My gigantic reading of every issue of Marvel Comicsā Uncanny X-Men continues!
Iāve made it to the second half of 1983 with issues 169 to 175, and the 20th anniversary of Stan Lee and Jack Kirbyās original creation and debut of the X-Men. Of course, the characters were on hiatus for 5 years in there, but to go from cancellation to being the best-selling Marvel comic book is pretty impressive.
This set of story concludes Paul Smithās stint as artist, which I was really sad to discover. Having never read the vast majority of his issues, discovering his work has been a delight. He continued to improve and provide clear, graceful, character-driven scenes that really added personality. I really wish he had stayed on longer, but his too-short run remains influential. His cover of Uncanny X-Men #173 was used as the inspiration for a cover by Art Adams for a charity book Marvel produced a few years later. Apparently editor Ann Nocenti specifically requested that the cover be modeled after Smithās layout and design. This cover was then in turn used for a promotional poster and retailer standee. These images really cemented Art Adams as a superstar artist and the late ā80s/early ā90s look for Wolverine.
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Uncanny X-Men #173 cover by Paul Smith (1983)
Heroes for Hope cover by Art Adams (1986)
Wolverine poster by Art Adams (1987)
John Romita, Jr. takes over on the final 8 pages of issue 175. Apparently those pagesĀ were done over a weekend because Smith had left the book over creative differences. I donāt know what the differences were about specifically, but that now makes 2 out of 3 artists that left over creative differences. A pattern seems to be forming. Are the editors pairing writer Chris Claremont with temperamental artists, or is Claremont not playing well with others? Hard to know for sure, likely a combination of both along with other factors, but itās really a bummer to lose Paul Smith so soon. Nowadays, 10 issues is normal, bordering on a long stint, but in the ā80s, it was expected that creative teams would stay on for years.Ā Romita triedĀ to draw like Smith in those final 8 pages to make the transition somewhat smooth but itās pretty rough due to the tight turnaround time. A few characters are mis-colored and some are unidentifiable.
But Iām getting ahead of myself. This starts off with the introduction of the Morlocks, a misfit society of mutants that live underground in the lower levels of the New York City subway systems. Growing up for me, they always seemed like such an established element of the X-Men mythology, so I was surprised it took this long for them to show up. For some reason, I was sure they were part of John Byrneās run.
The issue also sees the return of Caliban, who seemed like a throwaway sorta-villain when he showed up two years ago. Heās working with the Morlocks to find them new members but they donāt seem to get along very well mostly because of the Morlockās leader Callisto, an eye-patched punk who has always looked like some kind of weird, flawed amalgam of Pat Benatar, Joan Jett and Chrissie Hynde. Sheās kidnapped Angel and wants to marry him. Iām not exactly sure why. I canāt tell if she really expected it to be a binding marriage, or if it was some kind of statement about āpretty mutantsā vs. āugly mutantsā. Angel is silent for the entire two-part story, usually unconscious, and is essential a cypher or stand-in. I donāt know if this was an intentional gender-swap of the damsel in distress trope, but Iām going to pretend it is.
The team is outnumbered and overwhelmed, and the only way they can get medical attention to their injured teammates in time is for Callisto to be dethroned as leader of the Morlocks. And of course that is done by a duel to the death. Nightcrawler issues the challenge, but knowing he wonāt go through with the āto the deathā part, Storm steps in instead despite being one of the injured. In an extreme reversal from the last 13 year of Stormās deep concern for life,Ā Storm does not hesitate in making the fatal strike. Of course, the Morlocks have a mutant healer in the ranks so Callisto wonāt actually die, but itās made clear she would have.
Ever since Storm returned from being reborn through a space whale (a phrase I will never get tired of writing), she has been acting weird. Sheās lost her connection with nature,Ā which is causing her powers to go wonky, and apparently itās also affecting her personality.Ā In the following story, she teams up with former Wolverine lover Yukio, who seems more than a bit crazy, and is inspired to take on a more punk look, complete with mohawk.Ā As startling a redesign as it is for her, it somehow works. Still, thereās ass part of me thatāsĀ disappointed to see Storm be taken in this direction. Her character needs to go through a challenge or sheāll just stagnate, but the metamorphosis seemsĀ too vague. Thereās never any reference to the changes she went through during the Brood Saga, thatās my own theory. In-story, she just starts acting tougher and then shows up looking completely different and then everyone carries on.Ā At times, it just feels like sheās being made more Wolverine-like for the sake of making her more cool. I think Iām going to pretend that Storm actually did die in space and the ārebirthā was actually a not-exact, slightly flawed duplicate created by the space whale.
This also features Rogue joining the team. This is the first new X-Man since Kitty Pryde joined in 1980, right after the conclusion of the Dark Phoenix Saga. This is actually a controversial move because Rogue has been a recurring villain since she was introduced in 1981 as a member of MystiqueāsĀ Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. In that first appearance, she permanently stole the powers and memories of Carol Danvers, who after recovering became a supporting character. This was actually an unusual shift as Carol Danvers had starred in her own book as Ms. Marvel for a couple of years and was also a member of the Avengers. Her solo bookĀ was written by Chris Claremont at the time of its cancellation, so itās not terribly surprising that he would take her over to his best-selling book despite her getting de-powered. Still, kind of weird at that time to have a former Avenger as a supporting character for theĀ X-Men. (Although, foundingĀ X-Man Beast became an Avenger, so I guess it was evening out the trade?) During the Brood Saga, Carol Danvers gains cosmic powers different from her Ms. Marvel powers and now goes by Binary.
Anyway, Rogue suddenly starts feeling guilty for stealing Carolās powers and memories, and starts to feel haunted by Carolās emotions that she absorbed as well. She abruptly flees Mystique and heads straight to Xavierās mansion. How she knows where the X-Men live isnāt clear ā maybe itās common knowledge? Or maybe itās due to the mystery man who appears to be influencing her. Either way, Professor Xavier decides that Rogue can stay and announces to everyone else sheās now a full-fledged member. The rest of the team strongly objects, especially Storm who has been a few fights with Rogue and as the fieldĀ leader, feels she should have say. Then in a really gigantic coincidence, Carol Danvers decides to pay an out-of-the-blue and unannouncedĀ visit to the X-Men, sees Rogue, flips out and a fight ensues. In the end, Xavierās decision holds, as he makes the point that they defend Wolverineās position on the team despite his questionable past.
I found this issue really interesting in that the central character, Rogue, doesnāt get much page time. Sheās the impetus for a lot, but sheās most often sitting quietly. We know sheās telling the truth about freaking outĀ and not feeling likeĀ Mystique can help her, but we donāt really know if sheās truly remorseful and wants to give up her villainous ways.Ā All we really have to go by is Professor Xavierās word based on his off-panel examination of her. For a few issues, she remains pretty quiet, and understandably uncomfortable around the rest of the team, who have made it all too clear theyāre not happy with her presence.
So during much of this, Wolverine wasĀ off starring in his first solo title, the 4-issue mini-series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller. While tempted, I did not read it. But thatās apparently where Yukio is introduced, and I think where Wolverine proposes to Mariko, who heās been dating for some time now. The X-Men, along with new recruit Rogue, show up in Japan to attend the wedding of Wolverine and Mariko. But while walking down the aisle, Mariko abruptly cancels the wedding. Itās pretty obvious sheās beingĀ mind-controlled because itās such an about-face. HerĀ change of heart appears to beĀ caused by the sameĀ guy whoĀ drove Rogue to the X-Men. Paul Smithās art on the traditional Japanese wedding attireĀ is really nice here.
Meanwhile, Cyclops is getting closer to Madelyne Pryor, who everyone notices looks just like Jean Grey. Itās even discovered that she has no memory of her life before surviving a plane crash where everyone else died except her. And oh yeah the plane crash happened on the exact date of Jean Greyās death. But you guys, thatās just a coincidence! Sheās just a normal person where her entire life makes it seem like sheās the reincarnation of Jean Grey, who became a cosmic entity known for resurrections. Why are you so suspicious? This is totally possible!
Whatās particularly frustrating about this is that there is a really good way out of this nonsense just staring at us and it isnāt taken. The mystery guy that manipulated Rogue and Mariko, and probably is at least partially responsible for Stormās transformation as well, is Mastermind. This is the sleazy guy that tried to seduce and manipulate Jean Grey into being a pawn of the Hellfire Club.Ā It didnāt work out so well, and Jean basically drove him mad.Ā He eventually recovered from the psychic battle but he wanted revenge and set out to basically break the hearts of the X-Men.
So why couldnāt Madelyne Pryor actually not look exactly like Jean Grey but instead just kind of generally similar in that way white people look like, and Mastermindās illusions were causing everyone to see her more as an exact match? Why couldnāt Mastermind haveĀ basically used Madelyne as a tool, forcing her to forget her life and think she was in that plane crash? She could still have survived the crash even, but maybe not on that exact day? All the ridiculous coincidences would then have been explained as part of Mastermindās ploy to play with Cyclopsā mind. Madelyne would then get to be her own person, rather than a lookalike forever defined by how much she is or isnāt Jean. Cyclops would then get to finallyĀ move on with a new life and a person who isnāt just a Jean Grey proxy.
Or Madelyne Pryor doesnāt exist at all, and her entire existence was just a creation of Mastermind. Now Cyclops is really shattered, and he can go off into space with his father Corsair and the Starjammers, which kept getting hinted at in the final two issues. Itās obvious Cyclops is getting shuffled off the book one way or another.
But no. Instead, all of the ridiculous questions about her are still in place. And on top of that, they got married. Jeez, way to show up Wolverine, Scott. Way to rub it in. Way to steal his thunder. Still, I think this was the first X-Men wedding, so fun to see.
I was really disappointed with the Madelyne Pryor part of the story, but otherwise these were great.Ā Kitty and Colossus got caught making out in Stormās attic. LockheedĀ is still adorable. Nightcrawler didnāt get a wholeĀ lot of focus but heās just fun to look at. Professor X is still struggling at walking with his new cloned body and his space girlfriend is probably going to take off soon. Some really great Paul Smith-choreographed fight scenes (Storm vs. Callisto, Wolverine vs. Silver Samurai). I was tempted to read issue 176 because itās included in the collected edition of these issues. But the story concluded and thereās a big creative team change-up, so Iād rather stop here.
(Re-)Reading Uncanny X-Men: From theĀ Ashes My gigantic reading of every issue of Marvel Comics' Uncanny X-Men continues! I've made it to the second half of 1983 with issues 169 to 175, and the 20th anniversary of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's original creation and debut of the X-Men.
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