The Uncanny X-Men #201

Summary

It is the birth of Madeline Pryor’s son and the X-men are all excited. Cyclops the should be happy father is busy contemplating if he should leave the x-men now that Magneto is at the helm and he has a family. In space Xavier and Lilandra enjoy their time together.

The following day the new mutants and the x-men play a game of baseball. Madeline and Cyclops continue to fight. Ororo decides to challenge Cyclops for the right to lead the x-men. Both the new mutants and the x-men gather around the danger room as a de-powered storm faces off with the x-men’s long running leader Cyclops. Storm quickly uses her agility and skills learned as a thief to stalk Cyclops from the shadows. The tussle a bit before she returns to the shadows. A preoccupied Scott falls victim to her skill and after removing his visor. She is victorious and a he concedes. A defeated Scott returns to his wife, and storm remains.

The Good

Well this is the famous “fight for the x-men” that storm fans love to brag about J so it has a certain “punch” to it that other standalone issues don’t. The art by Rick Leonardi were great! By modern standards this is the essence of “retro art” there is just enough detail to allow you to know exactly what is happening and who is on panel even without colors, but not enough of anything for you to be ‘wowed’.

Chris Claremont turns in a solid script for its time though by modern standards it was a bit too “wordy” character like Scott and Storm banter about thing that could be placed in an info box or thought bubble but for the most part it was enjoyable.

This issue also enjoys a great level of accessibility for those just jumping into the x-men. It was pretty easy to pick it up and know everything that’s going on and the recent history of the key characters. Storm in particular gets great characterization here despite shared panel time with mainstays like Scott. Her background as a thief in Africa and a capable street fighter were also highlighted I the way she engaged Scott in battle.

The Bad

Despite the issue’s cover with Storm and Scott facing off only a few pages inside the actual comic spotlighted it. Also re-reading the issue today shows some uneven writing in the script. After removing Scott’s visor storm stand within arms reach of him and starts getting chatty. Scott could have easily counterattacked at this point because her guard was down and she had given up her location J

The fight is far more overrated than it should be, Storm could beat Scott in this situation I’m just not sure it was illustrated properly.

The Ugly

Overall the issue was an average read though Storm fans get to see our girl “Own” Cyclops   2.5/5