Generation - X

Issues 1 - 10

Marvel

'Created by' - Scott Lobdell (writer) and Chris Bachalo
Inks by Mark Buckingham

November 1994

This book came out towards the end of 1994 and at the time my heavy collecting phase was passing. I headed to Uni and the lure of beer and football took me away from my beloved comic books. These books where in a huge batch given to me by Adam. Of course the easy comparison to make is with Gen 13. Even the names sound similar. I will try to judge it on its own merits.

The first issue has an embossed silver shiny cover. We are introduced to the team. They are Husk (Who is the sister of Cannonball). She can shed her skin to reveal a body composed of any material she has studied underneath. M, who is a low grade super-man type. Jubilee, who is described here as a pyrokinetic, basically she launched fireworks from her hands. Chamber- who has a 'furnace' of sonic energy in his chest that has blown off his chin, making it look like his mouth is on fire. Synch - who has a rainbow aura that allows him to copy other mutants powers. Finally there is skin, who has several feet of extra epidermis. Added to the mix is Emma Frost, she formally known as the White Queen, now a redeemed hero, and finally Banshee, Sean Cassidy. Former X-Man and Interpol agent.
The first issue introduces a villain called Emplate, who feeds off Mutants. He is tracking Chamber. The young British mutant supplies him with two much power and drives him away. The team finds 'Penance' - a young mute with razor sharp talons and hair who is a lovely puce colour.

Issue 2 starts with Jubilee confronting Gateway. - He was the X-Men's teleporter while they where operating out of the Australian Outback. He is supposed to be Aborigional but over the next few issues he starts to look more and more like a munchkin.
M - whose name is Monet. I am unsure if this is where her code-name comes from?- is telling Emma and Sean about the origions of Penance. The mutant herself is resting in a medical bed.
The rest of the team are playing Scrabble. Penance escapes and the team chases her into a nearby wood.

The third issue starts with the team trying to find Penance in the woods. In turn they all get into combat. With her power set she's pretty dangerous.
There is a brief interlude with Nanny- a Villain I first read in Avengers 300, who likes to steal babies.
Gen X chases Penance until Chamber finally subdues her just by talking to her.

Issue four starts with Chamber talking to Gateway. I feel I must point out that Gateway never talks, in fact he rarely does anything.
Skin, Synch and Jubes are shopping in New York when they stumble upon a murder scene - they have to fight a large montrous muntant.
At home Husk gets drunk.

We start issue six with Emma tied up and is being taunted by a Morlock called Marrow.
- The Morlocks have a long and storied history in the pages of X-Men books.
She can't use her powers because Marrow and Hemingway (who is the large massive grey creature from previous issues) are using Leech to dampen her telepathic powers. Synch, Skin and Jubes are wandering the sewers trying to track Emma. Synch uses his aura like a blood hound. Once they get close Leech dampens their powers as well.
Husk is drunk and comes on to Chamber, starting the first love interest in the book.
Frost escapes the villains clutches by booting the crap out of Leech and then brain frying them. There is another giant grey skinned mutant who tries to blow them up.
Back at the Xavier school Husk tries to kiss Chamber, which makes him blow up their dorm rooms.

We have a transition issue. Banshee has a nightmare. The team are living with Emma and the proximity of his dreams means Emma gets inserted into them. Despite Banshee being fully dressed in his dream-scape, Emma is only in her undies. In the next few panels we see she is actually sleeping in the buff...
Chamber broods over his rather wild and alarming power set and Skin and Synch build Artie (Who they rescued from Gene Nation) and Leech a tree-house.
Finally Banshee gets a phone call from Ireland and his Castle has vanished.

The next two issues take the team from Ireland into a magical pixie land where Synch and Chamber fight with medival style weapons and Skin takes on a dragon.
We have an interlude in Hawaii with a mutant called Mondo and another Frost.
We wrap this arc up after a fight with trolls and pixies.

Issue ten starts with the team having a party. They are introduced to Mondo. During the party M finds Banshee almost dead in a fridge. The team rushes to get him medical attention. Frost reads Banshee's mind while the rest of the team walks into a trap with X-Men villain, Omega Red.

The book was one of the many X-titles from the 90's. If I remember correctly in the late 80's they spawned X-Factor. In the 90's we got 2 X-Men books, then X-Force and finally Generation X. An obvious comparison is the Gen 13 book that came out earlier in the year. Gen X has a better cast of characters, each one is ethnically different, and an interesting power set of the team. The first few issues does a good job of introducing the team but the fantasy story let's down the tone, IMO, which is why it only gets a Qualified.
Still I have up to issue 30, and I am keen to keep reading. The interplay is good and the art matches the story. Again the fan service is strong in this one, with Emma Frost acting as the conduit.

The book itself runs to issue #75 and I have a hankering over tracking them down to see how the story arc runs.