Listen to the episode here.
Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
It’s the whole gang! Kind of! And some of them are evil! BUT STILL! (Uncanny X-Men #242)
No, it’s not. (Uncanny X-Men #242)
SEE? (Uncanny X-Men #242)
Only one of many reasons that enthusiastic consent is important. (Uncanny X-Men #242)
Iceman is so underrated. Dude’s the heart and conscience of the original five. (Uncanny X-Men #242)
WELL, THEN. (Uncanny X-Men #242)
N’astirh may be evil, but he has impeccable taste in infernal vehicles. (Uncanny X-Men #242)
That’s the cold wind of metaphor, Alex. (Uncanny X-Men #242)
Madelyne Pryor knows from genre conventions. (Uncanny X-Men #242)
Aw, man. These two. (Uncanny X-Men #242)
Inferno’s a pretty dark crossover, but it has some really damn delightful moments. (Uncanny X-Men #242)
Love N’astirh’s face in that first panel. (Uncanny X-Men #242)
No one draws a possessed skyline like Silvestri. (Uncanny X-Men #242)
SUCKERS. You’ve still got three issues left! (Uncanny X-Men #242)
I’m genuinely curious as to whether this splash page started out as a cover design. (Uncanny X-Men #242)
“We’ll laugh about this later.” (X-Factor #38)
THAT SOUND EFFECT! (X-Factor #38)
Madelyne Pryor is the best at villain speeches. (X-Factor #38)
This panel is awesome, which is probably why there are going to be a lot of callbacks to it. (X-Factor #38)
This sequence is kind of a great encapsulation of a lot of Scott and Alex’s relationship. (X-Factor #38)
Jean’s rocky and reluctant alliance with the Phoenix force makes each of them a good deal more interesting. (X-Factor #38)
The most important relationship–and scenes–in Inferno are between Jean and Madelyne. I really wish we’d gotten more of the two of them together. (X-Factor #38)
“We’ll need to harness the power of all of our best sound effects!” (X-Factor #38)
Perfect panel is perfect. (X-Factor #38)
On one hand: this is all kind of Scott’s fault. On the other hand: it’s hard not to feel bad for him. (X-Factor #38)
Inferno: In which everyone is wrong and everyone is sympathetic. (X-Factor #38)
OH, YEAH! (Uncanny X-Men #243)
X-Factor will continue to play with this idea to some extent, but it’ll fade away pretty fast, and that’s a damn shame. (Uncanny X-Men #242)
Ditto, this. (Uncanny X-Men #242)
Jean, Madelyne, or Phoenix; her story at its best will always be about self-determination. (Uncanny X-Men #242)
Valid. (Uncanny X-Men #242)
Pawing through the X-Men’s stuff is one of the less invasive things Sinister has done in this arc, but there’s something extra creepy about it. (Uncanny X-Men #242)
Walter Simonson’s ability to make Longshot’s hair look good is the eight wonder of the world. (X-Factor #39)
Scott Summers’ Life Is An Actual Anxiety Dream, chapter infinity. (X-Factor #39)
Oh, hey, it’s the rest of Cyclops’s backstory! (X-Factor #39)
Does Nebraska even have a Department of Social Services? (X-Factor #39)
I just really love this page. (X-Factor #39)
This panel might have the highest appearance-to-reality-of-finality ratio in comics. (X-Factor #39)
And they all lived happily ever after. (X-Factor #39)
NEXT WEEK: Apocalypse for Beginners!
LINKS & FURTHER LISTENING
- For our Inferno coverage, we’re working (somewhat loosely) from the reading order mapped out at UncannyXMen.net.
- We’ll be bringing you up to speed on both the cinematic X-Men and Apocalypse’s comics background in episode 110, but if you want to brush up this week, you can do that here:
As I was saying in your previous “As mentioned…”, Longshot & Dazzler relationship went from worse to worst during Inferno, culminating in this heavy sequence over the river. I must admit I had always read it as a simple lust outburst for both parts (why this CC’s insistence in equating sex and evil?), but then I found several threads refering to this sequence as a rape. I thought about it and I’ve change my mind: now I agree with this opinion because, among other things, it’s got all sense in terms of Longshot’s subsequent storyline –his deep depression and embarrasment, his rift from his teammates during the battle, and above everything his shunning from Alison (his ‘victim’) in the end: “Don’t look at me, don’t talk to me, don’t touch me” (=I’m a beast). I don’t think he needed to use his luck power to persuade Ali, it’s already a rape as far as she didn’t want to start firstly and he was grabbing her against the ground –nevertheless, it’s a fact that Ann Nocenti formerly conceived a ‘black glow’ in his eye when he was using wrongly his luck power.
BTW, I strongly disagree with Simonson doing a good work with Longshot. But truth is I didn’t like Simonson at all, so… ;P
It’s definitely a consensual red-flag scenario, though I think _both_ parties are victims here.
Both Longshot and Dazzler are seemingly under heavy corrupting demonic influence at the time, so whilst Longshot may feel a great deal of guilt because that’s the kind of guy he is, I’m not entirely certain he deserves it.
Actually, IIRC, Longshot is the only X-Man (apart from Colossus, whose iron body protects him from magic) who is not directly influenced by the evil atmosphere: N’Astirh must grab and bite him to overcome such kind nature as his.
So yes, through this sequence Longshot is a victim too. Dazzler is physically abused by him, while he’s spiritually raped by N’Astirh since the demon forces him to act aggressively, trampling on else’s will –something that Longshot would never do because it’s against his essence.
It’s no surprise that, once the spell is vanished, Alison doesn’t look worried at all by the experience (as you said, it seems that she lived it as something consensual –kinda domination/submission play). On the other hand, Longshot is devastated when he realizes that he assaulted such a close friend and that his inner has been rotten –motives are essential for him, so he doesn’t take slightly that something seems to be cracked forever inside him. After Inferno, despite every single X-Men’s misbehavior, Longshot is the only one who feels guilty and shows a sense of ‘penance’ –the others take for granted that they’ve been possessed and there they are with a smile in their faces.
Ali will try to downplay it, and that’s nice of her, but Longshot won’t get his head above the water. They won’t be seen as a pairing anymore. This episode will deepen Longshot’s identity crisis, and even funny and light UXM #245 has got some desperate touch. He will leave three issue after that, in the saddest way.
I will now and forever refer to the Inferno arc as “Gee and Mister X-Plode the X-Men.”
Did you say what Poe song is Madelyne Pryor’s theme music? Did I daydream in that part? Haha. I’ll have to relisten.
Agh! I totally forgot!
It’s “Wild.”
Sweet! That was my guess 🙂 Hope you enjoy the tunes. I almost sent one hit wonders too, but it got overwhelming searching for them.
Can I just say that his episode is amazing? I’ve listened to this three times, and it just keeps getting better. Even though I enjoyed Inferno as a kid, it didn’t hold up as well when I went back to it in my college years. You guys have given me a new perspective on it, and also put a positive spin on what I, like many fans, have considered gross character assassination for Madelyne Pryor. Thank you for reminding me that even though she was handed a bum wrap, and was an innocent victim in what was an attempt to defend Cyclops’ honor for a rather dickish move on his part, Madelyne still had an amazing send-off. Love this show!!!
Aw, dang–thank you, so much!