UNCANNY X-MEN #127: The Quality of Hatred!

Cyclops rallies the troops for another round against Proteus!

Originally Published November 1979

When we last left off, Proteus, the mad reality-warping super-mutant has neutralized Wolverine and Nightcrawler. Storm is also on the scene, doing her best to fend him off while he attempts to possess her as his current host body nears its expiration date.

Normally I'd snark at Wolverine for not being able to take action but anxiety and mental illness are real issues and should be given their due in the superhero world, for sure.

Luckily somebody is able to interfere, as a bullet zips past Proteus' host form, which is concerning to him as like many people, Proteus is not immune to bullets - for all his reality-warping power metal is his one weakness.

He should also be concerned that the shots are fired by his mother, superscientist/ace sniper Moira Mactaggart, but Storm's downpour is preventing him from seeing this. Proteus also helps me out by answering my question about his powers from last time - that he needs visual contact with his target when warping reality, which to be honest is a pretty serious limitation on that power.

Still a threat, but, given he's almost taken down by a human woman with a gun maybe he's not the ultimate supermutant menace after all.

Before Moira is able to fire her killshot, Cyclops bats the rifle away, noting that the X-Men generally don't kill, and it's particularly disturbing because, as previously mentioned, Proteus is Moira's son, whom she has kept locked away in solitary confinement for his entire adult life.

Moira is somewhat annoyed that Cyclops has ruined her chance to murder her only son.

I've said it before - you never want to be on the wrong side of literally any woman in a comic written by Chris Claremont.

Moira runs off to chase Proteus down. The X-Men regroup and pass around some cocoa to try and shake off the effects of Proteus's reality-warping. As mentioned before, Wolverine is particularly shaken, which is a bad sign since nobody wants a psychotic clawed mutants with the yips. Cyclops decides to test Wolverine's resolve with a characteristic subtlety and tact.

It escalates.

Before long, Nightcrawler and Storm are in the fray, which Cyclops soon reveals (to us through thought bubbles) was just his way of testing those who had been in contact with Proteus. Merely describing it doesn't really do it justice as it's one of the coolest scenes in X-Men to date, with Cyclops - famously one of the least-physically-imposing X-Men - convincingly holding his own against most of his teammates with judo and strategy.

That said, Cyclops did just get knocked out by a middle-aged scientist like he was Ronda Rousey, so I guess he pecking order goes Moira > Cyclops > Every other X-Man combined.

Once Storm throws lighting at Cyclops he deems everything copasetic and reveals this was just his way of testing all those who had encountered Proteus directly - as well as himself after, you know, getting conked by a civilian. Wolverine and Cyclops make peace, with the former finally acknowledging the leadership skills of the latter. With that all settled, the group resolves to go after Proteus one more time.

Speaking of that little ragamuffin, he's found himself a new home in the body of one Jennie Banks. As he drives off, we learn that Proteus is after someone he calls the "One-I-Hate."

Moira has surmised that this would be Proteus' father, prominent Member of Parliament Joe Mactaggert, who (whatever his other personality defects) actually can't be faulted for being a negligent parent to the young mutant because Moira never even told him he had a son. Go figure.

The two have a quick meeting where we learn the backstory - that the two are estranged and it ended badly, but Joe maintains the legality of the marriage for political purposes. Moira does mention that Joe has a son who may now want to kill him, but neglects to include the fact that he is a superpowered reality-warping mutant who has spent many years in isolation. Joe, who favours smoking jackets woven of his own burly chest hair, thanks her and shows her the door rather than asking for more details. (A true politician.)

Not long after Moira leaves, Proteus arrives and finds his father - aware that he has once again hurt his mother. Not great for someone you refer to as "One-I-Hate."

For afar, the X-Men are monitoring for signs of Proteus - although Jean cannot psychically "see" him directly, she can sense the psychic death of anybody he possesses, so when Proteus takes possession of his father, the X-Men spring into action.

Proteus, in the form of his father, confronts Moira, who is still nearby, and enlightens us further about his powers:

Wait, what?

The X-Men arrive on the scene, wisely sending steel-skinned Colossus in to battle the metal-averse Proteus. However, with his reality-warping abilities, has plenty of defenses:

Likewise, Proteus turns Cyclops' power beams into confetti. At this point, Phoenix joins the fray, noting that even in a weakened and surprised state the last time they met, she nearly tore him apart, but Proteus fends her off, taking Moira hostage...

Death by Oedipal Complex?

The issue ends with the X-Men stunned, unsure of their next move, and Banshee severely missing the point of Proteus' tirade:

Further Thoughts:

As the Proteus Saga continues, we get a few more twists as we deal with the aftermath of their initial encounter from last issue as well as learn more about Proteus, his background and motivation. At times I don't know that the story quite sticks the landing, zigging and zagging with so many turns - first Proteus hates his father whom he's never met, then he possesses his father and his hatred turns towards his mother due to the intertwining of personalities.

This all of course is wrapped up in Claremontian psychosexuality which I think lots of us X-fans cheerfully ignore whenever it impinges on the story, but in the long run is as much a defining feature of the franchise as prejudice and superpowers.

In terms of the actual content of the issue, I've got to divert attention back to the brawl between Cyclops and his teammates. The choreography makes a convincing case that Cyclops could hold his own against multiple opponents, including a killer like Wolverine, even just after Moira punked him out hard. It's a really impressively-laid out sequence. I've praised the Danger Room workouts as a fun side-bit in several issues but this takes on a stronger dimension with a deeper emotional resonance and plot relevance, not distracting from the main story but enhancing it.

Moira has a scope that is able to see Proteus' true form no matter whom he is possessing. Keep in mind he was stated to be invisible to Cerebro and to Phoenix's much-lauded psychic powers, which hampered their ability to find him, but Moira did have scanners monitoring his cell at Muir Island (which could be fooled but presumably had some kind of calibration.) And presumably a scope that works like Roddy Piper's glasses in They Live! isn't much help if you can't see the mutant in question, so you can discuss all these points at your next Nitpick Watcher's Luncheon.