Daredevils #9

"Waiting For the End of the World"
Published September 1983
Writer: Alan Moore
Penciller: Alan Davis
Inker: Alan Davis


What's Going On?
Jim Jaspers makes a televised speech that portrays super-heroes as dangers to the world at large; Linda (Captain UK of Earth 238) explains that he made the exact same speech on her world as a precursor to the wholesale slaughter of all superhumans.  Captain Britain tries to console her and convince her that this world will not suffer the same fate, but she doesn't believe him (in part, perhaps, because Betsy Braddock has a premonition of the impending slaughter) and leaves Braddock Manor...only to come face-to-face with the Fury.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Merlin and Roma are playing a chess game, with the major characters in this story acting as the chess pieces.  It turns out that the Fury is not on the game board, though, so events may not turn out as Merlin has planned...

- Jim Jaspers takes a moment to change his white wine to red, indicating that he has the same reality-altering powers as his Earth 238 counterpart.

- There are tensions brewing within the Special Executive.  While Wardog is concerned with a possible superhero holocaust, Zeitgeist is only interested in getting a paycheck.

- Betsy Braddock's boyfriend, Tom, is still urging her to abandon her brother and go somewhere less violent.  Since we know that Betsy eventually joins the X-Men as Psylocke and I've never heard of Tom in any X-title, I'm going to make a wild guess and say Tom won't have a happy ending here.

Writing!
This is yet another issue where Alan Moore manages to do a lot with only a little space.  I thought that the Merlin chess scenes were trying to be a little too clever, but Moore balanced that out by having the Fury throw a monkey wrench in that game.  Other than that, we see progression with Linda, the growing conflict within the Special Executive, the growing danger from Jaspers, and a cliffhanger with the Fury.  That's a lot for one half-issue!

Art!
I liked how Alan Davis chose to handle Jim Jasper's reality manipulation with the wine.  It's simple, but it's just another example of how well he works with subtle facials expressions.  And that last page...considering that neither character is exactly iconic, it's a damn nice panel.  I think the best example of Davis' work on this issue, though, is Betsy's premonition.  It's nothing huge or splashy, but showing her premonition within the silhouette of her profile is a very nice touch.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- It looks like Merlin and Roma are hanging out in a cosmic jacuzzi during the chess game.  I guess you can play chess wherever you want to, but it does look strange that the father (Merlin) is at least partially unclothed and the daughter (Roma) appears to be jacuzzi-ing with her normal outfit on, right?

Worth Noting:
- Jim Jaspers specifically mentions the Presidential pardon from Incredible Hulk #278, and Henry Peter Gyrich and Sebastian Shaw both make cameos.  This is the first evidence that A) ties Captain Britain to the X-Men titles and B) Marvel UK/Earth 616 is still the same as the prime Marvel universe; yes, CapBrit had made some appearances in the Marvel Universe before (Contest of Champions, Marvel Team Up) and his original self-titled comic did have a few American heroes guest-star, but Alan Moore could have easily changed what reality Marvel UK inhabited when Merlin brought CapBrit back from the dead and returned him home.  So, now we have proof that these stories can impact the Marvel Universe as a whole, and an indication that Alan Moore liked Chris Claremont's Uncanny X-Men run.

- While she has been mentioned earlier, this is the first appearance of Vixen.  It turns out that she's a woman, which will surprise Captain Britain and his friends, who somehow concluded that someone named "Vixen" had to be male.

New Mutants (Vol. 1) #7

"Flying Down to Rio!"
Published September 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Sal Buscema
Inker: Bob McLeod

What's Going On?
After last issue's final page explosion, the dust has settled and the New Mutants are all okay.  Except for Karma, who has disappeared and is presumed dead; it's been a few days since the explosion and there is still no trace of her, which certainly doesn't bode well.  Sunspot's mother, Nina DaCosta, arrives at the scene to console her son and to invite the entire team to Rio de Janeiro, to accompany her on an archaeological expedition.  Because nothing takes your mind off the recently deceased like uncovering the remains of the long-deceased.  The team leaves for Brazil and witnesses the marital discord between Sunspot's cold, capitalistic father, Emmanuel DaCosta, and the environmentalist/liberal attitude of Nina.  She takes the kids out to see the sights of Carnival, but Nina is kidnapped by members of the Hellfire Club while the team is shopping.  The team works together to fight off the basic Hellfire goons and Axe, a hired thug who wields a large (you guessed it!) axe, and they manage to save Nina DaCosta.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Professor Xavier confides in the X-Men that he is confident that Karma is alive because his psychic link to her would have sensed something as catastrophic as death.  However, he cannot psychically detect her.  He senses the residue of a "malefic psychic entity" that he fears has played a part in her disappearance.

- Axe and the Hellfire goons were working on behalf of Sebastian Shaw and Emmanuel DaCosta.  Emmanuel does not want Nina's expedition to succeed, so the kidnapping was Shaw's attempt to help Emmanuel and curry favor with him.  Since this plan failed, Emmanuel has already taken steps to sabotage the expedition; he seems unconcerned with the lives of his wife and child.

Writing!
Wow.  Just...wow.  I didn't thing Chris Claremont's writing could get less logical than the last few issues, but this issue is very impressive in that regard.  The team, who are all mourning, are all able to dismiss their melancholy  by dancing with bikini-clad Carnivale-goers?  Sure, why not?  Xavier believes that Karma is alive, but implies to the New Mutants that she is dead?  Why wouldn't he?  Emmanuel DaCosta is a prime target for Sebastian Shaw to turn into a Hellfire Club inner-circle member because his son is a powerful mutant; naturally, Shaw is perfectly fine with Emmanuel possibly risking the life of his son in an effort to stymie his liberal wife.

My biggest surprise when rereading this was the fact that Claremont doesn't take this opportunity to have the characters reflect on how dangerous super-heroing can be.  

This is yet another issue of The New Mutants where Claremont clearly doesn't care.  The character progression is minimal, the removal of a main cast member (and the apparent team leader, to boot)
was surprisingly casual, and the villain was hilariously shallow.  The change of location promised to be interesting, but amidst the rest of the crap in this plot, it just feels forced.  I keep hoping for more well-developed plots and characters, but issues like this make that seem like a remote possibility.

Art!
After last issue's ugly inking, Bob McLeod returns to smooth out Sal Buscema's angular pencils.  It's not the prettiest work you'll see --- Buscema wouldn't know subtlety if it bit him on the ass --- but the facial expressions in most scenes are actually pretty good.  Considering how ridiculous the story is here, that is pretty remarkable.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Xavier is confident that Karma is alive, but leads the New Mutants to believe that she is dead.  Why?  Because he thinks that a powerful villain is involved in her disappearance and doesn't want the New Mutants nearby if the villain decides to strike again.  So, this is essentially the same set-up as last issue, where a teammate was in the clutches of a deadly villain that Xavier assumed was out of their league --- only this time, Xavier is nipping the situation in the bud by lying to the kids so they don't attempt a rescue.  Tough, but I suppose this might be a job for the X-Men.  Too bad they're helping the New Mutants look for Karma's remains, instead of trying to track down the villain.  All in all, Xavier is admitting that a baddie captured Karma and isn't trying to find her.

- Storm laments the missing Wolverine, whose tracking abilities would have proved handy in tracking Karma.  Sure, Wolfsbane can track, but Wolverine is a more experienced tracker, so the decision is made to not try to track Karma at all.  That makes (zero) sense.  Note: this comes after Storm requested Wolfsbane help out the X-Men with her tracking abilities in Uncanny X-Men #169. Yes, both issues were written by Chris Claremont. 

- The editor's note explaining why Wolverine is not around refers to his limited series, which ended nine months before this issue was published.  In Uncanny X-Men #172, the editors indicated that Wolverine's wedding drama occurred after the events in this issue, so I'm thinking that was just a well-meaning mistake on the part of editorial.

- Like the Silver Samurai did a few issues ago, Axe is able to deflect Cannonball's flight path by swatting him.  Sam is seeming less like a "cannonball" and more like a "baseball" lately.

- Axe. Wow.  Between the stupidly simple name, the fact that he doesn't actually hurt anyone with his trademark weapon, the phonetically-spelled "black" dialogue, and his ill-defined abilities (he's a mutant that has the power to...purchase an axe?), this is just a terrible character that tries to capitalize on the popularity of Mr. T and absolutely fails.

- As the above scene shows, we have yet another issue where a female character is easily dispatched by a physical attack.  Dani manages to beat up a Hellfire Club goon later, but getting knocked off her feet by a backhand slap is pretty bad.

- I LOVE the fact the Hellfire Club thugs are afraid of ghosts.  I especially love the fact that these ostensibly hardened soldiers (I'm assuming the Hellfire Club would only hire the best) know about the local ghost stories in Brazil.  That seems likely.

- Remember how warm and supportive Emmanuel DaCosta seemed in Marvel Graphic Novel #4?  Yeah...so much for that, I guess.

- At the end of the issue, Emmanuel DaCosta and Sebastian Shaw are discussing the kidnapping attempt and Emmanuel states that the plan's failure was not persuading him to join the Hellfire Club.  Back in New Mutants #2, Shaw stated that DaCosta was a member of the Hellfire Club --- he just wasn't a part of the secret Inner Circle.  So let's just assume that, in this issue, Emmanuel is referring to joining the Inner Circle.  The entire point in getting Emmanuel to join the Inner Circle was for Shaw to have more influence on Roberto, so that he would eventually join forces with the Hellfire Club.  And yet, Shaw, a ruthless businessman, appears to be ambivalent for the safety of this potential asset.  When Emmanuel implies that his wife and child may be hurt or killed, Shaw doesn't seem to care --- so, he's recruiting Emmanuel to get to Roberto, but doesn't care if Roberto lives or dies.  Got it.  That makes sense.

Worth Noting:
- This issue marks the first appearances of Axe and Nina DaCosta. 

- Karma is officially no longer on the team, as of this issue.  Let's see how often she is mentioned by the team while she is gone.

Everything 80s:
- We have another Magnum PI reference in this issue!  It's pretty useless, but it's there!

Uncanny X-Men #173

"To Have and Have Not"
Published September 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Paul Smith
Inker: Bob Wiacek

What's Going On?
After the X-Men were poisoned last issue, the last two X-Men standing (Wolverine and Rogue) go looking for Viper and Silver Samurai.  They dutifully track down the only clues they have, only to find that they have been tricked, and that they have been led on a wild goose chase on the other side of town, leaving Mariko and the X-Men relatively defenseless.  Rogue and Wolvie rush back to the hospital just in time; Rogue fights off the ninjas while Wolverine defeats Silver Samurai in a one-on-one fight.  Lady Mariko stops Wolverine from landing a killing blow, but this puts her within the reach of Viper; as Silver Samurai collapses in defeat at his mistress' feet, she shoots a ray gun at Mariko.  Luckily, Rogue arrives in time to test her invulnerability, as she shields Wolverine and Mariko from the gun with her own body.  Viper's gun overloads and explodes, so she is forced to teleport away with Silver Samurai to fight another day.  Rogue was seriously injured, but Wolverine kisses her to lend her his healing ability.  A week later, the wedding ceremony of Wolverine and Mariko is stopped by Mariko herself; she calls the wedding off, explaining that Wolverine is simply "not worthy."  The last page hints that Mariko may have been under mind control at the wedding.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Storm and Yukio are wandering through Tokyo at night, the worse for wear after their fight with Viper and Silver Samurai at the warehouse last issue.  They are apparently far away from the hospital where the X-Men are, and no one will give them sanctuary to rest.  Unfortunately, street gangs in the area are not being very polite to them, and they will have to fight their way across town.  Storm seems to be embracing Yukio's daredevil attitude.

Maybe Storm's distressed and brittle hair will lead her to change her hairstyle?

- Wolverine doesn't like or trust Rogue at the start of this issue, but he seems to have fully accepted her after she nearly sacrificed his life for Mariko.

- Storm got a mohawk and a leather outfit, just in time for the wedding.

With any luck, this will end the sub-plot of Storm losing control of her weather powers because...um...punk rock haircut, I guess.  Kitty is very upset with Ororo's transformation. 

- Cyclops uses the wedding to introduce Madelyne Pryor to the X-Men.  Storm's reaction was an obvious double-take, while Lilandra pulled out a light sabre (or something similar) to try and kill her.  Apparently, Cyclops chose not to warn any of his friends that Madelyne is the spitting image of Jean Grey.

- In the clearest expression of his fears to date, Cyclops fears that Madelyne may be the reincarnation of Jean Grey.

- The final page hints that Mastermind may be the villain behind Mariko breaking up the wedding.  It is uncertain if he is responsible for more...

Writing!
This might be one of my all-time favorite single issues of Uncanny X-Men.  I love Rogue earning Wolverine's trust through self-sacrifice, I love the interactions before the wedding, and the fight scenes are all pretty great.

Upon re-reading this story, though, I was struck by some logical inconsistencies in Storm's sub-plot, but there was nothing plot-breaking there.  I am curious as to the whole Oyabun sub-plot; I guess we're supposed to assume that Mastermind teamed up with Viper and Silver Samurai to pose as the Oyabun to eventually lead Wolverine and Rogue on a wild-goose chase --- but shouldn't Viper's forces have attacked Mariko's guards at the hospital much earlier?  There is no good reason for Rogue and Wolvie to return in time to save anyone.  Aside from that, this is another strong issue from Claremont.

Art!
As much as I appreciate Paul Smith's work with character moments, I have to say that he does make a pretty action sequence.  While this issue's fight between Wolverine and Silver Samurai may be a little reminiscent of Frank Miller's wordless fight between Wolverine and Ogun in Wolverine #4, I still like it.  It makes the Samurai look very formidable, something I don't think is ever truly conveyed again after this.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Wolverine's guest list: I understand inviting Cyclops and a plus-one, and the Starjammers have helped the X-Men a few times, so that explains Corsair's invite (although not the absence of the rest of their team, especially since Nightcrawler isn't using an image-inducer).  I don't get inviting Havok and Polaris, who I am pretty sure have not had any pleasant scenes with Wolverine to date.  And if they're getting an invitation, why not Banshee or the other original X-Men or the New Mutants?  Why not Alpha Flight?  Granted, not everyone can attend a destination wedding, but Wolvie's guest list is just the current X-Men roster and the Summers clan.  I'm going to assume this is because, at this point in his publication history, Wolverine has not been connected to every damn character in the Marvel Universe yet.

- How hilarious is it that Cyclops didn't warn anyone about Madelyne's appearance, even though he wasn't shocked by Lilandra's attempt to use lethal force against her?  If there has ever been a hint that Cyclops will not do a good job protecting Madelyne, it's here.

- What, exactly, is Storm's timeline in this story?  She survives a poisoning and shows up to fight the Silver Samurai with Yukio, although the logic for that didn't make a bunch of sense last issue.  Following that, she never makes it back to the hospital, where her friends are close to death.  Mariko made it back with plenty of time, but Storm missed the entire fight, despite having the same starting point.  And then, ten days later, she shows up to Wolverine's wedding with a punk rawk makeover?  An important question is not being asked here: what has happened in the last ten days?  Has Storm been missing all that time?  Did she return to the hospital eventually, and just decide she needed a mohawk right before the wedding?  I think there's an interesting story being completely ignored here.

- Colossus handles the replies to the letter section this issue.

The highlight of this is an extended Q and A session, where he explains that Binary's powers (and code name) are derived from a white hole, from which she gets her powers.  Which was mentioned when...?

Worth Noting:
Check out John Byrne's contribution to the monthly Bullpen Bulletins section:

I think it's funny that he opted to have the X-Men (among his most popular work to date) with their backs to the "camera," but he prominently displayed his current projects, Fantastic Four and Alpha Flight.  Am I imagining things?  Maybe, but even Iron Fist and Power Man have more prominent positioning that the X-Men!