Thoughts

The now-monthly title continues with another great issue. There’s a fabulous ongoing storyline that is now up and running – one that involves the new X-men trying to find their way home thought numerous adventures, while back at that home their friends assume they are dead, mourn and get on with their lives.

These plot strands are still gripping read in omnibus format, but what it must have been like back in 1978 when the comic would appear monthly, and there wasn’t even the internet to spoil upcoming developments. Hoping with each issue that the X-men would get home, but gripped by each new obstacle.

But even within the adventuring, Claremont find time for little character moments. Wolverine mourning Phoenix develops this side of his character further, while Cyclops realises who Corsair must have been. Its not an entirely credible moment, given that the realisation seems to come from Cyclops seeing his own reflection with some stubble, but its an economically told character beat and, crucially, makes me want him to meet up with the Starjammers again ASAP. If I’m honest, I just want more Starjammers full stop.

Fun Panel

An absolutely glorious moment from Byrne. A comic doing a single panel jump scare.

That Don’t Make A Lick of Sense

It seems a bit churlish to point out that Phoenix is now set up as an incredibly powerful mutant but seems completely unable to detect that her lover and friends are still alive. Nor does Xavier seem bothered to boot up Cerebro. So I won’t. Just ignore that last paragraph.

None More Claremont

As is standard for the title, Nightcrawler’s Germanness is illustrated by his occasional use of a German word isolated within English sentences. In this issue he decides to tell the kids of the Savage Land who all speak English for some unexplained reason what his tail is in German. As a German speaker, young me was delighted to see German words in my favourite comic.