The X-Men are back from Space - only to find some things have changed!
Originally Published March 1983
We begin on a night in for the New Mutants, the new class of students assembled by the Professor to definitely not be the next generation of X-Men. They are watching Magnum, P.I. (or possibly a wrestling match featuring Florida's Magnum TA.)
When in burst...
That's right, the X-Men have returned, and they are not being polite about it, barging in on the new residents of the X-Mansion gunz-a-blazin', not knowing exactly what they might find. The New Mutants, who have been in one or two fights themselves, are ready for action...
But the X-Men are more than equipped to hold off a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears teens.
In fact, the main purpose of all this ruckus is for Kitty to slip away and find the Professor, who may or may not be transforming into an evil Brood alien as we speak. When she arrives at his study, she finds him napping, and thinks he looks so peaceful, there's no way he could possibly be a Brood...
Before their very eyes, the Prof completes his transformation into a fabulous Brood Queen, ready to birth an entire new race of Brood Warriors here on Earth, complete with the mental powers of Professor Xavier himself.
Professor Broodzavier is able to fend off attacks from the combined force of the X-Men and the New Mutants - too physically strong for the likes of Colossus and Wolverine...
And with the mental fortitude to thwart possession from Karma.
Luckily, the X-Men have true heavy-hitters in the form of Storm and Binary, who are more than capable of subduing the creature. Surprisingly, however, as they debate who exactly gets the duty/privilege of delivering the killing blow to this monstrosity, it speaks...
Even as the Professor begs for death, Cyclops cannot bring himself to put him out of his misery while there is still a hope of saving him, even though the Brood transformation is basically complete.
Over Wolverine's objections, he has the Professor brought aboard the Starjammer. If there's anyone who can save the Prof, it's the Starjammer's resident funny-talking medical critter Sikorsky, who recently brought Colossus back from almost literal death.
Unfortunately, there is no cure for Broodification (short of, I suppose, exposing Xavier to the racial soul of an Acanti Prophet-Singer, but where are they gonna find one of those at this hour?) Fortunately, Sikorsky has an alternative: clone Xavier and transplant his mind into the new body! It couldn't be more simple.
While the assembled mutants wait to hear about Xavier's condition, they all take a breather. Kitty, healing from her injuries inflicted in the fight, is relieved to see Colossus and Illyana - and Storm, watching from afar, is, as usual, miffed that Kitty should ever pay anyone else any attention.
Elsewhere, Cyclops and his dad have their usual conversation about how long Corsair will be sticking around. And as usual the answer is not long, and he brings out the old chestnut about how he's not at home on Earth anymore, feeling both ahead and behind it.
Cyclops, who has been in his feelings for quite some time, asks if he can come too, and Corsair gives him a "sure, why not?"
In the meantime, however, Corsair reveals that Cyclops' grandparents are still alive and healthy, and why don't they pay a visit after twenty or thirty years? It's one of those nice little moments that the X-Men comics give us that makes it just feel like people living their lives, not the premise to a superheroic adventure.
Speaking of which, Gladiator, the leader of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard arrives to bring Lilandra news of the Empire - Deathbird, the insane usurper, has indeed taken control following her Brood-backed ouster of the relatively stable Lilandra.
While the erstwhile-Majestrix wonders whether she has the stomach for another game of thrones, Glady offers another piece of breaking news: the world-devouring entity known as Galactus came to Earth, apparently near-death - only to be healed by those meddlesome Earthlings known as the Fantastic Four and sent on his merry way to continue to menace the cosmos!
Lilandra takes to the holo-phone to send a warning to the Fantastic Four, interrupting Reed and Sue's cuddle-time.
However, once she is off-line, she acknowledges she isn't exactly in a place to be backing up any threats.
Back in space, it appears all the medical procedures are done and have gone off without a hitch. the Prof is back and better than ever!
...Maybe.
 |
| "It means he's crazy!" "No, it means he's faking it!" "Actually, it's a little of both." |
Ah yes, the status quo. That's the good stuff.
Anyway, whether he can walk or not, the Professor is absolutely feeling Jim Dandy. And, having introduced his new students to his full-grown X-Men, he has a formal decree to make:
Gasp! To be... continued?
Further Thoughts:
And that was just one of the many occasions on which the Professor met his death.
Structurally, this is an interesting issue. It begins with an action-ified open as the X-Men confront the Brood-infected Xavier, tying up that last lingering thread of the long-running conflict with the aliens. It also gives us the first meeting between the X-Men and New Mutants, which fittingly takes the form of a brief scuffle before they realize who the real enemy is, in the grand tradition of superhero comics.
Beyond that there isn't a ton of interaction between these new characters and our old faves. I did, however, gloss over a scene in which Nightcrawler sulks, anticipating the usual negative reaction to his appearance from these young people. It's kind of an interesting button to hit, instead of reassuring us with some lighthearted "Oh I'm used to it" quips, which in a good mood Kurt is prone to adopting. Here, he admits that yeah, after all these years, it still bugs him to be such an outsider.
Honestly, it seems like they're more focussed on being in space for the first time.
As to the revelation that Kitty is to join the New Mutants, we'll let that play out and see how it goes, but you have to admit it makes a certain amount of sense - although her portrayal has been aging up steadily, and by comparison a veteran hero, she is technically younger than any of the New Mutant characters. Truth be told I think told the notion of seeing her as the leader of the New Mutants would be an interesting avenue to go down, rather than to keep her as the "Kid X-Man," but we'll see what's in the cards.
Personally though, I'm most excited about this trip to meet Cyclops' grandparents. Should be a blast!
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