THE FABIAN FAN
I’ve discovered (quite some time ago), I simply love Fabian’s writing. Pretty much everything he’s written – I’ve always found myself enjoying. And some of those things, I even… perhaps, one could say… obsess over. One of the first things, I recall was New Warriors. It wasn’t long into New Warriors when I was immediately enthralled. I’d loved Namorita from Sub-Mariner, I recognized Firestar from Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends… The internet back then was kind of … “new” (can you kids imagine that?). So I remember creating a website on Geocities dedicated to the New Warriors. When Fabian wrote Nomad, I was, yet again, hooked. When Fabian took over Thunderbolts (which was already amazing), he made the transition flawless.
So let’s talk about when Fabian wrote the X-Men and X-Force books. My obsession over Adam-X as a character was pretty well documented on the Internet, Twitter, and social media (and I’d created a site – before this one!) for Adam-X. So when the folks at the Unspoken Decade asked me to write a piece on Adam as a guest writer back in 2015, I jumped at the chance. (And because sites tend to disappear, I eventually mirrored it on my site here). That post goes into why I love the character and my (negative) thoughts on what and why they even thought of making Vulcan a thing. But who is Adam-X?
So let me summarize; the reason I initially loved Adam-X is that in his first appearance he took down all of X-Force – but mainly, he took down Cable. Cable had always been written as this tough guy that rarely ever has someone get the drop on him; and he had big guns, and was a time displaced character (something I am generally not a fan of) – so he had a few things going against him. So when Adam took him down – that immediately perked my interest. The fact that he (like myself) had long hair (back in the 90s – the good Lord has since decided I don’t need long hair – or… any hair on my head…) also helped me connect to this “rocking” looking character.
INTO THE X-BOOKS
Then Fabian wrote that fateful issue in X-Men #23 where Sinister is speaking to Scott Summers (Cyclops) and mentions “brothers” – as in plural. The world was ablaze with speculation as to who the “Third Summers Brother” was… most people seemed to speculate that the intended one was none other than everyone’s favorite Cajun mutant – Gambit. Which could make sense, with the red eyes (like Cyclops) projects energy (like Havok). But not what Fabian had in mind. Quoting Fabian –
“The character [X-Treme] WAS created to be the 3rd brother, but once I left the x-books, the following writers/editors chose to ignore the sub-plot(which is their call to make). the good news is that no writer/editor contradicted the storyline plans I had, so maybe someday I could still pick it up.“
As the quote says – before Fabian could tell the story, he was no longer on the X-Books and the story line remained unresolved – like the thousands of other danglers that seem to linger in the “Unresolved Issues” that seem all too common with the X-Books.
As the years went by, most characters continued to evolve; however, Adam was forgotten – except for people who seemed to be stuck on his appearance and how he looked. The thing is he never got to continue appearing, so yeah – he got locked into that 90’s look he had – and everyone seemed to be focus on “oh, he’s so extreme – he burns blood!” And I feel like none of those people read X-Men #39 which was a very touching tale and showed how Adam used his powers very differently (it also showed a very compassionate side to him). But I even talked about the minor changes I’d make to Adam’s costume to make him fit in modern comics.
Anyway, in 2006 – Ed Brubaker did the X-Men: Deadly Genesis which told of a story of a team of mutants that existed – and went after Cyclops and the team (when they’d been attacked on Krakoa – before Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Storm, etc., appeared in Uncanny X-Men #94/Giant Size X-Men #1) – this team considered of a specific mutant named Gabriel Summers, better known as Vulcan. His team had been killed on Krakoa trying to rescue Scott and the others, and when they ejected Krakoa into space, Gabriel had been imprisoned (unknowingly) and somehow kept alive (he – somehow? some reason? Suddenly absorbed all the powers of his teammates – including a mutant named Darwin who could adapt to any danger). Professor Xavier so ashamed of the loss – wiped everyone’s memory of all of the members. House of M happens, “No More Mutants” – a ton of mutant energy (listen people, this is comics!) goes into the air – hits Vulcan and awakens him. And the entire story of “The Third Summers” story is resolved, as far as Marvel is concerned. I talk more about the mess Vulcan creates in this post.
But I never gave up – I even wrote up what I’d do if I was given the chance to write Adam.
THE LEGEND FINALLY TOLD
This is a lot of needless backstory – just to get to where I was going to go – talking about X-Men Legends #1 and 2. I am not sure what gods finally smiled down – but it was finally announced that Fabian would finally be able to tell Adam’s story in a new series entitled X-Men Legends with the first two issues focusing on Adam’s origin.
The issue takes place in the past and opens with Eric The Red, who we’ve seen pestering Adam (namely back in Captain Marvel featuring Genis Vell) commanding the Crystal Claws to attack (in Alaska – and if you know your X-Men history – you know the grandparents of Scott and Alex live here) – at the same time, Cyclops and Havok find themselves attacked as well – so this isn’t a coincidence. Scott and Alex learn that their grandparents have been taken and a note has been left that says “Deliver the Forsaken One” (something Eric the Red called Adam in the Captain Marvel issues).
The issue cuts over to Adam at a farmhouse just having a zen moment when a young boy encounters him. But it’s not just the kid who is there – Cable also shows up and says that they need Adam’s “help” and explains the situation. We do see some backstory where Adam was genetically made in a test tube – where there’s other tubes that are (presumably destroyed in the ensuing fires and explosions) marked “Eve.” (Fun Note: In the recent Secret Wars, Fabian wrote the X-Men portion – and Adam became known as Burner – and similar tubes were seen where there was an “Eve”, “Seth” and “Able”).
Adam’s angry – and thought that he was done with Eric the Red (he believed he perished in the explosion in the aforementioned Captain Marvel issues). Adam eventually finds himself attacked by Raza and Hepzibah of the Starjammers before Cyclops and Havok show up and try to end things peacefully. Adam uses his power in yet another unique fashion and bolts – but can’t get ahead of Corsair who – after saying that Adam is the brother of Cyclops and Havok – shoots Adam in the head.
In the following issue, Corsair does correct himself and explain that technically Adam was their half-brother – and is surprised when Adam stands up again. Corsair explains that Adam was a part of the former emperor’s D’Ken’s eugenics program. Merging Shi’ar DNA with that of other specifies in search of way to advance the deteriorating evolution of the Shi’ar race and that D’Ken had used Katherine Summers (his wife and the mother of Scott and Alex) cell samples, mixing it with his own, creating Adam. Corsair mentions that the bounty on Adam was from Eric the Red and that gave Adam a plan. Our heroes take Adam “prisoner” and meet Eric the Red on the Moon. Once Eric the Red and the Crystal Claws reveal themselves to pay for the bounty, Adam “breaks out” of his shackles an tags each of the Crystal Claws and Eric the Red before the others can react – and then triggers his power to render Eric the Red and the Crystal Claws unconscious.
And it seems that Corsair is about to betray Adam when he calls upon the Shi’ar Imperial Guard…
But Adam has an idea – and the others all agree to it. They use Oracle powered further by Mentor to erase the memory of how Adam was genetically related to D’Ken, and technically, perhaps the true heir to the throne (especially if you asked Eric the Red and the Crystal Claws, who had wanted to put Adam on the throne).
Adam then returns to the farmland that we see him at in the first issue, and he speaks with the boy about the boy’s father who has trouble standing – so Adam decides to hang out and be a helping hand.
MY THOUGHTS
As an avid Adam-X fan, X-Men Legends #1 and #2 gave me what I needed. It finally reveals and confirms Adam’s true origin. It gave me the Shi’ar whom I have always loved, it gave me the Starjammers (who could have easily been the X-Men’s Guardians of the Galaxy for the FOX movies). It gave me a wonderful, amazing story. Gave me great art and inks. Gave me everything I needed wrapped up nicely. This was an incredible story – perhaps, I am the sole person, aside from Fabian who has waited the longest for this day to finally come. I want to thank Fabian, Brett and Adelso who were always so supportive of my Twitter account focused on Adam. (Remember when I started this talking about being obsessed? Listen, I wasn’t kidding!) I’d made movies, shared images – all of which they kindly shared, retweeted, liked, and gave more exposure to my account – but also Adam-X.
My heart is very happy.
You might say… X-Tremely happy.
