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Wednesday, July 23, 2014

X-amining Uncanny X-Men #241

"Inferno Part the Second: Fan the Flames"
February 1989

In a Nutshell 
The Origin of Madelyne Pryor

Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Marc Silvestri
Inker: Dan Green
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Ann Nocenti
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Plot
In the secret high-tech catacombs beneath a Nebraska orphanage, Madelyne Pryor attacks Mr. Sinister, who claims to be her father. Mr. Sinister shrugs off her attack and traps her in chains as N'astirh disappears. Meanwhile, the X-Men and the Marauders find themselves in the midst of a demonically-possessed Manhattan, as inanimate objects and even the police have become enchanted. In Nebraska, Mr. Sinister asks Madelyne to share a childhood memory, but the only one she can recall is actually a memory of Jean Grey's. In Manhattan, the X-Men and the Marauders continue their battle, with the X-Men growing increasingly savage. Back in Nebraska, Mr. Sinister explains how he cloned Madelyne from a sample of Jean Grey's blood and tissue, but that she didn't awaken until after the Phoenix sacrificed itself on the moon. In Manhattan, Colossus learns his sister has been deposed as ruler of Limbo, and, with his teammates now enchanted themselves, leaves to help her on his own, in order to end the demonic invasion.


In Nebraska, Madelyne learns how Sinister set her up to attract Scott Summers, with the hope of creating a child born with incredible power. Back in New York, the X-Men have defeated the Marauders. N'astirh appears and taunts the X-Men, but just then, Wolverine picks up a familiar and troubling scent. Back in Nebraksa, having finally learned the truth of her creation, Madelyne breaks free of her chains, overpowering Mr. Sinister. Just then, N'astirh reappears with her son, fulfilling his promise. Taking the child, which Madelyne tells Sinister represents the culmination of all his machinations, all of Scott Summers' hopes and dreams and all of her humanity, she declares she will turn the world to ashes via an inferno that will consume everything. 

Firsts and Other Notables
This issue reveals the origin of Madelyne Pryor, establishing that her resemblance to Jean Grey is due to her being a clone created by Mr. Sinister. Originally drawn to young a Jean Grey's power, Mr. Sinister created the clone after Professor X took Jean in before Sinister could get her to his orphanage. He thought Madelyne was a failed clone, until the Phoenix Force brought her to life following its sacrifice on the moon (as seen in X-Men #137).


Suspecting a genetic affinity for the powerful Phoenix Force, Mr. Sinister then created a set of false memories for Madelyne and positioned her so that Cyclops would meet and fall in love with her, making her a brood mare whose chief goal was the creation of a powerful child (later stories will establish that Mr. Sinister has long studied Summers DNA, and that he believes the offspring of Cyclops and Jean Grey will be a supremely powerful being, specifically one capable of destroying Apocalypse).


Once Madelyne gave birth (thus fulfilling her purpose) and Jean Grey returned to life (threatening to expose his role in Madelyne's creation), Mr. Sinister sent the Marauders to eliminate Madelyne and retrieve her son for him (as seen in X-Men #215, and again in #221-222), though they only succeeded in the latter.

By issue's end, Madelyne is finally reunited with her son, given to her by N'astirh (but only because giving him to her is part of his plan at this point; he's technically been in possession of the boy since shortly after X-Factor #35/X-Terminators #3). 


Colossus encounters one of the armored Right soldiers sent to Limbo by Illyana during New Mutants' portion of "Fall of the Mutants", and learns from him that S'ym has overthrown Limbo, and that with the portal between Earth and Limbo created, he and N'astirh next intend to cast a spell that will make Earth more like Limbo. This leads him to seek out Illyana in order to help her defeat the demons, setting up his forthcoming appearance in New Mutants #73.


The rest of the X-Men, as a result of being in Manhattan, slowly become enchanted, acting more ruthless or selfish as a result of the demonic spells at work in the city, with even their clothing and hair taking on a more demonic look. This increased ruthlessness, even relative to last issue, stuns the Marauders and allows the X-Men to defeat them. By the end of the issue, it's suggested all the remaining Marauders, save Polaris (and Arclight, Blockbuster, Sabretooth and Scrambler, who are presumably still in the Alley, as they were knocked out last issue), have been killed by the X-Men. Though that won't stop them from returning in the future, this is the last time Claremont uses the team as a whole.   


The Chronology Corner
This is where things start to get dicey in the sequence of "Inferno" events, particularly in terms of N'astirh's appearances in this issue. His appearance with Madelyne at the beginning of the issue carries on from last issue, and he leaves her to open the portal between Limbo and Earth at the end of X-Terminators #3. From there, he appears in Avengers #300, New Mutants #71-72, X-Terminators #4 (where he becomes techno-organic) and the first seven pages of X-Factor #37, before returning, in his new T-O form, to deliver baby Christopher to Madelyne in the closing pages of this issue.

Where it gets tricky is that between disappearing and reappearing before Madelyne at the beginning and end of this issue, N'astirh also returns briefly to the orphanage as Mr. Sinister is monologuing to Madelyne and then shows up to attack Longshot and taunt the X-Men in the middle of this issue. None of the usual sources (the Marvel Index or the Marvel Chronology Project) seem to account for that appearance, leading me to wonder if that the demon is, in fact N'astirh (it sure looks like him, and I don't know why else a random demon would be there). Presumably, he popped back in to this issue during one of those other appearances, but it's tough to place it in the specific sequence of events (it had to be before he became techno-organic, since he's not red until he shows up with the baby at the very end of this issue).

Starting with this issue, the X-Men and X-Factor portions of "Inferno" actually cross over and follow directly from one to the other. Madelyne goes from this issue to X-Factor #37, and the ending of that issue leads directly into the opening of X-Men #242, and so on through the end of the crossover.

A Work in Progress
The macabre/darkly humorous possessed objects gags continue this issue, with, amongst other things, a sentient mailbox attacking someone for using insufficient posting.


Psylocke is felled by the psychic cries of the infants being used to open the portal between Earth and Limbo, as seen in X-Terminators #3 & 4, New Mutants #71 & 72, and X-Factor #36.


Later, in another darkly comic moment, a group of demons are seen betting souls on the outcome of the X-Men/Marauder fight.


With Madelyne recalling the memory of the death of Jean's childhood friend Annie Richardson (an incident first mentioned in Bizarre Adventures #27), he wonders if perhaps some memories become so deeply ingrained they become part of someone's genetic material.


Colossus is surprised to see Riptide, whom he slew during "Mutant Massacre", alive and well; Riptide notes the Marauders are full of surprises, another hint at being clones.


The Right trooper reveals that the Empire State Building will be the site of the ritual that transforms Earth into Limbo, explaining it's transformation and prominent placement in previous "Inferno" issues.

Colossus notes that, as with the Adversary, his metal form makes him resistant to magic, and thus, he's not as infected by the Inferno as the other X-Men.


Similarly, Longshot is not as affected by the spell, at least until N'astirh deliberately attacks him in order to bring out his dark side.

Claremontisms
Mr. Sinister takes Madelyne's measure, and finds her wanting.


Scalphunter refers to Storm as the X-Men's Wind-Witch, which at this point seems like an alternate codename for her.

Young Love
Havok still thinks of Malice as Polaris and cares for her, but he thinks he may love Maddy more now.


Longshot wonders why he can't have room in his hearts (nice touch, there) for both Dazzler and Rogue.


Teebore's Take
Whereas last issue it felt like the "Inferno" elements took a backseat to the X-Men's return engagement with the Marauders, this issue flips things, with the conclusion of the X-Men/Marauders battle taking a backseat (the final blows to the Marauders even happen off panel) to the long awaited origin of Madelyne Pryor. However much Claremont may have originally intended for Madelyne to be nothing more than a Hitchcockian dead ringer for Jean Grey that enabled Cyclops to have a happy ending, with the return of Jean Grey and the end of Scott and Madelyne's relationship, it became clear that another story would be needed to set things right, and that part of that story would need to involve a deeper origin for Madelyne beyond "happy coincidence".
 
Like the resurrection of Jean Grey, one's feelings about that origin are likely colored by when they first encountered it. Like the reborn Jean Grey, I came into a comics world in which Madelyne Pryor was a clone of Jean Grey created by Mr. Sinister - the first time I read "From the Ashes", it was with the knowledge that this woman with an uncanny resemblance to Jean Grey bore said resemblance because she was a genetic duplicate created to be a brood mare by a villain. It's just one of those things that always was. And while the direction the clone revelation leads the character in future chapters of "Inferno" has its problems, the revelation itself is almost a case of Occam's razor. In the world of the X-Men, right along with "time traveler" and "alternate reality doppelganger", "clone" isn't that outrageous a revelation; relatively speaking, it's almost downright mundane and, in and of itself, not a terrible explanation for the character. 

Next Issue
Tomorrow, Illyana grapples with her dark side in New Mutants #72, followed by Madelyne's battle with X-Factor in X-Factor #37. Next week, the second chunk of "Inferno" tie-ins.

33 comments:

  1. If Mr. Sinister wanted the Marauders to kill Madelyne & just keep the baby..why then, in issue 239, was he lamenting her death?

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  2. @Reese: I gathered that he was more disappointed that he didn't get to kill them himself.

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  3. The Maddie revelation is downright misogynistic. Here we have a strong female character that worked in a nontraditional career for women learning that her only purpose is to make babies and going mad because she can't accept it.
    Plus, one major aspect of Maddie's character was that she'd been in an accident that killed people, including children, but was still a relatively normal woman. Turning her into a villain and then saying she wasn't really in the accident has Unfortunate Implications.

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  4. I really like Silvestri's work on this issue. I wish they would make figures modeled after his dark X-Men that we see here.

    As much as I like Maddy, and as much as I understand people's criticisms about how she was treated, I'm glad we got the Goblin Queen instead of just having her killed off by the Marauders with little or no fanfare. She was never going to have a happy ending once Jean was brought back, and Claremont does a great job expressing her (and probably some of his own) righteous anger here about how she had been treated since X-Factor #1. That Claremont can make me root for a character who is attempting to sacrifice babies to open what is basically a bridge to hell says something about his abilities and his affection for the character. If nothing else, at least Maddy got to go out with a bang.

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  5. The panel you've scanned in of Colossus talking to the "Right"-bot ... the 'bot says that S'ym and N'astirh get along like "Ollie North and the Ayatollah."

    A Batman reference goes in "I Love the 80s" but that quote doesn't? I'm starting to think that feature is broken. :)

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  6. Probably my biggest complaint is the same as many of you. I hated the use of Maddie as just another scorned woman plot. Although I love how Claremont made women evolve sometimes naturally. He had a penchant for turning his women evil, especially being dominated by males many times.
    They always tended to fall back on the usual female comic tropes for a long time.

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  7. Leo H: If nothing else, at least Maddy got to go out with a bang.

    Very juvenile of me, I'm sure, but we kind of met the Maddy we know last time in the devil in blue dress scene where she lured Alex in, so...

    It's always extramarital sex with a Summers that immediately precedes the fall of a Jean Grey.

    I'm still kind of arguing that Maddie's fate is a massive audience-inclusive meta-message from Claremont to the resurrectors of Jean and everyone: Maddie goes Dark Phoenix in a stripper outfit, and ever since the audience has bitched about them ruining the interesting redhead woman wearing pilot overalls to bring back the boring one wearing a superhero costume. That's not a show of misogyny, that's underlining the importance of writing interesting characters. If it was a perfect world, the 90's would be busy taking notes. Alas...

    Claremontisms: Mr Sinister's devices have limits, Maddie doesn't.

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  8. Loved Vertigo's 'You missed me!' comeuppance.

    Poor Maddie. The tears in her eyes as she learns the truth...

    Has there ever been a clone of a superhero/anti-hero who didn't go bad? Recently, Joseph the Magneto clone joined the ranks of crazy clones. I suppose Ben Reilly remains the exception, which is funny considering how on his introduction as the REAL Peter, Marvel was having Peter 'post1975-Venom-BlackCat-Mr. MJ' Parker go through several mental breakdowns ("I am the Spider"/his violent freakout when the 'truth' first came out), giving the message: "He's the clone! The REAL Spider-Man would never act like that!" And then...once Marvel reversed its steps, how do they explain the freakouts? "Spidey was having a bad day. It happens to anyone!"

    Teebore, did you ever review the Phoenix story in BIZARRE ADVENTURES?

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  9. @Leo H- But that's the point, Maddie DIDN'T have to have an unhappy ending once Scott came back. They could have kept her around as a supporting character. And without her around, the relationship between Scott and Jean became boring.
    Even if they had to write Maddie out, they could have had her die stopping a villain from killing the baby or whatever.
    @Teemu- But this isn't the only time Claremont had a woman turned into a bad girl as a result of a man's violation (e.g. Tyger Tiger).

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  10. @Anonymous- I guess I just think that it's much more likely that if Maddie had stuck around that she would have eventually been forgotten by later writers (or even by Claremont himself) and relegated to minor foot note status (examples: Charlotte Jones, Opal Tanaka). Even Candy Southern, who had been around since the silver age, received a fairly unceremonious death. It just seems like that by Inferno we were much too far down the road to Maddie being sacrificed for the sake of Scott & Jean's relationship to have given her a happy ending. As I said before, I Absolutely can see why Maddie's transformation here upsets so many, I just think that the blame lies with editorial & writers not considering how damaging the way in which the lead up to and early issues of X-Factor were for Maddie, who even by then I believe had earned her place as an interesting character. By this point there weren't really any great options for the character. I like Maddie a lot, I really do, but rather than go out with a whimper, I'm glad that she got to go out with a bang as a main character in a major crossover.

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  11. @Leo H- But that's the point- Inferno changed Maddie so much that she was hardly recognizable as the same character any more.
    And yes, there were good options for Maddie at this point but that meant acknowledging Scott as flawed and Scott and Jean's relationship as not perfect.

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  12. One thing I've never understood is, if they wanted Jean back so much, why didn't they just reveal that Maddie WAS Jean all along?

    Yes, I understand that Shooter felt that Jean had to be punished, but it ends up being totally irrelevant that Jean didn't "really" destroy a planet. And I get that Claremont probably wouldn't have wanted to surrender Maddie. But think of the mess it would have prevented if Maddie had just been retconned to have been a resurrection of Jean all along.

    And if Shooter's objection is that Phoenix's actions are irreconcilable with the actions of a hero I have to say that I think Cyclops's abandonment and treatment of Maddie is in some ways worse.

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  13. Anonymous: @Teemu- But this isn't the only time Claremont had a woman turned into a bad girl as a result of a man's violation (e.g. Tyger Tiger).

    The women often go for an epic fight against their evil side then, though, whereas the men in question are unrecoverably evil and don't get to have a journey for redemption but are discarded by the said woman in hasty and easy fashion. It may be merely a side effect of Claremont wanting to write female protagonists rather than willful misogyny at work.

    In this particular case, who do you feel is the man doing the violation: Mr Sinister in creating her, Scott leaving her in favour of his true love, or S'ym tricking her to let her evil side loose?

    Leo H: I guess I just think that it's much more likely that if Maddie had stuck around that she would have eventually been forgotten by later writers (or even by Claremont himself) and relegated to minor foot note status (examples: Charlotte Jones, Opal Tanaka). - - - I just think that the blame lies with editorial & writers not considering how damaging the way in which the lead up to and early issues of X-Factor were for Maddie, who even by then I believe had earned her place as an interesting character.

    I agree. Letting her wither away would have been in a way okaying the editorial mandate of discarding her in favor of Scott's real love returning from nowhere and the world being then bend in favour of their romance.

    The ending panel of X-Factor #1 though, the one with sad Maddie watching X-Factor commercial on TV, had an enormous potential where to go with the situation, but they couldn't have made Scott, "the first X-Man and the leader of the All-New old X-Men" come out of it looking like the good guy building on that.

    I don't know how much that was behind the "two teams can't meet" mandate, but it's looking more and more stupid the more you think about it. I wonder how much the Marauders shooting Maddie was about Chris bringing her into UXM for safeharboring her against a character assassinnation by others not unlike he did with Carol Danvers.

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  14. @Ben- I do think that having a Jean around that committed genocide would have been a mistake. However, your main point is correct- they could have avoided all of this if they just revealed that Maddie was Jean that escaped from the pod amnesiac.

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  15. With regards to bringing Jean back as Maddie, it still could have worked. Have "Maddie" just be the real Jean Grey that was in the cocoon who came back to life, with amnesia, after Dark Phoenix was killed.

    I do think Maddie was turned evil justify, and even condone by comparison, what Scott (and Jean, to a lesser extent) did to her. "Scott abandoned her and walked out on her and their son? Well, Maddie's a baby-sacrificing bitch, so Scott gets a pass". They did the same thing on Alias to condone Vaughn and Sydney's actions while he was married to Lauren...

    I wonder if not showing the X-men actually killing the Marauders on panel was done so as not to make them look completely evil at this point, and still keep some semblance of a heroic image to the team? Of course, the more evil they get, the more the women tend to pose like centerfolds. And Silvestri does enjoy having his X-women high-five each other...

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  16. This was the first issue of Uncanny I bought new since #205. After next month's issue it was back into X-Men ignorance for a few years.

    Mad props to "... in the secret, high-tech catacombs of a Nebraska orphanage..." for being one of my favorite captions ever.

    // with even their clothing and hair taking on a more demonic look //

    I do like Wolverine's face entirely in shadow and the frayed edges on his mask flaps, but Rogue's hair is completely out of control. Actually, I've seen it getting bigger and more... I don't know what to call it; Loganized?... before now and it seems one of those harbingers of the Image founders' pet habits. I find Pyslocke's cups running over somewhat humorous, albeit not as humorous as I would find it were I convinced that her newly demonic bosom was supposed to be over the top.

    // a sentient mailbox //

    First off, 25¢ stamps belong in I Love the '80s. Secondly, I nearly laughed out loud at the fire hydrant beating the dog.

    // Madelyne recalling the memory of the death of Jean's childhood friend Annie Richardson //

    Having not read that Bizarre Adventures in ages I'm glad that you mentioned it as the source of the memory, because it gives an interesting shade to my observation that — so it struck me, anyway — the scene is pretty much the most backstory Claremont has given Jean Grey to date. We've seen flashbacks to the X-Men created by Wein, Cockrum, and Claremont much more frequently, it feels like, which given Byrne's statements about Claremont's ignorance and/or dispassion for the group's history might not be surprising if it weren't for Claremont's general interest in strong female characters and his specific creation with Cockrum of the Phoenix identity.

    Maddie can be said to die and be reborn amidst fire here, in terms of her true origins being revealed to her, which intentional or otherwise is a nice little Phoenix allusion.

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  17. Did Madelyne really have much of a personality prior to Jean's return though? I mean, she marries Cyclops and then they leave for 30 issues or so. Once Jean comes back Madelyne's character arc totally revolves around Scott leaving her. I like Madelyne, but I don't think she has the strongest claim to having her character assassinated in this story mainly because she's for the most part been there to just react to whatever Cyclops is doing at the time.

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  18. @Anonymous: The Maddie revelation is downright misogynistic. Here we have a strong female character that worked in a nontraditional career for women learning that her only purpose is to make babies and going mad because she can't accept it.

    Yeah, the final resolution of Maddy's arc does not end well for her character, and it's a shame given how well written she was beforehand. But I don't think the clone revelation specifically was all that bad (frankly, it probably made the character better, just to no longer be saddled with that questionable "she just happens to look like Jean!" non-explanation).

    And like Leo, I do think Claremont does his best to send Madelyne out on a high note (her casting off Sinister's chains and declaring she's no one's puppet in this issue is a striking image), and both Claremont and Simonson go out of their way to stress that S'ym and N'astirh manipulated and corrupted Madelyne into the Goblin Queen. That's still a passive act for the character, but at least they're not suggesting she's been bad all along.

    Bottom line, I definitely think Maddie deserved better than she got, but that she also could have been handled a lot worse.

    @Jason: A Batman reference goes in "I Love the 80s" but that quote doesn't? I'm starting to think that feature is broken. :)

    I'm pretty sure Batman was around in the 80s. :)

    No, I had that Ollie North quote in my notes, then just forgot to write it up.

    And since I fell behind in answering comments, I'll explain here that my justification for putting a Batman reference in "I Love the 80s" is simply that external references like that just don't appear much in comics any more, so any pop culture reference would get mentioned, regardless of the vintage of the reference itself.

    But, you and Blam made a good case for not doing that, and it was a stretch of an explanation anyway, so I started the "The Reference Section" breakout.

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  19. Angmc43: did you ever review the Phoenix story in BIZARRE ADVENTURES?

    I did not. At the time, I didn't have a good digital copy of it, and I hadn't yet decided if I was going to cover tie-in material chronologically or when it was published.

    In hindsight, I should have covered it: aside from the Jean Grey story, the Nightcrawler one got referenced in his limited series. And that Iceman story was an Iceman story.

    Something I'll have to add to the collected edition. ;)

    @Ben: One thing I've never understood is, if they wanted Jean back so much, why didn't they just reveal that Maddie WAS Jean all along?

    I'm not terribly sure. It could be that Claremont didn't want to mess with his Maddie dynamic (not fully aware of where things would ultimately go), or it could be that nobody involved in X-Factor's early days (which was developed largely outside the X-office) even knew of or cared about Maddy. They probably figured saying Maddy was Jean all along wouldn't be the same commercial boost as bringing her back as a separate being - it wouldn't be a return so much as a quiet revelation.

    And if Shooter's objection is that Phoenix's actions are irreconcilable with the actions of a hero I have to say that I think Cyclops's abandonment and treatment of Maddie is in some ways worse.

    I remain befuddled by the fact that NO ONE involved in the creation of X-Factor saw a problem with Cyclops' actions.

    @wwk5d:I wonder if not showing the X-men actually killing the Marauders on panel was done so as not to make them look completely evil at this point

    Probably - plus, this way, if needed, they could always claim the Marauders were just knocked out.

    And Silvestri does enjoy having his X-women high-five each other...

    Silvestrism!

    @Blam:
    Mad props to "... in the secret, high-tech catacombs of a Nebraska orphanage..." for being one of my favorite captions ever.


    Ditto. I had to lift it directly for my summary.

    First off, 25¢ stamps belong in I Love the '80s.

    Heck, snail mail entirely almost belongs there at this point. Not quite yet, but almost.

    Maddie can be said to die and be reborn amidst fire here, in terms of her true origins being revealed to her, which intentional or otherwise is a nice little Phoenix allusion.

    Nice observation!

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  20. @Jeff: Did Madelyne really have much of a personality prior to Jean's return though? I mean, she marries Cyclops and then they leave for 30 issues or so.

    No, not a ton. I mean, on the list of terrible character assassinations in comics, she's not the worst. But I do think she had a pretty thoroughly-sketched out personality for a relatively minor character. We knew she was tough and independent, capable of standing up/holding her own with people who vastly-overpowered her. She had a career independent of her husband (if anything, he glommed on to her career) and had a general desire to help people despite not being a standard nurse/doctor archetype (as seen in the X-Men/Alpha Flight limited series).

    Granted, not the deepest or most original of personalities, but a fair sight better than Vera (likes Hank, bookish until she's not), Candy (likes Angel, outwardly flightly but a good head for business) or Zelda (likes Iceman).

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  21. @Teemu- Good point about Claremont bringing Maddie into Uncanny to safe harbor her. I can't believe I had never noticed the parallels with Carol Danvers before.

    @Jeff- I really liked the way Maddie was used in the X-Men/Alpha Flight mini. I might even go as far as that she was my favorite character in that story. Maddie agonizing over whether or not to reject Loki's "gift" and revealing her pregnancy to Scott are both touching moments. I also think she was used well during the Paul Smith run. Her willingness to accept Scott even after he revealed himself as a "mutie", punching out Scott after he asked her if she was Phoenix reincarnated, and laying out her past as a pilot and plane crash survivor all helped develop her as a compassionate, independent, and tough character.

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  22. @Teemu- I meant being tricked by S'ym (and Gateway does have considerable responsibility for her being tricked as well).
    @Teebore- as we'll see in X-Factor 38, Simonson DOES suggest Maddie was evil all along.
    @Jeff- I always thought Maddie was more interesting than Jean. She was a pilot in a plane crash that killed hundreds of people. But even though she was obviously haunted by the event, she was very much a normal person. Maddie was in fact fairly unique. For starters, she was the only "good girl" among Claremont's X-Men pre-Inferno- Rogue, Storm and Betsy had become ruthless and Ali was a bimbo. In fact, Maddie made the "good girl" work in ways Jean never did, because she was more vulnerable than Jean. She was contradictory in several ways-strong and independent but at the same time she obviously liked having Scott and Alex comfort and protect her, a good girl that had a crush on her brother-in-law.

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  23. "I do think Maddie was turned evil justify, and even condone by comparison, what Scott (and Jean, to a lesser extent) did to her. "Scott abandoned her and walked out on her and their son? Well, Maddie's a baby-sacrificing bitch, so Scott gets a pass". They did the same thing on Alias to condone Vaughn and Sydney's actions while he was married to Lauren..."

    I wonder if Euripidies had the same situation? "Gee, Jason of the Argonauts is looking like one dead-beat husband/father abandoning Medea and his kids for some pretty young thing. What to do? I know! I'll have Medea murder her own children! Jason will have to look better by comparison!"

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  24. angmc43: I wonder if Euripidies had the same situation? "Gee, Jason of the Argonauts is looking like one dead-beat husband/father abandoning Medea and his kids for some pretty young thing. What to do? I know! I'll have Medea murder her own children! Jason will have to look better by comparison!"

    The intolerable pedant in me would want to point out that Euripides only put an already well-known legend into the form of a theatrical tragedy, but the recognizer of awesome in me is approvingly clapping his hand for this notion. I'll never again be able to picture Jason without there being a red strip of cloth running over his eyes.

    About Maddie's personality, there was plenty. Leo mentioned the Paul Smith era which is when she made her splash. "Being a pilot, I think Lockheed is a great name for a... cat.", tie pull, Scott, who are these people, and what have you brought me into?", her joy over being on the bridge of the Star Jammer... there are great character moments along the road that flesh out a genuine persona.

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  26. Now that was weird, even by spambot standards...

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  27. If only Madelyne Pryor had known about Dr. Ekaka ...

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  28. @Jeff: // Did Madelyne really have much of a personality prior to Jean's return though? //

    She had enough of a personality during the Paul Smith years that, combined with her just-different-enough haircut, I was convinced she was not Jean. For comics that's pretty impressive.

    @Teebore: // And that Iceman story was an Iceman story. //

    Ha!

    ReplyDelete

  29. @Jason: // If only Madelyne Pryor had known about Dr. Ekaka ... //

    "No, Dr. Ekaka; You misunderstood: I have a problem with my X-husband."

    ReplyDelete
  30. This article sums up very neatly the whole tortured process leading to Jean's resurrection and Maddie's goblinization:

    http://secretsbehindthexmen.blogspot.dk/2012/03/jean-greys-return-in-x-factor.html

    It's also on uncannyxmen dot net but this is where it was originally published.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Oh my God, I'm so glad to tell everyone the real thing that happen to me...My name is EMILIANO BABARAH. If i refuse to share this testimony it means i am selfish to my self and to people i love so much whom might have similar problems, March 16th about something 7:23pm after taken our dinner my husband got crazy started calling a lady name Melisa I love you, i was so mad and started crying like a baby...then my husband left home for the idiot called Melisa, and never return back home then i believed when he uthen nderstand his self he will surly come back to apology, but instead he left me So i complained to my friend she told me she was having such problems in her marriage until she was introduce to DR ORIOMON who specializes in bringing back broken homes and broken marriages DR ORIOMON cast a spell for me in May 4th surprisingly my husband came home May 6th apologizing that i should forgive him that it will never happen again, i was so glad and gave the thanks to DR ORIOMON who save my marriage, if you are having similar problem you can contact him and His email address is (oriomonspiritualtemple@yahoo.com) you can still save your marriage if u really love your husband.


    Thanks EMILIANO BABARAH_USA

    ReplyDelete
  32. I am very happy, I wish to share my testimonies with the general public about what this man called Dr Adodo has just done for me , this man has just brought back my lost Ex husband to me with his great spell, i was married to this man called Steven we were together for a long time and we loved our self's but when i was unable to give he a child for 2 years he left me and told me he can't continue anymore then i was now looking for ways to get him back until a friend of mine told me about this man and gave his contact email (dradodojattotemple@yahoo.com) then you won't believe this when i contacted this man on my problems he prepared this spell cast and bring my lost husband back, and after a month i miss my month and go for a test and the result stated am pregnant am happy today am a mother of a baby girl, thank you once again the great Dr Adodo for what you have done for me, if you are out there passing through this same kind of problems you can contact he today on his mail ( dradodojattotemple@yahoo.com) and he will also help you as well

    ReplyDelete
  33. Yes, like hundreds of completely satisfied customers already know, a modern woman may without her own fault find herself in a marital situation where acquiring the services of a spell-caster is a wholly legitimate option. Where Madelyne Pryor-Summers went wrong that instead of an academically credentialed spell-caster she hired a demon from nether levels. Only an academically credentialed spell-caster can ensure success! Do not take risks with what is most important to you!

    And remember: not only marriages but whole nations can benefit from the services of an academically credentialed spell-caster! Vote Dr. Strange in 2016!

    ReplyDelete

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