RACHEL GREY/SUMMERS, the Phoenix/Mother Askani Appreciation

[Sardorim]

Tean isn't a Summers.

[juan678]

art by Magickmarker

[a0040pc]

Issue Information
Title- Uncanny X-Men (Volume 1) #202
Release Date- February 1986
Writer- Chris Claremont
Artist- John Romita Jr

Major Notes
Secret Wars II tie-in

Brief Summary

X-Men ... I've Gone To Kill -- The Beyonder!

As Rogue enters the room of Rachel Summers a hologram appears of Rachel as Phoenix. She claims that she is going to kill the Beyonder and when it disappears Rogue quickly flies to Storm’s attic. The rest of the X-Men soon follow and they begin to discuss what to do, a few of them think that Rachel is doing the right thing but they eventually agree that she must be stopped. They’re not even sure that with Rachel’s power if she can even harm the Beyonder.

A few moments later the X-Men are at Cerebro as Magneto attempts to use it to find Rachel. Unfortunately his manipulation of the Earth’s magnetic field sometime before making long range probes extremely difficult. Wolverine sees irony in this and leads to a short confrontation between the two. Magneto can’t fix the interference but he does pick up Rachel’s signature in San Francisco. They see the power radiating from her and they fear that she will be another Dark Phoenix.

The Beyonder is sitting on Alcatraz Island as he examines a flower by his feet. He thinks of its how it is finite and suddenly Rachel arrives and unleashes an attack which is similar to an atomic explosion. The Beyonder and everything in his immediate area is unharmed much to Rachel’s disbelief. He knows why she is hear and he claims that he isn’t going to harm her. She unleashes another blast but it has no effect on him. He knows that she won’t stop until she’s destroyed him, even if she destroys the universe in the process. He seeks understanding but all those that he has spoken know so little.

The Beyonder teleports her to her own dark future from her memories and explains how rage consumes her. He knows her survivor guilt and she is forced to go through the death of her lover Franklin Richards and the seeming death of her mother figure Kate Pryde and the other X-Men. In the end Rachel is left on the ground before the Beyonder’s feet, he does feel sympathy after everything that she has been through. He even gives her a small portion of his power, enough to slay him if she chose. She feels the power coursing through her and she feels that she can destroy him.

Suddenly the X-Jet appears above them and the Beyonder gives her a choice of destroying him or save the X-Men. It materialised out of thin air and when Rachel flies up to the jet she sees that only Storm is on-board and the other X-Men are missing. The jet is going into a nose dive and Rachel learns that the other X-Men are scattered throughout the city.

Suddenly a Sentinel flies up from the ocean and targets them both. Rachel uses a small amount of her power to defeat it but it is not destroyed. Rachel’s mindscans show that the other X-Men are fighting Sentinels in the city. Storm orders her to help the others and she will deal with this one. Despite the fact that Rachel has an opportunity to destroy the Beyonder she goes to help her friends.

In the X-Jet Storm is able to get the attention of the Sentinel. It flies after her and as she pulls up it grabs the back of the jet. She makes it fly higher and higher and the engines of the jet heat up the Sentinel. Soon they out in orbit and Storm forces the jet to go down sending the Sentinel down like a meteor. Unfortunately she doubts that she ca save herself as they begin to fall.

In the city Magneto is caught by a Sentinel and wrapped in a non-metal alloy. Rogue goes to attack it but is blasted away, she falls into a crowd of people and because her costume is shredded she accidentally touches many of them and she absorbs their personalities. Wolverine is able to unleash an attack but is batted away by the Sentinel. Rachel arrives just in time to rescue him, she supercharges his healing powers. They then move to free Magneto who after some explanation from Rachel knows about Storm’s plight.

Rachel uses her powers to force the people back away from the scene of the battle and when they are safe enough away she unleashes an attack on the Sentinel as Wolverine takes out its legs. It falls to the ground and Magneto creates a magnetic vortex around it which brings down the cold from the upper atmosphere causing it to freeze. Rogue then smashes through it and at the same time the vortex brings the X-Jet down safely.

A mile away Colossus is fighting another Sentinel and he is having a tough time. He is about to be crushed but Kitty Pryde phases him through ground saving him. Rachel arrives and damages it but it is able to get back up. Colossus pulls up a lamp post and drives into the chest of the Sentinel, it goes straight through it and when it lets go it solidifies injuring it. Kitty had been within him and allowed her to phase the lamp post within it. Rachel then destroys the Sentinel.

After the battle Rachel returns to Alcatraz where the Beyonder is waiting. She is not happy with what has happened since she knows that he was the cause for the sudden appearance of the Sentinels. He claims that she saved the people of San Francisco but she slaps him in disgust. If neither of them were there none of it would have happened, he claims to be trying to restore the balance within her. She claims that it has to be earned and as she flies away she states that although he tries to do good all he has done is harm.

My Thoughts

Now we come back to the Uncanny X-Men with an issue that was once again to do with Secret Wars II. We got a bit of action but it does feature the Beyonder, I am getting a bit tired of him and I’m glad that the Secret Wars II concludes the following month and it’ll be the end of him.

The X-Man most focused on in this issue is Rachel Summers of course. She tried everything that she could to try and destroy the Beyonder but none of them worked. It does show how powerful he is but even when she was given the power to destroy him she chose to save her friends instead. He was the one who put them in harm’s way to begin with but you get the basic gist of it. This
issue was somewhat important to the development of the character and showed that she still has her head on her shoulders despite her rage.

The Sentinels do make an appearance in this issue but could you say that they were actually real or just conjured up by the Beyonder? Either way they fought like the real Sentinels and to me they were quite difficult to defeat. I feel that the X-Men should not have that much of a problem defeating them but then again they might have been upgraded and the fact that the Beyonder created them probably goes more to their power. I think he made them so that they were powerful enough to keep the X-Men at bay and only being defeated with Rachel’s aid.

Despite the fact that Magneto is the new mentor to the X-Men there is still some animosity towards one another as seen by Wolverine. This is realistic since you can’t expect to have someone who has tried to kill you several times suddenly becoming your best friend. We can’t forget the numerous times that Magneto has tried to kill the X-Men. It’s understandable that there is still some bad blood.

We also got to relive a few of the events from the Days Of The Future Past story like the death of some of the X-Men. We also see what seems to be the death of Kate Pryde but I believe that this isn’t the case. I think she actually survived and her story is followed on sometime later in the Excalibur comic series. That isn’t until over two and a half years after this issue.

In conclusion I’m giving this issue a 7 out of 10. It didn’t feel that right to me so I am giving it a slightly lower mark than I would with most over Uncanny X-Men comics. I think you can all understand.

Next Issue
Longshot (Volume 1) #6

[borismortys]

I thought this was rather interesting and makes me wonder what would a world in which the Dark Phoenix saga never happened would be like? What do you guys think?

[niconico00]

I remember this issue very well. Another one of my favourites!

Rogue goes to attack it but is blasted away, she falls into a crowd of people and because her costume is shredded she accidentally touches many of them and she absorbs their personalities.

Not even Rachel (who was powered by the Phoenix and by the Beyonder) could erase the personalities that Rogue had absorbed. A little touch that proves again that Claremont really knew his job back then.

[ZNOP]

I remember this issue very well. Another one of my favourites!



Not even Rachel (who was powered by the Phoenix and by the Beyonder) could erase the personalities that Rogue had absorbed. A little touch that proves again that Claremont really knew his job back then.

When did she try to?

[RLAAMJR.]

Issue Information
Title- Uncanny X-Men (Volume 1) #202
Release Date- February 1986
Writer- Chris Claremont
Artist- John Romita Jr

Major Notes
Secret Wars II tie-in

Brief Summary

X-Men ... I've Gone To Kill -- The Beyonder!

As Rogue enters the room of Rachel Summers a hologram appears of Rachel as Phoenix. She claims that she is going to kill the Beyonder and when it disappears Rogue quickly flies to Storm’s attic. The rest of the X-Men soon follow and they begin to discuss what to do, a few of them think that Rachel is doing the right thing but they eventually agree that she must be stopped. They’re not even sure that with Rachel’s power if she can even harm the Beyonder.

A few moments later the X-Men are at Cerebro as Magneto attempts to use it to find Rachel. Unfortunately his manipulation of the Earth’s magnetic field sometime before making long range probes extremely difficult. Wolverine sees irony in this and leads to a short confrontation between the two. Magneto can’t fix the interference but he does pick up Rachel’s signature in San Francisco. They see the power radiating from her and they fear that she will be another Dark Phoenix.

The Beyonder is sitting on Alcatraz Island as he examines a flower by his feet. He thinks of its how it is finite and suddenly Rachel arrives and unleashes an attack which is similar to an atomic explosion. The Beyonder and everything in his immediate area is unharmed much to Rachel’s disbelief. He knows why she is hear and he claims that he isn’t going to harm her. She unleashes another blast but it has no effect on him. He knows that she won’t stop until she’s destroyed him, even if she destroys the universe in the process. He seeks understanding but all those that he has spoken know so little.

The Beyonder teleports her to her own dark future from her memories and explains how rage consumes her. He knows her survivor guilt and she is forced to go through the death of her lover Franklin Richards and the seeming death of her mother figure Kate Pryde and the other X-Men. In the end Rachel is left on the ground before the Beyonder’s feet, he does feel sympathy after everything that she has been through. He even gives her a small portion of his power, enough to slay him if she chose. She feels the power coursing through her and she feels that she can destroy him.

Suddenly the X-Jet appears above them and the Beyonder gives her a choice of destroying him or save the X-Men. It materialised out of thin air and when Rachel flies up to the jet she sees that only Storm is on-board and the other X-Men are missing. The jet is going into a nose dive and Rachel learns that the other X-Men are scattered throughout the city.

Suddenly a Sentinel flies up from the ocean and targets them both. Rachel uses a small amount of her power to defeat it but it is not destroyed. Rachel’s mindscans show that the other X-Men are fighting Sentinels in the city. Storm orders her to help the others and she will deal with this one. Despite the fact that Rachel has an opportunity to destroy the Beyonder she goes to help her friends.

In the X-Jet Storm is able to get the attention of the Sentinel. It flies after her and as she pulls up it grabs the back of the jet. She makes it fly higher and higher and the engines of the jet heat up the Sentinel. Soon they out in orbit and Storm forces the jet to go down sending the Sentinel down like a meteor. Unfortunately she doubts that she ca save herself as they begin to fall.

In the city Magneto is caught by a Sentinel and wrapped in a non-metal alloy. Rogue goes to attack it but is blasted away, she falls into a crowd of people and because her costume is shredded she accidentally touches many of them and she absorbs their personalities. Wolverine is able to unleash an attack but is batted away by the Sentinel. Rachel arrives just in time to rescue him, she supercharges his healing powers. They then move to free Magneto who after some explanation from Rachel knows about Storm’s plight.

Rachel uses her powers to force the people back away from the scene of the battle and when they are safe enough away she unleashes an attack on the Sentinel as Wolverine takes out its legs. It falls to the ground and Magneto creates a magnetic vortex around it which brings down the cold from the upper atmosphere causing it to freeze. Rogue then smashes through it and at the same time the vortex brings the X-Jet down safely.

A mile away Colossus is fighting another Sentinel and he is having a tough time. He is about to be crushed but Kitty Pryde phases him through ground saving him. Rachel arrives and damages it but it is able to get back up. Colossus pulls up a lamp post and drives into the chest of the Sentinel, it goes straight through it and when it lets go it solidifies injuring it. Kitty had been within him and allowed her to phase the lamp post within it. Rachel then destroys the Sentinel.

After the battle Rachel returns to Alcatraz where the Beyonder is waiting. She is not happy with what has happened since she knows that he was the cause for the sudden appearance of the Sentinels. He claims that she saved the people of San Francisco but she slaps him in disgust. If neither of them were there none of it would have happened, he claims to be trying to restore the balance within her. She claims that it has to be earned and as she flies away she states that although he tries to do good all he has done is harm.

My Thoughts

Now we come back to the Uncanny X-Men with an issue that was once again to do with Secret Wars II. We got a bit of action but it does feature the Beyonder, I am getting a bit tired of him and I’m glad that the Secret Wars II concludes the following month and it’ll be the end of him.

The X-Man most focused on in this issue is Rachel Summers of course. She tried everything that she could to try and destroy the Beyonder but none of them worked. It does show how powerful he is but even when she was given the power to destroy him she chose to save her friends instead. He was the one who put them in harm’s way to begin with but you get the basic gist of it. This
issue was somewhat important to the development of the character and showed that she still has her head on her shoulders despite her rage.

The Sentinels do make an appearance in this issue but could you say that they were actually real or just conjured up by the Beyonder? Either way they fought like the real Sentinels and to me they were quite difficult to defeat. I feel that the X-Men should not have that much of a problem defeating them but then again they might have been upgraded and the fact that the Beyonder created them probably goes more to their power. I think he made them so that they were powerful enough to keep the X-Men at bay and only being defeated with Rachel’s aid.

Despite the fact that Magneto is the new mentor to the X-Men there is still some animosity towards one another as seen by Wolverine. This is realistic since you can’t expect to have someone who has tried to kill you several times suddenly becoming your best friend. We can’t forget the numerous times that Magneto has tried to kill the X-Men. It’s understandable that there is still some bad blood.

We also got to relive a few of the events from the Days Of The Future Past story like the death of some of the X-Men. We also see what seems to be the death of Kate Pryde but I believe that this isn’t the case. I think she actually survived and her story is followed on sometime later in the Excalibur comic series. That isn’t until over two and a half years after this issue.

In conclusion I’m giving this issue a 7 out of 10. It didn’t feel that right to me so I am giving it a slightly lower mark than I would with most over Uncanny X-Men comics. I think you can all understand.

Next Issue
Longshot (Volume 1) #6

Thank you for this. Is it possible that I can also check your digital comics?

[niconico00]

When did she try to?

In that same issue, Uncanny #202.

First Rachel boosts Wolverine's healing factor, then she tends to Rogue and helps her to focus on her own voice among the many absorbed psyches. And, if I remember correctly, she says something like: "with all my powers, this is all that I can do."

[a0040pc]

Thank you for this. Is it possible that I can also check your digital comics?

Not sure what you mean there but if you mean reading the comics I'm reviewing in digital format try Marvel Unlimited. They should have it up there for a $60 annual fee.

[Project Initiative Cascada]

I thought this was rather interesting and makes me wonder what would a world in which the Dark Phoenix saga never happened would be like? What do you guys think?

Which X-Factor issue is that? And I take it you didn't read all those What If? Phoenix issues? THey pretty much sum up what happened with Jean surviving DPS and giving birth to Rachel, and Scott and her moving away to live a normal life.

[ZNOP]

In that same issue, Uncanny #202.

First Rachel boosts Wolverine's healing factor, then she tends to Rogue and helps her to focus on her own voice among the many absorbed psyches. And, if I remember correctly, she says something like: "with all my powers, this is all that I can do."

Ah, thanks...

[borismortys]

Which X-Factor issue is that? And I take it you didn't read all those What If? Phoenix issues? THey pretty much sum up what happened with Jean surviving DPS and giving birth to Rachel, and Scott and her moving away to live a normal life.

X-Factor number 7.

[ZNOP]

X-Factor number 7.

That scan is not from X-Factor #7... It's from "What If? Vol. 2 #32"

[borismortys]

That scan is not from X-Factor #7... It's from What if Phoenix?!?

I'm referring to the early scan of Jean and Cyke talking about Maddie wearing those weird suits

[ZNOP]

I'm referring to the early scan of Jean and Cyke talking about Maddie wearing those weird suits

Ah, yes... That scan is X-Factor #7.