Welcome to Part VIII of my epic, UNCANNY-centric journey through the X-Men’s history. If you missed the first seven parts, you can find them under my dedicated X-Men tag. If that’s too much homework, you can jump in here with no worries.
That’s the nice thing about the X-Men. Everybody constantly talks about everything that’s ever happened to them, ever, so you needn’t worry about spoilers or confusion. Jump in anywhere! Enjoy the shenanigans!
But yes. Part VIII takes us from #226 to #250. These twenty-five issues ran from February 1988 to November 1989; slightly less than two years thanks to the introduction of a bi-monthly schedule with #233. Chris Claremont writes the scripts, and will continue to do so for a teensy bit longer. The title once again enters an era of artistic consistency as Marc Silvestri pencils the bulk of this segment, usually with inker Dan Green but also with Joe Rubinstein, Hilary Barta, and Steve Leialoha for an issue each. Rick Leonardi provides guest pencils four times with inks by Dan Green, Terry Austin, and P.Craig Russel, while Jim Lee pencils a single issue with inker Dan Green.
These creators recognize that no one could consider UNCANNY X-MEN a proper series if none of the characters ever faked their own death and/or went mad and tried to destroy the world. They also notice it’s been far too long since either of those things happened and proceed accordingly via two crossovers.
The first of these, Fall of the Mutants, is one of those comics events where each included series follows its own course. Readers needn’t jump back and forth between them to get the whole story, though you may wish to pop over to NEW MUTANTS and X-FACTOR to see how those teams deal with the fallout from the X-Men’s battle at Eagle Plaza. It’s all pretty low key, so far as interconnected stories go.
From the X-Men’s perspective, though, it’s intense. And after a lengthy struggle in the public eye (thanks to a mutant-friendly videographer who follows the X-Men into the breach), the whole team fakes their own deaths and goes to hide out in Australia without so much as informing their families they’re still alive and kicking. Because really, how else are they supposed to get a drop on the bad guys?
