& 
Uncanny X-Men 139 by John Byrne
All New X-Men 32 by Sara Pichelli
Nice that Angel got to keep his placement!
Cover Dated February 2007
Apparently I only own this for the collection of previous Holiday Specials that include 1996’s cover. It is nice to have them all in one place but I probably shouldn’t keep it. But I am, so I clearly have a problem.
There are actual stories in this comic – AIM, Fing Fang Foom and Annihilus / Thing – all have sections.
There are also cut out ornaments in the comic.
Also, a pretty cool and updated Santa Claus Handbook Profile.
Post 525!
Writer Rick Remender
Artist Adam Kubert
Colorists Edgar Delgado & Jessus Aburtov
Letterer Chris Eliopoulos
New World Disorder : Chapter One
Kitty made the cast list! So we know we are in for a good time! Except that she only shows up on the one page, but that’s enough for us here.
So we have the fourth issue and now we jump to this seventh issue, also this is the last issue of AXIS that I own as Kitty doesn’t appear in the final two installments.
Apparently since the last issue I read, the inverted Avengers have taken regular heroes hostage. The X-Men have decided to create a Gene Bomb. Scarlet Witch tries to be useful by attacking Doctor Doom but her father and brother stop her. Once again, Polaris is not involved with her silly family affairs.
The first page still has that silly AXIS banner on the top and bottom of the pages.
Apocalypse Ship. Wasp is a prisoner of the X-Men. Havok recalls to his better and older brother, Cyclops, the time he was married to Wasp. Havok would like to spare her from the Gene Bomb but all humans have to die. Nightcrawler interrupts brother time and tells them to get outside.
So the Inverted Villains are going by, Astonishing Avengers – so add them to the long list of Avengers members.
I like Rogue wanting to beat up Avengers, good for her! Maybe now she can appear in X-Titles again.
Shadowcat’s stomach must have been in slips, having to be held by Colossus.
Zenpool has some fun narration going on in these first few pages. He and Evan, who is now full grown Apocalypse, have a history from Remender’s Uncanny X-Force days. The funnest running gag is Zenpool calling Spider-Man his sidekick. Spider-Man takes offense as his ego is the size of his decision to make a deal with the devil and rewrite time so that he was never married to his wife and so his elderly aunt can live for another 15 years, as an old woman.
Another fun aspect is that Zenpool makes comments and Apocalypse actually responds to a few of them, instead of just ignoring it.
The Zenpool / Spider-Man handicap match against Apocalypse breaks through a wall and is outside. We see that Carnage is fighting Rogue. Nightcrawler is fighting Kid Loki. Nightcrawler moves on to start fighting Spider-Man. Carnage switches opponents and starts fighting Nightcrawler, saving Spider-Man. Spider-Man is not comfortable with Carnage’s new outlook on life.
Sabretooth, now dressed in Wolverine’s now classic brown and tan costume, is mad at Cyclops as that is simply what Wolverines do to Cyclops. It is ridiculous.
Colossus is fighting Absorbing Man. Shadowcat, is nowhere to be seen.
Latveria. Doctor Doom is quasi-responsible for Scarlet Witch’s actions during House of M, including the whole genocide attempt of the mutant race. So she is upset that Magneto and Quicksilver are preventing her from killing him. She gets so mad that she casts a spell to bring down all of her bloodline. Surprisingly, only Quicksilver goes down, Magneto is still standing. So now we know that he is not the father of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, which we learned way back in Avengers 186 / Uncanny X-Men 125 and the twins learned in Vision and Scarlet Witch 4. Which was in February 1983 for the twins and for us, October / September 1979. Avengers 186 reveals their mother is Magda and in Uncanny X-Men 125, we see that Magneto fathered a daughter with Magda and possibly two more.
So this sort of blew up the Internet, as people now think the Avengers film forced Marvel to make the twins Inhumans instead of Mutants, or at least, not mutants. Though, hasn’t there been 32 years of evidence that show that Magneto is clearly their father?
During all of this, Doctor Doom teleports away.
San Francisco. Superior Iron Man has invited FalCap to a meeting that also has Thor, Kluh, Luke Cage and Medusa. They want to kill both the X-Men and all of the heroes.
Apocalypse finally tires of Zenpool’s mouth and starts wailing on him.
There is an ad for Amazing Spider-Man 11 that has Amazing vs Superior, which is fun to see the logos used that way.
On the final page, Apocalypse is holding Zenpool’s head as his body lays on the ground. He is surrounded by the X-Men, minus one. Which, really, why even have Kitty Pryde in the issue – just to forget all about her? But that’s Kitty’s history with these events.
Issue ends with the Gene Bomb counting down to zero. Don’t worry, it doesn’t go off.
The other tie-ins to this issue are – Amazing X-Men 14, Avengers World 16, AXIS Revolutions 3 & 4 (we’ll be reviewing issue three in a few days), AXIS : Carnage 3, AXIS : Hobgoblin 3, Captain America & the Mighty Avengers 3, Deadpool 39, Loki : Agent of Asgard 9, Nova 25 and Superior Iron Man 3.
My wife likes magnets, so I imagine the hardest part would be to just find it in a store and purchase it. I wonder if this is what the magnet really likes.
Fun fact, whenever I typed ‘magnet’ above (including just then), I typed “magneto”
Writer Chris Claremont
Plot – Penciler John Byrne
Inker Terry Austin
Letterer Tom Orzechowski
Colorist Glynis Wein
Cover Dated November 1980
The issue that gave the world – Welcome the X-Men, I hope you survive the experience! Such a great line!
This comic has a special place in history, as it is the first appearance of many a person and concept. Stevie Hunter and Heather Hudson make their first appearance here. Also, on the Wolverine side of things, he wears his Brown & Tan costume for the first time, and we learn his name is Logan for the first time.
Let’s see how and when we come across them and various other events!
Issue opens with Angel in the Danger Room.
Turns out, all of the X-Men (minus one), are in the Danger Room. Angel has just rejoined the team and has no fighting experience with the team. Hence, this latest session. Poor Angel is quite clumsy. He bumps into Kurt.
Storm and Wolverine notice this as stupid Colossus is too busy talking to the robot to notice anything else.
We see their other latest recruit’s legs as we also see Xavier in the Control Room.
That new recruit is, of course, Kitty Pryde! She showed up on the last page of issue 138 and now is seeing the Danger Room for the first time.
Kurt is falling towards some flames and Wolverine quickly cuts a hole in the wall and puts if over the fire. Kurt shakes it off and teleports away.
Kurt teleports right into Colossus’ path. Storm saves him. Storm makes a few quips, which I forget that she is funny. It seems so out of place now.
Wolverine refers to Xavier as Charley. Which prompts Xavier to enter the room and gives Wolverine a slew of options to call him by. Instead of taking any of those under concentration, he goes with Chuck. Oh that Wolverine, he’s such a bad boy.
Kitty is uneasy about entering the Danger Room.
Angel apologizes for being so reckless. He tells Xavier it shouldn’t happen again.
Wolverine tells Angel that he’s been a solo hero for too long and it takes a while to get back into the routine of a team environment.
Kurt comes back with some lemonade. Wolverine tells him, that he isn’t much of a lemonade man. Kurt, proving he’s such a good friend, tells Wolverine that is why he brought a beer as well. What a good guy!
Poor Kitty, she isn’t use to Kurt and his ways yet and flinches whenever he is near by. She knows it is wrong but she is working on it.
Kurt notices it but he also knows that he is a tad different and he will warm up to her in time.
Colossus is so horrible that the caption box incorrectly states that he is Cyclops. If only! Cyclops left the team last issue as Jean died on the Moon but he doesn’t know that she is really at the bottom of Jamaica Bay and only the Phoenix, temporarily, died on the Moon. shhhh, don’t tell him!
Kitty realizes that the Danger Room is appropriately named and is worried about getting work. Xavier tells her that she won’t officially train it until he has created a program for her. It will take one full issue before her official first session in Uncanny X-Men 141.
Xavier takes this opportunity to mention how Kitty needs a codename to protect her secret identity. He offers, Ariel, she doesn’t care for it. Storm offers, Sprite, and Kitty likes it, as long as no one tries to pull her Tab.
Xavier recognizes it for a horrible joke a 13 and a half year old will make up. He offers a toast to welcome their newest member to the team, Sprite! She will go by Ariel in the God Loves, Man Kills story.
Kurt takes this pause to ask Wolverine why he has a new costume. Wolverine’s response of, Why not? is so classic and awesome! Claremont / Byrne are slowly rolling out the legend that Wolverine will become.
Wolverine wants a moment with Xavier. He’s worried that Alpha Flight might come looking for him and he wants to make sure there isn’t any active warrants out for him. Xavier is fine with him taking the time off but if he is to run into some problems, he should take someone with him. Wolverine asks if Nightcrawler wants to tag along and Kurt does!
Xavier wants Kitty to go with Storm.
Later in Salem Center, Storm and Kitty are heading towards a Dance Studio. Kitty is so excited, she thought she would have to give up her dancing ways but Xavier – the nice guy he likes to think he is – has set up Kitty with some dance classes.
The door to the studio is locked, so Kitty – after checking both ways – phases through the door. The door is being blocked by all of the supplies from the closet spilling into the hallway.
Kitty clears the path and lets Storm in. I like how these two are already the fastest of friends – age difference and all! Good thing that Jean Grey died so that she wasn’t in the way of Kitty and Storm’s friendship – as we saw in that What If Volume One Issue 27.
Kitty explains why her passion for dance is so fierce! She couldn’t really relate, just like Blossom, to other kids her age as she is a genius. But with dancing, it was a shared skill and she got to interact with other ladies of her age. Though none of those other dancers must have been good friends with Kitty as they are never referenced or mention outside of this vague statement Kitty makes.
Another historic moment! The first appearance of Stevie Hunter!
Storm is almost immediately jealous of Stevie. Maybe not jealous but is cautious around her.
Kitty remembers Stevie from the time Stevie danced in Chicago. We will learn later that Stevie can no longer dance on a professional level.
From here, Wolverine and Kurt take over the issue with a back door pilot – of sorts – for Alpha Flight.
We get the first appearance of Heather Hudson, that I didn’t even know I owned! How crazy is that!
Heather comes home. She knows someone is in her house, with broom in hand, she barges into the kitchen. This scares Kurt but Wolverine keeps drinking his beer.
Heather is surprised to see Wolverine, Logan as she calls him.
Kurt asks about the name and Logan is so cool in his response. Did no one ask what his name was? I can only imagine in that long plane ride from Upstate New York to wherever Krakoa was, everyone would have shared such information.
Logan introduces Heather to Kurt.
Meanwhile, Guardian (Heather’s husband) joins Shaman and Snowbird at a cabin. The other half of the team – Aurora, Northstar and Sasquatch – are appearing in Machine Man 19.
Shaman detects intruders. Wolverine and Nightcrawler appear. Guardian and Wolverine still don’t get along. Snowbird, in a form of a,bear, spooks Nightcrawler. The way Kurt climbs on top of Wolverine is so funny!
Alpha Flight and the two X-Men are now looking for . . . The Wendigo! We are treated to a quick flashback to Hulk 162, 180 & 181.
Wolverine wants their gear and Kurt goes to get it. The issue ends with Kurt being ambushed by Wendigo!
Cover by comic legend Mike Wieringo
Cover Dated 1996
I own this for the Kitty Pryde in, Unto Others, story.
Story Evan Skolnick
Pencils Josh Hood
Inks Derek Fisher
Letters Jack Morelli
Colors Chi Wamg
This great website is nice enough to host all nine pages :
http://amocat.net/kiotr/KIOTR-Gallery/Marvel-Holiday-Special-1996-Unto-Others
Kitty has come home, Deerfield, Illinois, to spend Hanukkah with her mother. Which may be the last we’ve heard of Teresa Pryde.
This church Kitty use to love looking at, has been burned down.
Once inside, Kitty meets a young girl, Anita, who is looking for her locket that her late father gave her.
We learn from her that racists jerks burned the church down. This issue deals with racism and differences in people.
Kitty gives Anita the story of Hanukkah.
They find the locket but neither can reach it.
Kitty finally reveals she is a mutant, grabs the locket and all ends well.
There are also stories with Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jameson, Silver Surfer, Two-Gun Kid and the X-Men (Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean, Cable, Storm and Bishop). Scott gave his son a baseball glove, and gets a big ol’ hug in return. It is a very nice moment.
Words by Tom DeFalco and art by Josh Hood
http://sequart.org/movies/4/comics-in-focus-chris-claremonts-x-men/
For $14.99 and I doubt it will ever air on Netflix or anything, but I am all for supporting any Comic related documentaries and this is the Master of all that is X-Men. I’m hoping he gets to at least talk about Kitty Pryde, Lockheed, Magik and the Paul Smith run. If not, it would still be worth the purchase.
This is by the same team that made the Image Revolution documentary that also sounds pretty cool, just conceptually.
For our wedding gift to our guests, we handed out countless CDs. This was our soundtrack.
1. Time After Time – Cyndi Lauper
Thanks to YouTuber CyndiLauperVEVO
2. I’ll Be There For You – Bon Jovi
YouTuber BonJoviVEVO
3. Bless The Broken Road – Rascal Flatts
YouTuber hoboitheally
4. I Knew I Loved You – Savage Garden
YouTuber SavageGardenVEVO
5. The Way I Am – Ingrid Michaelson
YouTuber Original Signal Recordings
6. Girl You Know It’s True – Milli Vanilli
YouTuber MilliVanilliVEVO
7. I Think I Love You – David Cassidy
YouTuber GreatPerfomers1
8. Lonely Road of Faith – Kid Rock
YouTuber Chuck Sears
9. I’ll Be – Edwin McCain
YouTuber augustrn
10. Everything – Michael Buble
YouTuber john andro supremido as Buble doesn’t allow embedding of his videos, apparently.
11. Little Moments – Brad Paisley
YouTuber BRADPAISLEYVEVO
12. Seven – Prince
Apparently, Prince has made it possible for no one to use his videos online. That’s pretty sad but amazing that he’s able to pull that off! Even Dailymotion doesn’t have any of his videos. Shoot! Such a great song, my favorite of his. If anyone knows how I can link to the video, or any video with the song, please let me know.
13. Awful, Beautiful Life – Darryl Worley
YouTuber DarrylWorleyVEVO
14. Goodbye to the Circus – Aqua
YouTuber staridixa
Bonus Tracks
15. Linger – The Cranberries
YouTuber TheCranberriesVEVO
16. One Friend – Dan Seals
YouTuber Tony Gottlieb
We were married on November 29, 2008 – and we have loads of in-jokes with some of these songs.
Here is the track list minus the vidoes
1. Time After Time – Cyndi Lauper
2. I’ll Be There For You – Bon Jovi
3. Bless The Broken Road – Rascal Flatts
4. I Knew I Loved You – Savage Garden
5. The Way I Am – Ingrid Michaelson
6. Girl You Know It’s True – Milli Vanilli
7. I Think I Love You – David Cassidy
8. Lonely Road of Faith – Kid Rock
9. I’ll Be – Edwin McCain
10. Everything – Michael Buble
11. Little Moments – Brad Paisley
12. Seven – Prince
13. Awful, Beautiful Life – Darryl Worley
14. Goodbye to the Circus – Aqua
Bonus Tracks
15. Linger – The Cranberries
16. One Friend – Dan Seals
Cover Dated March 1994
So there is a story with Jubilee and Jean as they go through her old clothes. Then Jubilee finds a diary of Jean’s and just reads it like the little snot that she is.
There is also a page where via Jean telling her mother, we learn that Nicole Miller – designed her dress. Just like how Willi Smith designed Mary Jane Parker’s wedding dress. Both of them being real life fashion icons. Now that I think of it, Storm’s wedding dress was designed by a real fashion designer – Shawn Dudley, the Emmy-Award Winning Costume Designer for TV’s Guiding Light. Good for Marvel, getting all these talents for creating their icons’ wedding dresses. These are meant to be important dates and deserve A-List talent.
What I own this oversized book for is the Kitty Pryde “Cut to the Video” where she records a bunch of messages from people. Which I’ve never been to a reception where people did this so I’ve been under the impression it only happens on television and in movies.
Writers Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza
Pencilers Ken Lashley, Tom Lyle, Ron Garney and Jae Lee
Inkers Scott Hanna, Jae Lee, Andrew Pepoy, Bill Sienkiewicz and Jae Lee
Colorists Pat Garrahy and Chris Matthys
It isn’t easy to tell who provides the art for which sections (besides Jae Lee and Bill SIenkiewicz) but thanks to our friends at comicbookdb.com, we have the above credited talents.
So as Kitty is the person before the camera, the DP, I’m only interested in her first two pages.
Her message for the newlyweds is :
Hi Mr. and Mrs.! In lieu of a real gift — as in one that costs money which I don’t have — this video album is my present to you. Enjoy! Ooooops — I almost forgot : CONGRATULATIONS!
Jean and Scott were married from 1994 to 2001/2004 when Grant Morrison’s run lasted. So seven years before GMo got his hands on them. So if I can make it to year eight, I will feel like I accomplished something.
. . .
I know I said this earlier in the week but since today is our actual anniversary day, I just wanted to give my wife a special shout out. Thank you so much for the best six years of my life! I couldn’t be happier than how you’ve made me.
Writer Kurt Busiek
Penciller Ron Randall
Inker Art Nicholas
Colorist Bob Sharen
Letterer Janice Chiang
Cover Dated April 1994
Three Stories In One!
Split from X-Men Volume One Issue 30
So Uatu, the Watcher, is watching (?) the wedding. This is when we see Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler.
Uatu wonders about three different alternate timelines :
What if Scott Summers and Jean Grey had married earlier?
What if Scott Summers and Jean Grey had never fallen in love at all?
What if Phoenix had fallen for Wolverine?
Kitty doesn’t show up in any of these, just the framing device. But it is a What If so none of them end well. Good thing they got married when they did!
Kitty tells Storm that is she excited about filming every part of the ceremony. In the X-Men : Wedding Album, that we are reviewing tomorrow, we see that Kitty does just that. Now, that’s good synergy!
One of the few What Ifs that deals with the actual Proper Marvel Universe and it really works. Of course, it is written by Kurt Busiek, one of my all time favorite comic book writers, so that makes sense. I wish I had more opportunities to keep more of his comics in my collection but he’s always been more of an Avengers guy than an X-Men gentleman.
Uatu, the Watcher, wonders at the end what the future holds for the newlyweds. Happiness or struggle? Reward or suffering? Mostly happiness and a little suffering from time to time. Jean sees Scott die via merging with Apocalypse … he gets better and Scott sees Xorn/Magneto kill Jean, which she remains dead from – and he gets to bounce from her to Emma Frost, so I guess he wins in the end. Their marriage was already falling apart by that time though.
Shadow and Flame with Magik 