168 – Paul Smith
5 – Jamie McKelvie and Matthew Wilson
Such great covers!
Uncanny
All posts tagged Uncanny
Writer Brian Michael Bendis
Artist Kris Anka
Lettering & Production VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover Artist Chris Bachalo (possibly his easiest cover gig!)
Issue opens, last year. The Battery – Charleston, South Carolina. This married couple Matt and Julia are having a fight. They were on a trip and he brought his computer (work) with him. While fighting, Skrulls attack and kill her and destroy the bed and breakfast they were staying at, that most likely, their child was staying behind at. But did they bring a third adult to watch the kid or is the child back at home and safe?
Today. New York Law of Jennifer Walters. She is on the phone with someone. She stumbles on a website stating – She-Hulk and Hercules, Walk of Shame. Which I like how Marvel shows that she is a sexual woman, but they don’t need to harp on the negative side of effects of that, or make jokes about it. She’s single and in the city, let her be. She gets an envelope and is taken by surprise.
Madripoor.
Emma and Magik, with Magneto, are trying to help Dazzler deal with what has happened to her. They are certain that Mystique is in hiding. If they were sure that she was around, Magik is confident that she could create a spell to reveal her. Surprised it took someone this long to think of that.
The New Xavier School Secret Campus.
Sorry, couldn’t find one with the lettering but pretty much, if you read AvX 11, you know this scene.
See that tiny lady by the tunnel with her arms crossed? That’s Kitty! Looks like the All New X-Men are having a snowball fight.
Cyclops is looking at their Cerebra. He’s remembering his last exchange with Xavier, his last words to him were – You are not my father. Which I can only imagine he said as smugly as possible.
Tempus comes to him, to check on how he is doing. He still feels out of sorts from the Nano-Sentinels. He asks her what happened to her in Tabula Rasa. She still isn’t ready to talk to him about it.
Like a dick, he tells her that the Cuckoos already told him and he’s been waiting for her to confide in him. So maybe the Cuckoos are the dicks? But that’s sort of the line they walk, so I can’t say I’m surprised. So that’s Tempus, the Cuckoos (who she told them to keep quite about it) and Cyclops who know – but we don’t and I read that there is an annual that will come out, eventually, that explains it.
Tempus is older now. Though I can’t tell, except that her hair is longer.
Tempus is mad at Cyclops for knowing and for telling her the way that he did.
The Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. Westchester County. The first panel is She-Hulk crash landing into the ground. Did she jump from a plane or something? Seems like she could have just walked out and gotten someone’s attention. Weird
She-Hulk has the Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier and needs the X-Men to gather.
Xavier School.
The away team comes back. I like how Triage’s first question is if anyone needs healing. He knows his role on the team.
Cyclops wants to know if Dazzler is joining the team, I guess he has a website he wants to update. He asks Emma and Magik if he should talk to Dazzler, both of them saying, No, is a fun moment. Scott Summers, not one to make a situation better.
Emma tells him that he wants to talk to someone, he should talk to Hijack.
Before he does, he asks Magneto if he is joining the team again. That website needs attention!
Cyclops and Hijack have a nice conversation.
Hijack is back on the team and may be the strongest member of the team. See that bottom panel? Goldballs is in his classic uniform, that’s pretty awesome!
Dazzler is in the bathroom. She sees a pair of scissors and her eye shadow is all over the place. Oh Dazzler, I’ve seen the cover to the next issue, don’t do that to yourself!
Newberry, South Carolina. Today. Matt runs into his sister-in-law, Alana. She wants to see how he is holding up but he doesn’t want to talk about it. He gets angry at her and explodes. So now his poor in-laws have two dead daughters. That guy needs to be put out of his misery!
Jean Grey’s School for Gifted Youngsters. In a terrific comic book scene, She-Hulk asks if Xavier is dead or dead dead. I can’t imagine superheroes even have wills, as they may come back in a year and would want their stuff back! The rule should be, if they are not back in five years, then read their will and hand out their stuff.
She-Hulk needs everyone named in the will needs to be present for the reading. Which means – Storm, Beast and Iceman, have to invite Cyclops to the reading. Which really, should not be a big deal. He was just there and they seem to have ended the story on a high point.
Also, don’t be babies about it. Jen needs to read the will to those present so just let her do her job!
Writer Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler Chris Bachalo
Inkers Tim Townsend, Marc Deering, Mark Irwin, Jaime Mendoza, Victor Olazaba & Al Vey
Colorists Chris Bachalo & Jose Villarrubia
Letterer VC’s Joe Caramagna
The Hidden New Xavier School. Emma and the students are watching a mysterious plane about to land. Emma tells the Cuckoos that they should diamond up. Which I like that that power is being remembered. Did I enjoy Phoenix : Warsong and like the reveal that the Cuckoos were five of possibly millions of clones of Emma Frost? No, no I did not. But I like how Bendis knows that the Cuckoos have that power, though it is never used, and it was a nice touch.
In the plane, is Magneto and real Dazzler. Poor Dazzler, Magneto didn’t stop anywhere to get her a proper outfit so she is still in her hospital gown.
I like how Dazzler wants a Walkman, she needs something with noise so she can power up. Also, that her insticts is to ask for a Walkman and not an iPod. Are iPods even a thing anymore or do people just listen to music on their tablets? Instead of listening to music on a mp3 player, I just pull up the music video on YouTube via the KindleFire and that’s how I listen to music these days. Plus, my mp3 player does not work. Or I listen to music on my new fancy phone.
When I worked at Hastings, we could not sell mp3 players or iPods but they were also being still priced at a hundred dollars or so which seems silly now that phones play music and are still phones.
Westchester, New York. Now. Hijack steals a car and takes off. I like the small talk from the locals, as they know that the X-Men live in their city.
Jean Grey School. Maria Hill is losing even more control of the situation as multiple Hellicarriers are laying waste to the school. She starts calling for the Avengers to assist. She informs the White House of the situation as well. Like either are going to do anything for the X-Men.
The art on this page of all of the characters trying to do anything and the bombs falling, it is chaotic like a real battlefield.
Beast is in his lab and he for sure knows who is behind the attack.
Hill asks Dazzlique to help out and Mystique just walks away. Without missing a beat, Hill gives the order that if anyone sees Dazzler, to shoot her on sight. Seems a bit extreme to me.
The MysteriX is ready for the final bravo and presses a button. Now the SHIELD created Sentinels and their nuclear bombs are deployed.
Which I can’t believe even after the X-Men handily defeated the SHIELD Sentinels during Battle of the Atom, that SHIELD didn’t decommission these killer robots as all their creation accomplish was to annoy Cyclops and make him target SHIELD in the first place. Cyclops is not a man one wants to make an enemy of.
Right when things look like they couldn’t get worst, all of the Sentinels and the attacks from the Hellicarriers stop. MysteriX is shocked by this.
The best part of it is the interaction from Hill and the crew that is left on the Hellicarrier. A bit of a comedy routine with the one blonde saying, “something has taken control over the Hellicarrier from the thing that took the Hellicarriers.” Which then Hill responds with another way of phasing it. “You mean that who took over the Hellicarrier has now lost control over the Hellicarriers.” Its pretty funny.
Cyclops wakes up and wants to start taking control over the situation. Beast tells him that Cyclops needs to confront the actual threat and not the noise outside. Magik is ready for the fight.
I like how instantly Cyclops recognizes that his former student, Hijack, is the one who is saving the day. In this technologically advanced world, he really is one of the strongest mutants now.
Hijack gets a great line about how he was hoping to enroll into this school. He hopes saving the day gets him a scholarship.
Beast explains to Cyclops that the reason his powers don’t work as well anymore is that he has Nanotech Sentinels in his bloodstream. Which explains that little subplot from the first issue. Though how those nanoSentinels got in their bloodstreams, I bet, is never explained. It doesn’t take much to just assume that they breathed it in at one point and that’s how it happened. Though how Magneto’s powers were affected by them, is beyond me. Wouldn’t he have noticed foreign metal in his body?
Beast also tells Cyclops that the side effect to getting rid of the nanoSentinels is some diarrhea. ha cha cha
On Cyclops’ order, Magik goes to the New Xavier School – picks up Emma, Magneto and the gang and brings them back to the Jean Grey School. I like how Magneto says “I shall come with you” and Emma’s response is “yes, you shall.” Which feels like a real thing someone would say after hearing the word, shall, in this modern time. I do like how Magneto still uses the word, shall.
Magik doesn’t get time to ask why Dazzler is there and in a night gown but there are bigger issues at the moment.
Once back at the Jean Grey School – Magik next teleports herself, Beast and Cyclops to the location of MysteriX. The villain of the day starts talking and Cyclops optic blasts him.
I like how Beast, being likeable for the first time in possibly half a decade, comments on the fact that Cyclops was right. A Beast was responsible for fouling up everything, but it wasn’t him, but Dark Beast.
I also like Cyclops’ little joke / comment about how there are far too many alternate versions of themselves running about the place.
Another fun moment, I’m now realizing how much I liked this issue, is that Cyclops calls him “Dark Beast from the Age of Apocalypse” as I do wonder how the characters themselves refer to things that we ourselves in RL call them. Like, do the New Mutants really call themselves that? They do from time to time. Did the X-Treme X-Men call themselves by that name? Do the mutants even refer to that timeline as the Age of Apocalypse timeline? Now that several of them have gone back to it and have encounter people from there, we know that they do now.
Beast reveals that Dark Beast is dying, from all of the experiments he has performed onto himself. Which the last time I saw him, was during the Frozen storyline towards the end of Astonishing X-Men – also called the Dark Iceman Saga, to some. He was funny there.
Of course, Dark Beast had a plan in case he was defeated and there is a bomb set to explode in 18 seconds. Magik teleports Hijack there and he is able to turn off the bomb. He has evolve from having to say actual commands like, stop. He can now just point at things and get them to do what he wants.
Back at the Jean Grey School, we start wrapping up the issue. Hill starts shouting that there will be an investigation regarding how Dark Beast was able to take over the Hellicarriers. Hill shouts that they are going to decommission the Hellicarrier program after this. Which should have happened years ago with how often those things crash into the ground.
Also, she tries to blame Cyclops and he quickly turns it onto her and how if it wasn’t for her bombs and Sentinels and floating death machines, none of today’s actions could have happened.
Hill then sees Dazzler and wants her arrested. Magneto has to inform Hill of how on stop of everything else today, that Mystique has infiltrated SHIELD and has been posing as Dazzler since day five. Dazzler shouts at Hill that she was abducted on the Hellicarrier.
Hill refers to Dazzler as an Agent of SHIELD and Dazzler tells her that joining the organization was a huge mistake as she is an X-Man first and quits.
Next issue, the Uncanny X-Men tie in to Original Sin with the Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier.
Writer Sean Ryan
Penciler Ron Ackins
Inkers Norman Lee, Roberto Poggi and Terry Pallot
Colorist Ruth Redmond
Letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles
No End in Sight Part One of Three
I really like this issue. There are some fun moments in it.
Redmond should get a bunch of credit for her coloring choices, especially the skin tone as everyone isn’t just the same shade of white. I really like how pale Magik is in this, as that choice seems right. Emma having bleach blonde hair is nice to see again. Her hair was usually the same shade of white that her outfits use to be. Now it seems a bit odd with her all black outfit but I like the throw back decision.
Issue opens with a guy who can’t wait to see this task come to an end.
The New Xavier School students are looking at old photos. Goldballs comes across a New Mutants photo. In the photo is Sunspot, Magma, Cannonball, Wolfsbane and Magik. They are surprised to see Magik so happy. The photo feels odd to me, like that line up doesn’t fit in my brain.
This is also the page that I first notice Redmond’s talents.
Magik hints that some of her old team were not so lucky. Tempus asks if they are dead and Magik confesses that she was talking about herself. It is this comment that makes me realize that she hasn’t had a team up with a New Mutant since she ditch them to join Cyclops’ Extinction Team.
Cyclops calls the students to him. He takes them into the Blackbird – if that is what Cyclops’ side calls their plane. He wants them to learn how to fly and control the jet. Which, the last time I know of a student being trained to fly the jet – was in Uncanny X-Men 143. Where Kitty fights the alien on Christmas Eve and becomes truly a legend.
We are treated to a double splash page and I really like the layout by Ackins. Upper right corner is Cyclops trying to brace for impact. Which leads directly into the plane crashing. It is a great transition.
Death’s Head II has shot the plane down, along with his cyborg assistants.
Cyclops wants the Cuckoos to tell him any intel they can gather. This is during the time when Phoebe was still a blonde – which hopefully there is a website that is keeping track of the time when she is a blonde and which stories take place after she is a red head as it comes and goes and is worthy of tracking!
There is an ad for Jason Aaron’s Original Sin – Thor & Loki : Tenth Realm. We already know that this is the miniseries that reveals that Angela, from the Image Universe, is actually a daughter of Odin – so she’s the new sister of Thor and Loki. I just don’t get the decision to do make her the sister of Thor? It seems like a lame and weak way to connect her to the Marvel Universe – even though that as readers, we know that she really doesn’t have a connection with the Marvel Universe prior to Age of Ultron 10.
My main question with this reveal is, and this won’t be covered in the miniseries – does this mean that Marvel has found a way to backdoor the Spawn portion of the Image Universe into the Marvel Universe? As of now, it was more like a tear in the realities that brought Angela here but if Odin went to the Image Universe and it isn’t that difficult to do so – then that should make Image the equivalent of the Ultimate Universe or the New Universe or even the Malibu Universe. All that, plus they don’t have to own Image in this instant – so bonus! Plus, Spawn has had guest appearances in his title, such as Cerebus, so does that go beyond just Spawn’s corner of Image? Dave Sim would hate that!
Cyclops goes full blast, attacking the cyborgs. The two cyborgs are meant to be funny and I did smile when reading their first exchanges. But then Ryan went back to the well and it just seems like they are meant to be funny.
Cyclops tells Tempus to signal Magik to bail them out. Which they have a handy button for that.
Death’s Head throws a contraption on Cyclops’ head, blocking his power and they fly away. Right as Magik shows up and sees that her fearless leader is gone.
Then comes the true gem of the issue. The guy from the beginning of the issue is talking with Death’s Head. He sees Cyclops with the contraption and doesn’t understand why this Summers has it on his head. He wants the one with the hand blasting and chest blasting powers. Death’s Head wasn’t going to get that one as he is an Avenger and the other is a Space Pirate (Corsair).
The man in charge didn’t realize there was more than one Summers option, and he didn’t know there were three Summers boys (four now that Teen Scott is in the present).
I really like how time is taken so these two could have the real conversation about expectations and how you can’t just ask a bounty hunter to retrieve a “Summers” you got to be very specific in these things! Bounty hunters will assume the simplest target and get that. That may be a true assumption of bounty hunters. I don’t really know.
Death’s Head takes his payment regardless and leaves. Now that other guy doesn’t know what to do.
Over at the New Xavier School. The way Ackins draws Emma’s boobs, I’m not sure how they stay in place. They defy gravity! Also, Magik shouldn’t be standing so close to Emma when she is drawn like that. It makes her sad Power Girl chest window look sad in comparsion. Also, is Magik really that much shorter than Emma? I guess it is a simple way to show their age difference.
The two ladies realize they have to go to SWORD, so they send Benjamin and Irma out. Good thing Irma got her brunette look so much earlier, so now it is easy to tell her from the other two. Thus, she gets to be volunteered for such missions.
On the mission, Irma gives Benjamin a great piece of advice – just look slightly annoyed, that always helps. Which puts a light bulb over his head as it explains so much! Such a great piece of characterization!
One guy on the plane to the Peak tries to make friends with Irma and she isn’t having it. I do like how another lady can be seen in Irma’s same pose – it must be something confident young women do.
The new batch of SWORD recruits get to the Peak. Benjamin asks where the bathrooms are and he is off on his mission. He gets to a bathroom and once he gets there, he sees a giant purple squid being. I’m not sure if he is the bathroom, as he is surrounded by drains or is he just blocking the urinals.
Benjamin gets to a computer and Iron Man sees over his shoulder and recognizes Death’s Head. Death’s Head II and Iron Man have history from the recent Revolutionary War crossover that I only have the Omega issue listed on my Wishlist.
While they talk, Benjamin instantly grows a goatee, which is a great reminder of how his powers work.
Issue ends with Iron Man agreeing to help Benjamin with tracking down Death’s Head. Benjamin is excited and Irma knows this is going to mean trouble!
The story continues into Iron Man Special and concludes in Nova Special. Here’s hoping Magik is in both of these!
I wonder if this storyline is a response to the All New X-Men getting to team up with Guardians of the Galaxy and so now the Uncanny X-Men get to have their own space quest.
Writer Kieron Gillen
Penciler Greg Land
Inker Jay Leisten
Colorists Guru Efx
Letterer VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover Dated April 2012
How great must it be for Gillen, that he can point to this second volume of Uncanny X-Men, and say that this was completely his.
Issue opens inside Tabula Rasa, which was a small fictional town in Montana. This all happened during Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force. Cyclops’ Extinction Team is here to investigate.
The roster is – Cyclops, Colossus (now with Juggernaut powers), Hope Summers, Namor, Magneto, Danger, Magik, Storm and Psylocke (filling in for Emma).
Psylocke actually knows about this place, as she was there when it happened. She is keeping that a serect as this version of X-Force is a secret.
Issue opens with the team broken into smaller groups. Cyclops is taken prisoner. Magik has been poisoned, and Colossus is watching over her. Hope and Namor are investigating the under water life. Magneto and Psylocke are a team. Danger and Storm are both solo at the moment.
Tabula Rasa is a city under a dome. One day passed for us, but inside the dome, a million years has passed. Now the dome has come down.
Magneto and Psylocke find some cave drawings of Archangel and Fantomex. Then the Immortal Man appears, from the cover. He kills a green creature and leaves the two X-Men alone. The man’s armor is not made out of metal so Magneto can’t stop him from leaving. Psylocke calls for reinforcements.
Colossus is losing a fight as some creatures are making off with Magik. Hope and Namor are shooting undersea creatures. Only Danger and Storm can come.
We see Cyclops is a prisoner with three humans. I like how one of them asks if he is Cyclops, the blasting guy. That is how I bet most citizens of the Marvel Universe see the heroes. They are being watched by a humanoid creature, who wants to keep them talking.
There is a special page remembering Joe Simon’s passing, December 14, 2011. Instead of a picture of him, we get Captain America and Bucky.
The humanoid creature wants them to keep speaking, as that is how he learns English. I really like the learning curve he displays.
Psylocke and Magneto are trying to fight the Immortal Man. In a panel where we are ‘treated’ to Psylocke’s left breast, Magneto confeses he is powerless to stop the threat. There is no metal around for him to manipulate.
In an awesome page turn, Magneto was only jesting. He uses the metal in his helmet to create shards and attacks the Immortal Man. Magneto then goes on to describe all the ways he could have obtained metal.
There is a two page spread celebrating that Mark Waid’s Daredevil has won Best New Series of 2011.
Immortal Man can teleport. Psylocke starts shouting for assistance. Danger states she will be there shortly. Betsy asks how shortly. Danger states now, and stomps on the foe from above. It is a very well paced sequence.
Storm arrives, blasts lightning. Immortal Man sinks into the ground. The four members regroup and we get a to see Psylocke from behind. It is amazing how long she stayed in that bathing suit costume. Now that she has a far superior new outfit, the old one is so silly.
There is an ad for AvX, Storm versus Thor. Which is an actual matchup that one would want to see.
Now that he is Juggerolossus, he goes down the hole after his sister. He doesn’t need backup.
Hope and Namor are making their way to the underwater base. She asks him why the water creatures are so upset. He explains that when time stood still, the river was a lake – the water had no current. Now that the dome is down, the river is moving, destroying their homes. She compliments him on not being a pretty face. I really like how this new character brings out a new side of a character who has been around since the 1940s. She asks if one of his powers is speaking tapeworm. He doesn’t, but does know one universal tongue. That pays off big time next issue.
Cyclops and the creature meet up with the X-Men. The creature explains their history. Their race was on the brink of destruction. He wanted to enter stasis but the Immortal Man wanted to escape. His people exiled him. Next, the Immortal Man’s attempt fails. Then the people tried the stasis idea but it was too late. Now the two are the last of their kind. Sort of like Superman, but with an extra one.
Issue ends with the threat of the Immortal Man going to try to restore their people, at all cost. The final panel is of a mushroom cloud, so that isn’t good.
There is an ad for the Avengers with Norman Osborn about to make his big move. So grand how he became a major threat and not just a girlfriend knocking up and then throwing off a bridge type of villain.
. . .
Big Brother 16 – Donnie took himself the block, and Caleb put Joey up as a replacement nominee. Hopefully Joey goes home, but I am okay if Pao Pao goes as well.
The Have Nots are – Hayden, Brittany, Joey and Cory. Poor Cory, I can’t seem to remember him. Also, poor Joey, not having a good week.
The Have Nots are in a room full of ice and they only have emergency ration blankets to keep them warm. Also, they all volunteered for it. I don’t care for when the HoH has to choose the Have Nots. Not this early, anyway. Later, it can be mean spirited, which makes for better television.
I also want to remember James Rebhorn, who played the Secretary of Defense in this movie. He passed away this pass year, such a great actor.
. . .
It was nice to watch the first third of Independence Day with my parents last night. Tonight is the fastest segment.
Story Chris Claremont and Tony Bedard
Pencils Clayton Henry
Inks Mark Morales
Colors Christina Strain
Letters VC’s Joe Caramagna
Assistant Editor Sean Ryan
Associate Editor Nick Lowe
Editor Mike Marts
Warlord Joe Quesada
Peacekeeper Dan Buckley
Cover by Leinil Francis Yu and Dave McCaig
Cover Dated 2006
Usually I don’t give attention to the top brass editor times for a comic issue but if they are going to play around with their titles, I will spotlight it. It harkens back to the good ol’ days of Marvel editorial. Must be cool to be an editor at Marvel and have your name appear in so many comics.
So irritating that for whatever reason, they didn’t just name this Annual 19 but around the year 1999, Marvel – for a time – started naming their annuals after the year they cameo out. Back when they were starting to realize that the smaller the issue number on the cover, the better it was to sell. A practice they are still doing, even more so, now than they were back then. So instead of doing the math that this would have been annual 25 (which would have been a thing to celebrate) they decide to restart the number. Which these new numbers stop at three (I do own the third one but not the second) so the practice doesn’t have a nice payoff.
Also not great? That cover by Leinil Francis Yu and Dave McCaig. Just feels like a cover I’m constantly putting the cover face down so that my wife doesn’t see it. There is just something about the way Storm’s bikini that doesn’t seem necessary. I get that she is in Africa and getting in touch with her heritage but it just seems like an excuse to draw Storm in a bikini. I really like Yu’s style for the most part, so I’m surprised by the cover but who knows. It may have been for something else and they threw onto this or it was a last minute thing.
I don’t know, the more I look at it the more the cover starts to look like your typical comic cover so maybe it was just the way Storm’s bottom part of her bikini looked but I may have been over reacting.
Speaking of Heritage, this is billed as a Prelude to the Wedding of the Century. If only it was billed as the Marriage of the Century, maybe these two crazy kids would still be together. I’m planning right now to cover Storm and Black Panther’s wedding storyline next November for my wife and my anniversary. This year will be the Jean and Scott wedding – so that is something to look forward too. Neither marriage is still active but there are not that many X-Men Marriages so I have to work with what I have.
So this issue, Storm is dealing with should she accept Black Panther’s marriage proposal. She gets separated from the X-Men, gets hurt and has a fever dream that has various characters, one of them being Kitty Pryde – hence why I own this issue.
I really like the Storm portions of this story more so than the X-Men sections. That’s probably due to having Claremont handling the character.
Inside front cover is an ad for X-Men The Game, the bridge between X-Men 2 and X-Men 3. I really like the Nightcrawler levels. Iceman is a lot of ice sliding which got old fast. Wolverine sections made for a good Wolverine game. The game is for PS2 and XBox. Even in 2006? It doesn’t feel that long ago but I remember playing this game so much, trying to get all the collectibles.
Issue opens with Storm on the ground. She’s been hurt. She is buried under some debris.
She starts her fever dream. At first, she sees her parents as they died in a similar fashion, being buried in rubble. She was a young girl when she lost her parents, a fact that I often forget about as it doesn’t seem to define her except for this is the event that caused her claustrophobia. Her parents memory gets twisted as they start rising like zombies, claiming that no one comes back from the dead – for the most part. Which Storm is a good daughter here because, by 2006, almost every person she knows, has come back from the dead.
This transitions to the beginning of her fever dream with Forge. Christina Strain gets to have some real fun with most of these fever dreams as the pages are partially colored and partially left non-colored. It is a great technique to show a dream state.
This is during the time after House of M when the government had Sentinels guarding the X-Men, The O*N*E program. One of them is hovering right next to the Kenya border, as he doesn’t want to start an international incident. Not like he would do anything if he was right behind the mutants.
So Storm had a mission to unseat a warlord, Colonel Shetani. She had asked the X-Men for help. The ones who showed up are – Cannonball, Bishop, Psylocke, Rachel Grey and Nightcrawler. Cannonball doesn’t do much in this story. When the met up with Storm in her hotel room, the militia found their location and attacked the hotel. Storm quickly summoned some wind and blew the X-Men away and she didn’t have time to escape herself, so that’s why she’s under the ruin hotel now.
Psylocke wants to take the fight to the street troops that are attacking them. Nightcrawler is worried about the families that live in the surrounding homes. Rachel can’t use her telepathy as much as there is static.
The troops are using high grade weapons that Kurt doesn’t believe they should have access to.
There is a two page ad for Superman Returns The Game, which like all Superman games, is horrible.
Back in Storm’s dream with Forge. Forge essentially just talks to her about how dreams are important. They imply that their relationship was good and it ended just because it was time. Which isn’t my memory of their relationship, once she learned he was responsible for creating the gun that took away her powers, it was over. Did they have a second relationship?
Forge wonders if this next relationship of hers will result in the same situation, of it running its course. Also, that he would never keep her in a cage, they are birds and need to be able to fly free.
We see Colonel Shetani for the first time. He is ruthless, willing to sacrifice every one of his men if it results in the deaths of the X-Men. He is told that every one of his men is on the scene. Shetani tells that foolish man that their wives should be called then. He picks a few of them to retrieve Storm, he wants her alive.
Back with the X-Men. Shetani’s troops unleash what they call, screamers. This knocks out Rachel’s telepathy. Psylocke doesn’t seem to mind. The last thought Rachel heard was, Hellfire. Kurt wonders if the Hellfire Club is backing this operation. Bishop states that hellfire is also a name of a missile. Just then, the missile lands. Psi-shields from both telepaths save the team.
Kurt has to make a call, stay there and endanger lives or take the fight to the source and leave Storm behind. He decides that Storm knew the risks and tells the team to move out. Bishop recognizes the tough call.
Storm has a new visitor in her dream, Jean Grey, in her classic green miniskirt outfit. Storm’s dreamscape moves from jungles to New York City. They talk about how this is the location where their friendship was formed. Jean would talk about Scott and Storm would pretend to not look at the guys. Storm tells her old friend, that she wasn’t looking at the guys. Storm never liked the way men looked at her, like they were hyenas and she the prey.
Jean asks if there is anyone who catches Storm’s eye. Storm reveals to Jean (who is her mental version of Jean – so she should already know all of this) that Black Panther, T’Challa, has proposed marriage to her. Storm is hesitant as she is worried what that means to her future. Does she just become a baby factory for the kingdom, creating future heirs? Does her days get planned out for her by his staff? Will he eventually move on to younger women? Which, as far as I know, Storm was his first real relationship so that’s like 40 years of him not going after younger broads but we really don’t know his day to day life. Not until Christopher Priest’s amazing run with the character during the Marvel Knights days. That’s how I really know the character, outside of Busiek’s run on Avengers and a few appearances in Fantastic Four.
Storm confesses that T’Challa was the first boy she ever loved, if love is even the right word. I believe there was only one instance of them back in the day being shown to have known each other as children. Around this time though, there were miniseries and such showing all of this detailed history that was recently ‘discovered.’ Trying to show that this isn’t just a marriage of Marvel’s two big name African characters being put together because they both happen to be African.
Storm doesn’t know if she believes in love. She looks at her friend, who she thought was in a loving relationship but Scott betrayed her, twice! Which is unfair as both times Scott has been not with Jean, she was dead so he has the right to move on. Now, was it pretty quickly? Sure. Was one of them an identical clone of her? Sure. Scott’s a complicated guy. Jean defends him with the same logic. Storm wishes she told her parents earlier about how Jean comes back from the dead.
Jean asks why Storm never looked for her other family members after her parents’ deaths. Which is a valid point, and one I just assumed she did do. The men at the dreamscape bar have now become hyenas and Storm runs away. Jean is left to keep the animals at bay.
In RL, the floor that Storm has been laying on finally crumbles out from under her. She lands in a buried tomb that was below the hotel. A spear has punctured her side. Waking her for a time.
The X-Men are still under attack. Kurt recognizes this fight doesn’t play to their strengths. Rachel tells him to teleport the team one block away. He does so and when they land on the roof, they crash right through it. They see a frighten mother and her two sons.
Back with Storm’s body. A couple soldiers are getting closer to where she should be. They take the time to loot. Three sambas come at them, asking what they are doing. The sambas threaten the troops, that they will kill their family and explain why the troops went off course instead of sticking to their task at hand.
Bishop tries to soothe the mother’s fears. She doesn’t want to help the X-Men as she will be killed. Her oldest son wants to help but she is worried that her sons will be turn into sambas. Rachel finally asks the question I needed the answer to. Sambas are children that Shetani has turn into killers.
The son decides that he likes school more than killing and if the X-Men promise to dethrone Shetani, he will help them. He points to the nicest building in Turkana, the one building with no damage to it, that is where Colonel Shetani is. I would have made the assumption but I don’t live the life of an X-Man.
Storm’s dream finally gets good. Also, the coloring starts to solidify as Kitty is Storm’s true north. Storm wonders what is wrong with her. Who is she running from – the hyenas, Jean or herself? Kitty, in her old school X-Men trainee uniform. Kitty tells Storm that it is the third option. Kitty then makes a fun – Welcome to Storm’s nightmare, Kitty Pryde. Hope you survive the experience – comment. Storm is happy to see her old friend.
Kitty, now in her green Ariel uniform, tells Storm to not to fear. Everything Kitty ever needed to know, comes from her time with both Storm and Wolverine. Storm was essentially her second mother.
Storm agrees that she is close with Kitty as well. Storm wishes she has more family traditions.
At this time, Kitty is in her blue Excalibur outfit and the coloring technique is gone, now Storm is aware of what she really wants in life and her dream is complete.
If she ever had a child, she would want to sing to that child the same songs her mother sung to her. But she doesn’t even really remember those songs, just pieces of it. Whereas T’Challa, in Wakanda, every step or sight he sees, he has family history. She wants that.
Just then, the hyenas are back. Storm is now in one of her hero uniforms, and helps Kitty fight off the beasts.
Just then, the Panther God appears, ready to help. Storm denies it its chance, she needs to do this herself. We’ll see the Panther God more in the wedding issues of Black Panther. Storm was once treated like a goddess, so she treats gods as peers.
Storm tells the Panther God that she will be an equal to T’Challa. That’s the only way she can be. Kitty wonders if Storm should be trying to anger the god.
Clayton Henry does a great job drawing Kitty for these few pages.
The sambas get closer to Storm’s body. They can tells he is breathing. One of the boys tries to wake Storm by toying with the spear. Doing so would cause her pain so her instincts kick in and she electrocutes them. Her thought process states that she would try not to kill them if she had time but she doesn’t. Which is pretty badarse but she still doesn’t kill them.
There is an ad for the Minimates X-Men : Dark Tide DVD that I looked up at Marvel Database and Kitty doesn’t appear in it so that’s one less DVD to try to locate and own. I own two of these Marvel Minimates, both of them Kitty. One of them, her blue outfit, came with a Lockheed along with a Captain Britain toy. Which I suppose I do own the Captain Britain, I’m just not counting it. The other Minimate should have came with a Beast and has Kitty mid-phase (and her Astonishing uniform) but I’m pretty sure I bought that on eBay and only got the Kitty one.
The lightning blast also heals Storm’s wounds. At least, it cauterizes the wound but she gets around just fine.
The X-Men finally get to Shetani. Shetani wants more missiles dropped, which would kill hundreds of his own men but he doesn’t care. Just then, a tornado comes through the building. Storm is not happy.
Storm wants to know why Shetani is out to kill her. It is because he is her … uncle! dun dun DUN!!! So he is defeated and he tells Storm where the rest of her relative are.
Which is odd, as I’m sure during LifeDeath, she did find some relatives but she probably has more unknown ones than known ones so it makes sense that she still be on this quest. So she finds them in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya. There she finds her … grandmother!
So the issue ends with Storm having a new family and that she tells Psylocke that she needs to talk to the King of Wakanda, as she owes him an answer to his question.
Which, did he propose to her, she told him she needs some time, and she walked away from him? Seems bizarre but it is Storm so she gets what she wants.
. . .
Now that it is officially today, I can finally announce what has been happening all month long. Like with my birthday month, this surprise can only work the one time. Today, Shadow and Flame with Magik turns a year old! We did it everybody!
I would like to thank those who follow the blog through our link here, our Twitter followers and those following through Facebook for the continued support.
I would like to thank my wife, Kristie, without whom, this blog wouldn’t be nowhere near as active as it is or there will only be one hundred word posts – which maybe might be something people like or what to see.
Also, thank you everybody who comes and visits the blog, whenever you do it! If it wasn’t for the continued traffic, I would feel like I was crazy for even attempting to do this day in and day out. Here’s to another year!
Just for the bragging rights of it all, look how big and international we are here at S&FwM!
We’re slowly taking over the world!
Here are our stats :
Best Ever View Per Day : 85, which was May 25, 2014
All Time Views : 2,607
Comments : 114
Review Posts : 215
Posts : 366 (not sure how that isn’t 365 as I never double posted – that I am aware of)
Categories : 30
Tags : 596
Followers (Blog) : 41
Followers (Twitter) : 13
Followers (Facebook) : 3
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Followers (Total) : 58
At 62 views – our most popular post has been … X:DoFP – Kitty Pryde’s Time Phasing Powers.
Our event months and the latest X-Men movie did wonders for this blog.
I am so proud of what we were able to accomplish in just one year. I thought no one would even find it and I’ll be posting for my own sake but thank you so much for checking us out and please forgive my gushing over the blog and its stats. I mostly just want to have this so that I can compare it with next year’s numbers.
Here is to Year Two!
July is going to be a pretty straight forward month but August is going to be Frank Miller Month starting the 3rd.
oh, and a special Thank You to Graconius, my pal over at the Comic Book Revolution message board for resizing my logo so that I can use it on various other social media sites! Really appreciate it!
Hope you all like the Logo! That’s all my doing but the resizing of it was kicking my butt.
It looks super simple but after working with it for a couple hours, I’ve sort of fallen in love with it.
. . .
If anyone is thinking of buying Captain Marvel 6, from 2000, because comicbookdb stated Kitty was in it – don’t. She’s like the only main X-Man not present. I have since took her off the issue there. Storm, Jean, Marrow and Rogue are the only ladies present. Unfortunately, Lonestar Comics isn’t interested in buying it from me for another four months. Maybe.
. . .
Also, also – last night on Big Brother, the ‘half the house’ alliance Bomb Squad was created and their weakest leak was revealed. Devin, making decisions without the group and I also forgot that he was one of the parents in the house.
We learn how the nominations works, one HoH goes first so the second one has to pick people from who is left. That does make sense. Caleb’s side won so Frankie is no longer the HoH so we are back down to one HoH.
Writer Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils Chris Bachalo
Inks Tim Townsend, Wayne Faucher, Jon Holdredge, Jaime Mendoza, Victor Olazaba & Al Vey
Colors Chris Bachalo
Great cover! Magik should be on every cover.
Maria Hill is still trying to get Cyclops’ whereabouts from Hijack. Hijack has a frame Howard the Duck cover on his wall. What is that about?
One of Hill’s agents tells her that they have a positive Cyclops sighting in Chicago. Also that he and his X-Men are having to fight another batch of Sentinels. Which surprises Hill.
The SHIELD Hellicarrier is over Akron, Ohio. Which I know Bendis either is from Cleveland or lived there, so that probably explains the location.
I like the use of black and white coloring to show that Cyclops and the Cuckoos are in Maria Hill’s mind.
Cyclops confronts Hill about the Sentinels. The Cuckoos confirm that Hill believes SHIELD has nothing to do with them. They also reveal that Hill is attracted to Cyclops. I could be cool with this pairing. Scott deserves to date a non-telepath.
While the five of them were having this psychic conversation, the other agents on-board were unconscious.
Madipoor. Blob is trying to get some more of the mutant growth hormone drug, that he is clearly addicted to. He discovers that Dazzler is the source. Without the drug, he won’t have his powers.
Mystique is disappointed in Blob. Clearly he was going to steal the drugs. She tells him that she would have given him more.
Mystique as Dazzler, looking good too, is on the Hellicarrier. She updates Hill that Magneto was just at Madipoor. Hill approves Dazzique’s plan to follow the Magneto trail.
We see that the NotMysterio person has a live video feed from the Hellicarrier as he continues to work on Sentinels.
Hijack leaves his house, he finally put on some pants. SHIELD has a man tracking him.
Cyclops is having a team meeting, all members are present. Fabio is out of his hero uniform – not sure if that was a one time appearance.
Cyclops is wondering how they are being tracked. He figures it has to be through Cerebro. They all list the suspects – Magneto, Xavier, Stark and Richards.
Emma and Magik, at the same time, name Hank McCoy.
Tempus offers that they should turn off Cerebro. Cyclops tells her that is a good idea.
Cyclops and Magik teleport to the Jean Grey School. Emma is surprised she wasn’t included.
Emma tells the team that is no longer a revolution, they are at war.
At the School. Storm comes immediately to tell the two to leave. Iceman, Rachel and Beast come out to repeat the sentiment.
Storm makes a rare witty comment, that Cyclops has his own Beast to talk to.
Cyclops confronts Beast. Beast doesn’t want to prove his innocence. He hates Cyclops so much.
Cyclops stops talking, as he gets a massive migraine.
On the final page, it looks like Cyclops full on optic blasts Beast on a major scale.
Issue ends with SHIELD knowing that Cyclops is at the Jean Grey School.
Writer Chris Claremont
Penciler / co-plotter John Byrne
Inker Terry Austin
Letterer Tom Orzechowski
Colorist Glynis Wein
Cover Dated February 1980
What better way to celebrate Father’s Day than with the first appearance of Dazzler! My first official Father’s Day. Carmen Pryde appears in this issue as part of Kitty’s flashback / origin rcap. When s character only has 15 appearances, they all count.
The issue opens with Scott, Phoenix and Kurt parking Xavier’s Rolls Royce outside of what appears to be an abandoned building. They are tracking the second mutant Cerebro detected. I wonder what would have happened if the two teams were switched? I keep coming up with various What If? scenarios for these early issues. Enough for an ongoing X-Men specific What If? title. Now that Uatu is dead, I’m not sure who would host that series.
As the X-Men get out of their car, the Hellfire Club is watching them. We see that they have dossiers on these three X-Men.
Scott tells Kurt that he has to stay behind, due to society not being ready for someone as awesome as Nightcrawler.
As Jean and Scott go inside the building, Jean asks Scott about why he is on edge. He isn’t thrilled with Xavier being back and immediately taking over the position of leadership. Scott was finally getting the team together and listening to him. Xavier shows up, starts treating the team of adults like they are new teenagers.
They get to what is clearly a fancy disco set up inside of an abandon building. Scott has a mini-Cerebro on his watch, tuned to the new mutant’s signature. Scott tells Phoenix to scan the room. Which is easier said than done. She has to hear all the thoughts of the room, most of them are vile. There is something inside of her that likes it.
Meanwhile, in the Hellfire Club, Sebastian Shaw and Jason Wyngarde are talking. Wyngarde doesn’t have much faith in Shaw’s ability to capture and then keep the X-Men as prisoners. He’ll believe it when he sees it. Shaw turns the conversation to Wyngarde being able to keep Phoenix under control. Wyngarde claims that it is already being done, to which Shaw gets to repeat, that he will believe it when he sees it. The Hellfire Club, all about competition.
Jason leaves the room as Shaw calls Emma Frost, the White Queen.
Emma informs that she has been mostly successful on her mission. Only Kitty Pryde escapes, and Emma’s Plan B is pretty awesome. She’s just going to convince Kitty’s parents to enroll their daughter into her school and then she wins.
Speaking of which, Kitty Pryde phases even closer to where the captured X-Men are. They are hanging in man sized bird cages. I like how the X-Men look without their costumes. Colossus is wearing a giant pair of white underwear. Wolverine is hunched over, but he is so hairy! Storm appears to still be in her outfit, just minus the accessories. I suppose she doesn’t wear anything under her uniform.
Kitty replays the day’s events (last issue). We see her parents in a panel, so that’s how we got this review. Carmen Pryde, just standing around.
Kitty gets close to Storm, who is groggy from the inhibitor field – which is why the X-Men are not breaking out. Storm’s surprised to see Kitty is too loud so Kitty has to snap at her, which is awesome that even this Kitty doesn’t take no gruff from no one. She had a plan and wants to see it through.
Storm tears off a label from her suit which has the telephone number of the X-Men. Which is odd, does Xavier sew those into every outfit? How often does it come in use? Grant it, the one time they needed it, it is already there, so that’s nice.
One guard notices Kitty is standing there by the cages. Emma tells her men to grab Kitty. Kitty takes off and leads down a hallway with a dead end and phases through the ground. The guards are confused and Emma still doesn’t know what Kitty’s powers are. Just that she is crafty.
Back at the disco. Jean is making a second walk around. So far, the night as been a bust besides the few guys who have hit on her. Next, Jason Wyngarde grabs her hand, after introducing himself. Then she finds herself in the past again. She is getting married to Jason. Once she says, I do, he swirls her around revealing the first Black Queen outfit we’ll get to see. Phoenix looks good in it, but it is quite a shock! Since they are married, they kiss.
As they kiss, Phoenix’s vision comes back and is both shock and embarrass to see Scott’s face. He plays it cool, they are only dating and it is still the late 70s, so she’s her own woman. He just has to hope that he can win her back.
Then comic book history is made! Some dude announces the main attraction – Dazzler! She starts singing. Scott thinks to himself how he doesn’t know anything about disco music but he likes what he hears. Being an X-Man, one doesn’t have time to keep up with trends.
Outside, not enjoying the show. Kurt is getting bored, then a phone call happens. Kitty quickly blurts out everything she can as fast as she can to Kurt. She hangs up and Kurt is left with a slew of unanswered questions. Such as, where was she calling from? Besides her name, who is that gal? Can you please repeat that?
Just then, a Mandroid rips off the door to the car and Kurt teleports to higher ground. The Mandroid blasts a sonic cannon at Kurt. Kurt notes how this is exactly like a Danger Room session. Which makes sense as that’s where the Hellfire Club has their hidden cameras.
Kurt is off balance and can’t teleport or fight. He tries to scurry away.
Back inside. Phoenix wants to talk to Scott, but he’s all about the mission and he wants to talk to her in private. Just then, two more Mandroids come barging through the walls.
With barely a thought, Phoenix transforms their night out clothes with their superhero uniforms. Scott is amazed and a little scared with how limitless her powers are. Maybe not limitless but she sure does use cosmic power to do simple feats.
Phoenix charges at one of the Mandroids and he blasts her with a beam that forces Phoenix to the ground. Scott also notes that this is straight out of a Danger Room session. What he doesn’t expect next, is to have red paste thrown into his face. Now his powers don’t work!
Dazzler tries her powers for the first time in an offensive way and knocks out one of the Mandroids. Phoenix takes advantage of the distraction and clears the paste from Cyclops’ visor. Cyclops then shoots both Mandroids, knocking them both out.
Before high fives can be slapped out, Kurt and his Mandroid come crashing from the ceiling. Phoenix takes care of this one.
The X-Men regroup now that the threat has passed. Kurt gets this awesome line, when asked how he is doing from Scott, he tells him – black and blue all over, but I’m that way anyway. Even in pain, he is a funny guy!
Cyclops explains to Dazzler that she is a mutant. She hadn’t really thought about how she got her powers, she just found a practical way to use them. Which really, is Xavier’s dream. Not mutant on mutant violence but just finding your own way in the world.
There is a Hostess ad starring Reed Richards in A Passion For Gold..
The X-Men get their car, with Dazzler and begin to drive off. Phoenix reveals that the Mandroid’s thoughts have been silenced – meaning they are dead like the ones who failed in the Ice Cream Shoppe in Chicago.
As the car drives by, I like how Byrne remembered to draw the car minus the right side door. Scott sees the dude Phoenix kissed. Then notices that his shadow is a familiar shape but can’t place it just yet. Eagle eye readers will recognize the outside as … Mastermind! But I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have notice that until the next issue reveal.
Not sure when I will review issue 131, maybe not until next Mother’s Day but maybe sooner – who knows? I don’t own Uncanny X-Men 132, the earliest issue on my Wishlist. I’m hoping to own it one day.
. . .
So to all the fathers on this day, Happy Father’s Day! Thank you to my lovely wife, Kristie, who made this day have new meaning for me. Without you, Walker Dennis Klein, I wouldn’t be as happy as I am. Thank you.
and 
It wasn’t until I was showing off that I own both Kitty Pryde’s and Lockheed’s first appearances, years ago, that I held these covers up at the same time for the first time.
So it took me until then to notice Colossus was holding something above his head on both covers. Coincidence? Most likely. How much thought would Paul Smith had given a John Byrne cover?
Smith would have known Lockheed was going to be Kitty’s new companion, but I can’t imagine him going back and making sure that there were similarities. Such as the Colossus move. Or that Kitty doesn’t appear on her first comic cover, nor does Lockheed. Or that Wolverine is maskless on both. I do like how Wolverine has opposite claws extended so that the two covers mirror each other.
By Chris Claremont and John Byrne with
Inker Terry Austin
Letterer Tom Orzechowski
Colorist Bob Sharen
Cover Dated January 1980
Look at those names, all legends!
What better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than to review a comic with the greatest fictional character of all time’s mother? And I don’t mean Claremont, or Byrne (pending on how you view it).
This is Theresa ‘Terri’ Pryde’s first appearance. It is also so many others’ first appearance.
So rare, outside of a first issue, that so much world building or character creation will happen within one comic.
I remember buying this comic at Wizard World Philly 2006. Then, it was only thirty dollars. I thought I was practically stealing it at that price.
This is, of course, Kitty Pryde’s first appearance. Some magazines will state it is Emma ‘White Queen’ Frost’s first appearance, listing her first – or worst, only listing her. Nowadays, with Morrison having put Emma back in the spotlight and Whedon using both characters, this comic will cost someone around one hundred dollars.
Those two ladies are not the only ones marking this their first appearance. Carmen Pryde, Kitty’s father, is another one.
Then there are the villains. Emma Frost shows up, so this is also the first appearance of the Hellfire Club. In the shadows are – Sebastian Shaw, Harry Leland and Donald Pierce.
The Massachusetts Academy is mentioned for the first time. Naturally, this is the first time we see the Hellfire Soldiers and the Hellfire Knights. I’m not sure if the knights really appear much outside the next few issues.
Like I wrote above, this comic really adds to the mythos like few comics before or after it.
This is by far, my favorite comic. Without it, I wouldn’t even be a fan of the X-Men. If it isn’t my favorite comic, then it is at the very least, the most significant comic in my collection. My most prized comic. If all of my comics burned up, a recurring nightmarish thought I’ve had for years, I would have to buy this comic first, if I were ever to rebuild my collection. Which I probably wouldn’t do. That is essentially the danger of collecting paper as a hobby. I don’t quite worry about flood or water damage as I do fire.
On Comixology, I own the Paul Smith nine issues and this issue. Along with several other Marvel comics that were free when Marvel ran that promotion that practically crashed Marvel.com and Comixology.
Onto the issue :
Inside front cover ad is for Crossman Airguns.
Issue starts with the X-Men leaving Muir Island. The X-Men having just defeated Proteus.
Bsnshee was injured in the fight, thus needs to heal. He will not be returning to the States.
Moira lost both her husband and son in the fight, so now she is susceptible to Sean’s charm.
Since they are down one member, Cyclops offers Multiple Man a place on the team. He feels he is just a Kansas farm boy at heart, not a superhero so he will stay behind to stay on as an assistant. Imagine if he had joined? In this bold new era the X-Men are about to enter.
I forget to mention before, so this is where my X-Men collection begins. I have Giant Size X-Men 1, but none until this issue. All that came before Uncanny 129, doesn’t matter unless it is repeated post this issue.
Cyclops turns to Alex and Polaris, before he can offer, Alex turns him down. They just want to be normal people.
Tough day for the X-Men Recruitment Office.
On the Blackbird, back home, the X-Men are – Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Wolverine, Colossus, Storm and Phoenix who is fooling people into thinking it is Jean.
Colossus is being a big baby about how he had to kill Proteus. Instead of thinking that he was being a bro to Banshee. Also, Proteus was going to kill everybody.
Their plane passes another, this one has Jason Wyngarde. Which also reminds me. This is the first part of what will be known as The Dark Phoenix Saga. It begins here with the mind games on Phoenix. I have always been more of a fan of the first half dealing with the Hellfire Club rather than the second half dealing with the Shi’ar. The trade collects 129 to 137. I have never understood why it doesn’t collect 138, the entire aftermath issue. So the X-Men go from the Proteus Saga to the Dark Phoenix Saga. In the comic, it isn’t billed as part one or anything, that comes after all of the fan reactions.
Wyngarde, who is secretly Mastermind, reestablishes contact with the Phoenix. Apparently this was happening in the previous storyline as she was contributing it to Proteus.
There is an ad for Hubba Bubba bubble gum.
Now Jean believes that it is the Phoenix’s vast power, for some reason, transporting her to an ancestor. Roger Stern, the editor and Avengers legend, lets us know this happened twice before – issues 125 and 126. These editor notes are the reason I fell in love with Tom Brevoort over with Kurt Busiek’s Avengers run and those satellite titles. I wish we still got those today.
While Phoenix is exploring this new world, a nice gentleman comes along that reminds her of Scott, as Scott is checking in on her. Scott discusses how much he misses her when he thought she was dead, back in issue 113. They discuss his brief relationship with Colleen Wing. Scott states that all of his life, he has been losing people. He doesn’t mention that they all come back, except his mother.
When he thought Jean was dead, he couldn’t even function. They make out.
They get back to the mansion. The plane registers an intruder. The X-Men come barging in to find Xavier.
There are ads for rock shirts, whoppers and ROM action figure.
Days pass. Phoenix has read Xavier’s mind. He is there has he is concern about her increase power and her ability to control it.
Phoenix and Scott are walking when Wolverine comes out of the Danger Room complaining about Xavier’s training methods. Xavier is treating these latest X-Men as if they were the fresh face Original Five X-Men.
Scott knew this would happen, he didn’t expect it to be this fast. Scott confronts Xavier, explaining how Scott treats the team like peers, but he is the field leader. Xavier tells Scott that his intensity is for shit and he is a weak leader.
Scott tries to think of another tactic when Cerebro detects two mutants.
There are ads for a Marvel Holiday Special offer and an ad for Bubble Yum.
Page 14. We see that the Hellfire Club has a camera inside of Cerebro. Also, we get the three members in shadow. The last panel is Emma’s first appearance.
Shaw’s plan is to contact the two new mutants and try to recruit them.
Next, history is made!
Page 15, I become a lifelong fan of a character, Kitty Pryde. She is living in a suburb of Chicago, Deerfield, Illinois. Deerfield is twenty-five miles northwest of Chicago. The Prydes live on Central Avenue. She is introduced as Katherine Pryde. Kitty is thirteen years old. It is summer time and about noon. Kitty is coming home from a dance class.
The day before, the Prydes must have received two calls and didn’t mind double booking the two school institution.
The Prydes conclude their meeting with Ms. Frost. I wonder why they suspect two schools all of a sudden want to recruit their young daughter to live on the east coast. Did they send out feelers?
Terri Pryde wonders why Kitty is home so soon. Kitty states that she’s been having those headaches again. Terri
Kitty goes to her room, and starts thinking. Her parents must be serious about splitting up, if they are considering sending her to an out of state school. She doesn’t like that idea as she has friends here. I wonder how many and if she has secretly kept in touch with them, this whole time. I doubt it as one rule with joining the X-Men, is that you have to give up everything outside of being an X-Man.
Kitty doesn’t like Frost, she gave her the creeps. Frost looked at her like she was something to eat.
There is a two page ad for Star Wars action figures.
Kitty lays down. Starts getting another headache, and falls through the floor and lands in the living room.
The Prydes and Frost come inside right then. Terri is embarrassed. Kitty makes up the excuse that her shoe got snagged on the carpet and she tripped.
Carmen calls her, Kitten, as she runs upstairs, she claims she has homework.
The Prydes walk Emma to the door, apologising for their daughter’s odd behavior. Emma tells them, she understands as Kitty is young and in an awkward phase.
Emma passes Xavier and three X-Men, all in civilian clothes – Wolverine, Storm and Colossus. Wolverine takes note of Emma, that she looks good but makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. And that guy has a bunch of hair back there, so that is stating something.
The Prydes welcome the X-Men inside. Kitty sees them and they look like an odd grouping to her. Except for the big farmer boy, he looks good to her.
For some reason, Carmen thinks it is a good idea to send Kitty off with three adults to the local malt shoppe. Also, that she should be the only student under the age of 18 at this school, at least Emma’s school has students her own age. Emma’s school is training future mutant terrorists, so you lose some.
At the Malt Shoppe. Logan is reading some magazines, and by reading, I mean looking at Pentahouse and Colossus is standing too close to him. The owner doesn’t like Logan reading them as this isn’t a library. It must also be when the magazines were not sealed in a bag.
There is an ad for Elastic Hulk and Spider-Man that the Hulk one was featured on an episode of Comic Book Men.
There is another ad for ROM the comic by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema.
Ororo and Kitty are at a booth. I really like the two panels on top of the page with Kitty’s face all bright eyed and full of wonder and Ororo being amazed with how much life Kitty has. Ororo asks if Kitty has heard of the X-Men, she has and she thinks they are awesome superheroes. Kitty then figures out that she is amongst the X-Men! Xavier told Storm it was okay to let Kitty in on the secret. Kitty is so excited. Ororo can’t help but love the child, when she was at that age, she was making her way across the desert.
Kitty also comments on how beautiful Storm is, with her white hair and blue eyes, she is a wonder to look at. As far as Storm knows, she is one of a kind. I’ll say!
As everybody is enjoying themselves, minus the store owner, Hellfire Knights come crashing through a wall! One of them unleashes a flamethrower onto Colossus, who just turn to steel seconds prior. The flame is so hot that he can still feel it. Another Knight is attacking Wolverine, whose claws can’t cut it as it has a force field. The Knights are built to attack each X-Men individually.
Kitty gets scared from the violence and starts trying to back away, while still in the booth. She backs away so much that she phases through the wall. This is the first time she has done it with her eyes open so she knows how she keeps doing that now. Kitty passes out, as her powers drain her energy.
Wolverine, in classic comic book wisdom, decides they need to switch up opponents. The three X-Men make short work of the Hellfire Knights. Storm wonders what happen to Kitty, but figures she left when everybody else did. Just then, they all get zapped by a psychic attack. We keep hearing how much the X-Men are trained against such attacks, but I wonder if that comes after this issue. We will have to keep track of that. We know by 141, that only Kitty hasn’t received the training yet, thus making Days of Future Past possible.
The X-Men are knocked out. Emma Frost and Hellfire Club soldiers show up to clean up. The soldiers wonder what should happen to the knights. Emma tells them that the knights know the price of failure as their armors explodes. Those fellas are dead.
There is a Hostess ad starring Human Torch in the Icemaster.
In the hovercraft, Emma tells the soldiers to strip the X-Men of their costumes and to check for hidden items, as they know Storm keeps hidden lockpicks hidden in her headdress and cape. Clearly the Hellfire Club knows a great deal regarding the X-Men. They are prepared for them. What I really like about this panel, which is huge in the middle of the page is that Emma gives the order but we are shown that the soldiers are already doing it. Wolverine and Colossus’ shirts are off and Storm’s cape is being removed.
Emma isn’t worried about Kitty, as they know where she lives.
Issue ends with a hero in the making. Kitty has summoned the courage and mastery of her powers and has phased through the hovercraft’s wall. She is going to try to save the X-Men!
Back cover ad is for Lego, which apparently got the back cover to many comics during the 80s.
Such an amazing debut of two important characters into the X-Men Mythos!
I am planning on covering issue 130 for Father’s Day unless I do it before then so come back!
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On this Mother’s Day, I want to send out a special shout to a few mothers.
First, my own mother, Diana, for delivering me and being the best mother I could ever ask for.
Second, my lovely and beautiful wife, Kristie, who was pregnant with our son last year, so we had a small Pre-Mother’s Day but gets to enjoy her first proper mother’s day. Thank you for the self-sacrifice for the past year as being pregnant wasn’t a fun experience, most of the time. Thank you for our son, Walker Dennis Klein, we sure did make a cute baby! We only have him as you made it possible as you did all of the hard work and the easy work. Thanks for letting me feel like I did anything even if it was small tasks.
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Also, don’t forget husbands – Every Mother’s Day needs a Mother’s Night! A lyric I can’t stop having repeated in my head. Thanks YouTuber thelonelyisland for hosting the video!
