GENERATION X #68
"Come On, Die Young - Part 2/4"
Story: Brian Wood
Pencils: Steve Pugh and Ron Lim
Inks: Bob Wiacek, Rod Ramos, & Mei (first name not known)
What Happened? As Everett gets ready to go to class, a group of bullies confront him about his mutant friends, whom they believe are mutants. Ev denies that they are mutants, and the bullies give him a warning - if they find out he's lying, they're coming after him. Luckily, Monet walks in and the bullies leave. Meanwhile, Adrienne Frost finally makes it known to Emma and Sean that she's back, and she intends to stay at the Academy too. Unfortunately, Emma and Sean have no choice but to let Adrienne stay, since if they don't, the secret about Generation X will be revealed. Anti-mutant sentiment seems to be growing by the day at the Academy also, as shown when Jubilee is walking outside and a group of students call her a mutant and throw a snowball at her. Because of this, Sean and Emma warn all the mutant students to lay low for a bit, and not go to class. Understandably, the kids are upset that they are the ones being punished for what the bullies are doing, but there's nothing they can do. As Jubilee heads to her room, she finds that it's in fire, with "Die Mutie," "Mutant Scum," and "Freak" written outside.
Opinions? Things are shaping up to be extremely interesting with this "Shockwave" arc. Actually, I don't think I've been this interested in Generation X since Faerber's #48 issue, and before that, back during the Lobdell/Bachalo days. It's great seeing Generation X dealing with anti-mutant hysteria head on for once, with the only other occasion I remember being Gen X #4. I think Wood is also doing a great job with building up the tension, with some really well-done pacing. With this story, I don't think Adrienne's return was absolutely essential (with the Gen X'ers having other problems to deal with), but we'll see what role (if any) she has to play in all this mess in the next two issues. The art keeps improving with the issue, and (thankfully) so does the coloring. Ron Lim's pages were pretty good -- I wouldn't mind seeing him fill-in more often. Anyway, if you're not reading Generation X, I do seriously recommend that you give it a try (start with #67 though), as I'm sure you'll be surprised with how interesting and exciting the title is today. (And what do you know, no superheroics and costumes for two issues in a row! Woohoo! ;)
