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The X-Men #113

Sep 1978
Chris Claremont, John Byrne

The X-Men #113 cover

Story Name:

Showdown!


Synopsis

The X-Men #113 synopsis by Anthony Silvestro
Rating: 5 stars

This issue opens with Magneto invading an Australian Research Facility, easily taking care of his opposition. Overlaid with the news report of the situation hours later, it is reported that Magneto has been frequenting research complexes across Australia and New Zealand, though what he has stolen remains a mystery. Magneto remains unopposed in his pursuits as many of the major supergroups have either been disbanded or forced to remain on American soil, such as the case with the Avengers, and no one knows what has become of the X-Men. We then take a quick interlude over to Kirinos, an island off southern Greece, where Lilandra is vacationing with her lover, Charles Xavier. She considers staying with Charles forever, but knows she’ll have to take up the Shi’ar throne at some point, and wonders what Charles will do in that situation. Charles, meanwhile, feels increasingly stressed, as he has lost his telepathic rapport with his X-Men and has no idea what has befallen them.

The X-Men, of course, remain prisoners at Magneto’s Antarctica base, trapped in prison chairs that prevent their powers or speech, and keep their motor functions at the level of six-month-old infants. They are watched over by Nanny, the robot Magneto left to attend to them, much to their chagrin, unable to do anything but take her humiliating coddling. Storm, having built up her strength and control over the past few days, then enacts her plan when Nanny leaves. She whips her head forward repeatedly, until she knocks her headdress onto the tray space in front of her. She then uses her teeth to grab at the lockpicks hidden within and uses it to try and pick the locks while remembering her training from when she was a street thief back in Cairo. She almost has herself freed, when the lockpick falls to the floor. Nanny returns and Storm tries to make Nanny focus on her, so as not to see the lockpick, and Nanny places her headdress back on her head. After Nanny leaves once more, Storm lets a rare tear fall, overwhelmed by her failure.

Some time later at Asteroid M, Magneto’s space lair, he receives a notification of a malfunction at the Antarctica base. Magneto returns to the base in his unique manner, dropping through the ceiling beneath the volcano, to find Nanny spinning uncontrollably, while the base is in total darkness. Knowing the X-Men must have done something, he waits for them to make the next move, when he is suddenly blasted on all sides by the X-Men’s various long-range attacks, stunned despite being braced for it. Phoenix creates a mind-link between all of the X-Men, so that Cyclops can transmit orders instantly, without alerting Magneto. Storm uses her powers to draw the humidity out of the air around Magneto, while noting how repeating her ploy with her lockpicks has severely weakened her. Banshee swoops in and blasts Magneto, before Wolverine runs up and slashes at Magneto’s back, tagging him this time and not just his cape. Magneto flings Wolverine away and the X-Men continue their hit and run tactics, as Phoenix blasts Magneto right into the control console for the base.

With Magneto still off balance and feeling the effects of Storm decreasing the humidity, Colossus runs up and lays into Magneto, not giving him a chance to retaliate, knowing it will not end well for him if he gives Magneto a chance to breathe. Finally, Beast throws Nightcrawler, who teleports right next to Magneto, grabbing his helmet right off his head, allowing Colossus to continue his furious assault. It is then that Nightcrawler notices that the lava from the volcano is leaking through the roof and Magneto reveals that Phoenix’s attack damaged the control console. Magneto escapes while the X-Men try to avoid getting burned alive by the lava filling the base. Magneto finally makes it out of the base entirely, just before the entire place explodes, apparently killing the X-Men! Magneto, alive but very injured, goes off to recuperate. Some time later, after many still moments, Phoenix bursts through to the surface with Beast, apparently the only survivors, before collapsing from overexertion. Beast tries to get himself and Phoenix to safety but is quickly overcome by the intense cold himself and the two are left lying in the snow, with all hope seemingly lost! To be continued?


 

Review / Commentaries


The X-Men #113 Review by (July 10, 2024)

Review: After the X-Men were defeated and captured last issue, we have the epic conclusion to this little Magneto story this issue. Storm gets a chance to shine, being the one to free them by way of her lockpicking skills, showing remarkable motor control for someone trapped at essentially six months old. Storm has had a lot of chances to shine, and will continue to have many more, as she was pretty clearly Claremont’s favorite character. A lot of the rest of the issue is just the X-Men ambushing Magneto when he returns, using actual strategy this time. The way they coordinate their powers and movements is very creative and a treat to see. Teamwork and creative combinations of powers will go on to be a staple of X-Men comics and it’s nice to see such a prime example of that here. And of course, it all looks beautiful due to being drawn by the impeccable John Byrne. We’re also left with a heck of an ending, as the base explodes, Magneto escapes and the X-Men seemingly die, aside from Beast and Phoenix, as they are left to freeze to death in the frigid snow! A great, tense ending to a memorable Magneto story!

Comments: Starting with this issue, Uncanny X-Men is released monthly rather than bi-monthly. First cover that John Byrne provided the art for.



> The X-Men comic book info and issue index

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Main/1st Story Full Credits

John Byrne
Terry Austin
Glynis Wein
John Byrne (Cover Penciler)
Bob Layton (Cover Inker)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Annette Kawecki.



Characters

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Banshee
Banshee

(Sean Cassidy)
Beast
Beast

(Henry Phillip McCoy)
Colossus
Colossus

(Piotr Rasputin)
Cyclops
Cyclops

(Scott Summers)
Lilandra
Lilandra

(Lilandra Neramani)
Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler

(Kurt Wagner)
Phoenix
Phoenix

(Jean Grey)
Professor X
Professor X

(Charles Xavier)
Storm
Storm

(Ororo Munroe)
Wolverine
Wolverine

(James Howlett)


Thor

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