August 20, 2025 • 53 mins
Join us for another episode of Uncanny Book Club and explore one of the most influential storytelling sagas in comic book history.
In episode 10 we see the X-Men having some downtime after returning home from months on the road (or in the Savage Land and Japan and everywhere else). The entire team ends up getting kidnaped by Arcade and put through Murderworld, but are able to escape in the end.
Have feedback or questions for the show? Email uncannybookclub@gmail.com.
Uncanny Book Club is a biweekly read-along through Chris Claremont’s 16-year long X-Men run, which includes some of the most iconic X-Men stories.
Whether you’re revisiting these stories, are reading it for the first time like us, or just want to ride along for the discussion — we hope you’ll join us every other Wednesday.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
in britain again who kind of looks a bit like
daredevil daredevil yeah yeah itlooks a bit like daredevil but
they have this giant mace likeball that's how i would describe
it we get the magia big spikyball i mean like it's just kind
of the exact same stuff from thelast issue with essentially some
dumb luck kind of happening forthe x-men here with Logan
(00:23):
getting thrown down one secretdoor, Scott getting tossed down
another secret door, Stormstruggling in a room that's
filling up with water, and thenthe race cars with Nightcrawler.
Yeah, it's just the same.
Like, it's fine, is kind of howI felt.
It's a lot going on witheverybody split up.
It doesn't really leave room formuch of anything else, so it's
(00:46):
just sort of a lot of smallindividual actions.
You can't really...
get into any one situation tooheavily.
I think it's just a side effectof splitting an entire team up.
I like this panel ofNightcrawler jumping out from
the vent after kind of escapingand popping out at Arcade.
(01:06):
I think he gets gassed again.
He does.
He does not learn his lesson.
By the end of this book, I justkind of, I wrote down that I
liked the Cyclops strong-arminghis way through these various
threats because he knew that wasthe only way to put the odds in
his favor.
You win the game by not playingthe game.
(01:28):
Yeah.
You know, the real lesson hereat the end of the day was
Cyclops and Storm having a superspecial team-up where they
overcame the odds with the powerof love and friendship.
Just like anime.
Yeah, man.
Like I said, I wish this wouldhave just been...
peter saving everybody that'swhat i wanted and that's not
(01:51):
what we got my i think the bestway to look at this is if you
pretend so there's a speechbubble that really gets through
we love you don't you see peteryou are like the brother i never
had way better comic book if youpretend that scott says that
line just because of his utterdisdain for his own brother alex
(02:12):
yeah that i i i That's a verygood point.
That's what I'm going to pretendgoing forward.
Like I get that there is this,you know, sense of we are family
and that's the message thatthey're trying to like, like
your place is with us, Peter,right?
Like that's what they're tryingto ultimately convey to them,
which in a way, I guess likeanswers the question of where do
(02:36):
I fit?
Well, you fit with us becausewe're family and it doesn't
matter how you fit into that.
But you were a perfect fit withthe X-Men.
I think when you think about itlike that, it's very nice.
But it's not as satisfying forme.
What I was hoping to kind of seewas Peter coming to this
conclusion that nobody isstaying in his way but himself.
(03:00):
And then overcoming that thanksto the help of Wolverine two
issues ago.
When he showed how Peter canovercome these demons in his
head if he is forced to puthimself in between danger and
the people he loves.
You know, it could have been afull circle sort of story.
(03:21):
They could have really broughtit full circle if they would
have put maybe Scott and Stormin a hydraulic press and he had
to break them out.
You know, it has a little DarthVader come to Jesus moment and
freeze them and then throwsArcade down a lightning tunnel.
Man, I am so upset that that'snot what we got.
That's so good.
(03:41):
I know that it's just Star Wars,but I don't care.
It's perfect.
Like, it would be very catharticif that was the case.
Damn.
Yeah, what could have been?
So you mentioned way, wayearlier Scott using his inborn
talent for spatial geometry.
Were you familiar with hismutant power of trigonometry
(04:03):
before this?
No.
Nor did I read it as it being amutant power as much as it's
just like a skill he'sdeveloped.
I feel like it's either expandedon or is sometimes explained
like his understanding of anglesand stuff is just part of his
mutant power.
Yeah, it's described as a uniqueinborn talent for spatial
(04:27):
geometry.
But then he goes on to say thathe honed this by practicing in
the danger room for months.
So...
We'll have to see if it comesup.
If that is the case, that's apretty interesting power for him
to have.
It reminds me of if you've everwatched How I Met Your Mother,
like Ted Mosby plays on a, he'san architect and he plays on a
basketball team at one point.
(04:48):
And he's not very good atbasketball, but because he's an
architect, he's good withangles.
So he just plays basketball likehe's looking at, you know, 60
degree angles.
He's terrible at it.
Only Cyclops is very good at it.
He is.
He gets all the cars in oneshot.
It's a really cool panel.
(05:09):
I really kind of like the wholeScott coming up with this plan.
Like, I got one shot.
I got to make it count.
I got to get them all at once.
Yeah, that was fun.
I like that.
But that's pretty much it.
There's some other good thingsgoing on in here.
The best is Wolverine and Seanbreaking through the wall to
find a robot Hulk and Magneto.
The weirdest pairing ever.
(05:32):
Yeah, and Banshee doesn'tunderstand.
He's like, Magneto and the Hulk,how did they get here?
Yeah, and poor Sean, too.
He doesn't even really have hispowers back to full capacity or
even like half capacity.
He can barely defend himself atthis point.
No, no, he's just like slappingrobot Magneto in the head.
UNKNOWN (05:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (05:57):
But at least he realizes that it is a robot.
Yeah.
Also, like Wolverine's call outof I've been waiting months for
a rematch with the Hulk.
Too bad you ain't the realthing.
Shout out to his first comicbooks appearance.
Yeah.
Although I would have imaginedthat would have been way, way
long ago at this point, not justmonths.
(06:17):
But perhaps I'm wrong.
No, it's probably been quite awhile.
I also have to agree with Loganat the very end, where he's
like, oh, we should try and goafter Arcade, and Scott's
just...
Like, on one hand...
But what if we're breaking thelaw?
Yeah.
We have no authority.
This is private property,Wolverine.
We do not own this here themepark, okay?
(06:39):
We can't just...
It's like an abandoned amusementpark.
We can't just...
We can't just go after him.
Are you crazy?
Well, they don't have ProfessorX anymore to just...
like mind white people and belike, it's fine that we're here.
Now they have to do things bythe book, but they've been doing
crazy stuff for like the last, Idon't know, 10 issues and a
(07:02):
bunch of other countries.
What suddenly?
Cause they're back in the U Sgo.
They all right, everybody, wegot to get the utilities turned
back on.
We got to go to the plays.
I'm going on dates now.
We're hanging up the curtain,man.
We can't do anything.
Our hands are tied.
The last 10 issues was justlike, you know, them getting
through their grief, dealingwith everything.
(07:22):
Now they're just getting intothe regular flow of normal
everyday life.
And they don't want to be rulebreakers.
Well, I mean, Scott doesn't wantto be.
Because he's paying foreverything.
That's probably why.
Yeah.
He can't afford the lawyers tobust everyone out.
I mean, they would just deportWolverine back to Canada and
(07:42):
then Alpha Flight would get him.
Yeah, Canada would be prettyhappy about that.
Yeah, they would solve a lot ofproblems for them.
I like that Arcade just cuts hislosses and is like, eh,
whatever.
I'm just going to bail early andmove on.
Whereas I think the typicalvillain move is just denial,
(08:03):
denial, denial.
I can still win this.
And then they get captured andsent to jail.
He's just like, eh, I don'treally care.
I'm just going to send themaway.
Next time.
Well, it's a much betterattitude for the long term.
Yeah, I agree.
Rather than it being like, ah,now I've been apprehended.
Although I guess he would nothave been apprehended.
(08:24):
I guess Scott just would havelet him go.
Well, I think he would have justturned him into the nearest
police station or probably justcalled the cops and be like,
we're here.
We've made a citizen's arrest,sir.
Yeah, he does go out of his wayto say we have no legal.
That's what they did forWarhawk.
Yeah, that's right.
This park is private property.
We have no legal right toconduct a search.
(08:47):
No authority to make an arrest.
Logan, we have not called thepolice.
It was mere issues ago that theybroke into a different amusement
park in Canada.
Hey man, that was the CalgaryStampede, okay?
That's not an amusement park.
I don't understand what it is.
Can you explain the CalgaryStampede?
It's like a big festival,basically.
(09:07):
They ride on horses.
Festival grounds?
It's like a rodeo.
Are there any ride rides, like alittle mini roller coaster or
anything like that?
I have no idea.
I've never been there.
Tilt-A-Whirl?
Probably.
I imagine so.
It's kind of an amusement park.
I honestly have never beenthere.
I'm only familiar with the mainevent weekend when the stampede
(09:30):
happens.
Yeah, man.
That's on the other side of thecountry.
I ain't got time for that.
I'm not a cowboy.
Big country.
Second biggest in the world.
Do you want to talk overallthoughts?
Sure.
Yeah.
I think we're in agreement thatthe first issue we talked today
was the best one, had the bestmoments.
Definitely.
Most interesting.
(09:50):
Yeah.
I think, you know, overall,maybe I'll give things like that
six, six and a half range.
The final two issues felt verykind of samey.
Like I said earlier, with themsplitting everyone up, there's
not really enough time to spendtalking any particular place to
get super attached to anyparticular thing that's
(10:11):
happening.
I think together we reallypainted a way cooler picture of
what if Colossus was the hero.
So it's kind of a bummer thatthat's not reality, but it's
fine.
Arcade's kind of whatever, but Ithink looking ahead, it feels
like we're going to ramp up intosomething pretty interesting
with the Euro squad about to goto Mer Island, Moira's research
(10:34):
facility, things that are beingteased there.
We got like the whole Hellfirething kind of going on in the
background.
Yeah, it's interesting that it'ssort of two things that are
currently involving Jean,whereas this main crew doesn't
necessarily have a specificdirection, a specific next step.
But I wonder if Either one ofthose situations just naturally
(10:56):
pulls our two groups together.
But yeah, six, six and a half,somewhere in there.
Yeah, I think that's probably agood rating.
I think if you look at this forwhat it is, and it's a reset,
the X-Men are now back home.
They're picking up their livesagain.
They're getting abducted.
And then they're having likethis little mini store before we
(11:18):
get into the thick of thingsagain.
And I think when you look at itthrough that perspective, like
this is fine.
I agree.
Some of the action sequences area bit repetitive.
And, you know, I was trying tothink like, could this have been
condensed down to one book?
I think it probably would havebeen a little hard.
What I'm talking aboutspecifically is these final two
issues.
I think it would have been hardbecause there's a lot of this
(11:41):
setup that occurs.
But like you probably could havestripped the Spider-Man stuff
out of this.
It really wasn't too importantto the story.
You know, the fact that BlackTom and Juggernaut are hiring
Arcade to do this entire plan isenough of a plot to keep the
story moving forward thatSpider-Man is like a moot point.
(12:04):
So for me, this probably couldhave been condensed down a
little bit to one issue.
The Shining Star is issue 122.
And I think what happened inthere, I really, really liked.
Enough for me to almost likebump it up to maybe like a seven
and a half, eight.
Like I think like the storiesthat are kind of being told in
(12:26):
that setting was a lot betterthan this side mission that we
kind of just got with Arcade.
So I'm looking forward to uskind of getting regrouped and I
agree we'll probably see themain group of the X-Men reunite
with Jean.
and be pulled in that direction,whether it's through an alert or
whatever it might be.
So I don't know.
I don't want to really groupthem together, but if I have to,
(12:48):
yeah, I'd probably give it asix.
Well, that does it for thisepisode of Uncanny Book Club.
Thanks for listening, and wehope to see you next episode
where we'll discuss issues 125to 128, another four-parter.
Bye, everyone.
Thanks for tuning in to thisepisode of Uncanny Book Club.
If you enjoyed this podcast,don't forget to subscribe, leave
(13:10):
a review, or share with afriend.
in britain again who kind of looks a bit like
daredevil daredevil yeah yeah itlooks a bit like daredevil but
they have this giant mace likeball that's how i would describe
it we get the magia big spikyball i mean like it's just kind
of the exact same stuff from thelast issue with essentially some
dumb luck kind of happening forthe x-men here with Logan
(00:23):
getting thrown down one secretdoor, Scott getting tossed down
another secret door, Stormstruggling in a room that's
filling up with water, and thenthe race cars with Nightcrawler.
Yeah, it's just the same.
Like, it's fine, is kind of howI felt.
It's a lot going on witheverybody split up.
It doesn't really leave room formuch of anything else, so it's
(00:46):
just sort of a lot of smallindividual actions.
You can't really...
get into any one situation tooheavily.
I think it's just a side effectof splitting an entire team up.
I like this panel ofNightcrawler jumping out from
the vent after kind of escapingand popping out at Arcade.
(01:06):
I think he gets gassed again.
He does.
He does not learn his lesson.
By the end of this book, I justkind of, I wrote down that I
liked the Cyclops strong-arminghis way through these various
threats because he knew that wasthe only way to put the odds in
his favor.
You win the game by not playingthe game.
(01:28):
Yeah.
You know, the real lesson hereat the end of the day was
Cyclops and Storm having a superspecial team-up where they
overcame the odds with the powerof love and friendship.
Just like anime.
Yeah, man.
Like I said, I wish this wouldhave just been...
peter saving everybody that'swhat i wanted and that's not
(01:51):
what we got my i think the bestway to look at this is if you
pretend so there's a speechbubble that really gets through
we love you don't you see peteryou are like the brother i never
had way better comic book if youpretend that scott says that
line just because of his utterdisdain for his own brother alex
(02:12):
yeah that i i i That's a verygood point.
That's what I'm going to pretendgoing forward.
Like I get that there is this,you know, sense of we are family
and that's the message thatthey're trying to like, like
your place is with us, Peter,right?
Like that's what they're tryingto ultimately convey to them,
which in a way, I guess likeanswers the question of where do
(02:36):
I fit?
Well, you fit with us becausewe're family and it doesn't
matter how you fit into that.
But you were a perfect fit withthe X-Men.
I think when you think about itlike that, it's very nice.
But it's not as satisfying forme.
What I was hoping to kind of seewas Peter coming to this
conclusion that nobody isstaying in his way but himself.
(03:00):
And then overcoming that thanksto the help of Wolverine two
issues ago.
When he showed how Peter canovercome these demons in his
head if he is forced to puthimself in between danger and
the people he loves.
You know, it could have been afull circle sort of story.
(03:21):
They could have really broughtit full circle if they would
have put maybe Scott and Stormin a hydraulic press and he had
to break them out.
You know, it has a little DarthVader come to Jesus moment and
freeze them and then throwsArcade down a lightning tunnel.
Man, I am so upset that that'snot what we got.
That's so good.
(03:41):
I know that it's just Star Wars,but I don't care.
It's perfect.
Like, it would be very catharticif that was the case.
Damn.
Yeah, what could have been?
So you mentioned way, wayearlier Scott using his inborn
talent for spatial geometry.
Were you familiar with hismutant power of trigonometry
(04:03):
before this?
No.
Nor did I read it as it being amutant power as much as it's
just like a skill he'sdeveloped.
I feel like it's either expandedon or is sometimes explained
like his understanding of anglesand stuff is just part of his
mutant power.
Yeah, it's described as a uniqueinborn talent for spatial
(04:27):
geometry.
But then he goes on to say thathe honed this by practicing in
the danger room for months.
So...
We'll have to see if it comesup.
If that is the case, that's apretty interesting power for him
to have.
It reminds me of if you've everwatched How I Met Your Mother,
like Ted Mosby plays on a, he'san architect and he plays on a
basketball team at one point.
(04:48):
And he's not very good atbasketball, but because he's an
architect, he's good withangles.
So he just plays basketball likehe's looking at, you know, 60
degree angles.
He's terrible at it.
Only Cyclops is very good at it.
He is.
He gets all the cars in oneshot.
It's a really cool panel.
(05:09):
I really kind of like the wholeScott coming up with this plan.
Like, I got one shot.
I got to make it count.
I got to get them all at once.
Yeah, that was fun.
I like that.
But that's pretty much it.
There's some other good thingsgoing on in here.
The best is Wolverine and Seanbreaking through the wall to
find a robot Hulk and Magneto.
The weirdest pairing ever.
(05:32):
Yeah, and Banshee doesn'tunderstand.
He's like, Magneto and the Hulk,how did they get here?
Yeah, and poor Sean, too.
He doesn't even really have hispowers back to full capacity or
even like half capacity.
He can barely defend himself atthis point.
No, no, he's just like slappingrobot Magneto in the head.
UNKNOWN (05:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (05:57):
But at least he realizes that it is a robot.
Yeah.
Also, like Wolverine's call outof I've been waiting months for
a rematch with the Hulk.
Too bad you ain't the realthing.
Shout out to his first comicbooks appearance.
Yeah.
Although I would have imaginedthat would have been way, way
long ago at this point, not justmonths.
(06:17):
But perhaps I'm wrong.
No, it's probably been quite awhile.
I also have to agree with Loganat the very end, where he's
like, oh, we should try and goafter Arcade, and Scott's
just...
Like, on one hand...
But what if we're breaking thelaw?
Yeah.
We have no authority.
This is private property,Wolverine.
We do not own this here themepark, okay?
(06:39):
We can't just...
It's like an abandoned amusementpark.
We can't just...
We can't just go after him.
Are you crazy?
Well, they don't have ProfessorX anymore to just...
like mind white people and belike, it's fine that we're here.
Now they have to do things bythe book, but they've been doing
crazy stuff for like the last, Idon't know, 10 issues and a
(07:02):
bunch of other countries.
What suddenly?
Cause they're back in the U Sgo.
They all right, everybody, wegot to get the utilities turned
back on.
We got to go to the plays.
I'm going on dates now.
We're hanging up the curtain,man.
We can't do anything.
Our hands are tied.
The last 10 issues was justlike, you know, them getting
through their grief, dealingwith everything.
(07:22):
Now they're just getting intothe regular flow of normal
everyday life.
And they don't want to be rulebreakers.
Well, I mean, Scott doesn't wantto be.
Because he's paying foreverything.
That's probably why.
Yeah.
He can't afford the lawyers tobust everyone out.
I mean, they would just deportWolverine back to Canada and
(07:42):
then Alpha Flight would get him.
Yeah, Canada would be prettyhappy about that.
Yeah, they would solve a lot ofproblems for them.
I like that Arcade just cuts hislosses and is like, eh,
whatever.
I'm just going to bail early andmove on.
Whereas I think the typicalvillain move is just denial,
(08:03):
denial, denial.
I can still win this.
And then they get captured andsent to jail.
He's just like, eh, I don'treally care.
I'm just going to send themaway.
Next time.
Well, it's a much betterattitude for the long term.
Yeah, I agree.
Rather than it being like, ah,now I've been apprehended.
Although I guess he would nothave been apprehended.
(08:24):
I guess Scott just would havelet him go.
Well, I think he would have justturned him into the nearest
police station or probably justcalled the cops and be like,
we're here.
We've made a citizen's arrest,sir.
Yeah, he does go out of his wayto say we have no legal.
That's what they did forWarhawk.
Yeah, that's right.
This park is private property.
We have no legal right toconduct a search.
(08:47):
No authority to make an arrest.
Logan, we have not called thepolice.
It was mere issues ago that theybroke into a different amusement
park in Canada.
Hey man, that was the CalgaryStampede, okay?
That's not an amusement park.
I don't understand what it is.
Can you explain the CalgaryStampede?
It's like a big festival,basically.
(09:07):
They ride on horses.
Festival grounds?
It's like a rodeo.
Are there any ride rides, like alittle mini roller coaster or
anything like that?
I have no idea.
I've never been there.
Tilt-A-Whirl?
Probably.
I imagine so.
It's kind of an amusement park.
I honestly have never beenthere.
I'm only familiar with the mainevent weekend when the stampede
(09:30):
happens.
Yeah, man.
That's on the other side of thecountry.
I ain't got time for that.
I'm not a cowboy.
Big country.
Second biggest in the world.
Do you want to talk overallthoughts?
Sure.
Yeah.
I think we're in agreement thatthe first issue we talked today
was the best one, had the bestmoments.
Definitely.
Most interesting.
(09:50):
Yeah.
I think, you know, overall,maybe I'll give things like that
six, six and a half range.
The final two issues felt verykind of samey.
Like I said earlier, with themsplitting everyone up, there's
not really enough time to spendtalking any particular place to
get super attached to anyparticular thing that's
(10:11):
happening.
I think together we reallypainted a way cooler picture of
what if Colossus was the hero.
So it's kind of a bummer thatthat's not reality, but it's
fine.
Arcade's kind of whatever, but Ithink looking ahead, it feels
like we're going to ramp up intosomething pretty interesting
with the Euro squad about to goto Mer Island, Moira's research
(10:34):
facility, things that are beingteased there.
We got like the whole Hellfirething kind of going on in the
background.
Yeah, it's interesting that it'ssort of two things that are
currently involving Jean,whereas this main crew doesn't
necessarily have a specificdirection, a specific next step.
But I wonder if Either one ofthose situations just naturally
(10:56):
pulls our two groups together.
But yeah, six, six and a half,somewhere in there.
Yeah, I think that's probably agood rating.
I think if you look at this forwhat it is, and it's a reset,
the X-Men are now back home.
They're picking up their livesagain.
They're getting abducted.
And then they're having likethis little mini store before we
(11:18):
get into the thick of thingsagain.
And I think when you look at itthrough that perspective, like
this is fine.
I agree.
Some of the action sequences area bit repetitive.
And, you know, I was trying tothink like, could this have been
condensed down to one book?
I think it probably would havebeen a little hard.
What I'm talking aboutspecifically is these final two
issues.
I think it would have been hardbecause there's a lot of this
(11:41):
setup that occurs.
But like you probably could havestripped the Spider-Man stuff
out of this.
It really wasn't too importantto the story.
You know, the fact that BlackTom and Juggernaut are hiring
Arcade to do this entire plan isenough of a plot to keep the
story moving forward thatSpider-Man is like a moot point.
(12:04):
So for me, this probably couldhave been condensed down a
little bit to one issue.
The Shining Star is issue 122.
And I think what happened inthere, I really, really liked.
Enough for me to almost likebump it up to maybe like a seven
and a half, eight.
Like I think like the storiesthat are kind of being told in
(12:26):
that setting was a lot betterthan this side mission that we
kind of just got with Arcade.
So I'm looking forward to uskind of getting regrouped and I
agree we'll probably see themain group of the X-Men reunite
with Jean.
and be pulled in that direction,whether it's through an alert or
whatever it might be.
So I don't know.
I don't want to really groupthem together, but if I have to,
(12:48):
yeah, I'd probably give it asix.
Well, that does it for thisepisode of Uncanny Book Club.
Thanks for listening, and wehope to see you next episode
where we'll discuss issues 125to 128, another four-parter.
Bye, everyone.
Thanks for tuning in to thisepisode of Uncanny Book Club.
If you enjoyed this podcast,don't forget to subscribe, leave
(13:10):
a review, or share with afriend.
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Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
The Brothers Ortiz
The Brothers Ortiz is the story of two brothers–both successful, but in very different ways. Gabe Ortiz becomes a third-highest ranking officer in all of Texas while his younger brother Larry climbs the ranks in Puro Tango Blast, a notorious Texas Prison gang. Gabe doesn’t know all the details of his brother’s nefarious dealings, and he’s made a point not to ask, to protect their relationship. But when Larry is murdered during a home invasion in a rented beach house, Gabe has no choice but to look into what happened that night. To solve Larry’s murder, Gabe, and the whole Ortiz family, must ask each other tough questions.