What’s Covered?
Uncanny X-Men # 469 - 474, Giant Sized Wolverine # 1, X-Men: Deadly Genesis # 1 - 6
Roster Watch
Synopsis
UXM # 469 - 471 - Wand'ring Star
Writer - Chris Claremont
Pencils - Billy Tan
Issue #469: "Wand'ring Star, Part 1"
The story begins with Rachel Summers (Marvel Girl) at the center of the narrative. Rachel’s skin manifests a Phoenix tattoo on her back. We see Sentinel operators spying on Rachel taking a shower, which is pretty sick. Rachel, still grieving the loss of her family and her alternate timeline's dystopian legacy, is targeted once again by alien bounty hunters sent by the Shi'ar Empire. The Shi'ar have deemed her a threat due to her connection to the Phoenix Force, which has historically brought destruction. Beast sends Rachel to talk to a psychiatrist, a green haired powered man named Leonard Samson. Rachel escapes the mansion. The issue sets up a tense chase, with Rachel wrestling with her Phoenix-related identity.
In addition, a cowboy named Bean takes over the global networks and vows to help de-powered mutants.
The feds bust to Husk’s room, claiming that as a hacker she may be Bean, or connected to him. Husk beats them up until they gas her (badass). Sam attacks a Sentinel but gets put in a bubble. Bishop and Beast play it off like this is fine, which is uncool.
Storm Calls in from Africa, Bishop tells her to stay there.
Issue #470: "Wand'ring Star, Part 2"
The Shi'ar forces (Death Commandos) have escaped from jail, employing advanced technology and deadly precision. Bishop and Charlotte Jones happen to be waiting for them.
Rachel is seeing Kitty’s friend, a therapist, before being set upon by the commando’s. The X-Men split up to counter the threat, leading to intense battles across multiple fronts. Psylocke plays a crucial role, utilizing her psychic katana to disrupt the Shi'ar strategies. Meanwhile, Rachel experiences a psychic vision hinting at a greater cosmic threat tied to her Phoenix legacy. This revelation pushes her to confront her inner fears and resolve to fight for her autonomy. The issue highlights themes of identity, destiny, and the consequences of wielding immense power.
Issue #471: "Wand'ring Star, Part 3"
In the climactic issue, the X-Men manage to repel the Shi'ar attackers, but not without cost. Rachel unleashes a powerful burst of Phoenix energy, temporarily overwhelming her enemies and forcing them to retreat. However, this display of power deepens the Shi'ar's resolve to eliminate her as a potential threat. The story ends on a bittersweet note: Rachel finds strength in her team and her identity, but the looming specter of the Phoenix and the Shi'ar's pursuit ensure her struggles are far from over. The X-Men and O.N.E. may have fought well together, but it created a bloodbath in Chicago. The arc reinforces the bonds among the X-Men while leaving Rachel’s cosmic storyline open for further exploration.
UXM # 472 - 474 (The FourSaken)
Writer - Chris Claremont
Pencils - Chris Bachalo (472), Roger Cruz (473 - 474)
We check in with Storm who is trying to bring an end to African mutant hunters.
The X-Men fight fricken Jamie Braddock and I just I love this guy. The watcher shows up, which is losing it's edge because it's been happening so often lately.
Jamie claims to have been the one to bring his sister (Psylocke) back to life. He re-knit her more perfectly to make her immune to most attacks and ready to be the weapon that saves causality. Jamie is pulled into a portal though before he can explain more (of course).
Bishop and Val Cooper are probably dating, which seems messed up and out of no where.
NC accidentally teleports this team to Central Park. The Watcher explains that “The First Fallen” is the counterpoint to the Phoenix and he wants to end all existence.
When Jamie was young, his best mates called themselves “The Foursaken.” The Foursaken were chosen by “The First Fallen” and given powers. Jamie ran, was tortured by slavers, and lost his mind.
They start attacking. The Foursaken and their creatures can’t see Psylocke. They all get sucked into another portal.
they wake up in another realm, led by “The First Fallen,” where everyone is forced to be peaceful. We learn that he gives peace to 4 people from a species and everyone else dies. Brutal. Jamie brought Betsy back for one reason, to oppose this dude! She stabs him with her psychic knife.
Everyone (the disparate species in the world) gets their anger, and power, back. An evil force took over a King billions of years ago. creating "The First Fallen." Jamie sends everyone back and sacrifices himself to lock "The First Fallen" away.
Giant Sized Wolverine # 1
Writer - David Lapham
Pencils - David Aja
Very weird, but good story. To make a long story short, Wolverine & a Hydra robot crash into a barn. Near the crash landing, there is a family with a dark secret. A woman died, but her deformed twin gets lose. The townsfolk try to kill the remaining family but the twisted twin and the Hydra Robot attack at once. Wolverine comes to the rescue, as best he can.
X-Men: Deadly Genesis
Writer - Ed Brubaker
Pencils - Trevor Hairsine
An omega mutant crashes with a spaceship, then later brings down the Blackbird and captures Scott and Rachel. The person holding Scott and Rachel (the Omega mutant who crashed) knows Scott, but no one else.
Sean is on a plane home when the blackbird almost crashes into the plane. Sean tries to divert the plane but gets run into, they blow up, and he dies! Dag, yo.
Meanwhile, everyone at the mansion is seeing dead people. The Sentinels are seizing the school since the Blackbird crashed into a plane, however Kitty proves that she registered the plane was missing yesterday when they lost contact with Scott and Rachel.
W and NC recovered Moira’s files. It turns out that Moira had secret students around the time of Giant Sized X-Men. There was Sway, a woman who could slow down time, Petra, a woman geomorph who could control the earth, Darwin, a man who could instantly evolve, and Vulcan, an energy manipulator.
It turns out that Prof X borrowed them to help with his team lost on Krakoa (during the events of Giant Sized X-Men). He trained them mentally to accelerate their learning.
It turns out that Vulcan (Gabriel) is a 3rd Summers brother. Corsair’s wife was pregnant when they were taken. Vulcan was barely alive when his wife was killed by D'Ken. He was put in a chamber to speed up his growth and eventually raised by Shi’ar on Earth. His powers turned on and he accidentally kills his mother figure, escapes, and is eventually found by Moira.
Vulcan is trying to get revenge on Prof X. So everything he did was to capture his attention. X shows up and admits that he knew everything and lied. We also learn that Prof X is a human now! He’s powerless! Oy Vey.
Vulcan has Rachel going inside Xavier's mind to find the truth. Professor Xavier lied. Krakoa didn’t release Scott, Moira’s kids did. Then they all died to save Scott. X made Scott forget this.
It turns out that Vulcan was saved by Darwin and they were both jettisoned into space by Jean Grey, which is how the Shi'ar found them
In the present, Rachel pulls Darwin out of him to weaken him. Vulcan flies off into space at a pace that supposedly no one could keep up with.
Scott tells X that he can’t stay because of his lies, that he runs the institute now, and that he isn’t welcome since he’s not a mutant anymore.
My Connections and Creators
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Characters
Professor Xavier
I think this is the straw that broke the camel's back. Professor Xavier's shadier side has been coming out for years, but this shows just how far he's willing to go. Not only did he lose his powers on M Day (which is a huge revelation in itself), but Cyclops has had enough of his shit and isn't letting him stay at the institute.
I'm actually ok with this as I think the best X-Men era's are when Xavier is gone. And usually some dumb excuse is made to keep him away, but this time he's kicked out, which I like.
Cyclops
I'm proud of Scott for kicking Xavier out of the Institute, but this whole era is making me like Scott even less. He's even more of a hardass and he's clearly manipulated by Emma. The best X-Men media to make me like Cyclops is the animated X-Men '97, but that's another post.
Rachel
Rachel's life just sucks. There, I said it. I've never really liked her, but now it's hard not to at least feel sorry for her. I'm actually happy that we are finally getting some clarity around her having the Phoenix Force and how the Shi'ar were anal about Jean having it but no one seemed to care about Rachel with it. Rachel is in a pretty difficult spot, but for now her cosmic storyline will have to wait.
Bishop
We barely get any Bishop except for it being randomly dropped on us that he might be dating Cal Cooper. There is a world where this relationship could have worked. Maybe if it slowly developed over a long period of time. But this was sudden, and just seems like it's contrived for the plot, so I don't support it.
Storm
Storm continued to fight for former mutant rights in Africa. Clearly these issues were printed before Storm's Wedding.
Psylocke
We finally learn how the hell Psylocke is alive and it's a pretty good story! Jamie brought her back to life to be a weapon! I would pay money to find out if there was a plan all along or this was invented earlier. However, we did see Jamie pop in a few times over the last issues, so he was coming back regardless. I mean the "First Fallen" villain is a joke, but the fact that she was saved by her brother is pretty good. It's better than "Colossus was saved by an alien and that alien used alien technology to bring him back to life, then left him locked in a cell for years until you found him." That's lame.
Banshee
Wow. He's dead. Taken out by an airplane, just like Thunderbird was. It seems pretty shitty to kill off Banshee as a small side story in a random Limited Series. I almost forgot to include this! Banshee was in the Silver Age. He was a member of the Giant Sized X-Men! He led Generation X which is beloved by many! It just seems like a disservice to kill him off this way.
Nightcrawler & Cannonball
Neither get anything worth mentioning in these arcs. Seems to be a common theme.