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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 22, 2017 21:33:26 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #246"The Day of Other Lights" Cover Date: July, 1989 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Marc Silvestri Team: Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Psylocke, Dazzler, Longshot, Havok, & Rogue Villain/s: Nimrod, The Master Mold, The Hellfire Club (Sebastian Shaw, Tessa, others) Guest Stars: Senator Kelly Official Plot: Dazzler looks into the Siege Perilous and sees herself dying whilst Wolverine decides to leave to take care of some business. Carol Danvers (in control of Rogue's body) visits her brothers grave and Senator Kelly says no to funding for new sentinel projects. Nimrod gets turned into Master Mold and is then attacked by Carol. In the midst of the battle Senator Kelly’s wife Sharon is shot by Nimrod's eye blasts. Brodie's View:Here we start the dissolving of the Australian Era X-Men, which will continue on until #251, and by the end of that issue, there will be only one X-Man left. We get hints of who that will be, as we see Wolverine taking a leave from the team to handle some "personal business," which means that he probably was going overseas in his now ongoing solo book. We also see Dazzler looking into the mysterious Siege Perilous (A portal that the team was put in charge of by Roma, Post FALL OF THE MUTANTS. A portal that would judge anyone that walked through it, and either give them a new life, or destroy them), and seeing herself die. This won't be the only example of such premonitions happening as we build up to #251, as we will see various other X-Men having similar visions or dreams. However, one that doesn't get the chance to have any of that happen is Rogue, who for the first half of this story is being controlled by the Carol Danvers (the former Ms. Marvel) part of her persona, who has been jumping in and taking control more and more since the Genosha story. This will all come to a head eventually, but not in the way one expects it to. Anyways, she is detected by The Master Mold and NIMROD (remember him?), who end up merging, and attacking Rogue. In the midst of this happening, Senator Robert Kelly and his wife are having deal making/social sessions with Sebastian Shaw and some of his Hellfire Club cohorts, as Shaw is trying to convince Kelly to back his Sentinel projects (something that has been building since the DARK PHOENIX SAGA), and in the midst of the battle, Kelly and his wife have a car accident, and both are wounded and sitting sucks for the death and destruction to come as Rogue fights the now super sentinel. Of course, in addition to what is to come for the X-Men and Rogue, we do get quite a bit of stories thought forgotten being brought back up again. Stuff from the Byrne era (Senator Kelly and the Sentinels that Shaw and the Hellfire Club control, or thought they did), and stuff from the Romita Jr. era (NIMROD, who has been pretty much living in his human guise since before the MUTANT MASSACRE storyline) all combines together at the worst time possible, and we'll see Rogue/Ms. Marvel try their best to battle the Master Mold/NIMROD hybrid (and protect the humans in the crossfire) until the rest of the X-Men show up. In the next issue, we'll see the rest of this story take place, and I'll just let you know ahead of time that there won't really be a happy ending here (although a few surprising things happen along the way). GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 23, 2017 0:43:24 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #247"The Light That Failed" Cover Date: August, 1989 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Marc Silvestri Team: Storm, Wolverine (On Leave), Colossus, Psylocke, Dazzler, Longshot, Havok, & Rogue Villain/s: Nimrod, The Master Mold, The Hellfire Club (Sebastian Shaw, Tessa, others), Nanny, The Orphan Maker, The Reavers (Donald Pierce, Lady Deathstrike, Bonebreaker) Guest Stars: Senator Kelly, Jubilee, Gateway Official Plot: Before it is able to deal a death-blow to a beaten Rogue, the Master Mold finds itself under attack by the newly arrived X-Men. Using teamwork, the X-Men are able to apparently destroy the Sentinel, only to realize the battle has already taken the life of an innocent; Senator Kelly's wife, Sharon. With little warning, the Master Mold springs back to life. Using newly generated defenses and weapons, the rejuvenated Sentinel seems more than a match for the X-Men. Realizing that she still has the Siege Perilous in her possession, Dazzler throws the crystal amulet toward the Sentinel. The Siege Perilous grows to a tremendous size, large enough for the Master Mold to pass through. Rogue, sensing Dazzler's plan, uses her powers to push the Sentinel through the portal, but not without being dragged inside with it. Kelly blames mutants for his wife's death and ensures Shaw that his Sentinel project will get all required funding. Elsewhere the Reavers are plotting revenge on the X-Men, unaware that they are being watched by Nanny and the Orphan Maker, who want the X-Men for themselves. Brodie's View:The X-Men (well, save for Wolverine) arrive to help Rogue against the Super Sentinel that formed when the Master Mold and NIMROD fused together last issue, but they arrive a little too late, as Senator Kelly's wife has been killed in the melee (which fans that hatred of mutants he already had a bit more, causing him to agree to fund Sebastian Shaw's sentinel program). Still, they manage to put down the super sentinel for a second, but it quickly repairs itself (Using NIMROD's regenerative ability), and attacks again, this time putting the team on the ropes. Finally, Dazzler gets the idea of sucking the giant robot into the Siege Perilous (The portal gifted to the team by Roma, which judges any that cross through it, and either gives them a new life, or destroys them), and opens the portal. The consciousness of NIMROD fights against the Master Mold, distracting the robot, and allowing Rogue to push the robot into the portal (The Super Sentinel will be reborn as the humanistic robot, Bastion, who will become a thorn in the side of mutants as we move in the mid 90's). The only problem is that Rogue is sucked in herself, making her the first X-Man down in the slow dismantling of the team that takes place over the next few issues. She won't return for a good twenty issues. In addition, we see hints of future threats to come; Donald Pierce's Reavers (A collection of cyborg characters we've seen before in various storylines, including Lady Deathstrike, the former Hellfire Club guards Wolverine gutted back in #134, and the cyborgs the X-Men beat back Post FALL OF THE MUTANTS, and whose former hideout they've using as their Base of Operations), and the strange duo of Nanny and her Orphan Maker (A deranged woman in a robotic egg costume, that feels that she is the only savior of mutants under constant threat. She does this by kidnapping, de-aging them, and putting them in robot costumes, much like her assistant, The Orphan Maker). Both groups are secretly observing the X-Men, and planning to either kill them or "save" them, neither being great options. As I said in the last paragraph, this is the beginning of the end of the Post MUTANT MASSACRE X-Men, as the next few issues will see the team slowly break apart, either by choice or circumstances. In the next issue, we'll see two more members leave the team for each of the two reasons listed in the last sentence. We also see the debut (On the X-Books) of one of those "Rock Star" Artists I referred to in #245's review, and one that will eventually re-invigorate this run towards its end, but also be the cause of its ending in the first place (But at the same time, forcing a brand new era for the X-Men), Mr. Jim Lee. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 23, 2017 2:14:36 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #248"The Cradle Will Fall" Cover Date: September, 1989 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Jim Lee Team: Storm, Wolverine (On Leave), Colossus, Psylocke, Dazzler, Longshot, & Havok Villain/s: Nanny, The Orphan Maker, The Reavers (Donald Pierce, Lady Deathstrike, Bonebreaker, Pretty Boy, Skullbuster, Reese, Cole, & Macon) Guest Stars: Jubilee Official Plot: Donald Pierce and his new compatriots, the Reavers, practice their coming attack on the X-Men. Meanwhile, back in Australia, Longshot dreams. In the state of Dreamtime, brought on by Gateway, Longshot speaks with Storm and tells her that he must leave the group to search for his identity. Nanny and the Orphan Maker, knowing of the coming deadly conflict with the Reavers, finalize their plan to save the X-Men, quite against their will. They arrive at the X-Men camp and swiftly capture Psylocke, Havok and Dazzler. The three captured X-Men are placed in armor, designed by Nanny, which bend the X-Men against their will. The three are then forced to use their powers against the still free X-Men, Storm and Colossus. During the following conflict Havok is freed from his armor. Still groggy, he fires a plasma discharge at Nanny's fleeing sky ship, which crashes to the ground, exploding on impact. To his horror, Havok is informed that the ship carried not only the fleeing Nanny and Orphan Maker, but the captured Storm as well. She is found dead among the debris. Brodie's View:The dissolving of the X-Men takes a HUGE jump in this issue, as we end up losing two of the team; one of which just happens to be the leader. First off, after a bad dream (probably building off of what happened in INFERNO), Longshot tells Storm that he's leaving the team to go find himself (Which, being that Longshot is one of my Least favorite X-Men ever, I'm pretty thrilled that I really don't have to mention him very much from here on out, as he doesn't ever return to the team during the rest of Claremont's run. In fact, he's rarely ever mentioned at all, which doesn't bother me in the least), which I thought was Claremont just finally tiring of writing such a one note character and yanking him. However, after doing a bit of research on the subject, I found out that Longshot left the book because it was thought at the time that writer Ann Nocenti and artist (and Longshot creator) Arthur Adams would reteam on a Longshot ongoing, but for some reason or another, that book never ended up happening, and we wouldn't see the character again until shortly after Claremont left the book. Long story short, though.....No More Longshot!!! ( ) However, the other X-person to leave the book after this issue was a far greater loss, and that would be Storm, who ends up being captured by Nanny and the Orphan Maker (who also captures some of the other X-Men, and Storm ends up being captured after freeing them), and then seemingly (and accidentally) killed by Havok, while in the process of being De-Aged aboard Nanny's ship. Of course, this isn't the end of Storm, as we'll later see her pop up looking very different from where we see her here, but for now, she's out of the book. On a side note, we also get more build for Donald Pierce and his Reavers, who are planning to invade the now quite weakened X-Men at their Australian HQ, and take it (back, in some of their cases) over. We see them practicing by destroying a robot made to resemble Wolverine. In a few issues, they'll get to take their aggression(s) out on the real thing. Of course, the main story of this issue isn't even what happens within the story itself, as, let's face it, Nanny was always kind of a lame-o villain. I mean, she looks like a robot version of Humpty Dumpty, how cool could she be? No, the main importance of this issue, and why it used to be quite expensive to get, was that it's the first issue drawn by someone who would end up becoming a HUGE star because of the X-Men, Jim Lee, and one can see that although his art isn't quite as good as it would get in this book (I would say that his main flaw here is trying to emulate Marc Silvestri's art style), it is obviously an early work by someone who will be great one day, and you will see that progress taking place through the end section of this run. Marc Silvestri will be back in the next issue, and will be, for the most part, the regular artist for the next 15 or so issues (although, Lee will be back in #256 for a 3 story arc), but in 20 issues time, Lee will become the regular artist on the book, and take the book to heights undreamed of (But also raise them up to a height they can only come down from). In the next issue, we'll see the remnants of the team headed off to the Savage Land for a 2 part story, and then.....Buh Bye, X-Men. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 23, 2017 22:11:08 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #249"The Dane Curse" Cover Date: Early October, 1989 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Marc Silvestri Team: Wolverine (On Leave), Colossus, Psylocke, Dazzler, & Havok Villain/s: The Savage Land Mutates (Zaladane, Barbarus, Amphibius, Gaza, Whiteout), Malice, The Reavers (Donald Pierce, Lady Deathstrike, Bonebreaker, Reese, Cole, & Macon) Guest Stars: Polaris, Gateway Official Plot: As the remaining X-Men bury their recently deceased teammate Storm, a call is received by the base's computer. The call is from the missing Lorna Dane, a.k.a. Polaris, asking for help. The X-Men investigate the call, leading them to Punta Arenas, Chile. Upon arrival, the X-Men witness Polaris being kidnapped by warriors from the Savage Land, led by Zaladane and her Savage Land Mutates. Reaching a stalemate, the X-Men offer to allow Zaladane's forces to withdraw with their captive, if only the innocent people of Punta Arenas are left alone. Zala accepts and and she and her forces leave, failing to notice that one soldier in her army is none other than the disguised Havok. Brodie's View:After the shocking end of last issue, we get fall out in this issue, as Havok, who accidentally "killed" Storm last issue, hits the skids hard, and pretty much misses a phone call from his Kinda Sorta Ex girlfriend, Lorna Dane, AKA Polaris, who up until the end of INFERNO was being possessed by the Marauder known as Malice. However, since that event ended, Lorna has been able to retake control of herself, and is looking for the help of the X-Men in order to remove Malice's influence altogether. Havok does eventually sober up, and soon the remains of the X-Men go to Punta Arenas, Chile, where the call originated from, but they arrive just in time to see Polaris being kidnapped by the Savage Land Mutates, whose leader, Zaladane, sees Lorna as a sister, and means to steal her metal controlling power to use for her own nefarious schemes. She also means to slay the people of Punta Arenas, but the X-Men are able to battle off her mutates, forcing them to leave Chile (However, with Polaris still as a captive), which Zaladane agrees to, not realizing (Or does she? ) that Havok has disguised himself as one of her mutates, and is sneaking back with them in order to rescue Lorna. We also get more lead up with the Reavers, who are spying on the X-Men from a nearby location, and are preparing for their attack. This storyline is a momentary halt in action; a calm before the storm, if you will, before the big event happens that dissolves even the remnants of the team we see in this issue. This pretty much happens right after the events of the next issue, although, we only see it in a flashback/fever dream in #251. However, this does also set up a few threads for what will happen after those events happen. First off, we re-introduce Polaris to the book, after spending the last 30 or so issues under the control of Malice. That all changes for good next issue, but it ends up opening the door to an even greater evil, one who will eventually seep into every crack of the X-Universe. But the spread of that will be slow, and we, and the various mutants it affects won't realize how large it's gotten until it's almost too late to do anything about it. We also see the rise of Zaladane, who will become a major evil force in the Savage Land, and will eventually need taking care of as well. Both threats I'm talking about will be major plot points in the #260-70's of the book, and provide the lead up for the end of this run as a whole. However, as for now, we must, like the X-Men themselves, deal with the threats as they come, and next issue we will see a (temporary) ending to this Savage Land story, Donald Pierce and his Reavers make their move, and then, the end of the X-Men for a while. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 24, 2017 1:48:03 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #250"The Shattered Star" Cover Date: Late October, 1989 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Marc Silvestri Team: Wolverine (On Leave), Colossus, Psylocke, Dazzler, & Havok Villain/s: The Savage Land Mutates (Zaladane, Brainchild, Lupo, Barbarus, Amphibius, Gaza, Worm) Guest Stars: Polaris, Gateway, Ka-Zar, Shanna the She Devil, The Fall People Official Plot: Zaladane and her forces return to Antarctica and their towered fortress in the Savage Land. Havok reveals himself only to be captured. Bound and drugged to prevent him from using his powers, he is forced to watch as Zaladane steals the powers of Polaris. Dazzler, Colossus, and Psylocke arrive on the scene and are immediately ambushed by the Savage Land Mutates. After the X-Men are captured, they are brought before Zaladane. Polaris, to everyone's surprise, begins to manifest new powers of strength and invulnerability. Swiftly, she frees the rest of the X-Men and other prisoners who revolt against Zaladane. With the tower in flames, the X-Men flee the fortress in a sky-sled, only to realize that Zaladane is still alive and has activated the tower's defensive shields. Before the X-Men can decide their next move, they are teleported back to their base in Australia by Gateway, much to the concern of Psylocke who experienced the X-Men’s death in a precognitive vision. Brodie's View:The last adventure of the "Australian Era" X-Men ends here, and it ends with kind of a whimper for them, as they don't prevent Zaladane from taking Polaris' powers or really stop the leader of the Savage Land Mutates from continuing to take power in that region. However, it doesn't end as badly as it could for the team, as despite being stripped of her magnetic powers, Polaris gains the abilities of super strength and invulnerability (and grows taller), and is able to free the team from the clutches of Zaladane and the Mutates. They are about to decide whether to try and fight to stop her once and for all, when they are suddenly teleported back to Australia by Gateway (Which I'll get back to the strangeness of that in a second). Unfortunately, as I stated before, Zaladane isn't stopped any time soon, and, honestly, it won't be any of the people on the team at this particular moment that stops her. In fact, the person that "stops" her will be someone quite unexpected, but that won't take place until #274-5, so, for now, let's go to the other major things that happen in this issue. And that's the lead up to the end of the team, which pretty much takes place right after this issue ends (although, we'll see a flashback of a sort of it happening next issue). This is foreseen by Psylocke, who has a dream of the team being dead earlier in the issue, and when Gateway teleports them back mysteriously at the end of the issue, she realizes that it's for a particular reason, as she senses The Reavers approaching. Once again, we'll see all of this take place in the next issue, so, I won't go into strong details on how exactly this all goes down in this issue's review. I will say, though, that at the beginning of the next issue, this has already taken place, and as I said before, will only be seen in flashback/fever dream form. I will also say that in the next issue, Wolverine will return to the book, and will be in for a few major surprises. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 24, 2017 2:34:54 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #251"Fever Dream" Cover Date: Early November, 1989 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Marc Silvestri Team: Wolverine, Colossus, Psylocke, Dazzler, & Havok (The last four leave the team) Villain/s: The Reavers (Donald Pierce, Lady Deathstrike, Bonebreaker, Pretty Boy, Skullbuster, Reese, Cole, & Macon) Guest Stars: Jubilee, Gateway Official Plot: Wolverine, beaten and bruised, hangs from a wooden X outside the X-Men's base camp. Donald Pierce, Wolverine's captor, continues to torment the shackled Wolverine, who begins to hallucinate. In his delusions, in actuality one of Gateway's "Dreamtimes", Wolverine witnesses the past. He watches the X-Men return from their trip to the Savage Land. Next he is visited by phantoms of various acquaintances, both friends and foes. He sees his own return to town, and his subsequent capture. Again, his vision returns to arrival of the four X-Men from the Savage Land. As the Reavers approach the X-Men's position to attack, Psylocke opens the Siege Perilous and telepathically cajoles the X-Men to enter. Arriving too late, Pierce is furious at the loss of his prey. Back to reality and the present, the town comes under the fury of a powerful storm that seems to be encircling the whole globe. While the Reavers wait out the tempest inside, Jubilee summons the courage to approach Wolverine. To her surprise, Wolverine frees himself from his X-shaped crucifix. Lacking the strength to even stand, Wolverine asks the young Jubilee for help. Brodie's View:Well, here it is, folks. The end of the X-Men for a while, and it's too bad, as Wolverine coming back sooner than he did might have made the difference, and not made things play out like they did. I'm sure by the time this issue begins, and Logan is beaten, bloodied, and hanging from a giant X outside the team's former Headquarters (Now, once again, the Reavers'), he's wishing he would have come back sooner as well, as he sees, through a Gateway inspired fever dream, the X-Men leaving right before The Reavers were going to attack them. Psylocke sensed their coming, and convinced the other X-Men (In some cases, using her psychic powers on them to do such) to go through the Siege Perilous, leaving the Reavers without their much desired revenge, at least, until Wolverine made his way back. Then the Reavers jumped him, messed him up, and hung him up on that X cross, which is made even worse by Pierce deciding to make the crucifixion more official, and nails him to the X. Little do any of them know, but this is all being witnessed by Jubilee, who is in hiding, and once The Reavers have left Logan to die, tries to rescue him from his fate. However, Wolverine frees himself by ripping through the spikes, but the effort costs him dear, and at the end of the issue, he is relying of Jubilee to get him out of there before The Reavers catch on that he is no longer crucified. This all really begins the next chapter of this book, and will change the way I even do my reviews from here until the X-TINCTION AGENDA story-line, which will take place around #270, as there is no more team to really keep track of the members of. So, instead, I will change that heading to FEATURED CHARACTERS, as that will change from issue to issue. This first little storyline will deal with Wolverine and Jubilee escaping from The Reavers, who are pissed at losing their prey, and are on the hunt for the two. This will go on for a few issues, and then The Reavers (who kind of take The Marauder's baton of being the "Main Threat" to the X-characters for a while) will set their sights on other collections of Charles Xaiver's former students, as well as other characters, who will be pulled into the conflict. We'll also see some surprise (and not so surprising) returns to the book, and characters returning in quite different roles (and even in different bodies in some cases) than when we saw them last, and some brand new characters as well. By the time we get to #270, we'll be looking at a very different X-Men team than the one we have seen for the last 30 or so issues, and then that team will change and evolve into the one we have by the end of this run. Next issue, we'll have part two of Wolverine and Jubilee on the run from The Reavers, and more hints for the immediate future of the book. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 24, 2017 23:33:38 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #252"Where's Wolverine?" Cover Date: Mid November, 1989 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Rick Leonardi Featured Characters: Wolverine & Jubilee Villain/s: The Reavers (Donald Pierce, Lady Deathstrike, Bonebreaker, Pretty Boy, Skullbuster, Reese, Cole, & Macon) Guest Stars: Gateway Official Plot: Donald Pierce comes out of the Australian base to find Wolverine missing from his crucifix. After smashing the crucifix in rage he tells the Reavers to search the entire base for Wolverine. Lady Deathstrike questions his leadership abilities, before Pierce admits he is attracted to her, at which point they embrace but Lady Deathstrike warns him not to mess her about. Reese, Cole and Macon start searching through one of the buildings, but appear to find nothing. Overhead Jubilee waits in the shadows before stealing some food from the fridge. Jubilee then climbs through the tunnels before coming to a halt as she notices Pierce below her. Luckily he doesn’t see her and she continues on until she arrives at her make shift home in tunnels and pipes below the base where wolverine is lying on the bed bandaged up. Wolverine awakes to hallucinations of Carol Danvers and Nick Fury standing over him. Whilst still disorientated, Logan grabs Jubilee and the hallucinations of Carol and Nick tell him to let go of her and that she has been helping him. Wolverine pops his claws at Jubilee, who in shock hits him with one of her plasma blasts. Wolverine realizes his mistake before slipping unconscious. Meanwhile Donald Pierce and Bonebreaker use the complex’s computer to scan the complex for Logan. They notice that Pretty Boy is in Wolverine's room and Lady Deathstrike is about to approach. Inside Wolverines room Pretty Boy starts smashing everything up with the Clan Yashida Honor sword that Wolverine owns. Lady Deathstrike enters and steals the sword away from him telling him that he shouldn’t touch the sword; she takes the sword from Pretty Boy and leaves the room. Bonebreaker realizes that the computer scanning equipment is altering as if being a living organism and they will be unable to use it to find Wolverine, Pierce says this isn’t a problem as they can use the cyborg dingos to hunt Wolverine down. Wolverine is sat at a campfire opposite Gateway and Jubilee is wandering around them wondering why they are outside when they should be hiding, suddenly they reappear in the tunnels and Wolverine tells her that they are back in the real world after spending a short moment in Dreamtime. Pierce and the Reavers enter the tunnels with the hounds but split up to cover more ground faster. Skullbuster, Bonebreaker and Pretty Boy spot what they believe to be Wolverine and start shooting, cut to Macon, Reese and Cole who hear noise up ahead. Suddenly Pretty Boy appears and tells them to run for their lives as the tunnel starts to flood (caused by the gunshots). Lady Deathstrike discovers Jubilee‘s quarters, but it’s empty. At least she now knows that Wolverine has help (of a child by the looks of the room) and that they already are on the way out. Deathstrike decides to hide the Yashida blade in this room since it would be safe there till Wolverine might one day return to pick it up. Pierce’s hounds catch Wolverine’s scent and attack him, however Wolverine cuts them to pieces with his claws, he then beckons Pierce on before Jubilee jumps the cyborg from behind and attacks with her plasma blasts, knocking him under a pile of rubble. Brodie's View:We get the second half of the story of Wolverine and Jubilee escaping from the Reavers, who had captured, beat, and crucified Wolverine to a giant X last issue. Through sheer force of will (and, well, having a healing factor probably didn't hurt either), Logan pulled himself free from the spikes attaching him to the wooden X cross, but that effort cost him just about everything, and now he must rely on the teenage Jubilee to escape from the area before The Reavers catch up to him. What makes things worse is that Wolverine is slipping in and out of delirium, hallucinating that Nick Fury and Carol Danvers are speaking to him. However, the duo, for the most part, are able to stay in front of Donald Pierce and his cyborg group until the end of the issue, when Pierce finally catches up to them. However, he doesn't realize that Jubilee is with him, and she winds up blasting him and the cliff he was standing by, causing him to be buried under a pile of rubble, allowing the two to escape. This is a decent issue that has some cool moments (Logan seeing Fury and Danvers as hallucination guides, Jubilee having to guide a half delirious Wolvie out of the area, and Lady Deathstrike kind of secretly aiding the two in their escape, as she figures out that he's not alone before the others do, as well as Logan's Honor Sword, which she hides from the Reavers so he can come back and get it himself. Of course, she's not doing this out of the goodness of her heart, as she wants to kill Logan herself and on a field of honor, but it's still a cool moment, nonetheless), but I would say the artwork by Rick Leonardi keeps this from being what it could, as his art is definitely lacking compared to Marc Silvestri, or even a lot of the other guest artists who had done issues in this era. However, it only sinks the issue slightly, and we'll return with Silvestri back in the chair for next issue, which is kind of collection of different plot threads, both new and continuing. We'll also be re-introduced to some returning characters who will make up a good deal of our Featured Characters for the next 10 issues or so. Some we've seen recently, some we haven't seen for quite a while, at least not in any kind of a major role. Plus, we see the return of a character thought dead, but in a very different form than we last saw them. Curious as to who I'm referring to.....you know what to do. Same Brodie time, Same Brodie Channel. GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 25, 2017 0:23:04 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #253"Storm Warnings!" Cover Date: Late November, 1989 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Marc Silvestri Featured Characters: Wolverine, Jubilee, Banshee, & Moria MacTaggert Villain/s: The Reavers (Donald Pierce, Lady Deathstrike, Bonebreaker, Pretty Boy, Skullbuster, Reese, Cole, & Macon), Jacob Reisz/The Shadow King Guest Stars: Gateway, Ororo/Storm, Forge, Polaris, Callisto, Magneto, Amanda Sefton, & Brigadier Sandy Stuart Official Plot: A de-aged Storm is found by FBI Agent Reisz, and she is brought to a hospital where she is put under the care of Dr Lian Shen, who soon believes that Ororo is a mutant as none of their medical or video equipment registers her. Dr Shen later rings Agent Reisz, who seems to be possessed by some unknown being, and Reisz tells Shen that he will come and collect Storm, which Storm overhears. Moira MacTaggert and Magneto argue it out on Muir Island, over numerous subjects including the current missing New Mutants and Magneto’s responsibilities. Magneto warns Moira that there is a war coming, and tells her that as long as people are after him, no one will be after her. Magneto leaves Muir Island, refusing Banshee’s hand in friendship. Banshee consoles Moira, who decides that they find the New Mutants, then safeguard Muir Island against any possible attacks. Moira sends Callisto to the remains of Xavier’s School to seal off the underground complex from any intruders who may want its secrets. Later, Banshee and Moira pick up a distress call, and Banshee recognizes the voice as Polaris. Despite the recent Marauder affiliation that Polaris held, Banshee goes to rescue his friend, who is currently at the mercy of angry sailors aboard a freighter in rocky water. The sailors attack Polaris, who is without her magnetic powers, but finds herself with increased strength and invulnerability, before the freighter is snapped in two. Banshee rescues Polaris just in time, his powers recently restored. Amanda Sefton arrives at Excalibur’s lighthouse, in search of Nightcrawler, but finds only Brigadier Alysadne Stuart, who explains that Excalibur is missing, and offers her assistance. Elsewhere, Forge enters a meditation, and is confronted by Amahl Farouk, and learns that Storm is alive, and in grave danger. In Australia, the Reavers go about their business, while Lady Deathstrike claims she cannot find Wolverine, when in fact she watches the gravely wounded X-Man make his way past her, she doesn’t want to kill him when he cannot put up a fight. Bonebreaker’s body is repaired, and Donald Pierce announces that the Reavers’ next mission is to destroy Muir Island and kill everyone there, as Banshee and Moira MacTaggert represent a major threat to them. Brodie's View:We get a lot of story threads here; some a continuation of what's happened in the last few issues, some brand new things that start here, but have repercussions that are felt all the way to the end of Claremont's run (and beyond). On the continuation front, we have Wolverine and Jubilee still on the run from the Reavers, who can't get a pinpoint on them (Although, Lady Deathstrike knows where they are, but doesn't say anything, as she doesn't want to kill an almost defenseless Wolverine. She wants to beat him at his best on a field of honor, which she will try at a later point.). We also see Banshee rescue Polaris from a group of sailors (as she is taking a ship back from the Savage Land), who have mysteriously turned violent due to her presence (This becomes important as we go on with this review). In fact, Banshee and Moria MacTaggert, as well as all of the X-characters who have stayed on Muir Island since the events of the MUTANT MASSACRE storyline, play a big part in the events to come, though probably not in a way most would expect. That all goes back to Polaris, and the evil that was unknowingly released when Zaladane stole her magnetic powers, and probably caused a psychic rift by separating Polaris and Malice. This connects to a mysterious little girl that is found in Cario; one that definitely resembles the "late" X-Man, Storm. Of course, that evil entity definitely has an interest in young Ororo, as he possesses the chief investigator in charge of figuring out who Ororo is. That entity has a past with not only Storm, but Charles Xaiver as well, and will play a huge role in the rest of this run. That entity, of course, is The Shadow King (Remember him? The mutant that we saw Xaiver defeat, and seemingly kill back in #117, although, we also saw him in the pages of the NEW MUTANTS, where he was defeated by Storm and that team, hence, his/its animosity towards Storm). We also see the re-introduction of Forge, who has a prophetic dream involving Storm/Ororo and The Shadow King, which will basically lead to his taking a major role in the book again (Which, normally I would bitch about, as I'm not a huge Forge fan, but I'm still so jazzed that Longshot's gone, that I can't even bitch about Forge.....Whoooooo!!!!! ) This leads us back to Banshee and Moria MacTaggert, who ends up having a huge argument with Magneto, who officially is giving up being Headmaster of Xaiver's school (Although, to be fair, he was basically on his way to being done when he joined the Hellfire Club shortly after the MUTANT MASSACRE), and on his way back down a darker path. He will end up being one of the major villains involved in the Marvel-wide ACTS OF VENGEANCE storyline (although, not in the pages of X-Men, but, then again, that's kind of the whole point of the storyline; villains going after targets they don't normally mix it up with), but for his own agenda (capturing the Red Skull, who is also involved). The next time we see Magneto in this book will be late in this run, but he'll definitely play a memorable part in things. However, let's go back to Muir Island for a second, as Banshee and Moria decide that they need to mobilize and be ready for any threat that might come after them, which is good for them, as we see that they are the next targets for The Reavers. We also see a small part with Brigadier Sandy Stuart (who is an EXCALIBUR supporting character) wondering what happened to that team (At this point, they are bouncing from alternate Earth to alternate Earth in the highly awesome CROSS TIME CAPER storyline, which goes for a good dozen or so issues in that book), which will also lead to her being involved in the events to come in the next few issues of the main X-Book. That's good, because in the next issue, we'll see Donald Pierce and the Reavers attack Muir Island, only to find a team of various mutants (and armed humans) waiting for them. Should be an interesting fight. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 25, 2017 2:13:45 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #254"All New, All Different---Here We Go Again!" Cover Date: Early December, 1989 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Marc Silvestri Featured Characters: Banshee, Moria MacTaggart, Polaris, Legion, Amanda Sefton, Sunder, Brigadier Sandy Stuart, Tom Corsi, & Sharon Friedlander Villain/s: The Reavers (Donald Pierce, Lady Deathstrike, Bonebreaker, Pretty Boy, Skullbuster, Reese, Cole, & Macon), Masque (From the Morlocks) Guest Stars: Forge, Callisto, Healer (and Muir Island Morlocks), Destiny, Mystique, Val Cooper, and the Warpies. Official Plot: Moira MacTaggert runs some tests on Polaris to determine what has happened to her in terms of power and body changes. Moira determines that Polaris is definitely free of Malice’s possession, after Zaladane, who must be Polaris’ sister, absorbed Polaris’ magnetic powers, but as far as what is happening to Polaris now in terms of new powers, she isn’t yet sure. Banshee is reunited with Amanda Sefton and Brig. Alysande Stuart when he collects them from Ullapool, and it is clear there is some history between Banshee and the Brigadier. En route to Muir Island in a speedboat, Banshee is shot through the chest by the Reavers, who have sworn to kill him and Moira. Amanda dives into the ocean to rescue Banshee, transforming herself and then Alysande, into mermaids, before collecting Banshee and teleporting to Muir Island, where Moira, Polaris, Tom Corsi and Sharon Friedlander are waiting for them. Amanda introduces Alysande to everyone, while Moira gets to work on saving Banshee’s life. Amanda and Polaris find each other familiar. Moira orders everyone to get into the standard x-uniform, as it can offer them good protection. Amanda protests, but Moira isn’t in the mood. Amanda “magics up” the uniforms for everyone, except her spell goes wrong, and she, Tom, Sharon and Alysande end up in sexy leather costumes. Moira orders everyone to go get changed like normal, while Amanda wonders how her simple spell went wrong. Sometime later, Sunder and Legion are in the nursery looking after the children known as Warpies, when they are attacked by three of the Reavers - Skullbuster, Bonebreaker and Pretty Boy. Sunder gets the Warpies out of harms way, but is gunned down when Legion lowers his shield - on purpose. Polaris and Tom Corsi soon get in on the action, until Legion interferes once more, preventing the heroes from taking the Reavers down permanently. Outside, three more Reavers - Macon, Cole and Reese - make their way to Muir Island, but encounter Amanda Sefton, who, at first, seems to have the upper-hand, until she discovers that her magic has no effect over the Reavers’ artificial cyborg body parts. Amanda is captured, while the Brigadier, an expert with weapons, does her best to take the Reavers down, but she too is captured. The Reavers decide not to kill Amanda and Alysande. Moira and Sharon debate Moira’s decision to have the Morlock Healer bring Banshee back to consciousness after Moira patched up his injuries, and upon awakening, Banshee discovers something very strange with his beloved Moira. Sunder soon finds himself fighting Skullbuster alone, only to be killed when Pretty Boy and Bonebreaker appear. Meanwhile, in the States, Masque has captured Callisto when he found her sealing off the underground complex at the ruins of Xavier’s School, and after she refuses to give him the access codes, Masque re-arranges Callisto’s face. Elsewhere, Destiny has a very peculiar dream, which she doesn’t reveal in detail to Mystique, before they are summoned to Valerie Cooper’s office. Mystique is highly unimpressed to see Forge there, whom she holds responsible for the death of Rogue, but Destiny hints to Mystique that she needs to be kinder to Forge, as their futures are linked. Valerie explains that Forge is going to work with Freedom Forge to help liberate Muir Island, which she just got word is under attack. Brodie's View:So, here we go, as the attack on Muir Island that was hinted at last issue, happens in this one, as the island is attacked by Donald Pierce's Reavers. This is the main deal for this issue (and the next), as not only is Moria MacTaggart forced to put anyone who is able to fight (even human assistants like Tom Corsi, Sharon Friedlander, and Stuart) to jump into action against the group of murderous cyborgs, but the U.S government is forced to assemble a very reluctant Mystique and her Freedom Force (with the assistance of Forge, who Mystique is not happy at all about, as she blames him for the deaths of the X-Men at the end of the FALL OF THE MUTANTS storyline. However, her friend/lover, Destiny, tells to trust him, as their paths have been interlocked) to assist the Muir Island defenders against The Reavers (Freedom Force will get involved in the battle next issue). However, there are quite a few factors working against the Good Guys, one being that Banshee is almost instantly wounded by The Reavers, and has to spend the rest of the issue being healed. Another factor is that one of the "Guardians," Charles Xaiver's loopy mutant son, Legion, is as much of a deterrent as a help, as a few of his multiple personalities are just as evil as the villains they face. We'll see just how evil in the next issue (Although, he does a few nasty things in this one, like purposely lowering his defensive shield and allowing Sunder (One of the few remaining Morlocks up to that point) to be shot at (he later is killed by the Reavers)). There's also a third thing happening, which has been growing since Polaris was brought to the island, and that involves the growing influence of the Shadow King, which we see in small, but very important ways in this issue (Moria acting strange & Amanda Sefton's spells going wrong, among other things). This ends up causing more causalities from this battle than there should have been, and those bodies will start stacking up in the next issue as well. There are a few side plots for the future that happen in this issue as well, in addition to all of the stuff I talked about above. There is the dealings between the disfigured Morlock known as Masque, who has taken over a group of surviving Morlocks, and turned them as dark and twisted as he is, and his former leader, Callisto, who refuses to give Masque information that he wants, which Masque replays by messing with Callisto's face. We'll see more of this storyline as we move into the #260's, but for now, we'll leave it alone. However, it's clear that there is no lack of story threads being tossed down by Chris Claremont, even in an era of the X-Men book with no actual X-Men. In the next issue, we'll continue the Assault on Muir Island story, as Freedom Force and Forge come to the aid of the Muir Island "X-Men," and I will say that there are quite a few casualties before this battle is over. We'll also see a partnership formed, more building of the whole Shadow King storyline, and the first of the X-Men that went through the Siege Perilous showing up mysteriously back in our dimension; one that will soon look quite differently from when we last saw them. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 25, 2017 2:56:08 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #255"Crash and Burn" Cover Date: Mid December, 1989 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Marc Silvestri Featured Characters: Banshee, Forge, Moria MacTaggart, Polaris, Legion, Tom Corsi, & Sharon Friedlander Villain/s: The Reavers (Donald Pierce, Lady Deathstrike, Bonebreaker, Pretty Boy, Skullbuster, Reese, Cole, & Macon), Jacob Reisz/The Shadow King, Matsu'o Tsurayaba, Hand Assassins Guest Stars: Freedom Force (Mystique, Destiny, Blob, Avalanche, Stonewall, & Pyro), Ororo, Psylocke, & Dr. Lian Shen Official Plot: Banshee and Polaris take on Bonebreaker, Skullbuster and Pretty Boy, but are soon knocked unconscious, by Legion after he puts up an invisible wall, preventing their escape. While the Reavers make various repairs on themselves, Freedom Force arrive, and Blob and Avalanche are the first to make moves on the Reavers. The others - Mystique, Destiny, Pyro and Stonewall - are aboard a jet, where Mystique constantly expresses her annoyance at Forge’s presence. Lady Deathstrike jumps onto the jet, killing the pilots and sending it crashing to the ground, where it catches on fire. Forge rescues Mystique, who is more concerned about the safety of Destiny. Stonewall however rescues Destiny, and Pyro uses his abilities to take control of the fire, and he is about to use it against the Reavers. Avalanche is confronted by Lady Deathstrike, who slashes open his stomach, while the Reavers force the Blob into the water, where he sinks. Under Mystique’s orders, Forge takes Destiny up to the Research Center where he is to keep her safe, but Destiny, as cryptic as ever about Forge and Mystique, tells Forge that he must go into battle. Forge leaves her, when Legion arrives. Deathstrike begins attacking the Reavers, only to be captured by Pierce, who uncovers Mystique, who had used her powers to morph into Deathstrike. Mystique is suddenly terrified by an image of Destiny’s body, which a telepath flashes into her mind. Stonewall frees Mystique from Pierce, while Pyro attempts to take the Reavers down with another burst of flame, only someone snuffs his flame out - unbeknownst to Pyro, it was Legion. Stonewall is then electrocuted to death by Pierce. Mystique and Pyro are forced to make a run for it while Skullbuster fires at them - until Skullbuster is blasted to scrap metal by Forge. The Reavers teleport out before Forge can shoot Pierce. Moira MacTaggert, Tom Corsi and Sharon Friedlander bring the body of Destiny to Mystique, who vows vengeance against Forge as she cradles her loved one. Later, Forge agrees to set up a security system on Muir Island, before accepting Banshee’s offer to join him search for the X-Men, whom Polaris believes are still alive. Meanwhile, Matsuo Tsurayaba is summoned to a small island after Psylocke washed up there. Dr. Lian Shen has doubts about handing over the girl in her care over to FBI Agent Reisz, but they soon find she has vanished. They search for her, and Reisz drops hints that he knows the girl, when he is confronted by Shen’s colleague, he murders him with a strange power. Reisz then tells Shen she belongs to him now, and vows to find Storm soon. Brodie's View:This is the second half of the "Attack on Muir Island" storyline, and, man, the bodies pile up in this one. Of course, last issue there was Sunder, who had died last issue at the hands of the Reavers (and the psycho mutant, Legion, who purposely had been putting the Heroes in harm's way for amusement), leaving Callisto, Calliban, Leech, Healer, and Masque as the only Morlocks of note who were still around Post MUTANT MASSACRE. Then Forge, Mystique, and her Freedom Force (or most of them) arrive to try and even the odds, but that group ends up taking the greatest casualties in all of this. First, Stonewall is killed by Donald Pierce himself, and then the greatest loss, Mystique's friend/lover/confidant, the precog Destiny, dies at the hands/powers of Legion. In addition, there are plenty of wounded on both sides, but finally, the Good Guys are able to drive the Reavers away (After Forge blasts Skullbuster into scrap metal, making the only real loss on Team Reaver), but at what cost? Mystique ends up hating Forge even more for leaving Destiny (to try and help the others) to die, even though Destiny had told him to (as she had foreseen her own death), and little does anyone know, this has just weakened the Muir Islanders even more, and allowed The Shadow King (who we also see in Cario, working through the dead man he possessed, Police Inspector, Jacob Reisz, to try and capture Storm, who was transformed into a child by Nanny back in #248) to increase his influence there, which will become VERY important as we approach the end of this run. However, there is some light at the end of the tunnel on Muir Island, as this whole event causes Banshee and Forge to buddy up as a duo to try and find out what happened to the X-Men, as they know they'll be needed to fight the threats both current and future. These two will be the lead characters of quite a few upcoming stories. However, they won't be the leads for the next few issues, as we got a hint of what the upcoming story is going to be in this issue, and who it is going to be about, as Psylocke washes up on the shore of an Asian island, and is found by the Hand and criminal boss,Matsu'o Tsurayaba, who has plans for her. We'll see what those plans are, and the two X-Characters they will also include in time, but this is notable, as Psylocke is the first (but certainly not the last) X-Man that passed through the mysterious Siege Perilous to show back up. It will tie into the ACTS OF VENGEANCE story-line that is going through Marvel during this period, which I'll talk briefly about in the next review, and like the rest of the stories of that Crossover, it will involve a villain not usually seen in the X-Books. In addition, it, and the next couple issues after that, will mark the return of growing superstar artist Jim Lee (who admittingly has been doing a few covers as well) to the book. Buckle up, Buckaroos, this is going to be a kick ass little story. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 25, 2017 23:24:12 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #256 "The Key That Breaks the Locke"Cover Date: Late December, 1989 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Jim Lee Featured Characters: Psylocke/Lady Mandarin Villain/s: Matsu'o Tsurayaba, Li Fong, Lord Mandarin, Mojo, Spiral (The Last Two Behind the Scenes/Dream Form) Guest Stars: Many, but all in dream form only Official Plot: In Hong Kong, Matsu'o Tsurayaba approaches the Mandarin with an offer of an alliance between his organization and the Hand, a ruthless clan of assassins. Matsu'o's deal is for the Hand to help the Mandarin build an empire unparalleled by any in the past, in exchange for gainful employment in its service. To begin their alliance, Matsu'o offers a gift; that of an ultimate assassin. This assassin is Psylocke. What follows next is a surrealistic "dream" sequence as Betsy relives details of her life, undergoes a physical transformation from British to Japanese at the hands of the Body Shoppe (with nightmarish versions of Spiral and Mojo causing the transformation) and her being set against her teammates, who she murders in order to obtain each of Mandarin's ten rings. In the end, Psylocks defeats Mandarin himself (who takes the form of Slaymaster) and it is revealed that the "dream" was a sensory deprivation brainwashing experiment that the Hand used to finalize their assimilation of Psylocke into their organization. In the end, she returns the rings from Mandarin, who she pledges her undying loyalty towards. Brodie's View:With this, we're beginning to enter into what will become the 90's era of the X-Men, and I don't mean that just literally (as this is the last issue dated in the 80's), but stylistically and in tone as well. For one, we have the return of artist Jim Lee, who will go on to become one of the most popular X-Artists since John Byrne, and like Byrne, will do the most in the way of changing the visual look of the team. In fact, the look of the 90's FOX cartoon took a great deal from Lee's version of the X-Men, or what it will look like at the very end of this run. This story-line is one of the first major steps towards that, as one of the previous X-Men, Psylocke, undergoes a huge change in both look and character, as she is transformed (Later revealed to have been done by Mojo and Spiral, which is why I included them as villains, even though they only actually appear in dream form in this issue) from the meek British beauty she had been up until last issue, into the smoking hot Asian ninja looking warrior look she retains up to this very day (And the look she had in the most recent X-movie, X-MEN: APOCALYPSE). Most of this issue is a dream version of the woman Betsy Braddock had been up to that point, showing her various relationships with her brothers (Brian, who would become EXCALIBUR hero, Captain Britain, and Jamie, who became unhinged and insane due to his reality warping powers), her past (Much of which took place in the Marvel U.K's CAPTAIN BRITAIN comic, which was written largely by Brit writing superstars Alan Moore and Jamie Delano. In that run, a villain known as Slaymaster ripped out her eyes, which were later replaced by Mojo, in order to use them to spy on the X-Men. This was shortly before she joined the team), and her time with the X-Men (Which is broken by the brainwashing techniques of the Hand/Matsu'o Tsurayaba, who plan on presenting her as a gift to long time IRON MAN villain, The Mandarin, who we'll get back to in a second). The last of which is the key to gaining her total subservience, as she is manipulated into killing (in dream form) her former teammates, in order to gain The Mandarin's rings, which she increasingly does with more relish, as it represents her killing the person she was before. The final person she fights is The Mandarin himself, who takes the form of Slaymaster (The Captain Britain villain I mentioned earlier), who she destroys, and in exchange, completes the brainwashing, making her into Lady Mandarin, the Mandarin's own personal assassin. Of course, while we've seen The Hand in the X-Books before (at least where it related to Wolverine, who is also their target here), the inclusion of the Mandarin, who, as I said before, is normally more of an Iron Man villain, is the real shocker here, but then again, not that much of a shocker when one stops to consider what the ACTS OF VENGEANCE Crossover is all about. Long story short, Loki, in disguise, assembles the biggest Marvel villains (Kingpin, The Red Skull, Magneto, and Doctor Doom (well, technically, a Doombot), among others), and presents them with the idea of switching the targets they usually go after, in order to take down the Marvel heroes. A perfect example of this is what Magneto does during this story-line, as instead of going after the X-Men, he is sent after Spider-Man instead, which you would think would be the squash of all squashes. Not so, as Spider-Man would mysteriously gain cosmic powers (The powers of Captain Universe) during AoV, and would end up stomping Mags, the Joe Fixit era Hulk, and a Loki created Tri-Sentinel. Anyways, the Mandarin takes the task of taking out Wolverine, who, at the time, is thought to be the last of the X-Men....well, save for Psylocke, who the Mandarin now has as his personal assassin. In the next issue, we'll see Psylocke and the Hand attack Wolverine (who is still pretty tore up from his experience at the hands of the Reavers) and Jubilee, and, well, it doesn't end well for our heroic duo. GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 25, 2017 23:46:06 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #257"Lady Mandarin"Cover Date: January, 1990 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Jim Lee Featured Characters: Wolverine, Jubilee Villain/s: Matsu'o Tsurayaba, Lady Mandarin/Psylocke, Jacob Reisz Shadow King, Legion, Hand Assassins Guest Stars: Ororo/Storm, Muir Island X-Men: Moria MacTaggert, Banshee, Forge, Polaris Official Plot: In the service of the Hand and the Mandarin, the brainwashed Psylocke establishes herself as Lady Mandarin, reestablishing the Mandarin's control over the Hong Kong underworld. With that accomplished, her master, Matsu'o Tsurayaba, orders her to take care of a potential, recently-arrived enemy, Patch. Wolverine has come to Hong Kong with Jubilee's help, although he is still suffering both from his extensive injuries and from hallucinations. He and Jubilee visit Rose Wu, a friend of his working for Landau, Luckman & Lake. While shopping, Jubilee and Rose’ granddaughter are kidnapped by Psylocke. The Ninjas later confront Wolverine. Logan has the upper hand in the battle until he recognizes his teammate, Psylocke. She uses his confusion to take him out. In Cairo, Illinois, Storm, changed to a prepubescent child, is on the run from both the police and the Shadow King, not remembering her life with the X-Men. On Muir Isle, Banshee, who feels a wrongness, asks Forge to install a backdoor into the defense system he's installing, so that they can slip back in undetected, should something be wrong. Polaris fears that the wrongness is her fault. Before she can act on this, though, she is taken prisoner by the mentally unstable telepath Legion. Brodie's View:We continue a few different plot threads in this issue; two of which kind of intermingle, as they both involve The Shadow King, who is slowly spreading his web across the X-Universe, so, we'll start there (Even though it ends the issue, so, we're basically working backwards). We see the child, Ororo, who, of course, is Storm, and who was transformed into a child by Nanny back in #248. Anyways, she is on the run from the Shadow King, who relishes the chance of being able to get revenge against one of the main mutants who had defeated him (and through her, getting revenge on the one that handed the Shadow King his ultimate defeat, Charles Xavier, by corrupting and taking all of his children). This will eventually lead Ororo down some interesting paths, and the introduction of another 90's X-character who will go on to be hugely popular due to the Jim Lee era/90's cartoon. However, this is still a little bit down the line, so, I'll leave that thread hanging (much like Claremont himself) until the point where it really picks back up. For now, we'll go to the other main focus of The Shadow King's influence, Muir Island, as TSK has used the psychic rift surrounding Polaris (And Legion, the crazed, but highly powerful mutant son of Xaiver, who also takes control of Polaris, not realizing that it's allowing TSK even greater influence over the Muir Island residents) to expand his influence over the various mutants/other X-characters there. This is very much noticed by Banshee, especially as it relates to his girlfriend, Moria MacTaggert, who has been acting far more aggressive and defiant than she would have in the past, in addition to just feeling a wrongness about the place. He asks Forge to create a back door in the defense system he's installing there (after the brutal assault on the island by Donald Pierce and his robotic Reavers, which cost the lives of a few of those who stood against them), which will become very important towards the end of the this run, as the whole deal with The Shadow King comes to a head. However, the main part of this story doesn't concern The Shadow King, at least not at the current moment, and that is The Hand and their new fellow assassin, Lady Mandarin, who is a brainwashed Psylocke. They target and attack one of their most hated enemies, Wolverine, who is in Hong Kong with Jubilee, and taking care of personal business. Psylocke is able to quickly take out and capture Jubilee with a psychic attack, and then orchestrates a massive attack on Wolvie, who is ready for the ninjas, but not the identity of who is leading them, which causes Logan to pause his attack in surprise long enough for Psylocke to fry his brain with her psychic knife attack (which makes its first actual appearance here), leaving him helpless and at the mercy of The Hand and The Mandarin, who in the next issue, will attempt to use the same system he brainwashed Psylocke with to sway Wolvie (and Jubilee) into being trained assassins for him as well. It'd be a hell of a coup if it ends up working. Does it end up working? Well, in the next issue we'll see, and see the resolving of this whole story-line, as well as the furthering of The Shadow King taking over Muir Island story-line as well. Plus, more gorgeous Jim Lee art. GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 26, 2017 1:54:36 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #258"Broken Chains"Cover Date: February, 1990 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Jim Lee Featured Characters: Wolverine, Jubilee, Psylocke Villain/s: The Mandarin, Matsu'o Tsurayaba, Legion, Hand Assassins Guest Stars: Muir Island X-Men: Moria MacTaggert, Banshee, Forge, Polaris, Sharon Friedlander Official Plot: The Hand has put Wolverine into a sensory deprivation tank and now Psylocke tries to brainwash him for the Hand. Meanwhile, Jubilee starts a scene and is caught and led away by the Mandarin. A short while later, chaos ensues after Psylocke forges a mental connection with Wolverine through her psychic blade. Suddenly, she is tapped into his psychosis and reacts to his phantom versions of Nick fury and Carol Danvers as real. Wolverine uses the confusion to break out of the tank and faces Psylocke. A little later, Psylocke presents Wolverine's lifeless body to the Mandarin, announcing that he is dead and causing an enraged Jubilee cuts loose with her powers. Psylocke, who has her old personality back, attacks the Mandarin. Severely outmatched, she orders Jubilee to flee with Wolverine. Before the Mandarin can kill her, Wolverine threatens him with his claws and they reach a compromise. Later, the three X-Men leave Hong Kong. Jubilee is still distrustful of Betsy, as Betsy is of herself. Wolverine trusts her because he has no choice. On Muir Isle, Forge has installed a defense system and Banshee is still unsettled by the wrongness he senses. Lorna Dane has been imprisoned by Legion. Thanks to her negative influence, his evil, Jack Wayne persona is now dominant and intends to make the entire island his personal playground. Brodie's View:Other than a bit at the end, dealing with the Shadow King's growing (Yet still unknown, but you can't blame Banshee or Forge, as neither have had direct dealings with the Shadow King themselves, so, they wouldn't necessarily suspect his involvement) influence on Muir Island, (Which is increased by Legion taking control of Polaris, with neither realizing that they are allowing TSK to increase his control even more over the Muir Island residents) most of this issue is dedicated to ending the three part story with Psylocke, Wolverine, Jubilee, and the Mandarin, who after gaining control over Psylocke, hopes to do the same with the other two Ex X-Men (Well, one former Ex X-Man, and one future, but, you get the point. ). The Mandarin uses Psylocke (In addition to the psychic that brainwashed her) to try and seduce and brainwash Logan, but that just ends up backfiring, as his crazy winds up being the key that ends up not only freeing him, but Psylocke from the Hand/Mandarin's brainwashing (As Psylocke is forced to fight the phantom Carol Danvers and Nick Fury that Logan has been seeing). Meanwhile, the Mandarin foolishly attempts to make a proper "Lady" out of Jubilee, only to get nothing but attitude (and the greatest use of her powers we've seen to date, which ends up being quite explosive) in the exchange. I say foolish, because had he been keeping his eyes on the prize (Wolverine), rather than Jubilee, he wouldn't have ended up losing everything, as he does by the end of this issue, as the three mutants team up against him. Also by the end of this issue, we have a little faction formed with Wolverine, Jubilee, and Psylocke, that end up having their own adventures before being drawn (like the rest of the X-People, other than Excalibur) into the events of the X-TINCTION AGENDA, which ends up causing a new team of X-Men to reform, but that's still a good 10 or so issues away. However, this is a good point to say that with this issue, we are pretty much left with a couple of weeks (Barring any unforeseen breaks) from being done with this run, and I will say that we end pretty damn strong. I think you can tell what some of the big stories are going to be leading up to this end, but there will also be a lot of surprises along the way. In the next issue, we see the continuing of some story threads that have been going for a while, along with the return of some recent, but probably forgotten in the midst of everything else going on, threats that are looking for payback on the X-Men, among others. We will also see two more former X-Men (of the group that went through the Siege Perilous) show up with no memories of who they were before, but each finding themselves in familiar settings. These will basically be the stories for the next 4-5 issues, with some cutaway stories (In which we will see the last few Marc Silvestri drawn issues), and then we switch focus again to another former X-Man who is on their own, but running from similar threats, which leads to another future X-Man being introduced. GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 26, 2017 22:32:26 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #259"Dream a Little Dream"Cover Date: March, 1990 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Marc Silvestri Featured Characters: Colossus/Peter Nicholas, Dazzler/Ali Blaire, Muir Island X-Men: Banshee, Forge, & Moria MacTaggert Villain/s: Masque, Legion, The Shadow King (Behind the Scenes), Pipeline, Genegineer (David Moreau), Genoshan Magistrates: Chief Magistrate Anderson, Reg, Chaz, Other unnamed Magistrates, Eric Beale Guest Stars: Callisto, Mutant 4817 (Jenny Ransome), Phillip Moreau, Guido/Strong Guy Official Plot: Phil Moreau and Jenny Ransome, fugitives from Genosha, are about to be kidnapped by Genoshan Magistrates, when an amnesiac Colossus suddenly shows up and intervenes on their behalf. Grateful, Phil and Jenny offer him a place to stay. In Hollywood, an equally amnesiac Dazzler awakes on the property of her former boss, Lila Cheney, and is taken in by Lila’s guard Guido. Trying to figure out who she is, Alison goes clubbing and meets Fred Stanachek, a young man whom she once helped and who currently holds the rights to her aborted movie. Fred offers to make her a star, while elsewhere Eric Beale schemes to kill her. On Muir Island, Moira has David Haller use Cerebro to find the X-Men or her missing bodyguard, Callisto. David fails but, above him, a spirit image of Amahl Farouk appears, uttering the words ‘Storm’ and ‘Cairo.’ Callisto, in the meantime, is a prisoner of Masque, who promises that he’ll break her. A short time later, a gorgeous woman, who Peter has seen on several ads, runs into him and Peter notices she’s afraid of something. In the meantime, the Genoshan Genegineer and Chief Magistrate decide to get the fugitives back at any cost. Brodie's View:Marc Silvestri is Back(!!!) (And for his last little run on the book, before moving on to the WOLVERINE solo book, and then on to IMAGE), and he's brought a couple of lost X-Men (and a shit ton of plots) with him. The most important to this issue, obviously, is Colossus, who has come out of the Siege Perilous without any memory of being a mutant or an X-Man, and has taken up as an artist, playing sub-consciously off of his artistic talent we've seen displayed throughout the run. However, how he is drawn back into the plot is by coming to the aid of Phil Moreau and Jenny Ransome, who are on the run from Genoshan Magistrates, who want the both of them back in Genosha (Phil, because he's the son of the Genegineer/President of the island country, Jenny, because she's one of the mutant slaves they've used to make their island a paradise....well, as long as you're human). Of course, this doesn't make the Genoshian government very happy, and we'll see them try several times to get their "property" back. This will end up building up to the X-TINCTION AGENDA Story-line, which will start in #270. Going back to more current events, though, we also see Dazzler wash up on the shore of the beachfront property owned by her former employer, Lila Cheney, and also without any memory of her past. However, at least in her case, there are plenty of people who do know who she is, and either want to try and restart her career, or in one man's case, kill her. However, we'll see that story continue in the next issue, so, I won't go into too much detail on that. We also see Callisto, who has been a prisoner of her former Morlock cohort, Masque, who is promising revenge on his former Leader in a most delicious way. We'll see that play out over the next few issues as well. Finally, we get more from Muir Island, as Banshee, Forge, and Moria MacTaggert use Cerebro (and foolishly, Legion, who one would think would be a bad idea after the events of #254-5) to try and find the other X-Men. What they get are hints towards Storm, who is currently a child and on the run from the Shadow King in Cairo. Of course, the interesting this is that TSK is also increasing his influence on Muir Island itself, using Polaris and Legion as conduits of a sort. Luckily for Banshee and Forge, in the next few issues, they'll take their investigation on the road, sparing them from being ensnared in in the Shadow King's influence, and we'll see a bit of that next issue, as well as continuing other storylines started in this issue. However, the main focus is going to be on Dazzler, who might end up making a career comeback, if she isn't killed by a stalker and a face from her past first. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 27, 2017 0:40:53 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #260"Star 90"Cover Date: April, 1990 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Marc Silvestri Featured Characters: Colossus/Peter Nicholas, Dazzler/Ali Blaire, Muir Island X-Men: Banshee, Forge, & Moria MacTaggert Villain/s: Fenris, Eric Beale Guest Stars: Callisto, Mutant 4817 (Jenny Ransome), Phillip Moreau, Guido/Strong Guy, Jubilee Official Plot: After a crazed Eric Beale’s attempt on her life, Dazzler agrees to Fred Stanachek's plan to promote Dazzler – the movie, to draw the killer out. She wonders though if this is truly what she wants out of life. Shortly before the premiere, in a careless moment, Ali is abducted and beaten unconscious. Later, almost powerless, she faces a drug-crazed Beale, intending to kill her. Using what’s left of her power to influence her mood, she actually calms and helps Beale and realizes that helping people is what she wants of life. Colossus gets in a fight with thugs wearing X-Men masks, who are chasing his mystery woman and, once again, the woman disappears. Banshee and Forge are on Kyrinos, intending to secretly fly to Cairo. After seeing a magazine with Dazzler on the cover, Banshee decides to look her up first. This turns out to be fortunate, as their plane is destroyed by Fenris. Brodie's View:Once again, we get rotating plots, but with the main focus this time being Dazzler, as a face from her past wants her dead! ( ) Of course, like all things Dazzler, this story probably means a lot more if one had read her solo book. I didn't really, so, this part of the story is just OK, as she and her kinda sorta agent, Fred Stanachek, go through the motions of promoting the long lost Dazzler movie, in order to bring her stalker, Eric Beale, out of hiding, which eventually works, as he ends up kidnapping her. However, once he has her at his mercy, she is able to use her powers to calm Beale's mood, and talks him out of killing her. Dazzler's "movie" also ends up saving Banshee and Forge's life, as their discovering that Dazzler has shown up in California convinces them not to go to Cario immediately to go looking for Storm, which is fortunate, as upon takeoff, their plane is blown up by those two Von Strucker brats, Fenris, who have been keeping an eye on the movements and actions of the X-Men, even though they haven't been direct threats since #200. However, the pilot of the plane miraculously survives the explosion (barely), and will soon be offered a new lease on life.....by Donald Pierce. We also get a bit more plot development on the Colossus (Or rather "starving artist," Peter Nicholas) front, as he has fallen for a beautiful mystery woman he keeps seeing, but who seems to be in danger. As we'll soon discover, that's very true, but this beautiful woman isn't exactly what or who she seems to be. We'll deal more with some of these plot points in the next issue, but the main story will go back to the Wolverine, Jubilee, and Psylocke trio, and their adventures with a group of people from Logan's past, not to mention Marc Silvestri's last issue on the book (Well, other than doing a bit in the jam session that is #273) before moving on to the WOLVERINE solo book. GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 27, 2017 1:52:31 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #261"Harriers Hunt"Cover Date: May, 1990 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Marc Silvestri Featured Characters: Wolverine, Jubilee, Psylocke, Muir Island X-Men: Banshee, Forge, & Moria MacTaggert Villain/s: The Reavers (Donald Pierce, Lady Deathstrike, Cylla Markham), The Morlocks (Bliss, Bouncer, others) Guest Stars: Jean Grey, Jessica Drew, Lindsay McCabe, The Harriers Official Plot: In a Madripoor restaurant, Wolverine, Psylocke and Jubilee are attacked by Harry Malone’s Harriers, who have taken on a commission to abduct Wolverine. With their friend gone, Psylocke and Jubilee, despite their mutual dislike, figure out a plan to find and rescue Wolverine. As the battle between the two groups comes to a standstill, Wolverine reveals that he had hired the Harriers in order to see how well Psylocke and Jubilee could work together. In the meantime, Banshee and Forge have reached the X-Mansion, where they witness Jean Grey being kidnapped by a bunch of monstrous-looking creatures. In an Athens hospital, Donald Pierce makes the horribly injured Cylla Markham an offer she cannot refuse. Brodie's View:Marc Silvestri makes his final artistic appearance (well, other than a page or two in #273) here, and honestly, it's kind of sad that it's for kind of a Meh issue. Not terrible, as it does further a few plots, and allows Jubilee and Psylocke, who have a kind of mutual dislike/distrust for each other, the chance to have to work together as a team to rescue Wolverine from the group of Mercenaries known as The Harriers (They make their one and only appearance here, so, I'm not going to bother naming all of them), not knowing that Wolverine basically hired them to kidnap him in order to force the two X-Women to get along with each other and work as a team. Pretty cut and dried, so, other than giving the two some bonding time, not overly important in the scheme of things. We do get a little more important (at least for the near future) developments in the side stories, as we see Banshee and Forge visit the still damaged X-Mansion (from the events of INFERNO), only to find Jean Grey also visiting. They then witness her get abducted by a bunch of monstrous looking versions of some of the X-Characters. This obviously leads back to stuff involving the Morlock, Masque, and the remnants of that group that has fallen under his sway, and Callisto, among others, but we'll see more of that play out over the next few issues. We also see a follow up to last issue's assassination attempt (On Banshee and Forge, by Fenris), as the pilot of the plane that was blown up ends up living (But barely, and with lost limbs), and at the mercy of Donald Pierce, who offers her a new lease on life, as one of his Reavers, which she whole heartedly accepts. And yeah, that's pretty much it on this one. Once again, not the greatest issue to go out on for Silvestri, who probably should have ended his run during the whole "Battle on Muir Island" thing, as that would have been a much better issue to go out on. We get a bunch of fill in artists for the next few issues, which will concern this whole Masque thing, as well as the Genoshian government trying to get back Phil Moreau and Jenny Ransome. Then we jump over to Storm/Ororo, who is on the run from not only The Shadow King, but Nanny and her Orphan Maker as well, who wants to finish what they started in #248. Of course, this is a path that ends up leading her across the path of a fellow thief, and a character that will end up becoming one of the more popular 90's X-Men to join the team, Mes Amis. GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 27, 2017 21:25:42 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #262"Scary Monsters"Cover Date: June, 1990 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Kieron Dwyer Featured Characters: Jean Grey, Colossus/Peter Nicholas, Muir Island X-Men: Banshee & Forge Villain/s: The Reavers (Donald Pierce, Lady Deathstrike, Pretty Boy, Bonebreaker, Cole, Reece, and Mason), The Morlocks (Masque, Bliss, Bouncer, Morlocks made to look like Past X-Men), Genoshan Foreign Minister, Chief Magistrate Anderson, and Pipeline Guest Stars: Callisto, Val Cooper, Jenny Ransome, and Philip Moreau Official Plot: Banshee and Forge enter the Morlock tunnels to save an unconscious Jean Grey from the monsters that abducted her. Later, the three of them compare notes. Jean learns of the events that took place on Muir Isle and reveals that she knows for a fact that the X-Men are alive. They decide to relocate to X-Factor’s ship but, once Jean and Banshee step out of the room, they are teleported away. Using a scanner, Forge follows them into the Morlock tunnels. Recalling his own past in the Vietnam War, he comes across and fights several monsters with X-Men faces. To save Banshee, he is even forced to kill a Storm look-alike. Jean assures him that was not Storm, and he sees that both Jean and Sean have been horribly altered. In Washington, the chief of staff and Valerie Cooper have a clandestine meeting with Genoshan officials, who demand Jenny Ransome and Phil Moreau be handed over to them. They also inform Cooper that they intend to punish the X-Men for their attack on Genosha. Val and Seward worry that this might lead to a war – a war the USA wouldn’t necessarily win. In Soho, artist Peter Nicholas runs across the mystery woman again. She finally appears in his loft, joined by the Morlock Masque, who teleports the three of them away. In California, the Reavers destroy a faculty owned by Emma Frost, the Hellfire Club’s White Queen. They intend to destroy as much property of Emma’s as they have to, until they finally catch up with her. Brodie's View:The next few issues see a crap ton of villains and plots, as there are quite a few stories set up to deal with, which still leaves a lot of villains and plots remaining. This issue mainly deals with Masque's rogue Morlock group, which under the orders of their leader, are making quite a few power plays against various X-Characters. The most obvious one deals with Forge, Banshee, and Jean Grey, the last of which is one of the Morlock's main targets, however, they don't realize the X-Version of a buddy cop team that has formed in recent issues, Forge and Banshee, are hot on their trails. They wind up saving Jean, but soon find themselves right back in the Morlock tunnels, and to make things worse, by the end of the issue, both Jean and Banshee have been mutated by Masque's touch (Jean has tentacle arms, and Banshee has no mouth), leaving Forge as the only completely functional member of the trio. Masque also goes after the former Colossus, starving artist, Peter Nicholas, who has been following a beautiful woman (Who turns out to be Masque's former Morlock leader, Callisto, who has been transformed into a super model attractive woman), neither knowing that she has been used as bait to snare the amnesiac X-Man, which Masque does. Speaking of Peter, the two characters who have been aiding him, characters who are on the run in their own way (Jenny Ransome and Phil Moreau) from the Genoshian government, are the subject of a negotiation/threat between that government and the U.S government (Represented by Val Cooper), as the Genoshians state their plan to make the X-Men pay for what they did in their country back in the #230's, in addition to wanting the two youngsters back. The negotiations don't go well, as Cooper worries that this could lead to a Genoshian invasion of the United States, and with having mutant slaves at their disposal, it's a war that could be quite costly. Of course, we'll see this eventually happen (at least on a small scale), but that won't happen until #270, and will be the spark that sets off the X-TINCTION AGENDA Crossover between UNCANNY, the NEW MUTANTS, and X-FACTOR. However, back to more current affairs, we also see The Reavers targeting Donald Pierce's (and Cole, Reese, and Macon) old cohort/employers, The Hellfire Club, and more specifically, The White Queen, as the cyborgs destroy a faculty she owns, perhaps building to a showdown between the two organizations in the future (Which, I'll be honest and say never really happens, as once Claremont leaves the book, the new creative team ends up creating a new threat that takes out The Reavers and The White Queen (And her Hellions) in one issue, thereby, just kind of ending that whole deal in one fell swoop. I won't go into too much detail on that, as I won't be doing those issues, but I will say that this is one plot point that gets set up, but never fully resolved). That being said, the next couple issues will deal with settling this whole deal with Masque's Morlocks, as well as building up things more on the Genoshian government vs. the X-Teams issue, and then we'll be going fully back to the threat of The Shadow King (Among other threats). GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 28, 2017 2:06:53 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #263"The Lower Depths"Cover Date: Early July, 1990 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Bill Jasska Featured Characters: Jean Grey, Colossus/Peter Nicholas, Muir Island X-Men: Banshee & Forge Villain/s: The Morlocks (Masque, Bliss, Bouncer, Morlocks made to look like Past X-Men/New Mutants) Guest Stars: Callisto, Val Cooper, & Col. Alexei Vazhin Official Plot: Forge and the transformed Jean Grey and Banshee are still in the Morlock Tunnels. Thanks to Forge’s devices, they learn that Peter Nicholas and Callisto have been abducted by Masque and are to be hunted. They decide to help. All the while, Forge has flashbacks to his last mission in Vietnam. Peter makes Callisto see that her exterior doesn’t have to decide who she is as a person, moments before they are attacked. As Masque stabs Peter, he automatically turns into Colossus again. Together with Forge, Jean and Banshee make a run for it, but are almost taken over by Masque, until Colossus stops him. They bluff that they are going to kill him so convincingly that Masque lets them go. Outside the Tunnels, Forge restores Banshee and Jean to their true forms, thanks to the cell samples he took earlier. Later, he says good-bye to the friends he lost in the war, happy that this time he managed to get his friends out. In Washington, Val Cooper has a clandestine meeting with Soviet spy Alexei Vazhin, who is worried about new mutant factions and especially one he cannot yet name. Brodie's View:In this issue, the whole Genoshian thing is put on hold for a second, while the whole issue of Masque and his rogue group of Morlocks is dealt with. Of course, after the events of last issue, where Masque mutated Jean Grey and Banshee (He gave her tentacle arms and removed Banshee's mouth ) and kidnapped Colossus (Who is still amnesiac artist, Peter Nicholas, although, at one point, he assumes his metal form upon being attacked, although, he assumes it's Masque's doing) and Callisto (Who has been mutated into looking like a hot super model, which seems to be par for the course for X-Women in this period ), the issue of Masque kind of HAS to be dealt with, and deal with it our makeshift team of X-Men (Forge, Banshee, Jean, and kinda sorta Colossus) does. Meanwhile, Forge is dealing with his past in Vietnam (Yet again), as he keeps flashing back to his past while present events are happening. Finally, the good guys are able to take care of Masque, and Forge is both able to deal with his past, while also returning Jean and Banshee to normal. Meanwhile, Peter gets to bang hot Callisto for a while, although they both will also be involved with next issue's issues as well, and the somewhat group deals with the other current threat, the Genoshians, who are still after Phil Moreau and Jenny Ransome. However, before we talk more about next issue, I have to mention that we get to see Russian Agent (And Claremont mainstay) Alexei Vazhin, who meets with Val Cooper (the U.S mutant liaison of sorts), and warns her about threats both current and future. Of course, she'll be dealing with those threats a lot sooner than she thinks, like, in a couple of issues from now. As for the next issue, as I said previously, we'll be wrapping up with the Genoshians for a few issues, and we'll get a blue and furry guest star on top of everything else (And, no...it's not Nightcrawler ). Then we move back to Cario, as we rejoin Storm on the run from both Nanny (and her Orphan Maker) and the Shadow King. Luckily, she'll soon meet an ally with an Ace up his sleeve....a few of them, actually. GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 28, 2017 2:13:50 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #264"Hot Pursuit"Cover Date: Late July, 1990 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Mike Collins Featured Characters: Muir Island X-Men: Banshee & Forge Villain/s: Genoshian Magistrates, The Genoshian Press Gang (Pipeline, Wipeout, Hankshaw, Punchout Guest Stars: Jean Grey, Beast, Colossus/Peter Nicholas, Callisto, Val Cooper, Detective Charlotte Jones, Philip Moreau, Jenny Ransome, & Col. Alexei Vazhin Official Plot: Forge is hunted by Genoshan Magistrates and chances upon officers Charlotte Jones and Murphy. In the ensuing fight, Murphy is killed by the Magistrates, and Forge and Jones are fighting for their lives. In the meantime, another team of Magistrates, as well as the Genoshan Press Gang, are set to attack X-Factor’s headquarters to abduct the fugitives Jenny Ransome and Phil Moreau. Forge and Jones manage to beat their attackers and lend a hand in time to save the others. Unfortunately, they learn that the Genoshans have struck a deal with the US government and will escape scot-free. Jenny and Phil decide to leave and start their civil rights campaign. Peter Nicholas leaves as well, despite Jean’s doubts that, as Colossus, he should be with them. In Washington, Val Cooper has another clandestine meeting with Russian super-spy Alexi Vazhin, who warns her of another big and dangerous player in the mutant world – the Shadow King – who may well be after her. Brodie's View:We settle up the last bit (for the moment) of plot threads that have been running through the last few issues, while doing more hinting at the huge overall plot thread that has been building for the last ten issues. With Masque and the Morlocks out of the way, we still have the Genoshian government situation to deal with, and they strike with a vengeance, killing Charlotte Jones' (An X-Factor supporting character, as she is dating Archangel) partner, when they come to the aid of Forge (Who is being hunted by the Genoshian Magistrates). They also attack X-Factor headquarters to get Phillip Moreau and Jenny Ransome (who they've been majorly after since the events of #235-8), and wind up facing Jean Grey, Beast, Colossus, Callisto, and Banshee, who along with Forge and Jones, are able to defeat the Genoshians. However, they soon find out that the Genoshians have the Doctor Doom diplomatic immunity deal in place with the U.S Government (which will become even more of an issue come #270), and escape scot-free from the various X-People. Speaking of the U.S Government, we also see Val Cooper meeting with Alexi Vazhin again, who warns her about The Shadow King. Of course, we'll see that this warning is pretty much useless next issue, as Cooper will fall under the sway of TSK, or appear to at the very least. Also in the next issue, we'll leave Forge and Banshee behind for a while, and instead see the transformed child, Ororo (Storm), who is on the run from both Nanny (and her Orphan Maker), and The Shadow King, both of which want her for very different purposes. This will eventually lead to Ororo making some discoveries about what happened to her back in #248, as well as introducing her (and us) to a new mutant who will go on to become one of the most popular 90's additions to the team. Then in #267-8, we'll finally leave these OK/crappy artist fill ins behind, and the art will get super kick ass as we approach the end of this run. GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 28, 2017 21:21:54 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #265"Storm"Cover Date: Early August, 1990 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Bill Jaaska Featured Characters: Ororo/Storm Villain/s: Nanny, Orphan Maker, Jacob Reisz/The Shadow King, Lian Shen (Controlled by TSK), Hounds (Controlled by TSK) Guest Stars: Val Cooper Official Plot: As an amnesiac preteen with little, undependable powers, Ororo has reverted to her thieving ways, chased by both Nanny and the Shadow King. The evil telepath eventually sets up a trap in a mansion and Ororo walks right into it. In the meantime, the Shadow King has also taken possession of Val Cooper and ordered her to kill Mystique. Somewhere in space, a warrior race falls to the mysterious Shi’ar champion. Brodie's View:So we leave Forge and Banshee (and others) for now, and in this issue, we get our action confined to two locations, which are about as far apart as one could imagine. We briefly get to see a bit in space (Yay! ), as an alien race has fallen to a human telepath (Hmmm, I wonder who that could be? ) that is the considered champion of the Shi'ar empire, which has seemingly grown tyrannical since we last saw them (Way back in #203). This is a plot thread that will be picked up after the X-TINCTION AGENDA, so, we won't talk too much about it now, but I will say that it leads to something pretty kick ass, and will be one more major step towards re-establishing the status quo by the time we come to the end of this run. Instead, let's talk about the main focus of this issue, which is the child Ororo, who is, of course, the former X-Man, Storm, who has gone to the thieving life she led before she became an adult and a "Goddess" to her people. However, in addition to staying one step ahead of the authorities for her criminal activities, she also has to stay one step away from The Shadow King (and in addition, Nanny and her Orphan Maker, who wish to complete the process attempted in #248, when she was transformed into a child in the first place), who also, as we see, has taken control of Val Cooper, who obviously didn't listen to the warnings given to her by Col. Alexei Vazhin over the last few issues very closely. The Shadow King orders her to kill Mystique, who TSK has a vendetta against for some past transgression we never get the full details on. However, his more pressing concern, and who he appears to trap at the end of this issue, is Storm, who is tricked into robbing an old house, little realizing that it was all a ploy for TSK and a group of people he has transformed into Hounds (We'll actually see a quite a few of these type of "Hounds" over the next few days, between this whole story and the upcoming series of Annuals we'll be discussing) to catch her, and allow TSK to get his ultimate revenge on her for helping The New Mutants defeat and seemingly destroy him back in their book a few years ago (among other things). We also find out in this issue that Storm still doesn't remember her past as an X-Man, although, subconsciously, she does, as she has dreams and visions of her past and present mixing together in disturbing ways. We also see her powers manifesting in interesting ways, which she doesn't understand, as she doesn't realize that she's a mutant, but she takes advantage of her abilities to control and glide on the wind as ways to escape the authorities. However, she'll need more than that to escape The Shadow King and his Hounds. Luckily, she'll meet a fellow thief in the issues I'll review later tonight; one who will definitely be an asset against those following her. I won't say who this is now, but I'm sure from all the hints I've given, you can figure out who I'm referring to, and I will add to that by saying that this next issue used to be quite a pricey one to get in the 90's, as, like I said, this character went on to be a very popular one. We'll see these two fend off the various threats chasing Ororo, and then the two will make their way towards the other X-Characters, as we'll move on to a series of Annuals that deal with the DAYS OF FUTURE PAST story-line, and certain characters that played a big part in that groundbreaking story, which will end up drawing in not only the X-Men, but X-Factor, the New Mutants, The Fantastic Four, and a couple members of Excalibur as well. GRADE: B+
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