FANTOMEX

• Writer - Grant Morrison
• Artist - Igor Kordey
• Lettering - Richard Starkings
• Lettering - Comicraft
• Lettering - Saida Temofonte
• Colorist - Dave McCaig
• Editor - Mike Raicht
• Editor in Chief - Joe Quesada

Summary

  X-Corporation Paris is surrounded; Xavier calls Pierre, one of his friends in high places, but gets no help. He's not willing to turn over Fantomex without a good explanation.

  Jean uses TK to clot the criminal's femoral artery. Xavier manipulates the minds of the helicopter pilots outside the window, but Fantomex knows they'll just switch to robots, so he uses his mutant power to project an illusion of blowing up the building.

  The soldiers realize they're facing telepaths and send in Animal, a marine with no mind worth manipulating. He claims he's "your death in human form"; Fantomex isn't impressed. Downstairs, the soldiers hold Xavier's staff at gunpoint; upstairs, they find Animal babbling about his dead father. His inner child has been brought to the surface, and he wants to quit soldiering and work with the handicapped.

  Fantomex has summoned his ship EVA, a flying saucer, and he takes Xavier and Jean aboard and flies them to his home, where his blind mother is waiting. He has a collection of artifacts from around the world and a fortune made from theft. Xavier isn't impressed and wants to know more about Weapon XII. Fantomex explains it's a government project of artificial evolution, Sentinel technology spliced to human DNA and accelerated.

  In the Chunnel, M can't contact her team and faces monstrous people and dogs. The train wreck was arranged to lure in Xavier's forces; Fantomex has all the data on disc and is willing to sell. Xavier haggles, appealing to the professional thief's sense of decency; he points out Xavier's a billionaire. He also says Weapon X is Weapon Ten, and he goes to his personal operating theater to remove the bullets from his gut.

  Darkstar stands with a fleeing mob against the monsters, and she's scared of dying.

  Fantomex's base replicates his family home in Marseilles, to keep his mother happy. He refuses to remove his mask, to keep his mind shielded. Xavier wants to get to the Chunnel; Fantomex agrees but only if they help him kill Weapon XII, putting the X-Men in a moral quandary.

  Note: Fantomex says Xavier has 3 millionaires on staff: Warren, Emma and Xavier himself.

  Note: Weapon Plus is a surprising and perhaps pointless retcon, so far.

Summary

  Cover name was changed to "New X-Men" for Issues 114 - 156.