SPEAKER_02: 0:09

Hello and welcome to Uncanny Book Club. I'm Isaac Peter Kiel, and joining me as always is the illustrious Adam Ward. I have never been called illustrious before. So quite honored. Yep, I uh just went with the one that came to me in the moment. I might have to start planning these out. I'll have to get you a thesaurus. Christmas is approaching. Or, well, if you're listening to this, Christmas was recently. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 0:38

Happy New Year, I think, is probably most appropriate.

SPEAKER_02: 0:41

That sounds right. The first uncanny book club of 2026. Holy cow.

SPEAKER_01: 0:49

And uh at this point, I still have not watched Dark Phoenix. So not starting the new year with that. That shouldn't be the first movie you watch.

SPEAKER_02: 1:00

It shouldn't even be the first movie.

SPEAKER_01: 1:03

That shouldn't even be the first X-Men movie I watch of the year. No, probably not. Damn. Well, maybe 2026 will be the year that I finally watch it. I maybe I need some sort of incentive, you know. Like maybe we get a we get one of these episodes up to uh like a like a hundred views. Boom. Dark Phoenix. Let's go. There we go. The gauntlets bin laid. And speaking of gauntlets, we have uh a bit of a showdown happening in these issues. What a segue. Yeah, you like that? It's pretty good. I do it was pretty good. Still is, even though I'm bragging about it.

SPEAKER_02: 1:39

I think we should just get into it then. Yeah, begrudgingly, I will say. Begrudgingly. But it's murder world. It's funny how like it's like X-Men versus Murder World and it's got arcade in the background, but he's not there at all. He's not really involved at all. At all. Like he's not running the show. He's not really involved.

SPEAKER_01: 2:00

No, because he's technically a murderer's. He's technically a captive of Doctor Doom right now. That's a weird situation we're gonna have to talk about. Can we quickly just talk about this cover before you get into the context of this issue? Looking at this cover was very confusing for me, if I'm very honest, because I don't know, like obviously, I know what Havoc looks like, and that I can tell this is Havoc, but I've never seen Havoc in uh an all-white. That was odd.

SPEAKER_02: 2:34

And then I'm looking at uh this any page inside of this book where he's not wearing a white outfit.

SPEAKER_01: 2:41

Yeah, it's so strange. I I've never seen that before, and I don't think we've seen that either in any of the issues up to this point.

SPEAKER_02: 2:49

I think this is just some Alex Summers shade. He's the forgotten Summers brother.

SPEAKER_01: 2:54

We have Lorna here on the right who looks like Clea, like Clea Strange. She's back in the villain outfit, I believe. It's very evil looking. I will give her that. It's like I I mean, I don't hate it, but like it's giving me like Clea Doctor Strange vibes. It goes good with the green hair. Yeah, I agree. I like the green kind of outline too that they did to kind of play up that green. Because in the in the future, her outfit is primarily green, is it not?

SPEAKER_02: 3:26

I mean, it probably depends on the on the day, but I think in the more current comics, she's typically wearing like her like her super suit or whatever is green. Yeah, okay. I think green lipstick too. It's good to coordinate. She's definitely color coordinated, that's for sure. And then sunglasses and a big thing at coffee.

SPEAKER_01: 3:47

She's my kind of gal. Coffee and all. I don't know that I knew this was Banshee in the background.

SPEAKER_02: 3:53

You can tell it's Sean because he's got a gun. A weird-looking gun, but a gun nonetheless. He looks like he's a Star Wars blaster.

SPEAKER_01: 4:01

It does look like a Star Wars blaster, and he looks like he is wearing an outfit stolen from Black Widow.

SPEAKER_02: 4:07

Maybe he is. You know, he was Interpol. So, like Black Widow, he's kind of a spy.

SPEAKER_01: 4:14

Is that the outfit of choice for a spy? Maybe in the 70s or 80s now. With me uh nitpicking this cover done with, why don't we talk about what happens inside?

SPEAKER_02: 4:27

Issue 146 opens with Doom bossing around a storm bot that he built and pondering if the crazy storm building around his base has anything to do with the weather witch that he is imprisoned in organic chrome. The rest of the captured X-Men have all been placed in little escape rooms that test their powers and mind. Miles away, Scott and Lee are weathering the very same storm in a makeshift shelter, but a lightning bolt sends them flying and Scott's powers are revealed. Lee helps them retie the blindfold and doesn't push on what just happened. The X-Men B team is able to locate Murder World and begin their rescue mission, but are promptly caught and split up. Meanwhile, all the hostages are sitting boxed up as presents, same as the last time. Havoc is able to free himself, and he casually takes out Miss Locke's helper dude. Sean, Polaris, and Iceman rescue who they think is Moira, Candy, and Amanda, but the three robots self-destruct, confusing Sean more than it probably should. Meanwhile, Havoc sneaks up and drapes himself all sexy across Miss Locke's control board and blows up her gun when she tries to attack him. The Bee Squad emerges victorious with the hostages saved. The issue ends with Doom peering out his window and Arcade teasing him about Nightcrawler escaping from his room. I did not realize that my summary of this issue was as short as it was, but it's very fitting because I believe that's exactly how things were when we did Murder World the first time. Just kind of everybody's stuck in a wacky situation until they free themselves and then they, you know, just play by other rules and get to where they need to go and win the day.

SPEAKER_01: 6:20

Yeah, it's you know, it I found it actually interesting because we kind of have like two very similar situations unfolding with two very different teams that are also created by two very different people. You have Doom, who is basically testing the X-Men. He's heard about them, gathering some scientific evidence. Yeah, he's he's trying to figure out like how they work, what their uh strengths are, what their weaknesses are, and you can tell that in the tests, like in these in these rooms where they're trying to escape, if you look at the room that Nightcrawler was in, it was specifically designed to make it difficult to navigate because he couldn't tell where anything was. And inevitably we'll see him falling from the sky because he had to make a guess. So that was like a underestimation by Doom that we ended up seeing play out.

SPEAKER_02: 7:18

I don't know if it was an underestimation. I feel like it was more like here is the barrier, I want to see if you'll jump over it.

SPEAKER_01: 7:27

Well, I don't think he was expecting him to teleport out, but maybe I mean, I think what you said makes a lot of sense too.

SPEAKER_02: 7:34

So let's say let's go with that. I feel like he put everybody in a situation that was like geared, and you know, maybe this wasn't his intent, and maybe this is just the writer's intent, but everybody's situation was just felt geared to like them specifically, like Nightcrawler just has to make a bold assumption and go for it. I feel like Angel's is about being decisive, Colossus's is about using his head instead of his powers. Logan's is like, I don't know, not relying too much on his rage or instincts, or I don't know. Yeah, I his was kind of weird.

SPEAKER_01: 8:20

I think it's I think you nailed it. I the the they talked about that well, there's a flashback in the next issue, I believe, right? That kind of goes into this a little bit more, but yeah, it's implied like he needs to use his head, I think is kind of like what the takeaway was, rather than yeah, like his instincts. I felt like the way it's established with Doom is like very Doom-like. It it just felt more oh, this is like what a real villain would do, right? Like he isn't necessarily going in there to kill them. If it happened, fine, but not necessarily his big plan. And then you have Arcade, who makes like these bold grand claims of being the greatest assassin there is, and having this theme park that is just you know, it's ham, right? Like it's super hammy. I did enjoy as TIE Fighters. I enjoyed this version of Murder World and like the dumb rooms more, I think, than the first one.

SPEAKER_02: 9:26

Yeah, I mean, it the shtick with all of these was kind of the same of like, here's a fake demonic robot that's gonna explode. I thought that was like a little fun. Like the the Ileana one was kind of like very creepy. Yeah, that was a good one. And then when it ha when it happens later, I just laughed because I feel like Sean is very gullible. Like, we've had this before where like I think it was Murder World where he's fighting Magneto and the Hulk, maybe, and he's like, Why are they here? And it's like, really? And now it's like, oh my god, Moira's exploded.

SPEAKER_01: 10:07

I mean, he's probably dealing with a lot. It would be stressful. It's a stressful time to see your partner explode suddenly. Um, I did question Iceman's room. Like, we have these android hockey players that he easily handles.

SPEAKER_02: 10:28

That that is such a badly designed, like, what is what is it supposed to test for him, really? Like, there's it's like, oh, there's acid in the ground, but like he can just keep freezing it. Well, and he doesn't though.

SPEAKER_01: 10:44

And I wondered that as well, because I thought why wouldn't he screen? Why wouldn't he just, you know, refreeze the ground if there's if it's that thin. It's not like you can't. It's not like you can't build it out from the side of the room, so it's connected to something that isn't the floor. And I also I I'm I don't know. I I wish if anybody knows the science here, if ice could actually form above acid, I would be very curious to know. You can freeze anything.

SPEAKER_02: 11:14

He can freeze the acid. I mean, he like conjures snow and ice, so he can definitely do it. It's funny that he, I guess, chooses not to escape until Lorna drops from the ceiling, and then he's like, Oh, I guess I'll just super cool the wall and crash through it. Before that, he was just probably having a good time, I guess. Yeah, I guess. Um hanging out with the robot hockey players.

SPEAKER_01: 11:37

I I felt like the runes were a little bit more fun. I I did like the quirkiness and the ham of the ice rink room.

SPEAKER_02: 11:47

And I think one of the things that we really harped on last time was like, did Murder World really need two issues? This time we wrapped things up in like less than one issue of being actually inside Murder World. So I'd say that that's a bonus.

SPEAKER_01: 12:03

It's uh an improvement. Yeah, I certainly liked there were some things that were fun, right? And I felt like the the room with the merry-go-round was fun, where there were like weird demonic horses, and that's where we get like the Ileana demon robot that pulls out a gun and tries to pull out a gun. That's funny. It it says like eat hot lead.

SPEAKER_02: 12:32

No, it says eat hot lead sucker. Yeah, eat hot lead sucker.

SPEAKER_01: 12:37

Oh man, that's good. It was very fun. Um like overall, I liked it better than the first time, but I wish the stakes were a little bit bigger if we're calling something murder world that has yet to murder anybody. Fake murder world. Yeah, fake murder world. Honestly, I I'm gonna feel this way by the end of the of this episode after kind of what's gonna happen, specifically in the third issue, but I really don't think I care much about Angel being on this team. I have a note that says the same thing. I don't think he really brings anything to the group. He's being written as like very like adversarial to other members. He's very whiny. He is very whiny. Like, I don't get the vibe that he wants to be there. It feels like he was basically brought back to momentarily be on the team while we have like this side thing with Cyclops. Um, and they probably didn't want to introduce a second new character because they just brought in Kitty.

SPEAKER_02: 13:51

So it feels like the editing team saying add this character in versus the writing team being like, let's add an angel. I would be curious. Which might be the case, yeah. I have some good news. I'm pretty sure Angel does not stick around for very long.

SPEAKER_01: 14:11

I I think my gut my feeling based off of how the third issue starts is this is kind of the beginning of the end. That'd be good. I because I imagine we're gonna get into like uh it's me or him sort of thing.

SPEAKER_02: 14:27

And everyone on the team is like, it's it's him. Sorry.

SPEAKER_01: 14:32

We choose Wolverine. It's not you, Angel. It's us. And we're choosing Wolverine.

SPEAKER_02: 14:39

We already have someone else that can fly.

SPEAKER_01: 14:43

It is like better in every single way, shape, and form, as we see here with her inside of this carbonite-like state where she can subconsciously think thoughts and summon a storm that is like engulfing the entire East Coast.

SPEAKER_02: 15:02

Speaking of that, it's hard to transition away from the John Byrne art, but when there is that one page where it's like the close-up of like her eyes and like her face, and like just like the rage, like boiling crazy elemental tempest thing going on with her eyes. I think that was very well done. I enjoyed that a lot. Yeah, that was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01: 15:27

There was definitely some fan service, I will say, in these issues, particularly with the with the stuff that kind of goes on with Scott.

SPEAKER_02: 15:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 15:37

Now that we're kind of uh a couple issues into this side story with Scott with them being stranded on this island, what are your thoughts right now with this? Like, like, not even considering what's in the next issue or the issue after, but like what are your thoughts at this point on this side story?

SPEAKER_02: 15:56

I actually have this in my notes. It's disappointing that we don't spend more time with Scott and Lee, and it feels like they're really just slow walking this thread. Yeah. And they could have sped this along a lot, but we're probably I mean, it's all it's planned out to a point where, you know, they want that big reveal at the end of issue 148. So they're just like stair-stepping it too slowly.

SPEAKER_01: 16:25

I I think what you just said basically describes this arc, the next one, like the next issue, which is you know, basically a one-off. It just feels like we're killing time, you know? It's uh not not to throw a number out yet, but like I felt very mid reading this. Or this is pretty mid. Sure. It just doesn't feel like specifically coming off the back of Days of Future Past, we have definitely plateaued and we are now kind of like middling downward. This arc is not my favorite, it's not my thing, it is what it is. But even beyond that, the third issue that we'll talk about is just it's it sucked. It wasn't good. It just it wasn't nothing happened.

SPEAKER_02: 17:21

You can't talk about the third issue while we're talking about the first issue. Well, I just I just did. I'm sorry. We can move on to issue number two.

SPEAKER_01: 17:29

Yeah, let's start moving along here because uh I feel like I'm just we're just spinning in circles now.

SPEAKER_02: 17:34

My other my other notes are just things like Doom hates arcade, but he really values honesty. And throughout these issues, I'm a little confused why exactly Doom is holding arcade. Because he's a guest, but he's also captured. I don't understand the situation, and I don't feel like they explained it or explained it well.

SPEAKER_01: 17:54

I agree a hundred percent. It I am equally confused uh by this idea. I think it's just that he insulted Doom.

SPEAKER_02: 18:05

But so but he's a guest and a prisoner. Because they made a big point in the issues we talked about last time of like, he's a guest, he's not a prisoner, I'm gonna throw a lightning bolt. Yeah, he is smoking Cubans up there, you know. That's true. He's being treated very well, and he's able to get away with uh he's able to be a little too mouthy with Doom.

SPEAKER_01: 18:29

I'm gonna give you our our what's becoming a thread in our podcast, um, where we Google something during a recording and the AI provides a response that has historically not been accurate. Um so according to the Google AI, which I'm not gonna take on the surface here because I'm gonna go look it up elsewhere, but it states that uh arcade was quote seen interacting with Doctor Doom and even lighting a match on his armor. The implication was a team up or interaction that seemed familiar.

SPEAKER_02: 19:04

That happens in this issue.

SPEAKER_01: 19:06

And then it says he did not imprison the villain arcade, they were briefly allies. It doesn't feel right. Nope. Alright. Uh I found an article about this very topic called That Time Doctor Doom and Arcade took the X-Men to Murder World. My favorite summer teen movie. Because when we first see him, because I'm looking at a panel of this right now, Arcade looks like he's being held captive. And then I think they show up and suddenly he's like just walking around.

SPEAKER_02: 19:40

Well, and at the very end of this next issue, the X-Men are like, hey, can we have this dude? And Doom's like, yeah, okay. Take him.

SPEAKER_01: 19:49

Oh, okay. Hold on. I found something. I have a bit of an issue with the story. A lot of it seems to rely on having read an issue of Marvel 2 and 1 that's mentioned in above in the above panel. But that issue doesn't appear to be on Marvel Unlimited. I can read it, so I have no idea why Doctor Doom and Arcade are feuding, nor do I really understand what the two of them of their goals are for the rest of the story. So, yeah. Um, okay, Marvel 2 and 1. 2 and 1. I don't know that I'm interested enough in this. I mean, I am kind of, because this entire situation, I was Well, you look it up.

SPEAKER_02: 20:29

I'm going to read the 147 summary. Yeah, go for it. Issue 147 reveals how Nightcrawler escaped his featureless room. He teleported two miles straight up. This causes him to gray out a bit, but he comes to and is able to catch an updraft to help him safely teleport down. We get to see a side of Nightcrawler that isn't typical, a very irritated and angry one. He takes out some Doom Goons and begins working his way through the castle on a rescue mission. Peter uses his brain to escape his situation, as Angel escapes his by being decisive. Wolverine has some flashbacks of when he lost control and nearly killed James and Heather Hudson, but he pulls it together, powers through, and escapes his room as well. It's also Wolverine who finds Doom first, and he tears through the fake Stormbot without any hesitation. Nightcrawler enters the fight immediately after, and the two are able to capture Doom, who gives up an orb to reverse what was done to Storm. Storm emerges as more of an elemental force than a person, and the X-Men are reminded of how the Phoenix's power overtook Gene Gray. X-Men and Doom team up to try and deal with the enraged Storm, but instead of force, it is Peter's plea for her to succeed where Gene Grey failed that pulls Storm back. She flies up and dissipates the raging tempest. Now calm, Storm requests that Doom allow the X-Men to take Arcade and Doom's pledge that he won't harm him. Doom says she asks much, and that Arcade insulted him, but an apology will suffice. Arcade agrees as the alternative is Wolverine killing him. Doom also apologizes to Auroro and the two part as neither friend or foe. Meanwhile, on a beach a shirtless Scott Summers wakes with Lee clutching his manly chest. He accidentally calls her Jean, but it's not too big of a deal, as Lee then sees that an entire city is popped up on the island where there wasn't one before. Good news!

SPEAKER_01: 22:48

I know what happens in those issues of Marvel 2 and one. I'm ready. Doctor Doom hires Arcade to design a custom murder world to eliminate the thing, but Iron Man gets pulled into this trap, and then Spider-Man gets pulled into this trap. But the partnership immediately sours as Arcade adds his own unauthorized fun to Doom's plans, and the two villains constantly needle each other. The thing and his rotating allies fight through Doom themed traps, killer robot, robots, robats, killer robats. And arcades uh carnival uh carnival style death machines ultimately surviving the gauntlet while Doom denounces Arcade's incompetence and storms off, and arcade slips away through a hidden escape route, leaving Virgo World and Ruin behind them. So, if anything, I feel more confused because this kind of feels like they just finished their whatever team up, went their separate ways, and here we are. I don't know how long afterwards, and they're kind of working together.

SPEAKER_02: 23:58

I think this is just hey, we need to weave these different stories together a little bit, write these two people into this comic so that we can sell more of that comic. Oof. Well, let me tell you, it don't work. It's interesting how Arcade underdelivers on murder, but over-delivers on kidnapping. Where he's constantly not killing anyone, but he's also kidnapping way too many people. It's like, oh dang, I went for Spider-Man and I also got Daredevil. Oh man, I went for the thing and I picked up two other villains or heroes.

SPEAKER_01: 24:40

Well, what once again proving that nobody is murdered in Murder World. That'd be a good t-shirt. Doom should make some and sell them right outside of Murder World. That's true spite. So we talked earlier about Logan's kind of uh trap, which I think had a couple of different layers to it because it was painted in a way that was supposed to uh affect Logan's mind. And black and white checkers are very confusing. It's like zebras. And he was also like suspended in the air in like an anti-gravity room or something. Anyways, I I think the idea was like we're just gonna keep him in the middle of the room without knowing what is up or down, or you know, where is anything, and like that's the like that's the trap hitting all the walls, yeah. And so in the midst of all this, we get like a flashback or a hallucination, perhaps, that Logan experiences, where we see him mention his berserker rage, and this was to me incredibly fascinating because we've seen Logan kind of acting a little aggressive at times in the last couple of issues, and it seemed really kind of out of character, given where we've been with Logan, and obviously understanding that he has a certain underlayer that is always gonna be, you know, feral. But seeing Logan kind of have this inner monologue talking about this Berserker rage, how it's blowing up inside of him, how he has been able to hold it under control since joining the X-Men, and it has been starting to essentially bubble up. So I don't know what this means. I'm glad we're kind of getting a little bit of an explanation to what's been going on with Logan, because I don't know that I necessarily got the vibe that this there was something this was leading to.

SPEAKER_02: 26:46

I feel like they've used the term Berserker's rage before, though, or they've been like dropping it in more recently. They definitely have. They want to build towards something, or you know, add a different layer, add a little bit more context to his like random outbursts.

SPEAKER_01: 27:06

My guess is that this is kind of leading to this um ultimate confrontation that we're gonna get between Logan and Angel, where I think Logan's gonna have to confront this berserker rage that he's feeling, and maybe like be like, no, I want to be on this team and I can control myself.

SPEAKER_02: 27:29

You think it'll be like a dramatic situation, not just like an angel fizzling out and leaving to no fanfare?

SPEAKER_01: 27:38

This is like me just totally guessing, but the way I imagined it, it was like a some sort of confrontation. Like I said, like a like a him or me type of situation. I could see some sort of confrontation between Logan and Warren that's instigating.

SPEAKER_02: 27:54

Did they ever talk to each other? I don't know. I feel like the I feel like the two haven't really interacted. It's just Warren being grumpy and going behind his back and being like, that dude's a psycho.

SPEAKER_01: 28:07

Yeah, I'll save my thoughts of that interaction for our our next issue. But yeah, I'd I you know, as I said, I don't think Angel's adding a whole lot to this team at the moment, other than being a seat warmer. And rich. Yeah, yeah, and very rich. I I felt like this was uh kind of fun, this issue. I looked at more than I think the last one in terms of it's it's the highlight of the three. Yeah, definitely. Kind of seeing Storm emerge in this like Phoenix-esque state, you know, which kind of gets brought up and we see that Storm is kind of accepting maybe the judgment she felt of Gene, you know, when Gene was kind of going through her phoenix transformation, and that works in her favor here because it's able to kind of snap her out of the the mindset she was in. But I think this entire uh arc has really shown how powerful Storm is, right? And I think how well rounded she is as a character, because you know, this is we just watch Jean go through this very kind of situation where she succumbed to the madness. That situation is a little different because that was really, I think, manipulated by the Hellfire Club. Like that really kickstarted things in a I think a very negative way. Who's to say what would have happened if you know Jason Wingard didn't meddle with Gene's head at all? Mm-hmm. So this is all to say. I overall like these this issue more than the last one. Um arcade just kind of gets released.

SPEAKER_02: 30:02

Arcade isn't in this one. That's why it's that's why it's better. He doesn't I don't think he shows up until the very end. Actually, no, that's in my note. Barely any arcade equals good thing. Glad we're wrapped with murder world. Crazy that we spent like three issues on that situation. It's very true though. I think one of the only other things for me is I think this is a very good nightcrawler issue. Yeah. He doesn't have the most combat-focused powers, but he is essential in defeating Doom, who is a bit of a powerhouse, big player, freeing Storm. He's the first to free himself, and then he goes back in to rescue everyone else. And then I just, you know, I I enjoy the him looking mad, being scary and demonic and snarling at people, and then just teleporting behind them. I think it's a good little highlight for it not being like an entire issue of just following him around. And I don't know why, but the dialogue between the goons also stood out to me as just really good. There's something about it. I think it's because they sound like people instead of being like, I don't know, grumpy and disgruntled and like, we gotta kill the X-Men. It's more just, I'm gonna tease you what you never seen a hurricane before. This is great coffee, blah, blah, blah. Feels more real.

SPEAKER_01: 31:29

He is a bit of a standout even in the next issue, albeit very briefly. His interaction with Logan was like the highlight of the entire issue for me. Well, now we're gonna have to explain. Yeah, so please do.

SPEAKER_00: 31:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 31:46

So please do. Issue 148's cover lets us know that we'll be seeing Dazzler and Spider Woman in addition to the X-Men. We kick things off with Lee leading a blind Scott, both wearing clothes that are on their last legs, into the mysterious city. Lee notes that they're without food, water, clothes, or other people, but that they have shelter in abundance. Then she asks Scott if he wants to take advantage of it and goes in for a kiss. After a moment, Scott dramatically tears himself away, and Lee asks if the issue is Jean. Scott declares that her name was Jean Gray, they were in love, and she died. Lee yells at Scott saying she isn't asking for involvement, that she is likewise experiencing the loss of someone, and that she just wants some companionship. She runs off, leaving him pretty helpless. Scott bumps around for a bit but takes off his blindfold in frustration. Lee comes back and the two hug it out. The narration says that the night passes and the two find peace in each other's arms. Meanwhile, back at the X Mansion, Wolverine and Nightcrawler are playing a game of cat and mouse outside. Loser buys the beer. Logan wins and reveals that he was able to escape detection due to an old ninja trick he learned in Japan. Angel is still upset about Wolverine and wants Storm and Xavier to kick him off the team because of how he tore through the fake storm without hesitation. He flies off upset after not getting his way. Sean is visited by Teresa Rourke, who bears a letter from his cousin, Tom, a villain and rival of Sean's. The letter states that Teresa is his long-lost daughter that he didn't know he had. Spider Woman is just randomly there for all this, and her and Storm comfort Moira, who is a little bothered by the news. Meanwhile, a shady figure named Caliban emerges from a sewer, sensing others like him. Storm, Kitty, Stevie, and Jessica Drew, aka Spiderwoman, are out on the town to see Dazzler perform at her invitation. They hear a commotion, so Kitty phases through the floor to check it out. Dazzler sees that she's missing and that Storm is upset, so she puts on a light show to allow them to sneak off. Kitty is captured by Caliban, who tries to run away with her. Caliban punches Spider Woman out a window at some point and escapes down an elevator shaft. Dazzler keeps her audience calm by basically hypnotizing them with light, and Storm and Spider Woman are able to catch up and free Kitty from Caliban. His mask falls, and they see that Caliban is a mutant that can't pass for human. Some sorries are said, and he's able to slip off into the night. Back in the Bermuda Triangle, Scott and Lee are discussing their situation when another man arrives and says, I thought my island was deserted. How pleasant to discover that I was mistaken. Scott recognizes the voice instantly, and Magneto emerges, welcoming his two guests as Scott hopes that he goes unrecognized. Next issue, and the dead shall bury the living. Whatever that means. My first note for this issue is just good soap opera drama in this one. Like you have been, you know, talking a little bit down on this one. I think the Caliban storyline is very bad, boring, whatever. It's kind of, you know, a nothing sandwich. Nothing happens. Yeah. But I think the Scott and Lee situation is kind of fun to read, the Magneto turning up at the end. I think that little beeline thread that we've been slow walking up to this point. And like, God, hopefully sometime in the next two issues, can we spend like maybe an entire issue there instead of have it be like two issues or two pages here and there? But I thought all of that was pretty good. Yeah, that was, I guess, my I think that was the main soap opera drama. So I agree. I guess Angel as well, but that's not interesting.

SPEAKER_01: 36:09

I I agree. I my big problem with this issue is really everything that happens with Caliban, which if it was me, as an editor on this book, I would have swapped the stories. Where this is like some tiny nonsensical, you know, couple panel arc that we kind of see advance the story. Like Caliban basically kidnaps Kitty Pride, and the entire thing is a misunderstanding. And for some reason, Kitty doesn't use her powers to escape. It's it's just I didn't like it. Spider Woman is there. Spider Woman's there, it's never really explained why. Like Dazzlers advertise, and it's just like they're at her show, and she doesn't really do anything but perform. Um I'm fine with that. And it's just it it just felt so meaningless when all of the interesting stuff is the you know, the side piece in this book.

SPEAKER_02: 37:14

Yeah. It's so weird that the cover is like Dazzler and Spider Woman to the rescue when Kitty falls to the shadow of death. That is really overselling what happens in this issue.

SPEAKER_01: 37:28

It really is. Yeah, a Dazzler doesn't really do anything, and yeah, I mean she summonizes a crowd. Spider Woman gets beat on. Anyway, I I so I want to that's all I really want to say about any of that. I didn't like it, and I think it was a massive downer on this issue.

SPEAKER_02: 37:47

That's super fair.

SPEAKER_01: 37:48

And I hope we don't really see it pay off anytime soon. I I hope we're pivoting away from whatever the hell that was, because it was like you're you're saying you don't want to continue like a thread that follows Caliban anywhere.

SPEAKER_02: 38:03

No, that's not what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01: 38:04

I think I think that's where this is going. Obviously, like you're not gonna introduce a character like Caliban, give them a name, and not bring them back at some point, you know, right? Like, what did we learn about him? We learned that he's a mutant, that he doesn't like humans, and that he lives in the sewer.

SPEAKER_02: 38:27

And he don't look like humans. I'm assuming this is this is like building to like a Morlock intro, right? I would have to imagine, yes. Caliban is like such a weird, and like it's even weird to call him an antagonist, but antagonist for this issue. The one thing I do like is that I think it's a good reminder or introduction or reintroduction that a lot of mutants don't have the luxury of being human passing. Yeah. And that's not something that I feel like we haven't really explored at all throughout this yet. Like all the X-Men, well, Nightcrawler. Kind of, right? Um part. I mean, he's got the little watch.

SPEAKER_01: 39:10

Yeah. I mean, I feel like a lot of the scenarios where Nightcrawler would really be scaring people had been kind of like McGuffined away with the transmogrifier or whatever it is. Or he wears the low hat to cover his face slightly. It was a trench coat. It was very in at the time. No, I agree. It it is a good reminder that being a mutant isn't necessarily uh a glory for everyone. You can't just blend in when you're like a big furry monster. Okay, so now that we've kind of like discussed the Caliban stuff, is there anything else that you want to touch on before we get to the good stuff?

SPEAKER_02: 39:52

I mean, what do you what what do we what are we defining as the good stuff here? Everything that is. What is it that you want to work to? I mean I've got a multitude of things in my notes, but that was the only Caliban thing.

SPEAKER_01: 40:05

Okay, then let's let's walk away from the Caliban stuff for now, anyways. Alright. Okay. Let's let's start at the beginning of this. You wanna shit talk Angel? Okay, we're gonna do it in order. No no. No, no, no. Let's I think let's talk about the story that's happening with Scott and Lee. Because as we are introduced to them in this issue, the artists are damn thirsty with both Scott and Lee on this opening page. By God. I like it.

SPEAKER_02: 40:41

I feel like the X-Men comics recently have been a lot more sexually charged. Yes. Both in language and art.

SPEAKER_01: 40:53

Uh it's the 80s, I guess. Maybe they're taking new uh new risk risque now. Or code. Um I don't know. It's uh yeah, the artists definitely had a theme and it was thirst. Because this book is uh this issue is a thirst trap like throughout. But on the next page, we get this we get this big landscape shot of the city. What are we looking at here?

SPEAKER_02: 41:22

So we like is this Atlantis or Yeah. I was literally Are we going to see Namur? He is a mutant, so that would be a safe.

SPEAKER_01: 41:36

I don't know if he is at this point in like comic continuity, but yeah, it's very strange and even stranger that we end with Magneto showing up and that he proclaims this is his island.

SPEAKER_02: 41:53

Maybe he landed the asteroid. Asteroid end and for some reason moved Atlantis onto it. I don't know where I'm going with that thought. I mean, when you are a quote unquote mutant terrorist, you can just claim things for yourself. You can just say, like, this is my island.

SPEAKER_01: 42:11

I I I made that statement, and then I thought, well, if I'm Magneto, I'm probably just rolling up wherever I want and saying, this is mine now. Like, what are you gonna do about it? Nothing? Yeah, that's right. You your description of this being very soap operay is, I think, very on the nose. I found it funny that Lee got so angry with Scott for not wanting to be, how did she put it? Uh wanting of human warmth and compassion. Yeah. It seems very out of left field. I felt really bad for Scott, who gets left alone.

SPEAKER_02: 42:53

I mean, we've been building toward it. Like, we've had the little thought bubbles of, like, you know, Scott finds her attractive, she finds him attractive, they're thinking about each other. In the last issue, she or he wakes up with her draped across his manly chest. They were thirsting in that issue, too.

SPEAKER_01: 43:13

This reminds me of a Kurt Russell movie where he has a manly chest.

SPEAKER_00: 43:25

Hold on.

SPEAKER_02: 43:28

While you look that up, I'm just going to explain that there was some other soap opera elements that I uh didn't mention. The Teresa reveal. I was really surprised that she is introduced this early. I was not expecting that, yeah. Like, I guess I had no concept for like when she would be introduced, but I'm curious to see where that all leads.

SPEAKER_01: 43:56

This letter from your mortal enemy will explain everything. I'm your daughter, Papa.

SPEAKER_02: 44:02

Please accept this as proof, this letter that clearly It just says she is your daughter, signed Black Tom Cassidy.

SPEAKER_01: 44:13

It it is a bit like, you know, silly and clearly trying to drive a bit of a wedge in the relationship with Moira, and maybe to kind of give him something to do. I don't know. Maybe we're just gonna go to the water. Does he? He kind of felt like the most logical thing to do here was just to send him back to the island with Moira and we could just move on without him. Well, maybe he's just a little bored with retired life. I mean, he can clearly go be go back to being a super spy. With a gun. Yeah. With the with the Han Solo blaster. Maybe he should take up wearing a vest. Maybe. Something to consider. Okay. I think it's time to talk about the drama happening at the X Mansion now, because we do kind of get the the foundational blocks of a confrontation that's forming between Downer Angel and Logan. And Logan is not doing anything wrong, in my opinion, because this is all based off of this. How could he how could he know that that was a robot? What if that wasn't a robot? What if that was somebody in a costume and he just filleted them? Well, that's not what happened. And we get an explanation for all of this in the last issue. Like Logan is able to smell and scent and use his instincts to detect his actual like mutant powers. His literal mutant powers to determine the identity of somebody. And we've seen him use these repeatedly. So here we have Warren wasn't there for that.

SPEAKER_02: 46:00

Which is fine. But like Storm does not seem bothered, so he should probably not be bothered.

SPEAKER_01: 46:06

Like Storm is aware, and you know, does kind of stand up for him, you know, and it basically being like, yeah, he is a flawed guy. Wolver Wolverine is flawed, but you know, we're the X-Men, and this this if he can't belong here, then where can he belong?

SPEAKER_02: 46:26

Well, and he even says, like, sure, maybe his enhanced senses told him it was a robot, but would it have made any difference if he'd faced a woman disguised as you? Like what a ridiculous hypothetical. Like wearing a like wearing a mask, or like just it's just such a weird. What is he what is he even doing here?

SPEAKER_01: 46:51

It it's yeah, it it feels like we're just making this uh thing so that way he can leave. And and you know, like I don't really like how Professor X kind of acts either, like he's kind of in agreement in a way. Trying to find the line. Oh yeah, he says he wonders if the goal is worth the cost. I must confess that occasionally so do I. And that's his response to Storm basically being like, you know, I don't like Wolverine's violent nature, but you know, he is he is an X-Men and he's perfect for you know who he is, and he has so much potential for good, and it's our duty to kind of help him achieve that and give him purpose and direction.

SPEAKER_02: 47:37

It's weird for him to say this after like the other issue where this happened, he was the one being like, Logan belongs here, he has so much potential. We're like, you know, we're working on him and blah blah blah. And now he's like, you know, I do wonder, like, you know, is uh yeah, should he be here? I think it's just uh he he needs that money coming in. He's got sugar daddy Warren right now. Yeah, he was just paid to change his opinion, basically.

SPEAKER_01: 48:08

Yeah. This is all to say, I'm happy to s to know that this inclusion of Angel is not uh permanent. I would be very welcoming of seeing his ass kicked out. I do want to give a nice little shout out to Ileana, because she's uh cutie, and I loved her interactions with uh with Peter, and that's in my notes too. It's it she is very sweet, and uh, I like the idea that the professor can maybe give her a little check and see if she has the mutant gene.

SPEAKER_02: 48:46

I think it's just such a nice attention to detail that they added in. Uh, for reference for the people just you know listening and not seeing the page, uh, Nightcrawler basically teleports in and she does the thing where you she scrunches up her face because it's stinky and pinches her nose, which is like, oh, this is a cute thing for a small child to do. What is sweetie? Will I be able to turn to steel like you when I am growing up?

SPEAKER_01: 49:13

Oh my god, that reminds me. I totally forgot to mention this when we were talking about I think the last issue, or may perhaps it was the issue the first one, where Peter tells us that he doesn't need to breathe oxygen when he's in his metal form. What? You know that may have came up before. It caught me off guard, honestly, because I was just like, what? Why wouldn't he need to breathe? I guess he's made of metal. Metal can't breathe. I'd whatever. I'm not gonna He also doesn't bleed when he's metal. I feel like it came up at some point. Sorry, I'm looking at the cover of the next issue. Um, and it's there's something funny about the cover because it's like the X-Men walking around like this dingy cave or flashlights. Something with flashlights. Yeah, it's very funny. Wait, what that what what is Kitty's costume? Um, it is I I did like just like a quick because I thought the same thing when I saw it, so I did just a flick forward, and I it is I think explained. So we'll find out.

SPEAKER_02: 50:21

I'm interested in what this is about. Is this the petrified man on the cover? Now that you said it, it might actually be. I'm not gonna scroll through, but he kinda looks like it. I guess we'll find out. They look like they're in like an 80s horror movie where the kids are like going around looking for ghosts. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 50:45

Oh, okay. Alright, I see where things are kind of going. A double we have a double-sized issue on the horizon. Oh boy. Issue 150. Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?

SPEAKER_02: 50:59

No, I I think it's time to, you know, hear what score you're gonna give this thing. Mine's gonna be higher than yours.

SPEAKER_01: 51:08

Yeah, I think so. I I think for me, I want to give this like a six. I just felt like it was very mediocre. Didn't really push or move the ball forward all too too much. And I think if we had seen this story beginning like knowing knowing in the future that there's a big emphasis on like this Magneto stuff, I think I would have rather this story with Kitty and Storm and Spider Woman and Dazzler been like that kind of side hustle that was going on in the issue rather than it being the main focus. And maybe we played up more of the the stuff going on with Logan and you know the X-Men. Shirtless Scott. What's shirtless Scott lapping it up on an island with old Slim Summers and Lee Forrester. Right? So, like, for those reasons, I just yeah, it's like a six. The arcade stuff was confusing. It m didn't really make a ton of sense. It feels like this is a bit of a low for me. But with Magneto around the corner, I am looking forward to that. So, like, I feel like there's been some groundwork that's laid that I'm excited to see the payoff. I'm excited to see where this stuff with Magneto goes. Is this Atlantis? What's going on with Logan? Why is Kitty dressed weird on the cover of the next issue? Are they going to test Ileana to see if she's a mutant? Yeah, there's a there's a lot of things that I'm excited to see. So let's just get there. Six for me.

SPEAKER_02: 52:49

I think that's a little higher than I thought you were gonna do. I'm gonna shoot for a solid 6.5. And I think, like you said, the real highlight of this is that after reading these three, it makes me excited to see what comes next. Um, you know, they were alright. You got the murder world, arcade, better than what happened last time, plot line, and maybe even a little bit better than I thought it was going to be, even if we spent a weird amount of time on it. But I mean, overall, it just felt very typical moving things, you know, just throw a couple issues in there. Very typical X-Men, nothing super standout. Maybe not filler per se, but just you know, knocking out some minor story beats as you work toward the next thing. I think with us, you know, finishing that thread, we're gonna get to start fresh on what T Ma will be up to, and I hope we just get to spend a lot more time with Scott and see what's gonna happen now that he's become entangled with Magneto.

SPEAKER_01: 53:58

Yeah, you actually giving that the recant of your thoughts made me think how this really feels like issue 150 is right around the corner, you know? Like we're just kind of spinning the wheels to get to 150 because we're gonna put a lot of emphasis on 150. This is a big issue number for us. We want to pull out all the stuff. It's a cool number, it's a cool, solid, even number. So we're gonna go for it, right? So I think even with that kind of context in mind, it kind of paints this picture a little clearer that really we wanted something to have the breadcrumbs ready to pull the trigger for 150. So that's my my takeaway. I actually thought you're you were gonna be a lot higher than a six and a half.

SPEAKER_02: 54:51

Yeah. I mean, like, you know, it's still got you know, I I could in theory go as high as a seven, but I mean, like the Caliban action and like storyline is just sort of like whatever. Yeah, arcade is kind of whatever, like the first issue is really, you know, what's going on here. I kinda like what they did with like Alex, where it shows off his personality and how much different he is than his brother Scott, but um, yeah, just you know, kinda good. 6.5 kinda good. Yeah, 7 good, 8, great. Specifically, the phrase I think kinda good really sums it. I think kinda good is very generous. Descriptor for 6.5.

SPEAKER_01: 55:38

Just before we wrap up, the last thing I just want to say about this issue is the friendship that we're seeing grow between Logan and Kurt is wonderful as well. It was it was equally as good as the Iliana and Peter stuff because knowing having now read this in the entirety of their existence as characters, they weren't always as close as they are at this point because now there's like this level of trust where they're training together and I think opening up to one another and seeing that friendship juxtaposed next to like what's happening with Angel, I think really makes it shine even more that the people who know and spend time with Logan actually do like doing that.

SPEAKER_02: 56:27

And I think they've really been laying the groundwork for this for a while as well. Like, even in those early issues, you know, it starts with him being like, you know, I think giving him the moniker of misfit or elf or both of those. But then, you know, there's I think like the demon calls him like a changeling, and then he freaks out and he's like, Hey, he's not a changeling, he's a misfit, we call him that, not you, blah, blah, blah. Like they've been we've had a lot of different moments up until here that are le like you know, building here and there on their friendship, and you know, I think their little trip to Canada was a cute continuation of that as well. But I like it. I think it's a lot more interesting of a friendship to explore than I know early on, it was kind of him and Peter buddying around a lot, but it's I think it's more interesting because you know, Logan's like the the violence, and Nightcrawler is more, you know, passive and not so violent, and kind of him and Peter have that in common. So it's more interesting kind of pairing those uh different folks. Yeah, the odd couple. There you go. There you go. That does it for this episode of Uncanny Book Club. Thanks for listening, and we hope to see you next episode where we'll discuss issues 149 and 150. Happy New Year! Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Uncanny Book Club. If you enjoyed this podcast, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, or share with a friend.