X-Factor Annual 4 - Inferno Epilogue

Two FBI agents try to find out what happened in New York.

X-Factor Annual #4

(I'll leave the rest of the annual to another time if/when I look at Atlantis Attacks so this is just the Inferno story.)

Inferno Aftermath
Story: Mark Gruenwald
Pencils: Jim Fern
Inks: Joe Rubinstein
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: Gregory Wright
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

FBI agent Jacob Farber narrates how he and his partner Elwood McNulty were sent to investigate exactly what happened in New York to cause so much costly damage. They start by interviewing the dentist who turned demonic then a police officer tips them off about the paranormal investigators who got eaten by the lift in the Empire State Building but woke up in a normal lift and found their instruments showed nothing. At the Daily Bugle newsroom J. Jonah Jameson recounts the attack by the demons but all the photographs turned out blank. They then go to speak to the Avengers but Gilgamesh is no help and Captain America is still in poor relations with Washington. Next they ring X-Factor and Ship tells them the team are out so Jake gives them two hours to call back. X-Factor discuss what to say and agree that telling the truth about demons from the netherworld would be damaging to the public. So they decide to give a cover story that it was fake. After consulting with Reed Richards they say some unclear group used a hynoptic ray beam and they suspect hi-tech terrorists. The story is released and the man in the street accepts it but a lurking demon is more surprised.

This back-up story is an interesting look at how the authorities and the public cope with the bizarre incidents that happen in the Marvel universe with plausible cover stories fed to keep people from having to confront the implications of what happens. Bizarrely for a story by Mark Gruenwald, normally the king of continuity, there are some discontinuities here with the whole event from the first animated objects to the final closure of the portal said to have taken place in a single night when the issues took place over a longer period. The closure of the portal seems to have reverted all the actual magic, with the damage stemming from looting, rioting and battles, whereas other issues showed lasting damage. And the newspaper at the end says Inferno was "two days ago" but is dated "January 30 1989" which just adds to the confusion of when in the year Inferno took place. In addition Gilgamesh lists some of the names he has used in the past including "Heracles", a reminder of the total mess with having the Eternals in the same universe as the various gods.

Also just why are the Blues Brothers working for the FBI? Jake and Elwood had previously appeared in a few of Gruenwald's Captain America issues but only with this issue are they drawn so clearly as the band characters.

Overall this is a tame little piece that focuses upon showing how New York returns to normal, that some of the more prominent one-off characters survived and how the public shrug off the whole event given a convincing explanation and the magic not leaving any lasting effects. It's a good effort that would have worked in 1989 when it came out some months after the event but when collected together with the issues it stands out the more how it doesn't quite match the actual aftermath.

Avengers Annual 17 - Labels post

Due to the large number of creators on this annual some of the labels have been moved to a separate post.

Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 8 - The Evolutionary War

Spider-Man faces new revelations about the Original Clone Saga.

Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #8

1st story: Return to Sender
Script: Gerry Conway
Pencils: Mark Bagley
Lettering: Rick Parker
Inks: Keith Williams
Color: Bob Sharon
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

The High Evolutionary is making a couple of final investigations in this penultimate chapter of the event. He goes out into space to investigate the Young Gods, a group of twelve humans genetically advanced by the various pantheons on Earth and taken away by the Celestials, but judges them "only children with god-like powers" and leaves to continue his plans. However Daydreamer reads his mind and discovers his plan with the Young Gods dividing in two over whether they should seek to stop him or not interfere in human destiny. One faction goes to confront the Evolutionary on Earth with the other following to stop them. Meanwhile Spider-Man encounters the Purifiers chasing a woman and is shocked to discover she resembles his dead former girlfriend Gwen Stacy. He soon realises this is her clone and catches up with her when she is captured by the Purifiers. Transported back to the Evolutionary's base Spidey gets caught up in the battle between the Purifiers and the Young Gods whilst the Evolutionary makes a careful study of Gwen's clone and comes to a startling revelation.

There's a lot going on in this annual so let's get the biggest problem out of the way first. The Young Gods simply do not fit into Spider-Man's world. They are a very obscure group of characters originally introduced by Gerry Conway in his early 1970s run on Thor with a later writer refining them and adding the Celestial connection. They have had very few appearances over the years, primarily because few other writers have touched them and Conway was either not at Marvel or working on inappropriate series. Here they just stick out like a sore thumb and it's easy to see why there was no great demand for them to return or be given their own series. The fight scene in the Evolutionary's headquarters (now a giant submarine) could have featured any group of heroes for all the difference it makes. And Daydreamer's role at the end doesn't match her powers which are given in the "Fact Pages" later in the annual as "Limited precognition, verbal and telepathic thought control, the ability to create 'visions'". None of this explains how she is able to neutralise and reverse the effects of a genetic virus that transforms a person "on a cellular level into a near duplicate of the original" and restore "Gwen" to her true self.

This brings us to what the annual should be notable for as the retcon here should by rights have completely stopped one of the most notorious Spider-Man stories of all time. Contrary to myth the heavy retconning of the events of the Original Clone Saga began in the 1980s before anyone had heard of Ben Reilly. The clone of Gwen Stacy had not been seen since the end of the original saga (which was also Conway's last issue of Amazing Spider-Man) when she made her peace with both Peter and what she really was and there was never any real need to bring her back. But here we get the revelation that she isn't a clone after all. The Evolutionary reveals that he wondered how a university professor could have come up with cloning (clearly forgetting that in the Marvel Universe numerous academics have been able to access and develop all manner of advanced technology) and instead that he had developed the genetic virus then kidnapped another woman similar to Gwen and infected her to create what appeared to be a complete genetic duplicate. (Incidentally the name "Joyce Delaney" doesn't appear in this annual despite what some synopses online state.)

There is so much about this that just doesn't make sense. Firstly why is the Evolutionary so concerned about the work of a long dead university professor whose work has left only one remaining clone around? There is nothing indicating that his plans for genetically advancing the human race can be derailed by this. Secondly if cloning was beyond the ability of Warren then how did he come up with the genetic virus? Thirdly if Gwen Stacy wasn't a clone then what about the others? Who was the Spider-Man clone? Carrion claimed to be a clone of Warren gone wrong so who was he actually? Finally if Gwen's clone was actually another woman then how come her disappearance wasn't noticed?

Some of this would be resolved in a forthcoming issue of Spectacular Spider-Man but it began the trend of partial retcons of the Clone Saga that didn't cover every detail and which would require further stories & retcons to clean things up, often including explaining how Carrion fitted into the new version of events. But it's also notable that the revelations in this annual should have closed off the possibility of bringing back any other clones as the genetic virus could simply have been purged from the system. (However instead the annual was largely ignored for much of the Clone Saga with the revelations here simply brushed aside until a persistent assistant editor managed to get the only issue of Scarlet Spider Unlimited to address them. But that's a story for another day.) It's a pity as the genetic virus approach would have been a much easier way to get the story settled once and for all.

It's not clear why (presumably) Conway felt the need to revisit the Clone Saga at all. Was it because there was growing public awareness that cloning did not lead to fully grown identical duplicates being made in laboratories? Was it to shut down the possibility of other writers bringing back the clones? If so then it was spectacularly unsuccessful. But the result is a big retcon of a story from thirteen years earlier that could have just left things there and then.

(On the subject of continuity this story also repeats a common continuity error by Conway. For some reason he repeatedly got the details of Peter's high school years wrong, here claiming that Peter and Mary Jane knew each other then when in fact they didn't meet until Peter was at university. Time and again he would make this error and also imply that Peter had dated Liz Allen in high school with Mary Jane disliking her then. This has appeared so many times and so clearly in his Spider-Man stories from both the 1970s and 1980s that it can't be a mere misinterpretation.)

This annual would have worked a lot better as an earlier chapter in The Evolutionary War when it would have made more sense for the High Evolutionary to be exploring genetic anomalies as he is a natural character to use to explore the truth behind Warren's experiments. It doesn't feel like a penultimate chapter at all and instead feels like a fill-in marking time between the two Avengers annuals. The obsession with the Young Gods also weighs this story down further. However there are some good moments such as the two scenes between Peter and Mary Jane as they face the memory of Gwen and just what it says about their relationship with each other. But overall this is a mess of a story weighed down by a disproportionate focus on inappropriate guest stars and a needless retcon that makes little sense.


2nd story: Opposing forces
Writer: Gerry Conway
Pencils: Mark Bagley
Inker: Mike Esposito
Letters: Rick Parker
Color: Bob Sharon
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Several of the Young Gods have travelled to Jerusalem where they discover an ancient robot buried in the hills that feeds off anger and is triggered by the presence of the Young Gods and an Israeli army patrol fighting a group of teenage Palestinian protestors. The Young Gods argue over whether to get involved and charge in but only achieve success when several come together to form the Uni-Mind.

Rather than a back-up focusing on some Spider-Man characters we instead get a solo tale for the Young Gods that shows off the differences in their philosophies about getting involved with human affairs as well as a demonstration of their powers and a rather forced message about the power of working together. This tale just shows why the Young Gods have not interested other writers as they're a rather dull cliched set of characters. Putting the story here along with five "Fact Pages" about them just adds to the sense that they've taken over Spider-Man's annual unnecessarily. It ends with a caption announcing "To Be Continued... Watch future issues of Spectacular Spider-Man to find out where!" but instead they wouldn't be seen again until a multipart story in Marvel Comics Presents in the early 1990s. And it's easy to see why. This is just a waste.


3rd story: The High Evolutionary: Kindred Spirits
Story: Mark Gruenwald
Breakdowns: Ron Lim
Finishes: Tony DeZuniga
Letters: Ken Lopez
Colors: Gregory Wright
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Chief: Tom DeFalco

This chapter tells of how the High Evolutionary returned to mortal form albeit far more advanced than contemporary humans, the creation of Counter-Earth and his relationship with Adam Warlock. The Counter-Earth saga has a notably more scientific approach and veers away from the Biblical parallel of the original story whilst there's also a retelling of the final (for then) showdown between Warlock and the High Evolutionary.

Once more the saga is retelling past Marvel stories though the encounter with Warlock was another flashback due to his own title ending before it could happen (although it was prophesised) and he was soon after killed off. That was one of Mark Gruenwald's earliest pieces of continuity surgery so with this chapter he has now come full circle. Also coming full circle is the way the Evolutionary starts and ends the chapter in his energy thought form, almost as though anyone missing this annual (such as someone who read both Avengers books but not the crossovers) would not feel they were missing something. However it's a pity that the reasons behind Warlock's false belief that Counter-Earth has been destroyed is not explained here beyond speculation that his Soul Gem is interfering with his perception. Otherwise it's a straightforward summary of a distinct period of the Evolutionary's appearances.

Other material includes "The Young Gods Fact Pages!" outlining their origin and each of the characters. Yet again it reinforces the idea that this annual wants to be a Young Gods annual. For some reason a lot of 1980s Spider-Man annuals have a tendency to forget who was the star of the series and suggests that many creators were longing for the days of Marvel Team-Up. This is especially disappointing given how important the revelation in this annual should have been for Spider-Man continuity in the long-term.

West Coast Avengers Annual 3 - The Evolutionary War

The West Coast Avengers have split in two as the High Evolutionary's plans step up a gear.

West Coast Avengers Annual #3

This annual is unusual in that instead of one big story focused on The Evolutionary War followed by some shorter back-ups it has two separate stories from the war. This is because it came out at a point where the West Coast Avengers had split with Mockingbird, Tigra and Moon Knight leaving the others amidst the break-up of Mockingbird and Hawkeye's marriage. It's notable that all three of Steve Englehart's annuals are set very specifically between issues of the relevant ongoing titles which helps continuity and those constructing chronologies but it can also present a slightly confusing status quo. Here the details of the split are not gone into and instead we have two tales of the separate factions that both end with the same scene of Hawkeye's team discovering a hole in the Savage Land.

1st story: Head you lose --!
Story: Steve Englehart
Layouts: Al Milgrom
Finishes: Gerry Talaoc
Letters: Bill Oakley
Colors: Marc Siry
Editor: Mark Gruenwald
Chief: Tom DeFalco

The first story focuses on the High Evolutionary's attempts to steal a supply of vibranium from the Black Panther's kingdom of Wakanda. One of his technicians turns out to be Bill Foster, the former second Giant Man, who hides a note on one of the Gatherers who are easily defeated by the Wakanda forces. The note informs the Panther there is a much bigger scheme afoot and to call in Hank Pym. Pym himself is unavailable but the rump of the West Coast Avengers arrive and face down another squad of the Evolutionary's called the "Sensors" - Sight, Touch, Sound, Smell, Taste and Intuition - who battle the team whilst the vibranium is stolen.

This story is particularly notable for making use of previous chapters and we see there was a purpose to the High Evolutionary's restoration of the Savage Land back in X-Men Annual #12 as he is now operating out of a base there so it's good to see later chapters of the saga building on earlier events. It's also notable for the odd way Mantis is written with very little dialogue even in panels when she is the main focus and clearly drawn to be speaking. This was reportedly another effect of the breakdown in relations between Englehart and his editors with Mantis at the centre of the storm.

Unfortunately the short length of this story combined the initial scenes set in the Evolutionary's base and the battle between the Gatherers and the Wakandan forces means the official West Coast Avengers are only seen for eleven pages of their own annual. The split nature of the team and the story may have created such a constraint but the outcome is a rather slight contribution by one side.


2nd story: Tales you win!
Story: Steve Englehart
Layouts: Al Milgrom
Finishes: Chris Ivy
Letters: Bill Oakley
Colors: Marc Siry
Editor: Mark Gruenwald
Chief: Tom DeFalco

The breakaway team have travelled to the Savage Land for reasons not given here and spend the first part of the story meeting with Kazar and learning how the Savage Land was restored before deciding to investigate the Evolutionary and his base. They just knock on the door and are surprised to be let in and taken to the Evolutionary himself who calmly announces his plan as, "I'm building a bomb which, when detonated, will mutate everyone on Earth!" He subdues them with gas and puts them into a hi-tech maze to test their suitability for genetic experiments. All three quickly overcome the respective robot sent to deal with them but Tigra and Moon Knight seem to spend too much time interested in each other's company to advance far through the maze and so only Mockingbird reaches the Evolutionary who expands in size. But so do does Bill Foster who resumes his role of Giant Man (although not the costume despite what the cover shows). With the vibranium captured in the other story the Evolutionary opts to relocate to build his bomb and so abandons the base, blowing it up.

The return of Giant Man is clearly meant to be a big thing in the annual with both stories quickly summarising his origin (and his original risky name of "Black Goliath) and also how he contracted cancer but was cured by a transfusion from the original Spider-Woman; however his body could no longer stand the strain of size changing. However he infiltrated the Evolutionary's operations to use the equipment to develop a serum to restore growth and use the gained mass to cleanse his body. There's a bit too much technobabble about how it works but the result is that a real life terminal disease is cured through fantastical elements which is a bit insensitive (although up to the transfusion the detail was first shown in earlier comics rather than here).

This chapter is more focused on the series's actual characters and provides some good action scenes. Unfortunately it fails to explain just why they happen to be in the Savage Land in the first place and the way Tigra and Moon Knight seemingly hook up in the middle of the maze does neither character any favours. But it does take a strong step forward to advance the Evolutionary's plans rather than being yet another side element in the overall scheme. The split narrative allows for different elements of the story to be given equal weight but it comes at the effect of atomising the individual strands so that neither feels too satisfactory. This is an innovation in story telling that doesn't work.

3rd story: The High Evolutionary: The Final Frontier
Story: Mark Gruenwald
Pencils: Ron Lim
Inks: Tony DeZuniga
Letters: Ken Lopez
Colors: Gregory Wright
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The saga has now reached the original stories featuring the High Evolutionary. Curiously very little of his first appearance in the pages of Thor is retold here and instead the chapter opens with the Citadel of Science launching for the stars at the end of his encounter. Then we see how out in pace the Evolutionary found a new planet and settled there with the New Men, mutating more animals to provide them with wives and leaving them to build the world whilst he continued with his experiments. But instead the New Men devolved into savagery and he had to find a being to bring order to the planet - who turned out to be the Hulk. But the Evolutionary was mortally wounded in battle and could only survive by submitting himself to the genetic accelerator becoming a being of pure thought.

There's less to say about this chapter as it's recounting mid Silver Age stories that had the same writer and a greater element of consistency compared to the massive accumulation of back story the first eight chapters had to wade through. It's a pity the Evolutionary's first appearance is not recounted in more detail as it would be interesting to see how readers first encountered him. Also omitted is an explanation as to how he managed to stay looking so young when he would have been in his 60s or even older at the time of these tales. Instead we get the first big sign that the Evolutionary has made mistakes with his New Men not proving the successful new race he hoped for and the first sign of how he would repeatedly have to turn to outside help to get the products of his experiments under control.

Also included is a pin-up gallery which takes a more whimsical approach than most. There's also the unused cover for issue #14 (which was replaced by the line-wide 25th anniversary format of a headshot of a single character in a uniform frame).

Overall this annual is aiming high but rather misses the target. It's trying a different formula for telling the story but it results in two separate chapters that each feel in substantial when a combined single tale could have felt much stronger. This also pushes out any back-up stories that could have enhanced the overall feel of the special and the result is a bit of a disappointment.

Web of Spider-Man Annual 4 - The Evolutionary War

Spider-Man finds a book tour takes him into chaos in the Everglades.

Web of Spider-Man Annual #4

1st story: Sweet Poison
Writer: Steve Gerber
Artist: Cynthia Martin
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colorist: Janet Jackson
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Peter Parker is on a tour promoting his book of Spider-Man photographs and gets caught up in the attempts by the Slug's men to secure a reserve supply of drugs for New York, following up on the supply problems established in the Punisher and Amazing Spider-Man chapters of The Evolutionary War. Meanwhile the High Evolutionary has sent his Eliminators and Purifiers to the Everglades to find the Nexus of All Realities in order to locate alien genetic pollutants that make it through and bond with human hosts, seeking the eliminate both the host and its offspring. The host turns out to be Cecilia, a maid at Peter's motel who has a double life as the being Poison with a second entity inside her. Poison confronts and destroys the Purifiers when they come to her home to eliminate her and her son, then the alien inside her separates off to return home. Meanwhile Spider-Man finds a hidden reserve supply of cocaine in the swamp which leads to a battle between him, the Slug's men, the Eliminators and the Man-Thing.

If this sounds chaotic it's because it is. The cover promises Spider-Man will be battling the Slug (an existing foe previously seen in Captain America) but the Miami drug lord only actually appears on a couple of pages in phone conversations with the Kingpin and demonstrating his ability to use his own fat to asphyxiate a man and he never encounters Spider-Man directly. It's a sign of the problems with this annual as it doesn't really know what it's about.

This story sees the return of Steve Gerber to mainstream Marvel books after many years (and an abortive lawsuit) and a few strips in Marvel Comics Presents but it's not a particular triumph. Far too many elements have been thrown into this story and they don't all meet up. Gerber was never the most conventional of writers but sometimes this could work against him. Web of Spider-Man was a title that still had a reputation for an inability to get a lasting permanent creative team and frequently functioned as little more than a set of fill-in issues though Alex Saviuk was now half a year into what would turn out to be nearly a seven year run so it's unsurprising that the annual wound up being written by an irregular writer. However Gerber doesn't seem to be especially interested in Spider-Man who is used only sparingly with a lot of attention instead devoted to his own new creation Poison, of whom more in the second story. All in all this is easily the worst chapter in The Evolutionary War so far.


2nd story: Night Stalking
Writer: Steve Gerber
Artist: Alex Saviuk
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colorist: Janet Jackson
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

This is the origin story for Poison, telling how Cecilia was one of the Cubans who came to the US in the Mariel boatlift. A university student who got pregnant by Vassily, a Soviet diplomatic attaché, she found her world crumbling around her when she was discovered and Vassily blamed her. Then when giving birth she was visited by the extra dimensional being Ylandris who merged with her and gave her power that remains even now they are separated. Poison is now hunting Vassily for revenge and searching the streets for him.

If this story was setting out to make Poison a viable recurring character to use it fails heavily. Already succumbing to the cliche of an immigrant Hispanic maid and giving her a costume that makes her look like a prostitute, she is now shown walking the streets on a mission of vengeance. There's very little to this story to open the character up for a viable ongoing use and so it's unsurprising that for many years her only other use was a multi-part story in Marvel Comics Presents by Gerber. The origin does make her sympathetic but does nothing to explain why she expects to find Vassily on the streets of Miami.


3rd story: The High Evolutionary: All My Children
Story: Mark Gruenwald
Pencils: Ron Lim
Finishes: Tony DeZuniga
Letters: Ken Lopez
Colors: Gregory Wright
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

This is a relatively sedate chapter, focusing upon the aftermath of the battle with Cthon as the High Evolutionary finally accepts the existence of the supernatural and that his partner really is possessed by a sixth century sorcerer. But the main focus comes with various children around the mountain. Jessica Drew is released after decades in suspended animation to be raised by the New Man Bova with no real mention of where her father is now that his body has been restored to him. But it's the twins Pietro and Wanda who get the highest turnover of parents. Their birth mother Magda disappears without an explanation given here and so the Evolutionary commissions an aid to find a couple to raise them. The first candidates are Robert and Madeline Frank, whose thoughts touch on their heroic past but they are not explicitly identified here. Madeline is pregnant and the plan is to present all three children as hers which seems a little fanciful. However she dies in childbirth with her own baby stillborn. The twins are presented to Robert as his own but upon news of his wife's death he runs away at super speed. Eventually the twins are given to a Romani couple Django and Marya Maximoff who lost their children in the Second World War with a caption telling us they will grow up to be Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch.

If this seems convoluted it's because there had already been two retcons of their parentage over their years, first to make them the children of the Golden Age heroes the Whizzer and Miss America and then to make them the children of Magneto. The original stories had sought to explain why each set of parents had been absent from their childhood whether through death, desertion, ignorance or a desire to hide the children's existence from their father out of fear of him (this version predated Star Wars). As a result each version wrote one explanation on top of another and now this saga recounts it all. This is also one of the chapters that could do with more narrative captions to establish the context, particularly of just who the Franks are. It also highlights an inadvertent theme of absent parents as no explanation is given as to where Jonathan Drew now is when his daughter is finally revived even though his possessed body has only recently been at the mountain.

This chapter does its best with what was already a huge continuity mess (and which has been since changed yet again) and manages to present a coherent narrative out of the order of events but can't hide the difficult nature of it. Normally Mark Gruenwald can be given a pass in this saga as he was working with what others had come up with but he was one of the co-plotters of the Avengers issue that introduced Magda to the story and so bore at least some responsibility for what he was working with. What's also surprising is the way that the Maximoff's own children are explicitly identified as having died in the Second World War. Although no date is given for when this chapter is set (beyond Magnus having been there for a decade) even in 1988 chronological problems with linking characters' personal histories to the war were clear and also the original telling of these events didn't mention it. Fortunately the chapter works to present everything in an understandable order but it can't hide the mess it's working with.

Other material includes "The Year in Review!" which is a series of pin-ups by artists including Arthur Adams, John Romita Sr & John Romita Jr, Mike Zeck & Bob McLeod, Cynthia Martin and others not explicitly credited. It's hard to escape the sense that at least some of these are from inventory and were intended as covers and/or promotional pieces rather than being specifically drawn for this annual. Still it's handy to have a catch-up on one of the most intense years in Spider-Man's life which included his wedding, the introduction of one of his most popular foes, the abandonment of his black costume and one of the contenders for his most popular story of all. However this might have been better placed in the first of the three Spider-Man annuals to come out that year instead of the second.

Web of Spider-Man was a title that was still struggling even in its fourth year, having not yet found a writer that would last more than half a dozen issues or so and this annual was at the point where its longest lasting artist had only just reached that particular milestone. So it's natural to expect this annual to be a forgettable tale by a fill-in writer even before coming to the contents. However the main story is just utterly unfocused in trying to balance numerous different elements and the needs of the title character against the desire of the author to push his own creation. The second story doesn't redeem it being the origin of a new character instead of a tale from the regular series's world whilst the saga chapter is a recounting of what was already one of the most convoluted parts of the whole origin. This is a highly disappointing entry in the event.

X-Men Annual 12 - Inferno Prologue/The Evolutionary War

The X-Men face Terminus in the ruins of the Savage Land but not all is as it seems.

X-Men Annual #12

1st story: Resurrection!
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Art Adams
Inker: Bob Wiacek
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Editor: Bob Harras
Chief: Tom DeFalco

The X-Men are drawn to the ruins of the Savage Land where they encounter the High Evolutionary as he seeks to restore it and what appears to be the destructive alien robot Terminus. Teaming up with the Land's survivors they defeat the robot and discover its true nature. En route Colossus meets an old friend and her young son.

This is a rather odd entry in The Evolutionary War. The Evolutionary's aim to restore the Savage Land ultimately succeeds but it's never made clear just why he's seeking this. Nor do we get conventional conflict even though he is working with the Savage Land's Mutates who have some plans of their own. The encounter with the Fall People is also convoluted from a modern perspective as it draws heavily on events only seen in the pages of Classic X-Men.

Classic X-Men is now one of the most obscure sources of Marvel continuity of all (perhaps only rivalled by scenes and revelations set in the main reality that appeared in the pages of What If...?). This series reprinted most of the first 100+ issues of the series and in the early years it expanded out the page count with extra scenes and back-up stories. But in general these have been ignored with other reprints omitting the extra pages and guides generally not stopping to include details. However in 1988 things would have been very different and for many readers Classic X-Men would have been how most regular readers of the series would have known the early years of the New X-Men if at all. So drawing heavily on material that had only appeared in Classic X-Men made sense in 1988 but less so when reading issues in later reprint runs.

So characters like M'Rin, the chief of the surviving Fall People, and C'Jime, the giant flying fox with a ship on his back (no really) are introduced as familiar to Storm and readers but confuse later readers. It's also clear that Colossus and the Fall woman Nereel had a brief relationship on his previous visit with her son Peter being the product but she declines to tell him and he doesn't realise this despite so many clues including her son having the same name as him. Also treated poorly in this story is Dazzler who spends a lot of time first crying about Longshot's disappearance and then worrying when Rogue absorbs his power and realises this means she's also going to find out how Longshot feels about Dazzler. This trend of treating the character as a ditz is prominent in both X-Men stories in this annual and won't end here. This is a far cry from the confident young woman trying to pursue her career and handle her powers who held her own series for several years.

There's also a resort to undoing a lot in this story. The Savage Land had been destroyed for several years in real time, a change that lasted surprisingly long, but is now returned to its traditional form. The true foe is brought back from the dead along with convoluted revelations that neither the Terminus seen here nor the one who destroyed the Savage Land are the real one. And at the end of the story Psylocke mindwipes all the inhabitants to cover up the X-Men's involvement. The accusation that around this time Marvel wanted to "end innovation" has been made elsewhere and disputed in other places but it's hard to deny that this story is one massive reset switch.

All in all this is a rather disappointing tale with the plot stretched out more than it needs be and some of the characters treated as idiots. However Art Adams's art does a lot to rescue it but it can't hide the feeling that this crossover was regarded as an unwanted intruder on the series.


2nd story: I want my X-Men!
(No specific credits are printed. All the listings I've seen online credit exactly the same team as the first story.)

This is a satire on trends in the comics and more general media industry as Mojo reacts to the apparent death of the X-Men with fury... because their adventures are his top rated show. So he sets out to find some new stars and auditions numerous variant X-Men until along come the X-Babies who evade execution and rapidly prove a ratings hit.

As a protracted satirical piece there's more emphasis on humour than plot with some fun scenes such as Mojo's discussion with his "Brains Trust" who are drawn as the creative team (though the one who should be Glynis Oliver looks more like former editor Ann Nocenti to the point online guides are divided over who she is; confusingly Nocenti is also the basis for the returning character Ricochet Rita) with Chris Claremont taking a stand for quality over quantity and getting firmly told just who owns the property or the auditions of just about every conceivable alternative form of the X-Men imaginable - ones we see include a sex swapped team, a version as Transformers (now there's some ideas for Hasbro), a "naughty" team in more sexually revealing outfits (predicting one particular 1990s comics trend), a version of the team as animals, numerous more only mentioned and finally a version as young children. This parodied the trend to do versions of cartoons reimagining the characters as children that started with Muppet Babies and had already spawned The Flintstone Kids and The New Archies with A Pup Named Scooby-Doo about to debut that autumn.

Being more comedy than story this is a nice fun tale though it does continue the trend of making Dazzler ever more ditzy - here her child self spends several pages obsessing over Longshot when he gets turned into a picture by an angry Mojo. Otherwise the younger versions are generally in character albeit with some magnified traits such as Wolverine's naughtiness. The digs at the way the industry works in finding spin-off material are surprisingly prescient given the way the comics industry and especially the X-Men titles were already starting to go. This is a good fun piece.


3rd story: The High Evolutionary: Demon Night
Story: Mark Gruenwald
Pencils: Ron Lim
Inks: Tony DeZuniga
Letters: Ken Lopez
Colors: Gregory Wright
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

We come to one of the most retconned pieces of Marvel history - the birth of the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. I have lost count of just how many times this has been revisited over the years and just how many different parents they've been given. But back in 1988 there were *only* three couples who at one point or another had been assumed to be their parents and this retelling will take multiple chapters to work through them. This chapter tells how a heavily pregnant woman called Magda came to Mount Wundagore and gave birth to twins the night the demon Cthon arose but was driven off by a combination of the High Evolutionary's New Men and the sorcerer Magnus. But as the end of the chapter tells us Cthon had formed a link with the Scarlet Witch that would come to fruition decades later.

Some time has clearly passed since the previous chapter but exactly how much is never specified beyond a period of "over a decade" in which Herbert Edgar Wyndham has continued the genetic transformation of animals into humanoids and Magnus has trained them as knights. This would mean that Magnus has been occupying the body of Jonathan Drew for a long time but it's not clarified if Drew is dead or has been suppressed all this time. As Wyndham refuses to accept the claim that his friend's body is possessed by a sixth century sorcerer the point is not elaborated on. There is also no mention at all of the Second World War even though the length of time given indicates we should be at least midway through it by now. Perhaps Mark Gruenwald saw wisdom in not using the Evolutionary to explain anything either from the Golden Age itself or how particular characters had lived all the way up to the present day which was getting ever further from the war.

It's difficult to tell the story of a monumental battle in a mere two pages but given how much history there still is to wade through it's not clear what could have been dropped for a foe who hadn't actually appeared in that many stories at this point. Nor is the father of Magda's children explicitly identified at this stage, replicating the way it was originally left to fans to guess and marry up information from different series but given his significance in the Marvel Universe it's a surprising omission and it must be remembered that this chapter was going to read by more than just regular Uncanny X-Men readers. The chapter stops before reaching the other two pairs of parents but otherwise shows the backstory to one of the more memorable Avengers stories.


There are no pin-ups or other features in the annual. All in all it's a mixed affair with the lead story serving more as an excuse to restore one of the traditional settings of the Marvel Universe than a tale to develop either the lead characters or the crossover event. The saga chapter also shows the strain of having to retell and co-ordinate so much history in one go. However the X-Babies story is a wonderful piece of comedy and worth the price of admission alone.

Fantastic Four Annual 21 - The Evolutionary War

Multiple higher powers demand that Crystal returns to her husband.

As noted on Amazing Spider-Man Annual #22 that annual and this one have the lead and back-up features in opposite orders. So I'm publishing these post simultaneously to keep the sequences as clear as possible.

Fantastic Four Annual #21

1st story: Crystal Blue Persuasion
Story: Steve Englehart
Breakdowns: Kieron Dwyer
Finishes: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Lopez
Colors: Wright
Editor: Macchio
Chief: DeFalco

This annual comes from one of the more unusual periods of Fantastic Four history. Steve Englehart had shaken up the team by retiring Mr Fantastic and the Invisible Woman off to spend more time raising their son and in their placed added Crystal and the second Ms. Marvel (Sharon Ventura). Ms. Marvel had then been transformed into a female version of the Thing whilst the Thing (Ben Grimm) himself had been subject to an even further mutation into an almost pineapple form. And there were multiple tensions surrounding the Four. Not long before Englehart's run began the Human Torch (Johnny Storm) had married Alicia Masters, once Ben Grimm's long-term girlfriend. Now Johnny was on a team with his first true girlfriend Crystal, estranged from her husband Quicksilver (Pietro... his surname seems to wander between Maximoff, Magnus and Frank reflecting the numerous revelations and retcons about his parentage over the years) after an affair. It was quite a different set-up from before.

Whether it was more popular is disputed. The opening scene sees the Four's robotic receptionist Roberta hand the Thing fan mail and declare "I can't get over how popular the team has become since you revamped it!", a claim that is similarly reflected on Englehart's website. But others have pointed to the figures in the annual Statement of Ownership showing the title's sales were flatlining or even declining. And when at the start of 1988 Marvel introduced a two-tier pricing on their regular titles by raising the cover price on the nine top sellers, Fantastic Four was noticeably absent from the list. It wouldn't be the first or last time that the sales figures surrounding a controversial period are in dispute but it's unusual to find one side's claims so blatantly placed in the title itself.

(It will come as little surprise that the nine titles that had the price raised all have annuals in The Evolutionary War - the three Spider-Man titles, the three mutant books, Silver Surfer, Punisher and Avengers. Fantastic Four and West Coast Avengers - the third title written by Englehart at this time - were the only other two regular superhero series so blessed.)

And that's part of wider disputes that are partially well known because Englehart has put his side of the story out there including on his own website, though his editors' position is not so well known. Editor Ralph Macchio is interviewed by Tom DeFalco in the latter's Comics Creators on Fantastic Four (London; Titan Books, 2005) and is specifically asked about Englehart's eventual departure but just alludes to creative differences without being specific - "We had a part of the ways, creatively. I remember there was a storyline he embarked on and I knew right away that we were beginning to see the characters differently. There were stories that he wanted to do that just didn't work for me. I liked a lot of his run, but I didn't like the way he wanted to go so I made a change." (p.166) Englehart is not interviewed in the book but the-then regular artist (although not drawing the annual) Keith Pollard is. He doesn't comment on Englehart's departure directly but notes that he was told sales were up and fine but later heard a rumour third hand that he had been fired and discovered that Macchio wanted to bring back the traditional line up "in a bid to increase sales". (p.71)

It would appear that ultimately the problem was that Englehart had signed up for a run when Don Daley was Editor and Jim Shooter Editor-in-Chief but almost immediately they were replaced by Macchio and DeFalco respectively and once everyone was fully settled in disputes emerged over which way the series should go. It is not unusual for new management to not agree with or stick to what their predecessors had agreed and this has led to many a dispute. This is not the last time we'll be encountering Englehart's writing in a rather extended departure from Marvel and we'll see a number of effects of this departure as we go.

Here the main effect is the enforced writing out of Crystal from the team as her family, the Royal Family of the Inhumans, turn up and simply demand she return to her husband and family on the Moon. It is a very blunt assertion of authority perhaps reflecting the behind the scenes struggle and the result is a battle between the Four and the Royal Family. Meanwhile the High Evolutionary arrives on the Moon seeking to steal the mutagenic Terrigen Mist to advance his schemes. This leads to a brief encounter with Uatu the Watcher in which the whole event so far is recapped (hence why the disconnect between the order of the lead and back-up strips stands out) though a few errors appear in recapping the events of New Mutants Annual #4 and Amazing Spider-Man Annual #22. The battle between the Evolutionary's forces and the Inhumans is fierce with Quicksilver taking a leadership role and turning the tide, earning redemption amongst his in-laws. In the aftermath Black Bolt tries a new tactic with Crystal and actually talks her into staying. The rest of the Four depart for home.

This annual is firmly wedged between issues of the regular series and so references to a quest into the Negative Zone to find a race of aliens called the Beyonders can be a little confusing to the visiting reader, as is an appearance by a second Watcher who seems about to reveal where the Evolutionary and his forces have teleported away to until Uatu suddenly intervenes to stop him. But in general this story manages to work well as a big development for the team and stand alone sufficiently well. However as the first chapter of The Evolutionary War in which the High Evolutionary has taken an active role in the field it's a surprisingly low key encounter with the battle serving more to drive the character developments for Quicksilver than to seriously advance the lead villain's plans.


2nd story: Crystal
Story: Edward L. Norton
Breakdowns: Jackson Guice
Finishes: Jose Marzan
Letters: Ken Lopez
Colors: Gregory Wright
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Chief: Tom DeFalco

"Edward L. Norton" has a history of being used as a pseudonym in various Marvel issues. Here it hints at the dispute over the series. This is a very odd little story where the dialogue and pictures rarely seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet, suggesting a significant rewrite. It would appear that this story was meant to establish Crystal agreeing to go with the Fantastic Four to see out their quest with the Beyonders but was instead rewritten so that she stays permanently on the Moon with Quicksilver and the Inhumans. In story Crystal is even told that she is expected to look as though she likes living with her husband to set a public example. It's hard to not think of real life Royals also forced into such public displays of affection despite private strife even though this annual came out a few years before some of the most famous revelations.

Quicksilver had been on an odd character journey through the 1980s in large part because Englehart didn't agree with him being a hero and not always accepting other writers' attempts to row the character back. So at times he was written as mad and other times this was explained as the influence of the insane Inhuman Maximus the Mad only for later Englehart stories to revert the character to villainy. Here he's shown regaining his speed powers which had been temporarily constrained by a mental block but he's also shown acting suspiciously when at the end of the story he leaks details of the Fantastic Four's quest to none other than Doctor Doom. The dialogue has him stating that he wants revenge on Kristoff, the other Doom who is currently ruling Latveria, and that an empowered Doom is best placed to defeat him but this reads so oddly that it is almost certainly a rewrite of the script working against the dialogue.

As a result we're left with a short story that's trying to settle Crystal back into married life but it just doesn't hold together well because of all the conflicting forces pulling on it.


3rd story: The High Evolutionary: Silver and Crimson
Story: Mark Gruenwald
Pencils: Ron Lim
Inks: Tony DeZuniga
Letters: Ken Lopez & Joe Albelo
Colors: Gregory Wright
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

This is more of a straightforward single incident chapter as Herbert Edgar Wyndham finally encounters the Werewolf that killed Merriam Drew and creates his armour in order to protect himself in future encounters then captures it when it later invades the citadel. However it seems to have driven away the Moloids for good. The biggest developments come in side moments as we learn that Jonathan Drew has departed in grief, even though he has left his daughter behind in suspended animation, and that the uranium mine has generated enough wealth to buy the most advanced technology and expertise available.

It's a good attempt to explain just how a man from the 1930s could have come up with all the long-term technology the High Evolutionary has been shown to have over the years but it does ring a little hollow to suggest the solution was merely wealth. However the alternative would have required adding either another mysterious benefactor or some alien influence which doesn't quite fit with the character's outlook. Otherwise this chapter is straightforward and the only real problem is the out of sequence printing.

Other material includes a pin-up gallery by Keith Pollard and Joe Sinnott of the Fantastic Four and other key characters including the Invisible Woman (who expresses her surprise at some recent letters to the comic) and Crystal who declares "I'll never leave again!" with an editor's note explaining "this feature was compiled before the astounding events of this issue". It's another sign of the conflict over the direction of this series. Sadly this conflict means the annual as a whole is a rather disappointing package even though the lead story works well on its own.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual 22 - Labels post

Due to the large number of creators on this annual some of the labels have been moved to a separate post.

New Mutants Annual 4 - Inferno Prologue/The Evolutionary War

The High Evolutionary seeks to remove the powers of particular mutants...

New Mutants Annual #4

1st story: Mind Games
Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: June Brigman
Inker: Bob McLeod
Letterer: John Workman
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editors: Ann Nocenti & Bob Harras
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Mutants are the next stage in human evolution and so it's natural they will attract the attention of the High Evolutionary sooner rather than later. Here his plan is to remove the powers of high level mutants through the use of a machine that can strip them of their powers. In the process we get a subtle explanation for some of the inconsistencies in the event.

The Evolutionary himself is shown as sympathetic to mutants and not wishing to kill them but the same cannot be said for some of his subordinates including Dr Stack and Major Purge. Given the scale of the Evolutionary's overall plans it's unsurprising that many individual tasks are handled by underlings but he doesn't seem to have realised just how dangerous some of them are. This disparity in goals can help to explain some of the variation in the overall story as well as showing potential problems for further down the line.

After having captured and depowered the mutants Glow Worm and Bulk from an early X-Factor adventure the Evolutionary's Purifiers turn their attention to Magma (Amara), now living in Nova Roma and hating the prospect of an arranged marriage. The Hellion Empath is with her and there's a clear confirmation from Purifiers' scans that Empath is subconsciously using his power on Amara without perhaps realising it. Elsewhere at least some of the New Mutants suspect the power is being used but seem very relaxed about it. This can't be dismissed as an "of its time" blunder since this came out not longer after the West Coast Avengers storyline where Mockingbird was drugged and seduced by the Phantom Rider against her free will. At this point they are completely grounded by Magneto who also bans them from using their powers without supervision, still angry about how Doug Ramsey died. But this has never stopped them and news of Amara's kidnapping results in the New Mutants sneaking off to rescue her whilst Emma Frost recruits allies in the Hellfire Club including Magneto.

The battle in the Purifiers' base is straightforward bar a moment when Mirage (Danielle) gets caught in the depowering machine. Before she can even realise she's lost her powers a dying Bulk and Glow Worm give their last breaths to reverse the effect. When Mirage comes round the images she creates are now solid and the New Mutants are able to rescue Amara and escape just before Magneto and the Hellfire Club arrive.

This is the best chapter of The Evolutionary War so far as it manages to use the overall event well in order to generate a small but significant change for the regular series. Mirage has long suffered from fairly weak powers and a limited opportunity to build up her leadership skills so it's understandable that multiple writers have sought to beef her up whether through making her a Valkyrie or now making her illusions solid. That she cannot get rid of them without making another also adds a constraint to their use. Otherwise this is a good showcase for all the characters in the series at this stage, showing how Magneto is trying to do his best to protect his students but alienating them in the process, how the New Mutants themselves are easily getting round the restrictions placed on them, how Illyana is becoming ever more ruthless in sending foes to Limbo and also how Amara is adapting to life back home. This is just the sort of showcase a crossover chapter should be.


2nd story: If Wishes Were Horses
Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: June Brigman
Inker: Roy Richardson
Letterer: John E. Workman Jr
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

This is a surprisingly long tale at 15 pages considering the brevity of the story material. It could easily have become an issue of the regular series with plenty of space for subplots but instead it appears here as character and art showcase as we get a Mirage solo tale in which she discovers more about her newly changed powers and how best to handle them. There's plenty of comedy as her powers go wrong such as when they create a mate for Brightwind whilst she's flying on him and so gets thrown off or an encounter with a police officer who tries to make sense of all the weird things going on, first wondering if he's on a prankster television show and then assuming he's encountering aliens. This leads to an especially good moment when Brightwind reappears and firmly confronts the officer until he releases Mirage.

Otherwise this is primarily about Mirage steadily working out how to make use of her new powers that pull images out of people's heads and bring them to life as now solid objects and also how they won't disappear until she creates another. It's a good idea but it feels like it just takes up too many pages even though the story ends with Magneto returning home in a good mood and admitting to his students that he can be harsh at times. Overall this is okay but I wonder what else could have appeared had this been cut down to a more natural length.


3rd story: The High Evolutionary: Blood Drawn, Blood Spilt
Story: Mark Gruenwald
Pencils: Ron Lim
Inks: Jim Sinclair
Letters: Ken Lopez
Colors: Gregory Wright
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

The saga continues as we start ploughing through the various characters whose backstories have been tied to Mount Wundagore. So in the space of one day we see how the Drew family fell apart when the future Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) collapsed whilst playing with clay with the future Puppet Master (Phillip Masters) and was subjected to an experimental spider-serum in the hope of saving her from radiation poisoning before arguments about further treatments caused her mother Merriem to go for a walk where she was killed with the prime suspect appearing to be the father of the Werewolf. It's a sudden rush but in just six pages it's a reminder of just how many different characters had been given ties to the mountain and/or Mount Wundagore. But it also establishes a devious side to Herbert Edgar Wyndham as he repeatedly places keeping the Moloids above other concerns, refusing to investigate them despite being a scientist and hiding the true cause of Merriem Drew's death from her husband out of fear that Jonathan will blame the Moloids and attack them. Wyndham swears to make the true murderer pay and in doing so his driven ruthless nature is further established. However the saga could really benefit from some footnotes as some of the character names are obscure and others reference relatives of heroes so the connections aren't always obvious.


There are no pin-ups or other features in the annual which is a pity as a further introduction could have helped to sell the series to readers passing through due to The Evolutionary War. But overall this is a solid book with excellent artwork and a clear solid plot that makes it important to the ongoing series narrative and not a mere side event.

Silver Surfer Annual 1 - The Evolutionary War

The Surfer comes back to Earth to have his DNA mapped.

Silver Surfer Annual #1

1st story: Adam
(At least that's what the internet thinks this story is called. The title lettering is extremely hard to read.)
Story: Steve Englehart
Pencils: Joe Staton
Inks: Joe Rubinstein
Letters: Ken Bruzenak
Colors: Tom Vincent
Editor: Craig Anderson
Chief: Tom DeFalco

Silver Surfer was the other big new successful series of this time and again one that's difficult to fit into a major Earth based crossover event. The whole thrust of the series was to get the Surfer away from Earth and into outer space where he encountered all the major cosmic races and entities. Meanwhile the High Evolutionary is focused on a plan to advance life on Earth. Somehow these two very different approaches have to matched.

The solution was to have the Evolutionary interested in the genetics of humanoids and seek to have the Silver Surfer's DNA mapped. For this he turns up at Olympia, home of the Eternals, and talks these beings into agreeing to undertake the task. Meanwhile the Surfer has decided to return to Earth to find the son of his recently deceased girlfriend Mantis though once he reaches the planet this gets forgotten for the rest of the annual.

Part of the complication is that this annual, more than most in this period, is wedged firmly into the ongoing narrative of the regular series. As a result the Surfer suddenly has to find a reason to be brought to Earth and then forget about it, before continuing his regular adventures. To tie things in with the regular narrative even further this issue also sees the resurrection of the Super Skrull, who has been spending a long time as disembodied radioactive particles orbiting the Earth but has now been resurrected as he could potentially restore his race's ability to change shape. Consequently this annual feels more like a special of the regular series than a chapter in an ongoing saga. It also brings the Surfer into contact with one of the most confusing sets of beings in the Marvel universe, the Eternals.

The Eternals were created by Jack Kirby during his mid 1970s return to Marvel and the series reflected his interest in the ancient astronauts theory that postulated Earth had been visited by aliens long in the past and much mythology was based on these meetings. As recounted by the Evolutionary in the opening pages the Eternals were created by the Celestials as an advanced race and went on to inspire many legends. The problem is that the series appeared to be intended by Kirby to take place in its own universe but later Marvel writers incorporated it into regular continuity which threw up its own problems, not least because the Marvel universe already depicted the Greek Gods and other pantheons as actual beings and so the Eternals had to co-exist with them and be confused for them. There's a brief attempt to try to unpick this mess here when the Surfer tells the Eternals that during his exile he spent time on Olympia and the Eternals' city that has reportedly existed for thousands of years simply wasn't there then but this annual would prove to be the series's only encounter with the Titans of Olympia (although their cousins on Titan would appear many times under later writers) and the revelation is not followed up on. The Eternals themselves are not very impressive, being easily talked into agreeing to map the Surfer's DNA to help the High Evolutionary's plan with no signs of coercion or any real exploration as to why they find his vision attractive. Later the Surfer is able to talk his way into leaving with no great debate either.

There's a real retro feel to this annual, right down to its use of the 1960s series logo instead of the current one and a strong homage to Kirby in the artwork whilst the story is the Surfer's first full adventure on Earth since his exile was lifted. Unfortunately it can't hide the sheer pointlessness of the tale. The Super Skrull's revival could have been handled in the regular series whilst the High Evolutionary doesn't return at the end so the entire attempt to map the Surfer's DNA is ultimately redundant to the general scheme. Big crossover events often wander into series that are ill fitted for them and have a completely inconsequential and forgettable encounter and this is a strong example of this.


2nd story: Nova! Moth to the Flame
Story: Steve Englehart
Pencils: Ron Lim
Inks: Chris Ivy
Letters: Ken Bruzenak
Colors: Tom Vincent
Editor: Craig Anderson
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Nova arrives back at Galactus's ship to find her master in pain. He needs very specific help and charges her with contacting the Silver Surfer to find Sue Richards.

This isn't so much a story as a bridging scene to set-up the storyline in the next few issues of the regular series and also to get the Surfer back from Earth. It's also notable for being Ron Lim's first work on the series that would go on to make his name though here he's drawing Nova and Galactus far more than the Surfer. As a result there's not too much to say about this tale beyond how it continues the pattern of firmly anchoring this annual into the narrative of the regular series although at the cost of confusion for passing readers since how Galactus came to eat the Elders is not explained whilst the Surfer rapidly forgets his search for Mantis's son. Otherwise it's a nice showcase for the series's new artist.


3rd story: Mantis!
Story: Steve Englehart
Pencils: Ron Lim
Inks: Randy Emberlin
Letters: Ken Bruzenak
Colors: Tom Vincent
Editor: Craig Anderson
Chief: Tom DeFalco

This is another brief scene as Mantis wakes up having lost her memory of all the events since her wedding to the Cotati and finds herself living on Earth under the name "Mandy Celestine" and lacking her empathy with plants. So she remembers her human friends and sets out to find the Avengers.

There's a bit more to say on this one. A pin-up elsewhere in the annual presents Mantis as dead (she was seemingly killed in issue #9 of the regular series) which hints at a great struggle to get her back into the series over editorial objections and we'll see the character again in both of the other series written by Englehart at this time, West Coast Avengers and Fantastic Four. Steve Englehart's website details his side of some of this but to the best of my knowledge his various editors have not put their version out there in as much detail though Sean Howe's Marvel Comics: The Untold Story does give a rather different reason for why Englehart left West Coast Avengers. But whatever the truth of the behind the scenes situation the result is that over the next few months Mantis will leap from title to title as she searches for her memories and her son. Here the character's amnesia works to cover up


4th story: The High Evolutionary: The Men, The Mine, The Mountain!
Story: Mark Gruenwald
Pencils: Paris Cullins
Inks: Tony DeZuniga
Letters: Ken Lopez
Colors: Gregory Wright
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The saga continues with the land in the Balkans now identified as the site of Mount Wundagore. This begins to hint at the problems ahead because many different characters have had aspects of their backstories linked to the mountain over the years and this saga has to untangle them all. Here were see Herbert Edgar Wyndham and Jonathan Drew discovering a seam of uranium that will finance their plans and commissioning a citadel from a scientist who also wants to build an interplanetary spacecraft. There's some pretty advanced ideas for events set in the early 1930s as we learn the planned Citadel of Science will be able to travel into space itself. Meanwhile the mountain is plagued by a mysterious creature and Wyndham's mysterious benefactor returns to gift him Moloid workers to dig the mine and build the Citadel before disappearing.

This saga is starting to wade through the quagmire and it could do with some more helpful narrative captions. The mysterious stranger who gave Wyndham the genetic code and then the Moloids is never named and a caption tells us Wyndham never discovered who he was which means a key part of the story is simply explained away as a stranger wanting to foster scientific advancement. The scientist who designs the Citadel would appear to be an established character from the Marvel universe but he's using the German name "Horce Grabsheid" and is not explicitly identified as who he will become. As a result of too much info being dumped instead of explained this is the least satisfactory chapter of the saga so far.

Other material includes a gallery of pin-ups all by incoming penciller Ron Lim and inked by Joe Rubinstein. Details are given about each of the key characters in the series. Overall this is an okay Silver Surfer annual with good back-up features and a main story by the regular writer that seeks to advance ongoing plots but once again it's a very poor fit for The Evolutionary War event which really needs some chapters of much greater substance.

The Punisher Annual 1 - Labels post

Due to the large number of creators on this annual some of the labels have been moved to a separate post.

X-Factor Annual 3 - Inferno Prologue/The Evolutionary War

The High Evolutionary's grand scheme begins with the forced sterilisation of the Subterraneans.

X-Factor Annual #3

1st story: Unnatural Selection
Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Terry Shoemaker
Inker: Al Milgrom
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Petra Scotese
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

It's not immediately clear what the rationale behind the order of The Evolutionary War annuals is. As we'll see the mutant and Spider-Man books are not evenly spread throughout the whole affair. Nor is there any pattern to the power levels of the lead characters in individual annuals. Instead the order seems to be somewhat at random. Sometimes the High Evolutionary's schemes will specifically draw him into the world of some characters. But on other occasions it's random as to which heroes will turn up to deal with any particular problem as happens here.

The High Evolutionary has put together a squad known as the Purifiers who are here charged with sterilising the Subterranean races as they have been deemed an evolutionary dead end who need to be cleared before accelerating the evolution of Earth as a whole. But one Moloid, who calls himself Val-Or, has developed a form of telepathy and cries out with most psychic beings around the world hearing the cry. X-Factor go to the rescue of the Subterraneans and rescue Val-Or then fight back. Meanwhile the High Evolutionary's activities have attracted the attention of Apocalypse. Both seek to use evolution to push humanity forwards but Apocalypse prefers caution and natural selection, initially seeing the High Evolutionary as impatient and forcing evolution. The two engage in a conflict both physical and verbal as they trade their differing philosophies until they teleport underground where Val-Or's survival and fighting back persuades Apocalypse that the Evolutionary's methods are indeed encouraging natural selection after all.

As the opening chapter of a grand event there's a lot riding on this issue but unfortunately it doesn't impress well. The confrontation with Apocalypse is clearly intended to help introduce the High Evolutionary by exploring his goals but it also demonstrates that X-Factor has its own evolutionary focused villain who comes across as more impressive. Also the Subterraneans are not natural X-Factor/X-Men characters so it's a little odd to find the team being the ones to come to the rescue when the cry is also shown being heard by members of other teams such as the Avengers who are not shown either coming to the rescue or failing to locate the incident.

This leaves a rather unimpressive issue that is an okay X-Factor story as they rescue a mutant from another species but a very poor opening to the whole saga. The lead villain is poorly introduced and undermined at the same time whilst there's limited encouragement to go out and get the rest of the saga. Back in 1988 an annual cost almost twice as much as a regular issue and so for a regular reader of only a few of the titles getting the whole saga would involve paying a lot more than their regular expenditure. On the basis of this chapter alone there's little encouragement for anyone but a completist to do so.


2nd story: Changes!
Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Tom Artis
Inker: Joe Rubinstein
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Petra Scotese
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

X-Factor's young charges are fooling around on Ship when they come across the Beast and his photo album. Through the photos the kids see how each of the team members has changed over the years and how X-Factor itself has evolved. They then look ahead to being sent away to school.

This is a straightforward infodump story. There's no real substance to this and there isn't meant to be. Instead it's a handy little refresher on the history of the main characters that also serves to introduce them better for anyone picking up this annual because of the wider crossover. There's also a hint dropped for the X-Terminators limited series coming up soon. This year saw annuals increased to 64 pages overall (including ads) and rather than extending the stories even further it's good to see a return of such features that spotlight history and/or supporting characters not normally given the limelight.


3rd story: The High Evolutionary: The Gift
Story: Mark Gruenwald
Pencils: Paris Cullins
Inks: Tony DeZuniga
Letters: Ken Lopez
Colors: Gregory Wright
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Herbert Edgar Wyndham, an amateur British scientist in 1928, is experimenting with using radiation to mutate rats. Having exhausted his inheritance he seeks academic recognition and sponsorship to advance to the next stage. At an international conference on genetics he meets an American student called Jonathan Drew but also receives a setback when a leading geneticist of the day argues against experiments until the genetic code is mapped, fearing financial and political masters will have their own ends (one of the other attendees is a young Arnim Zola who would go on to be a leading Captain America foe). But Wyndham doesn't want to wait. That evening in the bar a mysterious stranger with a glowing face hands him instructions on how to break the genetic code.

This is the opening chapter of a recounting of the history of the High Evolutionary that is sometimes left out when this annual is reprinted outside of The Evolutionary War. It is unsurprising to find this was written by Mark Gruenwald, so often the keeper of Marvel continuity in this period. By this point the High Evolutionary had been around for more than twenty years with stories by many different writers and the result was a convoluted mess that Gruenwald here sets out to untangle.

It's a straightforward opener that establishes Wyndham as a young man in a hurry who rashly overspends his inheritance and then finds his research dead ended until the sudden breakthrough comes. The themes of the High Evolutionary's character are there to see from the outset. The mysterious stranger is glimpsed in the background throughout the conference and creates an intriguing mystery as to who he is and why he has chosen to given Wyndham the secret. This saga is off to a good start and does far more than the main story to encourage people to keep buying and reading.

Other material includes pin-ups of Jean Grey by Walter Simonson, the original X-Men by John Byrne and the original covers to X-Factor #8 by Jerry Ordway and #16 by David Mazzuchelli. Overall this annual is only so-so. The problem is the lead story isn't the best example of X-Factor going and does a poor job of opening the overall saga The other features are more interesting and show a good use of the expanded format but it's the lead feature on which things hang.