The Uncanny X-Men #215
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeUncanny X-Men #215 marks a pivotal reshuffling of the post-'Mutant Massacre' roster: Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Shadowcat are officially dispatched to Muir Island and written off the active team, while Dazzler and Longshot step into full membership, cementing the franchise's early-1987 reinvention. The issue also introduces the trio of Crimson Commando, Stonewall, and Super Sabre — World War II veterans turned vigilantes who would later join the government-sponsored Freedom Force — adding a morally complicated new corner to the X-Men's corner of the Marvel Universe. It advances the slow-burn mystery of Madelyne Pryor by showing her regaining consciousness in a San Francisco hospital, a thread Chris Claremont was carefully unspooling toward the 'Inferno' payoff two years away. As a standalone Storm-centric story set against a depowered protagonist forced to outwit superpowered opponents through wit and endurance rather than weather-control, it also stands as one of the cleaner character-spotlight issues of the era.
In "Old Soldiers," the wounded X-Men are brought to Muir Isle for recovery, where Storm confronts a group of aging mutants—Stonewall, Super Sabre, and Crimson Commando—holding a young girl captive. With Longshot and Dazzler now part of the team, the stakes rise as past and present collide in a tense, character-driven clash. Written by Chris Claremont and illustrated with dynamic precision by Alan Davis, with inks by Dan Green and colors by Glynis Oliver, this issue’s cover by Alan Davis and Dan Green captures the weight of legacy and resilience.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue was written by Chris Claremont with Alan Davis serving as guest penciler — part of their ongoing collaboration across this stretch of the title that Marvel later celebrated with the 'X-Men: Old Soldiers' collection. Ann Nocenti edited under editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, and the regular art team of inker Dan Green, colorist Glynis Oliver, and letterer Tom Orzechowski rounded out the production. It was produced in the immediate wake of the landmark 'Mutant Massacre' crossover of late 1986, a story that had physically incapacitated several X-Men and set the stage for exactly the kind of dramatic roster overhaul this issue formalizes.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearances of Crimson Commando (Frank Bohannan), Stonewall (Louis Hamilton), and Super Sabre (Martin Fletcher) — three WWII-era super-soldiers turned vigilantes who would go on to join Freedom Force.
- Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Shadowcat officially depart the active X-Men roster as of this issue, shipped to Muir Island to recover from injuries sustained in the Mutant Massacre.
- Longshot appears as an active X-Men team member for the first time in the main Uncanny X-Men series (he had previously appeared in the 1986 Annual).
- Dazzler, who formally joined the team in the preceding issue (#214), is shown as part of the new roster preparing for the team's next phase.
- The story, titled 'Old Soldiers,' pits a depowered Storm against the three new antagonists in a hunt scenario set in the wilderness — a notable character study in Storm's resourcefulness without her mutant abilities.
- Madelyne Pryor-Summers regains consciousness in a San Francisco hospital and reveals her name to doctors, advancing a key subplot building toward the 'Inferno' storyline.
- Produced by writer Chris Claremont and guest penciler Alan Davis, with Ann Nocenti as editor, inker Dan Green, colorist Glynis Oliver, and letterer Tom Orzechowski.
- Reprinted in Essential X-Men vol. 7 (black-and-white), Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men, and the X-Men: Old Soldiers trade paperback (which collects New Mutants Annual #2–3, Uncanny X-Men Annual #11, and Uncanny X-Men #213–215).
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Reprints
Reprinted in Spécial Strange #59 (1988), Gli Incredibili X-Men #24 (1992), X-Men : l'intégrale #1987 (I) (2009), X-Men : l'intégrale #1987 (II) (2010), X-Men: Mutant Massacre Omnibus #[nn] (2018), Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men #14 (2021), La Patrulla-X #65, X-Men #9/1990
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