The Uncanny X-Men #146
Published and © by Marvel, June 1981
Title: “Murderworld!”
Synopsis: The main X-Men team has been imprisoned by Doctor Doom while an X-adjacent squad attempts to infiltrate Murderworld.
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Dave Cockrum and
Inker: Joe Rubinstein
Review: Longtime X-scribe Chris Claremont makes quite a few curious choices this issue: Why bring in so many characters when it makes this issue feel both overstuffed and rushed? Why have backup characters take the A story in Murderworld and then have your regular protagonists face a nearly identical scenario at Doctor Doom’s castle? And why, exactly, does Doom have a Storm fembot? (Do we want to know? Probably not.) The Murderworld plot is interesting enough but demands comparison to the X-Men’s previous visit (see X-Men #123 and #124). To be clear: This outing is solid, but not an improvement.
Grade: B
Second opinion: “Well, the Uncanny Ones have survived the departure of John Byrne and Terry Austin – the book’s as engrossing as ever this month.” – Christine Padgett, BEM #33, April 1981 … “Havok and Polaris are OK characters, but aren’t enough to carry a team consisting of a still powerless Banshee and Iceman, whose 50 issue absence has hardly been noticed.” – Jim Johnson, The Comics Buyer’s Guide to the X-Men (Comics Buyer’s Guide Presents), 2003 … “Cockrum’s work on these issues is better than what he has done on any of the other books to date. … But the end product is still far inferior to what X-Men readers have become used to.” – Matt Denn, Comics Coast to Coast #1, 1982
Cool factor: Dave Cockrum and Joe Rubinstein are settling in …
Not-so-cool factor: … but John Byrne and Terry Austin are still missed.
Collector’s note: According to the Grand Comics Database, there is a 20p British variant of this issue. … According to MyComicShop.com, there is also a Mark Jewelers variant.
Character quotable: “I have spared the child the ravages of age. She will live – and remain beautiful – forever.” – Doctor Doom, at his most benevolant
Editor’s note: This review was written Feb. 8, 2023.
