Uncanny X-Men #174

"Romances"
Published October 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Paul Smith
Inker: Bob Wiacek

What's Going On?
This is one of those "juggle the sub-plots" issues.  The only "main" plot here deals with Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor.  They get engaged and consider leaving Earth to join the Corsair and the Starjammers in space.  Before they can make that decision, though, Cyclops asks Madelyne point-blank if she is the reincarnation of Jean Grey/Phoenix.

Her response seems pretty definitive, but the illusionist Mastermind made an appearance just before this, so is everything what it seems?  Well, no, probably not.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Carol Danvers / Binary is joining the Starjammers, and will be in deep space with them for the foreseeable future.

- Lilandra and Xavier discuss their future.  She still plans to join the Starjammers in space and he still plans to stay on Earth and run his mutant teams.

- Xavier is still having difficulty walking.  Lilandra confirms that the problem is not mental, but physical.  That seems like an odd and less interesting choice, right?

- Corsair repeats his offer to have Cyclops join him and the Starjammers (last mentioned back in Uncanny X-Men #167), but Scott is having second thoughts, probably (but not explicitly) due to his increasingly serious relationship with Maddie.

- Wolverine confronts Mariko about calling off their wedding.  She basically tells him that she loves Logan the man, not Wolverine the beast.  In addition to insulting Wolverine, Mariko has also forgiven Silver Samurai and he is now her heir.  Since the man vs. beast idea seemed to have been resolved with the Wolverine limited series, I'm a little confused with Claremont's direction here.

- Kitty Pryde and Peter share another kiss, and this time, it's not because they think they will die.  The sexual tension is mounting...

- Storm got rid of all the plants in her bedroom, as yet another "subtle" hint as to her physical and mental change. You might have thought that the mohawk and leathers were the end result of her changes, but apparently Storm isn't done changing yet.

Writing!
Chris Claremont does an impressive job juggling sub-plots here.  The main plot doesn't get much attention until the end of the issue, but there are a lot of quality character beats here.  After the emotional turmoil of last issue, this is a good "calm before the storm" issue, especially since next issue will be an over-sized anniversary event.

Art!
Paul Smith has already shown that he handles character moments well, and this issue plays to that strength.  

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Nightcrawler, who has been shown as a stuffed animal before (back in Uncanny X-Men #168), receives a stuffed version of his girlfriend, Amanda Sefton.  It's a cute idea, but who is making these custom stuffed animals?

- Nightcrawler is identified as the team's medic.  Apparently, Moira MacTaggert and Xavier are not qualified?


Worth Noting:
- Xavier notes that Madelyne Pryor's mind is closed to him.  He comments that it is unusual, but doesn't seemed too concerned about it.  Rogue's mind is closed because she has multiple personalities (one part alien, too) and the helmets of Magneto and Juggernaut protect them, but I don't know if Xavier has ever had trouble reading a supposedly "normal" brain before this.

- Kitty's power set is expanding.  This issue shows her phasing someone else through a wall with her and having them walk on air together.

- Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor get engaged off-panel in this issue.

Everything 80s:
- Kitty is reading Marvel's Star Wars comic in this issue.  The back cover appears to be a Kool-Aid ad.

- Marvel felt the need to take up an entire page of space to justify their change in cover format.  They sacrificed a page of ad space to say, "Look, we have slightly more artwork space now!"  The 80s were a different time...

Uncanny X-Men #167

"The Goldilocks Syndrome (or: 'Someone's Been Sleeping In My Head!')"
Published: March 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Paul Smith
Inker: Bob Wiacek

What's Going On?
The X-Men return from space, which is good.  They believe that there is one last Brood queen egg, though, and it is incubating inside Professor Xavier; since Broodlings absorb the power of their hosts, a Brood queen with all of Xavier's power and none of his scruples would be bad news, indeed.  On their way to assassinate Xavier, the X-Men wind up fighting the newly-formed New Mutants, who are just trying to defend themselves.  Unfortunately, the X-Men are too late and Xavier begins the irreversible (except when it's not) transformation into a Brood queen.

There's so much action, even Karma's powers look dynamic!

When the X-Men finally defeat him, Cyclops claims the right to kill his father figure.  However, Xavier's personality takes control of the Brood body and begs to be killed; this somehow convinces Cyclops to spare his teacher's life.  Luckily, the Starjammers apparently returned to Earth with the X-Men, and their doctor, Sikorsky, clones Xavier a new body from cells they had lying around and transfers Xavier's brain from the Broodling to a new body.  Because of course that is an option.

With Xavier's miraculous/ludicrous recovery, the X-Men are one big happy family again, only with the New Mutants, to boot!  Except...Xavier decides that Kitty Pryde belongs with students her own age and demotes her from the X-Men to the New Mutants. ***sad trombone***

Subplots, oh the Subplots!
- This marks the end of the Brood saga, and the end of the Brood as a legitimate threat in the Marvel Universe.  They never really play a large part in any story, ever again.

- Ororo feels lonely and out of place, even among friends.  The countdown to mohawk Storm begins...

- Nightcrawler fears that the New Mutants will not accept him as a person, due to his appearance.  If that sounds familiar, it's because he had the same worries about Kitty when she joined the team.

Maybe they would like him better if he didn't give them the Three Stooges treatment

- Cyclops discusses spending time with his father, Corsair, and (indirectly) leaving the X-Men.  His first idea is to go into space with the Starjammers (which is relevant again now because of 2014's Cyclops series), but Corsair wants to visit Scott's grandparents in Alaska first.  Remember this casual decision when Mister Sinister explains his evil plans, cira Inferno.

- Lilandra makes a hollow threat toward the Fantastic Four, claiming that they will be held responsible according to Shi'ar law for the deaths caused by Galactus in the future.  Why is this a hollow threat?  First off, because Lilandra is an exiled queen with no real authority.  More importantly, though, it is because she never follows up on that, as far as I can recall.

Reed Richards, AKA: Charlie Brown, super genius

Now, I'm certainly not the expert in behind-the-scenes comic book drama, but I know John Byrne was writing Fantastic Four at this time, and he went out of his way to discredit Claremont's portrayal of Dr. Doom in an issue of Uncanny, so this might just be Claremont jabbing back at his former partner.  Regardless, can we all agree that it is weird to see Johnny Storm in his tighty whiteys running into his sister's bedroom, where she appears to be naked?

- Xavier can walk in his new body, but he has psychosomatic pain that makes it incredibly difficult.  This will be his primary subplot for the next year or two.

Fun fact: all recovering paraplegics opt for skintight spandex when they regain the ability to walk.

Writing!
I think Chris Claremont is at his best when he is tying things together, and he manages to do quite a bit of that in this issue.  The Brood saga wraps, the X-Men and New Mutants meet, a new status quo is introduced for Professor Xavier, and a logical choice is made in relegating Kitty to the junior team.  AND we have all those other subplots!  The Storm and Cyclops ones will actually turn out to be important, too!  There is a lot going on in every issue with this creative team, and it is a blast to read.

Art!
I like Paul Smith's artwork, and I think he did a great job with the action in this issue, but there must have been some miscommunication between him and Claremont for Psyche's attack against Cyclops.  Cyclops losing control would, I would think, look like he can't control where his optic beams are going.  Smith drew Cyclops as an orc.  That's not the same thing.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- The X-Men are trying to ambush Xavier, right?  Kitty even comments about how quiet she's trying to be as she approaches him.  If they want to sneak up on Xavier, why do they literally break through the walls of the building?

- What the hell is Kitty Pryde wearing?  It looks like she found some Starjammer clothes that got washed with Corsair's reds.

Everything 80s:
- When the X-Men arrive, the New Mutants are all watching Magnum, P.I.  This makes for the earliest published instance of them watching this show.  I don't know why, but the New Mutants watching Magnum was kind of like the X-Men playing baseball for Claremont; it was their pastime.

They all seem unnaturally attracted to Tom Selleck, right?

Worth Noting:
- This is the first time the New Mutants are referenced as the "New Mutants."

This issue marks the end of the Brood saga and, for all extents and purposes, the end of the Brood as a credible threat from now on.  From this point on, the Brood are frequently described as on the brink of extinction (much like the Skrulls, but without Brian Michael Bendis trying to revive them as a threat) for the next 30 years.  This is probably my favorite post-Dark Phoenix cosmic X-Men story.  Granted, there are not that many, but any time the X-Men go into space, I feel like they're out of their element.  This storyline works because it doesn't try to feel epic; it tries to feel desperate, which brings the focus down to something more approachable, something closer to the normal themes of hatred and alienation the X-Men typically deal with.

This storyline saw the exit of Dave Cockrum from the series, mid-storyline.  That was a lot more common in the 80s, but the shift from Cockrum to Smith is pretty jarring, even with the same inker.  I really enjoyed Cockrum's second run on the title.  He is definitely of his era --- there is an undeniable 70s feel to his artwork --- but he is among the all-time best creators of character and costume designs, and shaped so much of what we now accept as iconic with the X-Men.  Was this run as impressive as his first on Uncanny?  Most people would say no, and that's probably fair.  Still, this run (which is actually a little longer than his first run) had a lot of great moments; the most important of which was definitely the transformation of Magneto from a MWA-HA-HA villain to a relatable character with an emotional arc.

This storyline also marks the beginning of the X-Men as a family of titles.  Not only do we see the introduction of The New Mutants, but we also get Wolverine, the first-ever X-Men limited series.  This is truly the genesis of the X-titles as we now know them, for better or worse.