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Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men #13
Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 13
Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr. are joined by a host of all-star illustrators for a groundbreaking X-Men Masterworks! It’s all in the family for Cyclops as his son Nathan Summers — later known as Cable — is born, and his “Days of Future Past” daughter Rachel comes to terms with her Phoenix Force powers! Storm duels Cyclops for team leadership as the threat of the Beyonder looms, Nightcrawler takes a solo turn in an adventure beautifully drawn by June Brigman, and Barry Windsor-Smith crafts a brutal Wolverine tale. And a showdown between Wolverine and Phoenix presages war with the Hellfire Club and Nimrod! Plus: Ann Nocenti and Arthur Adams’ quintessentially ’80s miniseries introducing the dimension-spanning adventurer and future X-Man Longshot is restored for the Masterworks!
COLLECTING: Uncanny X-Men (1981) 201-209; Longshot (1985) 1-6; material from Marvel Fanfare (1982) 33
COLLECTING: Uncanny X-Men (1981) 201-209; Longshot (1985) 1-6; material from Marvel Fanfare (1982) 33
496 pages, Hardcover
Published July 6, 2021
16 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
About the author
Chris Claremont
3,277 books888 followersChris Claremont is a writer of American comic books, best known for his 16-year (1975-1991) stint on Uncanny X-Men, during which the series became one of the comic book industry's most successful properties.
Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.
Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.
Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.
Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 29, 2023
“Being an X-Man used to be FUN!” complains Nightcrawler in his solo spotlight issue in this volume, comparing life in America’s top selling comic book to “trench warfare” as he indulges himself in another cosy conflict with Arcade. The man has a point - this era of the X-Men is unrelentingly grim and about to get grimmer: two issues after Kurt has rejoined the team invigorated by his swashbuckling side quest he winds up missing, presumed at least badly hurt, after the fight with Nimrod at the volume’s climax. His analysis of the problem is right but he no longer has the narrative agency to begin to solve it.
I’ve said in previous reviews how the Claremont X-Men run has refocused itself to be explicitly about the fight against anti-mutant prejudice, and how this has given the comic a grander scope and darker tone which in turn spiked sales hard. But I’ve also talked about the problem with this focus, which is that the X-Men can’t actually *win* against prejudice, which gives the comic - as Nightcrawler accurately diagnoses - a peculiar flavour where any victory is pyrrhic and the most concrete steps the X-Men can take are to form alliances of conveniences with former enemies facing the same threats.
So there’s a sense of momentum in these issues, of things coming to the boil, but also a sense of continual misdirection and of stories melting away or being endlessly deferred. For instance, Rachel and Nimrod, two characters from the same future, one a mutant hunter, the other an absurdly powerful mutant determined to prevent Nimrod’s and her future from happening. Both have been continually in the comic’s spotlight since they were introduced but they’ve not met in the present day, and things are clearly building to a showdown between them.
But it simply doesn’t happen; she comes within a page or two of the event her whole plot has built towards and walks away from it and out of the comic entirely. Rachel has increasingly presented herself as the weapon required to move the comic’s narrative decisively forward, by being a character willing to unilaterally do stuff (kill people, or, more drastically, reset the universe) in order to solve the wider background problems. Notably it’s Wolverine, the team’s previous moral boundary character, who ultimately identifies Rachel as a destabilising factor, a character whose methods nullify the X-Men. But also notably he realises this just as the books head into the Mutant Massacre, an event which demonstrates that he’s too late: no existing version of the X-Men can solve these narrative problems.
If you’re willing to put in the work this is all powerful stuff, thematically dark and narratively radical in ways that will increasingly be the hallmark of Claremont’s second half. But it’s also incoherent and frustrating, the other hallmark of late 80s X-Men. The patterns I’ve outlined require squinting through a fog of piled up incident, which you can find multiple throughlines in, and plots are increasingly simply getting dropped with zero resolution. Behind the scenes it doesn’t help that Claremont’s monopoly on x-material has been broken with the introduction of X-Factor, an extremely bad comic which forces further dramatic changes on the plot, though across the first comics here the creative teams simply aren’t on speaking terms so the impact is fairly minimal.
What readers can fall back on - which won’t always be the case - is the brilliance of individual issues. There are only 9 issues of Uncanny here but they include four uncontroversial classics - the Storm/Cyclops leadership duel; psychedelic Christmas special “Wounded Wolf” with Barry Windsor Smith doing trippy ninja cyberpunk; and the two part Hellfire Club/Nimrod story, the best team fight sequence the comic has seen since the 70s. With material this strong it’s no wonder I want the threads to come together, even if I’m aware I may be hallucinating the degree to which they do.
Meanwhile, this volume’s bonus miniseries - almost half the content! - is Longshot by Ann Nocenti and Art Adams. This isn’t strictly an X-Men book except that Longshot is going to join the team soon and his foe Mojo - more dementedly effective here than he ever would be again - will be a fixture, to be called upon any time the writers want to do a bit of media satire. (Secondary villain Spiral has the combination of an absolutely killer design and abilities which could be almost anything - needless to say she’s already a regular)
Nocenti is an extremely idiosyncratic writer who tends to work theme first (an approach Marvel hasn’t really had since Gerber quit) but then writes dialogue which is expressionist, non naturalistic and very upfront about said themes. When it clicks, as on bits of her Daredevil run, it’s like nobody else. But Longshot is close to her first professional comics work as a scripter and it’s raw as hell - both she and Adams improve issue by issue but it’s neither of their best work. As a demonstration of a mode of symbolic fantasy that steps outside the standard ways Marvel comics feel, though, it’s terrific.
It also offers the X Men a model for their future in more uncanny ways. Longshot is the first 90s X-Men comic - a guy with bandanas, pouches, and a mullet careening through adventures which barely make sense and introduce new characters almost every page. This isn’t what Longshot will actually do in the X-Men but it does turn out to be one of the solutions to the Nightcrawler dilemma - why isn’t this fun anymore? - that actually works for a while. By that point, Claremont won’t be there to see it.
I’ve said in previous reviews how the Claremont X-Men run has refocused itself to be explicitly about the fight against anti-mutant prejudice, and how this has given the comic a grander scope and darker tone which in turn spiked sales hard. But I’ve also talked about the problem with this focus, which is that the X-Men can’t actually *win* against prejudice, which gives the comic - as Nightcrawler accurately diagnoses - a peculiar flavour where any victory is pyrrhic and the most concrete steps the X-Men can take are to form alliances of conveniences with former enemies facing the same threats.
So there’s a sense of momentum in these issues, of things coming to the boil, but also a sense of continual misdirection and of stories melting away or being endlessly deferred. For instance, Rachel and Nimrod, two characters from the same future, one a mutant hunter, the other an absurdly powerful mutant determined to prevent Nimrod’s and her future from happening. Both have been continually in the comic’s spotlight since they were introduced but they’ve not met in the present day, and things are clearly building to a showdown between them.
But it simply doesn’t happen; she comes within a page or two of the event her whole plot has built towards and walks away from it and out of the comic entirely. Rachel has increasingly presented herself as the weapon required to move the comic’s narrative decisively forward, by being a character willing to unilaterally do stuff (kill people, or, more drastically, reset the universe) in order to solve the wider background problems. Notably it’s Wolverine, the team’s previous moral boundary character, who ultimately identifies Rachel as a destabilising factor, a character whose methods nullify the X-Men. But also notably he realises this just as the books head into the Mutant Massacre, an event which demonstrates that he’s too late: no existing version of the X-Men can solve these narrative problems.
If you’re willing to put in the work this is all powerful stuff, thematically dark and narratively radical in ways that will increasingly be the hallmark of Claremont’s second half. But it’s also incoherent and frustrating, the other hallmark of late 80s X-Men. The patterns I’ve outlined require squinting through a fog of piled up incident, which you can find multiple throughlines in, and plots are increasingly simply getting dropped with zero resolution. Behind the scenes it doesn’t help that Claremont’s monopoly on x-material has been broken with the introduction of X-Factor, an extremely bad comic which forces further dramatic changes on the plot, though across the first comics here the creative teams simply aren’t on speaking terms so the impact is fairly minimal.
What readers can fall back on - which won’t always be the case - is the brilliance of individual issues. There are only 9 issues of Uncanny here but they include four uncontroversial classics - the Storm/Cyclops leadership duel; psychedelic Christmas special “Wounded Wolf” with Barry Windsor Smith doing trippy ninja cyberpunk; and the two part Hellfire Club/Nimrod story, the best team fight sequence the comic has seen since the 70s. With material this strong it’s no wonder I want the threads to come together, even if I’m aware I may be hallucinating the degree to which they do.
Meanwhile, this volume’s bonus miniseries - almost half the content! - is Longshot by Ann Nocenti and Art Adams. This isn’t strictly an X-Men book except that Longshot is going to join the team soon and his foe Mojo - more dementedly effective here than he ever would be again - will be a fixture, to be called upon any time the writers want to do a bit of media satire. (Secondary villain Spiral has the combination of an absolutely killer design and abilities which could be almost anything - needless to say she’s already a regular)
Nocenti is an extremely idiosyncratic writer who tends to work theme first (an approach Marvel hasn’t really had since Gerber quit) but then writes dialogue which is expressionist, non naturalistic and very upfront about said themes. When it clicks, as on bits of her Daredevil run, it’s like nobody else. But Longshot is close to her first professional comics work as a scripter and it’s raw as hell - both she and Adams improve issue by issue but it’s neither of their best work. As a demonstration of a mode of symbolic fantasy that steps outside the standard ways Marvel comics feel, though, it’s terrific.
It also offers the X Men a model for their future in more uncanny ways. Longshot is the first 90s X-Men comic - a guy with bandanas, pouches, and a mullet careening through adventures which barely make sense and introduce new characters almost every page. This isn’t what Longshot will actually do in the X-Men but it does turn out to be one of the solutions to the Nightcrawler dilemma - why isn’t this fun anymore? - that actually works for a while. By that point, Claremont won’t be there to see it.
March 30, 2025
A short run of Uncanny X-men #201-#209 is followed by the 6 issue Longshot mini-series and a bonus X-men Marvel Fanfare story.
The X portion focuses on Rachel and her insecurities about her being a hound rounding up mutants before coming to the past or the X-men’s present and fitting in amidst the team and the deadly threat of the Beyonder. We get a face off against the Sentinels and later the Hellfire Club and Nimrod.
A major highlight was the Wolverine centered #205 drawn by Barry Windsor Smith.
Claremont shines writing the mutants with all their hangups and juggles a ton of plots and side stories.
Nocenti and Adams’ Longshot mini is pretty decent with our hero not knowing anything about his past and a clever Little Rascals appearance as well.
The X portion focuses on Rachel and her insecurities about her being a hound rounding up mutants before coming to the past or the X-men’s present and fitting in amidst the team and the deadly threat of the Beyonder. We get a face off against the Sentinels and later the Hellfire Club and Nimrod.
A major highlight was the Wolverine centered #205 drawn by Barry Windsor Smith.
Claremont shines writing the mutants with all their hangups and juggles a ton of plots and side stories.
Nocenti and Adams’ Longshot mini is pretty decent with our hero not knowing anything about his past and a clever Little Rascals appearance as well.
June 22, 2025
4.6 stars
Another great slice of ‘80s X-Men. I’m loving re-reading these stories.
(Longshot miniseries not included in my rating as I’ve rated that separately elsewhere.)
Another great slice of ‘80s X-Men. I’m loving re-reading these stories.
(Longshot miniseries not included in my rating as I’ve rated that separately elsewhere.)
December 27, 2021
This is an interesting volume -- the epic return of Storm as team leader and the X-Men adjusting to Magneto's leadership are interesting plot points, as is the continued evolution of their relationship with the Hellfire Club. The climactic finale to that story is great. However there's also more irritating Secret Wars II tie-in content -- Secret Wars II was a terrible, terrible event and every issue forced to feature the Beyonder suffers from it. Ann Nocenti and Art Adams's Longshot mini is very bizarre, and while I don't think a lot of it works, Mojo is the absolute best kind of bonkers and Spiral and Major Domo are delightful.
February 24, 2023
Desperately wanting to do something "good" after two reckless attempts at destroying the Beyonder, Rachel goes wild against the Hellfire club but Wolvie won’t have it. And there’s Nimrod too! All good stuff with great art- except for the June Bringman issue.
Another good run with good storylines with a few issues intermingled with the Secret Wars II cross over at the beginning but they stand for themselves well enough.
And of course there is issue 205: "Wounded wolf" by Claremont and somptuously illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith, undoubtedly my favorite X-Men issue ever and I’ve read a few hundreds over time. And it’s the only comic book with a Power Pack member I can read without cringing. I tell you, this issue is a bloody masterpiece!
The Longshot mini-series closes the book. I reviewed it already once and weren’t too appraising. Let’s just say it is definitely NOT Arthur Adams’ best work- thick and rigid with garish coloring that made my eyes bleed- and that I’ve never seen Ann Nocenti produce anything good ever. Not to say her ideas were bad; she simply can’t write for shit.
The volume includes an interesting gallery of breakdowns, roughs, pencils and inked pages from Longshot. Always liked these bonuses.
So 4* for the main series, 1* for Longshot
Another good run with good storylines with a few issues intermingled with the Secret Wars II cross over at the beginning but they stand for themselves well enough.
And of course there is issue 205: "Wounded wolf" by Claremont and somptuously illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith, undoubtedly my favorite X-Men issue ever and I’ve read a few hundreds over time. And it’s the only comic book with a Power Pack member I can read without cringing. I tell you, this issue is a bloody masterpiece!
The Longshot mini-series closes the book. I reviewed it already once and weren’t too appraising. Let’s just say it is definitely NOT Arthur Adams’ best work- thick and rigid with garish coloring that made my eyes bleed- and that I’ve never seen Ann Nocenti produce anything good ever. Not to say her ideas were bad; she simply can’t write for shit.
The volume includes an interesting gallery of breakdowns, roughs, pencils and inked pages from Longshot. Always liked these bonuses.
So 4* for the main series, 1* for Longshot
June 1, 2022
These stories are creative, artistic, and unafraid to try wild new things with the X-Men. Nimrod, the Hellfire Club, Lady Deathstrike, the Morlocks, the Beyonder, and Freedom Force all show up in San Francisco, a cool 20 years before Utopia was a thing. Longshot gets his own fever dream limited series that introduces two recurring villains, Mojo and Spiral. This era has a lot of stuff that has proved surprisingly durable, and the pacing is tight in a way Claremont usually isn't.
Unfortunately, these stories are also super weird. Rachel is in her annoying teenager phase and chews the scenery for almost all the X-Men issues. Wolverine's gritty solo issue guest stars Power Pack. Longshot is six issues of Ann Nocenti trying to be subtle and ending up disjointed and bizarre and not subtle at all. And the less said about the video game tie in where Magneto and Rogue face an alien power-copying computer, the better. So, YMMV. I really liked it, but I have a high tolerance for X-Men nonsense.
Unfortunately, these stories are also super weird. Rachel is in her annoying teenager phase and chews the scenery for almost all the X-Men issues. Wolverine's gritty solo issue guest stars Power Pack. Longshot is six issues of Ann Nocenti trying to be subtle and ending up disjointed and bizarre and not subtle at all. And the less said about the video game tie in where Magneto and Rogue face an alien power-copying computer, the better. So, YMMV. I really liked it, but I have a high tolerance for X-Men nonsense.
December 25, 2023
El número 200 de la Patrulla-X había traído uno de los cambios más importantes para la Patrulla-X: Xavier se marchaba junto a Lilandra y los Saqueadores Estelares, y Magneto se convertía en miembro de la Patrulla-X y, sobre todo, en el director de la Escuela Xavier. Pero este tomo abre con nuevos cambios, y es que Cíclope y Madelyne viajan a Westchester para que la Patrulla-X conozca a su hijo (más adelante sabremos que se llama Nathan Christopher, aunque durante muchos números va a ser simplemente "el niño"), y en esa situación, Cíclope, a pesar de la renuencia de Madelyne, se plantea recuperar el mando de la Patrulla-X... solo que Tormenta, a pesar de no tener poderes, no va a renunciar a su liderazgo y va a combatir con Cíclope por la Patrulla-X... y ganará, de modo que Cíclope y Madelyne volverán a Alaska, y Tormenta se mantendrá como líder de la Patrulla-X. Además, a nivel de encuentros importantes, es el primer encuentro entre Rachel (la hija de Cíclope y Jean Grey de Días del Futuro Pasado) y Nathan Christopher, hermano en esta realidad.
Y más allá de esto, gran parte de la narrativa de este tomo, dibujada por John Romita Jr (el número 201 había contado con lápices de Rick Leonardi), va a centrarse precisamente en Rachel y su rivalidad con el Todopoderoso, lo que va a llevar a la Patrulla-X a San Francisco, donde ella intentará en un par de ocasiones acabar con él, primero por sí misma, y luego tomando (de forma voluntaria o no) las esencias del resto de los miembros de la Patrulla-X. El desenlace de las tramas del Todopoderoso no tendrían lugar en estas páginas, sino en Secret Wars II y los Vengadores, pero más o menos viene siendo ahora cuando por fin desaparece, y cada escritor puede dedicarse ya a sus cosas. Y en el caso de Claremont, la Patrulla-X tendrá un encontronazo con la nueva encarnación de la Hermandad de Mutantes Diabólicos, la Fuerza de la Libertad, formada por Mística, Destino, Mole, Pyros, Avalancha, Espiral y la nueva Spiderwoman que había aparecido en Secret Wars, pero será la propia policía de San Francisco la que, haciendo gala de la apertura de miras que siempre ha representado esa ciudad en el imaginario estadounidense, quien permitirá que la Patrulla-X se marche, volviendo a NY y refugiándose en los túneles Morlocks un tiempo. Pero de nuevo, Rachel va a poner al equipo en un brete, y es que después de no haber podido acabar con el Todopoderoso, va a dirigir sus esfuerzos a acabar con Selene, para lo cual se decide incluso a infiltrarse en el Club Fuego Infernal. Pero Lobezno, que después de que Rachel robara su esencia para hacer frente al Todopoderoso parece haber quedado atrapado en un vínculo psíquico con ella, va a perseguir a Rachel, con el objetivo de evitar que cometa un asesinato, para lo cual está decidido incluso a acabar con ella.
Esta trama llevará a la cúspide de otro argumento recurrente, el de Nimrod, y es que el combate a varias bandas entre la Patrulla-X (que acude a salvar a Rachel) y el Club Fuego Infernal (que acude a todo lo contrario) en Central Park, va a llevar a la aparición de Nimrod, que se enfrentará a ambos, provocando la primera alianza entre la Patrulla-X y el Club Fuego Infernal, y que dejará bajas en ambos lados (el Alfil Negro Harry Leland muere en el combate, y Rachel desaparece en manos de Espiral, que se la lleva a su Tienda de Cuerpos). Pero sobre todo, además de poner fin (de momento) a la trama de Nimrod, sirve para abrir otra trama, que es la incorporación de Magneto al Club Fuego Infernal, ya que se le ofrece convertirse en el Rey Blanco... lo que generará nuevas tensiones, y aunque de momento no serán tan perceptibles en estas páginas, si lo serán en las de Factor-X, ya que el equipo formado por la Patrulla-X original duda de acudir a la Patrulla-X precisamente por su vinculación con Magneto... y el Fuego Infernal.
Y más allá de esto, gran parte de la narrativa de este tomo, dibujada por John Romita Jr (el número 201 había contado con lápices de Rick Leonardi), va a centrarse precisamente en Rachel y su rivalidad con el Todopoderoso, lo que va a llevar a la Patrulla-X a San Francisco, donde ella intentará en un par de ocasiones acabar con él, primero por sí misma, y luego tomando (de forma voluntaria o no) las esencias del resto de los miembros de la Patrulla-X. El desenlace de las tramas del Todopoderoso no tendrían lugar en estas páginas, sino en Secret Wars II y los Vengadores, pero más o menos viene siendo ahora cuando por fin desaparece, y cada escritor puede dedicarse ya a sus cosas. Y en el caso de Claremont, la Patrulla-X tendrá un encontronazo con la nueva encarnación de la Hermandad de Mutantes Diabólicos, la Fuerza de la Libertad, formada por Mística, Destino, Mole, Pyros, Avalancha, Espiral y la nueva Spiderwoman que había aparecido en Secret Wars, pero será la propia policía de San Francisco la que, haciendo gala de la apertura de miras que siempre ha representado esa ciudad en el imaginario estadounidense, quien permitirá que la Patrulla-X se marche, volviendo a NY y refugiándose en los túneles Morlocks un tiempo. Pero de nuevo, Rachel va a poner al equipo en un brete, y es que después de no haber podido acabar con el Todopoderoso, va a dirigir sus esfuerzos a acabar con Selene, para lo cual se decide incluso a infiltrarse en el Club Fuego Infernal. Pero Lobezno, que después de que Rachel robara su esencia para hacer frente al Todopoderoso parece haber quedado atrapado en un vínculo psíquico con ella, va a perseguir a Rachel, con el objetivo de evitar que cometa un asesinato, para lo cual está decidido incluso a acabar con ella.
Esta trama llevará a la cúspide de otro argumento recurrente, el de Nimrod, y es que el combate a varias bandas entre la Patrulla-X (que acude a salvar a Rachel) y el Club Fuego Infernal (que acude a todo lo contrario) en Central Park, va a llevar a la aparición de Nimrod, que se enfrentará a ambos, provocando la primera alianza entre la Patrulla-X y el Club Fuego Infernal, y que dejará bajas en ambos lados (el Alfil Negro Harry Leland muere en el combate, y Rachel desaparece en manos de Espiral, que se la lleva a su Tienda de Cuerpos). Pero sobre todo, además de poner fin (de momento) a la trama de Nimrod, sirve para abrir otra trama, que es la incorporación de Magneto al Club Fuego Infernal, ya que se le ofrece convertirse en el Rey Blanco... lo que generará nuevas tensiones, y aunque de momento no serán tan perceptibles en estas páginas, si lo serán en las de Factor-X, ya que el equipo formado por la Patrulla-X original duda de acudir a la Patrulla-X precisamente por su vinculación con Magneto... y el Fuego Infernal.
July 23, 2025
I call this the conclusion to the second phase of Claremont's first X-Men run. That's an entirely subjective delineation that might confuse others. More, by my own criteria, you could argue Mutant Massacre (next up) is the actually passing of the torch. It contains pieces of the ending, while it mutually carries portions of the beginning. This is a longer conversation that matters only to me, so I'll shelf it to talk about this volume more directly.
This collection has faults: Rachel's actions and ejection, Wolverine keeping his teammate from killing... by killing, Cyke's... stuff, some of the struggles of the Longshot mini (which is actually a lot of this collection). But despite this, as I read this in concert with X-Factor I find myself excited for every page of Uncanny.
These characters are so established that they essentially live apart from but through Claremont. JRJr's art hits another level in this collection. Spending time with the team is a joy, even in these last vestiges of the Middle. Claremont is about to strip everything down and overhaul the team for his own longings, but this is not lost narrative. These are essential, even if repeated, components of the lives of these fictions.
In early reads of Claremont, I think I wore out some at this point, 10+ years into his X-Men run. Now, I love this era. And it is essential for the "living" nature of the worldbuilding: this gives the mythopoeia breathe that makes it so much bigger than a few issues in the mid-80s.
The Longshot mini... It overstretches. And Nocenti's voice is chaotic. Some of it bears intent. She is possibly striving for a post-modern styling. But this is not Morrison. The Super Hero medium is a conglomerated genre, but Nocenti may be attempting to co-opt too many in this. Parody, existential drama, cultural satire, religious satire, slapstick comedy, messianic lit, et al. Though as I write that list, I realize some works can balance all of those. Perhaps Nocenti's ambitious doesn't yet meet her skill. Similarly (and relatedly), Art Adams's art is green. You see the charm and skill he will attain, but his youth is evident.
This collection has faults: Rachel's actions and ejection, Wolverine keeping his teammate from killing... by killing, Cyke's... stuff, some of the struggles of the Longshot mini (which is actually a lot of this collection). But despite this, as I read this in concert with X-Factor I find myself excited for every page of Uncanny.
These characters are so established that they essentially live apart from but through Claremont. JRJr's art hits another level in this collection. Spending time with the team is a joy, even in these last vestiges of the Middle. Claremont is about to strip everything down and overhaul the team for his own longings, but this is not lost narrative. These are essential, even if repeated, components of the lives of these fictions.
In early reads of Claremont, I think I wore out some at this point, 10+ years into his X-Men run. Now, I love this era. And it is essential for the "living" nature of the worldbuilding: this gives the mythopoeia breathe that makes it so much bigger than a few issues in the mid-80s.
The Longshot mini... It overstretches. And Nocenti's voice is chaotic. Some of it bears intent. She is possibly striving for a post-modern styling. But this is not Morrison. The Super Hero medium is a conglomerated genre, but Nocenti may be attempting to co-opt too many in this. Parody, existential drama, cultural satire, religious satire, slapstick comedy, messianic lit, et al. Though as I write that list, I realize some works can balance all of those. Perhaps Nocenti's ambitious doesn't yet meet her skill. Similarly (and relatedly), Art Adams's art is green. You see the charm and skill he will attain, but his youth is evident.
August 31, 2022
Some great stories that really show some growth in the X-Men (especially in Rachel).
Overall, this is a great arc featuring the Hellfire Club, Nimrod, and others.
We also get to see the evolution of Magneto from villain into leader/hero, the birth of the Summers child who later becomes Cable, and we witness even more Cyclops drama throughout.
JRJR does decent on art duties.
As for Longshot: This is such a weird book! I'm familiar with Longshot (and his odd history), but I'd never read this original run of his. In this collection, we learn a bit about his past, we meet Mojo, Richochet Rita, and Spiral, among others. There are even guest appearances by She-Hulk, Spider-Man, and Dr. Strange, which adds some weight to this 'new' character (new at the time, of course).
All in all, the story is weird, but the art (Arthur Adams) is just amazing. I wish he'd done more penciling work at Marvel, so that alone is worth getting and reading this collection! That said, there are a LOT of parallels between Mojo and Trump, their self-focus, self-importance, and how they only care about themselves...it was interesting to read taking that into account.
Overall, this is a great arc featuring the Hellfire Club, Nimrod, and others.
We also get to see the evolution of Magneto from villain into leader/hero, the birth of the Summers child who later becomes Cable, and we witness even more Cyclops drama throughout.
JRJR does decent on art duties.
As for Longshot: This is such a weird book! I'm familiar with Longshot (and his odd history), but I'd never read this original run of his. In this collection, we learn a bit about his past, we meet Mojo, Richochet Rita, and Spiral, among others. There are even guest appearances by She-Hulk, Spider-Man, and Dr. Strange, which adds some weight to this 'new' character (new at the time, of course).
All in all, the story is weird, but the art (Arthur Adams) is just amazing. I wish he'd done more penciling work at Marvel, so that alone is worth getting and reading this collection! That said, there are a LOT of parallels between Mojo and Trump, their self-focus, self-importance, and how they only care about themselves...it was interesting to read taking that into account.
July 24, 2025
The main story is still stuck on Rachel Summers, and while I understand all her PTSD, the head fuck of the time travel and the family issues... I just don't like her character, I find her endless angst really tiresome. It is also driving me mad that Scott still doesn't know!
I also hate her hair with that horrible rat's tail!
The good bits were the Wolverine issue, and Storm being a badass leader of the X-Men despite still not having any powers. Rogue has been used really well recently too, I love it when she absorbs the powers of others on the team. Also Nightcrawlers lament that being an X-Men isn't as fun as it used to be, the heroic victories are few and far more often they're in battles it's impossible to win.
Aside from Rachel, the main antagonists are Selene and the Hellfire Club (which is Rachel's fault!) and another big showdown with NIMROD. I can't remember if the Beyonder stuff was at the start of this collection or the end of the previous one, but that was also kind of Rachel's fault!
I was hoping Rachel might actually die but it seems Spiral is up to something now...
I also hate her hair with that horrible rat's tail!
The good bits were the Wolverine issue, and Storm being a badass leader of the X-Men despite still not having any powers. Rogue has been used really well recently too, I love it when she absorbs the powers of others on the team. Also Nightcrawlers lament that being an X-Men isn't as fun as it used to be, the heroic victories are few and far more often they're in battles it's impossible to win.
Aside from Rachel, the main antagonists are Selene and the Hellfire Club (which is Rachel's fault!) and another big showdown with NIMROD. I can't remember if the Beyonder stuff was at the start of this collection or the end of the previous one, but that was also kind of Rachel's fault!
I was hoping Rachel might actually die but it seems Spiral is up to something now...
August 28, 2025
Four stars for the main series stuff. I skipped the Longshot miniseries included in the volume because I'd already read it and didn't feel the need to revisit it. It's cool to finally see one of the better-known X-Men villains show up (Lady Deathstrike) after years of them fighting Arcade and space stuff. Also the alternate timeline stuff continues to be really interesting, which is an opinion I never thought I'd have.
May 26, 2022
There's a mix here: some really good issues, such as Cyclops' battle with Storm over the leadership of the X-Men, and some weaker issues, such as the Longshot miniseries.
June 10, 2022
Uncanny X-Men 201-209 = *****
Longshot = *
Longshot = *
April 26, 2024
Longshot was a bit of fresh air, at least
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