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JUST READ X-MEN 108....

Started by THE_BEYONDER,

19 posts in this topic

OldGuy

OldGuy

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Here's a review I wrote for that issue:

 

Uncanny X-men 108

 

Review by Brian Rempel

 

Date: Dec '77

Cover Art: Dave Cockrum

Writer: Chris Claremont

Interior Art: John Byrne

Interior Inks: Terry Austin

Story Title: Armageddon Now

 

SUMMARY

 

Here we go boys and girls, it's time for the conclusion to the Starjammers saga and the debut of the greatest artist to ever draw the X-Men, John Byrne!

 

We find our hero's on a planet simply called "The World". After having teamed up with the band of rebels known as the Starjammers and defeating the Imperial Guard (see review of 107 for details) the X-Men believe that the worst is over…….guess what? Yup, the worst is yet to come!

 

The giant crystal that was the focal point of our last issue is now emitting some wicked light beams and other special effects. Corsair gets his crew aboard the 'Jammer (his spaceship) to start running a sensor scan on the crystal to try and figure out what's going on. Meanwhile the Starjammers and the X-Men try to decide what their next move should be.

 

As usual Wolvie suggests the "every guy" approach of just getting the hell out of Dodge but is shot down when Lilandra points out that there's no place to hide from a force that's called "The End of All That Is".

 

Meanwhile, halfway across the universe in a space station called "Starcore"(built by the United Nations); we find some very worried scientists conversing with the Avengers, the Fantastic Four and President Carter. Peter Corbeau is one of those scientists and the creator of Starecore.

 

Peter: "Mr. President, I don't know! All I can tell you is what happened! For an instant, everything within range of Starcore's sensors simply, literally ceased to exist."

 

Peter goes on to explain to the Pres., The FF and the Avengers that if this "disruption" should take place again it could equal the end of the universe as we know it.

 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…. Phoenix is busy thinking to herself that doing mind scans on the 'Jammers wasn't such a good idea. Now she's faced with the knowledge that Cyclops and Corsair have some kind of special relationship that Cyclops is unaware of and she's not sure if she should tell him. At the same time, our costumed crusaders are greeted with a voice coming from some funky little alien dude on "the crystal's" dais proclaiming "Hail and farewell X-Men and Starjammers!"

 

He introduces himself as "Jahf" the guardian of "this gate into eternity" and let's the team know that as long as the gate is open it's his job to prevent anyone from going through it. Of course Wolvie takes this as a challenge and decides to tangle with the little fella……oooops. Wolvie proceeds to get punched into orbit by the little guy!

 

Up in space on the Jammer we over hear a discussion between the crew and Corsair (on the ground) about a "small, organic, humanoid form" that the Jammer has picked up flying through the atmosphere. Corsair informs the ship's crew that "he's one of ours" (Wolvie) and instructs the crew to pick him up.

 

Back on the surface, our team is getting the snot knocked out of them by Jahf. Cyclops' optic blasts just make the little guy laugh and the rest of the team is getting themselves tossed around like a bunch of amateurs. Phoenix is tired of the [!@#%^&^] kicking their taking so she grabs a small meteor from outer space (telekinetically) and slams it down on Jahf's head.

 

Well I'm sure that's the end of Jahf…….um…….nope. He's not even scratched by the meteor, and now he's pissed. Cyclops tells Storm to create a diversion by creating a cyclone so the team can retreat and regroup. But before she can, Banshee decides to initiate a little plan of his own based on a comment that Jahf made earlier about his "programming". Banshee thinks that if Jahf is robot then a well-placed sonic scream will scramble his circuits. He flies right up to Jahf and lets him have it and it works! Jahf is officially out commission. It took a lot out of Banshee, but it got the job done.

 

Whew, I'm glad that's over with, and so are the X-Men…….but wait…….what's this?! Oh man, a thundering voice comes from behind the X-Men announcing the presence of "Modt", the second guardian! This guy is no slouch either. He stands about 65 feet tall and almost as wide. He also let's everyone know that his power is "a thousand times greater then Jahf's" and that if he's defeated then another guardian who's power is a thousand times greater then his will appear and so on and so on... Hmmm, something tells me that screaming at this guy won't be very effective…..

 

The Emperor (see review of 107) finally makes his appearance at this point and at the same time Raza gets a communiqué from the 'Jammer letting him know that when the second guardian made his appearance that there was another "cosmic blink". Upon hearing this, Raza gets pretty pissed and he rushes the Emperor, picks him up and throws him at the crystal! While he's not killed by this action, the consequences are great and the entire band of heroes finds themselves teleported to "somewhere else".

 

They find themselves in a huge, deserted, futuristic city sans the giant robot guardian they were just fighting. While everyone is trying to figure out where they are, Jean proclaims that they are "inside the crystal"! She approaches a large glowing sphere and explains that it's "the heart of it all". She's drawn to the sphere sensing life and pain and beauty inside of it. She reaches out touching it and when she pulls her hand back from the sphere her hand is transparent. She's shocked, but she has no time to react as beams of light shot out and enter the minds of everyone present including her.

 

Everyone is thrown into their own personal nightmare, being confronted with their worst personal fears. But there is something different about Phoenix' nightmare. She's confronted with the time of her death (X-Men 100) and her subsequent re-birth as Phoenix, but she is not flustered by this dream because when she died she also lost here fear of death. As she regains her senses she sees Cyclops throwing out a massive optic blast, out of control it strikes her! It should have cut her in half, but instead it simply passes through her. Her entire body has gone ethereal "like some sort of living ghost".

 

Unconcerned with her self she attempts to help Cyclops get his optic blast under control, but it's too late. His blast strikes the sphere cracking is open. Confronted with this new development Phoenix feels drawn to the sphere and changing into her true Phoenix form (a giant bird of fire) she flies into the cracking sphere. As she enters it the others start coming out of their nightmares.

 

Inside the sphere Phoenix is overcome with a joy she's never felt before, feeling more beautiful and alive then she ever has. After a short time she finds herself at the heart of the sphere facing an entire neutron galaxy. It's a little much for her to wrap her brain around, but she realizes that while the galaxy is beautiful, it's also dyeing. At this point she's given a glimpse of things to come if the neutron galaxy does in fact die. She sees that nothing will be spared, that stars, planets, galaxies and mega-galaxies will all be destroyed in a massive act of destruction and re-birth that will ultimately result in the elimination of everything that is and the birth of a new, virgin universe. (Wow, I really got into that explanation!)

 

Phoenix can't fathom the though of the destruction of the universe and she tries to repair the neutron galaxy, but to no avail. She realizes that in order to save the universe, the latticework of the n-galaxy needs to be woven back together, but she alone does not have the strength. She's a being made up of energy and the n-galaxy is absorbing her energy, pulling her farther away from the plain of reality.

 

Phoenix leaves the sphere and explains the problem. Storm reaches out to Phoenix and offers up her life force as an anchor. But Phoenix knows that even if she takes all of Storm's life force it won't be enough, she needs one more…..

 

She beckons to Corsair for help, but he's reluctant. Phoenix then yells, "Major Summers, please! There's no more time! Take my hand!!" Shocked by the fact that Phoenix knows his name, he reaches out, giving her the moment she needs to "borrow" part of his life force. Armed with what she needs, Phoenix heads back into the sphere, but before she enters it she asks Corsair to watch after Cyclops, the man she loves and his first-born son!

 

Phoenix flies back into the sphere, transforming from her human form back into bird (Phoenix). She gets a huge rush of power and proceeds to repair the latticework of the n-universe. (It takes Claremont over a page to describe this "repair job", but the bottom line is that she fixed it.)

 

The next thing we know, our heroes are returning back through the stargate and onto the rooftop where Firelord has been patiently waiting for their return. Cyclops is ready for a fight, but Firelord lets him know that everything is cool between them. While they were gone Xavier explained to Firelord how he was deceived into believing that Phoenix was his enemy so he decided to wait and guard the stargate to ensure the safe return of the X-Men (mighty nice of him!).

 

The next moment the stargate opens again and out comes Lilandra! As she passes through the gate it melts into a pile of slag. Lil explains the mess with her brother (the Emperor) and all of the confusion about her rightful place as leader of her people. She's decided to wait things out here on Earth until the "High Council" figures things out and summons her back (She's assuming quite a lot here.).

 

REVIEW

 

Wow. What can I say?! That's the end of one of my favorite comic book stories of all time. While there are more great stories to come, it's hard to beat this one. 'Nuff said.

 

The Good

 

This is a very bitter/sweet point in the history of the X-Men in a creative sense. With this issue we see the introduction of John Byrne as artist, but he's replacing Dave Cockrum! It's not often that you'll see an artist of Cockrum's ability replaced with one of equal or greater caliber. In a lot of cases a major change like this can mean the death of a book, but with the introduction of Byrne we are about to enter the greatest run in X-Men history!

 

At the bottom of the last page it reads: "This book dedicated with respect and admiration to Dave Cockrum, who helped make the dream a reality." Then: "I'm not dead". -Dave Cockrum

 

Cockrum did do the cover on this book and goes on the produce covers through issue 112 with Byrne taking over

cover duties with 113.

 

The Bad

 

I think the bad is summed up as the "bitter" portion of "The Good", no more Dave Cockrum. L

 

The Ugly

 

The only really lame part of this book is when the Avengers are getting info about the possible end of the universe and Wasp turns to Yellow Jacket and says "Oh, Hank! Hold me close. I - - I'm scared". Oh my God! Was that for real?! If that's indicative of the Avengers I'm sure glad I don't have the job of reviewing those books. Man, how weak is that drivel?

 

Best Line

 

When Jahf first confronts the X-Men Wolvie tells Cyclops that he "Ain't gonna hurt the li'l fella….much". Jahf replies "That's for sure." and proceeds to punch Wolvie into the upper atmosphere. lol, that killed me!

 

Cheesiest Line

 

See "The Ugly".

 

RATINGS

 

Plot: 10

(It just kept getting better and better and was all wrapped up nice and tight in the end.)

 

Dialogue: 9

(A little cheese still there, but not much. Claremont seems to be directing things at a more adult level. Is that true or am I just becoming more child like?)

 

Art: 10

(20 years later and it's still never been any better then 108-143.)

 

Overall: 9.6

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THE_BEYONDER

THE_BEYONDER

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That was awesome. I'd give you 5 stars....but I already did that a long time ago. 893applaud-thumb.gif

 

My favourite part of X-men 108 had to be Wolvie getting punched into orbit....and the worst.....just like you...the reaction of the wasp. tongue.gif

 

What a great book!23_5_18.gif

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awe4one

awe4one

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I'm with ya Supa! I thought the Claremont/Lee run had it's moments and was great despite a few slow parts. But....there aren't many runs in comics that compare to the Claremont/Byrne run..... smile.gif

 

Jim

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awe4one

awe4one

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i think lee's run on X-men might reflect byrne's current run 10-15 years from now. 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

 

You may be right. It's a great run IMO. The only thing that would keep it from that level for readers though would be the complex continuity existing in the X-Men at the time. Byrne didn't have this problem and his run is much more assessable to readers because of it.

 

Jim

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joe_collector

joe_collector

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what about Paul Smith's run?(OK...not long enough) thumbsup2.gif or even Jim Lee's run with the X-Men? 893scratchchin-thumb.gifconfused-smiley-013.gif

 

Are you suggesting that Byrne's run wasn't the best? 893whatthe.gifmad.gifdevil.gif

 

Byrne's is definitely the best, but I think if Smith had stuck with the book for longer, he'd have made it closer.

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DiceX

DiceX

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Quick question...does anyone know the reason why Cockrum left the book? Was there any real reason, or did he just decide to work on a different comic?

 

Because his covers sucked horse nuts and they wouldn't let him draw them anymore. confused-smiley-013.gif

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joe_collector

joe_collector

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Quick question...does anyone know the reason why Cockrum left the book? Was there any real reason, or did he just decide to work on a different comic?

 

"I stayed through to #107. I couldn't stay with it because I was on staff by that time—my job was to design covers—and I just couldn't handle it anymore. I was tired and I gave it up. Later on, they asked me to do that Marvel Fanfare with the X-Men in the Savage Land and it was fun! I called up Chris and said, "This is really fun! If Byrne ever wants to leave the book, give me another chance at it." And Byrne left the book that following Monday. That was a weird juxtaposition! So I got the book back and I was enthusiastic again. It was fun for a long time." - Dave Cockrum

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joe_collector

joe_collector

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Weird X-Men Facts:

 

Jim Starlin was originally supposed to launch the new X-Men wave, but revamped Warlock instead.

 

John Byrne was slated to take over Logan's Run, but it was scheduled for cancellation, and the X-Men opportunity came up at *exactly* the right time.

 

Now them's some strange What If scenarios....

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DiceX

DiceX

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Quick question...does anyone know the reason why Cockrum left the book? Was there any real reason, or did he just decide to work on a different comic?

 

"I stayed through to #107. I couldn't stay with it because I was on staff by that time—my job was to design covers—and I just couldn't handle it anymore. I was tired and I gave it up. Later on, they asked me to do that Marvel Fanfare with the X-Men in the Savage Land and it was fun! I called up Chris and said, "This is really fun! If Byrne ever wants to leave the book, give me another chance at it." And Byrne left the book that following Monday. That was a weird juxtaposition! So I got the book back and I was enthusiastic again. It was fun for a long time." - Dave Cockrum

 

Same answer as mine, but mine was the abridged version.

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