STORY: "Mixed Blessings" (21 pages)  The X-Men enjoy Thanksgiving.  Jean and Scott become engaged.

What you need to know:
Er, Scott agrees to marry Jean.  That's pretty much it.

In a throwaway comment, Bishop mentions Emplates for the first time.  The original Emplate debuts in Generation X #1, a few months later.

Oh, and an ordinary man goes off to join the Phalanx.

Comments:
This being the issue after a crossover, and this being a Scott Lobdell story, it's a nice quiet issue at the mansion. The main purpose of the story is to set up Scott and Jean's wedding, something which the creators seem to have done as a stunt rather than because they had any particular plot to hang on it. Certainly Scott and Jean were so firmly entrenched as a couple already that it's difficult to get very worked up about it. It's not as if it makes a blind bit of difference at the end of the day.

Aside from that, it's a very mixed bag. John Romita Jr is having a particularly patchy day and produces some hideously distorted characters at several points. The letterer misses out a vital speech balloon from the proposal scene (you can get the full panel in the letters column of issue #310, if you're so inclined). And Bishop's culture shock degenerates into self-parody, as he's seemingly unable to grasp the concept of a scarecrow even when it's explained to him. Not great.

FEATURE CHARACTERS
The X-Men:
Professor X (last in Cable #8; next in X-Men Unlimited #3, then in X-Men vol 2 #28; also in flashback following Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 and preceding Marvels #2)
Jean Grey (last in Cable #8; next in X-Men vol 2 #28; also in flashback following issue #1 and preceding her writing the fifth diary entry in X-Men: The Wedding Album; also in flashback following Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 and preceding Marvels #2)
Cyclops (last in Cable #8; next in X-Men vol 2 #28-29, then in issue #310; also in flashback between issues #1-2)
Bishop (last in Avengers vol 1 #369; next in X-Men Unlimited #3, then in issue #310)
Gambit (last in Avengers vol 1 #369; next in X-Men Unlimited #3, then in X-Men vol 2 #28, then in issue #310)
Storm (last in Avengers vol 1 #369; next in X-Men vol 2 #28, then in X-Men: The Wedding Album, then in pages 1-2 of What If? vol 2 #60, then in pages 1-11 of X-Men vol 2 #30, then behind the scenes in page 10 of What If? vol 2 #60, then in pages 12-20 of X-Men vol 2 #30, then in X-Factor #101-102, then in issue #311)
Jubilee (last in X-Men Annual vol 2 #2; next in X-Men vol 2 #28-30, then in issue #311)
Iceman (last in X-Men vol 2 #27; next in X-Men: The Wedding Album, then in issue #310)
The Beast (last in X-Men vol 2 #27; next in X-Men Unlimited #3, then in X-Men vol 2 #28-29, then in issue #310
Rogue (last in X-Men vol 2 #27; next in X-Men Unlimited #3, then in X-Men vol 2 #28, then in pages 1-11 of X-Men vol 2 #30, then behind the scenes in page 10 of What If? vol 2 #60, then in pages 12-14 of X-Men vol 2 #30, then in page 18 of What If? vol 2 #60, then in page 16 of X-Men vol 2 #30, then in the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album, then in pages 17-20 of X-Men vol 2 #30, then in pages 26-27 of What If? vol 2 #60, then in X-Men Unlimited #4, then in X-Men vol 2 #31-34, then in Cable #16, then in X-Factor #108, then in X-Men vol 2 #38, then in issue #319)
Psylocke (last in X-Men vol 2 #27; next in X-Men vol 2 #28, then in page 1 to page 11 panel 3 of X-Men vol 2 #29, then in X-Force vol 1 #32, then in the remainder of X-Men vol 2 #29, then in pages 1-11 of X-Men vol 2 #30, then behind the scenes in What If? vol 2 #60, then in pages 12-16 of X-Men vol 2 #30, then in the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album, then in pages 17-20 of X-Men vol 2 #30, then in X-Men vol 2 #31-32, then in X-Men vol 2 #34, then in Wolverine vol 1 #85, then in Cable #16, then in Excalibur Annual #2, then in Bishop vol 1 #4, then in X-Men vol 2 #38, then in issue #319)

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
Revanche (between X-Men vol 2 #27-28)
The Banshee and Moira MacTaggert (both between X-Men Annual vol 2 #2 and X-Men vol 2 #28)
Forge (between X-Factor #98-99)
William Drake and Madeline Drake (both between issues #290 and #319)
Trish Tilby (between X-Men vol 2 #26 and X-Men: Prime)
Stevie Hunter (between issue #300 and X-Men vol 2 #30)

VILLAINS
The Phalanx (behind the scenes between issues #306 and #311)
Harvest (first appearance; real name unrevealed; next in issue #316)

Last revised: 13 August 2004

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