The Uncanny X-Men #217
The story begins with Psylocke running through the wilds of Muir Isle. A light blast from Dazzler attempts to blind her, but her cybernetic eyes are unaffected. A ship offshore sees the light and the captain says that there are weird stories about Muir Isle and those who go there go at their own risk. One of his sailors says he'll keep on an eye on it, then thinks to himself "For you, and for my true master, Doctor Doom." Over the island, Rogue is flying Dazzler. Rogue chastises Dazzler for overdoing the light effect, and Dazzler says she was good enough to beat Rogue every time she tried to kill her. Rogue thinks that she was crazy then and didn't know what she was doing, but makes a joke of it out loud. Dazzler thinks to herself that she did overdo it, though, tryig to prove herself. Rogue drops off Dazzler and flies to take out the presumed-blinded Psylocke. Psylocke takes control of Rogue, though Rogue struggles. Eventually Rogue gets steered into a big boulder and gets knocked out. Dazzler hits Psylocke from behind with a photon beam, and runs to make sure Psylocke isn't hurt. Psylocke is fine and takes control of Dazzler, making her fire another beam at Longshot, who was creeping up on them. He throws his grappling hook and spikes erratically as he dodges the shot, and the two women ended up tangled in the rope with the spikes pinning it to the ground. Rogue runs up and grabs Psylocke, asking if she thinks she can psycho blast her before Rogue punches her head off. Banshee emerges and calls an end to the training exercise. (Rogue and Dazzler never do quite get along. Rogue doesn't take responsibility for her actions, either, which doesn't help. Furthermore, Rogue always seemed to be very competitive with Psylocke for some reason, pushing her hard in training.)
Back in the facility, Banshee serves the X-Men breakfast. Rogue says that the whole team should be together, but Banshee says that Storm's the boss and they need to trust her. He analyzes their performance and says that they need to improve and learn to do better, until they can work as a gestalt. Later, Moira MacTaggert talks to Callisto, wondering if Wolverine and Storm can cope with what's happened and how the team will endure without them. Callisto simply says, "They won't."
Later in a training room, the four X-Men are working out. Dazzler and Callisto are doing pullups side-by-side, and Callisto starts goading Dazzler. Dazzler tells her to get stuffed, and Callisto grabs her, holding a knife to her throat, and says that the world outside is bad, and her looks and smile won't save her out there. Longshot falls over, distracting them, and Dazzler knocks the knife away and storms off, with Callisto taunting her. She takes a boat toward the mainland. Rogue shows up with her coat, asking if she's coming back, and Dazzler says she doesn't know. Dazzler finds a pub called "Black Ned's" and spends all night singing and dancing and partying inside. She apparently gets pretty close with Black Ned, too. (Callisto used to be a model, which is never outright said in the comics, but is covered in the Marvel Universe entry, which is why she goes after Dazzler so hard: I guess Dazzler reminds her of what she used to be.)
Outside, in the morning, someone drives by at high speeds, almost hitting Dazzler. She recognizes him from the X-Men's files as Juggernaut. She reasons that he's probably up to no good and "borrows" a motorcycle to go after him. Black Ned makes a phone call for some help. She absorbs all the sound from the motorcycle to charge her powers as she goes. She figures he's strong and tough, but she can take him, even though he was flagged as extremely dangerous. She wants to prove herself to the X-Men the way she never could to her father. She comes right up on Juggernaut and crashes into his car. Juggernaut tosses her motorcycle off into the distance and yells at her. She says she's Dazzler and he says he's a big fan. He apologizes and promises to replace her motorcycle. She lasers his tires, then tries to use a lightshow to calm him into a stupor. At the last second he claps his hands, knocking her over and recovering. She starts to run away, but he says that it's too late: now he has to teach her a lesson for her own good. She tries to blind him, then knocks a pile of boulders on him, but he just punches them away. She slips up and falls into a stream, and Juggernaut grabs her by the coat. She blinds him and runs away again. Her power is getting low, but she sits on top of a hill and keeps hitting him with all she's got with no effect. He catches up to her and she collapses. He is distraut, thinking he's killed her. The end! (Apparently Black Ned knows Moira MacTaggert. So far as I know, this is his only appearance, so if he has any significance, it's never elaborated on. Dazzler basically has daddy issues. She's self-destructive, insecure, attention-seeking, and promiscuous, which are all the signs. She's kind of a mess, really.)
Overview: A pretty good issue. Jackson Guice is the penciler again. I think this is the last issue he does. The new X-Men's slow journey into being a viable team is fun to watch. With the second generation of X-Men (Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, etc.) we didn't see them training, so much as we saw a few brief Danger Room montages, with an implied great passage of time. The new team never quite gets to the point the previous teams did.
I think this was the first back issue I dug out of the quarter bin at the card shop, starting my collecting X-Men back issues. Now I have all the issues from #216 to #279 and all the issues from #179 to #213, not to mention all the Chris Claremont New Mutants issues and tons of mini-series and whatnot. Indeed, if I hadn't picked up this issue, this series of dissections surely wouldn't have happened. So looking at this cover and remembering seeing it in those boxes of comics and thinking, "Hmm, would it be worthwhile to pursue this?" is kind of nostalgic for me.
Back in the facility, Banshee serves the X-Men breakfast. Rogue says that the whole team should be together, but Banshee says that Storm's the boss and they need to trust her. He analyzes their performance and says that they need to improve and learn to do better, until they can work as a gestalt. Later, Moira MacTaggert talks to Callisto, wondering if Wolverine and Storm can cope with what's happened and how the team will endure without them. Callisto simply says, "They won't."
Later in a training room, the four X-Men are working out. Dazzler and Callisto are doing pullups side-by-side, and Callisto starts goading Dazzler. Dazzler tells her to get stuffed, and Callisto grabs her, holding a knife to her throat, and says that the world outside is bad, and her looks and smile won't save her out there. Longshot falls over, distracting them, and Dazzler knocks the knife away and storms off, with Callisto taunting her. She takes a boat toward the mainland. Rogue shows up with her coat, asking if she's coming back, and Dazzler says she doesn't know. Dazzler finds a pub called "Black Ned's" and spends all night singing and dancing and partying inside. She apparently gets pretty close with Black Ned, too. (Callisto used to be a model, which is never outright said in the comics, but is covered in the Marvel Universe entry, which is why she goes after Dazzler so hard: I guess Dazzler reminds her of what she used to be.)
Outside, in the morning, someone drives by at high speeds, almost hitting Dazzler. She recognizes him from the X-Men's files as Juggernaut. She reasons that he's probably up to no good and "borrows" a motorcycle to go after him. Black Ned makes a phone call for some help. She absorbs all the sound from the motorcycle to charge her powers as she goes. She figures he's strong and tough, but she can take him, even though he was flagged as extremely dangerous. She wants to prove herself to the X-Men the way she never could to her father. She comes right up on Juggernaut and crashes into his car. Juggernaut tosses her motorcycle off into the distance and yells at her. She says she's Dazzler and he says he's a big fan. He apologizes and promises to replace her motorcycle. She lasers his tires, then tries to use a lightshow to calm him into a stupor. At the last second he claps his hands, knocking her over and recovering. She starts to run away, but he says that it's too late: now he has to teach her a lesson for her own good. She tries to blind him, then knocks a pile of boulders on him, but he just punches them away. She slips up and falls into a stream, and Juggernaut grabs her by the coat. She blinds him and runs away again. Her power is getting low, but she sits on top of a hill and keeps hitting him with all she's got with no effect. He catches up to her and she collapses. He is distraut, thinking he's killed her. The end! (Apparently Black Ned knows Moira MacTaggert. So far as I know, this is his only appearance, so if he has any significance, it's never elaborated on. Dazzler basically has daddy issues. She's self-destructive, insecure, attention-seeking, and promiscuous, which are all the signs. She's kind of a mess, really.)
Overview: A pretty good issue. Jackson Guice is the penciler again. I think this is the last issue he does. The new X-Men's slow journey into being a viable team is fun to watch. With the second generation of X-Men (Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, etc.) we didn't see them training, so much as we saw a few brief Danger Room montages, with an implied great passage of time. The new team never quite gets to the point the previous teams did.
I think this was the first back issue I dug out of the quarter bin at the card shop, starting my collecting X-Men back issues. Now I have all the issues from #216 to #279 and all the issues from #179 to #213, not to mention all the Chris Claremont New Mutants issues and tons of mini-series and whatnot. Indeed, if I hadn't picked up this issue, this series of dissections surely wouldn't have happened. So looking at this cover and remembering seeing it in those boxes of comics and thinking, "Hmm, would it be worthwhile to pursue this?" is kind of nostalgic for me.