Continuing on my chronological reading of X-Men titles, in New Mutants we see Magik finally taking a bigger role in the group, proving not only her powers but her character. She defeats Sym in #14 and it’s hinted that Xavier knows about her powers. In the same issue Xavier finally starts walking again, which is picked up in Uncanny X-Men 180. This is a self contained story dealing with relationships between Kitty, Doug and Peter. Kitty also finally has a good talk with Ororo, partly solving their issues.

Kitty then leaves with Doug for Emma’s school, which is then picked up by New Mutants 15-17. This is where the Hellions are introduced, and we also see the extent of Magik’s teleportation portals, which can go through both space and time. That’s a powerful power! This is a pretty important arc, but I wasn’t too crazy about it. It was just a back and forth between the New Mutants and the Hellions, I didn’t really feel any real threat from Shaw or Emma.

The next three issues of Uncanny are single issue stories, with a few subplots running in the background as usual. 181 sees the X-Men coming back from Secret Wars, dealing with a giant monster in Japan. I like that the Japanese movie monsters are real in this world.

182 is a great Rogue story. Danver’s personality surfaces and makes her almost go mad. This is really a great psychological issue that makes Rogue a more interesting character. I like that the issue finishes without a clear resolution for her, this is obviously going to be an ongoing battle.

183 is a heartbreaking story. It starts with Pete breaking up with Kitty, which was hard enough to read. Especially when Kitty finally loses it and starts crying with Magik. She truly loves Pete and would do anything for his happiness. Pete on the other hand is completely selfish and Logan tells him without mercy. Logan’s lesson was very true and I rarely see this kind of depth in relationship nowadays.

This is another great batch of Uncanny issues, I really think this is Claremont at his best. The John Romita Jr art looks very good here, and I am glad that he stayed for so long. The New Mutants story was interesting, but I wasn’t all that crazy about it, same goes for the art. Perfectly capable, but not to my taste. Next issue will see Bill Sienkiewicz on art, which I am really excited about.