The Uncanny X-Men #153
Uncanny X-Men #153 is one of the most celebrated done-in-one issues of the Claremont era, demonstrating that superhero serialization could make room for pure whimsy and character warmth without sacrificing depth. By having Kitty Pryde narrate a bedtime fairy tale to young Illyana Rasputin — recasting all the X-Men as pirates, wizards, and genies — Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum delivered an early template for the 'character-breath' interlude that dozens of writers would imitate in the decades that followed. The issue also carries genuine mythos weight: it contains the first-named appearance of Lockheed (here a dragon stand-in for the SR-71 Blackbird, predating the 'real' Lockheed's debut in #166), the debut of the small blue elf-creatures called Bamfs, and is widely cited as the first use of the term 'Phoenix Force' in Marvel continuity. Its fairy-tale world, initially presented as pure fiction, was later confirmed as an actual alternate dimension (Earth-5311) when Nightcrawler visited it in his 1985 limited series.
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The issue was written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Dave Cockrum — Cockrum's second stint on the title after John Byrne's departure — with inks by Josef Rubinstein, colors by Glynis Wein, and lettering by Tom Orzechowski and Annette Kawecki, under editor Louise Jones (Simonson) with Jim Shooter as Editor-in-Chief. In a 2006 interview preserved by the Grand Comics Database, Cockrum noted that his pencils for this period were done loosely in blue, a technique his editor Ann Nocenti called 'shakedowns,' though he confirmed all the necessary visual information was present. The story is set immediately after the X-Men's battle with the Hellfire Club and White Queen, giving Claremont a natural narrative pivot to decompress and spotlight Kitty's voice; the cover's Monty Python catchphrase — 'And now for something completely different!' — signals exactly that tonal shift.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Written by Chris Claremont, penciled by Dave Cockrum, inked by Josef Rubinstein, colored by Glynis Wein; cover date January 1982 (on-sale October 1981).
- First appearance of Lockheed the dragon (Earth-5311 version), a fictional stand-in for the X-Men's SR-71 Blackbird jet, predating the 'real' Lockheed's debut in Uncanny X-Men #166.
- First appearance of the Bamfs — small blue elf-like creatures patterned after Nightcrawler — who were later retroactively established as inhabitants of the actual alternate dimension Earth-5311 in Nightcrawler #3–4 (1985).
- Widely cited as the first time the term 'Phoenix Force' is used in the Marvel Universe.
- Also features the first appearances (in their Earth-5311 forms) of Pirate Kitty, Noble Prince (Cyclops), Wind-Rider (Storm), Wizard Xavier, and the Fiend-With-No-Name (Wolverine).
- Carol Danvers appears in the framing story (the real-world Xavier mansion scenes), depicted wearing a shirt bearing the logo of DC's Captain Marvel — a deliberate in-joke by Claremont.
- Kitty is drawn wearing an Elfquest T-shirt; Elfquest was created by Richard and Wendy Pini and was also published by Marvel under their Epic imprint.
- Reprinted in Marvel Visionaries: Chris Claremont (2005 hardcover and 2019 paperback), The Uncanny X-Men Omnibus Vol. 2 (2014), and X-Men Epic Collection #8: I, Magneto (2021).
Cast · 26 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Kitty tells Illyana a fairy tale using the X-Men as a character base.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).