Mighty World of Marvel (Vol. 2) #10

"Anarchy in the UK"
Published March 1984
Writer: Alan Moore
Penciler: Alan Davis
Inker: Alan Davis

What's Going On?
It is finally time to confront Jim Jaspers, and it turns out that Captain Britain is sorely outmatched.  It seems as though his only strategy is to punch things, and (being the reality warper that he is) Jaspers does not sit still for him.  Instead, Jaspers plays with reality, making the Captain question where and who he is, until he leaves a battered Captain for dead.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Continuing her effort to prepare Captain UK to do something worthwhile in the upcoming battle, Saturnyne has Captain UK take off her civilian clothes and don her Captain Britain Corps uniform.

- The Fury has finally caught up with Captain Britain again in the last panel of this issue

Writing!
Moore's entire run has been leading this, the resolution of the Jim Jaspers and Fury plots.  Now that we're here, I find myself wondering what the hell is Captain Britain doing in this fight.   This seems like a horrible mismatch, and not in a "the hero is the underdog" sort of way; this feels closer to Spider-Man vs. Galactus.  I mean, come on...CapBrit is just trying to punch Jim Jaspers to death?  That is as far as his planning got?  Well, whatever.  I am very curious to see if the resolution feels like forced bullshit or if it is satisfying.  This issue did make me wonder exactly what made Merlin choose Captain Britain as his champion in this battle.  Is the difference between CapBrit here and in the beginning of Moore's run just that he's going to try harder? 

Art!
I liked the idea of the Captain tearing away Jasper's reality like paper.  I think it would work better if Jaspers was an illusionist rather than a reality warper, but it's still a cool visual.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- The last time Courtney Ross made an appearance was in 1978 (Marvel Team-Up #65-66), and she was a plain-looking brunette at the time.  It is interesting to see Alan Davis drawing her both off-model here and obviously not similar to Saturnyne.  I'm assuming that she is supposed to be older in this scene --- that would explain the white hair --- but Brian does not look older, which is odd.  As for Saturnyne, Alan Davis and Chris Claremont eventually reveal (in the pages of Excalibur) that Ross and Saturnyne are alternate reality doppelgangers; Davis is clearly not modeling Ross after Saturnyne here, so it's going to be interesting to see just when that plot started.

Worth Noting:
- Captain Britain has no qualms about killing Jim Jaspers.  Unusual for a superhero at the time, and (as far as I can recall) not terribly typical of his character.

New Mutants (Vol. 1) #13

"School Daysze"
Published March 1984
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Sal Buscema
Inker: Tom Mandrake
Cover Artist: Bret Blevins (the Marvel Wiki says Tom Mandrake is the sole cover artist, but Blevins' style is pretty obvious and his signature is visible under the UPC)

What's Going On?
Finally back at school after their South American adventures, Professor Xavier and the New Mutants welcome Amara to her new home.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Roberto flirts with Amara,which makes Danielle a little jealous.  I believe this never goes anywhere.

- Sam also tries to flirt with Amara, but his attempt is clumsier and less successful.

- Kitty Pryde and Doug Ramsey hack into Project Wideawake and clumsily control a Sentinel for a few moments, until the Wideawake folks force it to self-destruct.

- Kitty talks to Doug briefly about her parent's divorce.  This is the first time she has mentioned it since Uncanny X-Men Annual #6.

- The New Mutants are rude to Kitty Pryde, reviving the "X-Babies" feud that had not really been an issue for the team until now.

- Kitty Pryde worries about her relationship with Colossus, wondering if she may wind up falling in love with Doug Ramsey, with whom she has much more in common.

- Xavier suffers yet another blow from the as-yet-undefined psychic scan, as he did in the last two issues of Uncanny.

- Xavier and Lilandra have a long-distance holographic conversation, and it appears to be the last time we will see Lilandra for a while; she is going beyond communications range with Earth, so we probably won't see her for a while.

Writing!
This might be my favorite issue of New Mutants to date.  It's an issue spent entirely on character building, and it works pretty well.  When I realized that this was going to be yet another issue spent discussing how little control Amara has over her powers, I was disappointed.  However, despite the lack of any major action sequences, this issue finally felt like a sister title to Uncanny X-Men.  The action has not picked up, but it was nice to see these characters get a much-needed opportunity to expand a bit.

Art!
Well, it's more Sal Buscema, and he's given less to do than usual.  It's not that Buscema cannot handle character-based scenes, but he tends to make them a bit melodramatic.  It's not bad by any means, it just feels uninspired.


Retrospectively Amusing:
- Despite the cover of this issue, Kitty and the New Mutants do not have a major showdown (and she never wears a costume with that color scheme).

- It's the first issue back at the X-Mansion since Karma disappeared.  I wonder if any of the New Mutants will ask how Xavier's search for her is going...no?  Okay, I guess we're just assuming she is dead now, but it's okay because she has been replaced by a blonde babe now.

- Professor Xavier explains how much he respects privacy to Amara, stating that he will not use his psychic powers to pry in her mind.  The very next page has Xavier deciding that he had better remain in constant psychic contact with Amara.  Granted, he is completely justified in wanting to keep her from causing an accidental earthquake; I just love that those two panels are so close together in the story.

- According to Henry Peter Gyrich, Sentinels cost around five million dollars.  While I don't have $5m, that seems like a pretty reasonable price tag for giant walking arsenals with artificial intelligence.

- Gyrich makes a valid point, stating that the hacking of Project Wideawake is an attack on the federal government.  I'm going to hazard a wild guess that this concept never really causes and problems for Kitty or Doug.

- Xavier mentions the events of Marvel Team-Up Annual #6, which saw Sunspot and Wolfsbane get infected by the drug that created Cloak and Dagger.  That issue was released in October 1983, and this is the first time anyone in this comic has acknowledged those events.

- While both Sam and Rahne feel pretty stupid in computer class, Xavier chooses to help only Sam, even as he wonders how to convince Rahne that she's not dumb.

- When Amara asks if being a mutant is something to be ashamed of, Rahne answers in the affirmative and no one disputes it.

- There is a promo for the upcoming Beauty and the Beast at the end of this issue, promising  a February release.  Since the general newsstand practice was to have a publication date two months after the actual street release date, that means that this issue (ostensibly released in January 1984, but dated March 1984) was promoting a title for release in the following month.  Beauty and  the Beast was eventually given a release date of December 1984.

- I love the last panel of the issue.  Xavier being ever-so-chipper in the face of failure is cute, especially when you consider latter-day retcons that made him into a completely manipulative asshole.

- In her second appearance, Valerie Cooper is mentioned by name but has no speaking lines.  Clearly, a solid attempt at building an independent female character!

- Stevie Hunter's role seems to be expanding.  For a while, she was the gymnastics teacher for the kids.  Now, her role has expanded so that she can "help Charles work with all you kids."  That makes it seem like her role will be expanding in this title, but I don't belive that is actually true.

Worth Noting:
- Future New Mutants penciler, Bret Blevins, gets his first crack at the characters with this cover.

- Amara finally gets her code-name, Magma

- This is the first appearance of Doug Ramsey, although he looks a bit more rugged and handsome than he is typically drawn in later appearances.

- Rahne refers to Moira MacTaggert as her godmother in this issue; this is the first time a formal relationship has been suggested between the two characters.

Everything 80s:
- The 80's were absolutely ADORABLE with their video games that came in 8 different console versions! 

Uncanny X-Men #179

"What Happened to Kitty?"
Published March 1984
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: John Romita Jr.
Inker: Dan Green
Cover Artists: John Romita Jr. and Dan Green

What's Going On?
After the events of last issue, Rogue, Storm and Wolverine visit the morgue to identify Kitty Pryde's corpse.  The body certainly appears to be Kitty, but Wolverine realizes that the scent is wrong; someone altered the corpse to fool the X-Men into believing that Kitty had died!  Storm, being an intelligent leader, realizes that the most likely culprit would be the Morlock Masque, and that he likely did not act alone.  It seems that this has all been a ploy to give Callisto and the Morlocks a chance to none-too-gently remind Kitty of the oath she swore to Caliban a while back (in Uncanny #170); she told Caliban that if he helped the X-Men on that occasion, she would stay with him forever.  Callisto decided that meant Kitty needed to be kidnapped and pressed into a shotgun wedding; the interpretation of oaths is a liberal art form, it seems.  While Kitty is physically repulsed by Caliban, she decides to keep her word and is willing to join the Morlocks as Caliban's bride.  Being a sensitive and sensible person who does not want a bride that gags at the sight of him, Caliban released Kitty from her vow, essentially because he did not want to crush the spirit of someone he loves. 

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- One of the benefits of being a Morlock (if only for a few minutes) is the ability to lend out the Morlock Healer.  At Kitty's behest, and with the help of Rogue, the Healer fixes Colossus up after he had been grievously injured by Avalanche and Pyro a few issues ago.

- Professor Xavier is once again incapacitated by a psychic scanning wave.  This is another prelude to Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars.

- Illyana references her time spent in Limbo, with an editor's note to check out her limited series for the full story --- on sale now!

- Caliban mentions the hope that someday he will be brave enough to live on the surface world in the future.

- After Rogue puts herself in harm's way to help save Colossus, Storm's thoughts show her warming to Rogue being an X-Man.  Wolverine gave her his seal of approval after she helped him in Japan, so this is one step closer to Rogue being accepted as a hero. 

Writing!
This issue is a great example of what I enjoyed about Claremont's writing during this era.  If you really think about it, not much happens in this issue of consequence.  The team healed up after a battle, and Kitty is released from her promise to Caliban.  It was a nice one-and-done issue, except that it wasn't.  This is actually the well-planned culmination of a story that could have easily been abandoned by the writer.  Let's face it: the Morlocks, as a group, are fairly one-dimensional and Claremont already spent plenty of time on them within the past year.  And yet, his choice to slowly build up this sub-plot in such a dramatic way --- the not-Kitty corpse really raised the stakes, even if there was no accountability for that deception in the end --- made this issue very satisfying and rewarding for readers that have been keeping up with the title on a monthly basis.  I also liked how easily Wolverine saw through the ruse and kept this story from dragging out over several issues, which would have lessened its impact; the Morlocks had not met Wolverine before, so naturally they would not think to hide something from his enhanced senses.  It's a simple explanation, but a good one.

Art!
I really like the way Romita Jr's style fits the Morlocks.  They look lumpy and grungy, like sewer-dwellers should.

I also liked his "civilian" Wolverine.  This is the first time I have seen him out of uniform where he looked dangerous, but not crazy.  I think it was the choice to shade the eyes.  Whatever it was, he looked pretty cool.

I also liked the splash page; it does sexualize the very young Kitty a bit, but JRJR does a good job conveying that she is drugged, which makes the panel feel less sleazy and more disturbing.

Also pretty cool: when Masque deliberately mangles Kitty's face.  It was a nice hint as to his villainous demeanor and his power set.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- I love that there is an old, moldy book about "Morlock Law" on the cover of this issue.  I'm willing to believe that the Book of Morlock has aged poorly, but who really believes they paid to get a book published and bound?

- So the X-Men show up to the morgue, identify the body, and presumably leave without filling out any paperwork or anything, because I am certain Kitty Pryde has never been legally dead due to the events in this storyline.

- Xavier has conducted a lot of tests on the X-Men over the years, and yet he has never done tests to establish health baselines for Colossus when he is in armored form?

- What is going on with Xavier?  When Karma disappeared in The New Mutants, he basically stated that he was sure she was alive because he would have sensed her death telepathically.  And yet, he seems shocked that Kitty was alive.  Psychic rapports: useful, until the moment the writer chooses to ignore them.

- Remember the purplish leather vest that Storm wore after she defeated Callisto in Uncanny X-Men #171?  The implication was that the vest was a sign of leadership over the Morlocks.  Well, apparently, Callisto had a spare vest in her closet.

- Kitty has the right (as a Morlock) to send the Healer to help Colossus.  Storm, leader of the Morlocks, is somehow unaware of this right.

- It's like the old saying: "If you love something, set it free.  If it immediately tells you that it doesn't love you, then it sure sucks to be you."

- Rogue is in charge of answering the letter column this month.  Her task: to reply to all the hate mail from the issue where she joined the team.

Worth Noting:
- Caliban's hope to join the surface world is the first real hint that he might play a larger part in the X-universe in the future.  Eventually, he becomes a supporting character in X-Factor and a member of X-Force.

X-Men and the Micronauts #2

"Into the Abyss!"
Published February 1984
Writers: Chris Claremont and Bill Mantlo
Penciller: Jackson "Butch" Guice
Inkers: Bob Wiacek and Kelley Jones
Cover Artists: Jackson "Butch" Guice and Bob Wiacek

What's Going On?
After being defeated last issue, the Micronauts find themselves split up as a team, fighting an enemy that is attacking them on a physical and emotional level; one by one, they are defeated...and then healed by The Entity as his loyal followers.  Meanwhile, the X-Men split up with Baron Karza, leaving him on Homeworld to build up an army to attack The Entity.  They then use Bioship's mental connection to Commander Ranin to figure out where in the Microverse the Micronauts are, and they go there.  When they arrive, they find themselves in an incredible facsimile of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, only they are about six inches tall and are attacked by full-sized Micronauts, dressed as X-Men and led by Professor Xavier.  Once the X-Men have been defeated, it is revealed that the "Xavier" leading the Micronauts is actually The Entity in disguise.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Baron Karza still has his consciousness switched with Kitty Pryde's.  While he is awake in Kitty's body, he has enough control over his mental powers to control his own body and keep Kitty from assuming control of it.  When he is defeated in Kitty's body by the Entity, it looks as though Kitty has been freed to control Karza's body.

- When Professor Xavier falls asleep in the X-mansion, The Entity weakens and swears to go after the cause of his weakness.

Writing!
Like last issue, the story is pretty evenly split between the Micronauts in the first half and the X-Men in the second half; perhaps Manto and Claremont split their writing chores that way?  In this issue, each member of the Micronauts has a moment in the spotlight, but the X-Men are largely handled as a team.  It makes sense, I suppose, for the lesser-known characters to be fleshed out a bit, since the point of a crossover like this is to draw some of the X-Men readers over to the Micronauts title.  The New Mutants make a brief appearance in this issue, but they primarily serve as background decor.  There really aren't any great moments in this issue, but it does move the plot forward, at least.

Art!
Jackson Guice gets to have some fun with the character spotlights on the Micronauts, but other than that this issue is pretty bland; he seems to have some problems with some of the faces in this issue, but nothing too distracting. 

Primary mutation: weather control.  Secondary mutation: vaguely fish-like head

We do get a slightly better look at The Entity in this issue, but there isn't enough detail to show his face beneath the helmet.  There are two inkers in this issue.  I expected Kelley Jones' inks to have an obvious difference to Wiacek's --- Jones is a very distinctive penciller, so I assumed that his inking would be similarly stylized --- but, for the most part, their work here is difficult to distinguish.  Some of Kelley's trademark tendencies toward teh grotesque do show up in this panel, though:

The Entity's face appears to be inspired by Jason Voorhees

Retrospectively Amusing:
- The Entity comments that all living beings are like toys to him.  Since half the characters in this story are based on toys, I thought that was cute.

Everything 80's:
I'm not saying that comic readers do not enjoy fishing, but this advertisement is targeting an audience that you don't see ads for in modern comics.

Magik (Storm and Illyana Limited Series) #3

"Soulquest"
Published February 1984
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Ron Frenz
Inker: Tom Palmer
Cover Artists: Ron Frenz and Tom Palmer

What's Going On?
Two more years have passed, as Illyana has become Belasco's magical apprentice.  Under his tutelage, she has experimented with the warping of simple creatures --- something Storm warned her might cost her soul --- but without impressive results.  Storm finally makes her move and attacks Belasco in his stronghold.  She does not stand a chance. 

She also looks like a pirate

While she is battling Belasco, Cat (ever loyal to Belasco, since her change last issue) attacks Storm.  Illyana defends Storm and kills Cat.  Belasco promises to take the next step toward the total corruption of Illyana's soul, to  be followed with the stealing and sacrifice Storm's soul to Belasco's Dark Gods.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Illyana is manifesting great magical power, but she does not have a lot of control over it yet.

- Belasco's magical pentagrams are made of red-black fire, and his back is turned to the point.  Typical Satanic imagery.  Storm's magical pentagrams are silver, and she faces the point; this is supposed to indicate that her spells are for healing.  Illyana's pentagram is silver...but we don't actually see which way she faces.  Hmm...

- Illyana is beginning to mainfest her mutant power, the ability  to control the "stepping discs" of Limbo, which can transport you in time and space.

- Illyana traveled back in time and witnessed when Storm's soul was corrupted by Belasco.  Years ago, when she was Belasco's apprentice and at the peak of her magical and mutant powers, Storm savagely attacked Belasco.  When he was helpless, she landed a killing blow.  The result was the corruption of her soul, but not the actual death of Belasco; apparently, he cannot be killed in Limbo.

- While Storm's soul was corrupted by Belasco, a lifetime spent trying to undo the damage has left her soul more good than evil, if no longer innocent.

Writing!
*Sigh* Another issue in, and another few years have passed without making me care about this story.  Ostensibly, we should be seeing Illyana losing her soul as she is Belasco's apprentice in this issue.  In practice...not so much.  She has a corrupt side that we see at the beginning of the issue, but it's only apparent for a few panels.  Instead, we are shown Illyana being an observer (yet again) as someone else attacks Belasco.  I was surprised that so much focus was given to Illyana killing Cat because there is no real foreshadowing of this scene in any of the Illyana/Kitty Pryde scenes in Uncanny X-Men around this time --- certainly nothing where Illyana specifically recalls murdering the alternate version of her best friend.  The writing in this series is not really justifying the existence of this series.

Art!
Again, I'm not terribly thrilled by the art, but there's nothing bad here.  The story is just underwhelming, so there is not much for the art to do.  The scene with young Storm attacking was pretty good, but not fantastic.  The sequence where Illyana battled Cat was solid storytelling, but nothing too fancy.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Despite the cover of this issue, Belasco never asks Illyana to choose between his love and Storm's life, although the last page comes pretty close to mirroring the cover image.  Why thy felt the need to include the misleading dialogue on the cover, I don't know.

- Illyana's mutant power appears to be tied to Limbo.  She can control/manipulate the "stepping discs" that can transport her anywhere/when within Limbo.  These are supposedly a natural feature of Limbo, that have existed before Illyana arrived.  Over time, this ability becomes the ability to teleport wherever she wants on Earth, with the understanding that she is momentarily stopping along the way in Limbo.  It may seem like a slight difference, but the implied locality is actually a pretty significant change.

- The reference to a New Mutants issue makes it clear that she will be involved in that title, despite having only made peripheral appearances in issues #1 and #3 so far.  I guess it makes sense.  There are only a few young mutants in the Marvel Universe at this point, and she made the most sense to play a part in Xavier's school; Franklin Richards was both too young and a part of the family dynamic in Fantastic Four, Siryn would make more sense with her father on Muir Island, but Illyana's brother is an X-Man and she's been lurking in the background of the title for months.

Worth Noting:
- A scene in this issue plays a part in New Mutants #14, which will be published in a few months.

Mighty World of Marvel (Vol. 2) #9

"Among These Dark, Satanic Mills"
Published February 1984
Writer: Alan Moore
Penciller: Alan Davis
Inker: Alan Davis

What's Going On?
Captain Britain makes his way through the surreal world that is Jim Jasper's London on his way to confront the villain.  Meanwhile, his friends fall under attack from Jaspers' Beetle enforcers, despite their best efforts.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Despite his wounded hands (from protecting Captain UK in Daredevils #10), Merlin refuses to quit his chess game.  Roma comments that it looks inevitable that he will lose.  Since Captain Britain is Merlin's chosen champion, that bodes poorly for his upcoming battle.

- Elizabeth Braddock and Alison Double are captured by the Beetles

- On the run from the Beetles, Saturnyne harasses Captain UK until she responds with violence.  Saturnyne seems to think this will lead to UK doing more than whining in the battle to come.

Writing!
While I can't say that nothing happens in this issue, it felt a little like Moore was treading water here.  It was nice to see Captain UK take her first step toward redemption, and Tom Lennox's death may have repercussions (or maybe not), but the main story did not progress.  Captain Britain went from leaving to confront Jaspers to...continuing on his way to confront Jaspers.  

Art!
For an issue where it felt like not much was happening, Alan Davis had a few pretty cool panels.  I especially liked how he indicated Elizabeth's premonition. 

Nothing spectacular, but I like how the blending of panels implied a connection.  He also did a pretty good job with the last panel.  Davis is so good when he gets to have fun with the characters.  Also, what artist chooses to draw feet?

Retrospectively Amusing:
-Despite all the craziness swirling around him, Jim Jaspers is still found in his office.

- I find it astonishing that none of the events in this title are ever recapped when Psylocke reflects on her history.  Her lover was murdered!  And yet, I am fairly certain that his name never comes up in any of Claremont's 80's or 90's issues.

Worth Noting:
- The title of this issue is taken from a poem by William Blake.  Since the mills in the poem seem (to me; I'm not a poetry major) to reference the industrial revolution, I'm not entirely sure what the relevance is here.

- Thomas Lennox dies in this issue.  Despite having died in the middle of a story with reality being warped, Lennox has never come back to life.  (Yet.)