The Uncanny X-Men (1978)

[Perpetual Man]

The Uncanny X-Men 135-136 The Dark Phoenix Saga (Claremont & Byrne)

With the shuttle destroyed the X-Men begin to fall toward the ground. Peter transforms into Colossus; Storm grabs Wolverine, who in turn grabs Cyclops, while Nightcrawler teleports, still hitting the ground at speed.

Dark Phoenix seems to be targeting Cyclops, but Storm manages to summon winds to keep her away, but it is only a slight measure.

Almost as soon as they are down Phoenix attacks. Colossus grabs a tree, tearing it from the ground, but Phoenix telepathically forces him to transform to flesh. The tree is too heavy for a normal man and he is trapped beneath it. Wolverine leaps into help but finds the tree transformed to solid gold, making it impossible to move.

Storm tries to hit her with a lightning bolt, but Phoenix has become too powerful, not only can she see what they are trying to do before they even think it, her power is so great that they cannot hope to compete on any level. Storm, Nightcrawler and Cyclops are blasted into unconsciousness, Cyclops barely able to understand just what Phoenix is experiencing through their psychic rapport.

With X-Men so easily swatted like flies Dark Phoenix takes to the skies...

Elsewhere Senator Robert Kelly, a member of the Hellfire Club is talking to Sebastian Shaw. He is furious at the apparent unprovoked attack the X-Men have wrought upon the club. Shaw fans the flames, suggesting that perhaps what they need is a long term answer: Sentinels.

In that instant the sky above central park explodes, a huge fire bird effect fills the night...

...And across the Earth and throughout the stars people notice – Reed Richards scanners start screaming warnings, Spider-man’s spider sense nearly fries his head, Doctor Strange senses a disturbance right across the myriad plains he can access, and the Silver Surfer senses the birth of a terrible cosmic entity.

As Dark Phoenix flies into the night an Avengers Quinjet lands and the Beast arrives in time to help gather the fallen X-Men.

In New Mexico Professor X and Angel prepare to leave.

Phoenix flies through space. She flies through the vacuum with a terrible ease, creating a stargate that carries her to a distant star. With a hunger consuming her she drops into the heart of the star, literally devouring it from within.

As the star dies it flares outwards, annihilating the eleven planets that orbited it, including the inhabited world of over a billion sentient life-forms. An ancient civilisation of peace loving, intelligent inhabitants who are wiped from the universe in a matter of seconds.

To her, it is an incredible sensation, but only a fraction of what she felt when she knitted the universe together in the M’Krann crystal... and she wants to feel that again...

On the edge of the system a Shi’ar Battle Cruiser witnesses the conflagration and attempts to halt the destroyer, only to be obliterated as though they were little more than a gnat, but not before sending one last, desperate message to their Empress, Lilandra. Charles Xavier’s lover.

Back on Earth the X-Men and Beast are at the mansion, just recovering from the attack, when Cyclops suddenly starts.

He can sense her, he announces. Phoenix is returning to Earth.

And she is hungry.

As Phoenix heads through space, Lilandra holds a council, reviewing the destruction of the star D’Bari, and determining that there is no place for compassion, the universe itself is in danger. Dark Phoenix must be stopped and destroyed.

On Earth President Carter tries to find out why there is no response from the Avengers, that there is a threat from the stars, and no one seems to be doing anything.

The X-Men do their best to prepare. As the team prepare in the Danger Room, Beast works quickly on a technical device that might help, and Cyclops prepares himself to fight the woman he loves. They all know that this time they are not fighting an enemy, they are fighting a friend, not just to save the world, but to save her.

Phoenix returns to her family home, where she confronts her parents. Her thoughts are distant and trapped, her words callous and cruel terrifying her mother and father, driving them away in fear.

Before she can harm them she notice a fog outside the house and realises the X-Men have arrived.

She leaves only for Nightcrawler to teleport in on her, clamping the Beast’s device to her head.

It is a mind-scrambler, that destroys cognitive thought, disrupting her access to her powers, but she is still powerful. She trades blows with Colossus – and wins.

Storm is overcome. But when Nightcrawler distracts her The Beast is able to grab her and throw her through the air, into a nearby pond. He notices that the mind-scrambler is starting to melt...

Like lightning Wolverine attacks, but Jean seems to surface on Phoenix face, telling Wolverine to strike to kill her before it is too late. It is enough to make Wolverine pause, and he is thrown aside as she tears the device from her head.

And just like that the X-Men are caught, held in her telekinetic grasp. She is going to kill them when Cyclops walks up to her. He does not attack. He just talks. Of two X-Men. A boy and Girl. Who loved each other their whole lives and became two very special adults. It seems as though he is reaching the trapped Jean deep inside the Phoenix.

In that moment she is hit by a massive psychic blast.

She casts Cyclops aside and faces her mentor, Professor Charles Xavier.

The two engage in a psychic battle that lights up the skies throughout the area. A battle fought on countless levels, but it is an unfair fight, Phoenix is so much more powerful, but deep inside the core that is Jean Grey fights alongside Xavier, and in an instant it is over.

Phoenix is gone.

A naked Jean Grey remains.

Dead or alive Cyclops gathers her into his arms, and is relieved to see her open her eyes. She says that Phoenix is gone, locked away deeper than deep. That she is just Jean again, and in the moment Scott asks her to marry him and she accepts.

As her parents run forwards, demanding to know what is going on, Xavier says he will tell them, but he and the X-Men, with The Beast and Angel (who flew Xavier there) need a few moments to gether themselves.

Jean’s father is about to say something... but there is a brilliant flash of light and the X-Men are gone.

 

[No One]

Great stuff PM! I remember those issues so vividly.

And a conspicuously chosen stopping point there with issue 137 just around the corner...

...and cue the death threats from fans.

 

[Clansman]

You ending this thread PM, with the last Byrne issues? or will end with The Phoenix Saga (no. 137)? Or will Uncanny simply go on? Until you get to... The New Mutants, X-Factor, and then the myriad X-Men titles that spun out of control in Marvel's mad money-grab (I stopped reading comics shortly after the Wolverine series started (not the mini-series)).

 

[Perpetual Man]

I'm thinking I'll let it wander on for a while. I'm not sure when I'm actually going to stop it finally, but I think where things start diversifying too much. I'm not thinking that far ahead!!!

I'll probably take a break at some point though for a week or so!

But as I'm here at the moment:

 

[Perpetual Man]

The Uncanny X-Men 137 The Fate of the Phoenix (Claremont & Byrne)

The Watcher, a giant being of immense power, and observer dedicated to watch and record the great event of the universe introduces the image, reminding everyone of what has gone on, and letting the reader know that this is the culmination of the tale.

The stunned X-Men find themselves suddenly on the bridge of the Shi’ar flag ship. There Lilandra confronts them, telling the team that they are there to claim and destroy Phoenix.

The X-Men are horrified and outraged, after Phoenix saved the universe this is how she is repaid? But it is then they are told of the hunger of Dark Phoenix and what she did to the D’Bari star, all the innocents killed. This is more than just a singular threat, it could happen again and again.

Despite not wanting to believe what they hear, there is no denying the images, or what Cyclops can sense through his psychic link with Jean. She remembers it all and is devastated.

They claim that Professor Xavier has cured her, but it is not enough. There is always the chance that the Phoenix might re-emerge. She has to be destroyed.

Before the Shi’ar can react Xavier cries out: he challenges them using their own laws. A fight between two champions, or teams of champions. Bound by their own laws the Shi’ar have to accept, and it will be The X-Men against the Imperial Guard. As it it is an event of unparalleled galactic importance other races with be there as observers, foremost of these will be the shape changing Skrulls and their enemy the Kree.

The X-Men joined by Beast and Angel are given time to recover from their recent battle, but they will enter combat the following day. The combat will take place in the ruins of a hidden city on the dark side of the moon, protected by an oxygen bubble.

That night the team are well treated, all left alone with their thoughts.

Jean feels guilt, and knows that it is time for her to pay the price for her deeds. She requests something from the Shi’ar and they oblige.

Nightcrawler is overcome with doubts, not just about whether they can win, but whether he should fight for someone who did such evil, despite it being a friend. He talks with Angel, and finds the original X-Man feels much the same.

Wolverine sees it simply Jean and Phoenix are two totally separate entities, now kept apart by what Xavier has done. In his mind there is no question. Phoenix has gone. Tomorrow he will be fighting for Jean.

The Beast is still outraged, and that outrage is like a righteous anger. He will not only fight for Jean he will do anything he can to see her through the trial.

Colossus is stolid. They never fight to kill, they tried everything to cure Jean, and had succeeded. If the Shi’ar cannot do the same, then they must be stopped.

Storm worries, but sees Jean as her dearest friend. No matter what she will stand by her friend until the bitter end.

Cyclops decides that it is impossible to decide what is right and wrong, and that they have done all they can. No more can or should be done, any decision should be left in God’s hands. He will stand by Jean through love and pain, that the key word is mercy. No matter what the cost.

And Jean joins him, in costume. But not clad as Phoenix, in the simple attire of Marvel Girl. It is how she started things and how she will finish them. And Scott finds the truth he has been searching for. No matter what Phoenix may or may not be, Jean is not evil, and that is what they are fighting for. They love each other and that is what they will fight for.

And so it is that the X-Men are sent into combat. As they vanish her chancellor asks her what they will do if the X-Men win, and Lilandra replies that it does not matter. No matter what it takes they will lose.

Once they hit the surface of the moon the X-Men begin to prepare for battle. There are a few moments of acclimatisation – Angel not compensating for lesser gravity, and then they begin to check out the battle ground.

They split into two teams, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel and Nightcrawler & Wolverine, Storm, Colossus and Beast.

The battle begins in earnest when Cyclops is nearly hit by a fireball shot by Starbolt...

The battle is dramatic and spread over pages, but the ultimate resolution sees Wolverine and Storm separated from the rest of their group , Wolverine is knocked through an opaque screen and finds himself face to face with a representation of the Watcher. He makes the mistake of threatening the entity and is ejected forcibly...

Storm is attacked by two member of the Imperial Guard, who manage to overpower her, knocking her out.

Angel is thrown into a giant pit, so fast that his wings fold up around him, and Nightcrawler leaps in after him in a desperate bid to save him.

When Wolverine finds himself back on the moon he is slightly disorientated and Storm comes to support him, he panics when he feels her hands on his throat and realises that it is the Skrull observer doing more than observing. He leaps toward the alien claws out, only to be blasted by the Kree observer. Horrified that he has been saved by his mortal enemy the Skrull attacks the Kree and they will ultimately kill each other.

Nightcrawler was unable to find Angel, instead finding himself lost in a maze of tunnels. He sees an enemy coming and hides in the darkest shadows going nearly invisible. Unfortunately Manta, his enemy can see in infra-red and blasts him unconscious.

Beast and Colossus are fighting a symbiotic robot, a small part and a large part, as Colossus fells the larger part, the smaller one electrocutes Beast, knocking him out. Colossus turns and finds himself facing Gladiator, the strongest of the Guard. The two exchange blows, and the Russian finds himself standing toe to toe with one of the strongest beings in the galaxy. But the ruins cannot take the pounding, and they collapse down on them. When the dust settles it is Gladiator that emerges.

Professor X can only watch as one by one his team are overcome, and Lilandra in turn watches the man she loves wondering whether that love can survive heart wrenching display that he has to endure.

Only Marvel Girl and Cyclops remain. They know the others have gone. Hidden in an alcove they tell each other how much they love one another, how they will not stop fighting for that love, and then together they charge out into the open ruins and fight.

ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A WOMAN CALLED JEAN GREY, A MAN NAMED SCOTT SUMMERS.

THEY WERE YOUNG AND IN LOVE.

THEY WERE HEROES.

TODAY THEY WILL PROVE THAT... BEYOND ALL SHADOW OF A DOUBT.

As they make their last stand Cyclops is cut down and something snaps inside of Jean, light flares across the surface of the moon, the Shi’ar flagship is damaged by a series of explosions, as on the lunar surface Phoenix is reborn.

Lilandra panics, ordering that everything should be done to stop the entity before it is too late. Eradication of the ruins, the moon, the Earth, The Solar System – anything to ensure Phoenix is destroyed.

And Xavier realises that events have gone too far.

Reaching out with his mind he forces the X-Men to rise, to cross the ruins and the fallen Imperial Guard, to face their team mate.

As they fight Wolverine is able to lift Colossus due to the lower gravity and throws him at Phoenix, knowing he has tried to kill her once and hesitated. But Colossus claims he has never killed before (a mistake surely? He killed Proteus) and will not do now, so he pulls his punch, all the same he nearly knocks her head off.

Hurt she flees and only Cyclops follows, finding her hidden in the shadows of an ancient chamber. Already her costume has gone from green to red, Dark Phoenix is emerging.

Once more Cyclops tries to talk her down. But trapped in a telekinetic bubble there is nothing he can do, as Jean talks to him. Of her love, fear and guilt. Knowing that if she lives one slip is all it will take... and she is not strong enough.

In the ruins something stirs and an ancient weapon, built by those that built the city slowly activates and rises.

Cyclops can only watch helplessly, aware that Jean is controlling it all, this is what she intended from the beginning. While she was still weak, still in control...

She tells him that she loved him and that she will always love him and the gun fires.

Jean Grey, Marvel Girl, Phoenix is obliterated in the blast, leaving a circle of ash on the surface of the moon, with a broken man looking at the smoking remains of the woman he loved.

The Watcher, joined by another observer, The Recorder impassively watches the events come to an end. The latter does not understand the emotion of events, or why Jean Grey would kill herself.

THE X-MEN DO NOT REALISE IT—THEY MAY NEVER REALISE, OR ACCEPT IT—BUT THIS DAY THEY HAVE WON PERHAPS THE GREATEST VICTORY OF THEIR YOUNG LIVES.

JEAN GREY COULD HAVE LIVED TO BECOME A GOD. BUT IT WAS MORE IMPORTANT TO HER THAT SHE DIE... A HUMAN.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Phoenix The Untold Story (Claremont, Byrne and others)

And so ended one of the great comic book stories.

No matter what might have been said about Claremont and Byrne later in their careers, this stands the test of time as powerful and emotional as it was the first time it was written. Everything seems so perfect and logical, a progression that ends in a ending that it is as tragic as it is inevitable.

When I first read it, I could not believe the way it all seemed to come together almost perfectly, how well planned and plotted the whole thing was. What vision the two creators must have had to get to that point.

Only they didn’t.

It’s not the way comics work, writing is fluid, things have to change month to month, different opinions are put into play. There is no doubt that Claremont and Byrne had a skeletal plan in place, but the meat was added issue by issue, by osmosis and the bouncing back and forward of ideas by the two creators, issue by issue.

There were always rumours and conspiracy theories that the story was not the ending the writers originally intended and four years after X-Men 137 was released, Marvel followed it up with a one off title, Phoenix: The Untold Story. The definitive answer to what had been intended. It is the full issue 137 that was originally intended, followed by a wonderfully in depth interview/discussion with Claremont, Byrne, then X-Men editor Jim Salicrup, his successor Louise Jones (Simonson) Terry Austin the X-Men Inker and Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter.

The strip itself follows the published version until the last five pages. There are some dialogue changes, the threat to Phoenix is played down more, and the X-Men seem more unconcerned about what is coming. But the last five pages:

At the point where Jean Grey transforms into Phoenix... she is defeated, no spectacular rebirth. Marvel Girl and Cyclops are overcome. Marvel Girl is placed within a device that is the focus point of countless telepaths, the most powerful in the Shi’ar empire, and when they activate the device the surgically carve her mind to ribbons.

Wolverine wants to stop them, but Cyclops holds him back, saying they are beaten, wounded, they would not stand a chance.

They remove every instance of Phoenix and power, knowing that even the smallest of slip will kill or destroy Jean’s mind, and then rebuild it. The process is painful and as she screams she reaches out and Cyclops takes her hand.

He feels the psychic bond between the two of them slowly dissolve as Jean’s power is dissolved, and it is he that holds her when the process is over, unknowing what remains of the woman he loves. When Lilandra offers her sympathy, in a much stronger reaction he nearly kills her with a glance.

The X-Men turn and demand to be returned to Earth, bitter and filled with grief, not knowing whether they will ever recover from their loss while the Watcher and Recorder offer a simple but clean epilogue.

In the real world:

With the epic completed Claremont and Byrne immediately turned their attention to the next issue, Terry Austin took a short holiday and the pages were coloured, approved and were ready to go to the printers. Before hand they were forwarded to the desk of Jim Shooter.

He states that it was unusual for him to look things over, not wanting to seem as an overbearing tyrant. He trusted the editors on the issues, and saw his position as a guiding hand, rather than an ultimate authority. Even though technically that is what he was.

A bit like Claremont and Byrne much is said about Jim Shooter, but in my opinion he was the best EiC Marvel ever had. Those that followed have done bigger things, have overseen an upswing in the company but Shooter’s hard held beliefs saw some of the greatest tales in the company’s history. Not just the X-Men, but Spider-man flourished, The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight all had legendary runs over his watch and it is down to his principles.

Shooter felt there should be only a certain amount of title should be produced each month, quality over quantity, if there was going to be a new title an old one had to go. Too much could lead to conflicting storylines, overuse of characters and a tangled continuity. Marvel might be selling more comics than ever in the modern day, but the continuity is a total mess and the tangle of characters is... hard to follow.

Like everyone else, he had been pulled in to the story of the X-Men and with the final story in front of him he perused the pages and pulled rank, not something he did often but in this instance...

Shooter felt that there was a certain something that heroes had to stand for and that it was wrong that although punished Jean Grey went back to a normal life after maliciously and willingly destroying not just one life, but committing genocide by wiping out not just one intelligent species on a planet, but all other life forms there as well. It was not the action of a hero and it was not teaching a lesson. There had to be a more fitting resolution, he did not say what, but he wanted a more fitting punishment.

With five days to work in Claremont and Byrne were given an unheard of chance, to go back and strengthen what was there originally and change the end. Whatever else they came up with, it was a death that seemed to fit best, and in a sudden burst they redrafted the last pages of issue 137.

Shooter was happy with the ending, feeling it worked so much better than the original (and it did), and the rest is history. He also put in force a permanent edict: Jean Grey was dead and was to remain dead, without his implicit agreement. Unless it could be proved that Jean Grey had nothing to do with the death of the D’Bari she was gone. (It is a matter of note that within months of Shooter leaving the EiC position Jean was resurrected, by John Byrne no less, but credit to him it was done in a manner that was in keeping with Shooter’s edict)

Obviously the creative team had rushed on with the next issue, and suddenly had to scrap all they had done and start again, in time to get 138 out on schedule.

There was talk of where they were going to go with the story, Claremont saying that he had a vague idea that he wanted to go with, that would have culminated in 150. He said that he wanted Jean to slowly grow stranger as a person, but be overwhelmed with guilt at what she had done. In a double-sized 150, Magneto would have offered to restore her powers creating a moral dilemma that would have ended in Jean sacrificing herself rather than becoming Phoenix again; which in turn would set Magneto on a course that would change him completely.

Shooter apparently stated that had he know that was the plan, he might have gone along with it, but in the rush and furore to get 137 redone there was no chance to sit down and talk things through.

The X-Men 137 is a genuine classic, virtually always appearing in the top 10 comic stories of all time, alongside The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen, so perhaps it was the best decision all told, but still, it is a wonderful dream to think of what might have been.

Of course, the basic idea was recycled, but that is something for another time.

 

[Perpetual Man]

The Uncanny X-Men 138 (Claremont & Byrne)

ALL MY LIFE, IT SEEMED THAT—EVERYTIME I TURNED AROUND—I WAS LOSING PEOPLE I LOVED, MY FOLKS, MY BROTHER ALEX, THE FEW FRIENDS I MADE AT THE ORPHANAGE. EACH TIME, THE LOSS HURT...

LOSING YOU WAS THE LOSS I COULD NOT TAKE.

JEAN, YOU ARE EVERYTHING TO ME, AS NECESSARY AS THE AIR I BREATH.

I SAID THOSE WORDS, NOT LONG AGO, TO A WOMAN I LOVED MORE THAN MY OWN LIFE.

NOW I STAND OVER HER GRAVE.

HER NAME IS JEAN GREY, MINE IS SCOTT SUMMERS. THIS IS OUR STORY.

The X-Men are gathered at the funeral of Jean Grey, and Scott Summers reflects over his life as an X-Man. It is simply that: a brief retelling of the X-Men from issue 1 through to 137, the comic equivalent to a television clip episode. Probably done due to major rewriting needed after the sudden change in direction the previous issue took!

However there are a few pages right at the end, the epilogue to the whole saga.

Scott, virtually destroyed by his grief, comforts and is comforted by Jeans parents, who receive a gift from Lilandra: a Holempathic Matrix Crystal. It contains an image of Jean, and emits a slight feeling of the woman herself, a distant echo of emotional residue.

As the X-Men prepare to go, they are stunned to hear Scott Summers announce that he will not be coming with them. He is leaving the X-Men.

As they all reel from the shock... back in Westchester, New York a taxi pulls up to the school, depositing a single figure on the doorstep.

Left to wonder just how it can be that there is no one there to meet her, Kitty Pryde can just sit and wait.

SHE’S ABOUT TO BECOME THE NEWEST... AND YOUNGEST... PUPIL IN CHARLES XAVIER’S SCHOOL.

THE X-MEN WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN.

THE BEGINNING.

 

[Perpetual Man]

This is the first weekend I have not posted an issue synopsis for the X-Men, and for anyone who has been following the thread I apologise. A very busy period at work, a sick Perp jr., and now a sick Perp and Mrs. Perp. seem to have got in the way...

One of the problems with a thread like this is I don't get so much feedback on who if following and keeping up. My current plan is to get to the end of the Byrne/Claremont era, about another three stories/5 issues and then take a break for a few weeks.

Or permanently, depending on what any readers feel.

 

[Clansman]

Perp, you're doing a great job. I think finished the Byrne/Claremont era followed by a break for a while makes sense. But please come back! I'd love to see how you summarize Claremont being in charge of the comic.

Once you cross the issue #200 threshold, things start going really loopy. The first spin offs (the Wolverine mini-series, the New Mutants, X-Factor) might be a point to reevaluate, or when the original X-Men are brought back into the X-Men fold, and X-Factor becomes something else entirely (that's about where I quit).

At least take it to the end of the Claremont era (ca. 1990?).

Did Claremont and Byrne ever collaborate again? Instinct tells me no, but others likely know more than I do.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Once I've thrown this flu off, and come back from holiday, I'll probably finish the Byrne/Claremont era. I kept thinking ahead to where the comics start diversifying and it scares me...

Claremont and Byrne worked together on Marvel Team Up, but this was at the same time/just before the X-Men. I'm not sure since. I have the feeling that they might have worked together as a one off, I'm not sure though!

 

[Perpetual Man]

The Uncanny X-Men 139 – 140 (Claremont & Byrne)

The X-Men are training in the Danger Room, coming to terms with the events of the last few weeks. Cyclops might have gone but Angel has rejoined the team. Not only does his totally different powers change the balance of the team, but his lack of activity means that he is sorely out of practice, turning a training session into something a lot more precarious.

As Kitty Pryde and Professor X watch on the team manage to get through the training session, reacting well to commands from the new team leader, Storm. Even Wolverine praises her, which she takes as the highest of compliments, even though she sees the post as a temporary one until Cyclops returns.

Kitty, now in costume is obviously unsettled by the prospect of training in the Danger Room, and is still fearful of Nightcrawler.

As they relax Storm suggests a code name for Kitty, and so she becomes Sprite.

Wolverine says that it is time he heads North, to confront Alpha Flight, to put rests the ghosts of his past and try and make peace with the Canadians. He asks Nightcrawler to come along, who agrees.

Ororo takes Kitty into the nearby town of Salem Centre where she is introduced to Stevie Hunter, a dance instructer, a former professional dancer who Kitty once saw dance. There is the slightest hint of jealousy from Ororo.

In Ottawa, Canada Heather MacNeil Hudson returns home, only to note that her front door has been opened. She bursts in to find Wolverine and Nightcrawler waiting for her. She is delighted and angry to see him at the same time, but tells him where to find her husband is.

Vindicator is in the far north, on the shores of Hudson Bay, working with Snowbird and Shaman. They are searching for something, but it is Wolverine and Nightcrawler that set of Shaman's mystical alarms. They are startled that they got so close, but Nightcrawler is out startled by the arrival of a giant polar bear, that turns out to be Snowbird.

Wolverine, resplendent in his new costume manages to bury the hatchet with his old friends, and they learn that campers have been going missing, or brutally torn apart. They are trying to work out just what it was that did this, but they have not got a clue. It only takes WSolverine one glance at the cast they have of the creatures foot to inform them it is the mystical monster - The Wendigo. (Wolverine's first ever appearance was in The Incredible Hulk, and the beast they fought was Wendigo, a beast designed to go one on one with the Hulk.)

The Wendigo is a transformed man that is changed by eating human flesh in the wilds...

They agree to work together, and as Nightcrawler starts to collect their belongings from the car he hears a sound and turns...

Back in America, the X-Men continue with their lives. Colossus gets back to his farming roots, working the land around the mansion.

Ororo and Kitty continue working with Stevie Hunter, the former definitely beginning to feel jealousy at the closeness between the two, while Kitty seems a little too at ease using her powers in public.

On the other hand Nightcralwer is thrown halfway through the forest as he tries to stay alive under the Wendigo's assault. Ultimately he is thrown all the way back to the hut where the others continue planning unaware of what is happening to their friend. Just in time they hear the fight and join in.

As they fight Wolverine flashes back to why he left Canada, and there is definitely more than a hint that the Canadian government was behind his adamantium claws and skeleton. He is the one who manages to track the creature to its lair, but before he can go and get the others he realises that its last victim, and her baby are still alive, with no other choice he attacks.

He is vicious, lost in a rage but it is still not enough, slowly Wendigo over powers him and starts coming close to really hurting the X-Man. Just in time the others arrive and attack, but it is Snowbird who turns the tide of the battle.

Using her ability to take the form and characteristics of any creature of the north, she transforms into a real wolverine and attacks, losing herself in the frenzy. She overwhelms the monster, rendering it close to death, but does not stop. In the end Wolverine has to talk her down, allowing her to change back to human.

In the lull of the battle Shaman uses his mystical abilities to transform the monster back to the man, Georges Baptiste, who is promptly arrested - under Canadian law he is culpable for any crimes committed as the Wendigo.

Wolverine and Nightcrawler leave Alpha Flight on good terms, and it seems aas though peace has been made.

Vindicator returns to Ottawa where he reports to Prime Minister Trudeau, who tells him that money has run out, Department H is being closed down. Alpha Flight is finished.

Elsewhere, in a massive solid prison block, guards show concern that one of the inmates has not moved in days. But suddenly the cell walls begin to crack, crumbling and the inmate climbs out over the rubble. Whatever it was his lawyer told him when she visited has introduced a successful new trick to his powers... but the Blob is free.

 

[Clansman]

Aaah, the Blob. Always good to get a fave from the sixties back.

 

[Perpetual Man]

The Uncanny X-Men 141 – 142 (Claremont & Byrne)

A middle aged woman in a drab green jump suit and a high tech collar makes her way through the ruins of New York. Her name is Kate Pryde, and she is making a detour from her acceptable route.

Suddenly the floor gives way beneath her and she falls into a basement - it's tap set by brutal beings, scavenger going by the name of rogues. Before they can attack they are attacked themselves, by Logan, but he is not the Wolverine of old. He is dressed in jeans and a leather jacket, his hair streaked with grey.

It is the future, but not the future of equality and peace dreamed of by Professor Xavier. Here mutants have been either subjugated or killed, the survivors living in concentration camps controlled by the Sentinels. Only a few like Logan are still free, and he has brought a small device for Kate, something she can use in a last, desperate plan.

She leaves returning to the camp where she lives, her powers deactivated by her collar, the camp is surrounded by a massive graveyard, all the stones bearing the names of the mutants killed by the humans and sentinels. Many of the names are familiar. Scott Summers. Hank McCoy. Kurt Wagner. Charles Xavier. The list goes on, including many non-mutant heroes like the Fantastic Four and Peter Parker.

Kate returns to her fellows, Ororo, her husband Peter Rasputin, an old man in a wheelchair - Magneto, the son of Reed and Sue Richards - Franklin and a short haired redhead known only as Rachael.

They use the device supplied by Logan to finish a device that inhibits the inhibitor collars, allowing the group to use their powers. Peter is not convinced about the plan, that it is too dangerous and might claim the woman he loves, but we learn how damaged Kate is, that she is scarred from losing her friends and seeing her babies brutally killed in front of her. She has to do it, because there is nothing else to live for. It appears that Rachael is a powerful telepath, and she uses her power to take hold of Kate's mind and temporally swap it with her younger self, at least that is the mad desperate plan...

In the modern world Sprite wanders into the Danger World during a serious training session and nearly gets killed. After the X-Men have managed to save her, it is decided that it is time for her first solo session in the Danger Room.

She takes a deep breath. closes her eyes and walks right across the room, oblivious to all the things it throws at her. The X-Men are reduced to tear through laughter, recognising that Professor Xavier spent weeks programming the room to test Kitty and she walks through it with her eyes closed.

Or it seems that way... but as she reaches the far side of the room she gasps and slumps to the floor.

She recovers in the sickroom, where the first person she sees is Kurt, and throws herself around him in a huge hug - which flummoxes Kurt, he could not even look at her without her flinching.

She explains. She is Kitty from the future, Kate. She tells the terrible tale, and that they chose this time to come back to because they believe this is where things began to go wrong, and it was also a time when Kitty was still untrained, her psychic defences would not be strong enough to stop the mind swap.

In only a few hours, she claims that a new Brotherhood of Mutants will attack a conference in Washington, the result will be the death of Senator Robert Kelly, a man that has been working against the mutants since the Hellfire Club incident. Not only this but doctor Moira McTaggert and Professor Charles Xavier will die as well. This will tip paranoia over the edge and the events that will lead to the dystopian future will be set in motion. Basically they have to save a man who hates them.

The X-Men aren't convinced, but Wolverine is. He tells them that although Kitty looks like a kid, she stands, speaks and carries herself like a woman. They take the risk and head for Washington.

In the future the surviving X-Men escape the camp and vanish into the abandoned subway tunnels.

The sentinels however find them and in the first few seconds of the attack Franklin is killed. Rachael responds, revealing that she has telekinetic powers too, tearing the giant robot apart with her mind.

Battle is joined. The X-Men cut loose and ove3rcome the patrol... but they have already lost a member.

Back to the present: We are introduced to the new Brotherhood, their leader Mystique - a shape changer, Destiny and elderly precog, Avalanche can make the ground shake, Pyro a pyrotechnic and the Blob. It is obvious they are not a team used to working with one another but Mystique keeps them in line.

The debate rages on, and Professor Xavier is surprised to see his team arrive. When he reads her mind and realises the danger he begins to give instructions, but before anyone can react the walls are torn apart - The Brotherhood have arrived.

They advance but only take a few feet when a lightning bolt falls from above...

The New X-Men and New Brotherhood of Mutants face one another for the first time.

The cover tells it all: Everybody dies!!!

The X-Men are thrown off balance by the attack of the Brotherhood, thrown onto the backfoot, quite literally as Avalanche pulls the ground from under their feet.

Only Angel and Kate Pryde avoid the conflict, Kate telling him that they need to protect Senator Kelly above all else.

Professor Xavier and Moira are led away from the scene by a police woman, but she suddenly turns on them and knocks them out with gas. She transforms into Mystique. Destiny arrives on the scene and tells Mystique that there is something wrong, something undefined, some kind of anomaly is interfering with her ability to see the future.

In the future the surviving X-Men begin a last desperate attack on the command centre of the Sentinels - the Baxter Building. They overpower the guard robot and gain entry to the building, allowing Storm, Wolverine and Colossus to begin their assault. Rachael stays hidden away, protecting the body of Kate Pryde, in which Kitty sleeps unaware.

The X-Men are hampered being inside as they fight the Brotherhood, and Storm feels that they are losing because she is not the leader Cyclops was, all the same she uses her abilities to blow the main combatants out the wall and the fight really takes off outside, with the army getting involved, not caring about who they fire at.

Colossus is overwhelmed by the Blob, while Wolverine gets fried by Pyro, then as he recovers Nightcrawler offers him a quick escape, only for Nightcrawler to be attacked by Nightcrawler!

Wolverine is ready to wade and kill the false Nightcrawler, figuring that the real one would teleport out the way, but Storm not only tells him not to, but enforces the command, and Wolverine actually listens.

Instead he helps Colossus, using his body as the balance for an I-beam which allows Colossus to lever the Blob into the air, and as he comes down knock him into the middle of next week! Not only that but he lands on Avalanche.

Storm lets loose one of the biggest rain torrents she has ever attempted right above Pyro, putting out his fires.

One of the Nightcrawlers knocks the other down. The fallen one transforms into Mystique, who surprises Nightcrawler with an intimate release of information about his past, as he reacts stunned she escapes, changing shape.

As they recover the X-Men realise that Kate has vanished...

In the future: The X-Men reach the command centre. The door of the elevator opens and Wolverine is thrown Fastball special at the nearest Sentinel, but it turns fat too quickly, incinerating him in mid air, leaving only a smoking skeleton...

Storm fries the robot, then another as more arrive, but a third fires a spike that impales her and she falls into Colossus' arms.

Driven into a grief fuelled rage the mutant attacks...

Outside Rachael stays with Colossus, linked with his mind as he dies, leaving her alone with Kate's body.

Destiny has cornered Kelly. She prepares to shoot him, but her mind and body are torn apart as Kate phases through her, the temporal anomaly she represents more than the precog can stand. She fires the bolt, but it misses. Kate's mind is torn free and Kitty returns wondering what the hell is going on.

With most of the Brotherhood in custody the X-Men make their exit.

But later Kelly meets with Sebastian Shaw, where they are introduced to Peter Henry Gyrch - (a bureaucrat last used in the Avengers. Kelly is furious that mutants tried to kill him, and although he was saved by a mutant, it cuts no mustard.

Shaw suggests a solution: Sentinels.

 

[Mouse]

Dun dun duuuuuuun! I like the Sentinels, they should've been in the films properly.

 

[Perpetual Man]

I could not agree with you more.

Can you imagine a movie with huge great robots fighting super-powered heroes?

 

[Mouse]

Would be brilliant.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Not exactly a Sentinel, but always thought the animation in this was superb and would make an excellent example of what could be done with a big robot and heroes!

Giant Robot

 

[Perpetual Man]

The Days of Future Past

In a run that consisted some of the most stunning storylines, recognised classics right across the comic industry, stories that seemed to grow organically over months of building, it's quite funny that this one seems to come out of nowhere, a simple two parter, as close to standalone as the X-Men come.

In itself it's a classic. Time travel had always been a staple of comics, but never had it been done quite like this, presenting a dark future that was an extension of the direction the story was going. Purely dystopian it pulls no punches. There is no hope in the future. Virtually all superheroes have been killed, not just mutants, and the conclusion - the X-Men's last stand is a glorious as it is futile. Everyone dies, the last huzzah is a failure.

The only glimmer of hope the desperate bid of sending Kate Pryde back into the past. And then, even though she changes events, the advent of the Sentinels stills seems to be in motion.

But it is not just this that really makes the story stand out. It is the starting point for countless paler imitations that spread out over the years, as future writers try to emulate and recapture and build on the story set out here. None of them achieve it. Like so many classics it should have been left to stand alone, a closed off future, a terrible probability that was saved.

Claremont himself could not help but pick at the threads here, at least his was an interesting premise. The character Rachael would reappear, with a lot of questions... but that is a story for another time.

 

[Perpetual Man]

The Uncanny X-Men 143 (Claremont & Byrne)

The last of the Claremont and Byrne issues is little more than a romp, the X-Men's take on Alien, but it is fun, easy to write about and shows us an awful lot of the mansion, probably in a manner we have not seen it before and some of it for the last time.

It is Christmas, and the X-Men are off for the holidays, some shopping, some meeting with significant others, generally having a spirited break. A lot of character action including Kitty stealing a kiss from Peter...

However Kitty has nothing to do and is left home alone...

Way back in X-Men 96 the team fought the demonic N'Garai. They believed them defeated after Storm sealed their cairn with a lightning vault. But one was trapped between worlds, and when to lover walk across the the ruins it gives it something to latch onto and a loan demon escapes. It kills the pair and then heads off - heading in the direction of the mansion.

Kitty takes a phone call from Scott who is surprised that she is all alone, but says he will ring back later. He is about to sign on, working on a fishing boat under the captain Aletys Forrester (Lee).

Kitty tries to pass the time by working out in the Danger Room, but it is then that the alarm goes off indicating an intruder in the attic - Storm's room.

Kitty figures it is nothing and goes to investigate and finds the attic destroyed, all the plants dead, and she wonders what can have happened and turned to come face to face with the N'garai.

What follows is a mad chase through the mansion with it being trashed along the way. Walls, staircases, rooms are torn apart, and Kitty finds that although the claws pass through her when she phases it still really hurts.

The phone lines are torn out, computer ripped apart, until Kitty arrives in the basement and the Danger Room. She manages to activate the most dangerous training sequences before she is tracked and then she is chased through the room, she phases through everything while the demon is hit by everything the room can throw at it - and still it keeps coming!

Half overwhelmed by fear and exhaustion Kitty reaches the hanger that houses the Blackbird jet. and runs through the takeoff sequence as she has been taught, not sure she is doing it right having only done it in simulation.

The N'garai reaches the hanger stands right behind the planes exhausts, and in that split second Kitty hits the ignition. All the thrust blasts out enveloping the demon in a superheated ball of fire.

Kitty leaves the trashed jet and wanders around to the smouldering rear of the room. Behind her a blackened claw reaches out...

The X-Men return home to find the mansion in darkness and Kitty asleep in a chair... as they relax Storm goes upstairs and returns saying that something terrible has happened in her attic. She gently wakes Kitty who tells them what happened...

She fought a monster and won... just. But in the process she has destroyed half the mansion, wrecked the Danger Room, and crashed and ruined the Blackbird.

Kitty wonders whether she is in trouble, but Storm says she thinks they should be proud.

If this was a test, a baptism of fire, it seems that not only did Kitty come through it in flying colours, she passed.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Chris Claremont & John Byrne: What a Run.

just how important, how good was the Claremont burn run on the uncanny X-Men?

Today it seems as though both creative have passed their peak, Claremont seems to have been very respected by Marvel, but no one seems to know what to do with him. And to be fair he has never really achieved the same heights as he did in his heyday on the X-Men.

Then on the other hand has always been a provider of quality material, but he has also been quite outspoken which is possibly lead to him becoming almost a pariah in comic book Creator circles. Of the two he is currently still producing good work, although it is only read by a hard-core following and a few curious newcomers.

So it is easy to forget just how good their run on the X-Men was. When Claremont came on board the X-Men was a struggling third league comic book that had just been brought back from the dead. By the time Byrne left the title it was the bestselling comic book in the world, and had racked up an unprecedented number of awards.

The weakest storyline in the run is quite possibly be Magneto/Savage land story, and yet this is still a magnificent feat of storytelling that stands against anything told today. The stories in their run had everything: science fiction epic, gripping horror, fun, pathos, highflying adventure, fantasy and time travel. The stories have been emulated, copied, countless sequels have been spawned by them, and nothing has ever compare to them.

When people talk of the great comic book creators names such as Alan Moore and Frank Miller always dominate the lists; and perhaps they should but they really shone in stand-alone stories – limited series and graphic novels. But when it came to telling ongoing monthly comic book legends Claremont and Byrne surely rank near the top, giving close to 35 issues of sheer brilliance that saw the genuine character development, brilliant new characters, and the tragic death of an old one.

Even today the Fate of the Phoenix constantly makes the top 10 greatest comic book stories of all time and that alone should be a testament to what the two of them achieved.

Claremont would continue writing the X-Men for another 10 years at least and countless issues, and much of what he learnt that made him such a good writer came from what he learnt from working with John Byrne. Some of what was to come was poor in comparison, but when he sang he really did hit the high notes again.