TITLE: Uncanny X-Men Issue #146
YEAR: June 1981
COMPANY: Marvel Comics
WRITER: Chris Claremont
PENCILLER: Dave Cockrum
INKER: Josef Rubenstein
LETTERER: Tom Orzechowski
COLORIST: Glynis Wein
EDITOR: Louise Jones
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Jim Shooter
Back in the ’80s, one of the X-Men’s greatest foes was Arcade, but when the issue came out and featured a cover with Dr. Doom standing triumphant against the fallen X-Men, no doubt that this issue was going to receive a lot of attention.
In issue #145, Miss Locke, who serves Arcade has poisoned both her and Stevie and they will die without an antidote unless she pulls of the following mission. Because Arcade’s business with Toad, he incurred the enmity of Victor Von Doom and is now taking captive in Latveria.
She wants Arcade to be rescued by the X-Men and to make sure they do, she has kidnapped the parents of Jean Grey, Moira MacTaggert, Candy Southern, Amanda Sefton and Illyana Rasputin and they are held in the Underworld.
As Storm quickly races to see if the kidnappings are true, she finds out that they are and tells her fellow X-Men of what has happened.
The group break off in teams, one to go to Latveria and the other to go to Murderworld to rescue those who have been kidnapped?
In issue #146, Dr. Doom has captured some of the X-Men and has them going through tests to find out what their powers are, their strengths and weaknesses.
Meanwhile, Storm has been encased in chrome. While she is alive and her anxiety of being encased with no escape is getting to her, her desperation is leading to an extreme storm over Latveria and Dr. Doom knows that Latveria can be in very big trouble.
As the X-Men captured in Latveria must deal with their capture and trying to find ways to escape and survive Dr. Doom’s tests, Havok, Polaris, Iceman and Banshee try to free the hostages from Miss Locke in Murderworld and similar to their counterparts in Latveria, each are separated and must undergo their own extreme tests of survival.
Will they survive?
Reading this issue, it’s one thing to expect Dr. Doom to test his captives as the same with Arcade. I was a bit surprised to see Dr. Doom take Arcade’s BS, as usually anyone questioning him or dishing back at him, typically don’t survive or really get some major hurting courtesy of Dr. Doom.
But the storyline will continue on to issue #147 and for the most part, another action-packed, entertaining storyline by Claremont and Cockrum.