UNCANNY X-MEN #143 (1981)

It’s Christmas.  And Kitty is Jewish, so when everyone else goes to visit loved ones, she stays at the mansion.

Whodathunk one of the best comic books about Christmas would focus on a Jew?  Because she’s a heathen, Kitty has no place to go. 

As they’re leaving, there are some nice character moments…

…And Kitty’s first kiss with Colossus…

After they all go, she learns she’s not alone in the mansion…

It’s a demon that looks like a brood.

After a terrific battle, Kitty destroys it–with the jet of the Blackbird. 

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It’s a simple story, but one of the greatest single issue comics of all time.

I love how Byrne draws her face getting increasingly proud of herself.

It was named one of the best stories of the 1980s by a very reputable site. A wonderful story with an absolutely perfect wrap-up ending (above). In fact, it is one of the 100 best single-issue stories of all time, according to this objectively accurate list.

3 thoughts on “UNCANNY X-MEN #143 (1981)”

  1. There was really no need for Kitty to hang at the mansion simply due to her religion. Jews and blacks have scheduled their own religious observations to conveniently correspond with the week of Christmas, so as to not be left out of the fun of the season, while declining to acknowledge the Reason for the Season! So, there was really no reason for her to remain home. Having said that, I’ll tell you this: If I were fortunate enough to live in a mansion as elegant and opulent as the Xavier School, I’d never leave!!! I’d just stay there forever! Human beings ( and mutants ) can do a LOT worse than spending their entire lives at the X-Mansion! I’d find me a nice little nook in that Mansion, and watch the world go by from a nice little nondescript window-nook! I don’t understand X-Men who want to leave that place- it’d take an act of Congress to evict my ass! This issue was, unfortunately, the Master, John Byrne’s swan-song on the series, an absence that is still being endured to this day. The highlights of this issue for me were the brief appearance of the Angel, who, unfortunately, was not long for the series with Byrne’s departure. Byrne was the only reason why the Angel was even there at all, because he, like myself, is a hard-core, die-hard Original X-Men fanatic. Claremont hates them- I mean, he HATES them, and wasted absolutely no time showing Warren the gate following Byrne’s departure. The scene where Wolverine nearly kills Nightcrawler for kissing Mariko effectively underscores both the Angel’s, and my own, attitude about the feral mutant’s presence on the team. Suppose he had been successful, and killed Nightcrawler on Christmas Eve. How would Professor X have rationalized that-?? I guess it would have made for a good storyarc, but I am totally on-board with the Angel’s departing “Its him or me ( and my money- see the next issue )” attitude. Most X-Men fans seem to believe Wolverine’s “slash ’em, dash ’em, kill ’em now, ask questions later” attitude is cool, and all, but it doesn’t play well in the real world. Sooner or later, Professor X would be held accountable for the Wolverine’s homicidal tendencies. As Captain America put it in the 1988 ‘Captain America’ Annual, “Wolverine, it’s a good thing they put up with you on the X-Men, because you wouldn’t last ten minutes as an Avenger.” This is the case, Wolverine’s floating membership in the Avengers the last decade or so notwithstanding. They are all great characters, but every last one of them-Wolverine included-is every bit as subject to the laws of Man as any of the rest of us. You hurt or kill somebody in this country without a good reason, and you will answer for it. That is the LAW, even if you ARE a professional superhero. Mr. Ekko notes how Byrne illustrates Kitty’s face reflecting her increasing satisfaction with herself. I feel the same way over how he conveys Storm’s inquisitiveness as to what’s been going on in the Mansion all night. Her facial expressions look absolutely three-dimensional. Byrne’s artwork on Storm, from issues 108 through 143, is what made me fall in love with her, and helped me to accept the fact of the New X-Men. Check out that rack on her in the above shot where she has her hand on Kitty’s shoulder. Ten-four, all day. As for whether or not I would consider “Demon” to be one of the best comics of the decade, ( 1980’s ) I’m not sure about that, but I will concede that it rates a grade of “A+”. X-celsior!!

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