By Paul Steven Brown

In this article, I take a long, hard look at X-Men Forever #2. In doing so, I will try to point out connections to previous continuity and point out any differences from what would happen in the normal Marvel continuity.

“Love – and Loss! – Part 2 of 5: Comes the Father!”

Cover: The impact of Sabretooth’s reveal in this issue will be immediately defeated by his large, looming presence in the foreground of the cover. His eyes are squeezed close and covered in shadow, which alludes to the conclusion of this issue. The unconscious X-Men in the background (Rogue, Beast, Jean Grey, Storm, and Xavier), as well as Sabretooth, appear to be dressed in what will be their new outfits upon the conclusion of this first arc.

Page 1: Central Park has been the location of a number of the X-Men’s notable battles. This is where the X-Men first fought the Dark Phoenix immediately after their battle with the Hellfire Club (Uncanny X-Men #135). The X-Men teamed up with the Hellfire Club in a fight against Nimrod in Central Park as well (UXM #208 – 209).

The two police officers are witnessing the flash of energy that shot Wolverine from a penthouse overlooking the park in the prologue (X-Men Forever: Alpha).

Page 2: Two police officers find Wolverine’s smoldering corpse. All that is left of Logan are his adamantium bones, his hair and sideburns, and his mask. More importantly, the middle claw on his right hand has been snapped off and is missing.

Page 3 – 4: Xavier, Nick Fury, Cyclops and Jean Grey are unconscious in Charles’ study. Gambit and Rogue are in a similar state on the lake shore behind the mansion. Storm enters the school through the front door. She was apparently away, at least as far as Salem Center, when Jean’s psychic attack leveled the rest of the team.

Page 5 - 6: Xavier comes to and recounts the events of the psychic attack. He surmises that since Jean was in mental contact with Wolverine during his death (as seen in X-Men Forever: Alpha and X-Men Forever #1), she may know who killed him.

Everyone in the room wakes up but Jean. Fury comments that his cell phone was affected and that it’s designed to withstand an electromagnetic pulse produced by a nuclear blast. Xavier suspects that Jean diverted the shockwave into the mansion’s electrical system to protect everybody. Storm questions how Jean could possible do this. Cyclops explains that telekinesis is a form of energy manipulation.

Page 7: Gambit walks in with a still unconscious Rogue. Storm seems very concerned with Xavier attempts to probe Jean’s mind. Unfortunately, Ms. Grey has erected some defenses that even Charles cannot penetrate.

Page 8: When the gang enters the infirmary, Beast, Nightcrawler, and Shadowcat are recovering from the attack. Kitty, still nursing that right arm, was able to set up some emergency lighting for the room. When Kurt suggests that they should call in some help, Hank explains that the rest of the X-Men are scattered around the world. Hank mentions calling in some favors as a former Avenger. The Beast was a part of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes for a period of time during the late ‘70s and early ‘80s (Avengers #137 – 211).

Page 9 - 10: Fury’s phone comes back online and he gets information from the murder scene from Agent Gabe Jones. Gabe Jones’ father, Gabriel Jones Sr., fought alongside Nick Fury during World War II in the Howling Commandos. Agent Jones points out that Wolverine is missing a claw.

There’s a young girl in a hood pestering Agent Morelli at the perimeter of the cordoned off area. She runs off as Jones approaches. Who is she? Jubilee? A younger version of on of the X-Men? Someone new?

Page 11: Fury reflects on the information given to him by Jones. Whoever took out Wolverine must be really powerful and he’s not sure if the X-Men could handle someone like that without help. This will further his determination to bring the X-Men under S.H.I.E.L.D.’s control. Fury draws his gun and suspects that someone else is in the house.

Page 12: Fury asks Charles if he can detect anyone else. Xavier cannot but mentions that Wolverine was very good at avoiding telepathic contact. Fury relays the details of the murder scene to the professor, who has sent Storm to jump-start the generators in the mansion’s sub-basement.

Page 13: We are reminded that Ororo suffers from claustrophobia. This is due to her being buried alive, as a child, with her dead mother. Ororo’s parents were both killed during an air raid in Cairo, Egypt when an airplane crashed into their house (UXM #102).

Storm’s thoughts betray that she wants some privacy away from the team and Charles. She continues to be concerned with whether or not Rogue remembers anything from Storm’s memories after they made contact during the battle with Fabian Cortez last issue. Even more suspicious is her consideration of drastic measures to insure that no one learns what Jean may have gleaned from Wolverine’s last thoughts.

Page 14 – 15: Sabretooth attacks and claims that he is there to kill Storm. He mentions that his claws are bone and not adamantium like “the boy’s”. Sabretooth will continue to refer to Wolverine as “the boy” during the remainder of the issue. Claremont is preparing the audience for the eventual reveal that Sabretooth is actually Wolverine’s father.

Claremont has been hinting at this familial connection for a number of years. During the Mutant Massacre, Wolverine and Sabretooth fought for the first time in, on panel, and Sabretooth refers to Logan as being a disappointment. When Psylocke attempted to probe Sabretooth’s mind during a battle with Wolverine in the next issue, she saw images of a much younger Logan and learned that the pair had fought before (UXM #212 – 213). It was revealed in the a back up story in Classic X-Men #10 that Sabretooth likes to stalk and attack Logan periodically. On one of Logan’s birthdays, before he gained his adamantium bones and claws, Sabretooth killed Wolverine’s lover Silver Fox (Wolverine Vol. 2 #10).

Page 16: To give herself more room to fight, Storm blasts Sabretooth into the spacious Danger Room. This is where the X-Men train against mechanical and holographic threats. The lights come on and Ororo suspects that Kitty was able to restore power.

Page 17: Cyclops blasts Sabretooth and says that the X-Men need to take him down as a team. He is followed by Gambit, Nightcrawler, and a now revived Rogue. Storm continues to ignore orders as she did in the last issue and presses her attack on the villain.

Page 18: Nightcrawler teleports and lands punch on Sabretooth, who compliments the attack. He even says that he “can see why the boy called you his friend”. Logan and Kurt have maintained an odd couple sort of friendship throughout Claremont’s original run on Uncanny X-Men.

Rogue grabs Sabretooth and mentions that they last time they fought that Sabretooth used her as a punching bag. This is a reference to time he ambushed her, smacked her around, and slammed her into a tree (UXM #213). However, Rogue got her revenge, and even mentions the previous encounter, when the X-Men rescued Madelyn Pryor from the Marauders in San Francisco and she punched Sabretooth through a building (UXM #221).

Page 19: Sabretooth shakes off an attack from Gambit. After Claremont left the X-Men, a history between the killer and the Cajun was established (X-Men #33). So far there doesn’t seem to be one hinted at in this adjusted continuity.

Page 20 – 21: Storm continues to defy Cyclops and intends to kill Sabretooth. She blasts him full in the face with lightning.

Page 22: The damage is so severe, that Storm may have permanently destroyed Sabretooth eyes to the point that not even his healing factor will be able to fix them.

That’s it for now! I hope that this has been helpful and I’ll be back with a closer look at X-Men Forever #3 in two weeks. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them here or on our forum. As always, I can be reached at paul@thecomicaddiction.com.