Uncanny X-Men #166

"Live Free or Die!"
Published: February 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Paul Smith
Inker: Bob Wiacek

What's Going On?
Instead of following up immediately on the rather confusing cliffhanger of last issue, this issue picks up with Binary, who has been MIA since exploding out of the side of the X-Men's ship.  In the meantime, it seems that she has been taking her frustrations out on the Brood empire, blowing bases and ships to smithereens.  You might think that she will never find her friends again in the vastness of space, but you would be wrong.  It turns out that Storm --- who is now a hologram projected by the consciousness of an alien Acanti that has swallowed the X-Men's spacecraft --- is able to track Binary down fairly quickly.  And the X-Men, who are all incubating Brood children inside their bodies, are all in pretty good spirits, considering that they are all going to die.  But instead of going on a revenge-fueled suicide attack to bring down the Brood, once and for all, they are given an alternative.  Instead of just trying to kill stuff, the X-Men could choose to free the Acanti alien race from the slavery that the evil Brood have imposed upon them.  How do they do that?  Mostly by killing stuff, but they are also going to free a soul from its eternal prison...somehow.  The end result is bye-bye Brood.  Oh, and the Starjammers arrive, just in time to contribute very little to the battle.

Subplots, Oh the Subplots!
- Finally!  We are returning to the subplot introduced in Uncanny #161, where it is revealed that Professor Xavier also has a Brood gestating within him.  Since this has already been used as a surprising twist, months earlier, I don't know what it is being used as a cliffhanger here, but I'm tired of the X-Men fighting aliens and am ready for this storyline to finally end.

- Hey, it turns out that the X-Men didn't completely forget about Binary blowing a hole in the side of their spaceship a few issues back!  Even better, they don't seem to mind at all that one of their friends almost killed them.

- This is the first appearance of Lockheed, although we don't get a name for him just yet.  It's a pretty sweet first appearance, too:

It gets even better when we see the relative size of the dragon:

What a fun introduction to this completely superfluous --- but lovable --- character.


Writing!
It's nice to see the X-Men given a way out of the suicide run that this storyline initially set up for them.  Granted, it's not a whole lot better than suicide, but I suppose the change of intention is worth a lot.  I'm not a fan of the Storm/Acanti subplot, but it was short enough to keep the ridiculousness of it from being irritating.  Really, at this point, I am just happy to have the X-Men coming back to Earth.  This is definitely one of the best "X-Men in Spaaace!" storylines, but I prefer supervillains to personality-free aliens.

One of best moments of this storyline comes in this issue, with the climax of Wolverine's conflict over whether or not to kill his infected friends. 

Yes, Wolverine is a badass for being willing to make the difficult and probably wrong choice here.  And yes, Carol's hair in this scene is pretty funny.

Art!
Paul Smith is clearly still getting used to some of the character designs here, specifically Binary's.  He doesn't seem sure what to do with her, especially when she is in her Carol Danvers form.  It's a minor point, but it still gives a few giggles looking at the various hairdos she has in this issue.  Smith does a solid job with the action in this issue without getting graphic.  I could have done with more alien guts, but that's just personal preference.

One of the cooler visuals in this issue comes when the Brood are crystallized.

Granted, this is a comic that features Iceman on a semi-regular basis, so it's not like the readers have never seen a character looking like this, but it is still well done and pretty cool looking.

Retroactively Amusing:
- Carol's hair.

- I love that Storm's body being regrown inside an alien that resembles a catfish is never really brought up again.

Holy crap, that should be a trauma that sticks with a character for ages, or at least results in her having short hair or something for a while.  But no, Storm's back to business as usual when the X-Men return to Earth.  Oddly enough, this experience isn't referenced as even a possible partial cause to Storm's extreme makeover Uncanny X-Men #173 in a few months time.

Worth Noting:
- This is the first appearance of Lockheed, although he is not named here.

Everything 80s:
Check out Spider-Man hawking a puzzle toy.

Fun fact: this relatively unknown toy is actually a follow-up invention from the creator of the Rubik's Cube.  I don't know if they meant to imply that only criminals would want to play with this toy, but I suppose theirs is an untapped market.

Marvel Graphic Novel #5: X-Men - God Loves, Man Kills

 "God Loves, Man Kills"
Published: January 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Brent Anderson
Inker: Brent Anderson

What's Going On?
The story opens with two children running for their lives.  They don't get far before they are executed for being born mutants.

Magneto shows up on the scene shortly after to discover the bodies, but the killers are long gone.  It turns out that the killers are militant followers, or "purifiers," of the viciously anti-mutant evangelist, William Stryker.  Despite heading a profitable and popular religious business, Stryker is obsessed with ridding the world of the supposed evil of mutantkind.

Naturally, Stryker turns his attentions to the most prominent mutants in America, the X-Men.  He somehow has learned all about the team and their school, and sets his purifiers sights on taking them out.  The first step is to capture Professor Xavier, Cyclops, and Storm after Xavier is invited to debate Stryker on national television.  The second step is to torture and brainwash Xavier to the point where he wants to use his mutant power of telepathy to kill mutants.  Step three is to create something that will amplify Xaviers powers so they can be effective on a large scale.

From this point on, it is simply a matter of the remaining X-Men avoiding the same fate as their friends as they (and their arch-enemy, Magneto) try to prevent Stryker from using Xavier to kill all mutantkind.

Subplots, Oh the Subplots!
Since this is a stand-alone story, it would not make much sense for there to be many subplots percolating in the background.  This being a Chris Claremont story, though, he does manage to squeeze one in.  And which current X-Men subplot does he choose to bring up?  The notion of young love/statutory rape, of course!

Is it just me, or is it weird that Illyana seems so comfortable talking about her best friend having sex with her older brother?

Writing!
God Loves, Man Kills holds a fairly unique place in X-Men history.  This story was published in a prestige format with serious themes; heck, this was written by Christopher Claremont!

Chris writes comics, Christopher writes graphic novels

This story is considerably grimmer than the typical superhero comic in 1983.  Keep in mind that this was written years before The Dark Knight Returns or Watchmen; while I wouldn't argue that this story compares with either of those, it is interesting to see Claremont pushing the envelope in this direction.  The typical X-Men comic does not show or imply the murder of children, much less the difficult-to-punch-in-the-face concept of bigotry.  This story also draws a clearer line between the treatment of mutants and racial minorities.  This is a theme that Claremont spent a lot of time on during his X-Men run, but rarely as bluntly as here:

I wouldn't mind this scene so much, if it wasn't followed with a shot of Stevie admitting to herself that Kitty was right.  I get what Claremont was going for, but the man could be ham-fisted at times.

The story doesn't feel as daring as it probably did in 1983, but God Loves, Man Kills is still a pretty good tale.  It is easy for the team to fight super-villains, but deep-seeded prejudice is a complicated foe, and Claremont does a good job illustrating that.  In particular, I think William Stryker was given a surprising amount of depth for a one-off character.  Yes, he's a crazy bigot, but I thought the backstory he received did a fantastic job making him into a monster, instead of just a dangerous idiot.

It is Claremont's use of Magneto, though, that stands out the most in this graphic novel.  This is the first time readers would have seen the villain in action since Uncanny X-Men #150, where he had a major revelation; here, he is less of a villain, and more of a man weary of the cycle of violence.  Considering that Claremont had already established that Magneto was a survivor of the Holocaust, it shows remarkable restraint that Magneto's weariness and rage are not explicitly framed with that experience.  This Magneto feels older, wiser, and far more reasonable than in any other appearance he had made, up until this point.  In fact, he makes so much sense that a guilty Xavier briefly considers following Magneto's approach to mutant survival (!).

Is this story a classic?  It's definitely worth reading, but it doesn't stand up quite as well as Claremont's more famous moments on Uncanny.  If it wasn't for Brian Singer choosing this story as the basis for X2: X-Men United, I don't know if this would get much acclaim.  And that's too bad.  While it is a bit awkward in parts, this is a nice stand-alone story and it absolutely defines the Magneto character for the rest of Claremont's run.


Art!
Let's not forget Brent Eric Anderson's artwork!  I think Anderson's art is well-suited for an issue like this, where the focus is on characters talking, rather than on dynamic action scenes.  That is not because Anderson cannot draw solid action, but he is definitely better at conveying subtle emotions than most comic artists.  When he inks his own work, it is a little reminiscent of early (read: not weird) Bill Sienkiewicz.  What makes the artwork stand out most in this graphic novel, though, is the coloring by Steve Oliff.  The super-heroing scenes were more subdued than usual, and the use of sepia tones in Stryker's origin was just lovely.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- This story was actually not considered canon until Marvel wanted to tie into the second X-Men movie, which was partially inspired by this comic; the main reason for this was because it was published without the Comics Code Authority seal of approval.  It took twenty years for there to be any acknowledgement of this story in the pages of another X-Men comic, which eventually ended up being Claremont's "God Loves, Man Kills II" storyline in X-Treme X-Men.  Unfortunately, Styker and the Purifiers (now capitalized) have just become unsympathetic punching bags to be trotted out whenever unreasoning hate is needed to explain a plot point.

- Kitty Pryde is referred to as "Ariel" in Stryker's files.  I suppose that places this issue, continuity-wise, somewhere in-between panels of Uncanny #168.

-Cyclops' optic beams are force beams, not lasers.  I don't think his powers work this way:

- Despite the many, many opportunities this plot presented, there is no mention of Nightcrawler's religious beliefs in this graphic novel.  The contrast between a bigoted preacher and a forgiving monster seems too good to pass up, and yet somehow Claremont kept Nightcrawler in the far background of this story.  

- The explanation given for Styker knowing so much about the X-Men was that he gained access to the files of Fred Duncan, the team's old FBI liason.  If you don't recall Duncan or FBI involvement with the team, that is because the last time Fred Duncan was mentioned in an issue was 1968's Uncanny X-Men #46.   Claremont rarely referenced the stories that came before he took over this title --- with good reason, honestly --- so the fact that he pulled out this random factoid is both amusing and unusual.

Uncanny X-Men #165

"Transfigurations!"
Published: January, 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Paul Smith
Inker: Bob Wiacek


What's Going On?
This issue picks up where the last one left off, with the X-Men (minus Storm and Binary) about to be sucked into the vacuum of space.  Naturally, this only distracts them for a few moments.

Not even long enough for Wolverine to not remind them about his skeleton

Once they are safe again, the team reflects on their mortality.  Meanwhile, in her escape pod, Storm almost transforms into a Brood (Broodling?  Broodite?), but is saved by her elemental powers in the vacuum of space, which apparently has more atmosphere than I have been led to believe.  She is able to use her abilities to flare up like a star, which kills the Brood egg inside her and destroys her escape pod in the process.  She does not die, however.  She reappears in the X-Men's ship as a hologram (or maybe a ghost), right before she reveals that she has become one with a living Brood starship and swallows the X-Men's ship whole.

Subplots, Oh the Subplots!
- Moira MacTaggert makes an appearance to pressure Professor Xavier to stop sulking about his missing and possibly dead students and get back to recruiting young mutants to train.  I mean, come on!  He's been sad for, like, two issues!  Get over it!  Actually, this scene does have a pretty cool moment when Moira suggests sending a prospective student to Magneto or the Hellfire Club-run Massachusetts Academy; in a rare moment that shows a moral grey area, Moira explains that it is better for mutants to be trained by potentially evil people than to be left untrained.

- Wolverine and Nightcrawler share a moment as they discuss religion.  Fun fact: this is only the second time Nightcrawler's Christianity is mentioned.

- Colossus and Kitty have their first kiss and Peter politely declines to have sex with a fourteen year old.  Way to live by society's rules, Russkie.

When they rejoin the group a little later, Kitty is wearing Peter's ugly shirt as a robe.  It's a nice, subtle sign of their deepening intimacy.  It's a little weird that no one asks why she is wearing his clothes while Peter remains half naked, but maybe the team is confused by the coloring of Scott's hair this issue.

Art!
This is the first issue of Paul Smith's stellar Uncanny X-Men run, which means that Uncanny X-Men #164 was the final issue of Dave Cockrum's run.  It feels a little odd, in retrospect, that no mention is made in the letters section or in the credits; Cockrum played a major part in the look and feel of this team, and doesn't seem to get enough credit for it.

On to Paul Smith!  I love the simple lines on his pages and the way he conveys age in the faces of his characters; just compare his Wolverine to Colossus to see how much he does with only a few lines around the eyes.  He is also one of the few comic artists that can manage to draw a teenage girl without a DD cup size.  I'm looking forward to reviewing the rest of his run.

Writing!
This issue is a great example of Claremont in his Golden Age.  The main plot, the incubating Brood eggs, is advanced.  It's actually advanced in an unpredictable way, as the team gets Jonah-and-the-Whaled at the end of the issue.  Allowing the team to take a break from senseless action (aside from the explosive decompression scene) lets us see some great character reactions that deepened the connections between Wolverine and Nightcrawer, as well as Kitty and Peter.  The "Ghost Storm" that appears at the end of the issue is weird, I'll admit, but it leaves you wanting to know what is going on.

I also really liked the check-in scene with Professor Xavier, back on Earth.  It is clearly meant to foreshadow The New Mutants, but it felt natural enough.  I especially liked Moira giving Xavier some sass; her character had a lot of history with Charles, and her best moments are when she's not afraid to disagree.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Despite the fact that she punched a hole in the side of the damned spaceship, which sets up the first scene in this issue, no character mentions Carol Danvers, her transformation into Binary, or the fact that she blew a hole in their damned spaceship.  They're just like, "Man, that explosive decompression sure sucked.  What's for dinner?"

- Recurring non-mutant cast member Stevie Hunter makes a brief appearance to talk about dance and her knee injury.   Aside from an early issue of The New Mutants, I'm pretty sure that's the most she contributes for the next hundred issues or so.

- Storm's psionic ability to manipulate the elements apparently work even better in space, to the point where she basically goes supernova.  I'll have to remember this, because I'm fairly certain she has had trouble working in space at other times.

- There is a house ad in this comic for The New Mutants graphic novel, "coming this Fall."  This comic has a published date of January 1982.  I've been pacing my reviews to coincide with the alleged publication dates of these comics, but they appear to toy with time and space.