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Uncanny X-Men #114-116
Following the Magneto story, we get the aforementioned Savage Land tale with Ka-Zar, Sauron and Garokk, and once again what makes the story is the lush, incredible artwork on every single page, and the immense, multi-layered characterization Claremont & company give consistently.

Having read thousands of stories where characters react to other characters deaths, I’m amazed at how fresh and interesting Claremont makes the reactions of the various X-Men. And how well done the story is, as two different groups believe the other to be dead. All of that, plus the monthly piles of characterization in general serve to make the X-Men continually more realistic and infinitely more interesting.

And considering how much characterization is going on—which includes a lot of them looking out for each other here as they continue to coalesce more as a family and team—it’s amazing how dense the plot is! The Fall People, Sauron, Ka-Zar & Zabu, Garokk, Zaladine, the danger to the Savage Land…again, a pretty well thought out, complex plot! And the best part is that once it’s explained, it’s not hammered home again and again but rather they move and actually do something about it.

Like Lardy, I love the scenes with Zabu and Wolverine, which is one of the first scenes that really made me like Wolverine. He continues to shine here as he has every issue Byrne has been on the series, but we’re now starting to see his human side. We’re also seeing him friendly with his fellow X-Men (save Cyclops), as he looks out for Storm and jokes around with Colossus. I like how Banshee stuck up for him too, continuing his role as being an older brother type character to them all, but particularly Storm & Wolverine.

It’s amazing to me that the three panels Nereel is in with Colossus laid the groundwork for the awesome subplot of his son in the Savage Land…which *still* has never properly been followed up on.

We’ve spoken about how the Savage Land brings out the best in a lot of characters and franchises, and I’d add that is probably my favorite Savage Land story of them all, with the only possible contenders being the original Ka-Zar story in X-Men #8 (which is absolutely incredible to behold) and the Spider-Man / Gog story in ASM #103-104.

BTW, I checked out of curiosity: Garokk, Zaladine, Tongah and the Fall People all originally appear in Astonishing Tales #3-6 at the start of the 70’s. I’ve never read the stories, but I know they’re by Gerry Conway and then brand-new-on-the-scene Barry Windsor Smith. Claremont was a big fan of Smith’s work so perhaps he drew particular inspiration from that story to include them all in X-Men (and forever after tie them all into the X-Men mythos moreso than Ka-Zar’s).

Also, Lardy mentions a lot of ways that the series matures during these 2 three-parters, such as the final nod to the Thomas / Adams run, and the return of "Uncanny" instead of "All-New, All-Different". Another big one: it goes monthly! That too adds a bit more weight to the series going forward in terms of being taken seriously and gaining momentum.

I just double checked, and you're right. Thanks, Lardy.

And I agree with you about Bendis. I gave up on his X-Men after a few issues because it started off great, but nothing much was happening after that.

Getting a little ahead before I slow down again...

Uncanny X-Men #117

X-Men #117 is another standout issue and for a variety of reasons other than the now consistent high quality writing and art. At first it feels as if it totally comes out of left field in that it disrupts the standard “happening in real time” narrative, but when you consider how much backstory has been implied and revealed for every single character thus far, it isn’t all that much of an evolution of what’s come before.

I personally love these issues, where Claremont & company delve into the untold past of the various X-characters, which enriches the franchise so much. This is one of the stand out issues that does this in comic book history, as is the later story featuring Magneto, Charles and Gabriel Haller, which establishes Magneto’s excellent backstory. These types of issues are so standard in today’s comic world that its easier to forget how cutting edge this was at the time, to devote an entire issue to an untold tale. It was groundbreaking and a clear influence on all that came after. Later, Claremont would really explore this in the back-ups of Classic X-Men, and Byrne himself would have fun connecting the dots during the reprint era with the (unfortunately) short lived X-Men: the Hidden Years.

The other truly standout piece of this story is that is the turning point / defining moment for the usage in telepathy in comics. I don’t think that can be stated enough, and its easily something people forget. This issue changed EVERYTHING. All telepathy in comics—a power that is one of the most rampant in superhero stories—is done in such a way that it can be traced here. The way Claremont & Byrne showcase the power and how it use, by also creating an entire visual element to it, is pretty ground-breaking. Following this issue, it’s no wonder Claremont fell in love with the power; and there’s no doubt he did as he had a string of telepaths or telepath related individuals make their way through the series: the White Queen, Rachel Summers, Psylocke, Karma, Mirage, the Shadow King (again), and so on and so on. Telepathy in general is as essential to the X-Men as anything. Of course, DC’s two big telepaths, Saturn Girl and Martian Manhunter, had been around well before this issue but even they never had their telepathy truly explored in this manner. Saturn Girl’s powers were used in only the most prototypical ways all the way until around now, and it would only be later in her career, where a firm X-influence was present, that we’d see it explored.

I also love the villain of Amahl Farouk, who is so different from the typical supervillain and yet so menacing. There is definitely a nod there to Sydney Greenstreet’s Signor Ferrari in Casablanca, right down to the nightclub in an Arab setting. It’s no wonder Claremont eventually brought him back as the formidable Shadow King, as I suspect fans asked about Farouk continually for years after this story.

I love the way Byrne shows Xavier beating Farouk as well: at different tables, they struggle and then Xavier is victorious as Farouk simply falls face forward in death. As the others rush over, Xavier simply exits the café. Those panels show a master artist at work.

Also love the young Storm pickpocket sequence. Every single Storm panel is so great in this era that its hard not to sigh audibly when one considers how later creators have simply “not gotten” one of Marvel’s greatest female characters.

Meanwhile, the Professor and Jean moving on is well done. Things get quite serious at this point as both teams think the other is dead! The Prof actually heads into space, leaving behind Earth!

Oh, and I also like the Japanese Captain Hama. He is a typical Claremont “walk-on” character: barely seen yet chalk-full of depth so that you start to suspect there is a larger story to be told about him…even though we never see him again.

Uncanny X-Men #118-119
After the brief interlude we’re back to the X-Men who continue their long journey home (but long in the best way, since it’s so good I don’t want it to end). The parade of fantastic settings continues as they make their way to Japan, and we get so many good things in this story its hard to keep track. First and foremost, I love that at long last we get to see Sunfire again, after his rude and abrupt exit in #94. It’s a long overdue meeting, and I’m glad that at the end here, there is a sense of mutual respect between Sunfire and the X-Men. In a way, resolving that dangling conflict mirrors the X-Men’s continual move towards a true family unit, which is another important part of this story.

The plot itself is nicely done. Moses Magnum is a very random villain, but he’s cool in that he’s different from everything the X-Men have faced so far. I kind of wish we saw more of him after this. As mentioned previously, Claremont took a random Gerry Conway throwaway villain (in which 70’s Marvel had very many) from Giant-Sized Spider-Man #4 and used him in Giant-Sized Power Man #1. Here, the threat he poses is substantial, and it works well because the X-Men are protecting someone / something they really have nothing invested in, namely Japan. It’s easy to have the X-Men constantly protecting other mutants, so its good to continually mix up their reasons for doing things and having other motivations.

There’s just a lot to like about this issue. The opening sequence with Japan on fire is a masterful choice because its so out of left field—Byrne & Claremont know how to make it eerie, exciting and colorful, and all in a way you almost never see done. We see Nightcrawler has been pushing himself, and can now teleport even farther than before. That mirrors the team as a whole, as we learn they’ve been practicing for 6 weeks on the boat to get better. They give Magnum’s goons in #118 a good thrashing and its refreshing to see them so proficient in battle.

Their gradual growing into being a team is mirrored by their growing into a family, which is highlighted by the nice surprise party they throw for Banshee when he gets back home. You get the sense that they have truly come to care about each other (and specifically these 6). Storm calls Colossus “little brother” for the first time, playing up that nice dynamic.

Wolverine continues to grow, as he does every issue since Byrne joined. We learn he knows Japanese, and later we get to see Mariko for the first time as he’s love struck. Mariko is my favorite of all of Wolverine’s romantic interests, and I enjoy the way she is so drastically different from him. BTW, I thought Mariko was the highlight of the last Wolverine movie.

Misty & Colleen are present again, which will lead into Scott’s brief romance with Colleen. Claremont & Byrne obviously love these characters—you can feel it whenever they show up.

The story ends with Banshee’s injury which will eventually lead to his leaving the X-Men. What’s kind of funny is it’ll take another 10 issues for Banshee to actually exit the series; plus he’s been talking about leaving since right after he joined up, so in a way, Banshee’s been on the verge of leaving the team for half a decade in real time. I do like how he has a heroic moment leading to his injury, and just in general his usage here. There’s an underlying, quiet respect the X-Men all have for him, and later during the post-Mutant Massacre era, Wolverine and Storm are quick to show that again.

The issue ends with the All-New X-Men’s second Christmas together. It’s worth noting that Claremont was always highly aware of the seasonal timeline in the X-Men series. He was very smart to show the series aging at a pretty regular pace so that a Christmas story happened only every 3-4 years, as the X-Men aged accordingly. It’s incredibly subtle and it’s a shame it was lost once he left the series.

Meanwhile we see Jean join the Muir Island crew of Moira, Madrox, Havok and Polaris. I always loved this aspect about this brief era, as it felt like there is another X-Men team on Muir Island. It’s a nice touch, and shows the X-Men’s world to be extensive beyond the actual roster. Claremont always used this to great effect, so that you had the sense that even though we hadn’t seen various X-characters in awhile, they were off doing things. Alas, this is another lost art in superhero comics.

These issues also refer to the X-Men winning the Eagle Award for best series and best team for the first time. They’d be doing so again in the next year. Terry Austen, meanwhile, picked up Best Inker. It’s clear by now, there was a sense that something was happening in X-Men. The bulletins page refers to the series regularly and the letters pages are filled with incredible praise. The series was taking off in a major way and moving to the forefront of the comic book industry as one of its premiere series. About 10 issues into Byrne’s run with Claremont, and there was a magic there. And the best is yet to come…

I like the Muir island bits, because they could mine that stuff for plot info, years later. Young Scottish werewolf needs introducing / backstory? She must have spent time with Moira! Madrox needs scientific knowledge? He *was* her lab assistant for some time!

Moira, always human, never powered up, was also, IMO, a vital element of Chuck's 'dream' of little mutants and little humans using the same water fountains. Instead of, as in later years, the 'you're with us or against us' mentality, which led to there being no more non-mutants working at the estate, or teaching the students, or dating various X-peeps, and the addition of villainous mutants to the X-roster (since whether you were good person or not mattered less than if you have the right genes), there seemed to be a real effort to include humans and human *allies* (and friends and family and lovers) in the mix.

Even when a non-mutant was added to the team, such as Longshot, there was often a backhanded attempt to say 'oh, he's a mutant among his people,' as if having a non-mutant X-man was some sort of code violation or something. (Even today, in a world with a team of 'Unity Avengers' that's half mutants, there aren't a bunch of non-mutants being added to X-teams...)

I miss plenty of other things from this era, but I do feel like this is the only time period where there was even an *attempt* at showing Xavier's much-talked-about 'dream' in application. The human element (pun intended). Moira McTaggart. Candy Southern. Tom Corso. Stevie Hunter.

^ 100% Agreement.

Can't agree enough with everything you just said, especially how Moira was the quintessential example of that. It's such a simple concept yet X-creators for the last 15+ years can't seem to grasp how important it is to have regular humans interacting consistently with the mutants.

This is part of the bigger problem we've talked about here in the past, which is writers tendency to have superheroes only date other superheroes--a problem particularly with super-teams. It doesn't make sense and its so limiting in story. The X-Men had: Moira, Lilandra, Amanda, Betsy, Mariko, Vera, Candy, Charlotte, etc.

Uncanny X-Men #117

I'm not a huge fan of "Psi War" and haven't been since I first read it many years ago. It's not that I hate it or anything; I think it's at least somewhat that I'm probably not the biggest Professor X fan. I don't hate or dislike his character. I just find him less interesting when the spotlight is on him and not in his role as the X-Men's mentor. That said, I do like that this story (and the other one Cobie mentions with Magneto in the 160s) exists and that it attempts to humanize him with some much-needed backstory, but even so, he's clearly the least interesting character in the book's cast by a longshot in my opinion.

So I found myself mostly enjoying the story by admiring Byrne's layouts and his storytelling talent. I particularly enjoyed that full page where Xavier's head is kind of superimposed over flashbacks of his life before, during and after his life with Moira. Byrne really does his best to sell me a story that I otherwise have a very passing interest in. Everything from his depiction of Storm as a child to the staging of Xavier vs. Farouk (both in and out of the astral plane) to the body language of the extras in the bar shows that even at this early stage of his career, Byrne was already an expert cartoonist.

Beyond the disinterest in Xavier, I also wasn't terribly captivated by the psychic battle. It was actually very brief, and Xavier's victory doesn't feel all that earned, as it comes practically from nowhere. But Cobie has a point that the trope of astral/psychic battles seems to owe a lot to what Claremont and Byrne tralblazed here. But again, I've never been terribly captivated by the trope over the years, so that significance doesn't add much to the story for me.

As an aside, when I realized this story was coming up, I couldn't shake the feeling that it had come a lot earlier in the chronology than I'd remembered. After wracking my brains, I finally remembered how I'd first read it. I got into the X-Men originally in the early 170s of Uncanny. And around that time, I purchased a paperback book that reprinted GS 1 in it. When I say "paperback", I literally mean something with the size and appearance of a typical paperback prose novel. Only, within it, it reprinted "Second Genesis" in black and white and not as some kind of prose novelization. I remember that instead of reprinting a whole page of the comic on each page, it had only one or two panels per page. So it was kind of a cut-up version of the comic, though I don't think it omitted any part of the story. For the format, I guess it made sense, though, since a full comics page would be very hard to read on a much smaller page the size of a paperback.

Anyhow, that was the way I originally read GS 1. And behind "Second Genesis", it had "Psi War" as a backup story (in the same 1 or 2 panels format). As much as tween-me loved the lead story, he wasn't crazy about the backup, which started out showing the characters interesting to me lost at sea in what sounded like cool circumstances, I got a boring origin story of the bald leader-guy! Really?!? But because of when I read this, I associated it with having been published somewhat closer to the 170s era.

I wish I had that paperback still. I can kind of visualize the cover, and it was not the same as GS 1's. I think it was an original cover actually. I have no idea how I would search down that particular item online to show it to you guys. And incidentally, it was in the same format that I originally owned and read the second Superman/Spider-man crossover (the one that put them against Dr. Doom and the Parasite)!

So hopefully, fair or not, you can see why I have somewhat of an aversion to "Psi War"!

Fuck! I found it listed! Here's the cover:

^ I see the cover was by Cockrum! Finally, he got to draw a cover to GS 1!

You're disinterest in the issue aside, that's a cool story, Lardy! It's always interesting to hear about the various oddball formats comics have found themselves reprinted in over the decades. Amazing how one finds it's way to you and leaves an impression. (As a kid I had this oddball Doc Savage reprint pocket sized book of pulp stories from the 30's that I have no idea where it came from).

I can see how a kid just getting into the X-Men would find this story boring. Without Byrne and Austen, it could easily have been a disaster. I only ever read these stories from start to finish in a row, so I see it as an essential part of the era.

I agree that Prof X can be the least interesting cast member though. X-writers really need to figure out how to use him and then do so with a less is more approach. It's obvious many have struggled with him by the sheer amount of times he's been written out of the cast.

You honestly never know what kind of memories reading old comics will unlock! For example, having read this paperback after getting into the X-Men in the 170s, I wondered whatever happened to Thunderbird, Sunfire and Banshee! This info wasn't readily available in pre-internet and even pre-Official Marvel Universe Handbook days!

I think one issue with Professor X as a character is that his telepathy has been shown as just 'talking with his mind' at one point, and then able to stun / mindshout the entire team into unconsciousness from miles away, or even *at global range,* at other times.

Which kind of begs the question, why does he even need a team of mutants, if he can just think anyone in the world to death (or unconsciousness, or into confessing and going to jail willingly), from the comfort of his living room?

There was a sort of 'author saving throw' attempted where Magneto 'altered the magnetic field of the planet' to vastly reduce Chuck's range, but that just went in the direction of making *Magneto* crazy powerful, in addition to Chuck being crazy powerful. (Ditto with the Shadow King later being used as the excuse for why telepaths could no longer access the astral plane and zip around invisibly and incorporeally spying on people all over the planet with yet another free superpower.)

Telepathy, by itself, the power to speak to other people with your mind, and hear their replies, is a decent power, but over the years, Chuck (Jean, etc.) have expanded to be able to;

1) probe minds, sometimes even painfully
2) trick people's senses (to make them not see something, or to see them wearing different clothes)
3) teach people new skills (like entire languages) overnight, or even instantly
4) psychically blast people or 'psi scream' at them to cause them pain, disorientation, unconsciousness, amnesia back outs or even death
5) usurp / override control of someone's nervous system, or even, in extreme cases, their autonomic systems (causing someone's heart to stop, for instance)
6) rearranging / inserting / deleting memories
7) suggesting / compelling courses of action, perhaps even to be triggered later, including stuff that people can't normally do on a whim, like instantly fall asleep
8) changing emotions (making someone fall in love with someone, or giving someone a phobia, or suppressing anxiety)
9) tapping into someone's senses, and seeing what they are seeing
10) astral projection (free clairvoyance!)
11) linking multiple non-telepaths so that they can all talk telepathically
12) forging a permanent telepathic mindlink with a non-telepath
13) total photographic recall (which Jean claims at one point is something that *all* telepaths have)
14) potentially global range
15) set up psychic shields to prevent other telepaths from reading / attacking their own minds
16) set up psychic shields *on others* to protect them from other telepaths
17) blocking pain

That's a ton of crap, to strap onto what is technically 'one super-power.' And, despite all that, added over *decades* to telepaths like Chuck, it often seems that telepathy, by itself, is not considered 'enough' of a super-power, and telepaths need to also be telekinetic, or also be a ninja, or also be able to turn into diamond, to be taken seriously as X-peeps.

There seemed to be an inevitable evolution with Chuck (and Jean), that the more powerful they got, the more *scary* they got, and the more inevitable their decline into moral grey-ness, or even nigh-villainy (whether it was as overt as eating planets, or as Batman-esque as 'the Xavier Protocols'). By ramping Chuck up, even as incrementally as it happened, he seemed to become 'unusable' as a character, more like a world-affecting villain, than a scrappy underdog hero. It's hard to be the hero, snatching a momentous victory from the jaws of overwhelming adversity, when your tagline is 'the most powerful mind on the planet.'

That's the sort of tagline villains should have. Not the mutant Gandhi.

Uncanny X-Men 116-120

After a more than satisfying wrap-up to the Savage Land story, we have "Psi War". My opinion of it is closer to Cobie's than to Lardy's. I personally love Professor X, even though writers have done horrible things to him over the years, as Set eloquently hinted at in his post (I'm surprised he didn't mention Onslaught or Deadly Genesis, though). When Charles is well written (and, as Cobie said and I concur, less is more with Charles) he's like an imperfect yet likable father figure. As an aside, I think the only redeeming quality of the failed TV cartoon pilot "Pryde of the X-Men" is the great voice actor John Stephenson's performance as Charles Xavier (Stephenson has been everybody from Mr. Slate on The Flinstones to Kup and Thundercracker on Transformers.)

Then comes the Japan arc, which I just love, especially the scenes where Wolverine shows his gentlemanly side to Mariko. Moses Magnum was very well used here, so much so that Kurt Busiek shamelessly rehashed this story during his Avengers run (this from a guy who claims he "didn't want to make the Avengers like the X-Men". Ha.) The only faults I find with it are Ricardo Villamonte's weak guest-inking on one of the issues (he's not bad for a journeyman, but he can't fill the shoes of Terry Austin in his prime) and Banshee's burnout of his powers, which leads to him eventually leaving the team.

Finally, there's the first half of the two-parter which re-introduces James Hudson and introduces Alpha Flight. I'll cover that excellent story in more detail next weekend, after I read the second half.

Uncanny X-Men #120-121

The journey halfway across the world continues as the X-Men reach the last stop off on their way home in Canada, in a story that John Byrne was obviously itching to tell. Like every other stop on the journey, this one is another absolutely fantastic story that continues the X-Men’s gradual coming together as a superhero & family unit while introducing another major element to the X-verse and MU in general.

Alpha Flight must be the first order of discussion first and foremost, and they are quite awesome to behold in these earliest appearances. I love how the brief introduction of Vindicator in #109 planted the seeds for a larger story-arc here, as well as the third story arc to come post-Dark Phoenix in which the Logan subplot is tied up, so Alpha Flight can proceed from there on their own. That’s good, patient story-telling for a long-running periodical. Alpha Flight is really the creation of John Byrne, though the aiding and abetting of Claremont and Austen really put the finishing touches on them. We get just enough information about each one of them—appearance, powers, personal lives, personality—that you’re left wanting more. Personally, my favorites have always been Snowbird and Shaman based on this story; meanwhile, I’ve always hated Northstar because of the way he sucker-shots Storm at the end of the story which just enraged me when I was younger and continues to do so on rereads.

This issue also continues the evolution of Wolverine as the X-Men clearly stick up for him here and consider him a one of their own, and that has an obvious effect on Logan in future issues as he becomes even more immersed in the team. Claremont and Byrne do a wonderful job at showing a gradual shift from #109 all the way to the Proteus Saga in how the 6 main X-Men gradually coalesce into something much more than what they were.

As usual, the story is jam-packed with little things that are great to see: the mutual respect with Sunfire as they part Japan; Logan’s farewell to Mariko showing his softer side; the walk-on female pilots that are barely there but so likable; Storm sticking up for Banshee when he’s ambushed by Vindicator and going full badass in response; Nightcrawler planting a kiss on Aurora mid-fight.

The fun cat & mouse games of Alpha Flight and the X-Men in #120 which is then offset by the full-on battle royale in #121. As usual, each issue’s montage is different enough from the previous ones that the plot & action elements are as interesting as everything else that’s happening. The way the blizzard forces them to Calgary and then how it goes out of control in the following issue is also really well done. Again, it’s something you don’t see much anymore—a twist on the entire battle that makes it so much more unique than superteam A versus superteam B.

Cyclops and Colleen Wing get cozy here. This romance is all too brief and coincides with Jean’s seduction by Jason Wyngarde (though that doesn’t really take off until Proteus) so I’ve never been too thrown off by it. But I suspect readers buying these stories off the racks must have screaming “WTF?!”. I love Claremont’s willingness to mess with the Jean & Scott relationship from day one.

#121 ranks among my favorite covers ever. As I spoke about here in Tell your story..., this was one of the white whales of collecting all of the major Marvel series.

Uncanny X-Men #118-119

As Fickles points out, there's a BIG difference between the art in 118 and 119, and that is the absence of Terry Austin on inks in the first part. Even though Byrne is credited as the artist in part one, much of it is barely recognizable in his style. Either guest inker Ric Villamonte's style overpowers Byrne's pencils, or, as I suspect, Byrne's pencils were more like layouts this issue. I mostly see the difference in the faces. Only in a few places does Wolverine, Colossus, etc. look like how Byrne would draw them Storm, though, looks surprisingly consistent. I was glad, though, to see Byrne and Austin back to full glory for 119!

In keeping with the ongoing discussion of normal humans interacting with the X-Men, I enjoyed the reference made to the X-Men having "...made a lot of friends among the crew..." of the Jinguichi Maru. Though I doubt they ever reappear, it's just a nice touch and makes the X-Men seem so much more down-to-earth than they would seem to be later.

And re-reading this story, I was surprised to see Mariko first appears here. I'd honestly forgotten that! Again, my first encounter with her was in the great story in 172-173 (among the first I ever bought) and then the original Wolverine series (as a back issue). I only ever read 118-119 eventually as reprints, so it's understandable. I'm curious to discover how much she'll either appear or be referenced in the long interim between these stories and his limited series. I suspect it won't be much, if at all. But the pair come off very sweet, almost more like you'd expect Peter to fall for someone than you'd expect the grizzled, seen-it-all Logan to. I like it!

I'm even more curious to see if Wolvie's crush on Jean will be downplayed from here on out. It would make him look like kind of a jerk if he falls right back into pining for Jean (once he learns she's alive) after apparently losing his heart to Mariko.

I also like how the dialogue brings across that the X-Men continued to train during their weeks on the ship. This results in Nightcrawler's more refined teleporting ability and helps explain their continued gelling as a team and as comrades and friends. It's brave for Claremont and Byrne to let some of this development happen off-camera, and it totally works for me. It's anti-decompression, a lost art in the modern era. Though you don't see every second of development, it works well because you can see the dynamic changing in a way that still feels earned.

Something else else no one's mentioned yet in regard to these issues is the mini-arc Colossus is going through. Claremont writes him with self-esteem issues, questioning his worth to the team. He has two great moments in these issues. In 118 it's the moment where after being knocked for a loop by a Mandroid, he ends up having that awesome moment where he reaches up from the hole he's been knocked into and grabs the getaway van! Then, in 119 he gets similarly schooled by Moses Magnum but recovers in time to trash some Mandroids that had the jump on Cyke. Then, we see him at the end missing his family and correctly pointing out that he's the only member of the current line-up that actually has one to miss.

I think it's in the most recent batches of issues that we begin to see Peter's characterization really start to emerge. Ironically, the physically toughest X-Men is the most sensitive and naïve among them. Until Kitty comes along, he's also the youngest. In time we'll see his interest in art. I guess he's the most angst-y among them, too, but I don't feel it's ever overplayed. It's really nice to see the nascence of his character traits here. Even nicer that it doesn't really contradict what we've seen from Peter before but is still new. We'll have another significant moment with him in the Alpha Flight 2-parter immediately following.

As Cobie says, we have the beginning (or perhaps the middle?) of the long farewell to Banshee here. Claremont and Byrne give him the big heroic moment. I mean, what bigger moment than saving Japan to effectively end your career as a superhero for a very long time? I like, though, that the choice to kill him off wasn't made. Even better that Sean wasn't immediately written out. These X-Men were a family, so it's good that Banshee wasn't immediately discarded, as was and is common in so many team books. I'm really gonna miss my "comfort food" when he's eventually gone....

Lovely Christmas scene, especially the way Sean thought he was being ditched. Loved Ororo kissing Kurt--and his reaction! Plus, Shiro is in attendance--yay!

So I'm left with Moses Magnum and Sunfire. Moses, for all of his 'blaxploitation' vibe was actually written as a credible foe for the X-Men. He very nearly beat them and posed as or more of a credible threat than any other big foes they've faced thus far. Well done, Byrne and Claremont! And, as Cobie says, a great tie-up to Sunfire and the way he left the X-Men. Shiro owes them for saving Japan; he couldn't have done it without them. It's good to see him recognize that (though that's actually in 120--whoops! ) After this, I think Claremont doesn't ever really use Sunfire again. Kind of a shame, but he's got lots of other characters to play with over time.....

I must say, though, that it's hilarious that Claremont brought back the hovercraft guy from 104 for that climactic scene in the manner he did. I remember posting that I kind of felt sorry for the guy in that issue. But to see him try to blow up Moira's lab--?!?! And, then.....!

Uncanny X-Men 120-121

Funny, as Cobie alludes to, these issues were also kind of a sacred cow to me back in the day. At the same time I was getting into the X-Men in the 170s, I loved and got into Byrne's Alpha Flight series around the same time. As such, I coveted AF's first appearance. But as a young collector, the price tag of $20 apiece for these back issues at the time was just too steep. So as TPBs were virtually non-existent in those days, I never got to read this story (and most of the pre-Dark Phoenix Saga stories) until many years later when the Classic X-Men reprint series was created.

Reading it again, it's a pretty scintillating debut. I just love seeing those characters again, as I originally found them (though minus Marrina and Puck, who were later introduced to start the new series). They are all in their original--and best--costumes and far-removed from all the terrible deconstruction Bill Mantlo later wrought upon them, something I don't think they've ever recovered from. (To be fair, though, Byrne did a lot of damage himself from the get-go of that series by immediately disbanding Department H--causing a kind of hard-to-define status quo--not to mention all the carnage he wreaked. Mantlo just took it too damn far.)

I've always loved how the costumes play off of each other with a subtle unified fringe motif that plays off Vindicator's maple leaf design. And I've always thought Byrne's Sasquatch design was just so inherently fun. And so many elements that Byrne would later develop were there from the start. Mac mentions Heather, whom we would later meet and would become so integral to the team and their backstory with Logan is alluded to and would later be told in full. We immediately learn about all of the Alphans' civilian jobs and identities . Aurora's split personality disorder is not hinted at, but with hindsight you can see the germs of it.

But at the same time, all of Byrne's ideas for this team do not in any way overwhelm the X-Men themselves. The genius of it is that the story doesn't feel like it was written as a backdoor pilot to a future AF series. (It actually wasn't. I remember reading Byrne interviews where he didn't plan on doing the book and actually had problems making them interesting to him.) It's still their book, and they all get plenty of development and big moments.

As I alluded to in my review of the previous 2 issues, we get another interesting Colossus moment. He gets jittery and thinks Northstar's up to something and actually starts the big fight as everyone's trying to reason with one another! Among all of them, it's Peter who's least assured of his role as a superhero. He has issues with his own self-worth and is prone to both making rash mistakes and second-guessing himself when he fails. The Alphans' reaction makes it clear they were up to no treachery, so it really makes Peter's decision look bad.

I'm curious to see how Peter's character will be developed and what the milestones might be. I know that by the time I first met him in the 170s, he was still sensitive and that Kitty was the aggressor in their early romance. He was more of an assured hero by then, though. I wonder how significant his big moment in the Proteus Saga will play out in his overall arc for one thing. Something else else else to look forward to!

I kinda love how the story ended, with Wolverine apparently surrendering but somehow giving AF the slip. I was expecting some kind of detailed explanation for how he pulled that off but was unexpectedly delighted by how we didn't get any! LOVE it! Man, but Wolverine used to be such a fun character!

oh yeah, 120 was full of suspense ... as the Alpha Flight took down the X-Men

121 is when Storm showed off her stuff and wiped out a blizzard cause by Shaman's ineptitude.

and Northstar took out Storm from behind in a d^&* move ... and Cyclops lost his cool and Wolvie showed his maturity.

Northstar probably was up to something Peter!

I think Byrne might have had one of those moments of genius when you do something under the gun or under pressure and it just works so much better when you have to go with your gut than if you over think it.

I only vaguely remember that fight, but I vaguely recall Sasquatch getting the drop on Wolverine, and smacking him around like the Hulk and Loki in the Avengers movie. Fun stuff (and this was long before I had grown tired of Wolverine).

I remember reading that Byrne said he'd just designed Alpha Flight for this particular encounter, and that, had he intended to ever use them again, he would have made several different choices, including not dedicating two slots on a team to twins with the same look and powers.

Yep, Sasquatch got the drop on him and slammed him against a couple of walls to knock him out! I hadn't thought of the Hulk/Loki similarity, but it's not far off!



I'll disagree with Byrne there. I think having twins on the seem team with complimentary powers and costumes was inspired. In a way Jeanne-Paul and Jean-Marie were like the new Garth and Ayla, only the Beaubiers, being on a smaller team, tended to work in action together a lot more.

Uncanny X-Men 122

A great kind of "cool-down" story dedicated to the X-Men finally being back home and trying to pick up where they left off after about a year's worth of stories set elsewhere. It's pretty funny how my speculating in the prior two reviews about Colossus's subplot and Mariko reappearing were both big parts of this issue and paid off so soon.

Claremont and Byrne begin with showing Colossus under tremendous pressure during a Danger Room test that is simply designed to test his strength but ends up testing his recent insecurities. Cyke is ready to throw in the towel for Peter, but Logan believes in him and gambles that Peter will prevail if Logan puts himself in the midst of the danger. Peter proves him right and both come through looking better.

It remains to be seen whether this scenario resolves Peter's insecurities (which were said here to be borne of his feeling useless during the last fight with Magneto) once and for all, but I suppose we'll have to wait and see. I remember that Peter has an unfortunate moment coming up in the following Arcade 2-parter, so I can see that causing him some more angst.

BTW, Peter's actual Russian name of "Piotr" is finally given in this issue. I believe this is the first time.

I was pretty damned surprised to see Mariko Yashida reappearing already, especially after wondering how much she'd be seen or referenced between this point and the Wolverine mini that would feature her years from then chronologically. In fact I expected to turn the page and see that Logan had mistaken someone else for her, but it turns out that it's indeed Mariko suddenly in NYC! Looking forward to seeing where this goes!

And wow...more Cyke + Colleen Wing--AND he ends up receiving the keys to her place! WHOA! I wonder if Claremont and Byrne were thinking of going further with this relationship at that point than it actually would? The Dark Phoenix Saga wouldn't have been nearly as emotional and effective without the love story of Scott and Jean at its center. I wonder if Claremont and Byrne realized this first or if editorial stepped in and made the (correct) call? Or maybe Claremont and Byrne were simply teasing the readers with this new romantic direction knowing full well it was just an interlude all along? In any case this is one of those kinds of "what if" scenarios that would one day inspire fans to write their fics when the internet is later born!

Storm's journey to Harlem to rediscover her roots....and not liking what she finds. It's kind of cliché, I suppose, and certainly not the most flattering way to portray a part of NYC, but it's an effective sequence and highly illustrative of the "you can't go home again" trope. Plus, it builds on the ground broken in the Spider-Man and Green Lantern/Green Arrow drug issues to portray some ugly truths about drug abuse in American society. I also like that it's not preachy and that the scenario is delivered very matter-of-factly. I especially like Storm's observation and lament of the youth of these junkies.

However, Misty Knight's appearance reminds me of a problem I had with her also being involved in the Japan adventure: How could there have been no discussion between her and the X-Men about the subject of Jean Grey's apparent death? Misty obviously knows Jean is alive as they'd met in the airport prior to Misty going to Japan and Jean to Greece. The still-grieving X-Men were bound to say something to Jean's (former?) roommate, and Misty would have set them straight. I get that Jean never told Misty that the X-Men were supposedly dead, but someone, Ororo at least, would have spoken to Misty about their mutual friend at some point. They even shared a plane ride home for cripe's sake!!!

Oh well....end rant, I suppose.

So Jason Wyngarde finally makes his first appearance to begin a crucial subplot. And, surprisingly, all the information you need to know about his true identity is right there in silhouette form. Oh, I suppose the character may not have been too well-known at that point, having not appeared in several years. Plus, many fans reading at the time were probably not into the original X-Men in the first place. But if you know who he is, it's a pretty open and shut mystery from the get-go.

Finally, the next story with Arcade is lead into. Again, I was surprised, this time that the ones paying Arcade to kill the X-Men were none other than Juggernaut and Black Tom Cassidy. Both of their survivals from the last skirmish are confirmed, and rather than take the X-Men on gain, they decide to hire Arcade to do their dirty work! A little cowardly a revenge for a couple of roughnecks (though Juggy doesn't like it at all), but kind of refreshing nonetheless.

Onward!

Lardy, a lot of very good commentary!

Funny you should mention Peter’s arc as its in my notes as something to talk about when I get to reviewing a few issues I’ve read ahead on. I had meant to mention it earlier but it slipped by. You do a great summing it up and hitting on all the important beats, such as how it lingered in the background and began to emerge more and more with a culmination with his starting the big rumble with Alpha Flight, and then with his excellent scene with Wolverine in #122. Without jumping the gun and discussing too far ahead, I’ll add that your instincts are right, as this subplot really reaches its true conclusion with the Proteus story and the way that Peter acts as the hero landing the coup de gras in the big battle, in a way subtly showing him emerging as a true, confident hero.

And when I saw the hovercraft guy and what happened to him, I couldn’t help but laugh and think of you! I never realized before he was one and the same with the guy from the first trip to Muir Island. The fact that he’s a jerk and then gets murdered is funny in an LMB way. It’s something we’d do in a story.

Like you, I really like the idea of the Japanese ship they were on for six weeks. Considering it had an important mission where they had to remain incommunicado, I have to say: there MUST be an untold tale there! I want Claremont, Byrne and Austen to reteam and present us a story with the all-new team taking place in the Pacific Ocean.

With Alpha Flight, the legend goes that following their introduction, fans were outright clamoring for more. They return of course (well, only 3 of them) one more time in X-Men, and then they show up in various places like Marvel Two in One and Clash of the Champions. But after declining it a few times, Byrne was told by Marvel that if he didn’t do an Alpha Flight series they’d do one without him so then he felt obliged to be the one launching it. And you know, I’ve never read those issues? It’s so easy to forget what a force of nature Byrne was in the 80’s. Most things he touched just turned to gold.

Uncanny X-Men #122

There isn’t too much to add to Lardy’s comments as he does a great job summarizing the high points of this issue. I love that this is such a laid back, character-only focus issue after so many big stories preceeding it. This kind of mirrors #109 with its approach on character and subplots but taken to a more natural extreme. And I love it.

The Colossus / Wolverine scene is fantastic and provides both characters with a nice moment. Previously, it wouldn’t be a stretch to sometimes read into the two of them having a little tension since they occassoinally would be butting heads. I kind of feel that hereafter, this fully establishes their friendship.

I love seeing the X-Men doing stuff like fixing the blackbird and maintaining the mansion. Basically just doing things other than training in the danger room or being on missions.

Lardy mentions Jason Wyngarde’s first appearance and the blatant revelation of who he was…if you were in the know. And Lardy correctly points out most fans probably were not in the know back then.

Storm in the junkie house is a legendary scene and it continues to hold up really well. I just thought it was suberbly done, including Ororo’s horror at what she sees and then further horror when the junkies turn on her. Thankfully, I missed the 70’s and 80’s when America’s cities really took a turn towards the terrible. But I’m told that this was basically how a lot of New York City was back then. That’s definitely not the case anymore, after several Mayors cleaned it up (some of them quite forcefully). We also get to see Luke Cage stop by. IMO, John Byrne draws the best Cage out of everyone; he looks very leading man-ish: heroic, handsome, insightful.

My reaction to Colleen giving Cyke a key was the same as Lardy’s. It’s amazing how serious that got! I always wondered why Claremont didn’t follow up on that after Jean’s death, especially after Lee Forester exited the picture. He must have had Madeline already in mind. But it seems natural that Scott and Colleen would meet back up.

Lastly, I also love that Black Tom & Juggy hire Arcade to kill the X-Men. It’s such a cowardly move that it fits Black Tom so well. He’s a clever bastard, that one.

Uncanny X-Men #123 - 124

We get the first glimmers of Marvel entering the 1980's, and looking more polished on its covers with the top corner faces being drawn by Byrne instead of Cockrum here. Soon the logos and other cover trappings would be changing and looking more sleak and modern.

These issues are, like most the others, pretty fantastic, as they introduce Arcade to the X-Men. I see Arcade as a true X-Men foe though he started out in MTU and has battled many others. I also find him highly enjoyable, though I would add this: an Arcade appearance depends almost entirely on the artist. If the artist is great, and they're into it, they'll produce sequences that are fun and full of adventure, with oddball things s/he wants to draw, and with elaborate, fun death traps. Byrne does all of this and it works out brilliantly. Meanwhile, Claremont doesn't hold back in showcasing Arcade as an over the top murder-crazed maniac who delights in fun. The case in point is his introduction: abducting Scott and Colleen with the garbage truck! Brillaint!

We also get the continued focus on the expanded supporting cast: Colleen, Mariko, Amanda and her roommate Betsy. This may be the last time we see Betsy, as she gets phased out while Amanda becomes more prominent.

The opening with Spider-Man is surprising at first though it makes sense given his being Arcade's first MU foe. His trying to call the X-Men to warn them is an odd, yet fun sequence. You have to wonder though why they didn't have him show up in the end to tie it back together? I wonder if its ever mentioned again in MTU or elsewhere?

The elaborate death traps are fantastic, as mentioned before. We also get Peter's continued story of homesickness and self-doubt as Colonial Alexi Vahzin is introduced and Peter is brainwashed into the Proletarian. So we're not quite done yet, though as mentioned that story is coming closer to its conclusion. Peter being so full of angst and trying to find his place makes him more appealing and helped make him a character I identified with originally and liked as one of my favorites.

Col Vahzin at first appears as if he may be a random John Byrne pastiche of the "Russian Nick Fury" given his eye patch. Naturally, Claremont would not let such an interesting throwaway character be thrown away: he'd establish he really did exist and bring him back again and again over the decades. I believe he next appears in MTU and then a random Hulk issue and finally settles in to recurring appearances in various X-stories in the late 80's.

We also see Cyke use his advanced spatial geometry skills for the first time which is awesome to see. I love this aspect of the character that remains quite prevalent throughout Claremont's run but appears to have been lost over the years by lesser writers and artists. The X-Men stand out because of these unique skill sets they develop, which in turn complement their powers.

By now, fans must have been losing their minds having to wait for the reunion with Jean and the Professor. But that will all kick into high gear at long last momentarily...

We TOTALLY would!



I know, right? I was totally expecting their secret mission to lead into a story somehow! Reminds me of the story that happened between the panels in Paris in issue 200 that I don't think was ever told.....



You've never read Byrne's run on Alpha Flight?!?!