{"id":5985,"date":"2021-01-17T12:09:15","date_gmt":"2021-01-17T12:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=5985"},"modified":"2021-07-23T14:42:59","modified_gmt":"2021-07-23T13:42:59","slug":"the-incomplete-wolverine-1980","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=5985","title":{"rendered":"The Incomplete Wolverine: 1980"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Part 1: Origin to Origin II<\/a><\/em> | Part 2: 1907 to 1914<\/a><\/em>
Part 3: 1914 to 1939<\/a><\/em> | Part 4: World War II<\/a><\/em>
Part 5: The postwar era<\/a> | Part 6: Team X<\/a><\/em>
Part 7: Post Team X<\/a><\/em> | Part 8: Weapon X<\/a><\/em>
Part 9: Department H<\/a><\/em> | Part 10: The Silver Age<\/a><\/em>
1974-1975<\/a><\/em> | 1976<\/a><\/em> | 1977<\/a><\/em> | 1978<\/a><\/em> | 1979<\/a><\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This is a big year, as the X-Men enter the 1980s with the Dark Phoenix Saga – the storyline that elevated them into A-listers. After this year, other writers will have a lot more interest in using the X-Men. But we’ve got to get there first.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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X-MEN vol 1 #129 (part 1) <\/a><\/strong>
“God Spare the Child…”<\/strong>
by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Terry Austin & Bob Sharen<\/strong>
January 1980<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

After a few days recuperating on Muir Isle following their fight with Proteus, the X-Men set off home (leaving behind Banshee, who finally quits the team). Professor X is waiting for them – he’s come back because he’s worried about Phoenix losing control, though he doesn’t explain that to the team just yet.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

At this point, there’s a break in the action for the X-Men to do some training. A few other appearances fit in here.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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First, Uncanny X-Men<\/em> vol 1 #187<\/strong> has a flashback where Wolverine teaches Storm how to shoot. He argues that it’ll give her an edge, because nobody will expect it. To be honest, this could go pretty much anywhere. The official chronology has it between issues #147-148, but it reads to me like Storm isn’t team leader yet, so I’m putting it here.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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CLASSIC X-MEN #39 (backup story)<\/a><\/strong>
“Briggs’ Revenge”<\/strong>
by Ann Nocenti, Jim Lee, Joe Rubinstein & Gregory Wright<\/strong>
November 1989<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When Storm snubs mutant Billy Briggs, he tails her back to the Mansion (surprisingly easily) and forces Storm to choose whether he kills Colossus or Wolverine with his disintegration power. Storm chooses Wolverine, because she rightly figures that he’ll survive – but Wolverine is still upset about it, and Billy takes that as a victory. A nice character moment, though with some dodgy plotting to get there.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A flashback in Super Soldiers <\/em>#7<\/strong> also goes in this gap. It’s an obscure Marvel UK tail-end title from 1993, which was cancelled one issue later. As part of the origin of team member Guvnor (Andy Black<\/strong>), the X-Men show up at his family’s council flat to try to recruit him. Xavier’s condescendingly patrician pitch goes down very badly indeed with the locals. It’s a parody of Kitty Pryde’s recruitment, and obviously meant to take place at around the same time.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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X-MEN vol 1 #129 (part 2) to #131<\/a><\/strong>
“God Spare the Child…” \/ “Dazzler”<\/strong> \/ “Run for Your Life!”<\/strong>
#129 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Terry Austin & Bob Sharen<\/strong>
#130-131 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Terry Austin & Glynis Wein<\/strong>
January to March 1980<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Wolverine is, quite reasonably, infuriated by Professor X’s training style. But before that can go anywhere, the X-Men split up to investigate two new mutants. Logan joins Xavier, Ororo and Peter in going to Chicago, where they meet 13-year-old Kitty Pryde<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Logan’s met Kitty before in a time travel story, but he doesn’t remember that, for the usual reasons. More problematically, neither he nor Xavier shows any signs of recognising Kitty’s father Carmen Pryde, or vice versa – despite Chris Claremont’s attempts years later to give them a shared military career. There’s no way of making those later scenes work unless you take them as a hard retcon that overrides the original story. Anyway… whatever view you take of all that, this is also where Logan meets Kitty’s mother Terri Pryde<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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The four X-Men are attacked and captured by Hellfire Club soldiers<\/strong> working for Emma Frost<\/strong>, and Kitty stows away when they’re taken to a Hellfire Club base. Storm gives Kitty the contact details for the other X-Men, who duly show up along with their own new mutant Dazzler<\/strong> (Alison Blaire). The prisoners are rescued, and Phoenix defeats the White Queen in a high-powered psychic battle that brings the building down. Phoenix says outright that Emma is dead, but she’ll show up alive and well in due course. Afterwards, Dazzler declines to join the team, but Phoenix telepathically “persuades” Kitty’s parents to sign their daughter up. Kitty won’t arrive at the school for a few issues yet, though.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

These issues focus on Kitty and Dazzler, and Logan’s barely in issue #130 at all. But they do have the first glimpses of Logan and Kitty together. Naturally, she’s intimidated by him. He’s instantly protective of her, but not to the point of actually wanting to talk to her. It’s strongly implied that he kills two guards when they hurt her, by way of retaliation.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The expansion pack for this story…<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n