Previous Page   Next Page
#176
#177
#178
#179
#180
#181
#190
#191
#307
#324
#513
#514
#540
#541
#542
#543
Selector

Uncanny X-Men, The (1981 series) #181

on-sale: Feb 7, 1984
Chris Claremont | John Romita Jr.

Uncanny X-Men, The (1981 series) #181 cover

Story Name:

Tokyo Story


Synopsis

Uncanny X-Men, The (1981 series) #181 synopsis by Anthony Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars

In Japan, near Tokyo, a bunch of kids stare at a giant dragon that just appeared in the sky. Suddenly, the X-Men appear as well and fall to the ground, as the dragon flies off. The X-Men awaken and realize that this is where they were deposited after being returned from Battleworld  (following Secret Wars). They also realize that the dragon was one that was involved with Lockheed while they were off-world, now much bigger. Professor X sends Rogue to check on Kitty and Cyclops, to make sure everything is alright with them, while the rest stay to handle the dragon now heading for Tokyo. Xavier realizes that he shouldn’t have superseded Storm on the decision-making but now that he can finally join the X-Men in the field after so many years of being forced to sit back, he’s unsure he would want to give up his leadership role.

Meanwhile, the Japanese defense command center is alerted to the dragon’s approach, and they mobilize their military to deal with it. They are also alerted to the X-Men’s involvement and Mariko Yashida sends her cousin Sunfire to assist. The dragon arrives in Tokyo and perches on a skyscraper, causing a rain of debris to fall to the streets below. The X-Men each use their unique gifts to keep people out of danger. Colossus deals with the falling debris and Storm sweeps it out to sea, while Nightcrawler teleports civilians out of harms way. Professor X then directs Wolverine to the unfortunate people already trapped in the wreckage. He then tries probing the dragon’s mind to try and calm it, but the dragon perceives this as an attack and hurls a chunk of the building at Xavier! He’s saved by the timely arrival of Sunfire and the Japanese military, who open fire on the dragon.

Elsewhere, in Tahiti, Cyclops is deposited back to his honeymoon where he was originally taken from, quite literally dropping out of the sky! His wife, Madelyne Pryor, is overjoyed is see Scott safe and alive, but frustrated that his life as an X-Man keeps drawing him away. The two embrace as Scott apologizes, admitting that a normal life may never be in the cards for them. Back in Tokyo, the dragon generates immense gusts of wind with its wings that Storm tries quelling but ends up being pulled away herself! Xavier awakens, covered in debris from the wreckage that Sunfire failed to completely destroy and initially panics when he can’t feel his legs, sending out mental waves that hurt everyone around him. Colossus runs to free Xavier, who realizes that he was overreacting, and that the mental and emotional scars from his years in a wheelchair are very much still there.

Meanwhile, Wolverine finds a woman and her child trapped in the wreckage. The woman had shielded her child and doesn’t have long left to live. Wolverine promises that he’ll make sure her daughter, Amiko, is looked after, just before the woman dies. The dragon continues its rampage, until Lockheed intervenes, speaking to the dragon in a language only the two of them understand. Lockheed makes it quite clear that the dragon’s feelings for him are unrequited, which causes the dragon to fly off in shock and sadness. The X-Men tend to the aftermath, still unsure what caused the whole ordeal. Wolverine points to a nearby gathering of the rubble, revealing that the dragon never meant any harm, and was only trying to build a nest for herself and Lockheed. We then cut to Washington D.C. for an epilogue, where Senator Kelly proposes the Mutant Control Act, to bring his plans to protect the country from mutants to fruition. The President states that he’ll fight Kelly on this and hopes that any damage that comes from this isn’t irrevocable!


Characters
Good (or All)
COLOSSUS
CYCLOPS
LOCKHEED
NIGHTCRAWLER
XAVIER
ROGUE
STORM
SUNFIRE
WOLVERINE
XMEN
Plus: Madelyne Pryor, Mariko Yashida.

Enemies
Robert Kelly (Senator Kelly).

> Uncanny X-Men, The (1981 series) comic book info and issue index



Excelsioring your collection:
statue
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Main/1st Story Full Credits

John Romita Jr.
Dan Green
Glynis Wein
John Romita Jr. (Cover Penciler)
John Romita Jr. (Cover Inker)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski.



Review / Commentaries


Uncanny X-Men, The (1981 series) #181 Review by (March 19, 2025)

Review: The X-Men return from Battleworld and the events of Secret Wars, only to have to contend with a giant dragon in Tokyo! Though they were supposed to be returned to where they left from, the X-Men are instead dropped off in Tokyo for reasons that I’m not sure are ever made clear. The meat of the issue comes from the X-Men trying to keep people safe from the dragon’s rampage, though it turns out it never meant any harm, and just had a big unrequited crush on Lockheed! Lockheed makes his feelings quite clear. Aside from that there are a couple important and interesting things of note. Colossus hints to his lost love during Secret Wars, which due to how Secret Wars was releasing, would not be seen for many more months, though it's elaborated on in UXM in the next couple of issues.

Xavier also gets a very humanizing moment, when he gets covered in debris and initially panics after he thinks he may have been crippled again. It’s interesting seeing him react as anyone likely would in such a situation, especially when he thinks he may have lost his legs again after only having just gotten them back. Wolverine also has a significant interaction, where he promises to look after the daughter of a woman he found dying in the debris. He essentially adopts the girl, Amiko, with Mariko and she continues to show up in Wolverine stories set in Japan for many years after this, though she never becomes super prominent. Finally, the most important development comes right at the end, when Senator Kelly proposes the Mutant Control Act, which will obviously have long-reaching ramifications for the X-Men once mutants are forced to register. The President has the decency to oppose Kelly, seeing the negatives this will bring that last off and on until today!

Comments: Rachel Summers makes a cheeky appearance on the cover, tucked behind the logo, ahead of her reintroduction a few issues from now. Guest appearance by Sunfire.





Thor

The Marvel Heroes Library is a fan Marvel Comics site
Version 14.8.61 (Mar 14, 2025 - VS22)

Copyright © 1997-2025 Julio Molina-Muscara (creator, webmaster)
Site content is a collective effort by the MHL team and Marvel aficionados

Characters are copyright © Marvel or their respective owners. All portions of this Marvel fansite that are subject to copyright are licensed under a creative commons attribution 3.0 unported license All rights reserved