X-Men and the Micronauts #3

"Mine Eyes Have Seen the Gory!"
Published March 1984
Writers: Chris Claremont and Bill Mantlo
Penciler: Jackson "Butch" Guice
Inker: Bob Wiacek
Cover Artist: Jackson "Butch" Guice

What's Going On?
Under the control of The Entity, the X-Men and Micronauts conquer a Microverse military outpost.  While they all kill their enemies, only Kitty Pryde (whose body is secretly being controlled by Baron Karza) is acting bloodthirsty enough for The Entity's tastes.  The teams (minus Kitty/Karza) are punished and sent to a dungeon, where they appear to be operating under their own willpower once again; they escape confinement and decide to take the fight to The Entity, despite their slim chances of winning.

Meanwhile, Xavier has been asleep, unable to wake, even when he falls out of bed and is lifted back into it by the New Mutants.

He sends his astral form to find and battle The Entity.  He notes that The Entity is wearing the psychic armor her used in Uncanny X-Men #117; he does not note a similarity, he states that it is his armor. 

Well, that makes sense when it is revealed that The Entity is the manifestation of Xavier's dark side. 

By defeating Xavier in psychic battle, The Entity is now free to control Xavier's body and attack the...hmm.  The Microverse?  Again?  Let's just assume that's a typo and he means that he will attack the main Marvel Universe (does that make it the Macroverse?)

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- The Entity kills Captain Ranin of the Micronauts (by turning him into dust!) for daring to have his own will...only to revive him in perfect health a few moments later.

- Deciding that life under The Entity's control is too horrible to contemplate, Wolverine decides to kill his friends while they sleep.  Colossus stops him by reasoning that --- since The Entity can revive the dead if Wolvie kills them --- if they despair, The Entity wins. The only way the heroes can "win" is to hold on to hope.

- Baron Karza (in the body of Kitty Pryde), after seemingly killing The Entity, decides that his next step toward Microverse domination is the death of the X-Men and Micronauts.

Writing!
Unlike the previous two issues, the X-Men and Micronauts share their scenes together, so we don't see as much of a focus on the Micronauts this time around.  The scene with Kitty/Karza and The Entity is shockingly awful and thankfully is never brought up again in any other Kitty Pryde comic I have read.  Giving The Entity the ability to revive the dead (or at least those he is responsible for killing) looks like it will serve as a convenient backdoor to erase any of the deaths the X-Men caused in this issue, but we will have to wait until next issue to see.  For the most part, though, we see heroes getting ready to be heroes and villains being villainous, so the writing is doing its job on a very basic level.

Art!
The art is not fantastic, but it tells the story well enough.  My personal highlight was Guice showing off how destructive an evil Kitty Pryde could be. 

It's not especially cool-looking, but I think this is the first instance of Kitty being show killing someone, so it's fairly unique in that regard.  A lowlight of this issue is The Entity appearing to have a 72" waist. 

I'm not much of a fan of this issue's cover, either, with The Entity being superimposed over the rest of the cast in bright orange inks.  I don't like the practice when it's used to exhibit Psyche's powers, and I don't like it here.  I do like that Guice wrote "Trapped" on the wall, but it would have made more sense if that was the title of the issue.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- At this point, it's still a rule that X-Men don't kill (except when they do), so it's kind of a big deal that the team are killing folks while under The Entity's sway. 

Gee, I wonder if The Entity's ability to revive the dead will help erase their misdeeds from history?

- Baron Karza has a mustache and mohawk beneath his fearsome Darth Vader-esque helmet. 

Oh, and he's apparently also a "rocket-powered centaur?"  I realize that is something taken from the toy line, but that made me tear up with laughter.

- The Entity has romantic plans for Kitty Pryde (controlled by Baron Karza) as a "reward" for her ruthlessness in battle.  While having the still extremely young Kitty engaged in a sexual scene with a grown man is certainly disturbing, it gets a lot creepier after it is revealed that The Entity is Charles Xavier's repressed feelings.  For my money, because The Entity is trying to act on these urges, this is creepier than the Stan Lee-era scene where Xavier revealed that he is secretly pining for the then-teenage Jean Grey.  On the bright side, Kitty/Karza stabs The Entity in the back, so it's not like Kitty is portrayed as a victim here.  How much of that is due to a man's mind controlling her body, I prefer not to speculate on right now.

 Everything 80s:
Check out this ad for some Masters of the Universe merchandise:

Please note that these are not the toys from Mattel --- these are hobby kit versions (think model cars) of the toys that people can purchase and assemble.  I can't imagine the intended audience for this.

Magik (Storm and Illyana Limited Series) #4

"Darkchild"
Published March 1984
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Sal Buscema
Inker: Tom Palmer
Cover Artists: Bret Blevins and Tom Palmer

What's Going On?
Picking up where last issue left off, Belasco intends to corrupt Illyana's soul a little more to generate the third Blood Stone; after that is done, Illyana (at Belasco's behest) will strip the soul from the dying Storm and offer it as a sacrifice to the Dark Gods.  At the last moment, Illyana rebels and kills Storm to save her soul.  This upsets Belasco, who renounces her as an apprentice and proceeds to corrupt her soul to make the third Blood Stone.

He casts her into the wilderness of Limbo to suffer, all the while knowing that as long as she is in Limbo, he can summon her to his side in an instant and force her to do his bidding.  Separated from Belasco and without either Cat or Storm to help her, Illyana endures harships, but continues to train herself until she is ready to battle Belasco as an equal.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- After having her soul corrupted by Belasco and acting as his nemesis, Storm finally dies.  Thanks to Illyana, though, she dies with what remains of her soul intact.

- Illyana realizes that she can use her mutant power to teleport back to Earth.

- Illyana returns home to her parents, only to be shunned by them because she is far too old to be their daughter, thanks to all the time she spent in Limbo.  So in case you ever wondered why Magik and Colossus never visit their family in Russia, here's your answer.

Writing!
The good news: Illyana finally battles Belasco.  The bad news: it is not an all-out, drag-out fight where two sorcerers make use of their most bizarre magics.  Instead, it's a sword fight (and not a very exciting one, either).  What makes this such an unsatisfying conclusion to the series is that Illyana spends half of the issue trying to figure out how to challenge Belasco, and then she is suddenly extremely powerful. 

Art!
The art, once again, is not terribly impressive.  It tells the story well enough, but there's nothing exciting or cool to be seen in this issue.  I would have loved to see some cool artwork to accompany Illyana's magic spells, but this is not the kind of art team to make cool, weird stuff happen.

Retrospectively Amusing:

- In case you ever wondered at what age a young woman is considered ogle-worthy by Marvel Comics, the answer appears to be thirteen years-old.  Consider these two images taken from this issue.  Here is pre-pubescent Illyana...

...and here is teenage Illyana:

Woo!  Fur bikini in inappropriate weather!  In case you're wondering about her age, the climax of this issue occurs one year before Illyana's framing sequence at the end of the issue, which takes place "now"/1984, and she stated that she was aged fourteen back in issue #1.  

- Belasco calls Sheena the She-Devil a slut.  Aside from being inappropriate for both this era of comics, as well as for the intended audience (which back in the 80s was younger than today), it's just an odd choice of an insult for this situation, which is not at all sexual.  What makes it even stranger is the fact that Belasco is insulting a character that isn't even a part of this series.

- Belasco's demonic power is the inverse of Illyana's, apparently.  As she gains power, he loses his.  Does this ever come up again?

- The last panel proclaims "An ending...can also be a beginning."  That would make a lot more sense if they teased her upcoming appearances in New Mutants or if she interacted with them at all in this series.

Worth Noting:
- This cover was drawn by Bret Blevins (who also drew the cover to New Mutants this month, too), who will eventually be the artist that drew the climax of Illyana's narrative in the Inferno crossover.

- The title of this issue, "Darkchild," refers to Illyana's corrupted demon-ish potential, and will become a major part of her character arc through the years...except that in just about every future mention of the title, it is spelled "Darkchilde."

- While Illyana drew her Soulsword first in Uncanny #171, this is the first time we see any explanation of what it is.  It is also worth pointing out that this design will change over time.  Here it is in this issue:

Here it is in its first appearance:

Notice that Walt Simonson drew a much thinner blade, with a heavier-looking hilt design that featured a guard.

- I am 99% sure this will be the last mention of the Bloodstones until after Magik's mid-2000s revival.  I could be wrong, but I'm not seeing any other 80s appearances listed in the Marvel Database.

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.