Appearing in "The Gift Goodbye"
Featured Characters:
- X-Men
Archangel 
(Flashback and main story)
Lucas Bishop (Flashback and main story)- Colossus
- Cyclops (Illusion)
- Jean Grey (Flashback and main story)
- Iceman (Flashback and main story)
- Professor X (Illusion)
- Storm (Flashback and main story)
- Wolverine (Illusion)
Supporting Characters:
- Cable (Illusion)
- Phoenix (Rachel Summers) (Illusion)
- Shard (First appearance) (Illusion)
Adversaries:
- Mastermind (Death) (Flashback and main story)
- X-Cutioner (Carl Denti) (First appearance)
- Tower (Death)
- Nimrods (Illusion)
- Trevor Fitzroy (Illusion)
Other Characters:
- Fred Duncan (Death) (Behind the scenes)
- Havok (Illusion)
- Polaris (Illusion)
- Marni (Single appearance)[1] (Illusion)
Locations:
- Marvel Universe
- Astral Plane
- Earth
- San Miguel, El Salvador
- United Kingdom
- Muir Island, Scotland
- Mutant Research Center (Flashback and main story)
- Muir Island, Scotland
Items:
Vehicles:
- X-Men Blackbird (Only in flashback)
Synopsis for "The Gift Goodbye"
In a Salvadoran village, the mercenary Tower is about to rape a waitress when an armored man intervenes and incinerates him. Called the X-Cutioner, the man hunts and executes mutant killers. Jean Grey is out shopping with her son Nathan when a squad of Nimrod Sentinels comes to kill him. Fortunately, Bishop and his sister Shard save them and destroy the Sentinels. Then, Iceman arrives with his celebrity team of X-Men, drawing a crowd. Shard stops Bishop from fighting an arrogant Wolverine, but Trevor Fitzroy grabs her from behind and kills her. Jean and Nathan leave with her husband Scott and daughter Rachel. Unbeknownst to Jean, Bishop, and Iceman, their minds are trapped in an illusion created by a dying Mastermind while their bodies lie in his hospital room on Muir Island. Archangel and Storm are monitoring them, and she reviews how the X-Men came in response to a letter from Mastermind to Jean. As soon as they arrived, Mastermind telepathically attacked Bishop, Iceman, and Jean. Colossus interrupts, demanding they go home so he can attend to his ill sister, but Storm insists they save their teammates. In the illusion, Rachel and Nathan attack Jean and kill Scott, blaming her for their traumatic lives. Realizing they are just constructs, Jean destroys them and finds Mastermind. On Muir Island, an alarm sounds as the X-Cutioner arrives to kill Mastermind, and Storm dispatches Archangel and Colossus to deal with him. In the illusion, Mastermind vanishes as Bishop finds Jean. Archangel and Colossus attack the X-Cutioner, but he overpowers Archangel. Jean and Bishop save Iceman from his X-Men team as they have turned on him. Jean finds Mastermind’s letter to her and reads it, restoring her memory. Mastermind reappears, and his illusory world vanishes. Outside, the X-Cutioner downs Colossus with an alien lance just before Storm arrives to confront him. Mastermind confesses his love for Jean, expresses remorse for his crimes, and says he intended his illusion as a parting gift, but his deterioriating state made it go wrong. Realizing their minds will die when Mastermind dies, Jean uses her powers to send Bishop and Iceman back to reality. Meanwhile, Storm attacks X-Cutioner with lightning, but he teleports away. Jean forgives Mastermind, and he uses the last of his strength to return her mind to her body then dies. Outside, Storm and Archangel find Colossus lying unconscious with a gash across his face and chest.
Appearing in "Of Kings and Queens and Promises"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Bantam
- Siena Blaze (First full appearance) (Joins the Upstarts)
Adversaries:
- New Mexico State Police (some die)
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
- "Cattle Car" from Earth-811
Synopsis for "Of Kings and Queens and Promises"
Trevor Fitzroy drains the life force of a handyman and uses it to reanimate his servant Bantam who tracks his portals through space-time. In the New Mexico desert, mutant Siena Blaze and her boyfriend are trapped in a shootout with the state police. Fitzroy teleports in with Bantam, drains her boyfriend’s life force, and uses it to open a massive portal to the future. Out of it barrels a transport carrying mutant prisoners to a work camp. The vehicle plows through the police, and Blaze sees an older version of herself aboard it just before it disappears through another portal. Fitzroy tells her about the Upstarts and informs her she is their final member. She asks how he knew where to find her, and he reveals her future self told him.
Notes
- This issue came polybagged with a Marvel 1993 Annuals trading card featuring X-Cutioner drawn by Jason Pearson.
- This issue is reprinted in:
- X-Men: Fatal Attractions hardcover (2012);
- X-Men Epic Collection vol. 22: Legacies trade paperback (2023).
- "The Gift Goodbye" is also reprinted in the X-Men: Danger Room Battle Archives trade paperback published in 1996.
- A pinup is printed in this issue, featuring:
by Michael Bair & Marie Javins
Trivia
- Though not explicitly stated in "The Gift Goodbye", Mastermind dies of the Legacy Virus.
- Believing Phoenix was Jean Grey, Mastermind used his illusion-casting powers to seduce and brainwash her starting in X-Men #122. This eventually led to her joining the Hellfire Club as its Black Queen and becoming Dark Phoenix. Mastermind never learned Phoenix was not the real Jean Grey (as revealed in Fantastic Four #286), hence his confession and apology to Jean in this issue.
- X-Cutioner says his mentor was Fred Duncan, the X-Men's former liaison with the FBI, and that Duncan died before the events of this issue. X-Cutioner's armor is comprised of weapons and equipment that Duncan collected over the years from various X-Men foes.
- Bishop's sister Shard first appears in this issue as part of Mastermind's illusion. She first appears in-person in Bishop #1.
See Also
Recommended Reading
Links and References
- Uncanny X-Men at Wikipedia.org
- Uncanny X-Men at Marvel Subscriptions
- Uncanny X-Men series index at Comicbookdb.com
- Uncanny X-Men series index at Uncanny X-Men.net
- Uncanny X-Men series index at the Grand Comics Database Project
- Uncanny X-Men at the Complete Marvel Reading Order
- The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators - accessed on 12/06/2009