Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #396

Issue Date: 
September 2001
Story Title: 
Poptopia - part 2: The Glamorous Life
Staff: 

Joe Casey (writer), Ian Churchill (penciler), Norm Rapmund and Larry Stucker (inkers), Hi Fi Design (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft’s Saida Temofonte (letters), Pete Franco (assistant editor), Mark Powers (editor), Joe Quesada (editor in chief), Bill Jemas (president)

Brief Description: 

Sugar Kane and Chamber continue their romance, though Jono is unsure about all the media attention they get. Iceman and Nightcrawler pay him a visit to remind him of his responsibilities to mutantkind, but he turns them down. Archangel scans the tunnels and according to his readouts some of the underground community survived being scorched. Later he, Nightcrawler and Iceman investigate and run into Mr. Clean who is able to fight them off and escape. Wolverine arrives in London.

Full Summary: 

The media are full of news about Sugar Kane and the mysterious man named “Jon“ in her company. He is easily recognized as mutant and considering that they seem to be romantically involved, reporters argue that Sugar Kane is out for some scandalous Madonna-style press.
Meanwhile Iceman, Archangel and Nightcrawler investigate the London sewers and find many scorched bodies of the underground community they met there last issue. They wonder who might have killed them, apparently it weren’t the Sentibnels as they would have cause d more structural damage. Iceman suggests to search the tunnels for any survivors, but the others object. They can’t really know if anyone survived and a search would take hours, while the enemy is still out there. Also scanning the area from above with a portable Cerebra Unit would be more accurate and faster as Archangel points out.
Sugar and Chamber attempt to have some fun in the party scene of London, but they are always met with the same prejudices, so they finally head home. Jono is kind of depressed, but Sugar encourages him and they spend the night together.
Apparently they had some fun in bed (one of Jono’s hands is still handcuffed), but by the next morning Sugar has already left when Iceman and Nightcrawler knock at the door. Chamber opens and is surprised that the two X-Men have tracked him down. Bobby tells him that he could not have hoped to keep his whereabouts secret with that kind of media exposure. Kurt gives him a lecture about forgeting his responsibilities, as a mutant he should be with the X-Men and fight for Xavier’s dream, instead of runnig away from what he truly is. Chamber does not really care and states that nobody knows what it’s like to be deformed and ugly and stick out of every crowd, but of course Nightcrawler can. Before leaving, Kurt and Bobby dare Chamber to re-think his decisions again.
Back in their hotel the two talk about Chamber. Nightcrawler is sure that the media attention will soon takke a turn for the worse, though Iceman wonders if the press reporting about a celebrity like Sugar Kane being together with a mutant might not actually be a good sign. Archangel, flying over London, reports via com-link that he has picked up an energy reading. Smaller than before but of the same energy signature, and moving; so it’s clear that some of the underground mutants have survived the attack. He transmits the coordinates and five minutes later the three X-Men meet to again enter the tunnels. The sensors pick up a heat signature ahead of them, but it’s not the outcasts they are searching for, it’s Mr. Clean they run into. He tries to torch Nightcrawler, who teleports to safety, and also the flames don’t have any effect on Iceman. Arcahngel strips him of the portable flame-thrower, but the villain shows to be very good a chand to hand combat. He manages to outfight both Bobby and Iceman and also injures Warren’s back with a set of knives. Finally he causes an explosion by shooting at the portable flame canister and escapes in the confusion.
Sugar Kane and Chamber spend another night dancing through the clubs. She explains to Jon that it’s all about the right marketing, the media present her in a certain image and she is loved by the audience, all she can do is take the ride for as long as it lasts.
At London's airport Heathrow a plane lands using thirty year old Interpol codes – Wolverine has arrived.

Characters Involved: 

Archangel, Chamber, Iceman, Nightcrawler, Wolverine (all X-Men)

Sugar Kane, a pop singer

Mr. Clean

Story Notes: 

In her video, Sugar Kane wears a red skintight bodysuit. Another parallel to Britney Spears who wore a similar outfit in her “Oops I did it again“ clip.

Issue Information: 

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