UXM #60: "In The Shadow Of... Sauron!"

("The swamp monster is disturbed!")

Comments

It's the beginning of year six for the comic, and things are getting ever more crazy.

First, an important announcement: if the object of your affections mocks you for reading The Lord of the Rings, she is a bitch.  Karl Lykos' greatest sin isn't that he's allowed himself to transform into a power-sucking vampire pteranodon, it's that his first act wasn't to drain the snootiness from that Scandinavian harridan.

And what exactly are we supposed to take from this issue?  That pteranodons carry some kind of vampiric disease?  Get bitten by a winged lizard, turn into a winged lizard?  If they're that dangerous, what are they doing hiding in Tierra Del Fuego?  And wouldn't that be a stupid place for a reptile in any case?

(Plus, that's not the tail of a pteranodon, it's from a rhamphorhyncus.  Just sayin'.)

I wonder how long Marvel could get away with naming their villains after antagonists from novels. "I name myself Pennywise!", "My reign of terror begins as I become That Velociraptor That Learned To Open Doors!"

Apparently it's official: Scott and Jean are a couple.  Not sure exactly when that happened, actually.  Sure, the moping and self-absorbed internal monologues had dried up, but I was too relieved by all that to actually probe any deeper.

Oh, and the X-Men note the absence of Changeling last issue, just as I had (apparently the Vanisher was captured, after all).  Still no word as to who the massively powerful signal the Sentinels detected belonged to.

Clues

This story follows directly on from the previous one, and concludes that evening.

Date

Saturday 24^th  May, 1980.

X-Date

X+2Y+54.

Compression Constant

1 Marvel year = 2.79 standard years.

(Iceman is 33 years old.)



Never mind out brother mutants...
tell me about the Scarlet Witch!

Contemporary Events

The New York Islanders win their first Stanley Cup.

Standout Line

"Your eyes?  You gotta be kiddin'! Sure, I'll look into 'em... and then I'm gonna -- YOUR EYES! YOUR EYES--!!"  Another less-than-proud moment for Angel (who now seems to insist on being called "The mutant formerly known as The Avenging Angel!").  Maybe Xavier never covered this situation specifically, but surely he taught Warren well enough for him to know that when the criminal you're chasing turns out to be a talking version of the flying green thing from "Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs", you might not want to follow its explicit instructions.