X-Men and the Micronauts #1

"First Encounter"
Published: January 1984
Writers: Chris Claremont and Bill Mantlo
Penciller: Jackson "Butch" Guice
Inker: Bob Wiacek
Cover: Jackson "Butch" Guice and Bob Wiacek

What's Going On?
In the Microverse, the Micronauts (Commander Ranin, Huntara, Acroyear, Bug, Fireflyte, Marionette, and their sentient spaceship, Bioship) are responding to reports of battle on the fringes of their dimension.

Apparently, an unknown force is decimating entire planets, and the threat is so dire that the Micronauts have teamed up with their hated enemy, Baron Karza.  The Micronauts head into battle against their unknown foe --- leaving Baron Karza and Bioship behind as reinforcements --- and are immediately overwhelmed by their foe; the enemy admits that his motivation is his own amusement and explodes an entire planet with the snap of his fingers, but he chooses to allow the Micronauts to survive.  Karza and Bioship escape...but to where?

Meanwhile, the X-Men are enjoying some downtime in the X-mansion.  Storm and Nightcrawler are hanging around the pool, Kitty and Illyana are studying, and the New Mutants are undergoing a Danger Room exam.  Suddenly, they find themselves under attack by the action figure-sized Baron Karza; Karza and Bioship tracked the source of their enemy's power to Professor Xavier, and have decreed that Xavier must die so the Microverse can live.  Baron Karza is able to defeat the New Mutants with relative ease, but he is outmatched and outnumbered when the X-Men join the fray.  In the skirmish, Kitty phases through Baron Karza, in an attempt to disrupt his armor.  For some reason, phasing managed to have the unintended side effect of switching their minds; Karza found himself in Kitty's body, and Kitty was trapped, unconscious, in his.  Karza (somehow controlling his own body, as well as Kitty's) convinces the X-Men to join him in saving the Microverse, as it seems that there is a connection between the enemy and Xavier.  They join Karza and Bioship, shrinking down for adventure in the Microverse dimension.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Lockheed is aggressive toward Baron Karza, when he is trapped in Kitty's body.


Writing!
So.  Much.  Exposition.  In a normal X-Men issue, this plot would only take up half of an issue, max.  With another ensemble cast to juggle, though, it takes a while to get anywhere.  And where do we wind up?  The X-Men agree to team up.  The end.  Maybe the most exceptional writing moment is when it was decided that Kitty's mutant power would act like it never has before, for the sake of advancing the plot.  That part sure was goofy.

Art!
While "Butch" Guice does not do anything too spectacular here, it is solid work.  There are a lot of characters in this issue, and the Microverse is a crazy place to draw.  I don't think any of the characters look too flattering, but I will admit that the storytelling was pretty respectable, especially given how much exposition was needed in this issue.

One thing I was not too excited to see was yet another example of Psyche's powers being manifested by neon inks, which don't show up especially well on the page.  I would really like to see someone come up with a new way to show off her power.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- I love that there is supposed to be a mystery over who the unknown enemy is.  The energy trail of the enemy leads directly to Xavier, and it looks just like Xavier's astral projection did when he fought Amahl Farouk (back in Uncanny X-Men #117); the mystery only exists for readers who have not read that particular issue of Uncanny.  Here is the mystery villain in this issue:

Here: is the armor in Uncanny #117:

It's not just me, is it?  It's obvious.  Granted, it makes sense for this to be a mystery to the characters; neither the X-men nor Micronauts have ever witnessed Xavier in full battle armor on the astral plane.  Still, I would have liked it if the writers made a little more effort with this mystery.  I have a feeling that the eventual reveal will feel like it's taking forever to happen. 

- Cannonball recognizes Baron Karza as an action figure.  That was part of the pitch with the Micronaut toys; the diminutive action figures were supposed to be life-sized.

- I love that the New Mutants are not mentioned in the title.  This is really The X-Men (and New Mutants) and the Micronauts.

- Kitty Pryde's intangibility can now apparently trigger mind transfers?  That is hilariously convoluted, and I am 90% sure that never happens again after this series.

- It sure is a good thing that nobody in the Marvel Universe (except maybe Reed Richards or Hank Pym) gives two craps about the Microverse.  I am absolutely certain that I have never seen a character reference the Microverse planets that totally-not-Xavier destroys in this issue.  It's a big deal for Dark Phoenix to have caused the destruction of a planet of broccoli people, but this?  This is outside of Shi'ar space, so it's okay to slaughter innocents here.

Worth Noting:
- This is the second instance (the first is in Uncanny X-Men #106) of Xavier unconsciously creating a psychic construct that becomes an enemy. Let's see how many more instances pop up before the Onslaught storyline!

Paying Tribute to My Namesake: