UNCANNY X-MEN #222: Heartbreak!

The X-Men must rescue Madelyne Pryor, but will they be able to contend with the Marauders' latest member?

Originally Published October 1987

We pick up where we left off last time, with Polaris - possessed as she is by the malcontented necklace known as Malice - hovering over Rogue and Dazzler, preparing to zero in for the kill. She would seem to have certain victory over our heroes in her grasp when out of nowhere comes -- a zark!

Havok, seeing that his teammates were in trouble, shoots his shot from waydowntown, likely not even knowing that the foe he was zarking was his own girlfriend (physically at least.) Rogue swoops Dazzler and Malice-in-Polaris'-body away to the beach and safety, where they are recognized, in a startling display of small-worldness, by the cute Japanese fankids they ran into way back in Uncanny #181 (-- Ann N.) 

Psylocke telepathically gives Rogue a fix on Madelyne's location, still in the water and being swept out to sea. She hurriedly thanks Dazzler for overlooking their drama and saving her life before rushing off to the rescue.

Dazzler stays with Polaris, taking a moment to recharge her powers by absorbing all of the sound around her on the busy beach -- which causes something of a panic since in the general area where Dazzler charges, a freaky zone of silence occurs.

Havok, upon arriving with Psylocke and their pal from the SFPD Lt. Bree Morrel, scolds Dazzler for making such a scene and goes in for a look at the mystery-Marauder that he zapped.

Trouble in Paradise??

Elsewhere, in the Rockies, Storm and Nazé discuss the finer points of the vision quest and how, if it were meant to be easy, they'd call it a vision stroll.

As Storm expresses her incredulity that Forge has broken bad under the Adversary's thrall, the pair is approached by an unlikely traveler - a woman lost in the woods dressed in decidedly non-rugged clothing, running ragged through the night. But as they prepare to circle up and protect her from her pursuers, she reveals she is not what she seems -- she is the danger.

This woman, and her brother, reveal themselves to be the Eye Killers, demonic owl-snake creatures from the Spirit-Lands who used to hunt the Indigenous peoples of this land with impunity until the white man came and started doing that for them. 

They want to suck the souls out of Storm and Nazé and, given these two are not exactly in top fighting shape (Nazé is not young and Storm does not have her mutant powers) these creatures with their magic black lightning and their claws that can rend stone look to have a good chance of ending the Vision Quest prematurely. But fortunately for our heroes, the Eye Killers have a pretty conspicuous weakness.

Yes, they are capable of being burned, which is something they and I have in common. Sure, in the old days, when it took a while to get a fire going, these two were really fearsome. Nowadays they can be thwarted with a Dollar-store Zippo.

As the attackers are roasted to a crisp, Nazé explains that the Eye Killers are here because the walls between Earth and the Spirit-Lands have been opened, possibly because Forge - whose job it is to keep the door shut - has been convinced by the Adversary to throw the gate open. This convinces Storm that perhaps Forge will need to be stopped lethally, despite her own need of his talents.

This prompts, in Nazé, one of those shifty-looking "I'm not a good guy!" close-ups he keeps getting.

Back in San Francisco, Malice is having a throwdown with the X-Men. Psylocke is briefly able to reawaken the psyche of Lorna Dane within her, but it doesn't take.

As the battle rages on, Longshot and Wolverine are able to stop Scalphunter from shooting Rogue as she races out to save Madelyne.

The scuffle sends Longshot tumbling over the bridge. Scrambler attempts to rob Wolverine of his powers, but he's still a very strong highly-trained ex-operative with metal bones, so he's got that going for him. Sabretooth interjects, and the two have a brawl, during which Sabretooth breaks his hand punching Wolverine's adamantium jaw.

If I were Wolverine's lifelong foe and had him at my mercy I would simply... not punch him directly in his metal face with my hand. But that's just me.

Outnumbered and with only a momentary upper hand, Wolverine makes a dive for it,  bailing to let himself be caught by a passing Rogue. Wolverine goes to search for any more of their party, thinking to himself it would be a shame if Longshot really did fall to his death since we were juat getting to know that plucky space kid and his naïve yet charming ways. Luckily...

As they get ashore, Wolverine reasons that the Marauders took off because they assumed their primary goal - killing Madelyne - had been accomplished, showing an astonishing lack of followup for these supposedly elite killers. Maddie still wonders what the bad guys even want with her, a regular-degular woman who just wants to live in Alaska with her baby. Wolverine vows to find out, whilst in the process of probably killing them.

Airborne, Polaris gets the signal that it's time for the Marauders to vamoose. Cruelly, she gives Havok the chance to take one last shot at her and blast her out of the sky.

Shockingly, he takes it.

But unfortunately, it proves not to be enough. Malice was just toying with him one last time.

Further Thoughts:

Although this issue was not quite as obviously focussed as some of the previous action stories, the major point of interest is Havok joining the fight and being forced reluctantly to face down the woman he loves -- or at least, the evil ghost accessory wearing her face. The book has made a solid point of how Havok, though good-hearted, isn't really a man of action. He doesn't want to be in this fight at all, let alone aiming his powers at the woman he loves. With a huge burden he brings himself to do it, only to fail. A tough pill to swallow.

Elsewhere in the fight, Sabretooth - who was introduced to us as someone to be feared even more than any of the other Marauders - kind of gets punked out pretty badly here as his own incompetence is his own undoing. While he was built up to be a major threat, he has proven to be far from a difference maker anytime he joins the Marauders in battle, getting his with the "Worf Effect" bad.