Thoughts

As the front cover proudly boasts – the X-men makes it MONTHLY starting with this issue. From a failing mid-seventies title struggling with reprints – its a real testament to the way this title is turning itself around.

And this is another great issue. Claremont and Byrne are credited jointly as “raconteurs” for this issue, reflecting a partnership that is already delivering. At heart the story they tell in this issue is another battle between the X-men and Magneto but one where the heroes have had time to prepare and Cyclops has a strategy. How it plays out differently provides a great counterpoint to the previous issue.

It’s also a comic that packs a lot into its page count besides a great fight. We have cut aways to Magneto being a dick on Australia, and Xavier hanging out with Lilandra – a man worried about his proteges but clearly not enough to drag himself away from his Greek Island romantic getaway with the Bird Princess.

We get a bit more backstory for Storm, flashing out the details of her “orphan child thief” period, and in Nanny a deliciously nasty antagonist. And despite defeating Magneto, the issue ends with yet another great cliffhanger. Keep it coming you Raconteurs!

Fun Panel

The sequence where Storm tries to escape confinement by shaking off her headpiece and extracting a lock pick is a great little 9 panel piece of visual storytelling. Of which this is a delicate highlight

It was a Product of its Time

Erm… is Cairo people’s by Orcs in the Marvel Universe?