Thoughts

The cover to this issue does not lie. Cyclops leaves the X-men, in a story that is part his grief and part a potted history of the team.

One aspect of geekery that has been transformed beyond all recognition since the eighties is the availability of the stuff we nerd about.

Nowadays, if you want the full back catalogue of the X-men. You can get it on your phone or on deluxe hardback volumes (or even less deluxe trade paperbacks) If you’re into something – be it a comic, a film or a TV show there’s immediate access.

But I’m old enough to remember a time when being into something was as much a matter of what you didn’t have. You were a massive fan of a film, because you saw it in the cinema one time – but your fandom had to do without seeing the film all the time. Fan of a TV show? Better not be out when it’s broadcast. (I missed Peter Davison’s final ever episode because promises were made about a friend’s birthday party that were not kept and no I AM NOT STILL BITTER ABOUT IT)

ahem

When this comic was published, you could be one of the growing army of X-men fans but the chances of actually *reading* all the issues were virtually zero. So buying this comic would have scratched an itch that must seem weird to young readers.

You get all the history of the X-men. You get all the facts about the story. It’s like buying a Doctor Who target book novelising a story you can’t see – or a Star Wars figure for a film you caught once in the cinema.

In its own nerdy encyclopaedic way, this is a thrilling issue. Scott’s narration of the past allows Claremont to get us to the emotional trigger of Scott’s departure.

And then the final page and the arrival of Kitty Pryde is just perfect. A glorious grin in panel form.

Fun Panel

That Don’t Make A Lick of Sense

Any Googling

Its a shame that, while we get reprints of the Letters page, we don’t always get reprints of the adverts. Especially in relation to this issue. A poignant, tragic elegy of a comic, written about memory and grief. AND A PRIZE!

OK. So I don’t really want the adverts recreated in the issue. (although, maybe stick a few in the back with the Appendices, eh Marvel?) It would break up the flow. But having always seen this advert screaming at the top of the issue I resolved to finally find out what the competition was.

How underwhelming. No quiz, no challenge. Just send us your contact details so we can shower you with junk mail. And its not even available to anyone outside the US. Nor in the year 2023. And especially since there are no more Toys R Us branches. WHAT A SWIZZ!

It was a Product of its Time

I blogged recently that it’s the cameos of contemporary real life celebrities that most dates these comics. I was wrong. It’s when they actually just put the date in.