Generation X (1994) #1
Duna Haller
Recap
Jubilee says goodbye to the X-Men as she joins the fledgling Generation X and goes back to Xavier's school to learn more about her powers, along with other young students and under the guidance of Banshee and Emma Frost. But, when the marrow-sucking monster known as Emplate strikes, will any of the new students survive their baptism of fire?
Review
1994 was the year Dookie released. Grunge and goth were well alive in teenager fashion, and outsider-ish appealing comics like X-Men took a big step into that non-conformist aesthetic. Generation X #1 was clearly a change of face, of clothes, to a more rebellious and crude look on our casual team of teenagers just becoming the next generation of X-Men. The design and style of Generation X was something that hadn’t been shown before in X-Men comics. That dark, creepy-vibe combined with realistic and crude looking art (especially compared to the oversaturated and over-action filled 90s style), elegant poses, tension and action scenes that go for the artistic and focus on the details (with combinations of fire, sonic beams, lights, blood) rather than simply showing off action or powers. As shown by the defining art of Chris Bachalo, this was more of a group of rejected mutants than any other ever was. And every detail of the design was important for that.
Narrative wise, the first issue of Generation X kicks in with the nuanced trauma bond narrative of New Mutants in mind, especially with its non-conventional themes, but it also brings new things to the table. Some Generation X (1994) characters are either constantly non-human looking or their powers aren’t there to impress us but to incommode us. They’re also constantly faced with the fear of rejection by humans. Plus, these characters are not children but teenagers or post-teenagers who already have been exposed to the most dangerous situations, including kidnapping and seeing close people die, like in the Phalanx Covenant event, by the time the series begins.
The point of start is way more of a dysfunctional group of teenagers and post-teenagers who don’t exactly know why they’re together, for some it’s just the idea of becoming X-Men, for some it’s the fact that they’ve got nowhere else to go. Their costumes also reject everything that made X-Men classic. They are metallic and garnet, reflecting that goth fashion statement, which carries complicated stories to unveil in its signature. Plus, they are trained by a mostly villain (at least in this era) and by a fairly secondary character, one marked with trauma as well. For years, the face of deformed, weird-looking and shamed mutants was reserved to the Morlocks, and very few main characters (Nightcrawler, Beast) really got to deal with the mutant hypervisibility as Jono or Skin (or Penance) do here. Now, the book puts it front and center. What does it mean to be mutant? What trauma comes with mutanthood?
That big question gets actually answered in this comic via the introduction of every character and their traumas and downsides of being a mutant. The answer lies through all of it: from Paige’s first introduction, then Jono’s first appearance as he gets harassed by a kid on a flight (and his brave response to it, which would define this character going on), Monet’s apparent and exercised perfectionism that we can already tell will reveal a much darker and nuanced story, and the first appearance of one of my favorite characters; Penance.
Even if we only know her name, the pain presented in that full body shot and the way the whole volume leads up to it is so powerful it makes the panel impossible to forget. The character work on every character here is so brilliant and detailed that you simply can’t forget any of them. Plus, Lobdell creates a perfect villain. Emplate represents the opposite of our characters; he’s a mutant, but he also feeds off of mutants. He despises them. He sees them as objects and doesn’t feel conflicted in that. But he also looks like them; non-human, rejected, apart. It’s a reflection of the horrors of otherness when it turns itself into consumption and hate. He brings the harsh part of mutant existence to life. Being a mutant means you are in constant danger, even by your own. And you only have your own to help you.
Final Thoughts
A brilliant first issue, Generation X #1 was innovative and risky, but hits just the right spots: dark, profound and defined art and character design, accompanied by some of the most unforgettable characters and a horrific villain.
SUNDAY CLASSICS: Generation X (1994) #1: Goth Is The New Mutant
- Writing - 10/1010/10
- Storyline - 10/1010/10
- Art - 10/1010/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 9/109/10
9.6/10
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