Written by Steve Seagle

Pencils Chris Bachalo

Inkers Thibert, Townsend and Sowd

Colors Liquid! & Monica Kubina

Letterers RS, JG and Comicraft/AD

Covered dated March 1999, also has one of those gatefold out covers with the

Whatever happened to Liquid!?  Before Laura Martin, they were the only Colorist I knew.

When I think of X-Men and Christmas, this is the comic I think about.  It is all from Colossus’ perspective, and it is nice to see how he interacts with various members of the team.

Thanks to this great website, you can follow along!

http://amocat.net/kiotr/KIOTR-Gallery/Uncanny-X-Men-365-Ghost-of-X-mas-Past!

Colossus wakes, to hearing a voice of a lady, that has him running around the attic.  Storm believes he just has too much coffee but Colossus is haunted by the voice, and how it keeps asking him to remember.  He hears a smash from outside, Colossus runs outside and runs into Wolverine.

Wolverine invites him to his cabin that Logan moved into so that Colossus can have his old room.  At the cabin, Logan has been having a get together, Gambit and Puck are the other guests.  Once Colossus mentions the ghost, Gambit is quick to ask questions.  Gambit is asking questions regarding the ghost that his haunting him, the same spirit we will follow, if we choose, in Gambit’s original ongoing, which I only own a few issues of, issues one, five and the 2000 annual.

Gambit leaves the cabin, and Colossus is quick to follow.  Colossus goes back to his room and sees that his painting of the spirit now has some words on it.  The mystery grows!

He starts walking around and thinking about the ghost and how walks through walls just like . . . he bumps into Kitty Pryde.  She is downstairs waiting for Kurt.  She also accuses him of drinking too much coffee and going to bed early – so of course, he is awake in the middle of the night.

Kurt teleports back with a tree that was thrown away.  Kitty and Kurt want some ribbon and Rogue has some in her room, but she is sleeping at the moment.  Kurt thinks he can teleport in and out quickly, but Kitty is quick to mention the stench.  Why Kitty doesn’t just phase through the wall is beyond me but they can wait I suppose.

Colossus hears a voice that states he remembers and Colossus opens the door shouting about why he must be tormented.  Turns out, he has entered Professor Xavier’s room.  Xavier mentions, every year on Christmas Eve, that he remembers his fallen students.  We get a great glimpse at the sorrow Xavier carries with him, he has sent so many to their death.

Colossus reenters his room and sees a second drawing of his which now has words on it.

Colossus finally recognizes the voice, it is his dead sister, Illyana.  He steps through a teleportation ring, and he is face to face with Illyana’s spirit.

She needs him to remember something, she explains how the powers at be have rules and she can only tell him one word, remember.  He finally remembers what is in the attic.  His boxes from his Excalibur days, that he put in the attic and never opened, as he wanted a fresh start.  He finds his picture of Illyana and goes to sleep holding it.  Illyana gets this fun line, “You know what.  It’s magic, Peter … … or should I say, Magik.”  Which she was never that fun or funny but I like how now she is on the other side, she can lighten up.

While he is sleeping, we see someone wearing a hat swipe his current picture.

Issue ends with the X-Men around the tree, Colossus presents to everyone are his paintings.

Turns out Marrow has been doing the writing on his art, as a thanks for him painting her back in Uncanny 361.

Next issue begins the Magneto War!  Which I own all five issues, one of these days we will cover that here.