Kitty's first appearance in the X-men. Kitty Pryde is a young teenager who is suffering from headaches and later finds out she has a phasing power (the ability to walk through walls or other objects). She comes home early from school to meet Emma Frost, a woman who gives Kitty the creeps. Kitty came home with another bad headache and once she phases through her living room ceiling she's okay again after feeling like she's about to die in the process. Kitty is on her living room floor when her mother and father come in and she runs back upstairs. She peeks downstairs later on when she hears voices and Professor Xavier and the X-men are there. Professor Xavier finds her out fast enough and Kitty's father tells her that she and the X-men could go down to the malt shop to get acquainted while he and Kitty's mother talk to Professor Xaiver about Kitty joining his school instead of Emma Frost's academy. Kitty is enthused, already noticing that Piotr is a big guy and that Wolverine was creepy. Kitty and Storm hit if off right away and Kitty talks her ear off. Suddenly the malt shop gets attacked by the Hellfire Club goons. Kitty ends up phasing through the wall of the malt shop and passing out.

My opinion: Good art, good writing and an excellent storyline. AND it introduces Kitty. Can't beat that.

In the back of the issue there is a flash back story involving Kitty in which, when the malt shop is attacked in the later part of 129, and she phases through the wall, causing her to pass out. The story revolves around Kitty's dream while she is unconscious and her feelings about being a mutant and becoming an X-men. She goes through a weird succession of dream sequences where she does things like dance with Storm and run through a library. A weird story, but interesting to read.

My Opinion: The art is OKAY in that flashback story and the story is somewhat disjointed and weird. But, worth a read none the less because it's a rare Kitty appearance.

Back to 129, where, while down at the Malt Shop with the X-men, Kitty finds herself in the middle of a battle with the Hellfire Club. Meanwhile the X-men get their butts kicked and get captured, Emma Frost ordering her goons to put them on a plane. Kitty wakes up and follows the goons to the plane and then for the first time she takes a deep breath and tries to do the passing through solid objects thing on her own. She does it successfully and hides, waiting for her chance to try and help the X-men escape.

Kitty sneaks into the Hellfire Club after the plane lands and finds Ororo, who is chained up in a cage. Ororo gives her a number to call the other X-men, pulling it from the lining of her costume. Kitty then runs away after getting spotted by the enemy and doing a bit of ingenious thinking heads the opposite way from the door, leading the Hellfire goons away from the door as she does so. She then phases through the floor, giving Emma an idea of her mutant power, but at the same time losing the guys who are chasing her and giving her an opportunity to get the heck out of there. Kitty then goes on the run and tries to get to a phone to call the X-men for help.

My opinion: Kitty shows a lot of spunk and brains in these beginning issues and really blows your mind at how she manages to adapt to situations.

Kitty finally manages to call Kurt. Kurt then gets attacked but barely manages to get out of the place in tact and after getting away from the Hellfire Club, tells the remaining X-men what is going on. Kitty, meanwhile, is on the run again and has been running for what seems forever. Jean gets there first and lands in front of Kitty right when the car that is chasing Kitty is goign to run her down. Jean goes on the gradual decline toward Dark Phoenix and crunches the car into pulp to save Kitty, who has by this time also twisted her ankle. Kitty runs from Jean and the others, scared to death at things she doesn't understand. Kurt makes the mistake of bamfing Kitty to the roof to keep her safe and Kitty freaks out at not only his appearance of a demon, but also probably because he's a German speaking demon-looking guy. Kitty runs from Kurt and phases through the roof of the building. Scott tells Jean that she is going to have to go after Kitty because she is the most human looking out of all of them. Jean tracks Kitty in no time and quickly uses her telekinesis to change into street clothes instead of her uniform. Kitty is hiding in some boxes when Jean finds her. Kitty is about to run again, as exhausted as she is, when Jean tells her that the X-men are good guys. Kitty has finally had enough and starts bawling, letting Jean comfort her. Scott takes care of Kitty's minor wounds and the X-men come up with a plan to help the other X-men. Kitty then helps to sneak into the building to rescue the other X-men. She ends up freeing Wolverine first and then gets blasted. Wolverine makes the guards pay for hurting the kid who had just helped to free him. Kitty wakes up in Piotr's arms and then once she's gotten back on her feet, Piotr steps into the line of fire and takes care of a goon who is going to hurt Kitty, coming across as very heroic in the process. Kitty finds Piotr to be pretty cool and tells him so. Piotr is swelled with pride.

My opinion: Kitty twisting her ankle at the beginning is a classic art shot that has been used many times since it's publishing. And the way she was instinctively afraid of the X-men for fear they were the enemy too shows a lot of insight by the writer. Then Kitty goes and helps to rescue people she barely knows just because it's the right thing to do and they don't have a prayer otherwise. I mean that's Kitty all the way and it starts here.

Jean's Funeral in the aftermath of the Dark Phoenix Saga. Cyclops leaves the X-men to mourn. Kitty appears as a symbol of hope at the end of the issue while she waits on the back steps of the mansion for the other X-men to get home and let her in after taking a taxi to the X-mansion.

My opinion: Just because Kitty isn't in the issue all that much I can't say this is the greatest Kitty issue. She has like four voice bubbles and that's it at the tail end of the issue. Still a good issue, just not a good hard core Kitty issue...although it shows a right of passage for our young X-woman.

It's Kurt's B-day and it is a happy day until Kurt gets a mysterious B-day present that he opens and it seems to just kill him like *snap* that. Kitty is not feeling a part of the team as she realizes exactly how new a team member she is as all of the X-men are grieving Kurt. When the doorbell rings she ends up going to open the door to Dr. Strange. Dr. Strange checks out Kurt and tells the X-men that Kurt is under some type of spell. He tells them that he needs people who can help Kurt to go and break the spell. All of the X-men save Kitty and Prof. Xavier are pulled into an alternate dimension where they take on Margali for the first time. She really tries to whomp on them and we're not sure what her grudge is against Kurt, a man no one can really hate. The truth is then revealed. Margali is Kurt's adopted mother and she blames Kurt for her son's death. The truth about Kurt's brother's death is revealed that it had been a death that Kurt could not have helped and it showed that Kurt felt badly for the death and still suffered large amounts of guilt. They return to Earth after Margali releases Kurt from the spell, realizing how wrong she had been, and as all of the X-men welcome Kurt back in a true celebration, Kitty stands off to the side, feeling alienated again. Wolverine realizes what is going on and pulls Kitty into a team moment where she reflects Piotr is really great.

My opinion: Even though Kitty is only at the beginning and ending of this issue, it's still a pretty good Kitty issue. It shows her acting on her own and using her brains, as well as her spunk to figure out all that is going on.

It is Kitty's first visit to the Danger Room and Kurt brings the X-men some lemonade to celebrate. It is Kitty's first official appearance in uniform and I have to say that the old black and gold doesn't look great on a lot of people and I can't really blame Kitty for not liking the uniform. Kitty gets the codename Sprite for the first time after Professor Xavier suggests it to her. Kitty sort of likes it although she makes a crack that no one better ask if they can pull her tab. The X-men groan good naturedly at that comment. Kitty goes out with Professor Xavier and joins Stevie Hunter's dance classes for the first time. Kitty looks forward to having dance at the school. Toward the end of the issue Kurt and Wolverine get called to Canada to check something out and end up facing down Wendigo at the end of the issue.

My opinion: Kitty isn't in all that much of this issue, but they packed a lot into her appearances. She gets a uniform, a codename, a lead in to her first danger room session and they sign her up for dance classes, which Stevie becomes a pretty regular side character after that. A sort of land mark issue. It also has some very humorous Kurt moments in it. Definitely worth owning.

The X-men face down against Wendigo in Canada and they need Alpha Flight's help to do it. Meanwhile back in America, Kitty gets more accustomed to using her phasing power and phasing through a car on hers and Ororo's way out of Stevie Hunter's place, scares Ororo into scolding her about it. Ororo tells Kitty that she needs to be very careful where she uses her powers because the world is a dangerous place where some people would do almost anything just because you were a mutant. Kitty admits that phasing is fun and she wishes she could do it more often, but she understands where Ororo is coming from and feels guilty for doing it.

My Opinion: Kitty isn't in this issue all that much to be honest, but it's still a pretty good issue all the same. It shows that Kitty doesn't have the typical angst when it comes to mutant powers and actually enjoys phasing, and it also shows the X-men and Alpha Flight throwing down with Wendigo. Pretty good issue overall, although I wish Kitty was in it for more than like two pages.

Kitty only makes a cameo appearance in this issue, and I don't even think she speaks. She is in a flash back in the story, so I just thought I would mention it here.

Days of Future Past. Kitty's first danger room session is one of the most memorable Kitty moments ever. She sits through the entire Danger Room session with her eyes closed and doesn't get hurt at all. It's still a joke in X-men about that to this day. After her Danger Room session, Kitty then gets yanked out of her body and replaced by Kate Rasputin, a future variant of herself 30 years in the future. Kate has to convince the X-men, especially Ororo, that she is Kitty from the future and she tells Ororo things that only Kitty would know. Kate tells Ororo about a plot to kill Senator Kelly and when she manages to convince the rest of the X-men that it is Kate in Kitty's 13 and 1/2 year old body the X-men go to work to stop the assasination.

My opinion: This is one of the BEST all time Kitty issues if you like humor. Kitty's danger room sequence is just hysterical and definitely worth owning. Warning though...these Days of Future Past issues were expensive last time I checked, so get them in Trade Paperback form if you want to save some money.

Days of Future Past, continuation. Kate goes with the X-men to help stop the killing of Senator Kelly and meanwhile the tense flips from the X-men in the past to the X-men in the future. While in the future tense you get to watch the remaining X-men, exception being Kate and Rachel, be slaughtered by the sentinels one at a time, starting with Franklin Richards. Rachel doesn't take Franklin getting killed well since Franklin was her true love. Kate and Piotr are married in Rachel's time and you learn that Kate and Piotr had children at one time that had been killed as well. Kate, in the past, helps to foil the plot on Senator Kelly by making the shot that was meant to kill him, aimed by members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, go wild. Feeling comforted by the fact that she has stopped her time from happening in the main time stream she lets the time stream do its thing and lets herself go. She gets yanked back into her time and Kitty gets yanked back into her body in the present. Kitty comes to herself feeling sick, but is okay and doesn't remember a lot of what happened since she had been kept sedated while in the future.

My opinion: The Days of Future Past issues are actually some of the most pivotal to read really. In Excalibur, in the X-men and in other books even this period of future history is referred back to again and again. Claremont himself becomes somewhat obssessed with it and even after Alan Davis FIXED the future in Rachel's time for some odd reason writers still love that "everybody dies" future, so you might want to research this time stream. To put it quite simply I'd go out and if you don't buy the DOFP, at least read it.

Kitty makes an appearance in this book by running the danger room at the beginning of the issue. She contemplates how she doesn't feel like an X-men because she isn't going through real life training sessions yet and doesn't feel like she fits in with the X-men quite yet. That is about it for her appearance in this book.

My opinion: If you like Dazzler you should read this issue and probably read this whole series of comics. Dazzler was actually a well written series. As for a Kitty issue...hey she's in there and acting like Kitty. What more do you want?

Kitty phases through the wall while the X-men are working on stuff all dressed up to remind the X-men that Dazzler has a concert that night. The X-men thank her for reminding them and prepare to take off to the concert. While at the concert Dazzler is attacked by mystical enemies and the X-men, as well as Spiderman, The Thing and others come to her rescue. Kitty is in the battle for like two panels in which she comes in contact with a big baddie and ends up turning tail and running away...actually a very wise course of action on her part.

My opinion: Overall this issue was well written and the ending is HYSTERICAL even though Kitty isn't a part of the ending. Kitty's appearances remain true to the character and while she isn't in it much, I would suggest reading it anyway.

One of the all time best Kitty issues. Kitty is left alone on Christmast Eve (being Jewish) and while there decides to work out. While in the gym Kitty hears the burglar alarm and runs to check it out. She runs into the Nagari demons in Ororo's attic, which all of the plants that were in it are now dead, a race of beings that can kill her in her phased form and that the X-men have gone up against before and barely survived. Kitty runs, a very very wise course of action, and a chase is on with Kitty trying at every turn to out think a demon who is at least as intelligent as she is. She phases through the stairs to check and see how intelligent the alien is and when it comes after her she realizes that she's in trouble. She runs into the Danger Room and puts it on the kill setting and the phases through the window as the Nagari Demon, in hot pursuit, breaks through an unbreakable window after her. She throws everything she can think of at the demon...heat, ice, projectiles, and nothing seems to kill it, although heat seems to slow it down. She ends up descimating half of the mansion running away from the demon and in a last ditch effort to live Kitty runs to the Blackbird. She goes through the pre-flight list of things that Professor Xavier had her memorize in her studies in record time and engages the engines right when the Nagari demon is about to get her. It is caught in the engnies and near burned to ashes. Kitty tip toes up to it, wondering if the thing is finally dead and after it comes after her again and falls down, not having enough of anything left to kill her before it dies, Kitty breathes a finally sigh of relief. The X-men come home from church to a mansion that is super cold, an unnatural cold that the Nagari demons carry with them, and Kitty explains that she trashed everything to kill them and apologized. The X-men are okay with it...they're just glad that Kitty is okay. The X-men then have a surprise for Kitty and Kitty's parents walk in. All rejoice and feel lucky to be alive. This is the first time we see Carmen Prdye in a beard.

My opinion: Go out and buy this issue NOW if you are the least bit of a Kitty Pryde fan. It isn't really a big issue in the chronology of the X-men or even Kitty, but darn if it isn't a great Kitty issue. She uses all of her reserves of intelligence and strength to survive, and some depths some doesn't even know she possesses by the time this issue ends. I absolutely LOVE this issue and it's one of my all time favorites. And it's not that expensive, so buy it today!

While taking on Gravemoss, a powerful wizard, on Muir Island, who has possessed Nightcrawler in a bid to get the Soul Sword that Kitty has inherited since Illyana's death due to the Legacy Virus, Kitty ends up thinking back on her days when Wolverine started training her as his pupil. Shows some of the forms of martial arts that Kitty is trained in and has good art to show how young she was when she was a kid. Wolverine teaches Kitty in this flashback to take people down hard and fast and make sure that they don't get up again so that you can get away. Kitty ends up using those tactics on Nightcrawlers body and eventually beats Gravemoss and frees Nightcrawler from his clutches. The flashback with Wolverine fits right about into this time period of Kitty's life, so add it to her past.

My opinion: Okay, overall, the Soul Sword Trilogy (which 85 is a part of) doesn't really make much sense and calls into question whether the soul sword was actually used since it seems different than the one Kitty has gotten from Illyana before. But this issue is still pretty good because it shows Kitty fighting alone and doing a good job of it, and the art shows her thin and relatively flat chested...a good thing.

The X-men are rebuilding after Kitty destroyed a good portion of the mansion taking on the Nagari demons and Kurt and Logan decide to get some teasing in. They rib Kitty pretty good, but Kitty doesn't take the joke well and runs out of the room crying. Kurt tracks her down outside where she is walking around dejectedly and gives her a coat to keep her warm and explains that he and Logan meant no harm. Kittys says she understands and walks off, no more cheered than before. Kurt is left wondering if he and Logan were too mean to Kitty about the whole thing.

My opinion: It is a rare thing to see the aftermath of a battle in which the mansion doesn't somehow immediately recover or look at least a lot better than it did when the battle was over in the last issue, so overall I thought this issue was really good for showing that. And it also shows how Kitty would be embarrassed after wrecking half of the mansion to take down one demon...even though the X-men were very proud of her for it.

Cerebro goes off in the middle of the night and the X-men rush in to see what is going on. Xavier explains to Kitty that the alarm means that a mutant of incredible power has just manifested their powers for the first time and that the X-men had to find the mutant before someone else did to try and help them, although he tells them to exercise caution because they are not sure if the new mutant is an enemy or an ally. The signal from Cerebro is diffuse though and it makes Professor Xavier wonder if the mutant is different from a regular mutant somehow. So the X-men run off to see what is going on.

Meanwhile in West Virginia, a country doctor, a good man, goes to a nearby farm after a panicked call from a farmer about his wife. The doctor sees that there is no smoke coming from the chimney even in fifteen degree weather, that the barn is in disrepair and that the livestock are all dead. The door is also open. The doctor is worried but he still goes into the house, determined to help if he can. He finds Majorie, the farmer's wife, a woman he's known for a long time, on the verge of death, the very life sucked out of her. The doctor is shocked and wonders what is going on and finds out from the farmer, Jacob Marks. The doctor asks why the woman before him, a woman no more than 38 looks 100. Jacob Marks then changes form into an alien and he explains to the doctor that another alien horror has killed his wife to make him suffer. The doctor walks to the room that Jacob points toward and is greeted with a horror that sends him running screaming from Jacob's home, never to return. Jacob talks to the child, although you don't get to see the child, and tells the child that he is evil and asks himself what horror he has wrought into the world.

It flashes to another living room where ROM, a futuristic robot, sits on a couch. It is explained that ROM has been killing townspeople, or what some thought were townspeople, but the people he had "killed" were actually Dire Wraiths, an evil race of beings from another planet. ROM was one of the few beings that had the power to kill the Dire Wraiths and his whole purpose in life was to eliminate them. ROM tells the townsfolk that he is sitting with that Dire Wraiths had been squatting amongst humans for quite some time and that he was led to believe that one Dire Wraith had married and perhaps sired a child.

We next see ROM heading toward the Mark's farm and he meets Jacob Marks who only wants someone to help his wife. He admits to ROM straight away that he is a Dire Wraith and just wants help for his wife. The townspeople who are with ROM help Majorie to get her to a hospital and Jacob tells ROM how his ship had crashed and how he'd thought that he would never see his home planet again and so had taken human shape to hide. Eventually he had started to experience human emotions from being in the form so long and had gotten married. His wife had wanted a child and sure of his now adopted humanity he was willing to try for her and they had a son. They were happy until the Dire Wraiths came and took his son, showing him what powers he could weild and his son had become a true Dire Wraith. Majorie had tried to save their son by taking him away from Jacob, their marriage now ended, but her son wouldn't go and started to exert his new powers by doing things like killing all of the barn yard animals. He then, in a fit of temper, aged his mother fifty years after his father tried to stand up to him. Jacob knew that his son needed to be stopped and so tried to help ROM kill him. ROM goes in to find that the child already knew he was there and used his powers to try and stop ROM. Jacob tries to talk his son back to the side of good and his son impales him with a pitchfork, killing him. ROM then fights the Dire Wraith. ROM has the Dire Wraith in his sights and realizes that he'll have to kill the boy when the X-men arrive.

My Opinion: I will reserve my opinion until the end of the summary for the next issue because it all sort of fits together.

We open where we left off in the last issue, except the boy, little Jimmy, has turned from his Dire Wraith form back into his human form. Kitty is trying to protect the child and the X-men, thinking that ROM is trying to kill a young mutant who has done nothing, work to beat ROM to protect the child. The issue then recaps what happened in the last issue for about two pages. Back in the present the X-men are whomping on ROM. A blizzard blows in out of nowhere and Storm tries to control it but can't. She wonders where it is coming from, wondering if ROM is doing it, and visibility goes to jack squat. Kitty stays with the child to protect him while the X-men continue the assault, with the exception of Storm who is wondering what is going on with the wind and the feel of the atmosphere period. Suddenly pitchforks fly out of nowhere and hit ROM. Storm figures it out as soon as that happens, that there was another enemy and it wasn't ROM. She hopes the X-men can figure out who it is before people get killed. ROM is running through the gale, realizing that something was trying to keep control of it so that it wasn't impossible to get through anymore, and he sees a huge form through the snow, Kitty's small form and voice in front of it saying that she couldn't see anything and calling out for Wolverine or Storm. ROM goes in to save Kitty. Kitty sees him coming and is turning around to grab the boy to run away when she sees the boy's true form and panics.

ROM tries to grab Kitty to get her to safety, but Kitty phases and turns to run away and inadvertantly phases through ROM. ROM doesn't take phasing well. He goes down hard and is left nauseated and his cyborg circutry needs time to recover. Kitty tries to figure out what is going on and hears ROM trying to defend the X-men from the Dire Wraith. The X-men meanwhile are looking for Kitty and split up through the driving snow to try and find her. Storm wonders if Professor Xavier had any idea that this mutant that he'd discovered was powerful enough to kill all of the X-men and sensing the X-men going through the snow just pray that they'll be alright. ROM is firing at the Dire Wraith and has set his gun to slay when Collossus sees something moving through the snow and knowing it's a bad guy he tackles the Dire Wraith. The Dire Wraith shuts off Piotr's mutant power and expands his throat muscles to try and kill him, but he realizes that he's lost sight of ROM and doesn't kill Piotr completely. Kurt tries to help Piotr by giving him CPR, not giving a thought to his own safety. Wolverine senses ROM nearby and attacks ROM and Kitty tries to call otu and tellhim he's not attacking the right guy when the Dire Wraith sneaks up behind her and she gets distracted running for her life as the Hybrid tells her that he wants her to be the first experiment in cross-breeding. Kitty runs into a snow mobile and getting herself under control puts the sucker in drive and shoots it at the Hybrid to buy herself some time. The Hybrid breaks it down to basic parts and shoots it back at Kitty at high speeds. Kitty's having problems with the cold, but manages to phase just before the engine would have crushed her. Kitty doesn't dare phase again for fear that her shivering would be so bad she wouldn't be able to reassemble herself so she backs away and right into Wolverine.

ROM takes the opening of Wolverine's shock and nails him. Kitty takes the opportunity to tell Wolverine who is truly evil and who is good and Wolverine finally understands. ROM is trying to take on the Hybrid again when the two of them catch up to him right when ROM loses his gun in the struggle. ROM is getting beat on something horrible so Wolverine picks up his gun and tries to shoot the Hybrid. He ends up frying himself from the feedback from the gun and it doesn't fire. Kitty, seeing that Wolverine is down, picks up the gun herself, desperate to do anything. Wolverine yells at her right when she fires the gun. And the gun works. She hits the Dire Wraith and ROM is surprised that Kitty had come to his rescue. The Hybrid is coming after Kitty and she's panicing, wondering what she is going to do because the gun isn't stopping the creature. ROM is surprised that Kitty's phasing powers allow her to wield his gun, but somewhere her or Wolverine had changed the setting on the gun so it wasn't going to stop the Dire Wraith. He runs to Kitty's aid and tells her that her phasing powers, if she uses them to manipulate the gun, will change the setting. Kitty understands and using her powers for the first time on another object she fires the gun on it's ultimate setting, hitting ROM and the Hybrid in it's fire. ROM gets sucked into the gateway to another dimension with no way out since Kitty has his gun. The gateway closes behind he and the Dire Wraith and Kitty gets nailed flat on her keester. The storm ends, Piotr comes around after the CPR and Ororo lands to check on the others. Wolverine is almost standing and is trying to figure out what happened. Ororo finds Kitty sitting in the snow. Kitty's hands are burned, but she doesn't even notice. Ororo is worried and goes to her when Kitty explains that she killed ROM, the first time Kitty ever took a life, and the first time ever she thought she'd killed an innocent in the crossfire. Ororo told her that ROM would have gladly sacrificed himself by what she'd seen to kill the evil that had been there that day and comforted her as well as she was able. The X-men head home.

My Opinion: I can NOT believe that these issues do not get more recognition! I'm completely serious here. Kitty not only plays a downright pivotal role in this storyline, it is also the first time ever she uses her powers on another object and also the first time ever she takes a life, or at least thinks she does. She also has to deal with the ramifications of thinking she'd killed a hero by accident. She uses her brain, she uses her powers, she becomes more than the character she was before the story and I've NEVER EVER heard of these issues in relation to Kitty before I started this chronology. If you are a Kitty Pryde fan at ALL go out and get these issues NOW! You'll be glad you did.

Spiderwoman takes on Juggernaut, Syrin and Black Tom Cassidy. Kitty is in the issue for two whole panels in which she's in the Danger Room with the X-men.

My Opinion: I'd actually heard this was a major Kitty appearance, but it was a huge disappointment on that front. NOW if you want to see the issue where Syrin is basically introduced, this is the book for you. If you want a Kitty issue...go pick up ROM.

The X-men vs. Dr. Doom for the first time. Doom thinks that the X-men are attacking him on his island and therefore takes action against them, whomping on the X-men pretty hard. Kitty is sick with a bad cold during this issue and she's seen talking to Ororo during the beginning of the issue and that's about it.

My Opinion: I liked this issue and it does introduce Dr. Doom to the X-men which comes in later in Kitty's life in an important way when Doom helps to save her life. I also like the fact that Kitty is like the only X-man that ever is sick with colds or the flu. Spiderman got sick all the time and even fought with pnemonia but Kitty is like the only X-man that gets ill.