Generation X (1st series) #4

Issue Date: 
February 1995
Story Title: 
Between the Cracks
Staff: 

Scott Lobdell & Chris Bachalo (creators), Mark Buckingham (inker), Steve Buccelleto & Electric Crayon (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Bob Harras (editor), Tom Defalco (editor in chief)

Brief Description: 

This Christmas tale is set round a freakishly disfigured boy who just wants a chance to learn, but society won‘t let him. He takes a class and their teacher hostage, while outside both Generation X and the Orphan Maker arrive, wanting to help in their respective ways. Banshee, Skin, and M deal with the Orphan Maker, while Jubilee sneaks inside the school, to find the children released and the teacher dead. He had a heart attack because of the stress of the situation. Jubilee feels sorry for Elliot, who according to Synch’s power is not even a mutant, just ugly. At the mansion Husk watches Chamber care for Penance.

Full Summary: 

Banshee is taking M,Skin, Synch, and Jubilee to Maine for a field trip when they are stopped by armed police and diverted. In Faybrook, Maine, armed police have surrounded the local school where a mutant boy, Elliot, has taken a Mr L, a teacher, and 5 kids hostage because Mr. L promised he would help Elliot get into the school, but the board rejected all his pleas.

At Xavier’s, Penance is exploring the Biosphere when Chamber offers her some apples and she accepts. Husk is watching from the computer room and is miffed that he is making such an effort to reach Penance.

Back at Faybrook, The Orphan Maker is hidden amongst the crowd outside the school in an ice cream van. He is telling Nanny he will make her proud. Banshee and the kids arrive in Faybrook after becoming suspicious over all the armed police.

They soon learn that the mutant boy has hostages and he, M and Skin take out the swat team covering the school. Synch tries to synch in with Elliot, but instead synch’s in with another mutant signature. Before they can find out who it is, the Orphan Maker bursts out of the van and starts firing at Elliot’s parents, who have arrived on the scene to try to talk Elliot out of the school. Banshee releases a sonic wave at the bullets, diverting their course and saving Elliot’s parents. M and Skin attack The Orphan Maker.

Meanwhile, Jubilee has sneaked into the school through the basement and jumps into the room expecting a battle with an evil mutant, but instead finds that the children have been released, and Elliot, a terribly deformed mutant, cradling the body of Mr L, who had has a heart attack and died due to the stress of the situation.

Outside, Skin’s attack has made Orphan Maker’s armour begin to fuse together and lose power, so he flees telling Elliot’s parents that he has no need to orphan Elliot because they did that themselves years ago.

Sadly, Synch finds out that Elliott is not even a mutant, as he has no aura to synch up with. He is just a disfigured ugly kid.

Characters Involved: 

Chamber, Husk, Jubilee, M, Penance, Skin, Synch (all Generation X)
Banshee, Emma Frost (Generation X‘s teachers and tutors)

Elliot, a disfigured kid
Elliot’s parents

Mr. L, a teacher

Orphan Maker
Nanny

Story Notes: 

The final page features Jubilee at a news desk, ready to read the next issue blurb to the reading. As she wonders what Generation Next is, she is engulfed by crystals. This represents what was happening in every X-Book at the time - the final page of all Feb ‘95 issues features the M’Kraan Crystal reaching Earth and engulfing it, effectivly killing all the characters. This is because over in the Legion Quest crossover in the main X-Books, Legion, Xavier’s son, travelled back in time with the purpose of killing Magneto, but he accidentally killed his father, Charles Xavier. These events wiped out all the history and continuity we knew - and every X-Book was replaced for 4 months by a four issue limited series with a similar name. “Generation Next“ depicts the lifes of the Generation X character in the changed realitiy Age of Apocalypse. The next chronological appearance of the main Marvel Universe’s Generation X is in X-Men Prime, before continuing with a regular #5 July 1995.

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