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The X-Men #139

Nov 1980
Chris Claremont, John Byrne

Story Name:

…Something Wicked This Way Comes!


Synopsis

The X-Men #139 synopsis by Anthony Silvestro
Rating: 4.5 stars

As the X-Men train in the Danger Room, a very out of practice Angel messes up and slams into Nightcrawler, stunning him. Wolverine and Storm rescue Kurt before the Danger Room session shuts down, and Wolverine applauds the decision to make Storm the new team leader. Professor X and Kitty Pryde enter the Danger Room and Angel apologizes for his mistake. Nightcrawler shows back up with lemonade for everyone, startling Kitty. Kurt knows that his appearance still makes Kitty uncomfortable, and he vows to himself to keep trying to get through to her, seeing real potential in their friendship. Colossus also notices Kitty’s apprehension and she admits that the Danger Room scares her, while Professor X promises that they won’t make her do anything too serious until she’s ready. After Storm’s suggestion, Kitty then decides on “Sprite” for her codename, thereby officially joining the team as the newest X-Man!

Wolverine then asks Xavier if he can head out for a bit, wanting to head back Canada to try and sort out all of the trouble with Department H and Alpha Flight. Xavier feels apprehensive about Wolverine going alone and Nightcrawler agrees to accompany his friend. Xavier then sends Kitty out with Storm to surprise her with a dance studio, allowing Kitty to be able to continue her passion for dance, even while living at the mansion. When they get there, Kitty and Ororo meet the instructor, Stevie Hunter. Kitty is immediately taken with her, while Ororo remains wary and potentially jealous, an unusual emotion for her

A day later, in Ottawa, Canada, we find Heather Hudson, wife of James Hudson, Vindicator, coming home early from work. She notices that something seems amiss as soon as she gets home, and warily makes her way in, surprised when she finds Wolverine and Nightcrawler in her kitchen. Heather is elated to see Logan and he introduces her to Nightcrawler, while Kurt comments on her use of Wolverine’s name, saying he never knew his name was Logan. Logan just replies that he never asked. Heather reveals that her husband was dispatched by Department H to the north of the country to deal with some apparent trouble out there. We then cut to Vindicator himself, rejoining his teammates Shaman and Snowbird, as they continue to track some kind of mysterious creature.

Just then, their sensors go off and Snowbird turns into a bear to go investigate, while Wolverine and Nightcrawler make their presence known from another entrance. Snowbird gives Nightcrawler a fright when she returns, and the two teams call a truce. Shaman fills the two X-Men in on their situation, tracking a mysterious creature that attacked a family, killing the father and potentially making off with the mother and daughter while the son fled. Wolverine recognizes from the footprint they got that they’re tracking the Wendigo and recounts his first encounter with the creature, fighting it alongside the Hulk. Wolverine agrees to work with Alpha Flight to track down Wendigo while Nightcrawler teleports to get their gear. While there, Nightcrawler takes in the gorgeous sunset, as he is reminded of Jean. He sits in his thoughts, taking in the view, deeply emotional and hurt over Jean’s passing all these months later, knowing that the other X-Men feel the same, and praying that her soul is at peace. Kurt finally pulls himself together before he hears a strange noise and looks up, finding himself face to face with the Wendigo! To be continued!


 

Review / Commentaries


The X-Men #139 Review by (September 18, 2024)

Review: Welcome to the X-Men, Kitty Pryde, hope you survive the experience! Such is the greeting for most new recruits from now on, and that famous line started here! Having said that, Kitty doesn’t actually have much to do this issue, though she does receive her first of many codenames, Sprite, and meets Stevie Hunter, who will go on to be a semi-recurring, if not entirely impactful supporting character. The real meat of the issue comes with Wolverine and Nightcrawler heading to Canada to try and smooth things over with Alpha Flight. When they get there, we’re also introduced to Heather Hudson, wife of James Hudson (and also future member of Alpha Flight herself) leading to an interesting interaction. She calls Wolverine Logan and Nightcrawler comments that he didn’t know that was Wolverine’s name, to which Wolverine responds that they never asked. It’s a cute moment but I find it virtually impossible that after all their time together, not one of the X-Men had ever asked Wolverine his real name. This especially applies to Kurt, as he and Wolverine have been shown to be pretty close friends already by this point (one of my favorite friendships in the X-Men mythos).

The other bit of this issue that always stood out to me comes at the end. Nightcrawler takes in a sunset, being reminded of Jean and is moved to tears, still hurt by her passing, what’s said to be months later. It’s a very emotional and sweet sequence, and it’s stated that all of the X-Men were similarly affected by her passing. I think it was a good choice for Nightcrawler to be the one to demonstrate how much Jean’s passing is still affecting all of them, being one of the more emotionally attuned and introspective of the X-Men. Not only that, Kurt also prays that Jean’s soul is at peace, providing an early look at his faith, something that will go on to be a bigger part of his character, and not explicitly stated or clarified until a bit later.

Comments: First appearances of Heather Hudson and Stevie Hunter. Kitty Pryde officially joins the X-Men and adopts the codename Sprite. Storm is named new team leader. Nightcrawler learns Wolverine’s name, the first of the X-Men to do so. Vindicator mentions that the other half of Alpha Flight are on another mission, taking place in Machine Man #19.



> The X-Men comic book info and issue index

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Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

John Byrne
Terry Austin
Glynis Wein
John Byrne (Cover Penciler)
Terry Austin (Cover Inker)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Angel
Angel

(Warren Worthington III)
Colossus
Colossus

(Piotr Rasputin)
Kitty Pryde
Kitty Pryde

(Kate Pryde)
Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler

(Kurt Wagner)
Professor X
Professor X

(Charles Xavier)
Storm
Storm

(Ororo Munroe)
Wolverine
Wolverine

(James Howlett)

Plus: Heather Hudson (Heather McNeil), Shaman, Snowbird, Stevie Hunter, Vindicator (James Hudson).