Jubilee Deadly Reunions # 1

 By Mark Rodriguez

So Jubilee finally gets a mini, or at least I thought it was a mini before I found out this was a one-shot. Jubilee faces her Chinese heritage as she has to find her missing family. Let's see what happens. 

"Jubilee: Deadly Reunion" opens in San Francisco California as a very acrobatic thief sneaks into the Cranio-One AI building. She gets past the laser bream security system and makes it to the main vault. She pulls out a vial of 'gold goop' and wonders if this is the top-secret tech worth millions. Suddenly someone grabs her by the neck and says she shouldn't be here.

Elsewhere in the Haven House in New Orleans Louisiana, Jubilee returns after a space mission fighting Skrulls, alongside Rogue, Gambit and Nightcrawler. As the others discuss microwave dinners, Jubilee goes to chill by her room. She finds a mystery man sitting in her room with his shoes off. Jubilee doesn't know who he is and the man feels hurt that she doesn't recognize him. Jubilee says she's never seen him before in her life. As her finger lights up, the man aims a gun and hits her with a shock wave.

 

The others come in and Jubilee points out the cause of the commotion. The man says he just wants to talk, and Jubilee says he could have knocked instead of breaking and entering. She leaps at him and he blasts her with the gun. Nightcrawler flips overhead and tries to smack the gun out of his hand but gets blasted as well. Rogue flies in and Nightcrawler warns her that the gun hits like Banshee's scream.

 

Rogue asks the man's name as he dodges her punch. Gambit says it doesn't matter and they can just check his ID after they knock him out. He tosses one of his charged cards and finally knocks the gun away. The man tells Jubilee to call off her friends before things get messy. Jubilee says who things will get messy for, considering he just lost his sound gun. The man takes off his shades and calls Jubilee 'Ga-Hei' and tells her to call off her friends. Jubilee stops in her tracks upon hearing that name. That's her name.

Jubilee has a brief flashback of barely remembering this guy back when they were both kids in Hong Kong. Jubilee is running off as her cousin did something that scared her. Jubilee tells her friends to back off and explains that nobody knows her real name except family. The man introduces himself as Jubilee's cousin, Eason Cheung. He whispers to Jubilee in Cantonese that he was hoping to keep this family matter within the family. but Jubilee only understood a few words. Eason tells her that her aunt Hope is missing.

Sometime later, Jubilee and Eason are flying on a private jet. She asks him why she hasn't heard from her since forever. He says his job as a mid-level admin for the Hong Kong Government makes it difficult to keep in touch with family. She says it's so normal for a mid-level admin to have his own private jet. Eason says it's a perk, just like he also have access to cell phone records. He knows she speaks regularly to her aunt Hope and asks how she didn't know that she was missing. Jubilee says Aunt Hope is a retired cyborg assassin so sometimes she's off on adventures for weeks at a time. She asks how Eason is so sure something is wrong. He says he calls his mother once a year, always on lunar new year. This time she didn't pick up.

They arrive at Chinatown, in San Francisco California. Jubilee remembers her parents taking her to the LA Chinatown back when she was a kid, where they'd share shaved ice and red beans. She thinks she hasn't been there since she joined the X-Men. Eason snaps her out of it and points towards Hope's apartment.

As they walk into the apartment, Jubilee says Hope never talks about her husband. Eason says his job keeps him busy too. He tells her to hold the questions since you never know who might be listening. Once they enter the apartment, Jubilee complains about the foot smell as Eason takes off his shoes. Eason asks her if her parents ever taught her to take off her shoes when she enters someone's home. Jubilee says they did, but once she became an orphan, keeping her shoes on was common sense since you never know when you have to run. Eason expresses his condolences that Jubilee lost her parents.

Eason uses his high-tech shades to scan the area. The shades tell 'Agent Decibel' that there is no sign of forced entry. Jubilee teases him about his codename. Jubilee says Hope gets stir-crazy staying at home too long and should be back the following day, safe and sound. Eason says it's different this time. Jubilee asks how. He says she is not there to argue, she is there to help. Jubilee thinks he's a total wad. He asks her think of any places Hope mentioned during their last conversation.

They later go into a general store, but Jubilee stays outside, not wanting to deal with not being able to speak Cantonese properly. Eason asks the cashier about Hope, showing her a picture. The woman recognizes her as one of her regulars and asks if she's on another vacation. She asks if Jubilee is her girlfriend. Eason clarifies that she's his cousin. The woman feels relieved, saying he can do so much better and disses Jubilee's clothes. As they walk away, Jubilee asks what trash they were talking about her. He says she'd know if she stepped inside with him. Jubilee says she'll join in for the next one.

At the Five Elements Acupuncture Clinic, Jubilee asks the owner if he knows Hope Lee. He says he has a policy against her bubble gum chewing. Jubilee angrily storms off and says she's had enough of Eason acting like the 'perfect Chinese man'. She wants them to investigate separately.  Eason says he's not the perfect Chinese man, or even the perfect Chinese son. He only speaks to his mother once a year because that's all they can stand of each other. Despite that, no matter how bad things have gotten, she would never miss the call. He asks Jubilee if there's any other place she would have mentioned. She thinks and knows of one more spot.

Later on, Jubilee and Eason visit the Lucky Teahouse. As they enter, Jubilee is surprised to see people don't play Mahjong there. The owner tells her they're only a simple teahouse. Jubilee recalls her aunt telling her she won big against her friends. The owner says that's impossible, especially since gambling is illegal in the state of California. They notice a rather large mirror for such a small establishment. The owner says it makes the place look more spacious. Jubilee flashes her fireworks and says it can also be a one-way mirror so her friend on the other side can keep an eye out for the cops.

The mirror shatters and the big man behind it tells them 'no password, no entry'. Eason sends him flying back with his sonic gun. Jubilee tells everyone they're looking for Hope Lee, in horrible broken Cantonese.  The other older women there recognize Hope as Li Ngah-Mong... and also want Jubilee to stop talking in Cantonese. One woman explains that they're all retired assassins that are bored out of their minds, so they gamble over jobs rather than money. Hope won big a week ago, information on how to steal cutting-edge tech from an A.I start up. Eason asks which start up. The woman only agrees if he gives her his number. 

Later on, at downtown San Francisco, Jubilee asks Eason if he really gave that lady his number. He says 'no comment'. As they head towards their destination, Eason tells Jubilee that his job makes it difficult to keep in touch with family, especially his mother. He says he works for Hong Kong's Department of Oversight for Enhanced Human Activity and his mother is a criminal with cybernetic limbs. If he sees her, his job would require him to arrest her.

They arrive at Cranio-Tech and the receptionist has such an odd voice that Jubilee wonders if she's a human or a robot. Eason decides to check. The shades tell Eason that the subject was human once. The receptionist says they don't have an appointment, but their representatives can take care of them. Suddenly AIM agents show up and tie Jubilee and Eason up with energy ropes.

Jubilee is surprised to see that AIM is involved. She recognizes the people as being infected with the Techno-Organic Virus. The receptionist says she prefers to call it Bio-Enhancement. One of the agents explains that this is how Cranio-One AI connects to everyone, everywhere. 

Just then Aunt Hope arrives and explains that this is the cutting edge technology she was trying to steal. Eason checks to see if it's really her. The shades tell him that Hope Lee is the only infected victim that remains alive. The others are already dead are being controlled by the virus. Hope says the virus has only taken over 56% of her body and will be fully connected soon... just like they both will. Hope throws techno-organic tentacles  that Jubilee and Eason manage to avoid. Hope notes that they're both mutants, which will make it harder to connect to them. Jubilee is surprised to hear 'both'.

Just then Jubilee remembers something from her previous flashback. Eason was trying to fix Jubilee's broken keyboard... when suddenly sound starts coming from his hands. Jubilee runs off scared and Eason can't control his powers.

Back to the present, Eason explains that his pistol helps him direct the sonic energy, but he is the source. He releases a sonic blast that knocks the agents into the air. Jubilee now understands why he's called Agent Decibel. The tentacles go up Jubilee's nose and access her memories. The tech virus can read that Jubilee always felt alone and could never belong anywhere. The tech-infected Hope says spending the day with Eason didn't help since Jubilee felt that she wasn't Chinese enough. She tells Jubilee to give in to Cranio-One and never feel alone again.

Eason holds onto Jubilee and tells her to fight it. Jubilee asks what the point is, since nobody wants to be alone. Eason tells her the heart of philosophy is Ren which is knowing the connection to others and being both human and humane. Jubilee is surprised she's getting a philosophy lesson now. Eason says he saw Ren in her even when they were kids.

Back to the flashback, Eason catches up to Ga-Hei and tells her he didn't mean to scare her. He looks at his hands, which are emanating sound and says he's scaring himself too. They hug and Ga-Hei tells Yih-Seun Go-Go that she won't be scared if he stops being scared as well.

Eason tells Jubilee if she wants to stop feeling alone, she has to forget about herself and start acting with Ren. This is how she's always been 'Chinese enough'. Jubilee tells him to make sure his mother is alright. Jubilee says when the virus connected to her, she also connected to it. The virus has nothing human in it and only wants to eat what's human. Jubilee is able to use her powers to blast the virus out of her.

Moments later, Eason is taking his mother out of the building as she finally comes back to her senses. Hope pushes Eason back and says he came to visit when it's not even Lunar New Year. She asks if Jubilee thought she was in trouble. Eason says he won't be able to fake ignorance of her whereabouts now. Hope reminds him she is his mother and is ashamed that her son is a cop. Eason says that someone has to atone for her life of crime.

Jubilee cuts in and says they almost lost Aunt Hope. She says for tonight they should just put family above all else. Eason says that is the most Chinese thing she said all day. Hope she says she knows a dumpling place that's open this late. Jubilee says Eason is paying. Jubilee's adventures will continue in X-Men # 28.

 

My Thoughts- 

Really guys? Jubilee just gets a one-shot? While reading this, I thought the reveal that Eason was a mutant would be the issue-ending cliffhanger. I guess I'm glad I was able to pick this one up. I guess this won't be a new series to collect since the story ends here.

Like many people out there, I first encountered Jubilee when watching the X-Men animated series back when it premiered in the 90's. One detail I noticed when the Sentinel scanned her, other than her name being Jubilation Lee, was that she was Chinese-American. It is easy to forget since she does act very Americanized.

 

While I'm not Chinese, I can relate to her since I am also very Americanized. One of the running gags in the issue is Jubilee speaking in badly broken Cantonese. While I was never told that my Spanish was so bad they wanted me to shut up, I can relate with my Spanish not being perfect. My brother, Johnny, speaks it way more often so his is way better. While Jubilee never actually visited China in this story, for me living in Mexico during my teen years did help me reconnect with my heritage. So this issue kinda hits, cause I can relate a lot with Jubilee and how she felt here.

 

I enjoyed the story between Jubilee encountering her culture and the play on the horrors of AI. It's a good self-contained story but I did wish it lasted a bit longer. I liked the banter between Jubilee and Eason. Being an agent, Eason was pretty straight-forward and by the book. One running gag with him is he's incredibly handsome. Everyone from Rogue to the retired assassin ladies want a piece of him.

We also find out that her actual name is Ga-Hei, which make sense since Jubilation never really sounded Chinese. The flashback also showed that she actually lived in Hong Kong during some part of her childhood and wasn't just born in America. Funny enough, Ga-Hei does mean Jubilation in Cantonese, so it works. I also checked and this was the very first issue in which this fact was introduced. I wonder if it will come up in the regular X-Men comic series.

Overall a fun read. It was delayed a week, as it was supposed to come out the same week as Free Comic Book Day. I'm glad I grabbed it, courtesy of Third Eye Comics.