For the very last entry in the Dazzler retrospective, let’s go back to the beginning.
Not for the character herself: I mean when I discovered Dazzler.
I missed her first appearance when it came out; her series was not published in Italy, and I wasn’t following the X-Men at the time anyway.
Although I’m reasonably sure the first time I ever saw the character was her cameo in Avengers #221, she’s barely a character there.
So my first exposure to Dazzler was a little story published in Star Magazine, which was a monthly series publishing by Star Comics (which at the time translated Marvel comics for Italy) that basically published anything that couldn’t fit in an existing book.
Just to give you an idea just how random things could get: issue #30 included Alpha Flight Special from 1992 (which is the cover story), West Coast Avengers Annual #1 from 1986, StarBrand #15 from 1988, and Classic X-Men #37 which is the focus of this review.
Alpha Flight might have had the cover, but Dazzler received her tiny little corner that wasn’t even present in the original Classic X-Men story.
Star Comics often had little touches like that.
Classic X-Men #37 (1989)
by Fabian Nicieza & Rick Leonardi
cover by Steve Lighle
“Classic X-Men” was a reprint book that, no surprise there, reprinted X-Men comics.
The main story is a retelling of X-Men #131, and although Dazzler WAS in that story, I can understand why she doesn’t get the cover.
Which is provided by the always great Steve Lighle of Legion fame. Small world.
But enough chatting: let’s get into the story.
I was pretty sure this was written by Ann Nocenti, but I misremembered: it’s by Nicieza.
There’s no mistaking Rick Leonardi’s artwork for anyone else’s.
This story is set BEFORE Dazzler’s debut, and it gives us a glimpse into her very busy schedule.
Once she’s done with the show, Dazzler is in a rush and hitches a ride in her own way.
The kids driving the car are visibly drunk, so Dazzler creates a distraction to avoid them from crashing. Not sure how that works, but she’s already more competent than in 90% of her own series!
And that’s about the extent of the action for this story, if you don’t count a couple of skating scenes.
Because what this story is ACTUALLY about is Dazzler chatting with her friends: people who meet really, REALLY late at night to just pass the time.
These guys show up for 8 pages and don’t do anything but talk about stuff unrelated to superheroes, and they have so much personality I still remember them after 30 years.
Maybe the reason why I remembered this as a Nocenti story is that literally the entire time is spent discussing then-current events and their personal lives.
Although there isn’t any absurd metaphor anywhere to be seen so I don’t know why I fixated on this being Nocenti.
Seriously, these guys are so interesting I was SURE they were from either the regular series or somewhere else… but nope, this is the extent of their published career.
Heck I’m not even sure what they’re talking about (some of this might just be too much US-centric for me to grasp), but I’d listen to them for hours.
But this IS a Dazzler story, so her being a mutant is addressed. Kind of interesting considering that, since this is set before her first appearance, she hasn’t told anybody else she has powers.
And don’t be shocked, but this little story addresses the point much better than 99% of the actual series.
It even addresses the money aspect, with Dazzler struggling with money early in her career even if her father had quite a bit of money.
I swear this diner feels like a real place. I wonder if Nicieza poured some personal stuff into this.
One of these guys should’ve tried becoming Marvel’s version of Batman since these people don’t seem to sleep. This is still the same night, in case you’re wondering.
The fact that their discussion is STILL RELEVANT THIRTY YEARS LATER is either proof of the strength of the story or that we haven’t learned anything.
Yeah don’t get too depressed just yet, Dazzler. Things are not much better in later decades.
I’d read a series starring this version of Dazzler.
But, eventually, the story comes to a close…
…with the final page being Dazzler declaring she will never become a superhero.
Dazzler significance: 0/10
Outside of me, I don’t think anyone has ever cared for this story.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
If anything, it goes out of its way to avoid any Silver Age-ness.
Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
Nostalgia certainly has something to do with it, no matter how I try to avoid it.
But I think it still works perfectly! Both Dazzler and her friends feel like real people; it’s rare to see supporting characters with this much depth when they only have a single appearance. And it definitely sells their friendship.
Most importantly, it’s a great way to write about the struggle between Dazzler’s career and the consequences of her having mutants, which is WHAT THE REGULAR SERIES WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT.
Now that you can imagine the disappointment between my original expectations from the series and what we actually got, you probably understand why I saved this for last.
And that is, for real, the ending of the Dazzler retrospective. I don’t know when, or even IF, she will show up again in my reviews.
I will probably miss parts of this series… the early period in particular was a very fun mix of utter insanity, out of place kitch and honest charm. The overall quality however was all over the place.
Dazzler’s spot in the rotation will be taken by a completely different series: “Dial H for H.E.R.O.”