Finished a couple things this weekend... Ace Trucking was one of the clearance trades I got around Christmas time... if you have fond memories of Smoky and the Bandit, you'll at least get a kick out of this. It's a space version of the 80s CB/trucker stereotype. Fun for a bit, but they clearly run out of ideas and it jumps the shark... I suspect the first Volume is probably better.

I had also picked up Astounding Wolf-Man, not realizing it was in the Inivicible universe, and seemed to be pretty much the same origin story. Not terrible, but nothing I need to read more of.

I thought Ace Trucking Co. was hilarious and just sooooo cool back when I was about 10 or 11. I suspect that it wouldn't have aged well for me.

The problem was that Wagner and Grant became tired of writing the strip and kept trying to kill the character off, but the fans kept demanding that he return. That’s the reason why the strip gets worse over time. That said, I’m not big on reading collected versions of 2000 AD strips. In my mind, they’re better off being read weekly side by side with the other stories. Especially the comedy stuff, which works better in smaller doses. 

Beware #4 (Marvel comics).

This is a mystery title reprinting stuff from the 1950s. In this issue, with a new Gil Kane cover, we have four tales that start with a Stan Lee / Carmine Infantino collaboration that might have my favourite Infantino art ever! It's moody, it conveys emotion, and it has little of the overly angular look I associate with his later work.

The second story drawn by one Larry Woromay is just delightful with its quirky art and its satisfying (if telegraphed) plot twist. It's about a genie in a bottle who's abused by the fellow who freed him (to his later eternal regret).

The third story is a Lee / Tartaglione quickie, and for the third time the art style is really not what you'd find in a typical 60s-70s Marvel comic. This looks more like EC stuff.

Ditto for the final tale, with art by one Jay Scott Pike. Credit where credit's due: Mr, Pike knows how to draw a man holding a rifle (something not all comic artists can manage. Same thing for a bow). The twist ending makes no sense but is amusing.

Now to me, the highlight of the issue is twofold and is surprisingly found in the house ads! One is a half-page drawn by Barry Smith (it's a variation on the cover of Conan #21), announcing the return of the Savage Tales magazine. The second is a full page ad for Conan annual #1, with the same brilliant BWS art from that issue's cover, but coloured a different way. That alone makes Beware #4 a collector's item, as far as I'm concerned!

In retrospect, that constant referencing to other comics (through house ads and through the Bullpen Bulletins) what a big part in what made Marvel comics so appealing to the young reader I was. There was this feeling that there was always something more to discover, and that we already had a foot in the door. Even in a comic reprinting stories from the 1950s!

I read the X-Tinction Agenda TPB (Uncanny X-Men #270-272, New Mutants #95-97, X-Factor #60-62), then Uncanny X-Men #273, and finally New Mutants #98-100.

Although there are several Liefeld New Mutants I had never read before this binge, I've read the whole of X-Tinction Agenda before. In both writing and (especially) art, the Uncanny X-Men chapter are by far the best. In X-Factor, Jon Bogdanove's art has lost the charm from his work in X-Terminators and bits of New Mutants. He draws characters to look like cavemen, especially & ironically Scott "Slim" Summers. I feel like Weezie is scripting to the art, with the attitude she gives Scott toward his brother Alex. Liefeld is a mess here. Even his dynamism is gone, perhaps because there's a hodgepodge of inkers. But Jim Lee's art on Uncanny is sublime.

As the arc starts, the New Mutants and portions of the rebuilding X-Men roster are living side-by-side in the basement levels under the wreckage of Xavier's mansion. There's a scene where a hysterical Rahne complains to Storm (who has hung out with Marvel Girl) about the X-Men always being resurrected while Doug Ramsey stays dead. Storm coldly swats away Rahne's comments while admitting to Stevie Hunter (appearing for the first time in forever) that she "messed up."

I feel Claremont is this close to actually getting it. He tends to have characters getting into arguments with Wolverine or Storm, only to be chastened when his faves (Logan & Storm) make some cool badass argument to put their naive, soft teammates in their place. He never lets the others have good arguments or show up his faves even when it would seem to fit the story. Another writer could transform Rahne's rant into a coherent argument, and Claremont hints at that with Storm's comments to Stevie (but stop at about a third of the way). Storm took the X-Men gallivanting across the country with a plan to fake their deaths (before they actually died & were resurrecting). There was some pretext that it would help the X-Men strike their enemies, but it was a strained argument & seems like an excuse just to do something badass. And the New Mutants really paid for it. They now only had the supervision of Magneto, who had a disastrous tenure of piecemeal guidance. Doug died soon after. The New Mutants proceed to hemorrhage members for the next 3 years. When the Genoshans attack, she makes s a tactical decision to lock out other from providing reinforcement. Warlock eventually dies as the grotesque cyborg Cameron Hodge, allied with the Genoshans, tries to acquire Warlock's power. There's a bit of blame from some of the kids that Storm's decision led to the death, but it's given lip service rather than Storm taking it to heart seriously or the adults (aside from Cable) finding fault.

But with my rant aside, it's actually an interesting crossover. The plot is undergirded by tension between Cameron Hodge and the Genoshans over their plans. Cameron Hodge is a powerful ally, but he's also on a derange mission of revenge and anti-mutant genocide. The Genoshan government is built on a foundation of enslaving mutants, but they want to keep their secrets hidden under a veneer of diplomacy rather than overplaying their cards. Hodge was previously decapitated by Archangel in the pages of X-Factor, but he made a deal with the demon Nashtirh for immortality, so now he's a hideous cyborg Frankenstein. Enough of the horror of the character is played out to be interesting, not just disturbing.

There are a lot of interesting interpersonal dynamics among the mutant teams. Jubilee gets to hand with Rictor and Boom Boom, and is the only hero who goes the full storyline without getting captured (unless getting pinned to a wall for a few minutes counts). Unfortunately, one of the weirdest interpersonal dynamics is between two New Mutants. After being hinted at for a couple of issues, it turns out that Rahne and Rictor are really into each other. They share a kiss. It's very weird and doesn't feel earned. It's like a random pairing that doesn't fit their personalities. Maybe it's because Rahne isn't written off the team by deciding to stay in Genoshan to help build a better society. She was mutated by the Genosha's mad scientist Genengineer. Some of the change was reversed, but both her human and wolf forms are messed up. This leads to a cascading effect decides to leave in the middle of the night in the first post-crossover issue (#98) to chase after Rahne.

So the crossover has taken out two members during the event, and a third in its aftermath. We do get a hint of renewal in the final scene of X-Tinction agenda when the husk of the team sprinkles Warlock's ashes on Doug's grave. It has final scene of Wrath of Khan vibes, but I believe this doesn't pay off until years later in the pages of Excalibur.

Uncanny #273 is an aftermath/recovery issue that lays the groundwork for future developments in all three X-team books. On the New Mutant side, that includes setting up a schism with the other guys. In spite of Cable's love for giant guns, his earliest appearances actually make him seem like a nice guy who several people from the X-books seemingly already know and trust. But there are some tensions in X-Tinction agenda, and by UXM #273 Cable is lecturing Scott, Jean, and Ororo about how it's a war. It's all very tedious.

Simonson gets the heave-ho as #98-100 feature plotting by Liefeld with scripts by Fabian Nicieza (who scripted a Simonson plot a few issues before). The series goes out with both a bang and a whimper. The bang is that a lot of changes are going on. Lots of characters are shuffling in (heroes and villains), while other are departing. It's basically three issues of set-up for the launch of X-Force. Also, Liefeld inks his own pencils. As bad he is with things like anatomy and facial expressions, somehow his own inks at least allow some dynamism, while many inkers don't seem to know what to do with him. The whimper is basically the flip side of the whole setting up X-Force deal. We don't get much in the way of nice character moments to appreciate the legacy of 100 issues. The closest is a Sam/Tabitha moment in #100, and they haven't even known each other for long. We don't get any last memorable stories. It's very mechanistic.

After the Hellfire Club/Hellions serving as a recurring element for many of the first 75 issues, they been absent for 20+ issues. But James Proudstar, Thunderbird and brother of the original Thunderbird makes the leap from the Hellions to New Mutants. On one hand, it makes sense because he was the most noble one on the team. On the other hand, it would've been nice to set up a development like that. I don't think the code name Warpath shows up yet.

Maybe Proudstar is joining the team because the last person of color on the formerly diverse roster, Sunspot, leaves in #99. You see, Roberto's dad has died, and his friend Gideon convinces him he needs to lead the team to handle the family business. Gideon, who we've never met before, wears weird creepy super-villain boots and has long, Liefeldian super-villain ponytail, and an evil super-villain grin. But somehow Berto trusts his advice to become a teenage CEO. It helps he doesn't realize that Gideon actually poisoned his father.

There are actually other people of color joining, if you count Domino being chalk-white as a color. She also has a black spot around one eye that must be part of her costume, because she doesn't wear it when she's just training in the gym. She's Cable's friend who shows up to help him cobble together a new roster. It's so bizarre that the kids seem to trust Cable and call him "sir" when he does stuff like inviting this weird stranger into the mansion. Berto would've been someone to push back against authority back in the day, but he seemed to fade into the background in the issues leading up to his departure.

So many there's another new person of color if you count Feral, a brown-furred Morlock who seeks refuge with the team because Masque has it out for her. Apparently, she actually Hispanic too (so an actual person of color), but we don't get into that in these issues. It very weird that right after Wolfsbane is written out, we get Feral. But maybe this was a way to use similar powers in a character more to Liefeld's liking. She's more well-endowed (has a really long tail), doesn't mind killing people, and is a feline rather than a canine. She's annoying, but not as much as I remember.

On the other hand, Shatterstar is really annoying. He pops into the Danger Room out of nowhere, just like Longshot did, and claims to be from the future of Longshot's world seeking the aid of the X-Men. Cable says his group is better. [Eye roll] Shatterstar is the quintessential X-Force member: ultraviolent, stupid design, says weird stuff, like to talk about war.

Along the way the first appearance of Deadpool in #98, as an assassin sent to kill Cable. He's been told Cable's name is Nathan. Maybe it's been decided he's Baby Summers, because otherwise it's a big coincidence. Although Scott like to call his son by the middle name Christopher, his first name is Nathan, and he's a couple pages from being sent to the future to try to cure a techno-organic virus.

A last "where are they now" note: in his pow-wow with Domino, Cable rejects all the past members for his new roster. The video monitor identifies "Skids Blevins" with "none" as her codename. Am I the only one who remembers her real name is Sally Blevins? Skids is in fact a codename/nickname. I know she used to hang with the Morlocks, but even her parents knew enough not to name their baby Skids! Skids and Rusty are an unavailable because they show up in a final scene with the MLF and Stryfe. He's sending MLF members on terrorist. Rusty objects, but not too strongly. When Stryfe removes his mask, he's got the face of a certain gun enthusiast who likes being called sir. Meanwhile, Cable has convince his team to leave the X-Mansion to fight a "war" and Cannonball suggests X-Force as a new team name.

So my reading of the monthly series is over! I've got a little reading yet, because I'm reading the Kings of Pain story that runs through 4 annuals, including New Mutants Annual #7, even though the team in that story is actually X-Force. I'm also going to read a guest appearance in Cloak and Dagger that occurs just after Inferno, because I only received that issue a few days ago.

Just finished Power of Shazam 2 which collects #13-23 plus several other stories. Loved reading these stories. I don't remember why but I didn't read the rest of the series after the first 12 issues. Ordway really did a great job updating the Marvel Family and keeping some of the charm from the 40s.