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The X-Men Danglers FAQ, Part 2: The Claremont era
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Last updated: 27 June 1995
Issues covered: Giant-Size X-Men #1 to Uncanny X-Men #280
Closed Danglers
---------------
These are the plotlines that have been answered to the satisfaction
of the net.
1. General. Hints of romantic attraction between Storm and the
Black Panther?
Pretty much resolved when they met up. This mainly relates
to a back-up story in Marvel Team-Up #100
2. General. Does the USSR know about Peter?
Yes. See Classic X-Men #29.
3. General. Can Nightcrawler stick to walls?
Yes. See Uncanny X-Men #130 and #137, Excalibur #63 and his
entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (the
Trade Paperback edition). Of course, whether he'll remember
it in any given story is another matter.
4. General. Do Kitty Pryde's parents know why she is now in
London?
Excalibur #21 establishes that they're in a witness relocation
programme and that Kitty decided against joining them in hiding.
5. General. Illyana and the Demon, Illyana not being in Russia,
and Peter telling the folks about Illyana.
Another one from earlier incarnations of the list which I
don't fully understand. Anyhow, they were apparently resolved.
Illyana was certainly returned to Russia after New Mutants #75,
so it might be something to do with that. Any ideas?
6. General. Mastermind's power increase re defeating the White
Queen. And his ability to influence dreams and operate on all
levels of space and time.
Opinion is split on this - either he retained some power
from the Phoenix force, or he was still using the White
Queen's old device. Whichever, it no longer matters.
7. General. Madelyne Pryor's plane crash on the same day that Jean
Grey died on the moon, and Xavier's inability to read her thoughts
or trace her history before the crash.
Resolved in Inferno. Madelyne's memories were implants given
to her by Mister Sinister.
8. General. Wolverine knowing about Jean [presumably her return from
the grave], the Marauders pursuing Madelyne, and the fate of baby
Nathan Summers.
Mostly resolved during Inferno.
9. General. Are the X-Men still wanted by the US Government?
No, the government is now turning a blind eye.
10. General. What is the source of the enmity between Carol Danvers
and Mystique?
I'm getting conflicting reports on this one. Some people are
telling me that it's from the story that would have appeared in
Ms. Marvel #24-25 had the series not been cancelled, and
eventually appeared in Marvel Superheroes, Fall 1992. This
story apparently concerned Carol breaking up an arms ring run
by Mystique. David R Henry, however, doesn't think that this
story really explains the enmity fully. Incidentally, this
story contains the legendary first battle between Rogue and
Sebastian Shaw.
11. General. Who is Mister Sinister? Where did he comes from?
What are his aims?
I never thought I'd see the day when I could declare this one
closed. While gaps remain, the Alter-X storyline establishes
that he sold his soul to Apocalypse several hundred years ago
(before the Alter-X timeline diverged) in order to gain power
and to continue his experiments. He wants to move humanity
onto a higher evolutionary level, and believes that Scott and
Jean's child is instrumental (for reasons that remain unclear).
12. General. Who are the Marauders? Where did they all come from?
How did they survive death?
Well, they were all employees of Sinister. Their backgrounds
are undefined but appear to be irrelevant. They survived
death at the hands of the X-Men because Sinister cloned new
bodies for them.
13. #102. Storm's lost years in Africa. Did she suffer amnesia that
made her forget about the outside world and its customs?
Answered in issue #186, p. 30 - Storm had to inhibit her feelings
and "awareness of herself as a woman" because they were connected
with her powers, which had to remain controlled.
14. #104. Dragonfly escapes Muir Isle. Whatever happened to her?
She showed up in Quasar #15 as a prisoner of the Stranger.
15. #139-140. Hints of a romance between Snowbird and Wolverine.
Well, she's dead, so it's a moot point.
16. #143. Whatever happened to the N'Garai?
Claremont was very keen on the N'Garai for a while in the mid
1970s. Then he forgot all about them. The N'Garai next showed
up in Incredible Hulk #301, so presumably they're now somebody
else's problem. Claremont also used them briefly in a minor
role during Fall of the Mutants.
17. #150. Storm refers to cutting the throat of someone as a child
in order to save her life.
This was shown in flashback in issue #267.
18. #158. The X-Men destroy the US government's computer records
of them, but what about the paper ones?
X-Tinction Agenda confirms that the US government has no
records. Presumably the paper ones are either destroyed,
lost or so classified that even the government can't see
them.
19. #171. Will Rogue ever come to terms with the Carol Danvers
personality inside her head, and the one without? What happens
if a Carol-dominated Rogue meets the real Carol?
Although this was never really resolved, the Carol Danvers
personality was apparently destroyed by Magneto when in the
240s, so it's now a moot point.
20. #176. Mariko Yashida and her ties to the Clan Yashida and the
Yakuza (Japanese organised crime).
This was tied up by Larry Hama in Wolverine's title.
21. #183. Is Rachel's face tattooed or just made up?
Tattooed, according to the Official Handbook of the Marvel
Universe. She psychically disguised them when she didn't
want people to see them. Eivind points out that in Fantastic
Force, the adult Franklin Richards also has these tattoos,
which only show up in times of stress. This would be an
alternate explanation for Rachel's tattoos continually
appearing and disappearing, and would explain how she
disguised them while she was in the Sentinels' concentration
camp and didn't have access to her powers.
22. #194. Gospodin Colonel Vashin spends a page talking to Sasha
at KGB HQ about starting a Soviet superteam.
The Colonel resurfaced in issue #263 in a plot that bore no
resemblance to the original dangler. However, the USSR in
fact did have its own super-agents, which made Claremont's
first intended plot somewhat pointless.
23. #200. What is Magneto's real name?
Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, according to X-Men Unlimited #2.
24. #206. Nightcrawler's relationship with Judith Rassendyll.
She showed up again in Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem. It's fairly
clear that there's nothing more happening between them.
25. #208. Nimrod worries about the Rodriguezes and feeling emotions.
Nimrod attained sentience in issue #247.
26. #213. The romance of Betsy Braddock and Doug Ramsey.
Lost in the shuffle when Cypher got killed and Psylocke was
shunted off to Australia.
27. #219. Will the X-Men rescue Polaris from the Marauders?
Polaris was freed in issue #250.
28. General. Why did Mister Sinister destroy all the documentation
relating to Madelyne Pryor?
Because Jean Grey returned and he couldn't risk the two meeting
as Madelyne would be exposed as a clone. He needed to eradicate
all references to Madelyne to ensure this.
29. General. When will Madelyne and Jean meet? What's going on
between Scott, Madelyne and Alex in their love triangle? Is
Madelyne from Genosha? What about the little girl from Avengers
Annual #10 who was called Madelyne Pryor?
Madelyne and Jean met in Inferno, in which Madelyne died (thus
wrapping up the second plotline). Maddie was a clone, so no,
she wasn't from Genosha. And the girl in Avengers Annual #10
has no significance other than the fact that they're both named
after the lead singer of Steeleye Span. David R Henry points
out that the little girl was used as the model for a flashback
that appeared in Madelyne's dreams during the Genosha storyline.
Chalk it up to false memories and a visual joke for long-time
readers.
30. #222. Is Sabretooth related to Wolverine?
No. They took a blood test in Wolverine #42. This was the
original plot intended to link the two characters, which was
dumped when Wolverine was extremely popular and Sabretooth was
a nobody, on the grounds that it would look silly. Previous
references to it were explained away as memory implants in the
Wolverine title.
31. #227. Will anyone other than X-Factor and Polaris and the New
Mutants find out that the X-Men are alive?
Yes. Their trial in Genosha during X-Tinction Agenda revealed
their survival to the rest of the world.
32. #227. Does Psylocke have real eyes or the mechanical ones?
After going through the Siege Perilous, Psylocke retained her
mechanical eyes. When her body was swapped with Revanche's,
Revanche got the mechanical eyes. So at present, Psylocke has
real eyes. See X-Men Vol. 2 #31 for more details, but prepare
to be confused.
33. #229. Pretty Boy, Bonebreaker and Skullbuster escape the X-Men's
defeat of the Reavers.
And they show up again with the new Reavers in issue #248.
34. #238. When will the X-Men do something about Genosha?
Resolved in X-Tinction Agenda.
35. #239. Where did the Reavers come from?
Donald Pierce allegedly built them. They're dead, anyway.
36. Inferno. How did Xavier steal Scott from Sinister? And how did
Sinister know that Scott's experiences would have to be suppressed
so that telepaths could not detect them?
Resolved in Classic X-Men #41-42. Mr. Sinister harasses
Scott in the orphanage, but Xavier and Jean intervene at the
last moment.
37. Inferno. Is there any significance in the fact that "S'ym" plus
"N'Astirh" makes "Sinister"?
No. Actually, S'ym's name and costume are an oblique reference
to Dave Sim, the creator of Cerebus the Aardvark.
38. Annual #13. Who killed Jubilee's parents and why?
This was more or less resolved in Wolverine #73-74.
39. #245. How did Lorna Dane know how to telephone the X-Men's
base in Australia?
According to Chris Claremont, she actually called the X-Men's
mansion in Westchester. The computers there forwarded the call.
This contradicts Damage Control #4, however, in which the
power supply was shut down.
40. #245. What happened to Malice after Zaladane separated her
from Lorna Dane?
She showed up again in X-Factor #102-103, as a separate
being, and got herself killed.
41. #246. Sebastian Shaw tries to persuade Henry Peter Gyrich to
start building Nimrods.
And one duly shows up in X-Force.
42. #254. Did Alysande Stuart and Amanda Sefton remain prisoners
of the Reavers after their attack on Muir Isle?
Although it's not clear from the story, the answer is no.
43. #255. What happened to Nanny and the Orphan Maker after
their fight with the X-Men? How did the juvenile Storm escape
from them?
See issues #266 and #267 for details.
44. #255. Destiny foretells that Forge and Mystique are going to
be an item. Considering that they hated each other at the time,
this was an interesting premonition.
And it's been more or less fulfilled. There seems to be more
to come over in X-Factor, however.
45. #256. What happened to Rogue and Carol Danvers? Why does
Psylocke's vision show them both being dead?
Issue #270 reveals that the Siege Perilous split them into
two beings, but that neither could survive individually.
46. #256. Why did Mojo and Spiral appear in Psylocke's hallucinations?
Because Spiral was carrying out the procedure to change
Psylocke's appearance. See X-Men Vol. 2 #31.
47. #257. Wolverine's hallucinations show Carol Danvers and Nick
Fury, apparently because they're important figures to him. We
know about Carol, but why Nick?
Of course, Wolverine is one of those characters who seems to
be a close and intimate friend of half the Marvel Universe,
so there might not be any more to it than that.
48. #259. What happened to Callisto after she was captured by
the Morlocks?
She was transformed into a beautiful model by Masque.
49. #266. Who is Gambit?
For the most part, answered by various origin flashbacks.
50. #269. Rogue promises to come back and rescue Gateway from
the Reavers.
This became a moot point when most of the Reavers were
slaughtered by Trevor Fitzroy's Sentinels in issue #281.
51. #269. What was Magneto doing in the Savage Land when he
rescued Rogue?
Resolved way ahead of schedule in issue #275. He was preparing
to fight Zaladane.
===============
Still Dangling
--------------
1. General. Ororo's jealousy for Kitty's dance teacher, Stevie
Hunter. Built up but totally dropped.
Owen Erasmus suggests that Storm's change of attitude here
can be attributed to her personality change, and also refers
to a scene in UX #180.
2. General. What happened to Aleytys Forrester? What did she
think of Scott's marriage?
This is unlikely to see any sort of resolution, but she did
show up in early issues of Cable, so she hasn't been totally
forgotten about.
3. General. Why did Eric the Red have the same name and costume
that Cyclops used as a disguise way back in the original series?
Eric the Red hasn't appeared since 1977. However, that could
be him in X-Men Vol. 2 #41, fighting X-Treme, so perhaps we
might get a resolution yet.
4. General. Who's responsible for Wolverine's adamantium skeleton?
The Weapon X project - but the Weapon X storyline makes it
clear that there's somebody else behind the scenes.
5. General. Why did Xavier and Moira MacTaggert break up, and how
did they become friends again?
It's quite probable that Moira left Xavier because she had
met her first husband, but this has never been absolutely
confirmed.
6. General. How does Wolverine's time in Japan, his skeleton
implant, and him and Carol in Russia fit into his chronology?
7. General. Were Mystique and Destiny lovers?
Yes, Claremont intended them to be. See Marvel Fanfare #40.
The intended plot was to have them as Nightcrawler's parents,
with Mystique as the father. Marvel's policy on gay
characters prevented this story from being run.
8. General. What exactly is Mister Sinister's plan involving
the Summers family?
The combined brainpower of the net has been unable to come
up with any entirely consistent explanation of Sinister's
actions. Given his expertise in cloning and genetics, why
did Sinister bother sending Madelyne out to marry Scott - why
not just create the child through genetic engineering? How
does Rachel fit into all this? The inconsistencies in Mister
Sinister's plan have generally been ascribed to poor writing,
but we all live in hope that one day the writers will wake
up with a staggering and original idea to explain it all away.
9. General. Where did the Reavers' computer complex come from?
Why did it keep doing such strange things when the X-Men were
living there?
10. General. Who is Gateway, and what can he do besides teleport
and play the flute?
Since Gateway is now a regular character in Generation X,
this plot will probably be resolved there. Various readers
have pointed out that some information about Gateway's powers
is given in Weapon X #3, in which he was shown to be "the
repository of the knowledge of humanity, the living index of
every hard earned scrap of information gleaned in our ascent
from mindless savagery." This might also explain where the
Reavers' computer system came from.
11. General. Whatever happened to the X-Men's invisibility to
mechanical sensors? It was used frequently and then totally
forgotten about.
Several readers have suggested that it was wiped by the
Siege Perilous. This is wrong. Storm, Dazzler, Colossus
and Psylocke all retained their invisibility for some time
after passing through the Siege.
12. Giant-Size X-Men #1 - issue #102. Colossus's love for Storm is
built up in some detail, and then completely dropped. For example,
in issue #99, Nightcrawler thinks "He's so emotional... like -- a
man in love!"
13. #98. Why are Wolverine's readings entirely different from
Jean Grey's, Sean Cassidy's and Xavier's?
This was going to relate to Claremont's first idea for the
origin of Wolverine, where he was going to be a real wolverine
artificially evolved by the High Evolutionary. You can see why
he dropped it, can't you? Anyhow, this was never referred to
again. But X-Men readers never forget.
14. #122-124. Scott Summers' romance with Colleen Wing. Built
up in some detail, and Colleen even gave Scott the key to her
apartment. Then it got forgotten about in the aftermath of the
Dark Phoenix Saga.
15. Annual #4. Is Wolverine referring to World War II when he talks
about having been at Monte Cassino?
Quite possibly. Various other references place Wolverine in
World War II in his own comic, specifically the Normandy
landings.
16. #160. Storm picks up a magic necklace and silver arm cuff
while the X-Men are in Limbo.
17. #169. Why was Mastermind interested in Mystique and Rogue? His
plan was for revenge on the X-Men, and they weren't connected.
This was intended to be foreshadowing for a plot planned
for Ms. Marvel, which Claremont also wrote at the time. When
Ms. Marvel was cancelled, the plot was dropped. Mastermind
wanted revenge on Mystique because her arms shipping business
was siphoning profits from the Hellfire Club.
18. #171. What is Rogue's real name? How did she meet up with
Mystique?
Classic X-Men ran a back-up which did not answer these questions.
X-Men Unlimited #4 is somewhat more helpful, but since Mystique
was feigning insanity at the time, her comments must be treated
with extreme caution. The net consensus is that that issue was
extremely badly written and breaches continuity in many places;
consequently, it is of very little value in resolving danglers.
19. #172. Storm and Yukio's relationship. What happened to it?
It was picked up on vaguely in issue #314, but nothing was
done about it. Yukio is now one of the multitudes who form
the supporting cast of Wolverine.
20. #173. The Viper and the Silver Samurai exit uttering threats.
Well, the Samurai shows little interest in revenge these days.
The Viper appears to be regarded as a Captain America villain,
and current Marvel policy discourages crossovers between
families, so we're unlikely to see a resolution soon.
21. #182. Where did Colonel Rossi go after this story?
According to the letters column, Rossi was infiltrating the
Hellfire Club to find out more about their involvement in
SHIELD. The stories have yet to confirm this, of course.
22. #191. The necklace containing Kulan Gath's essence falls into
a subway tunnel. What happened to it?
Anyone picking up this necklace will be transformed into
Kulan Gath, a powerful sorcerer who transformed New York
into a Conan-type environment the last time he was released.
The story clearly leaves these questions open.
23. #200. What happened off-panel in Paris?
24. #209. Phoenix is abducted by Spiral. What happens between this
story and her appearance in Excalibur Special Edition #1?
A graphic novel was promised, but never appeared.
25. #215. What happened to Sarah Grey and her children?
Sarah disappeared a few years back and was never heard of
until her essence showed up as part of the Phalanx in X-Men
Vol. 2 #36. The kids, Joey and Gailyn, were rescued in a
plot in X-Factor.
26. #229. The Siege Perilous. Where did it come from? Why
did it keep showing up by accident at important points?
Did Donald Pierce really destroy it just by crushing it?
27. #234. What happened to the two Brood left alive in Denver?
Owen Erasmus suggests that it's probably them who went on
to appear in the New Orleans Brood story.
28. Annual #12. It is clearly implied that Nereel's son Peter
is Colossus's son.
Ken Arromdee assures me that several lines of dialogue make
it clear that Peter knows this. Yet he's done nothing about
it.
29. #236. Wipeout erases Rogue's powers, yet her eye colour changes
from brown to blue when Carol Davners's personality takes over.
According to Claremont, this was deliberate.
30. #238. Wolverine refers to being a slave. What's he talking
about?
31. #239. Rogue, with Carol Danvers in control, has flesh-to-flesh
contact with Psylocke with no apparent effects.
Again, Claremont has been asked about this and says that
it isn't an art error. Tom Galloway puts forward the theory
that Rogue's lack of control over her powers is psychological
in nature, and that consequently Carol is not affected by it.
This seems to be the most likely explanation.
32. #242. Wolverine finds something familiar about Archangel's
scent, in such a way that it seems that it's the difference he
finds familiar rather than the base. Where had he met up with
Apocalypse before?
Wolverine: The Jungle Adventure implied that Apocalypse gave
Wolverine his adamantium skeleton. However, that's by no
means conclusive, and most of the stories suggest something
different entirely.
33. Inferno. What were the changes in the X-Men caused by Inferno
itself, and why did they stay around after it was over, unlike
the changes on everyone else? The X-Men all become more demonic
in appearance and commented at some length on the change. After
Inferno, it was totally ignored.
34. #244. Why couldn't Psylocke detect Jubilee?
Psylocke fails to detect Jubilee on several other occasions,
as do the Reavers and the X-Men's computers. This suggests
that it was intended to be a superhuman power. Blindside of
the Harriers also suggested that there was something about
Jubilee's mind that made it particularly hard to interact
with telepathically.
35. #245. Dazzler's "basic luminescence has been upshifting along
the spectrum" from yellow into white. Any significance?
The original plot for this storyline had Dazzler die in
battle with the Master Mold, and this was intended to be
foreshadowing. Claremont changed his mind at the last
minute, leaving this vision wholly unexplained. (Dazzler
fans can thank Marc Silvestri for suggesting the movie
storyline and thereby saving her.)
36. #246-7. Nimrod and the Master Mold merge and then explode.
Both of them can recover from explosions, so what happened next?
Despite appearances in the art, Claremont claims that they
did not go through the Siege Perilous.
37. #249. Zaladane claims to be Lorna Dane's sister, but offers
no proof for her assertion. Moira MacTaggert later claims that for
the power-switching procedure to work, Zala and Lorna must have
highly related genetic structures. So what's the story?
Carl Rigney points out that they have the same last name.
This is almost certainly what Claremont had in mind. Sadly,
Lorna was adopted as a child, and Dane was the name of her
adoptive parents, so there must be more to it.
38. #251. Was Psylocke under some sort of control when she talked
the remaining X-Men into the Siege Perilous?
Her hallucinations under reprogramming by the Hand seem to
lend some credence to this assertion. But then again, maybe
not.
39. #252, page 18. The X-Men's computer appears to be alive. It's
also been shown to be able to repair itself.
40. #252, last page. Why did the cyborg dogs not react to Jubilee?
41. #253. Is Magneto telling the truth when he tells Moira MacTaggert
that he's going to pretend to be a villain? Can't he come up with
a better plan?
The most likely explanation for this piece of weirdness is that
the higher echelons of Marvel had decreed that Magneto would
revert to type for that year's big crossover, Acts of Vengeance
(plot: there's a really big fight). Claremont was probably
trying to find a way to let this happen while keeping Magneto
in character.
42. #257. Where did that photograph of Logan and Ruby in a
futuristic city come from?
Some contributors have suggested that it's Uptown Madripoor.
However, Jubilee's dialogue clearly shows that she doesn't
think it's like anything on Earth, and Uptown has never been
described as futuristic.
43. #257. The Harriers are given a big introduction, and then
never heard of again. What was the point?
44. #260. Who tipped off Fenris that Forge and the Banshee were
on the aeroplane that they attacked?
Probably the Shadow King, but this has never been conclusively
resolved.
45. #261. How was Donald Pierce tipped off that Cylla Markham was
in need of cyborg body parts? Did he know that she used to be
friends with Banshee and Forge?
Since Pierce and Markham are both dead, this is no longer a
live issue. However, it was never resolved.
46. #263. More of Forge's background is revealed, but still missing
major details. What is his name? And how did he lose his hand and
leg?
I think he lost it in the air raid that he called in Vietnam
in issue #227, trying to kill off the demon hordes that he
had summoned. By the way, isn't that a rather crude way to
kill supernatural entities?
47. #266. Gambit clearly demonstrates in his early appearances that
he has the psychic ability to make people trust him. This was
dropped in a tacit retcon.
Mike Collins, who drew this issue, has confirmed that Gambit's
psychic power was mentioned in the script.
48. #268. What sort of alliance did the Hand and Fenris strike while
Wolverine, Psylocke, Jubilee and the Black Widow were chasing around
after a fake meeting?
49. #270. Where did Dazzler go after leaving Lila Cheney's home in
Malibu?
Yes, I know she showed up back in California in early issues of
X-Men Vol. 2, but what happened in the interim?
------------------------- end of part two ------------------------
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