269: Steve Seagle Uncanny X-Men Retrospective

Introduction

This run included Steve Seagle (writing on Uncanny) and Joe Kelly (writing on Adjectiveless X-Men) writing a series of interconnected stories. While this run isn't considered a favorite by most accounts, there were some really fun moments with new characters Marrow, Cecilia Reyes, and Maggot. In addition, one of my favorite stories takes place when Kitty, Nightcrawler, and Colossus rejoin the team after Excalibur was dissolved. Unfortunately, Steve Seagle didn't get to write any of that. He was relegated to writing inconsequential one shots while Joe Kelly had all the fun with the stories mentioned above.

The two of them (Seagle and Kelly) were actually pretty close as Seagle explains in an obscure article on LoSpazioBianco:

"I actually met Joe Kelly when I came onto the X-books. I had worked for many years in comics and felt I had put in enough years to “earn” the top job in the industry. Then I found out that Joe Kelly – a new college graduate with something like a single year in comics – had also gotten the top job! I couldn’t believe it! How could someone so new do what it had taken me decades to do?! I hated him immediately.

Then I spoke with on the phone and found him extremely likable Then I met him in person and found him to be like a brother I’d had but never met. Then I worked with him and found him to be extremely smart, funny and talented. No wonder I hated him! He was perfect! So Joe became a very fast and life-long friend. I still love him like a brother and meeting him was a highlight of my career.

It is no coincidence that we left the X-Books at the same time. In fact, we made a pact very early on that if one of us felt compelled to quit, the other would quit in solidarity. I was very nervous to call Joe and tell him that I had reached my breaking point with the constant editorial flip-flopping on Uncanny X-Men and wanted to leave the book. Then I got a phone call from Joe the same day saying he felt the same way about X-Men. We laughed that we both wanted to quit on the same day. Then we stopped laughing and actually quit. Then we hopped on a plane and went to Australia/New Zealand for two really fun conventions. Black Water Rafting and Bondi Beach are really great ways to get over having to leave books you really cared about."

This doesn't surprise me at all as I found it notable how closely these two series were inter-connected. However, it always make me a little sad (yet unsurprised) when writers talk about editorial interference getting in their way of being great, as he mentions here:

"But as it turns out, my point of view wasn’t what they wanted. What they wanted was to make the creative decisions themselves and just have me execute their vision. Same with Joe. Once that became clear, I decided it was not a good use of me and I resigned."

Sigh. That's too bad, Steve. I'm going to refrain from ripping on this arc too much because I believe him. He actually took it further to share 6 ideas of stories that he wanted to tell. So let's share them and provide some commentary.

1) The X-Men wake up in a modern day mutant concentration camp run by Magneto and their darkest of sides are illuminated, forever changing their relationships;

So let's dissect this. I really like this first idea, but it would have been really hard to execute on without either being in an alternate timeline or a dream or something like that. I understand why the editors would turn down an idea like this in one of the main lines. However, I do believe that Grant Morrison was given the editorial permission to do almost exactly this a few years later.

2) The Original X-Men reunite and try to redefine Xavier’s dream for a new era, but the wounds of the past live on in the present.

If I was an editor, I would probably say "This is an interesting idea. Unfortunately, the original X-Men are boring." Lol, the editor probably added "The best I can do is a two issue arc where the original X-Men fight a murder of crows, sound good?

3) The real Jean becomes Phoenix and we see if the force would have corrupted the actual person in the way it did her clone

Ok, wait. I'm starting to understand why the editors stopped him. We've seen enough Phoenix stuff!

4) Rogue “cures” her mutant “affliction” and brings to light some nasty “if you could choose to not be a certain way (genetically) would you make that choice?” issues between herself and her team

He basically got to do this! He even got to add an epic Mystique quote: “ If someone had created a ray gun during the civil rights movement to turn everybody who’s skin was black into white would you have championed that too?”

5) Xavier shows back up and brings an all-new all-different X-Men with him, as well as a really screwed up new world view

We kind of got this. But instead of Xavier having a legit team, it was a team misled by an evil version of Cerebro posing as Xavier. Probably not what Seagle had in mind...

6) Magneto finally lines everything up and actually does something major – he knocks the earth off its axis to catastrophic global results.

Yikes, this did happen. But years later under a different author. This idea of editor inteference seems to be legit as Chris Bachalo had the following to say in "Comic Creators on X-Men:

"While Steve Seagle and Joe Kelly were writing the main X-Men books, 'the editorial climate at the time was extremely poor,'

"They kept changing story directions from issue to issue. They'd have the meeting, decide on a direction and change their minds a few months later. I think it was all very frustrating for Steve (Seagle) and Joe (Kelly), the writers at the time. They were having their differences with the editorial group and I think they got completely burned out after a year. I don't know if they were fired or if they left, but it was just a horrible situation. And it made drawing the book really difficult. We'd get working on the story line, and then it would change and go in another direction. Steve's last issue was also my last issue. To this day, I don't know why I was moved."

Bummer.

Major Themes

Interconnected with Joe Kelly

As mentioned in the Introduction above, Steve Seagle's run can hardly be discussed without discussing Joe Kelly's simultaneous work on Adjectiveless X-Men. Outside of the time when Scott Lobdell was writing both, I don't think I've seen a situation with the two series so inter-connected.

Mostly One Shots

While there were plenty of interesting things taking place, Uncanny (and Seagle) were often relegated to writing one shots that were parallel to the story, but rarely integral. That doesn't mean they weren't good though. Seagle's kick off story was breaking down Cecilia Reyes as she got pushed out of her medical practice for being a mutant and it was pretty good story! Unfortunately, we also got a two part story with the original 5 X-Men fighting murderous crows, lol.

Time of Transition

Immediately following Scott Lobdel's multi year run on both Adjectiveless and Uncanny, Steve Seagle and Joe Kelly were handed the task of transititoning into a new era. Scott, Jean, Joseph, and Bishop were all given attention but moved to the side while new(ish) characters Marrow, Maggot, and Cecilia Reyes were put front and center. To take this further, the Excalibur series had recently ended so they were tasked with re-integrating Nightcrawler, Kitty, and Colossus.

Too many characters, not enough focus

With so many new or returning characters filling out the lineup, I think this run struggled from it's ability to focus on any few characters enough. I laugh when I see Cannonball and Iceman on the team roster because I can't think of a single thing they did throughout this entire run.

Identity and Self-Discovery

Seagle delved deeply into what it means to be a mutant, especially through characters like Nightcrawler, Cannonball, and Marrow. Questions of personal identity, religious faith (especially for Nightcrawler), and where one fits in a world that fears and hates them were recurring motifs.

Belonging and Alienation.

A central concern for many X-Men characters, Seagle emphasized their roles as outsiders. Marrow’s difficulty assimilating into the team, Maggott’s uniqueness, and even Storm’s leadership challenges highlighted how the X-Men often feel out of place—even among their own.

Breaking Down the Arcs

UXM # 351 - 355: The New Status Quo

This first "arc," if that's what I'll call it, is actually rather hard to distinguish separately from Joe Kelly's X-Men series.

#351 is actually a Cecilia Reyes one shot, showing how she was ostracized from her workplace as a doctor, on account of being a mutant. She finds herself with the X-Men out of necessity, not really due to choice. In a way, that was almost one of the most authentic mutant origin stories I've seen to date.

In a lot of ways, #352 is also another one shot, focusing on Jean and Scott leaving the team and heading back to Alaska. Of course, something crazy happens as AIM takes over the plane and the couple needs to thwart a disaster.

#353 - 355 are a bit more mainstream with Kelly and Seagle beginning to set the new status quo as they battle Sauron and take on a squirmish with Alpha Flight.

This first few issues take Scott and Jean off the board (as team main-stays) with them spending time in Alaska. Joseph (Magneto's clone) takes off with Sabra, indicating that he will no longer be remaining as a team member. Bishop is off in space, so he won't have much of a presence outside of a few panels.

With those other characters out, we see that Marrow, Maggot, and Cecilia Reyes are clearly going to be the center pieces of this run, however they will be stars more in Joe Kelly's X-Men than in Seagle's Uncanny run.

UXM # 356 - 357: Original 5 in Alaska (Fighting Crows...)

This mini arc perpetuates the theme of Seagle getting boring one shots while Joe Kelly gets to have all the fun with Marrow, Maggot, and Cecilia Reyes. Scott and Jean invite original members Angel, Beast, and Iceman to help them in Alaska as they are attacked by a group of murderous crows. No, you didn't read that wrong. Actually, it appears that Seagle was trying to bring some edgy Sandman vibes to the comics as he described here:

"I was actually asked to bring my darker, “Vertigo” sensibility over to Uncanny. That’s one of the main reasons I was offered the job. And I feel like two issues – 353 and 356 – let some of what I wanted to do in that vein come through.

UXM # 358: Bishop & Deathbird

Another one shot as we get a short little tale showing Bishop making a fun pairing with Deathbird off in space.

UXM # 359: Rogue's Agency

Another one shot, but an important one as Rogue struggles with her mutant power. I would like to think of this as having strongly influenced X-Men 3: The Last Stand. After having likely lost her virginity to Gambit shortly before the Trial of Gambit, Rogue visits the Agee Institute, seriously thinking about giving up her powers. Eventually Mystique shows up, acts like a typically shitty mother, but ultimately get her not to cross path.

UXM # 360 - 361: Excalibur Reunion, Cerebro's X-Men, and Gambit's reunion!

While Joe Kelly's having a great time in one of my favorite issues of all time welcoming Kitty, Colossus, and Nightcrawler back to the team, Seagle is introducing us to Cerebro Xavier's misfit band of X-Men who will never been seen again after these few issues. Sigh.

Don't fear, he did get to have a little fun writing the full team fighting Juggernaut while Gambit returned!

UXM # 362 - 365: The Hunt for Xavier

Steve Seagle contributes to the "Hunt for Xavier" arc as the team fights Xavier, who is leading the Brotherhood for some reason, and all come together to fight Cerebro prime.

Characters

Cyclops

For the most part, Cyclops is taken away from the X-Men and heads back to Alaska with Jean. This meant that Storm was left in charge of the core team, which I'm ok with. He spends most of his recovering from his scuffle with Apocalypse and worrying about Jean.

Seagle had shared that:

"I really liked writing Jean & Scott as a couple."

Jean

For whatever reason, Jean adopts the green Phoneix outfit again. Scott gets upset, but Jean says it has to do with conquering her past. It sure seems a little random to me. Like this could have been a good story 5 years ago. We're past the Phoenix stuff now. Although I guess she started calling herself Phoenix a few years ago. I kind of forgot about that because I stubbornly stick to calling her Jean. (Like I don't call Kitty Shadowcat).

(Arch)Angel

Angel is struggling between his life with Psylocke vs. his life with the X-Men. Will he re-join the team? It's sad that the most interesting thing going on with Warren is that his hot ninja girlfriend has a lot going on.

Rogue

Rogues keeps dreaming about wanting to touch people. She wakes up and talks to Storm about it and then keeps making up flimsy excuses to do it some more. I bet Gambit would let her.

This leads into her investigating whether she can get her powers removed. Pretty cool that this was a likely inspiration for the first X-Men live action movie.

I'm disappointed that Rogue is no longer serving in a leadership role. Lobdell had just broken up the teams and put in some leg work to make her the leader of the Uncanny squad, but now she's back to just being another one of the gang. Too bad but at least she's still holding onto the maturity that she showed.

I'm not a big fan of how quick she's falling back in with Gambit, but I actually appreciate that there are still a few things in their way.

Bishop

We get a few Bishop scenes. Deathbird is still telling him that he's paralyzed and that all of the other X-Men are dead, but he's starting to suspect that she's lying to him. We know she's lying (or wrong) about the X-Men, so I'm guessing he's not really paralyzed. Eventually the two of the fall in love and go on space adventures together.

Gambit

It seems like Seagle and I have something in common:

"I was constantly having to do stuff with Gambit who I did not like at all because I’m from the south and nothing about him ever struck me as being southern even though he’s supposed to be from Louisiana."