Somewhere within the tower- ing city of Manhattan, a vacuum cleaner comes to life and attempts to devour a helpless housewife, an elevator’s doors open, un- leashing a torrent of blood and bones, and tourists look on in dis- belief as the Empire State Build-

ing grows before their eyes. Man- —

hattan is being invaded by the evil forces of a magical dimen- sion, and the heroes of Marvel Comics are the only beings standing in their way . This is IN- FERNO!

Presented to us by writers Chris Claremont and Louise Simonson, Inferfio is an ever-

a

‘ e

INFERNO rages at

e 7 arvel Comics

reaching epic crossing over into many of Marvel’s major titles, in- cluding Daredevil, Captain Amer- ica, and the three Spider-man comicbooks, while focusing on their best-selling series, The Un- canny X-Men.

The famous and talented crea- tive team of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby conceived The X-Mez in 1964, billing them as "The most unusual teen-agers of all time" Born with fantastic abilities which they were unable to con- trol, the young mutants were ap- proached by geneticist, and fel- low mutant, Professor Charles

By Tony Burke

Xavier to enroll in his "School For Gifted Youngsters". As the Professor taught them how to control their powers, he used the school as a cover for his students to operate as a force for good that protected mankind against evil mutants. :

Members of the group have come and gone over the years, resulting in drastic changes in the book’s direction. It is the very na- ture of change that has contrib- uted highly to the X-Men’s popularity. In recent years, Mar- vel has taken advantage of the comicbook’s legion of fans by

flooding the market with numerous spin-off titles Xavier’s first group of graduates from the school have re-formed under the name of X-Factor; his newest students have been dubbed The New Mutants. X- “Factor has also taken a group of young mutants under its wing

- who call themselves the X-

Terminators. And finally, three former members of the X-Men now reside in England where they protect that country in their team,

Excalibur.

The complex relationships which tie these groups together form the groundwork for the entire Inferno storyline. I invite you now to join me in a tour through the lives of these amaz- ing characters who have changed the face of the comic medium . But I warn you, "Be careful when you strike a match, even if only to light your way through the dark- ness, because you never know when you'll ignite an IN- FERNO!”.

SPARK... Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops of X-Factor, began his life as an adventurer in the X- Men. There he met Jean Grey, Marvel Girl. They fell in love and planned to marry. Alas, fate stole their dreams away from them when Jean killed herself because her powers of telepathy and telekinesis threatened to destroy the universe.

A year went by and Scott met

By DEREK KWAN

Preconception I

A film about comi¢ Great, I thought. Preconception 2

It’s a documentary? Oh we

Despite my preconceptions, enjoyed the movie. Comic dential, purported to be a quag, tary on comic books, proved less objective. Too often, I }; comic books are dismissed as kj or pulp fiction. Confidential sty for. the comicmongers. Under unbiased observations, Confide fun at the comic industry’s detrg 50’s U.S. senator Kefau wanted restrictions placed on matter and content of comic Kefauver headed a Senate con

Madelyn Pryor, a woman who bore an uncanny resemblance to Jean Grey. They married and Madelyn gave birth to their son, Christopher Charles. Summers. Before the baby could reach its first birthday, Scott was called away from his home in Alaska to New York. Jean had been found alive! Leaving his wife and son, Cyclops ran into the arms of his former love and, together, they formed X-Factor. Now Madelyn is believed to have perished with the X-Men in a battle to save the Earth, and baby Christopher is missing. Cyclops and Marvel Girl are in search for his lost son; what they find may cost them their lives.

SPARK. Rachel Summers,

_ Phoenix of Excalibur, comes

from the future. It is a future where mutants are destoyed on sight and America is enslaved by huge robots called the Sentinels. Rachel has journeyed through time to try and prevent her future from occurring. But time is a fragile thing that refuses to be changed and Rachel finds herself in a different world. According to her past, Jean Grey never "died", instead she married Scott and gave birth to the baby that would grow up to be Rachel. Also, Scott never met or married Madelyn Pryor, nor did they conceive a son. Phoenix is lost in a world with no meaning and no place for her.

Half a world away, a little brother that she can never truly call her Own, is telepathically calling for help. She now jour- neys to America for a blind date with destiny.

FLAME. Australia, the home of the X-Men and their com- panion Madelyn Pryor. The X-

Men have fabricated an elaborate