Uncanny X-Men #159-162

Uncanny X-Men #159-162

Originally released in 1982

Written by Chris Claremont

Art by Bill Sienkiewicz (#159), Brent Anderson (#160), and Dave Cockrum (#161-162)

I was in the mood to read different runs of X-Men throughout this week (Claremont, Morrison, and Hickman), but somehow, I had completely forgotten that the next issue in Claremont's run would fit the time of year by including this guy:

It really puts into perspective how crazy comics can be when the X-Men fighting Dracula is a semi-common occurrence.  While walking home on a foggy night, Storm is attacked by Dracula and put under his power, slowly turning into a vampire.  The more I thought about it, the more horrifying the idea became - one of a vampire's main weaknesses is sunlight, but a vampire with Storm's powers could simply create cloud cover wherever she goes, removing that weakness entirely.

Speaking of vampire weaknesses, this issue includes a detail that doesn't get mentioned often - using the cross to ward off vampires only works if you have faith.  For example, Kitty is unable to fend Dracula off with a cross, but touching a Star of David necklace that she has burns him.  Likewise, Wolverine making a cross with his claws is ineffective.

After Kitty gives an "I know you're in there somewhere" speech, Ororo regains enough control over herself to be able to tell Dracula that she doesn't want to live as a vampire, and Dracula releases his power over her.  It's unclear how Storm's vampirism was undone; maybe Dracula agreeing was enough, but it resulted in the ending feeling more than a little abrupt as a result.

The next issue kicks off Magik's time in Limbo, which I had seen referenced before.  It starts off with the demonic sorcerer Belasco luring Illyana to his dimension in a first person point-of-view shot that comes across as voyeuristic, if not downright predatory.

Kitty, and later the rest of the X-Men, follow Illyana only to find up in Limbo, where time and space are in flux.  This is seemingly a different Limbo from the one associated with Kang the Conqueror and Immortus - here, the X-Men encounter twisted or dead future versions of themselves, with Storm being the only one who's remained alive and sane.

While Belasco's plans are ultimately foiled, he manages to keep Illyana trapped in Limbo before the X-Men can pull her out - a few seconds by their time, but seven years by Illyana's time, aging her into a 13 year old.  It's unclear why this change was made; maybe the creators felt that not much could be done with Illyana as she was, or maybe they intended to make her a full-fledged member of this team or the New Mutants and felt like that wouldn't work if she was only six or seven.

Issue 161 focuses on the comatose Xavier, who still (unbeknownst to the X-Men) has a Brood parasite dormant inside of him.  This issue serves as a flashback detailing how he first met Magneto, along with Gabrielle Haller, a catatonic Holocaust survivor who would start a relationship with Xavier upon recovering.  Eventually, Gabrielle would have Xavier's child, David Haller (a.k.a. Legion), though Xavier was unaware that the child was his. (and, by my understanding, isn't a good father to the boy even after he finds out)

Gabrielle was caught up in a plot by HYDRA head Baron Strucker to find a hidden cache of gold that Hitler had hidden, leading to Xavier and Magneto going to rescue her.  Magneto takes the gold to fund his own activities, while Xavier and Gabrielle prepare for their life together.  These memories manage to pull Xavier out of his coma, though the X-Men aren't out of the woods just yet.

While onboard a Shi'ar vessel to celebrate Xavier's recovery and to say farewell to Lilandra, the ship is attacked by Deathbird (who declares herself the new Shi'ar Empress) and the Brood, who set off a bomb that knocks the X-Men unconscious.

Issue 162 focuses entirely on Wolverine as he's trapped on an alien world.  A hallucinogenic gas causes him to remember his time in Japan, though his memories are intruded upon by the very real Brood scouts who are tracking him.

Given how much emphasis has been placed in the X-Men as a team, it feels like it must have been a bit surprising at the time to have a full issue dedicated to Wolverine on his own.  While sneaking around, Wolverine discovers that each of the X-Men have a Brood Queen implanted in them, which will transform the host into a Queen while absorbing their abilities and genetic potential.

Wolverine's healing factor and Adamantium skeleton manages to keep the transformation at bay and kill the Queen parasite, but the issue leaves off with Wolvie having no idea if the X-Men are alive or dead, and worrying if he will have to kill them if they've been transformed into Broods.  It's gripping stuff, and I gladly would have kept going and read more issues if I had more time today.  These four issues of Claremont's run cover wildly different tones and scenarios, to the point where they almost could have felt like they were from different series, and I had a great time with all of them.