CLANDESTINE #1-12 (1994-1995)

This is an Alan Davis comic, which means the art is good. It’s also a beloved fan favorite. So my hopes are high as I start reading it that it won’t be a silly mess like Excalibur was.

It starts with MODOK burning down something called “Project Lenz,” while a shadowy figure escapes.

We then flash forward to meet Crimson Crusader and Imp.

After watching them subdue some thieves, we jump to meet “Kay Cera” who is a telepath with the ability to jump her consciousness from body to body (and even into other species).

She’s actually one of the Destine family members, Cuckoo.

Over the course of the initial four issues we meet all the family members. Most are being attacked.

Gradually, we (and they) learn that they are super-siblings. We learn that the AIM monster, Lenz, is a monster whose genes are deteriorating. He’s looking for a device that can save him, called the Gryphon, which is actually an acronym: Genetic Realignment Yield Polarity Harmonizing Orientation Net. The Destines are protecting it (for reasons not entirely clear to me).

I’m glossing over a lot here. The details are fun, but don’t ultimately matter. During the Gryphon/Lenz adventure, they meet Adam. He knows stuff, so the confused Destines ask him questions…

He shares with his family members their origin (they’ve been around since the 1800s).

Cuckoo then tires to regain her fortune, which she lost when her “Kay Cera” body died and she telepath-ported into a cat, along with other adventures.

It’s a fun series. Other 616 characters make appearances, like Spider-Man.

And it’s great to see Alan Davis drawing them.

But overall ClanDestine–and wisely–self contained.

The last four issues of the series , #8-12, are not by Alan Davis and are not considered canon because Davis later returned to the characters and wrote those issues off as a dream. Kinda like how Community wrote off season four–the only one without Dan Harmon–as a “gas leak.”

This was a solid read. In a lot of ways, it was like the Excalibur book that wasn’t: A fun series with wild ideas that were unusual, unprecendented, and mostly stood on their own.

I pronounce this a good comic.

All the Destine family members mostly appear together and/or in ClanDestine books, so I’ve group-tagged them. Note that the “not canon” tag is used for issues #8-12.

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