Thoughts

Surprise! Surprise! Colossus is Alive!

Actually for all my cynicism over a cheap cliffhanger at the end of the last issue, the event is woven nicely into this issue, his apparent death giving Kitty a great character moment, nicely captured by Cockrum.

(this is a step up from the previous time this “they’re dead” cliffhanger was pulled where the next issue just begins with “no they’re not” and then carries on as if nothing really happened)

Story-wise this is a fine issue that further develops the narrative. By this point it’s becoming clear that this isn’t some one/two issue tale but an attempt at a larger sci-fi space epic.

Lilandra and Xavier are imprisoned together by Deathbird who is making a play for the Shi-Ar throne. The X-men team up with the Starjammers to rescue him and discover that the ̶x̶e̶n̶o̶m̶o̶r̶p̶ Brood have a giant living spaceship.

All of this is covered in an issue that looks great and ensures there’s a development that keeps it interesting on pretty much every page. And there’s a great cliffhanger that doesn’t involve pretending someone’s dead!

Fun Panel

Trying to photo from a big fat omnibus still makes it impossible to capture the glory of a double page spread. But trust me, Cockrum’s alien creature spaceship swallowing up the Starjammers is fabulous stuff.

None More Claremont

Tigra wishing she could have gone with the X-men does ask the question – why not? Claremont’s been adding women to the supporting cast for a while now, alongside bolstering Kitty to the status of one of the leads. Tigra would fit quite well into the team, and her backstory as partly a rip-off from Val Lewton’s “Cat People” would suggest a mythology Claremont could have lots of fun with. Likely her status as an Avenger meant she couldn’t be nabbed by another book, but I can’t help feeling Tigra’s sentiments here might have been shared by Claremont.