By: Chris Claremont (writer), Bill Sienkiewicz (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Glynis Wein (colors) & Tom Orzechowski (letters)
The Story: Dracula wants Storm for his bride…
Flash Back Review: As any comic fan knows, the X-Men are currently having a bit of a problem with vampires. I’ve seen a lot of moaning on message boards about how tacky this is of Marvel and how it’s obviously an attempt to jump onto some of the current popularity of vampires (see: True Blood and Twilight). That may be true, but this is hardly the first time the X-Men have had to deal with vampires.
I’d ask you to take a trip down memory lane to Uncanny X-Men #159 which was published in July of 1982. Comics were still 60 cents, the #1 song in the United States was “Don’t you want me” by the Human League (which is now stuck in my head) and Chris Claremont still had his 98 mph fastball (instead of the old junkballer he has become). In terms of the X-Men, this was early enough for them that Rogue was still a bad guy and they had never encountered the Brood. In short, it was a long time ago.
This issue tells a self-contained story of the X-Men venturing into the city so that Kitty could hang out with her parents for the weekend and the plan was that the X-Men would crash at Misty Knight’s pad for the weekend. Of course, being the X-Men they travel in full costume and blast into Misty’s place in style: Nightcrawler “bamfs” in, Kitty phases through the wall and Wolverine has his claws popped. After Misty’s startled roommate changes her pants (just kidding….there is no spoiling of pants in this issue), Kitty and Storm change into street clothes and head off into the night.
Of course, the night doesn’t end well for Storm as it appears that she is mugged and has her throat slit after leaving Kitty with her parents. Claremont lets this mystery swirl as we get page after page of Storm becoming a creature of the night: light sensitive, aversion to religious symbols, wearing a scarf from an “admirer” with a big “D” monogram… Hmm…What sort of mugger could it be?
Not only was it a vampire, it was Dracula himself! Once the true evil is revealed, what follows is a pretty standard effort by the X-Men to save Storm from this psychological hold that Dracula holds over her. However, Dracula is not defeated by the might of the X-Men, instead he bows out after being so impressed by the sheer nobility of Storm that he cannot force her to become his bride against her will. The end!
This is far from the best story of this era. A few issues earlier, and we have the classic Days of Future Past storyline. A few issues later and we get the Brood saga that holds a place in my heart because that was when I started buying Uncanny at the gas station. Then again, the Days of Future Past single issues are going to set you back $40+ each whereas you can buy Uncanny #159 for about five dollars.
This issue is also interesting in some other ways. Wolverine is very old-school: He announces that he’s scrounging a brew within 30 seconds of blasting into Misty’s apartment at the beginning of the issue and is later seen puffing a cigarette in full costume on her couch. How times change… 🙂 We also get an exploration of the different religious backgrounds of the X-Men: Kitty and Logan try to use a cross against Dracula which doesn’t work because she is Jewish and he is a non-believer. But, when Nightcrawler makes a cross out of two sticks, Dracula is badly wounded. Perhaps the only advantage of the wordiness of comics of this era was that they could explore religious issues in the middle of a fight with vampires!
Although this issue is typically wordy (as befits the era), it does avoid the constant recitation of the X-Men’s powers. All of the other issues of this era have a constant reminder of Wolverine’s adamantium skeleton and claws, Peter’s ability to shift into “organic steel” and the “brimstone stench” that Nightcrawler makes when he teleports. It also does not have a single instance of an X-Man reminding Logan to avoid killing anyone because that isn’t how the X-Men roll. It is really pretty comical, but this issue avoids those tropes and these omissions make the comic feel more modern.
The art is also very nice, but it is noteworthy that Sienkiewicz (who was a guest penciler on this issue) doesn’t draw the X-Men that differently than John Byrne, Dave Cockrum, Paul Smith, Romita, Jr. or any of the other X-artists of the day. At this time, there was a house style and the artist was expected to adhere to certain guidelines. While this sort of strict house style obviously wouldn’t allow for things like JH Williams, III, I honestly think most of today’s artists would be better off just drawing a house style that tells the story and stop trying to be so stylish.
Conclusion: Not the best old-time issue of Uncanny, but worth a look if you’re interested in seeing the first time they tangled with a vampire. Plus at $5 it is almost the same price of a modern comic book. 🙂
Grade: C+
– Dean Stell
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