X-Men Annual #4
Well, this appears to more-or-less be where the fourth (1980) X-Men Annual goes, so here it is. It opens with Nightcrawler being astonished to find a surprise party for his twenty-first birthday. After opening his other presents, he opens a black box with a crystal statue of himself. The statue explodes into a black smoke that clings to his face and appears to kill him. Professor X calls in Doctor Strange to help out. He uses the Eye of Agamotto to scan Nightcrawler and finds that his soul has been stolen. Though there is much hatred fueling it, he doesn't think there is evil. A spirit-form identifying itself as Margali of the Winding Road appears, easily penetrating Doctor Strange's protective spells. Tentacles appear and drag Doctor Strange and the X-Men into the magical darkness surrounding Margali. Kitty and the Professor are left behind. (Among Nightcrawler's gifts are a tacky shirt, a pair of binoculars, and a picture of Wolverine. This is a solid mention of Nightcrawler's age. When Doctor Strange scans Nightcrawler, he thinks to himself that he assumed he was a hybrid between a human and a demon, but he is human at his essence. This contradicts the much later revelation under other writers that he was half-demon, but it's so obscure, I can't blame them for missing it!)
The X-Men find themselves at the entrance to Hell, as described in Dante's Inferno. Nightcrawler is there as well. Doctor Strange has been to Hell, and it didn't look like this, but he wonders if really is, regardless. Charon the boatman takes them across the river Archeron, where they meet Dis at the gates of Hell. Dis manifests as a smarmy guy in a suit. After taunting the X-Men for a while, he summons a tentacle that casts Nightcrawler into the pit of Hell. Storm flies after him and catches him, She is hit with hurricane winds over the second circle of Hell and attacked by harpies. A harpy stabs her in the back with a spear, as Nightcrawler teleports away, and she falls deeper into Hell. (Yeah, this issue is a visual representation of Inferno. I picked up The Divine Comedy a few years back, and read through Inferno, at least. It was pretty heavy reading, but it gives me a bit of context for this.)
Back at the gates of Hell, Nightcrawler appears, saying he's never teleported so far non-stop. Wolverine gets tired of Dis's lip and threatens him with his claws. The X-Men and Doctor Strange descend into the third circle of Hell. They are attacked by Cerberus, but Wolverine and Colossus send him packing. They then come to the fourth circle and the city of Dis. An army of demons attacks them from the walls and they fight their way through. Colossus strains and gets the gates to Dis open. Doctor Strange realizes that Colossus shouldn't have been able to open the gates, as Dante said that only one being (Jesus?) could force them open.
It cuts ahead to the eight circle, Malabolge. Doctor Strange tells them that the souls of thieves are located in Malabolge, and Wolverine realizes that's where Storm must be. The pit they seek is filled with serpents, but they see Storm as well. Nightcrawler teleports to Storm, but her face is monstrous. Doctor Strange restrains her with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. Wolverine realizes that that's not really her, but one of the snakes is, thanks to his senses. Doctor Strange says that some of the serpents transform their victims into serpents and themselves into humans, so they let the snake bite the fake Storm, and she is restored to her proper body. (Colossus claims he was raised an athiest. This seems unusual for a Russian farmboy in the 60's. I believe the predominant denomination in Russia is Protestant. And I ought to know, after browsing all those Russian bride sites back in the day!)
They finally come to the bottom, the frigid land of Cocytus. Nightcrawler is suddenly incased in ice beneath their feet and they struggle to get him out. Finally they come to Satan, but Doctor Strange forces him to reveal his true form: Margali. A young woman named Jimaine appears in front of Nightcrawler, attempting to keep her mother, Margali, from destroying Nightcrawler. Doctor Strange and Margali duel, but they are evenly matched. She claims Nightcrawler killed her son. Nightcrawler yields to her judgement and she uses her magic to reveal what happened. (I'm pretty sure Doctor Strange isn't Sorceror Supreme yet, or else his being stymied by Margali is a bit much to take.)
Flashback time! We learn that Nightcrawler, barely an hour old, was found beside his dying mother and raised by Margali as her own. He grows close to her son, Stefan. Stefan and he become blood brothers, and Stefan, fearing the dark side of his soul, makes Nightcrawler swear to kill him if he becomes a murderer. Much later, Stefan does indeed kill, and Nightcrawler breaks his neck in the struggle afterwards. The villagers find Nightcrawler and chase him, assuming he was the "demon who slaughtered their children." Margali sees this and forgives Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler thanks Jimaine, who reveals herself to actually be Amanda Sefton, his girlfriend! Kitty feels like she's not a part of the X-Men, but Wolverine tells her to stand with the rest of the X-Men. The end! (The corpse of his dying mother business doesn't match any version of Nightcrawler's origin. Maybe it wasn't what it appeared, or maybe Margali wasn't telling the truth, or maybe the ideas weren't soldified in Chris Claremont's mind yet. John Byrne wouldn't let Chris use this clumsy retcon on Amanda Sefton. Dave Cockrum always disliked Amanda Sefton. I'm pretty sure she's another character that only Chris liked. As I just mentioned, it was a pretty clumsy retcon, as she was most certainly not intended to be a sorceress in disguise in her earlier appearances. If Stefan became a child murderer, it's hard to feel bad about him dying!)
Overview: Well, this was a prett ambitious issue, but I think they pulled it off pretty well. I think this is pretty much the only appearance of Margali to this day. Nightcrawler's origin was getting hinted at a lot during this period, but it just sort of got lost in the shuffle and never resolved until long after Chris Claremont left, and then with some story that didn't match any of the known facts, such as making him half-demon. I don't think Stefan gets so much as a mention outside of this issue. It's always nice to see the X-Men interacting with other Marvel characters, in this case Doctor Strange.
The art team deserves mention. It is co-credited to John Romita, Jr. and Bob McLeod, both of whom would go on to make a splash in X-Men. Bob McLeod co-created the New Mutants a few years down the road, though he didn't pencil them for long. John Romita Jr. would become regular penciler on Uncanny X-Men about five years after this, then again ten years or so after that. His art was good here, but he hadn't developed his own style yet, which is quite unique.
The X-Men find themselves at the entrance to Hell, as described in Dante's Inferno. Nightcrawler is there as well. Doctor Strange has been to Hell, and it didn't look like this, but he wonders if really is, regardless. Charon the boatman takes them across the river Archeron, where they meet Dis at the gates of Hell. Dis manifests as a smarmy guy in a suit. After taunting the X-Men for a while, he summons a tentacle that casts Nightcrawler into the pit of Hell. Storm flies after him and catches him, She is hit with hurricane winds over the second circle of Hell and attacked by harpies. A harpy stabs her in the back with a spear, as Nightcrawler teleports away, and she falls deeper into Hell. (Yeah, this issue is a visual representation of Inferno. I picked up The Divine Comedy a few years back, and read through Inferno, at least. It was pretty heavy reading, but it gives me a bit of context for this.)
Back at the gates of Hell, Nightcrawler appears, saying he's never teleported so far non-stop. Wolverine gets tired of Dis's lip and threatens him with his claws. The X-Men and Doctor Strange descend into the third circle of Hell. They are attacked by Cerberus, but Wolverine and Colossus send him packing. They then come to the fourth circle and the city of Dis. An army of demons attacks them from the walls and they fight their way through. Colossus strains and gets the gates to Dis open. Doctor Strange realizes that Colossus shouldn't have been able to open the gates, as Dante said that only one being (Jesus?) could force them open.
It cuts ahead to the eight circle, Malabolge. Doctor Strange tells them that the souls of thieves are located in Malabolge, and Wolverine realizes that's where Storm must be. The pit they seek is filled with serpents, but they see Storm as well. Nightcrawler teleports to Storm, but her face is monstrous. Doctor Strange restrains her with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. Wolverine realizes that that's not really her, but one of the snakes is, thanks to his senses. Doctor Strange says that some of the serpents transform their victims into serpents and themselves into humans, so they let the snake bite the fake Storm, and she is restored to her proper body. (Colossus claims he was raised an athiest. This seems unusual for a Russian farmboy in the 60's. I believe the predominant denomination in Russia is Protestant. And I ought to know, after browsing all those Russian bride sites back in the day!)
They finally come to the bottom, the frigid land of Cocytus. Nightcrawler is suddenly incased in ice beneath their feet and they struggle to get him out. Finally they come to Satan, but Doctor Strange forces him to reveal his true form: Margali. A young woman named Jimaine appears in front of Nightcrawler, attempting to keep her mother, Margali, from destroying Nightcrawler. Doctor Strange and Margali duel, but they are evenly matched. She claims Nightcrawler killed her son. Nightcrawler yields to her judgement and she uses her magic to reveal what happened. (I'm pretty sure Doctor Strange isn't Sorceror Supreme yet, or else his being stymied by Margali is a bit much to take.)
Flashback time! We learn that Nightcrawler, barely an hour old, was found beside his dying mother and raised by Margali as her own. He grows close to her son, Stefan. Stefan and he become blood brothers, and Stefan, fearing the dark side of his soul, makes Nightcrawler swear to kill him if he becomes a murderer. Much later, Stefan does indeed kill, and Nightcrawler breaks his neck in the struggle afterwards. The villagers find Nightcrawler and chase him, assuming he was the "demon who slaughtered their children." Margali sees this and forgives Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler thanks Jimaine, who reveals herself to actually be Amanda Sefton, his girlfriend! Kitty feels like she's not a part of the X-Men, but Wolverine tells her to stand with the rest of the X-Men. The end! (The corpse of his dying mother business doesn't match any version of Nightcrawler's origin. Maybe it wasn't what it appeared, or maybe Margali wasn't telling the truth, or maybe the ideas weren't soldified in Chris Claremont's mind yet. John Byrne wouldn't let Chris use this clumsy retcon on Amanda Sefton. Dave Cockrum always disliked Amanda Sefton. I'm pretty sure she's another character that only Chris liked. As I just mentioned, it was a pretty clumsy retcon, as she was most certainly not intended to be a sorceress in disguise in her earlier appearances. If Stefan became a child murderer, it's hard to feel bad about him dying!)
Overview: Well, this was a prett ambitious issue, but I think they pulled it off pretty well. I think this is pretty much the only appearance of Margali to this day. Nightcrawler's origin was getting hinted at a lot during this period, but it just sort of got lost in the shuffle and never resolved until long after Chris Claremont left, and then with some story that didn't match any of the known facts, such as making him half-demon. I don't think Stefan gets so much as a mention outside of this issue. It's always nice to see the X-Men interacting with other Marvel characters, in this case Doctor Strange.
The art team deserves mention. It is co-credited to John Romita, Jr. and Bob McLeod, both of whom would go on to make a splash in X-Men. Bob McLeod co-created the New Mutants a few years down the road, though he didn't pencil them for long. John Romita Jr. would become regular penciler on Uncanny X-Men about five years after this, then again ten years or so after that. His art was good here, but he hadn't developed his own style yet, which is quite unique.