X-Men Annual #13
X-Men Annual #13 holds a firm place in Copper Age X-Men history primarily because its backup story, 'Jubilation Day,' delivers the second appearance and first cover appearance of Jubilee (Jubilation Lee), while also debuting the yellow trench coat and ruby-red sunglasses that would define the character visually for the next decade. The issue is woven into the sprawling 1989 'Atlantis Attacks' event—a 14-part annual crossover that built directly on the prior year's Evolutionary War format and remains one of the most ambitious (if uneven) interconnected storytelling experiments of the era. Beyond Jubilee's gear, the backup contains one of the extremely rare instances in which the teleporter Gateway is depicted speaking aloud, a moment noted by multiple chroniclers as essentially unique in the character's history. The issue also serves as an early showcase for Jubilee's independent voice and resourcefulness before she formally joined the X-Men, establishing the character dynamics—particularly her furtive relationship with the oblivious X-Men team—that Chris Claremont would exploit throughout the Outback era.
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The main story, 'Double Cross,' was scripted by Terry Austin—better known as an inker—with art by Mike Vosburg, under editor Bob Harras and editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco; Austin's authorship is notable partly because Mr. Jip, the villain who body-swaps Dazzler and Diamondback, was Austin's own creation from Cloak & Dagger, making his inclusion here a personal touch. The 'Jubilation Day' backup is credited to a writer named Sally Pashkow, but at a comic convention, Chris Claremont, along with penciler Jim Fern and inker Joe Rubinstein—the story's actual collaborators—confirmed that 'Sally Pashkow' was a pseudonym Claremont adopted as a private joke, explaining why the name appears nowhere else in Marvel's publishing history; Wikipedia's Claremont bibliography corroborates this, listing Uncanny X-Men Annual #13 among his credits 'under pseudonym.' The issue also carries the issue-wide 'Saga of the Serpent Crown' backup chapter, scripted by historian Peter Sanderson with art by Mark Bagley, a recurring feature in every one of the 14 Atlantis Attacks annuals providing historical context for the Serpent Crown's mythology.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Second appearance and first cover appearance of Jubilee (Jubilation Lee), who had debuted the same month in Uncanny X-Men #244 (May 1989), created by Chris Claremont and Marc Silvestri.
- Jubilee's now-classic look—yellow trench coat and ruby-red sunglasses—debuts in the 'Jubilation Day' backup story.
- The backup story is credited to 'Sally Pashkow' (pencils: Jim Fern, inks: Joe Rubinstein), but Chris Claremont, Fern, and Rubinstein confirmed at a convention that 'Sally Pashkow' was a pseudonym Claremont used as a personal joke; the name never appeared in comics again.
- The story takes place directly after Uncanny X-Men #244 and features Gateway speaking aloud to Jubilee—one of the only documented instances in the character's history of him using speech.
- The main story, 'Double Cross,' was written by Terry Austin with art by Mike Vosburg; the villain Mr. Jip (a Cloak & Dagger character created by Austin) switches the bodies of Dazzler and Diamondback, forcing the X-Men to retrieve mystic artifacts for Ghaur and Llyra.
- The issue is the fourth installment in the 14-part Atlantis Attacks crossover, which continued from Iron Man Annual #10 and continued into Amazing Spider-Man Annual #23; the event ran across nearly all of Marvel's 1989 summer annuals.
- Every Atlantis Attacks annual also included a chapter of 'Saga of the Serpent Crown,' a 14-part backup written by Peter Sanderson with art by Mark Bagley tracing the Serpent Crown's history; this issue carries Chapter 3, 'Serpent in the Garden,' which includes a cameo by Robert E. Howard's King Kull.
- The issue has been reprinted in Essential X-Men Vol. 9 (2009) and Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men Vol. 17, cementing its place as a canonical chapter of Claremont's late-Outback-era run.
Cast · 40 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
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Mr. Jip switches Dazzler and Diamondback's bodies, and the X-Men have to gather four mystic objects so he will change them back. Diamondback, who is back in her old body, steals the pieces for Llyra and Ghaur.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).