Post by Dizzy D on May 30, 2019 3:00:48 GMT -5
Issue #5: or rather X-tinction, issue #1. This issue spans the time from the Mutant Massacre to Inferno.
Credits: Ed Piskor doing all the heavy lifting as before.
The Cover: Our center figure is Storm, the left half in her punk costume with Mohawk, the right in her Australia-era costume. Magneto and the New Mutants on the left (Rahna, Karma, Moonstar, Cannonball, Sunspot and Warlock. No Illyana, Doug or Magma visible, but Illyana does appear within the issue itself, so just a question of space available I think). On the right Dazzler, Rogue, Rachel Summers (in her Dark Phoenix costume she would wear when she had been a member of Excalibur for years, so interesting.), Psylocke and Longshot. (Most of the Australia group. Madelyne over Rachel would have made more sense IMHO as Rachel never appears in this issue).
Title/credits page: A new title page: Sentinels flying at the top. On the left the heads of Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Rogue, Mystique and Cyclops. On the right, Archangel, Beast, Iceman and what I think are Jean and Banshee (the hair is too light to be Wolverine and he's the only other one with sideburns.) and Havok. At the bottom Bishop, Rachel (in prison gear from Days of Future Past), Kate Pryde (in same prison gear), Wolverine (again the DoFP version) and an older version of Forge.
Page 1: The Watcher resumes his tale foreshadowing that much what would happen was triggered by the birth of Nathan Christopher Summers. Scott and Madelyne bring the young baby to the mansion.
Observations: Only a few design changes are noticeable. Nathan has one glowing eye like his adult version(s) usually have. Rogue is wearing her Jim Lee designed yellow/green costume with jacket, which she would get years from now.
Page 2: Storm wants to leave Forge's home at Freedom Tower but is attacked by demons. Forge's mentor, Naze, saves her and tells her that Forge has been gone. Storm returns to the X-Men.
Observations: Biggest change is that the Dire Wraiths are removed from this story. Naze made a deal with the Adversary fighting them, but without them, it seems to be that this Naze already is an agent/avatar for the Adversary.
Page 3: Apparently Xavier has been focusing on preparing Magneto for his big trial and helping with his defense. Neither will be seen in this issue anymore. Cyclops and Madelyne argue about his role in the X-Men. Storm challenges Cyclops for the leadership of the X-Men and wins. Cyclops leaves with his family. Madelyne is convinced that she has influenced the fight.
Observations: No big changes here. Madelyne's influence on Scott was later revealed to be a factor.
Page 4: Mr. Sinister orders his Marauders to attack the Morlocks (Arclight, Blockbuster, Scalphunter, Riptide, Vertigo and Sabretooth. (No Harpoon, Scrambler or Prism in this shot, but they do show up later). They attack some Morlocks and follow the survivor into the sewers.
Observations: No big changes, only a costume change for Sabretooth, who is wearing his Jim Lee designed costume.
Page 5: Scott gets a call of Reed Richards and leaves, Madelyne is furious and leaves with Nathan in an airplane. The airplane crashes and Madelyne is in the wreckage where she is shot by an unknown assailant.
Observations: Small thing here: Piskor earlier made Madelyne the captain of a boat instead of a pilot to merge her role with that of Lee Forrester. Madelyne is flying a plane now though (of course being a captain on a ship doesn't exclude her from being a pilot).
Page 6-10: The Mutant Massacre: most Morlocks are killed by the Marauders, but one manages to reach the X-Men to warn them. The X-Men go to rescue them and fight the Morlocks, leaving Nightcrawler, Shadowcat and colossus injured. The X-Men with assistance from the New Mutants (mostly Illyana) evacuate the surviving Morlocks, while Wolverine goes to capture a Marauder on Storm's orders. Psylocke arrives by plane to help evacuate the Morlocks to Muir Island. Wolverine fights Sabretooth to rescue the Morlock Healer. Sabretooth, wounded, but not defeated, follows him, but the combined power of Psylocke and Wolverine beats him and he falls of a cliff into the water.
Observations: Once again the big lines are mostly the same, but details differ. The Marauders are much luckier here than in the original, there they had to fight the Morlocks, the X-Men, X-Factor, Thor and the Power Pack combined. No X-Factor, Thor or Power Pack here. The way Nightcrawler, Colossus and Kitty get injured is very different. Nightcrawler was already injured before, during a fight with the future Sentinel Nimrod, his powers were influenced, making it harder for him to teleport, leaving him a target for Riptide. Colossus is injured by Riptide as well, when he kills him, but it takes a while for the injuries become too much for him. Kitty is hit by Harpoon's energy harpoon and it causes her not to phase anymore. In this version, Blockbuster drops a grenade after being defeated by Colossus. It must be a very special grenade to hurt Colossus in his metal form and Kitty in her phased form.
Psylocke is introduced without any backstory. She arrives in her Australia-era costume (the purple armour) presumably one of the X-Men's allies living on Muir Island. No Captain Britain, no Slaymaster, no Mojo.
Page 11-12: With several members injured, the X-Men go to find new recruits. Dazzler is the first, but she is possessed by another mutant, named Malice, another Marauder. Psylocke banishes Malice from Dazzler's mind and she joins up. Madelyne awakes from her coma in San Francisco. Returning home Havok is there to offer the assistance of himself and Lorna Dane, but Storm is worried that he left Lorna behind. Lorna is possessed by Malice back home.
Observations: No big change here, in the original Malice tries to control Storm, but she resists forcing Malice to flee. Havok is treated much better here by the X-Men, in the original they try to mindwipe him and even threaten to kill him.
Page 13: The wounded X-Men are transported to Muir Island. Longshot offers his help (saying that Banshee injures his throat trying to safe him or he'd join too.) and is accepted. Storm leaves Logan in charge while she goes to search for Forge to regain her powers.
Observations: Small chance for Jamie Madrox who claims he can produce a dozen clones before getting "woozy". The Jamie I know can easily do more than that. Longshot, like Psylocke, is introduced without backstory (they do say he's an alien) and the bit about Banshee saving him makes it clear that something very different happened in this version.
Page 14: Storm arrives at Freedom Tower and finds Naze in a ritual, trying to find Forge. He takes her through a magical portal to stop Forge, telling her that Forge has become corrupted.
Observations: Naze claims her that he was in Forge's platoon in the war and used magic to save them, but failed. Naze was much older than Forge and never went to Vietnam, but by this point he's been replaced by notorious liar the Adversary, so it may just be a lie by him. Forge's magic also was not intended to save his platoon, but take revenge on the soldiers who had killed them.
Page 15-16: Sinister has Nathan Christopher to study (apparently Scalphunter killed Madelyne, but he was at the Mutant Massacre at the same time. Then again, Sinister probably has multiple clones at his command). He's disappointed in his Marauders failing to kill Madelyne. The X-Men see Madelyne on TV, but can't reach Cyclops so go to help her. The Marauders are defeated by the X-Men, but Havok finds out that Malice has taken over Lorna.
Page 17: Storm and Naze fight demons to reach Forge.
Page 18: Near Muir Island, Mystique warns Rogue that Destiny has seen the death of the X-Men at Freedom Tower. The X-Men are warned but decide that saving Storm is more important. Madelyne goes along in the hope to save her child.
Observations: Destiny is described as the Brotherhood's newest member. In the original she and Mystique are the founders of this incarnation of the Brotherhood. Also they are still the Brotherhood in this timeline and haven't offered their services as Freedom Force to the government in exchange for pardons.
Page 19-26: Storm finds Forge and stabs him, but he tells her that he was trying to stop the demons. Naze reveals himself to be the Adversary. He opens a gate to Earth and his demons invade. X-Men and Brotherhood team up to stop them and they are filmed by reporters doing so. Storm and Forge are left in the spirit realm where months take place while on Earth only hours have passed. He tells Storm the details of his time in the war. He has rebuild his Neutralizer gun from parts in his arm and legs and Storm is repowered. With her lightining powering his devices they escape the Spirit Realm.
Meanwhile the Brotherhood and X-Men are still fighting the demons, a fight broadcasted to the whole world. Kitty, Moira and Jamie are watching from Muir as the X-Men enter Freedom Tower seconds before it collapses. The X-Men are not dead though, but in another realm and team up with Forge and Storm to fight the adversary. Colossus' metal form destroys the Adversary's physical form and his spirit is banished by Forge but the spell requires the sacrifice of 9 willing subjects (the X-Men and Madelyne). With the Adversary gone, the demons retreat and Forge crawls from the wreckage of the tower, telling Mystique and the news crew that the X-Men are dead. Sinister is pleased that the demons have done his work for him and the Marauders focus now on stopping Cyclops from finding his son.
Observations: Pretty much the same as Fall of the Mutants was in the original comics. Some small cosmetic changes here and there, but overall I don't find any noteworthy alterations.
Page 27: Roma appears to the X-Men and rewards them with their lives and the opportunity to start their lives anew. Storm suggests that they are returned to Earth, but in secret, allowing them to strike at their enemies first. Madelyne and Havok agree, seeing that this gives them the best change to save Nathan and Lorna. Dazzler is the only one who disagrees, finding it a cruel trick to play on their friends and families, but Psylocke thinks that their friends and families will be safer now.
Observations: No big changes here, but at least one X-Men is pointing out how messed up this plan is towards their loved ones.
Page 28-29: The team is resurrected and lands on Earth in Australia near a remote village. The village is home of the cyborg gang known as the Reavers who use the teleportation powers of Gateway, their prisoner, to teleport around the world in their crimes. The X-Men take them by surprise, but 3 members manage to escape. The other Reavers are captured and Roma reveals the Siege Perilous, a magic mirror that allows a person that enters to be judged and reborn. The Reavers, having to chose between certain death and an unknown fate, chose the Siege Perilous.
Page 30-33: The X-men install themselves in the Reavers HQ. Madelyne uses their computers to find Cyclops and fins him with Jean, mourning the loss of his family. Madelyne dreams of Jean taking all her bodyparts, leaving her a featureless shell while Cyclops and Jean laugh at her. Their dreamforms are destroyed by the demon N'astirh who offers her power and vengeance. Madelyne accepts and transforms into the Goblin Queen. N'Astirh shows her Sinister experimenting on Nathan and she leaves with him to kill Sinister.
Observations: A matter of timeframe is the most important change here. Madelyne's corruption would take months in the original. Cyclops and Jean like many others in the issue are wearing the Jim Lee costumes some time before they would in the original comics.
Page 34: Gateway summons the X-Men back to Australia to help Madelyne. They find out that Jean Grey is still alive (Wolverine confirms that he suspected so, noting that he picked up her scent when they were fighting the Marauders to save the Morlocks). Gateway opens a portal to send the X-Men to Madelyne.
Observations: So X-Factor was in the Alley as well to fight the Marauders.
Page 35-36: Madelyne confronts Sinister who reveals her history: he was researching mutant DNA, especially the DNA of Scott Summers. At first nervous about Scott leaving his orphanage, he quickly came to see him joining the X-men as an opportunity: the link between Scott and Jean was promising to him, so he created a clone of Jean and implanted false memories in her so she would be ideal for Scott. (This plan is hatched before Jean Grey's death on the moon even). Sinister sets up the meeting between Madelyne and Scott and now she has given birth to Nathan Christopher, she has no longer a purpose to Sinister. Madelyne disbelieves him and sends her demons to attack Sinister and the Marauders. Sinister gives up Nathan, but N'astirh betrays Madelyne and takes her baby. At this point X-Factor arrives.
Observations: Piskor is a lot more sympathetic to Madelyne than Claremont was: original Madelyne was so angry with the world she was willing to kill her child and lead an invasion of demons to destroy it. Here Madelyne is completely focused on getting Nathan back and destroying the Marauders.
Page 37-40: The X-Men arrive to help X-Factor. Archangel and Iceman defeat N'astirh, freezing him solid so Rogue and Colossus can shatter his frozen body. Jean tries to keep Nathan from Madelyne, but her anger is so great she tries a psychic assault on Jean. The more experienced Jean deflects the blast and Madelyne is killed by the backblast. Without a leader, the demons flee. Sinister is still here though, held by Psylocke's powers while the X-men and X-Factor decide what to dow tih him. Cyclops suggest a repeat of the Z'Nox scenario: Havok powers up Cyclops while Iceman cools down his body to prevent him from overheating. Psylocke and Jean concentrate the combined mental might of the X-Men and channel it through Scott. The combined blast is enough to destroy Sinister's body. The X-Men and X-Factor have some time to talk now. The X-Men want to know what happened to Jean, while X-Factor want to know what happened to Xavier.
Observations: It seems that most events in X-Factor happened, though off-screen. In the original Sinister would have a lot more trouble to get to Nathan as the child was guarded by X-Factor for a long time. As said, Madelyne's anger is a lot more focused here, making her feel more as a tragic figure than in the original. Her death is a callback to Jean's death on the moon (screaming Scott while in the same pose and the same blast of light). In the original Jean absorbs Madelyne's mind (and also a splinter of the Phoenix Force that animated here. Overall a lot more complicated). N'Astirh is more easily defeated, lacking the Techno-Organic virus that he was infected with in the original and also Sinister is far easier dispatched, being helpless while the X-men execute the Z'Nox tactic. (I do like the callback to it).
Overall thoughts about issue 5/X-tinction 1:
Once again the speed with which Piskor goes through about 40 issues (~200-~240) in 40 pages, a lot of details are streamlined, but also a lot of things arrive out of nowhere. Psylocke and Longshot appear without any explanation. I disliked the change how the three X-Men were injured by the Marauders reduced to what appeared to be a simple grenade (if there was no time to go in details, perhaps just skipping over the entire details to just summarize that 3 X-men were injured during the fight with the Marauders would work better in my opinion). X-Men and X-Factor deciding that Sinister has to be executed while he looks on helpless is chilling. In the original Sinister had the upper hand and Havok overloaded his brother so he would attack in despair, here Cyclops takes a cold, rational decision to murder another sentient being. A dangerous man, sure, but still a step that should not be taken lightly.
I do feel some important issues were skipped: Magneto's trial, Brotherhood turning into Freedom Force and Genosha are the ones that come to mind.
More positive feelings (I still love this series and some of my problems are just inevitable): I like the way Madelyne is handled much better. And overall Piskor does a great job as before in turning years of story into one simple narrative.
Credits: Ed Piskor doing all the heavy lifting as before.
The Cover: Our center figure is Storm, the left half in her punk costume with Mohawk, the right in her Australia-era costume. Magneto and the New Mutants on the left (Rahna, Karma, Moonstar, Cannonball, Sunspot and Warlock. No Illyana, Doug or Magma visible, but Illyana does appear within the issue itself, so just a question of space available I think). On the right Dazzler, Rogue, Rachel Summers (in her Dark Phoenix costume she would wear when she had been a member of Excalibur for years, so interesting.), Psylocke and Longshot. (Most of the Australia group. Madelyne over Rachel would have made more sense IMHO as Rachel never appears in this issue).
Title/credits page: A new title page: Sentinels flying at the top. On the left the heads of Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Rogue, Mystique and Cyclops. On the right, Archangel, Beast, Iceman and what I think are Jean and Banshee (the hair is too light to be Wolverine and he's the only other one with sideburns.) and Havok. At the bottom Bishop, Rachel (in prison gear from Days of Future Past), Kate Pryde (in same prison gear), Wolverine (again the DoFP version) and an older version of Forge.
Page 1: The Watcher resumes his tale foreshadowing that much what would happen was triggered by the birth of Nathan Christopher Summers. Scott and Madelyne bring the young baby to the mansion.
Observations: Only a few design changes are noticeable. Nathan has one glowing eye like his adult version(s) usually have. Rogue is wearing her Jim Lee designed yellow/green costume with jacket, which she would get years from now.
Page 2: Storm wants to leave Forge's home at Freedom Tower but is attacked by demons. Forge's mentor, Naze, saves her and tells her that Forge has been gone. Storm returns to the X-Men.
Observations: Biggest change is that the Dire Wraiths are removed from this story. Naze made a deal with the Adversary fighting them, but without them, it seems to be that this Naze already is an agent/avatar for the Adversary.
Page 3: Apparently Xavier has been focusing on preparing Magneto for his big trial and helping with his defense. Neither will be seen in this issue anymore. Cyclops and Madelyne argue about his role in the X-Men. Storm challenges Cyclops for the leadership of the X-Men and wins. Cyclops leaves with his family. Madelyne is convinced that she has influenced the fight.
Observations: No big changes here. Madelyne's influence on Scott was later revealed to be a factor.
Page 4: Mr. Sinister orders his Marauders to attack the Morlocks (Arclight, Blockbuster, Scalphunter, Riptide, Vertigo and Sabretooth. (No Harpoon, Scrambler or Prism in this shot, but they do show up later). They attack some Morlocks and follow the survivor into the sewers.
Observations: No big changes, only a costume change for Sabretooth, who is wearing his Jim Lee designed costume.
Page 5: Scott gets a call of Reed Richards and leaves, Madelyne is furious and leaves with Nathan in an airplane. The airplane crashes and Madelyne is in the wreckage where she is shot by an unknown assailant.
Observations: Small thing here: Piskor earlier made Madelyne the captain of a boat instead of a pilot to merge her role with that of Lee Forrester. Madelyne is flying a plane now though (of course being a captain on a ship doesn't exclude her from being a pilot).
Page 6-10: The Mutant Massacre: most Morlocks are killed by the Marauders, but one manages to reach the X-Men to warn them. The X-Men go to rescue them and fight the Morlocks, leaving Nightcrawler, Shadowcat and colossus injured. The X-Men with assistance from the New Mutants (mostly Illyana) evacuate the surviving Morlocks, while Wolverine goes to capture a Marauder on Storm's orders. Psylocke arrives by plane to help evacuate the Morlocks to Muir Island. Wolverine fights Sabretooth to rescue the Morlock Healer. Sabretooth, wounded, but not defeated, follows him, but the combined power of Psylocke and Wolverine beats him and he falls of a cliff into the water.
Observations: Once again the big lines are mostly the same, but details differ. The Marauders are much luckier here than in the original, there they had to fight the Morlocks, the X-Men, X-Factor, Thor and the Power Pack combined. No X-Factor, Thor or Power Pack here. The way Nightcrawler, Colossus and Kitty get injured is very different. Nightcrawler was already injured before, during a fight with the future Sentinel Nimrod, his powers were influenced, making it harder for him to teleport, leaving him a target for Riptide. Colossus is injured by Riptide as well, when he kills him, but it takes a while for the injuries become too much for him. Kitty is hit by Harpoon's energy harpoon and it causes her not to phase anymore. In this version, Blockbuster drops a grenade after being defeated by Colossus. It must be a very special grenade to hurt Colossus in his metal form and Kitty in her phased form.
Psylocke is introduced without any backstory. She arrives in her Australia-era costume (the purple armour) presumably one of the X-Men's allies living on Muir Island. No Captain Britain, no Slaymaster, no Mojo.
Page 11-12: With several members injured, the X-Men go to find new recruits. Dazzler is the first, but she is possessed by another mutant, named Malice, another Marauder. Psylocke banishes Malice from Dazzler's mind and she joins up. Madelyne awakes from her coma in San Francisco. Returning home Havok is there to offer the assistance of himself and Lorna Dane, but Storm is worried that he left Lorna behind. Lorna is possessed by Malice back home.
Observations: No big change here, in the original Malice tries to control Storm, but she resists forcing Malice to flee. Havok is treated much better here by the X-Men, in the original they try to mindwipe him and even threaten to kill him.
Page 13: The wounded X-Men are transported to Muir Island. Longshot offers his help (saying that Banshee injures his throat trying to safe him or he'd join too.) and is accepted. Storm leaves Logan in charge while she goes to search for Forge to regain her powers.
Observations: Small chance for Jamie Madrox who claims he can produce a dozen clones before getting "woozy". The Jamie I know can easily do more than that. Longshot, like Psylocke, is introduced without backstory (they do say he's an alien) and the bit about Banshee saving him makes it clear that something very different happened in this version.
Page 14: Storm arrives at Freedom Tower and finds Naze in a ritual, trying to find Forge. He takes her through a magical portal to stop Forge, telling her that Forge has become corrupted.
Observations: Naze claims her that he was in Forge's platoon in the war and used magic to save them, but failed. Naze was much older than Forge and never went to Vietnam, but by this point he's been replaced by notorious liar the Adversary, so it may just be a lie by him. Forge's magic also was not intended to save his platoon, but take revenge on the soldiers who had killed them.
Page 15-16: Sinister has Nathan Christopher to study (apparently Scalphunter killed Madelyne, but he was at the Mutant Massacre at the same time. Then again, Sinister probably has multiple clones at his command). He's disappointed in his Marauders failing to kill Madelyne. The X-Men see Madelyne on TV, but can't reach Cyclops so go to help her. The Marauders are defeated by the X-Men, but Havok finds out that Malice has taken over Lorna.
Page 17: Storm and Naze fight demons to reach Forge.
Page 18: Near Muir Island, Mystique warns Rogue that Destiny has seen the death of the X-Men at Freedom Tower. The X-Men are warned but decide that saving Storm is more important. Madelyne goes along in the hope to save her child.
Observations: Destiny is described as the Brotherhood's newest member. In the original she and Mystique are the founders of this incarnation of the Brotherhood. Also they are still the Brotherhood in this timeline and haven't offered their services as Freedom Force to the government in exchange for pardons.
Page 19-26: Storm finds Forge and stabs him, but he tells her that he was trying to stop the demons. Naze reveals himself to be the Adversary. He opens a gate to Earth and his demons invade. X-Men and Brotherhood team up to stop them and they are filmed by reporters doing so. Storm and Forge are left in the spirit realm where months take place while on Earth only hours have passed. He tells Storm the details of his time in the war. He has rebuild his Neutralizer gun from parts in his arm and legs and Storm is repowered. With her lightining powering his devices they escape the Spirit Realm.
Meanwhile the Brotherhood and X-Men are still fighting the demons, a fight broadcasted to the whole world. Kitty, Moira and Jamie are watching from Muir as the X-Men enter Freedom Tower seconds before it collapses. The X-Men are not dead though, but in another realm and team up with Forge and Storm to fight the adversary. Colossus' metal form destroys the Adversary's physical form and his spirit is banished by Forge but the spell requires the sacrifice of 9 willing subjects (the X-Men and Madelyne). With the Adversary gone, the demons retreat and Forge crawls from the wreckage of the tower, telling Mystique and the news crew that the X-Men are dead. Sinister is pleased that the demons have done his work for him and the Marauders focus now on stopping Cyclops from finding his son.
Observations: Pretty much the same as Fall of the Mutants was in the original comics. Some small cosmetic changes here and there, but overall I don't find any noteworthy alterations.
Page 27: Roma appears to the X-Men and rewards them with their lives and the opportunity to start their lives anew. Storm suggests that they are returned to Earth, but in secret, allowing them to strike at their enemies first. Madelyne and Havok agree, seeing that this gives them the best change to save Nathan and Lorna. Dazzler is the only one who disagrees, finding it a cruel trick to play on their friends and families, but Psylocke thinks that their friends and families will be safer now.
Observations: No big changes here, but at least one X-Men is pointing out how messed up this plan is towards their loved ones.
Page 28-29: The team is resurrected and lands on Earth in Australia near a remote village. The village is home of the cyborg gang known as the Reavers who use the teleportation powers of Gateway, their prisoner, to teleport around the world in their crimes. The X-Men take them by surprise, but 3 members manage to escape. The other Reavers are captured and Roma reveals the Siege Perilous, a magic mirror that allows a person that enters to be judged and reborn. The Reavers, having to chose between certain death and an unknown fate, chose the Siege Perilous.
Page 30-33: The X-men install themselves in the Reavers HQ. Madelyne uses their computers to find Cyclops and fins him with Jean, mourning the loss of his family. Madelyne dreams of Jean taking all her bodyparts, leaving her a featureless shell while Cyclops and Jean laugh at her. Their dreamforms are destroyed by the demon N'astirh who offers her power and vengeance. Madelyne accepts and transforms into the Goblin Queen. N'Astirh shows her Sinister experimenting on Nathan and she leaves with him to kill Sinister.
Observations: A matter of timeframe is the most important change here. Madelyne's corruption would take months in the original. Cyclops and Jean like many others in the issue are wearing the Jim Lee costumes some time before they would in the original comics.
Page 34: Gateway summons the X-Men back to Australia to help Madelyne. They find out that Jean Grey is still alive (Wolverine confirms that he suspected so, noting that he picked up her scent when they were fighting the Marauders to save the Morlocks). Gateway opens a portal to send the X-Men to Madelyne.
Observations: So X-Factor was in the Alley as well to fight the Marauders.
Page 35-36: Madelyne confronts Sinister who reveals her history: he was researching mutant DNA, especially the DNA of Scott Summers. At first nervous about Scott leaving his orphanage, he quickly came to see him joining the X-men as an opportunity: the link between Scott and Jean was promising to him, so he created a clone of Jean and implanted false memories in her so she would be ideal for Scott. (This plan is hatched before Jean Grey's death on the moon even). Sinister sets up the meeting between Madelyne and Scott and now she has given birth to Nathan Christopher, she has no longer a purpose to Sinister. Madelyne disbelieves him and sends her demons to attack Sinister and the Marauders. Sinister gives up Nathan, but N'astirh betrays Madelyne and takes her baby. At this point X-Factor arrives.
Observations: Piskor is a lot more sympathetic to Madelyne than Claremont was: original Madelyne was so angry with the world she was willing to kill her child and lead an invasion of demons to destroy it. Here Madelyne is completely focused on getting Nathan back and destroying the Marauders.
Page 37-40: The X-Men arrive to help X-Factor. Archangel and Iceman defeat N'astirh, freezing him solid so Rogue and Colossus can shatter his frozen body. Jean tries to keep Nathan from Madelyne, but her anger is so great she tries a psychic assault on Jean. The more experienced Jean deflects the blast and Madelyne is killed by the backblast. Without a leader, the demons flee. Sinister is still here though, held by Psylocke's powers while the X-men and X-Factor decide what to dow tih him. Cyclops suggest a repeat of the Z'Nox scenario: Havok powers up Cyclops while Iceman cools down his body to prevent him from overheating. Psylocke and Jean concentrate the combined mental might of the X-Men and channel it through Scott. The combined blast is enough to destroy Sinister's body. The X-Men and X-Factor have some time to talk now. The X-Men want to know what happened to Jean, while X-Factor want to know what happened to Xavier.
Observations: It seems that most events in X-Factor happened, though off-screen. In the original Sinister would have a lot more trouble to get to Nathan as the child was guarded by X-Factor for a long time. As said, Madelyne's anger is a lot more focused here, making her feel more as a tragic figure than in the original. Her death is a callback to Jean's death on the moon (screaming Scott while in the same pose and the same blast of light). In the original Jean absorbs Madelyne's mind (and also a splinter of the Phoenix Force that animated here. Overall a lot more complicated). N'Astirh is more easily defeated, lacking the Techno-Organic virus that he was infected with in the original and also Sinister is far easier dispatched, being helpless while the X-men execute the Z'Nox tactic. (I do like the callback to it).
Overall thoughts about issue 5/X-tinction 1:
Once again the speed with which Piskor goes through about 40 issues (~200-~240) in 40 pages, a lot of details are streamlined, but also a lot of things arrive out of nowhere. Psylocke and Longshot appear without any explanation. I disliked the change how the three X-Men were injured by the Marauders reduced to what appeared to be a simple grenade (if there was no time to go in details, perhaps just skipping over the entire details to just summarize that 3 X-men were injured during the fight with the Marauders would work better in my opinion). X-Men and X-Factor deciding that Sinister has to be executed while he looks on helpless is chilling. In the original Sinister had the upper hand and Havok overloaded his brother so he would attack in despair, here Cyclops takes a cold, rational decision to murder another sentient being. A dangerous man, sure, but still a step that should not be taken lightly.
I do feel some important issues were skipped: Magneto's trial, Brotherhood turning into Freedom Force and Genosha are the ones that come to mind.
More positive feelings (I still love this series and some of my problems are just inevitable): I like the way Madelyne is handled much better. And overall Piskor does a great job as before in turning years of story into one simple narrative.