words means more important, which is not the case.

By the forth page you can tell Claremont is really making sure the readers haven’t forgot the whole Cyclops, Jean and Wolverine love triangle thing. Now it’s been nearly 20 years ago, but I remember Cyclops and Jean being in love, and Wolverine being the bad boy that wants his girl. Claremont writes Jean Grey as this girl that has moist panties for Wolverine all the time, but must keep dating Scott Summers so she can be crowned the Queen-at -Senior-Prom. All of this is poorly executed, maybe this love triangle has always been written this bad, and thankfully my mind has chosen not to remember those times.

On page 5 is when the action begins “BOOM!” an explosion happens and the Blackbird is coming down. Over the next 2 pages we the readers get to see the characters fall, and talk and fall some more. Of course they all make it to the ground safe and sound, like good X-Men would. Storm and Rogue think they can track down the person that caused this and fly off.

By page 8, the infamous Fabian Cortez is shown attacking the X-Men and the story claims they all just stumble upon each other. So at least for now we know the Blackbird was shot down by someone else. Cortez battles the first wave of X-Men with ease, and finally Storm and Rogue come back to engage him it battle. Cortez seems much more powerful than I ever remember him being, but again this is X-Men #4 in Claremont eyes so maybe this was the Cortez to be.

For the next 11 pages there is a long drawn out fight with the X-Men finally beating Cortez. After the battle Wolverine wants to kill Cortez and be done with it, Cyclops steps in and tells them they are taking him prisoner and turning him over to the proper authorities.

The next couple of pages have the X-Men thinking and dealing with their different experiences while battling Cortez. Shadowcat is shaken up by the thought that Wolverine wanted to kill Cortez. Rogue is haunted by what she saw when her and Storm make contact accidently during the battle. Storm wants to talk to Rogue about what she saw. Gambit doesn’t know what is wrong with Rogue, but knows she isn’t right. Then of course there is the ole stand by Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine love triangle that Claremont loves to write about.

During these pages we also find out that Nick Fury will start working with and watching over the X-Men to help them, since everyone in the world still hates them despite them saving people from evil mutants time and time again. Wolverine is worried the Government will decide to eventually stop watching and working with them and will eventually betray them so he quits the team on the spot.

The last page is of course a cliffhanger ending. The setting is Xavier’s office with him, Fury, Cyclops and Jean talking. Jean’s mind is of course wandering off to talk to Logan, and he being the tough guy, he tells her to butt out. While talking to Logan she tells him something is wrong where he is, and he admits the same thing and asks her to look through his eyes to tell him what she sees and of course she sees something horrible and tells him to get out of there. While doing this she yells out “LOGAN?”, Fury, Professor X , and Scott Summers are all shown in shock. End of issue #1 of X-Men Forever, or X-Men #4, whatever you want to call it.

A simple breakdown of the issue would be as follows:

Page 1: Jean has a wet dream about Logan.

Page 2-4: Talking and thinking, while flying.

Page 5: BOOM! Jet blows up.

Pages 6-7: Falling and talking.

Pages 8-18: Fighting Cortez, lots of talking.

Pages 19-20: Dealing with Cortez and injuries, find out about working with Fury.

Page 21: Wolverine quits, more talking

Page 22: More talking, something happens to Wolverine.

Overall this is a very bad comic, Claremont must have nude pictures or something of Joe Quesada (Marvel’s Editor in Chief) to get him to agree to publish this. This ranks up there with John Byrne’s “Blood of the Demon” series by DC years ago. That series was so bad I couldn’t stop reading it, and like that series I will continue to read this just for the sheer crap this book is. This folks is the car wreck you can’t pull your eyes away from.

See you in two weeks for Off the Rack: X-Men Forever Edition #2

Related posts:

1. Off the Rack: X-Men Forever Edition #3
2. Off the Rack: X-Men Forever “LONG OVERDUE” Edition #5
3. Off the Rack: X-Men Forever Edition #2
4. Off the Rack: X-Men Forever Edition #4
5. Off the Rack: X-Men Forever “OVERDUE” Edition #6