The Uncanny X-Men #202, FEB 86 (w) Chris Claremont (a) John Romita, Jr.
A bit of another throwaway issue here. Marvel's in the middle of their Secret Wars II crossover, so we've got to get through that. There's a little movement in the overall storyline (a little Magneto, a bit more Rachel) but overall, this is for selling comics.
The new Phoenix is taking it upon herself to take out The Beyonder. He's a bad guy, and that's all we really find out about this guy. You could tell this wasn't Claremont's idea: there's zilch in the way of setup and background for the character.
Rachel finds The Beyonder on the island of Alcatraz and as she tries to kill him, The Beyonder bestows upon her the power to do the deed. He pulls no punches, he's serious. Of course, he shows her images from a future where the other X-Men have been exterminated (at her hand, no less) and pulls Omega series hunter-killer Sentinels to the present. Now she must decide whether to destroy him...or save her friends.
There's some pretty neat Sentinel moments here as they do their best to seek and destroy. Some neat points here where they don't have a bead on Rachel or her Phoenix guise in their systems. They also know Shadowcat, but only by the name she goes by in the future: Ariel.
All in all okay, but ready to get back to the story.
Ugh I hated that year. The Beyonder and Secret Wars 2 crap was the first memory I have of a company taking something that was totally awesome that I loved (the original Secret Wars) and made an absolutely terrible follow up for the sake of sales. UGH it still makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.
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