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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

X-amining X-Men #127

"The Quality of HATRED!"
November 1979

In a Nutshell
The X-Men track Proteus to Edinburgh, where he possess the body of his father and captures Moira

Writer/Co-Plotter: Chris Claremont
Artist/Co-Plotter: John Byrne
Inker: Terry Austin
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Colorist: Glynis Wein
Editor: Roger Stern
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Plot
With Proteus advancing through the gale force winds she's created, Storm tries to fly away from the villain, but he warps reality around her, causing her to crash into the ground. Just as he moves in for the kill, Proteus is shot several times. On a nearby hillside, Moira fires a sniper rifle, locking in on his energy signature. Lining up for a kill shot, Cyclops intervenes, causing her to miss. Moira knocks out Cyclops, but when she sets up for another shot, Proteus, fearing the metal bullets, has fled. Moira, recognizing that Proteus has been moving steadily south, thinks she knows where he is heading, and breaks off on her own. She arrives in Edinburgh where she meets her estranged husband Joe, telling him he has a son and that his son is likely coming to kill him.


The X-Men reconvene, with the ones that faced Proteus shaken, especially Wolverine. Worried about their condition, and that he himself was taken out so easily by Moira, Cyclops picks a fight with Wolverine to snap him out of his funk. An enraged Wolverine attacks Cyclops, who manages to keep Wolverine angry and off balance. Cyclops then brings Nightcrawler and Storm into the fight as well, testing them and holding his own until Storm is about to cut loose, fearing Cyclops has been possessed by Proteus. Cyclops gives up, explaining he needed to test the X-Men who faced Proteus to make sure there was no lasting damage, a move which earns him the respect of Wolverine. Just then, Phoenix telepathically senses terrible fear coming from Moira, who is being attacked by Proteus, now possessing his father's body and flush with his father's memories and emotions. The X-Men arrive and attack him, but Proteus easily fends them off before grabbing Moira and threatening to snap her neck or possess her if the X-Men don't leave him alone. Moira begs the X-Men to sacrifice her, saying her life is nothing compared to the lives Proteus will take if left free. The X-Men are stunned into inaction, but Cyclops agrees with Moria: Proteus must be stopped, no matter the cost.

Firsts and Other Notables
It is revealed that Moira is married to Joseph MacTaggert, Proteus' father, an up-and-coming politician who refuses to divorce her for political reasons. This is his first appearance.


A Work in Progress
Cyclops makes it clear that the X-Men intend to capture Proteus, not kill him.


Poor powerless Banshee is stuck making Hot Cocoa for the X-Men.


Phoenix admits to Cyclops that she can't track Proteus telepathically. Later, he marvels at her power level.


Phoenix also finds that it once again feels good to cut loose with her power.


Following their "training" fight, Cyclops finally earns the respect of Wolverine, as Wolverine tells him, 'I ain’t thought much o’ you in the past, Cyke – as team leader, or as a man. I was wrong", effectively putting to an end the simmering conflict between the two.


Proteus notes that his power requires visual contact with his target to work (which explains why he can't just remake the entire world in his image). He also says that when he possess someone's body, he gains all of their memories and abilities. Which means, after he possessed one of Multiple Man's duplicates last issue, he could have just used his power to create new host bodies for himself.

That 70s Comic
Joe MacTaggert calls the police and asks for Chief Superintendent Dai Thomas, a supporting character from Marvel UK's Captain Britain comic. However, Thomas is a London policeman, and would have little authority to do anything for MacTaggert in Scotland.

Moira reveals to Joe that Proteus is their son by saying, "when we said our ‘fond farewells’ in New York all those years ago, you didn’t just put me in hospital for a week, you left me pregnant", strongly implying that Proteus is a child of rape, or at the very least, a child conceived prior to or in the wake of a violent act. Though it likely went over the heads of younger readers (it did me, the first several times around), it's a pretty ballsy implication for a superhero comic in the late 70s.


Artistic Achievements
In all the times I've read this issue, I never before noticed that you can see Polaris changing into her costume in the background of this panel.


The Awesome and Terrible Power of Cyclops
Worried about the fighting capabilities of the X-Men who encountered Proteus (and himself), Cyclops picks a fight with Wolverine and eventually brings Nightcrawler and Storm into it to test them, effectively taking on half the team by himself and holding his own in a great showcase for his skill and abilities as a leader.


For Sale
Remember when the new Saturday Morning Cartoons were a big deal? Here's what the lineup in fall of '79 looked like for the "Peacock Club".


When I was a kid, I thought having my own baseball card would be the coolest thing ever. Then I got one. And it was lame.


John Byrne on Claremont's ability to make the reader care about minor characters
"He did it with Jenny Banks, the little Scot girl who gets zapped on the road. She was in there for maybe three before she got killed, but you knew who she was; you knew where she came from; you had a hint of her personality; she was a real person...This was not just a cipher who was zapped to show how bad the villain was. The same is true of the sailor who gets zapped by Proteus [in issue #126]. We know he has a wife who doesn't like him drinking, and all kinds of stuff like that. A tremendous sense of who these people are in just the space of a couple of panels, and I think that's a tremendous strength on Chris's part."

Sanderson, Peter. The X-Men Companion II. Stamford: Fantagraphics Books, 1982. p99


Teebore's Take
The "Proteus" story hums along nicely, amping up the tension by having the X-Men fail spectacularly against the villain and making it personal by putting Moira in the line of fire by issue's end. But the highlight of this issue (and one of the reasons it's a favorite of mine) is the sequence when Cyclops takes on half the team and wins, earning the respect of Wolverine and showing the readers that he's more than just a whiny nerd. It's one of my favorite Cyclops moments, and one of the moments that immediately comes to mind whenever anyone asks why I like Cyclops. It does a lot to show how effective a team leader Cyclops is, as he recognizes a problem and immediately works to resolve it. Both his strategic (knowing he needs to be keep Wolverine angry and off balance) and tactical (predicting where Nightcrawler will teleport, shooting the ground out from under Storm) abilities are showcased and, tellingly, Cyclops take on all the risk himself, leaving a telepathic heads up to Phoenix as his only failsafe, unwilling to risk anyone else to get the team back into shape. It's a classic Cyclops moment, and a testament to the strength of the Claremont/Byrne run that they manage to squeeze one of the most iconic Cyclops scenes and resolve the long simmering conflict between him and Wolverine into the margins of a story whose primary focus has nothing to do with either. 

Next Issue
The final fate of Proteus in Uncanny X-Men #128!

Collected Editions

19 comments:

  1. This one is the first X-men back issue I acquired after becoming an x-men nut, and as such one I've always treasured. Got it in a trade with another kid in the neighborhood circa 1982. The issue is in media res so I wasn't sure what happened before or after for a long time. Lot's of cool stuff going on; the "training" session is one reason why cyke was my favorite (and what a great X-men intro for neophytes), the great "X-men drinking hot cocoa" panel..I never noticed Polaris changing either til now.
    Yeah Moira explaining the last run in with her husband was heavy stuff.

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  2. The Cyclops vs. the X-Men scene is one of my all-time favorites too. He predicts Nightcrawler's teleportation destination again in issue #175. And I love that panel where he bounces a blast off Colossus to hit Wolverine in the back!

    I really like Wolverine's acceptance of Cyclops in this moment. I don't think Claremont ever again showed enmity between them either, while they were teammates. I believe Wolverine became hostile again after the whole "abandoning Madelyne" debacle, though.

    Y'know, I love the X-Men quite a bit, but I also love seeing them get trounced by Cyclops in this issue and #175, and by Spider-Man in Secret Wars #3. Not sure why that is.

    I believe it's this issue and the next (or maybe last issue and this one) where Cyclops twice uses the analagy that Proteus thinks of humans the way humans think of cows. I've always really liked that line, though I found it odd that it was repeated verbatim one issue after the first time it was said.

    "...after he possessed one of Multiple Man's duplicates last issue, he could have just used his power to create new host bodies for himself."

    Huh. I never thought of that. I'm guessing Claremont and Byrne didn't either.

    "...Polaris changing into her costume..."

    I don't think I noticed that initially either, though I did pick up on it eventually.

    Polaris can't seem to settle on her costume around this time. When we see her in Giant Size #1, she's in her original (Neal Adams?) costume. Then Cockrum gives her the Shi'ar outfit when she shows up brainwashed by Eric the Red in issue #97. Byrne apparently either didn't like the Shi'ar costume or figured it was supposed to be a one-off thing, because he puts her back in her original costume here. But when Cockrum returns to the title in the 140's, he puts Polaris back in the Shi'ar suit, having apparently intended it to be a permanent costume change. Though I don't believ we ever saw it again after that story.

    Anyway, I liker her original outfit way better than the Shi'ar costume.

    Remember when the new Saturday Morning Cartoons were a big deal?

    Remember when every fall they'd have a primetime special to promote the coming seasons of cartoons? I think NBC used to do it, anyway. Not sure about anyone else.

    "John Byrne on Claremont's ability to make the reader care about minor characters"

    It's always nice to see Byrne speak well of Claremont. Especially so soon after their collaboration ended, when one would assume he'd be a little bitter!

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  3. @Chris: Got it in a trade with another kid in the neighborhood circa 1982.

    Aw, man, I remember trading comics. I once traded Youngblood #1 for New Mutants #98. Both filled with Liefeld crappiness, but I stand by my decision.

    the great "X-men drinking hot cocoa" panel

    I love that they're drinking cocoa and not coffee (or tea). I wonder if that's because Claremont prefers cocoa, or if it was a "kids will relate better" kind of thing.

    @Matt: I don't think Claremont ever again showed enmity between them either, while they were teammates. I believe Wolverine became hostile again after the whole "abandoning Madelyne" debacle, though.

    Yeah, after Cyke leaves for X-Factor, the animosity comes up again, but frankly, *I'm* kinda pissed at Cyclops in those early issues, so I can't blame Wolverine.

    Otherwise, yeah, this pretty much puts an end to their rivalry for the time being (though Wolverine still makes a few snarky comments here and there, I think).

    Y'know, I love the X-Men quite a bit, but I also love seeing them get trounced by Cyclops in this issue and #175, and by Spider-Man in Secret Wars #3. Not sure why that is.

    I can't speak to Secret Wars #3, but I love #175 just for the "this is why Cyclops is awesome" factor.

    where Cyclops twice uses the analagy that Proteus thinks of humans the way humans think of cows.

    Hmm...must be last issue and next; I don't think that came up in this issue (though I might have missed it).

    I never thought of that. I'm guessing Claremont and Byrne didn't either.

    In their defense, I'm not sure if it had been made clear at that point that Multiple Man's dupes can make dupes; that might be something that was established more recently.

    Anyway, I liker her original outfit way better than the Shi'ar costume.

    Ditto. And I don't think we ever see the Shi'ar one after the "Substitute X-Men" story, either.

    Remember when every fall they'd have a primetime special to promote the coming seasons of cartoons?

    I DO remember that. I was always terribly excited by it. Heck, they might still do it, for all I know ("Saturday morning cartoons ain't what they used to be," I say in my best grouchy old man voice).

    It's always nice to see Byrne speak well of Claremont.

    Indeed it is, though later in that quote Byrne goes on a rant about Claremont's "schticks" and how his fault as a writer is an over-reliance on them. I'll probably feature it eventually, but it didn't really fit here (and I did like pointing about that Byrne did have SOME positive things to say about Claremont).

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  4. What happened with Claremont and Byrne? I understand creative differences, but Byrne seems to have harbored ill feelings for some time. It's not like Claremont ended Byrne's career -- Byrne would go on to single-handedly restored "Fantastic Four" to a premiere comic and launched "Alpha Flight," not to mention his stuff with DC. (I understand that he never quite enjoyed his "Alpha" work, but it was still a very popular comics early on.)

    Claremont has had issues working with other artists -- Lee, most famously -- but Claremont still speaks of them quite well. So, why this one-sided long-term animosity?

    Was it really just creative? Or was there something more to it?

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  5. One of the greatest X-men storylines ever for me. I like the setting. Scotland and Muir island are atmospheric and somehow Proteus fits there well. This would have been a very different story taking place in, say, NYC.

    And I keep finding more subtle censorship in the old Finnish printings of these stories as you go along. I never knew Moira was in hospital! In the Finnish version she just says "When you left me, I was pregnant." Now that's just lame.

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  6. @Michael: Was it really just creative? Or was there something more to it?

    We'll get into in greater detail when Byrne leaves (I have TONS of quotes, mainly from Byrne, about why he left).

    For the most part, it sounds like a matter of Byrne not feeling like he was getting credited enough for his contributions, and was fed up with his contributions getting overwritten by Claremont.

    Byrne felt they were co-plotters and deserved joint credit, but Claremont, in Byrne's eyes, ended up getting/taking most of the credit for the story ideas. And then when a story came along that was almost entirely Byrne's plot and (like #139-140), Byrne felt he should get sole credit and didn't. "Days of Future Past", for example, Byrne has said was pretty much his idea, but everyone looks at as a Claremont story drawn by Byrne. So in that sense, it seems very much like a "Lee/Kirby on the Fantastic Four" kind of thing.

    He would also get frustrated when he and Claremont would discuss something, Byrne would draw it, then Claremont would change what they discussed without consulting Byrne. So Byrne would pick up an issue and see something completely different from what he expected based on their conversations. And, as far as Byrne was concerned, when Louise Simonson took over as editor, it seemed clear to him that she was, for lack of a better term, "Team Claremont" and would side with him over Byrne during disputes. So he left.

    Which isn't to say it was all Claremont's fault (like I said, Byrne has talked on the subject more than anyone, so things tend to get skewed that way). Byrne, as we've seen through some of the quotes on these posts already, has some pretty strong views on what constitutes a good story and what certain characters should or shouldn't do, and seems to be largely inflexible when it comes to stuff like that (which is why almost all of his post-X-Men success, Alpha Flight, FF, Superman, etc. are books where he is both writer and artist). Byrne appears to have been much more of a traditionalist than Claremont, and where Claremont was more willing to play with the dynamic of the superhero team (and do stuff like split up the team or retire characters or bring in villains to keep things new and different), Byrne wanted to keep things closer to the traditional mean.

    (And, of course, it can be argued that Claremont needs that pull from a traditionalist to craft his best material. The two runs of his that are considered the most wildly popular are with Byrne and Lee, two artists with, in terms of plot, traditional sensibilities who forced Claremont to work within the confines of the traditional superhero team narrative. The push and pull between their "this is how a superhero book works" and Claremont's "let's push the boundaries of the superhero narrative" resulted in what are considered some of the best X-Men stories, though neither is my personal favorite era of the book).

    At least, that's always been my take on it, and I like I said, we'll cover it in more detail shortly.

    Matt, I know you're fairly well-versed on this subject; anything you'd like to add?

    @Ugus: I like the setting. Scotland and Muir island are atmospheric and somehow Proteus fits there well.

    Definitely! One of the things I've failed to mention in discussing this story is how its Claremont and Byrne's attempt to do a superhero horror story, with Proteus as the killer on the loose. The setting, both the open moors of Scotland and the more isolated Edinburgh (compared to NY) really helps contribute to the "horror story" feel.

    In the Finnish version she just says "When you left me, I was pregnant." Now that's just lame.

    Wow! Apparently the rape innuendo didn't go over the heads of the Finnish censors back in the day.

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  7. @Teebore Byrne appears to have been much more of a traditionalist than Claremont, and where Claremont was more willing to play with the dynamic of the superhero team (and do stuff like split up the team or retire characters or bring in villains to keep things new and different), Byrne wanted to keep things closer to the traditional mean.

    Interesting. Looking at Byrne's run on FF, I'd have thought he was more experimental. Sure, his run there was known for getting "Back to Basics," but he totally transformed Sue's character and forced what I think was the first long-term membership shake-up in the book, sending Thing off to a solo title and having She-Hulk take his place.

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  8. "Matt, I know you're fairly well-versed on this subject; anything you'd like to add?"

    Actually, you covered pretty much everything I would've said. Anyway, most of what I know is from reading Byrne's comments on his forum, where he mostly takes little jabs at Claremont whenever he can. He has occasionally said kind things about him, but those compliments are few and far between.

    On the other hand, Claremont is always very complimentary of Byrne. He positively gushes over him in the introductions to the Marvel Masterworks covering these issues, and when he was working on X-Men Forever, when someone posted a message in the semi-official thread someplace that Byrne had expressed interest in doing his own version, Claremont said that was a great idea and he'd love to see it happen. Later, when someone inquired about the possibility of Byrne penciling an issue of X-Men Forever, Claremont said he didn't think it was likely to happen, but he'd welcome the chance if it came (though he said it more like "I welcome working with anyone who's interested").

    However, I have heard -- purely anecdotally -- that he's rarely interested in speaking about their partnership in person at conventions and such, so who knows what he really thinks.

    Oh, and also -- let's not forget that they teamed up for a six-issue arc on JLA maybe six years ago or so. Though from what I understand, Byrne plotted the whole thing then penciled it and sent it off to Claremont, who scripted it. I don't think they had any interaction whatsoever while working on it. But they were willing to work together again, though I wouldn't exactly call it "collaboration".

    Oh, I do agree with your assessment of Louise Simonson as being "Team Claremont". But I get the impression Roger Stern, a personal friend of Byrne's, was pretty clearly "Team Byrne". Byrne often talks about how he and Stern usually had to talk Claremont out of whatever hare-brained plot or "bit" he'd come up with that month, and it really sounds like it was them against him. Funny how as soon as the tables turned, Byrne left.

    All that said, I tend to agree with Byrne a lot of the time on how things "should be". I disliked a lot of the "playing with the genre" that Claremont did after his more traditional partners -- Byrne, Cockrum, Romita -- left. I've said before that I think the title drops fast after issue 175, but it's still good enough while Romita is on board. But around the time he leaves, that's when I really start to have problems. This also coincides very closely with the arrival of Ann Nocenti as editor, so I've always wondered if her influence had something to do with it, too. She did write some very untraditional Daredevil stories around the same time.

    (By the way, just yesterday Jim Shooter posted a blog entry about the X-Men creative team's visit to Europe in 1985. He mentions at one point that Claremont had Romita "removed" from the title. I recall several of the Jason Powell entries on "Remarkable" hypothesized that Claremont was not pleased with Romita, since he almost never talks about him. Shooter's claim, which is the first I've ever heard on the subject, would seem to agree with that theory. Though Shooter also points out that Claremont originally recruited Romita in the first place, so I guess he changed his mind along the way.)

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  9. "I can't speak to Secret Wars #3, but I love #175 just for the "this is why Cyclops is awesome" factor."

    Yes, for me it's same with Spider-Man. He's always been my favorite superhero, so it's the "this is why Spidey is awesome" factor, I suppose.

    "I don't think we ever see the Shi'ar one after the "Substitute X-Men" story, either."

    I was thinking about this yesterday, and there is one more place it pops up a year or three later -- Polaris's entry in the Offical Handbook of the Marvel Universe has her in the Shi'ar costume, I think drawn my Marc Silvestri. Because of that entry, for years that was the look I associated with Polaris even though she rarely wore it and I didn't even like it!

    Also, I think I was getting my issues mixed up on the "Proteus thinks of humans as cows" thing. Cyclops is the one who says it twice, as I thought, but I don't believe it's in two consecutive issues. It's in one issue during this storyline, and then I think he uses it again when recapping Proteus during the all-flashback issue #138.

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  10. You know, if there's a feud between Person A and Person B and Person A is always talking trash about Person B while Person B is very kind, gracious and rarely says a bad word about Person A it really reflects poorly on Person A......but I'm always a little suspicious of Person B.

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  11. @Michael: Looking at Byrne's run on FF, I'd have thought he was more experimental.

    I'm probably (definitely) oversimplifying by saying Byrne is a traditionalist. He just has a very old-school notion of what heroes should do and how super comics should operate, especially compared to some of the more "let's shake things up" creators of the 70s/early 80s.

    He certainly wasn't against characters growing or evolving, as evidenced by his work with Sue in FF and even Cyclops and Wolverine in X-Men, two characters he helped grow and evolve.

    He just felt, in the case of X-Men, that if the X-Men were a team of superheroes, then they should be fighting super-villains regularly and should usually win, because that what superhero teams did, whereas Claremont was more willing (and eager) to play around with the conventions of the genre, positioning the X-Men as sci fi characters or counter-revolutionaries or even deconstructing the idea of the superhero team entirely, making the X-Men a "non team", lacking all the traditional trappings like a headquarters or even a stable roster, for awhile. Stuff like that.

    sending Thing off to a solo title and having She-Hulk take his place

    I have no idea one way or the other, but I've always wondered how much of that was Byrne, and how much of it was Byrne doing what Shooter told him to do, as it all spun out of the first Secret Wars.

    @Matt: ...that he's rarely interested in speaking about their partnership in person at conventions and such, so who knows what he really thinks.

    I've heard that as well. Seems to me Claremont is basically trying to be professional about, regardless of his personal feelings on the matter: speaking kindly when asked, but preferring to keep his comments to himself.



    I mark "Mutant Massacre" as the end of my favorite era of X-Men, but I think I have a greater appreciation, at least for the "Outback Years", than you do, thanks in large part to Jason Powell (but I'm still not much of a fan of the post-Outback, pre-Jim Lee stuff). But we'll get there in time.

    Shooter's claim, which is the first I've ever heard on the subject, would seem to agree with that theory.

    Interesting. That's also the first I've heard of it, and I always wondered by Romita left (I just figured Shooter poached him for the "New Universe" stuff). I'll have to see if I can find out some more about that.

    Polaris's entry in the Offical Handbook of the Marvel Universe has her in the Shi'ar costume, I think drawn my Marc Silvestri.it really reflects poorly on Person A......but I'm always a little suspicious of Person B.

    In Person B's defense, I do think he talked a little trash at Person A through the years, just never as much as Person A did towards Person B.

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  12. Also, Blam, if you're out there, anything you'd like to add to the Byrne/Claremont discussion?

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  13. I like it that Joseph MacTaggert keeps his ear hair in full plume. A proud peacock of a man - I like the cut of his jib. I like it that Slipstream gets tired of spelling "psychic" and just says "psy"... I hate spelling that word too. I'm a bit of an idiot and have to mouth out "Sy-chich and don't forget the p!" when I type it. Woah! Did he rape her, is it ever addressed again? Or did they make sweet love but after she twiddled his ear plumage and he burst into a fit of uncontrollable rage? Neat, I never thought of them changing into their costumes... that's weird, actually. Do you have to take the time to change if Disaster Strikes at a moment's notice? Or runs in pantyhose, even. Aw, it's kinda sad that he insulted cub scouts... I'm sure a good chunk of the readers were cub scouts. Pretty passive aggressive, Orbo. We still have my husband's little kid baseball card. Haha, he looks like a nerd. Way to choke up on that bat, Dork! (I'm actually pretty nice to him in real life... mostly)
    I haven't told you in a while but these are really great write-ups, and I enjoy them immensely!

    In closing, you've lost your taste for man to man roughhouse, haven't you? Haven't you!

    Joan

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  14. @Joan: I like it that Joseph MacTaggert keeps his ear hair in full plume. A proud peacock of a man

    He is indeed a proud peacock of a man.

    Woah! Did he rape her, is it ever addressed again?

    It never really goes past the implication, but it's pretty much accepted that he did. And it never really gets addressed again for reasons that are made clear next issue.

    Do you have to take the time to change if Disaster Strikes at a moment's notice?

    Yup. Spider-Man does it all the time. Batman sometimes changes in his limo. Tony Stark used to carry his Iron Man suit in a briefcase.

    Usually, they just wear their costumes under their normal clothes, or else get in fights in their street clothes. If they're real fancy, they get costumes made of Reed Richard's unstable molecules, so they can transform from normal clothes to superhero duds in a moments notice.

    Haha, he looks like a nerd. Way to choke up on that bat, Dork! (I'm actually pretty nice to him in real life... mostly)

    I totally read your "mostly" in the voice of Newt from Aliens. I blame Sarah.

    And it's okay, we all looked like dorks in those baseball cards.

    I haven't told you in a while but these are really great write-ups, and I enjoy them immensely!

    Aw, thanks Joanie! I'm glad you popped up again; we miss you!

    In closing, you've lost your taste for man to man roughhouse, haven't you? Haven't you!

    I will never, ever lose my taste for man to man roughhousing.

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  15. Hey Teebore, I think parts of your third comment got eaten...

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  16. @Matt: Hmm...as memory serves, I think it's just missing the part where I note to which part of your comment I'm responding (basically, how mark a dropoff in quality following Romita's departure).

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  17. Actually, I was talking about the part where you blended a quote from me and a quote from Dr. Bitz together into one mutant franken-quote. But now that you mention it, I do see the extra-blank space where the thing you're talking about would've gone, too.

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  18. Yeesh, that's even uglier. What the hell was I doing while I typed that?

    Anyways, I think I was going to say something about how it is odd that Polaris' Handbook entry features the Shi'ar costume, even though she was wearing it in her last appearance (the Substitute X-Men story), because at the time, I think Silvestri was already drawing her in Uncanny, possibly as Malice.

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  19. Basically, those two costumes -- the green original and purple Shi'ar -- merge together to become Polaris' touchstone look -- almost all of her costumes going forward are either green, purple, or both. In the '00s in fact she starts out in a purple costume in Austen's run and is in green a few years later in Brubaker's.

    In fact, even when she's NOT in purple or green, there are still continues elements. Her first X-Factor costume is basically an "X-Men blue-and-gold" version of her purple Malice look, complete with shoulder pads and puffy sleeves ... and her second X-Factor look is basically a capeless, blue-and-gold version of the original green look. Took me a few years to realize that.

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