Comics: Uncanny X-Men #242

UNCANNY X-MEN #242
March 1989
"Burn!"
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Marc Silvestri
Inker: Dan Green
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

Wow, if ever there was a doubt about Marc Silvestri's artistic talent, that opening page shatters all of them. The closeup image of Wolverine kissing Jean Grey passionately has become quite iconic, and it makes for a doozy of an opening page. And then...there's the rest of this issue. This giant-size issue. Way too many pages are spent with the X-Men fighting X-Factor for...really no reason. Sure the X-Men are sorta under demonic control, but that doesn't seem to bother Storm whenever she's reunited with Jean Grey. And then everything is back to normal and both teams join up to defeat N'astirh. It's kinda ludicrous and I really could have done without all of it. Yeah the fanboys want to see the two teams fight, but when there isn't really any motivation besides petty name-calling and there's no resolution besides saying "hey, let's not fight," it's just silly. There are some cool moments during the fight to defeat N'astirh, like Iceman creating a slide to hurl a falling Colossus directly at N'astirh. The art is pretty great throughout, I just with this was a normal-sized issue with a lot less ridiculous in-fighting.

MY SCORE: 8.2/10

Comics: New Mutants #73

NEW MUTANTS #73
March 1989
"The Gift"
Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Bret Blevins
Inker: Al Williamson & Mike Manley
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

This issue pays off Magik pretty well, as her character falls fully prey to her dark side and then goes back to the light in a final sacrifice for the greater good of the world. It's a fine story that's only hindered by being all mystical and seemingly nonsensical (I'm really getting bored with all this stuff). I love these characters, so that gets me through it. The art is highly kinetic, emotive and fun. They really did a good job of saying farewell to Magik. Her storyarc with the Mutants feels complete after this and it's a shame that she had to be resurrected last year. This issue sets up the new status quo of Magik being reverted to her six year old (right?) self, which she will maintain until her death in 1993. That will then be undone in 2008. Oh well.

MY SCORE: 8.1/10

Comics: X-Factor #37

X-FACTOR #37
February 1989
"A Matter Of Honor"
Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Walter Simonson
Inker: Bob Wiacek
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Petra Scotese
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

The length of "Inferno" seems to have taken its toll on Walt Simonson, who starts to turn in some lazier-than-normal pencils with this issue. Proportions are off, faces are weird, it's not that bad but also not as great as he usually is. Plus the entire issue is X-Factor and Madelyne Pryor playing hot potato with baby Christopher. It gets old and definitely didn't need a whole issue devoted to it. Once again, so much mystical mumbo jumbo is tossed around it's all kind hard to follow. The last page has a decent cliffhanger, with Wolverine's hand plopping down on Marvel Girl's shoulder. Who wouldn't want to read Uncanny X-Men #242 with the promise of a reunion?

MY SCORE: 7.9/10

Comics: X-Factor #36

X-FACTOR #36
January 1989
"Transformations!"
Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Walter Simonson
Inker: Bob Wiacek
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Petra Scotese
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

This is a fine issue. Beast and Iceman battle a demonized subway train while Marvel Girl and Cyclops re-enter Manhattan by mini-jet and fight their way through tons of airborne goblins. Beast and Trish Tilby face each other after Beast's re-furry-ization and deal with that (she's okay with it eventually) and the original five X-Men are once again reunited on the last panel when Archangel (or Angel...or Death...can't remember what he's going by at this point) swoops in. Trish Tilby is a well-rounded character with as many strengths and weaknesses as the main cast and there's a real sense of importance in that last panel when the core X-Factor unit is reunited after almost a year's worth of issues spent apart.

MY SCORE: 8/10

Comics: Uncanny X-Men #241

UNCANNY X-MEN #241
February 1989
"Fan The Flames"
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Marc Silvestri
Inker: Dan Green
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

Yeah, I'm about eight issues behind with these reviews. I'm going to try and speed through them and since they're all part of "Inferno," you can apply the following to pretty much every issue:

1. Including all the build-up, this story has gone on way too long.
2. I think Limbo and all the magic stuff is generally annoying and uninteresting.
3. It's cool seeing a lot of big and iconic plot points happening.

Okay, with all that out of the way I can say that this is another above-average issue of Uncanny. Even though the issue is essentially not much more than an extended fight scene between the X-Men and Marauders, the "not much more" involves Mr. Sinister telling Madelyne Pryor her origin. For that alone the issue is exciting, since as someone who came along way after Pryor's death it's interesting to see the beginning of her end. My biggest problem with this issue is the "demon" Colossus fights on page 19. It's...not a demon. It's one of the Right's armored goons from the pages of X-Factor that, well, looks nothing like a demon. It looks like a robotic egg with a smiley face and Colossus says that he's seen "his kind" before in Limbo. No, I don't think he has. Unless I'm missing something, there was some sorta miscommunication between editorial, Claremont and/or Silvestri.

So, a fine issue with a really weird error.

MY SCORE: 8.6/10

I wanna jinx it!

I am now starting to have a lot of fun in comedy. JINX. I'll probably hit slump town again. But I've had a nice streak of enjoyable shows, mostly due to the fact that I am trying to take ownership of my playing style (pretentious sounding, yep). I have been trying to play in a style completely opposite of how I naturally want to play for the past year, in an attempt to strengthen that side of my playing and get more real. But...it's been confusing and not a lot of fun. I think the goal now is to attack improv from the other direction. I am big characters, I am decisions, sometimes non-sequiters...but still, I'm not boring and I'm rarely the guy who figures it all out. I think I need to figure out how to play fearlessly and loudly with a dash of realism and sense, instead of the other way around. It's working so far so...keep it rolling. And my Spank is coming along. It's all written out now and going into second drafts. I'll be in the process of casting it and figuring the rest out soon. Now I need to get to work on a job.

RIGHT?! RIGHT.

I've also been helping out Will Hines with some UCB Comedy shoots, which has been awesome. I like making videos, and it's been a pleasure to help with them. Hope I can continue with this and all my other ambitious video-making friends. Here's one I helped with last week. I held the boom mic!

Comics: Uncanny X-Men #240

UNCANNY X-MEN #240
January 1989
"Strike The Match"
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Marc Silvestri
Inker: Dan Green
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

The X-Men all begin their descent into madness in this issue. It starts with Madelyne Pryor and Havok on a date at the Rainbow Room in NYC, which turns bloody when the demonized building starts eating people just barely off-panel. Gateway teleports the couple back home and Madelyne then goes out, alone, in full Goblin Queen gear to visit and pout at Jean Grey's grave. Jean's parents happen across the grave and Madelyne turns them into demon henchmen out of anger. Back at the X-Men's Australian headquarters, Dazzler gets extremely mad when Rogue flirts with Longshot. And then Longshot gets upset when he realizes Dazzler considers him hers and, after being a slave for Mojo, doesn't like the idea of being possessed. Cut to the Nebraska orphanage that Cyclops and Jean visited a couple issues ago in X-Factor and Madelyne starts uncovering some secrets about her history. The X-Men then track the Marauders to the Morlock Alley and start getting some revenge. The issue ends with the reveal that Mr. Sinister believes Madelyne should call him...father!

Overall this is a good issue. Several plotlines lurch closer towards their climax, and the issue also includes a lot of slam-bang action. At first I was wondering why the X-Men were all of a sudden so blood thirsty for the Marauders. Sure the Marauders kicked the crap out of them before, but the X-Men have never really been about revenge. It's hinted at later that all of this is dark energy influencing the team. I like that Alex is insecure about his new relationship with Madelyne and I like that Colossus still feels remorse for killing Riptide (who is alive again, shockinlgy) back during the "Mutant Massacre." The end reveal is bold and it feels like all the loose threads that have been dangling for the last few years are coming together...even if this isn't what Claremont envisioned.

The art is fun. Silvestri turns in solid action work, even if his faces tend to be fairly flat when he shows them from a low angle...which he does a lot. But anyway, it's still fresh and crisp. Solid inking from the vet Dan Green helps, definitely. I don't really get why Madelyne Pryor's dress changes from panel to panel during her date with Havok. I'm assuming it's to show her dark mastery over matter, or evil sorcerous ways, and maybe to highlight the surrealness and creepiness of the date and her control over Havok's perception...but none of that is mentioned. It's subtle, so I will take it as intentional.

Good issue, and a lot better than the New Mutants and X-Terminators issues of this crossover since it doesn't focus on the demons as much as it does on the characters.

MY SCORE: 8.7/10

Comics: New Mutants #72

NEW MUTANTS #72
February 1989
"Demon Reign"
Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Bret Blevins
Inker: Al Williamson
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

The New Mutants side of X-Terminators #4 is shown here, with us following Magik as she flees through the demonized Manhattan and the rest of the Mutants help dissolve the portal to Limbo above the city. I'm almost always a fan of comics that show other sides of the same story (like the improv form Tracers...and no one reading this review gets that reference...) so I got some enjoyment out of that. But on the whole, I feel that this issue is really just average. The characters are all acting like themselves, the plot is fine, and I get a geek thrill out of seeing the seeds of X-Force planted here with Boom Boom and Rictor going on their first mission with Cannonball and Sunspot. Nerd grin! Also Blevins' art wins me over as always. It's so youthful and kinetic, I really enjoy it. Where'd he go after New Mutants was up?

I don't really like most of the bits with Magik, like her getting a demonic makeover, and I also just generally don't care for magic based stories. So, "Inferno" is going to be rad, I can tell. I just think that magic based stories have no real rules that the reader knows. Like as a reader I can put a terrorist story or a bank robbery or anything that actually happens in real life in context. Magic based stories feel like you're playing a game with someone who keeps making up rules. Of course this defeats that, sure why not. There's no realism to back it up and it all just feels kinda fake. That's what most any battle between Magik and N'Astirh feels like. Also I have to wonder what modern coloring would do to this book. Reading these old comics I'm realizing how spoiled I am. Nowadays N'astirh would probably have texturized skin and scales, with gradients of disturbing brown. In 1989 he's just one big color block of brown. I'd love to see this stuff touched up now.

So another okay issue. Characters I'm biased towards liking and snappy art barely outweigh the fact that I'm getting tired of all this demonic mumbo-jumbo.

MY SCORE: 7.9/10

Comics: X-Terminators #4

X-TERMINATORS #4
January 1989
"Finale!"
Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Jon Bogdanove
Inker: Al Milgrom
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Petra Scotese
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

Preposterous magickal computer aside, this climax is executed pretty well. The book's light-hearted side brings us some slapstick of Artie and Leech trying to, literally, unplug the magickal computer and also has Taki creating a huge gestalt of six flying planes for the X-Terminators to use in their assault on the demons and their mission to rescue to captured infants. It's all a lot of fun and, when put in context with the rest of the series, justified. The stakes are actually so high that I really felt that some characters were in jeopardy even though I knew no one was going to die. Skids' selfless declaration that she was going to save the infants was well-played and had the gravitas of a last act, as did Taki's last minute near self-sacrifice to stop N'astirh. And considering what Taki would go on to do (you know, nothing) he probably should have died in this issue.

This is also the first time that the New Mutants and X-Terminators meet, thus chaning all of their lives forever. With this team-up, the seeds of X-Force have been planted as all the characters invovled (except Warlock, Wolfsbane and, ugh, Gosamyr) would go on to be involved in the book as either members of the MLF or X-Force. It's a big moment, in a good way for us X-Force fans. Fans of the older New Mutants status quo probably felt that the intrusion of those other X-Teens was a jump the shark moment. But really, why are there two teams of teen X-Men running around? Maybe it's because I grew up considering Rusty, Skids, Boom Boom and Rictor all New Mutants, but I had to keep telling myself through this issue that the X-Terminators weren't New Mutants. The cover of this issue just looks like a New Mutants team photo.

I also have to note that Rictor still doesn't have much of a personality, but his new punk look is a step in the right direction. It seems that in most issues of X-Factor he was merely the other guy, with no personality. I don't know whose decision it was to have Ric dress himself in a leather vest and studded gloves, but that bad boy image would soon become his main character trait. I'm excited to watch his character grow into what I know him as, and I am curious as to which writer first started writing him that way.

Good issue, and a nice end to a fun mini-series.

MY SCORE: 8.1/10

Comics: New Mutants #71

NEW MUTANTS #71
January 1989
"Limbo"
Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Bret Blevins
Inker: Al Williamson
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

The fantastical side of the X-Men universe has never really grabbed me, so spending all this time reading about Limbo and demons and spells is getting kinda tedious. Luckily all the great characters make it tolerable and somewhat entertaining. In this issue, the New Mutants try teleporting back to Earth by way of Limbo, but get stuck there due to the spell N'astirh's casting over in X-Terminators.

This issue mostly goes over stuff that was covered in Uncanny X-Men a hundred issues prior, but it's necessary since apparently Magik's teammates didn't even know her origin. These parts are well done, with Magik going just crazy enough and the rest of her teammates acting justifiably horrified.

And while I don't really care for all the demon stuff, it is still terrifying to see the transformed objects of Manhattan wreak havoc on tourists. The binoculars stealing a man's eyeballs for its own personal use and the elevator filled with blood and bones are illustrated with a manic glee by Blevins. Good work.

The stakes are set up well by Simonson, who ends the issue with a gateway to Limbo being left open over Times Square, raining demons all on it. This is essentially Magik's last story and it feels like it. There's a sense of dread and urgency, and the character feels like she's coming to a climax. It's well done. So, of course, she was resurrected earlier this year. Thanks, Marvel. Whooooah brother.

MY SCORE: 8/10