THE CREATORS: The mysterious "X", with Sean Phillips and Kent Williams providing art on the final issues.

THE FILL-IN ARTIST COUNT: Nil.

WHAT HAPPENED IN 2002: Everyone died and the book got cancelled.

Yes, you'd forgotten about this one, hadn't you?  Brotherhood shipped its final two issues in 2002, so here it is.

Marvel still haven't revealed the identity of the anonymous writer, and given that this book tanked in rapid order, it's hard to imagine anyone coming forward to claim responsibility until they have a nice big hit under their belt.  Depending on which rumours you believe, it was either Howard Mackie or some sort of communal effort, both of which are eminently believable.

The infuriating thing about Brotherhood is that in theory, it should have been a good idea.  A series about a street-level mutant terrorist group hadn't been done before.  It had potential.  It was in tune with the zeitgeist.  Unfortunately, it was rubbish, packed with two dimensional characters and faintly silly scenarios.

This final issue featured X-Force in a guest starring role, which principally involved them standing around looking confused while a whole load of characters killed one another.  They didn't seem to care much about the whole thing, and nor did most of its readers.

An unfortunate wasted opportunity, since the idea was good.

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