UNCANNY X-MEN #243: Ashes

Jean has a Sinister homecoming!

Originally Published April 1989

The X-Men stand in the aftermath of the Inferno. Madelyne Pryor died rather than live in the same world as Scott and Jean. New York City has reverted to its regular, friendly, clean and humdrum self. But the X-Men themselves remain somewhat altered, forced to reckon with their actions and attitudes during the event.

But while they process all of this, they are immediately made aware that this whole jape is decidedly not over.

Jean, who has absorbed part of Madelyne's self via the Phoenix force (which she has also recently re-accepted into her life -- this time as her own waking self and not a carbon copy floating at the bottom of a body of water) is telepathically under attack.

Psylocke takes the team into her mind, where they find themselves in the Blue Area of the Moon, where Phoenix!Jean sacrificed herself. Which means we get to see this again--

Nothing beats the Greatest Hits

However, while they contemplate what it means that this memory is seemingly back in Jean's memory -- as she was not actually there for it -- they learn they have company.

 

That's right, it's your favourite gothic fetish mad scientist and mine, Mr. Sinister, here to wipe the slate clean. As the X-Men float through shards of Madelyne's memory and identity that have been incorporated into Jean -- including certain tender moments with Scott -- they arrive at a mental image of Xavier's school. There it seems that the Goblin Queen is waiting for them, looking to continue her vendetta.

But as it turns out this entity is a combo Madelyne-Jean as the two personae view for power and/or integration within Jean's body and mind. Jean re-asserts herself, but Sinister returns as smashes another treasured memory.

The X-Men launch an offensive against Sinister, but here on the psychic plane, he rules (he has formidable psychic powers -- didn't he ever tell you that? Well, he meant to.)

Thanks to Psylocke they're able to put him in check briefly, but they have no plan for how to defeat him. Madelyne laughs, declining to help since:

1. She's already dead
2. She hates everyone here

Storm takes her to task -- so what if she was born in a lab, how does that make her any different from anyone else who never asked to be born? If she was created to be a tool, why fulfill that destiny by playing into Sinister's bidding?

Madelyne -- who speaks now as sort of a Maddie-Jean hybrid -- protests that it's easy to preach independence, but when she actually tried to live as herself, things kept going pear-shaped, first as Dark Phoenix, then as Goblin Queen.

Sinister returns and agrees - Jean, Maddie, whoever you are, you're destined to always be a screw-up, why not let me erase your memories and experiment on your body? Wouldn't you like that? Huh? Doesn't it sound good?

But Jean-Maddie ultimately declines. She's going to give this whole "personal identity" thing one more go.

This kicks Sinister off the psychic plane, like losing your internet connection halfway through downloading a Metallica song off Napster.

The flesh-and-blood X-Men and X-Factor track Sinister to the X-Mansion, where it sure doesn't seem like they're waltzing into a trap.

Inside, Jean lays it down: Sinister must be stopped at all costs. When Scott points out that that doesn't sound like the Jean he knows, Jean says that's right -- Madelyne is part of her now, including her darkness. And this Sinister guy has her feeling some kind of way.

Back at the X-Factor's ship, Beast and Longshot tend to the Greys by providing them with spare uniforms and the ship astutely observes that it can't see Longshot (on account of how the X-Men are invisible to sensors and electronics of all kinds) but can kind of see the blank space where Longshot is (on account of that's a dumb feature.)

Longshot expresses some doubt as to whether he's still the man -- that is, alien grown baby person -- he always was, after N'astirh's toying with his inner self.

Back at the mansion, the heroes do some recon and run into Blockbuster -- one of the lesser Marauders -- who remains demonified.

He appears to be too much for the mutants to handle, until Havok -- the group's resident pacifist and/or coward -- steps up to the plate.

Elsewhere, Sabretooth pops up looking to make a meal out of Psylocke and finish the job he started way back when they first met -- but, as this is no longer his first appearance, he is dealt with in short order.

While Jean is shocked to find the end result of Sinister searching through the mansion's storage attic, smashing pictures and rifling through underwear drawers and such.

The X-Men process the extent of Sinister's violation of their home, but don't have much time because Malice arrives, gunz a blazing (metaphorically.)

She gives them some trouble with some flying shrapnel, but Jean and Storm are not in the mood and take her down hard.

Storm gives the order to Psylocke to do a psychic smash and grab -- get in and get everything she can on Sinister. Free Polaris from her bond to Malice if possible, but the info is the important thing.

Malice protests -- because she and Polaris are effectively one, now, an attempt to force them apart may -- nay, will kill her. 

Storm has one word for that -- "Meh."

Malice then tries her luck with Alex, appealing to his feelings for Polaris.

But before Havok can play the good cop and get Mal to talk...

Malice staggers to her feet in the wreckage, chastising Sinister for not giving a head's up that he was going to blow them all to smithereens. Now it's Sinister's time to shrug -- what does he care if one of his underlings gets roasted? It's literally his deal.

But hey, look what it got him!

That's right -- Sinister has scored bigtime in the claw game of life, with Jean his prize. Now he can do whatever he wants with her!

Ew!

But one man still stands to deft Sinister, and he'll do it until his last breath.

That's right -- it's Longshot vs. Sinister, the final showdown! You always knew it would come down to this! To be continued!

Further Thoughts:

Do you ever think, as a comic reader, how many concepts seemingly had to be invented within the universe of comics that we take for granted? Absorbing another person's personality? "Alternative future" time travel? Phoenix Force templates? It's awe-inspiring what kind of mini-mythology is written in these pages, and people like me, who grew up with it normalized within their reading material, have little context for how off-beat these notions are, since they're just narrative devices written to prop up, or emerging from, the wonderfully bizarre world of comics. Madelyne Pryor doesn't die, she becomes part of Jean, and much like Rogue and Carol Danvers there's a sort of struggle to integrate and/or control. It's just the right blend of real-world psychology or science, and fictional gobbledegook, that powers countless stories. you gotta love it.