Readthrough: Uncanny X-Men 105
28 Mar 2019 11:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sheliak posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
x_men_classicThis issue opens with the X-Men--reasonably enough--attacking Eric the Red. Unfortunately, Eric the Red has backup.
I guess Dave Cockrum really likes this layout! I don't blame him in the slightest; it's a great dramatic one.
Firelord trounces the X-Men, then asks Eric the Red if he's all right; Eric thanks him for saving his life from the murderous X-Men. Eric's thought bubbles clarify that he's totally lying and manipulating this guy; he's fully aware that he is the only murderous one in this nemesis relationship. (Well. Maybe Wolverine. But the others wouldn't let him.)
There's flashback of thier meeting, in which Eric had the brainwashed Havok and Polaris attack him so that Firelord would be convinced that the X-Men were murderous alien-haters. (Poor Alex and Lorna! They seriously cannot catch a break.) And now that the rest of the X-Men have "confirmed" their murderous nature by attacking Eric on sight, Firelord is quite willing to swear to slay their leader, Charles Xavier...
And then, a change of scene:
(I include this page partly for the dedicated Star Trek riff, and partly because I wanted to post a picture of that adorable bug-shaped spaceship.)
The Shi'ar captain calls a retreat, unwilling to mess with the planet that repeatedly thwarted Galactus. He does order a final salvo, which destroys the poor little ship (I will mourn it), but not before its pilot uses the transporter one last time...
... to teleport herself into Jean Grey and Misty Knight's apartment, just as Misty is explaining to Jean's parents how they ended up rooming together. (Jean's dad is delighted that Jean is making new friends, as he feels that the school she attended is entirely too insular. Misty notices that Shi'ar teleportation tech looks exactly like a Star Trek transporter.)
Xavier is horrified to see the figure from his dreams... but when she removes her scary-looking helmet and collapses, he shouts her name in distress and asks Jean to help her.
(Jean also takes a moment to call Lilandra beautiful. One ship I hadn't considered...)
Just then, Firelord decides to crash through the wall and demand that Xavier and Lilandra be handed over to him. Misty immediately pulls a gun on him.
And Jean's reaction is one of my favorite scenes of her, ever:
The next page, Firelord announces that Phoenix hits as hard as Thor. Funny he should say that...
Thing is, Firelord was a last minute substitute. Claremont wanted to use Thor; EIC Jim Shooter refused, because he wasn't willing to have Thor get beaten up by a woman. So Claremont fell back on Firelord, a less important character at the same power level.
Jean then slams Firelord to the ground right in front of... Chris Claremont (who seems to be describing the fight: "... Anyway, Dave, he hits the ground with this incredible... sound effect...), Dave Cockrum ("Chris, do us all a favor— shut up an' run!!) and a couple of their friends and coworkers.
Meanwhile, Eric the Red gloats that while Phoenix is busy fighting a former Herald of Galactus, Xavier is defenseless...
... and he goes to take advantage of that, interrupting both Jean's parents' dismay and Xavier's attempts to telepathically teach Lilandra English. (Misty very reasonably points her gun at him. Unfortunately he has stun blasts himself, but the thought counts.)
In the scuffle, Lilandra reveals Eric the Red's true identity: Davan Shakari, an entirely new character who bears a personal grudge against her for exiling him to Earth. A little anticlimactic, honestly.
It takes Shakari ten minutes to assemble a star-gate on top of the roof--enough time for the X-Men to come to their mentor's defense (and, once more, suffer the explosion of their vehicle). The X-Men have their hands full surviving that explosion, but it does distract Eric long enough for Xavier to call Jean away from her fight. (Jean was on the verge of killing Firelord, and as she realizes that, she's horrified with herself.)
Alas, Eric the Red manages to activate the star-gate just before the X-Men arrive--and I do mean just before; Nightcrawler is more inches behind him, and goes through the portal just as Eric shut it off.
Jean's poor parents demand an explanation of what's going on; she tells them there's no time. Xavier, frantic, says that they have plenty of time, because there's nothing they can do...
Calm down, Professor. Things aren't that bad yet.
Jean summarizes the situation: Lilandra's brother was bent on doing something that she was convinced threatened the very survival of the universe, so she led a revolt against him... which failed, forcing her retreat to Earth. But, she continues, the X-Men can still help her, because Phoenix's power is quite enough to recharge the star-gate.
(Scott is very impressed by this show of power, incidentally.)
Even though she's not technically a member of the team, Jean follows the X-Men through the portal. Her parents aren't happy, and they demand an explanation from Xavier...
... just as Firelord shows up again, threatening to destroy the world unless Xavier tells him where Phoenix is so that he can finish that fight.
As Xavier tells him, this threat would hold more water if the very universe weren't in peril just now...
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 7
Favorite Scene(s)
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Firelord makes an entrance
1 (14.3%)
Eric the Red is manipulative
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The Shi'ar do Star Trek
3 (42.9%)
Lilandra meets Xavier face-to-face
1 (14.3%)
Phoenix kicks Firelord out of her house
5 (71.4%)
The creator cameo
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Jean is surprisingly good with alien tech
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Something else, which I will explain in the comments.
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Now that Eric the Red has been revealed... who else should take on the mantle of Eric the Red?
no subject
Date: 2019-03-29 05:31 pm (UTC)I've always been in two minds about them. On the one hand, they're a cute notion. You get to see (bad) pix of the guys who actually make comics. Also, it confirms that the New York of Marvel Comics is the actual RL New York City.
On the other hand, dragging superheroes into the real world breaks the fourth wall, or something like that. I can readily buy into the secondary world reality of superhero comics; but it's jarring to have the primary world intrude into it. Cockrum is real in our world; Jean and the others are real in their own world.
Put Cockrum into the X-Men's world, and he turns into a very weird sort of fantasy character.
no subject
Date: 2019-03-29 08:38 pm (UTC)(For some reason, I like the earlier Stan and Jack scene a lot more--maybe because they weren't on the book anymore it was easier to not think about the logistical issues?)
no subject
Date: 2019-04-01 01:20 am (UTC)The cameo was also hilarious; clearly, our Chris Claremont is a transplant from 616 and he's just describing the reality he knew. :p
Jean Just Knowing how the stargate works always intrigued me. Knowledge from the Phoenix?
(Jean also takes a moment to call Lilandra beautiful. One ship I hadn't considered...)
This is where I make a "birds of a feather" joke. (But hey, if Scott gets to have UST with Erik...)
no subject
Date: 2019-04-20 07:02 am (UTC)Jean might also have picked it out of Davan Shakari's head.