Longshot Appreciation 2018

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Uncanny X-Men #232 Aug 1988
"Earthfall"
Not too long ago, while Storm and Wolverine were battling the Crimson Commando and Stonewall
and the other X-Men were battling the Juggernaut in Scotland, the tranquility of the Diablo Rio Mountains
were interrupted when something fell from the sky and crash landed near some campers.
Going to investigate, they find a Brood Starshark craft, and they are soon all slaughtered by the surviving Brood warriors inside,
except for one: paramedic Harry Palmer who is infected with a Brood queen embryo.

Today: Palmer is making his usual rounds on the site of a heart attack victim who's episode was triggered by the activation of his latent mutant powers:
the ability to breath fire. As Harry examines the man, and when he is left alone with him,
his Brood personality takes over and infects the man with a Brood embryo.

Meanwhile, in Australia, Madelyne Pryor is teleported back to the X-Men's secret outback headquarters by Gateway after a shopping trip.
She finds that there is nobody around to comment on her new outfit and haircut,
and is particularly disappointed to see that her brother-in-law Alex is not around either.
She goes down to the monitoring equipment after finding a note from the X-Men telling her they are on a mission
and begins sketching designs for a logo so that the X-Men can be remembered by their activities
and fulfill Roma's request that they become legends in the minds of the human race.
Her attention is turned to one of the monitors when it picks up a news feed from New York City,
where she is shocked to see her husband Cyclops and Marvel Girl being interviewed by reporter Trish Tilby.
Coming to the conclusion that Scott left her for Jean Grey -- who is alive and well after all
she angrily punches the screen causing it to explode, knocking her out.

Denver: Palmer is returning to his apartment after his shift is over feeling particularly drained after the days work,
and realizes that it only happens when he comes to the aid of mutants and wonders if that has anything to do with it.

When he goes into his apartment he finds Psylocke and Colossus waiting for him.
When the two try to warn him of the Brood embryo inside of him, Palmer surprises them with feats of super-human strength.
He manages to toss Colossus through the wall of his apartment and make an escape.

When he tries to make a break for his car, he is attacked by Havok, Longshot and Dazzler.
When he tosses his car door at them, he misses (thanks to Longshot's luck powers) and takes down a hydro pole.

While Rogue fixes the damage and eliminates the danger of the live wires, Palmer manages to escape on foot.

The X-Men regroup and with Storm creating a mist around the area, she sends Wolverine off to try and track Palmer down.
Palmer meanwhile manages to board a city bus in an attempt to escape when he is attacked by Rogue.
During the fight he easily over powers her and is about to infect her with a Brood embryo when
Wolverine smashes the passenger window of the bus and throws him out of the bus, causing the bus to crash.
While Rogue pulls herself out of the rubble, Wolverine chases Palmer to an alley that ends in a dead end.
When Rogue catches up with Logan, the two have the infected man cornered when the police arrives.
Detecting they too are infected by Brood, Wolverine kills the two officers.
Not realizing the truth, Rogue believes Logan has gone berserk and stops him, when the other X-Men arrive and Betsy confirms Logan's actions.
Just then, the X-Men soon find themselves surrounded by an army of partially transformed Brood all summoned by Palmer to kill the X-Men.

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

[Ricochet Rita]

Uncanny X-Men #232 Aug 1988
"Earthfall"

IIRC, in this page we have the first canonical explicit signal that Dazzler and Longshot are having an affair. Before that, the only hints were Ali frequently approaching Longshot, taking his hand or asking him for company (plus, that time in X-Men vs. FF in which she called him 'honey'). Longshot just went with the flow, as usual. Lack of continuity, they're kissing under a street lamp, and I think that this is a good resume of the kind of relationship they had.

When he tosses his car door at them, he misses (thanks to Longshot's luck powers) and takes down a hydro pole.

Well-- More like 'thanks to Longshot's exceptional reflexes and swiftness'

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

I believe you are in the right regarding your observation that Uncanny X-Men #232 does indeed show for the first time an explicit signal that D and L are having an affair.

The reasoning 'thanks to Longshot's exceptional reflexes and swiftness' is better, yes.

[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.

[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, 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.

[From The Shadows]

My god I loved Outback X-Men. The Claremont/Silvestri team were the ****.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Uncanny X-Men #235 Oct 1988
"Welcome to Genosha"
Welcome to Genosha, a prosperous island paradise... if you're a human.
Case in point, a lone mutant flees into the night with his young child using his powers
to escape the deadly Magistrates and smuggle the child aboard a commercial jet to Australia.
While the mutant succeeds in smuggling the child into the planes landing gear,
he himself is spotted and sent fleeing until he is shot and killed by the Magistrates.

When news of the child's discovery hits the newspapers, the Genoshan government
sends their Press Gang to collect not only the escaped child, but Jennifer Ransome.
Ransome, the daughter of a governor, had her gene testing doctored to appear as though she was a normal human, when in reality she is a mutant.
Waiting at the airport, the Press Gang waits for Ransome -- a nurse for the Australian flying doctors service -- to arrive.
She arrives in a plane flown by Madelyne Pryor.
When they disembark from their plane, the Press Gang attacks them head on.
When Jennifer pleads that she is innocent and an Australian citizen, they tell her that a Genoshan born is always a Genoshan and subject to their law.
They are then taken to Pipeline who uses his special modem to convert both Jennifer
and Madelyne into data and electronically transmit them to Genosha for processing.

With Madelyne unaccounted for a few hours, the X-Men decide to investigate, sending Rogue first who spots Madelyne's wrecked plane.
Gateway then teleports both Storm and Wolverine to the location to investigate the wreckage
and Logan determines there was some kind of struggle as the two women were dragged onto a jet that just recently left.

Relaying this information to Alex (who is surprised about how concerned he is over Madelyne)
scans the flight data using their hideouts sophisticated computer systems.
Finding them difficult at first, he manages to track the flight to Sydney, Australia.
Soon the entire team is dispatched to the Sydney Airport where Wolverine determines that the scents of their kidnappers is still fresh in the plane,
but those of Madelyne and Jennifer are not as such, as though they got on the plane but left well before their kidnappers did.

Tracking the Press Gang's scents, Logan and Rogue find themselves at a hospital where they put on disguises to sneak into the pediatric ward.
When they are stopped by Punchout, Logan recognizes her scent as one of the kidnappers and attacks.
When Punchout knocks Wolverine back and tries to land a blow on Rogue, Rogue absorbs her super-strength and knocks her out.
When Logan and Rogue confront Hawkshaw and Pipeline, they panic and use Pipeline's
modem to transmit a Magistrate soldier who blasts them out of the building.
Seeing that they need reinforcements, they then summon and entire squad of Magistrates
to their location to deal with the mutants that have come to oppose them while they go looking for Punchout.

While the other X-Men approach the hospital they are soon attacked by the Magistrate soldiers transported to the hospital.

Despite their superior fire power, ruthless nature, and complete disregard for human life,
the Magistrates are soon easily defeated in combat by the X-Men who bind them up, and flee when they hear the authorities coming,
with Psylocke altering their memories so they cannot clearly remember who attacked them.
Meanwhile, Pipeline, Hawkshaw and Punchout come across Wolverine and Rogue, who are still knocked out.
Realizing that they cannot be detected on any of their scanning equipment,
they decide that the two X-Men are of interest and have them teleported to Genosha for examination.

While later, when the authorities arrive they find the Magistrates all bound up in steel girders with the X-Men's calling card.
When they ask the Magistrates what happened they refuse to talk and
the officer tells them that whoever did this to them will likely come back for more information from them,
and whatever might happen might be more than they'll deserve.

Story by Chris Claremont. Art by Rick Leonardi and P. Craig Russell.

[Ricochet Rita]

My god I loved Outback X-Men. The Claremont/Silvestri team were the ****.

Me too, although I basically love the...quirkiness...of the team, and above all Silvestri's art. I think Silvestri is one of the nimblest narrators X-Men ever had --even those issues he did in a few hours (and this is obvious in several of them) are sloppy, still noticeable skilled.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Uncanny X-Men #237 Nov 1988
"Who's Human?"
The Genoshan Magistrates have detected the transport that Logan and Rogue (whose Carol Danvers persona has taken over her psyche)
stole as it flies across the Indian Ocean. However, when they board the ship they find that it is empty and has been booby trapped.
Although they narrowly avoid casualties, it informs them that the two loose mutants are still on Genoshan soil.
While Chief Anderson finds this a relief, the Genegineer -- David Moreau -- still finds that this whole incident still has the potential of being an utter fiasco.
They both find the idea that two mutants who have had their powers nullified by Wipeout incredible
and are frustrated by the fact that their scanners still cannot detect them.
Further, attempts to use their technology to examine the two mutants proved equally as
frustrating as any data about Wolverine and Rogue entered into the computers was instantly erased.
However, all the hard copy work remains intact and the Genegineer is happy to see that the nullification
of Logan's powers has caused his hemoglobin count to drastically drop, and that he will die within the day.

Meanwhile, in the streets, Logan and Carol attempt to keep a low profile and upon catching a promotional
video on Genoshan prosperity, Logan finds it a crock as it has come from mutants being slaves to the human population.
After watching some Magistrates giving a garbage clearing Mutate a hard time, Logan reunites with Carol who has put on a revealing outfit.
She explains that this will help them steal some new security passes, as the ones they lifted
from the Magistraites they jumped in the Citadel would likely have been red flagged by now.
Entering a bar full of Magistrates, Carol does her thing while Logan keeps a low profile.
Also in the bar is Philip Moreau, drinking his sorrows away after hearing his fiancée
Jenny had been tagged as a mutant and is to be shipped off the slave camps.
When the Magistrates pick a fight with Philip, Logan uses it as an opportunity to escalate the fight into a full on bar brawl.
In the middle of the fight, Logan and Carol grab as many security passes as they can get and high tail it out of the bar.
However, when Phillip is tossed outside they overhear the Magistrates, who bring the fight out with him, recognize him as the Genegineer's son.
They decide to teach the boy a lesson by putting him in a Mutate skin-suit and tossing him on the next Mute train out of town.
Thinking this might be something of benefit for them, Logan and Carol decide to follow after them
and board the Mute Train -- which they are disturbed to see is powered by a mutant slave.

At the Citadel, Jenny -- who is just beginning the gengineering process to change her
healing powers into ones that can form rock and minerals is brought before the Genegineer.
When she begs David not to do this to her, he tells her that a Genoshan citizen has to do their part for the
prosperity of their country, and that without the mutant workers they would not be able to maintain their quality of life.
When he is told that Mutant-9818 (Madelyne) is ready for psi-scans he tells the guards that Mutant-9817 (Jenny) is ready for final processing.
In the psi-scanning room, the technicians bond Madelyne's skin suit to her body and begin psi-probing her mind,
however she warns them to stay out and begins to resist the psi-probe.

Meanwhile, the other X-Men arrive on the island before a convoy of Magistrates that are on patrol.

The soldiers are shocked to see that none of the mutants register on their scanning devices and the X-Men make short work of them.

With the Magistrates defeated, Storm orders Psylocke to scan their minds for useful information.

She finds rudimentary psi-screens but as she attempts to cut through them she suddenly reels back and screams in pain.
This is caused by Madelyne, who has caused a psychic backlash on her psi-probers which slaughtered them all
and sends out an alarm to the Magistrates who escort an increasingly weary Genegineer to her location.
When Betsy recovers from the attack, she tells her friends the source of the psychic scream was shielded from her.

While aboard the Mute Train, Wolverine and Carol realize that they need to take cover inside the train.
Logan opens the door with one of his claws and Carol is surprised when Logan begins to bleed heavily.
Bandaging up his hand he explains that his healing factor used to heal the wounds, every time his claws would pop out cutting through his skin.
Carol realizes that Logan has been getting weaker by the hour and realizes that if they do not do something soon, Logan will die.
They find Phillip Moreau among the Mutates, and as they are recovering him the mutants aboard the train begin to swarm them.
This is until other Magistrates board the train, having detected the disturbance, and begin beating down the mutants.
When the captain demands answers from Logan and Carol (not realizing they are escaped mutant prisoners) they explain that they came for Moreau's son.
The captain tells the two to get the boy out and bring him to turn the boy over to their superiors to let them handle it.

As Logan and Carol carry the unconscious Philip to a jeep, Logan is furious at the sight of mutants being beaten by their slave masters
and swears to Carol that he will not leave Genosha until he brings the entire country crashing down.

Story by Chris Claremont. Art by Rick Leonardi and Terry Austin.

[Ricochet Rita]

Boy, and how I love Leonardi's art, too

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Uncanny X-Men #238 Nov 1988
"Gonna be a Revolution!"
When Madelyne Pryor managed to manifest psi-powers to kill the Genoshan psi-probes,
the Genegineer demands to review the recordings of the psi-probe.
The footage shows a young Madelyne picking flowers when she is confronted
and demanded answers by a psychic representation of the Genegineer and the Magistrates.
When she refuses to answer and he lashes out, she is reborn in a blaze of glory that destroys the island.
The "Genegineer", decked out in a Mr. Sinister costume then would run into Madelyne in her Goblin Queen form.
She warns them about igniting the match that will bring about an inferno.

This display shocks all gathered who watched the video and the real Genegineer
demands to know how Wipeout failed to eliminate her mutant powers.
Wipeout is as shocked as they are, telling them that he detected no mutant powers
-- latent or otherwise and therefore there was nothing to wipe out.
The Genegineer then goes to Madelyne's cell and demands to know who she is,
however Madelyne is not forthcoming with anything but mocking answers.
She begins chastizing him for enslaving mutants, and the two debate on the use of mutants as workers in Genoshan society
until Chief Anderson reports to him telling him they have word on his son.

In the Genoshan Highlands, Logan and Rogue (with the psyche of Carol Danvers in full control of her body)
show Phillip Moreau the facilities where the mutant slaves are kept after their days work.
Seeing it's concentration camp style layout, Phillip is shocked at the reality of Genosha's mutant population.
They are soon confronted by Chief Anderson who has come to arrest all three,
pointing out to Logan and Carol that their cover was blown due to the fact none
of the security systems picked up the two "Magistrates" who came in with the Genegineer's son.
They are promptly arrested and flown back to the Citadel for final processing.
Anderson tells Phillip that due to the fact that he saw things that none save the Magistrates
and the director are supposed to see he will remain in custody until his situation is sorted out.
As they fly back to the Citadel they are suddenly hit by some freak weather, making both Logan and Carol smile to each other.

While inside, Madelyne listens to Jenny's lamentations of her situation telling her cellmate
that all she ever wanted to do was to heal people and now she will be forced as a slave.
Madelyne tells the girl to be strong, and endure when she is taken away by the Magistrates for final processing.
As she is being led away, Madelyne watches coldly, telling the guards that she will see them all burn.
Elsewhere in the facility, Logan and Carol see the baby that was captured in Australia being led away
and learn that it's mutant parents found a way to nullify their skin suits and managed to procreate and have since been killed.
When the three are brought before the Genegineer, Phillip demands to know
why his father is part of a government that would enslave part of it's population.
Believing that this is wrong, he tells his father that the rest of the Genoshan people would not stand for it.
When David tries to explain to his son that this is for the better good of his country,
Phillip realizes that both he and his father have a very different opinion on the future of their homeland.

Meanwhile, the X-Men -- having stolen Magistrate uniforms use the cover of a massive storm created by Storm to sneak into the Citadel facility unnoticed.

Logan and Carol are told that they are going to be sent for final processing.
Logan tells Chief Anderson that he would rather die first and feigns succumbing to his illness to pop his claws.
This causes enough distraction for both Logan and Carol to fight off their captors.
As this is happening, the X-Men are making their presence known and storming through the Citadel
with their powers blazing, easily fighting their way through the ranks of the Magistrates.

The X-Men first go looking for Madelyne but Havok finds it empty.
When he comes across Phillip Moreau, who is looking for Jenny, the two agree to work together.

Madelyne however has stripped off her skin suit and come to the Creche, a place where mutant babies are genetically bred for work.
She is confronted by the Genegineer who threatens her at gun point. She calls his bluff telling him she could kill him in an instant.
However before he can try to shoot her he is stopped by his son and Havok. Phillip points the gun at his father and demands to be brought to Jenny.
With the X-Men reunited with Logan and Carol and the Magistrates standing down due to the X-Men's hostage,

they find Wipeout and with Psylocke's aid force him to restore both Logan and Rogue's powers, saving Logan's life.

When Logan tells the X-Men they should tear down the Genoshan government and put the island in ruins,
Phillip begs for the chance to reveal the truth to the Genoshan people and make them revolt against the government.
The X-Men decide to allow Phillip the opportunity, but warn the Magistrates
that should they not change their treatment of mutants, they will be back.
Havok shows what the X-Men mean by using his powers to destroy the Citadel.
However when he realizes that Madelyne and the mutant children might have still been inside,
he is surprised when Madelyne shows up alive and well and kisses him.
She tells him not to worry about the mutant children in the Creche as thy have been taken care of.
Storm tells Phillip that his fight to free the mutants of Genosha would be better done outside the country
and he and Jenny join the X-Men in leaving through Gateway's portal. Wolverine reminds the Genegineer
that if they do not change their ways on their own, the X-Men will be back and there will be blood.

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

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Uncanny X-Men #239 Dec 1988
Inferno: Prologue - "Vanities!"
In Manhattan the Empire State building starts to grow, demons possess many technical things like elevators and telephones.

In a secret hideout, Mr. Sinister thinks about the X-Men as Malice rushes in.
She tried to separate from Polaris’s body and discovered that they are permanently bonded.
Sinister says, that this was the reason why he ordered her to possess Lorna Dane.
He knew that the woman’s hidden hate, combined with the interaction of the unique energy matrices, would lead to such a result.
Malice is very angered, but Sinister convinces her, that this is for the better,
for now she is the only unique and irreplaceable member of the Marauders.

In Australia, Dazzler uses a day off to do the single thing she loves most – singing.

She and Longshot enter a bar and Alison is allowed to sing with the band.

The audience loves her.

Havok thinks about how much rejoining the X-Men changed his life, not only did he have to fight the woman he loves,
he also had to use his powers to kill, even if it were only Brood. Madelyne comforts him.

Storm researches some video footage, and discovers the interview with X-Factor's Cyclops and Marvel Girl.
She is shocked to see her best friend alive. Immediately she tells Wolverine, who said he already knew;
twice he caught her scent. He did not say anything, because he did not trust his senses.
He thought he was going mad to smell the woman he loved.

In an underground cave Psylocke fights Rogue and Colossus in a training session.
At first she does good, distracting them with her telepathy, but with teamwork she is defeated.
Rogue holds her and Psylocke asks her to let her go, yet Rogue refuses with a "Make me".
Psylocke gives Rogue a mind-blast and knocks her out. Rogue gets up, again the eye colour change from green to blue occurs.
While Rogue is out of the picture Carol has taken over again. Psylocke decides to take a bath in an underground lake.
Now that their tempers have cooled down, she and Carol talk it through.
Carol touches Betsy with her bare hand and is able to hold Rogue’s absorption powers in check.

Slowly Madelyne and Alex seem to fall in love.
They both lost the loves of their lives and now are all they have left.
They spend a night together.
Later Madelyne calls N'astirh and makes a bargain. Madelyne wants the Marauders found
(who nearly killed her and stole the baby), but most of all she wants her son.

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