Who's the Best... Comic Book Future?

Martinex1: Whether dystopian or utopian, which comic book future world is the most fascinating, well thought out, and creative?   Which future is the best?

Movie Mania!

Doug: So here's one of those Saturday posts that just gets thrown together at the last minute. The Prowler asked us a couple of days ago in the Wolverine post if he'd missed the SPOILED version of the X-Men: Days of Future Past post. Nope - oversight on our part as we were working through our scheduling issues earlier in May. By the way, I didn't say anything about myself last Monday when Karen was discussing some of her situations. Our oldest son graduated from college in the middle of May, and a week ago we moved him into his new big-boy apartment so he can start his graduate assistant position in the sports information department of one of our state universities. So it's been pretty hectic around here, too. Slowing down now.

Doug: Anyway, let's make this a general movie day. Feel free to discuss your impressions of the X-Men flick. My wife and I and some friends are headed to see Jersey Boys tonight; we've seen the Broadway show twice in Chicago, so are really looking forward to it. Also, the final theatrical trailer for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes came out a few days ago. I am really excited for this film! So feel free to let it all hang out on anything related to summer movies. And if you're not planning to see anything, how about a comparison/contrast of the Apes trailer with the last two films in the first series -- Conquest and Battle? I sure see some similarities. How do you think they'll end up bridging these first three to the original five, or... is that even the direction you think this is going?

Discuss: X-Men: Days of Future Past film

Karen: You know the drill -talk about the movie, but PLEASE keep it SPOILER-FREE for at least a few days!

Karen: I saw it Friday night and thought it was very entertaining -maybe my favorite X-Men film -although First Class is right up there too. Quicksilver nearly stole the show!

Only Time Will Tell... X-Men 142

X-Men #142 (February 1981)

"Mind Out of Time!"

Chris Claremont-John Byrne/Terry Austin

Doug: Karen remarked last week how much material has been mined, lifted, and influenced by this two-part story. Of course the feature film named for this story opens in American theaters in less than two weeks. Of course, being the hangers-on that we are around here, we wanted to milk that publicity... oh, stop it. Of course you know we don't do that. Let's just say that it's a coincidence that we're running our reviews of X-Men #s 141-142 in May 2014. Really...!

Karen: After having read both issues again, which I have read many times before, although not for a few years, it's easy to see why they have become so highly regarded. Unfortunately, the story in these two issues, and the death and resurrection of Jean Grey, became two themes that were repeated endlessly in the X-books and have come to dominate X-Men mythology ever since. It's very much like the way Miller's The Dark Knight Returns came to dominate how Batman was portrayed for years (even still, to be honest). Something that should have been an exciting, one-off story gained far too much weight. But for now, let's just enjoy that story.

Doug: Your Dark Knight analogy seems apt. When you compare this story to that, I get it.

Doug:  When we left off we had two bands of mutants, neither very merry. The team in our "present" (1980) had just been engaged by the all-new, all-different Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in the United States Capitol while trying to defend Senator Robert Kelly from murder. In the future (2013 to be precise), what was left of the X-Men were trying to stay a step ahead of the Sentinels. Those robots had evolved to the point where they could plan and execute far more successfully than they ever had in the past. They had taken over the United States and had slain almost all super-powered beings save a ragtag band of mutants. Led by Wolverine and Storm, Colossus, Kate Pryde, and Rachel (girlfriend of the recently-deceased Franklin Richards) were all that remained. Rachel, an extremely powerful telepath, had launched Kate's consciousness back to the past to inhabit the mind of Kate's younger self in a bid to get that era's X-Men to halt the assassination of Kelly. They believed that preserving his life would interrupt a chain of events that would eventually lead to the apocalyptic future they now inhabited.

Karen: I was about to remark here that this reminded me a little of James Cameron's The Terminator -except that film came out in 1984! But then, time travel has been around as long as stories. Certainly Cameron was accused of riffing off of two of Harlan Ellison's Outer Limits episodes, "Soldier" and the excellent "Demon with a Glass Hand," both time travel tales. And I read the other day Cameron was a consultant to the film-makers on X-Men: Days of Future Past! I don't know what it all means, but there you go!

Doug: In the Capitol, the X-Men are at a disadvantage. First, they were still trying to come to grips with the fact that their Kitty was literally out of her mind, and also dealing with this plot that would send reality into a long state of decline. So when the Brotherhood attacked, and with so many new members, the X-Men were on their heels. Avalanche led the assault, ripping the marble floor from under the good guys. Nightcrawler engaged, using his power of teleportation to pepper Avalanche from all sides. But the precog Destiny could tell Avalanche where to strike before Kurt rematerialized. Nightcrawler down. Pyro warmed up Colossus' metal hide, and as Wolverine sought to intervene, new team leader Storm swept him from the fray. Mad, claws drawn -- not gonna fight that way, said Ororo. Angel grabbed Kitty by the arm and lifted her outside and above the mess. On the sidelines, a security guard offered to get the Professor and Moira MacTaggert to safety. Little did they know that it was Mystique in disguise. She hit them with a knockout gas, removing the most powerful X-Man from the battle. And in one of those tropes we love to hate around here, Mystique says to Destiny, "I should kill you (Xavier) while I have the chance, but for the moment, I think you're of more use as a potential hostage." Will they never learn?

Karen: Yes, a puzzling move by Mystique. I thought it odd that Avalanche wore armor too, but maybe he was just a careful guy. Just as you mused in our previous review that you'd never considered the Sentinels to be that much of a threat, I have to admit I'd never considered the Blob to be very formidable, but here, he seems to come across as a hefty Juggernaut.
Doug: Sometimes I think the Blob is one of those characters with the nebulous powersets. Does he have super strength? In this story he's shown lifting some pretty heavy stuff, as well as propelling himself out of a window in a leap that looks like it could have been borrowed from the Hulk. It's always been my understanding that he is a) invulnerable to penetration from bullets, etc. and b) immovable.

Doug: Mystique had asked Destiny about their possibilities for success, but Destiny said that there was some random factor present that was prohibiting her from a clear vision. That factor was the adult mind of Kate Pryde inhabiting the teenaged body of Kitty Pryde. Kate thinks back to how she got to this point, and we get the obligatory flashback. But we scene shift to Kate's future, where the X-Men are moving on their target: the Baxter Building, nerve center of the Sentinels. Logan, Storm, Colossus, Rachel, and the unconscious Kate have moved to a point several blocks from the HQ they'll attack. Storm takes the lead, with time of the essence. She takes out a sentry at the main doors; John Byrne and Terry Austin draw a neat image of the Sentinel slumping against the wall and sinking. It reminded me of a panel Byrne had drawn in Fantastic Four #243 of Galactus in a similar posture. And with that big purple goon out of the picture, our heroes walk right in the front door. Logan has appropriated the tech to activate the FF's personal elevator. I thought it was strange that he said he got it from "intelligence reports" rather than from Franklin. But, I suppose the Sentinels would have rigged a different frequency once they'd moved in. Chris Claremont does a nice job in this scene of getting those potential new readers up to speed, with mentions of the fate of Ororo's parents, her criminal past as a child thief, and of her claustrophobia. It's done very organically, though -- I thought it was useful information but not forced on the reader.

Karen: It's interesting in this future sequence that Rachel says she's not certain that what Kate does in the past will definitely change their own time stream -it might just create a different timeline. Isn't this always the problem with time travel stories? Can you really change things? But the X-Men have nothing left to try. I did think Storm's mental monologue went on a bit too long -it actually covered about 50% of the panel she was in -but I guess it didn't do any actual damage. But why the heck would they take the elevator to the FF's floors? Convenient? Sure. But it's like ringing the doorbell.

Doug: I'd almost have to think that Claremont instructed Byrne to give him that specific panel. My point is, if it's not filled up with text, it's a pretty large, bland part of the page. Back in our nation's capital, all hell is still breaking loose. Kate Pryde circles the fracas, staying in close proximity to Senator Kelly. She knows he will be killed, but not the identity of the killer. Storm is feeling self-conscious, as this is her first dance as team leader after the leave of absence taken by Cyclops. Feeling that the team is confined, and at the mercy of the not-yet-fully-understood powers of the new Brotherhood, Storm decides to "take it outside". Using a hurricane force wind, she blows all the combatants right onto the Capitol lawn. And I have to say, given that I frequent Washington, DC at least annually, that the Byrne/Austin team didn't do too much homework on the vistas from the Capitol, the skyline, etc. There are no skyscrapers in DC, as nothing can be taller than the Washington Monument; in fact, there are only a handful of buildings taller than 200 feet. Anyway, to make matters worse, the Blob is thriving no matter his location. And then the army arrives. Now I'm all for our service men and women, and am in debt to their sacrifices for our rights and freedoms. But in a Marvel comic, when they arrive it's usually not a good thing. And not here, for sure. Colossus gets whacked by a concussion cannon developed by Shaw Industries, and a GI with a flamethrower plays right into Pyro's hands. Angel tries to draw one of Pyro's fire monsters toward him, but Pyro notices that Wolverine has finally gotten close to the Blob and without Storm's interference. But before he can do any serious hack/slash, the fire monster literally lifts him up -- and that's real fire, kids! Storm sees it and elevates, only to come flashing through the heart of the creature, dispersing it. Wolverine is burned badly.

Karen: Storm's self-doubts were well handled -heck, I wondered as a reader if she was ready to lead the team. She'd always been one of the gentler X-Men -could she possibly make the hard decisions required of leadership? This was an intriguing challenge for this character. The fire monsters were fun visually, although I'm not sure how they could physically lift anything. But it was refreshing to revisit a time when Wolverine could actually get hurt.

Doug: Nightcrawler had rushed to Logan's aid, but the healing factor had already kicked in. But Wolverine was, this time, definitely worse for the wear. He took a time-out. When's the last time you saw that? But as Kurt tended to his friend he was shocked to be attacked by... himself?!? Another Nightcrawler (of course we know who it is) leapt from the side and began to pummel Kurt. Wolverine was no use, as his senses were all messed up from his burning. He popped his claws, figuring the real Kurt would be able to bamf! out of the way. But Storm stopped him, and then a defining moment in the lives and careers of both characters happened: Storm told Logan to stand down, and he threatened her, saying he wouldn't take it from Cyclops. She, in no uncertain terms, informed him that she was now the leader, that his other powers should be sufficient enough in almost all situations, and that his claws henceforth were to be used only in emergencies. And you know what? He sheathes them. 

Karen: This sequence with Storm ordering Wolverine to sheathe his claws is rather interesting. It seems odd that it comes right here, at this point in the fight. I had recalled reading somethng about it, and dug out my copy of Peter Sanderson's excellent X-Men Companion Volume II (Fantagraphics Books, 1982). On page 27, in Sanderson's interview with Claremont, they're discussing how Claremont and Byrne would co-plot the title, Claremont brings up this issue, 142, and the scene with Storm ordering Wolverine to sheathe his claws. It was supposed to come at the very beginning of the fight, when Wolverine attacks Pyro. Storm was supposed to tell him, no killing, not here, not with the TV cameras on us. But (according to Claremont), Byrne drew this scene in the middle of the fight instead. You can see in the published material, Storm's objection is about Wolverine using lethal force, not about bad publicity. Which works better? For the story, I think it would have been better to have the sequence be at the beginning; but for Ororo's character, it should be about the killing, not the TV cameras.

Doug: Not having known that before, moving that dialogue to the beginning of the story seems odd. If Cyclops had said it, I have no trouble believing it and yes -- it would have worked better in that context. But since Storm is assigned that line, it seems to be appropriately placed.

Doug: Just then Avalanche struck again, rippling the asphalt and knocking everyone off-kilter. Somehow Peter gets his mitts on a long I-beam and sets it on Wolverine's adamantium-laced spine, using the shrimp as a fulcrum. With Blob's back turned, Colossus runs that girder right center-groin, and then punches his end, launching the Blob into the air. Well, what goes up comes down, and when the Blob is about to land he gets a face full of organic steel! Krom! indeed! Blob lands on Avalanche -- two down. Storm then creates a deluge to put Pyro out of the action, and at the same time Kurt lands a haymaker on his doppelganger. Yup -- it was Mystique, as she reverts to form. But then Claremont drops us a bombshell. Kurt gets a look at Mystique in her true form and immediately fixates on her eyes and her skin color. "Mein Gott, we are so alike!" Mystique tells him that perhaps he is not so unique, and that he should go ask his mother. Kurt is left with his mouth agape.

Karen: So...did Colossus hammer that I-beam into Blob's, uhm, private parts? It sort of looked that way. Then again, there's so much flesh down there...OK, Yuck. It was a fun bit though. The reveal of Mystique and suggestions of a link to Nightcrawler seemed innocent enough back in the day, but of course, spun out of control and became another convoluted X-Men backstory that is just painful to think about.

Doug: Well, as I said above -- Blob is supposed to be invulnerable, so I'm assuming he wasn't wearing a cup... So the team collects themselves mentally and counts Sprite and Destiny as among the unaccounted. They rush off to find them. Meanwhile, if you can say that when your storylines are separated by 33 years, the X-Men of 2013 have arrived to the floors of the Baxter Building formerly occupied by the FF. Here's an architectural question for you: if the FF inhabited the top six floors of the building, given that Sentinels are generally 30 feet tall can we assume that the new-and-improved Baxter Building only has two usable floors up top? Wolverine orders up a fastball special on the Sentinel in front of them. Peter obliges, but as Logan's claws are about to cut deep into the robot, it wheels and obliterates him with a beam of light and force. Takes him down to the skeleton. Storm attacks next, and is impaled on a spike shot from the wrist of one of the Sentinels. Colossus then uses his rage to punch a Sentinel through an exterior wall and across the street. Rachel huddles in the shadows with the limp Kate Pryde; Rachel has been telepathically connected to her teammates. She feels each of them die, yet stays linked to them to the end. She knows now that if they are to win their day, Kate must win hers in the past.

Karen: So. These three pages are the ones I remember the most from this issue. I suspect this is true for many readers. Back in 1980, we weren't used to seeing heroes killed yet, let alone reduced to a smoking skeleton. It really was shocking and the visual of Wolverine being disintegrated is one I doubt I'll forget (Regenerate from that, runt!). The X-Men fought valiantly here, but  -but -they lost. They did that a lot, too. And the two big stories that they are remembered for -"Dark Phoenix" and "Days of Future Past" -are essentially stories of their failure as a team. They couldn't save Jean -yes, she sacrificed herself and there is some nobility in that, but come on, they failed; and here, in the future, they couldn't stop the Sentinels. It's all rather discouraging when you think about it.

Doug: Back inside the Capitol, Destiny has closed on Senator Kelly, a small crossbow aimed at his heart. But Kate had crept behind an overturned table, just feet from the precog. She wonders why Destiny cannot sense her, but then figures that it's the anomaly of being from the future. As Destiny readies to fire, Kate leaps and phases through her foe, making her miss. At that moment, the assassination thwarted, Kate is called home. She gets a split second to see her teen self, and "gives herself a kiss". Kitty, now back in control of her own body, goes to a knee as her friends arrive. At about the same time, the Professor and Moira re-enter. Kelly wants to know what is going on; Storm tells him that he'd do well to know that like all people, mutants come in good and bad. She connects with Xavier's thoughts, and tells him that the team will meet at Warren's aircraft. Mystique watches from the shadows, and swears vengeance.

Karen: Just like you wondered why Mystique would hang on to Professor X and not kill him, I wondered why Destiny would use a tiny crossbow and not a semi-automatic weapon or a shotgun, anything more potent! She might as well have had a slingshot. But in any case -this scene here is would seem to indicate that the dread future has been averted. But has it been? 

 

Doug: On the plane back to Westchester, Kitty and the rest of the team want to know if they did indeed alter the future. Xavier says only time will tell. Although his mindscan of Kitty probably revealed more than he let on. The story ends with a one-page epilogue. In the White House, the President receives two visitors: Senator Robert Kelly and his friend, industrialist Sebastian Shaw. The president says that the mutant threat is still real; indeed, all super-powered beings should be watched, adds Shaw. And then the president drops a bombshell that would have made long-time Avenges fans perk up -- the man who will be in charge of the new "Project Wideawake", which will finally resolve (a "Final Solution"?) the mutant problem -- is one Henry Peter Gyrich. His first task -- to work with Sebastian Shaw to create a new and improved line of Sentinels. As Xavier said, "only time will tell".

Karen: So after all this, we still get a downer ending. Yup, it's an X-Men book.

Doug: Initially, after my first read and as I was readying to begin framing this review, I was going to express a bit of disappointment in the resolution of this story. My feelings at first went to the future X-Men and how everyone ended up dead (hey, for once a comic book cover's hyperbole rang true!), rather than succeeding in their mission in some last-minute, last-ditch effort to triumph over evil. But... on the re-read as I was writing I think I like this just fine. To have glimpsed the future and not had it end as it did, then that would have necessitated more trips to the future and now you're just feeling like you need to have a Crisis or some such thing. Instead, focusing on the least likely X-Man, Kitty, and this cypher or channel, worked just great and gave her instant credibility on the team. And along the way, the creative team gave us some great teeny-tiny vignettes that would establish characterizations moving forward. Nope -- this was a pretty satisfying 2-parter!

Karen: Despite my joking around about the downer ending, I too enjoyed reading this story all over again. Despite some minor flaws, it's well crafted. There's a true sense of desperation and even when the X-Men are at their worst in the Sentinel camps in the future, they are still trying to save everything, showing their great sense of hope. Maybe that's what drew me to these characters way back when I was a kid: they were outcasts, but they still fought hard for each other, and for a better world.

Haunted by the Past: X-Men 141

X-Men #141 (January 1981)

"Days of Future Past"

Chris Claremont/John Byrne/Terry Austin

Karen: I feel like this is a big day for us here at BAB. This has got to be one of the biggest issues of the Bronze Age, and personally, it marks the beginning of the end of my love of the X-Men. After issue #143, Byrne and Austin would leave the book, and a lot of what I enjoyed about the title seemed to disappear. But for over five years, this was not only my favorite comic, it was an obsession. The X-Men were the perfect fantasy escape for this pre-teen/teen  -the ultimate outsiders, yet they were also incredibly cool and though they fought each other (hello Cyclops and Wolverine) they were also a family too. One could imagine belonging to the X-Men in a way you could never imagine joining the Avengers or the Justice League. Each issue of X-Men was approached eagerly, and it rarely disappointed (well maybe the Murderworld stuff did a little). The creative team was going strong and readers felt like they were a part of something special. So along came X-Men #141, and it just blew everyone away. From the incredible covers -with #141 becoming legendary - to the amazing time-travel premise, this two-part story is a tour-de-force. It's no wonder that -for good or ill -it became the basis of so much to come in later X-Men stories. So let's get to it, shall we?

Doug: Well... just a second. True confession time. Maybe "true reminder" time would be a better way to put it. Our longtime readers may recall that I've said in the past how I left comics when I entered high school. The year was 1980, and the last X-Men I saw over a five year period (no, silly -- it didn't take me that long to graduate; I picked the hobby back up in the spring of my freshman year of college) was #130 -- I was ushered out by the Disco Dazzler! That's right -- left just as the "Dark Phoenix Saga" was ramping up! So for me, a recent purchase of the DoFP tpb gave me the opportunity to finally read this story. 

Karen: You're right -I'd forgotten in the heat of my excitement over this review that you dropped out at the absolute worst time in X-Men history! You missed out on the whole Dark Phoenix saga and Days of Future Past -oh man, Doug, talk about bad timing! So yes, I can see you won't have the same connection to this material that I do. But maybe that's a good thing -you'll be more objective.

Karen: Our splash page opens in a decimated-looking New York City. We see a woman in a dull green jumpsuit with the letter 'M' over the left side of the chest. She's carrying a box of what appears to be medical supplies. We are told this is Kate Pryde -not Kitty. For it is the twenty-first century -the future, and the state of NYC is typical of most of the U.S. Kate is on her way to rendezvous with Logan -and she's worried about the safety of her surroundings. And with good cause. She soon falls through a trap door and is ambushed by a group of toughs that look like they stepped out of Mad Max. Kate warns them that she's on official Sentinel business, but they scoff -the leader says they hate the robots almost as much as they hate 'muties.' He threatens Kate and she gives him a swift kick in the gut -it's about all she can do, as a collar prevents her powers from working. Things don't look too good, but then her friend Logan shows up. It is, of course, Wolverine, a little gray at the temples, but none the worse for wear. He quickly takes down the thugs, without using his claws, as his signature attack would alert the Sentinels of his presence. Logan is now a colonel in the Canadian Resistance Army, and he's working to take down the Sentinels. It turns out that the other super-powers are planning to launch nuclear missiles the moment the robots head out of North America. So he and Kate and the remaining X-Men are going to try to stop it from happening. He gives Kate a small component, part of a larger device called the 'jammer.' He tells her phase two begins at midnight and wishes her luck.

Doug: Kate is very serious-looking. This sure isn't the little Sprite that had recently entered the X-verse. But Wolverine's certainly recognizable immediately. There's a lot going on in these first few pages, both visually and through the text. I felt it was a lot to digest, and it raised a ton of questions for me. One thing I was struck with early here was that the X-Men actually are wary of the Sentinels. My impression of the Sentinels through time had been that they looked great, but rarely succeeded in accomplishing what they'd set out to do. So that they were in some fashion of control in this era seemed off. Claremont and Byrne were spinning a mystery.

Karen: Kate certainly looks haggard, and in the context of the story, it makes sense. My impression of the Sentinels was different from yours though; while the X-Men had always found a way to stop them, I never considered them pushovers. And of course, this is yet another iteration, a 'new and improved' version if you will.

Karen: Kate's trip back to the Bronx is a depressing one. The buses are pulled by horses, indicating perhaps oil has been cut off to America. We are now told the year -2013! - and that there are three classes of people: H for baseline human -allowed to breed; A, for anomalous humans, people carrying mutant genes, forbidden to breed; and M, mutants, who were relegated to outcasts by the Mutant Control Act of 1988. Most of mutantkind was exterminated -we are told millions have died since the Act was passed (could these all have been mutants in North America? That number seems awfully large. Would it include mainline homo sapiens as well?). Kate enters the interment camp where she lives and walks past row after row of tombstones, and we see the names of many characters we know, some who were mutants (Charles Xavier, Scott Summers, Kurt Wagner) and some who were not (Ben Grimm, Reed Richards). It does seem that more than mutants were killed in this terrible reality. Kate thinks to herself that they will try to ensure that this nightmare never even happens!

Doug: Ah, stories told in some future epoch. Talk about partying like it's 1999! I've always thought the best thing about the original Planet of the Apes series was that it was set around 2000 years in the future -- no need to worry about catching up to that! Anyway, you're right about the apocalyptic scene Kate travels through. In a way, Chris Claremont was setting up later storylines -- or at least feeling them out -- with his caste system. The Morlocks, the island of Genosha... I can see how those ideas could flow from this storyline. From the cover we know this is going to be dark, but there was something about seeing the non-mutant heroes deceased that struck a nerve as to the seriousness of this situation. The long path back into the concentration camp was eerie marked with all the headstones; Claremont and Byrne had done some homework in regard to memorials of this sort left over from our own stupidity in this history.

Karen: Kate joins with fellow X-Men Storm and Colossus, now Kate's husband, and Franklin Richards, last survivor of the Fantastic Four, and his girlfriend, a red-headed telepath/telekinetic named Rachel. They begin to discuss their plan when a man in a wheelchair comes up. No, it's not Professor X, but Magneto! Circumstances have caused the former foes to become allies. While Colossus questions whether their plan will work, Magneto says it must, if the world is to survive. Kate and Peter (Colossus) take a moment alone. He feels concern over what they plan to do - he says if they succeed, their love might cease to exist along with the Sentinels. Kate says if it is to be, it will be. But more than that, if they are successful, they will create a world where their children can grow up free and unafraid. The Sentinels killed their children -if she can change that, it is worth the risk.

Doug: Did you wonder at all about the X-Men who would survive and form the backbone of this future team? I think it's a cinch that if Dave Cockrum had been on the creative staff, Nightcrawler would have been a survivor. You know, I was going to wonder why they didn't take the opportunity to introduce a new character here, but they did in Rachel... not Summers yet, though. She'd certainly become a major player in another 50 issues or so. Wait -- the idea of Magneto as a good guy started here, too. Man, I guess I didn't know how much Claremont would mine from this story over the succeeding years!

Doug: The inclusion of Franklin Richards surprised me, but it was actually nice to see him finally grown up. Speaking of, did you ever think Peter was too old for Kitty? Wouldn't he have been in his early 20s when she joined up -- and wasn't she only like 14 at the time?

Karen: I would have liked to have seen more of Franklin -he looked a bit like his uncle Johnny, but talked like his dad! I wonder if he still had his reality-altering abilities? As for Peter and Kitty, I think I've read that Peter was in his later teens -perhaps 18, and Kitty was about 14. So yes, perhaps a bit awkward -not to mention illegal! - but then she was a little more mature and he was somewhat naive. As far as chemistry goes, it always seemed like a nice match.

Karen: The mutants initiate their plan later that night. Franklin assembles the jammer, which shuts down their inhibitor collars and allows them to use their powers. Rachel then uses her mental powers to send Kate's consciousness back in time...to October 31, 1980. Young Kitty Pryde has just walked in on a live session in the Danger Room. Yes, she just walked right into the room! She even says the door was unlocked, to which Wolverine replies, as he battles a robot with buzzsaw hands, "Kid, that flamin' door is always unlocked!" You really have to wonder what Professor X was thinking. As the X-Men -Angel, Storm, Colossus, and Wolverine - battle different threats in the room, they try to reach Kitty and the panic button to shut the room down. Kitty has frozen in fear but Storm manages to conjure up a mini-twister to blow her away from danger and into Colossus' arms. Nightcrawler teleports into the room and hits the panic button, shutting down all the threats just in the nick of time. Kurt tries joking around with Kitty about her first Danger Room session, scheduled for that morning, but Kitty is visibly uncomfortable around him. This hurts Kurt's feelings but he says he will give her time. The older X-Men gather in the control room to run the training scenario the Professor has designed for Kitty. It's completely non-threatening, and Kitty walks across the room easily, using her phasing power to pass through every challenge. The X-Men get a good belly laugh out of it, and are all smiles -until Kitty collapses to the floor. What they don't know is that Kitty's mind has just been hit by her consciousness from thirty years in the future.

Doug: Of all the X-Men issues through the Bronze Age, what percentage of them contain a Danger Room scene? We mentioned this in our review of X-Men #4 a couple of weeks ago. But you know -- it never gets tired, because anything can happen in that space. I always felt it gave artists a chance to cut loose. I felt bad for Kurt, but thought Kitty's reaction was very natural. I think it represented the fact that even as outsiders, there could be some more outside than others. Each X-Man had incredible powers, but no one looked as Kurt looked. Kitty's wariness seemed to be innocently offensive, if you know what I mean. And wasn't it great that Wolverine counseled Kurt? These folks had really grown through the years -- way different from the group that always seemed ready to fight each other back in the early "All-New, All-Different" years.

Karen: Looking back, it seems like Wolverine matured a lot during the Dark Phoenix saga, or right after it. He was far less of a jerk after Jean passed away, and wound up becoming a responsible team member. In some ways, his growth is similar to Hawkeye's. I can't help but think that this was all purposeful on Claremont's part.

Doug: I really liked Storm's ascension to leadership. She seemed a natural to take the reins after Cyclops left. She always had such a great relationship with Kurt and Peter, and Wolverine was just going to be Wolverine no matter who was "in charge". I really loved it that Kurt, even after Kitty had somewhat shied from him, was the one who got to her first after she collapsed. He has such a big heart, and was always a team-first guy. I thought Claremont sold Kitty's transformation to Kate quite well with the more mature speech patterns. John Byrne and Terry Austin did a top-notch job of conveying the confusion on the faces of Nightcrawler and Wolverine. Did you find Angel to be a fifth wheel on this team? He's so appealing visually, but really has no power set beyond flight, and to be honest he seems incomplete without Bobby Drake along for the ride.

Karen: It was interesting to see Storm become leader -I'm not sure I had seen those qualities in her before. She brings a certain maturity and calmness to things, although I think she lacks the tactical know-how of her predecessor, Cyclops. But then, did these X-Men ever fight effectively as a team? We've discussed that in almost every review we've done of the book! Kurt's determination to break through with Kitty, to get her to see him as more than a monster, was very well done. The transformation from Kitty to Kate was conveyed well not only by her speech but I thought the art showed a change in her posture too. As for Angel -yes, I never really knew what he was doing with this group. He certainly didn't seem to belong with them. It was like an old man trying to hang out with the cool kids. 

Karen: On the plane to the capital, Kate expands upon her story: Kelly is not a bad man, but is concerned about the ever-increasing number of super-powered people in the world. The Brotherhood killed him to put humanity in their place, but instead, it escalated tensions and caused anti-mutant sentiment to grow, leading to the Mutant Control Act and the reactivation of the Sentinels. The robots decided the best way they could achieve their programming was to take over the country. They also decided to begin exterminating all super-powered beings, mutant and non-mutant, hero and villain. By the year 2000, all of North America was under Sentinel rule. And most of the X-Men were dead. Now the Sentinels are about to expand their jurisdiction to the rest of the globe, which will set off a nuclear war that will destroy the planet. The surviving X-Men of the future came up with this plan, and Kitty was chosen to be sent back, because at this age, she had not been trained to protect herself from psychic assaults.

Doug: How about the kid dressed up like a member of the Newsboy Legion? Someone please tell me -- was this the first time in Marvel's history that some sort of registration of super-powered types was proposed? Of course in the Avengers a few years earlier the feds had dispatched Henry Peter Gyrich to serve as a security liaison to the team and clean up some of their lackluster policies (of course he brought other irritations into the mix). Marvel would seem to touch on some of these themes over and over, culminating in Civil War. 

Doug: It seems odd that the Sentinels could accomplish all of that without any of their former masters involved -- the Trasks and Stephen Lang (of course there's a reason they weren't involved, and it has to do with pushing up daisies -- but I think you know what I mean).

Karen: I assumed these were a more advanced version -so their AI had progressed to the point where they could think for themselves and create plans and strategies. Which is pretty scary.

Doug: Did you think it odd that Kitty Pryde had been with the X-Men for some months and had not yet had psychic shielding training? I don't know that her phasing powers would be a threat to the team if she were to be turned against the team, but certainly she'd have had knowledge that could have been psychically pilfered. Of course, everyone was preoccupied with that Hellfire Club thing. 

Karen: It's hard for me to tell how much time has passed since they first brought Kitty on board -not too much I think, since this is her first Danger Room session. 

Karen: Flash forward thirty years. The X-Men have escaped the Sentinel compound with Wolverine and are traveling through the old subway tunnels. We are told that Magneto (called Magnus here, not Eric) stayed behind, sacrificing his life to give them time to get away. They are moving along when suddenly the roof of the tunnel is blasted away -and so is Franklin! He is disintegrated by a beam from the Sentinels. The mutants are warned to surrender. Rachel is stunned, but Storm tells her to fight back, and she does -with a telekinetic blast that looks suspiciously Phoenix-like. Hmm. Storm blasts a robot with lightning but it is too insulated. That problem is solved by a Septuagenarian fastball special.  Another patrol of three Sentinels appears and Colossus handles them by knocking a building over on them. The X-Men are determined to make it to the Baxter Building -the Sentinels' base.

Doug: This story sure does pave the way for Magneto to be seen in a more sympathetic light, doesn't it? And does the fastball special ever get tired? I think not!

Karen: Back in 1980, we go inside the Pentagon, where we see a woman named Raven Darkholme. She works in the Department of Defense, but is in reality the mutant shapechanger Mystique. She enters a room and inside we see the members of the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants: Destiny, Avalanche, Pyro, and Blob. Blob's old fashioned -he doesn't like taking orders from a woman and this sets off a squabble with his team-mates, but Mystique soon settles him down. Then she tells them all to get ready -it's time to strike!

Doug: I thought Destiny, in regular clothes, sure looked a lot older than she'll appear once in costume. Threw me off a bit. Pyro's no looker, is he? The Blob fills that comic relief roll, doesn't he?

Karen: In the Senate, Robert Kelly is speaking at a hearing about mutants. This scene was recreated in the first X-Men film. Xavier and Moira MacTaggert are there as well. The X-Men show up in civilian attire and the Professor reads their minds to find out what's going on.However, as Kelly goes on, wondering if there will be any place in the world for 'ordinary people' as more and more super-powered people appear, the wall of the hearing room begins to crumble and collapse. As the audience flees, the dust settles and the Brotherhood appears. Mystique threatens the Senator, but then a lightning bolt slashes down in front of her. The X-Men face the Brotherhood, telling them that if they want to harm anyone here, they'll have to go through them. With that challenge, Mystique then orders her team to kill the X-Men. It's game on -in two different times!

Doug: I was surprised at how public the altercation was between the Brotherhood and the X-Men. Granted it had to be given the circumstances, but it seems that throughout their history the very existence of the X-Men was always a secret. Here, they identify themselves and dive right into the scrap with the bad mutants. But then the reporters assembled recognize Warren Worthington III as the Angel -- so that cover had been blown years ago when he bankrolled the Champions. Avalanche looks like a dude that might be at home in the Wrecking Crew! And I love Wolverine's bravado when the Blob says they don't look like any X-Men he knows. "That's right, Fatso. We're better." No exclamation point, just matter-of-fact.

Karen: It's hard to believe all this story was packed into one issue. So much goes on here, and there are so many small character moments throughout. The level of detail and thought in the story is fantastic. The Baxter Building as the Sentinels' base? Outstanding. Kitty and Peter together? That was amazing at the time -remember, she hadn't been around very long at this point. The art is also terrific. As usual, it is dynamic and packed with detail. Byrne's characters are emotive and distinct. There's so much emotion in this story -seeing the graveyard with the names of so many of our favorite characters in it, it brings a lump to the throat. It's easy to feel the pain that Kate and the other future X-Men feel. Even all these years later, after this story has been built on and copied and redone to death, it has power to it. No wonder they have made a movie out of it!

Doug: I agree with everything you just said. If they knew at the time that this was the swansong of Byrne and Austin, then they were going to end their run on the very top of the mountain. And before we leave, just a quick comment on that art team. Look through this entire issue if you have it -- there's no short-cutting. I'd say 90% of the panels have a detailed background. Although I think Byrne's earlier 1970s art on this title was better, this is certainly nothing to sneeze at. Great, great creative talent on display in this issue, from all the stakeholders.

Discuss: The Conan the Barbarian Movies, Plus X-Men DoFP Clip

Doug: Of course Conan came up in Karen's Arnold Schwarzenegger post last week. There was a little sidebar that developed, so today let's delve into it further. Speak, then if you will, of the handful of depictions of the future King of Aquilonia on celluloid, and then in larger form as to whether or not faithfulness to the print media detracts from your enjoyment of these films. And hey, if Tarzan creeps stealthily into the conversation that would be OK for the latter discussion.

Doug: I saw this yesterday and thought I'd bring it over. Special effects alone, this looks pretty cool!

NOTE: This post was updated on May 7 2020. I have no idea what the original clip was I'd posted; the YouTube account that originally crafted it is no more. So have this fun scene in its place! -Doug

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