Writer Chris Claremont
Pencils Michael Golden, pages 1-27, 33-39 and Bret Blevins, pages 28-32
Inks Michael Golden, pages 1 & 2; Tom Mandrake, pages 3-7, 20-23; Bob Wiaceck, pages 8-11; Terry Austin, pages 12-13, 16, 38-39; Brett Breeding, pages 14-15, 17-19; Bill Anderson, page 24; Joe Rubinstein, pages 25-27, 30-31; Steve Leialoha, page 28; Sam de la Rosa, page 29; Al Milgrom, page 32 and Bret Blevins, pages 33-37
Colors Glynis Wein
Letters Tom Orzechowski, pages 1-31, 33-39 and Michael Higgins, page 32
Cover Dated 1983, and continuity wise, at least after Uncanny X-Men 175 for sure.
This annual is titled, Scavenger Hunt, and it stars Impossible Man and the X-Men chasing him all over the place as he finds and locates items. I miss these old school annuals, this also happen during Assistant Editor month, which I also miss, where they use that excuse to have goofy fun comics for an issue. This is one of those few annuals where the entire 39 pages are dedicated to one storyline. Typically, you will get 30 pages of story, then maybe a pinup or two and a second quicker story, sometimes a third.
The very first panel, I really like the way Golden draws Lockheed, seems very majestic. Being the second artist to draw the character, he could have gone any direction but he stays on model. Kitty seems older in some panels, but I like how Marvel gradually aged her over time.
Issue opens with a baseball game, classic Claremont, and we haven’t had a baseball came in years, not since Uncanny X-Men 444, unless I missed one and that was way back in 2004. The current titles are almost perfect for another baseball game with the sides being so divided.
The match up is Kurt, Wolverine and Rogue versus Kitty, Colossus and Storm plus Xavier, Lilandra, Illyana and Lockheed. The captions hint that the it may seem like a disadvantage but appearances can be wrong. This is never brought up again why it was three versus seven.
Colossus is up to bat. Lilandra tells Xavier that she is going to miss this, he tells her that there is a simple solution, which she is quick to state, that he and his X-Men can come with her to the Shi’ar Empire, which silences him. I know the X-Men were only fighting the Brood five issues ago, but I wonder why they didn’t decide to go with Lilandra, help her get her empire back and then come back to Earth? It would not have taken that long, as I believe it doesn’t take that long in the proper history. I see that they probably didn’t want to end up in a civil war or a political mess, but still, Xavier’s girlfriend needs help and no one even offers to assist.
Wolverine pitches to Colossus and without armoring up, hits the baseball out of orbit. Which is silly, he isn’t that strong without his armor, he relies on that state for everything, even knocking a tree over. They see a ball coming back down but Kitty states it can’t be the ball, the trajectory is wrong. Turns out it is a ship!
It isn’t any ol’ ship, it is Galactus’ ship. But he exists the ship and he is purple and green, instead of blue and purple. By this time, I had been exposed to the Impossible Man before I had read this. The X-Men have no or little to no experience with Galactus, so it makes sense that they wouldn’t pick up on the purple and green combination.
‘Galactus’ tells them that he has come in peace, he only wants their home. Xavier attempts a mental scan, and this panel is pretty narly, with his face being bent. He passes out. Storm puts up a fight, shoots lightning and he is impressed with her attempt and tells them to back away from the mansion. He then straight up steals the mansion, leaving a grater with a pool of water in its place.
Chapter 2
The team is on its way to New York City, via the Blackbird. Rogue doesn’t want to be on the mission once Lilandra has briefed them on who Galactus is. Wolverine asks if she is scared, which is pretty insensitive of him, but she tells him that she is. Xavier defends Rogue, as they have good reason, they have never fought an opponent such as Galactus. Except they have, Dark Phoenix but I guess one forgets these types of things.
The trace Galactus to the SHIELD heli-carrier, which confuses them as how can someone so gigantic but in that size of a ship.
Storm tells Kurt and Kitty to head over there and figure out what is happening. These two need a duo name as well. Once they teleport over, Kitty tells them they are not alone. In a very cute panel, Lockheed has attached himself to Kurt’s tail and has tagged along for the ride. Kurt tries to shake him loose. Very funny and cute. I have no idea how people can not like Lockheed. He’s adorable!
We see Nick Fury and La Contessa Valentina Allegro de Fontaine in a classic Agent of SHIELD style page. But now we are in the 80s so the last panel doesn’t have to be a gun, we can see them kissing.
We see a shadow of a hand about to interfere, when Kitty phases through the wall. The hand turns into a green snake. Lockheed blasts a hole in the wall and Impossible Man turns into a wooden Indian and flies out the hole.
Fury is not happy with the interruption. Kitty gets Kurt to teleport the three of them away. Fury’s eye patch has been taken, he thinks this must be a panty raid.
Chapter 3
We are in the Savage Land. Kitty is super excited, as she has never been before. We know Colossus has been there as he has a son there, that he still doesn’t know about.
Ka-Zar and Shanna show up, and they informed the X-Men that Zabu has gone missing. Rogue figures out that they are witnessing a Scavenger Hunt. I’ve never been in one, but they look like fun.
Chapter Four
Avengers Mansion, we see Jarvis and She-Hulk watching a monitor. They see the Fantasi-car filled with the costumes of the Wasp. They also see that Rogue and Colossus are by the gate. She-Hulk sees them as villains even though Jarvis tells her that Colossus is an X-Man. It doesn’t matter, Jennifer is already outside.
Rogue starts to fly after the Impossible Man, but She-Hulk throws her into the ground. Colossus knocks her out, but Iron Man takes him out.
Meanwhile, Dr. Strange’s fancy roof window is stolen, releasing a slew of demons.
Rogue absorbs She-Hulk’s powers, turning green and Hulking out. Colossus throws Iron Man onto the ground.
Then comes the moment that I remember about this annual. We get proof that Kitty can defeat Iron Man. Grant it, it is Rhondy in the suit – but still. Kitty disrupts his armor, leaving him defenseless. She blows him a kiss and they take off.
At the Hellfire Club, Emma is still in the coma that Mastermind put her in. Storm is happy she is in a coma. Xavier offered to help, but he was turned away. We see Lockheed is perched on Kitty’s head. Emma has a green and purple boutique in her hands.
Sebastian Shaw enters the room, Rogue rushes over to him and punches him. Shaw absorbs the rest of She-Hulk’s powers. If Rogue knew Shaw and his power set, she would never have hit him – she’s still new at this.
The boutique turns into a balloon. Impossible Man is there to steal Jean Grey’s Black Queen outfit.
Storm creates a tornado, which the team uses to follow the alien.
Chapter Five
At the Marvel Comic’s offices, we see a who’s who of the Marvel Bullpen.
We see Impossible Man riding Zabu. The X-Men are chasing him. Kitty is apologizing for the mess.
Impossible Man asks Larry Hama and Michael Golden where Stan Lee is. Hama tells him that Stan is in Hollywood.
We see Michael Hobson and Jim Shooter.
Rogue takes off a glove and grabs Impossible Man. He sees his life force being drained as an attack. They all start chatting and he confirms that he is doing a scavenger hunt.
We see Chris Claremont and Paul Smith in the office. Claremont apologizes. Smith states he is off the book.
Chapter Six
The Gobi Desert, where Impossible Man is keeping all of his found items. He has also found Batman’s giant penny, Superman’s space ship and the Millennium Falcon.
Kitty wishes she can keep some of Wasp’s suits. Rogue thinks she has no taste.
He explains why the hunt is happening, the winner becomes the leader of his people. He chose Earth, others got other planets. All of these aliens show up, wanting his head. Lilandra offers to be the judge of the hunt. Impossible Man doesn’t win.
Epilogue
He is still crying.
I like the bathing suit options the ladies are wearing. It makes sense that Kitty is in a one piece while Illyana is in a bikini.
They are eating ice cream. Impossible Man shifts into Magnum PI and they give him their ice cream. Lockheed is confused.
Issue ends with Impossible Man as Garfield and Lockheed ashamed.
Shadow and Flame with Magik 