X-MEN #88: A World Apart

The X-Men battle their way through another dimension!

Originally Published May 1999

The X-Men -- Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Kitty, Marrow, Gambit and Professor X -- have been taken against their will to a kooky alternate dimension where up is sideways, cats are dogs, language is orange rain, etc etc. It could hardly have come at a worse time, given that back on Earth, Magneto is poised to become the duly-appointed sovereign of Genosha, and the X-Men are rather torn up about what that means and what to do about it. 

I guess it will have to wait.

Aside from the plethora of scary monsters and supercreeps threatening them, things don't seem that bad, until they realize that the laws governing their powers don't function quite the same here, such as when Nightcrawler attempts to teleport and instead summons a tentacle monster.

Are we sure CC didn't ghost-write this?

They battle haplessly for a bit, until Storm uses her powers to give us a glimpse of the Trion, the "sentient manifestations of the forces that control this dimension." 

The experience is so intense it knocks Storm out of commission, putting her in what we are told is a "protective coma." Sure.

Our guide Ejulp explains that he had grabbed the X-Men to help the Trion combat a familiar foe -- the Juggernaut!

Here to tell us more is a man who is "never far behind" when the Juggernaut's around, Black Tom Cassidy.

Archer was not yet on TV in 1999, so there's nobody to say "Phrasing!"

This all stems, we are told, from the last few ignominious outings for Juggy. As you will recall, he was tricked into giving up some of his Cyttorak Power. Then some of the X-Men helped him find another Gem of Cyttorak. now, thanks to the evil properties of that gem, Cain has gotten high on his own supply... of power that is, causing him to punch his way through the barrier between dimensions.

Sure, whatever

It seems the forces possessing Juggernaut are using him to try to depose the Trion and rule in their stead. The Trion have diverted him through a circuitous path until they could find the X-Men to help -- they are, after all, pacifists, and therefore need to hire the X-Men to do their dirty work.

Leaving Gambit and Colossus behind to look after an incapacitated Storm and Marrow (stricken unintentionally by a stray Gambit card), Charles -- in his astral form that is more powerful in this dimension -- leads Shadowcat, Nightcrawler and Wolverine onward.

Meanwhile, Storm suffers another nightmare about her traumatic experience being buried alive.

On the mission, Nightcrawler is able to harness the power of teleportation-monsters, while Wolverine hacks and slashes his way through the local bestiary, much to Professor Xavier's disapproval.

While on his slicing jag, Wolverine slips off the narrow platform that constitutes the ground and nearly falls into oblivion, only for the Prof to reach down to grab him...

Only for them to become... the Professorine!

Wolxavier? We'll work on it

In practice, Charles is more riding shotgun in Logan's psyche, getting to experience the joys of Berzerker rage firsthand.

In another dimension of this other dimension, Ororo digs her way out to the African veldt -- with some unexpected assistance.

Sure.

And the X-Men battle their way to their foe, who has somewhat increased in scale since the last time we met.

Further Thoughts:

There's no disguising my dismay at the fact that the creators went to all this effort to establish this big political story rife with possibilities and implications to examine, only to abruptly switch lanes and do a zany "X-Men trapped in Wackyland" story.

I would be more upset if I didn't actually enjoy the story. Alan Davis is in his element not just depicting the other dimension, but imagining ways that things might go strangely for the X-Men: powers not working as they are expected, strange creatures aplenty, and at the end of it all a 500-foot-tall Juggernaut bashing his way through reality. It's the kind of thing that brings to mind Davis' work on Excalibur. I also appreciated the strong through line of Wolverine and Xavier being at odds, only to be forced to share a physical form by the end of the story.

That's all good, but it's still a very minor side-quest in the grand scheme of things. I like it when comics are fun and enjoyable, so this gets a pass from me, but I'm not in the mood for some lightweight comic book escapism right now, I want the X-Men to follow through on the story threads they've just set up.

Alas, this is the direction. It's fun and all, but you just know this comic can be more than merely fun.