Generation M #5 - Review, Spoilers, & Discussion!!

[Beast]

And we come to the final issue of Generation M. Frankly the mini ended up not really being worth it, but then most minis lately have been fairly pointless. All it does is set-up Sally Floyd's character to be part of the big upcoming Civil War event. The characterization of many of the depowered mutants showcased is way off, and it's not until this final issue that you get exactly why we're supposed to care about Sally Ford and Baby Minnie. Not going to do a full synopsis for this, just cover the main points. Ok, I lied. I did do a fairly detailed synopsis. Sue me, I hate leaving out important details. Either way, enjoy it. :)

After Sally's interview with Warren Worthington III at the club, she certain of what sort of story she wants to write. The next morning, she's interviewing the likewise depowered Dani Moonstar at the paper. We get a recap of Dani's history and her powers, but Sally doesn't seem really interested. Dani gets a bit annoyed that Sally's not really paying attention, so departs with a request for a copy of the eventual article when it's published. Later, Sally submits her newest story to Neil, and he wants to make sure that she's comfortable with it. After all, once the story is released she'll have to live with it. Sally agrees.

The next day in the Ex-Mutant Diaries, the story of Sally's daughter Minnie appears. It turns out that Minnie was born a mutant, and shortly after her second birthday it was diagnosed that her mutation had kicked in. Her particular mutation caused her body to be thrown in reverse, she was physically growing younger. By the time that she celebrated her 4th Birthday, her body turned 6 months old. Sally retrated to drinking and eventually pushed Ken out of her life. A short time later she regressed too far and died.

If she had only lived a few months more, she may have been depowered by the M-Day wave and given a chance at life. That evening Sally goes to see Warren at the club, and he tries to comfort her about revealing all of that in the paper. During a tender hug, the serial killer known as 'The Ghoul' bursts in furious and wanting to kill Sally. He claims she betrayed him, and knocks Warren across the room as he attacks her.

Elsewhere in the club, Emma drops her psi-illusions around the members of staff of the club, revealing the X-Men. Emma can't attack 'The Ghoul's' mind, so the X-Men rush to try to save her from the monster. It's here that the big reveal (which most of us guessed at) occur. Warren wasn't depowered at all, the wing stubs were thanks to an image inducer, and it was all a trap to try to draw out The Ghoul by offering him a big-name target to go after. The Ghoul teleports out before the X-Men can stop him, taking Sally with him.

Emma can't attack his mind, but she does discover where they ported to, a church across the street. In the church the Ghoul is furious with Sally, angry that she isn't what she pretended to be. She gave birth to a genetic freak, and for that she deserves to die. As the X-Men close in, Emma's getting more from his mind. He believes he's a new species, and Emma regards his thoughts as some of the sickest she's ever seen.

Warren flies up to try to save Sally, but is blasted out of the sky by a blast of flame from the Ghoul's hands. Iceman puts out Angel, and Scott prepares to take aim at the Ghoul in the belltower. Emma however doesn't want to risk Sally's life. Sally manages to escape the Ghoul by stepping back and falling out one of the windows, offering Scott a free shot at the Ghoul. As she's caught and saved by Warren, Scott destroys the bell tower of the church, killing 'The Ghoul' as well. As Warren lands and releases the somewhat in shock Sally, she comments that he's "fricken' sexy". Hopefully this isn't a lead in to a romance.

Two days later, Sally's finally out of the hospital. The Ghoul manages to break two of her ribs and her elbow. She's reluctant to go into work, now that the facts of her giving birth to a mutant is public knowledge. She sucks up her courage and finally does show up, receiving a standing ovation from her fellow associates at the paper. The last page has Sally attending an A.A. meeting, and actually taking it seriously. No longer wanting to try to drink herself into wanting to forget her child, but wanting to remember.

So yeah, that was it. The big surprises of Angel not being depowered is neither big nor a surprise. There were too many hints from the beginning that he wasn't, and it wasn't hard to put the pieces together long before even the second issue hit the streets. Most of us have speculated all of what was revealed in this issue about Warren months ago. Some of it can of course be attributed to his profile in the 198 Files as well, so it might have been wise had Marvel not included him in a Handbook that came out months before their big reveal occured.

[streator]

It turns out that Minnie was born a mutant, and shortly after her second birthday it was diagnosed that her mutation had kicked in. Her particular mutation caused her body to be thrown in reverse, she was physically growing younger. By the time that she celebrated her 4th Birthday, her body turned 6 months old. Sally retrated to drinking and eventually pushed Ken out of her life. A short time later she regressed too far and died.

As Warren lands and releases the somewhat in shock Sally, she comments that he's "fricken' sexy". Hopefully this isn't a lead in to a romance.
that's actually a pretty depressing way to sally to lose minnie.
warren and sally have already dated, as mentioned in issue 4.
i think it sounds like a decent issue, personally. i think the series has been okay thus far.

[Beast]

that's actually a pretty depressing way to sally to lose minnie.
warren and sally have already dated, as mentioned in issue 4.
i think it sounds like a decent issue, personally. i think the series has been okay thus far.
Oh, I totally agree tat it's a fairly depressing thing to have happen to Sally.

But it seems that the author just did the most heart wrenching thing possible, to try to get us to care one iota about Sally. Especially after presenting her as rather unlikeable from the start. Eh, at least her character had a decent story arc. Just wish as much care had gone into presenting the depowered characters.

And yeah, I remembered that they already dated before. Just don't want to have it turn up again and become a regular thing. Maybe I'm biased, but dating a reporter has never been a good thing for a member of the X-Men. Example: Trish Tilby. We certainly don't need another loose lipped reporter hag hanging around.

[fishtaco]

So...Dani Moonstar was de-powered just for this? ugh!

[Slumber Hulk]

All in all I'd give these 5 issues a b+. I actualyl cared about mutants right after M-Day and then the story turned into a plug for Civil War.

As usual the bad guy is presumed dead.

I really like the character of Sally. She's been through a lot of emotional ups and downs. I like how earlier in the series we are led to believe Minnie died at the ocean only to find out...

I'm glad Warren came out the way he did. He's a one of my favorite mutants.

[Cayman]

It was alright. Minnie's story was really sad, Jenkins did a great job with the emotional stuff, but the Ghoul plot flamed out and Dani's appearance was a bit of a waste. An ok mini, but ultimately disappointing.

Cay

[Doc Pirahna]

I think I might have missed something at some point because I could have sworn that in the Decimation one shot that Bobby Drake had lost his powers. So how did he get em back? I desperately need this explained to me.

Personally I thought the ending was a bit to quick. It all ended with Cyclops just blasting that ghoul fellow. Kinda seemed a little too easy.

[streator]

I think I might have missed something at some point because I could have sworn that in the Decimation one shot that Bobby Drake had lost his powers. So how did he get em back? I desperately need this explained to me.
bobby never lost his powers; he mentally convinced himself that he had but was indeed never powerless.

[ManongGuard]

bobby never lost his powers; he mentally convinced himself that he had but was indeed never powerless.

Yeah, that confused me too... in Issue 4 Sally was debating the Senator about Juggy and Iceman and mentions that Bobby did lose his powers.

This book, to me, was not the run of the mill X-book that one would expect. I couldn't care-less about the Ghoul or whether Warren lost his wings or not. What I did care about were the sad, depressing stories of the Ex-Mutant Diaries. Overall I give this title an A- and I know you guys won't agree.

A book with stupid suspense devices, obvious endings, and a semi-contrived plot. But I love it... For Blob, for Alchemy, for that flying girl, for that prostitute, and especially for Minnie.

[FightingSpirit]

So is this mini worth getting or not? I mean I already am reading the 198 and son of m plus the sentinel squad one. So is generation m worth reading or is it really something I can afford to skip over?

[The Sword Is Drawn]

I think it's a great shame that due to this issue my overiding impression of this series is going to be that it was pretty good until the last few pages.

Everything was rushed into the second half of this issue, to conclude it.

On second Warren is sitting down with his stumped wings, and then on the following page he's magically in flight with full wings.

There is no actual explanation as to how this occurs. We can assume that an image inducer was used, but we're not actually even close to told...

We knew that he was depowered. We've known for ages. It was intended to shock the reader but, this just didn't occur.

Badly cobbled few pages slightly soured an otherwise pretty good series.

[Madrox84]

I really liked this issue, and i've really enjoyed the mini as whole.

Sally's backstory is really quite depressing... And i'm looking forward to Civil War: Front Line and morte Sally Floyd stories.

I'm also glad that Archangel hasn't lost his powers, cos he's one of my favourite X-Men.

[Gaveedra 6]

I'm pretty lukewarm about this comic. It was an interesting premise, but I would have preferred it to have featured the depowered mutants a bit more prominently, and had them actually drive the plot - not just pop in for cameos. If this is the last we see of Dani, that's SUPER disappointing. From the cover, I was hoping she'd at least be active as a post-mutant activist/vigilante. Not just some whiny girl stopping in to Sally's office to kvetch. Although I thought the artist did a great job drawing her. But come on, did she have to go on about dream catchers? :confused:

[Crimson]

What hints where there that Angel was faking? That reveal really sucked... I like Angel but I hate all these power removels are being reversed. This book was meant to explore the mutant's losing their powers but it took a back seat.

It wasn't a terrible mini series but it was far from Jenkin's best work.

[Gaveedra 6]

What hints where there that Angel was faking? That reveal really sucked... I like Angel but I hate all these power removels are being reversed. This book was meant to explore the mutant's losing their powers but it took a back seat.

It wasn't a terrible mini series but it was far from Jenkin's best work.
I didn't pick up on any hints, but here on CBR many of us had assumed it was a fake-out to draw out the killer. *yawn

[Jessica Drew]

I get my comics (one day shy of) a week late, so I just got this one today.

First of all, I didn't like the resolution of the Ghoul storyline. I haven't seen a deux ex machina (I know I probably spelled that incorrectly) this blatant in quite a while. However....

Sally's story of Minnie was very touching. I teared up a bit (I've got a little boy, and a little girl on the way, and I'm a little sentimental about this type of stuff), and I liked the denouement: very sweet, yet understated.

I was disappointed we didn't see more of Dani...and I liked her story about her grandfather and the dreamcatcher. Yeah, I know the dreamcatcher story seems very stereotypical, but I teach at a Native American school, and as hackneyed as it sounds, this rang pretty true for me.

Overall, I really enjoyed this series. It never pretended to be an action/adventure series, so each low-key issue never disappointed me, and it never felt like a decompressed story. Each issue seemed to have a bit of a story that stood completely on its own, with Sally's personal story and the Ghoul mystery serving as a framework from which to tell these little vignettes.
(sp?).

[Valen]

It is a shame that the Ghoul story could not have been dropped completely from the miniseries. I would have enjoyed the book more had it only been about the depowered mutants and their stories. The action part of the story lessened the quality of the book.

Having said that, I still enjoyed this mini. I am glad that I usually avoid the speculation threads, because I didn't realise that Archangle was probably faking. I figured they had decided to depower him after the 198 book came out.

[Tre Styles]

I enjoyed this mini, but this last issue seemed very anti-climatic to me. It just seemed rushed. Maybe it was, in order for them to get ready for Civil War.

[The Fury]

I liked the mini overall...kinda.

But not the reporter side of it and her story that was basically not needed.

I think it might have worked better if the main person going round finding depowered mutants was like Jubilee or Dani. Another depowered mutant.

[rilokyle]

Yeah, I agree. I didn't like how Jubilee and Moonstar, and other depowered mutant favorites were only featured for a page at most. Readers were enticed to see our favorite mutants on the covers, and it sucked that they played very small roles in the actual series. Thumbs down on that one. :(

[Giant Guy]

I really liked the overall series. I would have really liked some more time spent with Moonstar and Jubilee but still it was nice to see them if maybe for the last time.

I was thinking the whole time that Angel would get new Archangel wings. Someone like the Beast would help his friend be able to fly and find a way to restore his flight abilities. I am glad he was not depowered but i would have liked to see the metal wings again.

[fishtaco]

I really liked the overall series. I would have really liked some more time spent with Moonstar and Jubilee but still it was nice to see them if maybe for the last time.I wouldn't call it the last time. They may never have their powers back again (or at least as long as JQ is chief), but that doesn't mean they will never appear again. In fact, I heard that Jubilee will be showing up in Wolverine: Origins. Polaris will be featured prominently in Uncanny X-Men starting in July. Mike Marts mentioned that Chamber and Moonstar will both show up sometime in the future. Prodigy is still around in New X-Men, too. Magneto has shown up again, and a depowered Quiksilver is in the middle of his own mini series. Rictor is featured prominently in X-Factor. Mesmero just showed up in X-Men Unlimited. There are plenty of de-powered characters that will still impact the X-universe. They may not have their powers anymore, but they still have their character traits (if written correctly, of course). Storm was depowered for a few years in the 80's, yet she remained one of the most important characters in the franchise. Don't give up hope just yet. :)

[TJ Shoun]

I usually love Jenkins' work, but issue 5 was a complete disappointment.

Where did the murderer come from?

What was his motivation for the killing spree?

Was Ghoul a mutant or something else?

The first four issues were fascinating, delving into the emotional ramifications of M-Day on mutants who lost their powers -- and Sally's personal problems were enough to make her an engaging character...

...but the last issue does a very poor job of delivering any sort of a satisfying conclusion. Sally decides to go to AA. That's it?!

It felt like the whole thing was a set-up for whatever book Sally and her cast will be appearing in next... and that ain't cool. If I commit to a 5 issue mini ($15), I want a complete, satisfying story.

[Nobbel]

It was a different kind of series, which I had to get used to in the beginning.

I do like it overall now. So we will see Sally back again in Cevil War Frontline. Wonder hwhat her part will be. Maybe she will be the storie teller or something. I like her more than Trish!

Don't you all think Archangel looked totally hot in this issue. He was sooo sexy according to Sally and I agree, the made him look hot!

[streator]

i just read the issue.

i enjoyed it, but it did have problems.

i still think that sally's daughter's death was unfortunate/moving.
i liked warren getting use.
i did think that the ghoul character ended up being irrelevant.
also, sally's last few comments (dialogue) did not work for me.
the sexy comment to warren and the aa bit came off flat.

/an enjoyable mini, but marvel solicited it more about depowered mutants and less about sally floyd (which it is about).
//i'm passing on civil war: frontline because i expect similar results.

[InigoMontoya]

It is a shame that the Ghoul story could not have been dropped completely from the miniseries. I would have enjoyed the book more had it only been about the depowered mutants and their stories. The action part of the story lessened the quality of the book.


Thats exactly how i felt. The character of sally was really well done, she seemed like someone who could really exist in the real world. She's up there with new characters like Jessica Jones.

I felt like the Ghoul story was added in to give a ongoing story to the mini. However, it would have been better if they had been just about the de=powered mutants and Sally's story. They should have had the courage to do that.