Thoughts

In my last post I complained that God Loves, Man Kills came between the previous issue and this one. Splitting up a great ending with an awesome first panel.

However when actually re-reading all these comics, I felt that Issue 168 makes a pretty good bedfellow with that graphic novel.

The reason being that back-to-back they display the two extremes of Claremont’s talent for melodrama. While the graphic novel shows his capacity for grandiose politics with the emotional grab of classic Hollywood worthy pictures, here we see Claremont’s strengths as a writer of interpersonal drama. And on that score, this issue sings.

The threat of Kitty coming off the team is used as a springboard for multiple storylines. Highlighting how she, and her colleagues, react to the news. We also see the same X-men getting on with their lives, reconnecting with partners and just generally being humans.

Alongside all the great writing for the characters enjoying downtime, Claremont creates an adventure plot for Kitty, adding into the mix a fan pleasing new tiny Dragon character.

And then after all this fun, and pleasing melodramatic hijinks, Claremont ends on a cliffhanger worthy of the most high concept soap opera.

Fun Panel

Quite possibly the best single panel first page. And the pinnacle of the Paul Smith point.

Compared to opener, this later Paul Smith Point never stood a chance

That Don’t Make A Lick of Sense

I wonder what happened to the use of the word Ugloids? By the time the next issue gets released, we’re dealing with the Morlocks and the word never gets used. Maybe Ugloid didn’t quite feel as literary anymore.

Either way, Angel and the Ugloids is a band name still begging to be picked up by someone.