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Well, there was speculation for some time over the rosters of the X-Books for May's X-Men: Reload event, and as it turns out, one guess I had made, and was hoping for, has come to pass.
As I write this, almost ten years to the day of when I picked up and read Excalibur 75, in which Rachel Summers, then known as Phoenix, was sent to the future, to die, or sit around in limbo for years at a stretch, it has been revealed that she is at long last returning to the X-Men, under the care of Chris Claremont and Alan Davis, in the pages of Uncanny X-Men.
When I first heard that Chris and Alan were teaming up once more, I posited that Rachel could at last return fully, and take her rightful spot in the forefront once more, but I refrained from getting my hopes up too much.
Then came the covers for June's upcoming comics. The cover of Uncanny featured the entire team, including an odd, unidentifiable redhead wearing a green and yellow Marvel Girl-esque costume, but modernised. I made a somewhat logical assumption that it could indeed be Rachel, once again having my hopes spike. I remained cautiously optimistic.
Next, came word of the newest issue of X-Treme X-Men, which came out towards the end of March, that Rachel was in it. I won't reveal how or why, for those who have yet to read it, but this also clicked with another theory I'd been having about the ongoing plots in that title, so it was starting to look like I was batting a pretty good average here, and it also increased the odds of that actually being Rachel in Uncanny.
Finally, came the clincher, a seven-page preview of Claremont's and Davis's first issue of Uncanny X-Men, #444. Finally, confirmation, as a character is referred to as Rachel Summers, the newly-minted Marvel Girl.
And there was much rejoicing.
It all made sense. Jean has passed on, and Rachel has returned to the fold, taking up her mother's old name, and laying the Phoenix identity to rest with Jean, taking her place, and carrying on the legacy of the family. I like this.
I should note, that I am not forgetting Bob Weinberg's brilliant run on Cable, which actually returned Rachel to the current timeline, but aside from a few appearances, she's remained mostly in limbo, which wasn't his fault. Bob set things in motion, getting her back in the picture, but now we're really getting somewhere, and for getting things going, Bob certainly deserves heaps of praise from me. If for no other reason than writing an amazing, if truncated, run on Cable.
So, of course, Marvel gives me exactly what I wanted: Rachel Summers, by Claremont and Davis, but it comes with a price. A dark, horrible price that no man should be forced to sit through. The return of Rob Liefeld.
He's returning to the characters he 'created' - and I use that term loosely - with an X-Force limited series this fall, by Fabian Nicieza, and himself on art. Such as it is. This is either a six, eight, or twelve issue limited series, depending on who you ask. It's being described as 6-8 issues, but in the same article, Rob said he was done with drawing the third of twelve issues. Great, he can't write, he can't draw, and he can't count.
I've gone on at great length as to how much I dislike Liefeld. I can't understand how anyone can like him. At least tuning in and picking up for his trainwreck I can kind of understand, and this is what causes sales spikes, and is why Marvel keeps hiring him. This is why I refuse to buy any comic he's doing, I refuse to encourage Marvel to keep bringing him back, just for a quick fix that will go away when he gets bored, or pissy, or late. He's just not worth the pain.
This isn't even a subjective argument. It can be said by some that they like his art, but it's just not possible to say it's good. Don't make me break out the pie charts. It's actually, factually bad, wrong art. Even if you ignore his anatomy - and gods bless you if you can - there are errors and inconsistencies between panels, his panels just plain do not flow in any logical sense, and does he know any expressions other than constpiated and/or angry?
And for those of us who can't get beyond the anatomy, it's beyond grotesque. Yeah, I get that this is comics, and we have some hyperrealised anatomies floating around, but this guy goes above and beyond the call, here. The muscles have muscles, his fashion sense is slim to none with clothes doing things even odder than they normally do, bodies move at odd angles, if the angles even exist, and he has a complete lack of knowledge on fighting styles, typically using things that just look 'kewl' but are rarely used as he's depicted them. The man does zero research. Or what research he does, he somehow manages to do the complete opposite.
Now, with Fabes writing the book, I really wanted to get this. I've never been the biggest X-Force fan, but they're not absolutely despised by me, and I love Fabian's writing. Sadly, Liefeld is a deal breaker, and I won't be picking this up, unless I hear amazing things from people about the writing. If it does lead to an ongoing series, like some folks hope, I'll keep my fingers crossed that Marvel can actually hire a real artist for it, and I'll look in then.
As this comes to a close, it's worth noting that this article will be posted in April. On April 1st, at that. The above is, for a change of pace, not a joke. Rachel and Rob are both returning to Marvel. Thanks, Marvel, for taking away what would have been great gag fodder, and making me write about it on the one day no one will buy the story.
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