Nate Grey stands alone.

February 17, 2000

ISSUE #62: The Dark Side of the Sun
Rawr! Writer: Terry Kavanagh Penciller: Ben Herrera Inker: Bud LaRosa (Click on the image to see a larger version)
	REVIEW: Blech. Maybe I'm just growing antsy awaiting the reign of the Plotmaster, but this issue seemed particularly convoluted and just plain bad. Basically, Nate has figured out that somehow he's been transported to some other world, and fights his way to freedom, with a few "twists" along the way. All I can say is that I just wasn't into it. I guess it's meant to be an intergalactic, mind-bending adventure, but it mostly just ends up being confusing and even kind of boring. I mean, a sidekick named "Fuzz" who appears to be nothing more than a buzzing little blaze of fire? Whatever. Nate's character, which is supposed to be the centering force in the book (it's named after him, remember?) feels lost among the chaos. I'd say he was acting out of character, but then I realized that we really don't get much of a sense of his character at all. And that's a pity. --Sarah Kuhn
	Recommendation:	BURY IT!

ISSUE #61: Falling Forward
Grr! Argh! Writer:Terry Kavanaugh Penciller: Mike Miller Inker: Bud LaRosa (Click on the image to see a larger version)
	REVIEW: After facing Apocalypse, Nate Grey wakes up in some otherworldly prison, wearing a weird suit with a flashy purple helmet and lifting rocks with the other prisoners. Eh? I know this isn't exactly supposed to make sense -- we're supposed to figure things out as Nate does -- but the whole thing is just an odd mix of cliches and bad costumes. Underground prison, weird machine that makes people have weird visions, etc., etc., etc. It all has the feel of the Alien movies, but Nate is no Ripley and I wasn't scared at all. Mostly, I was just bored, slightly confused, and left wishing that Nate would get rid of the stupid helmet and go do something interesting. Oh, well. The Plotmaster takes over soon, so hopefully we'll be spared bizarre misfires like this one. --Sarah Kuhn
	Recommendation:	BURY IT!

ISSUE #60: Out of the Loop
	REVIEW: Poor Nate Grey. One minute he's kickin' it with the Fantastic Four, the next he's poisoned and trapped by Pestilence (formerly Caliban) in some alterna-world where he never existed. It's like It's A Wonderful Life, only with vampire Spider-Mans (which, incidentally, are pretty darn cool). Once he figures that out, though, things aren't all that interesting, because we're just waiting for the big conclusion when Apocalypse is revealed and they tell us to go buy X-Men #97 so we can find out what happens. Basically, it's just fight, fight, fight, the odd thrill of watching your favorite X-men bite the dust (Storm and Shadowcat appear to be in very fine form, though), and so on. All in all, this isn't a bad outing...it's just not that interesting. We're pretty much just biding our time until the Plotmaster takes over, and hoping that he can bring this book to its full potential. --Sarah Kuhn
	Recommendation:	BORROW IT!

ISSUE #59: The Ties That Bond
	REVIEW: There's something undeniably kicky and fun about this month's X-Man -- maybe it has to do with seeing The Thing getting towel-swatted? So Nate is hoping to track down the other survivors of the Age of Apocalypse and stop them once and for all (dum dum DUUUUUUM!), and he's enlisted the help of the Fantastic Four. Mr. Fantastic decides to begin by testing the limits of Nate's mutant abilities. It is unclear as to how exactly this will help, except that it makes for a pretty nifty fighting sequence between Nate and the team. You know, I love it when superhero characters announce themselves right before kicking someone's ass, a la The Invisible Woman on page 12. Heh. Anyway, the bonding time between Franklin and Nate is especially touching (Awww), especially when they're discussing other comic book characters. They basically sound like...us. The only problem with such a pleasant little plotline is that it meanders and nothing really happens until the very end. The lull is sort of nice, I guess, but I like my action and character moments wrapped up in one pretty package. --Sarah Kuhn
	Recommendation:	BORROW IT!

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