The story itself is pretty light but it does do a good job of introducing new characters and showing new sides of pre-existing characters. This is the first time we see Emma Frost as a sympathetic character and Banshee taking leadership of people he barely knows. X-men artists by Joe Mad and Andy Kubert also solid deliver solid work even if the dialogue and plot drag on a bit. The most important part of this storyline is introducing the new characters for Generation X:
Monet St. Croix, “M”: A mutant whose power is pretty much being perfect. She’s strong, telepathic, can fly along with being rich beautiful and smart. But she does have an air of mystery around her. For reasons unexplained at first she enjoys childish things like climbing trees and coloring books, she also falls into a catatonic state every once in a while.
Paige Guthrie, “Husk”: The sister of X-man Cannonball, she’s an overachiever who tries to break the stereotypes that plague her because she’s from the south. Her power is strange and frankly kind of disgusting; she can shed off a layer of her skin to reveal a random element underneath (metal, glass, etc.).
Angelo Espinosa, “Skin”: A Latino gang member from L.A. that has 6 extra feet of skin that he can manipulate. He’s the most cynical of the group and always sees the world through a darker lens, but deep down he clearly wants to change himself and the world for the better.
Everett Thomas, “Synch”: A normal kid from St. Louis who can tap into the powers of any other mutant by extending a “sync aura” to them. He doesn’t seem to have much flaws or an interesting back story, he’s clearly not a main character but is very likeable and adds a good balance to the team.
Clarice Ferguson was also a member of the team but sacrificed her life so that the rest could live. She had pink skin and could open teleportation portals. She was a member of the X-men in the Age of Apocalypse and eventually became leader of the Exiles. Ironically she became the most popular of these new kids.
Now let’s quickly run down the veterans:
Sean Cassidy, “Banshee”: Veteran X-man and cop with a sonic scream. Always shunted into the back round and never really had a chance to shine next to more popular characters like Wolverine, Cyclops and Storm
Emma Frost, “White Queen”: Former telepathic villain and horse murderer (see the Firestar mini for details) who reformed after her students the Hellions were killed.
Jubilation Lee, “Jubilee”: Youngest member of the X-men and sidekick to Wolverine. She’s a typical 90’s mallrat who has the power to generate fireworks from her fingers. She also holds the record for shortest lived X-man spin-off series in 2004 (6 issues, baby!).          
But enough on the past, summer is over and class is in session!

Subject: Generation X #1-4

Course Syllabus:
Written By: Scott Lobdell, Penciled By: Chris Bachalo, Inked by: Mark Buckingham Lettered by: Starkings & Comicraft, Colored by: Buccellato & Electric Crayon, Edited by: Bob Harras, Editor-in-chief: Tom DeFalco, Published by: Marvel Comics.  
Generation X gets settled into their new school and pick up a new student at the airport. The new guy is Jonothon Starsmore, “Chamber”, an angsty English mutant whose power can only be described as having a “bio-metric psionic bio-kinetic field” for a lower jaw. He can communicate telepathically and is pretty upset by his whole situation. When the kids try to pick him up at the airport they are attacked by a guy called “Emplate” who feeds off of the bone marrow of mutants and he’s hungry for Chamber. Generation X is able to stop him and they go back home just in time for Gateway to show up and leave a mysterious mutant and says “Penance”. The group is dumbfounded by Penance whose skin is made of diamond and possesses claws on her hands. Oh yeah and she can’t communicate orally or telepathically and Gen X. can’t get any answers out of Gateway. After chilling out at the mansion Gen X. find Penance has escaped from her holding cell. The team spread out to try to find the girl before she hurts somebody. Eventually they find her and Penance breaks Husk’s arm. After doing absolutely nothing, Chamber calms Penance down with a corny speech about acceptance and everyone is happy again (especially Skin who tries to get Husk to sleep with him, without success). By the time Winter rolls around Generation X take a field trip to Maine to help a mutant named Eliot that has taken his class hostage and won’t release them until the school board lets him go back to school (he was expelled for being ugly apparently). In Maine they are attacked by the old X-factor villain the Orphan Maker. Gen X are able to take the bad guy down but not all is won, Eliot accidentally killed his teacher and Gen X learned he wasn’t a mutant, just deformed. The story ends with reality turning into crystal to signify the Age of Apocalypse.          

Report Card: The first four issues of Generation X are solid but not strong enough to receive an A. The strongest aspect of this book hands down is the art; Chris Bachalo delivers some of the strongest art of his career. From the character designs to the landscapes to the action scenes everything looks unique and distinctive. Some scenes do look a little chaotic but everything brings a certain energy that just grabs you and leaves you wanting more. Scott Lobdell does good work with his character interactions and making the team interesting. I was especially amused with Husk and Skin playing Scrabble and Monet fighting with Jubilee. But Lobdell’s plots suffer from decompression. I was able to describe 4 issues in 1 paragraph and 2 of those issues were dedicated mostly to a chase scene. Lobdell is good with setting up future stories, he leaves you interested in the Penance mystery and Monet’s origin (but unfortunately a future writer was left with these stories unresolved). The first 4 issues of Generation X are good enough for a passing grade but leave you wishing that a little more happened.
Grade: B+         

Mr. Lurie’s Notes: Somebody once said “every story starts at the same place: the beginning” well…duh. Before Generation X was released ads were appearing in every X-book claiming this was going to be the greatest X-book of the decade and Gen X was probably up there but in the chaotic time that was the 90’s that wasn’t saying much. So far there seems to be no evidence of why these characters failed to stick when they were with the X-men. Every character has the potential to be great in this book. The team is new, refreshing and experiencing the world of the X-men for the first time. Maybe part of the problem was that the kids already mastered their powers, or maybe the problem was that their powers were “out there” and pretty crazy. I have a feeling whatever the reason was why these characters ultimately failed will probably become more evident when a new creative team comes on board because Lobdell and Bachalo are doing a great job right now. Also I should add this is the first time I’m reading these issues, I know a little bit about some of the plots in the later issues but really I’ve barely ever read some of these characters before and I already like them.          

Due Next Class: Gen X take their holiday vacation in an alternate reality as a I review Generation Next, the AOA version of the team. Then when that series is over Gen X take a trip to New York to face Gene Nation and 2 of the students hook up. Whoooo, see ya next time and be prepared to take notes!