Uncanny X-Men #210 (Oct 1986)
"The Morning After"
9.0/10.0 - Definitely check this one out!
Author: Chris Claremont
Penciler: John Romita Jr
Inker: Dan Green
I absolutely loved this issue and even today, 24 years after its release, it still holds up. Issues like this simply don't exist nowadays and I think it's a major failing of the X-Men writers (or possibly the editorial team...or maybe both). I'll get into my thoughts after a quick synopsis.
This starts with a Morlock and a hellfire club soldier running. The soldier is struck down by what appears to be an energy spear. He asks the Morlock for help but she runs instead. The soldier is then killed execution style by an unseen gunman.
Rogue is patrolling the city, looking for Phoenix and Nightcrawler after last issue's battle. She first encounter's mention of X-Factor at this point, concerned about Mutant Hunters. (speaking of which, ever get the feeling that Cameron Hodge's campaign probably would have aired exclusively on Fox News if it were in today's world?) Magneto is spotted by X-Factor, in their mutant hunter guise, as he is entering the Hellfire Club. Neither group does anything, thought, due to the crowd. X-Factor is off doing their own thing in their own mag. I love, though, how this scene is also in X-Factor #9.
Meanwhile, Kitty fixes Cerebro to lock in on some of their missing teammates. Colossus, Kitty, and Illyana head off and find Nightcrawler being assaulted by a mob. Colossus, in his human form, intervenes, hoping to use words to dissuade the mob. Kitty joins him, and after a war of words with some of the angry folks, they walk off, leaving the X-Men to care for their wounded teammate.
Finally, the Morlock from earlier arrives at the Morlock tunnels. She had finally escaped from her pursuers. Or so she thought. An energy spear (yes, we find out next issue, it's really a harpoon) strikes her, dropping her to the ground. You discover that they used her to lead them to the tunnels. With no mercy, she is executed and you find that the shadowy group is called the Marauders! dum. dum. dum!
The only thing that keeps this from being a 10.0 issue is the art. I'm not the biggest fan of Romita's artwork. It works well, but it's just not something to get excited over. Still, this issue excels for so many reasons. First of all, this issue marks the start of the first ever X-over: The Mutant Massacre! This is the first X-Men specific crossover to occur (Secret Wars II was not specific to the X-Men, even though it did star them in several issues). I'm also not counting the minor cross overs such as the Alpha Flight/X-Men 2 issue special.
When I mentioned that I wish today's issues were more like this, I was referring to how this builds up suspense for what will occur in the next few issues. Only a handful of issues do that anymore. The start of Messiah Complex and the start of the current Uncanny Avengers' arc comes to mind. The big battle barely even is hinted at in this issue. Instead, you get a handful of pages at the beginning and the end and you're left wanting more.
I also loved how this issue coincides with another issue (X-Factor #9) so perfectly. This was something else that Claremont was good at, but I think praise for Louise Simonson and the editors of the books is also deserved.
Overall, this issue was fairly slow, but it does that on purpose. It's the buildup to something bigger and you can tell. Something is just over the horizon and you can feel it creeping up, just out of sight, but you want to keep stretching to see if you can tell what it is. That's what this issue does to you. It gets you to turn each page, trying to find out what's coming and you never quite get there, but you can tell, with the last page, that one more look-see and you will know. Of course that's when you have to wait for the next issue.
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