Uncanny X-Men #135

[iamrman]

No more Broccoli Men!

Comments

[scorntx]

The bit of the Dark Phoenix Saga everyone remembers!
Sort of! Kind of! Maybe a little.
Vaguely.
... what were we talking about again?
The important thing is something happened, and people remember it was bad!
("And to be honest, they're not going to remember it very well.")

What happened with the D'Bari was one of the big sticking points between Claremont and Shooter over the resolution of this story; Claremont wanting Jean to live but with the ever-looming threat that she could one day go Phoenix again, and Shooter feeling that annihilating an entire species, even incidentally, was the sort of thing you couldn't just shrug off, which is why he ordered her killed.
And unclean as it makes me feel, Shooter does have... *urgh* a point.

It's one of those instances where Claremont's over-narrating really doesn't help him. If the idea is supposed to be Mastermind's meddling has taken all the breaks off Jean's head, then having her still narrate her every action does sort of undersell the idea she's lost all control. She's still capable of coherent, if not rational, thought, even when she's swinging between regular Jean and "FOOLS! I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!"

Maybe if Claremont had wanted Jean to live, he could've just not killed the broccoli people.
Like the animated series did, taking pains to point out there that the D'Bari system was completely lifeless before Phoenix destroyed it (and for pettier reasons - here Jean does it because she's hungry, there Phoenix does it just because it could).
The Shi'ar still wanting Jean dead for that works just as well there. In some ways, more.
Wanting to kill her for the threat she might pose in the future rather than the actual, legitimate threat she is at that very moment out of fear is pretty in keeping with the X-Men's whole theme of hate and fear. (And, y'know, the Shi'ar being awful.)


Nice little cultural clue to the Shi'ar that the ship out on a routine patrol is also noted to be the deadliest vessel they've ever made.

[cygnia]

I thought barbecuing the broccolis was Byrne's idea?

[full_metal_ox]

("And to be honest, they're not going to remember it very well.")

Certainly not with all the memory dicking-around that’s a fundamental building block of comics: WHAT TELEPATHS AND MAGES DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW!

[mazway_75]

It was Byrne who threw it in for a lark, Claremont going ahead, not realizing the effect it would have.

[scorntx]

... huh. Okay, that's... that's worse...

[panthyr]

"Nice little cultural clue to the Shi'ar that the ship out on a routine patrol is also noted to be the deadliest vessel they've ever made."

It's not a routine patrol, it's the newest, deadliest ship's "maiden voyage" (shakedown cruise, really). Not that you're wrong about the cultural clue - showing the imperial flag to the outer systems to keep them in line is right on brand. But it's really there to get Worfed.

[scorntx]

Oops. Getting this issue confused with the animated version.

Though for the Shi'ar, a shakedown cruise is probably a bit different from the typical Earth definition.
More the other kind of shakedown.
The one with not-so-subtle hints about what might happen if certain races don't manage to keep up with their taxes.

[iamrman]

Taking the new ship out for warcrimes.

[cainofdreaming]

It was their own fault for being so delicious grilled.

[dan_ingram]

Well, if they had any oceans, I'm sure some were boiled too.

[gnarll]

Interesting points here:

The Shi'ar are referred to as a co-dominion. With whom I wonder.

D'Bari, despite being described as "Peace-loving" is referred to as an "ally" of the empire, not a subject. And clearly a good one, since thy are willing to risk their prime battleship to avenge the world.

Once again we see the contrast between their military, 100% Shi'ar, and the civilian areas where there are a mixture of intelligent species, in this case in the palace itself.

The captains strong reaction at the possibility of Phoenix growing into a second Galactus seems sensible.

[cainofdreaming]

They're co-dominant, their conquered civilizations are co-dependent. *insert image of a bunch of Shi'ar 'allies' with black eyes and arm/leg casts here*

[giraffesforever]

Is it just me, or do they not look like broccoli? Where did the broccoli come from?

[super_fly]

I was going to say, the broccoli comparison is a bit tenuous, apart from stalk-like faces and the hair being roundish

They look a bit like Sandman's Morpheus in the form of a fish person.

[mindsweeper]

Grilled fish, broccoli, or asparagus … it’s all tasty eating when you’re ravenous.

[cygnia]

Byrne called them the Asparagus People.

[mindsweeper]

The Byrne-Claremont X-Men was my first ever comic, which I read from the collection of my older brother’s friend. I practically cried at 137. And Byrne’s art was so good that it shaped my tastes and pretty much ruined me for the future “messy” styles. It took many years before I could appreciate other art styles.

It was nice of Dark Phoenix to wait several minutes for Lilandra to get dressed and run to the command center. She spent more time destroying the ship than she did the sun.