Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 7

Reprints Uncanny X-Men #151-159, X-Men Annual #5, Avengers Annual #10

Written by Chris Claremont.

Penciled by Dave Cockrum, Michael Golden, Brent Anderson, Bob McLeod, Jim Sherman and Bill Sienkiewicz.

Inked by Josef Rubinstein, Bob McLeod, Armando Gil and Bob Wiacek. 

Carol Danvers, the Avenger known as Ms. Marvel is attacked and left for dead in San Francisco Bay. She's rescued by Spider-Woman and taken to the X-Men's mansion. Their leader Professor X hopes to rehabilitate Carol.

We later learn that Ms. Marvel was defeated by Rogue, an evil mutant who has the power to temporarily absorb superpowers by merely touching superheroes. She has stolen Ms. Marvel's powers and memories. Rogue touched Danvers for too long and has permanently absorbed the powers.  

Rogue is the newest member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, a team of super-powered criminals that previously battled the X-Men. She and team leader Mystique team up to break their teammates out of prison. Thankfully the Avengers learn of the Brotherhood's plans and battle the villains. However, the odds are stacked against them, since Rogue has already taken out Captain America and Thor. Can the Avengers overcome the Brotherhood?!  

Subsequently, three members of the Fantastic Four are captured by the alien race known as the Badoon. The lone FF-er left is Sue Storm, the Invisible Girl. She goes to the X-Men for help rescuing her teammates. The X-Men and Sue are assisted in the fight with the Badoon by their friend Arkon!

When the X-Men return to Earth, they receive some shocking news: their youngest member, Kitty Pryde, is being removed from Xavier's school and transferred to Massachusetts Academy! It's a plot concocted by the X-Men's foe Emma Frost, AKA the White Queen, who serves as the Academy's headmaster. She's used her mental powers to coerce Kitty's parents into sending her to the Academy. 

When Storm takes Kitty to the new school, Emma zaps Ororo with a gun that causes them to swap minds and powers. In Storm's body, the White Queen leads an attack on the X-Mansion with the help of her Hellfire Club teammates and several mutant-hunting Sentinels!

Later, the X-men are relaxing at the mansion, but Colossus' sister Ilyanna is having trouble getting to sleep. Kitty Pryde tells Ilyanna a fantastical fairy tale where the X-Men are pirates and wizards!

After that, Storm and Cyclops are having a quiet dinner at the mansion when a spaceship crashes outside. Inside the ship they find Corsair of the Starjammers, who also happens to be Scott's father. Corsair is being chased by Sidrian hunters from space. The heroes escape and defeat the hunters, but the X-Mansion is destroyed in the process.  

Cyclops, Storm and Corsair are beamed aboard a Shi'ar spaceship. Their friend Lilandra, empress of the Shi'ar, has been kidnapped and taken to Earth. Acting Shi'ar leaders Araki and Samedor tell the X-Men that if Liliandra is not rescued, Earth will be destroyed. When they return to Earth, the X-Men learn that Lilandra's sister Deathbird is behind the kidnapping. The heroes battle Deathbird and her allies, the Brood. Colossus is severely injured in the fight and is near death.  

It turns out that the Deathbird is receiving help from within the inner circle of the Shi'ar Empire itself! While most of the X-Men are battling the Brood, it's up to Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler to save the day and discover who has betrayed Lilandra. Things get even more complicated when it appears that Dark Phoenix has returned from the dead!

Back on Earth, the X-Men learn that anti-mutant sentiment is on the rise. They fear that any information the government has on the team will be used against them. Wolverine, Storm, and Carol Danvers sneak into the Pentagon to erase the X-Men's file from the DOD computers. However, things don't go as planned when Rogue and Mystique also show up at the Pentagon. Can Storm and Wolverine keep their foes tied up long enough for Carol to erase the files?  

Finally, the X-Men visit their friend Misty Knight's apartment in New York City. Misty is away, but her new housemate, fashion designer Harmony Young, welcomes the heroes. When Storm goes out for a walk in Manhattan and doesn't return right away, the rest of the team, especially Kitty, grows worried. They are shocked when they learn that Ororo has fallen under the power of Dracula, lord of vampires! Can even the combined might of the X-Men defeat Dracula?   

J.A. Morris says:

I first read these stories when they were brand new back in 1981-82 and have always had mixed feelings about them.  

Story:

Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 7 opens with a reprint of Avengers Annual #10, which was written by Chris Claremont. This story introduced future-X-Man Rogue and it's an absolute classic. The Brotherhood takes out half of the Avengers before the main battle even begins. Rogue is depicted as being extremely dangerous and powerful. She defeats Ms. Marvel, Captain America, and Thor in her first appearance! The X-Men's role is limited in the story, but it sets up the subplot of Carol Danvers living in the X-Mansion to get help from Professor X with regaining her memories.  

This story is also famous for righting wrongs that were done to Ms. Marvel in Avengers #200 (I'll go into more details about that in a forthcoming review).

Next up is a reprint from another annual that features the X-Men teaming up with the Fantastic Four and Arkon to fight the Badoon. I've never been a big fan of the Badoon who are rather generic green aliens (I've always seen them as skrulls without the ability to shape-change) or Arkon, who is basically an outer-space version of Conan the Barbarian. Not a great story and the presence of the Fantastic Four doesn't add much of interest.

The Hellfire/Sentinels story is okay, but not particularly memorable. It's a typical mind-swapping story.

Kitty Pryde's fairy tale is another high point and has long been a fan favorite. It's basically a simplified version of the Dark Phoenix saga told in a pirates/wizards setting. It might not be an "essential" X-Men tale, but it's charming and fun.  

The bulk of Uncanny X-Men Vol. 7 is taken up by a four-part story involving Lilandra, Deathbird and the Starjammers. It goes on for too long and the stakes are so huge (Earth being destroyed) that we never believe the X-Men will fail. Colossus' critical injury doesn't add much to the story either. I don't know how most X-Fans feel about the Shi'ar, but I never found them very interesting. I feel the same way about Deathbird.  

This story is important for one reason: the introduction of the Brood. These alien "sleazoids" first seem to be nothing but hired thugs working for Deathbird, but they would become a major adversary of the X-Men shortly after this.  

Kitty plays around with a Shi'ar costume-making machine!

The Rogue and Dracula stories that end the book are both pretty good. A nice way to finish a book of inconsistent stories.

Art:

The art is generally better than the stories contained in this Masterworks book.  

Michael Golden penciled (with inks by Armando Gil) the Avengers/Brotherhood adventure and it looks gorgeous. Here's a nice example of Golden's work:

Armando Gil provides nice embellishment to Golden.

Brent Anderson provided art for the Badooon story and Hellfire Club tale, respectively. They both bring some nice Marvel house style art to this book.  

Dave Cockrum drew most of Uncanny X-Men Vol. 7 and fans of his work will be pleased. He obviously loved drawing pirates and pirate-influenced costumes. This is readily evident in the costumes worn by the X-Men in Kitty's fairy tale and the Starjammers, who are "space pirates." 

Cockrum's most interesting design is the Acanti, a race of alien space whales who the Brood use as living spaceships.   

Bill Sienkiewicz drew the Dracula story and it looks great. At this point in his career, Sienkiewicz was transitioning from his "Neal Adams"-influenced style to the more abstract pencils. So we get a great combination of his early and later art.  

How Does It Look?:

Here's a two-page spread of the Acanti as it appeared in Uncanny X-Men #156:

It looks like this in Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 7:

Extras:

This book contains four pages of original art plus a Crazy Magazine cover that features the X-Men.  

Rating:

Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 7 contains some stories I've loved for years. I'm happy to see the Avengers annual, the fairy tale, and the Dracula story get reprinted in the Masterworks format. But this book gets otherwise bogged down in mediocrities like the Deathbird story and the Hellfire two-parter. Hardcore Dave Cockrum fans might enjoy the book a bit more than others.

J.A. Morris' rating:

.5

2.5 Sals.

Marvel Masterworks: Ms. Marvel Vol. 1

Reprints Ms. Marvel (1977) # 1-14
Written by Gerry Conway, Chris Claremont, Jim Shooter, Carla Conway and Archie Goodwin.
Penciled by John Buscema, Jim Mooney, Sal Buscema, Keith Pollard and Carmine Infantino.
Inked by Joe Sinnott, Sam Grainger, Tom Palmer, Frank Giacoia and Steve Leialoha.

Variant cover.

A new superheroine has arrived in New York.  She possesses super-strength, the power of flight, a psychic seventh sense and the heart of a warrior. This new crime fighter announces her presence by foiling a bank robbery.

She doesn't know her own name, but decides to call herself Ms. Marvel, since her costume resembles the uniform of the Kree Captain Mar-Vell. In her civilian life, she's Carol Danvers, editor in chief of Woman magazine. But Carol and Ms. Marvel don't know they're one and the same...yet. 

Carol's boss and publisher of Woman is none other than J. Jonah Jameson, who famously detests superheroes. Jameson tells Carol he wants her to write an expose of Ms. Marvel. He believes she's a menace like Spider-Man. Carol disagrees and she battles Jameson over the direction of Woman.
 
The criminal known as the Scorpion has just returned to New York. He was created in an experiment funded by Jameson and it cost him his humanity, he's stuck in his costume. Scorpion blames JJJ for his plight, so he kidnaps Jameson and intends to kill him.

Carol Danvers converses with Mary Jane, while Scorpion captures Jameson.

It's up to Ms. Marvel to save Jameson. She makes quick work of the Scorpion and thus scores a victory in her first encounter with a supervillain. But Ms. Marvel has no time to celebrate. As soon as the Scorpion is defeated, she's attacked by Scorpions ally, the Destructor. He wears a helmet that shoots tachyon blasts.

Destructor blasts Ms. Marvel.

Later, Carol visits Florida's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral to cover a space launch for Woman. Her old friend, astronaut Salia Petrie is part of a crew that is rocketing to Skylab. The terrorist organization known as Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) sends a missile to the NASA base intending to destroy it. Ms. Marvel intervenes and is surprised to learn the missile contains a passenger. It's Doomsday Man, a giant robot who is nearly impervious to Ms. Marvel's attacks. They fight in space and land on Earth near a cave.

Ms. Marvel slugs it out with Doomsday Man.

Ms. Marvel is able to deactivate the robot, but she's suddenly attacked by Destructor! They fight in the cave until it collapses around them. Ms. Marvel tries to save the villain, but he perishes in the cave-in. 

Sometime after that, Carol visits Stark International for an article about women who work in the company. She learns that a new Super Truck will be carrying deadly chemicals to Upstate New York.  The Avenger known as the Vision will be accompanying the truck for security purposes. Carol's seventh sense detects something terrible will happen to the truck and tails it as Ms. Marvel. She downs a tree in an attempt to roadblock the Super Truck. This leads to a battle between Ms. Marvel and the Vision. She learns that a bomb has been attached to the truck. It's the work of the evil genius MODOK, who remains in hiding, observing the heroes from behind the scenes.

Subsequently, Carol's seventh sense predicts a fire will occur at a refinery in New Jersey. When she investigates as Ms. Marvel, she discovers it's the work of Grotesk, a subterranean barbarian who once battled the X-Men. Ms. Marvel falls in battle against Grotesk and is captured by MODOK's minions from AIM. MODOK tries to brainwash Ms. Marvel. She resists, fights back against MODOK and escapes.

But Grotesk is still on the loose. He wants to destroy the Earth to punish humans. Nuclear testing destroyed his subterranean kingdom, leaving him the lone survivor. Grotesk seeks revenge and it's up to Ms. Marvel to bring him to justice.  

Following that adventure, Ms. Marvel is flying through New York when she's attacked by a woman with wings. She says her name is Deathbird and announces, "In MODOK's name, tonight Ms. Marvel dies!"

Ms. Marvel goes on to battle Deathbird and MODOK, with rival factions of AIM battling each other on the sidelines.

MODOK learns the hard way that Ms. Marvel's
costume is NOT the source of her powers.

Next, Carol goes back to Kennedy Space Center to cover a space shuttle launch. But her seventh sense draws her to a nearby island.

When she arrives, she's attacked by Hecate, a witch goddess. Hecate is  accompanied by her three men who call themselves the Elementals. Ms. Marvel is outnumbered, but battles bravely, ultimately gaining the respect of Hecate. When the Elementals turn on Hecate, she teams with Ms. Marvel to defeat them.

Hecate & the Elementals attack Ms. Marvel.

After that, Carol heads to her hometown, Boston, MA. She attends a party held on the famous naval ship U.S.S. Constitution with her friend Mike Barnett. They're attacked by two aliens, but Carol turns into Ms. Marvel, defends the ship and sends the aliens fleeing back to their home planet.

Carol sticks around Boston for a while. Her father Joe Danvers is working on a skyscraper construction site. But Joe has some misgivings about the safety of the construction site. When Joe investigates the site, he's attacked by a villain named Steeplejack. Thankfully, Ms. Marvel is shadowing her father and saves him from the villain.

Review:
Marvel MasterworksMs. Marvel Vol. 1 is an entertaining book. If nothing else, it's an eye-opening snapshot of the industry reaction to feminism and the women's liberation movement.    
Story:
Gerry Conway wrote the first 35 pages (2 issues worth) of the stories, with Chris Claremont writing the rest. 

When these stories were first published, Marvel didn't really have many women in their monthly comics who could slug it out and beat up bad guys. Conway deserves credit for creating a heroine who can do just that, and Claremont also writes her as a physical force to be reckoned with. In the scanned pages below, a little girl says she wants to be like Ms. Marvel when she grows up.

That's something little girls didn't get to say very often in Marvel stories until Ms. Marvel came along.

A superhero/superheroine is only as good as their villains. The bad guys here are a mixed bag.  MODOK is the only A-list foe. MODOK proves to be a good opponent for Ms. Marvel. He's accompanied by Deathbird when he comes back for round 2. Deathbird's never been my favorite villain, but she was a recurring foe of the X-Men in the early 80s, which ads some importance to the character.

Grotesk is a minor villain by any metric, but he provided Ms. Marvel with a good sparring partner.  Some of the other villains, like Doomsday Man and Steeplejack are forgettable. The Scorpion is beaten pretty easily by Ms. Marvel in the first story, which is a nice way of demonstrating that she's a heavy hitter.

I enjoyed the scenes that feature Carol interacting with Mary Jane Watson. Conway was familiar with Mary Jane, having written her in Amazing Spider-Man, but we never got to see many scenes of her in which she wasn't talking to Peter Parker. It would have been nice to see more of MJ in these stories, maybe Conway (or Claremont) could have added more depth to the character.

JJJ doesn't care for Carol's coverage of Ms. Marvel.

Speaking of characters with ties to Spider-Man, Carol's interactions with J. Jonah Jameson were also enjoyable. It was nice to see someone stand up to JJJ, after years of Peter Parker's somewhat sheepish behavior. I also liked the scenes where we got to see Carol managing her staff at Woman magazine

 not the sort of thing we saw in comics very often.

I found the "Ms. Marvel and Carol don't know about each other" was the weakest part of this book. I wish Conway and Claremont had gotten rid of it earlier or not written it into the story in the first place.  Other than that, and villains that aren't always very interesting, this book contains some nice, solid Bronze Age tales.

Art:
This Masterworks book features art from Bronze Age stalwarts John and Sal Buscema, Jim Mooney, Keith Pollard, Joe Sinnott and Tom Palmer. Their art is generally excellent and we get some great looking fight scenes from these artists.

Here's some great from the book penciled by Sal Buscema and inked by Sinnott:

If you're a fan of those artists, you're likely to enjoy Marvel Masterworks: Ms. Marvel Vol.1.

How does it look?:
Here's a scan of the splash page for Ms. Marvel #1, borrowed from the great Sidekickcast: 

 

And here's how it looks, as reproduced for this book:

Looks like a pretty good facsimile to me.


Extras:
When Ms. Marvel #1 was first published, Conway wrote an essay that appeared in the letters column.  That's included in this book. It contained some unflattering comments (though I take him at his word that he meant no ill will) about women comic book writers. To his credit, Conway wrote a new essay, published in the beginning of this book where he apologizes and acknowledges he was wrong. 

The book also features a 1977 house ad for Ms. Marvel and 5 pages of original art. 

The stories reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Ms. Marvel Vol.1 aren't exactly classics. But it contains some enjoyable tales and the book also features art from some of the finest Bronze Age pencilers and inkers. As Conway says in his introduction, these tales served as a nice way of hanging a "Girls Allowed" sign on the comic book world.

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 Sals.