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The Uncanny X-Men #153

Jan 1982
Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum

The Uncanny X-Men #153 cover

Story Name:

Kitty's Fairy Tale


Synopsis

The Uncanny X-Men #153 synopsis by Anthony Silvestro
Rating: 5 stars

The X-Men work on once again fixing up the mansion, combing through the rubble left after their battle with the Hellfire Club. In the medical bay, Storm is attended to by Carol Danvers, recently depowered and seeing Xavier for help. Nightcrawler teleports in after a sweep of the grounds to report that the Danger Room, the prime computer, and one wing of the house are completely destroyed, and Professor X admits that they don’t really have the funds or manpower to properly rebuild them. Just then, Kitty Pryde alerts Colossus that it’s his sister Illyana’s bedtime and Illyana asks Kitty to tell her a story. Kitty begins her tale, about the daring Pirate Kitty and her companion Colossus, who rob from the rich and give to the poor, champions of the oppressed! After the two execute another daring escape from those intent on capturing them, they come upon a wise Wizard and the Prince of a foreign land and save them from a gang of ruffians. They tell of how the Wizard’s apprentice, and princess of the land, Princess Jean, was overtaken by a powerful force, becoming the Dark Phoenix!

Just then, Dark Phoenix arrives to wreak havoc on the land, but the Wizard is able to drive her away with a crystal ball containing the last of Jean’s soul. Pirate Kitty then gestures out to the sea, intent to get transport, but nothing happens. After a couple humorous moments, Kitty whistles and her giant dragon Lockheed comes up from the water and Kitty tries to convince him to help them catch Dark Phoenix. Meanwhile, in the real world, Wolverine comes upon Nightcrawler eavesdropping on the tale, and Kurt convinces him to stay and listen to the exciting story as well! With all now aboard Lockheed, they make their way in search of Dark Phoenix, until Lockheed is forced to stop to relax and refuel on a small island. The others go off to investigate the island, leaving Pirate Kitty to be accosted by a small, blue creature called a Bamf! The Bamf declares his love for Kitty before teleporting away. The real Kurt is none too pleased with his depiction in Kitty’s story, though Logan gets a good laugh, and he invites Storm and Carol to come join in the fun as well.

The Bamf returns with others of his kind all clamoring for Kitty’s attention until the initial Bamf chases all of the others away. Elsewhere on the island, Colossus comes upon a bottle on the edge of the sea. He opens it, freeing a genie called Wind-Rider, who tells him of being trapped there by Dark Phoenix. The group is all reunited and soon encounter another creature burrowing out of the ground, the Fiend-With-No-Name! Everyone has a laugh at Wolverine’s depiction, himself included, and Cyclops and Professor Xavier join in listening as well. The Fiend-With-No-Name accuses the Prince of stealing Jean from him and after a bit of intimidation from Colossus and Lockheed, he’s convinced to come on their journey as well. They fly along until the sun suddenly lights up, heralding the arrival of Dark Phoenix once more!

The Wizard and the Genie do their best to combat Dark Phoenix with their own magic. Pirate Kitty tries to convince Lockheed to blast Dark Phoenix with his fire breath, but he remains uncooperative. The Fiend gives the dragon a little poke, causing flame to shoot from his mouth in surprise, but also causing him to buck off all of his riders! Wind-Rider saves the others, using her magic to give each of them wings of various styles. Pirate Kitty is not happy with the wings she receives. They all gang up on Dark Phoenix, allowing the Wizard the opportunity to use his crystal ball, reuniting Jean’s soul with her body, and casting the benevolent Phoenix Force back into space! Freeing Jean also lifted the Prince’s curse on his eyes, allowing the two to marry and live happily ever after! Kitty finishes her story, with Illyana fast asleep and exits to find that everyone had been listening the whole time! Though initially embarrassed, they tell her they loved it, particularly Scott, who thanks her for the happy ending, content that these versions of him and Jean got to live happily ever after.


 

Review / Commentaries


The Uncanny X-Men #153 Review by (October 30, 2024)

Review: I really, really adore this issue! It’s cute, charming, and simple in ways that comics rarely are anymore, and it’s definitely one of my all-time favorite individual issues! There’s no big plot, no villain attack, no world in peril, just Kitty telling Illyana a whimsical bedtime story. Pirate Kitty and her companion Colossus go on an adventure, meeting up with many colorful characters all patterned after the X-Men, and face off against the evil Dark Phoenix! The most memorable of these X-Men expys include Bamf, a little blue smurf-like creature obviously patterned after Nightcrawler. Kurt is not pleased. Interestingly, a different version of the Bamfs would be established in the actual continuity decades later. The other most memorable expy is the Fiend-With-No-Name, a humorous cross between Wolverine and the Tasmanian Devil from Looney Tunes.

The imagery throughout is funny and charming, full of imagination and little quirks, and Dave Cockrum’s art goes a long way in really making the issue. Pirate Kitty also has a giant pet dragon named Lockheed (sound familiar?) interestingly with an Irish accent akin to Banshee, who Kitty has never really met yet (at least on-panel). The term Phoenix Force is first used, which is an interesting tidbit in hindsight, implying that Kitty coined the term that would become the official name for a centuries old space bird. The heroes stop Dark Phoenix and return Princess Jean to normal, allowing her and the Prince to live happily ever after. The issue ends with a very sweet moment between Kitty and Scott, as Scott thanks Kitty for giving her version of him and Jean the happy ending the real ones never got (yet…kind of). Overall, just a really fun, whimsical, heartwarming issue, an absolute delight from start to finish!

Comments: First time the term Phoenix Force is used. It is established that Xavier psychically taught the whole team Russian. In one panel, Carol Danvers is wearing a shirt with the logo of the other Captain Marvel, from DC comics. Kitty's line on the cover is a reference to Monty Python's Flying Circus.



> The Uncanny X-Men comic book info and issue index

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Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Dave Cockrum
Joe Rubinstein
Glynis Wein
Dave Cockrum (Cover Penciler)
Joe Rubinstein (Cover Inker)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski.

Characters

Listed in alphabetical order. All stories.

Colossus
Colossus

(Piotr Rasputin)
Cyclops
Cyclops

(Scott Summers)
Kitty Pryde
Kitty Pryde

(Kate Pryde)
Magik
Magik

(Illyana Rasputin)
Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler

(Kurt Wagner)
Professor X
Professor X

(Charles Xavier)
Storm
Storm

(Ororo Munroe)
Wolverine
Wolverine

(James Howlett)
Plus: Carol Danvers.

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