The Origin of Generation X: Tales of the Phalanx Covenant

X-Men (1991-2001) #36-37

by Scott Lobdell

Humanity is helpless against the onslaught of the assimilation the Phalanx brings. Those creatures that are genetically different, known to us as mutants, possess the ability to defend themselves against the Phalanx. Of those, the group known as the X-Men present the greatest threat to the Phalanx's plans for domination. Through means of assimilation, subterfuge, and incursion, the Phalanx, have prepared a preemptive strike against the X-Men. Armed with this knowledge, the mutants have launched a desparate strike of their own, to find seven fledgling mutants: Husk, Chamber, Skin, Jubilee, M. Synch and Blink- who will join the X-Men to stand between the Phalanx and victory.

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

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Scott Lobdell (born 1960) is an American comic book writer.

He is mostly known for his work throughout the 1990s on Marvel Comics' X-Men-related titles specifically Uncanny X-Men, the main title itself, and the spin-off series that he conceived with artist Chris Bachalo, Generation X. Generation X focused on a number of young mutant students who attempted to become superheroes in their own right at a separate school with the guidance of veteran X-related characters Banshee and Emma Frost. He also had writing stints on Marvel's Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight, and The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix mini-series with artist Gene Ha. He wrote the script to Stan Lee's Mosaic and an upcoming film from POW Entertainment featuring Ringo Starr. He also participated in the Marvel Comics and Image Comics (from Jim Lee's WildStorm) crossover mini-series WildC.A.T.s/X-Men.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun, though I was a little disappointed that the Phalanx fight took up so much of the story and the Generation-X origin got so little play in comparison. (I wasn't a Phalanx fan, I'd already seen the whole Borg-assimilate thing on ST's Next Gen.) The Origin story is really told in just the very first and last parts, and the center eight sections show various X-members opposing the Phalanx. One has to marvel at the difference of those mid-'90s comics to the current ones... you sure got a lot more words for your buck back then. I was also impressed with the good job of editing and continuity they maintained through over three hundred pages. The various sections are reprinted from eight (!) different titles: Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, X-Factor, X-Force, Excalibur, Wolverine, Cable, and the first issue of Generation X. That's a very big cast with a whole lot of mutant mayhem, but it all held together quite well. (It would have been helpful if they included a Dramatis Personae page with who was a member of what team... scorecards are always cool.) I found the art to be of good quality, particularly Andy and Adam Kubert, and Tony Daniel. The writing was enjoyable, too, from Fabian Nicenza, Scott Lobdell, and Larry Hama. (My favorite line is Wolverine to Jean: "Ain't you just the lil' redhead who could!") Perhaps Marvel didn't need yet another new band of mutants, but I always liked the Gen-Xers. Excelsior!

[One Flew · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ah 90's comic books, so dialogue heavy. I remember that Lobdell was considered a terrible writer even back in the day. I just couldn't get through this non-sensical, repetative mess of a book. I'm glad that since the 90s, writer's have tried to make the artwork tell more of the story. Previously we had to put up we this sort of stuff where you get panel after panel filled with explanatory narrative that aren't in the least bit interesting, well written or adding anything to the story.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this book is actually 4 different stories. 3 of them are the different parts of the crossover event called the Phalanx Covenant, and the other is the first issue of the comic Generation X. Really the first and last story fit the title Origin of Generation X. They just felt they needed to finish up the Phalanx Covenant for the sake of the first story. My rating for this book is mostly based on the first and last story.

The first storyline, Generation Next, is made up of 4 issues of the two main X-Men titles, Uncanny and X-Men. On art you get Joe Madureira for Uncanny and Andy Kubert for X-Men. I'll probably have more on Joe Mads when I hit his visionaries book, but overall I can't decide exactly where I rank him. I like his art for the most part, but he practices a few things that I can't fully embrace. Andy Kubert is alright in this book. He didn't annoy me nearly as much as he is able to.

The writing for this story as well as this whole book is split between the two-headed X-Men monster of Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza. I am assuming Lobdell is chiefly responsible for the actually plotting, since he's the Gen X writer. This is the better of the Phalanx stories, though it is perhaps smaller in scale. But it gives one of my personal favorite characters a chance to shine.

The second storyline is Life Signs. It isn't great. It pulls a single issue from each of the secondary X-team books, X-Force, X-Force, and Excalibur. The brunt of the story is Wolfsbane and Cannonball confronting the Doug Ramsey Phalanx look alike. It didn't make me like Douglock any better. Bored... Tony Daniel of X-Force was the only artist I liked.

The third storyline is Final Sanction. It is not great either. It pulls a single issue from the solo character books with X-ties, Wolverine and Cable. They get to save the X-Men. And confront the ever-hating Scott Lang. Nothing too special in this story. Adam Kubert's art is good in Wolverine. Oh I guess Larry Hama writes both issues of this. So Lobdell and Nicieza get a break.

The forth story is the first issue of Generation X. Yay! Besides the first issue of X-Men Unlimited, this is the first book where one of my favorite artists makes an appearance. And he's the title's main artist for some 30 issues. So this has me all kinds of happy. Chris Bachalo is not an artist for everyone. Though the way he begins Gen X is a pretty mild form of Bachalo. He goes a little crazy with Chamber and Empath, but keeps pretty simple on the rest. His style kinda explodes by the end of his run however. His inker is also Mark Buckingham of Fables fame. I don't know exactly how these two impacted each other, but you can certainly see Fables in Gen X. Anyways, I could spend too much time on this title, so I'll just leave it as, this first issue is great, but it leaves you hanging and they don't sell a trade that would satisfy you. You'd have to go to individual issues...

Mmm, Bachalo.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm, techno-organic entities bent on assimilating all other life forms across the universe? Published 5 years after The Borg appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation? Also involving the "next generation" of a popular franchise?

Okay, but here the similarities end. These creepy-crawlies look nothing like The Borg - and use up a heckuva lot of yellow ink on the glossy pages! Plus, this is definitely all about the world of the X-men, and how their unique abilities can and cannot match up against such a collective entity.

"Originally published in magazine form as X-factor #106, X-force #38, Excalibur #82, Uncanny X-men #316 and 317, X-men 36 and 37, Wolverine 85, Cable 16 and Generation X #1"

But as for the group of "collected" stories here, I'm not sure I totally enjoyed the overall effect. This was told as a crossover story among 5 (or more?) different comic series, which creates two problems: not enough time is spent on any particular group of characters to create continuity, and the repetition of group-of-X-men-fighting-an-impossible-to-stop-assimilation-entity got kind of old after the fourth or fifth go-around.

There are 10 original issues being collected here, and the last two or three installments were a blast (with the exception of the very final installment: that was just a teaser for the new Generation X series, complete with cliffhanger, and would have been better served in a different volume). This later section had more excitement - more strategies and interactions and just plain action, plus the relief of winding down to an actual conclusion! But the rest of the book was just average, and long. Some of the introductions of the Generation X made me want to read more about them, but they were kind of wasted in this storyline as the drama focused more around the core X-Men.

In fact, the appearance of Wolverine toward the end demonstrates an important point about characterization. This guy has one of the weakest powers of all the X-Men - he's got claws that can cut through anything. Oh, and he is hard to break. Okay, fine, those would be nice abilities to have, but why does the whole story suddenly become interesting when Wolverine shows up? Because his personality immediately takes over, there is clear, dramatic conflict between the various X-Men personalities, and there are sudden references to character backstories, like parachuting during wartime, and the connection between Cable, Scott, and Jean Grey. This is how you write comic book characters. Now if they could have done that with the rest of the characters/issues, particularly the new generation they were trying to introduce, the story would have been a lot richer and worth reading.

It was still kind of a fun ride, and my six-year-old was fascinated enough to keep struggling onward even after it took 5 weeks of our 10-minutes-per-night reading sessions! (Not saying this is at a six-year-old level, but there was nothing too disturbing for that age group, at least in this parent's opinion. YMMV.)

[Adam Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Update during 2024 readthrough:

The beginning of this origin story for Generation X is really intriguing. All of Lobdell's issues in this collection are above-average X-Men stories about specific characters in the X-Men franchise trying to deal with a crisis where technology is evolving to kill them. They're well-paced, introduce the characters who will become Generation X, and are really fun to read.

Fabien Nicieza's issues aren't quite as good but they're ok. He crams in too many characters and they get a bit disjointed but they're still recognizably part of the overall story and have some fun moments.

Larry Hama's issues are unreadable garbage by a writer who wasn't up to the assignment of working on this crossover. In addition to dealing with the Phalanx storyline, he also tries to work in all of the time-hopping Summers family adventures which he does clumsily and unnecessarily.

The first few issues had me thinking I was going to put this into the X-Men headcanon but it really goes too far off the rails during the Hama issues for me to recommend this to anyone.

*******************************************************************
Ugh. Trying to read through the 90s X-Men comics is tough. So much of it is Fabien Nicieza and Scott Lobdell trying to write epic mutant stories that most of the characters get completely lost. The ever-expanding cast list, and brand new villains are, at best, forgettable homages to other franchises. The Phalanx being Lobdell's reimagining of Chris Claremont's Technarchy with a little bit of Star Trek TNG's Borg mixed in.

It's not an awful premise. With the proper story, the Phalanx could be interesting villains, but they're so crammed into the story, that they're hard to find frightening or interesting. You know there not going to be a real threat because Lobdell and Nicieza both introduced The Biggest Threat To Mutants Ever every four issues or so, and they always ended up being easily defeated, and sometimes were never heard from again.

I'm not sure how long I'm going to be able to endure this era of X-Men, and may soon skip ahead. This certainly didn't make me look forward to reading any more Generation X books. I've often wondered why it's one of the few X-Men spinoffs that I didn't read when it came out.

Now I have a good idea as to why.

The art is very 90s Marvel, so if you like that style, you might love this. Much like the writing, it got really busy to me, and I found myself taking long breaks from the book to give my eyes a rest.

[Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think because Chris Claremont had such a great run on The Uncanny X-Men a lot of us have convinced ourselves that when it comes to X-Men, not much wrong can be done. But The Phalanx Covenant is a muddled mess, the "origin" of Generation X limited to the early issues of the collection. We meet the characters who will be come the principals behind Generation X and then don't see them again until the very end of the collection, with a lot of extraneous crap in between. It's really three stories in one, and the X-Men don't actually show up until almost the end. This is more of an exercise in excess, and unless you are an X-junkie, you might want to skip it.

[Ruddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, this is a good way to catch up on some of your x-men. generation x was supposed to be the school for the new and young x-men. This collects all the x-men issued leading up to Generation x#1 and includes that tittle as well. Its a good read and a breath of fresh air because there's a lot of new characters that are really interesting. It might make you want to pick up some Generation x comics, but don't say I didn't warn you.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah, this one was OK, but I wouldn't say underrated. Probably the most pro-forma of the mutant crossovers. "hey look, it's summertime, must be time for a crossover." Ugh. Yes, this was the kind of thinking that almost killed mainstream comics in the mid-'90s if anyone was wondering.

[Tomás Sendarrubias García · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entre Atracciones Fatales y La Alianza Falange, no llegó a pasar un año, cuando ya todas las colecciones de la franquicia mutante de Marvel se veían de nuevo metidas en un crossover que, en este caso, funcionaría de forma algo distinta. La Falange había sido presentada como una especie de nuevos centinelas tecnorgánicos en Patrulla-X y Excalibur, pero sería en este crossover principal donde se revelarían como una amenaza de proporciones aterradoras... o eso pretendían, vaya. La publicación de La Alianza Falange dividió las colecciones mutantes en tres grupos, y comenzaba in media res, con una Patrulla-X que ya había sido reemplazada por dobles de Falange, salvo Júbilo, Banshee, Emma Frost y Dientes de Sable, que se convertirían en los protagonistas de los números de Patrulla-X y y X-Men pertenecientes a la saga, en los que entre los cuatro tratarían de liberar a los nuevos mutantes capturados por Falange, y que se convertirían (junto a Júbilo) en los personajes de la nueva colección que surgiría tras ella, Generación-X.

Por otro lado, Cable y Lobezno iban a hacer equipo con los recién llegados Cíclope y Jean Grey, que volvían de su luna de miel, y se convertían en los enviados a rescatar a la auténtica Patrulla-X, escondida por Falange ni más ni menos que en el mismísimo Himalaya. Y el resto de las colecciones, Factor-X, X-Force y Excalibur tendrían que hacer frente a la verdad sobre Falange, que más allá de un sistema de creación híbrida de centinelas, resultaba ser una raza de conquistadores cósmicos basados en la fisiología de Magus y Warlock, y que planeaban destruir toda la vida orgánica sobre la faz de la Tierra, no solo a los mutantes.

Sin embargo, aunque la propuesta narrativa era original, realmente la Alianza Falange queda un poco desarticulada, las cosas no terminan de cuadrar bien... y se hace bastante aburrida. Y creo que es eso es lo peor que se puede decir de un cómic, que sea aburrido.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reprints much of the same material as "X-Men: Phalanx Covenant". But this is the slimmer volume. You get quite a bit more with the other book. With this book here you get much better color and line reproduction. "X-Men: Phalanx Covenant" has some color issues. And some embiggening issues.

If you're on a budget this might be the way to go.

[Wreade1872 · Rating 2 out of 5]

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Christopher E. · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story starts out great, but ultimately falls under the weight of its own irony. Banshee notices something is off with the X-Men? Great. But nobody bats an eye when some of the genuine articles are acting in a baffling matter towards the back end? Serious problem.

[Matthew Ledrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

"There's not enough good to say about this last chapter. It brings the whole story together, especially in that moment when Jubilee offers Chamber her hand and says "Welcome to Generation X" at the end. A great, climactic beginning to what will hopefully be an epic series."

Read my whole review at TheBookCloset

[Nathaniel Glosson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE the X-men, and this X-Men graphic novel shows how the teen super-group, Generation X, got it's start! Super cool!

[Paul Stanis · Rating 3 out of 5]

“For someone servin’ a ‘collective’, you sure say ‘me’ and ‘I’ a whole lot!”

“That is, like, tacky cubed!”

“It seems a more aggressive tactic is called for. Something more… TO THE POINT!”