Back-Issue Spotlight: Professor Xavier And The X-Men#10

Happy Hump Day!







So going with a feature I haven't done in awhile, Back-Issue Spotlight.
For today's pick, I chose Professor Xavier And The X-Men#10.
I don't know if you any of you guys remembered, but back during the later portion of '94, Marvel's comic sales were not doing good at all. Drastic measures had to be taken, and that's how we got Avengers : The Crossing....and comics in the market like this one. Prof X and the X-Men, as well as Uncanny Origins, Over The Edge, and the Untold Tales of Spider-Man. All of 'em part of a new marketing stratedgy to pull in new readers for the low, low price of only 99 cents.

Out of all those titles though, only Untold was ever given any notice or hype by the industry, since it was Kurt Busiek writing the adventures of Spidey in his early years.

Professor Xavier And The X-Men#10 (Aug '96)  "The Devil Below" by Art Holcomb and Nick Gnazzo.



This one's pretty much a straight up re-telling of Uncanny X-Men#9, which I didn't know at the time since I was waaaaay too young at the time.



In fact, if you just swapped out the more modern renditions of that issue with the original, classic versions, outside of the obvious differences in styles, storytelling-wise, it realy is the same issue...more or less.

Basically the X-Men are forced into an awkward fight with the Avengers, and its all that jerk Professor X's fault.

Told back and forth between flashbacks and the present day, Professor X is underground the catacombs of Cologne, Germany on the trail of an old enemy, Lucifer. This is the same alien bad guy responsible for Xavier winding up in a wheelchair for so long, so you know this meetings' going to be interestingly tense to say the least.

Xavier's underground, thinking back to how much a jerk he was to Cyclops, telling him he was off to fight an old enemy, but not giving him any info other than that. Stressing out over the situation and how they ended things, Cyclops is just about to go find Xavier, when Xavier mentally appears to the team and informs them  about his fight with Lucifer and how he's serving a alien race of conquerors called the Quist. 

Right around this time, The Avengers show up, as Thor sensed a great evil eminating from where the X-Men are.

Lucifer shots but misses a deadly beam of energy at the X-Men, but before they can retaliate, Xavier mentally screams they're in great danger, as the Avengers confront the X-Men. Xavier screams for them to defind themselves, and basically distract the Avengers while he fights Lucifer.

                     And then proceed to get it on like donkey kong....

          Give me a break people. I had to scan these with my new Motorolla Moto E cell phone....

Meanwhile underground, Xavier's fighting for his life against Lucifer, who's so devious, he has a bomb wired to his heart and heart monitor. If ihis heart stops for any reason, the massive bomb goes off.

So thats why Xavier didn't want to be distrubed...... Hmmmm.....

Xavier proves to outsmart Lucifer and uses his mental powers to make him go to sleep.

Now asleep, Xavier can quickly move in to sever the link and save his students, the Avengers and most of Cologne, Germany. Its the least he could do for being such a dick earlier.

Back topside, his students are getting their asses handed to them, specifically the gay Ice Man.

 Thor's about to commit a hate crime when all of a sudden Prof. X shows up and mentally stops Thor's hand...and safely from a long distance I might add.

Xavier explains the whole deal, and Cap's just all like "I'm afraid we all acted too hastily. Next time I hope we meet under more friendly circumstances."

Huh.

It truly awas a simplier time back then, because nowadays, they'd just flip each other off and make low-blow comments to each other.

                          Now that's how you deal with the hired help. Threaten to call Immigration;)

I had to look up the writer, Art Holcomb because I'd neevr heard of him, then or sense. Apparently he was brought into the business by Jim Shooter, but just never seemed to make it.

Nick Gnazzo on the otherhand's been doing indie work for years, and has his featured in numerous indie hard cover collections.

 As far as I know, Lucifer and the Quist haven't appeared since, which is a shame even for what could be considered "throwaway villains."

Then again, God only knows how twisted and screwed up they'd be in the hands of today's modern writers.