CREATORS:

Script: Grant Morrison

Pencils:

• John Paul Leon (127, 131)
• Igor Kordey (128-130)
• Phil Jimenez (132, 139-141)
• Ethan Van Sciver (133)
• Keron Grant (134)
• Frank Quitely (135-138)

• Bill Sienkiewicz (127, 131)
• Igor Kordey (128-130)
• Andy Lanning (132, 140-141)
• Norm Rapmund (133-134)
• Tim Townsend (135)
• Frank Quitely (136-138)

Xorn, Cyclops and Jean try to stem the hostility of a crowd gone berserk over a mysterious mutant menace eating neighborhood dogs. They retrun to home base, where Xorn and the now-walking Xavier discuss his time here with the X-Men. Xorn takes leave to investigate further in the city, heading to Chinatown first and connecting with a shopkeeper that hails from the same province of China he is from. Through the use of his powers, Xorn is able to track the mutant responsible, a massive, hulking bull-like creature of a mutant, lying on the couch in a tenement apartment being caressed by his human mother. She reveals that her son, aged 12, has only recently escaped from the apartment and begun eating neighborhood dogs. Beside herself about what to do, she swallowed pills in an attempt to commit suicide. Xorn tries to heal her, but the boy rises from his slumber and knocks him out to the street. The mutant boy races with his mother in his arms to a drugstore to get medicine, but a police force arrives and guns him down. Xorn, confused, seeks refuge in conversation with the man he met from his Chinese homeland.

New X-Men #128: "New Worlds"
22 pages + cover • August 2002

A team of X-Corporation mutants (Darkstar, Siryn, Cannonball and Monet) arrives on the scene to rescue mutants in Paris, France being attacked by a mob of humans, part of Xavier's new initiative for mutant outreach. They rejoinder back at base to discuss their next move with the rest of the team, including Jamie Madrox. Jean and Xavier discuss the emergence of her new powers, engaging in telepathy experiments to get to the bottom of them. Xavier actually engages the Phoenix force in conversation, but before the conversation can be completed, a helicopter rising from behing Xavier outside their tall building's window breaks Jean's concentration. A wraith-like mutant named Fantomex, previously on the run from would-be captors, walks through the walls of their office, and declares he wants sanctuary from the men in the helicopters who want to capture him. Fantomex admits to stealing something off a train that caused a wreck, releasing an entity called "Weapon XII." Agents surround the building while in another part of Paris, the team headed up by Darkstar is in fierce battle with hundreds of crazed humans, who's very touch seems to be deadly. Meanwhile, back in Westchester, Scott begins to confide in his marital problems- with an eager Emma Frost.

New X-Men #129: "Fantomex"
22 pages + cover • September 2002

Jean clots up Fantomex' wounds with her telekinesis, and they scurry him off to safety beyond the headquarters' walls, using their powers to battle past the agents there to capture the mutant thief. They gain entry to the roof and fly off in Fantomex' flying saucer and make way to his home in the mountains, where his blind mother lives with him. Fantomex gives background on recent events: the train was carrying the Weapon Twelve, an invention of the "military industrial complex" that also created Weapon Ten: Wolverine, a new breed of monster that is built to destroy mutants. The train wreck was faked so it could be battle tested against a group on mutants. Fantomex made away with a disc that contained all information about the Weapon program, and offers it for sale to Xavier for one billion dollars. While Xavier and Jean mull over this offer, Fantomex girds himself for battle with Weapon XII. In the English Channel train tunnel, Monet and Darkstar try to help rescue fleeing immigrants from the oncoming Weapon XII.

New X-Men #130: "Weapon Twelve"
24 pages + cover • October 2002

The rest of the X-Men team take on the Weapon XII, with Jamie Madrox' multiple man handling hand-to-hand combat, the touch of Weapon XII being lethal. Jean and Xavier are carried across France to the "chunnel" via his organic flying saucer, where they touch down to connect with the X-Men team. Jean immediately tries to freeze Weapon XII in his tracks, which buys the mutants time to organize. Fantomex races into the tunnel to confront Weapon XII- real name Zona- and Jean chases after him. He makes his way back to the crashed train where he shoots Darkstar to death, witnessed by Monet. Fantomex explains that she was corrupted by touching Zona. As for Zona, he is finally past Jean's attack, and launches an assault on Xavier, who amplifies his psychic powers through Jamie's multiple men. Fantomex finally locates what he was looking for- the self-destruct mechanism that blows the head off of Zona: battle over. Jean discovers Fantomex' secret, that he's not really a secret agent, he's one of the Weapons' program's constructions- Weapon XIII. Jean allows him to escape from those who would pursue him, and he disappears down the tunnel, informing the agents who have come to arrest him that he "slipped right by her."

New X-Men #131: "Some Angels Falling"
21 pages + cover • October 2002

The X-Men attend Darkstar's funeral in France, while back at Westchester, Warren Worthington leads a group of young mutants through flying lessons. There lesson is to rendezvous with a Shi'ar battleship hovering over the land, but the new "Angel" and Beak stay behind; Angel takes the opportunity to plant a kiss on the shy and beleaguered Beak, sending him into ecstasy. Emma Frost contacts Scott, who is flying back home from France with Logan, and they engage in a long-distance therapy session that inevitably leads the two of them to a romantic interlude where Emma adopts Jean's old Phoenix costume. On board the battleship, Angel reveals to her friends she kissed Beak, and collects her reward for winning a bet.

New X-Men #132: "Ambient Magnetic Fields"
22 pages + cover • November 2002

A team of X-Men led by Quicksilver scours the ruins of Genosha. They find Unus the Untouchable, writhing in a fetal position and babbling about seeing ghosts. Xavier and Jean are there and are able to discern that Unus is describing entities that are possibly under the control of Polaris. Storm joins the group and they set out across Genosha to get to the bottom of this and they race to the remains of the giant Sentinel robot that did most of the damage to Genosha, burned out and standing dead in its tracks in the middle of the city. The head of the robot seems to be on its way to being recast in the image of Magneto. Inside, they find a collection of mutant malcontents, led by the Toad. Indeed, they are led to Polaris, who is presiding over a cacophany of magnetic activity that seems to be emanating from the ground upwards to the refining of the Sentinel robot into the image of Magneto. Storm evacuates a lunatic Polaris from the scene, and Thunderbird locates the epicenter of where Polaris was drawing her power from, the "black box" of an airplane voice recorder. From Lorna's mind are purged all the voices from the recorder which she had subsumed, voices implanted on the magnetic tapes of the recorders, voices of the dead and dying mutants of Genosha in their last moments alive. The final of these voices is Magneto, promising that they live on, in life, beyond death.

New X-Men #133: "no title"
22 pages + cover • December 2002

Wolverine is in Afghanistan, running his claws through a band of slave trading thugs. He makes his way to his destination- a tent wherein a kidnapped mutant is resting. There he finds Fantomex, who was there to steal a book with the names of mutant slave traders, and he tries to bargain with Logan for information on his Weapon X history, then disappears. On a flight to X-Corporation India, based in Mumbai, Xavier has the opportunity to stop a hijacking. After he and Jean land, they are greeted by the X-Corp X-Men detail, led by Feral and Thornn, who help stop Xavier from being shot in the head by a sniper. That sniper is oddly enough Lilandra, who has made her way to Mumbai to assassinate Xavier, who she is still under the delusion is Cassandra Nova. Shi'ar authorities come to claim the unconscious Lilandra, and urge Xavier to accompany them. At X-Corp HQ, Jean hangs with the X-Men detail there, including Sunfire and Thunderbird, and they discover Wolverine's newest mutant addition to the environs: the woman he rescued in Afghanistan named Turaab, which means "dust." (Her powers seem to be like Sandman's.) On the Shi'ar battleship, Xavier is informed that his marriage to Lilandra is annulled, and that they will begin the mutant species "disinfection," as they have detected the re-emergence of the Phoenix powers.

New X-Men #134: "Kid O"
22 pages + cover • January 2003

In the Mutant Town section of New York City, a gang of youths murders a flamboyant fashion designer mutant named Jumbo Carnation. Word of his death reaches the students body at Xavier's Academy and is met with shock and grief. Bitter, young egghead Quentin Quire shows off to his friend an old newsclipping of one of the first reports of mutant activity in public, and then receives a phone call giving him some emotional news of a personal nature. Hank and Scott investigate the murder of Jumbo Carnation, meeting up with Detective Fred Foster and discovering traces of the drug "Kick" on the scene. Hank and Scott discuss personal matters on their way back to the mansion, where the kids are gathered paying tribute to the dead fashion mutant. Quinton embarrasses one of his classmates, which gets him a trip to the office to see Xavier, who informs his prize student that he needs to behave, and to pay heed to the fact that he may be entering into a phase of secondary mutation. He goes back to the spot where Jumbo Carnation was killed, reflects on the news that he received that morning that he was adopted, and ducks into a barber shop with the news clipping, asking the barber to style his hair in the manner in which the mutant from the press clipping is styled.

New X-Men #135: "Teaching Children About Fractals"
22 pages + cover • February 2003

Silent issue

Xorn leads a group of kids from the school on a hiking trip up the mountain near the school. Later that evening, they are unknowingly under surveillance by an outsider. Xavier joins in with Emma's class and has a debate with an ever-more confrontational Quentin Quire. Later, Quire meets with some like-minded anti-social classmates in his room, where he talks about forming a gang to scare humans like mutants used to scare them in the days of his precious press clipping. The kids all bond over the inhalation of the drug Kick, and then they take to the streets in specially designed uniforms modeled after the press clipping photo and in the spirit of "A Clockwork Orange." They meet up with a gang of human kids, and assault them with the full force of their powers, leaving behind their gang sign of an Omega over an X spray painted on the wall. Xavier and the X-Men discuss the burgeoning trouble from the student body, led by Quince, and Emma reveals her discovery of a Kick pipe she found outside one of the dorms.

New X-Men #136: "When X Is Not X"
22 pages + cover • March 2003

Quire's X Omega gang busts in on a Third Species "funeral" ritual, killing all members of the human sect. Meanwhile, at Xorn's campsite, he and his students are under surveillance by U-Men agents who have them targeted for organ harvesting. Angel and Beak have gone off by themselves and started making out, which the U-Men spoil by trying to kidnap them. Thus alterted, Xorn rallies his young charges away from the campsite, and he turns back to deal with them on his own, killing them all. The only witness to this is Angel, who tagged along, but Xorn asks her to keep this a secret. They make it back to the campus, rescued by helicopter by Scott Summers, who is busy having telepathic romance with Emma Frost. The emergence of Quire's agitation has the campus, and especially Emma's girls, in a ruckus wondering how they are going to be dealt with. Quire manages to surprise Xavier in his office, disabling him with a psychic suppression helmet and shouting through a bullhorn to all assembled on the grounds for the school's Open Day that he has taken Xavier hostage. Quire then calls for the students to riot against Xavier's false ideology.

New X-Men #137: "Riot At Xavier's"
22 pages + cover • April 2003

Quentin Quire has inspired a full-blown student riot on the campus during Open Day, harassing humans while at the same time keeping Xavier from doing anything about it other than engage in philosophical debate with the precocious pupil. The rest of Quire's gang, especially the gelatinous wax mutant Herman, take great glee in their riotous mischief. Emma takes to her diamond-hard skinned self in to battle to face down Quire, inspiring her girls to also be proactive in fighting back. Wolverine greets Quentin and his toughs on their way down the stairs, and Quire brazenly sends Logan on a psychotic nightmare that disables him from fighting. Meanwhile, the riot is leading to destruction and even death. The Beast tries to communicate the Quire's group that their hero, Jumbo Carnation, wasn't murdered, actually, but succumbed to a heart attack brought on by a Kick overdose. This information is dismissed as lies, and the fight continues. Emma's girls take hold of Cerebra to fight back with Quire, and Sophia takes a hit of Kick in an immature bid to enhance her power. They lock in on Quire and totally dominate him, beating him down to the ground. In his bloody and babbling state, Quire said he was only doing this to try and impress Sophia, to make himself look cool and build his self-esteem after finding out he was adopted. Emma carries the limp body of Sophia from the school, seemingly overcome by a Kick high.

New X-Men #138: "The Prime of Miss Emma Frost"
23 pages + cover • May 2003

The Beast races down the highway to contain the rampaging Herman. Cyclops and Xorn eventually join in the chase and bring down the young and crazed wax-mutant in a fantastic car chase finish. Wolverine helps reassert authority on the campus, while Emma tries to pull in her girls to stand with her, but they've decided they no longer want to study under her tutelage and reject her after losing their sister in her care. Xavier and the Beast preside over Quentin Quire, who they are trying to restore to health in the clinic. His health goes into a steep deterioration, and they call Xorn in to assist with healing, but declares that Quentin seems to be moving into another stage of evolution. Xavier announces Quentin's "passing" to the student body, and also declares that he is stepping down as headmaster of the school. Emma, stunned by the rejection of her girls, takes Angel under her wing and takes her shopping and for a style makeover. At an awards ceremony, Xavier is prepared to give out an "Achievement of Heroism" certificate to Beak and Angel, but they've run off into the woods together, where Angel tells him that she's pregnant. Meanwhile, Emma's "Cuckoo" girls have found out that Emma Frost is seducing Scott Summers. They mentally contact Jean Grey and tell her while she's bound for American with Sooraya. While Emma is playing around with her powers to seduce Scott, dressed up in Phoenix garb, Jean walks through the door of Scott's bedroom and sees them.

New X-Men #139: "no title"
22 pages + cover • June 2003

Jean faces off with Emma, while her husband chases Scott out of the room. He's accosted by Emma's girls and goes to talk to Professor X, who tells him that Jean's powers are transforming to a higher Phoenix potential, and that it can't risk being unbalanced or upset. Jean manages to drag Emma through a mental image of her past, showing off all the dirty family laundry that Emma has fought to keep hidden from others. They race through her embarrasing past as the White Queen and her failures with the Hellions. Finally, Scott confronts Jean and demands that if she really wants to know what's going on, to read his mind. She does, and finds out that Scott was never unfaithful with Emma, either in Hong Kong or at any time, even though he was tempted. An upset Scott takes off on his bike, while Logan goes to talk to Emma, who confides that she is furious that everyone knows her business now, as well as the fact that Jean saw through her every thought and feeling, as well as knowing that she's actually in love with Scott Summers. Later that evening, Beast brings a bottle of wine to help cheer up Emma. He finds her diamond-shattered remains laying in a million tiny pieces.

New X-Men #140: "Murder Mansion"
22 pages + cover • June 2003

Bishop and his partner Sage arrive at Xavier's mansion. He's found the diamond bullet that killed Emma, and begins his investigation into the crime. Beast busies himself with putting Emma back together, confident that she's not really dead due to her vast mental powers. Bishop questions Xavier, Xorn, and his group of kids, including Beak and Angel. He finally gets to the likely suspects, Emma's recently disloyal girls. Their alibi places them at the opera with Beast. When he questions Jean, she proves her innocence by sharing a bit of Phoenix powers with Bishop. The mutant detective figures the murder has something to do with Kick, so he goes to prison to interview Quentin's dealer, Redneck. He gives up the location of a Kick storehouse in the woods behind the school. Sage is back there investigating already, and locates a stash of used inhalers littering the woods. Beak rushes in to tell the Beast that he's the one who killed Emma Frost. Back in the woods, Sage finds a barn where there are dozens of egg-sacks hanging from the ceiling. From the shadows, someone points a gun at her head.

New X-Men #141: "Whodunnit?"
22 pages + cover • July 2003

Bishop rushes to the woods, where he finds Sage flat on the ground writhing in pain. She "reboots" her mind and comes back to life, but she has no memory of the incident, as it has been erased from her mind. They head to the barn where they see the egg sacks hanging from the ceiling. Xavier and Beast are interrogating Beak, who says he killed Emma because he didn't want anybody to find out about their "monster babies." Xavier believes that Beak is covering for Angel. Bishop brings back the murder weapon, a pistol capable of firing diamond bullet munitions. They decide to head out to the shack to get to the bottom of the life forms there. Meanwhile, Jean helps Hank put together Emma's body. They discuss his alibi of being at the opera with Emma's telepathic charges, and realize that the opera was actually cancelled; they were never there. The X-Men with Bishop head into the barn and see Angel taking care of her children, fly/bird mutations that have hatched from the eggs. Fingerprint analysis confirms that Angel fired the gun, but further detective work proves that it was Esme, one of Emma's girls, who mentally commanded Angel to do it. Jean helps reignite Emma to life, while Bishop challenges Esme with his evidence before she can leave the campus. Esme admits her complicity but says she didn't do it. Bishop and Sage realize there was someone else behind Esme's actions, and the attempted murder of Sage at the barn. Before Esme leaves, she says a "new world order" is coming and there is nothing they can do about it. Esme locks down Bishop and Sage's brains and makes her getaway. The final idea passed around is that Scott Summers had something to do with it. -- synopsis by Gormuu