The Uncanny X-Men #193

History

Writer Chris Claremont and penciler John Romita Jr. — the core creative team on Uncanny X-Men throughout the mid-1980s — produced this double-sized issue under editor Ann Nocenti and editor-in-chief Jim Shooter as a formal centennial for the relaunched series that debuted with Giant-Size X-Men #1. The title 'Warhunt 2!' is a direct callback to 'Warhunt!', the title of Uncanny X-Men #95 in which the original Thunderbird died, and Claremont's closing dedication honors the book's founding architects Len Wein and Dave Cockrum alongside long-serving letterer Tom Orzechowski and colorist Glynis Wein. Firestar's comics incarnation — written with a radically different origin from her cartoon counterpart — was set up through the concurrent Firestar limited series scripted by Tom DeFalco; her appearance here as a manipulated Hellion under Empath's empathic thrall gave readers their first in-continuity look at a character already familiar from four years of Saturday-morning television.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Firestar (Angelica Jones) in mainstream Marvel Universe continuity (Earth-616); her prior comic appearance was in a non-continuity adaptation of the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends animated series.
• First appearance of James Proudstar (later Warpath) in the classic Thunderbird costume, cementing his visual identity going forward.
• Double-sized 52-page issue published May 1985, titled 'Warhunt 2!' — a deliberate thematic echo of Uncanny X-Men #95 ('Warhunt!'), the issue in which John Proudstar (Thunderbird I) died.
• Structured as the 100th-issue anniversary of the All-New, All-Different X-Men era; the issue's closing dedication honors founding creators Len Wein and Dave Cockrum along with veteran contributors Tom Orzechowski and Glynis Wein.
• Written by Chris Claremont; penciled by John Romita Jr.; inked by Dan Green; colored by Glynis Oliver (Wein); lettered by Tom Orzechowski; edited by Ann Nocenti.
• Contains an early post-debut appearance of Nimrod, the future-Sentinel, who is shown acclimating to the present-day timeline after being displaced from Rachel Summers' dystopian future; he is taken in by construction worker Jaime Rodriguez.
• Firestar was originally created for the 1981 NBC animated series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends by John Romita Sr., Rick Hoberg, and Dennis Marks as a substitute for the Human Torch, whose rights were unavailable — making this issue the bridge between the animated character and the comics canon.
• The issue has been reprinted in X-Men Classic Vol. 1 #97 (1994), Essential X-Men Vol. 5, Epic Collection: X-Men Vol. 12, X-Men Origins: Firestar TPB, and the Uncanny X-Men Omnibus Vol. 4.

Cast · 40 characters

Full credits

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