Comics: Uncanny X-Men #239

UNCANNY X-MEN #239
December 1988
"Vanities"
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Marc Silvestri
Inker: Dan Green
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

And so it begins. After reading months of buildup in various titles, "Inferno" starts up here. This is a relatively quiet issue, with a decent amount of time spent on all the main team members and setting up the inner struggles that are plaguing them during this stretch of issues. The pacing works at building up tension since the issue starts with a very dark scene between Mr. Sinister and Malice. Just knowing that Sinister is out there scheming affects all the scenes with the X-Men that follow. The readers know a horrible challenge is coming and seeing all of our heroes in such emotional turmoil doesn't lead us to believe this is going to be a pleasant action romp. This is going to be tough.

The first couple pages of the issue follow a family visiting the Empire State Building in the slowly demonized New York City. An elevator eats the entire family, and a clueless janitor accidentally mops up all their blood. Wow, 1988, epic bloody win right there. Shock of shocks.

Havok is a very complex character and I like that Claremont has dusted off his old paranoia about his power using instances that recently occurred, like him trying to kill his possessed ex-girlfriend and a couple Brood aliens. I'm glad that his reckless actions are taking a toll on him.

Other than that, Storm gets freaked out because she finds out that Wolverine has been keeping the news of Jean Grey's resurrection secret and a sparring match between Psylocke and Rogue and Colossus gets a little too serious. Yep, our team isn't in the best of shape, putting them square into the underdog category. The issue ends with Madelyne's downright creepy seduction of Havok, which is expertly laid out by artist Marc Silvestri who manages to capture a dark atmosphere in the middle of a bright and scorching Australian summer. We then find out that Madelyne has gone nutso and is working with the demon N'astirh to kidnap a buncha babies.

Claremont's strong characterizations are again running amok all over this issue, and his wordiness is only a small problem (like during Havok's dream sequence, the art explained it all perfectly and was only hurt by all those flowery words). Silvestri's art is solid and despite my dislike of aspects of his sketchy style, it tells the story beautifully. Although seeing art like this in 1988 and knowing it's leading to the insane art of the early '90s...it's hard to appreciate something knowing it's going to inspire tons of crap imitators. It's like trying to listen to Nirvana and not hearing a bit of Puddle of Mudd in there.

MY SCORE: 8.6/10