Issue(s): Uncanny X-Men #195
Cover Date: Jul 85
Title: "It was a dark and stormy night...!"
Credits:
Chris Claremont - Writer
John Romita Jr. - Penciler
Dan Green - Inker
Ann Nocenti - Editor

Review/plot:
This issue continues the Morlock plot from Power Pack #12. This is Power Pack's first appearance outside their own book, and i was feeling a little protective of them and looking for things to be critical of, but Claremont and Romita do a good job with the kids (although JRJR makes them all a bit more baby-faced than i'd like).

They wake up in their apartment but discover that their parents have lost all memories of having had kids...

...and that their bedrooms are completely empty (you'd think having two bedrooms devoid of furniture would be somewhat odd to the adult Powers, but i guess it was the least of their concerns after waking up to find four strange children in their home). After spending some time on the streets, the kids remember that one of the Morlocks they recently faced, Beautiful Dreamer, had the ability to alter people's memories. So they head into the sewers to re-confront the Morlocks, but find they've walked into a trap.

Somehow it's Katie, and not Jack, who escapes, but only after she's disfigured by Masque. She soon runs into the police and gets brought to a hospital. Kitty Pryde sees a newscast on it, recognizes Katie's costume, and heads to the hospital with Rogue, Rachel Summers, and Wolverine, who Katie thinks is "scary".

The X-Men and Katie face off against the renegade Morlocks as well as the brainwashed and Masque-ified remaining members of Power Pack.

Unlike in Power Pack #12, all additional Morlocks in this story are of the generic "ugly and maybe extra strong" variety (although at least two share an unusual hair style).

To be fair, that pretty much describes established Morlocks Callisto and Sunder as well, so i guess it's what most Morlocks actually are, but i did like the new ones that Louise Simonson added for the Power Pack part of the story.

Eventually Callisto shows up and forces the renegades to make things right (a little too neatly, but clearly the renegade Masque, supposedly of Callisto's inner circle, is going to be a continuing problem). Despite all she's done, Katie feels bad for Annalee and says that she can be an honorary grandmother. She even invites her over for Thanksgiving.

I will say that the Power Pack/X-Men meeting, both here and in their own book, feels a little less momentous than when the Pack met Spider-Man, Cloak & Dagger, and Marrina. Other than Katie's initial rescue, there isn't a lot of panel time devoted to the X-Men and Power Pack meeting each other. The boys were really excited to see Spider-Man. Katie was emulating Dagger. They were all a little disturbed by how Marrina considered herself a monster. We don't really get to see much of a reaction from the Pack in these issues, nor is there much devoted to the X-Men discovering a group of super-powered pre-teens. There's a lot going on here, though, and there can't be room for everything.

Since this is actually an X-Men comic i suppose i should focus on some interesting points about them as well. With Nightcrawler not around, Wolverine nominates Kitty team leader. Just last issue he was thinking to himself that she basically had the potential but not the experience. Here he says to her, "You got the talent, Shadowcat. Today you start racking up some experience."

Wolverine is particularly kill happy this issue. Surrounded by nondescript Morlocks, Wolverine starts complaining about the odds and saying that he's going to have to go into lethal mode. Kitty puts a stop to it in front of the Power Pack kids, but a little later she basically gives him the go-ahead.

Is this a sign of him going back to embracing his bestial side after the events of the Wolverine/Kitty Pryde series?

Before any of the action starts, Kitty Pryde is lamenting having gotten only two hours sleep, and she lists studying for a mid-term, typing up a research paper for Doctor Power's physics seminar, and practicing in the Danger Room with Wolverine to learn how to phase more than one person as her planned activities for the day. Doctor Power would be Power Pack's father, Jim. And later in this issue, we see Kitty phasing multiple people, so hopefully today's Danger Room training was going to be a concluding session or a bunch of people were at greater risk of becoming wall ornaments than they realized.

During the fight, Rogue gets attacked by Leech, and when they touch, instead of absorbing his powers, she finds that her own are negated. That shouldn't be surprising; he negates the powers of anyone near him, so her absorption powers should have been negated before he touched her. However, coming in contact with her does cause him to pass out, so something unusual is happening there.

Overall, while continuing the sort of one-shot "themeless" stories that define this particular era of X-Men, it's a great issue with good moments for the X-Men and a nice handling of Power Pack.

Quality Rating: B+

Historical Significance Rating: 3 - power and leadership developments for Kitty Pryde.

Chronological Placement Considerations: Takes place soon after Power Pack #12. While Katie Power is being held at the hospital, a doctor says that he "put in a call to Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four -- he'll be here soon." For the sake of argument, i've pushed the Fantastic Four story where the Baxter Building is launched into space after this issue. Nightcrawler is "on another mission", according to Kitty. I suspect this was meant as a way to leave room for his mini-series (isn't it nice that they at least tried to do that?) but it doesn't really work since Kitty was in the Danger Room the entire length of that mini. So i guess Nightcrawler is actually taking part in an Untold Tale; Colossus isn't around either but he's not mentioned (or as Michael says below, they're facing off against Magneto). At the end of this issue, Rachel Summers receives a psychic alert - from Magneto! - regarding "a potential world-class catastrophe". The blurb says "to be continued in Secret Wars II #1 and X-Men #196".

References:

• Kind of a gratuitous footnote, but while the Power kids are huddled outside in the rain after getting kicked out of their amnesiac parents' apartment, Katie says her teeth are chattering so hard, one's coming loose, "and I don't even have the magic coin the tooth fairy gave me when I lost my last one", with a footnote to Power Pack #4. Later there's an unfootnoted but more relevant reference to the time Power Pack saved the world by destroying their father's accidental doomsday device, which was during the same arc.
  
• This story began in Power Pack #11-12.
  
• As stated above, the issue ends with teasers for Secret Wars II #1 and Uncanny X-Men #196.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

I doubt that Nightcrawler's absence was meant to make room for his limited series. When Secret Wars II opens, he and Peter are confronting Magneto.
This issue probably should take place before FF 278-279- it takes place before Secret Wars II 1 and Secret Wars II 2 opens during FF 280, which takes place a few hours after FF 278-279.

Leech looks as though he's drawn much bigger than he normally was.

Leech has been shown to drop down on people from above which is what I believe is happening in those panels here.

Romita was never good at drawing kids, it's one of the few things he's not great at. The Power Pack looks ok here but there are some kids in ASM in the late 400s/early 500s that look really weird.