Nightcrawler #1 – Flashback Review

By: Dave Cockrum (writer/artist), Paty (colors) & Jim Novak (letters)

The Story: Everyone’s favorite blue-furball mutant gets transported through the Well at the Center of Time to a parallel dimension full of swashbuckling pirates in airships!

What’s Good: I never see this 1985 four-issue miniseries from Marvel get any respect, but it is really a pretty hot little number if you don’t want to take your comics too seriously.

Written, penciled and inks by the late/great Dave Cockrum (who was a co-creator of Nightcrawler), this miniseries finds Nightcrawler (and Lockheed the dragon) entangled in a Danger Room mishap that zaps him into a parallel dimension that is somewhat reminiscent of the fantasy world that Kitty Pryde told of as a fairy tale in Uncanny X-Men #153.  This is a world full of swashbuckling pirates and maidens-in-distress.  Perfect for the noble, but impish, Nightcrawler as he finds himself enjoying being cast among a group of pirates (and teaching them to play poker) before being captured by the shark-like Shagreen the Sorcerer who becomes the villain for the miniseries (why has he never been used again???).

Throughout the story, all the characters who see Nightcrawler refer to him as “Boggie” and Lockheed as “his frumious bandersnitch”.  Just what are Boggies and bandersnitches?  Well, you have to read the rest of the series to find out.

In some ways, this miniseries is also a team-up/buddy-caper for Nightcrawler and Lockheed.  Remember, Lockheed was still a somewhat new character and at this point and was still being written as spunky and overly-self-important tiny dragon who was always breathing fire all over things twice his size.  It’s just a different team up than seeing Nightcrawler with Wolverine and it is/was fun partially because Lockheed is only partially committed to the team-up.