> Uncanny X-Men Masterworks Volume 5
 
 

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From the Mouths of the Marvels:

"A man comes at me with his fists, I'll meet him with fists. But if he pulls a gun - - or threatens people I'm protectin' - - then I got no sympathy for him. He made his choice. he'll have to live - - or die - - with it."

-- Wolverine, pg. 20


Wolverine lapses into his berserker rage against Wendigo.

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X-Men #140
December 1980 • 22 pages

Script: Chris Claremont • Letters: Tom Orzechowski
Pencils & Co-Plotting: John Byrne • Inks: Terry Austin


Title: "Rage!"

Villain: Wendigo

Guest Appearance: Stevie Hunter, Eileen Parnall, Vindicator, Shaman, Snowbird, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau

Cameo: Heather Hudosn (in flashback), Georges Baptiste, Blob/Fred J. Dukes

Letters Page: Page One


Synopsis: (continued from XMEN #139)

At Xavier's school, Peter enjoys a day in the backyard tilling a small patch of land, and shares his love of farming with Angel. Ororo has to walk by a very persistent fellow asking her out to a disco club on her way to pick Kitty up from her dance lessons. She is forced to cool him off with his own private raincloud. While picking Kitty up, she seems to have some jealousy seeing the way Kitty responds to Stevie Hunter. Though she can't identify it exactly, she wonders if her feelings for Hunter are grounded in mistrust or jealousy. While getting in the car, Ororo has to scold Kitty for using her phasing powers in public.

In the Canadian wilderness, Wendigo chases Nightcrawler through the extremely dense woods. Unfamiliar with his surroundings, Kurt is afraid to try and teleport, but when Wendigo chases him up a tree and grabs hold of him in his mighty paws, he is forced to port up into the sky, then down to the ground. Thinking he is free and clear, he is shocked to see that Wendigo has once again tracked him down. He swats at Nightcrawler, sending him flying into the cabin, slamming into the wall. His friends come out to check on it, and see Wendigo picking up the truck with his powerful strength and preparing to hurl it at the cabin. Vindicator steps up and disintegrates the truck. Wendigo uproots a tree and swings it at Vindicator, knocking him for a loop. Shaman is forced to use his powers to put the fire out created by the exploding truck, while Wendigo decides its time to make a getaway.

Snowbird and Wolverine take to the woods to track Wendigo. While there, she asks him why he left Department H so long ago. Wolverine admits that while he owed a lot to his friends the Hudsons, he felt he got a good opportunity from Xavier to leave behind the governmental agencies he felt abused him and took advantage of him. Shortly thereafter, the duo discover Wendigo's hideout. Snowbird flies back to get Vindicator and Shaman, while Wolverine waits. But Wendigo appears ready to feed on Mrs. Parnall, who is stored behind a giant boulder that Wendigo rolls away, and Wolverine can wait no longer. He leaps onto Wendigo, claws fully extended, but the giant is near invulnerable. Wolverine flies into a berserker rage and flails against the monster, temporarily knocking it down. He leads Mrs. Parnall away, but is once again overcome by Wendigo, who has gotten back up and revived himself. He grabs Wolverine's whole body, lifts him up and slams him to the ground, then slams him against a tree, like a rag doll.

Nightcrawler teleports over Wendigo's head, slapping at him with a tree branch, but the monster tosses him away. Vindicator and Shaman show up with Snowbird, and the female shape-shifter decides it is time for her to attack. She transforms into a wolverine and lashes out at Wendigo, her animalistic nature overcoming all as she fiercely attacks him. The rest of the super-humans are astonished at the ferocity of her attack, and when all is said and done, Wendigo lies defeated. They realize that perhaps she has gone too far into her animal nature, and Wolverine calmly creeps up to her, encouraging her to return to them in her human form. After several agonizing minutes, she finally transforms back into Snowbird, falling into his arms in a heap.

Shaman uses his natural magicks to restore Wendigo to his human form of Georges Baptiste. Vindicator places him under arrest, as it was Baptiste who willingly took on the powers of Wendigo and then recklessly went on a spree of wanton violence. The Canadian heroes bid farewell to Wolverine and Nightcrawler, who both head back to New York. Vindicator is summoned to Ottawa to meet with Prime Minister Trudeau, who informs him that the funding for Alpha Flight is being jerked from the government, due to public uncertainty over super-humans. Vindicator has no idea what his next move is, but refuses to believe that all that Alpha Flight has accomplished is over, and wonders what the next chapter will be like.

At the United States Federal Maximum-X Security Penitentiary in Demming, New Mexico, the jail cell holding Fred J. Dukes crumbes into a big pile of rocks. The super-powered giant, better known as the Blob, walks ponderously towards the street, where he waits to meet his new friends in the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

- -synopsis and panel images by Gormuu

- - letters page provided by Avengers Assemble


Issues Reprinted
X-Men #132-140, Annual #4, Phoenix #1
and Phoenix from Bizarre Adventures #27

Click on cover image to learn more about each issue.

 
XM #132 XM #133 XM #134 XM #135 XM #136 XM #137
XM #138 Ann. #4 XM #139 XM #140 PHX #1 BA #27

 

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