Thoughts

Sometimes it must be easy to determine what goes on the cover of a comic. The big bad guy, the big battle – the visual showpiece of the action.

With this issue it must have been a bit of a challenge. Because its an atypical comic that instead of being An Adventure simply tracks what all the main characters are up to. We briefly see Colossus in training, Xavier in space, Phoenix in Scotland, Colleen Wing making a move on Cyclops, Wolverine seeing Mariko again and Storm under attack from junkies in Harlem. No one chapter is central to the story, but they are all about moving the story on for the individual characters.

At first glance then, a front cover trumpeting the “Trial Of Colossus” feels like overkill. While Colossus effectively passes a test set for him by Wolverine, its not really a trial (sorry – “THE TRIAL”) and the whole sequence is completed by page four.

But this is a title in transition. An issue like this one points to the direction the title will take. Storytelling stretched over many issues, focused on the characters themselves. It’s a direction that proves to be a huge success, but its not really an easy thing to make a cover out of that screams “PICK ME UP” on the newstands.

And so they had to take something from this issue and turn it into that cover. And the Colossus sequence is great, Wolverine’s unorthodox training methods a strong character moment for everyone in the scene. But its fun to imagine the potential other covers – Storm and Power Man in Harlem? Xavier in Space? Colleen making a pass at Cyclops. Ok that last one is a stretch – maybe one for the Direct Market only?

And after a great, relatively quiet downtime issue, the comic ends with a prologue for the next one. Which promises a lot, lot more craziness and action.

Fun Panel

The Harlem sequence in this issue has a great amount of grafitti detail. Easy to get lost in all the namedrops. A lot of Marvel staffers seem to be hanging out in this room! Plus “Kinky” Klaus Jansen hangs out outside.

Any Googling

Another reference to Power Man/Iron Fist and a crossover issue with the X-men in issue 57. Given the characters from that comic frequently appearing in this title I really feel like I need to give it a read one day. Any recommendations of where to start gratefully received.

It was a Product of its Time

Late Seventies Harlem is presented in quite a striking way in this issue, although living in New York Claremont and Byrne probably had a better inkling of what it was like than I do in 2023. The arrival of peak Blaxploitation era Power Man further dates the tale. Although sadly Luke Cage’s dialogue depressingly still seems relevant.

“An’ they live in a society more concerned about cagin’ 13 year olds for life than trying to give them a decent chance.”