Uncanny X-Men and New Teen Titans

Front Cover

"Apokolips...Now!"
Published: September 1982 (I think)
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Walter Simonson
Inker: Terry Austin

What's Going On?
Does it really matter?  This is a company crossover, so it's not like anything important is going to happen here.  This isn't even set in the normal Marvel Universe (Earth-616), it is part of the rarely used Earth-7642, a world where the DC and Marvel characters coexist.  Still, the creative talent makes this one worth checking out.

The New God Darkseid was doing his thing, trying to channel the power of The Source, when he had an idea.  Why not try to manipulate the powerful cosmic power of the Phoenix to make this happen?  One problem, though...the Phoenix is dead, having perished when Jean Grey/Phoenix committed suicide at the end of the Dark Phoenix Saga in Uncanny X-Men #137.  That's only a slight problem for a megalomaniacal space tyrant, as it turns out.  Darkseid harvests the memories of the Dark Phoenix from the X-Men while they sleep, which is the first step toward harnessing her power.

DRAMATIC LETTERING!

To recreate the rest of her power, Darkseid must build machines in places special to Jean Grey, in order to harness more echoes of the Phoenix power.  One of the Teen Titans, Raven, has a precognitive dream about the Phoenix, while one of her teammates, Starfire, recognizes the threat the Phoenix Force can represent.  To nip that threat in the bud, the Titans decide to attack the X-Men, because team-ups always need a manufactured misunderstanding to fight over.  It doesn't take too long before they kiss, make up, and take on the true threat of Darkseid.  And Deathstroke, if only because both teams need a villain they can try to punch.

Yeah, a line seems the most natural way for groups to mingle

Art!
To this point, Walt Simonson was probably best known for his Manhunter work in Detective Comics.  He hadn't quite developed his classic style yet, but it is interesting how close he is here.  On his earlier Thor work in the 1970s, Simonson was an adequate artist.  Here, though, we see panels where his true potential can be seen.  Take this one, for instance: how many artists, aside from Jack Kirby, can pull off a panel like this?

It is also neat to see Simonson's pre-X-Factor take on some of the X-Men.  While his X-Factor work isn't as iconic as his Thor run, I have always been partial to that run.

Writing!
This one-shot, like everything X-Men at the time, was written by Chris Claremont.  I have to say that I'm surprised that he got the job here.  That's not because he was too busy, although this did come out at roughly the same time as he was writing the Wolverine limited series, as well as Uncanny X-Men, and was planning the launch of The New Mutants.  I'm surprised because this is a surprisingly dense issue; it has 62 pages with no ads.  Granted, this issue cost $2.00, compared to a normal comic's $0.60, but this could have easily been a dumb cash-in on two wildly popular comics.  Instead, we get one of the hottest writers in comics at the time with an up-and-coming artist, and they team up to make two street-level teams (let's be honest) play on a cosmic stage.  Looking back, that seems like an unlikely choice, but I'm pretty impressed with how legit the final product turned out. 

By the way, was Darkseid even a Titans villain at this point?  Or ever?

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Wolverine is relegated to the back cover, behind Beast Boy.  There really was a time when he wasn't the face of Marvel Comics!

- I love how serious the characters on the front cover look when you compare them to the goofy smiles of Kitty and Gar on the back cover.

- When the hell was this published?  This issue was published in January, 1982, according to the usually reliable Marvel Wiki.  The cover was clearly signed and dated in May, 1982, though.  And the September '82 Bullpen Bulletins lists this on their monthly checklist of issues to buy.  I went with that date, but then I saw an in-house ad in Uncanny X-Men #163 saying that this would be on sale August 8.  It doesn't matter in the big scheme of things, but I find it odd.

Paying Tribute to My Namesake:
They don't actually use the term "fastball special" here, but...well...it is.

Hint of Things to Come?
I thought giving Cyclops the power of the Phoenix is Avengers vs. X-Men was pretty clever, but that idea had apparently already made the rounds a few decades ago.

Wolverine (Vol. 1) #1

"Here, kitty, kitty..."

"I'm Wolverine"
Published: September 1982
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Frank Miller
Inker: Josef Rubinstein

What's Going On?
After a week or two of distributing rough justice in the Canadian wilderness, Wolverine returns home to find a stack of returned mail.  It appears that Logan's lady love, Mariko Yashida, has returned to Japan without a word.  When he tries to call her in Japan, whoever is on the other end simply hangs up the phone.  That's enough for Logan to drop everything and fly to Japan.  Once there, he finds Mariko --- and things get worse.  Mariko's father, Lord Shingen, has returned after a lengthy absence, and has resumed his position as the head of the Yashida clan.  To pay off a debt he incurred during his absence, Shingen has given away Mariko's hand in marriage.  Worse, Mariko's husband is crude and physically abusive.  Wolverine would have killed this loser, but Mariko intervened.  Her argument is that her love for Logan is secondary to her familial obligation to honor her father's wishes.  That would have been that, and Logan would have returned home and listened to Morrissey in his bedroom for a few weeks, but he was attacked with poison-tipped shurikens.  When he awoke, still groggy from the drugs, Shingen challenged Wolverine to a sparring match with wooden swords in front of Mariko.  Despite the non-lethal weapons, Shingen's expertise showed itself when he began landing blows that would have killed a normal man.  It doesn't take long for Wolverine to get sick of that crap and to pop his claws.  While justified in defending himself against lethal force, it certainly appeared to the onlookers that Wolverine had given in to his bestial nature and took a friendly match to a deadly extreme.  It didn't matter, though.  Shingen still solidly trounced Wolverine.  The last thing Wolverine remembered before losing consciousness was Mariko declaring him unworthy of her love.

Worth Noting:
- This is the first appearance of both Yukio and Lord Shingen.

- This limited series was published during the X-Men's Brood Saga, between September and December of 1982, but the end of the series was designed to coincide with Uncanny X-Men #172, which was published in August 1983.  I felt certain that there was some sort of behind-the-scenes drama that caused that delay, but I haven't been able to find anything online.  So, maybe that is not "worth noting."

- Is this the first X-Men spin-off?  I think it is!  Alpha Flight didn't start until 1983.  Even the Magik limited series, which picks up on plot threads from Uncanny X-Men #160, did not start until the end of 1983. 

Art!
We have Frank Miller on pencils here, and this is star-on-the-rise Miller.  What does that mean?  It means that this is less stylized than his later work, but he still adds enough nice touches to push the envelope of mainstream comic art circa 1982.  Take this page, for instance:

I didn't catch Miller's clever arrangement at first glance; it's clever and understated, words that stopped being used with his work about fifteen years ago.  Even though Wolverine has been featured in literally thousands of comics, having the path of his claws cross multiple panels and guide your eyes across the page is still pretty unique.

As much as I appreciate some of his choices, I have to admit that I don't particularly like the way Miller draws Wolvie's head in this issue.  It's a combination of his take on Logan's haircut --- it looks like it was styled from a Jello mold --- and some inconsistencies in the way he draws Logan's face.  But that's really just nitpicking.  The art is expressive and Miller captures the action well, which is exactly what you want in a Wolverine series.

Writing!
This series marks a huge departure for Wolverine as a character.  Of course, having Chris Claremont write 95% of his appearances to this point certainly helped assure that these changes actually stuck.  Up to this point, Wolverine was a loose cannon that was as dangerous to his friends as his enemies.  This is the point where the character starts to grow up and move beyond his origin as a clawed lunatic.  How different is this comic?  There is a three panel sequence that zooms in on Wolverine's eyes. 

Top panel: a face or a Rorschach test?

No claws.  No "bub."  No cowl.  Just eyes.  Right there, you have something more obviously character-based than any of his appearances to date.

It is also worth noting that Wolverine gets his ass handed to him by Shingen here.  Sure, it's the first issue of a limited series, but that is still a pretty rare feat.  This might be the first occurrence of Claremont's favorite method of legitimizing a threat to Wolverine and/or the X-Men: beating up Wolverine when he has been weakened.

Retroactively Amusing:
Wolverine mentions in this issue that the only family he knows is his father.  It's a throwaway line, but the notion that Wolverine knew anything about his past (pre-House of M) seems odd now.  Looking back, this is well before Wolverine met Sabretooth, who was sometimes suspected (and even plotted) to be his father, and long before it was revealed that Wolverine's memories were mostly forgotten or false.

Marvel Graphic Novel #4

"The New Mutants"
Published: September 1982
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Bob McLeod
Inker: Bob McLeod

What's Going On?
As Charles Xavier mourns the passing of his former students, the X-Men (as totally not seen in Uncanny X-Men #161), new mutants are manifesting all over the globe.  As the foremost expert on mutation in the world, that means that people are coming to Chuck with their mutant problems.

• Moira MacTaggert comes across a young Rahne Sinclair as she is being chased by men with torches; Rahne apparently can turn into a wolf or a wolf-human hybrid.  
• Xi'an Coy Mahn was referred to Xavier by the Fantastic Four; Xi'an can possess and control others with a very specific psychic ability. 
• Dani Moonstar is apparently the orphaned daughter of one of Xavier's as-yet-unmentioned best friends; her specific psychic ability is to pull an image from someone's mind and present it like a hyper-real hologram.  
• Roberto DaCosta manifested in the middle of a soccer stadium that was clearly too large for a game between rival high schools; Roberto has super-strength, but apparently only in short bursts.  
• Sam Guthrie was a sixteen-year old miner, struggling to provide for his family when he was caught in a cave-in; Sam can fly fast and hit hard without injuring himself. 

Donald Pierce of the Hellfire Club is also targeting Xavier and these young mutants.  Is it because the Hellfire Club has a stated goal of gathering mutant resources and using them to become more powerful?  Er, no.  Apparently, Pierce hates mutants, despite having only appeared working closely with evil ones in his previous appearances.  His goal is to kill each of these new mutants, as soon as they manifest.  Then his goal changes to kidnapping some of them and fooling Sam to work for him as hired muscle.  Then the goal changes again to sucking the knowledge out of Xavier's head.  But then that extremely complicated process stops being the main goal, and Pierce once again decides on simple murder.  The kids work with Xavier and Moira on a globe-hopping adventure to foil Pierce's mad plan and then all enroll at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters as students who wear black and yellow spandex.

Subplots!

• All five new mutants join the team that has not yet been officially named.
• While this comic directly references Uncanny X-Men #161, no mention is made to the alien creature that is trying to possess Xavier's mind.
• Xi'an is hired by Xavier to help run the school.  I am pretty sure that point is never brought up again in The New Mutants comic.
• Both Xi'an and Sam have serious economic problems and extended family that they care for.  While Xavier's job offer explains how Xi'an will support her siblings (although not where they will live), Sam's problem is not resolved by the end of the comic.  He just decides to quit work and go to school.
• Donald Pierce hates mutants now.  Apparently.

The Retroactively Amusing:
- Xavier explicitly states that he does not trust Tessa.  At the time, that made perfect sense, since she was Sebastian Shaw's girl Friday.  However, Claremont did a massive retcon on Tessa when he returned to the X-titles in 2000, making her into Xavier's super-secret agent.  It's funny to see evidence of how unplanned that change was.

- It never struck me as odd before this moment, but "The New Mutants" is really a terrible name for a super-hero team.  Why not the X-Men?  The last time Xavier lost some students, he just grabbed some more and slapped the team name on them.  This time, though, he goes with a team name that simply accurately identifies them?  Lame.

- Dani Moonstar is really, really, really stereotypically American Indian here.  The character gets a lot of depth as the series goes on, but her bit in this issue can be boiled down to "Angry Injun."

Also: is that a bulge in Rahne's pants?

Points to Claremont for ethnic diversity, but writing Dani like she was in a '60s Western is pretty bad.

- Donald Pierce, a cyborg with many weapons at his disposal, uses a flintlock pistol as his back-up weapon.

Fact: you can't shoot a gun and poop standing up at the same time

I get it, the Hellfire Club likes to dress like they're from the 18th century, but really?  A flintlock?  He just shot an energy burst from his hand and is mostly robot.  Where's his ray gun?

- Mutants are popping up all over the globe.  As proof, this comic has five that manifested at roughly the same time.  Xavier agrees to re-open his school (was it even closed?) for these mutants, but stops short of looking for more mutants to help.  I guess five is his maximum class size.

The Peculiar:
Rahne's mutant ability in this comic is substantially different than how she appears after this.  Typically, she is either a wolf or a werewolf-looking thing.  Here, she has the torso of a werewolf and the hind quarters of a wolf.

Of the five new mutants, only Xi'an (Karma) and Sam (Cannonball) are given code-names.  That would be a little odd, even today, for an origin story, but in the early '80s, when character names are mentioned as often as possible...?  That was highly unusual.

Why does Xavier presume that the X-Men are dead?  They disappeared in a comic that was published in the same month as this graphic novel, and there was no indication that Xavier thought they were dead then, or even that he knew they had been kidnapped yet.

Rahne is chased by villagers carrying torches.  Where would you even find a torch in the 1980s?

Worth Noting:

• This is the first appearance of Sam Guthrie (Cannonball), Dani Moonstar (Psyche), Roberto DaCosta (Sunspot) and Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane).  Xi'an Coy Mahn (Karma) first appeared in Marvel Team-Up #100 (which was a Claremont/Frank Miller collaboration).
• This is the second appearance of Cole, Macon, and Reese, although they are not specifically named here.  They are the Hellfire Club guards who Wolverine tore apart during The Dark Phoenix Saga, and would later be founding members of the Reavers with Donald Pierce.

And so it begins...!  This is the moment that the X-Men stopped being a single team and became a family of titles.  While I wouldn't argue that this issue was very good (Pierce's always-changing plan and a lot of stereotypes at work), it does an okay job introducing the characters.  Xavier's school hadn't been used to teach mutants much of anything since Xavier's fake death in Uncanny X-Men #42, so I see the void this title is filling.  Does Claremont make the best use of this concept?  Time will tell.

Uncanny X-Men #161

“Gold Rush!”

Published: September 1982

Writer: Chris Claremont

Penciler: Dave Cockrum

Inker: Bob Wiacek

What’s going on?

Professor Xavier is in a coma, psychically fighting “an alien consciousness” that is trying to take over his mind.  While the X-Men, Starjammers, and Xavier’s girlfriend, Lilandra, wring their hands helplessly and hope for the best, Xavier is reliving a similar situation from “twenty years ago.”  In this flashback, we see a young (but still bald) Xavier treating Gabrielle Haller at an Israeli psychiatric hospital.  Gaby has been catatonic for years, thanks to the horrors she witnessed in Dachau, and her doctor has asked his old friend Xavier to help as a last-ditch effort.  Naturally, to avoid suspicion, Xavier spends several weeks slowly breaking down her mental barriers cures her immediately.  At the hospital, Xavier meets a volunteer named Magnus, a survivor of Auschwitz.  The two immediately bond, according to the script.  It’s hard to see why, since Magnus is pretty brusque and comes across as an extremist nut whenever the conversation veers toward politics, genetics, sociology, or just about anything.  Meanwhile, Xavier shows some questionable judgement when he enters into a romantic relationship with his patient, Gaby.  Then Hydra strikes, kidnaps Gaby, and Xavier and Magnus must reveal their mutant powers to each other and save the day.  Then Magnus becomes evil and steals a bunch of Nazi gold on his way to becoming the villainous Magneto.

Subplots, oh the Subplots!

• Cyclops reacts poorly to the Professor’s illness, and by “poorly,” I of course mean “like a total dick.”  Granted, the man has gone through a lot recently, with the death of his love, Jean Grey, and giving up the reins of the X-Men to Storm — but it is scenes like this that make Cyclops difficult to like.
• This is the beginning of the Brood storyline in proper; the past several issues have had Xavier dealing with a mysterious sickness, but this is where it is revealed to be an alien creature called the Brood.
• The last page has Deathbird usurping the Shi’ar throne from Lilandra and the Brood claiming the X-Men as “host-forms for the spawn of…the ‘mother-of-us-all!’”
• This story becomes retroactively important when Legion travels back in time to this era during the “Legion Quest” storyline.

The Retroactively Amusing:

This story was written back when Marvel allowed their characters to age in something approaching real-time.  That means that the pre-X-Men Xavier and Magneto are in their early-to-mid thirties. 

While it’s not unheard of for a man that young to be completely bald or have shock-white hair, I do think it is funny that the two don’t age a day over the next twenty years of comics (Erik the Red notwithstanding).

The Not-As-Retroactively Creepy:
Xavier seduces his patient, Gabrielle Haller.  That seems like a really terrible idea.  Oh, well, he must not have realized what a mad idea that was at the time…

Professor Xavier is a jerk.  On a side note, does the fifteen-ish years Gaby spent catatonic mean that she is still mentally a child?  Does that make Xavier even worse here?

Everything 80's:
This is the back-cover ad for this issue:

I sure don’t remember anything about MegaForce, but it looks awesomely bad.

The last page of this otherwise unremarkable flashback story has 1) a royal coup 2) all the X-Men defeated in a single panel 3) a lead-in to the next several months of stories.  Chris Claremont may be known for his decompressed storytelling, but the man has moments where he likes to cram absolutely everything in at once.