Shadow and Flame with Magik

Writer Chris Claremont

Pencils Chris Wozniak

Inks Allen Milgrom

Letters Rick Parker

Colorist Paty (Cockrum)

Cover Dated August 1990

I like how the cover states that Cross Time Caper is still over.  They must be hurting trying to get people to come back to the title.

Look at Marvel throwing Paty Cockrum some work, such a nice lady!

We were right about the creative team.

Excalibur looks up in the sky.

Such a great splash page with Galactus, knee deep into the ocean.

Nova, the new herald, has come for Phoenix.  Rachel doesn’t want to go and punches Nova in her face.  Nova crashes into Uatu the Watcher’s house. He is wearing a type of armor version of his cloak, what is that about it?  He tells her that he will not be interfering this time.

Galactus starts forming his machine to sap Rachel of her powers.  So brave of Nightcrawler to stand up to the world devourer.  I like how there was no time passing between the two issues.  Excalibur hasn’t had a chance to relax and Rachel is still wearing Kitty’s uniform.

Excalibur has decided to stand by Rachel, of course.

Captain Britain, like the hothead that he is (in these early issues), just takes right off.  Meggan comments that this is why Nightcrawler is their leader.  Brian is constantly not using teamwork.

Alistaire has a plan that might keep Rachel safe.  The Watcher has decided to get closer to the action.  Rachel flies Alistaire down to the caves beneath the lighthouse.  He’s looking for a device.

Rachel teases that Alistaire is enjoying being in her arms.  His thoughts betray him.  At first, the cave has been reverted to a concert with animal version of Excalibur on instruments.  Rachel is surprised, again, that there are no counterparts of her.  Which I still don’t understand why she is surprised by that.  How many possible Alternate Earths could there be where a daughter of Cyclops and Jean Grey goes back to the ‘present day’ and sticks around?  No wonder they haven’t run across that many others.  I know that Claremont is trying to get that Rachel is unique to the multiverse but to have the character bring it up on a regular basis is odd.

They blink and the cave is back to normal and their train is there.  Alistaire keeps thinking about the device, and Rachel tells him it is in his pocket.  He makes a Doctor Who reference, which is great.  All he mentions is Gallifrey – which I’m sure I got the reference even back in 1990.  Which would have been the 7th Doctor at the time.

Apparently, and I didn’t know this was an option for him, Galactus has access to goons that he has have fight his ground battles for him.  I thought that was what the Herald was for.

Captain Britain smashed the original machine but Galactus is able to recreate it with just a thought.

Look how pleased Lockheed is with his dodging ability!

Captain Britain gets attacked by another being and Nightcrawler has to save him.  Roma shows up, as she wants to watch this historic moment.  She is also not going to interfere.  Kurt makes a reference to how she’s a Guardian Angel who isn’t going to do anything, this time.

Rachel sees a third witness, Death.  He’s a handyman at this moment, instead of the classic Lady with Purple Cloak persona.  We do get an image of that along with Neil Gaiman’s Death from Sandman – which is pretty spectacular.

Nova has return to Earth and the fight.  For her thanks, Rachel swings her around and throws Nova into Galactus, knocking him down – which is quite the sight!  Alistaire takes advantage of the situation and shoots his device at Galactus.  The device is suppose to send Galactus to the end of time.  Since he is all things, beginning and end, Galactus isn’t affected.

Meggan has absorb so much cosmic power that she is able to grow to Galactus’ height.  Has Giant Man ever tried to attack Galactus?  Shame that Kitty Pryde wasn’t here so that Galactus could remember this for when her Ultimate counterpart punched him in the face.

Rachel tells the team to stand down.  Fighting Galactus isn’t very practical.  She really is a hero.

In her goodbyes, she kisses Alistaire, which is what he’s wanted for a while now.  She isn’t attracted to him but at least she can throw the poor sap a bone.

Rachel gets strapped to the device.

The team doesn’t want to watch Rachel be tortured but Kurt decides he must.  Someone should bear witness to this event. Roma decides to finally speak up.  It isn’t right that Galactus tries to end Phoenix.  Sure, she is a threat to him but without her, there would be no new planets to replace the ones that he eats.

Uatu decides to harp on Galactus now too.  Death gets into the action, as well.

Galactus grows tired of all of this jive talk and decides to leave. He has to satisfied that Rachel now knows her role in the cosmos.  Which I’m pretty sure she already knew it.

The team is happy to just be whole again.  Well, minus one member.

Referring to whom –

Kitty is on a train.  She is heading to school. We get a memory of Courtney Ross and a man talking to Kitty.  Kitty is smart enough for Oxford but they worry about her socializing.  They want to send her to Courtney’s old school for girls and give Kitty an actual school environment that fits her age.  Kitty is heading towards St. Cyril’s as the issue ends.