Generation X, Vol. 2: Survival of the Fittest

Generation X (2017) (Collected Editions)

by Christina Strain, Eric Koda (Illustrator), Christina Strain (Writer)

Morph, Kid Omega and Hindsight are trapped!

Stuck in a villain-infested auction, the Gen X-ers must destroy a priceless weapon -- all without getting caught by the auctioneer, Kade Kilgore. Meanwhile, last we saw Monet St. Croix, she had merged with her vampiric brother, Emplate! Now, cursed with the hunger to feast on others, she has set her sights on Jubilee's new class! But what about the old class? When Paige Guthrie, A.K.A. Husk, returns, the stage is set for an OG Gen X reunion! But it won't be happy for any of them. Can Jubilee, Chamber and Husk save Monet? Or is she forever lost to her brother's curse? And will M-Plate feast on the kids of Generation X?

COLLECTING: GENERATION X (2017) 7-9 and 85-87

Genres: Comics, X Men, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

136 pages, Paperback

First published March 21, 2018

About the author

Christina Strain (born April 27, 1981) is an American comic book colorist, writer and screenwriter. Strain formerly worked for Marvel Comics as a colorist before pursuing a career as a writer. Strain's notable works include; the award-winning Marvel series Runaways, Marvel's Generation-X, the Syfy TV show, The Magicians, and the Netflix series Shadow and Bone.

Reviews

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great new queer characters and a gay romance! Plus Jubilee is fantastic and kicks ass.

[Baba · Rating 2 out of 5]

Generation X volume two #7 to #9; #85 to #87 sees Jubilee continue to try and manage a remedial group. Gay cross-races romance, Quentin Quire heroism, Bling travails, mysterious Nature Girl and tag a long Eye-Boy ensue. Despite all the blaring obvious 'fake' diversity it's the stories of now older Jubilee, Chamber and Husk that resonate and save the book from a one-star review. The main baddie.. almost a trope for this series... is Emplate. 5 out of 12.

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am in pain. I legit feel horrible after finding out this is the last volume due to cancellation.

I loved this volume a lot, it had everything I loved from X-Men, relationship drama, character growth, action, and just school life. The characters themselves have such chemistry between them. They all click with each other and make for great dialogue. The relationship between Morph, Hindsight, and Quinten is so good, it really does feel like a group of trouble making friends. The series also has a lot of comedic elements to it. I legit laughed out loud a few times. Strain wrote these characters so realistically and made them so accessible to me as a reader that I truly connected with them all. I could not put this volume down at all, just wanted to continue reading and seeing these characters interact. Monet was a great villain and made things fun without it getting too world ending seriously like X-Men comics usually get. The series is just so chill and fun.

The last issue cleared up quite a lot of things I was not enjoying. Jubilee felt like Jubilee again while removing some things about her that I truly did not enjoy or understand. She made a great leader throughout the series and one that is different from the rest. Instead of focusing on making her student's great fighters she made them care and connect with each other. I love how Nathan was getting the classic Rogue love story of not being able to touch his partner due to his powers. That relationship was so heartwarming and one of my favorites from the ones I have seen, shame we will not get to explore too much of it.

This volume was one of the best ones I have read in a while. The characters are endearing and full of joy and life. The plot is relaxed and not overly serious. There is character drama and the plot serves as a great way to bring that about. There are cool fight moments and creativity on using theses characters odd powers in new and innovative ways. The whole comic is just filled with love and positivity and I will be missing that a lot.

I am overall heartbroken with the fact that I finally clicked with an X series in a long time and its the one that gets axed. We literally can't have a nice thing. All the other series are so focused on fighting a dumb villain that wants to end the world, same old same old that the fans seem to enjoy, but I just can't, it's just not fun for me. This series had unexplored characters and felt so refreshing. This cancellation hurt a lot and willl be one I don't forget about.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am totally owning up to the fact that at least half a star in my rating is pure nostalgia. Yes, it was great watching the kids sort themselves out, and I think I'm finally starting to come around on the subject of Quentin, but for me the real enjoyment was watching the original GenXers in action, and the callbacks to the original book (mostly the Lobdell/Bachalo run.) Paige has always been my girl and the Marvel Universe has not always treated her kindly (understatement) so I was a little, um, concerned to see her on the cover all rageface. I am so glad that she was treated with the respect that she deserves and as a fully realized character.

The book isn't without flaws. Notably there are some decidedly quick cuts in the plot where the reader is expected to fill in the blank as to what happened without it being explicitly laid out for them. Sometimes it works, sometimes it makes the plot go clunk. I also wish there'd been more girls in the core set of characters.

(If we're busily righting past wrongs committed upon the characters, could we not have figured out how to resurrect Ange or Ev? or was that particular plot twist allotted to only one series this year?)

Overall, I really liked this run. It was fun, it was nostalgic, and I'm really happy with the bulk of the character development. I wish Marvel hadn't cancelled it. It seems like they cancel all the good books way too soon.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting mix of developments and characters and situations that I either really liked a lot or disliked immensely. Husk and Jubilee and Monet are among my favorite X characters, and some of them have interesting things happen in this book. I really didn't care at all about some of Jubilee's students, who were mostly more whiny and tiresome than not. (Nature Girl's cool, though.) The book would have benefitted a lot from a preface introducing who was who and why they were there and why we should care. The art was all right, nothing really bad but nothing that knocked my sox off.

[Mercedes McLean-Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite X-men runs ever. I completely loved the characters, and I especially liked what they did with Benji (and Nathaniel and Quentin). Amazing character development and some important plot points to boot. Only complaint, really didn’t like the art style.

[C. Varn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more than I did because I like Strain's characterization and I like watching X-books being opened up from a repetitive myopic focus on classic Claremont era characters. Nathaniel, Benji, Quentin and Husk are all well-treated by Strain's characterization, yet Quentin's character development seems rushed due the the announced cancellation of series.It leads to a major development for Jubilee, but ultimately the rush hurts the pacing and left this feeling like it could have been so much more. Marvel has been struggling with recent x-titles and thus seemed to be moving in the right direction, but apparently never caught on with readers.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is technically more of a 3.5 stars, because I really wanted to give it a better rating than the first volum since I thought there was improvement, but not an as high as the X-Force books that I've recently read and adored. But since there are no half stars... here we are.

I'm actually a bit sad that this book got cancelled cause I started to really like the characters and thought that it would be possible to even love a few of them.
Knowing that the creator(s) had to cut the story short definitely makes some of the rather rushed stuff more understandable. For example, I assume that the whole "Benjamin has a crush on Nathaniel who thinks the other boy has something going on with Quentin" story was supposed to be a longer arc... hell, Quentin's character development was probably planned to take a lot longer.

Otherwise I pretty much enjoyed the book. The stories were better than in the first volume and I really liked the character interactions.

I still have my gripes with the art, though. It always hurts me to say that, because I know how much work goes into it but I just plain didn't like it. The outlines would probably have been fine, but the coloring made everything seriously off looking somehow? The characters' lips still looked like worms to me...
I do have to mention that it's nice to see a superhero comic in which boobs and butts aren't staring at me on every page, though. The characters all wear normal clothes.

Would definitely have bought more of this series, but I'm not unhappy with the ending.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
Continuing their infiltration at the Fenris Twins party, Quentin, Ben (Morph), and Nathan (Hindsight) are still trying to get the Nano-Sentinels away from them. They achieve their objective, and Ben and Nathan realize they have feelings for each other, but choose not to act on them.
Chamber and Jubilee have begun a relationship, and he has been a great help with Shogo. The return of Krakoa separates them when Jubilee gets trapped underground. Trapped with Bling, she is able to resist her vampiric nature under they are rescued. Krakoa takes Quentin and leaves.
The primary villain here is M-Plate, striking again in search of hunger. With the return of Husk, an original Gen-X showdown takes place resulting in two major changes:
1) Jubilee is pushed outside in to the sunlight, and as she starts burning, Quentin sacrifices his shard of the Phoenix to heal her of her vampirism, to the detriment of his own powers.
2) A mutant power restored Jubilee is able to separate M from Emplate, running him off and getting M back on the team.
As the title ends its current run, Ben and Nathan decide to get together after all, and Generation X looks to the future....
Overall, the return of Husk gave this Volume the umph it needed to keep me reading, but the series is on hiatus again. :( Would love to find out what happened to the other Gen-X members....
Recommend.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The focus shifts more to the original Gen X team in this volume as Strain hussles to hit all her planned story points ahead of the book's cancellation(I've had to write this in way too man Marvel book reviews lately. Jeez guys, give books a chance). While I'm super glad the ridiculous Jubilee is vampire thing is finally done with, there was no reason for Husk to be here other than nostalgia. The Quentin/ Benji/Nathaniel also ate up too much space. I would have liked to spend more time with Nature Girl, Eye-Boy and Bling who were more interesting and far easier to tell apart with Koda's somewhat limited art style. I'm still going to miss this series though. It was nice having an X-book again that focused on characters over crossovers and small stories over soulless epics.

[Geo Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m such a sucker for the found family trope. Love it when outcasts find identity among eachother. I also love how diverse this story is and how many experiences it touches on. I only wish there was more of it :,( (also, SPOILERS: gay people??? I love that)

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strain's Generation X continues to be excellent. And that continues to be because of the excellent characterization. This volume is almost entirely about the kids and their relationships with each other. It's really terrific seeing so many of them, as a kind of sequel to Generation X, Morrison's New X-Men, and even some of the Young X-Men.

There's also plot here, of course. We get a heist and then some considerable focus on the Empath/Monet problem. The first is pretty delightful, but the last drags on a bit by the end. Still, it's a solid story, brought to a solid end.

And the finale to issue #11 redeems any minor problems in this volume. Not only is a great and emotional scene, but it backtracks one of the stupidest X-Men plots of the last twenty years.

And then Strain's Generation X, one of the few bright sides in the grossly mediocre post-Secret Wars line for the X-Men, was cancelled. Really, Marvel?

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

POC: yes
Queer: yes

[Ondřej Halíř · Rating 5 out of 5]

Závěr velice krátkého runu na nových studentech Xavierovy školy, je škoda že to končí tak brzy. Postavy mám rád, celé je to sympaticky psané, rychle to odsýpá a krom místy kresby (která selhává hlavně v close upech na obličeje, kdy skoro každý vypadá jako úchyl) a rychlého ukončení většiny linek jsem spokojený. Nejsou žádné otázky, vše se vyřešilo a vztahové linky se dočkali i svého ukončení.

Nemám holt co vytknout, příjemnou školní superhrdinskou jízdu to splňuje na jedničku, takže za mě spokojenost.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing the great x-read of 2017/18...

Here we go. Continuing the tradition of Marvel cancelling any title focusing on the younger x-characters (which are often some of the best writing of the x-books at that particular moment in time), this is the final volume of this version of Generation X. Which is a shame as it is up there with my favorite titles at this point in x-history.

We see a reunion of sorts for the original Gen X team (which begs the question even more of why Mondo was unceremoniously returned to life in a completely different book without any fanfare...) which was fun (and the writer tries desperately to undo all of the harm that has been done to Paige's character... Not sure how successful they are.).

But the real meat of the story is the human relationships, the dynamics of these younger character's lives. Roxy has some closure and really comes into her own... I don't know. There is a lot of character development here for so many of the younger characters and it just sucks that we aren't going to see them anymore in all likelihood (I mean when was the last time that we saw Surge or Mercury have a moment of dialogue?... sigh.). Whenever the X-books try to move ahead with new characters, nostalgia pulls us back to the same 20 main characters. And listen, I love my nostalgia - I do. But I like well-written stories that are free to move on more. I'm tired of watching X-characters introduced and built up only to be forgotten in waves.

[Michael Church · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well what do you know, this volume managed to turn things around. I’d be lying if I didn’t also say that I’m a sucker for a gay romance subplot. But the main point of this book is that we’ve gotten past all of the stupid setup and most of the characters have evolved past their unnecessary regressions from the last volume. Quentin Quire is still a snarky asshole, but now he’s doing it to cover up his vulnerability again. We can see behind the curtain to who he actually likes and cares about. Eye Boy and Nature Girl are back to actually having something to do, and Benji Deeds is a likable person. Roxy still looks like Bart Simpson, but Strain allows her to develop as a character again.

There’s a bit more action. All of the plot threads from the first volume come to a head (considering the book was cancelled). There’s romance, callbacks, all sorts of things that make this just work better than the first volume.

Even the art, though it’s still Eric Koda and Amilcar Pinna, seems to work better. Koda’s art was serviceable already, and it seems like Pinna’s style was reigned in a bit. It looks considerably less sloppy and generally more polished than before. It’s still not fantastic, but it’s not so bad that I’m offended by it anymore.

I’m kind of shocked to say it, but I ended up liking this series quite a bit. I’m glad I read the second volume, but it’s not like it’s a total home run. Your mileage may vary.

[Lulu (the library leopard)]

On the downside, this volume reminded me of the existence of the Fenris twins, which I could EXTREMELY live without. On the upside, I did like the continued character development, though. Benjamin and Nathaniel's romance was sweet, I'm fond of Trevor and Lin, Jono seems like a nice dude and I liked his mentor/mentee relationship with Roxy, and Jubilee got her powers back! Comics that make me go "awww, they're a family" are good comics. I probably would have read more of this, it's too bad that the series ended.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

X-Books are at their best when they're about family and the connections between the characters. This ragtag group finally gels and becomes family. And then it's cancelled. Of course. But it was great while it was around. I hope the developments stick around and we get to see more of Jubilee and Jono, Quentin with some more maturity and security in his home, and just mutants in general finding their place.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much better than the first volume. The humor works, Quinten isn't as annoying as he was previously and the Gen X crew actually get some spotlight. Also, Jubilee is FINALLY NOT A VAMPIRE ANYMORE. How has that been the status quo for all these years?
Anyway, worth reading but it means you have to read the previous volume too. It's the law of equivalent exchange, I suppose.

[Adan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, I really loved these kids, and Jubilee, Chamber, and Husk as their faculty. They even took care of that horrible M nonsense foisted upon us by the Magneto-led Uncanny X-Men. I feel this series wasn’t given a real chance before its untimely cancellation, and that’s unfortunate.

[Alfredo Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

man, i miss a mutant teenager comics. I mean, we have the new Mutants now, but shit, some of them are terrible...

I guess I just miss generation X. C'mon Disnye, this is basic tv series material!

4 stars, because the art is really weird sometimes.

[Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent ending to this story, but these characters still didn't endear themselves to me. Quentin Quire ends up kind of saving the day, but his power-up happens in a different book. The romance between Nathaniel and Benji was nice.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork is ok not the best but just ok. The story line was really cool. Along with the action. I love how jubilee has grown up from self center mallrat to responsible mentor of a new generation x.

[Maja · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot in this has been a confusing mess from start to finish, but I'm gonna admit that Jono and Jubilee are extremely adorable and I enjoyed their understated romance :')

[Adam Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I, generally, have an aversion to non-queer-male writers writing queer-male romance. The same way I'm pretty certain I never need to read another cis-male writing lesbian or bisexual women romance. Christina Strain does better than most writers at making her m/m relationships seem as realistic as any relationships in a superhero comic. It was at least as believable as the relationship between Chamber and Jubilee in Strain's run.

While I wouldn't quite call this book good enough to be in my Best X-Men Related Books Headcanon, it is really close. It's much better than any full run of New Mutants, the original run of Generation X, the New X-Men/Academy X series, Young X-Men, or any book that's focused on the youngest-generation-of-the-moment mutant book. While Strain does occasionally throw Pixie, Krakoa, Armor, or Hellion in the background of a story, she mainly focuses on the core characters: Morph, Hindsight, Quentin Quire, Roxy, Nature Girl, Eye Boy, Jubilee, Chamber, Husk, and Monet/Emplate (aka M-Plate). This allows her to go deeper into these characters than any previous X-scribe. It also allows her plotting to have more emotional punch because the characters seem more fleshed-out than they do in your average X-book. Apart from the grown-ups, most of these characters are from the 2010s and Strain has made them feel as important as characters with 30 or 40 years of backstory.

I'm disappointed that this title was so short-lived when they brain-sappingly boring X-Men Blue and X-Men Gold that came out at the same time went on forever, despite not having anything interesting to say.

It's also a testament to Strain's writing that she includes some plot details from Jason Aaron's Mighty Thor run. The Thor run itself is dull and concludes with a baffling plot point with Quentin Quire. I would have absolutely no idea what happened based on reading Mighty Thor but Strain explains the whole thing in three word balloons in this volume.

I am also amused at Strain's focus on queer love in this generation of mutants and choosing not to involve Anole but having him frequently appear in the background.

If you liked the original Generation X Epic Collection, Vol. 1: Back to School run or New X-Men: Academy X, Vol. 1: Choosing Sides or Young X-Men, Vol. 1: Final Genesis, I'll think you'll like this more, even though it doesn't focus on many of the same characters.

Again, I wish the series lasted longer.

[Emilie]

I liked this series quite a lot. I remembered Benjamin Deeds as a student of Cyclops' team after Cyclops was evil/Phoenixed up. He continues to be adorable here. I read the new West Coast Avengers books with Quentin Quire in them, which happened after this, so this gave me a little background. Apparently Quentin had been quite the villain at times before this series?

I remembered the original Generation X characters from having read that comic in the 1990s. I was pleased that they actually got some resolution here. The storylines about Monet and her assorted sibling combinations got pretty messed up back when. In some ways, this storyline doesn't have as many of the unfortunate implications -- or what I remember of them -- as the older version did. And I enjoyed the various romances, including some of those awkward moments.

[Silas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Generation X back in the day, and it was great to see the surviving characters get back together. Personally, I would love it if those two other characters would find their way back, as well, particularly Skin, who had a cheap death that I'm still pretty mad about. Anyhow, apart from that, this story was interesting, and also featured some of the other younger characters from the previous volumes, with a few different romances brewing. The main thing that I loved about this volume is Jubliee's return to her old powers, which has been mildly annoying for quite a while. I didn't much like that the big change that allowed that happened in some other book, and only really appeared as a footnote and then a few panels, but at least it happened. I guess this book didn't go any further, so I don't know where these stories will end up, but I did enjoy them, anyway.

[Christian Zamora-Dahmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a really hard time warming up to this version of Generation X. It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting, but as I started to grow fond of the characters, things came to an end...
I guess in these days, a book is either a sudden hit, or it gets canned. Not much of a chance out there.
Anyway, the title may have its faults, it did drag a bit too long with the Monet/Emplate thing, and it may have been a bit predictable, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
I guess what surprises me the most is that I even started liking the same art which made me complain so badly at first.

[Ross Alon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A Better than the first volume, but still lacking. Bringing old Gen X characters doesn't make it Gen X. especially when it seems forced.
While the solution to the series main story was tacky and silly, it felt nice with an excuse for a little nostalgia.

Overall unnecessary series with very little character development (starting to reform Quentin Quire was shown 10 times before)

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strain's Generation X is still muddled but we do get to see more development with Hindsight, Morph, and Roxy. Plus some from the staff. I still have lots of issues with who is on this team, why this team exists, and more. The team is essentially boring and unnecessary. The art was a little better here than last volume. Sadly, I can see why the series didn't survive.