Uncanny X-Men #174

"Romances"
Published October 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Paul Smith
Inker: Bob Wiacek

What's Going On?
This is one of those "juggle the sub-plots" issues.  The only "main" plot here deals with Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor.  They get engaged and consider leaving Earth to join the Corsair and the Starjammers in space.  Before they can make that decision, though, Cyclops asks Madelyne point-blank if she is the reincarnation of Jean Grey/Phoenix.

Her response seems pretty definitive, but the illusionist Mastermind made an appearance just before this, so is everything what it seems?  Well, no, probably not.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Carol Danvers / Binary is joining the Starjammers, and will be in deep space with them for the foreseeable future.

- Lilandra and Xavier discuss their future.  She still plans to join the Starjammers in space and he still plans to stay on Earth and run his mutant teams.

- Xavier is still having difficulty walking.  Lilandra confirms that the problem is not mental, but physical.  That seems like an odd and less interesting choice, right?

- Corsair repeats his offer to have Cyclops join him and the Starjammers (last mentioned back in Uncanny X-Men #167), but Scott is having second thoughts, probably (but not explicitly) due to his increasingly serious relationship with Maddie.

- Wolverine confronts Mariko about calling off their wedding.  She basically tells him that she loves Logan the man, not Wolverine the beast.  In addition to insulting Wolverine, Mariko has also forgiven Silver Samurai and he is now her heir.  Since the man vs. beast idea seemed to have been resolved with the Wolverine limited series, I'm a little confused with Claremont's direction here.

- Kitty Pryde and Peter share another kiss, and this time, it's not because they think they will die.  The sexual tension is mounting...

- Storm got rid of all the plants in her bedroom, as yet another "subtle" hint as to her physical and mental change. You might have thought that the mohawk and leathers were the end result of her changes, but apparently Storm isn't done changing yet.

Writing!
Chris Claremont does an impressive job juggling sub-plots here.  The main plot doesn't get much attention until the end of the issue, but there are a lot of quality character beats here.  After the emotional turmoil of last issue, this is a good "calm before the storm" issue, especially since next issue will be an over-sized anniversary event.

Art!
Paul Smith has already shown that he handles character moments well, and this issue plays to that strength.  

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Nightcrawler, who has been shown as a stuffed animal before (back in Uncanny X-Men #168), receives a stuffed version of his girlfriend, Amanda Sefton.  It's a cute idea, but who is making these custom stuffed animals?

- Nightcrawler is identified as the team's medic.  Apparently, Moira MacTaggert and Xavier are not qualified?


Worth Noting:
- Xavier notes that Madelyne Pryor's mind is closed to him.  He comments that it is unusual, but doesn't seemed too concerned about it.  Rogue's mind is closed because she has multiple personalities (one part alien, too) and the helmets of Magneto and Juggernaut protect them, but I don't know if Xavier has ever had trouble reading a supposedly "normal" brain before this.

- Kitty's power set is expanding.  This issue shows her phasing someone else through a wall with her and having them walk on air together.

- Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor get engaged off-panel in this issue.

Everything 80s:
- Kitty is reading Marvel's Star Wars comic in this issue.  The back cover appears to be a Kool-Aid ad.

- Marvel felt the need to take up an entire page of space to justify their change in cover format.  They sacrificed a page of ad space to say, "Look, we have slightly more artwork space now!"  The 80s were a different time...