Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Volume 6 written by Chris Claremont, penciled and co-plotted by John Byrne, penciled by Dave Cockrum, Brent Anderson, and Bob Wiacek, and inked by Terry Austin and Josef Rubinstein
This book starts with the famous Days of Future Past storyline, which I have reviewed as a Dual/Duel review comparing it with the movie. The story is a classic time-travel thrill ride with an adult Kitty Pride traveling from a dystopian future to try and stop the dystopia from happening. It follows the usual line but in an enjoyable way.
The second story is a self-conscious imitation of the movie Alien. Kitty Pride is left alone in Xavier's mansion and has to fight an ancient and horrible monster while everyone else is off celebrating the Christmas holidays. It works as a story on its own but is not particularly outstanding.
The next story follows Scott Summers, AKA Cyclops, who is on a leave of absence from the X-Men. He's in Florida and has been working anonymously on a fishing boat. He's still trying to deal with the loss of his beloved Jean Grey who died as Dark Phoenix. Scott gets drawn into a trap when the demon D'Spayre, who thrives on other intelligent beings' despair, has been tormenting some local people, including Man-Thing, the Marvel Comics version of Swamp Thing. The story is okay though it is very obvious about what it's trying to do. A little more creativity would have given it at least some subtly.
Next, Doctor Doom has kidnapped X-Men villain Arcade and threatens to kill him. Arcade's henchwoman, Miss Locke, kidnaps some of the X-Men's loved ones to blackmail them into saving Arcade. Professor X sends one team of X-Men to Doom's castle to free Arcade while another team goes to Arcade's Murderworld amusement park to free the hostages. Lots of action ensues. The Doctor Doom half of the story is more interesting and enjoyable.
The X-Men have an uninteresting encounter with a subterranean mutant named Caliban while Scott is shipwrecked with Aletys, the female captain of the fishing boat. He loses his glasses and can't open his eyes lest his optic blasts destroy things, so she has to lead him around. They struggle with romantic feelings and then a big, mysterious island rises out of the ocean. They go to investigate, hoping for food and water. They discover Magneto. Scott has been reduced to rags so Magneto does not recognize him (the girl is also scantily clad, in case you were wondering).
The other X-Men go to Antarctica to investigate Magneto's old lair, which has been excavated a bit. They have a run-in with some bad guys there. They fly back north when Magneto unleashes his big plan. He demands the entire world disarm and submit to his rule or he will destroy them. He wants to pacify all the homo sapiens so the mutants, which he refers to as "homo superior," will be safe from fear and oppression. A Soviet sub fires nuclear weapons at Magneto's island. He handily dispatches the nukes and punishes the sub. The X-Men's jet comes flying over and he downs it, forcing a confrontation. Meanwhile, Professor Xavier has come on a yacht and contributes to the battle from a distance. After a long conflict, Magneto's plan is defeated. In the course of the fight, Magneto thinks he's killed Kitty Pryde, which causes him to rethink his attitudes. He flees, leaving the X-Men victorious.
This book is bookended by the best stories, Days of Future Past and the confrontation with Magneto. The rest is okay, more like filler episodes between the big story arcs.
Recommended.
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