Uncanny X-Men #177

"Sanction"
Published January 1984
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: John Romita Jr.
Inker: John Romita Sr.
Cover: John Romita Jr.

What's Going On?
Mystique is focused on taking down the X-Men, to the point of training herself and her team at Arcade's Murderworld so they can better anticipate their foes.  That training pays off an unspecified amount of time later, as they ambush Colossus and seriously injure him.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Nightcrawler asks Amanda Sefton about his early childhood, as a way to determine what connection he might have with Mystique.  Amanda does not have much information to offer, so Nightcrawler decides to ask his foster mother, Margali, about it the next day.

- Mystique makes some oblique references to Destiny, regarding her relationship to Nighcrawler.  Nothing definite is said, but she could not bring herself to "kill" Murderworld's Nightcrawler robot; she was able to kill Rogue without hesitation.  Clearly, he is important to Mystique.

- Kitty is still upset over Storm's punk rock makeover.

- Lilandra and the Starjammers finally leave to battle for the throne of the Shi'ar empire.  Lilandra and Xavier still pledge their love to each other.

- Kitty mentions Doug Ramsey to Colossus; this is the first time Peter has had anything approaching a rival for her affections.

Writing!
This is another fun issue from Claremont.  It's always interesting seeing hypothetical situations that would kill our heroes, so it was pretty cool seeing what Claremont saw as legitimate mortal threats to the team in this issue's Murderworld scene.  I don't know how plausible the kills are --- Colossus, Rogue and Wolverine all "died" under what I consider unlikely circumstances, and Storm's "death" required a very unique piece of equipment --- but it is still interesting to see some of the team's weaknesses.  It was also interesting to see Colossus given a legitimate physical threat for the first time in this series.

Art!
John Romita Jr. is inked by his father, the legendary John Romita Sr. in this issue, and it's an interesting look.  I think Romita Sr. has an appealing old-school style to his inks --- his work on Colossus's face is very reminiscent of his work on Amazing Spider-Man, circa 1975 --- but I'm not a huge fan of how he smooths out Romita Jr.'s lines.

Peter...Parker?

Romita Jr. is at his best with brutal action scenes (although he does very good character work), and his father's more polished approach reduces some of JR Jr.'s impact.  That doesn't stop the pair from creating one of the all-time best Colossus panels, though.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- In Murderworld, Mystique kills Wolverine by slashing his throat.  I actually laughed out loud when I saw that.  Before Paul Cornell's run on Wolverine, I think it had been 20 years since Wolverine would have been stopped by something as minor as a fatal neck wound.

- Apparently, the skulls on Mystique's outfit can transform into weapons.  I don't know if this is ever used in another X-Men comic.

- I've read a few articles about Chris Claremont's alleged plan for the Mystique/Nightcrawler mystery, and while I have no doubt that Claremont considered it --- you can read more about it here, but the gist is that Mystique is the father and Destiny is the mother of Nightcrawler --- I am confident that it was not always his plan.  Not in this issue, at least.  Why not?  1) When they argue, it seems more like an employer/employee fight than a quarrel between lovers 2) Destiny is about as ancient as Aunt May, and is too old to have birthed Kurt 3) Destiny refers to Kurt as "Nightcrawler" instead of his given name, despite Mystique knowing his name back in the "Days of Future Past" storyline 4) Mystique states that the X-Men have her child --- singular --- and is referring to Rogue.

- Havok does not get a line in the farewell to Corsair.  It's not like he has been in a lot of issues lately, but Havok has not had any dialogue since Uncanny X-Men #163.

- Stevie Hunter alert!  She acts as a sounding board for Kitty's whining about Storm.  This is her first appearance in the X-titles since New Mutants #4.

Worth Noting:
- According to the Murderworld scene, Mystique can imitate Wolverine's sharp claws.  That means that she can imitate more than a person's basic appearance.  How far that can go, we don't know...yet.

- This issue has the first mention of Doug Ramsey, although it will be another month or two before he makes his first appearance.

- This issue's contribution to Assistant Editor Month is a one-page gag about the Official Marvel Handbook.  It's not very funny, but at least it's only one page instead of an entire issue, right?

X-Men in 1983: Whatever Happened to...?

I just finished reviewing the last X-title for the year of 1983 and felt that this is a good time to reflect on what has passed so far.  With the line expanding beyond Uncanny X-Men to include New Mutants and there being the occasional limited series (Wolverine (Vol. 1) in 1982 and Magik in 1983-84), not to mention the still peripheral Alans (Davis & Moore) stories of Captain Britain for Marvel UK, logic would dictate that there would be fewer plot threads left dangling because there are more comic pages to address the stories.  Logic would be very, very wrong in this instance.  Since I love columns like CBR's "Abandoned and Forsaked," I thought it would be fun (for me, at least) to review some of the dangling plot threads from each year of X-titles, as I review them.  So whatever happened to...
 
...the subplots in Captain Britain (Daredevils #1-11 and Mighty World of Marvel #7)?  On the whole, Alan Moore and Alan Davis did a pretty good job keeping the story self-contained and resolving their plots (or at least promising to) in '83.  There were a few threads left, though.
- Vixen: this crime lord's identity, her infiltration of STRIKE (the UK equivalent to SHIELD), and her hiring of Arcade to kill Captain Britain were all but forgotten plot seeds as the story barreled toward CapBrit's inevitable fight with The Fury and Jim Jaspers.  The good news is that Cap eventually has to take a break from fighting multidimensional threats, so I am actually confident that this will be resolved.  Maybe not by Alan Moore, but maybe by the next writer.
- Elizabeth Braddock: she has not played a major part in the title so far --- I would argue that even Wardog has been spotlighted more --- but since I know that she eventually becomes Psylocke, I am intrigued by the fact that her power set does not match the character I grew up reading in the pages of X-Men.  When did she stop having precognitive visions and just become a high-level telepath?

...the subplots in New Mutants (#1-10)?  Well, Claremont was definitely not at his best in this series, with the best example being the nearly incomprehensible Team America crossover.  My biggest problems come from the substantial subplots that were left unresolved with no indication that he would be resolving them soon.
- Legion: Xavier has a powerful, autistic, mutant son, and Moira MacTaggert and Illyana Rasputin know about it.  This is mentioned in #1, but not brought up again in 1983.  This will be addressed, eventually, when Legion makes his first appearance in New Mutants #25...in 1985. 

- Romance: There are hints of a blooming flirtation between Sunspot and Wolfsbane before the Team America crossover.  After that?  Never mentioned again (unless I'm horribly wrong).  In retrospect, this is kind of a weird idea, with Rahne being introverted and Roberto being an extroverted flirt that has just had his last girlfriend murdered before his very eyes.  Forgetting these early hints at romance would probably be for the best.

- Sebastian Shaw: Shaw sics the Sentinels on the New Mutants as part of a plot to frighten them enough to come to the Hellfire Club for protection.  As part of this plan, he tries to help Emmanuel DaCosta sabotage his wife's (and the New Mutant's) plan to explore the Amazon River.  When that doesn't work, he doesn't seem to care when Emmanuel risks the lives of the mutants for his own gain.  I don't mind Shaw being a sneaky bastard, but I would at least like him to be consistent in his machinations.  The way Claremont writes him in this title, the man seems to operate without logic or long-term memory.
- Xavier attacked: In issue #6, Xavier suffers a debilitating psychic attack.  While this could have been used to tie into the Mastermind plot over in Uncanny, Xavier specifically hypothesizes that it felt like it was coming from a newly manifested mutant.  But who?  Is this an early reference to Legion?  Or maybe Xavier was wrong about how new the mutant was, and this was a reference to Shadow King returning to the physical plane?  Whatever it was supposed to be, it was not mentioned again in '83.  UPDATE 05/25/2016: Apparently, as I detailed in an update to New Mutants #6, the behind the scenes explanation is that the mutant Xavier detected was going to be an enemy in a second New Mutants graphic novel that never got published (or, as far as I can tell, officially announced) and the plot thread is never mentioned again. 
- Karma: Poor, poor Karma.  She was presumed dead by the New Mutants after she disappeared, following an explosion.  Before she disappeared, a telepath (or some other type of psionic) threatened to possess her, body and soul.  While Xavier implied to the kids that Karma had died, he told the X-Men that she was alive; he would have felt her death through the telepathic link he shares with his students.  Instead, Xavier suspects that a maleficent psychic is hiding her from his scans.  No serious attempts are made to locate Karma by the X-Men or New Mutants.
- Training: The New Mutants was initially supposed to be a book about mutants learnign how to control their powers.  Aside from Cannonball having trouble for a few issues with his mid-air turns, and Psyche complaining about how useless her powers are, there is little to no development or teaching shown.  The team was supposed to stay out of combat situations, but that is almost exclusively what they have spent their time with.  Sunspot and Wolfsbane show zero progression with their abilities, Psyche shows some control but no struggle to learn, Cannonball had problems for a few issues but then resolved them, and Karma seemed to just get more powerful (before she vanished).  So...school's out, I guess?

...the subplots in Uncanny X-Men (#165-176, Annual 7, Marvel Graphic Novel 5: X-Men - God Loves, Man Kills)?  This was a great year for Uncanny, arguably the best single year on the title that did not feature John Byrne.  That doesn't mean that Chris Claremont wrapped up all his plot threads neatly, though.
- Mystique: Before Rogue goes rogue and quits the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to join the X-Men, Mystique has a nightmare featuring Jason Wygarde.  Her BFF (because they could not explicitly be lovers in 1983) Destiny tells her that the party responsible for the nightmare "operates on fundamental levels of space and time."  That seems like a vastly overblown view of Mastermind --- who would be the only person who might plant an image of Jason Wygarde in anyone's mind --- but the reasons for this "attack" are never revealed.  Apparently, they were supposed to have been chronicled in Ms. Marvel's series at the time, but the title was cancelled.

- Starjammers: While Cyclops eventually chose to stay on Earth with his new wife instead of becoming a space pirate with his father, the membership and roles of others were not so clear cut.  After Carol Danvers became Binary, she decided to leave Earth with the Starjammers when the X-Men opted to let Rogue join them.  That makes sense, right?  Kind of?  Okay.  Meanwhile, Xavier's girlfriend, Lilandra, is also supposed to be joining the Starjammers to fight for her rightful spot as the leader of the Shi'ar empire.  But...maybe she wants to hang out on Earth and help Xavier recover the use of his legs.  So what's going on?  Are the Starjammers actually leaving, or not?  What is their deadline?
- Lilandra, part 2: Lilandra threatens the Fantastic Four (in Uncanny #167) for saving the life of Galactus.  This is not addressed in Uncanny, although is does become the plot for Fantastic Four #262), ten months later.
- Kitty: To save the X-Men, Kitty Pryde promises to essentially become the Morlock Caliban's bride in  Uncanny #170.  She does not stay with him.  There is a hint in #176 that this will be resolved soon.
- Kitty, part 2: Kitty hates being compared to the kids on the New Mutants team.  Even after she earns her permanent place on the X-Men team, she keeps referring to the younger kids as X-Babies.  Some people cannot win gracefully.

- Xavier walks: Xavier can walk in his newly cloned body!  Or not.  Most of the year is spent with Xavier trying to walk and failing, with theories ranging from it being a psychosomatic pain to it being a physical (and less interesting) issue.
- White Queen: Emma Frost is left comatose after a psychic attack.  Initially, Sebastian Shaw stats that only Xavier could have committed the offense, although he doubted that Xavier would have.  Mastermind is later revealed as the attacker --- so Mastermind is on Xavier's level in some respects?!? --- even though she is still comatose, as of Annual #7.

That's pretty much it for 1983.  Let's see what 1984 has in store...

Uncanny X-Men Annual #7

"Scavenger Hunt"
Published December 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Pencillers: Michael Golden and Bret Blevins
Inkers: Michael Golden, Tom Mandrake, Bob Wiacek, Terry Austin, Brett Breeding, Joe Rubinstein, Steve Leialoha, Sam de la Rosa, Al Milgrom, Bret Blevins
Cover: John Romita Jr.

What's Going On?
The X-Men are enjoying an uneventful day off when their baseball game is interrupted by a cosmic-level threat, Galactus, because he must...steal Xavier's mansion?  That is not the planet-eater's typical M.O.; it soon becomes apparent that the thief was only disguised as Galactus.  For reasons, probably. 

The X-Men chase his energy signature across the world, where the thief steals all sorts of super-hero memorabilia (Nick Fury's eye patch, Ka-Zar's sabre-tooth tiger, a Fantasticar, etc.).  Eventually, Rogue realizes that this must be some sort of bizarre scavenger hunt.  But who would be involved in such a ridiculous and unlikely quest?  The Impossible Man.  It's not really a mystery.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- The White Queen, last seen in Uncanny #169, is still comatose.  The Hellfire Club is apparently keeping her under close observation...in a Sleeping Beauty-esque mausoleum.  Sebastian Shaw vows to settle the X-Men/Hellfire conflict sooner, rather than later.  

In other White Queen news, it is revealed that her condition is due to something Mastermind did to her off-panel.

Writing!
Well, it's an Impossible Man story, and this was Claremont's main contribution to Assistant Editor's Month.  Impossible Man exists to add cartoonish comic relief to otherwise typical superhero comics.  Assistant Editor's Month had most of the Marvel titles do silly things or get meta by involving the Marvel Bullpen staff.  Neither has aged particularly well with time.

That said, this issue is fun, in a nonsensical fluff sort of way.  It's not great, it doesn't add much to Claremont's current storyline, and can be pretty easily forgotten.  On the other hand, it also ends with this head-scratcher:

Wait...what?!?

Art!
Most of the pencils in this issue (except for a bit of the Marvel Bullpen part) were by Michael Golden.  Golden's comics career is a strange one --- from what I can tell, he is best known for runs on Bucky O'Hare, Micronauts, and The 'Nam.  Despite none of those being what you might call classics, he also co-created Rogue and was clearly an inspiration for Art Adams.  Check out this Adams-esuqe scene:

Golden did a good job drawing Wolverine, too.  This is probably the best Wolvie cowl I've seen since Byrne left.

One of the best moments in this issue, though, is when Golden is paying an obvious homage to Jim Steranko:

Those dialogue-free scenes feel straight out of late-60s SHIELD comics.  Good stuff.

Now, I don't think Golden's art is great in this issue --- some pages are cool, some are kind of awkward or ugly --- but it should be noted that *ten* different people inked this issue.  I'm going off on a limb and saying that there was a deadline crunch.  I will also irresponsibly speculate that Golden (like Art Adams) is a bit slow with his pencils.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- The cover art (and the corner box) features Cyclops joining in the fight, but he left the team in issue #176 and does not appear in this comic.

- Hey, look, it's a Claremont-ism!  The X-Men are playing baseball!  Even though Claremont only wrote this into the script four times in his 20+ years with the characters, it is a trope that feels unique to him.  This time around, you have to give him credit for adding a new layer; having Rogue and Nightcrawler as the only fielders on a team is a pretty efficient idea, given their powers sets.

- Kitty mentions that the X-Men captured Mastermind in Uncanny #175.  Then what happened?  I love that the resolution to his scheme failing is not examined.  I guess he went to mutant prison or something?

- The editor's note regarding when the Avengers last faced Rogue is wrong.  It should be Avengers Annual #10, not #7.  

Worth Noting:
- The Iron Man in this issue is James Rhodes.  From the context, it seems like this is his first interaction with the X-Men.

Magik (Storm and Illyana Limited Series) #1

"Little Girl Lost"
Published December 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: John Buscema
Inker: Tom Palmer
Cover: John Buscema and Tom Palmer

What's Going On?
On her fourteenth birthday, Illyana Rasputin stands outside Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and reflects on the six years that she spent in an alternate dimension, Limbo.

Admittedly, this is a pretty solid first page of a series

She first arrived with the X-Men, as they battled Limbo's demon-lord, Belasco.  Belasco managed to separate her from the team, but future/alternate reality versions of Storm and Kitty Pryde (now called simply "Cat") help Illyana escape Belasco's clutches.  Unfortunately, before they can do that, Belasco manages to corrupt a piece of Illyana's soul, turning it into a Bloodstone.  When Belasco gets five Bloostones from Illyana, it will allow the Elder Gods to cross dimensions (which sounds bad).

Once they have escaped, Storm spends some time with Illyana in meditation, introducing her to sorcery and magic; it is unclear whether they were meditating for a long time, or if Storm's magic made Illyana age faster, but she finishes her lesson one year older.  Illyana learns that sorcery allows the user to create, change, and heal the world around them; creating and healing are fine, but change for change's sake leads one down the path toward evil.  At the end of that year, Cat tells Illyana that Storm will not help her return home to Earth.  Cat will help her, but the path will be dangerous.  Illyana chooses to join Cat.  Meanwhile, Belasco seems to believe that these events have ultimately played into his hand.


Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Storm and Cat were members of the same X-Men team that came with Illyana to Limbo.  In their reality, though, Illyana went back to Earth without incident, and the X-Men were trapped in Limbo instead.

- The Storm in Limbo is an elderly version of the character that cannot use her mutant powers because they put too much stress on her body.  Instead, she has spent time as Belasco's apprentice, although she ultimately chose a less demonic path.  Nevertheless, her soul has been corrupted by Belasco, and her good witch magic is weakening.

- Cat is this realm's version of Kitty Pryde.  She is essentially a grim and gritty take on the character, and one that Belasco has changed to look slightly more feline.  Her goal is to kill Belasco without relying on magic.

- Belasco told Illyana that he loved her when he created the first Bloodstone.  She seems to believe him, mentioning it when Storm frightens her.

Writing!
If you just want to look at how this particular issue propels the plot, the writing is not too bad.   Illyana is captured by a bad guy, escapes, and learns from Storm.  That's pretty simple.

While I don't think there's anything wrong with the writing of this particular issue, it is not the most reader-friendly first issue I have come across.  Claremont manages to explain what's going on, but it requires a lot of exposition.  This takes place between the scenes of an X-Men comic (not even one within the past year), features alternate versions of two X-Men, and the villain is a sorcerer/demon from the pages of Ka-Zar.  Nothing here is simple, and in this single issue, it becomes apparent that Illyana's backstory will forever be a convoluted mess.

Art!
For a story that takes place in a demonic dimension, the art is surprisingly standard.  John Buscema and Tom Palmer do a decent job telling the story, but this environment begs for an artist that is willing to get weird.  Can you imagine this story, as drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz?  That would have been awesome.  Still, Buscema still manages to do some decent swords and sorcery artwork.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- It's not mentioned in this (or any other X-Men) issue, but Belasco directly inspired Dante's Inferno.  That is legitimately his backstory, and the story was told in the pages of Ka-Zar, of all places.  Also amusing is the fact that Belasco's Elder Gods are poorly defined --- even the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe is confused as to who they are.

Worth Noting:
- This story is a flashback to what happened between pages in Uncanny X-Men #160, which was published in August 1982, sixteen months earlier.

Mighty World of Marvel (Vol. 2) #7

"The Candlelight Dialogues"
Published December 1983
Writer: Alan Moore
Penciller: Alan Davis
Inker: Alan Davis

What's Going On?
The story picks up an unspecified amount of time after Daredevils #11, after Jim Jaspers has taken control over England and super-powered people are placed in concentration camps. 

Two women, Sue and Meggan, trade campfire stories they have heard about Captain Britain fighting their oppressors and winning, remaining free.  

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- The events hinted at in the alternate Earth of Mad Jim Jaspers and The Fury have finally become reality for Earth 616.

Writing!
This is an interesting transition issue for Alan Moore.  While it has become obvious that Captain Britain and friends will need to battle Jim Jaspers eventually, it was an odd choice to leave off last issue with the group going to confront Jaspers and then jumping forward to a world where they have already lost the battle.  However, since Jim Jaspers can warp reality, I suppose there is no need for Moore to bother with the build up to their confrontation; with Jaspers' abilities, Moore is able to immediately raise the stakes and skip the less interesting buildup scenes.  Very clever, Mr. Moore.

That said, this may be my least favorite issues so far in this storyline.  I think I get what Moore is aiming for --- he's raising the stakes by jumping to a dire situation, and he's building the mythology of Captain Britain at the same time.  Sadly, though, that means that this issue feels a bit like filler.  None of the characters we have been following for months accomplish anything, and in a title that has managed to squeeze in a lot of progress in a small number of pages, this feels like treading water.

On the other hand, this issue's format may be a result of a publishing switch.  This issue kind of serves as an introduction to Captain Britain, and since this is the first issue of the storyline published in  Mighty World of Marvel, it makes some sense to reintroduce the character to the (potentially) new readers.  That doesn't make it any more interesting to read, but I suppose I can follow that logic.

Art!
Alan Davis flexes some new artistic muscles with this chapter, playing with extreme close-ups and shadows.  Honestly, he doesn't have a whole lot to work with in this story.  He has CapBrit kicking some ass, and the rest of this issue features people being inactive.  One of the nice things about an Alan Davis-drawn issue, though, is his ability to make characters look good, even if they are doing nothing.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Look!  Sympathetic characters (without healing factors) smoking!

Worth Noting:
- You might have noticed that this Captain Britain story, which is clearly picking up after the events of Daredevils #11, is not the next issue of Daredevils.  That title was cancelled, but the original stories that were being published in Daredevils were adopted by Might World of Marvel.  They were both anthology titles, mostly comprised of reprinted stories from the American Marvel line, with the occasional original story from British creators.


- This is the first appearance of Meggan, Captain Britain's eventual wife.  Her feral-like appearance is a far cry from the blonde bombshell look she sported in Excalibur (Vol. 1).  It will be interesting seeing how she develops, to see how natural her transformation is.

New Mutants (Vol. 1) #10

"Betrayal!"
Published December 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Sal Buscema
Inker: Tom Mandrake

What's Going On?
Remember last issue, when the team had been drugged, making Cannonball and Sunspot fight in the arena as gladiators?  Yeah, that's over now.  The team has been embraced as demigods because Wolfsbane is a redheaded werewolf (there's an explanation for that, but it's pretty dumb).  Now that they are honored guests, the team gets involved in local politics, helping Senator Gallio arrest his rival, Senator Aquilla.  Even though they appear to be on Gallio's side, Sam and Roberto are starting to question that loyalty.  The more they learn about Gallio and Nova Roma, the more they find to dislike.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Rahne gest angry whenever Amara is mentioned.  Dani wonders if Rahne's anger is due to something that occurred between the two girls, or if Rahne is jealous that Sam seems to be favoring Amara.

- Roberto is worried about his missing mother.  He thinks back to all his recent loss and blames himself for the deaths (presumed or not) of his late girlfriend, Karma, and his mother. That's a lot of death in a short period of time, although I would think that Karma's fate would be A) out of his control, since it was caused by a bomb B) less important to him, since he barely knew her, but loved the other two women.

- Rahne admits to Roberto that she enjoys being a wolf more than a human, and it is challenging her religious convictions.  The two almost discuss this and develop their characters, when someone shoots at them.

That was close!  Roberto almost had to console her!

- When Sam tries to reprimand Rahne, she gets upset, arguing that he is not the leader of the New Mutants.  Roberto reflects that Dani has been taking charge lately, and she would make a better leader than he would.

- Dani is kidnapped by worshipers of the Cult of Fire, to join Amara and another girl as human sacrifices to Selene.  When Selene tries to kill Amara by throwing her in a lava pit, Amara's mutant abilities manifest.

Writing!
The Nova Romans worshiping Rahne was both inspired and idiotic.  It is inspired because I doubt Claremont planned this story out when creating Wolfsbane, and it is a fairly clever manipulation of Roman history.  It is idiotic because...well, it just is.  "She has red hair like Caesar!  And we have a creation myth involving a lady wolf!  WORSHIP HER!"  I might have bought into it if Claremont had foreshadowed it, maybe with some Caesar artwork showing off his red hair, or maybe paintings or sculptures of wolves in background shots, but nothing like that is present.  This feels like exactly what it is: a way to have the team play both gladiators and gods in the same story arc.

Speaking of ways to get the story from Point A to Point B, it is revealed that Roberto speaks Latin, and has been hiding the fact.  I'll go into how goofy that is in a little bit, but what a lazy storytelling choice!  "I need to let the other characters know what the people speaking the foreign language are saying, but how?  Of course!  One of them is fluent is a dead language that exists only on paper!"

Aside from those lame choices, this story keeps on trucking.  It is still an awful concept, but Claremont is doing his best to sell it.

Art!
While I wouldn't argue that the art here is great, I don't have a problem with the Sal Buscema/Tom Mandrake team.  The storytelling is decently clear, and Mandrake softens Buscema's angular pencils almost as much as Bob McLeod's did.  It's just not very exciting.  I will give credit where it's due: the debut of Magma's mutant powers looked pretty cool.

I'm not a big fan of leaving major character design in the hands of the colorists of the time, but those pink/red accent marks on Magma's lava body are pretty striking.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Roberto mentions that his father, Emmanuel DaCosta, was once a slave.  Without more information, it's hard to disprove that claim, but the last nation in the Western hemisphere to have legal slavery was Brazil.  They abolished slavery in 1888.  So where was he a slave?

-  Dani is kidnapped moments after sneaking out of a guarded palace.  Those are some diligent kidnappers.

- Roberto speaks Latin.  Putting aside how unlikely it is that he would be able to understand the spoken form of a dead language, spoken in an accent he has never heard before, this is just an odd choice.  Roberto is the second-youngest member of the team, and is not portrayed as particularly studious.  Wouldn't it have been less of a stretch for the lonely Catholic girl, Wolfsbane, to know some Latin?

- Remember last issue, when Selene was referred to as the Black Priestess?  Yeah, that doesn't come up again when we witness her cult worshiping her.

- Dani and Amara get manhandled by Selene in this issue.  I don't know if this really qualifies as part of the whole "female characters being easily dispatched by physical force" theme in this title, but it's close.  The only reason I hesitate is because it looks like Selene is supposed to have super-strength.  It's not explicit, but she sure doesn't look like she should be able to pick Dani up by the throat...

...much less backhand Amara across the room, so I'm guessing that is the explanation. On the bright side, this is the first time we see a woman as physically intimidating in this title.

Worth Noting:
- Selene implies that she is a mutant, and Dani discerns that Selene's abilities are psionic in nature.  Selene can block Dani's abilities and force the drugged prisoners to act against their wills.  She can also touch souls, whatever that means, and maybe has super-strength?  I wonder if these will be the same abilities she has in later appearances?  The answer is "not really."

- Amara debuts her mutant powers for the first time