Uncanny X-Men #223: More Character Moments

Uncanny X-Men #223 is another issue without a strong central focus. There is the ongoing adventures of Storm and Naze, who are looking for Forge. This gets quite a few more pages than usual, but nothing conclusive happens. Freedom Force get three new members, in the persons of the Super Sabre, Stonewall and Crimson Commando: the trio of older heroes that Storm and Wolverine had fought in #214. Most of the issue is taken up with a series of character moments for the X-Men, who have made a temporary base on an island in San Francisco (Alcatraz, specifically).

The chief of these is Maddy and Alex. They have both been let down by loved ones: Alex's girlfriend has been mindcontrolled into being evil (again); and Maddy's husband deserted her, her entire life was erased, and her son has been abducted. Alex finds Maddy very upset, and talks her down from a clifftop, by sharing his own tale of woe, and urging her to think of little Baby X. They find some solace. This is what, the third issue of X-Men or associated books dealing with suicide in about a year?

Uncanny X-Men #219: Havok and Polaris

Uncanny X-Men #219 (and #218) feature the return of Havok and Polaris after... Quite a while. How long has it been, exactly? Let's have a look at Havok's character chronology:

UX 177 [January 1984]
UX 232-FB [August 1988]
UX 218 [June 1987]
UX 219-FB [July 1987]

Three years between appearances! He and Polaris have been living the quiet life in New Mexico. We can assume Alex knows he's a nuncle, but apart from that they've not been in contact at all. Alex is not impressed with what's been happening in his absence: Magneto joining, the alliance with the Hellfire Club, the plan to "kill" the X-Men. But then, who would be. Once they explain Recent Events, he feels obliged to offer to sign up on the team again.

Meanwhile, Lorna has been left in New Mexico and is promptly attacked by the Marauders. She does well, but is massively outnumbered. They weren't seeking to kill her, though: she is possessed instead, by Malice. There's still a lot of Marauders payoff to come: this issue strongly teases the name of Mr. Sinister (mentioned in passing during the Massacre); and it appears they are responsible for the attack on Maddy Pryor, the disappearance of little Baby X; and the kidnapping/bombing of Sara Grey and Leong and Nga.

This issue is fairly weak, and suffers from just moving around people in preparation for something bigger. The main team are still mostly injured, and the lack of progress on this plot line is frustrating - instead they are introducing the new guys. We know X-Books don't tend to have more than about 8 characters at a time, so either some of these n00bs are not staying long, or some of those injuries are going to be permanent.

X-Men #138: Previously, on X-Men

X-Men #138 is basically a "Saga of the X-Men" issue, as we see Jean's funeral, and Scott remembers a whole bunch of stuff that happened in the past, concentrating particularly on him and Jean. I didn't do a full check to see whether he could have known everything recounted. He calls Magneto's asteroid "Asteroid M", which I can't see how he'd have known, but doesn't know (or believe) that the Magneto in #49-#52 was a robot. (Mind, I'm not sure how Magneto knew that the Magneto in #49-#52 was a robot, so whatever.)

Two significant additions are made: the start of Scott and Jean's relationship is dated to about #31/#32 (which doesn't entirely line up with the actual comics, but is close enough for government work), and we get some backstory about his youth. Alex had been adopted while Scott was in a coma, and Scott tracked him down later, with Xavier's help. Does this mean that Alex "Summers" was not in fact the name was brought up with, I wonder? We've had a bunch of hints as to Scott's and Alex's orphaning, and now it looks like Claremont has figured it all out but is taking his time revealing it.

After the funeral, Scott decides he's quitting the X-Men, which Xavier understands. Meanwhile, at the mansion arrives a Kitty Pryde, ready to join the X-Men.

X-Men #97: I'm Erik the Red, and so is my wife

X-Men #97 is a funny one.

Xavier's been having these dreams about fighting spaceships, it seems, and he's a bit worried if he tells his team they'll laugh at him. (This is a man who, you will remember, has already foiled at least two alien invasions: Lucifer's people, whoever they were, and the Z'Nox). He's able to tell Moira though, and you get a sense they have a real closeness as friends. He decides he needs a holiday.

At JFK Airport (or rather, Kennedy Airport, as they keep calling it) - the X-Men - that is Scott, Ororo, Kurt, Peter and Jean - are seeing the Professor off. Wolverine, Sean and Moira are back at the mansion - Wolverine doing the whole loner thing, and Sean and Moira possibly having the "coffee" that Sean had suggested in #96. There's no mention of the others, but at this point Hank was with the Avengers and Bobby and Warren have co-founded the Champions.

Alex and Lorna also turn up, at the last moment, having been mind-controlled by someone calling himself Erik the Red. (Apparently they've become a couple some time since we've last seen them, which is a bit of a surprise because I'd assumed they hooked up in the hiatus.) This new power - who has adopted Scott's cover identity from #49-#52, possibly just to mess with him - although god knows how he knew - is clearly intent on destroying Professor Xavier's plane, but they manage to stop him in time, without, unfortunately, breaking Alex and Lorna's conditioning. During this incident, Lorna gets a power-up - the ability to fly, and is bestowed with the name "Polaris" - meaning they are two for two in codenames not actually picked by themselves. Mind, Xavier picks most of the other ones, so it's not exactly as if mutant name selection is some kind of rite of passage.

Actually, the most surprising thing in this issue for me was nothing to do with the X-Men at all - it's that it has a Boeing 747 in there. It's been 36 years since the issue was published, and the 747 is still the default large airliner in fiction, and will be for a couple of decades more. That's longevity for you.

Incredible Hulk #150

Incredible Hulk #150 (from April 1972) is the latest in that long-running storyline where the Hulk is on the run from General Ross, whose capture-and-release program is being investigated by Congress. While fleeing, he notices Lorna, and believes her to be the green-haired Jarella, who he has been obsessed by.

Lorna's there to look for Alex, who we learn has fled the X-Men immediately after issue #66, scared at himself for nearly killing Bobby. He's chilled out since, joined the counter-culture and started reading the Whole Earth Catalog (worth a read if you've not heard of it: it's odd now to think that people would accuse NASA of hoarding pretty pictures rather than milking them for all they were worth). And so we discover that although X-Men: The Hidden Years is pretty consistent with the X-Men comics, it simply doesn't fit with the other stuff from the interregnum. The Marvel Chronology Project puts this issue after the entire run of Hidden Years, which seems to be pushing it, frankly. Alex agrees to come back with Lorna, eventually.

This is a much better attempt at doing a "look! the hulk and the X-men share much of the same tragedy!" thing than #66 or even #40. But still, it's mostly full of smash.

X-Men #57-#59: Larry Trask and the Sentinels

I started covering X-Men #57 last post, but it segues away from the Living Pharaoh and into a Sentinels storyline mid-issue, and they warrant being different posts.

The United States federal government has set up an anti-mutant agency called the "Federal Council of Mutant Activities", led by Judge Chalmers, with special assistant Larry Trask. Larry's father, Bolivar Trask, built giant robots called Sentinels to destroy all mutants. Larry has now vowed to carry on the mission, and has built improved Sentinels (this time with adaptive anti-power technology). These are then unleashed, and capture as many mutants as they can. They already have taken Alex and Lorna, but quickly add Bobby, then gradually the Living Monolith, Warren (who has managed to fly over the Atlantic to arrive at the same time as Scott, Jean and Hank on an airliner), Mesmero, Magneto (who turns out to have been a robot in #49-#52, unbeknownst to Mesmero), Banshee, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Toad, Unus, Mastermind, and Blob...

It seems hard to see Trask's activities as a rogue completely unauthorised by the US government, but certainly he goes beyond the bounds that Chalmers is comfortable with, and when the Judge tells him to shut the operation down he defies him and openly accuses him of being a mutant-lover and possibly a mutant himself. But this is rather misplaced, as it turns out that Larry himself is the secret mutant, whose precognitive powers have been suppressed by a medallion he was given by his father when he was very little.

The concept here implied - of a parent of a mutant trying to destroy all other mutants but seeking to protect their child - will be re-used in Claremont's 1982 graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills, and would make its way into the second X-Men movie.

Taking the medallion off immediately allows the Sentinels to detect Larry as a mutant. They then carry on their standing order and detain him in preparation for an execution. They have nobody to take orders from any more, and reject Chalmer's authority.

The three free X-Men get inside the base, and find Pietro, Wanda and Toad being brought in for processing. They swap costumes, which confuses the Sentinels anti-powers technology enough for them to get a jump on them. Really, this ought to be the moment where the new kids, Lorna and especially Alex, get a chance to shine and blow stuff up. That opportunity is missed, and instead the Sentinels are defeated in a Kirk-like display of tricking the computer with logic. The Sentinels are persuaded by Scott that the real problem is the source of mutation: solar radiation, and they are best deployed trying to defeat the sun. Huh.

We're left with Alex pretty injured, and a cliffhanger for the next issue, where it appears they are about to take him to a Doctor Lykos, who is holding someone captive...

X-Men #54-#57: the Second Summers Brother

X-Men #54 openly hangs a lampshade on the idea that Scott has been secretly keeping his kid brother Alexander 'Alex' Summers from us and from the X-Men. He's just graduated (from college), and is a latent mutant too, and we get our first indication that this gives him some general physiological enhancements beyond his special powers.

He is attacked by minions of the the phoney Pharaoh (really an archaeology Professor named Abdol) at his graduation. The logic behind this is initially quite simple: Pharaoh has realised he is a mutant, and is eliminating a rival. When the X-Men step in to rescue Alex, he decides they should die as well. In the aftermath of the fight, Cyclops (in costume) casually reveals himself to Alex as being his brother. The dialogue here is worth quoting in its entirety:

SCOTT
  (in disguise as Cyclops)
We'll get them, chum.  But first - I'm going
to burn those chains off my brother's wrists.

 ALEX
B-b-brother?  Did you say - brother?

I mean like - wow!

 HANK
We gain the pristine impression that you two
should be left alone to discuss a few things.
See you back at headquarters, Cyke.

 SCOTT
I guess you're right, Beast.  We won't be
long.
  (to Alex)

It's funny, Alex - here I've been waiting all
these years to be able to level with you and
and now - I don't know where to begin.

 ALEX
I've got a dandy notion.  Why don't you try
beginning at the beginning?

 SCOTT
Okay - but it's the craziest darn thing!
Suddenly I'm shy about this and -

 ALEX
What's the matter?  You afraid I'm going
to be ashamed of being the kid brother 
of the leader of the X-Men?

Cyclops or Scott - you're still the greatest.

This is a fairly positive reaction to a close family member coming out, something we've missed so far in the various origins. In #55, further fighting has the result that Alex demonstrates his power - of general blasting. They manage to get the bad guy sorted out (by now with a power upgrade and calling himself the Living Monolith), but poor Alex is now terrified of what he has become, and has run away. Which is the worst possible moment to be attacked by a Sentinel...

The X-Men return to New York to find Lorna missing (we know that she's encountered a Sentinel too), and a new Federal Council on Mutant Activities founded by Judge Chalmers, assisted by Larry Trask, the son of Bolivar Trask the creator of the Sentinels...