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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 14, 2017 23:06:28 GMT -5
This is mainly my reviewing some of my favorite runs from the past. Others are welcome to post their own replies and reviews in here as well. To start out with, I'm going to post the run I did on Chris Claremont's historic run on the X-Men on another forum/Facebook, and where better to start (Despite the fact that he didn't write it) than with GIANT SIZE X-MEN #1. GIANT SIZE X-MEN #1"Deadly Genesis!"Cover Date: May 1975 Writer: Len Wein Artist: Dave Cockrum Team: Original X-Men (Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Angel, Havok, and Polaris) and All New, All Different X-Men (Sunfire, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Thunderbird) Professor Xaiver Villain: Krakoa (The Island That Walks Like a Man (!!!!)) Official Plot: The story opens in medias res, with Professor X recruiting a new team of X-Men, to rescue the original X-Men (Marvel Girl, Iceman and Angel [but not Beast, who had left the team], plus X-Men recruits Havok and Polaris), who had disappeared on a mission to the island of Krakoa, with only their leader Cyclops escaping. The new team consists of Sunfire and Banshee, who had been introduced in earlier X-Men comics; Wolverine, who had made his first appearance in The Incredible Hulk #181 (Oct. 1974); and the newly created Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Thunderbird. These members are gathered from all over the world, and so Professor X uses his telepathic powers to teach them all English so that they can communicate with each other. The team soon learns that Krakoa is not just an island, but a giant mutant as well. Despite a number of personality clashes among the individual members, the new team succeeds in rescuing the old X-Men as well as destroying the island by shooting it into outer space with Polaris' power. The issue ends by posing the question of the future of a 13-member X-Men team. Brodie's View: Yes, this is technically not written by Claremont, but he takes over in the first actual issue that the New X-Men appear in after this issue was released, and this is too important of an issue to not talk about, as it relaunched the X-Men (which had been running reprints only from 1970 until this point of the original team's run). As stated above, certain new characters had been previously introduced, with only Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Thunderbird being introduced here. It's kind of funny on how some of these characters evolved from their first appearances, particularly Nightcrawler, who looks far more demon-esque than he would look later, as the character lightened, he became more handsomely drawn by the artists. Another notable thing about the New X-Men is how Wolverine is portrayed wayyyyyy before he became the Wolverine we all know and love (that would start to take shape once John Byrne joins the book). He starts out being just a generic tough guy/dickish character. In fact, it's pretty obvious looking back on why they had to (SPOILER) Kill Thunderbird, as the two characters pretty much were written as carbon copies of each other, with only their nationality separating them, character-wise. Other than that, we can definitely see the beginnings of the characters that would go on to define THE X-Men in many people's minds (well, those that grew up in the early 80's), and as Chris Claremont would take over, and later evolve as a writer, we would see complexities start to appear in these characters. All in all, this was a fun issue that served its purpose, introducing a new X-Men team, while having the old team there to pass the torch to the new team, with Cyclops (and later Jean) sticking around to ease the transition. GRADE: B (Kind of dated and corny at times, in that gloriously cheesy 70's comic way, but still a very solid "First Issue.")
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 15, 2017 1:34:02 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #94"The Doomsmith Scenario!"Cover Date: August 1975 Writer: (Plot/Edits) Len Wein (Writer) Chris Claremont Artist: Dave Cockrum Team: Cyclops, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Thunderbird (Professor Xaiver) Villain: Count Nefaria and his Ani-Men Guest Star/s: The Beast Official Plot: Professor Xavier calls a meeting of the X-Men. There Sunfire clarifies that he only agreed to help Xavier save the X-Men and has no intention of becoming a member. Banshee also proposes to go on his way, but Professor X and Cyclops convince him to stay. Angel breaks the news that he, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Havok, and Lorna Dane are confident enough in their powers to leave the X-Men. Cyclops wants to leave with Marvel Girl, but realizes with his destructive power he has no chance at living a normal life. The next day, Cyclops leads the new X-Men to the Danger Room for their first training session. Over weeks of training, the new recruits learn to work as a team, but Cyclops's harsh remonstrances at any failings cause tension. In the Colorado Rockies, Count Nefaria and a group of Ani-Men seize control of the military base in Mount Valhalla and threaten to launch the USA's entire inventory of nuclear missiles unless every nation of the world pays Nefaria a ransom. The United States Air Force contacts the Avengers for help. Unable to oblige, the Avengers pass the mission on to the X-Men. The X-Men pile into the Blackbird and head to Valhalla. There General Fredericks informs them that Nefaria has ignorantly armed the Doomsmith System, which controls Valhalla's nuclear missiles and can only be shut down within a certain window, which closes in 52 minutes. As the Blackbird enters Valhalla's defense perimeter, Count Nefaria disables it with the defense systems, sending the X-Men into a fatal fall. Brodie's View: And we find ourselves at the official beginning of Chris Claremont's run, and what a task Chris is given here, as he has one issue to send most of the Original X-Men packing (although Jean would be back shortly, as well as Havok and Polaris, but not to join up), paring the team down to (mostly) what it would be over the next 4 or so years, and then send them on their first mission (after a bit of a montage of Cyclops whipping them into somewhat of a team), but Claremont handles this about as well as one could during the 70's (And in 18 pages, no less). The first threat the New X-Men have to face is kind of a lame one, as Count Nefaria and mutated Ani Men are hardly that World Beater threat that the original X-Men faced in their first mission (Magneto, FTR), but then again, I think this new X-Men needed to face kind of a lame threat, as the story was their coming together as a team, and the lead up for their trial by fire (which would happen in the follow up issue). As for the art, it's decent for the most part, but Dave Cockrum (who would get better as the run goes on) draws a TERRIBLE Beast, who appears in a cameo informing the X-Men about Nefaria and his taking over the Valhalla Military Base. GRADE: B-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 15, 2017 3:25:41 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #95"Warhunt!"Cover Date: October 1975 Writer: (Plot) Len Wein (Writer) Chris Claremont Artist: Dave Cockrum Team: Cyclops, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Thunderbird (Professor Xaiver) Villain: Count Nefaria and his Ani-Men Official Plot: From the last issue...the X-Men plummet to the ground. Cyclops recalls what has brought them to this scenario. After his flashback, Cyclops commands the team as they fall with only 90 seconds before impact. He tells Storm and Banshee to grab two others and fly them to safety. He tells Nightcrawler to teleport to the ground. Nightcrawler tells him that he cannot due to the law of conservation of energy since his velocity would remain constant when he teleported and he would still impact the ground. Storm grabs Nightcrawler and Wolverine. Banshee gets Thunderbird and tells Cyclops he is coming back for him. Colossus metals-up and hits the ground. Banshee catches Cyclops just as he is about to hit and he joins the others safely on the ground. Cyclops then has Nightcrawler teleport inside the base to open an access hatch. Nightcrawler makes it inside a maintenance tunnel and is suddenly struck from behind by Frog-Man. After a quick fight and a bit of teasing, Nightcrawler takes out Frog-Man and continues through the tunnel. Nefaria is watching him on a security camera feed, unbeknownst to Nightcrawler. Kurt opens the hatch and realizes that the Frog-Man has disappeared and probably is going to warn Nefaria of their plans. A smoke cloud suddenly floats down the tunnel and overtakes them. They burst through the tunnel wall and are met by military soldiers who open fire on them. Colossus blocks most of the bullets. Storm then sends a typhoon and flood at the soldiers and washes them down the tunnel. Then, Nefaria's Ani-Men attack. After a long hard battle, the X-Men prevail and head after Nefaria. They leave the unconscious Thunderbird and Banshee behind. A little while later, Banshee and Thunderbird wake up and head after the rest of the gang. By this time, Nefaria has snuck by the rest of the group and jumps into his harrier jet. Banshee and Thunderbird see him making his getaway and jump on the jet as it starts to take off. Banshee yells at Thunderbird to jump off the plane so he can blast it with a sonic blast. Inside the mountain, Cyclops tries to shutdown the Doomsmith device and is telepathically contacted by Xavier. He tells them that the device is shutoff and they must get outside to help Thunderbird as he is in mortal danger. Outside, both Xavier and Banshee plead with Thunderbird to jump from the plane, but he continues to break into the cockpit. After destroying the controls, the plane suddenly explodes. Xavier screams out as the rest of the X-Men watch on in horror. As the wreckage hits the ground, it is apparent that Thunderbird is dead. Brodie's View: The first actual mission of the New X-Men ends here, and, man, what an ending. I know that in today's comics, death is meaningless, as characters are killed and resurrected so often that death has no meaning, but back in 1975, the death of a major character like Thunderbird was some pretty heavy shit, and it instantly put the reader on notice that they weren't reading their parent's comic books, and for the New X-Men, nothing was off limits. Going back to my first review, I can see why the writers decided to kill Thunderbird, as he and Wolverine were basically written like the same character: Tough guy with an attitude that meshes badly with the rest of the team. The only thing that separated the two was nationality, but Thunderbird was kind of written as a walking cliche' anyways (Much like Banshee, but he would only stick around for a few years, and gained some complexity....perhaps Thunderbird would have too, but we'll never know). After this issue, we would find ourselves with the X-Men team we would have (well, and one other kinda sorta addition) for the rest of the 70's, and next issue we'll see the fallout from Thunderbird's death, and Chris Claremont getting the full writing reigns (Well, kinda). GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 15, 2017 19:24:14 GMT -5
UNCANNY X-MEN #96 "Night of the Demon!"Cover Date: December 1975 Writer: (Writer) Chris Claremont (with assistance from Bill Mantlo) Artist: Dave Cockrum Team: Cyclops, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus. (Professor Xaiver) Villain: Kierrok/the N'Garai (With Steven Lang/The Sentinels as subplot villains, building towards a future storyline) Guest Stars: Moria MacTaggert (1st Appearance) Official Plot: Despondent over the death of Thunderbird, Cyclops cuts loose with his optic blasts, damaging an ancient cairn on the grounds of the Xavier Institute. Unknown to him, he has released the demon Kierrok and the N'Garai, minor demons. Inside the X-Mansion, the new X-Men undergo a training session in the Danger Room, with the Professor and Banshee watching. During the training session, Nightcrawler angers Wolverine to the point where he almost kills him with his claws had it not have been for Kurt's teleportation power. Much to Banshee's discomfort, Wolverine acknowledges this fact. When Professor Xavier is expecting their new housekeeper to show up, Sean goes to answer the door bell when it rings. He is immediately changes his tone from annoyance to being smitten by the new housekeeper, who introduces herself as Moira MacTaggert. Meanwhile, at a secret military installation, Colonel Rossi of the US Military arrives on the site of Project: Armageddon. Rossi has come to inspect the operation and finds that its head, a mutant hater named Steven Lang, is obsessed with eliminating mutants. Lang tries to convince Rossi to follow his way of thinking but fails and the soldier threatens to shut down Lang's operation. As Rossi leaves the room, Lang, standing next to a Sentinel robot, vows that Rossi will never make it back to his superiors alive. Back at the X-Mansion, the X-Men are relaxing and getting acquainted with Moira MacTaggert when Cyclops suddenly smashes through the wall. Right behind him is the demon Kierrok the Damned, who has come to destroy him. The X-Men pile on the monster, fighting together to take it down. It takes Wolverine's savageness and adamantium claws to cut the demon down to seeming death. However, it suddenly comes back to life and Cyclops explains that each time he had thought he killed the creature it would came back to life stronger than ever before. The Professor attempts to scan the creature’s mind and finds himself bombarded with demonic images that cause him great pain. However, he learns that the cairn which released the creature is the key to stopping it and sends Storm out to destroy it. Storm travels out to the location of the cairn and is attacked by a legion of N'Garai monsters. Trying to fight of the swarm causes her to relive memories of her traumatic childhood in Cairo where she was buried alive. Fighting this bout of claustrophobia causes Storm to strike the cairn with a tremendous lightning bolt that destroys the mystical object. With its destruction, all of the demons, including Kierrok, are shunted back to their home dimension ending their threat. In Red Hook, New York, the craft carrying Michael Rossi has crashed and is in flames. Rossi is believed to be dead. Brodie's View: Okay, I was wrong. Bill Mantlo, who would later go on to write my second favorite Hulk run, #272-300 (aka the whole Hulk with Banner's mind storyline, which I'll be starting once I get a few of these X-Men reviews under me), gives Chris an assist with writing, but Claremont will be solo by next issue. However, this one definitely allows Chris to really start spreading his writing wings; introducing new characters (Moria MacTaggert), establishing new and returning threats (The N'Garai/The Sentinels), and exploring the backstory of one of the New X-Men, Storm, and showing a tragic flashback to her childhood. This flashback would establish an almost paralyzing claustrophobia, which would come back to bite her/The X-Men in the ass in later stories. It was also interesting that the issue began with Cyclops expressing hidden anger at Thunderbird's death, somewhat contradicting his cool, collected statement about it at the end of last issue. Of course, this would re-establish Cyclops' need to repress his emotions like he does his optic blasts, which basically ends up causing the demon invasion from this issue, and leaving the door open for future N'Garai stories. One of of these stories would later help establish the next actual new X-Man, but that's like 40 issues away. Anyways, this was a pretty good issue, introducing a great villain in the N'Garai (and in addition, re-introducing the Trask Family and through them, the Sentinels). It's also nice to see the X-Men really start to gel as a team, with Wolverine being the sole dick character (And establishing he's kind of crazy on top of it). Moria MacTaggert is a great addition to the cast, as her importance would soon be explored in future storylines, although, it is fun to see her try to do the housekeeper thing at first, only to totally instantly blow that cover by bringing out a rifle to shoot at the demonic monster, Kierrok. Going back to Storm, it was cool to start to get some background information on her character. In the issues to come, we'd get quite a few of these moments for the new team, and we get that Claremont staple, the subplot, which will start to multiply as the issues progress. Some would pay off with great stories, some....never do. GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 16, 2017 0:15:25 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #97 "My Brother, My Enemy!"Cover Date: February 1976 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Dave Cockrum Team: Cyclops, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus. (Professor Xaiver) Villain: Eric the Red (Using Polaris and Havok as weapons) (With Steven Lang/The Sentinels as subplot villains, building towards a future storyline)(A mystery villain that could be D'Ken or a member of the Hellfire Club) Guest Star/s: Jean Grey, Polaris, and Havok Official Plot: Professor X is plagued by nightmares of a galactic war, in which some alien being draws his attention to her lone ship attempting to escape the destruction. However, before Charles can see the alien’s face, he awakens screaming. His screams awaken Moira MacTaggert who comes down to the kitchen to find Charles making tea. He explains his dreams to Moira and when she tells him to confide in his X-Men, he asks her how can he explain to his teammates that he's going mad. Meanwhile, in the Rio Diablo region, Alex Summers and Lorna Dane have made themselves an idealistic life. As Alex goes off on another geological survey, Lorna goes about her daily chores in bliss over their current lot in life. When she hears a knock at the door, she goes to answer it, expecting Alex. Lorna recognizes the person at the door but finds it impossible that they are here now. Before she can act, the unexpected visitor blasts her with an energy beam, knocking her out. Hearing the noise, Alex doubles back and finds Lorna is pulling out a new costume. When he asks her what's going on she calls herself Polaris and blasts Alex. Three days later, Charles Xavier has decided to take a vacation and is leaving from JFK Airport. Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Storm, Nightcrawler (using an image inducer that makes him look like actor Errol Flynn) and Colossus see him off. They are surprised to see Alex and Lorna appear in costume. Jean picks up thoughts from their minds and warns the others that it is a trap; however the warning comes too late as Polaris attacks her. As Xavier's plane pulls off and flies away, the X-Men suit up and try to stop Havok and Polaris from destroying the Professor's plane. Colossus stops Havok from blasting the plane by knocking him over, causing his cosmic blast to strike an empty 747 instead. Cyclops grabs his brother and demands to know why his brother is attempting to kill Professor Xavier. Cyclops gets a shock when Havok's leader appears wearing his old Eric the Red costume[1]. When the X-Men attempt to attack Eric, he blasts them away. Polaris turns her attentions to Storm and Jean Grey, and Storm has to save Jean from a nasty fall. Havok and Cyclops battle it out, but when Havok buries his brother under rubble, he goes to his aid. This plays into Scott's hand because he was only playing possum and knocks his brother out. Colossus and Nightcrawler attempt to take out Eric the Red, but find themselves no match for the powerful being who easily bats them aside. Storm meanwhile, loses her temper when Polaris refers to their battle as a game and strikes her down with a lightning bolt. Seeing Lorna get injured is all it takes to make Havok lose his cool and lash out at full power, vowing to kill all the X-Men for harming her. Just then, Wolverine and Banshee arrive, prompting Eric the Red to order Havok and Polaris to retreat, and the three flee the scene. Cyclops has the perfect opportunity to blast them out of the sky but cannot bring himself to injure his former comrades. When Wolverine calls him a coward, Cyclops angrily punches Wolverine, and when Wolverine goes to strike at Cyclops, Storm orders him to back down. As the X-Men prepare to head back to base, they are unaware that they are being watched by two separate sets of eyes; one being the mutant hating Stephen Lang, and a second an unknown figure. Brodie's View: Chris Claremont begins his BIG storyline here, one that would simmer for about 8-10 issues before exploding in a huge throw down for the fate of the universe, as this begins the era of the X-Men going cosmic. The alien race, The Shi'ar, would make their first appearance here, as Xaiver dreams of Princess Lilandra and her evil brother D'Ken, who possess the throne of the Shi'ar world that is rightfully hers. All of this would be explained later, but the importance of that for now is that Eric the Red, who is a agent of D'Ken's, is trying to keep the X-Men hopping so they won't be drawn into this intergalactic war. Eric the Red was a former alias of Cyclops, who hid in a costume to fool Magneto and Mesmero in the original team's run, but now is the alias for a Shi'ar agent, who, I assume donned that particular costume to screw with Cyclops even further, which means D'Ken must have had his eye on the X-Men for a while. Anyways, Eric the Red put Polaris (who, I swear, must have the easiest mind to manipulate in the Marvel Universe, as she's been under the mental control of quite a few characters in her history: Eric the Red, Malice, the Shadow King, and that's just the three off the top of my head......she might as well just wear a T-Shirt that says, "Hypnotize me! I'm easy!") and Havok (Cyclops's Brother, BTW, and who has also been put under mental control a few times, but not as much as Polaris) under his mental control, and uses them to attack the X-Men, which messes with them on quite a few fronts, as not only is Cyclops suffering from having to fight his brother, but the rest of the team (And Jean and Professor X) is confused, as they thought Havok and Polaris were allies, and not realizing until the end of the fight that they were being manipulated. This was a nice way to bring a few of the older X-Men team members back, as the other members had other shit going on (Beast was an Avenger during this period, and Angel and Iceman had joined one of my favorite teams from the past, The Champions, which has the strangest team line up ever: Angel, Iceman, Hercules, Black Widow, and Ghost Rider.....I know, right? Anyways, we get to see some nice team development in this issue, as we see Nightcrawler using his image inducer (Given to him by Tony Stark/Professor X) to help him feel more at ease being around "normal looking people," and vice versa. We also get to see Wolverine screw with Cyclops some more, which leads to Cyke backhanding the shit out of him (which really should have broken Cyke's hand, but I won't nit pick too badly, as Wolverine still wasn't WOLVERINE yet. That would come later. For now, Wolverine is currently playing the role that Guy Gardner would OWN in the mid/late 80's Justice League series.....the slightly unbalanced, super macho, dick head character. Cyclops gets to suffer some more in this issue(Good), with the best being yet to come. Honestly, you can kind of see why the guy was always a douche. The universe seems to just shit on the dude at times during this run and beyond. We get the quick return of Jean Grey, who goes on to play a MAJOR role in future issues, but for now is being re-introduced as a supporting character. We also get the strange dreams of Charles Xaiver, which would set the stage for some greatness down the road. GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 16, 2017 3:45:12 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #98"Merry Christmas, X-Men----The Sentinels Have Returned!"Cover Date: April 1976 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Dave Cockrum Team: Cyclops, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus. (Professor Xaiver, Jean Grey) Villain: Steven Lang/The Sentinels Guest Star/s: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, Julius Schwartz, Doctor Doom, Nick Fury, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Matt Murdock, Clark Kent, & Lois Lane (All in goofy background cameos) Official Plot: It’s Christmas time and the X-Men are out celebrating in Manhattan; after spending time on Fifth Avenue, they all part ways. Kurt and Peter go introduce themselves to some girls, Moira and Sean go sightseeing, Scott and Jean go to dinner and Wolverine opts to spend time alone, telling the others that he has no use for Christmas. As Scott and Jean arrive at a lavish restaurant to have dinner they are suddenly attacked by Sentinels. Despite the two veteran X-Men's fighting skills, Jean is captured and Scott sent flying off the building. Only his quick reach for a radio mast prevents him from falling to his death. Debris striking the street below alerts Banshee, Wolverine and Storm of the battle above and both change into costume and come to Cyclops's aid. While Storm rescues Wolverine, Banshee and Wolverine are captured by the Sentinels. When the Sentinels attempt to attack Cyclops and Storm, Storm's elemental powers are able to destroy them. Scott realizes that the Professor might not be safe either and they rush to warn him. This comes too late, as the Professor is relaxing aboard the Dejan Thoris, a ship owned by his colleague Peter Corbeau of Starcore. As Charles relates his nightmares involving some strange intergalactic war, they are attacked by a Sentinel which Charles manages to take down with his mental powers. As Peter sets his hydrofoil to speed away, Charles is struck by another nightmare. Both men are distracted and a Sentinel smashes their ship, taking Charles prisoner. As it flies away, Peter notes that the Sentinel voices concern about solar radiation levels before realizing he has a long swim to the mainland. Wolverine, Banshee, Jean and Charles have all been made prisoner of Stephen Lang and his operation called Project: Armageddon. As they examine each of the X-Men's mutant natures, they take particular interest in Wolverine's strange readings. Lang explains that his operation’s goal is to wipe out all mutants because they are a menace to humanity. With Lang busy explaining his plot to Jean, Wolverine extracts his claws and cuts himself free. Wolverine then trashes the Sentinels in the room and as Lang flees the scene, Wolverine frees Banshee and Jean. As they argue about leaving the Professor behind, more Sentinels attack, forcing the group to focus on them. As they battle, Banshee uses his sonic scream to clear a path through Project: Armageddon's base and smashes out of the outer wall to find that there is a greater danger than Lang and his Sentinels. Back at the X-Mansion, Cyclops has spent the past few days searching for Jean and the others to no avail; they appear to have vanished off the face of the Earth. When an intruder is detected on the premises, Cyclops sends Nightcrawler out to collect him. It is Peter Corbeau and as he is brought in, he tells the remaining X-Men that he has deduced that the Sentinel took their teammates into outer space. Even as Corbeau tells them this, Sean, Jean and Wolverine find themselves floating in the vacuum of space, their death almost assuredly imminent. This story is continued next issue... Brodie's View: Hot Damn! Talk about being thrown from the frying pan into the fire. The X-Men go from being messed with by Eric the Red (Last Issue) to being straight out attacked on Christmas by an old enemy, the mutant hunting robot Sentinels. This starts a 3-4 parter that would change the team forever, and introduce the X-Men into the realm of outer space, where they would spend quite a bit of time in in the years to follow (Including the before mentioned major battle about 10 issues from now). This would also officially introduce the most dangerous threat to the X-Men and all mutant kind, and, no, it isn't Steven Lang, but rather what he represents: Bigotry and Prejudice. This is the one threat the X-Men can't defeat simply by beating up a given bad guy (though it is the fuel that powers some of them, in one way or another), and it is one of the reason I've always loved the team, that even when they win huge battles, they lose, as they are still hated and feared by many of the populace they fight for. I often argue with this dude at work, a true DC/Superman mark that can't understand why I would prefer reading about Marvel characters over DC, and why I don't love Superman like he does, cuz Superman is the strongest and the bestest at everything. However, that's the reason I've never really gotten into reading Superman (certain runs aside).....I don't like reading about characters that almost always win. It gets boring. On the other hand, many of the strongest Marvel characters, like, for instance, The Hulk, even though he can beat up most threats, he still ends up losing at the end of the day, because he is hounded both by the human populace, who mostly fear him, and the mental damage that exists within Bruce Banner, which causes the Hulk to be the threat he can be. In other words, even when he wins, he loses.....the same with Spider-Man, and the same with The X-Men. That's why these are more compelling characters. It's more realistic, and in a world that deals in mostly unrealistic things, bringing realism to it makes all the difference. Back to the issue, though. It's nice that we get a longstanding threat, The Sentinels, brought back in such a major way, as tools for the clearly insane Steven Lang, who means to carry on the legacy of hatred the original creators of the Sentinels, The Trasks, were committed to; the complete elimination of all mutants. He goes about this by kidnapping two of the most powerful X-Men, Charles Xaiver and Jean Grey, and also Banshee and Wolverine, which proves to be a mistake, as Lang didn't count on Wolverine's claws actually being a part of him. There's actually quite a few firsts in this issue, as it relates to everyone's favorite crazy, claw popping mutant. For one, it's the first time we see him out of costume, the first time we realize that his claws are a part of him, and the first time we see that he might have feelings for Jean Grey, though, he shows it in a very subtle way. We also get to see the rest of the X-Men starting to not only bond as a team, but as the strange family they would eventually evolve into, and more of the personalities that would later define each of them coming out here, particularly Nightcrawler, who goes out macking for girls, while taking naive farm boy Colossus along with him. One of the girls they meet ends up being Amanda Sefton, who would go on to mean quite a bit to Nightcrawler, and allowed for the exploration of his past, but more on that when it comes. But, yeah, this is a slam bang issue that delivers a LOT of story for 18 pages, as we go from the X-Men enjoying Christmas in New York (with all kinds of fun cameos drawn in by artist, Dave Cockrum), to their being attacked/kidnapped by the Sentinels, and finally to some of the team finding themselves hostage in what appears at first to be a military base, but is revealed to actually be a space station. Later, when the wall of the station is breached, they find themselves sucked into the cold vacuum of space. You can tell Chris is totally getting his footing, writing-wise, at this point, but the best was yet to come. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 16, 2017 17:56:56 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #99"Deathstar, Rising!"Cover Date: June 1976 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Dave Cockrum Team: Cyclops, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus. (Professor Xaiver, Jean Grey) Villain: Steven Lang/The Sentinels (With Black Tom Cassidy making his 1st appearance as a side plot villain, setting up a future story) Guest Star/s: None Official Plot: Continued from last issue... Having attempted an escape, only to find themselves in space, Banshee, Wolverine, and Jean Grey are rescued by Sentinels under orders to keep them alive. They are contained in environmental bubbles and brought back aboard the Project: Armageddon space station where Stephen Lang tells them that escape is impossible. On Earth, Cyclops uses Cerebro to try and track the missing X-Men, finding no trace of them on Earth, confirming Peter Corbeau's theory that the Sentinels that captured them had ventured into space. On an evening of increased anti-mutant hysteria, which included riots and the fire-bombing of a pro-mutant judge, Peter Corbeau uses his connections with NASA to launch a Starcore shuttle into space, under the pretense of examining the coming solar storm, but in reality it is a cover so the X-Men can go on a rescue mission of their comrades in space. Aboard the space ship not all of the X-Men are comfortable with their situation; Storm struggles with her claustrophobia and Colossus loses his cool, changing into his metallic form, destroying his space suit while shouting out the name of his brother Mikhail. He explains to Nightcrawler that his brother was a Russian Cosmonaut who was seemingly destroyed when his space ship exploded. Cyclops is also worried about Jean's safety after the two of them are finally becoming romantically involved after so many years of repressing their feelings. As the space shuttle piloted by Peter Corbeau blasts off into space, a solar flare is detected at the Sun monitoring satellite known as Starcore One, with a direct course for Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth in the village of Dal'Room, Ireland, a solicitor named Flaherty rushes to the post office with an important letter for Sean Cassidy that needs to be rushed out to the United States right away. As he goes back out into the storm, he is confronted by a man who is Sean's cousin. When this man learns that he is too late to stop the warning to be mailed out to Sean, his cousin blasts him with an energy bolt from his cane, killing Flaherty. While in Earth orbit, the space shuttle approaches the space station that is operated by Project: Armageddon. Detecting the X-Men's approach, Stephen Lang sends out his Sentinels to destroy the shuttle. Their initial attack ruptures the hull of the ship, sucking Storm out into space. With Colossus at risk of suffocating, they ram the shuttle through the hull of the satellite so that they can board the station. Storm meanwhile is alone against a group of Sentinels and finds that she can control solar winds and cosmic energy in space, and uses these powers to defend herself against her robotic attackers. While inside the spaceship, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Cyclops manage to hold their own against the Sentinels that have come to stop them. Colossus is particularly savage in battle, believing that Storm was killed. However, when they finish destroying the Sentinels, Storm arrives alive and well, much to the Russian mutant’s joy. Cyclops is contacted via telepathically by Jean who tells him that Wolverine and Banshee are being held in the cell block while she and the Professor are being held in the main mission. Wanting to save Jean on his own, Cyclops orders the other X-Men to go and rescue Banshee and Wolverine. Blasting his way to the main mission of the satellite, Cyclops easily overpowers Stephen Lang and is about to beat him to death until Jean stops him. Before Cyclops can act any further, someone strikes him from behind. As Lang drags Cyclops away, Jean turns around and is shocked by who she sees. Moments later, the other X-Men arrive in the main mission they are confronted by what appears to be the original X-Men: Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Beast, and Iceman all led by Professor X who demands the original X-Men to kill the new team. This story is continued next issue.... Brodie's View: Well, we continue the whole Stephen Lang/Sentinels story, as we find Jean Grey, Wolverine, and Banshee floating out in space, only for Lang to save them so they can suffer more. With the help of astronaut Peter Corbeau, the rest of the X-Men rocket out into space to save their comrades. Speaking of comrades, Colossus seems to get some special effort put on him in this issue, as we see that the space travel is affecting him more than even the claustrophobic Storm, due to his brother, Mikhail, who was a Russian Cosmonaut, dying during such a lift off. Of course, little does poor Pitor know, Mikhail did indeed survive the shuttle explosion, due to having his own mutant powers, but that's a tale for a MUCH later time......like, Post Claremont later. We also get to see the metal X-Man kicking some Sentinel ass, as he believes they have killed Storm, and he goes into somewhat of a berserker rage due to that. Now one might think this might have led to romantic feelings between the two, but we would later find that it's much more brother/sister relationship, as the group really, as previously stated, starts to grow into a strange family. Meanwhile, Cyclops attempts to rescue Jean, and winds up stumbling into another Lang trap, as the rescue party X-Men end up encountering what appears to be the original X-Men, led by a crazed Professor X. This really is a nice set up for next issue's big 100th Issue Blowout, and the grand finale of the whole Lang/Sentinels storyline; a finale which, once again, will change at least one of the characters, and therefore, the team, FOR-EH-VA! But we'll get into that when we get to it. The only other note about this issue is the sideplot, which takes place in Ireland, and, of course, concerns a certain Irish X-Man, and introduces a new threat that not only has connections to Banshee, but to a much older X-Villain. An unstoppable one. GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 17, 2017 1:54:09 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #100"Greater Love Hath No X-Man..."Cover Date: August 1976 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Dave Cockrum Team: Cyclops, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus. (Professor Xaiver, Jean Grey) Villain: Steven Lang/The Sentinels (With "The Counsel of the Chosen" AKA The Hellfire Club, Behind the Scenes....Mostly) Guest Star/s: None Official Plot: Continued from last issue... Aboard the space station run by the anti-mutant Project: Armageddon, it's leader Stephen Lang seemingly has control of the original X-Men (Cyclops, Angel, Iceman, Beast, Marvel Girl, Havok, Polaris and Professor X) and has ordered them to kill the new team (Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Banshee). As the battle rages on, the new team of X-Men find some interesting inconsistencies from those that they are fighting: The original team seemingly has no memory of their replacements, the Beast isn't covered in blue fur and Cyclops is wearing his old visor. As they fight on the defensive, Wolverine decides to take the battle to Professor X and is caught off guard when the Professor stands on two legs and knocks Wolverine out in one punch. Marvel Girl uses her telepathic powers one Wolverine, and Wolverine finally realizes that they have been distracting him from using his enhanced senses. Relying on only those, Wolverine strikes at Marvel Girl, revealing that she is not the real Jean Grey at all, but a robot. This angers Lang, as he had created his army of X-Sentinels to be unbeatable duplicates of the original X-Men to exterminate other mutants. Lang explains to the captured Cyclops, Professor X, Jean Grey, and Peter Corbeau how he was a member of a government project organized to determine the cause of mutants. Having developed a hatred for mutants, he would the Sentinel base once owned by Larry Trask and go over the notes there to build his own Sentinels. Making a deal with a clandestine organization calling themselves the Council of the Chosen, Lang was given the funded he needed to begin Project: Armageddon to devise a means of eliminating mutants. While Lang has been ranting, Cyclops uses the opportunity to blast through his confinement with his optic blast and then free the others. As the X-Men in the other room destroy the Sentinel dopplegangers of the original team, Cyclops attempts to knock out Lang. Lang manages to flee to his gunship and attempts to kill Cyclops, however Jean uses her telekinesis to mess with the controls and forces Lang's gunship to crash into a view screen and explode, seemingly killing Lang in the process. With the space station compromised and about to blow, the X-Men find themselves stranded on the space station now that Lang's minions have escaped in all the escape pods. Going back to their ship, they find that the autopilot has been damaged, making it impossible to fly the ship through the solar flare passing through Earth's atmosphere without someone to pilot the ship. Corbeau points out that whoever pilots the ship would be flash fried by the radiation. However, Jean steps up and offers to fly the ship -- pulling Corbeau's flying skills from his mind and believing that her telekinetic shield could protect her from the radiation. When Scott tries to protest she uses her powers to knock him out and orders the other X-Men and Corbeau into the radiation shielded room. Even Wolverine and Storm fail to talk Jean out of sacrificing herself for them, but to no avail. Sealing the hole in the ship with a telekinetic shield, Jean begins to pilot the ship back through Earth. In the shielded room, Cyclops revives and tries to break free, forcing the other X-Men to restrain him, telling him that it's too late to save her. As Jean flies through the solar storm, her powers are pushed to the limits and the radiation pushes through causing her extreme pain. As she is overcome she screams out Scott's name. This story is continued next issue.... Brodie's View: X-Man Vs. X-Man!!!.....Old Vs. New!!!......Not an Imaginary Story!.....Not a Hoax!......Not a.....Ok, I guess it was a hoax after all, as the "Original X-Men" are merely smaller sentinels in the form of and mimicking the powers of the Original X-Men. However, this doesn't last too long, as Wolverine guts the robot Jean Grey, thus showing he's.....yup, still kind of crazy, and reliant on senses far heightened than the rest of the X-Men. The actual X-Men then make short work of the robots, while Lang does the super villainy thing of explaining his past and full motives. This causes Cyclops to be able to escape and free the other X-Men, and they make short work of Lang.....ah, but now we get the meat of the story. As the X-Men go to escape, they realize that their ship has been damaged, and heading back into Earth's atmosphere, and with their shield being gone, whoever flies the ship back will be FRIED FROM THE RADIATION! Jean offers to be the pilot, as she feels that her telekinetic shields will be enough to protect her from the radiation. However, upon actually doing it, she finds that to not be true, and we see her last screaming Cyclops' name, as she is consumed by fire. Talk about a cliff hanger ending. Of course, in Retcon world, this is the last we'd see of Jean Grey in the 1970's, as.....well, I'll get to that in the next issue. There's going to be a small rant about it. Trust me. But, yeah, we get more moments for certain characters in this issue. Wolverine explaining his abilities a little more, which is helping to start to round out his character, and make him more than just "Team Dickhead." This would, of course, really start to kick into gear once Claremont's Partner in Crime during this period joins the book in several issues, and this book REALLY starts to get great. We also get to see some great moments with both Cyclops and Wolverine in their not wanting Jean to be the one to try to fly them back to Earth in one piece, but, yeah, she was probably their best shot, which makes it no less noble of a sacrifice. Jean would sacrifice much after this....well, if you consider any Jean appearance from here until mid 1986 being the real Jean. I'll get more into that in the next review, as I said before. This issue, however, was a decent one, but with a great ending. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 17, 2017 3:42:43 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #101"Like a Phoenix, from the Ashes"Cover Date: October 1976 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Dave Cockrum Team: Cyclops, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Phoenix (Who Unofficially Joins the Team) (Professor Xaiver) Villain: Black Tom Cassidy/The Juggernaut Guest Star/s: Moria MacTaggert Official Plot: Continued from last issue... The X-Men are re-entering Earth's atmosphere aboard a crippled Starcore space shuttle with Jean Grey at the helm piloting the ship at a seeming sacrifice to herself. Jean attempts to make an emergency landing at JFK Airport, however the out of control aircraft skids off the runway and crashes into Jamaica Bay, smashing into pieces. The X-Men and Peter Corbeau rise to the surface and Scott immediately begins looking for signs of Jean. The group are all shocked when Jean suddenly rises out of the water in a new costume and proclaims herself to be power incarnate, and calls herself Phoenix. Just as she majestically rises out of the water she soon passes out and falls into the water below. Cyclops and the others pull Jean to shore and try to become as inconspicuous as possible before ambulances arrive on the scene, however the Professor uses his mental powers so that none recall the X-Men being there. Sometime later, Wolverine admits that he has feelings for Jean and decides to pick up some flowers for her to bring to the hospital. When Wolverine arrives on the scene he sees that the other X-Men are in the waiting room and tosses out f the flowers before anyone can see. As the X-Men wait to find out how Jean will be doing, Scott takes the waiting the worst, wondering what he will do if Jean doesn't pull through. However, his fears are allayed when Dr. Corbeau and Jean's physician enter the room and tell the gathered mutants that Jean is going to be all right. This brings great cheer among the X-Men, and they soon leave Scott alone with Jean who breaks down into tears upon hearing the good news. With the positive news, Professor X decides that it's time for the X-Men to take a much needed vacation, despite Wolverine's protests to the contrary. Sean then pipes up with just the suggestion: He has received a letter from Ireland from his solicitor Mr. Flaherty who advises Sean that he has inherited the Cassidy ancestral home. The Professor finds this a great idea and soon Sean, Kurt, Peter, Ororo and Wolverine are travelling to Sean's new castle, Cassidy Keep. Arriving after a long journey, the group are unaware that they are being watched by Sean's evil brother, Black Tom, also a mutant. He tells the grounds keeper Eamon O'Donnell to prepare his cousin and his friends for the trap he has set for them. When Eamon refuses, Tom reminds him that he has some hostages that he will kill if he dares defy him, Eamon has no choice but to comply. The X-Men are welcomed into the Keep by Eamon and are escorted to their rooms unaware that small creatures watch them from the shadows. They all prepare for dinner and head down to the dining hall together when suddenly a trap door opens beneath them. They fall before Black Tom and his partner the Juggernaut, the two working together to kill the X-Men. Before the group can act, Storm suddenly breaks down in a panic and begins to scream, having fallen to another bout of her crippling claustrophobia. This story is continued next issue.... Brodie's View: "I am Fire! And Life Incarnate! Now and Forever....I Am Phoenix!" With that, this book officially kicks into another gear, as The X-Men now has someone on that Thor/Superman level on their team. In fact, Phoenix grew so powerful that Marvel almost had to get rid of her at some point, as she became more powerful than the rest of the team combined, which presented the problem of having them face threats that could convincingly threaten the entire team. That being said, during this period, she was a huge boost to a book that was already slowly climbing up to have a cult status, which was building at this point. Of course, whether or not we're considering Phoenix a continuation of the Jean Grey character is kind of up to you personally. When Phoenix died a few years later, she was very much still considered Jean. In 1986, it was retconned that Phoenix was not actually Jean, but rather a Phoenix Force manufactured cloned Jean Grey body that the force inhabited to learn what it was like to be human, or some such shit. It was lame, and while it did bring the beloved Jean Grey back to the Marvel Universe, it did start an unhealthy trend to kill of characters for book sales, and then bring them back a few years later for the same reason. So, yeah....it sucked. However, as to whether I'm going to refer to Phoenix as Jean or Phoenix.....probably both, as when the book was originally written, Jean and the Phoenix were one, and that's how I'm going to consider it here. Two sides to the same coin. As for the story beyond the beginning, I thought it was decent. We go to see more Wolverine development, as Wolvie is no longer being as subtle in his growing feelings for Jean. Of course, Cyclops is so dumbstruck and thankful at the time that he doesn't notice this, but he will. Eventually he will. We also got the official end to the Stephen Lang and The Sentinels storyline, and we won't see the killer robots again until later. As for Stephen Lang, not in the period I'm reviewing. Whether he showed up later after that is beyond me. Anyways, the X-Men are sent on vacation, and the team (Other than Cyclops, Jean, and Xaiver) decide to accompany Banshee (Sean Cassidy) back to his native country, giving some nice back ground for the Banshee character. However, they are stalked by our mystery killer from a couple of issues ago, who turns out to be Sean's evil brother, Black Tom Cassidy, and his new buddy, The Unstoppable Juggernaut, who quickly trashes the team. Because of the tight quarters, Storm starts to freak out from claustrophobia, and we end on another cliff hanger. GRADE: B+ (Mostly for the beginning.....the rest of the issue is almost a transition issue to the next storyline, which officially kicks in at the very end)
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 17, 2017 22:32:36 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #102 "Who will stop the Juggernaut?"Cover Date: December 1976 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Dave Cockrum Team: Cyclops, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Phoenix (Professor Xaiver) Villain: Black Tom Cassidy/The Juggernaut Guest Star/s: Misty Knight, Lilandra Official Plot: Continued from last issue... The X-Men's trip to Cassidy Keep has been interrupted by an attack from Banshee's cousin Black Tom and the X-Men's old foe the Juggernaut who seek to kill the group of mutants. With Storm having a claustrophobic episode, the group is leaderless and are at odds with how to deal with the two villains, Wolverine and Colossus in particular who argue over how to deal with things. As Banshee fights his cousin, Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Colossus try to fight off the Juggernaut -- to no avail. When Wolverine and Colossus are knocked away, Nightcrawler has to lure the massive foe away from harming Storm. Storm curses herself for being crippled by her phobia and her mind reels back to her childhood. How her parents moved out of their home in Harlem in 1951 to return to her mothers native country of Africa. They would be in Cairo during the fist strikes of the Suez War of 1956. While trying to flee the air raids, Ororo's parents would be killed by falling debris. Ororo would survive, however being buried alive would scar her for life. Orphaned on the streets of Cairo, Ororo would be trained to be a street thief to survive until her 12th birthday when she felt the call to her mothers home of Kenya. There her mutant powers would manifest and she would live in relative peace, believed to be a goddess until the day Professor X came to recruit her into the X-Men[1]. Storm's recollection and anguish would reach Professor X whose telepathic powers would allow him to learn of the X-Men's plight even though he is half a world away in New York watching over the recovering Jean Grey. Excusing himself from the room, he calls Scott leaving Jean and her roommate Misty Knight to discuss Jean's near brush with death. Charles orders Scott to go to Ireland to help the other X-Men, however Scott refuses to leave Jean's side. Charles tries to argue with him when he's suddenly struck with another vision from space, this time he sees the face of the alien that has been trying to contact him, and it is the face of a woman. Back in Ireland, the X-Men battle on as best they can even though they are over matched, Wolverine is the first to be knocked out. Attacking the Juggernaut again, Nightcrawler is batted aside, and is knocked out. Curiously, the portion of his body that lands in the shadows of the castle suddenly become invisible. Just then, a secret panel in the wall slides open and a bunch of little people remark over Nightcrawler's ability and drag him off, closing the secret passage behind them. With their powers ineffective against each other, Black Tom manages to overpower Banshee, knocking the wind out of his altruistic cousin. While, Colossus attempts to overpower the Juggernaut, he is brought down when his foe causes the roof to cave in on both of them. Witnessing this, Storm snaps out of her episode and attempts to strike the Juggernaut down with a lightning bolt, however Cain only redirects it back at her knocking her out as well. with the X-Men all defeated, Juggernaut and Black Tom prepare to hold them hostage so that they can lure Charles Xavier into a trap. This story is continued next issue... Brodie's View: As Jean recovers from her "near death" experience, we get to see the newbie characters all having a separate adventure in Ireland....well, until Banshee's brother, Black Tom Cassidy and his new buddy, The Juggernaut, attack the group. They quickly dispose of Storm by placing her in a location that will make her claustrophobia go nuts, and waylay the others, because they still haven't fully bonded as a team that can act as a team even without someone telling them what to do. Storm does manage to overcome her phobia (After we get a bit more of her backstory in a flashback), and tries to fight the Juggernaut, but she can't beat the Juggernaut, bitch! (I know.....2006 called and wants its joke back) Nightcrawler is saved by is what is going to be revealed to be leprechauns....because, Ireland. Yeah, I know.....pretty lame, but the over all story is good, and does what it was meant to do: 1. Give Banshee more backstory, including an arch nemesis in Black Tom. 2. Force the newbies to try and bond as an actual team.....it would take some time and some ass kickings, as we'll see in the next few issues, which, I liked, because it was more realistic with a thrown together team like the New X-Men were. Very disorganized, but time and experience would change that, as we'll see by mid point of the Byrne era. By "Dark Phoenix," they were a well oiled machine, which is the only thing that keeps them alive at several points in this storyline. The New Teen Titans book from the early 80's would take a similar approach, and gain a following by kind of following the path set by this book. (BTW, there's an X-Men/Teen Titans crossover in the early 80's that was pretty kick ass). And of course, #3. Furthering the whole Jean/Cyclops thing, as Jean recovers in the hospital, we see a pissed off Xaiver get into it with Cyclops before having another dream hallucination of the Shi'ar, and further teasing what was to come in the next several issues....well, once the Black Tom/Juggernaut story is done. Plus, we establish Misty Knight (from the Iron Fist comic that Byrne/Claremont were also teaming up on, along with Marvel Team Up during this period, which there would be several little crossovers/continuations of storylines from those books in X-Men) as being Jean's roommate. I miss creative teams being able to do little things like that without it being a BIG THING, or an excuse to raise the price on the comic. So, yeah....despite the appearance of the Lucky Charms dudes, this was a decently solid issue, so, I'll give it a..... GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 18, 2017 0:32:38 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #103"The Fall of the Tower"Cover Date: February 1977 Writer Chris Claremont Artist: Dave Cockrum Team: Cyclops, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Phoenix (Professor Xaiver) Villain: Black Tom Cassidy/The Juggernaut (With Eric the Red Showing up at the end to set up next issue) Guest Star/s: None Official Plot: Continued from last issue... Following his defeat at the hands of Black Tom and the Juggernaut, Nightcrawler's unconscious body is pulled through the secret passageways of Cassidy Keep by a group of Leprechauns. When Nightcrawler revives he is shocked to find himself surrounded by creatures that he thought were creatures of myth. They, and their keeper Eamon O'Donnell, explain that the "Little People" have been under the care of the Cassidy family for generations. Recently, Juggernaut and Black Tom came to the castle, hired by Erik the Red to plant a trap for the X-Men in order to destroy them. To this end, they forced Eamon into servitude by taking the Leprechauns hostage. They explain that when they found Nightcrawler part way in the shadows his body was invisible. Testing this out, Nightcrawler is surprised at this previously unknown ability and decides to use it to his advantage. This comes at a good time as one of the Leprechauns comes to warn that Black Tom and Juggernaut have the other X-Men prisoner in the laboratory. Seeking to free his friends, Nightcrawler has the Leprechauns lead the way. In the Lab, Juggernaut and Black Tom have the X-Men all contained in specially prepared devices that were made to neutralize their mutant abilities. When Black Tom is about to torture Storm with his Neuronic Tangler glove, Nightcrawler decides to intervene. Teleporting into the room, he uses his image inducer to make himself appear as Charles Xavier. Falling for the illusion, Juggernaut charges at the mane he believes to be his step brother and finds him nimbler than he remembered. However, Black Tom sees through the ruse and tries to attack Nightcrawler as well. When one of Juggernaught's blows smashes a hole in the castle wall to the outside, this gives Storm the will power to break the inhibitor device and use her powers to suck herself, Wolverine and Colossus out into the open. While Colossus works to remove the metal boots from Wolverine's feet, the Leprechauns arrive to quietly remove Nightcrawler from the rubble. With Banshee still their prisoner, Black Tom and Juggernaut take him to one of the castle towers and threaten to kill him if the other X-Men don't try to rescue him. As Storm, Wolverine and Colossus make their way up, they find that the tower is rigged with many weapons armed to keep them at bay. While Tom and Juggernaut are distracted by this display, Nightcrawler manages to sneak up his own way and free Sean from his bonds. With his vocal chords free, Banshee lets loose on the two villains with a powerful sonic scream. When Black Tom attempts to attack him one-on-one, Banshee flips him up over the edge and sends him falling down into the water below. Concerned for his friends well being, the Juggernaut stops fighting the other X-Men and dives in after Tom, vowing that if Tom dies he will come after the X-Men and finish them. Elsewhere, Erik the Red reports back to his master who is less than impressed at this most recent failed attempt at destroying the X-Men. Erik vows that he will not fail his master in his next scheme as he intends to use the X-Men's most deadly foe of all: Magneto. This story is continued next issue.... Brodie's View: We finish up with the whole Black Tom/Juggernaut deal with the aid of cutesy wee little people, who help the X-Men...well, some of them....defeat the dastardly duo. I will say that the two good things those cutesy little bastards did was showing Nightcrawler he had the ability to vanish while hiding in darkness (which is always a cool image), and calling Wolverine "Logan" for the first team, which gives a little more background on his character. Other than that, they were cutesy crap, and definitely not needed for the story, which, otherwise, was pretty decent. However, the end of the issue does make up for the Lucky Charms people showing up, as we see the return of Eric the Red, bringing us back into the major story which has been building for the last several issues, and will explode in a few more into a major battle, but before THAT happens, we get the return of the X-Men's first, and arguably most dangerous threat.....Magneto. Magneto had been chilling at Muir Island after being transformed into a baby at the hands of some alien being back in The Defenders book. Of course, there's a lot more to that whole deal than we'll get into at this point, but it does come back up......in a major way. But we'll get into more of that in next issue's review....for now, I'll wrap up on this one by giving this issue a...... GRADE: B-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 18, 2017 3:01:30 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #104"The Gentleman's Name is Magneto"Cover Date: April 1977 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Dave Cockrum Team: Cyclops, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Phoenix (Professor Xaiver) Villain: Magneto (With Eric the Red pulling the strings) Guest Star/s: Moria MacTaggert, Jamie Madrox/Multiple Man, Misty Knight, Havok, Polaris, Lilandra, The Starjammers (Corsair, Ch'od, ,Cr'reee) Official Plot: The X-Men have been dispatched to Muir Island, off the coast of Scotland which is owned by Moira MacTaggert. After some issues being able to use a reserved hoverboat from it's owner Angus MacWhirter they are on their way. They are going to investigate why Moira's aid, the Multiple Man has been out of contact for a number of days. However, before they can dock on the island their ship is disassembled by a massive magnetic bolt. The group swims ashore and find that the island is surrounded by a giant magnetic forcefield. Before the X-Men can figure out what to do, the ground they are standing on is pulled up into the sky and the are brought closer to Moira's mutant research center and almost are crushed against the wall if not for their quick defensive attack to smash through it. As they recover from the crash, the doorway ahead of them smashes open revealing the X-Men's oldest enemy, Magneto the Master of Magnetism. While elsewhere on the complex, the X-Men's blackbird lands and Moira and Cyclops get out of the ship to conduct their own investigation. They find the Multiple Man who is just reviving from being knocked out. He explains how he was attacked by Havok, Polaris and Eric the Red, who immobilized him. While he was in stasis, they went to the room where Magneto has been kept since he was transformed into a small child[1]. Eric the Red would use some alien technology to restore Magneto to his prime and try to enlist him in his cause to destroy the X-Men. Although Magneto would refuse to follow under another he would vow to destroy the X-Men anyway. Learning that the X-Men's most deadly enemy has escaped, Cyclops rushes off to join his comrades. The next X-Men are not fairing very well against Magneto who uses his magnetic powers to his advantage against both Wolverine's Adamantium claws, and Colossus's metal body. Storms lightning bolts also do not have an effect on him, and Magneto defeats them all easily. He then covers Nightcrawler in debris and seals Banshee in a cocoon of metal particles. Cyclops arrives and manages to stun Magneto with a full power optic blast. With the group unprepared to battle Magneto, Cyclops orders the group to retreat much to Wolverine's chagrin. As they are leaving, Wolverine notes that Dragonfly of the Ani-Men has escape from he cell[2]. As they are fleeing the scene in the Blackbird, Cyclops points out that the recent attacks on the X-Men have have been orchestrated by Erik the Red and that he must be going after Professor X. Wolverine however, is not easily sold on the idea and considers Cyclops a coward. While back on Muir Island, Magneto gloats over his victory over the X-Men and leaves to plot anew, while behind him a door labeled "Mutant X" begins to glow. In deep space aboard the space ship known as the Starjammer, the space pirate known as Corsair tells his shipmate Ch'Od that nine stars are moving into the correct alignment and that the emperor plans on opening a dimensional gate. The sister of this emperor, the woman that has been haunting Charles Xavier's dreams is rushing toward the Earth hoping to use Charles and the X-Men to stop her brother. Before she can get to Earth's atmosphere however she is attacked by an Imperial cruiser. While on Earth, Jean Grey is reunited with her parents in the company of Charles Xavier and Misty Knight. They are unaware that the reunion is about to be cut short by an attack about to be launched by Erik the Red, Havok and Polaris. This story is continued next issue... Brodie's View: Hell yes! There's a lot that happens in this issue, as I guess Chris felt he had to make up for the Lucky Charms mascots in the last issue, and he manages to deliver with the help of the X-Men's first and (arguably) most deadly physical threat, the Master of Magnetism...(A de-aged/At the peak of his powers, thanks to Eric the Red) Magneto. First off, I love that in contrast to the usual super hero teams vs. super villain routine that mostly happened up to that time, the X-Men get their asses handed to them by Magneto. No, seriously.....Magneto whoops this new team of X-Men like they owed him money, like a scalded dog, like he sent them on a trip to the wood shed....and any other Jim Ross colloquialism for an ass kicking that you can throw in here. But let's go back a moment to show why this happened. In the pages of the Defenders comic, Magneto was regressed back into a baby by an alien, and had been staying on Muir Island (Moria MacTaggert's research facility) with several other dangerous mutants. Eric the Red, to try and destroy/distract the X-Men, ages Magneto back to his peak age (probably early/mid 30's) and powers, and Magneto is pissed. In the process of stomping the X-Men, Magneto does quite a bit of damage to Muir Island, freeing the various other mutants who were being held captive there, including a mysterious mutant named ominously, Mutant X, who would later go on to become a MAJOR threat, but that's a ways down the road, so, I won't go into a lot of detail about it right now. But even totally discounting Magneto, there is still a lot going on in this issue. We have the continuation of the Eric the Red storyline, which has been on the back burner the last few issues, but is now back in force, leading to #107-8's major throwdown. However, before that, Eric the Red has one more major threat to throw at the X-Men, and it's a big (or at the very least, powerful) threat, but that's next issue. Let's just say that the whole Eric the Red saga isn't quite over yet. However, we also have the reason for Eric's machinations speeding towards Earth/Charles Xaiver, and she'll be making her first full appearance next issue as well. Annnnd, if that wasn't enough, we also get the introduction of the space pirates known as the Starjammers, one of whom ends up having a MAJOR connection to one of the X-Men. Who? We'll get to that a bit later as well. All in all, this was a pretty solid issue that delivered kick ass action, intrigue, and set up quite a few future stories and threats for our favorite mutants. I would have to give this issue an....... GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 18, 2017 21:31:06 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #105"Phoenix Unleashed!"Cover Date: June 1977 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Dave Cockrum Team: Cyclops, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Phoenix (Professor Xaiver) Villain: Firelord (With Eric the Red pulling the strings) Guest Star/s: Misty Knight, Lilandra Official Plot: Continued from last issue... The X-Men have returned to the United States from Muir Island and have caught Erik the Red lurking in their headquarters. The X-Men attack with their full fury only to be struck from behind by Firelord, the former herald of Galactus. Despite the X-Men's best efforts to defend themselves, they are no match for Firelord who easily knocks them all out. As it turns out, Erik the Red has duped Firelord in helping him, by having Havok and Polaris pretend to attack him earlier to convince the former herald that the X-Men were evil. Under the pretense of being a simple explorer that stumbled upon the X-Men's supposed plot to take over the world, Erik the red has succeeded in tricking Firelord into wishing to seek out and destroy their leader, Charles Xavier. Meanwhile, high above the Earth, a Shi'Ar Imperial Cruiser piloted by Captain K'rk attempts to blast the ship carrying empress Lillandra. Before they can destroy the craft, Lilandra manages to locate Charles Xavier and teleport to his side on the planets surface. She materializes before the Professor as he is in Jean Grey's apartment with her roommate Misty Knight and her parents. As the Professor goes to her aid and uses his telepathic powers to teach her English, Firelord bursts through the wall to collect her. Jean transforms her clothing into her Phoenix costume and surprises the former herald with her powers. She is able to hold her own against Firelord, surprising everyone witnessing it. Erik the Red soon arrives to also collect Lilandra, however the other X-Men arrive to try and fight him off. As Phoenix blasts Firelord away to the Jersey Meadowlands, the X-Men fail to stop Erik the Red from taking Lilandra. He constructs a warp gate, and uses it to escape the scene with Lilandra, and the portal closes right behind him, stopping the X-Men from being able to follow. Jean's parents find it hard to understand what's going on, but Jean tells them that she will explain things later. Unwilling to let Erik the Red leave and potentially destroy the universe Phoenix uses her immense powers to power the warp gate long enough for all the X-Men to travel through, Jean jumping in last. As the portal closes, Professor X, Misty, and the Grey's are left behind to wonder if they will make it back alive. Before they can worry anymore, Firelord arrives and demands to know where the Phoenix had went and threatens to destroy them. Charles tells the cosmic being that she is at the other end of the universe trying to save the universe from destruction. This story is continued next issue... Brodie's View: Holy crap! Things get fast and furious here, as The X-Men return from Muir Island (and a massive ass kicking by Magneto) to find Eric the Red hiding in their headquarters. They attack, but it is a setup, as they are blasted from behind by Firelord (The current herald of Galactus), who has been tricked into seeing the X-Men as an enemy. Eric then sends Firelord off after Xaiver (who is with Jean Grey, her parents, and roommate, Misty Knight, across town), but when Firelord attempts to attack them, he is surprised by Jean, who transforms once again into the Phoenix, and starts kicking the ass of Galactus' right hand man (which instantly shows that Phoenix is on that cosmic level, power-wise). In the midst of all this, Princess Lilandra finally arrives, and confirms to a flabbergasted Xaiver that she is the cause behind his dreams, as he and his X-Men are the only hopes she has in stopping her power mad brother (and Eric the Red's boss), D'Ken, from destroying the universe. However, Eric the Red kidnaps her as Phoenix is fighting Firelord, and vanishes in a dimensional portal, despite the attempt of the X-Men to stop this from happening. However, Phoenix is able to reopen the portal, and she and the other X-Men go through the portal to who knows where, leaving Xaiver and the others to pick up the pieces. Talk about a whole lot going on in one issue. We get the definite lead up to the X-Men going cosmic now, as the power rise of Jean Grey/Phoenix now requires stronger threats, and stronger threats we will get in issues 107/8 (and beyond), as the New X-Men are put to the ultimate test for the fate of the galaxy. But before that, we have a side story next issue, which we'll get to in the next review. I will say that this was a pretty solid issue that did what it needed to do: Show off how powerful Jean Grey has become as The Phoenix, and set up the big throw down that we've been building towards since issue #97. All that being said, I'll have to give this issue a...... GRADE: B (Not as good as last issue, but still pretty damn good)
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 18, 2017 23:56:06 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #106"Dark Shroud of the Past!"Cover Date: August 1977 Writer(s): Chris Claremont & Bill Mantlo Artist: Dave Cockrum & Bob Brown Team: Cyclops, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Phoenix (Professor Xaiver) Villain: The Entity/The Dark Side of Charles Xaiver Guest Star/s: Moria MacTaggert, Firelord, Misty Knight Official Plot: Continued from last issue... Just moments after the X-Men chased after Erik the Red through a warp-gate through space, Professor X, Misty Knight and the Jean Grey's parents are confronted by Firelord. The former herald of Galactus demands to know where the X-Men have gone. After Xavier explains that they have traveled to another galaxy, he is suddenly struck by another mental attack much like those he had when Empress Lilandra was approaching Earth. As Firelord inquires to Misty Knight if Xavier is okay, Xavier's mind lapses to a moment long ago when a similar attack brought Moira MacTaggert to his side.... Xavier has called to Moira asking for her help, she tells him that she will and gives him a sedative to help him sleep. Meanwhile, down below, the newly formed X-Men are in a training session in the Danger Room. In the scenario, Colossus pushes Wolverine out of the way of danger, irking the feral mutant and he almost attacks Peter when Cyclops and the others stand in the way and break up the fight. Wolverine does not appreciate being ordered around and reminds Cyclops that he holds him personally responsible for Thunderbird's death. As Cyclops tries to smooth things over and stresses the importance of teamwork and training when they are suddenly interrupted by the original X-Men: Marvel Girl, Angel, Iceman and Beast. They mock the new team for not having what it takes and begins a fight with them. Right off the bat, the new team notices some differences with this group of attackers than the old X-Men they met previously: All are wearing their original costumes, and the Beast is not covered in blue fur like when they met him last. Storm battles Marvel Girl, Wolverine battles Iceman, Nightcrawler and Colossus fight the Beast, and Cyclops and Banshee tackle the Angel. Each of the original X-Men seem to be on the advantage, seemingly immune to the new teams powers. When Angel grabs Cyclops from behind, he lifts Scott's visor and forces the full fury of his optic blast on his comrades. Before any serious harm can happen, Professor X crawls into the room and uses his mental powers to summon the original X-Men away. He tells his new students that they were only mental constructs of the original team. When they ask who was responsible for the attack they get the answer by way of a direct attack: Professor X's unleashed dark side. The evil Xavier entity unleashes his full mental powers on the X-Men, however he is soon defeated when the real Professor summons constructs of the original team that beats the evil entity into submission, ending his threat. With the battle over, Xavier remarks that he must always keep his darker emotions in check lest he harm those he cares about the most. With his recollection over, Xavier notices that Firelord is gone, and his thoughts then turn to his students who are a galaxy away and hopes that they survive the experience. This story is continued next issue.... Brodie's View: Uck! Talk about a let down from the last few issues. I get that this story was important to tell, and that a fill in issue was obviously needed, as the main creative team was gearing up for next issue's big doings. However, this seemed like a story that really should have been issue #96, and for some reason got backshelved, and then drudged up and hastily finished by a ringer team due to a fill in issue being needed. Basically, most of the issue is a flashback of the dark side of Xaiver's mind creating illusions of the Original X-Men to attack the New X-Men in a story taking place after Thunderbird's death in #95. This would have been all right, but both the writing and the art takes a huge step backwards from the standard it had risen to since issue #95. It almost feels like one is reading a bad X-Men rip off book, rather than the actual book. The basic idea is interesting (and the Onslaught storyline in the mid 90's would explore the whole idea of Xaiver's mind creating an evil entity with a bit more success....and much better art), but the delivery was pretty craptastic, which is too bad, because I usually like Bill Mantlo's writing, but it obviously just doesn't fit with the X-Men. As for the grade for this issue, I'll be nice and give it a...... GRADE: C (But the next few issues will more than make up for this one......Promise)
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 19, 2017 2:33:50 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #107 "Where No X-Man Has Gone Before!"Cover Date: October 1977 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Dave Cockrum Team: Cyclops, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Phoenix (Professor Xaiver) Villain: Emperor D'Ken, Eric The Red, The Imperial Guard (Gladiator, Astra, Electron, Fang, Hobgoblin, Impulse, Magic, Mentor, Nightside, Oracle, Quasar, Smasher, Starbolt, Tempest, Titan, & Midget), The Soul Drinker Guest Star/s: Lilandra, The Starjammers (Corsair, Ch'od, Cr'ree, Hepzibah, & Raza) Official Plot: Continued from last issue.... After being transported through a star-gate by Phoenix, the X-Men find themselves on an ancient planet that is home to the M'Kraan Crystal, surrounded by several members of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard serving the evil Emperor D’Ken. When Cyclops announces that they are there for Lilandra, an enormous battle commences between the two sides. Despite the number of Imperial Guardsmen, the two teams are evenly matched. When Lilandra is saved from The Soul Drinker unleashed on her by D’Ken, she reveals that he plans to use the M’Kraan Crystal to gain power absolute and that is why she escaped to Earth, having learned of Professor Xavier when he used his mental powers to thwart an alien invasion by the Z'Nox. The tide of the battle is turned by the arrival of the Starjammers, a group of interstellar pirates who aid the X-Men against the Guardsmen. Jean mind-probes their leader Corsair, and is shocked to learn what she finds there, finding it impossible to consider. Suddenly the M’Kraan Crystal powers up and reality for a fraction of a second ceases to exist. On Earth Peter Corbeau warns the Fantastic Four that should the cosmic blinks continue, the universe will die. This story is continued next issue... Brodie's View: Aw yeah, Baby! Talk about a 180 from last issue. This issue finds The X-Men on the far side of the universe, fighting for the fate of reality itself. This is not only the culmination of the storyline that's been building since issue #97, it is the biggest throw down the New X-Men has been involved in, as they find themselves fighting Shi'ar Emperor D'Ken's personal army of superhuman aliens, The Imperial Guard (who artist Dave Cockrum based on DC's Legion of Superheroes, which he used to draw). To add to this, the space faring pirates, The Starjammers, join in the fray mid way through to help The X-Men out. Of course, none of this may matter, as Lilandra's brother's meddling with the all powerful M'Kraan Crystal is causing all of reality to cease to exist for a moment in somewhat of a cosmic "blink." All of this, though, is when I think both Claremont and the X-Men are at their best; put in an universe threatening situation that would be better suited for a SUPERteam like The Avengers or The Justice League, but are stuck in the hands of a group of misfits like the New X-Men, who at this point haven't even 100% gelled as a team yet. But this group of underachievers always manages to suck it up and do what must be done to save the day, and this issue (and the follow up) is a perfect example of that. Of course, it definitely helps to have super powerful Phoenix on your team as well, as this and #108 is definitely Jean Grey's shining moment as this character. Another little thing to note about Phoenix in this issue, is that upon the arrival of The Starjammers, she reads the mind of the leader of that group, Corsair, only to learn that he's actually the father of one of the X-Men, and one REALLY close to her, but we'll get the full revelation (at least to Corsair) of who exactly that is in the next issue. One final, but no less important thing to note is that this is the end of artist Dave Cockrum's first run on this book (oh sure, he does covers here and there for the next 10-15 issues, and is the artist on #110's fill in issue, but he doesn't return to the book fully until issue #145), and he does some of his finest work on this issue. Who replaces him? Well, let's just say that starting next issue, we all start to feel the Byrne, and The X-Men will never be the same. GRADE: A-
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Malibu Albino
Hank Scorpio
Remember the dog legs
Posts: 6,513
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Post by Malibu Albino on Jan 19, 2017 21:28:53 GMT -5
Great reviews, I forgot how much fun the very first Shi'ar story ends up being.
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 19, 2017 22:49:35 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #108"Armageddon Now!"Cover Date: December 1977 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: John Byrne Team: Cyclops, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Phoenix (Professor Xaiver) Villain: Emperor D'Ken, The Guardians of the M'Kraan Crystal: Jahf and Modt Guest Star/s: The Imperial Guard (Gladiator, Titan, Astra, Smasher, Electron, Quasar, & Mentor), The Avengers (Captain America, The Beast, The Wasp, Yellowjacket, & Black Panther), The Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, The Thing, & The Human Torch), Misty Knight, Firelord, Lilandra, & Jimmy Carter. Official Plot: Continued from last issue... With Emperor D'Ken threatening to destroy the universe while trying to utilize the power of the M'Kraan Crystal, the X-Men and the Starjammers compare notes and come to the conclusion that when the specific stars come into alignment the crystal will become available to D'Ken to access. While on Earth, Peter Corbeau connects with President Carter, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four and tells them some grim news: some strange force is threatening to destroy the universe. Most effected by this is the Wasp, who feels helpless when faced with a crisis that even Earth's mightiest heroes cannot stop. Back on the M'Kraan world, the X-Men approach the crystal and are confronted by it's defender a miniature android named Jahf. Jahf warns them that he will defend the crystal to his death, and if he is destroyed a being twice as powerful as he would appear to defend the crystal next. Wolverine mocks the small android and finds himself knocked high into the atmosphere and is saved by the quick thinking of the Starjammer's robot Waldo who teleports Wolverine aboard the ship. Soon Jahf is upon the X-Men and the Starjammers, easily thrashing them with his superior strength. When brute force doesn't work, the X-Men pool their abilities to fight the creature. Storm clouds Jahf in a pea-soup fog allowing Banshee to get close enough to unleash the full fury of his sonic scream. While he manages to destroy Jahf, he strains his vocal chords so raw he can barely talk. The two teams don't get a moments reprieve however as they are attacked by the second guardian of the crystal, a giant robot named Modt. During the fight, Raza gets close enough to Emperor D'Ken and tosses the despot into the M'Kraan Crystal, causing D'Ken and both groups to be transported withing. There they find themselves in a large abandoned city. In the middle a sphere of pure light that Phoenix finds herself drawn to. Upon touching it, everyone present is struck by a bolt of energy that awakens in their mind their greatest fears. Jean manages to shake off the effects on herself, and when Cyclops goes berserk as a result of his illusions she knocks him out. Seeing the sphere being to crack, she channels the full power of her Phoenix powers to it and learns that it is a keeping the birth of a neutron universe at bay, and should the barrier break the universe as they know it would be destroyed to make way for this new universe. Phoenix attempts to use her powers to repair the damage, however it is not enough as she needs additional life forces to help repair the damage. With only Storm and Corsair free from the sphere's influence, she convinces both to give a portion of their life forces, revealing to Corsair that she knows that he is Christopher Summers. As Jean repairs the damage, Corsair realizes that Cyclops is his long lost son Scott and goes to the unconscious man's side. However, Cyclops never wakes up to learn the truth, as soon as Jean repairs the damage she transports all the X-Men back home through the warp gate that brought them to the crystal. There they find Professor X, Misty Knight and the Greys waiting and are confronted by Firelord, who explains that he has no quarrel with them anymore after Xavier explained how he was manipulated by Erik the Red. Following after the X-Men is Empress Lilandra, who's coming burns out the warp gate keeping her on Earth. She explains to Charles and the X-Men that while her brother was driven insane by the M'Kraan Crystal she is now the ruler of the Shi'Ar, however there must be time to sort out the red tape to have her rightful place put on the Shi'Ar throne, and until then she is staying on Earth. Brodie's View: As I said in issue #101's review, this is another major gamechanger moment in the history of the New X-Men, as, like Jean Grey becoming Phoenix (who is really the MVP of this whole "event," as she basically saves the entire universe) kicked the book into 3rd gear, John Byrne replacing Dave Cockrum as the artist on the book is the moment when this book officially kicks into 4th gear. Byrne's crisp, clean, yet highly detailed art raises this whole thing to another level, and forces Claremont to pick up his game even more. At the beginning of this issue, the X-Men and The Starjammers are forced to fight not only an insane Emperor D'Ken, but the guardians who protect the M'Kraan Crystal itself, each stronger than the last. One of the best examples of this is the moment depicted bellow, as the first guardian is a small alien that the X-Men (and in particular, Wolverine) takes for granted, but proves to be almost indestructible. The X-Men manage to Hail Mary beat this guardian, only to face a guardian that's even worse. Finally, they just say, "Screw it," and enter the crystal itself, seeing that there is another fail safe, one that confronts anyone inside it with their worst fears. This pretty much shuts D'Ken down....for good, along with the other X-Men and Starjammers, other than Phoenix, who realizes that she can heal the Crystal, but she needs the life force of the X-Men and Starjammers inside the crystal (Including Corsair, who she reveals as being Cyclops' (who is unconscious, and therefore doesn't find out until much later) father), who give them willingly, and Phoenix is able to save the universe. This all ends with the X-Men and Lilandra returning to Earth, and Lilandra saying she's deciding to stay for a while, until the red tape is cleaned up enough for her to take her rightful place as ruler of the Shi'ar. What an ending, and is probably one of the finest hours in Claremont's entire run, and one that would reign as champion....well, at least until we get into the 120's, and the book kicks into that 5th gear. This would mark the beginning of the Claremont/Byrne run on the X-Men; one that would last 30 some issues, and set the standard for the change in comics that would happen in the 80's. For now, Byrne would only act as an artist, but he would eventually become a co-plotter with Claremont, and the big debate, as with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, over who deserves more of the credit for what the X-Men book would become by the end of their run, would be on. We would begin to see Byrne's influence starting with the next issue, as he does seem to take special care with an X-Man, who up until that point had been a one dimensional character for the most part, and plant the seeds of what would grow into a brand new super team in its own right. GRADE: A
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 20, 2017 1:07:32 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #109"Home Are the Heroes!"Cover Date: February 1978 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: John Byrne Team: Cyclops, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Phoenix (Professor Xaiver) Villain: Department H/Weapon Alpha Guest Star/s: Lilandra, Moria MacTaggert Official Plot: The X-Men return to Earth, having recently dethroned the mad Shi'ar emperor, D'Ken, and saving the galaxy from the threat of the M'Kraan Crystal. The Starjammers accompany them and drop Lilandra Neramani off at the Xavier school. Before returning to outer space, Corsair has a brief conversation with Phoenix. He makes her promise that she will not tell Cyclops that he is actually his father. Phoenix agrees to his wishes, but feels as if she is betraying Cyclops by keeping such a secret from him. Storm overhears the conversation and warns Jean about keeping such vital information from Scott. Soon after, Jean reunites with her parents, John and Elaine. She tells them of her recent experiences and her new identity as the Phoenix. From a distance, Scott Summers observes the conversation and grows concerned. Jean seems like an entirely different person now. Nightcrawler enters the room and tries to pull Scott out of his depression. Scott snaps at him, and Nightcrawler fires back at how difficult it is being born blue and furry. The other X-Men decide to take a much-needed vacation. Moira MacTaggert tells them of a lake in New York where Charles and she once visited during their courtship. Wolverine elects to tag along in order to do some hunting. Storm is appalled at the notion, and criticizes him for wishing to kill defenseless animals. Wolverine responds sharply indicating that it "takes no skill to kill..." and that he prefers sneaking up on an unsuspecting doe and tapping it on its hindquarters. Storm apologizes for misjudging him, but Wolverine can't care less. Meanwhile in Canada, James MacDonald Hudson, an agent of a defense program known as Department H dons a battle-suit and becomes Weapon Alpha. He flies to the United States on a mission to capture the rogue secret agent, Wolverine, and bring him back to Canada. James and Wolverine have a long history together, and he knows that he will be in for the fight of his life. At the lake, Storm and Colossus relax on the shore, taking in the sun, while Banshee and Moira play around in the water. Wolverine skulks about the surrounding area, tracking a small deer. Just as he comes in close enough to touch it, Weapon Alpha appears before him. Wolverine unsheathes his claws and launches himself at Hudson. Hudson refers to Wolverine as "Weapon-X" and states that he is still the property of the Canadian government. Wolverine has no intention of returning to his former employers, and begins slashing at Weapon Alpha. Fortunately, the electromagnetic fields of Hudson's battle-suit protects him from Wolverine's Adamantium claws. He blasts the feisty mutant with his repulsor weapons, sending him flying through the trees. Wolverine lands close to the lake and the other X-Men snap to attention. Weapon Alpha engages Peter Rasputin, who transforms into Colossus and punches him back through the trees. Regaining control of his suit's flight systems, he turns back and unleashes a volley of electro-blasts against Colossus. One of the shots ricochets off of the hero's steel frame and hits Moira MacTaggert. Banshee goes berserk and pummels Weapon Alpha with a concentrated sonic scream. Hudson realizes that he is woefully unprepared to take on Wolverine, as well as his teammates. Promising a rematch, he flies off and returns to Canada. Brodie's View: The X-Men are back from saving the universe, and get to settle down for a little R&R, right? Nope.....not in this issue at least, as we get to see a bit of Wolverine's past come back to haunt him in the form of Weapon Alpha (AKA James Hudson, who would later be known as Vindicator, and who would later go on to front Canada's first super team, Alpha Flight), who has returned to capture Wolvie back for The Canadian Government's top secret superhuman program, Department H. You can tell right away that John Byrne has an affinity for Wolverine, because this is basically the beginning of giving the clawed mutant a background and an origin. It's also the first time we get the "Wolverine's Thought Boxes" that would become so regular in the 80's/90's that it became almost a joke, but for the readers in 1978, especially those that were into Wolverine, this had to be like an undercard wrestler people like finally getting a semblance of a major push. Of course, this would all lead to something even larger than Wolverine, and would grow to include characters like Sabretooth, and, yes, even the star of last year's sleeper super hero hit, Deadpool. But, yeah, it all started in this issue with a former friend of Logan's, James MacDonald Hudson, who designs an Iron Man like battle suit to detain and retrieve Wolverine, only to get the other X-Men involved. During the fight, he accidentally wounds Moria MacTaggert, which sends Banshee (who has grown an attraction to the Scottish scientist) after Hudson in a rage, forcing him to beat a hasty retreat. It seems like a one shot deal, but, as previously stated, is the beginning of a very large and encompassing storyline that still continues to this day. Of course, this is not the only thing that happens in this issue, as we see the various fall out from the X-Men's adventure on the far end of the galaxy, especially with Cyclops and Phoenix, and Scott's worry over how Jean's powers have grown so much in such a short time. He would have good reason to worry, but for now, everything is good. A conversation Cyclops doesn't catch is one between Jean and Corair of the Starjammers, who begs her not to tell Cyclops he is his father until a better time and place, which she agrees to. She would keep this promise, as Cosair's secret would outlast her.....well, at least her run as The Phoenix. All in all, this was a pretty entertaining issue. A bit of a cool down after the craziness of the last couple issues, but still brimming with a lot of activity. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 20, 2017 3:00:57 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #110"The X-Sanction!"Cover Date: April 1978 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Dave Cockrum & Tony DeZungia Team: Cyclops, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Phoenix (Professor Xaiver) Villain: Warhawk (With the Hellfire Club pulling the strings) Guest Star/s: Moria MacTaggert Official Plot: The X-Men are spending some much needed downtime to enjoy a game of baseball, after some play time, the group -- except Wolverine -- decide to take a break. With a man from the phone company coming, Moira MacTaggert rushes back to the mansion to answer the door. The man who answers the door is really Warhawk, who takes Moira down with a tranquilizer dart. He makes a run for the Danger Room computer controls and begins rigging something in the circuits when he is telepathically reminded by his mysterious employer that he will only retain his sanity if he succeeds in his mission. Meanwhile, the X-Men finish up their baseball game, and Cyclops takes the team into the Danger Room for a training session. Jean doesn't join them and when the Professor asks why she skirts around the real reason: that the power of the Phoenix scares her and that she has come to enjoy using her powers. Warhawk manages to get the drop on them and knocks them both out with gas. While down in the Danger Room, the X-Men find themselves victims of Warhawk's trap: they are locked in the Danger Room and the various traps run wild, forcing the group to fight for their lives. Cyclops attempts to activate the emergency shut off but finds that someone has deactivated it. Pressed for options, Cyclops orders Nightcrawler to teleport himself and Wolverine outside and shut off the Danger Room from the control room. Nightcrawler complies, however his lack of experience teleporting himself with another individual causes both he and Wolverine to black out in the hallway. As the other X-Men fight for their lives against defenses that become more and more difficult to fight off, Wolverine revives and kills the master power to the Danger Room. He is then attacked by Warhawk, and while Wolverine's caught off guard, his Adamantium claws are able cut through Warhawk's steel skin. The fight soon increases in Wolverine's odds as the other X-Men smash through the Danger Room door. As Warhawk attempts to use his gas bombs on the X-Men he finds that they have been taken off his belt courtesy of Nightcrawler, he is then knocked out by Colossus. Later, when the police come to take Warhawk away, Captain Delaney asks how a group of "school kids" were able to capture a powerful super-villain, Scott tells him they got lucky. Back in the privacy of the Mansion, Jean makes a decision that she will remain with the X-Men. When Scott asks who sent Warhawk after them, the Professor tells his students that he was unable to pull that information from Warhawk's mind and cautions the X-Men about any coming threats. Wolverine reminds the Professor that they aren't pushovers and that they will be ready to face anyone who messes with them. This gets a approving cheer from the other X-Men. Brodie's View: Bah! Another fill in issue with kind of crappy art (At least compared to the greatness we were getting the last few issues). Such a let down from the greatness of the last couple of issues, and I have to say that Warhawk was kind of a lame villain (I guess he was an Iron Fist/Luke Cage villain before doing this, which Claremont and Byrne were also doing a small run on at the time), but he does do something kind of interesting, at least as it relates to later stories. And no, not just attacking the X-Men with their own Danger Room, although, that is pretty clever. No, the Danger Room thing was just an excuse. The main reason Warhawk was hired to do what he did was to bug the X-Men's computers for the secretive "Council of the Chosen" AKA The Hellfire Club, a secret society of rich mutants who have their eye on the New X-Men, and will play a HUGE role in the fate of the team, especially once we get into the 120's. That little fact (and the fact that we get to see the new team playing their traditional baseball games against each other for the first time in this issue) is/are the main reason I'm going to be a bit nicer to this issue than I was #106's fill in. Otherwise, it's definitely skippable, other than the knowledge that Warhawk bugged the X-Men's computer. GRADE: C+ (Back to greatness next issue, and a trip to the circus!) (I will also add a second run to the mix, INCREDIBLE HULK #272-300)
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 20, 2017 23:04:21 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #111"Mindgames!"Cover Date: June 1978 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: John Byrne Team: Cyclops, Banshee, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Phoenix (Professor Xaiver) Villain: Mesmero and Magneto Guest Star/s: Beast Official Plot: With Havok in danger, the Beast would seek out his old allies the X-Men to rescue him. Arriving at the X-Mansion he would find that place has been deserted for some time and uses Cerebro to track down the team. The search takes him to Dallas, Texas to Mr. Mike's One-Ring Traveling Tent Show. Exploring the circus he sees that the various X-Men have become members of the show: Banshee a carnival barker, Wolverine a "wild" man, Nightcrawler part of the freakshow, Colossus a strong man, Storm a African goddess, and Phoenix an acrobat calling herself Miz Destiny. Confronting Jean in her trailer he is surprised to find that her personality has been drastically changed. When he tries to snap her out of it she calls her boyfriend "Slim", the bodyguard who happens to be Cyclops. This leads to "Slim" calling all the circus hands to help capture the Beast, who now has to fight friends and foe alike. Witnessing this, and having snapped free of the brainwashing that the other X-Men have been subjected to, Wolverine breaks free as Beast is captured and brought to the X-Men's old foe Mesmero who then turns his mutant hypnosis on the Beast. Wolverine meanwhile changes into his costume and seeks out Jean's trailer. There he confronts "Miz Destiny" and "Slim" to try and snap Jean out of Mesmero's mind altering. Easily knocking out Cyclops he tries to reason with Jean, but when she refuses to remember who she is he begins to slap her around until she gets angry and unleashes the power of the Phoenix on him, causing her to remember who she is. Jean then uses her powers to free the other X-Men. Beast, meanwhile manages to resist Mesmero's hypnosis and is about to attack the mutant hypnotist when he is blasted from behind by some unseen foe. When the X-Men storm past Mesmero's minions and enter his trailer they order his surrender, but just as soon as they enter he collapses on the floor unconscious. They are not alone in the trailer however, as Magneto appears and faces them, read to give them his final revenge. This story is continued next issue.... Brodie's View: Once again, from Meh to Awesome, as we join our story kind of in progress, and have to be filled in on the backstory later through flashbacks. To answer the question of why The Beast (who was part of The Avengers at the time) appears in this issue (and the next few....Wooo-Hooo!), one must understand that the events of this issue are occurring side by side with the events of Marvel Team Up #69-70 (which Claremont and Byrne were also teamed up on), as Havok and Polaris, who are chilling on Muir Island after being brainwashed by Eric the Red. Havok is kidnapped by agents of the Living Pharaoh, who means to harness Alex Summer's immense power, and transform himself once again into the all powerful Living Monolith. Of course, since this is occurring in MTU, Spider-Man is drawn into the fray, and tries to rescue Havok. However, he ends up being a little too late, as the Pharaoh does indeed transform into the Monolith at the end of issue #69, and starts laying waste to New York. In the next issue, the Avenger Thor is drawn into the battle, and he, Havok, and Spidey team up to defeat the Monolith. Whew! Anyways, soon after Havok was kidnapped, a panicked Polaris tries to call the X-Men for their help, but there is no answer. Even more panicked, she calls Avengers Mansion, and reaches The Beast, who takes off to find out what happened to his former teammates without telling Thor (who was the only other Avenger there) what he was leaving (and stealing a Quinjet to boot) for. Thor winds up trying to follow Beast, but assumingly is distracted by the battle going on in New York, so, that explains his involvement in that issue. As for Beast, he goes to the X Mansion to find no one there, but a poster for the circus he ends up attending at this issue's beginning, bringing us back to the present. Of course, The Beast wasn't the only visitor to the X-Mansion that day....not by a long shot. The first would be a villain from the original team, the mind controlling mutant, Mesmero, who quickly ensnares the unsuspecting team, and convinces them they are employees of a carnival/circus that he (we assume) runs. The Beast's presence is able to snap Wolverine (who is chained up as a "Wild Man") out of Mesmero's mind control, and he is able (with a bit of conflict) snap the others out of the mind control, as Mesmero is attempting to work his mojo on The Beast (who was captured by some of the brain washed X-Men), only to discover that he wasn't the only villain gunning for the X-Men that day, and as The X-Men attempt their take down of the master mentalist, Mesmero drops like a puppet with his strings cut to reveal an even bigger threat waiting for them.......F'N MAGNETO. Talk about a f**king cliff hanger. This was such a kick ass issue, and the first part of the next major storyline in this book, one that would eventually split the main team away from their most powerful member, and set the stage for what would eventually be that character's corruption (as the rest of the team battles various threats around the world, trying to make their way back home), but we'll get to that as it happens. For now, I have to say, "Holy Shit!," as the Claremont/Byrne team are going balls out from here to #143 at this point, and it's going to be a hell of a ride. GRADE: A
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