Douglas.
After two fill-in issues, it's finally time for his funeral. The mood at the end of #61, where the team donned their graduation costumes and seemed almost about to strike out and leave the school has gone, and instead they are worried about Magneto's opinion all of a sudden.
They view the body and meet Doug's family, who have had to be lied to (they think it's a hunting accident). There's going to be a police investigation too, most likely, so they need to get their story straight.
The main plot is Warlock's reaction to his friend's death. It's suitably done, with Warlock showing the complete lack of comprehension that you'd expect. This reaches almost Monkey Paw levels of horror, when Warlock takes Doug's dead body around on a tour of his family and friends, to try and persuade him to absorb lifeglow. The Mutants just about manage to get the body back before anyone notices it's missing. The entire thing is bookended with Magik studying the tapes of Colossus's death and preparing for the next issue of Uncanny.
This is the story we needed immediately after #61. It's a shame about the gap, but that's publishing.
The Uncanny X-Cast affectionately refers to this issue as the one where "Warlock does Weekend at Bernies".
ReplyDeleteAgreed that Warlock's reaction is pretty well-handled, and about the shame in the delay between issues.
It's funny that this posted the morning after the broadcast of Black Mirror's "Be Right Back", which covers similar territory. If I'd realised that and had enough awake I might have rewritten it much longer.
Delete(Black Mirror is good! Watch Black Mirror, if you get the chance.)
Hmm...I hadn't heard of that before, but it sounds intriguing. I might have to check it out if I get a chance.
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