Uncanny X-Men #182

Published June 1984
"Madness"
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: John Romita Jr.
Inker: Dan Green
Cover Artist: John Romita Jr.

What's Going On?
Upon returning to the X-Mansion after flying all the way from Japan, Rogue was supposed to check in on the New Mutants and Kitty Pryde.  Before she can do that, Rogue is distracted by an alarm going off in Professor Xavier's study; it is the alarm to the X-Men's emergency phone line.  Rogue listens to a message from Michael Rossi, stating that his and Xavier's suspicions have been confirmed and that he is on SHIELD's helicarrier.  The message is cut off abruptly, as if he was assaulted.  Rogue leaves to help Rossi without a second thought.

Rossi was caught trying to access SHIELD's files on Sebastian Shaw.  One of the SHIELD agents, secretly on the Hellfire Club's payroll, is instructed to kill Rossi.  Before he can do the deed, though, Rogue breaks into the helicarrier and rescues Rossi.  She then takes him to a safe location to recuperate.  There, it becomes apparent that the reason Rogue was so eager to rescue Rossi was because, after the physical exhaustion of flying halfway across the world, her mental defenses were weak, which allowed the personality of Carol Danvers to assert dominance in Rogue's body.  Michael Rossi and Carol were once lovers and colleagues, so Rogue-as-Carol tries to treat Rossi like a long-lost love.  It doesn't go well.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- The misdeeds that Illyana's phone message hinted at are the events of New Mutants (Vol. 1) #15-17.

- The White Queen's cameo sets the stage for an appearance by Sebastian Shaw in the next issue of New Mutants.

- Nick Fury has authorized deadly force to apprehend Rogue, and he wants her caught soon.  The main reason for this is because the secret Hellfire Club mole killed another SHIELD agent right before Rogue rescued Rossi, so the mole framed Rogue for the murder.

Writing!
Rogue had not really exhibited any signs of the craziness that drove her to join the X-Men since she joined the team.  This was a nice reminder of what she was dealing with as a character.  It's also a great showcase of Rogue's power set.  Granted, just about every super hero has broken into the SHIELD helicarrier at one point or another, but I thought that the concept of inflicting damage with a dollar coin was inspired.  Go figure.  Give a character a showcase issue, and you get all sorts of cool moments.

Art!
I think the highlights of this issue are the moments where Rogue's personality begins to clash with Carol's.  They are subtle moments, but I think JRJR does a good job capturing the mood.

This issue also gave Romita and Green to partake in one of their favorite hobbies: making a character ugly.  Not many artists would have made Rossi look borderline Elephant Man after a rough interrogation, but if there is a reason for a character to look lumpy, this is the art team to highlight it.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- I love how Rogue just dismisses Madelyne's worries about Cyclops.  If the X-Men were returned halfway across the globe, maybe Cyclops was dropped in an ocean or is stranded in Antarctica.  Sure, he wasn't (as we saw last issue), but I think his safe return is worth at least a fleeting bit of concern.

- The X-Men were involved in Secret Wars for about a week of Earth-time.  I like that Michael Rossi and the New Mutants apparently both left emergency messages only hours before Rogue returned to the mansion.  Good timing, right?

- Apparently, Rogue is constantly on her guard, trying to keep her personality dominant and Carol Danvers' locked away in her mind.  I say "apparently" because this is the first mention of the problem since Uncanny #171.

- Somehow, Michael Rossi giving Rogue a backhand slap across the face without the benefit of gloves does not cause her mutant power to harm him.

- This month's letter page has Storm answering the fan mail.  As luck would have it, this coincides with the mail from the debut of her new punk look.  The letters are split as to whether or not the change is good, but the more important thing to note is that there were letters written by someone named "Wolf" and someone named "Razorblade."  Edgy!

Uncanny X-Men #181

"Tokyo Story"
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!

Uncanny X-Men #180

"Whose Life Is It, Anyway?"
Published April 1984
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: John Romita Jr.
Inkers: Dan Green and Bob Wiacek
Cover Artists: John Romita Jr. and Dan Green

What's Going On?
Storm continues to deal with the emotional changes that led to her punk rock makeover back in Uncanny X-Men #175.  She confides to Xavier that she fears that she may be losing her mind; he gives her a cursory psychic scan and announces that he finds no obvious signs of mental illness.  She and Kitty later have a heart-to-heart about Storm's need to grow as a person, and Kitty's desire to keep things from changing.  After their talk, it appears that the rift in their friendship has been mended.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Professor Xavier is finally able to walk without pain.  In fact, he is healthy enough to play basketball.

- Professor Xavier suffers yet another unexplained psychic assault from an alien scanning wave.  As the issue closes, Xavier is able to zero in on the source of the attacks, and the X-Men head to Central Park to investigate.  There, they find a giant mechanical construct that they are drawn to.  When they enter it, the X-Men disappear.

- Kitty Pryde and Doug Ramsey continue to bond.  When Doug reveals that he has an appointment to visit the Massachusetts Academy (which is run by the villainous White Queen of the Hellfire Club), Kitty decides to accompany him on his visit.  She reasons that, since the White Queen is still comatose (ever since Uncanny X-Men #169), there is no real threat.  On the plane to Massachusetts, though, she finds out how wrong she was; the White Queen is awake, and appears up to no good.

- Peter continues to feel insecure about his relationship with Kitty, and threatened by the fact that Doug has a lot in common with Kitty.

- Colossus' arm sling indicates that he is still healing from the wounds he received in Uncanny #177. 

Writing!
There isn't much of a main plot in this issue, so this issue is mostly character development and the advancement of sub-plots.  I tend to like these change of pace issues, and this one is no different.  I liked that we finally saw Storm dealing more with her recent changes; this was definitely overdue.  It was also nice to finally see Xavier walking without pain --- that sub-plot had been dragging on for far too long.  What I was less thrilled about was the moronic way that Kitty got herself into trouble in this issue.  For such a smart character --- a genius, mind you --- to come up with a plan that basically boils down to "I think I'll go into enemy territory without reconnoitering and assume that everything will turn out okay," is insulting to the reader; even worse, Xavier and Storm agree to the plan.  I realize that Claremont is doing this to explain A) why Kitty is not in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars and B) give the New Mutants a reason to go to the Massachusetts Academy in their own title, but it definitely feels out of character for everyone involved.

Art!
The artwork is pretty solid once again, even with Romita Jr. having two inkers.  Honestly, I can't tell much of a difference between the work of Dan Green and Bob Wiacek in this issue, unless it explains this panel with Kitty's face being light on the details.

It doesn't have JRJR's typical wavy hair look, either.  I think it looks pretty good, honestly, but it stands out to me because faces and hair don't usually get a delicate touch with Romita's pencils.  I was a bit confused by the reveal of the White Queen, though --- what was going on with the shadows on her face? 

Since there's not a lot of action in this issue, Romita draws a lot of static images.  Still, he managed to fit in a nifty basketball scene with Xavier and a few panels of Storm looking intimidating.  I don't think the plot played to the art team's strengths, but it all worked out pretty well.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Professor Xavier is surprised to find himself attracted to Storm.  It's harmless, but still creepy.  I don't think this point was ever brought up again, thankfully.

Worth Noting:
- The whole sub-plot with Xavier and the psychic scans that popped up in the last three issues was a lead-in to Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars.  The Beyonder was the one that Xavier sensed scanning the globe.  It would have felt a lot less drawn-out if Xavier didn't suffer a similar (but unrelated and unexplained) attack back in New Mutants #6.  It does seem odd that Xavier is drawn toward Secret Wars, but a similarly powerful telepath like Emma Frost apparently feels free to go about her own business.

- This is the first issue where Xavier is able to walk without pain, and that will remain the status quo for the next seven-ish years.

Everything 80s:
- Ladies and gentlemen, I present Kitty Pryde: fashion icon!  Headband?  Goofy earrings?  Leg warmers?  Tall boots over pants and leg warmers?  Quadruple check!  I love it when artists have Kitty wear trendy clothes.

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.

Uncanny X-Men #178

"Hell Hath No Fury..."
Published February 1984
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: John Romita Jr.
Inkers: Bob Wiacek and Brett Breeding
Cover: John Romita Jr. and Dan Green

What's Going On?
It is X-Men vs. the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants time!  After doing harm to Colossus last issue, the Brotherhood (Avalance, Blob, Destiny and Pyro) try to ambush Nightcrawler and his girlfriend, Amanda Sefton.  Storm and Wolverine act as the cavalry and manage to subdue the Brotherhood with surprising ease.  Surprising, that is, until Blob reveals that their attacks were just a distraction to allow Mystique to attack Professor Xavier.

Meanwhile, Rogue convinces Mystique that she joined the X-Men of her own free will in an effort to learn to control her powers; this helps convince Mystique to not kill Xavier.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Cyclops has sent the Professor a letter from his honeymoon; his (and Madelyne's) post-X-Men plan is to work for his grandparents' airline in Alaska.  But who took this photo of them in their honeymoon bed, and why did Scott send it to his father figure?

- After the attack last issue, Colossus is still a chunk of frozen metal.  Kitty Pryde breaks into the Baxter Building to grab one of Reed Richards' inventions that could help Peter, but something surprises her as she tries to escape; it appears as though she fell from the roof of the building and died.

- Callisto has Masque alter the body of a dead junkie.  From their conversation, it sounds like he is going to create a doppelganger for Kitty Pryde.

- Xavier suffers another strong psychic blow, although this one is foreshadowing the Beyonder and Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars. 

- Mystique seems to accept Rogue's claim that she is willingly trying to learn control over her abilities under Xavier's tutelage.  I'm reasonably sure this is the last time Mystique's Brotherhood acts as (potentially) deadly enemies of the X-Men. Sure, they later become Freedom Force and are still enemies, but from this point forward, Mystique's team is usually trying to arrest instead of murder.

Writing!
Chris Claremont does a good job making Mystique out to be a legitimate threat.  I liked the tactics and attitude of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants; they showed teamwork that X-Men villains rarely display, and I liked the joy Blob seemed to get out of Colossus' injury.  It is interesting to see Claremont starting to round out Mystique's character; his run is famous for his evolving treatment of Magneto, but this change with Mystique feels kind of like a dry run for that.

Art!
The very first page shows off the difference between the inking styles of Bob Wiacek and John Romita Sr.; compare the roughness of Colossus on this page and compare it to the final page of last issue. 

Personally, I think Romita Jr.'s pencils look better with inks that leave the art looking a little rough, so I actually like this change quite a bit.  Romita Jr. still has a couple of panels where he gives the female characters some unfortunately prominent cheekbones, but that is something he will continue to do for the rest of his career.  Overall, though, I think JRJR is a great action artist, and this issue plays to his strengths well.  Something I particularly liked was how he drew Amanda Sefton's magic spells.  How has he never drawn a Doctor Strange series?!?

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Apparently, when Wolverine shows up to a danger room session, he brings his jacket and a six pack of beer.

- Angel answers the letters page in this issue.  Keep in mind that Angel has not been an active team member since the All-New, All-Different team was launched.  It seems like a weird choice, but the last words on the page are a reminder to X-fans to check out Angel's further adventures in the pages of The Defenders, so I guess that explains that.

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?

Uncanny X-Men #176

"Decisions"
Published December 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: John Romita Jr.
Inker: Bob Wiacek

What's Going On?
The newlyweds, Cyclops and Madeline, are on their way to their honeymoon destination when they encounter a storm while flying over the Pacific.  Their plane is hit by lightning, but they survive...only to encounter an aggressive giant sea squid.  But what chance does a giant squid have against the man who beat up all the X-Men last issue?

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Wolverine confronts Mariko for calling off their wedding, back in Uncanny #173.  He correctly attributes their breakup to Mastermind's manipulations, but she argues that the things she did (apparently off-panel) under his influence were so bad (read: criminal) that she is honor-bound to fix the situation on her own.  If she dies in the process, it is up to Wolverine to to slay her remaining foes.  Wolverine tries to give back the Yashida Clan Honor Sword (given to him by Mariko in Wolverine (Vol. 1)), but she refuses.  Basically, he proved himself worthy when he killed her evil father, regardless of the cost; it is up to her to show that she is equally worthy by cutting Clan Yashida's ties to the Japanese underworld.

- Henry Peter Gyrich, the Marvel Comics designated "political bureaucrat who has to be involved in super hero matters," is invited to a meeting where mutants are seen as an increasing danger.  Magneto is the textbook example of how dangerous mutants can be (based mostly on his exploits from Uncanny X-Men #150).  The other reason for worry (according to the bureaucrats) is that mutants are popping all over the globe, even in Communist nations.  Remarkably, the usually insensitive and abrasive Gyrich comes across as very reasonable, while the typically sensible Val Cooper looks like a bigot.

- Callisto tells Caliban that she wants to make Kitty Pryde fulfill her promise (made in Uncanny #170) to live forever with Caliban in the Morlock sewers. Masque warns Callisto that this may cause conflict with their new leader, Storm.  Callisto hopes it does.

- Cyclops decides to not join his father and the Starjammers in their space adventures (the choice was last mentioned in Uncanny #174).  He wants to live a normal, non-super hero life with Madeline. 

Art!
This is John Romita Jr.'s first full issue on art, and one if his more annoying (to me, anyway) habits shows up right away.  He has this weird thing where he likes to overdo the cheekbones on female characters at times, making it look like their lower jaw is caving in.

Is it a big deal?  Not really.  It's just a Thing He Does that I'm not terribly fond of.  On the other hand, I loved his cloaked-in-shadows Wolverine, and he did a good job with the sea monsters and the underwater sequences.  Overall, the man is off to a nice start.

Writing!
This is one of those "slow" issues that frequently come after a major storyline ends, and that is perfectly okay.  Chris Claremont (at least, according to interviews looking back at the character) had intended for Madeline Pryor to simply be a doppelganger of Jean Grey and nothing more.  This issue ended with a caption reading "The Beginning;" this was Claremont's attempt to give Cyclops a happy ending, as he retires from the X-Men and begins a normal civilian life.  How different would this series have been if characters were allowed to actually do this?  It would be weird, right?  This issue served as a well-deserved bon voyage to a character that had lived a pretty tortured life up to this point.  Unfortunately, when Marvel decided to launch X-Factor, a lot of this progress was lost...

On the bright side, Claremont decided to have Wolverine and Mariko realize off-panel that Mastermind undermined their wedding.  Why that had to be off-panel, I don't know, but I disagree with the choice.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Behold!  The color-changing bikini!  First it is black...

...and then it is white!

Could she have changed?  It's doubtful.  Is it important?  Absolutely not.  This is the sort of thing kids would try to get No-Prizes for.

- Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter spent half of a page complaining about Romita Jr.'s cover art.  That's an odd choice.

Everything 80's:
- Check out this ad for CBS' Saturday Morning Cartoon lineup.

The Little Rascals/Richie Rich?  Pac-Man?  Rubik, the Amazing Cube?  Menudo?!?  Good lord, what children went through in 1983!




Worth Noting:
- This is the last mention of the Yashida Clan Honor Blade/Sword for a good long while.  I think it next pops up in Wolverine (Vol. 2) #78.

- Finally!  Someone acknowledges that Mastermind ruined Wolverine's wedding!  The act that no one addressed this last issue really bothered me.

- Valerie Cooper makes her first appearance as someone that is alarmed with the "mutant problem."  This is an odd angle for her character, since she quickly becomes one of Marvel's most reasonable government (read: not bigoted) employees.

- Cyclops has officially left the X-Men and is now considered (by Claremont, anyway) retired from super heroing.