Invaders #31 (August 1978)

There are three things that the Marvel Universe is full of: Monsters, Mayhem, and Madmen. This was true even back during the days of World War II. During that time in the Marvel Universe, the Invaders attacked Adolf Hitler's Fortress Europa itself, while dealing with various villains and Nazi super-agents. But on one occasion, the Invaders had to deal with something that was straight out of the mind of Mary Shelley. You'll see that I mean when I look at Invaders #31! 

The cover is a Joe Sinnott piece. It's really cool. It depicts a Frankenstein Monster (not the Frankenstein Monster, more on that later), taking on the titular heroes. I also like that the masthead logo is used to advertise this meeting, and it's done in the style of old comedic monster movies like Abbott and Costello meet the Wolfman, for example. The cover's hook is a great one, the Invaders battling what looks like a Frankenstein's Monster that has gone Nazi, and makes me want to read this comic.

"Heil Frankenstein!"
Writer: Don Glut
Penciler: Chic Stone
Inker: Bill Black
Colorist: George Roussos
Letter: Tom Orzechowski (Credited as "Orz")
Editor: Roy Thomas
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story beings with Spitfire, the Invaders' resident speedster, doing a bit of housecleaning. But being a woman of noble birth, it's not her cup of tea. But she is bored, and it's still around thirty years before video games become a major thing. She finds a hat box that contains the hat of a Gestapo officer. A very big Gestapo officer.

"Hey, who turned out the planet?!"

Captain America enters, and reveals the hat was a souvenir from a battle the Invaders had in the past before she joined the group. And he decides to regale her.

The Invaders were in England when they learned of possible Nazi activity in the Swiss Alps. Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch and his sidekick Toro went to investigate it, but they ended up vanishing.

Captain America, Bucky, and Namor went to investigate. Cap and Bucky went ahead while Namor found a place to park his craft (the Invaders used an Atlantean ship to get around). The current and future Sentinel of Liberty would find a village that was deserted...except for lights in the windows. And then...an ambush!

"WHERE'S OUR MONEY BASIL-Oh hey, Cap."

The villagers back off when they realize that the Invaders are in their midst. The villagers explain that there's a horror in their backyards. A horror beyond all comprehension. It started with someone robbing the graves of their dead. They saw the Human Torch and Toro headed towards a nearby castle...and never returned. The villagers called them "flaming demons" (their words), not mine...wait, they recognized Captain America, but not the Human Torch and Toro? Really?

Anyway, as established earlier, they never returned from the castle. Finally, a monster had come from the castle and murdered several villagers for seemingly no reason. The villagers had prepared to storm the castle when the Invaders arrived. Cap convinces the villagers to stand down and let the other Invaders investigate. After all, two of their own are in danger. As for the castle...well, it's the castle...of the family Frankenstein.

Yeah, the events of the Mary Shelley novel happened in the Marvel Universe. Marvel adapted the novel in The Monster of Frankenstein #1-3 (January-March 1973), and other comics over the years would introduce other members of Victor Frankenstein's family. Most notably, Victoria, Victor's great-granddaughter. She's as prone to mad science as her ancestor but tends to use it for good. For example, she once helped bring Wolverine back to life after he died fighting Sabretooth in Wolverine #12 (October 2014). 

The novel also exists in the Marvel Universe as well, as one of Frankenstein's family members, Ernst, would talk about his family to Mary Shelley, and she was like "Hey, this sounds like it'd make a great book!"

Anyway, Cap and Bucky infiltrate the castle of the Frankensteins. They discover that there are indeed Nazis infesting the place...and they get spotted by said Nazis.

Our heroes give the Nazi soldiers a good walloping, but they have a nasty little surprise waiting for them. Remember, this is the castle of the Frankensteins, so it's not hard to guess what said surprise is.

"ALLIES BAD."

Yup, their very own Nazi Monster. Keep in mind, this is not the actual Frankenstein's Monster of the Marvel Universe that was created by Victor. That monster was still frozen in ice during World War II, as established in The Frankenstein Monster #8-9. He would get revived in the Marvel Age in Monsters Unleashed #2.

Cap tries to knock out the Nazi Monster with a Mighty American Punch, but it shockingly has no effect. The Monster knocks Cap back, but the First Avenger noticed that it paused before fighting back, as if it didn't want to fight. But that is tabled as the monster's creator reveals himself. 

"Cap, you tell those villagers I'm not giving them their money until they paint my chicken coop!"

Meet Basil Frankenstein and his assistant, Dr. Kitagowa. Basil calls her "Kitty". I'm not sure if that's her first name, or it was a nickname based on "Kitagowa". I'm thinking it's the latter. Kitagowa remarks that Captain America is a fine specimen, in a scientific sense, of course. 

Basil orders his Monster to beat down Bucky and Cap, but in Cap's case, try not to damage his body too much. The Monster manages to knock them out.

They wake up and find themselves chained up: Bucky to a wall, and Cap to a slab. Toro is also there, being regularly doused with chemicals to keep him from going all fiery. Cap asks Basil why he's got his monster wearing a Nazi uniform. Well, it's pretty obvious, Steve. Basil created this monster for the Nazis as a weapon. He's embraced their cause because they were rather...appreciative of the family's forays into mad science. Cap notes that Kitagowa is Japanese. Well, yeah. Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan were allies during the war, Steve. The Monster concussed him worse than we thought.

Kitagowa is one of Japan's finest surgeons, and she's been helping Basil thanks to a lab accident crippling him. After all, this stuff could be useful to the Emperor of Japan. Maybe even allow them to build their own monsters out of corpses. Also, imagine a whole army of Nazi Frankenstein Monsters. Much stronger, much tougher than normal human soldiers. And also completely expendable. Kitagowa has another reason she's helping Basil. It turns out that she's his main squeeze, and the thought of Basil's brain in the body of Steve Rogers...well, that is very appealing to her.

But that's just a side gig. The real target of Basil and Kitty...is Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch. 

"Cap, these people are friggin' WEIRD!"

Basil needs the "energies" of Phineas Horton's magnum opus. I have no idea what he means. The villagers see the lights of Castle Frankenstein flash, which means the monster is going to return. They get ready to form a mob, but Namor tries to make them stay. But they're more afraid of Frankenstein than they are the Sub-Mariner. Namor doesn't want to harm the villagers, so he flies ahead, hoping to find the other Invaders. Thanks to his flight powers, he's able to get ahead of the angry mob. The Atlantean prince spots the castle's lab. 

He sees energy being transferred from the Torch to the Monster. This causes the monster to grow in size, his uniform bursting. The mob make it to the castle and start brawling with the Nazi soldiers inside.

Namor uses a terminal to free the Torch, who then is able to free the other Invaders. The empowered monster engages the Invaders and proves to be a match for them. However, the creature freaks out around Jim and Toro, in the Frankenstein tradition.

Namor Mighty Punches the Monster into a console, shorting it out. The Monster survives this...and cries.

Turned out all the Monster wanted was some Swiss chocolate.

Yeah, it was revealed by Basil earlier that there was an implant in the creature's brain that kept it obedient to him. The blow from Namor or the short-circuiting machines broke it, freeing the creature. He angrily turns on his creators, grabbing Basil and Kitagowa. He takes them to the top of the castle's walls. The Monster declares that he's going to return to the graves he was born from...and he'll take his creators with him. And with that, he jumps off the wall into the ground below, his creators with him. 

"Wait...I FORGOT TO PUT THE BOUNCY CASTLE HERE!"

So long, Basil and Kitty. Don't let the door hit you where the dog should have bit you. The Invaders mull over this turn of events. The mob, still unsatisfied with the death of Basil and Kitty and the seeming destruction of the Monster, prepare to destroy the castle. Jim Hammond angrily snuffs out their torches, saying the castle must stand as a monument to the creature who in the end, showed his true humanity. And with that, the story is over. Spitfire asks Cap if the Torch really protects the castle, and he nervously answers, "uh...would you?" 

This was a fun adventure tale. While it's got its flaws by modern standards, it did have the feel of a Golden Age tale, which does fit these wartime-era heroes. And I do think that since the Frankenstein family do exist in the Marvel Universe, it does make sense that the Nazis would try to use their work to create their own super-soldiers. I mean, the original Monster had been shown to be quite strong and durable. Makes a bit of sense that they'd want to have something like that on their side.

The plot point of using the Human Torch's "energies" to make the Monster stronger is a bit silly and dumb by today's standards...but it does work here as it feels like something out of a Golden Age comic book.  It makes sense here as it's a team of Golden Age-era heroes set in World War II, when the Golden Age of Comics was going.

Art-wise, John Buscema and Chic Stone turn in some great work. It does have a bit of a Golden Age feel in parts, not to the level of Frank Robbins, but hey, Buscema is always welcome in any comic. 

You know, I can't help but wonder. In the Marvel: The Lost Generation maxiseries (particularly issue #5), we've seen that one of the members of the Line in the 1960s was Frank, a Frankenstein's Monster-like creature. Reading this comic, it got me thinking. Could it be possible that Frank was this Monster? It would make sense. This Frankenstein's Monster only fought for the Nazi cause due to being controlled, not willingly. There's nothing indicating that he may not have survived the fall that likely killed Basil and Kitagawa. He seemed pretty durable (he likely had to be built tough to take on Namor). Maybe he ended up in a form of stasis as a result, was found by the First Line, and convinced by them that fighting evil alongside them could be a way for him to redeem himself for the events of this comic here. And Frank's speech pattern from M:tLG could be a result of brain damage. I mean, that Frank can't have been the Frankenstein Monster of Mary Shelley's novel (as he was on ice in the 1960s). That's just my theory.  

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend that you track down the 2014 trade paperback The Invaders: The Complete Collection Vol. 2. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write, and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-Fi! See you next time!

Back to the Future Day

Happy Back to the Future Day, everyone!

Why is it on this day? Well, this is the day Marty McFly, Jennifer, and Dr. Emmett Brown arrived in 2015 from 1985 in Back to the Future Part II!

Yup! It's Back to the Future Day! A day of celebration for BTTF fans, and fans of pop culture in general. The time-jumping saga is on the mind of every film buff and pop-culture geek today!

In Back to the Future Part II (released on November 22, 1989), Marty McFly, Jennifer Parker, and Emmett Brown travel to the year 2015, in an attempt to prevent Marty and Jennifer's future son, Marty Jr., from getting involved with a criminal gang and ruining his life. And of course, mayhem and insanity ensues.

This film was actually made back-to-back with the third movie in the BTTF trilogy. There wasn't any intention to be a sequel to the original BTTF, but the first film became a huge hit. As such, a there were calls for a sequel. Director Robert Zemeckis re-teamed up with screenwriter Bob Gale to create the story of the second movie. Zemeckis had only agreed to do a sequel if Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd would agree to reprise their roles as Marty McFly and Doctor Emmett Brown.

The film was a groundbreaking effort for iconic special-effects firm ILM, being one of the first films to use digital compositing, and one of the first uses of the VistaGlide motion control camera system. There's also a brief bit of CGI in the scene when Marty encounters the holographic shark in 2015 Hill Valley.

Back to the Future Part II was a box office success, raking in $333 million on a $40 million budget. It became the third-highest grossing film of 1989, only behind Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Batman. It was praised by critics, despite a view that it was inherently inferior to its predecessor. This year, 2026, marks the 37th anniversary of this movie. While it did get some predictions wrong about the real-life 2015, it did get some things right...but then again, Bob Gale has said that the film wasn't meant to be a serious look at what the future could be like. Big flat-screen TVs? Nailed it. Paying for things on personal devices? Nailed it. Video chat? Nailed it. Wearable technology? Nailed it. Smart home technology? Nailed it. I hope they find a way to make that pizza hydrator thing from Marty's 2015 home a reality.

I love this movie, and I hope you give it a watch and enjoy it as well. Maybe enjoy some of the pizza from the movie while you do. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a dontion to my Ko-fi! See you next time!

Marvel Cosmic Invasion DLC #2 (Invisible Woman and Doctor Doom) Trailer, My Thoughts

 Back in March 2025, I gave my thoughts on the announcement trailer for the beat 'em up game known as Marvel Cosmic Invasion. The game was an homage to the beat 'em up games of the late-80s and 90s, bringing together an eclectic group of Marvel's heroes to beat back the invasion of Earth by the monstrous extradimensional villain known as Annihilus. The game so far has had 15 characters at launch. The announcement trailer revealed seven of those playable characters: Captain America (Steve Rogers), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Venom (Eddie Brock), Nova (Richard Rider), Quasar (Phyla-Vell), Storm, and Wolverine (James "Logan" Howlett). Future trailers revealed the rest of the launch roster: She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters) and Rocket Raccoon, Beta Ray Bill and the Silver Surfer, Black Panther (T'Challa) and Cosmic Ghost Rider, and Iron Man (Tony Stark) and Phoenix (Jean Grey). We also got the first two DLC characters: Cyclops and the Thing. 

And now, we got two more characters joining up! This brings the total of playable characters to 19: The Fantastic Four's secret MVP/powerhouse Susan Storm-Richards, the Invisible Woman...and the tyrant of Latveria, Doctor Victor Von Doom himself. Makes sense, with Avengers: Doomsday coming. Let's take a look at the trailer!

Man, Doom's really upgraded his Doombots. Makes sense he would, though. Technology is ever evolving.

Yeesh, what did Doom do to make Sue that mad. It's one of the unwritten rules of the Marvel Universe. You do not make Sue mad. I guess you could say that Doom is...doomed, heh heh.

I'm sorry. I am so so sorry.

And of course, Doom would arrogantly think he could take on anyone by himself. 

I do wish that Sue said something motherly to Spider-Man. Considering she's had to play the role to Johnny, is one to Valeria and Franklin, and the connections between the Wall-Crawler and the FF, it would be something nice to see.

Yeah, in the comics, Doom has stolen the Power Cosmic from the Surfer. So I can imagine if that's also true here, there would be plenty of awkwardness there when they're forced to fight together.

You know, I don't think Doom and Beta Ray Bill have ever met. I imagine they'd have some interesting interactions. 

And as with the Surfer, I can imagine there's plenty of awkwardness on Iron Man's end, too. 

Well, this is really cool. Considering this DLC is focused on Doctor Doom, it does make sense that he'd appear here. And I can also imagine from a character perspective, he'd be none too happy with someone trying to conquer his planet. Invisible Woman was a genuine surprise. I never expected another member of the FF to be among the playable cast. Now I'm hoping that Marvel will finally bring some Inhumans into this game. I know they like to pretend that they don't exist anymore now that Marvel Studios got the live-action film rights to the X-Men back, but come on! 

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-Fi! See you next time!

Bass X Machina Trailer, My Thoughts

The Wild West has its own fair share of legends, on both sides of the law. The likes of Wyatt Earp and Billy the kid paint a picture of the era that has endured even to this day. One of those legends, an understated one from what I understand about it, is the legend of Bass Reeves. 

Reeves was one of the first Black U.S. Marshals, Reeves was born a slave. His enslavers fought for the Confederacy in the American Civil War. However, during that time, Reeves himself would escape and flee to the Indian Territories. While there, he learned various skills from Native tribes there, like their languages, customs, and how to track and survive. After the war, he became a farmer and rancher. At the age of 37, he became a U.S. Marshal. Over the next nearly thirty years, he worked as a peace officer in the Indian Territory. In fact, Reeves is seen as a possible inspiration for the Lone Ranger.

The man has appeared in television, movies, even comic books. And now he's getting his own animated six-episode series, a steampunk Western in which the man himself will be a cyborg voiced by Brian Tyree Henry (who is also executive producer). Created by LeSean Thomas, the series focuses on the man as he fights for justice in a steampunk Wild West. The series will also feature the vocal talents of singer/actress Janelle Monae (who also wrote the theme song and is making music for the series), Tati Gabrielle, Cree Summer, and Chaske Spencer. Let's look at the trailer!

Ohhh, he is going to be hurting after that.

19th Century steampunk tech for you. They can make you a cyborg, but they still haven't figured out that operating rooms should be sterile.

Besides, Mrs. Reeves. I don't think you can handle his dreams about the sandwich monsters. So. Many. Sandwich. Monsters.

Ooh, that robot arm is nice.

"Bunch of bears got in the moonshine, Mr. Reeves. We need an awesome cyborg to deal with 'em, and you're the only one we know of. Becaus Victor Stone hasn't been born yet."

Oh, the Confederates. Yeah, Bass is probably wishing he was dealing with bears drunk on moonshine right now.

Come on, Bass! Have a bit of gerne savvy! Bring her along! She'll end up saving your butt!

YA SEE?!

Man, those were some cool shots! 

And of course, gotta throw in a little magic to make this Wild West a bit more wild.

I'm surprised they didn't give Bass a Rocket Punch.

Well, this show looks fun as all get out. I can't wait to watch it! I think it'll be a great rip-roaring adventure based on a Wild West legend! Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!

X-Men #17 (February 1993)

When it comes to superheroes and drama, there is arguably no team that is close to drama as Marvel's Merry Mutants, the X-Men. After all, one of the reasons why the team got so popular back in the 1980s and 1990s was that, well...it wasn't just people in costumes punching other people in costumes. The comic had essentially become a soap opera, including all the crazy romances and twists that came with it. But even the X-Men need a break from all that insanity...until the universe decides to not give them one. This is X-Men #17!

The cover is an Andy Kubert and Mark Pennington piece. It's a basic piece, with the X-Men standing around like they're posing for a poster, a villain looming in the background. This cover would make a nice poster, though.

"A Skinning of Souls Part One: Waiting for the Ripening"
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Penciler: Andy Kubert
Inker: Mark Pennington
Colorist: Joe Rosas
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins on the Ustor Dynski farming collective in Siberia. A young girl runs through the fields, happy as a clam. A member of her family is coming to visit her. And unknown to her, she is being observed.

"I don't get paid enough for this."

The little girl runs into her father's arms, excited to see her brother Piotr again. As in Piotr Rasputin, aka Colossus of the X-Men. Yes, this girl is Illyana Rasputin, aka the former New Mutant and future X-Man known as Magik. Yeah, she was de-aged back to childhood thanks to the events of the 1989 Inferno crossover, which we've touched on in the past. Yeah, I've shown how Spider-Man and his supporting cast, the X-Men, and Daredevil got through it. So, some Halloween reading for you there. You are welcome.

The mysterious observer overhears them discussing how long it has been since Piotr came to visit, and he's all like, "It has. Hasn't it?"

We next go northwards to the oil-rig town of Neftelensk. From what I can find, this is a made-up village, supposedly located near the real-life Lena River. There has been some strange things going on here, so two of Russia's resident superheroes are taking a look into it.

"So they told us to just...stand here and try to look cool?! WHAT'S THE POINT?!" 

Meet Laynia Petrovna, aka Darkstar, and Father Alexi Garnoff, aka the mutant telepath known as Blind Faith. Both of them were members of the team known as the Soviet Super Soldiers (basically a USSR/Russian version of the Avengers) that would be revamped as the Winter Guard. The two notice that despite the presence of people in this town, Blind Faith's telepathy can't seem to pick them up. It's like they're not even there...

Darkstar pulls a Fred Jones and tells Garnoff to continue investigating on the ground, while she looks for clues from the air.

When she flies off, she spots a familiar...Presence.

"Why have you not given me any grandchildren?!" 

This is Sergei Krylov, aka...the Presence. A nuclear physicist from Belarus, he is the father of Darkstar and her twin brother Nikolai Krylenko, aka the telekinetic Vanguard. He's also a bit of a whacked-out nutbar.

Right, right. The Presence taunts her, despite also claiming that he is not responsible for what is happening in this little oil-rig town. Darkstar's powers somehow go out of control. The same mysterious presence also attacks Garnoff and takes him down.

Three days pass. Over at Red Square in Moscow, three men are conversing about the situation.

"This better be good, gentlemen. I got the Cuban cigars out."

From left to right, they are General Fyodr Sheltov (the head of the People's Protectorate), Col. Alexei Vazhin, and Colonel-General Valentin Shatalov (the head of the Remont program). Remont can't investigate as they're not allowed to work within Russia itself, and Sheltov has no desire to risk the members of the People's Protectorate. Vazhin realizes they need another man to deal with the problem. Someone expendable. Someone they can disavow and pretend they went rogue. Not the X-Man Rogue, as in "went off on their own without permission". Vazhin says that it'll take some convincing, but he can get Omega Red on board with this. Oh yeah, Omega Red, the superpowered serial killer. That can only end well!

You know, this is a book called "X-Men", after all. Where are they at? Well, another three days pass, and their Blackbird is flying over the skies of Russia. 

Scott and Betsy had no other clothes.

As you can see, the group is comprised of James "Logan" Howlett/Wolverine I, Betsy Braddock/Psylocke (who is in the body of the ninja Kwannon, yeah THAT was a whole thing), Scott Summers/Cyclops, Bobby Drake/Iceman, Jubilation Lee/Jubilee, and of course, Piotr Rasputin/Colossus.

They would have been there sooner, but stuff in Wolverine's own book held them up. Betsy worries that Scott Summers is pushing himself too hard by bringing the X-Men to visit Colossus's family. Cyclops isn't too worried. After all, he kind of needs the break. He's been going through some stuff right now himself. She believes that Scott thinks too much, and should start doing more. 

Elsewhere in the jet, Bobby and Piotr are talking. Bobby asks him if he's alright with telling his parents and sister about what happened to his older brother Mikhail. Piotr says that it would be a relief to do so, as it may help him ditch the struggles he's had since Mikhail seemingly killed himself by flooding the sewer tunnel home of the Morlocks in Uncanny X-Men #293 (October 1992). The Blackbird arrives at the Rasputin's home. The man who is observing them recognizes the X-Men and makes a call. He needs to talk to Colonel Vazhin immediately.

So, while Colossus is with his family, let's look in on the rest of the X-Men, shall we? Back at the Xavier Institute, Rogue is undergoing a trust exercise with Remy LeBeau, aka Gambit.

Gambit wasn't sure Rogue doing some blind diving was a good idea.

Why are they doing this? Well, Rogue had been temporarily blinded, and Remy's trying to help her cope...in the Gambit way. He tells her to walk forward, which nearly causes her to go off the diving board.

Gambit did this to make a point, giving her two rules: Trust the people you care for, and if you're in a vulnerable state, don't trust anyone. If you're confused by this, you're not the only one. 

Professor Xavier is watching this, while pondering. He can sense that Remy wants Rogue to love him, but he doesn't want to be in love with her. A dangerous game, our mysterious Cajun is playing. He's pulled out of his thoughts by Storm with two members of X-Force: Former New Mutant Sam "Cannonball" Guthrie and ex-Hellion James "Warpath" Proudstar.

Ororo Munroe likes to do everything dramatically.

Sam and Jimmy had just learned of the deaths of the other Hellions and their leader, future X-Man Emma "White Queen" Frost's coma. They were slaughtered by a villain named Trevor Fitzroy (who also had some Sentinels with him) in Uncanny X-Men #281 (October 1991), with Empath being the only survivor. They would be restored to life in the Krakoa Era, but that's another tale for another time. Sam and James want to lay them to rest, alongside Empath and fellow ex-New Mutant Magma. They'll also be joined by Firestar, who was a Hellion and is with the New Warriors at this time.

Xavier can't loan them a Blackbird due to legal issues X-Force is going through at the time, but he suggests the New Warriors may be able to help with that, which they do in New Warriors #31. 

Our scene shifts again, this time to Japan. In particular, the Ginza district. This place is known for its many department stores and coffeehouses. Basically, if you want to shop till you drop in Japan, you come here. A mysterious woman has made her way here, but not to shop, drink coffee, or do both. Instead, she thrashes a bunch of men in a back alley. As part of her thrashing, she shows off her love of the Three Stooges.

Turns out "Nyuk nyuk nyuk" didn't sound as good in Japanese.

The narrator notes that she speaks perfect Japanese but has an odd accent. She takes off her hood, revealing light purple hair. She feels ready now to face the X-Men...and get her revenge. 

Back in Russia, the sun is rising, and Piotr Rasputin, ever the farmboy, is not only awake, but he is also chopping some wood. Wolverine is also awake, enjoying a cigarette. Mainly because Piotr's mother told him to smoke outside. There's just something so funny to me about this around 200-year-old mutant who's fought in tons of wars and is considered one of the toughest characters in the Marvel Universe being told to go smoke outside by an old Russian lady. But Wolverine does have a heart, and Piotr's mom is presumably very nice, so I can imagine he'd be fine with it. Piotr tells him that she suspects his father sneaks a cigar every now and then when he's out with friends. Logan confirms he does (he can smell it), but it's not very often.

The two have a nice character moment, Piotr asking if all the X-Men have suffered through is worth all they have accomplished, all the times they have saved the world. Logan looks at it like this: the world owes them nothing. Colossus wonders if maybe going to join the X-Men was the worst mistake of his life.

Meanwhile, Scott Summers is waking up from another bad dream he had about his son Cable and the villain Stryfe. He's been having those dreams for weeks, and it's been keeping him from enjoying a good night's sleep. He decides to grab a shower to clear his head, only to find Betsy there in a towel.

An embarrassed Scott decides he's out of there. Boy, he got his head cleared up alright! And it got Psylocke smirking. 

In the kitchen, Bobby and Jubilee are enjoying some breakfast with Piotr's mother, Jubilee helping the now-kid Illyana put on a little makeup. 

Back in Red Square, Vazhin is looking at a photo of Illyana. He doesn't like this. Sheltov ain't a fan of it either, as she reminds him of his own daughter. Thing is, she may be their last hope to stop what is going on in Neftelensk, and well...Omega Red went down there and he's been missing for two days. Vazhin points out that man reported to him that the X-Men are in Russia. He'll ask them to look into it.

This was an enjoyable issue. If you ask me, Fabian Nicieza is an underrated writer, especially when it came to the X-Books. He's very good at providing character moments for both drama and humor. I got a good chuckle out of Scott accidentally walking in on Betsy in the shower, and Bobby trying to speak Russian. You'd think hanging out with Colossus would have allowed him to pick up at least a couple words, ha ha. But yeah, this drama is one of the reasons why the X-Books were such big hits in the early 90s. 

Nicieza gives us some great character work in this issue. I really liked the interplay between Piotr and Logan, the sensitive kind artist who is losing faith bouncing off the cynical, rough, yet philosophical warrior. Not to mention Betsy's flirtations towards Scott. What is it about that man that gets telepaths all revved up? It does feel like a soap opera. With superpowers. I also liked the scene with Bobby, Jubilee, and Illyana with Piotr's parents. I love scenes like this with the X-Men. To me, the X-Men need human family, friends and allies to help remind them of why they exist, what they're fighting for, and to keep them, well...grounded for lack of a better word. It's why I couldn't stand the Krakoa Era. If you keep the X-Men away from humanity, they lose it. 

Andy Kubert has artist in his blood. He is the son of legendary artist Joe Kubert. His style here is very reminiscent of Jim Lee. Which does make sense, Lee's art stye was one of the reasons why the X-Men became so huge in the early 90s. He does a very good imitation, although I do find the faces a bit...stiff. 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2013 trade paperback X-Men: A Skinning of Souls. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you like it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-Fi! See you next time!