Uncanny X-Men #172

"Scarlet in Glory"
Published August 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Paul SmithInker: Bob Wiacek

What's Going On?
The X-Men arrive in Japan to celebrate Wolverine's wedding in a few days time.  Wolverine is rude to his new teammate, Rogue, because of his friendship to her former victim, Carol Danvers.  Nonetheless, Wolverine's fiance, Mariko, welcomes Rogue without reserve.  Meanwhile, the Silver Samurai is observing the team's reunion from across the street, deciding when he should attack.  However, Yukio is watching Silver Samurai watch Logan and friends; she decides to attack the Samurai on the rooftops.  This gets Wolverine's attention (through his enhanced hearing, naturally), and the X-Men join the fray.  In the ensuing scuffle, Silver Samurai teleports away and Yukio meets Storm briefly.


After all that excitement, Mariko quietly prepares for a meeting with the Silver Samurai; it turns out that he is her half-brother and he wants to be the head of the Clan Yoshida.  While Mariko sneaks away for the meeting (not realizing that her chauffeur for the evening has been replaced by Yukio), Viper infiltrates Mariko's home and poisons the X-Men's tea, felling the entire group, except for Storm (who was too busy talking to drink hers).  At the meeting-place, Yukio takes Mariko's place and tells off the Samurai; it is apparent that he will kill Mariko if she does not abdicate her family's organization to him.  Yukio takes on Silver Samurai while Storm (who apparently also drove with Yukio and Mariko to the meeting place) takes care of Viper; after knocking Viper out, Storm attempts to help subdue the Silver Samurai, but she loses control of her lightning powers and sets the entire warehouse on fire.  The Samurai escapes with Viper (after promising revenge against Storm and Yukio, naturally) and Yukio escapes with Storm.

The issue ends with Wolverine recovering enough (but far from completely) to leave the hospital, determined to take the fight to the Silver Samurai and Viper.  Rogue offers to help, since she also healed quickly; Wolverine initially refuses her help because he hates her, but he eventually relents, acknowledging that he will need help.

Sub-Plots, oh the sub-Plots!
- Wolverine does not like the fact that Rogue has joined the X-Men.  Storm states that Rogue is a member of the team, but does not go so far as to actually defend her.  Wolverine thinks to himself that he will "never forget.  Or forgive" what she did to Carol Danvers.  Let's see how often he mentions Carol and Rogue after this storyline.

- Storm's control over the elements has been increasingly poor of late.  This is the worst display of that loss of control to date, although her understanding of the problem remains opaque to the audience; she explains that control of her powers requires inner peace, and implies that recent emotional stress (caused by what?) has led to her losing control of her powers.  She then follows it up with "the death of my soul is infinitely preferable to the alternative" explanation for her loss of control.  What the alternative is is left unexplained.


- The Oyabun, Nabatone Yokuse, has a panel where he observes Storm struggling with her powers, trying to not kill the Silver Samurai with lightning, and thinks to himself: "Splendid, mutant.  You have done precisely what I expected of you.  My trap is sprung --- your fate is sealed."  The Oyabun is not seen after the warehouse fire, so what this means is left unexplained.

- The fire at the warehouse takes the shape of a Phoenix.  Yukio and Storm witness this, so it is apparently not a hallucination...or is it?

- In Alaska, Havok confronts Cyclops as Scott is looking into the personnel file for Madelyne Pryor.  Alex argues that Scott is being self destructive and that he should take Madelyne's similarities to Jean Grey as coincidences.  Scott cannot let that go, though; he has discovered that Madelyne survived a plane crash at the exact same moment Jean grey died on the moon.

Writing!
This issue is basically two issues worth of plot squeezed into one.  I'm not saying that because so much happens in this issue (although it is a busy one); I am saying that because so many parts of this issue feel like they are missing a few pages of explanation.  Want proof?

•  - The Samurai is about to attack the X-Men at the beginning of the issue, but as soon as he comes face-to-face with them, he teleports away without fighting any of them.  So, the whole point of him spying on the X-Men  and preparing to attack them was...what?  You can argue that this is evidence that the Silver Samurai is cowardly, but that has never been a character trait for him.
• - Between scenes, Yukio gets Storm to help her protect Mariko.  How does she do this?  By calling Storm on the phone.  Of course, this happens after the X-Men have been poisoned; since the team winds up at the hospital, it is natural to assume that Storm accompanied the team there.  So where did Yukio and Mariko (neither of whom appeared to know about the poisoning) reach her? 
• - Mariko, who purposely avoided involving the X-Men in her meeting with Silver Samurai, agreed to let Storm and Yukio come with.  She even agreed to let Yukio pose as her!  You can argue that they did this for Mariko's protection, but if that was their purpose, then they probably should not have left her in the car, right outside the meeting spot.  And what was Storm's part in the plan?  To protect Mariko?  Again, that location is a poor choice.  If the meeting was important enough for Mariko to show up to, but dangerous enough to warrant protection, then why not simply have Yukio and Storm accompany her to the meeting openly, as bodyguards?  More to the point, what changed Mariko's mind to change from having zero protection to having a doppelganger and a fantastically powered mutant protecting her?

Despite all of those problems, this issue does effectively set the stage for a trio of duos next issue.  Wolverine and Rogue will go after Silver Samurai; Silver Samurai and Viper will go after Mariko; and Storm and Yukio will presumably do something, because they didn't seem too injured after the fire.

Art!
Paul Smith is still going strong with this issue.  I think my favorite scene is Storm's lightning freak-out:

Keep in mind that Magma has not been introduced yet in the pages of The New Mutants, so this was a pretty unique visual at the time.  As much as I enjoy flashy scenes like this one, Smith is at his best when he's being subtle.  Check out the unspoken connection he establishes between Mariko and Rogue:

They're both being painfully polite and are probably nervous (for different reasons), and this shot makes the Mariko's courtesy toward Rogue feel so much more natural than if it was just established in the dialogue.

Here's another subtle background scene:

A few panels before, this scene was drawn from a perspective set to Rogue's right; in that panel, it was clear where everyone was sitting, but the lack of perspective hid how far away Rogue was from the rest of the team.  Here is a nice reminder of her outsider status within this group of outsiders.

Smith also displays some of the storytelling fundamentals that he is so good at.  Here is some sequential art that does a very effective job telling a story:

Paul Smith has always shown strong storytelling skills (particularly in Storm's battle with Callisto back in Uncanny #170), so this is no surprise.  Still, it's a treat to read.

This issue is not flawless, though.  I still can't make out what the "standard" look for Yukio is supposed to be.  It must be tough adapting a character that has only been drawn by one artist (Frank Miller) with a very distinct style.  Still, there are some panels where she definitely looks like a grotesque elf, rather than a person.

Restrospectively Amusing:
- This story (published in August 1983) takes place right after New Mutants (Vol. 1) #5-7 (which will finish up in September 1983), and ten weeks after Wolverine (Vol. 1) #4 (which was published in December 1982).  The balance between comic publishing schedules and the demand for continuity sometimes makes for odd timetables.

- Kitty's naivety really comes and goes.  I love how surprised she was that Wolverine killed Lord Shingen.  Keep in mind that this is only a few issues after Wolverine was going to murder his teammates to keep them from turning into the Brood.

- Rogue explains that she healed fast from the poison due to being "half-alien."  This is apparently a reference to how she absorbed the memories and abilities of Carol Danvers, but it is (as far as I know) the only time she ever claims to have absorbed Carol's part-alien physiology.  I'm going to go ahead and say that is explanation is blatantly incorrect.  If you're feeling generous, you can argue that Rogue misspoke and meant to say that her nigh-invulnerability (which she absorbed from Carol) makes her resistant to toxins, which makes a little more sense.  Maybe Rogue just isn't too bright; if she had a clear understanding of her powers, she wouldn't need the X-Men's help, would she?

- Yukio still uses "Gotcha" as a catch phrase.  *Sigh*

- The Silver Samurai swears to kill Storm and Yukio, as soon as he kills Mariko.  To the best of my knowledge, this is never referred to again.

- After several months without one, the fan letters page returns --- with Kitty Pryde acting as a guest host, answering that month's mail.  The first letter (which may have been a prank --- it's hard to tell in retrospect) is from Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter, threatening to become a "killer vampire pervert" if the letter page is not reinstated.  Um.  What?

Worth Noting:
- This is the first time Silver Samurai and Wolverine are portrayed as enemies.  This is a big deal for Samurai, as this relationship more or less defines his character from now on.

Everything 80s:
- The back cover is an ad for the Intellivision version of Frogger, which has "all the enhanced, colorful graphics Intellivision is famous for."  Man, the past was awful.

Daredevils #7

"Rough Justice"
Published July 1983
Writer: Alan Moore
Penciller: Alan Davis
Inker: Alan Davis

What's Going On?
At her trial, Saturnyne explains what happened on Jim Jaspers' world (Earth 238), and justifies her abandonment of Captain Britain in that warped reality; she saw that the Fury was indestructible, so she retreated and saved as many lives as she could.  This explanation is not good enough for the judge, Mandragon, though.  Unfortunately for Saturnyne, he has prevented her Avant Guard underlings from testifying.  That leaves only Captain Britain to corroborate her story; Mandragon discredits him by suggesting that Saturnyne and CapBrit are lovers and that he will lie to save her life.  Predictably, this leads to Captain Britain punching things, and the trial gets out of hand from there; Mandragon sentences Saturnyne to death, while the Special Executive decide to help Captain Britain brawl with the bailiffs.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- We are finally treated to the story behind the mysterious woman from issue #2.  Her name is Linda, and she is from Earth 238, like Jim Jaspers and the Fury; she was that world's version of Captain Britain.  During a nightmare/flashback sequence, we see the Fury massacre her world's superheroes in quick succession.  Linda was spared at the last moment by her boyfriend, who managed to transport her to our reality.  I suppose watching one Captain Britain escape him at the last moment might help explain why the Fury has such a boner for hunting and killing our CapBrit.

- Captain Britain's reality (Earth 616) has a Jim Jaspers in it, and he is calling for superhero legislation, just like his counterpart did on Earth 238.  Uh-oh.

Writing!
The further I get into this run, the more I find myself enjoying it.  This is another issue that could have felt like the plot was only inching along, but it is just varied (and fun) enough for that not to matter.  At a glance, the intentionally one-sided trial of Sautrnyne is not very interesting, but balancing that obviousness with a massive brawl and the reluctance of Wardog to participate was a nice choice. 

Even better was the wholesale slaughter of the superheroes of Earth 238.  These throwaway characters could have just been analogues to more famous characters (and, okay, some of them definitely were), but they were colorful and odd.  Something about those characters --- particularly the robot, Andy --- just makes me smile and piques my interest.  Too bad they're all dead now.


Art!
Given how good Alan Moore is with facial expressions and comedic moments, I sometimes forget how effective his action scenes can be.  The Fury's attack really gives him an opportunity to flex his violent creativity.  Here we have three different deaths on a single page, all different from each other:

  

I like Davis' choice to keep the figure of the Fury ill-defined in this sequence.  The character has been seen clearly a number of times by now, but shrouding it in these panels places the focus more on the horror of the deaths than the empowerment of the killer.  It may seem like a small choice, but I think it pays huge dividends.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- In case you were wondering, the trial announcer was a reference to British television host Terry Wogan.  I don't know much about him, but let's just assume he's analogous to Dick Clark or Ryan Seacrest, which makes him being squished by a giant robot foot far more amusing.

- I love how cowardly Linda is as her dimension's Captain Britain.  I imagine that this is to give her a redemption character arc, but she is hilariously useless and whiny in this issue's flashback.

Worth Noting:
- This issue slyly references Marvelman (which Alan Moore was writing at the time, and which Alan Davis was drawing around this period), which was under legal dispute with Marvel Comics at the time, regarding the character's name.  This is the first time the character was referred to as "Miracleman."

And while he is not specifically named, Linda's boyfriend, Rick, is definitely wearing Kid Miracleman's costume. 

- This is the first reference to the Marvel Universe as "Earth 616."  It's not a huge deal, since it is primarily used online to differentiate between alternate reality versions of characters and in comics where the characters visit multiple realities, but I've always liked the term.  I just think it's clever to give the "prime" reality a number that implies that it is inconsequential in the larger scheme of things.  I suppose it was originally just intended for the Marvel UK Universe, but when that started being assimilated into American comics (mostly by Chris Claremont), I guess it was broadened to mean all of Marvel comics.

A Look Back on Bob McLeod's New Mutants Run

Modern commission via http://www.bobmcleod.com/

As co-creator of the New Mutants with Chris Claremont, Bob McLeod played an important part in the X-Men mythos.  If nothing else, he helped design Cannonball, Karma, Psyche, Sunspot, and Wolfsbane; collectively, that group includes two future Avengers, four future members of X-Force, a member of X-Factor, a leader of the Hellfire Club, an agent of SHIELD, a mutant terrorist, and a Valkyrie.  Clearly, the characters have grown to have a sizable impact on the Marvel Universe.  A broader perspective would also indicate that McLeod helped bring about the X-Men as a franchise, instead of just a single comic title.

Modern commission via http://www.bobmcleod.com/

Despite the historical impact of McLeod's run, it was surprisingly short.  He pencilled and inked the graphic novel and three issues, and inked two others.  According to interviews, McLeod blamed his short time on the title on a combination of deadline difficulties and problems with Claremont's scripts.  Instead of having the full script treatments that Claremont is known for --- a script that would plan out every panel of every page --- McLeod received "detailed plots" from the writer that were about 40 pages long for a 22-page story.  So, take a book that was already having problems meeting the deadlines, give it a an artist doing two jobs, and then make him take a lot of extra time to figure out what he is supposed to draw, and you have one seriously stressed-out Bob McLeod.  Fun fact: it appears that the Team America crossover was the breaking point for McLeod, because he got tired of doing what he considered "crap."

Vintage 1983 art via http://www.bobmcleod.com/

From a story impact, McLeod's run was uneventful.  Aside from introducing the team and playing a small part in the Brood storyline, these stories aren't particularly good or important.  That's not necessarily McLeod's fault, since Chris Claremont was writing the title, but it's an unfortunate legacy for a co-creator.  Before reviewing these issues, I didn't particularly care for McLeod's art, but I've grown to appreciate it now, especially his inking; I am still amazed at how much his inked work over Sal Buscema's rough style actually looked like McLeod pencilled it himself.

It's not all fantastic, granted.  McLeod was at his best in casual, character-based scenes.  His action scenes are sometimes laid out awkwardly, and his faces occasionally looked grotesque.  Still, McLeod provided artwork that made these five team members look and feel like distinct individuals of different shapes and sizes --- something that would prove difficult for future New Mutants artists to pull off.

New Mutants (Vol. 1) #5

"Heroes"
Published July 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Sal Buscema
Inker: Bob McLeod
Cover: Armando Gil

What's Going On?
The New Mutants go on a trip to the town fair with Stevie Hunter, which has typical fair stuff: cotton candy, a Ferris wheel, target practice, airplane rides (?), and a peep show (?!?!).  At the fair, the kids watch Team America perform sweet-ass dirt bike stunts for the crowd.  Unfortunately, the show is interrupted by armed thugs that attack Team America, because that is the sort of thing that happens to stunt bike riders.  Not being ones to sit out a fight, the New Mutants do what they can to even the odds; they do pretty well, until the Silver Samurai steps in and kicks ass.

All this trouble leads to the appearance of the mysterious Dark Rider --- exactly as the bad guys have planned.  The Silver Samurai destroys the Dark Rider's motorcycle and captures the Rider, who turns out to be...Danielle Moonstar?!?  When Dani awakens, she finds herself in the clutches of the Silver Samurai and his evil mistress, Viper.  Apparently, Viper wants the Dark Rider and Team America to steal something for her, and if Dani can't do it, Viper will use her as a hostage to force Team America to do the deed.  Professor Xavier helps convince Team America to help Viper, as it will buy time for the X-Men to arrive and rescue Dani.  The members of Team America are mutants whose abilities are unusual; when around each other, the team are a "projecting gestalt," which possesses someone and gives them the sum talents and abilities of Team America --- the Dark Rider, in other words.  Team America are untrained, though, and their projecting gestalt possesses innocent bystanders, like Dani.  Since Team America is a dangerous loose cannon, Xavier opts to give them a crash training course in controlling their mutant power.  Meanwhile, the New Mutants decide to take their own actions to save Dani.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Professor Xavier is still having trouble walking.  Lilandra suggests that the pain is not psychosomatic, but the idea dies there.  While Xavier is in pain, he loses his psychic powers, which means that he is not in psychic contact with the New Mutants at the fair.

Above: Xavier the pirate

That's a nice picture of Jean Grey on the wall.  I wonder where Thunderbird's picture is?

- Cannonball is frustrated with his difficulty learning to turn.  Sure, he made a successful turn last issue.  No, turning had nothing to do with the Silver Samurai beating him up in this issue.  That's just how Sam feels.  Deal with it.

Writing!
This is truly awful stuff.  It's bad enough that the New Mutants are relegated to spectator status in this issue, but to play second fiddle to Team America?  That's rough.  If you are unfamiliar with Team America, join the club.  If you're curious as to their origins, click here.  Otherwise, suffice to say that they were a toy line that Marvel was under contract to make a comic book about.  If nothing else, this issue makes two things clear.  The first is that the New Mutants was selling pretty well; normally, guest stars this early in a series would be featured prominently on the cover, to draw fans to the new title.  Instead, Team America is given the "backdoor pilot" treatment, as New Mutants fans were given an introduction to the stunt-riding group (and why bother?  The Team America comic was cancelled earlier in 1983).  The second thing made crystal clear by the inclusion of Team America is that Chris Claremont had absolutely no direction in mind when this series started.  After the initial Xavier-recruits-mutants-because-he's-possessed-by-an-alien arc wrapped, we had last issue's Very Special abuse story and now the beginning of a two-part Team America crossover!?!  It's bizarre to see this series floundering with its writing and art, especially since its sister title, Uncanny, was doing so well at the same time.


The logic in this plot is also baffling.  Viper wants to capture the Dark Rider to steal a MacGuffin.  When that fails, she just blackmails Team America to steal it.  Since her pitch to Team America is essentially "I have a hostage that I won't identify and won't give proof exists --- do my bidding," it seems like there is a wasted step there.  The end of the issue is worse.  There are two missions: save Dani and help Team America steal the MacGuffin.  Xavier choosing to train Team America instead of working to free Dani, who is in deadly danger, goes against the past year of character development; after months of mourning the X-Men, he has a new team that he wants to keep out of danger (like when he wouldn't let the X-Men borrow Wolfsbane).  Now, he is willing to spend time training a group on a time-wasting mission instead of saving one of his students?  That might have worked when he was possessed by the Brood, but not now.  Also, the entire reason Team America is going through with their mission is because they need to buy time to summon the X-Men to save Dani.  Where are the X-Men?  That is never mentioned, oddly enough.  Naturally, the New Mutants --- who did not do well against the Silver Samurai --- are going to take matters into their own hands and try to rescue Dani on their own.  After all, waiting for help might mean waiting too long and Dani may get hurt.  Xavier seems to be aware of their plan, though, and doesn't confront them about it.  Seriously, fuck this issue.

The few character moments in this issue aren't any better than the big picture.  Dani is, once again, pretty worthless in this issue.  Karma gets to be this month's example of a female character being helpless against any physical force.  Sunspot hero worships Wolf on Team America because...why the hell not?  Someone has to try and convince readers that Team America is worth talking about.  Karma does step up and lead the team at the end of the issue, so at least that's a positive development.  Still, this was wretched writing.

Art!
The art is not a whole lot better than the writing.  This is Bob McLeod's last interior work on the monthly New Mutants title (he would later do some covers and an annual), and you can tell that he did not turn in his best work.  Check out this panel from the beginning of the issue:

McLeod's softer, more expressive inking is clearly on display here.  Toward the end of the issue, though, his inking became less expressive and more like tracing:

Both panels were drawn by Sal Buscema and inked by Bob McLeod, but it is obvious that less time was spent on the second half of the issue.  I'm generally not a fan of Buscema's work, but seeing what McLeod did with Buscema's pencils (at least in part of the issue) impresses the hell out of me.  I normally don't give a second thought to inkers, unless they are extremely expressive, but McLeod did a great job here...for part of an issue.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- This is the second issue of The New Mutants that Tom Corsi has appeared in.  He doesn't really need to appear in either issue, but what's weird about this appearance is that the only characters in the extended X-Family that have a history with him are Wolverine and Carol Danvers...and yet, we haven't even been shown that they know he's alive!

- When the Silver Samurai is fighting off the New Mutants and Team America, his prowess is ridiculously overstated.  Not only does he throw a shuriken at a gun to make it explode with near-lethal force (which makes that gun seem poorly designed, to say the least), but he does something no one has ever done to Cannonball.  He swats Cannonball, mid-blast, and this actually diverts Sam's path; until now, he has been like a runaway train when blasting.  Not only does he change Cannonball's direction (something Cannonball has trouble doing on his own), but Sam is knocked unconscious --- despite being invulnerable when he uses his powers.  So...either the Silver Samurai is a total bad-ass, or Cannonball is written inconsistently. 

- Team America seems astonished to discover that they are mutants...even though they learned that in their own series.

- Team America is a group of mutants who, together, can make one superhero.  They're like a dirt bike version of Captain Planet!

Worth Noting:
- The Silver Samurai got his teleportation ring from John Belushi in an issue of Marvel Team-Up.  In case you were wondering.

Everything 80s:
Here's a photo of the Team America toy line:

For a closer examination of the ridiculous Team America story, click here.