STORY: "Bloodties, part 4: Night and Fog" (22 pages)  The X-Men and the Avengers go to Genosha and don't achieve a great deal to stop the ongoing civil war. Terrified of Exodus, Fabian Cortez kidnaps Luna Maximoff in order to blackmail her parents (Quicksilver and Crystal) into fighting Exodus for him.

What you need to know:
Ah, Bloodties. This is Uncanny X-Men's contribution to a widely-panned crossover between the X-Men and Avengers, which fails mainly because of a lack of proper co-ordination between the creators of the different chapters leading to awful plot holes. But let's take a look at the individual chapter anyway.

Plenty on Exodus this issue. Firstly, he actually holds Sersi (an extremely powerful Avenger) to a draw in a straight fight, which firmly establishes that he's very, very powerful indeed.

Secondly, the Black Knight recognises Exodus from somewhere. This is eventually explained in Black Knight: Exodus some years later, where it's revealed that before his superhuman powers emerged, Exodus was a crusader who met the Black Knight during one of his time travels to that era.  (This causes some convoluted logic problems because in fact, the Black Knight doesn't appear in that story until much later in his personal chronology.)

According to the narrator, Exodus has spent a lifetime sequestered, preparing to become the living messiah for the mutant race.

Interestingly, Fabian Cortez tells us that Magneto would never have recruited Exodus if he'd suspected who or what Exodus really was. Evidently this is information he's acquired since he last saw Exodus in issue #304, at which point he didn't seem anywhere near so disturbed by him. Having said that, Cortez is pretty obviously going mad in this story, so you may not want to trust him too much.

The Black Widow tells the UN that the Avengers will interfere in Genosha whether they like it or not. Except for Hawkeye, the Avengers obviously have misgivings about this. Of course, superheroes making up their own laws is one the standard themes of the genre in recent years.

And most of the other X-Men and Avengers just wander around bemoaning the state of the Genoshan people.

Comments:
As an individual chapter, this isn't too bad - it's the overall story that lets it down. In particular, the previous part had devoted quite some space to Professor X shaking off the USAgent, yet the USAgent is right back with him at the beginning of this story.

Like most Genosha stories, this is an unremittingly grim affair. Many of the cast spend their time wandering through concentration camps or the sites of terrorist mass murders (the story wisely includes atrocities by both sides) telling us how horrific it all is. Since the Genoshan setting allows this to be done in the context of a full-scale civil war, for once the X-Men's reaction seems entirely appropriate. More interesting, though, is the significant development given to Exodus in this story, making it clear that by this stage the creators had at least some clearer idea of who he was than just a powerful sidekick for Magneto.

There's also some fairly good material for Fabian Cortez, who quite understandably reacts to the total collapse of all his carefully laid plans by having a breakdown. Lobdell arguably pushes it a bit further than he should have, but the idea's good.

FEATURE CHARACTERS
The X-Men:
Professor X (last in Avengers West Coast #101; next in Avengers vol 1 #369, then in X-Force #27, then in Cable #7-8)
Cyclops and Jean Grey (both last in Avengers West Coast #101; both next in Avengers vol 1 #369, then in Cable #6-8)
The Beast, Iceman and Rogue (all last in Avengers West Coast #101; all next in Avengers vol 1 #369, then in X-Men vol 2 #27)
Gambit, Bishop and Storm (all between Avengers West Coast #101 and Avengers vol 1 #369)
Archangel (last in Avengers West Coast #101; next in Avengers vol 1 #369, then in X-Men vol 2 #29, then in X-Force vol 1 #32, then again in X-Men vol 2 #29)

GUEST STARS
The Avengers: Captain America I, the Black Widow I, Giant-Man I, Spider-Woman II, the Scarlet Witch, the Vision, the USAgent, Hercules, the Black Knight IV, Sersi, War Machine, Hawkeye I and Crystal (all between Avengers West Coast #101 and Avengers vol 1 #369)
Quicksilver (between Avengers West Coast #101 and Avengers vol 1 #369)

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
Revanche, Jenny Ransome and Philip Moreau (all between Avengers West Coast #101 and Avengers vol 1 #369)

VILLAINS
Fabian Cortez and Exodus (both between Avengers West Coast #101 and Avengers vol 1 #369)

GUEST APPEARANCE
Luna Maximoff (between Avengers West Coast #101 and Avengers vol 1 #369)

back | next