"Lines in the Sand"
Writer: Devin Grayson
Artwork by: Udon Studios
Month Published: November 2001
Takes Place: Before "Strategy X"
Synopsis/Review: This comic begins
with none other than Wolverine, unconscious and shirtless, in the middle
of a forest in the dead of winter. Two hunters find him, and see the adamantium
claws poking out of his hands...
Meanwhile, at a New
York university, Xavier's wheeling through the campus when one of his students
walks up to him and asks him some stupid question about Evolution "I had
blonde hair, but as I grew up, it turned brown. Does that make me a freak?".
Xavier, of course, gently tells his student that there's nothing to worry
about- but he's interrupted as a car suddenly slams into a tree nearby,
and the engine starts to catch on fire. The guy inside is stuck, and none
other than Storm walks up to the car (she's apparently a college student
here). Seemingly without any concern for others seeing her, Storm uses
her powers in front of all the watching students and summons a raincloud
to douse the flaming engine. The students, obviously, are fascinated by
what has happened and bombard her with questions. Storm just quickly flies
away, leaving them all in the dust... while Xavier smiles as he looks up
at her.
Later that night, as
Storm's wandering through the streets, she meets up with Xavier, who introduces
himself and tells her his powers. He also tells Storm that he knows what
she is... but does she know what she is herself? Xavier explains to Storm
all about the whole Mutant situation, and that that's what Storm is. Xavier
wants to talk to her more about it over a cup of coffee, and after a moment
of consideration, Storm gladly agrees.
Later on, Xavier is
in what appears to be Magneto's Mansion, and they're both chatting about
Xavier's "find" while Magneto's maid serves them coffee. We get the usual
Xavier-Magneto exchange- Magneto thinks that Mutants are superior to humans
in every way, and he thinks that humans will never accept Mutantkind peacefully,
while Xavier believes the opposite. Magneto tries to prove his point by
showing a broadcast he had taped earlier on the television- it shows Wolverine
wrestling a huge bear in a cage, unsheathing his claws and all, while the
announcers talk about the "wild man". Magnus switches off the brief broadcast
and tells Xavier how said "wild man" is detained and in custody- but it
took two dozen heavily armed men to do so. Xavier abruptly tells Magneto
that he has to go, to "rescue the poor Mutant", as Magneto finishes for
him, saying that he intends to do the same.
After Xavier leaves,
the maid morphs into Mystique, and she and Magneto have a little chat about
how he hopes she doesn't mind, but he hasn't chosen to reveal her yet to
Xavier...
Later in the night,
Xavier has met up with Storm again, and he tells her the situation. He
also wants to show Magnus that, just as he hopws Wolverine will learn to
accept his powers, humankind may accept Mutants as in the same way. Xavier
shows Storm a prototype version of Cerebro, and explains her what he hopes
to do with it... but he needs a tremendous power source in able to do so.
Storm provides that power source via her lightning bolts, and Xaiver is
able to don the Cerebro helmet and locate Wolverine.
Meanwhile, Wolverine
is running a rampage in... whatever city he's being held in, as he's managed
to break out of his cell. He runs out into the streets and makes off into
an alleyway, a poor beggar watching him. The police come out soon afterwards,
and the beggar tells the police which way Wolverine took off... only he
lies, and points the policemen in the opposite direction. After the police
leave, the beggar man morphs into a smirking Mystique...
Wolverine continues
to run down said alleyway, only to run into Storm. He at first tries to
attack her, until Storm insists that she means him no harm, and that she
can help him. Wolverine is at first skeptical- after all, if he can't even
remember who he is, how can she help her? Storm tells him about the whole
Mutant deal, and Xavier (somewhere else) projects an astral image of himself
into Wolverine's mind to confirm Storm's assertions. He tries to convince
Wolverine to koin him and Storm so he can help them... but Magneto hovers
in, interrupting them. He wants Logan to take side with him, and how they're
superior, humankind doesn't deserve to live with them, etc., while Xavier
asserts his conflicting opinions. Logan tells Xavier and Magneto that they're
basically asking him whether he wants war or peace... and Logan says that
that's a no-brainer, peace is the obvious winner here. Magneto calmly says
that Wolverine is making a mistake before hovering away- but he leaves
Xavier with something to chew on: "..If not an army, what are you going
to build?"
One year later, we see
exactly what Xavier has built... the Institute for Gifted Youngsters, with
enrollment beginning soon. Logan and Storm return on the Blackbird from
a trip in which they thwarted one of Magneto's plans or another, and Xavier
congratulates them, telling them that that's why the X-Men are going to
be necessary- to help combat Magneto's more extreme measures. Wolverine
asks if Xavier has found his first student, and Xavier shows them his new
improved Cerebro unit- on which is a video feed of Scott Summers, laser
beams shooting out of his eyes...
Art Comments: I'll be the first to
admit, I'm not a big fan of the way Udon Studios draws the X-Men: Evolution
comic book series. I'm not really into Anime, and Udon draws it a bit too...
Animeish for my tastes. The female's eyes are bigger, Wolverine (and Cyclops
and Spyke on the cover) are nigh-unrealistically pumped, female's eyes
show through their hair, etc. It's not completely Anime, though, and you
can easily see the similarity in animated style between this and the cartoon.
However, on top of this,
shots which include a lot in them (i.e., not close-ups) tend to look rushed
and a bit sloppy, which, of course, I do NOT like at all. The close-ups
themselves, though, are pretty nicely done, and Magneto, when in costume,
looks awesome. I'm also rather impressed by the cover, which uses pretty
cartoon-faithful representations of all the main X-Men and Magneto (the
only major difference being Shadowcat's larger eyes and Cyclops' and Spyke's
added muscles). So, although I'd hardly consider it good, it's not mind-numbingly
ugly, either. Merely so-so.
Last Words: A nice prequel before the Evolution series starts off, if not a bit cliche (the Magneto-Xavier debates have been done enough, already, in "The Cauldron"). As said before, though, the art really isn't my pot of tea, and the storyline felt a tad rushed to be put into just one comic book- I would have liked a better introduction into Xavier's, Magneto's, and Wolverine's backgrounds, and for their to be a real explanation about how Storm and Wolverine can display their powers publicly without fear of having someone call the scientists on them, or something. A decent start, though.
Overall Rating: 7/10 Good