My Quest to Read All X-Men Related Comics in Order from Beginning to Present time

[SunflowaSeeds]

Cable/Deadpool #7-10

Deadpool fights ninja monks in Hong Kong to get an item they are guarding. He defeats them but is then defeated by the mercenary known as the Cat, who steals the item.

Cable gives an interview to Irene about his recent actions and plans. Though, he has been helping people all over the world, Irene is afraid that he is abusing his powers. However, Cable says that, as a telepath, he knows what people want and they want what he can give them. Later, S.H.I.E.L.D. monitors Cable trying to establish peace in Chechnya. G.W. Bridge wants to stop Cable, but Nick Fury isn’t convinced that he has done anything wrong yet. He does give G.W. an order to assemble a team to stop Cable, should he make a mistake. Cable (still in Chechnya) shows them that he heard the whole conversation and that Nicholas is right. The X-Men try to find a way to defeat Cable but 75 Danger Room simulations later, they still haven’t found a way. Weasel tracks the Cat to Tokyo and Deadpool attacks the Cat at Roxxon’s base and the two fight again. Taking an employee hostage, Deadpool forces the Cat to give him the item he wanted back in Hong Kong. The Cat shows him the item and its counterpart, saying that it’s the only way to stop Cable. Deadpool grabs the item and bodyslides out. Merged again by the teleportation tech, Cable and Deadpool rip apart again after the bodyslide, but Deadpool doesn’t tell him about the item. After Cable leaves, Deadpool’s employer tells him about the next part of the item: it’s in the Savage Land. G.W. Bridge sees Cable leaving Deadpool’s apartment and finds this reason enough to deploy the new Six Pack to stop him.

Deadpool steals another mysterious, high-tech device, but is knocked out by the Cat. The Cat takes the device and wants to escape, but is defeated by the X-Men, who take the device and Deadpool back to their mansion. Irene remains skeptical of Cable and wonders what is going to happen if people will resist. S.H.I.E.L.D. sends the new Six Pack to Cable’s base, Providence, where Cable defeats members Solo and Anaconda and shows the other members that Providence is not a military installation.

G.W. Bridge isn’t convinced, but Domino sees that Cable is trying to do good. The X-Men turn out to be Deadpool’s employer and the devices he stole, all parts of Cable’s old space-station Greymalkin, can be used together to stop Cable. They don’t agree on their plan of action, though: Wolverine wants to use Deadpool, who is undetectable to Cable and capable of entering Cable’s base whenever he wants and plant the device. Emma doesn’t trust Deadpool and Beast is not sure yet that they should take action. Nick Fury has a teleconference with the presidents of the U.S.A and Russia, Reed Richards and various other heads of state where they try to decide what to do about Cable now they lost contact with the Six Pack. Nick Fury is against military action, but the two presidents disagree. Reed Richards is thinking about another, non-military solution, but is interrupted as Cable teleports in (with Deadpool in tow) and tells them that he’s tired of their actions and gives them 48 hours to dismantle their weapons before he throws all their weapons into the sun. He teleports out again and Deadpool lands back in the X-mansion. Cable ultimately makes Beast agree with the other X-Men that they should stop Cable now.

24 hours in, the U.S. sends fighter planes against Cable and his floating city, but Cable easily stops their attack. Nick Fury does note that Cable’s nose has started bleeding, which means that he’s weakening. The X-Men are contacted and they are the next wave of attack: One group will cause a distraction, while Nightcrawler will set special charges that will disrupt Cable’s power temporarily. Their whole plan is depended on Deadpool, though, who has to use a special device against Cable. During the attack, Deadpool betrays the X-Men by shooting Bishop and Wolverine in the back and telling Cable of their plan. It turns out that Cable already had foreseen this attack. Nick Fury and Dugan note that the time limit they set for this attack has passed and the X-Men have probably failed, so Fury asks Dugan to contact Reed Richards. He faces the other X-Men, but sends his new allies Domino, Constrictor, Solo and Anaconda against them, while he goes back to talk to Deadpool. Cable finds out that, no matter how hard he tries to deny it, Deadpool actually believes in Cable. He tells Deadpool that while he’s surprised and flattered, he actually wanted Deadpool to succeed: his whole plan was to unite humanity against a common enemy. Cyclops attacks Cable and thinks that Cable’s plan will never work. Cable and Cyclops talk and Cable reveals that his powers won’t last for long but, as long as he has them, he needs to use them to make a difference. Cyclops thinks humanity isn’t ready yet for Cable’s plans and that others will be sent to attack him. Dugan tells Nick Fury that Reed Richards has contacted the ‘alien,’ but that, after hearing their cause, the alien just flew away. On Providence, Cable, who has foreseen everything till now, is surprised by the coming of the alien, who turns out to be the Silver Surfer

The Silver Surfer attacks Cable and, although Cable tries to reason with him, the Surfer continues to fight. While Cable and the Surfer are fighting over the Pacific Ocean, Cyclops and Deadpool watch the fight for a few seconds, then Deadpool leaves “to do what I came here to do.” He runs into the Cat, who tells him to cooperate if he wants to save the planet and his friend. At this point, the gravity generators that keep Cable’s base afloat seem to ‘hiccup.’ The base trembles and Storm suggests to Domino that their teams stop fighting and try to repair the gravity generators. Solo, Domino and Nightcrawler make their way to the generators, while Cyclops, Cat and Deadpool will try to stop Cable and the rest try to save the humans on board Providence. Cable breaks the Surfer’s board, but the Surfer gets up and removes Cable’s metal arm with an energy blast, stating that Cable’s passion will consume the world and he can’t allow that to happen. Nightcrawler calls Cyclops and tells him that the gravity generators don’t work: Cable is keeping Providence afloat with his telekinesis. And now the Surfer has defeated Cable, Providence starts to crash. Deadpool wants to use the device he has been assembling on Cable’s equipment, but Cyclops doesn’t trust him. The Cat knocks out Cyclops and Deadpool activates the device, then bodyslides to Cable’s Swiss Cabin. Rachel keeps Providence up telekinetically, but is straining, while Deadpool uses the device on Cable. The device activates the last bit of Cable’s powers and he lowers Providence into the Ocean and connects the minds of humanity for a few moments so they can see what is in each other’s heart. Irene explains to Nick Fury and the X-Men that the device Deadpool used lobotomized Cable to limit his powers. Deadpool stands over Cable’s comatose body.

 

[SunflowaSeeds]

New X-Men: Academy-X #10-12

Following another mocking from Julian, David believes that he’s useless if he can’t keep the knowledge he absorbs. After a session with Emma Frost, he finds out that a mental block in his mind prevents him from keeping it. He wants it removed. After a discussion with Dani, David decides to go for it. The plan works and, day after day, David absorbs everything he can: from science knowledge to fighting skills. But his attitude too changes, and not in the good way. Meanwhile, Kevin holds another session with Dr. Sean Garrison, who’s interested to learn more about Laurie after Kevin mentions what her powers are. Later, new Field Day contests are held, and this year the New Mutants win! David also gets a trophy for all-around academic excellence. A few hours later, David announces that the school has got nothing more to offer him and leaves. However, he promises to help Josh find the full potential of his powers. Three months pass. In this time, David creates his very own Alleyne Enterprises and gathers a press conference. Proudly, he announces to have found a cure for both cancer and AIDS! And he did that together with Josh Foley, who agreed to serve as test object. But unfortunately, this caused Josh to die.

Eighteen years later. Dani gets summoned to David, who is now the president of the United States! He informs her about his plan to bring world peace, and is close to reach it. But not all countries have joined America yet, and therefore David wants to destroy China, in the hope that the other countries will join his land peacefully. Dani tries to fight back, but gets bound on a chair and killed by toxins. He regrets the decision, as he once loved Dani and would have done everything for her if he ever showed some affection back. David’s wife, Noriko, sees it all happening and runs away from him. She gathers the entire New Mutants team, and they plan a counter attack. Despite their many differences, they make a truce with the Hellions and attack the White House. David has foreseen it all happening, and had a back-up plan. He faked a threat in outer space the Hellions were responsible for, and sent the entire X-Men team to investigate it. They did and, once on the crime scene, David blew it up, killing all the X-Men. Everyone fights back, but David kills most of the Hellions and the New Mutants. Noriko is left, and she overloads her powers. Thereby killing herself, David and blowing up the entire White House. Emma Frost and Dani stop the session, and hope that Dani has seen why he isn’t ready for his mental block to be removed. David’s freaked out, but Dani and Emma make it clear that it was all just a mixture of telepathy, and Dani used her fear powers on David to make him experience it all like it was very real. David agrees for the block not to be removed, and wants to study and hope that his future achievements will all be earned. He walks out with Dani, and they clear up their relationship and both agree that David’s affections towards her can never become reality. Later, Josh is approached by Kevin. He threatens Josh to break up his relationship with Laurie, or else he’ll tell the entire school about Josh’s former relationship with Wolfsbane, and they’ll both be expelled.

It’s another Field Day. Wolfsbane’s Paragons Squad manages to fulfill their mission in perfect time and with minimum civilian casualties, and are about to win. The New Mutants are the last ones to go. They prove to be better than the Paragons Squad, and manage to defeat “the Hulk” in even less time. After the session, the team cheers about their victory. Kevin notices that Jay and Laurie are still together, and decides to go on with his earlier threat. He visits Emma, and informs her about the former relationship Josh and Rahne had. They aren’t happy about it, and contact Wolfsbane. She fears that she’s going to get fired, and decides to leave the school, planning to work for Jamie Madrox fulltime. Laurie learns of it too, and angrily breaks up her relationship with Josh. He even gets into an argument with David about it. Meanwhile, Sofia and Jay go to learn swing dancing together in the Hunter Dance Studio. At the school, David continues to avoid Noriko after the future session in his head. Dani tries to cheer him up, but he doesn’t know how to deal with it yet. Later, Scott and Emma contact Dr. Sean Garrison and offer him to become the Institute’s counselor. He’s interested, but can’t come this semester. Emma and Scott send him some files about their students and, after seeing pictures of Laurie and her mom, Sean contacts the Headmasters again, and tells them he can join them next school year. Once the phone is down, Sean smiles, and says that he’s got big plans.

 

[SunflowaSeeds]

Uncanny X-Men #450-454

At the Xavier Institute Nightcrawler and Marvel Girl complete a Danger Room training session and share a short yet passionate kiss. They are interrupted by Wolverine and Storm who are headed out for a “night on the town.” Meanwhile, on Manhattan’s lower east side, a terrorized girl named Jade Parisi runs through the streets screaming for help. She is brutally attacked by four young men who are promptly and violently dispatched by a clawed mutant seen only in shadow. After killing the four would-be attackers, the silhouetted mutant stares ominously at the hysterical Jade who screams out in fear. In the Xavier institute’s library, Sage shuffles through old photographs as she remembers her days in the Hellfire Club. Her reverie is interrupted by the sound of an argument between Marie D’Ancanto and several mutant students. Sage promptly ends this argument. Logan’s and Ororo’s night on the town is interrupted by a page from the medical examiner in District X’s morgue. The M.E. reports that four slaughtered young men, mutant-bashers, were discovered in District X. The slash marks on the bodies indicate claws very similar to Logan’s. The X-Men also learn that Jade Parisi, daughter of a powerful mob boss is missing and believed kidnapped. Later, outside a night club in District X, the X-Men interrogate an informant for information on Jade. Logan investigates the night club and discovers a young girl with a familiar scent. After a short scuffle, the girl pops two claws from each forearm and stabs Logan through the chest.

As the terrified crowd continues stampeding out of Wannabee’s club, a wounded Wolverine attempts to confront X-23. She thoroughly trounces Wolverine and makes her escape. Nightcrawler pursues her, while Storm and Bishop tend to Logan's and Rachel’s wounds. X-23 exits the club and pursues the group of Bacchae that opened fire in the night club until she is apprehended by the X-Men. Logan and Kurt watch over X-23 while the remaining X-Men defeat the Bacchae gangsters on their own turf and rescue Jade Parisi’s boyfriend Matthew. The X-Men learn from X-23 and Matthew that Jade had been on her way to meet Matthew when she was attacked. As X-23 informs the others that Jade is quite safe, Geech (an enforcer for the mob) drops from the sky and begins throwing the X-Men around like paper dolls and demanding to know Jade’s location. Just as the X-Men gain the upper hand, Kurt appears with Jade and calls Geech off. After things have cooled down, X-23 leaves. Sage watches the events of the evening through her communicator lenses, cuts contact with the X-Men and makes her way back to the Hellfire Club.

The X-Men are aided in their search for the missing Sage by Emma Frost. Emma leads them to the lower levels of the Hellfire Club and helps them by using a global transmat system to follow Sage’s path across the globe. Rachel and Emma are transported to Hong Kong, while the remaining X-Men are surprisingly dumped into a sewer beneath Paris. Rachel immediately blames Emma for the X-Men’s disappearance. A grudge match between the two women ensues on the astral plane. Rachel gains and loses the upper hand but relents when Emma demonstrates the unconditional love that Scott has for Emma.

An uneasy alliance is formed between the two women and they move into a high stakes auction event at an exclusive Hellfire Club party where mutant slaves are being sold to the highest bidder. Emma moves in to confront “Courtney Ross” (The White Queen) and Viper (The White Princess) in a high stakes game of cards while Rachel moves to release the prisoners that the Club is preparing to sell. What neither realizes is that Selene (The Black Queen) is following Rachel and that she is hungry. Meanwhile, in the sewers of Paris, Bishop suddenly turns on his teammates and shoots them all down.

As Nightcrawler awakens, Bishop explains that he shot his teammates in order to cleanse them from a nannite infection that had invaded their bodies when they appeared in the sewers. Nightcrawler teleports the team away from the sewers to prevent further infection and give them time to gain their footing. As the team recovers, they determine that the nannite trap was more than likely set by Sebastian Shaw and possibly Sage. Storm tells Nightcrawler to take the wounded Wolverine to X-Corp Paris to recover while she and Bishop track down Shaw and Sage. Storm and Bishop are able to locate Shaw and Sage at a sprawling estate. Shaw introduces Sunspot (Roberto DaCosta) as the Hellfire Club’s new Black King. It seems that Sunspot, Shaw, Sage, Courtney Ross, Viper and Red Lotus are reworking the Hellfire Club from within to make it an institution to help mutants in the world. They are secretly trying to bring this slaver’s network down. The X-Men express grave reservations about this scenario, but Shaw insists that he has changed and now wants to embrace Xavier’s ideals and goals. Before the X-Men can digest this information completely, they, Sage, Sunspot and Shaw are all attacked and incapacitated by Donald Pierce.

Meanwhile, Emma Frost and Courtney Ross come to a draw in their high-stakes card game in the Hellfire Club Hong Kong. Rachel also continues her invisible search through the club for the mutant slaves being sold at auction. Her search is fruitless until she accidentally stumbles across an Asian couple who demand that she identify herself. Rachel tries to bluff her way through, but the girl attacks. Rachel is suddenly rescued by Red Lotus who claims he needs to take her to see the White Queen. Selene also intervenes and tells the Asian girl to let them go. Selene wants the starchylde for herself. Red Lotus then explains the new reformed Hellfire Club concept to Rachel.

Wolverine and Nightcrawler are enjoying coffee in a Paris bookstore while they discuss the recent romantic entanglements of the team: the Kurt, Ororo, Logan triangle, and Kurt’s recent kiss with Rachel. Without warning they are attacked by a large group of armed soldiers.

The X-Men conclude their two-fold battle against and at the side of the new Hellfire Club. Donald Pierce and his Cleaning Crew attack the X-Men, Roberto daCosta, Sage, and Sebastian Shaw. The X-Men successfully escape Pierce’s attack, and a mortally wounded Sebastian Shaw decapitates Pierce. Sage also reveals her duplicitous role in the formation of the new Hellfire Club. In Hong Kong, Rachel defeats Selene while Viper, Courtney Ross and Emma Frost upset the Hellfire Club’s mutant slave ring.

 

[SunflowaSeeds]

Cable/Deadpool #11-12

After lobotomizing Cable on his own request, the world now blames Deadpool for killing their savior, while Deadpool tries to find a way to save Cable. He infiltrates an A.I.M.-base and negotiates with MODOK after a long fight to get a techno-organic alien embryo. He contacts Weasel, who tells him to bring the embryo to his apartment in London. On Providence, Irene and Nick Fury talk: despite Cable’s disappearance, Providence, now an island, is still growing and Irene wants to use it to fulfill Cable’s wish: a place where thinkers can meet and find a way to improve the world. The Six Pack finds Cable’s floating body in his Switzerland safehouse, but they are transported into his mind. Inside his mind, Cable tells that they will be there till he dies, because he doesn’t have enough power to free them. Weasel tells Deadpool that he needs to contact the Fixer to help them merge the alien embryo with Cable. Outside, an unseen stalker is listening in on the conversation. Deadpool travels to Florida Beach where the Fixer is staying and Fixer, having worked with Deadpool before, refuses to help him. Deadpool can’t remember meeting Fixer ever before, but Fixer mentions several times they worked before and each of them was a disaster to him. He tries to kill Deadpool, but when Deadpool mentions what he wants Fixer to do, he’s interested. When he hears that this is going to save Cable he’s even willing to do it for free (though he finally settles for half price). Back on Providence, Rabbi Rosen tells Irene that he heard that some people hired an assassin to stop Cable’s resurrection and that this assassin has a good chance of succeeding, because he knows Deadpool better than anybody else. In Weasel’s London apartment, Fixer looks at the alien embryo and decides that he can do what they ask of him. The still-hidden stalker then tries to shoot the alien embryo, but hits Fixer’s hand instead. The container with the embryo is knocked over and opens. Finally revealing himself, Agent X crashes through the window, ready to kill.

Deadpool and Agent X take the fight out of the window, while inside the Phalanx Baby has escaped and is making life difficult for Fixer and Weasel. After a long fight, Deadpool gets up a bit quicker than Agent X and uses his sword on him. He then goes back inside and shoots the Phalanx Baby off Fixer’s face. They now need to take the baby to Cable and, thanks to a comment of Fixer, Deadpool remembers where Cable is. The Six Pack is in Cable’s safehouse in Switzerland, where an out-of-control Cable has pulled them inside his mind. His mind is a warped cartoon world, where he tells them all that he is dying and happy no longer having to fight. He also tells them that they will all die once he dies, because they are linked to his mind. Deadpool and Fixer arrive at Cable’s safehouse and Fixer merges the Phalanx baby with Cable. Inside Cable’s mind, the Phalanx Baby becomes a giant monster that battles Cable. Cable is not fighting back until Domino convinces him to do so. Cable gains control over the techno-organic creature. Agent X shows up and wants Deadpool to give back his pancreas; Deadpool having took it while using his sword on him earlier. Deadpool and Agent X are at a standoff for a while, but in the end Agent X is willing to let his mission go if he can have his pancreas back.

Deadpool agrees, but tries to get Agent X to tell who hired him. Agent X is unwilling to say, but hints that it is somebody who doesn’t want to see Cable resurrected three days after his death. By now, Cable wakes up again and has shaped the alien baby into a new arm and other missing body parts. The Six Pack is still out of it, but slowly coming around. Cable thanks Fixer and Deadpool, then turns to Agent X and asks him to tell his employers that he is no threat to them. Cable then moves to Providence to rest and heal. One week later, Nick Fury and Cable talk about Providence slowly becoming a country in itself. Nick Fury leaves with the advice to Cable to not mess with him. Irene enters and asks Cable if he is going to keep messing with them. Cable says he will.

X-Men v2 #165

The X-Men help rescue survivors of a major car crash that happens near their home. X-23 gets into a fight with one of the boys she is trying to help, and later, Wolverine places her as roommates with Shadowcat and Marvel Girl. Hellion, much to his annoyance, is forced to go on a trip with other students to help at a hospice, and Archangel and Husk come home for Christmas, also go to help. Iceman, Gambit, Kitty, Rachel, Beast and X-23 play a prank on the students at the Institute, resulting in a huge snowball fight. Lila Cheney puts on a concert for the students, while Storm teaches Wind Dancer about her powers. Archangel and Cannonball play a prank on Hellion while Polaris surprises Iceman by kissing him. Elixir and Sage come up with a plan to restore Gambit’s eyesight, and it works. Rachel gets an interesting gift in the form of getting to meet Jean Grey’s parents - John and Elaine Grey. Xavier and Magneto watch the Christmas party via astral projection, and when a family that the X-Men rescued from the crash come by, including the boy who hit X-23, the family are invited to join the party by the forgiving X-23. Charles and Magneto see that moment as representative of this season of joy, and hope.

 

[SunflowaSeeds]

Uncanny X-Men #455-459

The X-Men return home from Paris and Hong Kong only to be called back out to France to see a rather angry Psylocke who has recently returned from the dead. The mystery deepens as Psylocke’s mind proves to be unreadable for Marvel Girl. Wolverine and an old friend of his, Mary McKenna (unknowingly accompanied by X-23), tackle a solo mission in Canada which ends tragically. The X-Men come to the rescue, but may be too late.

While Psylocke waits imprisoned in the X-plane and has a strange encounter with her mad brother on the Astral Plane, the X-Men are ambushed and do battle with a band of costumed humanoid dinosaurs. The dinosaurs use their superhuman abilities to usurp Rachel’s mind causing her to think she is a dino-mutant. Rachel turns her telepathy against her teammates and helps the dinosaurs defeat the team. The X-Men are taken captive and carried through a glowing portal. X-23 alone escapes and frees Psylocke from the X-plane who single-handedly defeats the remaining dino-humanoids; together, she and X-23 enter an open portal to rescue the kidnapped X-Men including Wolverine, but are stopped by their attackers.

Rachel continues in her delusional belief that she is a Saurian, and she even subconsciously begins to alter her DNA structure telekinetically to reflect this. Storm, Bishop, and Nightcrawler attempt an escape and the latter two succeed while Storm is once again subdued by the delusional Rachel. Bishop and Nightcrawler are reunited with a strangely powerful Psylocke and X-23 who have been joined by the Savage Land Mutates and Ka-Zar.

The X-Men form an uneasy alliance with the Savage Land Mutates and a fierce battle ensues between the allies and the reptilian Hauk’ka. At Bishop’s request, Psylocke hesitantly agrees to use her unpredictable psychokinetic katana to restore both his and Nightcrawler’s mutant abilities, and the battle continues. R’Chel, still under the dino-delusion, attacks and very nearly ends the battle, but Bishop takes her down with his newly restored power. The X-Men and Mutates defeat the Hauk’ka and capture one of their number, Raina. Nightcrawler teleports the X-Men and their allies to a cave out of the range of the Hauk-ka as the defeated Saurians carpet-bomb the jungle. Kaidan commands Masano to return with R’Chel to the citadel which she does. Despite the growing doubts of some of the Hauk’ka, Rachel begins to usurp control of Storm’s mind with the goal of world-domination. Snow begins to fall in the Savage Land.

All over the world, sub-zero temperatures are sending civilization into a frosty panic. The X-Men wait in a cavern in the Savage Land until the time is right for them to strike. After X-23 frees Ka-Zar and Raina from Leash’s mind control, the X-Men and the remaining Mutates teleport to the citadel to confront R’Chel. They fight their way through the Hauk’ka soldiers and enter the stasis vault where R’Chel is controlling Storm. With the help of Brainchild’s invention and Betsy’s psychic katana, the group is able to stop R’Chel, but Brainchild’s treachery sets the ice-storms in motion even worse than before. After X-23 dispatches Brainchild, R’Chel accepts the advice of Kaidan, Raina, and Masano that this plan was ill-conceived and will result in the deaths of the Hauk’ka as well. She merges minds with Storm and is able to stop the global freeze. In the process, she is freed from her dino-delusion. Later, Kurt’s skillful use of charismatic diplomacy convinces the Hauk’ka to live at peace with the world.

 

[SunflowaSeeds]

X-Men v2 #166-170

Havok, Polaris, Iceman, Rogue and Gambit arrive in Antarctica after receiving distress calls from a mutant colony trying to set up their own Utopia. Discovering masses of mutant bodies, either dead by suicide or killing each other, the X-Men also discover “Golgotha” scrawled on the wall in blood.

The White Queen telepathically informs them the biblical meaning of Golgotha, before a mutant reveals himself to be alive still - only to kill himself in front of them. Polaris is then attacked by a perverse mutant, and ends up killing him. Havok scolds Lorna for using her powers to kill, when a group of zombie like mutants approaches them. Rogue uses her powers to go into the mind of one of them and learns little, before they are attacked by another group of mutants. They manage to subdue one of them, who, after telling them that they will never escape, bites his tongue off so he doesn’t have to tell them anything about Golgotha. The White Queen then arrives, and after riling Havok, the mutant has a heart attack, but before he dies Emma learns who Golgotha is, and where it is.

The X-Men find Golgotha and debate whether or not to bring him back to the States. The White Queen wants to study him, but Havok thinks he is too dangerous, eventually Wolverine convinces them to compromise. Some of the X-Men comment about Polaris’ mental stability, while Iceman makes a joke about Gambit and Rogue not being able to touch - Gambit admits that it is getting to him, and later Rogue reveals that it is getting to her also. Some of the X-Men travel to Calvary, which turns out to be only one of several possible Calvary’s, but while there, Rogue and Gambit discover a small trinket shaped like the Golgotha they found in the South Pole. The White Queen hooks herself up to Cerebra and links to Golgotha - and suffers for it, as she is collapses while trying to leave and warn the others of something. Meanwhile, a mutant called Boy is let go by his rich human employers who used him as a servant. He recruits dozens of mutants in Las Angeles, and later they murder the rich family and their friends, leaving “Golgotha” scrawled on the wall in blood.

Emma regains consciousness and warns the X-Men in Calvary, who are fighting a second “Golgotha” that there is still trouble in LA, as Boy and his gang kill restaurant patrons, before making their own headquarters at a Western film set, and later kill some television executives. After Wolverine comments that Havok does have a problem with Iceman and Polaris, the three of them go to LA and after Wolverine gives Bobby some advice on how to deal with Polaris and Havok, they locate Boy and his followers and bring Boy back to the Institute. Boy’s arrival sparks some trivial problems between the friends and teammates in the X-Men, and he jibes Wolverine by telling him he is too old to be hanging around the X-Men. Later, Wolverine considers what Boy said and decides to leave to clear his head - only to discover that Emma has imposed a twenty-four hour quarantine on them all.

During quarantine they search for the real Golgotha, which is smaller than a pea, but grows as it feeds on people's fears and demons. They all deal with their own fears: Polaris deals with insanity, Iceman has to contend with everything around him turning to ice. Gambit and Rogue are forced to confront not only their feelings for each other, but Rogue kisses Wolverine and absorbs his life energies, believing that she is actually Wolverine. Gambit also fights an imaginary Mr. Sinister. Wolverine is confronted by his age and whether he still belongs with the X-Men, as Havok is compared to Cyclops and must deal with Polaris and Iceman being an item. The White Queen meanwhile looks into a mirror and sees herself old, and is about to perform plastic surgery on herself, until Havok stops her. Believing him to by Cyclops she attacks him. Eventually, Polaris rises above the madness and after seeing Golgotha on the x-jet which she apparently checked, she knows she is not insane. The X-Men regroup and destroy Golgotha. However it is not all over, as a mutant known as Gazer who lives aboard a space station informs Emma that there is some kind of space storm headed for Earth, and indeed, hundreds of Golgotha are making their way to Earth.

The X-Men try to convince General O’Shea to let them go into space to deal with the Golgotha, but he doesn’t like the idea - until, as Emma Frost later reveals, he realizes that they probably won't survive, which suits his anti-mutant agenda. After taking a NASA spaceship to a space station, the X-Men prepare for the battle against over three hundred Golgotha, while dealing with all the emotions and events that Golgotha has recently caused them. Havok suggests to everyone that they pretend what Golgotha did to them never happened. Everyone has mixed feelings about that, before they don their spacesuits and head into space for the battle, where Havok and Polaris, the two most powerful X-Men, will be using their powers to tear through the Golgotha, and the others are to pick up any they miss. Iceman is annoyed about Lorna having to work with Havok, and soon Alex and Lorna are separated from the others after a large power surge from Havok. While Wolverine, Emma, Iceman and the others discuss what to do, Alex and Lorna soon return, with Havok deciding that perhaps they shouldn’t pretend what Golgotha did never happened. Polaris is acting rather strangely, before suddenly unleashing a powerful blast which kills the remaining Golgotha after she whispers that it looked right at her. Afterwards though, Lorna reveals that she cannot remember what happened. Later, O’Shea and the President discuss what happened, with the President stating that he doesn’t want the world to know that the world was saved by mutants, not that he has anything against them, but because he doesn’t want them turned into heroes.

 

[SunflowaSeeds]

X-Men: Pheonix Endsong #1-5

The Phoenix force is resurrected, only to be shattered again by a Shi’ar crew. It heads to Earth, very weakened and in the form of a firefly, it arrives at the home of the X-Men, and flutters around Wolverine, the Stepford Cuckoos, and Beast, while discovering that Quentin Quire is still alive and held in a tank in Beast’s lab. The Phoenix finds Cyclops and the White Queen, and causes Scott to dream about he and Jean Grey, resulting in him losing control of his powers temporarily. After Cyclops talks to Beast, a very disgruntled White Queen reminds Scott that Jean Grey, his first love, is dead. The Phoenix finds the graveyard and calls to Jean Grey, who, even though she is not ready, climbs out of her coffin and back to Earth.

The Phoenix and Jean struggle, before the Phoenix once again takes up residence in Jean’s body. Wolverine discovers the resurrected Jean and tries to learn what she is doing alive. The Phoenix forces Jean to don the Dark Phoenix colors, before Logan gets ready to kill her again - except the Phoenix stops him, and with Jean struggling to take control, it flies away.

Cyclops and the White Queen try to resolve their relationship conflicts over Jean Grey, when Wolverine informs them that Jean is back. Several X-Men discuss their options on what to do regarding the return of the Phoenix who has resurrected Jean Grey. They mostly agree that Jean is fighting the Phoenix, who has again become Dark Phoenix. Cyclops gives everyone their orders and sets about his plan, having Beast make a containment egg to hold the Phoenix once they capture her. Everyone is shocked when Quentin Quire is resurrected and goes in search of his beloved Sophie, only to find that she has died. He brings her body to the surface and decides that he will see what the Phoenix can do for them. Storm and Nightcrawler deal with a hurricane that is moving in the wrong direction, before coming into contact with the Shi’ar crew that have been harassing the Phoenix. They confront the Shi’ar vessel which is set on destroying the Phoenix and the second Omega mutant, Quentin Quire, who is moving North. After much debate, the Phoenix and Wolverine are bombed with a Shi’ar weapon, before Storm convinces them to help her stop Quire, not kill him.

Meanwhile, Cyclops, the White Queen, Shadowcat, Archangel and Beast prepare for their battle with the Phoenix / Jean, who is currently antagonising Wolverine. Wolverine and the Phoenix survived the bomb from the Shi’ar, and Logan goes about killing the Phoenix over and over again.

Jean seems to take control, and plunges into the frozen waters beneath them. Cyclops and company arrive, and the Phoenix returns, and the X-Men realize that it was not Jean who returned for Cyclops, but the Phoenix!

The Phoenix Entity holds Cyclops in her grasp, using his optic blasts to power itself, while Wolverine, the White Queen, Beast, Shadowcat, Archangel try to defend Cyclops. The X-Men know that the Phoenix thinks it wants Cyclops for love, because Jean Grey used to want him too. Cyclops has Kitty ready to crush his heart. The Phoenix says things that Scott knows he wanted Jean to say, until Emma re-enters the fray, offering the Phoenix her help, as the Phoenix cannot get Cyclops on her own. Before Emma can let the Phoenix consume her, Kitty grabs her, reminding everyone that Emma was once one of their greatest enemies, until Wolverine talks Kitty out of it.

The Phoenix consumes Emma, and while it gets used to the new form, Cyclops grabs her and seals them both in the containment egg. Inside, Emma / the Phoenix bathes in Cyclops’ optic blasts, while Beast monitors the egg, assuring everyone that no cosmic energy is escaping. But after a while, Emma can no longer contain the Phoenix, she is not strong enough for it, and adding to complications is the arrival of Quentin Quire at the Phoenix’s location.

Wolverine engages Quentin Quire in battle while Beast and Shadowcat defend the egg housing the Phoenix, Cyclops and Emma, however Quire manages to crack it, at the same time as Emma gives in to the Phoenix’s power. The X-Men turn their attention to stopping the Phoenix, but Quire manages to intrigue her, and they protect themselves from the others. The Shi’ar learn that Quire has claimed the Phoenix and begin the Endsong as they prepare for an Event Horizon, to destroy both the Phoenix and Quire, which Storm does not object to. Storm and Nightcrawler leave the Shi’ar to be with their friends, and watch as the Phoenix resurrects Sophie, who learns that Quentin expects her to be his girlfriend. Sophie is disgusted and kills herself, causing her sisters who are watching telepathically to jibe Quire, who goes insane. The Phoenix proceeds to leave in Emma’s body, until Storm stops her temporarily. Cyclops and Wolverine agree that they need Jean’s help, and as Scott blasts the ice where Jean is frozen, she emerges, firstly freeing Emma from the Phoenix’s hold, before she once again bonds with the Phoenix, to her friends’ protests. Cyclops informs a cosmic Jean that he knows why she came back, and with the help of the Stepford Cuckoos Emma uses her powers to telepathically “bring” the other X-Men to Jean, including Polaris, Rachel and Xavier. Various images of Jean’s time with her friends are seen, before Jean creates a new white and gold outfit for herself, just as the Shi’ar launch their Event Horizon, killing everyone. Cyclops finds himself elsewhere with Jean, and Cyclops fills Jean with assurance of who she is, and optic power. The X-Men wake, knowing that Jean saved them, and they saved her. Quentin dissipates and returns to his tank at the Institute, while later, a firefly lands at the window of the Stepford Cuckoos. One of the Cuckoos wakes up and asks the firefly what took it so long.

 

[SunflowaSeeds]

X-23: Innocence Lost #1-6

A top-secret program led by Dr. Martin Sutter and his young protégé, Dr. Zander Rice is struggling to recreate the original Weapon X using a damaged cellular sample. After years of failures, Sutter hires leading geneticist Dr. Sarah Kinney to take the project in a bold new direction. Unable to reconstruct the severely damaged Y chromosome, Dr. Kinney proposes creating a female specimen using the intact X chromosome. Her request is denied, but Kinney defies order and creates a viable female specimen anyway. Unable to argue with her success, Sutter reluctantly approves her new approach despite Zander’s protests. Zander retaliates against Kinney by forcing her to serve as the surrogate mother. During the months that she is pregnant with specimen X-23, Dr. Kinney realizes the inhumanity of her actions.

X-23 is being forged into a weapon by her creators. Her life is not like that of other children. She sleeps in a cold, sterile cell. But her life is not without glimmers of human warmth. Dr. Sarah Kinney continues to undermine the program’s goals by showing X-23 some maternal affection and reading fairy tales to her. X-23 trains daily with a sensei, who looks on her with fatherly pride and offers the girl some human compassion. This does not escape the notice of Dr. Zander Rice who is driven to turn X-23 into a weapon he can use to avenge his father’s death at the hands of Weapon X. He uses radiation poisoning to force the early manifestation of X-23’s powers so that he can move up his plans to use her as a weapon. He then puts her through a painful surgery to remove her claws and lace them with adamantium. He also develops a trigger scent that will send her into a berserker rage. He tests this new control tool on X-23, unleashing her on her unsuspecting sensei. X-23 recovers from the blinding fury of the berserker rage and is shocked to see that she has killed her beloved sensei.

The program assigns a ten-year-old X-23 to assassinate a US presidential candidate. She comes through with flying colors and her career as an assassin is successfully launched. Her services are offered at 55 million dollars and there is no lack of customers willing to pay the price. As killing becomes a regular part of X-23’s life, she becomes more withdrawn and distant. Not even her “mother”, Dr. Sarah Kinney can get through to her. Secrets and lies continue to plague the program’s vengeful coordinator Dr. Zander Rice. He is being pressured by his former lover, Rachel to reveal the truth about their affair and the son that resulted to her husband and the program’s director, Martin Sutter. Zander becomes enraged by this and takes his anger out on X-23. Rice accompanies X-23 on a mission and orders the extraction team to abandon X-23, who finds herself surrounded by a lethal team of AIM agents who open fire on the young assassin.

X-23 survives her encounter with AIM and returns to the Weapon X recreation program, to the delight of Dr. Kinney and the surprise of Zander Rice. Sarah tries to learn what happened on X-23’s last mission with little success. Her efforts to reach out to X-23 are sidelined when she learns that her niece, who is the same age as X-23 has been kidnapped. Sarah and her colleague Kevin take X-23 to San Francisco to track down Megan’s kidnapper. X-23 does so with ease, rescues Megan and kills the kidnapper. When they return to the program, Sarah must face the wrath of Zander and a possible dismissal by Dr. Sutter. Zander uses this stressful time as an opportunity to ask Sutter to hand directorship of the program over to him. Sutter agrees and signs a document making Zander the new director. As soon as the documents are signed, Zander orders X-23 to kill Dr. Sutter and his family.

X-23 infiltrates the home of Doctor Martin Sutter just as his wife, Rachel reveals the truth about her affair with Zander Rice. X-23 murders them both but cannot bring herself to kill their four-year-old son, Henry. When she returns to the program, Zander Rice makes it clear that this mission must remain a secret. When Dr. Sarah Kinney, X-23’s surrogate mother, goes to check on her she finds X-23 cutting herself with her claws. X-23 refuses to explain why she’s doing this to herself, but she does give Sarah the photo of the Sutter family that Zander gave her as part of her mission. With Dr. Sutter dead, Zander assumes control of the program. He shows Sarah his secret project: a room full of gestating embryos that will provide him with an army of Wolverine clones. He then fires Sarah and tells her to be gone by morning. Sarah completes her journal entries and goes to X-23 with one final assignment: destroy Zander’s embryo chamber and kill him as well, thus, guaranteeing X-23’s freedom and future.

Sarah Kinney’s plan to leave the Weapon X re-creation program with X-23 is set in motion. Sarah does her best to facilitate X-23’s safe escape by taking out the security feeds and outer guards. In the meantime X-23 sets explosives to destroy the additional clone embryos that Xander Rice created and leaves a trail of death and destruction behind her as she makes her way towards her final target: Xander Rice himself. Despite the years of psychological and physical abuse, X-23 does not kill Xander. Instead, she beats him within an inch of his life and proves that she has the restraint that he tried so hard to eliminate by constantly dehumanizing her. X-23 emerges from the facility as it explodes and goes to join the tearful and grateful Dr. Kinney. But as she approaches, she smells the trigger scent that Xander planted on Sarah and slips into an uncontrollable berserker rage. She kills Sarah with no mercy. X-23 comes to her senses as the dying Sarah tells her that her name is Laura and that she loves her. X-23 is devastated at the loss but has won her freedom.

She makes her way to New York City, unaware that someone out there knows she is alive and is in possession of the trigger scent that allowed Rice to control her and turn her into a killer.

 

[Lou Cypher]

What year of comics are you at now seeds? pics are looking a lot more modern like from the 2000's

 

[SunflowaSeeds]

What year of comics are you at now seeds? pics are looking a lot more modern like from the 2000's

About 2006? House of M is about to begin.

 

[IceManKam]

Is this the longest running thread on the IC?