Uncanny X-Men #196 (Aug 85): What Was That?!!Creative Team: Chris Claremont, writer; John Romita, Jr. & Dan Green, artists; Glynis Oliver, colorist; Tom Orzechowski, letterer; Ann Nocenti, editor; Jim Shooter, editor in chief
Starting Line Up: Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Colossus, Shadowcat, Rogue, Rachel Summers
Guest Star: Storm
In New Mutants #30:
Shadowcat uses Illyana's Soulsword to return Illyana to normal, manifesting Magik's armor in the process; Dazzler and Shadowcat infiltrate the Gladiators; Rachel tries to communicate with the Beyonder; Dazzler and Shadowcat are captured by the Gladiators.Synopsis: Are we all caught up on the Secret Wars II? Good. Xavier is teaching a lecture at Columbia University and picks up a stray thought plotting a murder of someone in the class. Xavier still can't use his powers to its full extent yet, so he can't scan and find out who is the murderer or the victim. In Africa, Storm is approached by a lion. The lion is shot. Before Storm can react, she is shot in the head as well. It was done by Andrea, sister of Andreas, whom Storm chased off the campground earlier. Back in New York, Xavier has assembled the X-Men, minus Nightcrawler, and Magneto to a coffee shop. Xavier wants them to split up and watch all the students in his class to prevent the murder. Most of the team is on edge by Magneto's presence. Wolverine reads a newspaper praising Nimrod as New York's newest superhero. Shadowcat asks Xavier why he didn't mentally scan his class and he covers by making up an excuse about being in an experiment in which he needs to take drugs to dull his powers. Rachel sees the Beyonder enter the coffee shop and order a sandwhich. She approaches him and tries to figure out what he is. He just disappears. At St. Anne's church, Nightcrawler goes to visit Father Bowen. The Beyonder is causing Nightcrawler a crisis of faith since the only being with such power can be God, but this is not the God he believes in. Later, in a Columbia University office, some people are rigging up some sort of bomb to kill a mutant. Rogue and Rachel are on patrol watching the students on the list, but find a mugging. They save the guy, but he was spray painting anti mutant (pro Nimrod) graffiti. Rachel gets mad, seeing her future timeline coming about regardless of the minor differences. The Beyonder watches her and is impressed by her power. Wolverine and Shadowcat discuss the obvious fact Xavier was lying about his powers and Magneto switching sides. 'Cat goes off to check on some more names on the list. The Beyonder follows her. She finds some guys she takes advanced classes with, waiting for something to happen. They deduce she must be a mutant since she attends Xavier's school and they know Xavier is a mutant. They mace and chloroform her, then plan to kill her. In Xavier's office, Xavier and Magneto are joined by Rachel. Rachel senses the presence of the Beyonder. She uses her powers to scan the room, but that sets off the psi-bomb that was intended for Xavier. Rachel's mind goes nuts and she reverts to her hound days. She flies off and finds Shadowcat being strangled. Rachel saves her. The leade of the group fires a gun at Rachel, but she turns the bullet back on him. It's stopped by Magneto. Magneto talks Rachel out of killing them, despite the fact they're mutant killers. She calms down and lets them go. She finally tells Magneto and Shadowcat of her past as a mutant hunting hound. The Beyonder watches on and is impressed by Rachel's power and confused by Magneto's change of attitude.
Yeah, but is it good? There's a lot of good stuff here. It's called a Secret Wars II cross-over issue, but the Beyonder barely has any attachment to the story. He could have been removed completely and nothing would have changed. The central point of the issue goes back to Nightcrawler's argument some time ago of why the X-Men protect the humans that hate them. Rachel was the one who convinced them their presence is important. Now even she's doubting their purpose is the face of the seemingly inevitable re-creation of her timeline. And it took Magneto of all people to reaffirm her of Xavier's vision. Magneto's reformation is really beginning to be stressed. This naturally brings up many doubts among the team members. Rachel is used to the Magneto of her time, who was a hero, taking over the X-Men after Xavier's death. Wolverine trusts Xavier's decision. But Shadowcat and Rogue arn't so sure. And I must say... It's damn good to see a character in a strange/wonderful/horrific universe like the Marvel universe finally ask "How does God fit in?" Beings of such power constantly show up and cause a contradiction for the essence of a Christian God. And Nightcrawler doesn't know how to react. My one complaint with this issue is Xavier comes off looking like a tool. It's obvious from the start he's the intended victim. Especially since someone from his class already tried to kill him.
Significata: Another attempt on Xavier's life. Some of the X-Men doubt Magneto's reformation. Rachel and the Beyonder are interested in each other's powers. The Beyonder causes Nightcrawler to have a crisis of faith. Rachel reveals her past to the team finally. Storm is shot in the head by the twins, Andrea and Andreas.
