Chapter Thirty-Eight:

1985-1986

December, 1985, January & February, July, 1986 X-Factor No. 2-3

Annual No. 1 by Guice, Pollard, Layton, Zeck, Frenz, Rubinstein, Breeding, P. Scotese, Rosen, J. Chiang + Harras

…alternating with…

December, 1985, January, March & April, 1986 New Mutants No. 38-39 & 41-42 by Leonardi, Pollard, Guice, Adams, Windsor-Smith, Sienkiewicz, Barras, Austin, Baker, Glynis, E. Lee, Bruzenak, Orzechowski, Claremont + Nocenti & T. Kavanagh

Like THIS: X-F No. 2-3, NM No. 38-39, X-F No. 4, NM No. 41-42, X-F Annual No. 1

Mixtape tracks: Killing for Jesus by Circle Jerks, Dad by Nomeansno, Severed Lips by Dinosaur Jr, Oh Mother Reagan by The Violent Femmes, Haunted by King Dimond, Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely by Hüsker Dü, City in Dust by Siouxsie and the Banshees, & Check It Out Y’all by 2 Live Crew

Chapter 48 of “to me my ❌-Men,” in which we continue to straddle 1985 & 1986, this time flipping pages between the old heads and the kids in the pages of ❌-Factor and The New Mutants. Squares and Punks…no matter…it is still sexy times. Politically speaking.

Previously on “to me my ❌-Men,” Mutants were celebrating the holidays with Power Pack, ❌-Men, Asgardians(ish), Fantastic Four(jr), Cloak & Dagger, and Morlocks. While, the 60’s ❌-Men were rebranding.

The ❌-Men “gang” members entering into 1986 are:

POV: Kitty Pryde

Team Leader: Ororo

Professor: Maggie

Old Codger: Logan

Team Spirit: Kurt

Mascot: Lockheed

Redhead: Rachel

Muscle: Piotr

Heel Turn: Rogue

As far as I was concerned, this was the ❌-Men, until “my ❌-team” solidified.

This was the ❌-Men and then there was this team of old arse retires, called ❌-Factor, and these students, called The New Mutants (or Mutants for short).

BUT I hadn’t formed this opinion yet.

As I am reading my sixth ❌ comic:

1: Wolverine No. 1 (two years late)

2: Wolverine No. 2 (two years late)

3: Wolverine No. 3 (two years late)

4: Wolverine No. 4 (two years late)

5: X-Factor No. 1 (the day it came out)

6: X-Factor No. 2 (the day it came out)

But here we are going to combine what I experienced as 1985 became 1986 and what we are experiencing as 2025 becomes 2026. As I just picked up these New Mutant issues at the end of 2025, while holding onto these ❌-Factor issues since the day they came out.

Here we go, with “not my ❌-Men,” the elders and the youths.

The ❌ is still properly in the cornerbox. This issue is December of 1985, so the Marvel is clean and simple. Perfection. The “M” has the price. “My price.” 75¢ (plus the Canada and UK, as this is a direct market copy, picked up on Telegraph at Comics ‘n Comix…it has Spidy Black costume floating head bottom left) and a “2” with “MAR”.

This cover at the bottom has a classic lettered pitch with FOUR hand drawn fonts and zig zag electrified urgency stating:

THE DESPERATE BATTLE OF LIFE AND DEATH! X-FACTOR VS. THE MUTANT MENACE OF TOWER!!

This classic 20th Century comics sales pitch is welcomed. Braking the rules of Graphic Design with regards to number of fonts is a flex here. I am not one to go this way myself. I advise against it with my students. I ding them if grading. But this is a last gasp Bronze Age superhero comic playing nostalgic with a nod towards the tomfoolery that was Silver Age comics…and I love all this.

I’ve talked bunch about my “Geek” foundation. The fundamentals that built me up.

•May 4, 1977, Jackson, WY, Star Wars in the theater 27 days shy of 2.

•PBS’s Electric Company’s Spider-Man on black and white rabbit eared . 📺

•1978 or 1979, lesbians provided me my first Tintin and Asterix, my first comics (thus super okay with comics make you queer propoganda)

The most fundamental introduction to the superhero genre (sorry Spidy…but you were educational television, not cartooning) Saturday Morning Cartoons. I was always the first one to wake up in my house growing up. In 1979, I would have already been up for hours, warming myself by the wall heater. Thinking.

At 8AM, Saturdays, on channel 7’s ABC I was watching Super Friends.

The lineup of Super Friends was the trinity; Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, plus Robin, the core members; Aquaman, The Flash (had these Underoos), Green Lantern & Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkgirl & Hawkman, the other kids; Wonder Twins (Zan & Jayna), Gleek, the rare treat; Plastic Man; and the new cats; Apache Chief, Black Volcan, Samuri.

This was my superhero foundation, through this vantage point I see DC. I will be onboard from day one with Frank Miller’s Batman, and am a Tim Burton Batman kid…the grit is not from were I expect them to be. I expect that mid 20th Century camp.

I have strong affinity for all these characters. Especially the Wonder Twins, as they were the POV on Saturday Morning.

But my absolute favorite has been and will always be Apache Chief and thus my favorite arch is Giganta. I mentioned Plastic Man as a treat. I was 4-years-old when I started watching these. I am positive there were a lot of environmental, cultural, and aesthetic influences throughout my childhood that calcified during puberty my kinks. But definitely this developmental stage contributed through the Super Friends. If your character can grow or stretch…that’s my kryptonite kink.

So here we are on my second issue in my first series I am collecting monthly as they come out, Tower is centered.

Angel, Iceman, Jean, Cyclops…so puny.

Opening the comic, “Bless the Beasts & Children,” we get a solid credits splash page and double page spread of Jean’s recap nightmare and her awakening in her rebirthed reality.

Guice and team are so solid. He is really underrated.

Jean: “…there is more. There’s something about Scott no one is telling me. He’s always been so withdrawn, but I always thought he’d turn to me.”

She is empathetic to him here. I am not.

She has always been played as the object of the male gaze. Though, Claremont has a level of awareness to this that was perhaps unusual in the Marvel male creative team to this point. However, this is Bob Layton, and he does not have Louise or Nocenti editing.

There is nothing wrong with sexuality. We are pro sex in 2026. As we were in Berkeley in 1986. Even if I was just 10 going on 11. We were in the middle of an epidemic. Bobbi Campbell, a local, nationally known, had died when I was 9. Rock Hudson (We Care A Lot🎵 -FNM) had just died in the Fall. Sex in the Bay Area was equated with death when I was a kid. However, we were also a community that contributed to free love. Heck, we are the place that excepted and promoted R. Crumb.

So, I am not uncomfortable with the audience consuming a sexy Jean. I am noting, it’s pretty obvious the role of the male gaze here. She is sexier in these issues than she had been for decades. And as a prepubescent, I was not objecting.

She continues to recount the past generation of ❌-comics.

She is talking herself through and into the ❌-Factor plan. And then…

Jean: “So why do I feel so alone? Why does it seem there’s no place for a Marvel Girl in this brave new world?”

Layton is not simple. He is playing things more nuanced then maybe the reputation would lead us to believe.

Is he presenting a valid take of her perspective? Is he being complex in his wording here, as she was born into an era that informed the Free Love Era, and is now reborn in a time of Reagan and AIDs?

In the gutter, I can read a lot into this.

She has been and is iscolated on this team. She is objectified, loved, respected, desired, misunderstood, a tool, a guide, a mother, a daughter, a wife…she is as many women find themselves…asked to morph and be what her male partners have designed as a need. And it’s fucking bullshit. I say this looking at an image of her walking down a stairs in her nightgown.

Mr. Paradox is a tool!

Sexy WWIII is in his embossed bathrobe, drinking coffee…Scott wants space, fully clothed for the day…cranky in the background. Not sexy.

WWIII wares tighty whities.

Oh my gosh…is Layton trying to out verbose Claremont. Is there a word count competition I am not aware of?

Warren as the best OG ❌-Men is simply offering advice. Scott is defensive and stuck. To Warren it is simple: you have responsibilities to your wife and baby…communication is minimal…being present is actual. Scott is like, but love?! And I don’t understand love. To which I say, “Scott communicate, get on a boat, get to Alaska, and take the kid Wednesday-Saturday. Stay away from redheads…except when Rachel finally tells you, actually this is more complicated.”

Warren never gets this far. He has business and leaves it at…I am here for you friend.

Half way through this page.

WWIII and Cam meeting in hallway (the snoop). Bobby and Hank are apartment hunting (Oy), and the messages for ❌-Factor are like:

“Ronald Reagan is a mutant and I can prove it!”

Layton voted for Reagan…and I can prove it! 👆🏼

Meanwhile, East Village, rainy morning: $1,000 ($3,000 in 2026) to walk up six flights to your apartment. Cockroaches are a free feature.

Nice touch…Hank is equating living in the ❌-Factor building to living in the Avengers Mansion…”no private life at all.”

Bobby notes: “yeah, but you at least had Jarvis…”

They get splashed, only Bobby reacts by freezing the water…

Hank: “Bobby! Are you crazy!” These two have been at this since 1963. Pros. Yeesh.

Folks are reacting and Bobby says something ❌-readers in the 21st Century will appreciate: “I was just doing what comes naturally.”

HELLA!

Hank has lead them to a bit of a surprise. His ex’s, Vera.

Bobby: “…never understood what you see in that conservative librarian type.”

*Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff & Alex Toth’s Barbara Gordon*

In the foreground they are being watched by a guy who looks like he might be unhoused. Also looks like he is Tower.

Now Vera has changed a bit. And both these two…

Are not ready for this.

At 10…I was ready.

These two dumb arses conversation is adorable:

w i s p e r e d t o n e

Hank: “brainwashed by aliens?”

Bobby: “nope”

Hank: “drug overdose?”

Bobby: “doubtful”

Hank: “Vietnam flashback?”

Bobby: “unlikely”

Hank: “shhhh! She’s coming!”

Vera: “…Elvis Costello…”

Totally.

Vera: “Have you ever listened to his lyrics?”

Hank: “E-very day!”

Bobby: “Likewise”

Back at headquarters: Rusty is getting his first training session with Jean & Scott.

It goes great.

Oh and Jean wants to talk to Scott, but he “have to check on Rusty.”

Four panels: Tower walls across the street; enters Vera’s apartment building; shrinks, exiting his trench coat; crawls under the apartment door.

Update: I hate Vera.

Vera: “I opened my own bookstore on St. Marks Street! (HOT) It specializes in Left-Wing music and literature (a bit on the nose) FROM SOUTH AMERICA (FUCK!)”

Vera: “I think it will catch on very soon now!”

Hank: “I-I suppose so Vera!”

Bobby: “Hey Vera, ya got any Mercedes Sosa albums? She’s terrific in expressing the plight of the peasant class under totalitarian oppression!”

I have no idea what Bob Layton is doing with this, except, maybe common knowledge of a New Yorker in 1985.

As for Bobby, I am going with, New Yorker Gay Man who specializes in cock blocking his best heterosexual friends for shits and giggles.

Rewind the tape.

Page 7, Bobby : “Boy! This is gonna be great! Heh-heh!”

Back to page 10…

Vera: “…Bobby! Just come by the store! I give a special discount to politically aware mutants!”

As Bobby enjoys his win…the room shakes.

Cue absurdist villain’s self proclamation self undermining introduction.

Tower: “I’ve looked for you a long time, Furball! Now get ready to be smashed by TOWER!”

I do absolutely still love this panel of him smashing the doorway and wall he was just crawling through all tiny. So dumb…love it. Heck…the entire scene in Vera’s apartment was an instant comics love of mine. Still holds up, beat for beat.

Hank: “Holy…”*

*how do write comics.

*Pete Docter & Ronnie del Carmen’s Inside Out*

The scene unfolds with two pages of six panel action and dialogue that screams 80’s superhero comics.

Bobby and Vera get dumped out of the scene. Tower has real fight with Beast, but within a minute it’s over. Next page Tower wraps up Furball and stuffs him in a hoopty with a balled evil scientist in the drivers seat.

No notes.

Six panels of Scott realizing he is a tool and everyone is right. As he gets over himself, he makes the call.

Disconnected.

Was Scott the first person in comics to get Ghosted?! Shrug.

Scott: “I HATE IT!”

SHRRAKK!

He blows up the landline.

Clarification…he hates his powers. They complicate his “normal” life. AND MURDER ☎️!

Someone needs to tell him it is him… not his powers.

“❌-Factor” shows up at the apartment to investigate a mutant situation.

Scott: “Are you all right, Mr. Drake?” Pro.

The hunt for Hank is on.

Vera is FINE. Thanks for asking.

Oh…we are in the ATL!

Ok…so Doc Carl is an old colleague of Doc Hank’s…but presumed dead before this.

Reading what the comic is telling us.

Hank is wondering why was kidnapped though.

A: Hank successfully isolated the chemical source of mutation (Amazing Adventures Vol 2 No. 11, December, 1971, before the printing error made him Blue, not grey), thus how Hank looks now. B: to be revealed (but I know!!!)

Hank blames Carl in part for that experiment going the way it did and knows he is unethical…the kidnapping tracks….so why ask?!

A discussion over Hanks rescue…and then Carl calls ❌-Factor to take out Tower.

WWIII thinks it all to convenient. Scott’s assessment lacks nuance and takes the to obvious take. Bobby votes a third specific: Trap! Jean thinks a step ahead…they could be exposed. The ❌-Factor branding is to obvious. Obviously.

WWIII calls this paranoid.

They are on the ❌-Factor jet. Which I like.

ATL: Carl provides Hank his notes.

We are bing introduced to ARTHUR

Our POV

Carl’s son is the best. I love his depiction here. I feel for him right off.

❌-Factor has tracked down Tower in the burbs at a house.

Hank is critiquing Carl’s math. It’s off.

Arthur is projecting the thoughts of Hank into the lab. He is mute, but is able to communicate through a visual lexicon he projects into the air. He can also read people’s own visual lexicon and project it. So here we see beautifully rendered math equations, that are providing Carl the solutions that have escaped him.

If your life goal is to be an artist…Arthur is your kindred spirit. If you teach Visual Lexicons…same.

Another great exploding wall panel…this one is cyclops doing. It has Tower and Jean in it though. Bobby and WWIII too!

Tower has them shook, though.

Carl shoots Hank…with a gun of sorts.

The fight continues in the Burbs. The teamwork is working…though tested a bit. An optic blast nocks the giant out.

A radiation experiment begins underground…as the still deliciously rendered creepy blights form on furry Hank. In the burbs a negotiation commences between ❌-Factor and Tower.

While Hank is having a heart attack… To be continued in No. 3.

Hank’s body lays on the table, back from the brink, welts, with his kidnapping mad scientists old colleague in thought next to him. The splash title pages is one of Jackson Guice’s most effecting.

“Regression Obsession”

The subsequent two page spread equally up to the task. Assessment turns to fortification. Carl asks Arthur to project Towers minds scan, as Carl introduced them yesterday. The boy reveals in purple lines and light blue backgrounds the events of ❌-Factor v Tower, only this confuses Carl, because he called for “❌-Factor” to capture the mutant. Why is Tower fighting other mutants?

It’s a live feed.

Carl asks Arthur to do something he doesn’t like to do, a “mind lock.” He uses the well being of Arthur’s kitten as a manipulation. Arthur’s eyes go from white to black with yellow star glow in the middle, as it is the late 80’s. This image of Arthur is indelible.

As debate on what to do commences in the burbs. A deal is struck with Tower and the team (with Jean’s reservations). As it is about to see fruit, Tower’s eyes go catatonic.

The link is taxing on both Arthur and Tower. They struggle for control. Carl does his final injection on Hank during this opportunity. Arthur stumbles. Tower rises.

Tower has had enough of Carl (and Arthur). He reveals all. They are letting Tower go, a deals a deal. Jean tries the old Xavier speech on him.

“…together to aid all mutant kind!…join us…make amends…”

Tower: “Sweet Cheeks you’ve got to be freakin’ kiddin’! Ha! Ha! Ha!”

Has a point.

Cyclops reaction makes me agree with Tower even more.

I wouldn’t join his team.

Back at headquarters, Vera is worried and checking in with Cam. Cam assures her and then scoots off to a meeting in ear shot with Senator Thompson who is on the mutant committee with Sen. Kelly…but is sympathetic to mutants and an old friend of Warren’s Dad, WWII. He is worried ❌-Factor is causing more harm and has a classified file he is willing to leak for a friend and the cause.

Hank is bandaged like a mummy and Arthur is in there alone with him, to satisfy curiosity, despite his father’s wishes. A mind meld results in an intimacy of familiarity and a level of understanding few have been privy to. Maybe Chuck, Jean…it’s short list if there is one. The level of horror and pain Arthur has felt through Hank’s reality was not lost on a 10 year old reader. It is dramatically increased as alarming to a 50 year old reader. Arthur feels for either or both Carl and Hank. To bring for tears and add to his experience as one with trauma.

WWIII has scouted to entrances to the facility where they are told Hank is being held. Scott splits them up for the best chance. Warren is the voice of caution…what is Tower lied and now they are breaking and entering. The rule follower says…

Scott: “Warren, we’re renegade mutant’s! How much more trouble could we get into?”

Well okay then.

The Bobby Jean team up is really great. There is a friendly sexual tension. Feels really non threatening and interviewing with the power play.

Bobby: “Holy —! Her power is fantastic!”

As Jean lifts a fence with her mind in a power stance.

I keep thinking about the two monsters in Monsters Inc who are nerding out over Sully’s concentration. Second time at least that it has popped in my head…the shut up they loose their concentration bit.

The Scott and Warren flight and talk goes better then their last conversation. Some ribbing and some intimate friendship talk. Then work awaits, as they been spotted.

Meanwhile, Jean finds a sensor’s…but they just levitate to avoid it.

Arthur however is able to project their progress (not sure how this works).

Bobby’s freezing power is the only way to make it through a tec door. And so they are in.

Scott and WWIII escape robotic exoskeleton guards into an elevator that gasses them. But WWIII get them out. Meaningwhile Jean and Bobby run into the same problem. Only no elevator. Jean pushes Bobby into shaft and the. Floats them down. They run into Scott and WWIII down in the sub basement.

Always enjoyed these pages.

Arthur is standing his ground against his father. Not sure who old, but this makes sense to me. As he does this, another blow through the wall panel. Never noticed before how often it is used and how it works on me every time.

We get a villainous soliloquy flashback sequence. I told you this was a classic comic.

Arthur helps update the timeline with showing the robotic men approaching .

Carl has been doing all this off books and he is in as much trouble as them.

We see Arthur’s projection of his father confronting them and getting killed by the mettle men. It’s pretty horrific. Arthur is really appealing, and his trauma only add more to our sympathy.

Back at headquarters Jean confronts Scott, but they are interrupted. Time to unmask Hank. Who has no hair…well except a bad haircut.

Next we hop to New Mutants.

With the elder mutants struggling with being squares, who also are kidnapped and in the habit of taking in strays, like them, we switch to the new generation. The actual Gen❌ers. Not them millennials from the future; the 90’s.

This is one of them covers tricked me situations. It’s not terrible, as Rick Leonardi begins to be come an unsung hero that only becomes more appreciated over time. And him being inked by Bill Sienkiewicz is crazy enough an idea, it just might work. Unfortunately, working is not how I put it. And the matter as I said, is not helped by Art Adams cover. The cover promises one thing, and I don’t think that’s what we got inside.

The basic Mutants Marvel 25th Anniversary cover, this one being a spinner rack issue. A light blue infers the night. Art’s line work infers it is the grave of Chuck’s School for Gifted Young’s, with specifically Warlock, Wolfsbane, Mirage, Magic, Cypher, Karma, Cannonball, and Magma’s graves exposed and the students crawling out. It’s pretty effective. It works.

We are reading the comic. The first page responds, ‘good luck with that.’

“Aftermath.”

I guess the kids are playing war games. Maggie is all in his feels, reflecting on the generational conflicts. Feelings and thought being brought up by the Mutants play v Sentinels (I avoid them as much as I can. An over used, cheat code big bad for writers…they are not even well designed robots. They look hella dumb if you are into…)

And I was obsessed with👆🏼

Then in their play the Hellions and the White Queen show…at least this school rivalry has drama…and duality of the White Queen and King is fun Hell Fire. Magic and Dani even get creative in how they counter Emma and Empath. The get em to Limbo part is especially fun.

But alas Maggie: “STUDENTS! That is enough for today…it’s time for bed.”

These pages are worse than what is to come. The last panel being the best so far…but as flexible as Sienkiewicz is, he doesn’t seem to be able or know how or have the time to help Leonardi out. Leonardi’s forms are best when they lean into sexuality of robust, buff, curved forms. They require a deft use of brush work that accentuates the forms curvatures and fullness, while exacting the consistent thin lines that tend to company them in Leonardi’s work. And while it will be a bit before I have a chance to focus on Leonardi’s environments, this simply is not it. This Bill using his chicken scratch art house to get ‘er done.

The blocky ink fills spaces that need intention and the scribble over the rest barely reveals the pencils intentions.

So Maggie gets to sleep in the house…and the kids sleep in their graves?! Oh they really messed this up with this art team. This could have been interesting…minus the buckets of bolts.

A dream…or I guess it was…Dani inferences this. A missed opportunity.

A dialogue heavy double page layout with sixteen panels is our best cartooning so far in this issue. Spot colors work with negative space. The pallet is basic…and appealing.

Coffee is being drunk. Drink yours.

Sharon and Maggie are talking about this recurring and shared dream which is effecting the team. They have all had it again…is the assumption. A letter from the White Queen checking in…is there a connection. The silent panels are the kids sullen. Tom shows to help get them moving for the day…after Sharon makes breakfast. Sharon and Tom are an item it seems. House parents, who possessed others bodies. Not weird?! Why’d you ask?

I am feeling better about our choice after these two pages and coffee.

In the gutter, between page turns, the funk doesn’t dispel, and to make it worse, Chuck is holding up residency in Maggie’s mind. Not the telepathic way…the usual way. I think Maggie is doing a way better job, than Chuck.

It’s evening and Maggie pores himself a drink. We don’t drink on cocktails folks. Sorry.

Neither does Maggie. As Emma is in his office. He over reacts superhero comics style. You would think this would be normal after four decades for Maggie. Emma sets it strait.

Emma: “if my intentions were hostile Magneto, you’d be dead.”

I like the drink pouring panels and the rest are done with pleasurable intentions.

Walter Simonson is influencing what is happening here.

Next page, first element, Maggie: “state your business then get out!”

Don’t these two know each other from Hell Fire meetings?

Is he not the White King?!

I’m not looking this up.

I looked it up.

I regret it.

But do I?!

White King could be Donald Pierce right now. In fact…I am pretty sure that’s the case. Don’t hold me to it…but if so…this is import. Trust the comic, Ben.

Okay, so White Queen is like, I hated Chuck, but this ain’t about him…it’s for the children. Again both these two agree with me that Chuck can suck. But one doesn’t like him at all and the other calls him friend and lets him live in his mind. And to be honest, I actually do trust both of these psychopaths with the children more than sanctimonious Chuck. However, Emma’s this is for the children pitch is not aligned with Maggie or frankly me.

She understands they are having issues now (the dreams, their life, they are all whole people) and she is offering some light brainwashing to provide a normal life with pain removed. Telepaths!

Emma: “Is that so awful?”

That’s her recruitment pitch to the head of the rival school. Send ‘em my way.

Maggie: “It would be an abomination.”

He has a way with words…always has.

Emma: “Can you do better?”

He is doing better.

Emma: “Can you do anything?”

He is doing the work. You let teens be teens. In their feels. Emma seems to call this failure. The strength to let kids develop through the struggle. They suffer. They are teenagers. That’s the process. It doesn’t require manipulation to be a success.

Maggie: “Get out.”

Maggie has a lesson with Sam. It doesn’t go well. Maggie understands in the moment and in reflection who is responsible. He is. The job is to work from where the student is and create a context for them to find their responsibility in an engaged and relevant way. Working with teens and 4-year-olds is really similar. I understand how Maggie is in his head afterwards. I understand Sam’s part too. Maggie is not meeting him where he is and a walk back is not exactly the offering of a safe space.

We celebrate Stevie Hunter here. We haven’t centered them, but I definitely think of her in an outsized way. She grounds and makes the school a better place. She has four dozen appearances in Marvel. 23 before the end of our time here. In our selected path she appears only four times. This is her third. One more in the next issue.

She is a dance teacher. What she brings to Kitty’s character and the space for more than one Black women, as mentor in Kitty’s has an effect. But this is how we cast Black women often. As support staff. Mothers. Guides. And Stevie’s story is more than we give her space.

All the students are complacent and this is played as evidence in a plot. It could easily be read as something completely normal. Maggie and Stevie are stranded on teen island. But Maggie is the one who struggles.

Stevie: “This is my class Magneto. And if you’ve no objections, I’d like to finish it without any more idiot interference.”

I generally try to avoid encountering him. I have managed to avoid him, cutting him out like cancer. Because that is what he is on Marvel in this period. That is what Secret Wars is! Which is why I am not as enthusiastic as most here around the subject of “events” and going into Doomsday and Secret Wars films…I am no enthusiastic. I hold trepidation. The Marvel editorial office; Nocenti, Louise, & Claremont were not into Secret Wars. They had to contribute, as company edict. The experience with line wide crossovers taught creators different things. It taught these three they make for a diluted product. As a reader, that’s how I read Secret Wars. Every event comic I have tried to engage with has not been an epic adventure. It has been a scam to take money I don’t have to spend on comics I think of as a diluted product that doesn’t work for me. I don’t mind it really. It’s just not for me. But it is part of why they loose me so often as a reader. And why I am worried about a film called Secret Wars…just when I have hope for them to deliver on my dreams from 1986.

These next three pages also show me a duality of seeing how under Bills unwieldy inks there is Rick’s pencils attempting to communicate in his voice. These three pages, this comic, is a tragedy on a number of levels. Glynis use of yellows in contrast with Bills blacks and their protection of negative space makes it tragedy, not trash.

As does a frog.

In a critical moment of intersection and process Dani is struggling in the stalls to do her daily chores to care for Brightwind. The struggle is clearly effecting most in the school. The teens especially. It is hear some information we have avoided, and I have spent decades trying to forget becomes relevant. He who shale not be named the big bad of the mid 80’s, the reason for Secret Wars I & 2 has been playing with his toys, like some to with their action figures (Jord and I played with them together weekly if not daily and it was a core part of our brotherly bond…until I got the Nintendo for my bar Mitzva, then inside play was that…outside play evolved too). Murdering the Marvel characters after observing and mimicking like a psychopath, and then resurrecting them. The reason for all this is a massive advertisement sceme to advertise a toy product to children that has a more lucrative price point. If you have read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, then you have some familiarity with the reality, that this is the origin story of the comic book cycling back to haunt us. You also are aware of the envy a cartoonist caught in this has for a Painter like Dali at a cocktail party. It’s all so pathetic. In this, on the page, Dani has witnessed those close to her die, and then come back, and here she is haunted by a dream and struggling to do her day.

Dani: “They — DIED! I wu-watched (he who shale not be named) KiLL them Brightwind. One after the other and there was nothing I could do! They were my friends. They counted on me —and I failed! That’s why, when it came to my turn, I was glad…”

I am so thankful I didn’t witness this again, because I understand how it is played…for the part in us it is played for…the part that drove us to this reality we live in c. 2026. It begins as kids and it becomes the identity of the $ and a lust for what Jimmy Stewart said to Potter in It’s Wonderful Life, to whom he diagnoses later as a “scurvy little spider,” a lust for what Leia points out “the more” we “tighten” our “grip, the more (it) slips through” our “fingers,” Jimmy said, “talking about something” we “can’t get” our” fingers on, and it’s galling” us. It turns us into a plague. And here Dani is speaking of fiction that is in us, and is He Who Shale Not Be Named, all part of a crossover over event designed for us to practice these war games after filling their own lust for a place in our death cult.

But Brightwind notices something. A frog. And that frog has a pep talk for Dani.

And in this moment, we have some payoff for Chapter 45. As the frog is Thor. And Dani is able to put the dream and her depression into perspective. Thor Frog brings her hope, as another kind of warrior.

Dani: “and it worked. I still hurt Brightwind - but I’m pretty sure now I’ll survive. I wish I could say the same for the rest of the gang.”

Gang?!

Warren was right!!!

A party at the Salam school has the room gossiping about the sullen Mutants…the most cutting, because accurate , “zombies.” Illyana’s pants are high waisted proto-1990’s and frankly the pants of dreams for my Gen Z daughter in the 2020’s. I get it. Practical fashion with a bit of, fuck off male gaze. I have no idea if Rick understands this, but his work (and this is just me saying) had the aesthetics that speak to the aesthetic resistance, sexuality and appetites of the first quarter or perhaps third of the 21st Century. Trailblazer!

Maggie is having an awkward conversation with the Principal of the rival school, Analie Hogarth, ending his inner thoughts on how attending a school dance might have been the wrong move to build up spirits of his kids…because in the 80’s…these were the scenes we broke free of to go find real scenes to process, repress or exercise our feelings. The conversation is probably a fishing exposition…perhaps about poaching Dani…but we also realize, Maggie has a cover story provided by Chuck. He is his “cousin,” “Micheal Xavier.” Learn something new every day.

A cute scene of Maggie sitting in his office, realizing it is not his chair, overreacting as an arch to it being Warlock and then without missing a beat apologizing for his old instincts and then them having an open conversation of the effects of Secret Wars on Warlock and basically Warlock was “inert,” and is fine now.

Maggie: “interesting.”

And so just then Doug’s parents drop in to discuss his depression as of late and equate it with Maggie’s leadership of the school. Correct on timing, mistaken on cause. Oh boy.

Empath is in the woods spying on this conversation. And Tom and Sharon catch him peeping. They recognize him and want him to come into the school. He makes them forget him make out in the snowy birch woods with each other.

Empath: “a bestial passion that will not die until it drains you utterly. Pathetic animals.”

He sucks. We love him.

Maggie, meanwhile, is like, ‘yup, I fucked up and at working on it…hopefully not too late.’ He really is great.

Turns the page…

FUCK!!!

He just closed the school (maybe this is the good thing I have been waiting for)…and then sending the students to Salem (Hell Fire’s little psychopath pipeline for the win).

The Mutants are disbanded. They were never a team anyway.

But this is is far worse than what was happening.

Next issue…”Hellions”

The New Mutants er Hellions No. 39 cover by Art Adams sets things up like this.

In 1986 we did not have the internet. A decade earlier, Apple produced its first home computer in The Bay. Four years later, the 80’s began with, MIT producing the inventor of the World Wide Web. It would take the full decade of the 80’s to finally get “online,” but in the midst of this, there was another event happening. Early chatrooms called the Aryan Nation Liberty Net dialup modem bulletin boards connected Idaho, Texas, & North Caroline individuals and cells in 1984. So here we are with answers and misinformation at our fingertips.

So in 1987, for example, if you were a horny preteen, you needed a pervert like my classmate, Victor, to sell you something from his dad’s secret stash. Just show up in the boys bathroom, and give him your snack money. Now of course, we had access to comics, the next best thing, to actual porn. And it was cheaper. This comic seems like an affordable option. Based on the cover.

Only you think you are buying Jugs and instead you turn the cover page and it’s just Playboy. That’s what it feels like going from Art Adams to Keith Pollard. Put another way, you are like…hella, this is so 1986…and then it turns out it is more like 1976, when you open it.

But we aren’t complaining about the vintage. We got kinky on discount. As close to the free we get in the 21st Century, as we are going to get in 1986.

Van Halen’s hot for teacher is still the theme. Her SnM digs have never left much of a leap. Still if it is striking how Adams clearly sets up the Image founders and comics as a sex product up going forward. But Pollard is here to remind you, it has been that way for at least half a century before this.

It just wasn’t leaning into the horror kink, AND it didn’t necessarily always feel so queer identity forward. An unintentional byproduct. I know of many sex positive folks out of queer culture, who, away from internet chats found this Emma Art Adams aesthetic as a lifeline to being seen.

“Pawns of the White Queen”

Emma welcomes the Mutants to the ranks of the Hellions.

Pollard’s vintage is just as seductive.

Even Emma is wary of how docile they are.

Doug and Sam are meeting up under different contexts our old friend James Proudstar and his classmate Jetstream AKA Harqum Ibn Sallah Al-Rahid. James is gracious and Harqum is ready for friendly competitions. Sam and Doug are lifeless.

Doug: “Doesn’t matter. Flashy or quiet. Strong or weak. Our powers didn’t safe us.”

James: “From what?”

Doug: “Death. And life.”

The girls are changing and Empath just drops in to use his powers as pretext to sexual assault, only they don’t leave much to be desired as he wants it to be a sickening sport and they are docile. The only resistance he gets is Magic, who appears from Limbo and scares him off his spot.

The Hellion girls back up the new recruits and Empath is down at the feet of Emma, who is full dominatrix teacher explain yourselfing him.

And so we get a full team shot of the Hellions class in a splash page. All in their pink school outfits.

The class photo is taken.

Hellions:

•Empath AKA Manny de la Rocha a Castilian noble hailing from España; Empathy & Pathokinesis

•Wolfsbane AKA Rahne Sinclair hailing from Ullapool, Scotland; Lycanthropy; former Mutants

•Thunderbird AKA Jimmy Proudstar (legacy ❌-Men, brother John KIA as Apache warrior and ❌-Men) from Camp Verde, Arizona, of the Apache people; Superhuman; Strength, Speed, Stamina, Invulnerability, Agility, Reflexes, Hearing, Vision, Flight, Healing;

•Karma AKA Xuân Cao Manh of the central highlands of Vietnam; Telepathy; former Mutants

•Cannonball AKA Sam Guthrie one of nine Kentucky kids; Thermo-Chemical Energy Field Propulsion; former Mutants

•Catseye AKA Sharon Smith abandoned in Boston, Mass, raised by cats; Ailuranthorpy

•Cypher AKA Doug Ramsey of Salem Center, NY; Omnilingual; former Mutants

•Roulette AKA Jennifer Stavros of Atlantic City, NJ; Probability Alteration Disks

•Magik AKA Darkchilide AKA Illyana Rasputin of Ust-Ordynsky, Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia, USSR and Limbo; Stepping Discs, Sorcery, Psionic Shields; former Mutants

•Jetstream AKA Haron ibn Sallah al-Rashid of the Rif Mountains of Morocco; Thermo-chemical Energy Generation

•Magma AKA Amara Aquilla of Nova Roma in the Amazon Jungle’s of Brazil; Earth Manipulation, Magma Manipulation, Magma Mimicry, Fire Generation & Manipulation, Regeneration, Heat & Fire Immunity; former Mutants

•Tarot AKA Marie-Ange Colbert of Lyons, France; Precognition

Maggie looks at this photo in his office and the photo of his Mutants class.

While in the control room of the Danger Room, Dani attempts for the first time on purpose use her psychic abilities on herself.

I really like much of Pollard and teams art thus far; the initial splash page of Emma; panel of her sipping from a cocktail glass on another; the layout and general aesthetic of that page; the panel of Maggie alone in his office, the subsequent shot of the outside of Xavier school and Dani in the control room; and while I am not a huge fan of floating heads, and Kelly’s objection to them makes me feel guilty when I do, I do really like this one of Dani introspective with Kirby dots around her…sucker for some Kirby dots.

Over two pages she relives a training session with her former classmates, and her last remaining one, Warlock. One where in the middle Magik appears from Limbo with S’ym, and the Mutants work together to despatch him back to Limbo. Maggie in the observation booth had needed the session, promising a detailed critique.

Dani 💭: “but the slight smile on his face gives his feelings away. We did good.”

She thinks this as her powers illusion dissipates. A tear in her eye in another nice close up of Dani and a walk off panel provides a sentimental and melancholy moment…ruined by the mentioning of he who shale not be named.

Back in the Berkshires where winter is just as persistent, Emma completes her final session with the Mutants processing their trauma through telepathic manipulation. She would not have been able to do this before, but the trauma of rebirth severed the alleged protections Chuck had placed on them. Emma has had to rest a day between each session and Rahne is a doozy. Her moral compass and deep passion bellow, plus complexity of her lived experiences prior made it tricky to have her be what Emma is seeking after. An upbeat student. I do like the art however. There is a sliver of endearing Disney Princess in what is actually an Dominatrix manipulation of a sleeping child. Oh wait, same thing. She awake feeling “Wonderful!”

Emma provides us the evil sorceress smirk close up as the intimate bond is completed with her new students and they join each other for super positive celebration.

*Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, & Brad Bird’s Ratatouille*

Back in Salem Center, Dani busts in on Maggie, who has let himself and the room go, to note as much and then quite the school…since he closed it. She is headed back to her ranch in our birth state of Colorado. On her way out she notes that he just let them go, that she figured out how to get out of the funk they were in, that she and Illyana rescued them on their own from Emma before, that that time lead to a window into this future, the he sucks…and he is like, yup…drunk…failure.

Maggie: “my shame. My failure!”

THE theme of comics AND the making of them.

At the door out, Stevie is coming in.

Stevie: “You really goin,’ Dani?”

Dani: “uh-huh Brightwind all loaded and probably chomping at the bit.”

Some final words. Take care of Maggie…that sort, in an endearing moment between two of the best to grace the school.

It’s actually a short list of characters I am here for. These are two who are always on that list. This moment means the world to me. And it looks perfect.

But wait there is more!!!!

Stevie walking Dani out, Dani explains she is setting up a boundary to protect herself from further exposure to trauma. WOW! Like wow! Healthy people in a ❌-superhero comic.

Dani: “I DON’T KNOW, maybe MAGNETO’S RIGHT and THE GANG better off with the Queen. I’ve LEFT MESSAGES everywhere for THE X-MEN. THEY’RE THE SENIOR TEAM — THEY’RE OLDER, LOTS MORE EXPERIENCED…”

And Warlock shows: “SELFFRIEND STEVIE HUNTER! CHIEFFRIENDMIRAGE!!”

They note that scans for Tom and Sharon have not resulted in finding them. Dani is like hope they ok.✌🏼

Warlock: “QUERY: WILL SELF SEE SELFFRIENDDANI AGAIN?

Dani on Brightwind on takeoff: “Anything’s possible, Pal”

Gosh I love this. The art is on point…it’s comics that work!

Dani is thinking about her identity as she transitions back to her home. Cheyenne? Mutant? Valkyrie? A normal ordinary girl? Who is Dani? Where is her place? She only got one spot left. It’s in the Rockies.

In Mass they have the shape shifting cat and dog sleeping in the same room of course. And the dog has a nightmare, that leads to the cat keeping to help, only to get THWAM!ed. Rahne feels terrible.

Rahne: “…mad…?”

Sharon: “never get mad. Always get even.”

Sam and Haron ruin a wall flying in to check on them. The other Hellions use the door.

The shapeshifters go for a night prowl.

It seems more than one of them is having night terrors.

Illyana appears from Limbo, to a bunch of judgment.

Illyana has not had these dreams. She has not had Emma’s treatment. So Dani, Warlock and Illyana seem okay…or as okay as they could be. Illyana is extra Demon these days.

Emma is eavesdropping from the comfort of her fireplace lounge.

❌-Men comics do a decent job considering, of showing men as sexy. Important work! A page of Maggie going for a swim and shower builds in alternating panels of some evening creeping scenes. A nearly silent page. See…you can do it Claremont!!! We get as much Maggie as we aloud in 1986. It’s hot. 🥵

The intruders have caught him in she shower and he is ready to go…

Adjacent page is a classic of Tom and Sharon. Not only are they still Cheyanne looking (again these people are White as fuck) but the two middle aged squares are now in minimal clothing and leather punked out with hawks after their weeks of making out in the snow. Sharon is in Tom’s arm. She is nearly perished.

Stevie and Maggie are taking care of them in the infirmary. I can’t help it…the further this story gets more wrong with the characters of Tom and Sharon…the more I just love them.

They recount and in one of my favorite uses of superhero lettering interiors we get this gem:

Stevie has no idea who that is.

He works out his feelings against the boy and Emma in the danger room. Great use of the space and comics pages.

Maggie is back. Emma fucked up.

Stevie is the witness. She is his support staff. Works for me.

Emma knows and is late night in her head about it. So she calls the Snowy Valley police to report the “international terrorist Magneto” for intent to abduct children. And she has no idea why. Please just call whomever’s department this is.

Great last page, which tells us all we need to know. They call the Avengers and hijinks ensue. We will pick back up after “Avengers Assemble!” As we are back to the old heads in X-Factor No. 4 next.

No worries, sexy times continues. This cover is more my speed. Through the seduction of power fantasy our eyeballs are smashed by love at FIST sight, Frenzy, through the path of the golden ratio into the voluptuous lust of Jeans breasts. 🥵🥵

Barely even noticing that the ❌ is not in the corner box, and our skinned cat version of Beast is being heavily promoted as a feature, when the flaw becomes clear as your horny journey has to brush past his flying feet in the cover illustration proper. Who even remembers that Cyclops has head trauma, Bobby is out, WWIII’s neck is sore? I recall that Fenzy is holding some sort of sack of potatoes. Assuming that is Rusty.

If there is any question of Ron Frenz, Joseph Rubinstein, Petra Scotese, and Joe Rosen’s intentions here, one only needs to see once again, because you are (THANKS GOLDEN RATIO), Frenzy’s SnM leathers. While this is Castro Street casual, where I am growing up, I imagine a massive, built, buff, Black Women in it would turn heads at LaGuardia.

Seriously though, I do love this cover. The use of color has been helping this series, as it works with primary and secondary colors to brighten our experience and support that this is a lighter fair, even is the themes are set around matters like Scott is a sad sack, kidnapping is science, hate as economic tool, money doesn’t corrupt everyone, and braking walls is the cost of a robust neighborhood watch program.

The sexuality is a feature, not a flaw, here, as with the history of art, form, gesture, line…they get you into the piece where you pause your life for a moment and contemplate. Even if it is just: I don’t even like leather? They make it work. But how?!

Maybe at the end of this, I note a handful of iconic covers. This is on that list.

Open comic: “Trials and Errors”

Another wall down, though not at our patented angle. LaGuardia, Beast mid flight, foot in Towers jaw, sending him backwards, the rest of the team right behind, a crowed in shades purple alarmed, the rhetoric is designed to keep the teams confusing duality of purposes and identities in tack. I still like that last aspect, but I am glad we will be limiting it as a plot within this larger narrative.

Beasts Red and Blue costume is fine. Great even. The lack of blue fur is a massive mistake.

At this point in the 80’s the Beast as a solo and duo featured character, and ❌-Men, Avenger, Defender, Champion, and now member of ❌-Factor had used his iconic Blue (again a color printing error after it being grey) fur had elevated him to a short list of recognizable and enticing iconic branding that was Marvel. What Bob Layton and Bob Harras were thinking here, I have no idea. Maybe Jim Shooter was thinking the toys were easier to produce. I remember being 10 and thinking…well there goes one reason I was reading this book. The series would quickly strip itself of what I liked…but we aren’t there yet. This was the first big one.

However, they were still building in aspects that were making me love it more. As this classically dumb action interrogation collateral damaged fight scene ends, because Tower (who again is awesome and I don’t care if you disagree) simply is like, ‘screw this,’ again, and shrinks, walking away, with Warren, Jean, Bobby, Scott and Hank being left to a crowd yelling hate speech at them, because hello…they just missed their flight and nearly got killed. And THEN Tower re-emerges outside were we get our in comic introduction to Frenzy (Joanna Cargill). First her words off panel:

“You are an utter incompetent. I should have known!”

And then behind him, casually lurking, Franzy: “You failed to kidnap the child (Arthur?…I mean who wants Rusty?), as master instructed (pretty sure I know who…and this is how they are introduced)! It’s just as I told him — never send a ‘boy’ to do a woman’s job!”

A few more exchanges like this and then she simply tosses him an a dumpster in another classic walk off panel. You know me…love a walk off.

KER-CHONK!

Hank and Rusty interact in the lockers as they exchange the ❌-Factor work out room. Wasted page.

Bobby and Jean work with Rusty. Wasted page…oh wait a tiny Scott and Arthur are approaching and Rusty is about to get impelled by an ice popsicle…

Rusty overreacted, because that’s his super power at this point. I’d care, but it’s been forever since he nearly killed someone and that is the only time I feel for the guy. That’s how bland he is. Jean uses her power to contain the fire, which nearly takes out Scott and Arthur. Jean and Rusty get into it. Rusty runs off. Nearly everyone in this scene is not good at what they are doing. Arthur is the only one who is innocent.

-Arthur (off panel, in my head)

Rusty’s run off panel is him being an arse.

Next Cam starts a page by returning a call from his old headmaster…assuming he is about to send the team out to another “recruitment.” Yeah this premise is icky.

While Scott straps Arthur up to a machine…and has him project what’s in his mine on the wall.

*Ben Hardaway, Cal Dalton, Charles Thorson, Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, Bob Givens, & Robert McKimson’s Bugs Bunny*

Arthur projects nice things and then Scott’s failing marriage.

Now, Arthur is a therapist. Honestly, what is wrong with adults in this building?

And so, Jean pops in on Warren:

“Warren, I need to talk to someone! It’s about Scott.”

Warren should have just shut the door in her face.

“Oh…Er…come on in!”

Subject: Scott “avoid”ance

Diagnosis by WWIII: “When has Scott ever not been Moody?

It’s CANDY SOUTHERN!!!!

Sorry WarrenJean.

Or…

Anyhoo…they are off to meet with Headmaster Woodley…somehow more bland than then most of the characters not named Madelyne, Candy, Warren, Bobby, Jean, Vera, Tower, Arthur, or Frenzy at this point.

Martin Davis, Miles Davis dumb ass blonde pasty nephew has played a prank on his headmaster and now three wasted pages later, he is being consoled by a once powerful telepath in her bosoms, because he got caught trying to be a telepath. Jean is realising this is getting out of hand. The kid was sure he was going to die when ❌-Factor showed. I can see folks points about this plot thread and how it was being handled. But this comic still has a few more features to enjoy. Just not forgettable scenes like this.

Rusty is running away, but not before completely laying into Arthur as he exits. Arthur is an empath and sees what Rusty has gone through by looking in his mind. Arthur is now concerned for Rusty and has a plan to help. No wonder I gave zero shits about Rusty all these years and have held Arthur in the highest regard all along.

Rusty 💭: “Grear! I’m lost!”

Rusty brushes into an absurd depiction of a ‘street thug’ and the interaction turns into a burn hand of the guy. Rusty learned something while with ❌-Factor it seems….but don’t worry the scene is saved as Frenzy has been fallowing him and she has approached Rusty.

She attempts to recruit him with the same offer as ❌-Factor. Rusty keeps their secret and tries to walk away, realising he just walked away for this offer with folks he trust more than this person.

Frenzy: “Rusty perhaps I didn’t make my intentions clear?”

Rusty v Frenzy is fun. Him lighting her up and her knocking him around.

Meanwhile, Arthur has tracked down ❌-Factor in the cutest ill-fitting disguise to get help.

And so we have ❌-Factor v Frenzy, as promised on the cover. And it delivers except…Frenzy makes a run for it and ❌-Factor seems totally fine.

Rusty gets a talking too by a room full of adults and then he an Arthur make friends.

EPILOGUE

Frenzy is contemplating outside the ❌-Factor headquarters how many of her fellow mutants must be trapped inside. The branding propaganda is out of hand. Kinda disappointed the “master” is after Rusty. Like take him. Please.

Time Shadow (new) messages her through her Dick Tracy Leather iWatch (it’s the future…again!!) …man Fenzy calls everyone…

I miss those days.

Ok so this sets up one of my favorite tiny plots ever. Time Shadow is warning her to get the job done or return ASAP before her withdrawal symptoms return, per the Masters assessment of her current condition. The key here is withdrawal, (I know I have been giving the drug war propaganda a hard time in these comics…but I honestly LOVE this one…I’ll be ❌-plaining).

Frenzy : “The master was wise to insure that none of us could exit without it. But if all goes well, soon, I will not need the ‘SOURCE’ anymore! When that day comes—all my enemies will die!”

Love this page and it’s not just this walk off panel.

We will pick this back up in “Tapped Out!”

We for now we return to “Mutants.”

Marvel Comics No. 1, August 31, 1939, Jim Gardley nocks out Sheriff Steve, and goes on to become the Masked Raider.

It is from Al Anders’ beginning Marvel tells stories of “The West.”

Perhaps my kindred spirit, and probably the most interesting story of a creator in the mid century of Marvel, the Life, Times, and Art of Joe Maneely has resonated with me. It is kismet that his first work and his last works are westerns (Western Outlaw and Sheriffs No. 60, 1949 & Gunsmoke Western No. 55, 1959). I have not figured out what issue, but I’m thinking a Rawhide Kid issue, is something I am on the hunt for as a token sampler to my creative and historical tethering to Maneely.

There are a few Westerns out there that mean something to me (I see you DC’s Tomahawk). But the only issue currently on my comics hunt list with both feet in this genre is Apache Kid No. 2, 1950 by Werner Roth. The Roth & Stan Goldberg cover really struck me…and I want to see what is inside before I pass away.

I have my suspicions on how Aloysius Kare AKA Apache Kid is treated here, but I am open to him being my Western comics hero.

For now, I got Dani Moonstar!

The orangey brown hue of The New Mutants No. 41’s cover compliments the Blue and blacks of Dani’s uniform. The yellows, pinks and reds bring it all together. Barry Windsor-Smith’s cover sets up an impossibly high bar for Jackson Guice breakdowns with Terry Austin’s finishes. Terry is exposed in this role. He only pencils a bakers dozen comics at Marvel. Unfortunately we see why, inside. We celebrate his creativity, contributions to story and his heroics as an inker. This cover promises a classic western shootout between Dani and her old friend from our readings of Power Pack; Death.

Now, we skipped something, with jumping past No. 40. We assumed the Avengers Assembled.

Here pick up at “Way of the Warrior,” as eluded to. Dani has another way for this path.

We do have to have the trope setup of white guilt on colonisation, which is practicing colonisation here. Eventually this is exposed on SM in the 21st Century and we begin to celebrate a bit more broadly indigenous creators comics. Which is tricky in the current climate. The work is perhaps more imperative then ever, but how we do this requires nuanced tact. In this Claremont comic of late winter and early spring 1986, depending on where you stood or flew, we transition from the painfully obvious to the inner thoughts of Dani flying the distance on Brightwind’s back. The chill and slowness of the journey intertwined with reminders of how we got here, where we are, and that Dani is in a transition which has her reflecting on identity. We also have a panel by Austin that makes plain the struggle he was having.

They land on a butte (maybe Holden’s) and Dani is feeling it in her muscles and chill the rides till. I am really enjoying this panel by Austin of her standing. It reminds me of all the wonderful tiny figures Marc Silvestri will be providing in our future. Her posture and head tilt are perfect.

Austin also nails the splash page of “The Rockies!” Dani’s and my birthplace. I feel connected to this moment.

“Brightwind — you brought me home!”

Currently here in Jericho, VT a shared moment of temp…but our snow is a day or so away (spoiler…2025-2026 winter in VT was relentless)

Dani arrives with a blizzard as she arrives at William and Peg Lonestar’s cabin.

Embraced by her Dad, who has questions about the winged creature. Peg has the jeep and they are in a rush. Dani is to barn her mount and make herself at home. I guess this brings back the moment the Demon Bear came to be…and they disappeared. Same words.

So I was preemptively harsh on Terry Austin. When working in larger images his handling of anatomy is exposed…however as the panel numbers increased, he works in smaller figures and these are not just excellent, they become versatile and work the entire page. Page 5 is solid and the two page spread of six and seven enable the entire team to work together and create an aesthetic narrative that is designed perfectly. Jackson Guice sets this up, but Austin is taking advantage of a partner who figured out to make them both successful around panel four of page 2. Page one is fine, but that panel three of page two needed to be redone. I am feeling like this is a Marc Silvestri comic on page six and seven. I don’t have a higher ❌-Men comics compliment than that.

Dani is talking things through with Brightwind. I don’t mind the rehashing and processing here. You can get bogged down in the details. You can pick up new information or clarification of context. You can also zoom out and see she is talking as a person who has been on loop processing in her head and aloud to a flying horse for 1,800 miles since walking out the door at her school and now in a stall, she is conked out.

She awakes on the adjacent page in her mom’s nightgown (not in my house would this happen) and once again she is in a square patterned bead cover. I had mentioned this in the context of the Sienkiewicz era…and I am thinking it still holds up aesthetically and is a thing for Dani or Claremont. Still in her head she is now processing her present…being home. The pages work together and as separate units. Occasionally I see pages and think, I want that as a print or the original. I having that moment for both.

I am a cabin person. I was born into that identity.

Mom pops in. They have work to get in between storms. Once again Peg pushes her off from helping and Dani is left to process, worry and rest.

It seems like Dani is 30 miles east of where I first lived. Or at least she is now at a mall about that distance east of my first home.

“❌-Men in a mall” has been appearing a handful of times, here we have a solid moment on that. Like the ❌-Men drinking coffee or Ororo is naked, we celebrate this with joy. Even if Dani is calling it rightfully a “monstrosity.”

She does what we do. She switches from righteousness to “I’m through with the glooms. I want to shop.” She picks up a cute outfit, but still is in her head about life back east.

It is intertwined with western concerns. I do this myself.

Dani is called out by Pat Roberts. We get a lowdown, as he and his friends surround her, call her out, bully, argue and hit her. A few things are revealed to us. Her power exposed Pat’s biggest fear and thus ended their status as best friends. He is now a full on racist who’s father was trying to acquire her family home, and now she has somehow blown up the deal by appearing back in town since she left to go to school. The scene is classic 80’s ❌-Men mutant trauma and Dani is a pro at navigating this. She knows there is a line Pat wants her to cross. She stands her ground, but is not crossing. Then she sees her Valkyrie power expose that Death is coming for him. She runs off, for fear her presence is making this possibility a reality. Pat is left with his posey ranting.

His friends want him to chill.

Dani is eves dropping from the back of Brightwind.

Pat almost crashes his truck.

I have seen one half decent 1/6 page facial close up. Yeah…I don’t love those. But loving the rest.

Dani is back at the home stall. Is chatting on the radio. Gets an emergency call and takes flight.

It’s Pat. His truck crashed. And a blizzard is here again. Dani takes his body into a cave.

Fire lit. Dani is startled by her power manifesting images from Pat’s mind. Of her being attacked with a battle axe by him…then them getting married. Theytalk about his inner conflict. He hate and love. His care shows, as the cave shakes. She emerges to check things out and finds a cowboy, Death. She now has pistols. They dual and she takes Death out in panels. Saving Pat. She speaks to an illusion of Pat. Pat has been out the entire time.

At the hospital in Denver, Dani waits. A tribal woman appears next to her. She seems to know Pat is diabetic. Drinks. Smashes his insulin supplies. Thus the crash. He is entering into a diabetic coma. He will never wake again.

Dani: “NO THATS A LIE”

It’s Death.

Death: “Am I so horrible?”

Dani: “you cause pain.”

Death: “and end it.”

I am very much aligned with Death here. Balance. Process. An end. The living are who struggle. Dani needs to let go. She asks for forgiveness and says goodbye. Pat dies. She sees his parent’s pain.

In the barn with Brightwind she is left with questions.

She finally joins with her parents to be consoled after he loss. The comic lands the plane perfectly.

So we turn to: “Getting Even!”

Back in the day when comics creators use to hang and chat on Twitter (for now it’s BlueSky…but it’s never going to be the same as a decade ago), I use to have casual interactions with Kyle Baker. What a sweet person in a harsh world. Here in NM No. 42, he will be finishing Guice layouts. After we turn the page on another Barry Windsor-Smith cover. Kyle shares a kinship in Bill Sienkiewicz, in terms of experimentation, diversity and mastery of styles, as well as, adaptability. Here Kyle channels Bill…but an expansion of understanding of Kyle’s own work and of Bill’s makes clear…Bill comes from the realism end of Mazzucchelli’s arch and Kyle hails from a refined cran drawing Bugs bunny end.

As for Barry…the master shares with us that this issue is focused on Sam and Lila.

The album:

We are treated (?) to a rock opera fantasy of the new mutant vanquishing foes as Lila’s band plays and then at the crescendo is rescued from the big bad…and in the minds eye we see this…but in ‘reality’ on a front porch in Kentucky, making out, Lila in green pink post 80’s punk & Sam in orange and brown pre 90’s proto “grunge” or cloths, are startled.

“SAMUAL ZACHERY GUTHRIE!?!”

*an iconic panel worth keeping for something.

“Momma?!?”

Momma: “who is this person?! What are you doing?!”

The quality of this image is loose and delicate and half hazardlly like it is Timely comics 1939…I just love it.

Mom expressed her pain, slammed the door and locked them out. Lila teleported away across the universe to avoid the further entanglement with the badger who lives there.

Sam wakes up. On a bus. It was all a dream…even the reality.

We are treated to a close up of Sam’s face that illustrates exactly what I was pointing out about Terry Austin’s work in the previous issue. Jackson Guice is laying this out. Drawing the comic in pencil…I don’t know if we are talking thumbnails (likely no) or full page (honestly for sure) and then the inks take the heavy lifting of drawing and finalising line work. I kinda work this way…though sometimes there is zero pencils. In Austin’s hands the panels that are about 2 1/2 in. x 8 in. on the original Bristol board are coming out noticeably off in Austin’s hands and here Kyle is like, I am going to make you think this panel is by Bill Sienkiewicz on a good day. You know same and what he is about and what is in his mind…just from this ink drawing and Elaine Lee’s colors.

Next stop Chamberlain, Kentucky.

Sam off the bus with duffle bags, makes two calls from a payphone in what most most towns in America recognize as the center of town. Not much. Just how we like it.

One call is to a tape message machine, announcing he home.

Another to a tour bus that has one of them new mobile car phones. Touches base with his girlfriend, Lila. She wants him to meet up with her in Charlotte.

Sam is very aware of his situation.

One problem is solved…he can fly like a rocket. He lands at the family farm. He is the oldest.

There is the family plot.

By the trees.

His Dad rests.

Sam says his hello.

His thoughts turn to voices at the foot of a gravestone.

Sam: “Suppose Momma doesn’t like her?!

Off panel, Momma sneaks up on us: “She must be a nice girl Samual…”

“…else you won’t like her.”

He gets smattered with questions about the girl till the reach the inside of the house. He does his best to not speak plainly.

He is inundated with siblings from there.

His brother Josh has a case of the angst.

Sam’s Mom is in purple plaid and has white hair. I am enjoying the subtle grounded vibes of this page. It works in harmony with her wisdom, as they discuss Josh’s fears of becoming Sam and how what they say about mutants in nonsense. Sam’s Mom reminds me of my grandma, Dot. They would have been friends.

Sam flys to NC and back stage he first runs into our old friend Alison who is in disguise with her black hair. Dazzler and Lila are a band at this point…and so Marvel music scene is alright.

Lila sees Sam and slams into him…a second iconic panel of these two in one comic. The SFX is SAM

Sam is there to talk. She thinks he is there to fuck, and she teleports away for a second to grab a gift from another planet for his Mom. Only he is sure she stole it and thinks she is as “trustworthy as Magneto”…which means Sam is not in a good spot with folks who have his back right now. Lila is not putting up with it.

The gift cracks. She breaks up with him. He flies off.

The vibes carry through more nice pages…Sam is in a funk. Testy with his Mom one pages fighting with his brother the next.

He finds himself at the diner.

Mom sits on the stool next to him. Not hard to track down.

Her wisdom guides them through. No need to be at this place. Responsibilities are not impeding his path to growth.

Josh has word that Lila’s plane crashed. Runs in frantic.

He and his brother fly off to the site.

They find Alison’s light and she has Lila in her arms.

Ali is like why do you care…why you here…you treated her like crap….and she made that for you…Sam is like, she didn’t steal it…Ali is like why would you jump to that conclusion…who are you?!

Avalanche starts…Sam saves them.

Sam holds Lila. Admits he is a maroon…she wakes and they kiss.

Now on the porch again. Dressed up for dinner. Lila teleports in with a new punker look. And the statue she made. She teleports away and returns dressed to impress Mom. And so they meet for the first time.

Next we head to USSR!

Five seasons into Mikhail Gorbachev’s term as head of state of the USSR, we were months away from the Reykjavík Summit, BUT the USA & USSR relations were in the midst of a period of Glasnost, and Perestroika had begun. Gorbachev’s speech at the end of 1984, lead to a thawing of global tensions that have been building since the end of WWII, when we were allied against Fascism. The unthinkable would happen a month after our “to me my ❌-Men” would have its final issue…the Berlin Wall would fall. The pressure had been building, and the bubble just popped. Not sure if it was the Hammer, the Sickle, or a thaw in 1989. In summer of 1986, we were very much in the Cold War.

Bob Layton’s X-Factor Annual No. 1 speaks to the time, from one man’s perspective. His. I always prefer it when a cartoonist takes on more roles. I am a dogged supporter of creator credit in comics. I am very inclusive to all the roles being celebrated. I am all for the collaboration. I am all for the access to gigs and pay being equitable. Brett Breeding inks, Janice Chiang letters, Petra Scotese colors, edited by Bob Harras, all contributed to making this comic art and have shares in how this art communicates. This is so, as is, this is comic is both written and penciled by Bob Layton. When the writer is the penciler on a Marvel comic, we celebrate it. It means he is bothered the screenwriter and director. It means he is almost performing as a full cartoonist. It is rare that we see this in superhero comics. I do all the jobs for a verity of reasons. This provides me perspective on how essential each part of the job is here. It also gives me a clue as to what a difference it makes in Bob doing both jobs here.

A Crimson Dynamo armor first appeared in Tales of Suspense No. 46 in 1963, thanks to Stan Lee, Robert Bernstein, and Don Heck. Billed as more powerful than Iron Man, he was an Iron Man arch. The two characters symbolic to the Arms Race between the USA and USSR. On the cover of the first ❌-Factor Annual we have Mark VI version of the Crimson Dynamo, who as Dimitri Bukharin, debuted in 1978’s Iron Man No. 109.

This pink cover of a giant sized annual has a massive white ice sculpture with blue tints. A hammer and sickle being navigated by this Crimson Dynamo, and ❌-Factor. A relic of the 80’s…but not yet…not at the time.

You will notice, Ice Man is not behaving as if he is on the side of the Red White and Blue.

On page one we are treated to the advertisement promo for ❌-Factor. We have been familiar with it, and we are beginning to witness its effects. There are mixed reviews within ❌-Factor itself. This page feels iconic to me…but honestly…I think it is has everything to do with ❌-Factors role as an onramp.

The double splash page catch up with ❌-Factor as a transition from the controlled limitations of page one, is jarring. The title “Grand Design” comes off as laughable. Janice’s ❌ in the middle qualifies, but I have no idea what she was thinking with this lettering of “Grand Design” and she and Bob have managed to deliver four scenes that have nice elements in all of them, but together, as a grand design are a mess.

They are attempting to show us how the ❌-Factor jet has been busy transporting ❌-Factor in both their costumed identities all over the North America; LA (some punk cliche), Mexico (they don’t show us this), Denver (a hand with powers looks interesting), Miami (a glowing box guy…I’m wondering most about this one).

The team is back from a mission, and are as wrecked as the equipment. Cam stops them at the door to let them know Soviet officials are in their office. This plays more like an Archie comic vibe than an ❌-Men vibe. But we welcome the thaw.

Cam: “How do you want to handle this, Scott?”

Scott: “I’m not sure. Diplomacy is not exactly my forte.” Noted.

WWIII gets an out from the meeting. WWIII: “Ain’t Capitalism Grand?” We are still debating this point…in 2026.

Jean asks the obvious, because this is actually an episode of…

Speed racer?! How’d you get in there?!

Anyway, then Bobby, who is so far in the closet he leans into this kinda frat house nonsense, make a “joke” about Soviet gymnasts doping. Ironically it comes off as homophonic. Hank pounces on his head…maybe to shut him up…or maybe because he too is a FratBro. Bob’s writing & drawing, so honestly…I can’t tell.

By the way…if you are questioning if Walt Simonson or Jackson Guice were taking the lead on the aesthetics of this series to the point, you really only need to read this to know…they were aping Bob Layton the entire time. Or this was the 80’s Marvel house style. Both are kinda true. That is until, everyone began leaning into the Art Adams and Marc Silvestri style…the one everyone calls the Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld style.

The page of everyone getting ready for the meeting, that is already ready to go, is probably the first page solid comics. As much as I do have feelings for the propaganda of the cover and ❌-Factor ad page.

That said, the writing is hockey and lazy. Like, does Bob not realise Iceman is gay?! He would be at least be thinking about both the women and men in Russia in equal measure. To be clear, Bob had no clue…despite piling evidence.

Occasionally you see a panel that reminds you of two things…not every panel displays the professionalism you deserve, and sometimes the comic panel is just as good as the animation still. Which has its own charms. The introductory panel of Sasha Yasinov and Nikoli Lizbek have that cardboard cutout feel.

This exchange of pleasantries, carefully worded negotiations, the promise of continued talks, comes off as if showing their cards a little to much, but in general…probably how it would go in this climate. The complexity of interests is evident.

Soviets don’t want to admit they have a mutant problem, but want access to the methodology that seems to be working from the outside at ❌-Factor in dealing with the mutant problem. To be clear, Nazis (enemies of Russia and The US, until it became clear this was a bit of an illusion…or more complex than any binary illusion) used the “Jewish problem” in their language, so this plays into that narrative and actual history.

Man this stuff gets weirder to unpack every day…by that I mean…it was always contextually complex…because humans are hella strange.

Anyway, they absolutely have mutants (pretending) and they absolutely see it as a problem for them (it’s not, IMHO), but can’t say that.

The US government is in the midst of Perestroika, so they are happy to act in the spirit of Glasnost. Plus they don’t actually know how ❌-Factor works. They see the ads and read the news. Maybe they have some intel from Cam. In fact…he’s the source here.

Now Scott and Warren and the mutants in the room…they have two concerns. One being they are mutants and this is all cover for protecting mutants…secondly they are a private business…and capitalism has taught them…the government doesn’t have a right here…so it kinda doesn’t matter that the soviets and the us government are cool with this simple exchange of information to help control the mutant population that according to policy doesn’t exist in the USSR.

I loved political policy. Man is it dry and scary.

❌-Factor discusses it and they settle on this is BS. We ain’t going. And Cam comes in with info presumably Sen. Thompson, that if they do it could impact hundreds of mutants in Russia.

And so we are in the Soviet Union and there is this secret detention center that is rumored to disappear mutants. We see an attempted escape by a guy who seems to have the same hand powers as the one from Denver on that horrific double page spread. This mutant is unnamed and murdered by Crimson Dynamo before he can brake free.

Seeing this page reminds me how I really felt for this guy and liked this page at 10. My first protest was in front of the Soviet embassy in San Francisco, as part of a Hebrew school trip. We were trying to pressure the USSR to release incarcerated USSR Jewish at the time. Not dissimilar contexts…and I felt the connection immediately. It was visceral. Not removed at all. To real.

Turning the page, our lives of lived experiences and fiction become even more intertwined reading this in 2026. The brilliance of Marvel, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, to focus on grounded reality out of convenience and to create and maintain intimacy with the story and provide accessibility; on-ramps, relevancy…even in a comic issue that at times feels like trash cartooning…it is compelling and a utility to continue to value and process our reality. For here are the twin towers of the World Trade Center, in 1986. 9/11 unthinkingly remote. Remember, this all started because some at Timely wanted to sell advertising and trash pulp, while others wanted to contribute like Superman and try and pressure their government and fellow citizens into entering a war against Fascism to save their family, friends, community that was being detained, disappeared and if rumors were true, eradicated. And it worked. In concert with similar efforts. So in 1986, and 2026 the work remains a tool. A utility.

Here on page 9 of a mostly forgotten comics Annual, set in the subbasement of two buildings that no longer exist because planes intentionally crashed into them, murdering thousands, is a fictional Sen Thompson, Cam, and ❌-Factor. Thompson sharing top secret information and convincing them to trust him, despite his role on an anti-Mutant US committee…he shows them photos of mutants in the Soviet unions who are being…

Cam: “people — dissected— I — I feel s—sick!”

Jean: “some are children! What kinda of world is this?”

Ours. Fiction is a reflection of our reality.

Their outrage is motivation enough.

The KGB is experimenting on mutants to created a mutant army of unborn children soldiers. The project is lead by son of a Nazi, Dr. Wolfgang Heinrich.

Sen T: “It’s the Master Race scenario gone mad!”

The matter of the Sen being on the committee is not settled. Hank and Bobby are not exactly accepting him as an ally. But the fact that they know each other’s secrets is were trust is to built.

So they land in Russia and Scott, Jean, Bobby, and Hank, as the public face of ❌-Factor exit in their white and blue uniforms. Surrounded by Soviet military guard. They are attacked by Anatoly (I think) and a mysterious member (I think) of E❌iles (I think).

Bobby is picked up by the one who shoots lasers from his hands and can fly. Bobby is seasoned enough to keep his identity secret by not using his powers this time (he didn’t do this every time if you recall), but when she his captor is shot dead in the back Bobby breaks character and calls out the soviet who shot him. Sasha Yasinov takes note:

💭“interesting!”

At their hotel room, Bobby uses his cooling power to disrupt any surveillance in the room. Angel is off finding the facility where the mutants are taken too.

Angel is in a new costume. Black with red tint. It was blue on the cover. He is flying to compete his part of the mission. I enjoy the first page…WWIII flying through snowy mountains seems to always work for me.

He is attacked by choppers, but he counter attacks and then lands in the woods, exhausted.

But he gets back up.

The rest are at a convention where they will be presenting ❌-Factor “methods.” Sasha introduces them to Heinrich, who has a panel I really have always liked. How it’s drawn, the power design and the intonation all work. Simple. He is a mutant who can sense others mutants (more on this later). He knows and is shocked that ❌-Factor is like he is…a cover story.

After introducing Scott and setting up his presentation, Heinrich meets with Anatoly back stage and has him find Yuri for a disposal job.

At the cocktail after party, Hank has contented Heinrich, asking questions about his being an East German (we really did speak like this) and now having this role in the USSR, given the history of WWII. Heinrich escapes the conversation. Finds Bobby and gets Bobby kidnapped by Yuri and Anatoly. And then Heinrich transforms into Bobby.

He now has Iceman’s powers. Thus the cover.

Instructions are to kill Bobby.

Overhearing this is Holy Grail posed as wait staff. He contacts Holy Ghost, to intercept a package; Bobby.

Outside, Iron Curtain nocks out Yuri. Holy Ghost in another favorite mid shot panel takes over Anatoly’s mind. They take Bobby.

Bobby’s interrogation is being led by Blind Faith AkA Alexi Garnoff AKA Holy Ghost, with the hands on being Concussion AKA Mikahil. These are the Eiles. Siberian Tiger is sporting his Greatful Dead shirt (shout out to my local scene in Mill Valley). They still assume Bobby is a mutant hunter. So he turns into Iceman and then they all agree to talk it out.

Oh and Mantic is there too.

They understand exactly who Heinrich is and that Bobby will need to help them rescue not just their fellow mutants in general, but ❌-Factor specifically.

I always liked this shot of ❌-Factor above the facility. Even if the drawing isn’t perfect. Warren lands. They have no idea the Heinrich is with them, as Bobby. Warren has a hint Bobby is off, but in his Scooby-Doo delivery he covers himself. They infiltrate Heinrich’s facility with Heinrich.

The image of all the mutants strapped to machines is visceral still. Solid splash page.

Heinrich is alone with Scott and takes him out.

Then Crimson Dynamo and IceHeinrich attack.

But Scott is back with a counter attack.

Outside the E❌iles with Bobby break in exploding a wall. Are we drinking for these?

Jean, Hank, Warren on there thing against guards, Crimson Dynamo, IceHeinrich and Scott go at it, then it’s Iceman v Iceman.

Classic panel of Siberian Tiger in action.

Rescuing of mutants begins.

Bobby takes out Heinrich. Who falls through the floor into who even knows.

And then Bobby uses his five minutes of Russian training to convince Crimson Dynamo leave and let him handle the rest. Which somehow works.

The two ❌ teams work together to help their fellow mutants.

Blind Faith uses his brainwashing powers to force ❌-Factor to…

Alexi: “you will listen and obey”

And so in Moscow, Scott, Jean, Hank, and Bobby have Simas and Alexi in custody as they are surrounded by KGB who wish to take them into custody…when Scott explains the situation to Sasha. By saying, it’s a trade secret, here you go. And Sasha responds, well we are simply going through a security drill. Thank you.

They are left wondering what they just did, handing over Alexi and Simas…Alexi being the one to set that up by brains washing them.

On the flight back, they assumed he can just mind control them out of captivity.

Warren flys by the plane causing a spectacle. While further back in the cabin sits Heinrich who is taking with the flight attendant. Like this ending.

And sunset.

Next: WandaVision

Punch Up: “To Me My ❌-Men”

Ben Cohen*
Jericho, VT
© 1975-2026

* The Ben Cohen originating from Jamestown, Boulder County, CO, USA; Raised in the Bay & Trained in Savannah.

Punch Up: “To Me My ❌-Men”