Monday, January 18, 2021

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!)

 

12 comments:

  1. Stepping up as a Canuck, Flatlander Division, I can say their "lack of income" is a convenient face-saving fib for postponing children. They obviously have expenses they won't admit to. I suspect Heather must squander a lot of money on couture clothing from "Fashions by Monsieur Byrne".

    I'm willing to bet cash money Prof. X scanned Wolverine's name, and anything else he could root out of the feral little mind, when he vetted the guy for recruiting. He is, however, one of the "gentleman telepaths" who does not mind read and blab. Why none of the X-Men "never asked" is a gaping hole in logic.

    For some reason, only now am I wondering how Nightcrawler and Wolverine reached Ottawa. An odd concern for characters that crisscross the universe, but the fact that Nightcrawler refuses to hide behind an image inducer keeps complicating easy answers. I guess Angel (likely choice for pilot) took them in a radar-evading stealth flight with the Blackbird.

    They probably missed the Blackbird after fifteen-ish hours driving from Ottawa to the tip of Hudson Bay (technically, "James Bay"). Still, if Alpha Flight can make that marathon drive, the X-Men aren't going to whine! (A pretty sedate response time to mount a rescue mission from a rampaging Wendigo. Did Wolverine drive up in that first Hulk-Wendigo tussle?)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wolverine's adamantium claws can't injure Wendigo, but a small animal can!

    Phillip

    ReplyDelete
  3. 40 years later and I still haven't changed my mind - Kitty's codename of "Sprite" was horrible and the other option "Ariel" was much better!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Murray, I agree the Blackbird, with its V.T.O.L. capability, would have made for a more convenient mode of tranport for Wolverine and Nightcrawler to not only Ottawa but Hudson Bay, though maybe it was considered overkill considering Wolverine's wish to handle this mission by himself (at least at first). After all, he and Nightcrawler were in no hurry--as far as Wolverine knew, James Hudson wasn't on a mission or in any kind of danger; they could have settled their differences in Ottawa over a beer, while Wolverine could have cleared up his status with the Canadian government locally.

    Colin, to each his (or her) own--perhaps a 14-year-old wanted a handle that implied a little more fun to it, if her funky attempts at a costume for herself were anything to go by!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Not to bang on too long with a topic, but I was being facetious on suggesting the Blackbird for a casual trip.

    Right after this story, we run into the "Mutant Registration Act" and all that that entails about popular opinion on mutants. I was trying to picture two of those mutants on a seven-hour road trip that involves crossing an international border. One is a "mutie freak" who refuses to hide his appearance and, at this point in history, never-ever-never wears anything but his original circus acrobat costume. (Wolverine didn't seem to bring any civvies either, based on how they greet Heather)

    With all those impediments, the "casual trip" would be a mutant hysteria version of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Thus, the overkill of the Blackbird almost feels like the only workable option.

    I'm going to suppose we "nice Canadians" don't have as hot an anti-mutant prejudice to hinder the pair driving their "URent" truck to Hudson Bay for another 15 hours.

    "Drivin' a fair piece, eh, fuzzy blue stranger? Anythin' else?"

    "Nein. Just the tank of petrol and, ach du leiber, are those ketchup potato chips?? I'll have to try those! Wolverine, do you want anything?"

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm less interested in why James and Heather Hudson don't seem to have much of a disposable income - hey, its the late 70s/early 80s, so I expect its something to do with recession and high interest rates - and more curious about what those "nice Canadians" got up to back then that they needed a secret service operative like Wolverine doing his "'James Bond' number" in the first place.
    Seriously, Canada?

    That pic of Nightcrawler watching the sunset... those thought balloons just scream Claremont.

    -sean

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm right there with Sean regarding that Nightcrawler sunset panel - one suspects Claremont saw all that space going begging, clicked his fingers like an orchestra conductor, and thought "Right...." It really was the beginning of Claremont Purple Prose Period, which for all I know continues to this day.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Well, sean, we can assume that the activities of Wolverine and other such operatives were one of the factors leading to the formation of the C.S.I.S. almost four years later and based in (you guessed it) Ottawa--an organization created primarily to address allegations of, shall we say, improprieties on the part of its predecessor, the RCMP Security Service. Any country with interests to protect both domestically and abroad will probably have its own version of the C.I.A.--along with, unfortunately, incidences where they've had to face the music in crossing the line, which could be one of the reasons why Wolverine wanted to sever ties (no pun intended).

    ReplyDelete
  9. I get that like every country Canada would have an organisation dealing with national security, but my recollection is that Wolverine used to go on about how he left because he got sick of doing dirty tricks operations.

    Which is the kind of cliche you could accept with, say, an American or British character - both countries do have a history of dubious intelligence operations all over the world - but Canadian?
    What kind of secret dirty tricks did they pull in the 60s and 70s?
    Nobbling the Russian ice hockey team?

    -sean

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dirty tricks by Canadians in the 60s, Sean?

    How about William Shatner and the Corbomite Manouver?

    ReplyDelete
  11. I have much regard for John Byrne's art, but man, Kitty looks like a shrunken woman in front of Storm there, rather than a kid.

    Also, gazelle? I assumed it was a more shakespearian allusion.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_(The_Tempest)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Warren, yes, I agree, that's closer to the mark--and it's much easier to make the leap from "Ariel" to "sprite." :)

    ReplyDelete