Presenting: The X-Men, 2.1

 

The death of Jean Grey, as well as the exit of Cyclops from their ranks, brought about significant change in the lives of the X-Men--changes which were introduced, one after another, in a late-1980 issue where we find the team having picked up the pieces and moved on from their loss, and their grief. In a sense, it's a reintroduction of the "new" X-Men who premiered 5½ years earlier, who by this time have had a number of baptisms of fire as far as honing their teamwork and committing themselves to the new life which Charles Xavier offered them. Now, as we look in on them, it's clear that these people are the X-Men, and readership of their title has become solid and still growing.

And so writer Chris Claremont takes the opportunity to throttle back a bit and let everyone, readers and X-Men alike, take a breath and pivot to looking toward the future. For readers, it was a welcome pause to get one's bearings, after riding the virtual roller coaster of struggles which had the team dealing with (to name a few):

• The forces of the Shi'ar;
  
• A life-or-death battle with Magneto;
  
• The return of Sauron;
  
• The threat of Moses Magnum;
  
• The challenge of Alpha Flight;
  
• The unhinged, deathly "fun" of Arcade;
  
• The attack of the reality-altering Proteus;
  
• The designs of the Hellfire Club; and, finally and most tragically,
  
• The loss of one of their own, the second this new team of X-Men would mourn.

But now, it's forward we look--and it seems fitting we begin inside a certain training room, the very name of which gives fair warning to anyone just starting out on the team of what they can expect their life to entail from this point on.

 

Before the team made use of Shi'ar technology to simulate environments and threats to test their skills against, Charles Xavier was footing the bill for all of the equipment, weaponry, and various traps in the bowels of the Danger Room which the X-Men would demolish in a single training session. (And unless Xavier happened to have a team of Stark International technicians on retainer to be called in afterward to make the room operable again--replacing and reinstalling equipment and doing a hell of a lot of rewiring--then those sessions had to have been few and far between.) Needless to say, where the more powerful "new" X-Men were concerned, Xavier must have found himself wishing for the good old days when he only had to worry about Cyclops' force beam punching a hole in the chamber.

So what changes have we seen so far, in just five pages?

The Angel has rejoined the X-Men. The reason why is never disclosed or even brought up--but what gives? Didn't he seem really happy living with his lady, Candy Southern, in New Mexico? He was present when things came to a head with Phoenix, but only by circumstance; we're left to assume that (a) he simply decided to stick around (sorry, Candy, you can't compete with a life of deadly risk and mutant persecution), or Xavier asked him to stay.

Storm has been made team leader. No surprise there, with Claremont at the helm--and to ease her transition from the more formal, reserved individual that we've seen in past stories, Nightcrawler notes that she has a "new sense of humor," a development which Storm herself notes with puzzlement (a personal aside which seems directed more toward the reader, in order to quickly quash any puzzlement on their part). Storm's new position is also facilitated by Claremont taking the more experienced Angel out of the running by making it clear he's too rusty to assume leadership, as well as too unfamiliar with working with the skill sets of the others. And as for Wolverine, whom Xavier himself believes has exceptional potential as a leader, our clawed Canadian puts the matter to rest for the reader by giving his stamp of approval to Storm, effectively taking himself out of the running.

In addition, Kitty Pryde, the new student at Xavier's school, is now an X-Man--by default, it seems, as were Xavier's original students though unlike the later New Mutants who were restricted from going on missions with the X-Men. It's clear that Kitty is just beginning her training, though there appears to be no doubt by anyone present what role she's headed for.

A few more changes to wrap things up (along with an "oops" in regard to Cyclops shifting from his organic armor). Wolverine receives new costume colors, which have a good run until the early '90s (something we could arguably say for Marvel Comics in general, but that's another discussion), though in keeping with the general theme of these adjustments his costume change is not something we're invited to dwell on. (Frankly it's surprising that Claremont bothered to broach the subject at all.) And with her new code name, Kitty is virtually inducted into the X-Men. I've no idea why Xavier's initial suggestion was to associate her with a gazelle, but whether or not the substitution of "Sprite" is a winner may be debatable.

The pleasantries dispensed with, Wolverine's announcement sets up his trip to Ottawa, Canada, where the wife of James Hudson (fka Weapon Alpha and, currently, Vindicator) receives quite the surprise visitor(s) and we receive one last surprising development courtesy of Monsieur Claremont.

How curious that the X-Men--even Xavier--"never asked" to know Wolverine's name, even after all this time--though perhaps it was Claremont's way of enhancing the character's status as a loner and/or an unknown albeit dangerous quantity. It appears that for whatever reason, Claremont now wishes that to change; no doubt there's certainly abundant room for development with this least-known X-Man. We would learn later of the complicated circumstances involving the character's name of "Logan" in association with his literally given name of James Howlett, though he's obviously comfortable with the former--but with Claremont's penchant for dispensing tidbits of Wolverine's past over time, we shouldn't expect anyone on the team to be inquisitive about his full name anytime soon.

For now, it's rewarding to learn more of Logan's past with James and Heather Hudson*, as Wolverine must now travel north to join Heather's husband as he leads a three-person complement of Alpha Flight to investigate a missing persons case--one where the perpetrator's identity will be revealed as a horror whose grisly handiwork Wolverine has seen before.

*One of you Canadians may be able to enlighten the rest of us as to how an executive secretary for an oil conglomerate and a research physicist for the government, living in a modest apartment in the early '80s, still manage to have no savings to speak of and are forced for now to rule out having children because of the expense. Exactly what kind of bills are these two racking up with their combined salaries?

(I don't know, Wolverine--you can't really claim that you're not making the first move when you're popping your claws in the same breath.)

Nightcrawler's reaction to Snowbird... er, Snowbear defuses the tense situation nicely, leaving Hudson and Wolverine to fall back on what seems to be a solid relationship between the two and focus on the matter at hand. For the benefit of the others, Wolverine explains his previous encounter with the Wendigo (with the Hulk a factor in that struggle), during which the Wendigo escaped. It's a mission that Wolverine welcomes, both in terms of saving the lives of the innocents the Wendigo threatens as well as Wolverine's chance to mend his relationship with Hudson and settle his status with the Canadian government.

 

As far as the one they hunt, however, their quarry is closer than they realize.

Apparently Wolverine's senses aren't as acute as we've been led to believe, if a furry bruiser like the Wendigo can approach and strike undetected. You're never going to make leader of the X-Men padding your skills like that, fella.

NEXT: THE RAGE OF THE WENDIGO!

(No waiting--this thing's hungry!)