Colossus Appreciation

[Awesome-xXx]

Age of X-Man.jpg

Look like crap.

[SJNeal]

Age of X-Man.jpg

Look like crap.

So do you dislike all of the dozens of throw-away-cash-grab-event-tie-ins Marvel throws at us? Or just this one?

[Anchorsify]

Why would you ever first reveal someone getting a limb amputated on a cover panel without any build up or explanation for it that makes you care and feel empathy for the person? And it didn’t even happen in the one book he was in when revealed? Marvel at it again.

[Awesome-xXx]

Only the one that make Colossus look bad.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Uncanny X-Men #175 Nov 1983
"Phoenix!"
The X-Men are chopping down a dying tree when suddenly a large firebird appears in the sky above them!
And from out of the firebird falls a man - Cyclops!
Rogue catches him, and Storm tells Nightcrawler to take him to the infirmary, but he belays that.
Its too late for such action - Dark Phoenix has returned! Professor X summons them to the study.

Professor X is not convinced - he sensed Marvel Girl's death, but not her rebirth.
He puts on Cerebro to look for traces of Marvel Girl, but Cerebro overloads,
knocking him out and putting him on the brink of death!
Nightcrawler teleports him to the infirmary while Kitty inspects Cerebro -
to find that all the safety interlocks were disengaged and the settings reversed!
Someone made Professor Xavier do that to himself!
In the confusion, Phoenix slips out from within Cyclops, who collapses.
The X-Men attack, but do so singly, and Phoenix defeats them all -
all that is except Wolverine, who sees no point in attacking.
Phoenix leaves to do some 'errands', promising to return to finish what she started.

Kitty goes to raise the Starjammers on the comms, but when she finally gets through
its to see Corsair telling them they are under attack by Phoenix -- and then the Starjammer explodes!
They next try to contact the Avengers, but their conversation with Captain America is cut short as all of New York City ceases to exist!

In the infirmary Professor X is stable but in bad shape, while Cyclops is in 'perfect health' physically but otherwise deteriorating rapidly.
Cyclops, however, is looking down on his body from above, and he sees it charred and blistered. He drifts towards the light.
Suddenly, he can sense Marvel Girl's presence through their psychic rapport, he knows she's here.
And then a woman appears, but as he gets closer, he realizes that woman isn't Marvel Girl.
She tells him to go back, and sends him hurtling back towards his body - he wakes up realizing it was his mom!

Cyclops examines himself and finds no burns. He finally starts to piece it together -
maybe he hasn't been burned either time and maybe Phoenix isn't real either!
Cyclops reviews the evidence, and realizes only one foe could possibly be responsible.
He rushes off to prepare, knowing that convincing the other X-Men will be difficult.

Ten minutes later he rushes in to where Storm and Colossus are, but the X-Men don't see Cyclops - they see Phoenix!

Storm uses wind to bring Cyclops close where Colossus can swing at him, and Cyclops gets hit hard, cracking some ribs.
Cyclops manages to turn the tables enough to make his escape, but Kitty tackles him through the wall -
Cyclops throws himself off the balcony and Kitty instinctively phases them through the floor and into ... the danger room!
Nightcrawler ports down to the control room, but Cyclops has it booby trapped, and it knocks him out.
He puts Kitty to sleep with a nerve pinch. The other X-Men enter, but Cyke has control of the Danger Room!
He ambushes them with a sudden chasm, forcing the fliers to rescue the others, and hides in a jungle environment.

Elsewhere, Madelyne Pryor is dressed as Dark Phoenix, and is utterly confused as to where she is.
The villain, Mastermind, reveals himself to her, and proceeds to tell her his evil plan and why he seeks revenge.
He then tortures her by making himself look like Scott, stealing a kiss, and laughing at her reaction as he turns back to his natural form.

Cyclops is being hunted by the X-Men, but better knowledge of the terrain allows him to outwit his pursuers.

However, its an open stretch to the door of the danger room, and the fliers come after him.
But Storm throws off her lightning bolt, and as Cyke nails her he wonders if she's figured it out.
Rogue catches Storm and lands between Cyclops and the door - but he specifically prepared some poppies designed to knock her out -
and he wide-angle blasts the field she's landed in, sending poppy dust into the air.
Rogue collapses. Cyclops picks Rogue up and exits the danger room.

Cyclops shuts down all the mansion surveillance equipment so Mastermind won't know where he is, and then takes Rogue to the infirmary.
There he wakes her with a vial and quickly touches her hand to Professor X's forehead.
Suddenly telepathic, Cyclops persuades her he's not Phoenix.
The remainder of the X-Men appear, but before they can attack 'Phoenix',
Cyke has Rogue patch him through to the X-Men, and convinces them of the truth.

At that moment, Phoenix appears behind them!

Cyclops moves between the X-Men and Phoenix, and announces he knows its an illusion, and therefore it can't hurt him.
Suddenly, he clutches his chest, and falls down. But Wolverine heard the shot - a gun with a silencer.
He lets Storm know the enemy is here, and Storm summons up a monsoon which forces everyone to grab hold of whatever is available.
When the Storm subsides, Mastermind has been blown back into a wall and is unconscious.
Wolverine pops his claws and goes for the kill, but Storm stops him.
Scott gets up and sees Madelyne, and rushes to her - thankfully she's alright.

Later. Scott Summers takes flowers to Marvel Girl's tombstone.
He's wearing a tux, and he makes his peace with Marvel Girl's ghost.
Later that afternoon, Scott and Madelyne get married.

NOTES: The credits appear on the last page.
This is the first anniversary issue of X-Men - the 10th anniversary having been missed because in 1973 X-Men was a reprint title.
This is the 20th anniversary issue (they actually missed by 2 months).
The first page begins with: "Twenty years ago, more or less, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the Uncanny X-Men."
The 20 year mark was actually September (Sept 1963-Sept 1983).
"Uncanny" does not appear on the cover - its place taken by the 20th anniversary announcement.
This is because the title started as "X-Men", and thus it's X-Men's 20th anniversary, not "Uncanny X-Men's" 20th anniversary.

Story by Chris Claremont https://www.birthdaycelebs.com/chris-claremont/. Art by Paul Smith, John Romita, Jr., and Bob Wiacek.

[WhiteQueenEmmaFrost]

Age of X-Man.jpg

Look like crap.

He looks fat rather than muscled up

[DragonflyJones]

I'm just mad they got him walking around with a nub

Just call Forge and have him throw a cannon on that bad boy

[JJS]

Just kill him again until someone cares about him and wants to write him well.

Must be the most pissed on character in comics apart from Spider-Man, but doesn’t have all the many titles to let fans not spontaneously combust.

[Omnipitus]

I think the Age of X-Man thing is one of those warped-reality stories. So Nubolossus will just be a temporary thing.

That said, once that silly looking storyline wraps up, it would be cool if Rosenberg gets him on Uncanny. While he did not use Petey much in Astonishing, he treated Colossus with respect (all things considered, with the wedding fiasco) and seems fond of the character. There are plenty of writers who I bet are foaming at the mouth to character assassinate him again.

[JJS]

I’m predicting the next 5 years or so will be horrendous.

Claremont books used to refer to him as the Heart and the Soul of the X-Men.

The whole thing is fucked.

Since CC left maybe half a dozen others have did decent work on X-Books.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Uncanny X-Men #231 July 1988
"Dressed for Dinner"
Colossus is plagued with nightmares about his sister Illyana being dressed for a regal event before
being pushed into a massive oven to be cooked alive, leaving him to wonder if his sister is in trouble.
Going into the Outback to let off some steam, Colossus becomes red hot under the Australian sun
and when Rogue comes to check on him she burns her hand on his armored form.
She cautions him to be careful as he could possibly burn someone if he's not careful.
When he goes to look at his sketch book of his sister, his worries increase when
suddenly to his horror his super-hot body causes the sketchbook to go up in flames.
He rages, and when he sees Gateway watching him, he wonders if the mute Aboriginal is mocking him.
He is soon cooled off by Storm who summons a rain cloud to lower his temperature.
After discussing his apparent increases in power, Peter expresses his concern for Illyana's well being.
Storm denies his request to go and see her, telling him that in order for the X-Men to protect their loved
ones and be able to strike at their enemies, they must continue the illusion that they are deceased.
Upset by this, Colossus pushes aside his worries telling her that she is probably right, but can't help but wonder for certain.

Later, as the X-Men wash up after supper, the team notes how miserable Colossus has been
and convince Storm that they should let him go and check on Illyana. As soon as Storm agrees to allow this,
Gateway appears as if he read their minds and leads the X-Men to the hill where he meditates.
There he opens a portal to send Colossus to check on his sister.
Peter goes alone, with his comrades wishing him luck.

Colossus appears in Limbo, the demonic realm ruled by Illyana.
There Illyana is attempting to cast a necromantic spell to summon her brother's supposedly dead soul to help her with her current crisis.
While she is doing so, S'ym mocks her telling the young Darkchylde that he will soon usurp control of Limbo from her and rule it over her.
When Peter appears, Illyana believes that her spell has worked, little realizing that Peter is not really dead.

Colossus, seeing this as an ideal opportunity to maintain the X-Men's cover, decides to use this as a ruse.
When S'ym once more mocks her, Colossus goes into a fury and jumps down to attack him, smashing his technorganic form to bits.
Illyana is surprised that a "necromantic shade" could act so independently, however Colossus
covers for this telling her that he is the "essence" of her brother, so why wouldn't he act as he would.
He then asks why he was summoned to her, and she tells him that he needs his strength to help save the New Mutants.

Teleporting them both to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Colossus sees that it is slowly going through some kind of transformation.
Illyana explains that one day she was struggling to study and write a paper on Mikhail Bulgakov's story the Master and Margarita
when she was suddenly attacked by the characters from the book. Namely Azazello, Hehemoth and Koroviev.
Easily captured, she was taken to their leader, the witch known as Baba Yaga who had all the other New Mutants captured and bound.
She explains that she intends to cook them and eat them. When Illyana attempted to summon her Soul Sword, she found her magics block
and so she teleported away to Limbo, but was unable to rescue her friends. It was at this point she thought to summon Peter's "spirit" to help,
as mystical beings have a natural weakness to iron his armored form would be an ideal weapon to use.

Soon, Colossus is teleported above the school and he smashes through the schools roof and into the lap of his enemies who are working on
fattening up the captured New Mutants. Baba Yaga sends her minions on Peter while she absconds with the children so that she can toss them in her oven.
Colossus easily over powers his attackers and follows after Baba Yaga. When a pathway to her kitchen is too small for his Colossus form,
Peter forces himself to revert back to his human form to fit through.
In his vulnerable state, Yaga is able to easily over power him,

however before she can rip out his throat Peter returns to his organic steel form.
Contact with the steel of his body causes Baba Yaga to seemingly explode, ending her threat.

After Illyana uses her powers to restore the mansion, she teleports Colossus
and the New Mutants back to Limbo to reverse the spells Baba Yaga cast on the Mutants.

There Illyana acts ashamed of her demonic nature, telling him her brother that the only reason why she is good is because she chooses to be.
Peter tells his sister that's the point, and that he is proud of her, and that with work she can become something greater than a demon sorcerer
and that he will always love her. When she remarks that he is "dead", he tells her that nobody is ever truly dead as long as they are remembered.
When Gateway's portal opens up again Peter leaves his sister telling her to remember him.
Not willing to let her brother go, Illyana considers casting the spell again, but considers that she was
lucky as the spell should have made her Darkchilde side take full control, and dares not risk it again.
She instead frees her friends from Baba Yaga's magics and return the Mutants home so that they can follow her brothers example.

Down below, one of the Right soldiers banished to Limbo earlier believes S'ym to be dead and decides to take over as leader of the demon hordes.
However, S'ym has managed to reconstitute himself and kill the soldier. He laughs about how the barrier between Earth and Limbo are growing thinner
and that "Baba Yaga" was really a Limbo demon who broke through, and soon they all will and take over the Earth.

Story by Chris Claremont. Art by Rick Leonardi and Dan Green.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

I feel that Peter's power set is dumbed down in the books.

100% in agreement.

His battles and all that. Peter should be one of those characters that enemies just fear seeing. Almost in a sense like when Hulk shows up. Colossus is a complete powerhouse, Class 100 strength.

He should be wrecking everything in sight.

Ive always liked the character, especially as a kid. I would never mind seeing him playing more important role in the MU.

Well stated!

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Uncanny X-Men #233 Sep 1988
"Dawn of Blood"
The X-Men have tracked Harry Palmer -- a man infected with a Brood queen embryo -- to Denver, Colorado
where they have been tricked into being ambushed by all those he has since changed into Brood.
In a dead end alleyway, the X-Men are surrounded by partially transformed humans whom
to their surprise all turn out to be mutants, all part of the Brood's plot to take over the world.
Palmer sends his minions on the X-Men to capture or kill them. Colossus squares off against a super-strong Brood known as Brickbat.
While Storm is attacked by a Brood who can extend its limbs named Tension,
and then has her will submitted by a pheromone emitting Brood named Temptress.

In a panic, Storm uses her powers to escape before she is completely enthralled,
but she is soon chased after by a flying Brood named Dive-Bomber.
Havok is about to blast the Brood, but stops short of doing so when he wonders if blasting
the creature would kill the innocent person whom is the vessel for the Brood creature.
Meanwhile, Rogue tussles with Temptress and when the Brood touches her bare skin, Rogue absorbs her
psyche and powers and is under Brood's control, using Temptress's stolen powers to ensnare Psylocke as well.
As Colossus continues to battle Brickbat, Wolverine finds himself easily bested in battle by
the possessed Rogue and Psylocke thanks to an assist by paralyzing Brood known as Lockup.
This leaves Logan open to being infected with an embryo by Palmer, who hopes to track down their leader Storm and infect her with a Brood Queen.

As the battle rages, at the Red Rock's amphitheater, construction is underway for
Reverend William Conover's Glory Day Crusade that is scheduled to occur that night.
Among those in attendance is Josey Thomas -- Harry Palmer's partner, who ignores
calls from her ambulance radio to go to the site of the X-Men's battle against the Brood.
Meanwhile, William Conover spends the time before his show gazing at the stars and taking in the beauty of God's creation.
When he is joined by his wife Hannah, they talk about the battle that is happening in downtown Denver and rumors that it's caused by mutants.
Conover feels bad for mutants, who are like any minority group and that they should not be persecuted and be allowed to live as free as anyone.
When he notices his wife struggling to pour them tea due to her arthritic hands he wishes that he had some power to heal her affliction.

While back in Denver, news crews have arrived on the scene and begin filming the battle between Colossus and Brickbat.
To their surprise, their cameras only pick up images of the Brood warrior and not Colossus.
However, they continue filming until the battle trashes the news van, cutting off the video feed of the battle.

While high above, Storm tries to get away from Dive-Bomber, who decides to change his tactics:
He attacks a passing commercial airliner, prompting Storm to knock him out of the sky
and then use her powers to save the plane from a disastrous crash, making it land safely at Denver airport.
This leaves her open for an attack from Dive-Bomber, who knocks her out.

While elsewhere, Madelyne Pryor is caught in a vision where she lives as an angelic free spirit with her husband Scott and their son Nathan.
When Gateway (having come to investigate the explosion inside the X-Men's base) invades her dream,
"Scott" changes into costume and blasts him causing him to disappear in a burst of flames. In his place is a featureless woman.
Scott goes to this woman and kisses her, then removes Madelyne's wings and facial features to recreate the featureless woman into Marvel Girl.
He apologizes to his wife, telling her that he loves MG and the two take her son and leave,
leaving the featureless Madelyne in a vast desert alone and abandoned.

While back in Denver, Dive-Bomber and Storm's battle takes them back to the main conflict downtown.
When Havok realizes Storm's in danger of losing the fight he is forced to use his powers to slay Dive-Bomber.
At this point, Colossus has just succeeded in beating Brickbat to death as well.
With these casualties, Palmer orders his Brood minions to pull back, ordering Psylock and Rogue to protect
Wolverine while he undergoes his transformation into Brood, but vows to pay the X-Men back in blood.
In the battle's aftermath, Havok watches in horror as the partially transformed Dive-Bomber returns to his human form.
Mortified that he killed an innocent man, Storm tells Alex that the human side of Dive-Bomber was
murdered the moment that Palmer infected him with a Brood embryo and what he did was a mercy killing.
She tells her fellow X-Men that they have to destroy the Brood no matter what otherwise the Earth is doomed.

Story by Chris Claremont. Art by Marc Silvestri and Dan Green.

[ChibaMariners]

Age of X-Man.jpg

Look like crap.

It looks like Piotr has gyno in that pic

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Uncanny X-Men #234 Sep 1988
"Glory Day"
In Denver, the X-Men continue to try and hunt down mutants infected by the Brood and prevent their attempt to try and take over the world.
Their battle explodes into the trendy Mile High Diner when Dazzler is thrown through the front window by the fire-breathing Brood known as Spitball.
When the patrons believe Dazzler is the villain they grab her until Spitball tries to incinerate them all.
Ducking to safety, Dazzler is open to an attack by Whiphand, and she is then knocked out by the teleporting Blindside.
When the humans in the diner attempt to attack the Brood, they prove to be no match.
Dazzler and the patrons are rescued by her fellow X-Men who arrive in the nick of time.
As Longshot saves a diner patron from Spitball,

Colossus snaps Whiphand's neck and Storm arrives and summons lightning to slay Blindside.

While the other X-Men are checking on Dazzler, Spitball flees the scene and is pulled out of the area by
Rogue -- who is still controlled by Temptress's psyche that she accidentally absorbed in an earlier battle.

While back at their secret outback headquarters in Australia,
Madelyne Pryor is still knocked out after being blasted by an exploding monitor screen.
As Gateway watches over her, she dreams that she is a featureless humanoid forced to choose a path in a long desert.
As the beating sun causes her faceless form to melt into her current appearance,
Madelyne trips over a skull and tumbles down a hill into cool water.
She is helped up by the demon known as S'ym who drapes her in a sheet and brings her to a beautiful palace.
There he offers the woman her hearts desire.
Madelyne accepts this offer and he shows her the fingernails on his hand. Each nail shows a different aspect of her personality.
Believing this to only be a dream, Madelyne chooses the one depicting her as a vengeful woman.
S'ym corrects her on her assumption then plunges his finger into her chest, binding the two together and dressing her in strange garb.

Back in Denver, at the Red Rocks auditorium, Reverend William Conover is making last minute arrangements for his sermon.
He once more notes the constant arthritic pain his wife feels and once more wishes there was something he could do to cure her pain.
As the Reverend leaves to address those gathered, Hanna is approached by Harry Palmer's
partner Josey Palmer who tells Conover's wife that she has something that can help her arthritis.
While not far away, Rogue is flying Temptress and Wolverine toward the Red Rocks.
Logan, even though he is slowly transforming into a Brood, resists the conversion with his healing factor.
When he revives, he slays Temptress and Rogue -- still under her control -- tosses him down to the ground.
This causes Psylocke great pain as she (still under Temptress's control as well) travels with Harry Palmer
and the other surviving Brood as they race toward the Red Rocks in a car.

Their car is stopped when it rams into Colossus.
Palmer orders the X-Men dead, and while Psylocke begins shaking free of Temptress's control, Rogue attacks Storm.
When Longshot and Dazzler arrive, Dazzler uses her powers to blast Rogue, saving Storm's life.

This interrupts the reverend's sermon, and his congregation is horrified when Logan appears before them.
The reverend tells them not to fear him, that he needs help.
However, as Logan begins to transform into a Brood, the priest prays to God to save his life.
Logan's healing factor kicks in killing the Brood embryo and causing him to revert to normal,
leaving Conover to believe that the power of prayer saved Logan's life.
The reverend is then attacked by Tension, but Havok arrives and incinerates him with a plasma blast.
As he wonders if he will continue to find killing so easy he is attacked by Spitball and Lockup,
however, he is saved by Longshot and the attack causes a wall to collapse on the two Brood killing them.

In the confusion, Harry Palmer has grabbed William's wife Hanna and threatens to kill her.
While he keeps the X-Men at bay, Logan crawls under the stage and gets the drop on Palmer, pulling him under the stage.
In an attempt to shake Logan's nerve, Palmer reverts to his human form and pretends he doesn't know what he's doing.
Logan, unmoved by this kills Palmer without a single shred of mercy.
In the aftermath of the battle, the Psylocke uses her powers to alter the memories of those present so they don't fully recall who had saved them.
When Trish Tilby interviews William he tells her how they were saved by mutants and how people should not discriminate against them.
When noticing that Hanna's arthritis has been miraculously cured, Conover wonders if God had something to do with it.
Overhearing this, Josey Thomas grins.

As the X-Men return to their base, Havok is commended by Wolverine, however, he doesn't feel so proud because he was forced to kill.
While down below, Madelyne Pryor still lies in the pool, more dead than alive and truly changed from the events that happened in her dream.

Story by Chris Claremont. Art by Marc Silvestri and Joe Rubinstein.