Issue Date: March 1985
Story Title: Raiders of the Lost Temple !
Staff: Chris Claremont (writer), John Romita Jr. and Dan Green (artists), Glynis Wein (colorist), Tom Orzechowski (letterer), Ann Nocenti (editor), Jim Shooter (editor in chief)
Brief Description:
In the never ending battles, in the transformed Manhattan more and more of New York‘s superbeings are either killed or forced to join Kulan Gath‘s forces. The heroes gain a slight advantage by finding librarian Arilynn, who can tell them the origin of their opponent. In the final battle, most heroes are defeated, but the last wave makes it into the sorcerer’s palace – only to be stopped by the Scarlet Witch, transforming them to stone. All of a sudden, Warlock and Storm fly into the throne room and manage to steal Gath‘s necklace, the source of his power. But as quickly as they gained it, they lose it to Magma – actually Selene. The clever sorceress had switched appearances with Amara all along, and it was the New Mutant who had been captured by Gath, while she posing as Magma, followed the heroes. Ororo knows that Selene is no batter than Gath and uses Warlock’s transmode virus to kill her. Dr. Strange and Illyana then synchronize powers and cause a leap back in time, before all the horror happened. In the subway, Jaime Rodriguez is again about to be attacked for the necklace, but this time he is saved by the arrival of the mutant hunting Nimrod. The necklace falls in the mud and is forgotten.
Full Synopsis:
In his fortress, Kulang Gath crucifies Spider-Man and his minions (among them the New Mutants, the Morlocks and some Avengers) enjoy watching. For some reason, Gath‘s enchantment does not work on Spiderman, so he goes on torturing him. He then turns to the captive Selene and molds her flesh to his leisure. Her mouth vanishes, her arms are transformed into tentacles. Next up are Sunder and Mirage, who as leaders of his troops have to take responsibility for having failed to capture the free heroes. Both are briefly turned to stone, but the sorcerer then reverses the spell, as he needs them to lead his soldiers.
In the former Library of New York, the X-Men and Avengers meet Arilynn, archivist of the temple while their friends fight Gath's soldiers. During the battle, there are casualties on both sides. Cannonball and Rogue are killed and the infuriated Storm is rescued by Warlock. While flying away, Wolfsbane grabs them, but Wartlock is too hot and during the flight Rhane has to let go.
The heroes have retreated and learn from archivist Arilynn the origin of Kulan Gath : a disciple of archimagus Amon of the Black Ring who had to flee from the Sons of Seth, black magik practioners who viewed him as an abomination. After scouring the world, Kulan Gath became one of the most powerful beings ever and often tried to rule the world, without ever suceeding because of sheer stupidity. Illyana accuses Magma of not having helped in the battle, and she says that she was too scared.
Gath‘s forces count their dead, and then Mirage checks on the prisoners : Starfox and Wasp. To pubish them, she makes them live their worst fears, and then they are brought to Gath, who remakes them in his image.
With help from Rachel Summers, Cap and X-Men combo are infiltrating Gath's fortress in order to deliver Selene and have to fight Sunder and the New Mutants, including a recovered Wolfsbane. With her mystical sword, Magik suceeds in freeing her possessed teammates, but is too late for Sunder, killed by Callisto. Finally they make their way to the throne room, where Spiderman is still hanging on the cross. Cap has to fight his Gath possessed friends, and the X-men help him as best as they can, but it’s useless. The evil sorcerer and his minions are too powerful, the approaching heroes are turned to statues by the enthralled Scarlet Witch.
All of a sudden, Ororo and Warlock fly into the palace and manage to steal Kulan Gath's amulet away, de-powering him, but then it’s wrested away by – Magma ? No it’s not Magma, but Selene in diguise. She had switched appearances with the girl, and the whole time it was Magma in Gath’s captivity, while she posing as Amara, remained at the sidelines of the heroes‘ battles. Ororo and Warlock know that Selene is not any better than Gath, they have to act fast : Storm lets herself get infected with Warlock's transmode virus and then turns on Selene, draining her of her lifeforce. Those that survived the many battles are finally in their own minds again.
Dr. Strange uses the remains of Kulan Gath‘s energy and a combination of sorcery and Magik’s powers to cause a jump back in time, before the whole Kulan Gath incident happened. Everything is back to normal. No one died, but also no one remembers the X-Men's heroism with the exeption of Dr.Strange, Captain America, Magik, Storm and Arilynn Williams.
Back in the subway, Jaime Rodriguez is again about to be attacked by a thief (check Uncanny X-men #189), the evnt that set the Kulan Gath incident in motion. Yet this time, suddenly a rooobot materiales behind them It quicjkly realizes the threat and terminates the thief. Jaime, drops the necklace and it sinks into the mud. Nimrod sees a Dazzler Movie poster, with graffiti on it “Mutie Die !“. The robot makes conclusions, mutants exist in this society, so according to it‘s programming, they need to be exterminated.
Characters:
Colossus, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Storm, Rachel Summers, Professor Charles Xavier (all X-Men)
Cannonball, Magik, Magma, Mirage, Sunspot, Warlock, Wolfsbane (all New Mutants)
Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Starfox, Vision, Wasp (all Avengers)
Doctor Strange
Spider-Man
Caliban, Callisto, Sunder (all Morlocks)
Arilynn Williams, archivist and librarian
Jaime Rodriguez
Selene
Kulan Gath
Notes:
First apearance of Nimrod, the super Sentinel from the future. Later stories show that Nimrod followed Rachel Summers from the Days of Future Past to incarcerate her. (Excalibur #66)
This Issue has been reprinted in:
Essential X-Men Vol. 5 (Trade Paperback)
Classic X-Men #95
Issue Summary written by: Nicolas Giard
