STORY: "The Phalanx Covenant, book one: Generation Next, part one: Encounter" (22 pages)  Banshee visits the X-Men's Mansion and eventually realises that all of the X-Men have been kidnapped and replaced by Phalanx copies, who are stripping the Mansion of its technology. The Banshee rescues the other mutants left in the Mansion, and discovers that the Phalanx were accessing files on Xavier's intended next wave of recruits. He blows up the computer systems and escapes intending to protect the teenage recruits from the Phalanx.

What you need to know:
The Phalanx Covenant was a lengthy crossover which sprawled across all the X-books. Unusually, the X-Men aren't in it - they spend the entire storyline as prisoners of the Phalanx, leaving it up to the lesser X-teams to stop the Phalanx. The two X-Men titles, meanwhile, carry a storyline which is really intended as an introduction for the upcoming Generation X title. No X-Men play any significant role in this issue's story - Cyclops and Phoenix appear briefly to make a phone call, and Jubilee is unconscious throughout.

Monet St Croix (the second one) makes her first appearance. The full story of who Monet is is far too complicated to go into here, and I'll deal with it when I get around to Generation X. Basically, however, subsequent stories reveal that this character is in fact Monet's two younger twin sisters, who started impersonating her after she was kidnapped by her brother, to try and save their father from being upset. (Quite why he would find the disappearance of two daughters less upsetting than one is anybody's guess, but you have to bear in mind Generation X was an atrocious title at this point.) One of the twins is autistic, hence Monet's snapping in and out of an autistic state throughout this storyline.

The Phalanx confirm that they can't assimilate mutants. They're attempting to get access to the X-Men's data which they hope will help them to work out how to do it.

The Banshee destroys the X-Men's records, but does transmit some information to Muir Isle (a pretty stupid thing to do, all told)..

Comments:
A classic example of how to ruin a story on the cover, this. Scott Lobdell spends most of the issue building up the tension of the Banshee realising that the X-Men wandering around are imposters. Any sense of surprise or mystery is completely obliterated by the cover, which cheerily shows the Banshee fighting Phalanx versions of the X-Men. In fairness, the story wouldn't have worked that well anyway - it is, after all, clearly labelled "Phalanx Covenant", which hardly leaves much scope for mystery about the identity of the villains. On top of that, the Phalanx are dreadful imposters, and the big question is really how they managed to fool Sean for so long when their knowledge of the X-Men was so pathetic.

The story does feature some good artwork from Joe Madureira, though - his Phalanx remain rather patchy, but when they're good, they're very good. The splash page of the X-Men's stripped communications room is excellent, as well. At the end of the day, though, this isn't a particularly successful story.

FEATURE CHARACTERS
Cyclops and Phoenix III (both last in X-Men vol 2 #35; both next in Wolverine vol 2 #85, then in Cable #16, then Cyclops in Amazing Spider-Man Unlimited #6, then both in X-Men Unlimited #6, then in Cable #17, then in issue #318)

GUEST STAR
Monet St Croix II (first appearance; an amalgam of Nicole St Croix and Claudette St Croix, impersonating their sister, the original Monet St Croix, as revealed in her chronologically previous appearance in flashback in Generation X #40; next in X-Men vol 2 #36; the real Monet appears for the first time, as Penance I, in Generation X #1)

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
The Banshee (last in the second story in X-Men Annual vol 2 #3), Emma Frost (last in issue #314) and Jubilee (last in Uncanny X-Men Annual #18; all next in X-Men vol 2 #36)

VILLAINS
The Phalanx (last in issue #313; next in X-Men vol 2 #36)
Harvest (last in issue #308; next in X-Men vol 2 #36)
Sabretooth (last in Uncanny X-Men Annual #18; next in X-Men vol 2 #36)

OTHER CHARACTER
Colonel Gayle Cord-Becker (Monet's governess; first appearance; dies)

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