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There is a lot to be said about Uncanny X-Men 245. The series itself was popular in its prime, but this issue is especially interesting for several reasons. In 1988 and into 1989 DC Comics had a three-issue miniseries (Affiliate Link) called Invasion. By June of 1989 this issue of Uncanny X-Men was published with a clear indication that it was a parody of the Invasion story DC had done. But more than that is seeing early artwork by Rob Liefeld (or “Leifeld”, as his name is misspelled in the credit sequence on page 2). And what is so interesting about this art? For one it appears Jean Grey is naked on page 11.
It is hard to take Uncanny X-Men 245 seriously since it is a parody to the point where even the main villain closely resembles the one shown on the front cover of DC’s Invasion. Beside this there are some silly jokes cracked such as the “Jean Bomb”, a weapon floating in liquid that is obviously intended to look like Jean Grey. What got reader’s attention, however, is the apparent coloring error that made it seems as if we were observing Jean Grey Naked. Under close inspect though we can see that there are lines indicating her outfit and the skin-tone coloring was probably not what was originally intended. Some peculiar though is that when this story was reprinted and recolored, it continued to have the skin-tone look that made her appear to be nude. No nipples though, sadly. (Storm is also nude on page 4, if you’re interested.)
Would you believe me if I told you that Rob Liefeld’s artwork in Uncanny X-Men 245 is actually pretty good? It’s true. I don’t know if he had any help on this one but all the characters look totally decent with feet and everything. The backgrounds and environments look nice as well. Overall I would seriously consider adding this issue (Affiliate Link) to your collection due to its controversial imagery at the time it was printed. It’s also a fun read and an interesting stamp in comic history.