Publisher Marvel Comics Genre Superhero Writer(s) Grant Morrison | Publication date January – May 2003 Title(s) New X-Men #135-138 | |
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Penciller(s) Frank Quitely
Keron Grant | ||
"Riot At Xavier's" is a four-part storyline that ran from New X-Men #135-138 (2003). It was written by Grant Morrison and features artist Frank Quitely's last work on the title. The story centers on an original character of Morrison's, the teenage mutant Quentin Quire. According to Morrison, the storyline was inspired by a playground riot he witnessed in his youth.
Contents
Plot synopsis
The story centers on Quentin Quire, who had appeared at first in issue #122. Quire is fleshed out as a super-intelligent young teenager, who is a pupil of Professor X's mutant school at the X-Mansion. When he finds out he is adopted, and a mutant celebrity called Jumbo Carnation is killed by anti-mutant racists, Quire begins to mock Xavier's pacifistic teachings, hero-worships the mutant supremacist Magneto, and assembles a gang of militant classmates to kill humans in retaliation. Their rage is fueled by consumption of the fictional drug "Kick", which supercharges their mutant abilities.
Side-plots are the workings of mysterious mutant teacher Xorn, Quire's crush on Sophie of the Stepford Cuckoos, the relationship between flirty Angel Salvadore and the ugly Beak and the growing estrangement of Cyclops from his wife Jean Grey, causing Emma Frost to start a psychic affair with him.
When "Open House" Day at Xavier's arrives, Quire's so-called "Omega Gang", made strong and volatile by repeated consumption of "Kick", capture Professor X and spew anti-human sentiment against the school's human visitors, stating they are avenging Jumbo Carnation. However, Beast tells them Carnation killed himself by an overdose of Kick. Helped by the Stepford Cuckoos, who collectively inhale Kick to match Quire's power, the X-Men subdue the Omega Gang, but Sophie Cuckoo—Quire's crush—is killed. Breaking down emotionally and because of Kick's side-effects, Quentin collapses and turns into a disembodied state. As a consequence, Professor X resigns.
Aftermath
In the following arcs up to issue #154 (the last issue of the Morrison run), Xorn was originally revealed by Morrison to be Magneto, harboring a genocidal hate against mankind in the following "Planet X" arc, and also the supplier of the Kick drug. However, the decision to interpret the Holocaust survivor Magneto as a genocidal, drug-crazed mass murderer was met with disdain by editorial, and was subsequently rewritten by later authors. The arc also set up the Scott Summers / Emma Frost relationship, a staple of the Astonishing X-Men comics by Joss Whedon. The events of this story were mentioned in Wolverine and the X-Men #1 by Kid Omega, the man who started it and the divide among the X-Men.
Collected editions
The series has been collected into the following trade paperbacks: