Uncanny X-Men #176

"Decisions"
Published December 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: John Romita Jr.
Inker: Bob Wiacek

What's Going On?
The newlyweds, Cyclops and Madeline, are on their way to their honeymoon destination when they encounter a storm while flying over the Pacific.  Their plane is hit by lightning, but they survive...only to encounter an aggressive giant sea squid.  But what chance does a giant squid have against the man who beat up all the X-Men last issue?

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Wolverine confronts Mariko for calling off their wedding, back in Uncanny #173.  He correctly attributes their breakup to Mastermind's manipulations, but she argues that the things she did (apparently off-panel) under his influence were so bad (read: criminal) that she is honor-bound to fix the situation on her own.  If she dies in the process, it is up to Wolverine to to slay her remaining foes.  Wolverine tries to give back the Yashida Clan Honor Sword (given to him by Mariko in Wolverine (Vol. 1)), but she refuses.  Basically, he proved himself worthy when he killed her evil father, regardless of the cost; it is up to her to show that she is equally worthy by cutting Clan Yashida's ties to the Japanese underworld.

- Henry Peter Gyrich, the Marvel Comics designated "political bureaucrat who has to be involved in super hero matters," is invited to a meeting where mutants are seen as an increasing danger.  Magneto is the textbook example of how dangerous mutants can be (based mostly on his exploits from Uncanny X-Men #150).  The other reason for worry (according to the bureaucrats) is that mutants are popping all over the globe, even in Communist nations.  Remarkably, the usually insensitive and abrasive Gyrich comes across as very reasonable, while the typically sensible Val Cooper looks like a bigot.

- Callisto tells Caliban that she wants to make Kitty Pryde fulfill her promise (made in Uncanny #170) to live forever with Caliban in the Morlock sewers. Masque warns Callisto that this may cause conflict with their new leader, Storm.  Callisto hopes it does.

- Cyclops decides to not join his father and the Starjammers in their space adventures (the choice was last mentioned in Uncanny #174).  He wants to live a normal, non-super hero life with Madeline. 

Art!
This is John Romita Jr.'s first full issue on art, and one if his more annoying (to me, anyway) habits shows up right away.  He has this weird thing where he likes to overdo the cheekbones on female characters at times, making it look like their lower jaw is caving in.

Is it a big deal?  Not really.  It's just a Thing He Does that I'm not terribly fond of.  On the other hand, I loved his cloaked-in-shadows Wolverine, and he did a good job with the sea monsters and the underwater sequences.  Overall, the man is off to a nice start.

Writing!
This is one of those "slow" issues that frequently come after a major storyline ends, and that is perfectly okay.  Chris Claremont (at least, according to interviews looking back at the character) had intended for Madeline Pryor to simply be a doppelganger of Jean Grey and nothing more.  This issue ended with a caption reading "The Beginning;" this was Claremont's attempt to give Cyclops a happy ending, as he retires from the X-Men and begins a normal civilian life.  How different would this series have been if characters were allowed to actually do this?  It would be weird, right?  This issue served as a well-deserved bon voyage to a character that had lived a pretty tortured life up to this point.  Unfortunately, when Marvel decided to launch X-Factor, a lot of this progress was lost...

On the bright side, Claremont decided to have Wolverine and Mariko realize off-panel that Mastermind undermined their wedding.  Why that had to be off-panel, I don't know, but I disagree with the choice.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Behold!  The color-changing bikini!  First it is black...

...and then it is white!

Could she have changed?  It's doubtful.  Is it important?  Absolutely not.  This is the sort of thing kids would try to get No-Prizes for.

- Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter spent half of a page complaining about Romita Jr.'s cover art.  That's an odd choice.

Everything 80's:
- Check out this ad for CBS' Saturday Morning Cartoon lineup.

The Little Rascals/Richie Rich?  Pac-Man?  Rubik, the Amazing Cube?  Menudo?!?  Good lord, what children went through in 1983!




Worth Noting:
- This is the last mention of the Yashida Clan Honor Blade/Sword for a good long while.  I think it next pops up in Wolverine (Vol. 2) #78.

- Finally!  Someone acknowledges that Mastermind ruined Wolverine's wedding!  The act that no one addressed this last issue really bothered me.

- Valerie Cooper makes her first appearance as someone that is alarmed with the "mutant problem."  This is an odd angle for her character, since she quickly becomes one of Marvel's most reasonable government (read: not bigoted) employees.

- Cyclops has officially left the X-Men and is now considered (by Claremont, anyway) retired from super heroing.