Uncanny X-Men #213 (Mutant Massacre)

Uncanny X-Men #213 (January 1987)
Rating:  ★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
"Psylocke"
Writer:  Chris Claremont
Artist:  Alan Davis
Inker:  Paul Neary

This issue kicked off 1987.  I was 8 years old, didn't even know X-Men existed.  I don't even remember much from back then.  Maybe I've been brainwashed.

This was also the first major fight we ever get to see between Sabretooth and Wolverine.  I compared last issue to the tatooine fight between Darth Maul and Qui-Gon Jinn.  Well this issue is the Duel of the Fates in all its glory.

The newest mutant at the school, Psylocke (aka Elizabeth Braddock, pre asian ninja days) is utilizing Cerebro to keep an eye on the school.  They are fearing an attack by the Marauders and she is doing her best to help out.  Essentially, though, all of the X-Men tell her to get bent.  Rogue tells her not to worry.  She examines the New Mutants' rooms, which are empty (they are lost in time in their own title).  The leaders of the X-Men (actually it's all that's left of the healthy ones) examine the tunnels, now scoured clean by Thor's lightning (of course they don't know it was Thor).  Magneto is worried about the New Mutants who they believe were in the tunnels.  Psylocke offers to help and Storm shuts her down.  She can't afford to use an "unknown".

Psylocke begins to power down Cerebro when she detects a faint signature.  The resulting feedback shorts out Cerebro and knocks Psylocke for a loop.  Elsewhere, Rogue is walking the perimeter when a gloved hand reaches out from the brush and slams Rogue several times against the ground.  A victorious Sabretooth holds her up high.  When Psylocke comes to,  she has enough sense to recognize the thought pattern as an intruder.  She attempts to alert the others but Sabretooth is there, slashing at Cerebro.  Psylocke shocks him with a blast of mental energy but not fast enough to keep Sabretooth from slashing her arm.

Psylocke runs, heading up the stairs, away from the infirmary, leading Sabretooth away from the injured and dying.  She hurls a dumbbell at Sabretooth but he grabs it and laughs, hurling it back, knocking Psylocke through a window.  The fight continues on the roof until they fall through the skylight into Storm's attic.  Sabretooth quickly gains the upperhand and is about to kill her when they are interrupted by Wolverine and Storm.  Storm delivers a few well placed blows and Psylocke escapes.

Sabretooth and Wolverine square off, both of them drawing blood.  Sabretooth tosses Wolverine onto the roof and Wolverine follows up by tackling Sabretooth, dropping them both into the pool.  Magneto prepares shackles but Psylocke has a better idea.  Use the fight to distract Sabretooth while she picks his brain for information about the Marauders.  Wolverine and Sabretooth continue to tear into each other as Psylocke sees images of the other Marauders and a shadowy image who controls them.

The fight continues onto the cliff overlooking the sea when Wolverine takes a breather to allow the X-Men to catch up to take Sabretooth captive.  Sabretooth instead jumps off the cliff and Wolverine follows.  Only Wolverine surfaces with Rogue's help as Sabretooth is nowhere to be found .

The X-Men discuss their next options, but first Wolverine announces that Psylocke has proven herself at last and is deserving of finally being called an X-Man.

The art on this issue is phenomenal.  Alan Davis has long been one of my favorite artists from the 80's, possibly even more so than John Byrne.  The panels give the perfect feeling of suspense from Psylocke falling unconscious to Rogue being taken down to Sabretooth giving chase to an injured Psylocke.  This entire issue is almost a constant action scene.

The writing is fantastic as well.  As Claremont does so well, the characters are written first over what they can do.  The interactions between them are outstanding and you can feel the tension and despair over the Massacre.

This issue took me awhile to own, but it wasn't the last of the Massacre issues.  I remember finding it at a comic convention when I was 15 (yes, 6 years after it was released).  I was so thrilled.  I barely knew anything about the mutant massacre (only what I knew from the Marvel card series).  It thrilled me back then and amazingly, despite being an idiot teenager, the copy I have now is the same copy I picked up back then.