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The Uncanny X-Men #161

Sep 1982
Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum

The Uncanny X-Men #161 cover

Story Name:

Gold Rush!


Synopsis

The Uncanny X-Men #161 synopsis by Anthony Silvestro
Rating: 4.5 stars

While Charles Xavier lies in a coma, struggling against the strange alien presence he feels inside of him, the X-Men all gather around, despondent. Nightcrawler wishes there was something they could do and Moira MacTaggert admits that they’ve tried everything they could. Cyclops storms out in frustration and Storm asks Corsair if she could be the one to talk to him. Storm approaches Cyclops, who expresses frustration over the X-Men’s plummeting reputation due to their caper at the Pentagon a few issues ago. Cyclops implies that maybe he should take over as leader again and Storm almost walks away in anger. Scott apologizes, revealing that he’s really upset over Xavier’s condition. Scott admits that Xavier is as much of a father to him as Corsair is and that he’s terrified of Charles dying, stating how much he needs Ororo and the others.

Inside, Lilandra gives what might be a final farewell to Charles, and her tear falls upon his face. Charles, meanwhile, has retreated far into his own mind, taking himself back to when a friend called for his help in Israel 20 years prior. Charles is called to the site of a psychiatric hospital treating survivors of the Holocaust. There he meets an interesting man volunteering named Magnus (soon to be Magneto). Charles is presented with a catatonic girl named Gabrielle Haller and attempts to reach into her mind. Charles fights against the mental defenses trying to protect Gabrielle from him and eventually breaks through, glimpsing fantastical recreations of her trauma in the Holocaust, ending with her being turned to gold. Gabrielle snaps out of her catatonic state and is put to bed to rest, while outside the news of her awakening is overheard by a mysterious figure, with plans to report the news to his leader!

Over the following weeks, the trio of Charles, Magnus, and Gabrielle become increasingly close. Charles and Magnus discover they have conflicting views of how mutants will be perceived; Magnus thinks mutants will be hunted, while Charles has a more hopeful mindset. Charles and Gabrielle enter into a romance, though Charles is unsure if this is the right course of action. Just then, the hospital is attacked by a group of uniformed men. Charles is grazed by a bullet and Gabrielle is captured and loaded into an escape craft. The second escape craft is not so lucky, suddenly tearing itself apart and killing the invaders while keeping everyone else safe. Charles sees that Magnus was responsible, realizing that he’s a mutant as well. Charles then reads the mind of a captured agent and discovers that they were attacked by a group of Hydra agents, as well as where they are heading.

At the base of a mysterious cave, Baron Strucker leads his men with the information taken from Gabrielle. They find Hitler’s secret stash of gold, that was hidden away with Gabrielle made into a living map of sorts for it, only able to strike once she awoke. Charles and Magnus sneak in disguised as Hydra agents and rescue Gabrielle. Magnus deflects their attackers’ bullets while Charles psychically makes their enemies attack each other. Magnus crushes Strucker’s hand and buries him alive in the cave after lifting Charles, Gabrielle, and the gold up out of the mountain. Magnus departs with the gold, still at odds with Xavier’s vision. Charles then snaps out of his coma, Lilandra’s love and support finally getting through enough to wake him up, just as he had done for Gabrielle all those years ago. Shortly after, all save Xavier, still too weak to travel, attend a farewell banquet for Lilandra on her ship. Wolverine keeps sensing some kind of danger but can’t pinpoint it, until the banquet is interrupted by the arrival of Deathbird! She names herself as the new Empress and the X-Men are taken by surprise and all taken out, to be used as new hosts for the Brood! To be continued!


 

Review / Commentaries


The Uncanny X-Men #161 Review by (November 27, 2024)

Review: Here we have yet another cool look into an anecdote from Xavier’s past! I always find these issues to be very unique and interesting. This one chronicles Xavier’s first meeting with Magneto in Israel, recontextualizing their history. Before this, it had been vaguely implied they knew of each other for a bit before the X-Men formed, but this issue puts their shared history in a whole new light, revealing they met as young men. It’s interesting seeing the start of their friendship, immediately strained by their opposing viewpoints on human/mutant relations. Magneto’s revised history from UXM #150 lends itself well to this issue, further enforcing his views that mutants must fight back or be destroyed, having seen the same thing done to his family, and retroactively solidifying this as having been his motivation the entire time. We also get introduced to Gabrielle Haller, another Holocaust survivor that Charles helps, who is later revealed to be the mother of his child, so it’s interesting seeing the breadcrumbs for that laid here.

Charles and Magneto fight against Baron Strucker and Hydra, given that the story is in closer proximity to WWII. It is unusual to see them appear in X-Men, though it surprisingly won’t be the last time. Magneto even buries Strucker alive (which doesn’t seem to impede his being alive later), a stunt he’d pull again with Red Skull a number of years later. It is satisfying seeing the Holocaust survivor get his revenge on the two blatantly Nazi villains. We also get a very sweet and poignant moment between Cyclops and Storm. Cyclops admits to being scared that Xavier is going to die, seeing him as even more of a father than Corsair, and admits that he feels lost and needs the others. It’s a humanizing and emotional moment for the often emotionally-repressed Scott. The X-Men don’t really get to rest though, immediately after being captured by the Brood, leading right into the next several issues and a very famous Brood storyline!

Comments: Baron Strucker’s first appearance in an X-Men comic. Issue showcases the first meeting of Charles Xavier and Magneto.



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

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Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Main/1st Story Full Credits

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



Characters

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Baron Strucker
Baron Strucker

(Wolfgang von Strucker)
Colossus
Colossus

(Piotr Rasputin)
Cyclops
Cyclops

(Scott Summers)
Kitty Pryde
Kitty Pryde

(Kate Pryde)
Lilandra
Lilandra

(Lilandra Neramani)
Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler

(Kurt Wagner)
Professor X
Professor X

(Charles Xavier)
Storm
Storm

(Ororo Munroe)
Wolverine
Wolverine

(James Howlett)
Plus: Brood, Corsair (Christopher Summers), Deathbird, Gabrielle Haller.

Thor

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