Uncanny X-Men 375

I Am Not Now, Nor Have I Ever Been...

uxm375.JPG (93723 bytes) Creators -
Writers: Alan Davis, Terry Kavanagh
Artist: Adam Kubert
Inkers: Batt, Tom Townsend
Colorists: Liquid!, Chris Sotomayor
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Editor: Mark Powers
Editor-in-chief: Bob Harras

Date Published -
December 1999

Cover -
Professor X and Wolverine
By: Adam Kubert

Plot -
The three groups of X-Men scattered around America, finally converge, after getting news from Cyclops and Phoenix. Shadowcat, Rogue, and Nightcrawler came back from infiltrating Mystique's home. Colossus, Marrow, and Mikhail Rasputin are coming back from freeing Mikhail from a mysterious entity. And Storm and Professor X come back from checking out Moonstar and Cannonball from possible inflitration. Together, the team finally convenes, only to find that Wolverine is dead, killed by Death. Moria and Beast take care of the autopsy and helping Mikhail get back on his feet. Archangel leaves, going to search for the missing Psylocke. The remaining X-Men (Cyclops, Phoenix, Nightcrawler, Marrow, Rogue, Gambit, Cable, X-Man, Shadowcat, Colossus, Storm, and Professor X) gather to talk through their troubles. However, the arguments increase, until Professor X reveals that Phoenix is controlling Cyclop's mind. Professor X turns his power on her, and Cyclops attacks the Prof, but Shadowcat steps in to save him. However, the bolt passes through him, only to hit Storm. Phoenix and Cable retailate, starting an all-out war between two groups of X-Men. The two teams collect, each going off in different directions to stop the other group, each fearing that something horrible has happened. Meanwhile, Archangel is being followed on his way home. He tries to out run the imposter, but he manages to follow the hero all the way home. Archangel attacks his look-alike, until Psylocke appears to save the day, knocking out the imposter. Meanwhile, the battle escalates, with the X-Man nearly killing Phoenix, and Marrow tearing Cable apart. Cable fights back, killing the youngest X-Man. Rogue then attacks Cable, but Cable kills them both with a hidden grenade. The X-Man turns his attention to Colossus and Nightcrawler, who are both killed. But with his last breath, Colossus impales the X-Man on a spike. This leaves only Shadowcat and Gambit remaining. Gambit says good-bye, revealing his true love for Rogue, while Shadowcat does the same for Colossus. Then, Shadowcat is confronted by an image of Onslaught, while Gambit is confronted the Dark Phoenix. Both are killed. But when they are, the visage of death disappears, showing an unscathed War Room. The Professor reveals what has been happening: he had disbanded the X-Man to figure which one of them was an imposter. But because Wolverine's death called them all back at once to the mansion, there was no way to rule out each of every one of the X-Men at once. Combining with power with Phoenix, Cable, and the X-Man, the Professor set up this scenario of betrayal to show that each of the X-Men was truly themselves, and as they showed that, they were eliminated (killed) from the game. Later, the group, both upset and disturbed, are called into the Med-Lab, where the Beast reveals the imposter: Wolverine was really a Skrull! Then, where is the real Wolverine?

More -

Nightcrawler