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.

Uncanny X-Men #162

"Beyond the Farthest Star"
Published: October 1982
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Dave Cockrum
Inker: Bob Wiacek

What's Going On?
Okay, after last month's flashback issue, we are now fully into the Brood Saga.  We find Wolverine on the run on an alien planet, fighting off the flora and fauna of this landscape, as well as killing any Brood (or "Sleazoids") that he encounters.  As Wolvie tries to make sense of the mess he's in, we flash back to the events leading up to this.  Basically, he remembers Deathbird showing up at the end of Uncanny #161 and then he remembers everything being okay.  Or was it?  In the flashback, Wolverine keeps seeing things looking pretty dire --- he and the X-Men are clearly the worse for wear and are surrounded by Sleazoids --- but only for brief flashes.  Every time he tries to concentrate on those flashes, he gets more and more disoriented.  In the end, it turns out that the X-Men are all having some psychic wool pulled over their eyes.  They have all been implanted with Brood Queen eggs, and the result of that looks like this:

The X-Men will transform into a Brood (is that the singular of "Brood"?), and that Brood will have their memories and abilities, but will presumably serve the Brood faithfully.  Wolverine has been sick and hallucinating the entire issue because his healing factor is fighting off the implanted egg.  The issue closes with Wolverine coming to the realization that, if he cannot find a cure for the others, he will have to kill each and every one of the X-Men.

Where Did All the Subplots Go?
In a rare turn for Chris Claremont, this issue is entirely devoted to a single plot thread.  We do not flash back to Earth, we do not focus on any of the other X-Men, and we do not catch up with Deathbird and Lillandra.  This is just Wolverine catching us up on the Brood plot and setting the stage for the next few issues.  I don't know how often this happens, but I'm going to be keeping an eye out for it in the future.

Art!
I'm a bigger fan of Dave Cockrum's initial run on Uncanny than this one, if only because of how well he designs characters.  After all, the costumes he created for the All-New X-Men became the standards for each of them.  But this issue really showcases Cockrum's strengths.  He does a gret job with science-fictiony stuff, and the two-page spread (that was too large for my scanner, sorry) he does of the Broodworld was excellent.  We are also treated to a rare full-page splash of Wolverine doing what he does best:

There are a lot of issues where Wolverine goes berserk, but they are usually only a few panels in a larger story.  This is Cockrum being given the room to show off, and it's pretty cool.

Writing!
One of the nice touches in this issue is the acknowledgement that Wolverine would normally follow his instincts if he was conflicted.  Claremont gets around that by having the illusion in Wolverine's mind being powerful enough to play havoc with his head and make him question his sanity.  When I was rereading this, my immediate reaction was, "Since when does Wolverine wait to stab things when his senses tell him to stab?"  That explanation made sense and doesn't take up too much of the story to explain.  Well done.

I'm a little less sold on Claremont's choice to take the X-Men back to space, though.  This is a pretty good issue, but the team has already met alien civilizations twice (the first appearance of the Imperial Guard and the end of the Dark Phoenix Saga, by my count) during his tenure as writer.  Space adventures have always struck me as missing the point of the X-Men.  Oh, well.  At least this story is off to a good start.

Retrospectively Amusing:
Cockrum's choice on how to show Wolverine's body almost-but-not-quite becomign Brood-like looks an awful lot like Wolvie is doing an impression of the Fantastic Four's Thing:

The letters page is also pretty funny for modern readers.  The bulk of the mail has fans overreacting from the very end of Uncanny #155, which ended with Colossus appearing to die at the very end of the issue.  At that point, Chris Claremont had been writing this title for five years.  Did anyone actually believe he would let an established character die such a cheap death?  The overwhelming message from the letters is that Claremont was being too cruel to the X-Men and the fans.  I can't imagine their responses to the Mutant Massacre.