Warren Worthington: (Arch)Angel Appreciation 2019

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

X-Factor #45 Oct 1989
Judgement War! Part 3 of 7. "Arena!"
Continued from last issue...

Archangel, believed to be one of this alien world's Rejects, has been forced to enter
an arena where the Chosen force Rejects to engage in gladiatorial combat and place bets.
Archangel is the "property" of Lord Rask, a Chosen nobleman who stands to gain great wealth from the coming battle should Archangel win.
Warren refuses to fight, however his opponent the Reject named Agrom has no such compunctions as he only wishes to survive.
He attacks Warren savagely, however the winged mutant only defends himself. When Warren refuses to fight,
the Chosen unleash a swarm of devices called Goads -- devices that when attached to a being, ramps up their aggressions.
This forces Warren to fight and easily defeat Agrom in combat. During the fight, some of the Goads get knocked off Warren

and when the audience cheers for him to kill Agrom, Warren refuses to do so.
When he attempts to escape by flying out of the arena, a forcefield prevents him from doing so.

Princess Seera, witnessing the fight, becomes even more confused over her feelings for
the Archangel -- finding him noble and majestic which goes against the Chosen's contempt for the Rejects.
Rask makes a killing in the bets, and when he sneers at Lev and Bobby, Iceman becomes angry for being treated as a second class citizen
due to the fact that he is thought to be a Dueler, and is determined to get into a fight with Rask until Lev calms him down enough.
Witnessing this, Seera notes that she has never seen Bobby before and wonders if Archangel's claims of being
from another world is where this "Dueler" and the strange baby that she now has in her possession came from.
In wondering about the baby, she wonders where it's mother might be.

Marvel Girl is a prisoner of the Rejects, who since being attacked by a Jammer, has been in a catatonic state.
When the guards go in to check on her, they doubt much success in her being able to recover from the attack.
Elsewhere in the Reject village, Beast -- unaware that MG is the captive of the Rejects -- helps
Zharkah go through scavenged supplies and find items that they can use for Whilge's coming baby.
They are soon alerted that Whilge is giving birth at that moment and go to her side to witness the moment.
When Hank refers to child birth as a miracle, Zharkah corrects him that on this bleak world a birth is more
of a tragedy as even if the newborn child manages to live, it will live in a world of constant war and strife.
Almost in response to this Whilge's horrified when her newborn child dies suddenly.
Soon a funeral service is quickly organized and performed for the late Zheopah, and her body is put ablaze on a funeral pyre.
When Beast suggests that they use technology to try and improve the genetic defects in the Rejects,
Zharkah becomes suspicious of the Beast and tells him that such uses of technology is forbidden as it is what the Chosen use to reproduce.

While at the citadel of the Chosen, Princess Seera breaks into the breeding labs,
using her Jamming powers to mask her presence so that she can steal nutrient to take back to young Christopher Summers.
Along the way through the sewers she runs into a guard who has come to investigate the "blankness" surrounding the area.
Not wishing to get caught, she attacks him with her Jamming ability
but fears she has used them too strongly and alerted others of her presence.
As she flees the scene to avoid capture she wonders why the Chosen have
not trained themselves to use their powers for anything other than combat.
She returns to her quarters to find that young Christopher is crying,
however the child's tears subside when she feeds him the nutrient.
She has decided that at the first opportunity she must move the child out of the city.
With the little boy in her arms, Seera marvels at the possibility that this is a child from another world
and wonders that if she were ever to meet the boys parents, would she be able to give the child back.

Cyclops meanwhile exits the cave of the Beginagains with Dykon where Gammenon is once more on the planets surface outside their cave.
As they watch the giant Celestial, Scott reiterates his need to find his missing friends, and Dykon reminds Scott
of the conflict between the Rejects and Chosen and the Beginagains' desire to reunite both peoples to save their planet.
Dykon, suggests that with Cyclops's help, they may be able to do just that.

While back at the home of the Rejects, Zharkah announces that young Nikoh
has developed his Reject born abilities, the power to light things on fire.
When word about the "Reject" Archangel's victory in the arena word returned to the village by spies Beast
tells the gathered Rejects that Archangel is a member of his "tribe", X-Factor and rallies them to plan an attack on the Chosen's city.
As Beast and the others rush off to make plans, Zharkah watches the scene with increasing suspicion.

Back in the Chosen's citadel, Iceman and Lev pit their powers together and Bobby gloats that the only way Lev was
able to "defeat" him in battle previously was due to the fact he was caught off guard from a supposed Jammer attack.
When he traps her in a block of ice, he gets her to yield, however she still believes that she can beat him in combat.
When Lord Rask enters the room and mocks them for being Duelers, Bobby stands up to this and challenges Rask to a duel.
In a one-on-one fight, Iceman manages to defeat Rask by knocking the lord down and pinning his arms down with ice.
With the victory, Lev wins a hardy wager and Rask then challenges Iceman to go up against the "Reject" champion, Archangel.
Bobby accepts this challenge, however he feels uneasy when he learns that Lev bet money that she doesn't have on the fight.

While in the dungeons Archangel revives to find that Agrom is still alive and is surprised.
He begins to tell Agrom about how he was transformed into the Archangel
and manipulated by someone and that his wings have a mind of their own.
He also tells the Reject that he has made a vow never to be controlled by anyone
ever again and swears that once he is freed himself he will destroy all the Chosen.

Unknown to Warren his words are being monitored by Seera who has used her jamming powers to sneak into the monitoring room.
She is worried that Archangel is poised to fight his friend from another world, and wonders what she can
do to help him, and considers that if she does anything to free him, he might destroy her entire kingdom.

Story by Louise Simonson. Art by Paul Smith and Al Milgrom.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

X-Factor #46 Nov 1989
Judgement War! Part 4 of 7. "Exchange!"
Continued from last issue...

The Beast is preparing a group of Rejects to participate in a mission to break into the Chosen's city to free his friend Archangel from the arena.
As he trains young Nikoh how to fight, Zharkah watches with increased suspicion over Beast's true motives.
Unaware that he is really a mutant from another world she begins to suspect that he might be a spy of the Chosen,
and decides to see how he reacts when he sees the red haired woman that they have had prisoner
since their last battle against the Chosen who is scheduled to be part of the coming prisoner exchange.

Meanwhile, in the city of the Chosen, Iceman and Lev begin to drum up bets for Iceman's upcoming battle against the Archangel.
Watching this in disguise is Princess Seera, who knows that Iceman is really from another world and is suffering amnesia.
She wonders what she can do to free Archangel and continues to struggle
with her conflicting emotions regarding her allegiances to the Chosen way of life.
She also begins to wonder how much longer she can keep baby Christopher hidden from
the Chosen Scientists and once more considers sneaking the child further out of the city.
As she goes to check on the child and her robot Zee-Zee, she is unaware that she is being followed by
a member of the Chosen who can fly, who watches her enter her hideout and leaves to report to the scientists.

While at the hidden base of the Beginagains, Scott learns that his friend Beast
is among the Rejects, while Archangel and Iceman are in the city of the Chosen.
Looking through a monitoring crystal of the Beginagains, Scott learns that Marvel Girl
has been a prisoner of the Rejects and is going to be part of a prisoner exchange.
He demands instant action, however Dykon and the other Beginagains
refuse to take any action just yet prompting Cyclops to go off alone.

Back in the city of the Chosen, Archangel is brought before Lord Rask
who attempts to force Warren to go about a training exercise.

When Warren attempts to attack him, he is blasted back.
Warren then takes a different approach, feigning weakness until Rask gets close enough
for him to slice the nobleman's leg with his razor-sharp wings before being caged again.

Archangel assures Rask that he will slay the Dueler that he will be forced to fight and survive if only for
the satisfaction of eventually killing Rask, unaware that the "Dueler" he is to fight is his own comrade Iceman.

In the Reject city, the prisoner exchange is about to get underway when
Beast notices that the prisoner that they intend to exchange is Jean.
When Beast tries to save her, Zharkah believes that her suspicion that Hank is a spy
of the Chosen has been confirmed and she orders the other Rejects to capture Hank.
Back at the Chosen's city, Seera nurses young Christopher when suddenly Rask and a number of soldiers burst into the building.
They incapacitate Seera, Zee-Zee and Christopher, intending to punish Seera for
breaking their laws even though she is considered the most perfect of their society.
Christopher's telepathic cries cause Marvel Girl -- who has been in a catatonic state the whole time -- to awaken and lash out.

However, much to Beast's surprise, the dominant personality is not that of Jean, but of Madelyne Pryor.
While Seera has to answer to why she has a child, the scientists tell her that she will be punished for her crimes.
Rask however, having used his wealth and bargaining on Archangel's coming battle to net him another
handsome sum of money to buy him favor tries to get Seera to ally with him to avoid any trouble.
Seera, finally making a decision that their way of life refuses, knowing full well that there will be harsh consequences coming her way.

While outside the Beginagains base, Cyclops is stopped by Dykon and other
Beginagains who wish to help him storm the Chosen's city to free his friends.
However they point out that they will have to pass around the Celestial known
as Gammenon who has returned to the planet and is blocking their direct path.
As Scott calls out to Jean, telling her that he is coming,
it is Madelyne who hears this and is amused that her estranged husband would be coming.
In deep space, X-Factor's Ship is still a prisoner of the Celestials and once more probing it's data banks to learn it's true origins,
learns that it wasn't created by Apocalypse at all, but by the Celestials many centuries ago.

Finally, back in the Chosen's city, Seera is given back her robot Zee-Zee whom she is horrified
to find has been reprogrammed to have her own independent thinking culled from her data banks.
When Seera tries to lash out against the scientist who has done this to her childhood caretaker, she is forced back.
As she recovers from the feedback of her powers she vows that no matter what she will free the Archangel
and allow him to get his vengeance against the Chosen even if it means the end of her civilization in the process.

Story by Louise Simonson. Art by Paul Smith and Al Milgrom.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

X-Factor #47 Nov 1989
Judgement War! Interlude. "Guardian"
Continued from last issue...

Once more shackled in the prisons deep below the Chosen's city,

Archangel's mind drifts back to another time back on Earth to a day in New York City....

A young boy named Michael had gotten off a bus and unsure where to go
would have his attention drawn to a blind homeless man asking for change.
Michael would be a mutant with the ability to heal and would use his powers to make them see again.
When the crowd would realize what Michael had done, they would swarm him.
However he would be rescued by a group of teenagers who are part of a church group called the Children of Heaven.
While these are rough and tumble street kids, Michael is easily taken under their arms and he is taken to their leader Father Phillip.

Meanwhile, high above the city, Archangel soars as his mind is lost in the memories of his past,
about how he always grew up being mocked for being a "perfect" angel, and given grief over his love of flight.
He would recall the manifestation of his mutant powers and his making friends with young Cameron Hodge,
little realizing that the young boy would grow up into a man filled with hate and envy of Warren's status in society and his mutant nature.

While at the home for the Children of Heaven, Father Phillip reveals to Mike that he too is a mutant, a mind reader and looks into the boys mind.
There he finds that Mike's parents shunned him for his ability to heal those who were injured
and even after he used his powers to heal a car accident victim he was shunned and hated by his parents.
He would eventually run away from home and travel to New York to try and start a new life.
Father Phillip welcomes the boy into his home and is given a room with Greg.
Archangel witnesses this from the roof tops but leaves.
As Mike is left with Greg, Phillip enters another room where one of the girls in the home as been dragged back after another escape attempt.
Father Phillip's friendly veneer drops and he beats the already heavily beaten girl before resuming his gentle demeanor
and has Mike use his powers to heal her, not revealing why or how she was beaten.
Mike instantly develops a crush on the girl, who is named Beth and finds himself feeling right at home with the Children of Heaven.

Archangel meanwhile goes on the prowl outside the city and comes across a drug deal in progress.
Pinning the adults whom he thinks are selling drugs to kids he is shocked to find that
it is in reality the children -- members of Father Phillip's group -- selling the drugs.
They mouth off at the winged mutant when he realizes what is going on and the vastly different situation causes him to pause

and wonder if the world has changed and what was considered evil is good and vice versa and flies off into the night sky.
As Father Phillip preaches to his children, Archangel ponders how his life has went and how confused things have been;
Jean's supposed death and resurrection his failed relationship with Candy Southern
and her subsequent death at the hands of Cameron Hodge, before flying back into the city.

At the home for the Children of Heaven, Greg probes into Mike's interest in Beth
and shows him something that Mike finds entirely shocking: a pornographic tape that features Beth.
Mike is then called into another room where he finds that Beth has received another beating for yet another escape attempt.
Father Phillip orders Mike to use his powers to reverse the healing he gave her earlier. Disgusted by the video that he had seen,
and not realizing what is really going on, Mike is more than eager to comply causing Beth great pain.
Just then Warren bursts through the window and uses his wing razors to pin the Father to the wall.
Before he can do anything else he is shocked to find that all the Children of Heaven are secretly mutants
and Father Phillip uses his telepathic powers to torture Warren with is memories.

Pulling himself free, Phillip is about to use one of Warren's own knives when Mike realizes that Phillip is really evil.
Using his powers to heal Beth, Beth uses her own telepathic abilities to strike down Father Phillip and save Archangel's life.
The police are soon called and Father Phillip gets arrested.
Archangel offers the mutant children a place with X-Factor,.
However they all decline deciding that they need to find their own ways in the city
and thank Warren for his help in saving them from a life of slavery at the hands of Father Phillip.

With a renewed sense of hope, Warren flies off into the night sky.

Judgement War continues next issue....

Story by Kieron Dwyer. Art by Kieron Dwyer and Al Milgrom.

[Thievery]

I don't particularly like the Celestials, so I never really cared for the Judgement War story. But, your little summaries made me want to read Judgement War for the first time in a long while, and I honestly liked it for the first time. So my thanks to you 616MarvelYear is LeapYear for your posts about it.
I've always enjoyed the Archangel the Archangel solo story.

[K7P5V]

I don't particularly like the Celestials, so I never really cared for the Judgement War story. But, your little summaries made me want to read Judgement War for the first time in a long while, and I honestly liked it for the first time. So my thanks to you 616MarvelYear is LeapYear for your posts about it.
I've always enjoyed the Archangel the Archangel solo story.

Totally agree about Archangel's solo story. Kieron Dwyer is certainly underrated.

[LoganAlpha30X33]

I wonder how much longer we'll have to wait until Warren actually does something in/on Krakoa...hopefully something good...

[Thievery]

I wonder how much longer we'll have to wait until Warren actually does something in/on Krakoa...hopefully something good...

Well, just going off of the solicitations for March, it looks like we will be waiting at least until spring of next year until Archangel does something noteworthy, seeing as he doesn't appear in any of them.He could have some sort of role that wasn't revealed in the March solicits, but I doubt if it will be to big.

Just have to be patient and see what happens. I can wait a little longer if the story is good, and Warren fits in the comic. Hopefully, someone will want to use him

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

X-Factor #48 Dec 1989
Judgement War Part 5 of 7 "Common Ground!"
Continued from last issue... The Rejects and Chosen have come to meet on the common ground for one of their many prisoner exchanges.
The Rejects have come bearing Marvel Girl whom they have had subdued since her Madelyne Pryor personality has taken full control.
When they bring her before Lord Rask, they ask to exchange Jean for both Archangel and the warrior Agrom.
Rask, needing Archangel for his arena battle against Iceman refuses the winged mutant but agrees to turn over the Reject known as Agrom.
When they order MG released, they are surprised to find that the woman has great power and once more subdue her.
Rask, having never seen MG before, begins to wonder where she might have come from.

While in the Chosen's city, a scientist goes to check on Princess Seera so that she can accept Rask's offer of alliance.
She awakens and uses her jamming powers to knock him out and makes a break for it, jamming the minds of all opposition.
When her once loyal robot Zee-Zee attempts to raise the alarm, Seera flees, unable to bring herself to destroy her life long minder.
While outside the city, Cyclops and a team of the Beginagains approach an entrance into the city
when Dykon notices that yet another one of the Celestials has arrived on the planet's surface outside
the Chosen's city and they all begin to believe that the final judgement of their world is coming soon.

Having jammed the guard who holds the prisons, Seera steals the keys
and uses them to access the room where Archangel is being held prisoner.
She tells Archangel that his friend Iceman and young Christopher are also in the city, and they also free Agrom and try to escape.

However, Lord Rask comes upon them and he easily subdues Agrom.

When Archangel tries to fly away with Seera, Rask uses his powers to destroy
Zee-Zee causing Seera to slow Warren up enough for them both to be captured.

As they are being taken away, Rask suggests to Lord Palik that an example must be
made with Seera otherwise they will undermine the very foundations of their society.
He suggests that Seera should be put in the middle of the arena battle between Archangel and Iceman
and that should the Iceman win she will be put to death. If Archangel wins then she will live.
Palik agrees to the terms and comes to realize that Rask is attempting to buy his way to the
highest position among the Chosen and begins contemplating a plan to stop this from happening.

When Agrom is returned to the Rejects there is a giant party among their numbers.
Beast uses this as a means to escape when his guard becomes drunk from the celebration and knocks him out.
Stealing the key, he breaks out of his cell and tries to make an escape when he is stopped by Agrom.
When Agrom hears that the Beast is a friend of Archangel, he lets Beast go
and tells Zharkah that Beast isn't a Chosen spy but a visitor from another world.
While back in the city of the Chosen, the scientists all wonder where young Christopher has come from and after scanning the boy
and Marvel Girl's DNA they begin to wonder if Archangel's assertions that he was among people from another world may be true.
They allow the Madelyne Pryor possessed MG to approach her child, but they are shocked when
young Christopher displays his mutant powers and rejects his "mother's" attempt at affection.
While outside, Iceman and Lev prepare for the battle, knowing that the Chosen's
opinions on Duelers would change should Bobby win the bout against Iceman.
The two then take note that there are now more Celestials standing over the city now.

At the Reject's camp, Beast finally explains the truth about his origins to Zharkah and she accepts the tale with Agrom substantiating it
and she agrees to help him in freeing his friends that within the Chosen's city and bring their decadent civilization crashing down.
While out in deep space, Ship manages to break free from the tractor-beam that has kept it locked in space.
As it witnesses many more Celestials are descending down on the alien world, the sentient ship decides that it must
go down to the planet itself and try to save X-Factor from the possibility of destruction at the hands of its own creators.

Story by Louise Simonson. Art by Paul Smith and Al Milgrom.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

X-Factor #49 Dec 1989
Judgement War Part 6 of 7 "Power Struggle!"
Continued from last issue... Lord Rask offers Princess Seera one final chance at accepting his offer of an alliance.
However the defiant princess refuses and attempts to use her jamming powers on him,
but the power dampeners that she is hooked into cause feedback that puts her in a catatonic state
and Rask orders her to be placed in the arena to determine if she lives or dies,
depending on the outcome of the battle between Archangel and Iceman.
As more Celestials begin to descend to the planets surface, the people of the Chosen enter the arena uneasily for the coming bout.
After Lev collects bets among the Duelers, she goes to see Iceman before the big fight, and wishes him luck in the battle,
telling him that his victory will have an impact on the Chosen's opinions on Duelers. He surprises Lev by giving her a kiss.

While deep below the city in the sewers, Beast leads a group of Rejects on a mission to not only save his friends who are among the Chosen,
but to also shut down their power supply so that the Rejects can invade their city and bring their decadent society crashing down.
When they go to the surface with the intention of jumping some of the Chosen and stealing their clothing, Beast is surprised to find
that the people they jump are none other than Cyclops and the band of Beginagains that have rallied with him on the same cause.

While elsewhere in the city, Lord Palik has Archangel brought before him.
Not wishing Warren to win the arena battle for it would give Lord Rask the financial wealth to take over the Chosen,
he uses his powers to partially blind Archangel hoping that this will give Iceman the edge he needs to kill Warren in the arena.
Unknown to both, a size changing Dueler had been spying on the situation the whole time,
planted by Lev to insure that Archangel wasn't enhanced before the battle.
He tells Lev this and that Iceman and Archangel both come from another world.
This comes too late as Iceman goes into the arena to face Archangel.

As Warren tries to get Iceman to remember who he is, Lev wonders what to do about the situation.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Apocalypse is monitoring the world from his secret hideout in the Himalayan mountains and has taken note of the fact that
the world's super-villains have taken up unforeseen alliances and battling irregular foes and begins to suspect that some force is using them as pawns.

Back on the alien world, with the gathered Rejects and Beginagains agreeing to work together they split up into two groups:
Beast and the Rejects will go to disrupt the arena and collect Iceman and Archangel,
while Scott and the Beginagains cut the power in the city and rescue Marvel Girl and Christopher.
While in space above the planet, X-Factor's ship watches as the last of the Celestials descend on the planet below
and it decides that now is the time to travel down to the planet and try what it can to protect it's friends from destruction.

While in the Arena, the battle rages on while Seera tries to talk sense into Lord Rask and Palik,
Archangel's attempts to convince Iceman of who he really is fails to work.


Just then, the ground begins to quake and the group of Beginagains and Rejects led by Beast burst through the ground and join the battle.
This interruption causes all the bets to go forfeit and end up going to the science council, financially ruining Lord Rask.
He goes down to the arena and attempts to kill Seera to at least get that satisfaction, but instead gets knocked off the platform by Lev.
Removing the power restraints from Seera, Lev convinces the princess to use her jamming powers to restore Iceman's memories.

Unsure if she can do it, Seera surprises herself when she proves able to do so.
With Bobby's memories restored, the battle ends and the combined members of X-Factor, the Rejects
and Beginagains turn their attention to Lord Rask who is just then ordering the Chosen guards to destroy them all.

While back on Earth, Apocalypse's findings link all the super-villain activity to one man
who appears to be a servant but is really the mastermind behind the while ordeal.
Realizing that his true nature has been divined by Apocalypse, this man appears
before the eternal mutant and offers him a position in his Acts of Vengeance conspiracy.

Story by Louise Simonson. Art by Paul Smith and Al Milgrom.