The Uncanny X-Men #187 – Flash Back Review

By: Chris Claremont (writer), John Romita, Jr. & Dan Green (art), Glynis Wein (colors) & Tom Orzechowski (letters)

The Story: Storm has lost her powers due to a weapon designed by Forge (a man she thought she might have loved).  Forge based the gun’s design on the neutralizer of none other than ROM – Spaceknight, making him a target for the dreaded Dire Wraiths.

What’s Good: If there were a carbon-dating system for comic book fans, it would be: Did you read ROM – Spaceknight?  I LOVED ROM as a kid in the early/mid-1980’s but after his ongoing series ended, the character has been so completely tied up in an intellectual property Gordian knot that there has never been, nor will there ever be (probably) a collected edition of ROM.

So, it was with some fun that I stumbled up an appearance of ROM in this issue of Uncanny X-Men from November 1984.  Granted ROM only appears as a hologram created by Forge to distract the Wraiths, but it was cool to see the silver guy and remind myself that putting together a collection of ROM is definitely on the “to-do” list.

From a story standpoint, as it features a all-out battle between a depowered Storm, Forge and his father-figure, Naze, and a mess of Wraiths and their minions.  It is great as Storm is at her street-fighting best, using the skills that Wolverine taught her that she never thought she’d have to use (including shooting a gun…. gasp!).  Forge at this point in time was Tony Stark without the armor, but he sure had a sophisticated defense system in his penthouse.  And Naze is doing his best Wolverine impression as the tough old guy who strikes from the shadows (but with a shotgun instead of claws).  By the time Rogue and Colossus show up at the end, this issue had already been a lot of fun.

I know that some people aren’t wild about the way Romita, Jr. draws now, but if you need an example of why the dude has been around for 30+ years in comics, this is a pretty good issue to look at.  I remember his Dire Wraiths giving me the creeps as a kid and they’re still pretty impressive today.  We also get a masterful inking job by Dan Green who had to do a LOT of detailed inking on several scenes of Storm fighting Wraiths in the snow and rain (guess the temperature outside changed during the issue or something).

Uncanny X-Men #159 – Flash back review

By: Chris Claremont (writer), Bill Sienkiewicz (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Glynis Wein (colors) & Tom Orzechowski (letters)

The Story: Dracula wants Storm for his bride…

Flash Back Review: As any comic fan knows, the X-Men are currently having a bit of a problem with vampires.  I’ve seen a lot of moaning on message boards about how tacky this is of Marvel and how it’s obviously an attempt to jump onto some of the current popularity of vampires (see: True Blood and Twilight).  That may be true, but this is hardly the first time the X-Men have had to deal with vampires.

I’d ask you to take a trip down memory lane to Uncanny X-Men #159 which was published in July of 1982.  Comics were still 60 cents, the #1 song in the United States was “Don’t you want me” by the Human League (which is now stuck in my head) and Chris Claremont still had his 98 mph fastball (instead of the old junkballer he has become).  In terms of the X-Men, this was early enough for them that Rogue was still a bad guy and they had never encountered the Brood.  In short, it was a long time ago.

This issue tells a self-contained story of the X-Men venturing into the city so that Kitty could hang out with her parents for the weekend and the plan was that the X-Men would crash at Misty Knight’s pad for the weekend.  Of course, being the X-Men they travel in full costume and blast into Misty’s place in style: Nightcrawler “bamfs” in, Kitty phases through the wall and Wolverine has his claws popped.  After Misty’s startled roommate changes her pants (just kidding….there is no spoiling of pants in this issue), Kitty and Storm change into street clothes and head off into the night.

Of course, the night doesn’t end well for Storm as it appears that she is mugged and has her throat slit after leaving Kitty with her parents.  Claremont lets this mystery swirl as we get page after page of Storm becoming a creature of the night: light sensitive, aversion to religious symbols, wearing a scarf from an “admirer” with a big “D” monogram… Hmm…What sort of mugger could it be?

Not only was it a vampire, it was Dracula himself!  Once the true evil is revealed, what follows is a pretty standard effort by the X-Men to save Storm from this psychological hold that Dracula holds over her.  However, Dracula is not defeated by the might of the X-Men, instead he bows out after being so impressed by the sheer nobility of Storm that he cannot force her to become his bride against her will.  The end!

This is far from the best story of this era.  A few issues earlier, and we have the classic Days of Future Past storyline.  A few issues later and we get the Brood saga that holds a place in my heart because that was when I started buying Uncanny at the gas station.  Then again, the Days of Future Past single issues are going to set you back $40+ each whereas you can buy Uncanny #159 for about five dollars.