President!?! We don't need no stinking President!!! We's a constitutional monarchy, not a republic!
The Uncanny X-Men (1978)
- Thread starter Perpetual Man
- Start date
President!?! We don't need no stinking President!!! We's a constitutional monarchy, not a republic!
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Crikey, you caught me Clansman, what a mistake. It should have been Prime Minister, should it not? (Worse when I checked the comic panel it actually said that...)
I shall take my punishment as dictated...
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I shall do the deed myself. I know just where I can procure some bamboo.
I can't believe I did that... my favourite country on the planet as well...
I can't believe I did that... my favourite country on the planet as well...
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Uncanny X-Men 123 – 124 (Claremont and Byrne)
Spider-man is swinging through the city when he spots Colleen and Scott, as he knows them both he swings down and says hello. Scott is distracted, he has been trying to get hold of Jean’s parents but cannot get them anywhere.
As Spidey swings away a strange garbage truck seems to come out of nowhere, behind Scott and Colleen.
There is a horrendous noise which Spider-men recognises, but when he goes back the couple are gone. He heads off to try and warn the X-Men.
Kurt and Peter are on a double date with girlfriends Amanda and Betsy to the Metropolitan Music House, but instead of being shown to Professor Xavier’s private box they are shown to another room, which fills with gas rendering them unconscious.
Logan returning from a successful dinner date with Mariko is distracted, so is caught by the same garbage truck that caught Cyclops.
Sean is relaxing at the mansion, and is shot with a tranquiliser gun when he goes to answer the phone; which leaves Storm to come and answer it, only to be shot from behind. It is Arcade who answers the call, speaking to Spider-man, telling him that his warning has come far too late.
The X-Men all come to in costume trapped inside giant glass spheres. These are balls on a massive pinball machine. One by one they are launched, hitting buffers and barriers that deliver electric shocks and explosions.
Arcade is disappointed, Spider-man escaped these, the X-Men didn’t. They are individually sent down holes to whatever awaits them.
They are told if they don’t play the games or try to escape outside the rules, their loved ones will be killed.
While the others try to fight their way out of various traps – Cyclops in a room with a compressing wall, Colossus been confronted by a legendary Russian spy, Wolverine fighting deformed robot versions of himself, Nightcrawler in an arena with dodgem cars, all fitted with buzzsaws; Banshee being attacked by fighter planes – powerless without his sonics, Storm in trapped in a room filled with rising water. There appears to be one exit which in fact part of the trap, and when she uses ker lightning it reflects back at her and she falls.
Cyclops twists the rules, blasting out through the side of the chamber rather than one of the doors provided, this links him with Wolverines room and in seconds they have defeated the macabre Wolverines.
As Wolvie turns to say something to Cyclops, he is smashed in the face by a giant steel fist.
Colossus looms over them, brainwashed into believing he has betrayed Russia, and the X-Men are the cause of his betrayal... as such he is going to destroy them.
While the X-Men struggle against the traps Arcade describes to his captors how he was a spoiled little rich boy, who’s father saw as a waste of space and cut him off at 18, in return Arcade murder his dad, and with a knack for murder became an assassin, growing more ambitious until he built Murderworld. It was only when he was hired to take out Captain Britain and Spider-man that he realised how much fun it would be to take on superheroes.
Colossus hurls Wolverine as a wall, the impact could kill him, but the door revolves, and Wolverine is gone, when he does the same to Cyclops he too slips through a revolving door.
Storms room is nearly full of water, she is close to being engulfed...
Cyclops arrives in time to see Nightcrawler cut down and more deadly dodgems appear...
Wolverine finds Banshee overwhelmed by aircraft from all time zones. But His vision might show an incredible scene, but his others senses scream that they are in a much smaller space. Closing his eyes he slams his claws into the middle of thin air... and tears through a wall. A hole guarded by The Hulk and Magneto...
Storm swims to the bottom of the room and finds the water inlet. There is a grill cover, enough for her to get an arm through. In desperation she begins to loose a lightning bolt down the opening, hoping it might have an effect....
Cyclops gives into his own senses, almost unconsciously doing geometrical assessments in his head – a side effect of his power, the releases a single powerful optic blast. It hits one dodgem, reflects to a wall then to another dodgem and so on until in one blast they have been destroyed.
One of the cars smashes through the wall, allowing Cyclops and Nightcrawler to escape into the tunnels – currently unguarded because the robots are fighting Wolverine and Banshee...
Arcade’s henchman Chambers reports that whole systems are being burned out by Storms lightning charge...
As Cyclops breaks into the room with Wolverine and Banshee, Nightcrawler scouts the tunnels, and by chance stumbles on Arcade’s control room. He teleports in, knocks Arcade out, and stuns his companion, Ms Locke. Grabbing her gun and begins to shoot up the controls. He misses Chambers however who manages to knock the X-Man out. He is put in a pretty parcel just like the girls.
Cyclops destroys the Magneto robot, as Wolverine finishes off the Hulk. There is a creak and the wall gives as tons of water rush through.
As the flow subsides, Cyclops finds Storm, drowned. In desperation he performs CPR and saves her, but then as she begins to breath Colossus appears, grabs her and Cyclops by the throat and begins to throttle them.
Both try to talk him around, but it is Storm that reaches him, telling him how she had nothing until the X-Men made them a family, Peter, Colossus is like a brother to her. The words trigger a dormant memory, the loss of his own brother and what it would mean to him and he does not want to go through that again. It is enough to break Arcade’s conditioning.
Knowing when he is beaten Arcade ejects the X-Men from Murderworld, depositing them in a disused fairground that could be miles away from his base. The X-Men find Nightcrawler and the girls there, with a note congratulating them... until next time.
Spider-man is swinging through the city when he spots Colleen and Scott, as he knows them both he swings down and says hello. Scott is distracted, he has been trying to get hold of Jean’s parents but cannot get them anywhere.
As Spidey swings away a strange garbage truck seems to come out of nowhere, behind Scott and Colleen.
There is a horrendous noise which Spider-men recognises, but when he goes back the couple are gone. He heads off to try and warn the X-Men.
Kurt and Peter are on a double date with girlfriends Amanda and Betsy to the Metropolitan Music House, but instead of being shown to Professor Xavier’s private box they are shown to another room, which fills with gas rendering them unconscious.
Logan returning from a successful dinner date with Mariko is distracted, so is caught by the same garbage truck that caught Cyclops.
Sean is relaxing at the mansion, and is shot with a tranquiliser gun when he goes to answer the phone; which leaves Storm to come and answer it, only to be shot from behind. It is Arcade who answers the call, speaking to Spider-man, telling him that his warning has come far too late.
The X-Men all come to in costume trapped inside giant glass spheres. These are balls on a massive pinball machine. One by one they are launched, hitting buffers and barriers that deliver electric shocks and explosions.
Arcade is disappointed, Spider-man escaped these, the X-Men didn’t. They are individually sent down holes to whatever awaits them.
They are told if they don’t play the games or try to escape outside the rules, their loved ones will be killed.
While the others try to fight their way out of various traps – Cyclops in a room with a compressing wall, Colossus been confronted by a legendary Russian spy, Wolverine fighting deformed robot versions of himself, Nightcrawler in an arena with dodgem cars, all fitted with buzzsaws; Banshee being attacked by fighter planes – powerless without his sonics, Storm in trapped in a room filled with rising water. There appears to be one exit which in fact part of the trap, and when she uses ker lightning it reflects back at her and she falls.
Cyclops twists the rules, blasting out through the side of the chamber rather than one of the doors provided, this links him with Wolverines room and in seconds they have defeated the macabre Wolverines.
As Wolvie turns to say something to Cyclops, he is smashed in the face by a giant steel fist.
Colossus looms over them, brainwashed into believing he has betrayed Russia, and the X-Men are the cause of his betrayal... as such he is going to destroy them.
While the X-Men struggle against the traps Arcade describes to his captors how he was a spoiled little rich boy, who’s father saw as a waste of space and cut him off at 18, in return Arcade murder his dad, and with a knack for murder became an assassin, growing more ambitious until he built Murderworld. It was only when he was hired to take out Captain Britain and Spider-man that he realised how much fun it would be to take on superheroes.
Colossus hurls Wolverine as a wall, the impact could kill him, but the door revolves, and Wolverine is gone, when he does the same to Cyclops he too slips through a revolving door.
Storms room is nearly full of water, she is close to being engulfed...
Cyclops arrives in time to see Nightcrawler cut down and more deadly dodgems appear...
Wolverine finds Banshee overwhelmed by aircraft from all time zones. But His vision might show an incredible scene, but his others senses scream that they are in a much smaller space. Closing his eyes he slams his claws into the middle of thin air... and tears through a wall. A hole guarded by The Hulk and Magneto...
Storm swims to the bottom of the room and finds the water inlet. There is a grill cover, enough for her to get an arm through. In desperation she begins to loose a lightning bolt down the opening, hoping it might have an effect....
Cyclops gives into his own senses, almost unconsciously doing geometrical assessments in his head – a side effect of his power, the releases a single powerful optic blast. It hits one dodgem, reflects to a wall then to another dodgem and so on until in one blast they have been destroyed.
One of the cars smashes through the wall, allowing Cyclops and Nightcrawler to escape into the tunnels – currently unguarded because the robots are fighting Wolverine and Banshee...
Arcade’s henchman Chambers reports that whole systems are being burned out by Storms lightning charge...
As Cyclops breaks into the room with Wolverine and Banshee, Nightcrawler scouts the tunnels, and by chance stumbles on Arcade’s control room. He teleports in, knocks Arcade out, and stuns his companion, Ms Locke. Grabbing her gun and begins to shoot up the controls. He misses Chambers however who manages to knock the X-Man out. He is put in a pretty parcel just like the girls.
Cyclops destroys the Magneto robot, as Wolverine finishes off the Hulk. There is a creak and the wall gives as tons of water rush through.
As the flow subsides, Cyclops finds Storm, drowned. In desperation he performs CPR and saves her, but then as she begins to breath Colossus appears, grabs her and Cyclops by the throat and begins to throttle them.
Both try to talk him around, but it is Storm that reaches him, telling him how she had nothing until the X-Men made them a family, Peter, Colossus is like a brother to her. The words trigger a dormant memory, the loss of his own brother and what it would mean to him and he does not want to go through that again. It is enough to break Arcade’s conditioning.
Knowing when he is beaten Arcade ejects the X-Men from Murderworld, depositing them in a disused fairground that could be miles away from his base. The X-Men find Nightcrawler and the girls there, with a note congratulating them... until next time.
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Uncanny X-Men 125 (Claremont and Byrne)
On Muir Island Moira McTaggert continues to study Jean and the Phoenix power she now has. She notices that Jean is becoming more powerful and revels in using the power, but when she tries to question Jean about something that looks suspiciously like an addiction Jean becomes cagey.
Unaware they are being watched my Angus MacWhirter the missing boatman they chat on, Jean admitting that she is different. At the same time MacWhirter seems genuinely afraid of being seen by Moira, but complains of being so very, very hungry.
Jean recalls to herself how she has got to this place and moment. From The shuttle crash that killed her, to her rebirth as Phoenix, to the battle with Magneto that she believes left her fellow X-Men dead. Certain points stick in her mind, like talking to a priest on her plane flight to her vacation.
Back at the Mansion, Cyclops has the X-Men training in the Danger Room, despite being damaged the room evaluates them well enough. Apparently Wolverine and Nightcrawler would have been killed during the exercise, Colossus injured. Wolverine says he cannot take it seriously. It isn’t real.
High above the planet Magneto sits in his asteroid base still injured from his battle with the X-Men. As he sits there he suddenly realises there is a picture of a beautiful woman on the screen, and he reacts as scalded when he sees it. A memory, a painful one, from when he still believed he was mostly human.
In a pub in Stornoway, the Outer Hebrides Jason Wyngarde sits in a chair and thinks about Jean Grey, how he has stalked her over the last few months. First as a priest on a plane flight, then as a friendly local in Greece, finally as Jason Wyngarde. In his hands he pulls an image of her out of thin air, watching it change from Jean Grey to Marvel Girl, then in her second costume, then Phoenix and ultimately as he will mould her – into the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club.
While on Muir Island Jean is snapped out of an apparent daydream by Lorna Dane. Brushing the incident off Jean displays off an array of new clothing, literally changing the molecules around her, from one form to another.
At the same time Moira begins to come to terms with just how powerful Jean has become, realising more than ever that she needs Xavier. But he is gone....
Perhaps something of her concerns reaches the distant stars as something clicks in Xavier and he realises that he has made a horrendous mistake leaving Jean behind with such a weight of power on her shoulders. He has to return home.
Lost in thought Moira paces the halls of Muir Island, until something crunches underfoot. A loose tooth. Realising where she is, knowing that it has to be impossible, she checks the holding cell labelled Mutant X. Horror fills her face when she realises it is empty...
Jean is taking a walk across the island, she is aware that Alex Summers believes she is beginning to flaunt her powers from his thoughts, but she sees it differently, she is just becoming more comfortable with what she can do. She enters the facility and picks up a shriek of terror from Moira. She transforms into Phoenix and....
She is in Regency England dressed in the clothes of a Lady, being looked after by servants...
And then something strikes her from behind snapping her back into the present day. She turns to face her attacker, sees him and screams...
Beast arrives at the Mansion, having been away with the Avengers he is startled to discover that all the alarms have been disconnected, apparently by an expert. As he moves through room after room he is suddenly attacked by Nightcrawler... but when they see each others face they get the shock of their lives – each thought the other dead.
Nightcrawler teleports right back to the X-Men, telling them that there is a ghost in the house.
Cyclops leads the charge and finds himself face to face with one of his oldest friends. Things really get emotional when they learn, not only did Hank survive but Jean did too.
As it becomes apparent that Jean is on Muir Island, Scott becomes more than ready to go, and the X-Men back him up. Even Beast does not want miss the reunion. As they get read Cyclops rings ahead to tell Moira that he is on his way... but is Lorna Dane who answers the phone, and she tries to tell Scott there is serious trouble, something leers through the window behind her... she screams and the line goes dead....
On Muir Island Moira McTaggert continues to study Jean and the Phoenix power she now has. She notices that Jean is becoming more powerful and revels in using the power, but when she tries to question Jean about something that looks suspiciously like an addiction Jean becomes cagey.
Unaware they are being watched my Angus MacWhirter the missing boatman they chat on, Jean admitting that she is different. At the same time MacWhirter seems genuinely afraid of being seen by Moira, but complains of being so very, very hungry.
Jean recalls to herself how she has got to this place and moment. From The shuttle crash that killed her, to her rebirth as Phoenix, to the battle with Magneto that she believes left her fellow X-Men dead. Certain points stick in her mind, like talking to a priest on her plane flight to her vacation.
Back at the Mansion, Cyclops has the X-Men training in the Danger Room, despite being damaged the room evaluates them well enough. Apparently Wolverine and Nightcrawler would have been killed during the exercise, Colossus injured. Wolverine says he cannot take it seriously. It isn’t real.
High above the planet Magneto sits in his asteroid base still injured from his battle with the X-Men. As he sits there he suddenly realises there is a picture of a beautiful woman on the screen, and he reacts as scalded when he sees it. A memory, a painful one, from when he still believed he was mostly human.
In a pub in Stornoway, the Outer Hebrides Jason Wyngarde sits in a chair and thinks about Jean Grey, how he has stalked her over the last few months. First as a priest on a plane flight, then as a friendly local in Greece, finally as Jason Wyngarde. In his hands he pulls an image of her out of thin air, watching it change from Jean Grey to Marvel Girl, then in her second costume, then Phoenix and ultimately as he will mould her – into the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club.
While on Muir Island Jean is snapped out of an apparent daydream by Lorna Dane. Brushing the incident off Jean displays off an array of new clothing, literally changing the molecules around her, from one form to another.
At the same time Moira begins to come to terms with just how powerful Jean has become, realising more than ever that she needs Xavier. But he is gone....
Perhaps something of her concerns reaches the distant stars as something clicks in Xavier and he realises that he has made a horrendous mistake leaving Jean behind with such a weight of power on her shoulders. He has to return home.
Lost in thought Moira paces the halls of Muir Island, until something crunches underfoot. A loose tooth. Realising where she is, knowing that it has to be impossible, she checks the holding cell labelled Mutant X. Horror fills her face when she realises it is empty...
Jean is taking a walk across the island, she is aware that Alex Summers believes she is beginning to flaunt her powers from his thoughts, but she sees it differently, she is just becoming more comfortable with what she can do. She enters the facility and picks up a shriek of terror from Moira. She transforms into Phoenix and....
She is in Regency England dressed in the clothes of a Lady, being looked after by servants...
And then something strikes her from behind snapping her back into the present day. She turns to face her attacker, sees him and screams...
Beast arrives at the Mansion, having been away with the Avengers he is startled to discover that all the alarms have been disconnected, apparently by an expert. As he moves through room after room he is suddenly attacked by Nightcrawler... but when they see each others face they get the shock of their lives – each thought the other dead.
Nightcrawler teleports right back to the X-Men, telling them that there is a ghost in the house.
Cyclops leads the charge and finds himself face to face with one of his oldest friends. Things really get emotional when they learn, not only did Hank survive but Jean did too.
As it becomes apparent that Jean is on Muir Island, Scott becomes more than ready to go, and the X-Men back him up. Even Beast does not want miss the reunion. As they get read Cyclops rings ahead to tell Moira that he is on his way... but is Lorna Dane who answers the phone, and she tries to tell Scott there is serious trouble, something leers through the window behind her... she screams and the line goes dead....
GuruGeorge
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Strange thing is I did not know who the Arcade guy was until I played the Ultimate Avengers game for the first X-box back then.
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Ahh, there we go. I'm chugging along here with this ongoing history, and forgot to post the latest, one...
Ooops.
GuruGeorge I'm sure there's plenty of characters out there like that.
Arcade has changed so much, since his inception, but like many comic characters, all the interesting changes get removed each time a writer resets the character.
Ooops.
GuruGeorge I'm sure there's plenty of characters out there like that.
Arcade has changed so much, since his inception, but like many comic characters, all the interesting changes get removed each time a writer resets the character.
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2006
- Messages
- 6,381
The Uncanny X-Men 126-128 The Proteus Saga (Claremont and Byrne)
The X-Men fly direct to Muir Island.
Recognising danger Cyclops drops the X-Men on the first pass, then lands the plane arriving in time to join Nightcrawler, who has just found the unconscious body of Lorna Dane. Next to her is the desiccated corpse of Angus MacWhirter.
Cyclops sends the others out to try and find the missing people on the island.
Nightcrawler moves into the shadows, and spots Alex Summers with Jamie Madrox. He shouts a greeting but is attacked by Alex, yelling that he knows it cannot be Nightcrawler - he is dead. Beofre any serious damage can be done Colossus grabs Alex. With a shout of delight he learns that the X-Men survived.
Storm and Cyclops spot a shadowy figure moving stealthily down a corridor, and Storm uses a sudden gust of wind to whip the figure into Cyclops grasp. It is Moira, she is nearly overcome when she too realises that the X-Men are still alive - her lover Banshee is too.
Cyclops asks where Jean is. He finds her cowering in a corner, and the normally emotionally controlled man is nearly overcome. He looks down on her and gently tries to wake her, she looks up her vision blurred and says: "Jason."
When everyone has had chance to get over a multitude of shocks Cyclops gathers them all and listens to the stories.
Multiple Man describes hearing Lorna scream, creating duplicates of himself and spreading out looking or her. Then one of the others found someone and it screamed, all energy, all life being sucked from the body.
Wolverine wants to go right after the killer, but Cyclops points out that Jean is one of the most powerful beings they know, Lorna is not far behind, and even the Multiple Man has power yet they were overcome easily. They need more information, but Moira seems insistent on doing it all on her own. When Cyclops insists it's bigger than one person she crumbles, admitting that Mutant X is her son.
Mutant X has made it to the mainland, but his body is already wearing thin. He sees a figure walking toward him, strong - an ideal candidate for him... he poises to leap as Jason Wyngarde strides by, but there is something about the figure that is just too powerful for Mutant X in his weakened state and he has to let Wyngarde go, taking a drunken sailor instead.
As the X-Men set out Phoenix flies over the countryside... suddenly she is back in the Regency, a lady in the middle of a hunt. The hunt is led by Sir Jason Wyngarde, who calls the dogs off their kill, offering the blade to Jean to commit the coup de grace. She bends over to finish the deer off only to find a man in deerskins... which changes into the desiccated corpse of a man and she is back in the real world again.
Moira tells the others that her son is severely allergic to metal, it can imprison him, or it can kill him.
Wolverine comes across a police man in the middle of a road. He is just about to contact the constable, when it occurs to him that they have been following a single men a car - who said Mutant X could not be a police man? He shouts a warning to Nightcrawler and his whole world turns inside out.
The scream though comes from Mutant X, as he tries to possess Wolverine her realises that the X-Man's body is full of metal, to inhabit it would kill him. In fury he begins to let loose with all his powers, warping the world around him, twisting Wolverine and Nightcrawler out of shape, turning solids into liquids, reality into impossible geometric madness.
Through this flies Storm, striking the car with a lightning bolt, causing the fuel to explode, it destroys Mutant X's body, but his energy form survives and begins to force his way through the gales toward the X-Woman seeing her as an ideal host>
Wolverine can do nothing, other than pin himself and Nightcrawler to the ground as Mutant X, now calling himself Proteus steps closer and closer to Storm.
Relentlessly the form of Proteus gets closer and closer to Storm, who realises stretching her powers to the maximum is not going to stop him. She leaps into the air, intent on flying away, but Proteus warps realist around her, turning air into liquid ground, making up left, right up....
Nightcrawler and Wolverine are powerless, although the former tries to help the latter is paralysed knowing he has to help, trying to, but his body not responding.
Proteus advances on Storm, determined to claim her body and add her powers to his own...
A bullet just misses him. A metal bullet.
Moira fires again and begins to take aim with a lethal shot, only to be stopped by Cyclops. When he tells her that they have to capture Proteus not kill him, she knocks him out determined to kill her son, seeing it as the only way. Proteus though, has realised the danger and fled, leaving Moria to give chase once more.
The X-Men regroup, try to settle down and regain equilibrium. It is then that Cyclops realises just how badly the team has been hit by their abortive fight, especially Wolverine. For a man that is virtually defined by his senses, to have them torn apart in every possible way has scored him to the core.
Deliberately Cyclops winds him up, pushing him to the point of snapping – and beyond. Wolverine goes berserk and with no restraint goes for Cyclops, who just avoids the claws, once twice as the other X-Men look on in shock and confusion. As Colossus moves in Cyclops hits him with an optic blast, which reflects off and hits Wolverine in the back throwing him at Cyclops, who catches him in mid flight and tosses him over his shoulder – right into Nightcrawler.
Nightcrawler responds just in a nick of time and teleports out the way, appearing above Cyclops, which is just what was expected, and he blast Nightcrawler in mid leap.
Storm decides enough is enough and calls lightning to subdue Cyclops, only for him to blow the ground out from under her.
As she struggles to stand Cyclops surrenders, saying that he realised they had been hit hard, and although their physical scrapes were minor, the psychological one went deeper. He needed to break them out of their shock, especially Wolverine because he needed them combat ready.
Wolverine admits he was more shaken than he has ever been, and also reluctantly admits that he does not like Cyclops, but cannot argue with the fact that he is probably the best leader he has ever known.
As they begin to reorganise, coming to the understanding that Proteus cannot be tracked - just by changing a body who rules out scent, and he seems undetectable by telepathy; Proteus himself, discard the body of the policeman and claims that of a young female camper.
Meanwhile Moira visits her ex-husband in Edinburgh to warn him of Proteus; a hard job made harder by the fact that they hate each other, and she never told him that she had a baby in the first place. McTaggert does not want to know, furious and abusive at the same time. He will not listen to Moira's warnings and she leaves.
As he begins to make phone calls to deal with his discovery Proteus has found him, tracking psychic emanations of something embedded deep inside himself - 'The One I Hate'
The X-Men reach the city and almost at once Jean senses a psychic scream - she might not be able to sense Proteus but she can hear the scream of his victims as they die.
As the X-Men set out Moira is attacked by Proteus, but now he is something more again. He has taken Joe McTaggert, and the two have merged, the perfect symbiotic relationship. A being of power and raw hatred.
As Proteus melts the world around Moira, the X-Men get closer, leaping into the attack at the last minute. Colossus attacks firs but Proteus turns reality by 90 degrees... Colossus falls.
Cyclops beam turns to roses...
But Phoenix... Phoenix is more than ready to use her full power only...
Proteus grabs Moira and says he will destroy her if they attack.
Cyclops simply says that Proteus is too powerful, too evil to be allowed to escape: he is exactly the type of mutant that the X-Men were formed to fight - no matter what the cost.
The world has gone mad, the rules of nature, of physics no longer apply. Brick is now liquid, reality folds in on itself, and at the heart of the warp is Proteus and his captive Moria.
The X-Men do their best to protect the normal people caught up in the chaos, but it is nearly impossible, for Wolverine especially who is pulled to safety himself by Polaris.
After a while Moira tries talking Proteus out of it, but he does not listen, rather he focuses more, telling her that he is no longer just her son, but a melding of her husband, his father too. He feels the pain the break of their marriage, the palpable hatred they had for one another, and turns his powers on her.
Everything else snaps back to normal, and Cyclops gambles that he can only turn his power on one target at a time; but Banshee realises that means if Proteus is not concentrating on the world around him, he must targeting Moira, and he charges after her. The X-Men follow.
Storm leads the attack, but before she can try anything serious Proteus changes the air around her turning it into amber.
Wolverine darts in, and begins to try and cut away the crystal before she suffocates, but without cutting her...
Banshee shoot Proteus hitting him in the shoulder, slightly wounded the mutant opens the ground up beneath the injured X-Man and as he falls closes it again. Cyclops starts blasting the ground...
Nightcrawler leaps in the hole after his comrade and just reaches him as it starts to close again. In desperation he teleports blind just rescuing Sean...
Proteus reaches the foot of Edinburgh castle when Phoenix reaches him, she is angry and determined it is time for a rematch. At first her power is almost unstoppable but Proteus twists reality again, making Phoenix feel as though she is dead, it's enough to overcome her, but as she screams Wolverine attacks, slicing through Proteus with his claws. Being metal they do a lot more damage than normal.
As Proteus staggers away, hurt badly for the first time he stumbles between Cyclops and Havoc, and without pause the two brothers hit him from both sides really cutting loose with their full powers.
Wolverine follows orders and starts climbing toward the castle, doing his best to get Moira to safety.
Proteus reconfigures himself and gives chase, reaching Wolverine grabbing Moira from him and throwing him from the cliff. As a near desiccated husk once again he climbs as Wolverine falls...
Cyclops sees Wolverine falling and carefully times a series of optic blasts, timing them to slow the others descent. He reasons that the blasts would kill a normal man, but the others adamantium skeleton will protect him.
As they recover Colossus in human form gives pursuit....
Outside the walls of the castle Proteus is in need of a new body, and Moira is the perfect choice, as he moves to take her, a hand reaches over his shoulder...
And Peter Rasputin throws him across the space into the Castle wall....
Proteus body disintegrates leaving only the energy form, which launches at Peter, determined to punish him, then possess him...
Peter does the only thing left to him - transforms into Colossus...
Suddenly there is a figure of organic steel in the heart of the Proteus energy matrix.
Pure metal to which is anathema to the evil mutant.
Colossus reaches out forcing his steel hands into the heart of Proteus - who expands into a screaming, expansive mass of splintering energy that dissipates spectacularly across the Edinburgh sky.
The X-Men arrive fearing the worst but find a victory instead, although bitter one.
Despite her resolve Moira is heartbroken at the death of her son, as Sean comforts her the -Men realise they have won, but sometimes even the hardest won victory comes with a bitter cost.
The X-Men fly direct to Muir Island.
Recognising danger Cyclops drops the X-Men on the first pass, then lands the plane arriving in time to join Nightcrawler, who has just found the unconscious body of Lorna Dane. Next to her is the desiccated corpse of Angus MacWhirter.
Cyclops sends the others out to try and find the missing people on the island.
Nightcrawler moves into the shadows, and spots Alex Summers with Jamie Madrox. He shouts a greeting but is attacked by Alex, yelling that he knows it cannot be Nightcrawler - he is dead. Beofre any serious damage can be done Colossus grabs Alex. With a shout of delight he learns that the X-Men survived.
Storm and Cyclops spot a shadowy figure moving stealthily down a corridor, and Storm uses a sudden gust of wind to whip the figure into Cyclops grasp. It is Moira, she is nearly overcome when she too realises that the X-Men are still alive - her lover Banshee is too.
Cyclops asks where Jean is. He finds her cowering in a corner, and the normally emotionally controlled man is nearly overcome. He looks down on her and gently tries to wake her, she looks up her vision blurred and says: "Jason."
When everyone has had chance to get over a multitude of shocks Cyclops gathers them all and listens to the stories.
Multiple Man describes hearing Lorna scream, creating duplicates of himself and spreading out looking or her. Then one of the others found someone and it screamed, all energy, all life being sucked from the body.
Wolverine wants to go right after the killer, but Cyclops points out that Jean is one of the most powerful beings they know, Lorna is not far behind, and even the Multiple Man has power yet they were overcome easily. They need more information, but Moira seems insistent on doing it all on her own. When Cyclops insists it's bigger than one person she crumbles, admitting that Mutant X is her son.
Mutant X has made it to the mainland, but his body is already wearing thin. He sees a figure walking toward him, strong - an ideal candidate for him... he poises to leap as Jason Wyngarde strides by, but there is something about the figure that is just too powerful for Mutant X in his weakened state and he has to let Wyngarde go, taking a drunken sailor instead.
As the X-Men set out Phoenix flies over the countryside... suddenly she is back in the Regency, a lady in the middle of a hunt. The hunt is led by Sir Jason Wyngarde, who calls the dogs off their kill, offering the blade to Jean to commit the coup de grace. She bends over to finish the deer off only to find a man in deerskins... which changes into the desiccated corpse of a man and she is back in the real world again.
Moira tells the others that her son is severely allergic to metal, it can imprison him, or it can kill him.
Wolverine comes across a police man in the middle of a road. He is just about to contact the constable, when it occurs to him that they have been following a single men a car - who said Mutant X could not be a police man? He shouts a warning to Nightcrawler and his whole world turns inside out.
The scream though comes from Mutant X, as he tries to possess Wolverine her realises that the X-Man's body is full of metal, to inhabit it would kill him. In fury he begins to let loose with all his powers, warping the world around him, twisting Wolverine and Nightcrawler out of shape, turning solids into liquids, reality into impossible geometric madness.
Through this flies Storm, striking the car with a lightning bolt, causing the fuel to explode, it destroys Mutant X's body, but his energy form survives and begins to force his way through the gales toward the X-Woman seeing her as an ideal host>
Wolverine can do nothing, other than pin himself and Nightcrawler to the ground as Mutant X, now calling himself Proteus steps closer and closer to Storm.
Relentlessly the form of Proteus gets closer and closer to Storm, who realises stretching her powers to the maximum is not going to stop him. She leaps into the air, intent on flying away, but Proteus warps realist around her, turning air into liquid ground, making up left, right up....
Nightcrawler and Wolverine are powerless, although the former tries to help the latter is paralysed knowing he has to help, trying to, but his body not responding.
Proteus advances on Storm, determined to claim her body and add her powers to his own...
A bullet just misses him. A metal bullet.
Moira fires again and begins to take aim with a lethal shot, only to be stopped by Cyclops. When he tells her that they have to capture Proteus not kill him, she knocks him out determined to kill her son, seeing it as the only way. Proteus though, has realised the danger and fled, leaving Moria to give chase once more.
The X-Men regroup, try to settle down and regain equilibrium. It is then that Cyclops realises just how badly the team has been hit by their abortive fight, especially Wolverine. For a man that is virtually defined by his senses, to have them torn apart in every possible way has scored him to the core.
Deliberately Cyclops winds him up, pushing him to the point of snapping – and beyond. Wolverine goes berserk and with no restraint goes for Cyclops, who just avoids the claws, once twice as the other X-Men look on in shock and confusion. As Colossus moves in Cyclops hits him with an optic blast, which reflects off and hits Wolverine in the back throwing him at Cyclops, who catches him in mid flight and tosses him over his shoulder – right into Nightcrawler.
Nightcrawler responds just in a nick of time and teleports out the way, appearing above Cyclops, which is just what was expected, and he blast Nightcrawler in mid leap.
Storm decides enough is enough and calls lightning to subdue Cyclops, only for him to blow the ground out from under her.
As she struggles to stand Cyclops surrenders, saying that he realised they had been hit hard, and although their physical scrapes were minor, the psychological one went deeper. He needed to break them out of their shock, especially Wolverine because he needed them combat ready.
Wolverine admits he was more shaken than he has ever been, and also reluctantly admits that he does not like Cyclops, but cannot argue with the fact that he is probably the best leader he has ever known.
As they begin to reorganise, coming to the understanding that Proteus cannot be tracked - just by changing a body who rules out scent, and he seems undetectable by telepathy; Proteus himself, discard the body of the policeman and claims that of a young female camper.
Meanwhile Moira visits her ex-husband in Edinburgh to warn him of Proteus; a hard job made harder by the fact that they hate each other, and she never told him that she had a baby in the first place. McTaggert does not want to know, furious and abusive at the same time. He will not listen to Moira's warnings and she leaves.
As he begins to make phone calls to deal with his discovery Proteus has found him, tracking psychic emanations of something embedded deep inside himself - 'The One I Hate'
The X-Men reach the city and almost at once Jean senses a psychic scream - she might not be able to sense Proteus but she can hear the scream of his victims as they die.
As the X-Men set out Moira is attacked by Proteus, but now he is something more again. He has taken Joe McTaggert, and the two have merged, the perfect symbiotic relationship. A being of power and raw hatred.
As Proteus melts the world around Moira, the X-Men get closer, leaping into the attack at the last minute. Colossus attacks firs but Proteus turns reality by 90 degrees... Colossus falls.
Cyclops beam turns to roses...
But Phoenix... Phoenix is more than ready to use her full power only...
Proteus grabs Moira and says he will destroy her if they attack.
Cyclops simply says that Proteus is too powerful, too evil to be allowed to escape: he is exactly the type of mutant that the X-Men were formed to fight - no matter what the cost.
The world has gone mad, the rules of nature, of physics no longer apply. Brick is now liquid, reality folds in on itself, and at the heart of the warp is Proteus and his captive Moria.
The X-Men do their best to protect the normal people caught up in the chaos, but it is nearly impossible, for Wolverine especially who is pulled to safety himself by Polaris.
After a while Moira tries talking Proteus out of it, but he does not listen, rather he focuses more, telling her that he is no longer just her son, but a melding of her husband, his father too. He feels the pain the break of their marriage, the palpable hatred they had for one another, and turns his powers on her.
Everything else snaps back to normal, and Cyclops gambles that he can only turn his power on one target at a time; but Banshee realises that means if Proteus is not concentrating on the world around him, he must targeting Moira, and he charges after her. The X-Men follow.
Storm leads the attack, but before she can try anything serious Proteus changes the air around her turning it into amber.
Wolverine darts in, and begins to try and cut away the crystal before she suffocates, but without cutting her...
Banshee shoot Proteus hitting him in the shoulder, slightly wounded the mutant opens the ground up beneath the injured X-Man and as he falls closes it again. Cyclops starts blasting the ground...
Nightcrawler leaps in the hole after his comrade and just reaches him as it starts to close again. In desperation he teleports blind just rescuing Sean...
Proteus reaches the foot of Edinburgh castle when Phoenix reaches him, she is angry and determined it is time for a rematch. At first her power is almost unstoppable but Proteus twists reality again, making Phoenix feel as though she is dead, it's enough to overcome her, but as she screams Wolverine attacks, slicing through Proteus with his claws. Being metal they do a lot more damage than normal.
As Proteus staggers away, hurt badly for the first time he stumbles between Cyclops and Havoc, and without pause the two brothers hit him from both sides really cutting loose with their full powers.
Wolverine follows orders and starts climbing toward the castle, doing his best to get Moira to safety.
Proteus reconfigures himself and gives chase, reaching Wolverine grabbing Moira from him and throwing him from the cliff. As a near desiccated husk once again he climbs as Wolverine falls...
Cyclops sees Wolverine falling and carefully times a series of optic blasts, timing them to slow the others descent. He reasons that the blasts would kill a normal man, but the others adamantium skeleton will protect him.
As they recover Colossus in human form gives pursuit....
Outside the walls of the castle Proteus is in need of a new body, and Moira is the perfect choice, as he moves to take her, a hand reaches over his shoulder...
And Peter Rasputin throws him across the space into the Castle wall....
Proteus body disintegrates leaving only the energy form, which launches at Peter, determined to punish him, then possess him...
Peter does the only thing left to him - transforms into Colossus...
Suddenly there is a figure of organic steel in the heart of the Proteus energy matrix.
Pure metal to which is anathema to the evil mutant.
Colossus reaches out forcing his steel hands into the heart of Proteus - who expands into a screaming, expansive mass of splintering energy that dissipates spectacularly across the Edinburgh sky.
The X-Men arrive fearing the worst but find a victory instead, although bitter one.
Despite her resolve Moira is heartbroken at the death of her son, as Sean comforts her the -Men realise they have won, but sometimes even the hardest won victory comes with a bitter cost.
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The Proteus Saga
The Proteus saga was the point where all of Claremont's long term planning started to come together.
It has its roots as far back as issue 104 when the cell marked Mutant X was compromised during Magneto's escape.
Cyclops is shown to be a great leader for the first time, not only making the hard decisions, even those that go against the grain, and proving that he knows his team inside out. When he realises that the team needs to be broken out of their shell shock, he does not hesitate but attacks the team and beats them. It is something that the modern comics have neglected or forgotten, with Wolverine written currently the idea that Cyclops could even come close to beating him would be unthinkable, but here he does and almost easily. Cyclops understanding of the X-Men, to the extent of being able to fight against them so effectively is something that will not be seen again until Uncanny 175. But then it is for real.
We get the first mention that Wolverine has a metal skeleton when Proteus is driven from his possession of the X-Man, but it is when Cyclops saves him with an optic blast that a character actually tells us that Wolverine has an adamantium skeleton.
There some other excellent moments - after months of hanging out with Colleen Wing readers must have wondered how Scott and Jean were going to react when they saw each other again, but the steam is completely blown away when it is Jean who says "Jason!" as she awakes.
There is an important point that will come back to a contradiction later on, one of the few times Claremont seems to be unaware of his own continuity. At the end of the story it is Colossus who literally saves the day, his steel form destroying Proteus utterly (Well as much as they do in comics), but again and again we will be told that Peter Rasputin is a gentle soul who has never taken a life... and it always grated to me.... because he killed Proteus!!
The Proteus saga was the point where all of Claremont's long term planning started to come together.
It has its roots as far back as issue 104 when the cell marked Mutant X was compromised during Magneto's escape.
Cyclops is shown to be a great leader for the first time, not only making the hard decisions, even those that go against the grain, and proving that he knows his team inside out. When he realises that the team needs to be broken out of their shell shock, he does not hesitate but attacks the team and beats them. It is something that the modern comics have neglected or forgotten, with Wolverine written currently the idea that Cyclops could even come close to beating him would be unthinkable, but here he does and almost easily. Cyclops understanding of the X-Men, to the extent of being able to fight against them so effectively is something that will not be seen again until Uncanny 175. But then it is for real.
We get the first mention that Wolverine has a metal skeleton when Proteus is driven from his possession of the X-Man, but it is when Cyclops saves him with an optic blast that a character actually tells us that Wolverine has an adamantium skeleton.
There some other excellent moments - after months of hanging out with Colleen Wing readers must have wondered how Scott and Jean were going to react when they saw each other again, but the steam is completely blown away when it is Jean who says "Jason!" as she awakes.
There is an important point that will come back to a contradiction later on, one of the few times Claremont seems to be unaware of his own continuity. At the end of the story it is Colossus who literally saves the day, his steel form destroying Proteus utterly (Well as much as they do in comics), but again and again we will be told that Peter Rasputin is a gentle soul who has never taken a life... and it always grated to me.... because he killed Proteus!!
JustPassingThrough
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Uncanny X-Men is one of the reasons I still read comic book today. And the Proteus Saga was my first introduction to the man known as John Byrne so a very special place in my heart. I thought it was all handled extremely well, so well in fact that when they adapted it for the cartoon it came off rather well.
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Thanks for taking notice of this little ongoing project, JPT.
One thing that going through these old X-Men's has done is to remind me just how special these issues and stories were, and that is down to Byrne and Claremont.
I can still remember the thrill when I saw Byrne's art and it's a shame that he is not viewed the same way these days.
One thing that going through these old X-Men's has done is to remind me just how special these issues and stories were, and that is down to Byrne and Claremont.
I can still remember the thrill when I saw Byrne's art and it's a shame that he is not viewed the same way these days.
JustPassingThrough
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Your welcome Perpetual Man. It's a good ongoing project I tell you what.
Usually once a month I will go through my old X-Men's and let the dusty memories fly around for a bit. I appreciate all the artists that came and went with Mr. Claremont's run, but Byrne always will have a special place in my heart because I consider his artwork the definition of the team. He seemed to bring the cartoonishness of the art form together with great story telling and the two of them together just sucked you into those stories. Sucked you in enough that they still are with you today and it's been oh so many decades past.
Usually once a month I will go through my old X-Men's and let the dusty memories fly around for a bit. I appreciate all the artists that came and went with Mr. Claremont's run, but Byrne always will have a special place in my heart because I consider his artwork the definition of the team. He seemed to bring the cartoonishness of the art form together with great story telling and the two of them together just sucked you into those stories. Sucked you in enough that they still are with you today and it's been oh so many decades past.
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Definitely, I always like to think of his mas the first of the superstar artists, and always feel it a shame when his modern work get relatively short shrift.
One of the good thing about doing this little project has been a good escuse to pull open the old boxes and wander through my old X-Men.
Just for a quick look.
For a few minutes.
That end hours later
One of the good thing about doing this little project has been a good escuse to pull open the old boxes and wander through my old X-Men.
Just for a quick look.
For a few minutes.
That end hours later
JustPassingThrough
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Yes, unfortunately it seems that as the year went on Mr. Byrne, well, I don't want to say lost something, but something changed (I know some of said that it started when he started to ink his own stuff). Personally, for me, the ear of Byrne ended when he left D.C. to go back to Marvel.
I find that X-Men books are the ones that I never get tired of pulling out and flipping through. I cannot say that with every comic, but X-Men always.
I find that X-Men books are the ones that I never get tired of pulling out and flipping through. I cannot say that with every comic, but X-Men always.
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I agree completely (although I do enjoy his work on Next Men, perhaps that is just nostalgia talking)
But there is something special about the X-Men run - probably for me at leas, right the way through to when Claremont left. There was something that just worked, and I don't think he ever managed to write in the same way after, even when he returned to the X-Men it missed that magic, indefinable something.
I have to say though, that I thought Byrnes run on Alpha Flight was pretty amazing too.
But there is something special about the X-Men run - probably for me at leas, right the way through to when Claremont left. There was something that just worked, and I don't think he ever managed to write in the same way after, even when he returned to the X-Men it missed that magic, indefinable something.
I have to say though, that I thought Byrnes run on Alpha Flight was pretty amazing too.
JustPassingThrough
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Next Men I couldn't get into. However- he did a project called Danger Unlimited that I couldn't get enough of! I have heard that his new Next Men are really quite good though and that perhaps he is making a come back.
No, when Claremont left that was basically the end for me. I mean, I of course kept reading here and there, but it was never the same. Never. Heck, when he came back to do X-Men Forever I picked it up and it quickly became my favorite book (which of course means that they cancelled it).
Oh! Alpha Flight has a very special place in my heart. I had the poster finely placed in honor on my bedroom wall.
No, when Claremont left that was basically the end for me. I mean, I of course kept reading here and there, but it was never the same. Never. Heck, when he came back to do X-Men Forever I picked it up and it quickly became my favorite book (which of course means that they cancelled it).
Oh! Alpha Flight has a very special place in my heart. I had the poster finely placed in honor on my bedroom wall.
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I kept going with the X-Men simply because I found it so hard to give up - a collector thing rather than a pleasure thing I guess.
As far as Alpha Flight go, I think the last few issues that Byrne produced were some of the best twists and turns I have ever seen in a standard superhero comic. (Don't want to say too much as I think I might do an Alpha Flight retrospective when the time is right!)
The new Next Men is good, but it is definitely a continuation of the original series, taken in a new direction. Just 15 years between issues!
As far as Alpha Flight go, I think the last few issues that Byrne produced were some of the best twists and turns I have ever seen in a standard superhero comic. (Don't want to say too much as I think I might do an Alpha Flight retrospective when the time is right!)
The new Next Men is good, but it is definitely a continuation of the original series, taken in a new direction. Just 15 years between issues!
JustPassingThrough
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I think that is how they used to "get" you on the X-Men, you would keep buying because you loved the characters and wanted to see if they might return to their glory, if even just for a moment. (And I didn't hate some of the things that Scott Lobell did with them to be honest.)
I thought his best issue of it was of course number 12, and I can still remember getting that issue. I waited for that issue. Really waited and when it got into my hands it did not disappoint.
I have read reviews that have said it was a good series, the new Next Men, but they have not said if you can pick it up without having knowledge of the prior issues.
I thought his best issue of it was of course number 12, and I can still remember getting that issue. I waited for that issue. Really waited and when it got into my hands it did not disappoint.
I have read reviews that have said it was a good series, the new Next Men, but they have not said if you can pick it up without having knowledge of the prior issues.
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To be honest I've only read the first few issues (I'm a bit behind on the old comic reading at the moment) but I was pretty pleased at how easy it was to pick things up despite the gap between the old and the new.
It is so different that I think it is easy to read as a fresh title, because the story just drops you in at the deep end. The characters don't know what is going on, and all the threads seemed to be being drawn toward a revelation, filling in the blanks (including giving the information you need from the original run) as it goes.
And funny you should mention Lobdells run on X-Men. I hated his writing. He started on the X-Men and I cringed, thinking the first few issues were appalling and then he just suddenly exploded, becoming the best writer the title had seen since Claremont and one of my favoured runs.
It is so different that I think it is easy to read as a fresh title, because the story just drops you in at the deep end. The characters don't know what is going on, and all the threads seemed to be being drawn toward a revelation, filling in the blanks (including giving the information you need from the original run) as it goes.
And funny you should mention Lobdells run on X-Men. I hated his writing. He started on the X-Men and I cringed, thinking the first few issues were appalling and then he just suddenly exploded, becoming the best writer the title had seen since Claremont and one of my favoured runs.
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