Out There #1 (2001)

Out There #1 (July, 2001)
Writer - Brian Augustyn
Pencils - Humberto Ramos
Inks - Sandra Hope
Colors - Studio F
Letters - Ryan Cline
Edits - Scott Dunbier
Cover Price: $2.50

Got an interesting one today... a bit strange too.  Dare I say, it's a little bit "out there".

I apologize, that was horribly lazy (it's Sunday, please forgive me)... let's just pop into the spoilery synopsis!

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We open with a young woman walking down an empty street.  Crying and confused, she calls out to her parents... or anyone who might hear her... but the streets appear to be completely abandoned.  Suddenly, she is overcome with little beasties... and before she knows it, she's whisked away to a demonic landscape where she is met by something calling itself Draedalus.  Upon getting a closer look, the girl sees her parents (and a lot of other ordinary folks) just floating in the ether, and being dumped to the ground by the Big D.

Turns out... this was all a dream!  The young woman, who we learn is named Jess, gets up and gets ready for school.

Speaking of school, that's our next stop.  It's here we meet a young genius named Mark Wexler, as he goes about his usual morning torment at the hands of some jock bullies.  After having his glasses swiped and being shoved to the ground, the Zach the Quarterback rolls in to tell his teammates to leave the kid alone.

Though he doesn't seem to really care all that much for young Master Wexler, Zach tells the team that they're not going to act as bullies.  Ya see, if they wind up getting suspended, they'll be off the team!  Just then a... bearded girl runs up and starts hugging on Zach!  Okay, I think this is just a coloring/shading snafu, but tell me it doesn't look like she has a beard!  Zach looks up to the top of the building, and could swear he saw one'a dem li'l beasties.

We jump across town to the Mayor's Mansion, where a big ol' real estate deal is in the works some of the VIPs of El Dorado City including Zach's father.  After signing on the dotted-line, the Mayor retreats to a side room to tell some beasties that the can inform their Master that she's got things well at hand.

Back at school, Jess has a contentious run-in with Zach's no-longer bearded girlfriend, Casey.  Tonight's the night of the Harvest Dance, and the mean girls are making fun of Jess because ain't nobody wants her there, or some such.  Jess promises to be a dark cloud at that dance... and declares that she'll rain all over the "bimbo parade".  Let's... choose not to take that remark literally, okay?

Later, we rejoin li'l Markie at his father's CPA offices.  Papa Wexler insists his son looks "dashing" and that he will have a great time at the Harvest Fling-Ding-Thing.  Naturally, Mark is wearing one of those stereotypical baby blue "bad tuxes"... which is also like three sizes too large.

We shift scenes to a small church.  A woman is sweeping the porch, and notes that it's gotten a little windy today.  She wonders aloud if this might be due to "them".

Later into the evening, a pair of drug-dealers enter El Dorado City.  Their dialogue here is... woof.  They talk about franchising their enterprise... with a website.  Double-You, Double-You, Double-You... dot... Smack... dot... com (which is something I just now typed into my browser... but it didn't take me anywhere.  These guys might still have a shot at the domain!).  Anyhoo, they're pulled over by the po-lice, where they're met with a vulgar abuse of authority by an Officer.  Vulgar, in that... he calls forth a bunch'a beasties to feastie on the fellas.

Finally, it's time for the Harvest Dance, and Jess has in fact decided to show up... lookin' only as she can look.  Total style shift from her usual school attire... which catches some of her classmates off-guard.  Li'l Markie watches as she shoves some goofball to the ground, and realizes... he's quite smitten.  He also, uh, sees one'a the beasties... he refers to this as his "Friendly Neighborhood Hallucination", which tells us seein' these things is a usual occurrence for the kid.

Inside, Jess bumps into Casey... and they... compliment each other's dresses!  How 'bout that?  The Harvest Dance bringin' people together!  Zach the Quarterback also feasts his eyes on Jess... and gets all homina-homina-homina... which sets Casey off somethin' fierce.  She storms out, and Zach follows.

Once in the hallway, Casey and Zach start making out against the lockers... hard.  Maybe they've got some sort of reverse-cuckold fetish or something.  I ain't gonna judge... whatever works for 'em!  Anyhoo, while they're bumping and grinding, they spy... say it with me... one'a dem beasties out the window!

Li'l Markie, proving himself to be rather a perv, might be watching these two making out?  It isn't terribly clear if this is happening in exactly the same place.  He wonders aloud where Jess is at... and it just so happens, she was standing behind him... watching him perv out?  As Jess goes to confront the kid, they both see... dem beasties!

Outside in the parking lot, one of the football players is waiting... presumably for those drug dealers we just saw get eaten.  He's confronted instead by Principal Hodges, who informs him that his "package" ain't never gonna arrive.  Hodges then... shoots the kid dead!  Two of "dem beasties" pop outta the Principal's chest... leaving him one bewildered child murderer!

We wrap up with the revelation that Jess, Mark, Casey, and Zach all watched this scene play out... but, what are they gonna do about it?!

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This was a lot of fun.  It's been in my collection... jeez, nearly twenty-years... and I've never taken a look a look at it til now.

Now, I can't say that I've seen all that many 80's horror movies, but I'm familiar enough with the conceits and themes... which, this book seems to have in spades.  That's not a knock, or a bad thing in any way.  This really takes care in pulling together many of those tropes/cliches, and delivers a really fun (and intriguing) story.

We've got the high school setting, which is pretty perfect, and gives Augustyn plenty of opportunity to play into some of the stereotypical/archetypal personalities.  We've got the "Mean Girl" clique, who are at odds with the sorta-gothy loner.  We have a football team full of meatheads and bullies, who defer to their only member who appears to have a "heart of gold"... or, at the very least, a conscience.  We have the little nerdy kid with attitude.  It's really nothing we haven't seen before (or since), but it's done with such charm and earnestness, that I can't help but to love it.

El Dorado City definitely has a big secret, as evidenced by the hoi-polois gathering at the Mayor's Mansion.  The beasties have gotten in... and we're left wondering how many of the VIPs 'round town are willingly in cahoots with them.  Their presence, at the very least, is acknowledged a few times here... the kids seem haunted by these "in the corner of their eye" demons on a regular basis... the woman at the church seems to know... and, perhaps the Officer who pulled over the drug dealers as well.  It's clear that the Mayor is aware... and is cooperating.

We get a lot of questions here... and, I'm actually wanting to know more.  That doesn't happen too often for me these days!

Let's talk art.  I know Humberto Ramos can be a bit divisive... but, I've always enjoyed his work.  This semi-early work is probably some of my favorite Ramos stuff.  The characters (outside of the weird-beard coloring goof on Casey), are all really great looking, and stand out from the rest of the crowd.  That's something that usually trips me up when reading a book full of "normal" people.  It's hard to make them look distinct... with maybe a little bit in the way of "cartoonish" identifiers, without making them look like costume shop models.  Ya know what I mean?  Does that make sense?

Being the horrible pack-rat you know me to be, it may not come as a surprise that I actually still have the Out There Promotional Preview.  It's not much of a Preview, only the first two pages.  When I thought about covering book on the site, it was actually the Preview that came to mind first!  I figured it would be a quickie article, wherein I'd have to synopsize less than ten pages.  When I saw it was only two, I felt like that would'a been a massive cop-out (and, honestly, a disservice to the property).

Here's a look at the Preview Edition... same cover, with some promo-blurbs:

Inside, it's the first two pages, featuring Jess's nightmare (which is why I didn't include these pages in the main synopsis).

This promo was actually a WildStorm/Cliffhanger! "flip book"... turn this sucker over, and we see Ninja Boy!

We get a two-page preview of this one as well...

Overall... I had much more fun with this than I ever imagined... and, although my WildStorm offerings at the site are some of my least-viewed, I'm tempted to come back and cover the next issue or two.  I'd say, if you're a fan of 80's horror movies, or light high school drama, this book might be right up your alley.  Looks like if you have Comixology Unlimited, this entire series is just waiting to be read!

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(Not the) Letters Page:

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Interesting Ads:

Superman/Gen¹³ #1 (2000)

Superman/Gen¹³ #1 (June, 2000)
"The Never-Ending Prattle"
Story - Adam Hughes
Pencils - Lee Bermejo
Inks - John Nyberg
Colors - Guy Major
Letters - Mike Heisler
Edits - Eric DeSantis
Cover Price: $2.50

Here's one I've wanted to discuss here for a while now.  It's a fairly common one to find in the cheap-o bins... so much so, that anytime I saw it, I always assumed that I owned it!  Imagine my surprise when I actually set to reading the thing... and realized that I didn't!

Heck, even now, I don't have the other two issues of this thing... so, this won't be a three-part post (for that my blog-stats are thankful).

Without further ado... let's git it!

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We open with the Gen¹³ kids being told where they'll be spending their next field trip.  Ya see, it was all left to Caitlin, and the only place she wants to go is... Metropolis... for "reasons".  The rest of the gang is not keen on this, and actually feels as though Metropolis might be the most un-hip place on Earth.  Ol' Lynch peels off some cash for the kids to spend on their trip, entrusting it to Fairchild.  They hop onto a stinky train before transferring to a stinky bus... and finally arrive in the big city.

Upon de-boarding, the kids notice a bit of a kerfuffle going on in the distance.  People are rushing toward it, and Fairchild's eyes perk up.  She wonders if she's finally going to catch a glimpse of... him.  Suddenly it's all too clear to her teammates why she chose Metropolis.

And whattaya know, there "he" is!

Superman battles a giant ape... while, at the same time, trying to protect all of the civilians who'd gathered to gawk!  They're doing a really good job of illustrating how multi-faceted Superman's "gig" is.  Meanwhile, Caitlin is drawn to the Man of Steel like a moth to a flame, she tries to squeeze her way through the crowd to get a closer look.  Unfortunately, Superman gets pounded by the monkey... and sent flying toward the crowd, smashing right into Fairchild!

Superman brushes off the blow before realizing he just, ya know, crushed a civilian.  He gives her the ol' super-once-over, and is relieved to learn that she's still alive.  He covers her with his cape and promises to come back just as soon as he can.

It's here that the rest of the Gen¹³ kids decide to get involved with the skirmish.  Grunge leaps up onto the ape's shoulder with a resounding, uh, "Kowa-bung...hole"... yeesh.  He punches his way inside the beast, only to find it's being operated by a brain in a jar!

The brain, knowing the jig is up, ejects itself... and is out of sight before anyone can realize it.  Lucky for them, they've got Superman on their side... who, it turns out, isn't just faster than a speeding bullet... but can also hold his own against a brain.

Elsewhere, Caitlin begins to stir... and, she hasn't the foggiest idea who or where she is.  All she knows is she's holding Superman's cape.  She wanders into the street, and right into the path of a fire engine... and dents the sucker good.  Any guesses where this might be headed?

Back at the fight, Superman chats up Gen¹³ for a bit, and informs them that Caitlin isn't where he'd left her... he does hear a bit of hub-bub around a certain fire engine some 20 blocks away, however.  The heroes head over to get the skinny, and have the prior scene explained to them.

Superman leaves Gen¹³ to the search... and, they make a halfhearted attempt to find their missing friend.  Heck, instead of actually looking, Grunge pops into a McDonald's for lunch.  Anyhoo, we rejoin fugue-ish Caitlin, still clutching the cape, as she blows through the wad of dough Lynch gave her at a costume shop.  So... again, any ideas where this is goin'?

Gen¹³ decides their best bet to track down their pal might be... checking in with, ya know... Superman's pals.  And so, they're off to the Daily Planet, where they're introduced to... Jimmy.

Young Olsen escorts the team up into the offices where he introduces them to Lois... who, for whatever reason, is sitting very seductively on the edge of her desk.  The kids aren't so forthcoming with information... and so, she sasses them a bit.  She knows way more about them then they think she does.

She assures them, not only is she on their side... but, there are other folks here who can also be of great assistance.  One in particular, Clark Kent.

At that moment, across town, a bank robbery is goin' down.  The baddies flee the joint and run right smack into... well, just take a look.

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This definitely feels like a circa-2000 book, dunnit?  Pretty decompressed, with an art-style you wouldn't ordinarily associate with the traditionally more "cheesecake" Gen¹³ characters.

In fact, upon first opening the thing, I was pretty turned off by the art.  I just didn't think it "worked"... and, honestly, would have preferred J. Scott Campbell or a clone thereof.  In pressing on, however, I found a great appreciation for Bermejo's semi-stylized (and still somewhat understated) work.  I guess sometimes you really can't judge a book by it's cover (or opening splash page).

The story is... pretty neat!  I like the idea that Caitlin Fairchild is a big Superman fan... and would orchestrate an entire "field trip" around getting the opportunity to see him flyin' by.  Having her actually be involved as a bit of collateral damage, leaving her in an odd fugue state, was a nice twist... and, I'm assuming, will facilitate the second two-thirds of this miniseries.

Overall... it is a bit decompressed, leading to a relatively "breezy" experience.  That's not always a bad thing.  Can't say I'd tell ya to pay cover-price or above for this, but if you find it on the cheap, you can do far worse.

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(Not the) Letters Page:

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Interesting Ads:

DC NEAR-MISS: Generation X #1 (1994)

DC NEAR-MISS: Generation X #1 (November, 1994)
"Third Genesis"
Writer/Co-Creator - Scott Lobdell
Pencils/Co-Creator - Chris Bachalo
Inks - Mark Buckingham
Letters - Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colors - Brian Buccellato & Electric Crayon
Edits - Bob Harras
Edits-in-Chief - Tom DeFalco
Cover Price: $3.95
From Marvel Comics

What's in a Name?

Well, first of all... lemme just warn that this will be probably as tenuous a "DC Near-Miss" as I'm ever going to cover here... though, no promises.  First of all, this is more of a WildStorm Near-Miss... and, second this "Near-Miss" in particular doesn't have anything to do with a comic, concept, or character... but, a title.

That title... well, duh, is Generation X.  Well, actually it's more like 4/11's of the title.  Let's jump back to the early days of Image Comics... and in particular, the inside-back cover of Stormwatch #2 (May, 1993), which bore a rather curious advertisement (which is the only reason why I actually own a copy of Stormwatch #2):

Now, that's a pretty familiar crew of folks to WildStorm fans... with only a sorta/kinda-familiar name... GenX!  Slated for release in August, 1993... which would have beaten the book we're about to discuss to shelves by over a year!  Keeping in mind, this is early Image, so... for all we know, this wouldn't actually have made it into shops even in the calendar year of 1993.  In fact, it wouldn't... though, this time we can't completely blame it on the freewheeling "growing roses" formula over at the House that Todd and the Gang built.

It would appear that Homage/Aegis/WildStorm or whatever we wanna call them were sincere in wanting to get this title onto shelves and into the hands of speculators comic book enthusiasts pretty darn quick.  The Speculator's Best Friends over at Entertainment This Week (American Entertainment) had the bugger up in their solicits:

If we jump ahead a couple of months to Wizard Magazine #23 (July, 1993), we can find, not only the same ad from Stormwatch #2... but four-pages of character pin-ups from this would-be worldbreaker:

At this point... it's like, if Marvel didn't already know what Jim Lee and Company had in mind in launching their own "X" title... they'd definitely know by now.  Well... let's move ahead another month, shall we?  Wizard Magazine #24 (August, 1993) didn't just give us a full-page ad... or even a character "study".  Nonono, it's here that we'd get a full two-page spread!

Well... fellas, if you wanted Marvel's attention... I think that might've just gotten it, because this is the last time (to my knowledge) that we'd see any promotional items for this property ending with an "X".  In fact, GenX would sort of slide into the background for a number of months.  The next print advertisement I can find for the property appeared in Wizard Magazine #29 (January, 1994)... where the X had already been changed into a ¹³!  Turns out, the "¹³" and the X are kind of interchangeable... as Generation X (the real-life concept) is viewed as the thirteenth Generation... which is to say the "13th Generation since American Independence".  So, really... it's a pretty clever "work around".  I wonder how many people picked up on that... I sure didn't!

So, what happened?  Did Marvel put the kibosh on GenX?  Here comes my obligatory DC Near-Miss "I'm sure I'm not blowing any minds here..." but... yeah.  That's what happened.  It's not without precedent either.  In fact, in that very same Wizard #29, the top news item is:

Marvel taking legal action against Jim Shooter's Defiant Comics over their title Plasm... claiming it was too close to the MarvelUK title, Plasmer (which I'm guessing about eight people in total ever read)... this forced Shooter and Co. to scramble and change the title of Plasm to Warriors of Plasm.  Why were Marvel being so scarily (and tenuously) proactive here?  Well, if I'm remembering right, this is around the time where my main man Hart Fisher took Marvel to court over their use of the title Dark Angel (also a MarvelUK book)... and won!  What's more, MarvelUK's Dark Angel was originally called Hell's Angel... which they were also sued for!

The poor Gen¹³ kids got pushed back so far, they didn't even get the opportunity to make their debut in their own book!  Their first full appearance occurred, in of all places, Deathmate: Black (September, 1993)!

From - Deathmate: Black

For confirmation on the Marvel-ous involvement with GenX/Gen¹³, here are a few bits from the comics press of the day... starting with one from an article in Wizard: The Guide to Comics #38 (October, 1994)...

And again, a handful of months later in Wizard: The Guide to Comics #44 (April, 1995) - complete articles will be included below.  Pardon my horrible highlighting...

Later, they'd even reprint that original GenX ad we saw all the way back in Stormwatch #2 with the new (and permanent) title:

And the rest, they say, is history... or something.  So, I hope this sorta "nebulous" Near-Miss doesn't cramp the usual "style" of this blog... I feel like this is an interesting story to share (though, I'd bet most people already knew it), because honestly... we could've been living in a world where DC Comics would have technically been able to publish their own X-Book!  How weird would that've been?

So, yeah... here I am sharing an interesting story... or maybe, just maybe, I really wanted to talk about Generation X?  You be the judge!

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It’s a brisk and beautiful Autumn morning at the Massachusetts Academy (Generation X will always remind me of the Fall), and young mutant Husk is out for an early run.  She manages to run 5 miles in 35 minutes, which she is pretty darn proud of.  Teammate, Jubilee, however… thinks it’s just plain wrong to be up and at’em this early in the day.  Even going as far as referring to Paige as “one sick puppy”.  Well, hold that thought for just a second, Jubes…

They chat for a bit, mostly Jubilee “big leaguing” Paige since, ya know she was once on the X-Men.  She might mention that from time to time… as in, ya know, all of the time.  She’s also pals with Wolverine, which she might also mention every now and again...

Husk decides that, in lieu of a shower… she’ll just shed her top layer of skin… which is absolutely disgusting.  Jubilee is not pleased, and honestly… I don’t blame her.  What’s worse… as if there could be something worse… Paige just leaves her shedded sweaty skin on the ground.  What does she think, the birds are gonna eat it?  That sets a dangerous precedent!  Also... my wife is annoyed if my socks don’t make it into the hamper, couldn't how something like this would be received!

The two are interrupted by the arrival of M.  She flies in, which is supposed to be a big no-no.  They do not want to draw any attention to the Institute after all.  M feels she has nothing to hide.  She’s kind of a jerk…  

Banshee interrupts the banter, informing the young ladies that it’s time for their 7AM training.  But first, he’s going to have to unload M’s luggage, which has arrived in the form of several big-rig trucks.  Like I said, she’s kind of a jerk.

D'oh!

We shift scenes to an airplane where we meet a man with half his face wrapped in bandages.  Perhaps the smartest little girl on the planet it enamored by him… even refers to our boy as having “some kind of bio-nuclear psionic biokinetic field inside him.”  Huh?  Our new pal, Jonothon Starsmore decides to give the gal a bit of a show… peeling his wrap back ever so slightly, displaying the freaky light-show beneath.  He peers down at a letter he’d received from Xavier’s… and wonders what he might’ve just gotten himself into.

We return to the school grounds where Synch is in hot pursuit of… someone, okay… Skin.  This is probably the first good look we get at the red and gold Generation X uniform in action.  He recounts the gang’s run in with the Phalanx to catch newcomers up… and inform whatever was left of the speculator market where the can find some “hot” first appearances!

He comes across Skin’s belt, which distracts him long enough to allow Skin to strike!  They wrestle about a bit, and wind up tangled in Angelo’s super-elongated fingers.

Inside the school, Banshee introduces Jubilee, Husk and M to their new training facility… which is a biosphere.  Jubilee scoffs, and refers to it as a “Danger Grotto”.  Skin and Synch crash through the window… it seems their training already started!  Banshee is kind of ticked off… and understandably so… it’s only their first issue, and the place already needs repairs!  Emma Frost enters the room, and acts about as snotty as we might expect.

The co-headmasters bicker back and forth for a while.  While they do, Jubilee catches a glimpse of Gateway out of the corner of her eye.  For those unaware, Gateway is an aboriginal teleporter/precog who first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #229 (May, 1988).  He’s since been retconned as an ancestor to X-Man, Bishop… though, not at this point.  Anyhoo, he vanishes just as quickly as he appears.

We shift to Boston’s Logan International Airport where we meet a strange shadowy individual wearing a sort of gas mask.  He is being driven by his diminutive servant known as “D”.  He is there to meet the incoming Jonothon Starsmore.

Back at the Academy, Jubilee and Everett are getting ready to head to the airport with Banshee to pick up their newest member.  M is busy climbing trees… perhaps telling us that she’s not quite as mature as she projects.  Hmm… that might just become a mess of a story to tell somewhere down the line.

Banshee pulls up in his sweet convertible.  Jubilee hops in the back and sits all “cool girl” style on top of the back seat.  Banshee puts the pedal to the medal, to freak Jubes out.  Can't blame Sean one bit, she sorta had it coming.

After a good chuckle at her teammate’s expense, M starts wandering the grounds… where she comes across… Gateway!  After a moment, she concludes that… this visit means, that he must have returned.

At the airport, we see Emplate lurking about looking for Starsmore.  This page feels very much like something out of a Vertigo comic.  It’s a pretty wild artistic juxtaposition between normal humans and the disturbing Emplate in a rather mundane locale.  It’s here that we learn that Emplate feeds off of mutants… sort of “vampirically”.

Elsewhere in the airport, we find Banshee and company.  Synch suggests that perhaps it’s normal for mutants to be feared and hated… seeing as though, the three of them could level the entire airport.  Real mood-killer, this Everett… answering the "tough questions" that nobody’s even asking, to boot!

Chamber deboards and heads into the airport, where he is snatched by the face by Emplate… who has this disgusting little mouth in the palm of his hand.  The Generation X’ers leap into battle… and are not terribly effective.  Ya see, Emplate is able to redirect all of their attacks back at them.

Luckily, Synch is able to “synch his bod” to absorb it all.  Starsmore is able to fight back… which is, according to Emplate, not supposed to happen while he’s feeding.  It’s here that we get our first “full-frontal” on the teen we’ll know as Chamber.  The lower half of his face down to his chest is a cavity of sparking energy, hence all'a dem bandages.

Emplate recovers and begins another approach… when the rest of Generation X appears!  Husk immediately runs in… and is struck down for her troubles.  Fearing she might bleed out, Jubilee runs in to… yeugh… peel off a layer of her teammate’s skin.

Next, M decides to run in… but she is halted in her tracks.  Ya see, Emma Frost invaded her mind and forced her to pause.  In the distraction, Emplate disappears.  The entire crazy event is written off as not having been seen by the public because Emma made the team “psi-blind to the herd”.

We shift to Emplate who arrives… I dunno, home… wherever that is?  We find out that he’s been keeping a person chained up there for him to feed off regularly.  We also find out… that person escaped!

Back at the Academy, Skin lights up a cigarette… because he’s from the wrong side of the tracks.  That’s what the many “misunderstood” characters did before Marvel imposed their across-the-board smoking ban in the early-2000s.

Chamber notes that there is someone here to see them… and outside on the lawn sits our old friend, Gateway.  Banshee and company run out to see what’s up… Sean growing more aggravated with each step… until finally, Gateway speaks!  He mutters, perhaps the first word we’d ever seen him mutter in the comics (if I’m not mistaken, anyway), “Penance”.

Further out on the lawn they find… a red skinned girl with very long and pointy fingers… now, who might this be???  Izzit Void Indigo?!  Well, any observant reader might presume this is the red-skinned girl with the long fingers who was in all the promotional art!  This is Penance, by the way… and she will be kind of important.

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I... love this friggin' book.  This is one of those books that never fails to take me back to where I was when I was reading it.  This book, I dunno, just felt special.  Perhaps this was due to it being the first "big" mutant-book launch that I was actually "a part of" as a fan... but, I remember being super-hyped for this to finally arrive... inflated cover-price and all!

Plus, it always reminds me of my favorite time of year... the Fall, which, living in Arizona, isn't a thing I get to experience anymore!  I love the look of the brown, orange, red and yellow leaves floating through the panels... the sweatshirts and flannels... this book just gives me a very "cozy" feeling... and that's almost certainly one of the reasons why I will always love it.

The characters we "meet" here, are mostly those we already knew from The Phalanx Covenant... and they're all very likable and... in many ways, relatable (if you're a teen-ager... which I was).  I feel like, at their core, these folks are... ya know, sorta archetypal... but, only at their surface-level.  I mean, you can sort of "file them" under where they fit in a group dynamic... but, we will actually get to know each and every one of them better... and they will all become fully-fleshed out individuals.

It's funny, a few weeks back when I looked at the Near-Miss of Giant-Size X-Men #1, I lamented the current methodology employed by Marvel when it comes to introducing "new" mutant characters.  We just get a bushel of 'em, all at once... and we're expected to care.  If we don't get on-board, "we" (the readers) get the blame for a book's failing.  We kind of get that "bushel" effect here... but, Lobdell is able to side-step the side-effects, in that he introduced most of the cast in waves over the past few months of X-Men-family comics.  Not only did that allow us to "meet" these characters, but it further upped the ante on the hype for the big Generation X debut.

Let's look at the art.  I've said it before, but Chris Bachalo is absolutely in my Top Three Comic Artists of all time... he might even be Number One!  I absolutely love his work... and Generation X might be the best of his best.  This book looks like "candy"... it's just beautiful.  Even the "scary" parts look gorgeous!  It's hard to even put into words what it is I like so much... other than to say it looks "right".  This is the perfect art and perfect Artist for this book.  I couldn't imagine it launching under any other pencil... and boy, did this poor book take a nosedive (in every conceivable way) after Chris (and Scott) left!

Anyhoo, this is an awesome book... featuring an awesome team... created by an awesome team.  I'm so glad I found this (admittedly tenuous) way of sharing it here at the blog.  If you've never read these early issues of Generation X, you owe it to yourself to do so!  Just know when you've reach the Pooka, you've gone too far!

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"Gen-erating Excitement" (missed opportunity on using X-citement) by Andrew Steven Harris, from Wizard: The Guide to Comics #38 (October, 1994):

 

"Voices of a Generation" by Jeff Lang & Andrew Kardon, from Wizard: The Guide to Comics #44 (April, 1994):

(Not the) Letters Page... actually, a Sketchbook:

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Interesting Ads (that you can only fully appreciate after 6-8 weeks of waiting by your mailbox):

Some "Lenticular" Fun: