Uncanny X-Men #226 (Fall of the Mutants)

Uncanny X-Men #226 (February 1988)
Rating:  ★★★★★★★★
Go Tell the Spartans
Writer:  Chris Claremont
Artist:  Marc Silvestri
Inker:  Dan Green

First of all, I apologize to all who enjoy reading these entries.  I ran out of time to complete one for Uncanny 225, which was the first entry of Uncanny X-Men in the Fall of the Mutants arc.  But here's the middle of the story.  Unlike X-Factor and New Mutants, the middle entry here isn't the climax, leaving the 3rd issue (227) to give the epilogue.  This one is more along the lines of a traditional trilogy and is a darker entry, with hope disappearing for the X-Men and possibly the world.

I don't know what it was, but this issue took me years to find.  Every other issue in Fall of the Mutants was easier to get hold of.  When I picked up Uncanny 227, imagine my surprise when Dazzler had a weird golden mask with a knife sticking out covering her face.  I always wondered how she got it there.  Well, once I finally picked up this issue, I finally knew.  Damn Spiral.  Of course, this is what I mean by darker.  Sprial discovers that her magiks are pretty screwed up and Dazzler is effectively blinded the rest of the arc.  Dallas comes under attack by dinosaurs and barbarians.  Nobody is spared.

This issue also introduces Manoli (a female technician) and her reporter, Neal.  These characters would actually be recurring throughout Claremont's books (they even show up years later in Fantastic Four when Claremont takes over that book for a couple years).  It's actually nice to see one who is skeptical of mutants' intentions (Manoli) and one who wants to just give them a chance (Neal).  The dialogue between them is fantastic.

Throughout it all, you see Freedom Force finally doing something other than hounding the X-Men as they must now protect a public against a threat to the entire world.  Freedom Force becomes a little more sympathetic, especially Destiny.  You can tell how she truly cares about the X-Men.  I wonder why she's even with them.  You also see the X-Men getting the first real public exposure.  Havok and Wolverine both have very different experiences in front of the camera (Wolverine, of course, wants nothing to do with it).

Lastly, we see Storm and Forge's relationship progress even further as they explore their love for each other.  It culminates in Forge developing a device that will restore Storm's powers.  It is successful and Storm's joy is apparent.  Of course this also announces to the Adversary that the next phase of the "game" is ready and he unleashes hell on earth.

The art in this issue is absolutely fantastic.  With maybe the exception of John Byrne, Marc Silvestri is the best artist up to this point.  Overall, this makes for an excellent read, but by itself, it makes very little sense as it has neither a beginning or an end.  Make sure to read it as it's intended:  as part 2 of a 3 part epic.