X-Men #98 (April 1976)

Last week, this blog drew inspiration from the cold by telling a story of X-Men ally Madelyne Pryor falling from grace and helping ignite an Inferno. I had also chosen that issue because I struggled to recall a story with a comic set on Christmas. It wasn't until I had written that issue that I recalled that I had read an X-Men story that was set on Christmas. D'OH! So, to provide one last bit of Christmas cheer (and celebrate the last review of 2022), I thought we could look at a tale of the X-Men spending Christmas battling some old enemies. This is X-Men #98!

The cover is a Dave Cockrum and Gaspar Saladino piece. The cover depicts the X-Men valiantly standing against the Sentinels, who have decided to claim this building and play "King of the Castle". I think it's an exciting and dynamic cover.

"Merry Christmas, X-Men - The Sentinels Have Returned!"
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Dave Cockrum
Inker: Sam Grainger
Colorist: Janice Cohen
Letterer: Sam Rosen
Editor: Marv Wolfman

The story starts with the X-Men enjoying Christmastime in New York City. The group are enjoying the season in their own way. Scott and Jean head into a restaurant, planning to enjoy a nice meal. However, a certain bunch of giant robots decide to step in.

"IT'S SENTINELLING TIME!"

They're here to capture Scott and Jean. The two mutants are able to knock away their assailants (and literally blow a hole in one of them in Scott's case). However, one of the Sentinels manages to blast Scott and capture Jean. As the Sentinel flies off, Scott is left hanging, quite literally.

"Man, getting on that MTV show is not worth it!"

The remains of the destroyed Sentinel rain down on the ground, catching the attention of Sean, Ororo, and Logan. Storm is able to rescue Scott, and he reveals that Banshee and Wolverine were ambushed by more Sentinels. Another one tries to take down Ororo. She...objects to that.

Scott realizes that Professor X is unaware of the return of the Sentinels, and he has to be warned. 

Speaking of Professor X, where is he now? 

"🎵 Sailing, Sailing, Over the Bounty Main...🎵"

That's right, he's taking a nice little relaxing cruise. He's traveling with a friend of his: A Dr. Peter Corbeau. Corbeau's been looking into a request Xavier had for him: find a certain binary star system. However, Corbeau has been unable to find it, even the Avengers and the Fantastic Four's star charts don't have the star system. He suggests that Xavier's been under strain, and maybe needs a psychiatrist himself. The conversation is interrupted by Xavier getting a bite on his fishing pole. Hey, we're eating fish tonight!

...unfortunately, it's not a fish that Xavier has caught.

"Surprise, MotherXavier!"

Xavier is able to knock the Sentinel back into the water with a mental blast, but it should have destroyed it. Evidently, Xavier's issues have weakened his power. He orders Corbeau to gun the boat and run for it.

It's here that Xavier is hit by another one of his visions. The Sentinel smashes the boat and makes off with the Professor, leaving Corbeau in the water amongst the wreckage. The Sentinel hurries off into the sky, as evidently it can't be out in the sun too long.

So, where did the Sentinel get off to?

"You see X-Men, I'm not the bad guy...even though I come off as one."

Banshee's been here for a few days, so he recognizes the man in charge: a Dr. Stephen Lang. He's the head honcho of this little space station. It's explained that the Sentinel that captured Xavier hurried back because there's some solar radiation storms coming, and they could interfere with the Sentinels' systems. 

Anyway, Lang explains that he plans to destroy mutantkind. He captured members of the X-Men because they've been the Sentinels' toughest foes. He figures that if he kills them, then mutantkind would not be able to put up a fight against the Sentinels. Lang is nuts. And dumb.

Jean mocks him, and he angrily slaps her. This infuriates Wolverine, who easily breaks his way out of his shackles and unleashes his claws. He easily takes out the guards and even a Sentinel. He frees the other X-Men. He and Jean have a brief argument about getting Charles out of there (the man is trapped in a tube a la Zordon), but the Sentinels forcibly table it.

"You cannot leave! We have not served dessert yet!"

The three X-Men easily tear their way through the Sentinels, which confuses Jean. They should not be able to smash their way through these big ol' robots easily, but Wolverine just sees it as a gift. The X-Men continue fighting their way through the Sentinels. Banshee then uses his sonic scream to get everyone out of there...sort of. The Irish mutant's eyes widen in shock...and his scream cuts out.

Back at the Xavier Institute, Cyclops has spent the last few days trying to find his comrades. He's scanned the world with Cerebro twice over, but has failed to detect them. Kurt Wagner, the Nightcrawler, tries to get Scott to take a break. After all, he's been at this non-stop for four days. Man needs a break.

The Institute's scanners detect someone trying to sneak into the mansion. Kurt goes to investigate, and discovers it is Dr. Corbeau. Corbeau fills in the remaining X-Men about the Sentinels taking their comrades, and it leads Scott to believe they are dead. But that's the thing. When one of the Sentinels made off with Xavier, it mentioned it had to leave before it suffered damage from the sun. It leads Corbeau to realize that the missing X-Men are not on Earth. 

Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Storm now know where their missing comrades are. But it may already be too late to save them...

When Banshee said he wanted to go to space, this was not what he had in mind...

This was pretty good. Wasn't very Christmassy, but it did have a lot of exciting action. This is early Claremont, but it does show some of the things that would become hallmarks of his run. The evolution of Jean Grey into a stronger character, Storm being regarded as one of the strongest X-Men in pure power, and the like. This issue has one heck of a cliffhanger. Stephen Lang is your run of the mill "I want to destroy all mutants because I think they are all bad" X-Men villain. Not the first the X-Men have fought, not the last. 

I don't have much to say about Cockrum's art. I do like it, but then again, I'm better at assessing the writing of a comic over the art. That's something I've come to realize doing this blog over the years. I thought Cockrum did a good job with the artwork.  

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2003 trade paperback Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! Have a belated Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and have a Happy New Year! Hope 2023 is a good year for you! See you all next time!