X-MEN #4: The Resurrection and the Flesh

Wolverine runs afoul of his past

Originally Published January 1992

We begin on an unnamed island in the South Pacific, where for some reason it was necessary for Matsuo Tsurayaba to bring his latest find, the body of elite Cold Warrior Omega Red after digging him up. And I do mean cold, as Red has been on ice in the Sakhalin Islands for some 30 years. Matsuo ritualistically sacrifices twenty men to bring Omega back from the dark domain of death, and then Red kills five more just for the dick of it, using his "mutant death factor" and his scary tentacles.

I said tentacles, not...

Matsuo is like "Whatever dude, just don't death factor me." He tells Red he wants to kill someone from Red's past -- Logan (known to us as Wolverine.)

At that very moment, Wolverine (aka Logan) is involved in a pickup basketball game with Rogue against Jubilee and Gambit. The game appears to be pretty lopsided, either because Gambit is using his enhanced mutant agility, or because Rogue is saddled with the 5'1 guy with metal bones. Eventually the no-powers agreement breaks down, paving way for the new sport of explodey-clawball.

Gambit takes advantage of a lull un the action to try to smooch on Rogue, which is tempting fate in numerous ways because if she doesn't consent, she can bat you into outer space, and even if she does consent she's still got that "absorbin' your powers an' memries" thang going on.

Gambit does, however, manage to score a date with Rogue anyway because as an X-Man sworn to protect a world that hayes and fears her, she's hard up for a night out. She wears her antebellum finest for the occasion.

But with, you know, 'the girls' on display.

However, the outing becomes a Group Date as Wolverine, Jubilee and Beast (who has known Rogue about as long as he's known Gambit) nose their way in as chaperones.

Moira, meanwhile, takes her leave of the Xavier School due to lingering feelings over what she did to Magneto (specifically experimenting on him without his knowledge as a toddler.) 

Banshee begs for her to stay -- telepathically, since his jaw remains wired shut after the last adventure -- to no avail. 

Moira is upset because nobody can cure her mutant eye-tentacle disease.

Anyway she's got a whole research center to rebuild and look after, you may have forgotten.

We learn that Matsuo is in league with Andrea and Andreas Von Strucker -- the brother-sister power couple known as Fenris -- as part of the hot new villain supergroup The Upstarts.

The first order of business is to attack Logan, and the X-Men, which they do by the old "trip wire stretched across the road" gag.

Rogue fares better than Kirk van Houten though.

The remaining heroes do well against some ninja goons, but fall to Omega Red's death perfume.

Moira, in a passing cab, wants nothing to do with any of it. She is out of here.

Further Thoughts:

X-Men is already better than Uncanny by virtue of featuring the X-Men playing basketball (which is ever so much more "90's" than baseball) and especially because it features Jubilee. That's just how it works, I don't make the rules. Even John Byrne seems to be having a good time writing dialogue for everyone's favourite Mall Orphan. The buoyancy of the issue even makes the Upstarts seem cooler. It's a win-win-win.