Jeffries does nothing at all to help, fans thrilled anyway

X-Men Legacy #260
Feb 2012

Mike Carey’s long-term run as writer of X-Men Legacy comes to its conclusion with the second and last part of the “Half a Step” arc. As mentioned previously, this arc was published well after the X-Men split into two parts under the Schism and Regenesis storylines, so the big mysteries about who was going to go where had already been resolved. Mister Jeffries, who we knew would be staying on Utopia with Cyclops, appears in a few panels as regular member of the X-Men Science Team, having joined up in Uncanny X-Men #508.

Picking up from last issue’s events where Rogue discovers that Ariel, a doorway teleporter, had been trapped in a fiery half-state of existence, the Science team is recruited to figure out how to get her back. While sitting around at a conference table, Mister Jeffries makes a suggestion that they use the same dimensional barrier technology used back in the four-part “Devil at the Crossroads” storyline (X-Men Legacy Annual #1 and issues #228, #229 and #230) to catch Emplate.

When Rogue shoots down the idea and fellow Science Team member Dr. Kavita Rao agrees with her, Jeffries capitulates and jokes:

That is a reference to the beast he fought with Rogue in X-Men Legacy #244, which is one of the most popular pages on Alpha Flight Collector. I wonder why. Oh yeah, boobs.

It was a nice touch for Mike Carey to insert these references, but also not unexpected in the last issue of such a run for a long-term writer to reminisce this way. Unfortunately, because Rogue decides not to pursue the technological route to rescue Ariel, that’s all we get out of Jeffries. Note that although Northstar was on hand last issue to help out, he’s not needed in the rescue and doesn’t appear.

So ends Mike Carey’s run, and since he was so good to Alpha Flight collectors, a small recap is deserved. He tended to write Jeffries as way smarter than the guy actually should be, but since it’s an error in the character’s favor, it’s easily overlooked. Carey also played a pivotal role with Northstar and Aurora’s storylines, effectively returning them to existence in his opening arc, the Supernova issues #188-#190 and 2007 Annual, and for that we are indebted to him. After a quick Northstar cameo during the Utopia arc in #227, he would end up including Jeffries in the aforementioned “Devil in the Crossroads” arc (4 issues), a cameo in issue #234, the Second Coming issue #236, the aforementioned “Rogue’s boobs” issue #244, the Age of X storyline (5 issues) and this final arc (2 issues) for a total of 20 issues. Not bad at all, and thanks, Mike Carey, for keeping the flame alive for Alpha Flight fans for so many years and so many issues!

Madison Jeffries in X-Club #1

X-Club #1
Feb 2012

It’s no surprise Simon Spurrier got behind the writer’s desk for this 5 issue mini-series, seeing as how he’s come to “own” the X-Club from the two one-shot spinoffs: X-Men: Blind Science #1 from the Second Coming event and X-Men: Curse of the Mutants – Smoke and Blood #1. Set just at the start of the Regenesis story arc, the X-Men Science team finally get a monthly series all to themselves. Madison Jeffries appears as a regular member of the X-Club, having joined up in Uncanny X-Men #505.

Simon Spurrier properly includes science in the science fiction of this series, having the X-Club launch a space elevator platform. Wait, what? Guffaw! No, this is actually a real scientific effort dating back decades from its popularization and effective legitimization by Arthur C. Clarke in his 1978 novel Fountains of Paradise. Even NASA has a web page about space elevators and there’s an International Space Elevator Consortium who sponsor annual meetings to address the technology. So already, the premise of the series is just perfect – that kind of “hardcore yet wacky” science you’d expect for an X-Club series.

While X-Club members Drs. Nemesis and Kavita Rao stay behind at a goofball press conference at the equatorial base of the elevator, Madison Jeffries and Danger ride the space elevator platform straight up, manufacturing a carbon tether along the way. He’s shown wearing an environment suit, surrounded by hovering workbots similar to the Matilda coffeebot from the Age of X series.

Unfortunately, Spurrier decided to pick up on a meme that I was hoping would drop forever: Jeffries’ attraction to Danger, which was bizarre and inappropriate when first mentioned in New Mutants #9, seeing as how Diamond Lil, his wife, had been killed just a few hours before. It was also bizarre and unnecessary when Fantomex brainwashed Jeffries into asking Danger out on a picnic lunch date (she doesn’t eat) in Uncanny X-Men #529. If this issue were the first instance of Jeffries’ attraction to Danger, it would be a lot easier to swallow. Enough time would have passed since Lil’s death and Spurrier’s distracted version of Madison Jeffries would fit well with the quirky nature of mechaphiliacs. It’s unfair to blame Spurrier for the other two issues, but still, I prefer the version of Madison engaged to Heather and married to Lil over this version.

One thing this issue gets right with Madison Jeffries is his technomorph powers. In nearly every scene, artist Paul Davidson has Jeffries holding a gizmo or finagling with some floating bits of metal and gadget parts, drawing perfectly iconic imagery for the character panel after panel. Notice the magnetic anchor clipped to his suit that allows him to move freely about the deck while staying tethered, a clever and useful gadget for a zero gravity environment up on the platform.

Then, Danger jumps off the platform (no parachute, of course), an Atlantean grows tentacles before exploding into a pile of eyeball brain goop and a seagull shoots laserblasts out of his beak at an adamantium-encased sea turtle. Did I mention Simon Spurrier wrote this issue?

Jeffries and Northstar still refuse to speak to each other

X-Men Legacy #259
Jan 2012

The schedule of events among the X-titles fouled up a bit with the timing of this issue. Fans who were expecting a Regenesis story (the cover of this issue does have the Regenesis banner logo on the cover) were happily surprised to read yet one more pre-Regenesis story arc from Mike Carey, the long-term writer of X-Men Legacy since issue #188. The Schism event, in which the X-Men divided into two camps: one staying at Utopia with Cyclops and the other returning to Westchester with Wolverine, had ended in October 2011. Regenesis had begun four weeks previously in November 2011 with the release of Uncanny X-Men #1 on 11/2/2011. So by the time this issue was released on 11/30/2011, the hub-bub of who would stay on Utopia and who would leave for Westchester had settled down, already hashed over on countless websites, and even listed by Marvel with in-house ads in various X-books. Both Madison Jeffries and Northstar appear as regular members of the post-Schism, pre-Regenesis X-Men, having joined up in Uncanny X-Men #505 and #508.

Ultimately, Mister Jeffries would stay on Utopia with Cyclops as a member of the X-Men Science Team, and Northstar would leave for New York, later taking a prominent role in the Astonishing X-Men title. In this issue, Jeffries and Northstar assist in a rescue attempt organized by Rogue of… someone… from another dimension. Jeffries can be seen standing around with the X-Men on Utopia while the rescue attempt is discussed and organized, during which the Science Team is tasked by Cyclops to build a barrier to contain the rescued entity.

One interesting scene shows a wide-angle of the containment chamber assembly. Jeffries can be seen off to the left, apparently levitating or otherwise guiding a very large piece of equipment into place. What’s interesting about it is the tremendous size of the thingamabob that he’s levitating. We know he can manipulate fine machinery and small pieces of equipment but it’s rare to see him handling something so large. It calls into question a bit of overlap between his powers and Magneto’s powers. We know Magneto would easily be able to lift such a large metallic object, but can Jeffries do this?

Northstar appears in two panels, one without a face, and one holding a failsafe switch. Dr. Nemesis has quite a high opinion of Northstar’s fast reflexes

His super-speed gives him the quickest reaction time of us, and pico-seconds may count.

There have been many scenes over the years where Northstar has been shown with phenomenal reflexes, and some scenes where he’s easily taken out by a clearly slower opponent. Even the record is muddled on this point because Byrne’s footnote from Alpha Flight #12 indicates he doesn’t have proportionately fast reflexes but the OHOTMU Master Edition #13 entry disagrees, saying he has superhuman reflexes. Mike Carey, like he did with Jeffries’ intelligence level, errs on the side of awesome when it comes to Northstar’s power set and and chooses to show them at their finest.

This book is yet another X-book that has both Jeffries and Northstar yet doesn’t show them interacting in the way we’d expect. They were, after all, teammates in Alpha Flight and presumably knew each other even from Jeffries’ time in Gamma Flight. Although Northstar did show up at Diamond Lil’s funeral (we think), the two haven’t made any reference to serving in Alpha Flight together. With the two mutants on opposite coasts now and the X-editors sequestering Jeffries even from Fred van Lente and Greg Pak, it’s unlikely there will be any future issues of this type where we’ll get the chance to see it happen at all.

Note: this issue has a Marvel 50th Anniversary cover by David Yardin and a Regenesis Gold variant by Nick Bradshaw and Morry Jay Hollowell

	X-Men Legacy #259 – 50th Anniversary variant
	X-Men Legacy #259 – Regenesis Gold variant

Madison “Jefferies” in Uncanny X-Men #1

Uncanny X-Men #1
Jan 2012

No, not THAT Uncanny X-Men #1; the Uncanny title restarted its numbering scheme after running five hundred and forty-four issues, ending with the X-Men: Schism event and splitting in two. One of the schismees became Wolverine & the X-Men and the other schismee retained its pre-Schism title, but when it came down to assigning an issue number, the comics industry’s recent obsession with #1 issues prevailed. Mister Jeffries appears in a single panel cameo as a regular member of the X-Men Science team, having joined up in Uncanny X-Men #505.

Along with the title splitting in two, the X-Men split up as well, with half the dogpile shipping out to Westchester to restart Xavier’s old school and the other half remaining with Cyclops on Utopia, the island headquarters of the X-Men. Most of the X-Men had chosen a side just prior to this issue in the X-Men: Regenesis #1 one-shot (not an Alpha Flight appearance), which concluded with full-page in-house ads for the two new series listing the members on each team. At some point off-panel, Jeffries had picked Cyclops’ side on Utopia, along with the rest of the X-Men Science Team, and his name was included in the roster in the in-house ad for this series, so we knew he’d be popping up at some point.

After Mr. Sinister stabs some tourists to death and the Extinction Team is introduced, a full-page montage shows a typical week on Utopia, introducing the rest of the teams and a few individuals. Mister Jeffries can be seen with Dr. Nemesis, tinkering with their X-Men Science Team teammate Danger’s detached head. Oddly, Jeffries is shown using some kind of sonic screwdriver implement thingy to do this tinkering, which is entirely unnecessary. We’ve seen him use tools before to perform electromechanical tasks, such as the bizarre soldering iron in New Mutants #5 and the comically oversized wrench in Uncanny X-Men Annual #3, but in this case, it would have looked even more odd for him to be just waving his hands around in that panel, so I’ll give penciler Carlos Pacheco a pass on this one.

Unfortunately, Mister Jeffries isn’t identified by name in that panel, which he ought to have been. A number of characters on that same page go unidentified, and I really think writer Kieron Gillen missed an opportunity here to inform the readers, especially because it’s a #1 issue – a natural starting point for new readers. Why go out of the way to kill a five-decade long five hundred and forty-four issue run, restart the title as a #1 issue as a jumping-in point for new readers and not properly introduce the characters?

Well, at the end of the book, a silly character map tries to accomplish this introduction by naming the various sub-divisions of Cyclops’ side along with a rest-room sign icon version of each X-Man. Once again, Jeffries is shown with a wrench, the completely wrong accessory for a technomorph, but it’s close enough. What’s not close enough is the shameful misspelling of his name. Oh well, it’s still cute.

Note: There is a variant cover by Dale Keown and Jason Keith, a variant cover by Frank Cho, a blank variant and a second printing variant.

	Uncanny X-Men #1 – Keown variant
	Uncanny X-Men #1 – Cho variant
	Uncanny X-Men #1 – Blank variant
	Uncanny X-Men #1 – Second Printing variant

Alpha Flight’s last entry (for now) in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z TPB #1

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z TPB #1
2011

Note: no month of publication is indicated, with the exception of manufacturing date range of 8/25/11 to 9/13/11. The issue was released on 9/28/11. Other issues released on that date carry a publication date of Nov 2011.

The first volume of the amazing fourteen volume Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Premiere Hardcover series is reprinted in trade paperback with all 240 original pages reproduced and, true to the principle of releasing timely information, sixteen additional pages of updates for selected entries. Some minor corrections and additions are found, but for the most part the original 240 pages are reprinted in their entirety. The first issue of this series has every single Alpha Flight member featured in a 3pg entry for the team, Aurora (who appears on the cover) has a 2pg entry and Marrina appears in the Avengers entry. Additionally, Alpha Flight has an extensive update in the appendix, again featuring every single Alpha Flight member. Aurora has a small update as well and there’s also a tiny Northstar appearance in Angel (Worthington)’s update.

Since this book reprints a great deal of material already printed, only the changes and updates are noted.

In the Alpha Flight team entry, the major change is that the three Nemeses are distinguished from one another. The first Nemesis from Alpha Flight v1 #8, who was never a member of the team, is identified as Ernest St. Ives’ daughter, Isabel St. Ives. The second Nemesis from Alpha Flight #76, who started out in the Canadian Government-sponsored Gamma Flight team is given the name Jane Thorne (no relation to Alec Thorne / Smart Alec of Gamma Flight). The third Nemesis from Alpha Flight volume 3 we already knew to be Amelia Weatherly. It had been a question for many years whether or not the first two Nemeses were the same, and the third Nemesis only made it more confusing, so this clarification puts a very old controversy to rest. This is technically a contradiction to previous handbooks, but can be resolved if one perceives Nemesis to be an embodiment that can be passed from one successor to another.

There are a few changes in the text:

In the “Members:” section, Nemesis (Jane Thorne) is added to the list of members. Also, the awful typographical error in that section misspelling Langkowski has been corrected.

In the body of the entry, it now notes that Wild Child was a member of First Flight, as seen when Wolverine had to break up the encounter with Stitch as depicted in the flashback in Alpha Flight #127. The chronology of that flashback had never been pinned down, and was somewhat confusing because Wild Child didn’t appear in the Alpha Flight Special with First Flight. The text regarding the early formation of Gamma Flight is changed from saying that Diamond Lil, Madison Jeffries and Wild Child joined Smart Alec in Gamma Flight to indicate Diamond Lil and Jeffries joined Wild Child and Smart Alec (who were both already in Gamma Flight).

A very good correction: the word “ironically” has been removed from the description of Pestilence’s attack in Alpha Flight #37. The previous sentence bizarrely read:

Crozier possessed the newborn demigod, became Pestilence and ironically stripped Elizabeth of the Talisman coronet…

Alanis Morissette does not approve.
It is ironic. Isn’t it?

And there are some very minor changes: the spelling of Quwrlln has been corrected from Qwrlln and the Hudson’s daughter has been properly identified as Claire, who had been named recently. When the hardcover version was originally published in 2008, she had been unnamed. This tpb was published during the 2011-2012 Alpha Flight volume 4 run, where her name had been revealed.

The illustrations in the Alpha Flight team entry are the same as in the hardcover, but the volume 3 team illustration now identifies the v3 Nemesis as “Nemesis (Weatherly)” in the caption.

The Aurora entry is reproduced in its entirety from the original, with a very good correction to properly credit the artwork of the twins from the X-Men Annual #1 (2007) to Mark Brooks, not Clayton Henry. Unfortunately, the notation of Aurora’s membership in the X-Men which was included in the 2010 Women of Marvel: Celebrating Seven Decades Handbook, which was also a reprint of the same hardcover entry, was not included but clearly should have been.

The massive Avengers entry, with respect to Marrina’s inclusion in the montage of headshots and a reprinted George Pérez poster is unchanged from the hardcover version.

In the update section, Alpha Flight gets nearly a full page of update, which is fairly significant seeing as how there are only 16 pages to update all of the other 240 pages worth of entries! The main entry ended just at the formation of Omega Flight, and the update fills in with an excellent brief recap of events since, up to and including issue #4 of Alpha Flight volume 4. Included is a small reproduction of the cover art by Tom Grummett for issue #6 with the caption “Current Roster”, which interestingly, does not include Vindicator (Heather). That image had recently been released as the solicited cover, and wouldn’t be printed until November 23rd, 2011.

There is also a giant grid of headshots of everyone in Alpha Flight. In the main entry, the v1, v2 and v3 teams each had a large illustration with small headshot insets but in the update, everyone gets a headshot. With the exception of a few members (Auric, Earthmover, Ouija, and Flinch), all of the images are updated and/or better versions of the ones shown in the main entry, but even for the guys who didn’t get an updated image, the size is increased so overall the image is improved from the original. The only criticism is that the headshot for Northstar is taken from the cover art of Chaos War: Alpha Flight #1, where Salva Espin drew Northstar with rounded ears. Interestingly, they are arranged in join order, and there’s a massive caption below indexing the issues when each member joined which Flight – an incredibly dense info dump that shows an insane level of detail.

Following that is a paragraph of text and an illustration for Alpha Prime, the Savage Land superhero team from Alpha Flight Annual #2. There was a minor comment and an illustration for Alpha Prime in the Savage Land entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Premiere Hardcover #10, but these expanded remarks are much more substantial and now properly placed with Alpha Flight team information.

Aurora has a small update as well, just a paragraph with no illustration, describing her activities following the events mentioned in the main entry which ended at her restoration to sanity in X-Men Annual #1 (2007). This includes the little appearance in Uncanny X-Men #508 as COO (Chief Operating Officer) of Team Northstar Extreme Snowsports (the update indicates she had been promoted sometime off-panel to joint CEO – Chief Executive Officer), joining up with the X-Men in X-Men: Secret Invasion #2, rejecting Osborn’s offer in Dark X-Men: The Beginning #3, re-joining the team in Chaos War: Alpha Flight #1 and subsequent events in Alpha Flight volume 4.

In Angel (Worthington)’s update, Northstar can be seen very tiny in a small illustration from Uncanny X-Men #533 just after the de facto X-Men team defeated Lobe’s squad of baddies on the rooftop. Here is a much larger image taken from the original issue.

Note: the cover for this issue is identical to the hardcover, with a slightly different spine and a small note on the back cover that updates are included. Tom Grummett’s Aurora on the cover is very tiny and has a minor error in her costume. In a highly magnified image we see that he drew the asymmetrical starburst over her right boob instead of her left hip.

Jesus, can you go ONE post without mentioning Aurora’s boobs?

Unfortunately, Marvel has canceled the remainder of the trade paperback reprints at issue #5. Sadly, we won’t see updates for all of the original fourteen volumes. Also, since no new OHOTMU books are scheduled for any time in the future, this could be the last printed entry for Alpha Flight we see for a very long time. It was already an excellent entry, and with the corrections, changes and updates, it’s simply the perfect ending to a great run.

Mister Jeffries saves everyone on Utopia in X-Men: Schism #4

X-Men: Schism #4
Nov 2011

The fourth chapter in the five-part X-Men: Schism mini-series picks up where we left off in the previous issue, with the X-Men under full attack in San Francisco at the fictional Mutant History Museum. The X-Men who showed up for the press gig had been taken out by the kiddie Hellfire Club in issue #3 as a mysterious bomb released a Sentinel-forming singularity. Though at the time, Cyclops ordered only Dr. Nemesis over to the museum, in this issue, we learn that he brought a friend! Mister Jeffries appears as a regular member of the X-Men Science team, having joined up in Uncanny X-Men #505.

The distance between the museum and Utopia, the island headquarters of the X-Men, is four miles, as revealed in the massive X-Men entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (OHOTMU) Hardcover #13 and confirmed with a little map as part of the Utopia entry in X-Men: Earth’s Mutant Heroes #1, so how Nemesis and Jeffries got to the museum so quickly is rather difficult to explain. Nevertheless, they arrive to find Wolverine chopping away furiously at the embryonic Sentinel, which seems to be forming faster than he can furiously chop.

Ok here's the plan: I stand here, behind you, just in case there's a lightning zap or something.

Previous encounters between Jeffries and Sentinels haven’t exactly gone so well for the Sentinels. Recall that Jeffries once used his mind to rip apart a Sentinel and used the debris to make a superharpoon to kill another Sentinel in Alpha Flight #43. Remember also that he made a lightning gun out of a model T to blast a Sentinel apart in Uncanny X-Men #512. Basically, there’s just no other super-powered guy you’d want around to take out a Sentinel, seeing as how his technomorph powers could easily destroy one with a single thought.

This situation is different though, because the nascent Sentinel is forming at a rate faster than he can destroy it. Even Wolverine, who appears to be in full berserker mode trashing the Sentinel’s brain directly can’t keep up with it. Later, when Cyclops eye-blasts the Sentinel with full force, it just repairs itself and keeps coming. Alan Davis draws Jeffries with his hands out as if he were using his powers to rip apart the machine, but he actually is trying to communicate technopathically with it, perhaps in an attempt to control it – a smart move since no one seems able to stop it. Jeffries has used this technopathy power before, notably in Alpha Flight #87 when he communicated with the Roxxon computers to discover that James MacDonald Hudson was trapped inside, as well as other instances more recently communicating with smaller devices such as a coffee machine and a digital camera, but honestly, Alpha Flight Collector would just as soon have Jeffries rip the Sentinel apart than try to open a hailing frequency with it.

Then, the Sentinel zaps Nemesis and Jeffries with a “ZZZZKKT” lightning blast, knocking them back but not out. Wow, Jeffries actually lasts an entire issue without losing consciousness!

Although writer Jason Aaron sort of muddled up Jeffries’ power in this issue by making him into more of a technopath (someone who communicates with machines) than a technomorph (someone who can change the form of a machine), he did it in a plausibly explainable way, and ended up putting Jeffries into a heroic role. Madison succeeds in making technopathic contact with the Sentinel and woozily calls out to Cyclops that it’s coming to Utopia, giving the X-Men time to prepare for the attack, and possibly saving everyone’s life on the island, again.

Note: Northstar and Aurora had recently been in the Red Sea, dealing with a malfunctioning Sentinel as seen in X-Men: Schism #2, but when the Cuckoos roll off the list of teams dealing with malfunctioning Sentinels, they aren’t mentioned.

Note: this issue has a variant cover by Frank Cho, which is part of a larger 5-part poster featuring nearly every X-Man and tons of cleavage, and an X-printing variant, which is a sketch variant of that variant, also featuring tons of cleavage.

	X-Men: Schism #4 – Frank Cho variant
	X-Men: Schism #4 – X Printing variant

Mister Jeffries saves everyone on Earth again in X-Men #15

X-Men #15
Sep 2011

Note: both this issue and the previous issue carry the cover date Sep 2011 as they were published 2 weeks apart.

The five-part “First to Last” arc comes to its conclusion in this issue, with the X-Men still under very serious attack on Utopia by the Evolutionaries, powerful and ancient interventionist beings who cannot be defeated using conventional means. Mister Jeffries appears in three panels as a regular member of the X-Men Science Team, having joined up in Uncanny X-Men #505.

While the X-Men come under siege on Utopia, Cyclops mentally implanted his memories of a machine built long ago by Hank McCoy into Madison’s brain. The X-Club gathered in the lab to do exactly what the Science Team is supposed to do: use Jeffries’ technomorph powers to very quickly assemble an awesome machine that does awesome science stuff. It took five issues for this all to happen, so along the way they had a bit of trouble getting it started, then he got knocked out by Litterbug, then he woke up but still couldn’t get it to work…

…but finally the Awesome Cosmic Ray Disruptor they build kicks in and kicks Evolutionary butt.

The machine we see is a fairly bizarre and rather large contraption consisting of a spherical chamber, some pipes, and seems to be blasting around a lot dust and lightning. What the hell it is actually doing or how it works is beyond me but it looks like a fairly plausible rendition of what an Awesome Cosmic Ray Disruptor machine might look like.

Unfortunately, since Cosmic Rays are invisible, it’s very difficult to portray them being disrupted, so we just get a bunch of lightning and dust. You can’t be a comic book fan and not think of this, one of the most famous panels in all of comic books when you read about Cosmic Rays:

We have been taught for the past fifty years that Cosmic Rays look like white bars with rounded corners, and it would have been a nice touch to have some of those and the “RAK TAC TAC TAC” sound effect, but it might have looked too retro, especially in a book already filled with flashbacky memory scenes weaving in and out of the main plot. In any case, even though Jeffries’ machine did something invisible, the reader got the point very clearly in the next few panels where the Evolutionaries are instantly ripped apart and their flaming skeletal remains rain down upon the battlefield.

It’s a powerful conclusion to the arc and one of the most effective uses of Mister Jeffries since the Science Team was assembled. I was naturally worried when he got knocked out in issue #13, but the combined efforts of Magneto, Storm, Namor, Angel, Emma Frost, Cyclops, Iceman, Colossus, and even Wolverine add up to just about zero compared to what he was able to do – save everyone on Earth, again!

Note: this issue has a variant cover by interior artist Paco Medina taken from a much larger promotional poster for the “First to Last” story arc.

X-Men #15 – Medina variant

Mister Jeffries is not Hank McCoy

X-Men #14
Sep 2011

The penultimate chapter in the five-part “First to Last” arc picks up not long after the previous issue, with the X-Men still under very serious attack on Utopia by the Evolutionaries, powerful interventionist beings who initially claimed to protect mutantkind. Mister Jeffries appears in three panels as a regular member of the X-Men Science Team, having joined up in Uncanny X-Men #505.

Having been knocked out in X-Men #13, Mister Jeffries is soon roused awake by Prodigy in the X-Labs to find Rockslide, Anole and Match fighting Litterbug and Dragoness. As he wakes, he calls out, “Hnn… Lil…” – a semi-conscious reference to his dearly departed wife Diamond Lil who was killed off in X-Force #23. Prodigy asks him for, “The Device,” referring to a Cosmic Ray disruptor he had built in the previous issue based on Cyclops’ memory of a similar one built by Hank McCoy years ago. Jeffries says the machine’s done, but he can’t make it work and then humbly adds, “I’m not Hank McCoy.”

Well, yeah, Mister Jeffries isn’t Hank McCoy and he’s ordinary enough to admit it. One version of Jeffries over in X-Men Legacy is sort of a genius-level character, but that’s actually an ongoing error on Mike Carey’s part. The original Mister Jeffries was intended by John Byrne to be paired up with the technical genius Roger Bochs in order to be able to build his contraptions, not be a Reed Richards-level genius who can get a Cosmic Ray disruptor to work by himself based on Cyclops’ aged memories of a machine he didn’t even build. So even though Chris Yost is still in the Alpha Flight Collector doghouse for killing off Diamond Lil, at least he got this characterization right by not supersmartifying Madison in this situation.

After last issue’s do-nothing anti-climax, this issue is even more do-nothingy anti-climaxy for Jeffries, but still a marked improvement, as the number of panels where he’s conscious has increased by a whopping 50% from two to three. What started out as such an exciting role for Madison became stretched out by necessity. It wouldn’t have made sense to have Jeffries show up all of a sudden with a working machine right away, nor would it have made sense to have him mentioned once in Chapter Two and not again until Chapter Five. So, we have two single page appearances in issues #13 and #14 to get ready for the conclusion.

Note: this issue has two variants. One is an “I am Captain America” variant by Greg Horn, part of a series of variants released in the summer of 2011 to coincide with Captain America: The First Avenger movie released 7/22/11. These covers have the common theme of “inspiring images depict hardworking, everyday Americans whose service would make Steve Rogers proud.” The other is by interior artist Paco Medina taken from a much larger promotional poster for the “First to Last” story arc.

	X-Men #14 – I am Captain America variant
	X-Men #14 – Medina variant

Mister Jeffries knockout trifecta complete!

X-Men #13
Aug 2011

This issue is part three of the five-part “First to Last” story arc, which started in X-Men Giant Size #1 and continued in X-Men #12. The last chapter left Alpha Flight Collector on the edge of his seat as Mister Jeffries was called upon telepathically by Cyclops to build… something! Mister Jeffries appears in four panels as a regular member of the X-Men Science Team, having joined up in Uncanny X-Men #505.

Unfortunately, he’s only conscious for the first two panels as Drs. Nemesis and Kavita Rao meet him in the lab to build a machine based on Cyclops’ ret-conned memory of a machine Beast built years ago. Just as Jeffries describes what it is – a machine to disrupt the Cosmic Ray signal that the Evolutionaries use to target specific strands of DNA, he gets clocked in the jaw by Litterbug in the third panel, and is shown unconscious on the floor of the lab in the fourth.

Who? Litterbug?

Yes, it turns out a “Sort-of Brotherhood of Somewhat Evil Mutants” lives on Utopia, apparently seeking refuge along with the rest of the mutant population. In this story arc, they become emboldened and go around knocking about the heroes while trying to find out what’s going on. The five members consist of Toad, Litterbug, Dragonness, Masque and Bliss, who appeared in a single panel cameo in setup to this scene in issue #12. Very sharp-eyed readers with good memories also remember seeing four of these miscreants (less Masque) in the anthology Nation X #1.

After getting all worked up about what Jeffries was supposed to build and getting very excited that he would play a big part in defeating the Evolutionaries, it really was quite anti-climactic to see him knocked out again. Previously, he got his head smashed by Kruun in Uncanny X-Men #536, and before that, knocked himself out pretty bad in Uncanny X-Men Annual #3. For those of you who keep track of these sorts of things, this issue was published 6/15/11 and the previous two knockouts on 4/27/11 and 3/16/11 (spanning a three-month period), so it wasn’t as bad as the time Northstar got killed three times in one month back in 2005.

Speaking of Northstar, who had appeared in chapters 1 and 2 of this arc, Celeste mentions that he had just lost consciousness as well (off-panel), so the entire issue is just a complete unconscious mess for both Alphans!

Note: this issue has a variant cover by interior artist Paco Medina taken from a much larger promotional poster for the “First to Last” story arc.

X-Men #13 – Medina variant

Northstar and Jeffries in X-Men #12

X-Men #12
Aug 2011

This issue is part two of “First to Last”, a five-part arc that started in X-Men Giant Size #1 where a clan of the advanced mutant race Neo show up on Utopia, only to be destroyed by the Evolutionaries, powerful interventionist beings who claim to protect mutantkind. In this issue, Cyclops attempts to pull off a “behind the scenes” plan to defeat the Evolutionaries, all communicated telepathically, while the expository portion of the book plays out in regular speech. One of the telepathic messages goes out to Northstar, who appears in one panel as a regular member of the X-Men, having joined up in Uncanny X-Men #508 and one goes to Mister Jeffries, who also appears in one panel, as a regular member of the X-Men Science Team, having joined up in Uncanny X-Men #505.

Alpha Flight Collector has had serious problems with Chris Yost for killing off Diamond Lil in an inexplicable and unceremonious manner in X-Force #23, so his writing is particularly subject to extra scrutiny. He does Northstar’s bit just fine, placing him alongside Namor subsequent to the mighty stone giant Pillar’s disintegration last issue, and sounding as perfectly arrogant as he can make him with his one line when he mocks the order to stay still.

In the next panel, Jeffries receives a telepathic message from Cyclops to build a machine that does… something… , and immediately has an intense reaction, calling out for Dr. Nemesis, who in turn, races just as intensely to the lab to assist.

This is exactly how Madison Jeffries’ powers are supposed to work – he was supposed to be the guy who can build any machine with his mind, but not necessarily ready with the engineering knowledge how to design them. Both John Byrne and Bill Mantlo paired him up with Roger Bochs, the brilliant design engineer, and this is the general sense fans had of how Madison Jeffries’ powers were supposed to work.

Roger Bochs concentrates, Mr. Jeffries touches his forehead… …and machinery mentally designed by the one is transformed out of metal by the other.

This type of “design download” directly into his mind had been done in Alpha Flight #36 when Roger Bochs uploaded the design for a sonogram machine directly into Jeffries’ mind when Shaman (as Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen) required one to analyze Snowbird’s unusual pregnancy. Chris Yost got this nuance of Jeffries’ powers exactly right, so good job on that. Also, good job on the tease. I closed the cover, DYING to know what Jeffries’ next contraption would be, and thrilled that he might play a pivotal role in defeating the extremely powerful Evolutionaries, when the other X-Men were told to stay still.

Note: this issue has a variant cover by interior artist Paco Medina taken from a much larger promotional poster for the “First to Last” story arc.

X-Men #12 – Medina variant