The Brood Saga Part 1

Welcome back Muties!  In this installment of Feral Samurai we're going to be discussing the Brood Saga, from 1982, by writer Chris Claremont and artists Dave Cockrum and Paul Smith.

Those of you who have read my previous posts (and if you haven't, go ahead... I'll be here when you get back) may recall that my preference for 80s X-Men stories are the ones that start pretty much immediately after the Brood Saga. I tend to find the stories PBS (post Brood Saga) to be a bit more grounded, if you can consider tales of sewer mutants, superhuman samurai, and menacing pink robots from the future to be grounded, of course.

Why am I dedicating an entire post to the story arc that takes place just prior to the period of  80s X-Men mythology that I most prefer, then?  Simply, the Brood Saga sets up so many plot and character development elements that would evolve over the next few years of publication that I feel like I'm going to be referencing it repeatedly over the next many installments of Feral Samurai, and I would feel remiss in not discussing at least a breakdown of the arc as a whole.

The Saga begins in Uncanny X-Men #154 when Corsair, Cyclops' estranged father and leader of the renegade space pirates known as the Starjammers, crash lands near the X-Men's short lived island base. Corsair is rescued by Cyclops and Storm, though the three are attacked and are soon on the run from the nearly unstoppable shape shifting alien bounty hunters known as the Sidri, foes they are able to defeat only by luring them to and destroying a petroleum storage facility. The danger temporarily abated, Corsair informs the two X-Men that Lilandra, empress of the alien Sh'iar, has been kidnapped, the Starjammers have been implicated, and the trail left by the true kidnappers leads straight to Earth. A Shi'ar strike force is en route, and is prepared to either rescue or avenge Lilandra, even at the cost of destroying the Earth.

As Cyclops unpacks the drama of learning that Corsair is his father, he, Storm, and the rest of the X-Men are teleported onto a Shi'ar battle ship cruising in Earth's orbit. The Shi'ar chancellor gives the X-Men an ultimatum: locate Lilandra in twenty four hours or their fleet will presume her dead and destroy the Earth in retribution. Soon after returning planet side - with Kitty and Nightcrawler remaining on the  Shi'ar ship as hostages of good faith - theMen and Corsair are attacked by a Brood strike team, as well as by Lilandra's renegade sister Deathbird.  The Brood are soon defeated, though Deathbird kidnaps Xavier and escapes with him in a hidden space ship. In the rubble created by the ship's launch, Colossus, in his human form, is impaled through the chest by a piece of shrapnel.

Moments later, the X-Men are teleported above the space ship headquarters of the Starjammers, where advanced alien technology is used to save Colossus's life. On board Deathbird's ship, however, as Xavier wakens in a cell from a drugged state, his telepathic powers reach out and make contact with a being that looks remarkably similar to the Brood. As the Starjammers and get X-Men close in on Deathbird's ship, both vessels are overtaken and swallowed by a gigantic whale-like creature. The immense entity has been enslaved and turned into a city/vessel by the Brood, who attack the two teams of adventurers. Though they find and rescue Professor Xavier and Lilandra, the Starjammers ship is damaged in the melee, preventing them from returning to Earth with proof of Lilandra's well being before the Shi'ar commander's deadline.

The X-Men attempt to use the Starjammers' communicator to contact the Shi'ar chancellor. The Shi'ar military commander had already murdered the chancellor, however, and instructs the fleet captains to obliterate the Earth once the X-Men's deadline had expired. When Xavier attempts to use his telepathy to contact Kitty on board the Shi'ar command vessel, he again is confronted by an image of a face similar to that of a Brood, though now this time the face is mingled with his own, superimposed over an image of a Brood fetus. The shock of these images creates a psychic backlash that puts Xavier in a coma.  Kitty discovers the murdered chancellor and convinces half of the Imperial Guard that the commander is up to no good, creating a miniature revolt that stalls the Shi'ar fleet long enough for the Starjammers to arrive and for Lilandra to take command of the fleet and halt the assault on the Earth. Meanwhile, aboard the Brood city-ship, the Brood are prepared to kill Deathbird for her failure, after they had backed her in her attempted usurpation of Lilandra. She saves face by giving the Brood the genetic information of the X-Men, prompting the Brood to formulate a plan to capture the X-Men as breeding stock.

The X-Men, Lilandra, the Starjammers, and Oracle of the Imperial Guard journey to the X-Men's headquarters (again, an island base that they commandeered from Magneto. There, Oracle uses her own telepathic powers to probe Xavier's mind, finding the now familiar Brood images. Even from his coma, Xavier takes control of Oracle's mind and tries to force her to kill him to prevent what he believes to be inevitable.

After a dream in which he recalls infiltrating HYDRA with Magneto to battle Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, Xavier suddenly and mysteriously awakes from his coma, no longer plagued with the images of the Brood-like visage. With Xavier supposedly recovered, Lilandra reluctantly decides to return home to the Shi'ar home world, though not before having a farewell celebration about her command ship (Xavier is unable to attend per doctor's orders). As the party is in full swing, however, all in attendance are attacked by Deathbird, who sets off a stasis bomb, allowing the Brood hidden aboard to take possession of the X-Men and their compatriots.

It is with our outcast champions hanging in imminent peril that I must leave you for now, Muties. Fear not, though, for the Brood Saga is lengthy, and there is much left to cover. Should you crave my virtual company in my absence, feel free to hit me up on @IamGrantRichter, and should you have any questions or concerns please leave a comment here on the blog.

When I return I'll pick up where I left off, with one of my favorite X-moments, Uncanny X-Men #162. Also, be on the look out for the new podcast, Krakathoom, featuring me and my co-host, the esteemed Herman Louw.

Until then, see you neXt time, Muties!