X-Men #122: AT&TvX

X-Men #122 finally has the X-Men back at the mansion (which is near Salem Center, finally being named here), for the first time in what seems like ages (since #110 - over a publication year ago). They've been missing in-story for two months or more. You might expect their homecoming to be a matter of drama, that something is lurking there for them, but that cliché is skipped, and instead they are straight in with a session in the Danger Room.

Colleen and Misty are lurking around, and Scott goes on a date with Colleen, still seemingly unaware that Jean is alive and well and living in Muir Isle with his brother. Seriously, guys, TAT-7 has just been laid down. 4,000 channels. Would it kill you to use it? And you, Colleen and Misty, what on Earth are you thinking? You don't even know she's supposed to be dead, and would quickly contradict Scott if you found out. But no, Scott has to get the lines reinstalled at the mansion first (Professor Xavier cancelled the phone when he want into space), and since this was in the bad old days of AT&T that could take a while.

Meanwhile in Space, Lilandra is made Empress, and her and her consort are getting bored; and in Stornoway, Jean Grey literally bumps into a chap named Jason Wyngarde. He's up to no good, as we can tell from his thoughtbubble where he plans to make her fall in love with him and have her be owned by the "Hellfire Club", whatever that is. Logan (we can call him that now) has randomly spotted Mariko in New York. And Storm takes a trip through Harlem and is shocked to find a crack house and fails to deal with confrontation properly, before being rescued by Power Man (Luke Cage) and Misty Knight, in a fairly non-subtle Public Service Announcement (permissible under the revised CCA revision of 1971).

Oh, and we get Colossus's proper name for the first time - Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin. So, "Piotr" is a perfectly reasonable - if not preferred these days - transliteration of Пётр. Nikolaievitch would be "Николаевич", which is a patronymic name, meaning he is the "son of "Nikolai". We don't meet his father properly for ages, by which time the writers have figured out what that name implies and he is properly called Nikolai. Curiously (alongside Распутин and Романовы, which I've already complained about), Николаевич is another famous name, being the patronymic borne by the son of the last Tsar, and the first President.