THE DOOMSMITH SCENARIO

Thoughts

And so we get Claremont on board. Albeit still working on a Len Wein plot. The striking thing about this issue is that, like the Giant Size comic it follows, it has Chapter. Albeit only two, that effectively divide the issue in half. The first half sets up the new X-men line-up. The second begins their first mission.

Hot on the heels of pulling together so many X-men, this issue proceeds to ruthlessly cut the numbers down. Sunfire buggers off right away, which I always feel a bit sad about. Yes, its understandable that they’d want to cut down the number of angry, male Hot Heads on the team but Sunfire is such a fun, arrogant prick that I want to see more of him. But within a couple of pages, he’s gone.

Closely followed by most of the classic X-men line-up. I love the fact Cyclops stays, and how that plays out with his old team mates who are off back to their regular lives or, even, to find one. And he can’t. Claremont does interesting things with Scott Summers, I think, albeit his plans are stymied by editorial decree. But more of that later. Much later.

Chapter Two kicks off with the most generic pulp hero mission imaginable. An evil count, who is straight out of Evil Count Central Casting, has a nefarious plan. In case there’s any doubt about that, they call the evil count Count Nefaria. He’s blackmailing the entire planet, under threat of nuking the world. With his monocle, cape, and fancy cigarette he’s the type of villain they don’t really do any more. Reading this you can see why.

Fun Panel

I will always have time for a Danger Room montage

That Don’t Make A Lick of Sense

Count Nefaria intends to blackmail all the nations of the world. If they pay him what he demands he won’t destroy the planet. Of course, if they do pay him, what then? How can he spend any of this stuff?

Fair enough, he’s a moustache-twirling, cape-swishing super villain cliche, so it doesn’t really have to make sense. But come on!