25 july 1999

You have to wonder whether it's purely coincidental that the GAMBIT 1999 Annual is being used to tie up two of the plots that Fabian Nicieza inherited, rather than actually working them into the ongoing story. After all, Fabian's public comments suggested a decided lack of enthusiasm for the ghost inside Gambit, as well as the widely criticised end of Uncanny X-Men #350 which had the heroes leave Gambit in the Antarctic to die.

And here we have a story that obviously goes in with the intention of drawing a line under both of these plots and allowing the monthly title to carry on in its own direction. Certainly, so far as getting rid of these plots is concerned, it gets the job done effectively.

The strongest aspects deal with the ghost. She receives a name, a history, a proper set of motivations, and a plan that (unlike so many of these plots) actually does fit in with what we've seen in the past. All good points. On the other hand, it's hard to see what her plan to create a hybrid physical/psionic being has got to do with Gambit. It's a good story for somebody, but not necessarily this book. Still, it does manage to pull something serviceable out of the unpromising source material.

As a subplot, the story also deals with the X-Men going to Antarctica as part of an investigation and being confronted with what they did to Gambit. This is a brave stab at pulling something from the wreckage of this story, and it's got some good moments, but ultimately the X-Men's actions there were so far out of character that any attempt to deal with it faces insuperable problems. It does, however, succeed in tying this plot up thoroughly and allowing us to forget all about it from now on, which can only be a good thing.

There's also the problem of quite how these two rather diverse themes tie in to form a single story. They don't really have much in common aside from being plots that the creators apparently would rather not have clogging up the regular title. Consequently, the story as a whole seems rather bitty.

Still, it has a job to do, these plots needed addressed, and now they're in the past, given a reasonably satisfactory resolution. It needed done.

And so I turn my jaded eye to X-MAN again. Will it be any good this month? What do you think?

Actually, it's significantly better than the last couple of issues, if only because this time Nate is actually allowed to have a proper conversation with Scott and Jean. Surely the point of using these characters is to establish their relationship to Nate, and this story kind of does that. Two months late, but it does it.

The main plot is a rather tedious affair, as Modt and Jahf come to Earth to investigate the incursion into this reality by the Age of Apocalypse which we saw last issue. Since Nate's the only person around who seems connected, and he seems awfully powerful, they attack him in - yes, you guessed it - a test. Which he passes. Can we all go home now?

Mike Miller comes aboard as the new regular penciller and certainly does his best with the material available, but let's face it, there are limits on what he can do with this stuff. Once again, Andrew Robinson's cover is by far the most interesting thing in the book, mainly by virtue of having nothing to do with the contents. Admire it. In the shop.

X-MEN continues the Shattering storyline, which has been a pleasant surprise so far. When stories are promoted as major events, you expect lots of gratuitous fighting. But the Shattering has proved to be an altogether quieter affair, with Professor X simply destroying his own team by pushing them too hard.

And so, basically, Gambit quits in frustration; most of the rest of the team decide to take a holiday and are promptly sacked by Professor Xavier for not trying hard enough; and Wolverine is thrown out by Xavier on the grounds that he simply doesn't like him very much. Which leaves an X-Men team consisting entirely of Professor X and Storm.

Presumably the core idea of this storyline is that Xavier is having a nervous breakdown. And let's face it, what more normal reaction could he have to the total lack of impact his dream has had on the Marvel Universe? This is a good idea - rather than just having the X-Men plough on in the face of total failure, for one of them to completely crack under the strain.

And naturally it also provides an excuse to examine what exactly Xavier's role in the X-Men is. Of course, we've had periods before when Xavier wasn't there, but the X-Men just kind of worked round that and kept plugging away as if he was still there and had simply popped down to the shops for a loaf of bread. (With the arguable exception of the Australia period.) This time, Xavier's actually here and there's no scope for pretending that they're doing what he would have wanted. I'm intrigued by the possibilities in this.

Guest artwork comes from Jeff Johnson, who's always been good on the talking heads scenes, and consequently fits in very nicely. He does some excellent work on the astral plane sequence as well, and generally he's a very welcome presence.

Oh yes - two subplots. There's a set-up for Bishop's solo series, and there's a set-up for Astonishing X-Men. And they're both perfectly solid. But that's not what this story is about. This is about Xavier smashing up his own team by trying too hard. And I like it.

GALACTUS THE DEVOURER was originally announced way back when the Silver Surfer ongoing title was cancelled, as a kind of attempt to relaunch the book through a Silver Surfer miniseries. And here it is - delayed, and under a different title, but bravely having a stab at persuading us that we're still interested in the Silver Surfer.

I have problems with the Silver Surfer. Obviously anyone who reads superhero books can turn a blind eye to a fair degree of ridiculousness. But he's a naked silver man on a surfboard! I mean, a naked silver man! On a surfboard! A surfboard, for crying out loud! Okay, so it's not as silly as the DC death god who flies around on skies. But it's close!

So, as you can probably imagine, any writer who wants me to take the poor old Surfer seriously as a vehicle for philosophical exploration has a challenge on their hands. I just can't empathise with the angst of a silver bloke on a surfboard. I can't do it. The entire premise exists above my laughability threshold.

But is it any good? Well, anyone going into this story expecting a big fight between the Silver Surfer and Galactus will probably be somewhat surprised to find Galactus virtually absent, and instead a major role in the plot for the Mole Man. Who wants to steal a sewage treatment plant.

Now, fair play to the Mole Man. If you're going to steal something, make it something worthwhile. But I feel the Surfer works best, if at all, on the cosmic scale. This is not the cosmic scale, and while the presence of the Avengers and Fantastic Four help to offset the sheer incongruity of the Silver Surfer fighting a midget for control of a sewage plant, there's only so much they can do.

Art. Oh yes. Jon J Muth and Bill Sienkiewicz are an enticing combination, but somehow the effect here is mainly just scratchy but conventional. In particular, they've mucked up the Mole Man rather badly (he's not usually thought of as being six feet tall). It's good enough, but with artists like that, you kind of hope for something a bit more showy.

I'm not convinced at all. Maybe when Galactus shows up things will be more to my liking, but I'm not convinced the creators and I see the Surfer in quite the same way. They seem to take him seriously, for one thing.