Uncanny X-Men 242 - Inferno

The X-Men and X-Factor meet each other for the first time.

Uncanny X-Men #242

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

In Central Park the X-Men have found X-Factor and Madelyne Pryor, who is now in her civilian clothes and playing the meek manner wife. The teams are suspicious of each other, with X-Factor assuming the X-Men are dead and finding them much changed and darker, whilst the X-Men still believe X-Factor to be mutant buster bounty hunters. Several of the X-Men have become more extreme with Dazzler even more of a vain flirt, Longshot incredibly boastful, Wolverine even more ruthless and Havok ever more angry. N'astirh appears and threatens Madelyne at precisely the point when Jean is under attack by the demons who were her parents, forcing Cyclops to choose which woman to save - and he saves Jean. N'astirh takes Madelyne and Nathan Christopher away on a demonic coach with Havok grabbing onto the rear. At the Empire State Building Havok re-declares his loyalty to Madelyne who, now in the Goblin Queen costume again, proclaims him the "Goblin Prince". As they enter they are seen by Colossus, returning from helping the New Mutants, who cannot get into the building so proceeds to climb it. N'astirh plans to use Madelyne's energies to create a permanent link between Earth and Limbo by sacrificing Nathan Christopher, which his mother agrees to. In the park the battle between the two teams continues to rage until Storm takes Jean aside and the two renew their friendship. N'astirh attacks and both teams united to fight him, with Iceman directing Colossus at the demon who is pained by contact with the Russian's steel form. Combining their knowledge and powers they subject the techno organic demon to extreme cold and heat that causes his circuits to malfunction then Storm destroys him with a lightning bolt. Cyclops is displease with X-Men killing but Storm asserts her right as leader. However Madelyne now grabs Jean...

This is another double-sized issue yet curiously neither this nor the double-sized X-Factor #38 are the final issues of their series's contribution to the crossovers. This would appear to be a later change of plan as neither issues #243/#39 was included on the main advert for the event. Perhaps somebody got confused about anniversaries. As we'll see issue #243 proclaims itself to be both "The 25th Anniversary Issue of the Uncanny X-Men and 150th Issue of the New X-Men". That latter is true providing Giant-Size X-Men #1 is not included in the count which perhaps may be the source of confusion but either issue is a little late for celebrating the 25th anniversary on time which would be either an issue published in June or cover dated September so anywhere between #235 & #238 is the best guess (precise dates of publication for Silver Age comics aren't always clear due to varying sources and practices but for what it's worth in 1993 both the X-Men and Avengers - which originally came out on the same day - made the peak of their 30th anniversary celebrations the September cover dated issues released in July). But also adding to the complications are the succession of villains and key moments to be dealt with.

There's no denying the landmark significance of the issue. The original five X-Men have not appeared altogether in the series since issue #66 some eighteen years earlier. Much has happened since then, including the transformations of both the Beast and Death/Angel, the seeming death and return of Marvel Girl, the marriage and separation of Cyclops and the formation of X-Factor. It is undeniable that they have all changed in that time but they still believe in the original vision of Professor X. But it would be wrong to see them as simply a set of Silver Age characters whose presence allows for a contrast with the-then modern Dark Age successors though the scene where Cyclops and Storm argue about who is living up to the legacy of Professor Xavier's vision is more than just a continuation of their conflict over the leadership of the X-Men or a sign that X-Factor is still believed to be working as mutant bounty hunters despite the cover having been publicly abandoned some time ago.

For the X-Men have become much darker and this is not just the influence of the magic of Limbo. Over time they've become steadily harder and more ruthless with their foes, reflecting a darker world. Not all have changed at the same pace with some having noticeably found themselves disgusted at they've done but this is a team that has come a long way from even the early days of the New X-Men from before Jean was replaced by Phoenix. This is shown most dramatically in the way that Psylocke forces her way into Jean's mind without the latter's consent or when Storm calmly asserts that N'astirh needed to be destroyed and she had every right to make that decision.

Killing off N'astirh is a shocking moment even though he was only created for this storyline. Of the two feuding demons in Limbo he is by far the stronger creation and it would have been better to take advantage of Inferno to replace the far too comical S'ym with a far more dangerous threat should the realm be returned to. But the more immediate needs of this strand of the crossover is to remove the villains in succession and show the darkness of the modern X-Men so the more immediate needs take priority over the long-term needs. And removing N'astirh allows for a much greater focus on Madelyne in issues to come.

A large chunk of the extended issue is taken up with the fight between the two teams which even in 1988 had become a cliche of the genre but here it feels more natural than the average superhero fight over the smallest misunderstanding or disagreement. Instead it's a clear sign of the two very different paths the different team members have been on which makes it easy for Madelyne to manipulate them into reacting this way. This meeting has been a very long time coming because of editorial mandates to keep the two teams apart and an immediate team-up was never going to be credible. Old attitudes are brought to the forefront with many little moments between characters such as Death/Angel renewing his hostility towards Wolverine after the latter kisses Jean showing how suspicions remain. Both teams have gone through some unusual developments that add to the suspicions with the X-Men's official death and X-Factor's bounty hunter period both referenced. All this combines to make the lengthy fight a more realistic outcome.

This meeting of the two teams was a long time coming, frankly far longer than it needed to be, and so it deserves to be the main focus for a key issue of the crossover. It's a strong piece that really gets into the different characters and how they've all changed in different directions since the old days, thus giving us not a piece of nostalgia but a strong step forward.