Uncanny X-Men #149: Where in the world is Max Eisenhardt?

Uncanny X-Men #149 has the X-Men sent back to Magneto's Antarctic volcano base (last seen in #124) to scout for signs of him. Why exactly Professor X is doing this now is unclear, but may be related to his inability to telepathically contact Scott in #145. In a thought bubble on page 2 we get Xavier clearly thinking: "Magneto! Origin unknown. Although his features are Caucasian, probably Nordic -- antecedents, unknown", which is not entirely consistent with what we are soon about to be told, but not completely irreconcilable, either.

So far (if we avoid later implants) Kitty has avoided being sent on any official missions, by virtue of (a) there not being an official mission, (b) merely being in the mansion when the demons attacked, (c) not being on the boat with Scott and Lee, (d) being ill, and (e) merely being at the club when Caliban attacked. This time she sneaks onto the Blackbird, in her new costume, which I show here for reasons of sharing the pain around.

It's like she's trolling us. Wolverine has spotted she's attracted to Peter. Nightcrawler calls her Kätzchen for I think the first time, and we find out what's a "whiz at computers". Having been introduced as just your regular suburban young girl with superpowers, she's already being embellished.

There, they encounter Garokk, who underwhelmed me so much in his last appearance that I completely failed to mention him at all. He provides a brief scuffle while they verify that someone has cleaned the place out. What's Magneto up to?

Well, we know already. He's on a strange recently risen island in the Bermuda Triangle, with Scott and Lee (who have got themselves added to The Chart). Well, that explains what caused it to rise, at least. He outfits them in costumes that have probably been left by cultists, and guesses that Scott's Cyclops! Oh noes!