This article contains spoilers for GENERATION X #86
Jubilee has had an interesting decade. Between losing her mutant abilities, getting turned into a vampire, becoming a mom, and trying to be a mentor to troubled youths, she has kept herself both busy and constantly evolving. Well in GENERATION X #86, everything comes full circle because classic Jubez is back.
There are two key elements at play here. The first is Monet, Jubilee’s classic teammate, and frenemy. In Cullen Bunn’s UNCANNY X-MEN, she merged with her vampiric brother Emplate to save the Morlocks from becoming a mutant bone marrow buffet. She struggled to contain his dark desires but eventually lost control and attacked the Xavier School.
Meanwhile, Quentin Quire left the school, hung out on a living island, went on an adventure with Thor, and absorbed part of the Phoenix Force. This made him angstier than normal. Jubez had been mentoring Quire and tried to teach him to give a damn about other people. She was able to convince him to return to the school in the knick of time.
This came to a head in a big superhero punching battle, as often happens. Monet threw Jubez out a window into a nice sunny day, which absolutely does not agree with her bloodsucking disposition. Her skin began to burn and her student made a choice. Quentin Quire used his last shard of the Phoenix Force to save his teacher and cure her of her curse, but that isn’t all. The Phoenix is a symbol of rebirth and it gave that to Jubilee. The fireworks are back baby!
This marks a pretty significant milestone as Jubilee was among the last major mutants to remain depowered after M-Day with Dani Moonstar being there other. Jubez’ time as a vampire had been a controversial change in the poorly received Curse of the Mutants storyline that some claimed was an attempt to cash in on the cultural zeitgeist of vampires after Twlight. It was also a point of confusion for many lapsed fans who’s point of reference to Jubilee was the 90’s animated series. This move is already being lauded by fans and is seen as a natural resolution to a character arc that just went on too long. Though GENERATION X is coming to a close, Christina Strain and Amilcar Pinna have provided a great moment to lead into the finale.
Zachary Jenkins runs ComicsXF and is a co-host on the podcast “Battle of the Atom.” Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside of all this.
