Uncanny X-Men #297: You Can Do That in a Superhero Comic?!?

And there came a day unlike any other... Wait. That's the Avengers.

And there came a topic unlike many others, when two of the foundational teams in the Marvel Universe and comics in general celebrated 60 years of publishing. And that caused the Super Blog Team-Up to reassemble and share their perspectives on the Avengers and the X-Men.

To recognize this occasion, I decided to go small and focus on a single X-issue that was nevertheless a watershed moment in my personal comics journey.

Uncanny X-Men #297
“Up and Around”
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Penciler: Brandon Peterson
Inker: Dan Panosian
Colorist: Marie Javins
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

I believe my first brush with the Children of the Atom came on an episode of “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.” Wolverine was there, I think, but I was most fascinated with Cyclops and his cool-looking visor. I found him in comics in Classic X-Men #14, Incredible Hulk #337-338 and X-Factor #32.* I collected X-Factor off and on briefly, but it wasn't until the 1992 “X-Cutioner's Song” crossover that I became a regular reader and buyer of X-Men comics.

As I've said before, I started buying the crossover with the intent of adding valuable comics to my collection, then opened the polybags to actually read them. I feel somewhat vindicated by the fact that I have seen many of those issues – some bagged, some not – in bargain bins in recent years.

I went back to X-Factor because Peter David was writing it and Strong Guy and Multiple Man were part of the cast, and, for some reason, opted to go with Uncanny over adjective-less X-Men. The first post-crossover issue was #297, and Lobdell did something I had never seen in a superhero comic: He told a story with no punching, energy blasts or other forms of violence.

Unless you count Beast giving Archangel a noogie.

I can't say I was ignorant of the fact that it was possible to tell a comic book story without those elements. I had somehow acquired an issue of Casper the Friendly Ghost as a child, and I knew Archie comics existed, although you wouldn't catch me spending money on their offerings unless they involved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I believed comics were for superheroes, and superheroes fought.

This issue features the team dealing with the fallout of the events of X-Cutioner's Song, with the aforementioned Archangel and Beast rebuilding Westchester hangout Harry's Hideaway after it was destroyed in the first issue of the crossover. Rogue is morose about not being able to touch anybody, and Gambit is not helping by flirtaciously offering to touch her and then some.

But the centerpiece is Jubilee, who, while rollerblading, encounters Professor X walking barefoot in the grass outside the X-Mansion. Xavier was still paralyzed in those days, but a side effect of the techno-organic virus with which Stryfe, masquerading as Cable, infected him in the assassination attempt that set the crossover in motion, allowed him to regain the use of his legs.

It was a quiet story that nevertheless packed a punch for me around age 12, showing me that comics could be more than what I thought.

Going back and reading this for the first time in a while was fun. Peterson's art is like comfort food, although the coloring choices seemed odd at times.**

Beast and Archangel genuinely feel like two longtime friends busting each other's chops and reminiscing about the good old days. The dichotomy of Rogue drawn as a bombshell and being unable to touch anybody, including the man she wants to most, has been overdone at times, to the point where Marvel shifted away from that in recent years and she and Gambit are actually married. But Lobdell makes you feel her sadness and frustration.

As for Jubilee and Professor X, their encounter is a bait and switch from the foreboding mystery teased on the cover to an unlikely pairing. She wasn't one of his recruits to the X-Men and views him as an intimidating stick in the mud. Getting him to join her on rollerblades put the always serious professor in a situation I'd never seen, or imagined, and the moment when his legs start to fail him again and she rushes to his aid is powerful.

I appreciate the Krakoa era of X-Men comics primarily because it offers more than a variation on the X-status quo of mutants protecting a world that hates and fears them. But this trip down memory lane made me miss a Beast who was both funny and not a sadistic villain, a Professor X who was fallible but still admirable and the will-they-or-won't-they-and-how-can-they of Gambit and Rogue, although their updated status quo is more like a progression than a record scratch).

It looks like my blog has a lot more X-related content than Avengers. I'll probably try to rectify that in the future, but in honor of Earth's mightiest heroes, you could check out my previous SBTU entry about thetime they crossed paths with the Justice League, courtesy of the man who seemed destined to draw it.

There are many things to discuss and celebrate about six decades of two of the cornerstone franchises in comicdom. I invite you to check out the other offerings from the Super Blog Team-Up crew below, including Jesse Starcher and me facing off in a themed Marvel SNAP battle:

Between The Pages Blog - Avengers & X-Men 60th Birthday Party

SNAP Material: Marvel SNAP On-Air Battle - West Coast Avengers (Evan) vs. X-Force (Jesse)

Source Material Comics Podcast - Ultron vs. Nimrod: An AI Perspective

Dave's Comic Heroes Blog - X-Men And Avengers Beginnings

Superhero Satellite - Wolverine Style

* - Which also needs its own in-depth post.

** - For the record, Javins, and any professional colorist, have way more artistic talent than me and I respect them. I just don't get why certain things are tinged in blue. That's a me problem, I'm sure.