Monday, January 9, 2023

Wrath of the Proletarian!

 

OR: "Whole Lotta SFLANNGin' Goin' On"

Previously, we'd been taking a look at a mid-1979 issue of Uncanny X-Men which catches up with the team following their return to the states from Canada and finding their Westchester base virtually mothballed, with no sign of Professor X. Yet we also learned that Peter Rasputin, the steel-formed Colossus, was experiencing doubts about his capabilities as an X-Man--even as an assassin by the name of Arcade is hired by "Black Tom" Cassidy and the Juggernaut to destroy the mutant team.

Arcade is also known by readers of Marvel Team-Up from a prior story in early '78 where the Maggia had contracted him to kill Brian Braddock (the civilian identity of Captain Britain)--and it's that story we briefly return to first, as Spider-Man joins forces with the Captain only to fall prey to a method of capture which is as clever in its simplicity (and originality) as it is perplexing in its ability to succeed against super-powered individuals who appear helpless to either evade or stop it.


Thankfully, both Spider-Man and Captain Britain prevailed in their struggle against Arcade--but when Arcade begins to corral the X-Men for their own visit to "Murderworld," artist John Byrne, perhaps with the old adage of if it ain't broke, don't fix it in mind, recycles Arcade's previous method of capture which turns out to work just as reliably with super-powered X-Men.




(You can bet Cyclops didn't waste time adding this rig to the team's Danger Room.)


Being a careful man when it comes to a job, Arcade naturally doesn't put all of his eggs in the same basket when it comes to capturing his new targets--and so he personally surprises and snags the rest of the X-Men from their mansion, and off they go to his Murderworld complex, where his planned treatment of Colossus is soon underway.


For the sake of the story, a brainwashing treatment that would have normally taken a minimum of days to succeed is expedited--and faster than you can say "Dmri, tovarishch!", the Proletarian is unleashed on his fellow X-Men, who have become separated in the deadly chambers of Murderworld.


As for the instigator of this madness, he couldn't be happier at the X-Men's predicament. After all, for Arcade, fun is the name of the game when it comes to murder.


(I wouldn't go so far as to say the Proletarian is "power-mad," Mr. Cover Captioner.)


In the prior issue, Wolverine was surprisingly effective in the method and words he used to help restore Peter's confidence in himself--but here, he unfortunately sees only black and white in regard to his former friend, someone who has dropped any pretense of being an ally and embraced a new role for himself as a Russian agent bent on their destruction. Unfortunately for Wolverine, his artist believes that, as fast and agile as we know him to be, a trodding, steel-bodied foe is faster.


Meanwhile, Storm has escaped her own trap, while Cyclops has come to the rescue of Nightcrawler and Banshee--only to fall prey to the power-mad rampaging Proletarian, who finds his foes in a weakened state and proceeds to fulfill his mission of termination.


Elsewhere, Nightcrawler has been successful in his own mission to sabotage Murderworld and effectively bring an end to Arcade's threat, though the man himself manages to escape. As for Peter, his indoctrination as the Proletarian faded as swiftly as the need for it--but in a later story, artists John Romita Jr. and Dan Green appear to take their inspiration from the character when outfitting Colossus in a new costume designed with a Proletarian slant.


(Quite a coincidental story title, all things considered.)


16 comments:

  1. Who needs a fancy costume when you've got dungarees and a cap.

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  2. Spider-Man and the X-Men (Wolverine, a cyclops, Storm and Gambit) also take on Arcade (plus Sentinels, Moloids, chess pieces, Apocalypse, Juggernaut, Shocker, Spider Slayers, Rhino, Carnage, D'Spayre) in Arcade's Revenge on the Sega Megadrive. The game was notoriously difficult but there's a walkthrough at https://youtu.be/D2z2PNymDmY

    The panel of the lorry capturing people appears in some footage at the start of the game and it got me wondering how much the game has in common with the comics. So I have some questions about the comics:

    - does Spider-Man have to have fights on a building site?

    - does Wolverine have to take on giant sized kids' toys?

    - does Storm have to swim to escape a maze filling with water?

    - does Cyclops end up in a mine, travelling around in a trailer on rails?

    I'm assuming the comic was too early for Gambit.

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  3. Spidey did have a fight with Captain Britain on a building site in MTU #65 dangermash, but that was just before they were captured by Arcade.
    Wow - I am amazed I know something about Spidey you don't. Well, not any more probably, but still...

    Storm was threatened by a room - not a maze I don't think? - filling up with water. Other than that, its been quite a while since I've read those X-Men comics, and nothing else rings a bell in your questions.
    I do recall dodgems with buzz saws though, if that helps.

    Heres my question: who's the more laughable stereotype, The Proletarian or Captain Britain?

    -sean

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  4. sean has got you covered, dangermash. ;)

    Colin, don't forget about the hammer and sickle, bub! (And is that Stalin's pic in the middle?) Let's hope Vanguard isn't too peeved about the Proletarian stealing his limelight.

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  5. Now you mention it Sean I do remember one of the MTU covers with Spider-Man and Captain Brexit fighting in some scaffolding.
    That location may well have influenced the Sega game, as did Storm in the room filling with water (it's a platformy maze in the game). And in the Sega game, Wolverine's having to dodge buzzsaws, so maybe that fits in too.

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  6. Are you some sort of bourgeois revisionist, Comrade Comicsfan? Clearly thats a picture of Lenin on the Proletarian's dungarees, not Stalin.

    -sean

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  7. This whole post reeks of counter-revolutionary sympathies, Sean. It's bad enough that Claremont was a hack, but worse, he appears to be a running dog capitalist lackey.

    Comrade M.P.

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  8. Storm's appeal to Colossus that suddenly (and quite lamely IMO) shocks Colossus back to his senses reminds me of an earlier issue (I believe it was when the X-Men were rocketing to space to rescue pre-Phoenix Jean Grey) when Colossus displayed an emotional feeling/connection with Storm when she was in danger. I think Claremont originally meant for their to be some kind of romantic interest between these characters, but it became lost as other plots and sub-plots assumed center stage.

    Anyway, poor dumb Peter! He really ate up that Commie propaganda while working on that collective farm, didn't he? Peter was never one to be politically mindful, but like most people he defaults to what the authority figures expect of him. I really wouldn't want Peter to become some sort of motivated dissident, but I would have liked to seen some kind of acknowledgment that life in America revealed to him that a lot of what he had been taught growing up about the "capitalist West" was a bunch of bullshit. But I'm a proud running dog capitalist lackey.

    Chris

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  9. I assumed Dangermash was hinting at MTU # 65's building site scrap, as CB/Spidey is today's jumping off point (DM, you could have bluffed it out!) Nobody could forget MTU # 65's fantastic Perez cover(& Byrne's great interior, too!) The reference to giant toys brought to mind Brynocki, from Master of Kung Fu.

    To me, Arcade must have been inspired by Elton John - & Pinball Wizard, in particular!

    Now to sartorial matters. Why is the Proletarian wearing an L.S.Lowry-style flat cap? Does he also own a whippet for hare-coursing, perhaps? Surely, Peter should be wearing a black Russian hat like Liz Truss wore, on her Moscow visit, when she was the 'Mr.Ben' of Margaret Thatcher impersonators? Furthermore, if the Rasputin (why did Marvel name him after the Mad Monk - were they Boney M fans, at the bullpen?) collective farm was so amazing, why did Peter's little sister also leave it, and turn up in the X-Men? As regards Peter & Storm, to start with their ages were unclear. Later, Peter's youth was emphasized (17 or 18, maybe?), whilst Storm was perhaps 28. Anyway, older bad boy Dr.Doom gave Peter a good kicking, and won the girl, as did Dracula (okay, the winning the girl part's not strictly true!)

    CF - Not only did Vanguard have his hammer & sickle appropriated for the Proletarian's dungarees, he had his name stolen, too (didn't Canadian Vindicator change his/her name to Vanguard?)

    Phillip

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  10. Hi Phillip. My questions about Spider-Man on the building site, Storm in a room being filled with water, etc are all based on what I saw in the game on the megadrive and wondering whether the same happened in the comics. I've never read those X-Men comics and the first appearance of Arcade is only a vague memory from Super Spider-Man And Captain Britain, a U.K. comic. My Spider-Man expertise is mainly around ASM 1-500, which I bought on DVD a few years ago.

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  11. Chris, with the fast-tracked brainwashing session that we're provided with here, it's probably next to impossible to nail down any political views Peter might have adopted (or rejected) while living on his collective. We know how much he loved his homeland from his reminiscences of it with Ororo, while it's clear here that he holds a deference toward officials in the Kremlin or the KGB--yet now we get a sense that he's vulnerable to questions concerning his loyalty to the state, which he reacts to with a mixture of shock and outrage. Given his parting words to his family, it's obvious how conflicted Peter was about leaving for America, including a concern as to whether his power belonged to the state rather than to the world, as Xavier stressed. In the end, his conscience decided the issue--and in shirking off the Proletarian, a figure born of accusations of treason and betrayal, Claremont apparently felt more personal reasons were called for which didn't distill the conflict down to politics.

    Phillip, I wasn't an Alpha Flight reader, but I believe Vindicator briefly assumed the name "Guardian" that her husband had used. As for Illyana--gosh, if memory serves, wasn't she just visiting her brother for a time until she was pulled into and rescued from Belasco's realm as a teenager? I suspect the collective farm life held little interest for her at that point.

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  12. CF - As regards Guardian/Vanguard, I've just checked and you're absolutely correct. My memory seems to be conflating things - and not for the first time! I might now start having doubts about Illyana, too ; )

    Phillip

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  13. Its not a flat cap Phillip - its a Jeremy Corbyn hat!

    -sean

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  14. Didn't Jeremy Corbyn wear a Lenin cap?

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  15. Colin - I think you're right. It's more pie-like; so it's not an ordinary flat cap, as Sean pointed out!

    Phillip

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  16. You're right Colin, Lenin did wear one of those hats first.
    Its easy to get him mixed up with Corbyn though, given that he too lived in north London - I believe the Bolshevik/Menshevik split took place in the Three Johns pub near the Angel - and supported Arsenal.

    -sean

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