Thoughts

In the Big Giant Book of Claremont Does The Last Thing You’d Expect there is definitely a section highlighting the fact that the story chosen for the first issue post-Byrne is not some epic business-as-usual slugfest, but a dark, melancholy solo Cyclops story. Guest starring Man-Thing, one of the oddest characters to ever carry a Marvel title. And Marvel once had a Coneheads comic.

It’s a genuine oddity, but with some lovely moments. There’s a brief segment away from Cyclops where we see the X-men back at the mansion cleaning up after the events of last issue. Wolverine and Nightcrawler teasing Kitty without realising she’s taking it personally highlights that the inclusion of a teenager in an X-team of adults is going to cause problems.

Also Cyclops’ stint with the crew of the fishing vessel Arcadia is nicely done, slowly revealing more of the character when he no longer has to bother with being a leader.

I find the fantastical side of the story is less successful – D’Spayre seems a ludicrous villain and in its creation of an “imaginary” Hellish landscape it feels too close to the most recent annual.

I remain to this day clueless as to what Man-Thing is meant to be about. This issue is no help whatsoever.

Fun Panel

Beware Giant Sized Jean Grey!

That Don’t Make A Lick of Sense

The sequence where Cyclops decides to shoot Pool with his Optic Blasts. Because nobody is looking. But also to impress them. It slightly breaks up what’s a really nice plot of the character enjoying downtime and getting on with a the crew of the Arcadia.

Any Googling

More fool me! I genuinely thought this was Claremont as narrator, picking out a genuine quote from an actual philosopher, or at least a character from actual myth who is quoted from elsewhere in the World.

So I decided to find out more about him. Turns out he’s a character from Man Thing continuity. Reading any profile for the character you can find online doesn’t really tempt me to read more Man-Thing.

This is how one of the profiles I found starts. It then gets weird and complicated.