Generation X #9 review: Heartbreak at the Xavier Institute
By Thomas Bacon
In the wake of the New York earthquakes, Generation X struggle to save innocents from harm. But danger lurks beneath the rubble — and her name is Jubilee!
Generation X #9
Writer: Christina Strain
Artist: Amilcar Pinna
Colorist: Felipe Sobreiro
Christina Strain’s Generation X series is going from strength to strength. Launched as part of the X-Men’s “ResurrXion” era, Generation X stars a ragtag bunch of mutant students. But things have been getting pretty dangerous of late, not least because Monet St. Croix is still out there. Poor Monet has bonded with her brother Marius, and now feels the hunger of Emplate.
The last issue saw the latest calamity to strike the school. Quentin Quire abandoned his friend Krakoa, and now Krakoa has come seeking him out. A massive organic being, Krakoa’s approach has caused earthquakes across New York. The X-Men have raced out into the city to help with the cleanup, while Jubilee and one student, Bling!, are trapped under a mountain of rubble.
The Emotional Intensity of Generation X
Quentin Quire isn’t having a good day. [Credit: Marvel Comics]Every one of Christina Strain’s character arcs tugs on your heartstrings. She forces Quentin Quire into a situation where he has to face his own selfishness. It’s not something that goes down well for Kid Omega, when he puts one of the team at risk. Quire’s story builds to a devastating close, with the egotistical mutant finally forced to admit that actions have consequences. He’s been pushing people away through the whole run, and now he realizes it. Needless to say, that realization doesn’t go down well.
Strain’s carefully built up an interesting friendship between Quire and Benjamin Deeds. But it’s been a friendship that’s deeply flawed, and in this issue Deeds finally lashes out. He gives Quentin a verbal tongue-lashing like nothing the super-powerful mutant has ever experienced before. It’s only towards the issue’s end that Benjamin even begins to understand what he’s done, but by then it’s too late.
The plot neatly dovetails with the building gay romance between Benjamin and Nathaniel Carver, Strain’s original character. Carver is a fascinating mutant, whose power is to experience an object or person’s past when he touches them. Generation X #9 turns that power upside-down, revealing just what that ability costs. The moment he touches a person, he experiences everything they’ve ever lived through. How can you build stable relationships with a power like that? It’s a trope familiar to X-Men fans from the fan-favorite relationship between Rogue and Gambit. Strain’s creativity gives it a refreshing twist.
Jubilee and Bling!
Temptation strikes. [Credit: Marvel Comics]All this is set against a tense backdrop, with Jubilee and Bling! trapped underground. Chamber rightly fears that Jubilee skipped breakfast, and for the first time we get a sense of how dangerous it is to have a vampire as a teacher. There’s a fascinating sequence paralleling Jubilee’s hunger with Monet’s, when the two discover one of Monet’s snacks. Jubilee is sorely tempted to tuck in as well, but manages to resist temptation by going to pretty extreme lengths.
That’s when things turn upside-down, with a sickening twist. Rescued by her classmates and Chamber, Jubilee is exhausted. Chamber offers to let her feed on him, and an exhausted Jubilee reluctantly accepts. Nobody remembered to tell Jubilee that her baby Shogo was nearby though, and he doesn’t take well to what he sees.
Jubilee’s relationship with her adopted child has been one of the more beautiful character arcs in the last decade of X-Men comics. This plot twist strikes home like a stake to the heart. It’s so masterfully done.
Amilcar Pinna’s Artwork
A true hero. [Credit: Marvel Comics]It’s taken a while to get used to Amilcar Pinna’s artwork, but he’s become more confident with every issue. This time round, his facial expressions are tremendous. There’s an early scene that gives Nature Girl a strange smugness, a glimpse into her character that we’ve never really seen before. Quentin Quire’s emotions are rendered with skill.
But the real stand-out scenes belong to Jubilee and Bling! Pinna’s exaggerated teeth are so very sinister, while he captures the macabre in an understated way. When Jubilee drives a pipe through her hand to distract herself from hunger with pain, you don’t quite realize what’s going on. It’s only when Chamber comments that the truth strikes home.
It’s also worth pointing out the quality of Felipe Sobreiro’s coloring. He works perfectly with Pinna, and the way he renders blood is particularly evocative. Sobreiro infuses certain scenes with a deep blood-red to give a sense of Jubilee’s hunger, and they’re truly sinister.
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Generation X is hardly your tentpole book, and won’t appeal to every reader. But if you’re a fan of strong characterization and interpersonal drama, you’ll love this book. Strain, Pinna, and Sobreiro make an excellent team.