Published May 1984
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: John Romita Jr.
Inker: Dan Green
Cover Artists: John Romita Jr. and Ron Zalme (the Zalme credit is from marvel.wikia.com)
What's Going On?
Between last issue and this issue, all 12 issues of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars happened (even though Secret Wars #1 only hits the sales rack this month). This issue picks with the X-Men returning to Earth --- but landing in Japan, for some reason, instead of New York. That reason may have something to do with the gigantic dragon that appeared out of nowhere, only moments before they arrived. The dragon, who had gotten friendly (in the Biblical sense?) with Lockheed during Secret Wars, does not appear to be malicious, but is destroying Tokyo nonetheless. The X-Men and Sunfire join forces to combat the dragon and limit the damage/casualties, but it ultimately falls to little Lockheed to end the battle.
Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Teasers to get readers to pick up Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, part 1: Rogue and Xavier are sporting new costumes!
- Teasers to get readers to pick up Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, part 2: Lockheed apparently finds himself a lady dragon friend in Secret Wars, and she apparently thought it was true love. He disagreed.
- A week has passed since the end of Uncanny X-Men #180, which means that the X-Men were off-world when Kitty Pryde needed their help with the White Queen at the Massachusetts Academy. Rogue is assigned to fly home as quickly as possible to check on Kitty and the New Mutants.
- Xavier undercuts Storm's authority by commanding the other X-Men. Xavier realizes that it may be problematic, but Wolverine thinks it straight up sucks.
- Mariko Yashida makes a cameo appearance (why wouldn't she be in Tokyo whenever the X-Men are?), and it turns out that she misses Wolverine.
- Even though he's "retired" from super-heroing, Cyclops was involved in Secret Wars. Madelyne Pryor forgives him for missing a week of their honeymoon. The woman is a saint. Nothing bad will happen to this couple!
- Teasers to get readers to pick up Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, part 3: Colossus mentions the emotional pain he is in, having recently lost a love. But...Kitty didn't attend the Secret Wars...what is he talking about?
- Xavier finds himself buried in some wreckage and he panics, thinking that he is paralyzed once again. It's a nice (and rare!) moment that humanizes Charles "The Saint" Xavier during Claremont's run.
- Senator Robert Kelly is show in an epilogue pushing upcoming legislation called "The Mutant Affairs Control Act."
Writing!
This is almost like a slow, character-based issue, but with a dragon. The X-Men didn't really face a huge change of status after Secret Wars, so it makes sense that the biggest changes were in the soap opera department. Xavier, Wolverine, and Colossus all had good characterization scenes this issue, and it was much-needed for Xavier. A lot is mad of how much Claremont humanized Magneto, but he did nearly as much work adding depth to Xavier's brusque teacher persona. I don't think the title needs a leadership controversy, but it is an organic result of Xavier joining the team as a superhero in the field, so at least it doesn't feel forced.
Art!
The main takeaway here is that Romita Jr. can draw a good dragon. That's really all you need to know.
Retrospectively Amusing:
- Kitty Pryde appears on the front cover (in the top right of the cover), even though she is not in this issue. What makes it strange is the fact that she is wearing either street clothes or another new uniform.
- The kids in this issue don't look like they have disproportionately large heads. For readers of Kick-Ass, it may be strange to see Romita Jr. drawn child characters without spindly limbs.
- Mariko Yashida, as head of the criminal enterprise that is Clan Yashida, apparently has enough clearance to be in the military control center, where they plan attacks against kaiju.
- The giant dragon and Lockheed disappear from the Japanese military's radar, thus ending the incident. Lockheed reappears soon, although no explanation is given for either the disappearance or his return.
Worth Noting:
- For only the second time since starting this blog, I find an issue of Uncanny X-Men that is actually missing "Uncanny" in the title. The other instance was the double-sized #166. Thrilling, I know.
- This is the first appearance of Wolverine's adopted daughter, Amiko/Akiko (I'm reasonably sure the name changes at some point). She won't be showing up too often.
- The letters page returns this month (letters answered by Wolverine this time) features a fan letter from future comic writer Lee Allred!
No comments:
Post a Comment