The Uncanny X-Men #211
The story begins with the Marauders facing some Morlocks who are eating at a table. Scalphunter introduces them, saying they kill mutants. The Morlocks aren't sure how to take this, but Scalphunter assembles a gun and shoots it into the table, causing an explosion. Riptide spins around, firing spikes that kill most of the survivors. One Morlock is invulnerable, but Scrambler removes his power and Riptide and Scalphunter finish him off. A woman named Cybelle who exudes acid uses her power to get through the wall toward the main Morlock tunnel. Arclight knocks down the wall and Harpoon kills her with an energy harpoon. Callisto and other see this and ready themselves to fight, but Vertigo uses her powers to give them intense vertigo, while Arclight hits the ground to knock them down. In a side tunnel a Morlock named Piper uses his pipe to summon sewer animals to his aid: alligators and bats. (A few notes here. I should have mentioned the Gambit retcon in the last X-Men dissection. Gambit, who does not appear for five years or more, was supposed to be the next cloned body of Mister Sinister, sent to infiltrate the X-Men. After Chris Claremont left, this was dropped, but there was a reference to Sabretooth thinking he smells familiar. Much later, another writer retconned it in that Gambit had been the one who lead the Marauders to the Morlock Tunnel. This contradicts not only X-Men #210, but wouldn't Sabretooth recognize him, in this case? On another topic, Piper's powers and name are the same as a Savage Land Mutate, much like Vertigo. This is apparently a coincidence, storywise, but we never see him again, at any rate.)
At the X-Men's mansion Wolverine is in a bad mood because he is still all beat up, and is being told to take it easy. Kitty is cramming for exams, along with Illyana. Nightcrawler teleports to Wolverine, but it nearly knocks him out. He says, "We're some pair, ja? So bashed and battered we're pretty much useless." He suggests they go drinking, but a mole-like Morlock bursts out of the ground, saying that strangers are in the tunnels, killing everyone. He dies in the mansion, but Psylocke sees what happened via telepathy. The X-Men go to investigate. Magneto wants to join in, as the wholesale massacre of mutants reminds him of the Holocaust, but Storm insists he stay to defend the mansion.
Magik teleports the X-Men into the tunnels, where Morlock and animal bodies are everywhere. They find Callisto, injured but alive. Vertigo strikes, knocking the X-Men for a loop, followed by Riptide. Colossus and Rogue block most of the shots and Nightcrawler teleports over to Vertigo, teleporting her around until she is knocked out. He is barely on his feet, himself, and Riptide carves him up, before taking off with Vertigo. He's badly injured and Storm orders Magik to take him back to the mansion. Magik wonders if she should bring back reinforcements, meaning the New Mutants, but Storm says no. Magik wonders if she should bring in Moira MacTaggart from Scotland to help, as she teleports Nightcrawler and Piper away. Rogue's costume got shredded, so Storm gives Rogue her vest, for at least partial protection. (Piper apparently also survived, at least to this point. The vest is Storm's badge of leadership of the Morlocks, and Callisto definitely notices her passing it along carelessly.)
Scalphunter opens the door where Annalee and the Morlock children are and he blows them all away, bragging that he'd killed some Morlock "brats" on the surface earlier. He's with Arclight, who thinks the mission is too easy. Colossus appears and chucks a boulder at them, which Arclight punches apart. She then knocks Colossus away and collapses the tunnel on top of him. Kitty is there too, and Scalphunter puts a gun to her head and fires, but it passes through her. He slashes at her throat with a knife, and that goes through her too. She says that they can't hurt her, but she can phase them into solid material and leave them. She goes to get Colossus, thinking that she doesn't have what it takes to follow up on that threat. (The Morlock children were killed about twenty issues ago. I don't think Chris had the Marauders in mind when it happened.)
Elsewhere, Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Callisto, Sunder, and other Morlock survivors are heading through the tunnels toward the mansion. Wolverine picks up a scent he thinks is impossible, and one of Cyclops's optic blasts collapses a tunnel they were going past. Storm says, "Cyclops?" and Wolverine says, "And Angel and the Beast -- ALL the original X-Men." Colossus punches his way out of the room that Annalee is in before they can examine this further, though. Annalee is still alive but soon dies. (Wolverine recognizes Jean's scent, but since he's seen her die, he's very wigged out about it. This develops more later.)
Riptide, Harpoon, and Scrambler rush at them. Wolverine and Harpoon trade blows, Wolverine getting impaled on an energy harpoon and Wolverine getting slashed across the face. Scrambler grabs Storm to take away her powers, but she is already lacking powers, so she just breaks his jaw with a punch, and Callisto follows up, breaking some of his ribs. Riptide starts spinning and firing off blades, killing many of the surviving Morlocks. Colossus tries to block the shots, taking a harpoon from Harpoon. Rogue goes to throw Scrambler at his teammates, but he touches her face, and their powers cancel each other out. Harpoon throws an energy harpoon at the suddenly-vulnerable Rogue, but Kitty phases her out. Colossus is closing in on Riptide, whose spikes are actually penetrating his armor. He grabs Riptide by the neck and kills him, looking for Harpoon next, but he and Scrambler have already left. Storm finds that Kitty can't phase back in, and is so phased out that she can't talk. Rogue wants to chase down the Marauders, but Storm says they have to get the Morlocks to the mansion. She tells Wolverine that she needs a prisoner to interrogate. Wolverine says, "No problem. What about the rest?" Storm says, "One prisoner is sufficient. The remaining Marauders are yours." The end! (Like the death of Gwen Stacy, how Colossus kills Riptide isn't quite clear. I think he crushes Riptide's throat, but some say he holds his neck while he's spinning and lets Riptide break his own neck.)
Overview: Yeah, so the X-Men are definitely moving into the grim and gritty 80's here. The mid-to-late-80's were the time of Watchmen, various Frank Miller works, Kraven's Last Hunt, the grey Hulk and other such stories. This marks a negative change in Colossus, as he becomes more tormented and unhappy. Storm's taken a blow to her self-esteem, too, fearing she's lead the X-Men to this.
It's a very long time before Nightcrawler and Kitty recover. They are no longer part of the active team for the remainder of Chris's run.
The Mutant Massacre is a pretty unfocused crossover. So... Next will be New Mutants #46, then X-Men #212 and #213. Tangential to these, but happening at about the same time as X-Men #211-212 are X-Factor #9-11, Power Pack #27, and Thor #373-374. I'll cover those in a brief summary afterwards.
At the X-Men's mansion Wolverine is in a bad mood because he is still all beat up, and is being told to take it easy. Kitty is cramming for exams, along with Illyana. Nightcrawler teleports to Wolverine, but it nearly knocks him out. He says, "We're some pair, ja? So bashed and battered we're pretty much useless." He suggests they go drinking, but a mole-like Morlock bursts out of the ground, saying that strangers are in the tunnels, killing everyone. He dies in the mansion, but Psylocke sees what happened via telepathy. The X-Men go to investigate. Magneto wants to join in, as the wholesale massacre of mutants reminds him of the Holocaust, but Storm insists he stay to defend the mansion.
Magik teleports the X-Men into the tunnels, where Morlock and animal bodies are everywhere. They find Callisto, injured but alive. Vertigo strikes, knocking the X-Men for a loop, followed by Riptide. Colossus and Rogue block most of the shots and Nightcrawler teleports over to Vertigo, teleporting her around until she is knocked out. He is barely on his feet, himself, and Riptide carves him up, before taking off with Vertigo. He's badly injured and Storm orders Magik to take him back to the mansion. Magik wonders if she should bring back reinforcements, meaning the New Mutants, but Storm says no. Magik wonders if she should bring in Moira MacTaggart from Scotland to help, as she teleports Nightcrawler and Piper away. Rogue's costume got shredded, so Storm gives Rogue her vest, for at least partial protection. (Piper apparently also survived, at least to this point. The vest is Storm's badge of leadership of the Morlocks, and Callisto definitely notices her passing it along carelessly.)
Scalphunter opens the door where Annalee and the Morlock children are and he blows them all away, bragging that he'd killed some Morlock "brats" on the surface earlier. He's with Arclight, who thinks the mission is too easy. Colossus appears and chucks a boulder at them, which Arclight punches apart. She then knocks Colossus away and collapses the tunnel on top of him. Kitty is there too, and Scalphunter puts a gun to her head and fires, but it passes through her. He slashes at her throat with a knife, and that goes through her too. She says that they can't hurt her, but she can phase them into solid material and leave them. She goes to get Colossus, thinking that she doesn't have what it takes to follow up on that threat. (The Morlock children were killed about twenty issues ago. I don't think Chris had the Marauders in mind when it happened.)
Elsewhere, Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Callisto, Sunder, and other Morlock survivors are heading through the tunnels toward the mansion. Wolverine picks up a scent he thinks is impossible, and one of Cyclops's optic blasts collapses a tunnel they were going past. Storm says, "Cyclops?" and Wolverine says, "And Angel and the Beast -- ALL the original X-Men." Colossus punches his way out of the room that Annalee is in before they can examine this further, though. Annalee is still alive but soon dies. (Wolverine recognizes Jean's scent, but since he's seen her die, he's very wigged out about it. This develops more later.)
Riptide, Harpoon, and Scrambler rush at them. Wolverine and Harpoon trade blows, Wolverine getting impaled on an energy harpoon and Wolverine getting slashed across the face. Scrambler grabs Storm to take away her powers, but she is already lacking powers, so she just breaks his jaw with a punch, and Callisto follows up, breaking some of his ribs. Riptide starts spinning and firing off blades, killing many of the surviving Morlocks. Colossus tries to block the shots, taking a harpoon from Harpoon. Rogue goes to throw Scrambler at his teammates, but he touches her face, and their powers cancel each other out. Harpoon throws an energy harpoon at the suddenly-vulnerable Rogue, but Kitty phases her out. Colossus is closing in on Riptide, whose spikes are actually penetrating his armor. He grabs Riptide by the neck and kills him, looking for Harpoon next, but he and Scrambler have already left. Storm finds that Kitty can't phase back in, and is so phased out that she can't talk. Rogue wants to chase down the Marauders, but Storm says they have to get the Morlocks to the mansion. She tells Wolverine that she needs a prisoner to interrogate. Wolverine says, "No problem. What about the rest?" Storm says, "One prisoner is sufficient. The remaining Marauders are yours." The end! (Like the death of Gwen Stacy, how Colossus kills Riptide isn't quite clear. I think he crushes Riptide's throat, but some say he holds his neck while he's spinning and lets Riptide break his own neck.)
Overview: Yeah, so the X-Men are definitely moving into the grim and gritty 80's here. The mid-to-late-80's were the time of Watchmen, various Frank Miller works, Kraven's Last Hunt, the grey Hulk and other such stories. This marks a negative change in Colossus, as he becomes more tormented and unhappy. Storm's taken a blow to her self-esteem, too, fearing she's lead the X-Men to this.
It's a very long time before Nightcrawler and Kitty recover. They are no longer part of the active team for the remainder of Chris's run.
The Mutant Massacre is a pretty unfocused crossover. So... Next will be New Mutants #46, then X-Men #212 and #213. Tangential to these, but happening at about the same time as X-Men #211-212 are X-Factor #9-11, Power Pack #27, and Thor #373-374. I'll cover those in a brief summary afterwards.