Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Volume 5

Reprints X-Men 132-140, X-Men Annual #4, Phoenix:The Untold Story #1 and Bizarre Adventures #27
Written by Chris Claremont and John Byrne.
Penciled by John Byrne, John Romita Jr. and John Buscema.
Inked by Terry Austin, Bob McLeod and Klaus Janson.

Summary:

The X-Men have been captured by the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club!

Jason Wyngarde, who has been driving Jean Grey crazy with illusions, succeeds in convincing her that she is living in the 1700s and is the Hellfire's new Black Queen! Before Cyclops is zapped unconscious by Black Queen, he notices that Wyngarde is actually Mastermind, master illusionist and one of the X-Men's oldest foes! Hellfire Club leader Sebastian Shaw takes down Colossus and Storm, while Nightcrawler is apprehended by cyborg Donald Pierce.

Elsewhere, Wolverine has been apparently killed by Harry Leland. The villain possesses the power to increase mass of any object. Leland makes Wolverine so heavy that he falls through several floors, into the sewers below.

The Hellfire Club is victorious and they celebrate with a toast to Jean, their new Black Queen.

Unbeknownst to Shaw and the others, Wolverine survived his fall and sets out to help his captured teammates. He starts with a brutal assault on the Hellfire Club's hired goons. When Wolverine locates the heroes, Jean break's Mastermind's spell and the X-Men turn the tables on the Hellfire Club!

Hank McCoy, the former X-Men known as the Beast is monitoring a police scanner nearby at the Avengers' mansion. When he sees that the NYPD is headed to the Hellfire Club to arrest the X-Men, he heads there himself to help his old friends.

While the X-Men are flying away in their skycraft, Cyclops notices something is wrong with Jean. Suddenly, she changes into a new red and gold Phoenix costume and announces she is now Dark Phoenix! She blows up the skycraft, which sends the X-Men falling into Central Park.

The X-Men do their best to subdue their teammate, but Dark Phoenix is too powerful. She defeats her fellow mutants with relative ease and departs into space. Dark Phoenix needs energy and decides to consume a star. Unfortunately, this star serves as a sun for the D'Bari system and it leads to the deaths of five billion D'Bari people.

A Shi'ar starship witnesses this and its captain contacts Empress Lilandra. During their transmission, Dark Phoenix destroys the ship. Lilandra says that she has feared that this would happen ever since Jean became Phoenix.

When Dark Phoenix returns to Earth, the X-Men battle her once again. She gains the upper hand again, until Cyclops tries to reason with Jean. While Phoenix is distracted, Professor X (who has arrived with the former X-Man known as the Angel) zaps her with a psi-bolt. Xavier engages Jean in a psi-war and succeeds in removing Dark Phoenix and her powers from Jean. It seems that the X-Men have won the day, when suddenly they disappear.

The heroes discover they've been teleported to a Shi'ar spaceship. Lilandra states that that Jean must stand trial before the Shi'ar since she committed genocide. Xavier challenges Lilandra to a trial by combat. The X-Men will battle the Shi'ar's Imperial Guard team. If the X-Men win, Jean may return with them. If they lose, Jean will be turned over to Lilandra.

The battle does not go well for the X-Men. They are far outnumbered by the Imperial Guard and the Shi'ar fighters are too powerful.

Scott and Jean are the only X-Men left standing. They somehow manage to defeat the Imperial Guard.

But Jean suddenly turns back into Dark Phoenix. Knowing that she will kill again, Jean sacrifices herself for the sake of the universe.

The X-Men are shocked and crushed by Jean's death. At her funeral, Scott flashes back to all of his experiences with the X-Men. He tells Professor X that he has "a lot to think about, to get straight in my head," and Scott decides to take a leave of absence from the team.

The rest of the X-Men are forced to carry on without their long-serving leader. Cyclops' departure is not the only personnel change. Storm takes over as team leader. Angel, an original member of the X-Men, returns to the active roster. The X-Men get their newest member. She's Kitty Pryde, a 13 year old who has the mutant ability to phase through walls. Professor X gives Kitty the codename Sprite and he hopes to train her to use and control her power.

Later, when Nightcrawler dies, the X-Men must got to Hell itself to save Kurt's soul. They're aided by Doctor Strange, master of mystic arts!

Finally, Wolverine visits Canada, hoping he can get its government to leave him alone and allow him to stay with the X-Men. While meeting with members of Alpha Flight near Hudson Bay, Logan and Nightcrawler are attacked the flesh-eating monster called the Wendigo!

Can the heroes defeat this savage menace?

Review:
I first read these stories more than thirty years ago. Sometimes, when we revisit great works, we're disappointed. We notice all the imperfections and decide that nostalgia has a lot to do with why we revere some things more than others. Or that something we loved when we were younger now seems dated. Having just re-read the Dark Phoenix Saga, I'm very happy to report that it's aged nicely and is as great as ever.

Story:
Chris Claremont and John Byrne serve as co-plotters and these tales are damn near perfect. We get inside the heads of all the X-Men and learn how much Jean means to them.

When Scott tells Jean he loves her "more than life itself," it doesn't feel sappy or melodramatic in any way, but true to the characters' shared history.

I'm not spoiling anything when I mention that Jean's death was retconned five years later (something I've never been crazy about). But that doesn't impact the greatness of these stories.

As great as the characters are, comic book stories depend on action and Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Volume 5 delivers plenty of excitement. The Hellfire Club proves to be a tough opponent for the X-Men and we get lots of great fight scenes. Wolverine's encounter with Leland and subsequent solo attack on the Hellfire Club is a defining moment for Logan.

The duel on the moon with the Imperial Guard is one of the best battles in Marvel's history. It's a bold move by Claremont and Byrne to (more or less) put the X-Men in the unusual position of defending a genocidal criminal. But it's consistent of the heroes to do anything to help one of their own.

The Dark Phoenix Saga was a tough act to follow, but Byrne and Claremont do a great job with the later stories as well. Kitty Pryde joins the team in these tales and she would go on to be a long-serving and very beloved character. The Wendigo/Alpha Flight two-parter is also a strong story.

Claremont gets sole writing credit for "Nightcrawler's Inferno." It's okay, but it pales in comparison to everything else in this book.

Art:
Byrne and Terry Austin continue their fabulous art in these tales. Their depiction of Dark Phoenix makes us believe Jean has become an embodiment of evil. Things that could have looked ridiculous, such as a tree that Phoenix turns into gold, look fantastic.

The fight between the Imperial Guard and the X-Men features dozens of characters and I imagine Byrne and Austin were exhausted when they finished its art. But it looks great and their art is the reason it's one of the best fights in Marvel history.

The great art continues during Scott's flashback of the X-Men's adventures during Jean's funeral. It's great to see Byrne and Austin's depictions of all the X-Men's early foes.  These villains never looked better.

Austin and Byrne also do a great job on the Wendigo/Alpha Flight adventure. Wendigo never looked as fearsome and frightening before this art team got to draw him.

John Romita, Jr. and Bob McLeod serve as penciler and inker for the Doctor Strange/Inferno story. They provide good art, but it's not in the same class as the work of Byrne and Austin.

How does it look?:
Here's how pages 2-3 look scanned from a copy of X-Men #137:

This is how the two-page spread appears in Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Volume 5:

Extras:
The biggest "bonus" feature is the alternate ending to the Dark Phoenix storyline where Jean is allowed to live. It's followed by "The Dark Phoenix Tapes", a transcript of a conversation between the X-Men creative team and their editors about why the decision was made to kill Phoenix.

We also get Phoenix solo tale that was originally published in Bizarre Adventures #27, a black and white anthology magazine. It's a good story, written by Claremont with pencils from John Buscema inked by Klaus Janson.

Rating:
The Dark Phoenix Saga is one of the best and most influential storylines in comic history and it has defined the X-Men for more than three decades. Claremont, Byrne and Austin would break up shortly after these stories were published, but if you need any evidence that they were one of the greatest creative teams of all time, Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Volume 5 is the best place to look. This is one of the best reprint books you'll ever read and I give it my highest recommendation.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 Sals!

Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 4

Reprints X-Men #122-131 and X-Men Annual #3
Written by Chris Claremont.
Penciled by John Byrne and George Perez.
Inked by Terry Austin.

Summary:
After a trip that took them around the world, the X-Men are back home at the X-Mansion. Scott Summers, AKA Cyclops is overseeing Colossus' training center in the Danger Room. Banshee and Nightcrawler are repairing the team's airplane, the Blackbird. Wolverine and Storm are planning to drive into New York City. Everyone is generally enjoying their downtime. 

Scott later heads out to run errands around Salem Center. He's accompanied by Colleen Wing, who he began dating after the presumed death of Jean Grey. They have a serious discussion about where their relationship is heading.

In Scotland, Jean is trying to get on with her life without Scott. While shopping for clothes in Stornoway, Jean (literally) bumps into a man named Jason Wyngarde. When they part, he says he hopes to see her again, Jean says that would be nice. Wyndarde watches as Jean sails back to Muir Island. He thinks to himself that she will soon fall in love with him and that Jean will belong "mind, body and soul--to the Hellfire Club."

Storm Visits her old family home in Harlem. The neighborhood has changed a lot since her childhood. Storm enters her old apartment and is shocked to find that it's filled with teenage drug addicts. When they attack her with knives, she gets help from Misty Knight and Luke Cage!

Sometime after, all of the X-Men are captured. It's the work of Arcade, one of the world's most expensive assassins. When the X-Men awake, they find themselves locked inside Murderworld, the amusement park Arcade uses to kill people. Murderworld contains a deathtrap created for every member of the X-Men.

Arcade targets Colossus in a unique and cruel manner. Peter finds himself in a dark room interrogated by a KGB agent. Knowing that Peter misses his family in the Soviet Union,  the agent asks Colossus how he could betray his Russian homeland by teaming with the X-Men in the U.S..

The X-Men are shocked when Colossus attacks them. He is wearing a different costume and tells them he is now called the Proletarian, workers' hero of the Soviet Union! Peter has been brainwashed and turned against his friends.

How can the X-Men survive the dangers that surround them in Murderworld and defeat their own teammate?

Shortly after that, Arkon the imperion, ruler of the planet Polemachus arrives on Earth seeking Thor. Arkon's home world is in a state of darkness and he believes the thunder god's lightning can restore its sunlight.

When Thor isn't available, Arkon learns of Storm's powers and invades the X-Mansion. The X-Men defend their home and battle Arkon. The imperion fights back, hurling a lightning bolt at Storm, which causes her to vanish.

Cyclops (correctly) theorizes that Storm is still alive and the X-Men travel to space with Arkon to search for Ororo.

Subsequently, Moira MacTaggert performs some tests on Phoenix at Muir Island. Jean's powers have greatly increased and this has Moira a bit worried. She thinks that Phoenix is approaching a level of power akin to a god. MacTaggert isn't sure how long Jean can keep such power under her control.

Charles Xavier is in space with Lilandra at the Shi'ar Imperial Center. Professor X studies files that the Shi'ar have compiled on Phoenix after Jean saved the universe. Xavier comes to similar conclusions as Moira and heads back to Earth.

Back in Stornoway, Jason Wyndarde has a moment of introspection. Through his thoughts, we learn that he has been using illusions to disguise himself as various people who meet Jean. He plans to use his illusions to manipulate Jean and mold her into an alliance. This will help Wyngarde take power in the Hellfire Club, a very exclusive club of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world. If Wyngarde succeeds, Phoenix' amazing powers could become a force for evil.

Jean begins to experience "time slips" where she finds herself in the 1700s, wearing clothing from that era. It's the work of Wyngarde, part of his plot to force Jean to join him and the Hellfire Club.

Subsequently, Hank McCoy, better known as the Beast, decides to check on the X-mansion, which was recently abandoned when Professor X departed for space. The X-Men think he's a villain and attack. Beast is shocked and overjoyed to learn that Cyclops and the others are not dead.

Hank informs the X-Men that Jean is also still alive, so Scott calls her in Muir Island. When Lorna Dane answers the phone, Cyclops hears a scream and learns that Jean and everyone on the island are under attack.

The X-Men quickly fly to Muir and learn that a mutant known only as Mutant X has escaped from his holding cell in Moira's lab. Mutant X is a creature of pure psionic energy. He needs to possess the body of another person to survive, a process which kills the host. He takes the name Proteus and goes on a killing spree.

The X-Men meet with Moira and discuss how they should deal with Proteus. Moira says that Mutant X has only one weakness: metal. She also shocks Cyclops when she reveals that Proteus is her son! In spite of this, Moira is willing to do anything to stop Mutant X, even if it means killing her own son.

When the X-Men track down Proteus, they learn he can manipulate reality itself. Mutant X can bend the laws of physics, turn buildings into liquid and can transform metal into bees! When he uses his reality-warping abilities on Wolverine and Nightcrawler, the heroes are traumatized and ready to give up the fight.

Can the X-Men find a way to defeat Proteus? Is it possible to stop Mutant X without killing him?

Finally, the X-Men return to the mansion in Westchester, NY where they are reunited with Prof. Xavier.  After presuming them dead for months, Charles is very happy to see them alive and well. Their Cerebro device, which detects mutants, locates two heretofore unknown mutants, one in Chicago, the other in New York.

Unbeknownst to the X-Men, the Hellfire Club has been spying on them. The club's leader, Sebastian Shaw, tells Jason Wyngarde that they have bugged the X-Mansion and are able to access Cerebro. The Hellfire Club also sends agents to locate these new mutants.

Storm, Xavier, Wolverine and Colossus head to Chicago, where they meet with the mutant, a 13-year-old girl named Kitty Pryde. Professor X meets with her parents and asks him to send her to his school for gifted youngsters.  

When Storm and her teammates take Kitty to a local soda fountain, they're attacked by men in armor. The X-Men defeat them, but then they are confronted by the villain who sent them: Emma Frost, White Queen of the Hellfire Club! She easily takes out Wolverine, Storm and Colossus with a telepathic attack. Emma later captures Charles Xavier and imprisons all of them. Meanwhile, Kitty Pryde escapes when she discovers that she has the mutant ability to pass through walls!

In New York, Cyclops, Phoenix and Nightcrawler learn that the other newly discovered mutant can be found in a disco. The mutant is a singer named Alison Blaire, who uses Dazzler as her stage name. Alison has the ability to transform sound into beams of light and lasers. The Hellfire goons attack Dazzler, but Cyclops and Phoenix are able to help her defeat them.

When the X-Men learn of their teammates' fate in Chicago, they depart for the Windy City for a showdown with the White Queen!

Review:
The X-Men's adventures keep getting better with each volume of Marvel Masterworks. The stories reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 4 were my jumping on point for these characters. These are "my" X-Men. The way they act and the way they're drawn are what I think of when I think of the X-Men.

Story:
Chris Claremont and John Byrne really put the X-Men through the ringer in these stories. The book opens with a "quiet" story where the heroes get to rest and talk a bit, reflecting on the state of the team and what they've been through. It gives the creative team another chance to develop and define the characters. Storm's history gets fleshed out a little more when she visits Harlem. Wolverine tries to visit Mariko at the Japanese consulate. To me, this shows he's gotten over his crush on Jean and that the "softening" of Logan continues.

After that, the X-Men are captured and sent to Murderworld. Arcade is certainly psychotic and evil but he's a very entertaining character. He became one of their top villains in the future. Murderworld itself presents the X-Men with lots of interesting obstacles. Since the Arcade story was one of the first I ever read, he's long been one of my favorite Marvel villains.

I mentioned in my last review that I've never cared for the "X-Men are dead" subplot. That continues until page 107 of Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 4, but thankfully Beast and Jean learn the others are alive, and vice versa. Scott and Jean have a nice reunion scene where they reaffirm their love for each other.

The Proteus tale is often overshadowed by the Dark Phoenix Saga that came a few issues later. But it's one of the best X-Men stories of all time. Cyclops at one point calls Proteus the most dangerous adversary they've ever faced, and it's an accurate statement. There are some disturbing overtones here. Proteus possesses the body of his father Joe at one point, and then attacks Moira. It's very Oedipal.

The word "rape" never appears in this book. But it's very strongly implied that Proteus was conceived as a result of rape and it's suggested that it's also the reason why Moira's son is evil. I can't agree with that, but Proteus is certainly one of the most frightening villains in Marvel's history. I don't believe Mutant X has ever been resurrected, and that's a tribute to the strength of this story.

Kitty Pryde shows up for the first time and she makes an impression right away. When X-Men are kidnapped, Kitty is forced into action and bravely frees the heroes. She would later go on to become one of the most popular X-Men of the 1980s.

 

Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 4 also introduces two other villains who will be long term foes of the X-Men in Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost of the Hellfire Club.

Byrne and Claremont show us that Cyclops' leadership skills are ever evolving.  He starts a fight with Wolverine and Nightcrawler in order to snap them out of their fear of fighting Proteus.

 

In earlier stories, Scott tried to get this group of X-Men to function as a team in the same manner as the original X-Men. In Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 4, Scott doubts that will ever happen, but also states that that goal is no longer "desirable."

We get another one of Claremont's great "travelogue" narrations. This time, Chicago gets the Claremont treatment:

The X-Men's first interaction with the Hellfire Club eventually leads to Phoenix becoming Dark Phoenix....but that's something I'll get to in my review of the next volume!

If there's anything to criticize, it's Scott's break-up with Colleen. Jean and Scott's reunion is nicely handled, but we never see any sort of "on-panel" talk between him and Colleen. When Jean telepathically picks up a "stray thought" about Colleen from Cyclops, he tells her "Colleen's a friend, nothing else." After Colleen gives Scott the key to her apartment (!), shown in the image below, she just disappears from the book after the Arcade story and is never seen again in the pages of the X-Men.

Colleen Wing is a great character. Claremont wrote some great stories that featured her in Iron Fist and Deadly Hands Of Kung Fu. I've always thought she deserved better treatment from Byrne and Claremont in re her relationship with Cyclops.

The Arkon story is bit of step down from the rest of the book. It's not bad, but it has nothing to do with the rest of the stories reprinted here. It also feels like the sort of story that would've made more sense as an Avengers or Fantastic Four adventure.

Art:
John Byrne and Terry Austin provide fantastic art in these stories. The Phoenix/White Queen duel is brilliantly depicted.

Another favorite scene is Proteus' attack on Nightcrawler and Wolverine.

Spider-Man makes an appearance in the Murderworld story, since he was the first superhero to face Arcade. He doesn't get to do much, but Spidey looks great (dare I say he looks amazing?) when drawn by Byrne and Austin.

When Jean and Scott search for a mutant in a disco, the art team even manages to sneak the Joker into the top left of the image below:

George Perez penciled the Arkon story, with inks by Austin. They do a nice job and I've always loved this image of Colossus on a flying dragon:

How Does It Look?:
The two pages below were scanned from a copy of X-Men #128:

This is how the pages appear in Marvel Masterworks:Uncanny X-Men Vol. 4:

Extras:
At the end of the book, you'll find three pages of original art, plus a character design sheet of Kitty Pryde.

Rating:
Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 4 contains some of the greatest stories and art of the Bronze Age. The Proteus saga makes it worth purchasing all by itself, and the rest of the book is great too.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 Sals!