Strange Adventures and Apparitions #160

The Uncanny X-Men #160
“Chutes and Ladders!”
Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson

Plot Synopsis
In the middle of a training exercise, Illyana wonders off, summoned by a mysterious voice. The X-Men try to track her down, but then things get… weird….

Rolling Commentary
Hey kids! It’s a new creepy weird hand guy watching the X-Men from some weird hidden camera. I thought D’Ken had the trademark on that one. Craziness!

Page 2. Did Illyana just get taller? Also, I’m pretty sure I know who the bad guy is. (ocsaleB)

Page 4. Let the record show that once again Storm is naked on panel. Is anyone keeping tally here?

Page 6. Whoa…. On panel groping of a minor, too. Oh my.

Page 7. Hah! I was right! Awesome.

Page 8. Didn’t this exact same thing happen last time we fought a super powered demon? (goes and checks Annual #4) Why yes. Yes it did.

Page 9. Nightcrawler’s clone really is exceptionally creepy, isn’t he?

Page 11. And Storm is in the buff once again. Twice in one issue, that’s a record, I think.

Page 13. Well I knew Wolverine couldn’t be dead…

Page 15. Wolverine rules.

Page 20. Does anyone else wish they’d stop telling us the X-Men won and start showing how they actually did it?

Page 22. Crazy. I guess time really does fly when you’re trapped in a dimensional prison with it’s own laws of temporal physics.

Page 23. Foreshadowing, anyone?

Post Mortem
Hey, wasn’t Charley taking a turn for the worst last issue? Or something? No, nobody? Hmm.

We’re on a real mystical kick here, aren’t we? Dracula last issue, Belasco this one, it’s crazy. Of course, most of the Dracula story arc’s consequences will be dealt with within a few months, while the Belasco stuff is going to be an issue for years. And Colossus is right. None of this would have happened if Charles had just left well enough alone. But alas.

Belasco is right scary, as is his little Limbo dimension. I know this doesn’t affect most people, but as someone who really enjoyed Universe X (and who read it before any of this stuff), it was really cool to see Nightcrawler taking on Belasco, considering all the stuff that is revealed in that book (I know it’s non-canon, but I can pretend, damnit!).

This was actually a really, really dark issue, much more so than the last one. This issue does all the mystical stuff right that last issue did wrong (although it did lack art by Bill Sienkiewicz, Brent Anderson’s stuff was still very, very good). It’s dark and creepy, but without being too over the top about it. While last issue was very enjoyable, it lacked the darkness that it should have had. This issue certainly doesn’t suffer for that. It’s good times. Despite, again, not focusing on what I personally feel the focus of the X-Men should be, I can’t knock it for being an excellent issue.

My only real quibble (other than ignoring Professor Xavier’s mild case of coma) is that due to size constraints, a couple of the fight scenes simply begin and finish, without any actual fighting. This has happened before, of course, but I just felt like it happened too often in this issue. But maybe it’s just me.