X-Men: The End of The World (1994)

After the flood of books last year, 1994 is a much more sedate time for the X-Men. But while the pace of the stories slows down quite a bit, this turns out to be a key year in the development of Bobby’s character, thanks to a kick in the pants from Emma Frost. But before we get to that, let’s start off with something silly:

Marvel Swimsuit Special #3 (January 1994)
No writer credited; various artists

I don’t usually cover the pinup books, and the Marvel Swimsuit Specials always felt vaguely icky to me, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out this spread which appears in the 1994 special, which I came across because it’s included in the Legion Quest Hardcover.

Bobby’s smile couldn’t be wider with Warren’s dick pressed against his head. And check out the caption:

“Even a simple contest like the Earth sport known and “Chicken Fighting” takes on new underlying meanings rich with subtle nuances when the X-Men are involved…” *Ahem.* Indeed.

Uncanny X-Men #311 (April 1994)
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: John Romita Jr.

When Beast knocks out the mansion power while attempting to make repairs following Magneto’s EM attack in X-Men #25, Sabretooth escapes and Bishop has to recapture him. Meanwhile, the power blip causes the comatose Emma Frost to psionically attack Iceman, who happens to be guarding her.

Jubilee and Iceman have some cute banter off the top when she tries to get him to take her to the local screening of Rocky Horror Picture Show (in January?!) that’s reminiscent of the teasing relationship he had with Boom Boom in early X-Factor. But being Jubilee, she kind of goes for the jugular in mocking him for his recent break-up with Opal, which leads him to get introspective about the fact that he’s not like “every other hot-blooded young male.” He recognizes that he was the one who threw all the obstacles in the way of his relationship with Opal, but can’t quite bring himself to articulate why. He sadly concludes that maybe he’s just not destined to be happy, which feels less melodramatic and more genuinely sad knowing what he’s actually going through.

Uncanny X-Men #312-313 (May-June 1994)
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Joe Madureira

While Storm, Yukio, and Gambit fight the latest iteration of the Phalanx in New York, Emma Frost wakes up from her coma in the body of Iceman.

We get yet more evidence of the super-platonic relationship between Storm and Yukio in the middle of the fight.

Meanwhile, after Jubilee has a mild freakout at Beast for cracking jokes about Bobby’s unconscious state, Banshee gives her a talk because he knows how important their “friendship” really is.

Uncanny X-Men #314 (July 1994)
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Lee Weeks

Emma Frost, awake from her coma in Iceman’s body, escapes the X-Men to go searching for the Hellions unaware that they all died in Uncanny X-Men #282.

There’s precedent for Emma switching bodies – she did it to Storm in Uncanny X-Men #151-152, and Jean switched minds with her in Uncanny X-Men #281-283. What’s new is the gender-swap angle, which is fairly underexplored in this issue. Unfortunately, Bobby doesn’t actually get to do anything in this story, as it focuses on Emma’s search for her students in order to better set-up Generation X.

The story does play into Lobdell’s ongoing story about Bobby seriously underperforming his potential, as Emma is able to use his powers far more effectively than he ever did, which is the opposite of how these stories usually go. Most shockingly, a Frost security guard shoots a hole straight through Bobby’s chest and it causes no damage. Later she can melt and flow like water, indicating just how far Bobby’s ability to transform completely into ice/water should have come.

As we’ll see, this issue also kicks off a long-simmering subplot about Emma Frost holding secrets over Bobby that many fans at the time interpreted as her threatening to out him.

None of the X-Men appear in Uncanny X-Men #315, in which the Acolytes hold a trial for Neophyte, the member who betrayed them to the X-Men in issue #300. Iceman skips X-Men #31-35, in which Psylocke learns what really happened to her and Revanche dies, Sabretooth tells Rogue how he and Gambit first met, the X-Men sneak into Mr. Sinister’s base and destroy his genetic samples, and Cyclops and Phoenix return from the future and fight-one off villain Sunset Grace in the most hideous costumes imaginable.

For that matter, Iceman also skips X-Men Unlimited #4-7, in which Mystique reveals she’s Nightcrawler’s mother, Professor X and Lilandra break up, the Summers family help to render Sauron into an animal-brained pterosaur, and Storm and Gambit fight Candra. He also misses X-Men Annual #3, in which Shinobi Shaw uncharacteristically tries to seduce Storm into his new Hellfire Club (his previous attempt on Archangel being unsuccessful).

“Phalanx Covenant – Final Sanction”
Wolverine #85, Cable #16 (September-October 1994)
Writer: Larry Hama, Jeph Loeb
Artist: Adam Kubert, Steve Skroce

Then comes “Phalanx Covenant,” the big crossover event that introduces Generation X. The X-Men are booted out of their own books while a scratch team of Banshee, White Queen, Sabretooth and Jubilee save the new kids in Uncanny #316-317, and X-Men #36-37. The X-Men were all kidnapped before the story begins and Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey and Cable go to rescue them in this two-parter. Iceman is among the rescued in Cable #16, but he doesn’t even have a line. Ultimately, with the help of the Phalanx’ human leader Steven Lang, the X-Men trick the Phalanx into destroying all of their outposts on earth, while in the other part of the crossover, X-Factor, X-Force, and Excalibur stop the Phalanx from signaling to the Technarch (their parent race) to come assimilate the planet. A coda establishes that the Technarch are interested in earth anyway, which may be part of the story that Hickman was building up to in the current comics, 25+ years later.

Uncanny X-Men #318 (November 1994)
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Roger Cruz

In yet another trailer for Generation X, Jubilee and Banshee leave for the new school, while the mansion is rebranded as the “Xavier Institute for Higher Learning.”

Iceman gets a three-page subplot where he confronts Emma for answers about how she was able to use his powers so much more effectively than he ever has. She responds that “we both know the reason you’ve been afraid to develop your powers over the years” before Bobby cuts her off. After making him admit that he’s an “ineffectual loser” and that he wants respect and to be in control, she says it’s entirely up to him to learn how to do it and storms off.

While Emma is in prime bitch mode in this scene, she actually has multiple motivations for her treatment of Iceman here. First, because she knows how powerful Iceman is, she’s upset that he’s proven relatively useless over the years. After all, he was at the Hellions massacre in Uncanny X-Men #281-282 – if he had accessed his potential, he may have saved her students. Second, as we’ll learn several years down the line, her beloved older brother Christian was gay and proud, and their abusive father sent him to a conversion therapy institution that caused him severe mental illness. Rather than having compassion for Bobby’s struggle, she clearly sees him as weaker than her brother who stood up to their bigoted father.

Speaking of dads… this outfit is pure homophobia, Scott.

Secret Defenders #18-19 (August-September 1994)
Writer: Tom Brevoort, Mike Kanterovich
Artist: Bill Wylie

Dr. Druid’s Secret Defenders trick Iceman and Archangel into helping them defeat the sentient Nazi bee collective Swarm, since they fought him once before back when they were in the Champions.

Secret Defenders was a short-lived attempt to revive Marvel’s non-team of superheroes, originally with the high concept that Dr. Strange would recruit a new random team of heroes for every story. After the first year, that idea was change into Dr. Druid and a small core cast but with regular guest stars. Unfortunately, as this issue handily illustrates, the book often struggled with figuring out things for the all the guest stars to do.

It’s reasonable enough that Druid would want help from heroes with experience fighting Swarm, but why does he have to trick Iceman and Archangel into helping them? For that matter, why is he reaching out to two guys who are in New York when Swarm is in Houston? Seems like they would’ve spent a long time commuting.

Then, when they arrive, they don’t even see Swarm, who’s defeated by Druid’s sidekicks Cadaver and Shadowoman. Iceman at least helps Hank Pym stop a nuclear explosion by super-cooling a big piece of Kirby tech while he complains about his love life. But what is Archangel contributing?

X-Men #38 (November 1994)
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Artist: Andy Kubert

In a series of vignettes around the mansion, the X-Men catch a breath after the big crossover.

Bobby tries to turn to his best friend, sometime lover, and “gorilla my dreams” Beast for some comfort after Emma messed with his mind and threatened to out him, but Beast is initially to busy making breakthroughs in his Legacy Virus research.

So instead Bobby heads over to the pool where he pranks Rogue, who’s trying to get some time to herself to take her mind off her troubles with Gambit. Rogue is in no mood for Bobby’s shit and lays into him verbally, prompting Bobby – performing the role of rom-com gay best friend to a T – to call her out on how miserable she’s been acting since the Gambit miniseries last year (where, unbeknown to anyone else, she accidentally-on-purpose absorbed his ex-wife’s memories). He challenges them both to work out their own problems on their own. This is actually Bobby and Rogue’s first substantive scene together and it’s quite a basis for the friendship they’ll develop over the next year or so.

Finally, Bobby manages to pull Beast away from his work with a self-pitying routine. It’s safe to say that Hank’s not planning on any butt play after that big meal though.

Uncanny X-Men #319 (December 1994)
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Steve Epting

Bobby takes Rogue to dinner at his parents’ house in Long Island.

We already covered the flashback to Bobby’s youth ages ago, but there’s a lot to unpack in this issue.

Rogue instantly can tell Bobby’s nervous about seeing his dad, but doesn’t quite know him well enough to know what’s up yet. It helps that Mr. Drake appears like a supervillain and opens by tauntingly calling them “lovebirds.”

It’s never quite clear why Bobby brings Rogue along. He does go to pains to emphasize that they’re just friends. On the other hand, even Bobby’s father makes a point that Bobby brought a beard to dinner (have we ever seen Bobby with facial hair yet?). Bobby says Rogue volunteered to drive him because she needed the time away from Gambit to clear her head – but, uh Bobby can drive himself, can’t he?

Bobby takes the opportunity to tell Rogue that Gambit’s trash, because he’s being the good gay friend. But the sheepish way he tells her, like he knows he’s guilty of lying to his own girlfriends, says a lot too.

Bobby’s never dated an Italian girl on-panel, unless Terri Sue Bottoms was Italian on her mother’s side.

And the fireworks finally come out at dinner when Mr. Drake chides Bobby for never bringing home a “normal girl.” Interestingly, Bobby responds by challenging his father to define both terms. It seems they both know what this is really about, even if neither can quite bring themselves to say the word gay.

Bobby storms out, but it’s Rogue who has the last words, and this is queen ally shit right here.

Marvel Holiday Special 1994 (1^st and 6^th stories)
Writers: Kurt Busiek, Karl Bollers
Artists: James Fry Sal Buscema

We covered the Marvel Holiday Special 1994 back when we covered the Silver Age inserts – but in the framing device, Beast and Iceman are being Christmas humbugs but rush off to New York to stop Metoxo the Lava Man from kidnapping shopping mall Santa Clauses. They eventually remember encountering him in the Silver Age and help him surprise his kids with Christmas presents.

And then there’s a “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” parody about the Starjammers showing up for Christmas morning, and Bobby’s there too.

Bobby skips X-Men #39, which is a strange spotlight issue where Adam-X the X-Treme (look, it was 1994) rescues Cyclops’ grandfather from a plan crash. This was meant to be part of an aborted story that would reveal Adam was the third Summers brother – Nicieza would finally wrap this up in X-Men Legends #1-2 in 2021.

Bobby also misses the Rogue miniseries, a sequel to last year’s Gambit, in which Belladonna and Candra try to get revenge on Rogue by attacking the boy who’s been in a coma since he kissed her when they were kids; and the Bishop miniseries, in which Bishop tracks down the last escapee from his era, Mountjoy.

“Legion Quest”
Uncanny X-Men #320-321, X-Men #40-41 (January-February 1995)
Writers: Scott Lobdell, Mark Waid, Fabian Nicieza
Artist: Roger Cruz, Andy Kubert, Ron Garney

Legion wakes up from his coma, no longer suffering from his vaguely defined mental illness and suddenly more powerful than ever, and he decides to go back in time to kill Magneto before he can become a block to Xavier’s dream. But when he accidentally kills Xavier instead, the entire universe is destroyed and replaced with the “Age of Apocalypse” reality. Yes, this is a seven-part prelude to a forty-part story.

Legion woke up in X-Factor #108-109, where Mystique tried to kill him in revenge for his killing Destiny way back in Uncanny X-Men #255. After receiving reports from X-Factor that Legion was awake, Storm, Jean, Iceman, Psylocke, Bishop and Jean go investigate, and all but Jean end up sucked into the past along with Legion. Unfortunately, the trip scrambles all their minds and leaves them amnesiacs wandering through Tel Aviv during the period when Xavier and Magneto were coworkers at a mental hospital there.

The remaining X-Men eventually recruit Cable and activate his latent (and never since mentioned again) time-travel powers to send him back to remind the X-Men who they are so they can stop Legion, but they fail.

Storm points out that Bobby is suddenly more powerful than he’s ever been, because his “subconscious barriers” have fallen. I wonder if a spell through amnesia might’ve made him less self-conscious about his homosexuality? After all, he’s spent three weeks in the gay capital of the Middle East. In his thought balloons, we see he thinks “This is what I wanted isn’t it? More power, better control over my abilities – to play with the big boys, right?” Bobby later describes it as “I saw things differently – looked with myself – and at the world in a way which I never had before.”

If Bobby did indeed have a revelation here, it unfortunately gets undone in X-Men: Omega, the final chapter of “Age of Apocalypse,” in which Bishop stops Legion before killing Xavier, which sends the X-Men back to the present and the timeline specifically heals over, undoing everything that happened in their time-travel trip.

Bobby skips Cable #20, in which the other X-Men huddle together and wait for the end of the world. The circumstances make everyone a little nostalgic and get some characters to make some big reflections and confessions. Hank muses about how he’s given up pleasures of the flesh in pursuit of science while he contemplates the “pulchritudinous Archangel.” For his part, Warren stops by to tell Hank he’s been his best friend, though he emphasizes that he’s just started dating Psylocke in a bit of a ‘no homo’ way.

At this point, the entire X-Men line was put on hold for four months and replaced with books set in the “Age of Apocalypse” timeline. Here, the X-Men are formed by Magneto, and are proven ineffective when Apocalypse starts his conquest of Earth a decade early, because the fight in “Legion Quest” made him believe the mutants were already arising. It’s one of the high points of the X-Men in the 90s, though when I was collecting, this was the point when all my friends jumped off. And looking back, I can’t blame them. 1994 was a rough year for the X-Men fan. The X-Men barely appear in their own books while they’re put on hold to launch other titles and events. Sister titles like X-Factor and Excalibur lacked regular creative teams for much of the year. Generation X launched and before it even had a real story it was sucked into the “Age of Apocalypse” event. And the next four months were going to put all the regular stories on hold while you were told to buy a 40-part story? It really feels like a year of wheel spinning and consumer milking. On top of that, the individual issues were becoming unbearably expensive – especially with the switch to glossy paper and the constant special edition prints, and the exchange rate in Canada. But boy did they miss out!

I’m not going to cover the entire event in depth here, on the basis that the AOA Ice-Man (Bobby picks up a hyphen) is technically a different character. But there are still hints of the development planned for his mainstream universe counterpart throughout the story. His earliest appearance in AOA is in X-Men Chronicles #1 (the book that replaced X-Men Unlimited), which told the story of Magneto’s X-Men’s first adventure. Bobby replays his silver age role by being a bit of a gross flirt with new student Rogue (subbing in for Marvel Girl), but a more-than-friendship with Quicksilver is also implied.

Later, in X-Men Chronicles #2, Ice-Man has a chat with Quicksilver about how much he dislikes Pietro’s girlfriend Storm, then has a couple odd moments where he jokingly flirts with Gambit when it’s clear that Rogue is about to dump him.

Ice-Man goes “sploosh” thinking of all the tip he’s taken from Gambit.

Over in his main title, Amazing X-Men, Fabian Nicieza generally portrays Ice-Man has being more powerful than his mainstream counterpart, continuing the story of Bobby generally underperforming his potential. For example, it’s said that Ice-Man has the power to teleport himself and others by turning people into water vapor. All of this is consistent with Bobby’s power levels being tied into his acceptance of his sexuality. There’s a brief moment in Amazing X-Men #1 where his teammate Exodus (generally portrayed in the mainstream universe as a deeply religious Christian from the Middle Ages, which shouldn’t have changed in this timeline) makes a snide comment about how Bobby isn’t normal. It’s not immediately clear what he’s referring to.

He also appears briefly in Astonishing X-Men #1-2 and 4 before joining the assault on Apocalypse’s fortress in X-Men: Omega. Ice-Man doesn’t appear in any of the sequels or prequels that came out after the crossover, but he does turn up years later in Uncanny X-Force Vol 1, where he crosses over into the mainstream universe, does a heel turn and is seen in a harem with a bunch of female sex workers before he is finally killed in Uncanny X-Force #24. So it’s not clear that this version of the character ever came out.

Elsewhere in the X-Books:

X-Factor mostly spent the year mourning Multiple Man with fill-in creators
Wolverine wandered the world trying to figure out if he could be a hero without his adamantium, and nearly murdered Sabretooth when he was left guarding him during “Legion Quest.”
X-Force dispatched most of the Upstarts, then learned Sunspot was somehow the new leader of the MLF, while Cable investigated Acolytes, Morlocks and new Dark Riders.
Excalibur rotated through a new team, and revealed that Moira had contracted the Legacy Virus somehow (per 2019 retcon, she was a mutant)
Generation X just got started in time to be cancelled, but introduced Emplate and Penance

Where to find these issues: The X-Men issues are collected across the Phalanx Covenant and Legion Quest Omnibuses. Legion Quest is also collected in the Age of Apocalypse Omnibus, which has all of the AOA story, minus X-Men Chronicles, which is the Age of Apocalypse Companion Omnibus. The Secret Defenders issues are collected in Deadpool and the Secret Defenders, possibly the most misleadingly titled cash-grab collection Marvel’s ever released. The Holiday and Swimsuit specials have never been reprinted and aren’t on Marvel Unlimited.

Next time: The universe gets back to normal, Iceman takes Rogue on a roadtrip, and Onslaught arrives.

ROB SALERNO

X-Men: The End of The World (1994)

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