The Uncanny X-Men #248
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeUncanny X-Men #248 marks the debut of Jim Lee's pencil work on the title, a creative pivot point whose ripple effects would reshape the X-Men franchise and the broader comics industry throughout the early 1990s. Within Chris Claremont's long-running Australia era, the issue delivers two major team-roster shakeups in a single story: Longshot departs in search of his lost identity, and Storm apparently dies when Havok's stray plasma blast destroys Nanny's escaping skycraft — a death that was later quietly retconned but which gave the issue an atmosphere of genuine consequence. Coming from a period when Claremont was deliberately thinning the team's roster to heighten tension ahead of the Reavers' looming assault, the issue reads as a hinge moment connecting Claremont's character-driven Copper Age work to the kinetic, splash-heavy visual grammar Lee would bring to X-Men vol. 2 #1 and beyond.
In "The Cradle Will Fall!", Longshot vanishes into a mysterious illusion, leaving the X-Men to confront a surprising threat: Nanny, who believes she's saving them by capturing them. As Havok fires at her ship, Storm is caught in the blast—just as Donald Pierce and his Reavers begin their campaign of terror against mutants, setting the stage for a clash that could change everything. Written by Chris Claremont and brought to life with dynamic art by Jim Lee and Dan Green, this 1989 issue features a cover by Jim Lee and Dan Green.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
By September 1989, Jim Lee had been building his Marvel résumé on Alpha Flight and Punisher: War Journal, but Uncanny X-Men represented a significant elevation in visibility. He stepped in as a fill-in for regular series penciller Marc Silvestri, and editor Bob Harras paired him with inker Dan Green — the same inker Silvestri had used — to smooth the transition for readers. The story, titled 'The Cradle Will Fall,' was scripted by Chris Claremont under editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco, with colors by Glynis Oliver and lettering by Tom Orzechowski. The issue was popular enough that Marvel issued a second printing with a gold-background cover variant, distinguishable from the first printing's red background; that second printing was published in 1992.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First published artwork by Jim Lee on any X-Men title (September 1989, cover-dated); he was filling in for regular penciller Marc Silvestri.
- Written by Chris Claremont; art and cover by Jim Lee and inker Dan Green; colored by Glynis Oliver; lettered by Tom Orzechowski; edited by Bob Harras under editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco.
- Story title: 'The Cradle Will Fall.' The issue is set during the team's self-imposed exile in Australia, a Claremont-era setting spanning roughly issues #229–250.
- Longshot leaves the X-Men in this issue to search for his lost memories, an exit that occurs largely off-panel at the start of the story.
- Storm apparently dies when Havok — still dazed after being freed from Nanny's mind-control armor — fires a plasma blast at Nanny's fleeing skycraft; Storm's body is later found in the wreckage. The death is eventually revealed to be a misdirection: the body was a S.H.I.E.L.D. Life Model Decoy placed by Nanny, with Storm confirmed alive (but de-aged and amnesiac) in Uncanny X-Men #253.
- Jubilee (Jubilation Lee) appears as a supporting character, continuing her ongoing presence as a stowaway in the X-Men's Australian base after her first appearance in Uncanny X-Men #244 (May 1989).
- A second printing with a gold-background cover was released in 1992, distinguishable from the first printing's red background cover.
- Lee's work here was only a one-issue fill-in; he returned for issues #256–258 before becoming the series' ongoing penciller with issue #267 when Silvestri permanently departed.
Cast · 24 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Spécial Strange #70 (1990), Gli Incredibili X-Men #40 (1993), X-Men Visionaries: Jim Lee #[nn] (2002), Essential X-Men #9 (2009), X-Men by Chris Claremont & Jim Lee Omnibus #1 (2012), X-Men Epic Collection #17 (2019), Marvel Comics - La collection #208 (2022), Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men #17 (2025), De X-Mannen #92, La Patrulla-X #93, X-Men #2/1992
Key issues in The Uncanny X-Men
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