Uncanny X-Men 94

"All right, people! The show's over and it's time Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters was a going concern again... time you learned what being an X-Men is all about."

- Cyclops

"The Doomsmith Scenario!" is the title to the ninety-fourth issue of the first The X-Men ongoing comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The story was written by Chris Claremont and plotted by Len Wein. It was illustrated by Dave Cockrum with Bob McCleod [sic]] on inks. Coloring was by Phil Rachelson and it was lettered by Tom Orzechowski. The story was edited by Len Wein. This issue shipped with an August, 1975 cover date and carries a cover price of .25 cents per copy.

Synopsis
Having just returned from defeating Krakoa the Living Island, there is a bit of a shake-up within the ranks of the X-Men. Newcomer Sunfire quits the team immediately. Banshee hedges about whether to remain, but Professor X convinces him to stay. The original team members, Warren Worthington, III, Bobby Drake, and Jean Grey all shock Professor X by announcing that they are leaving as well. Alex Summers and Lorna Dane are quitting with them. Wolverine makes an insensitive wisecrack, which nearly erupts into a fight with the departing members. Cyclops is the only original who elects to remain with the team, and is now entrusted with putting the new team members through their paces.

Over the course of several days, Cyclops puts Banshee, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Storm, Thunderbird, and Wolverine through their paces in several grueling Danger Room scenarios. Thunderbird turns out to be quite a hot-head, which results in not only failing in the exercises, but also nearly coming to blows with Cyclops.

Meanwhile at the Valhalla Base of NORAD in the Colorado Rockies, an officer receives a package in the mail, which contains a remote control. Unwittingly, he presses it, which activates a space portal. The evil Count Nefaria, and his new minions the Ani-Men burst into the war room. In short order, they take control of NORAD and Nefaria activates the Doomsmith Scenario, which gives him complete control over the country's entire missile defense system.

Beast from the Avengers contacts his former teammates in the X-Men to alert them to the crisis. The Avengers are otherwise indisposed and cannot intervene, so he asks the X-Men to go in their staid. En route, Cyclops communicates with Lieutenant General Fredericks of the United States Army, who is already marshaling a counter-offensive against the compromised Valhalla Base.

Cyclops pilots the X-Men Stratojet over the Rockies with his new team of X-Men. Count Nefaria picks them up on the war room monitors and launches three missiles at them. Cyclops manages to deftly avoid two of the missiles, but one of them strikes the plane. Cyclops disengages the lifting body of the craft from the lower half and manages to avoid being blown up. Nefaria is never without a back-up plan however, and activates sonic disruptors, which disintegrates the remaining craft. The X-Men begin falling to their doom.

Appearances

 * Banshee, Sean Cassidy
 * Colossus, Peter Rasputin
 * Cyclops, Scott Summers
 * Nightcrawler, Kurt Wagner
 * Professor X, Charles Xavier
 * Storm, Ororo Munroe
 * Thunderbird, John Proudstar
 * Wolverine, Logan


 * Angel, Warren Worthington, III
 * Beast, Hank McCoy
 * Lieutenant General Fredericks
 * Iceman, Bobby Drake
 * Havok, Alex Summers
 * Marvel Girl, Jean Grey
 * Polaris, Lorna Dane
 * Sunfire, Shiro Yoshida


 * Count Nefaria, Luchino Nefaria
 * Ape-Man, Gordon Keefer
 * Bird-Man, Henry Hawk
 * Cat-Man, Townshend Horgan
 * Dragonfly, Veronica Dultry
 * Frog-Man, Francois Le Blanc


 * Joe Harris


 * X-Men
 * Ani-Men
 * NORAD
 * United States Air Force
 * Military Police


 * United States Army
 * Avengers


 * Humans
 * Mutants
 * Altered humans


 * New York
 * Westchester County
 * Salem Center
 * 1407 Graymalkin Lane
 * Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters
 * Danger Room


 * Colorado
 * Colorado Rockies
 * Valhalla Base
 * NORAD war room


 * Washington, D.C.


 * Adamantium
 * Anesthetic gas
 * Computer
 * Cyclops' visor
 * Giant robot
 * Missiles
 * Rifles
 * Rockets
 * Sonic disruptors
 * Wheelchair


 * Aircraft
 * X-Men Stratojet


 * Automobile
 * Helicopter
 * Tank


 * Claws
 * Flight
 * Superhuman agility
 * Superhuman strength
 * Telepathy
 * Winged flight


 * Apes
 * Birds
 * Frogs
 * Gorillas
 * Laser weapons
 * Military units
 * Smoking
 * Space portal
 * Super-hero
 * Super-suit
 * Super-villain

Notes & Trivia

 * The actual title to this issue is X-Men #94, which redirects to this page.


 * "UXM 94" serves as a shortcut to this page.


 * The tagline to this issue is a character quote from Count Nefaria, "X-Men, you came seeking Count Nefaria!! Instead you have found only -- DEATH!"


 * This issue shipped to retailers on April 29th, 1975. The publication date was recorded in the U.S. Copyright Office filing.


 * This story is divided into two chapters:
 * Chapter One: "The Doomsmith Scenario!"
 * Chapter Two: "Death O'er Valhalla High!"


 * Welcome to the X-Men, Chris Claremont! Hope you survive the experience! This is Chris Claremont's first issue as writer on The X-Men. He will become one of the most celebrated writers of the title... nay, the entire X-Men franchise... for many years to come. Claremont will continue to churn out tales of mutant mayhem in this marvelous mag on a regular basis until issue #279. He will then return one-hundred issues later in issue #379 and write tales until issue #474. In fairness, Claremont actually sneaked his way onto the book waaaaaay back in The X-Men #59 in "Do or Die, Baby!" He was uncredited for doing plot assists for Roy Thomas on that issue.


 * Dave Cockrum's cover ink credits is identified as "DEC". His full name is David Emmett Cockrum.


 * Dan Crespi's cover lettering credit is taken from this issue's profile page at the Grand Comics Database. He is not credited in the actual issue itself.


 * Inker Bob McLeod's surname is mis-spelled as "McCleod" in this issue.


 * The events of this issue take place immediately following the events from Giant-Size X-Men #1.


 * This is the first appearance of the "All-New, All-Different" X-Men in the regular series.

People

 * Sunfire quits the X-Men in this issue. His promise to aid them was a one-time deal. His duty is to his home country of Japan.


 * Sunfire regards himself as a samurai.


 * Banshee smokes a pipe in this issue.


 * Banshee refers to himself as an ex-cop. He once worked for Interpol.


 * Angel, Iceman, and Marvel Girl all quit the X-Men in this issue, leaving Cyclops as the only founding member remaining on the team.


 * Havok and Polaris also quit the X-Men in this issue. Nobody cared.


 * Thunderbird calls Banshee "Shamrock" as an insult to his Irish heritage.


 * Thunderbird calls Cyclops "One-Eye".


 * Joe Harris is a member of the U.S. Air Force stationed at Valhalla Base. He receives a package from the mail room.


 * Count Nefaria wears a monocle, has an "N" emblazoned signet ring and smokes a cigar.


 * Reference is made to Raquel Welch. Raquel Welch is a film actress and model. She was considered an icon of hotness in the 1970s.


 * The Eel, Leopold Stryke appears in a flashback to events from The X-Men #22-23.


 * Plantman, Samuel Smithers appears in a flashback to events from The X-Men #22-23.


 * The Porcupine, Alex Gentry appears in a flashback to events from The X-Men #22-23.


 * The Scarecrow, Ebenezer Laughton appears in a flashback to events from The X-Men #22-23.


 * The Unicorn, Milos Masaryk appears in a flashback to events from The X-Men #22-23.


 * Beast appears on a video monitoring screen only. He makes reference to his current team, the Avengers, who are busy elsewhere and cannot assist the X-Men. This appears to be a drastic mis-coordination of priorities, for over in Avengers #138, all the team has to deal with is the Toad impersonating the Stranger.


 * Wolverine apparently has friends at Valhalla Base. This comes as a surprise to absolutely no one. As years pass, we as readers come to learn that Wolverine pretty much knows everybody.

Places

 * Valhalla Base is the Command Center for NORAD. It is located in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.


 * Wolverine makes reference to Alpha Base. Presumably this is a Canadian government facility related to Department H.


 * Cyclops puts the X-Men through a Danger Room exercise which involves simply crossing the room. Thunderbird is the first to try, and fail, this exercise.


 * The NORAD war room at Valhalla Base is the operational command center of the most powerful war machine ever conceived.

Things

 * The X-Men must defeat a giant robot in the Danger Room exercise.


 * Rockets are fired at Storm during a Danger Room exercise.


 * Big mechanical arms entangle Thunderbird in the Danger Room.


 * Laser beams singe Thunderbird's leg in the Danger Room.


 * Two U.S. Air Force helicopters fly around Valhalla Base.


 * The Ani-Men use a space portal to get into Valhalla Base.


 * The Military Police at Valhalla Base use rifles to engage the Ani-Men.


 * Count Nefaria uses anesthetic gas to knockout the staff at Valhalla Base.


 * Count Nefaria activates the Doomsmith Command System, which gives him operational control over the country's strategic missile force.


 * Count Nefaria launches three missiles at the X-Men. Cyclops avoids two of them, but one of them strikes, crippling the main body of the plane.


 * Count Nefaria activates sonic disruptors that destroys the lifting body of the X-Men's plane. Moment of silence for the X-Men Stratojet.


 * A U.S. Army tank is deployed to attack Valhalla Base.


 * Count Nefaria uses a computer to detect the approaching X-Men.

Powers

 * Sunfire flies out of the mansion using his mutant powers.


 * Wolverine pops his Adamantium claws when he gets riled up with Iceman.


 * Banshee flies during a Danger Room exercise.


 * Wolverine uses his claws to fight a giant robot in the Danger Room.


 * Colossus uses super-strength to pulverize rocks in the Danger Room.


 * Storm flies to avoid rockets in the Danger Room.


 * Professor X telepathically yells at Cyclops, Banshee and Thunderbird who are bickering. He later sends a telapathic summons to Cyclops to meet in the briefing room.


 * Bird-Man and Dragonfly both demonstrate the power of winged flight when they burst into Valhalla Base.


 * Ape-Man uses superhuman strength to dash a bunch of MPs upon the floor.

Events

 * The new team of X-Men recently fought Krakoa, the living mutant island in Giant-Size X-Men #1.


 * A U.S. Air Force officer jokingly makes reference to Christmas to Joe Harris. Christmas is a Christian holiday honored on December 25th each year.


 * Count Nefaria once led a failed assault against Washington, D.C., with the aid of several costumed villains including Porcupine, Eel, Scarecrow, Plantman, and Unicorn. This event took place "several months ago" according to Nefaria. In publishing years, it actually took place nine years ago.

Reprints

 * The story from this issue is reprinted in the following volumes:
 * 40 Years of X-Men DVD-ROM
 * Classic X-Men 2
 * Essential X-Men 1
 * Giant-Size X-Men 4
 * Marvel Masterworks 11
 * Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men 1
 * Uncanny X-Men Omnibus 1
 * X-Men Epic Collection 5