Uncanny X-Men 238 - Inferno Prologue

Fire erupts inside Madelyne amidst a showdown with the Genoshan magistrates.

Uncanny X-Men #238

Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Marc Silvestri
Inker: Dan Green
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story concludes with this issue but we continue to see the dark side of the Genoshan miracle. Wolverine and Carol Danvers explore a camp where the mutates live and show Philip Moreau a side to his country that he just never thought about. Once again the parallels to real life leap out, in this case with the Bantustans where the South African state tried to put the black population away in little statelets, out of sight and out of the concern of the white population. It has been a fast journey into reality for Philip and it seems there is no chance to put it all right with his fiancée Jennifer having already started the transformation into an obedient slave mutate though at this point she still retains her memories and ability to reason. Philip also tries reason but faces officials who take the attitude that argument is pointless because it validates a question over whether what they do is right or not.

The X-Men attack and ultimately liberate their comrades, with Wipeout forced to restore Wolverine and Rogue's powers, but other than Philip there is no great enlightenment and no liberation. Wolverine wants to wipe out the state's leadership but Philip argues that in time the people can be made to see the wrong of their society and set it right. It's the classic revolution versus reform argument and it is highly depressing that there seem no prospect of the mutates themselves ever rising up and winning their freedom but instead their fate will be determined by the decisions of the current ruling race. It's a problem that the long term needs of the series to have Genosha as a place to return to clash with the needs of the story to bring liberation but ultimately it is the series that has to win out with the X-Men limited to threatening the Genoshan leadership with a destructive alternative future if they do not listen to Philip's mutant rights movement. This remains a bleak vision at a time when it could not have been foreseen that apartheid would fall in just the next few years.

Madelyne Pryor gets a lot of development in this issue as we see a telepath's experience of her mind. At first we see Madelyne as a little girl picking flowers when she's attacked by the Genengineer and the Magistrates who fire on her only for her to rise again in flames and bring destruction down upon the capital city. In the ruins the Genengineer is now wearing the costume of Mr Sinister and attacked by Madelyne in a costume vaguely reminiscent of the Black Queen's as she warns that lighting a match may ignite "an inferno". It's quite a striking piece in setting out the threat to come. It's also interesting for the way some of the imagery is lifted from the famous "Daisy" election advert from the 1964 US Presidential election which began with a shot of another girl with flowers before a nuclear explosion. Back in reality Madelyne claims ignorance of what happened even though the psionic explosion killed all those examining her and offers rational debate and support but there are hints this is a front. Later she confronts the Genengineer in person and implies she can bring destruction down upon him even as he prepares to shoot her. At the end it's almost sinister as she answers a question about a baby's whereabouts with "Not to worry. That's all been taken care of." This story has also seen Havok expressing ever more concern for his sister-in-law and the way they embrace at the end is highly suggestive. Although she's been on the side-lines for most of the previous chapters this story arc has shown strong signs of Madelyne's descent into something quite dark and truly sewn the seeds for what is to come.

Although the ending is stilted by the inability to bring down the whole regime, in spite of Wolverine's wishes, and the need to give a lot of focus on Madelyne's descent for future tales, all in all this has been a good story that hasn't run for more issues than it can sustain. Instead it's built up the situation steadily over each chapter and this conclusion resolves all the key strands satisfactorily.