Like some people, I'm morbidly fascinated by Jack the Ripper - I have several books on my shelf about the shadowy fiend who terrorized London in the late nineteenth century. There's a particular feel to the Ripper tales that Claremont manages to recreate in Uncanny X-Men 125 to 128.
Maybe it's the nature of Mutant X or Proteus as he is called. He has no physical body and has to kill people to use them as hosts - burning out these hosts in a matter of hours. This ability allows him to assume any number of identities. For a long while, the X-Men are reduced to following a trail of dead bodies.
Claremont gave this villain some balance. Proteus has a fearsome power - he can alter reality. This is major, Franklin Richards-level power. He also has a major weakness - metal. As in bullets. But you have to find him and resist his reality-warping power before you can shoot him. He almost does get shot, by Moira MacTaggert, his mother. Yup. His mother. It all gets very interesting as Claremont pulls on all the right strings.
Posted by Pete Albano - December 1, 2011
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