Azazel, part six! Our blog national nightmare is over!

Homestretch time! The last chapter of "The Draco" and I do believe Azazel's last appearance to date! Uncanny X-Men #434, "The Draco, conclusion." Written by Chuck Austen, pencils by Takeshi Miyazawa, inks by Craig Yeung with Scott Elmer. I don't know why Philip Tan dropped out at the last lap, but here we are.

Polaris has opened a hole to Azazel's prison dimension, that opens in the young mutant Abyss. Nightcrawler smirkingly teleports Abyss away from his "pops," leaving Azazel with Mystique suggesting which side of the family he gets lying from. I'm not sure how Kurt is able to teleport there, since they're in the dimension he teleports through. Nor is it ever really explained how Azazel controlled Kurt and the others at the beginning of this story but can't now.

After six more subplot pages of Juggernaut vs. Alpha Flight; Azazel finds the situation unraveling more, as Kiwi Black proved immune to Ginniyeh's telepathy and bugged out of there. Black attacks Angel's torturer, while Ginniyeh goes to kill the other captured X-Men, and kicks the hell out of them with her freaky and ill-defined powers, until Iceman sucks the moisture out of her and reforms.
While Kurt and Abyss try to find the other X-Men, Polaris sticks her head through the dimensional hole in Abyss, which may be the closest thing to sex he's going to get. She starts enlarging the hole, which is scaring the crap out of Abyss but not really hurting him, and starts wrecking up the place. Wolverine's arm comes loose, and he kills his captor. Iceman and most of the other X-Men get through the gateway (and Havok is dismayed to see Iceman get a kiss from nurse Annie for saving Carter) while Kurt, who has been pantsless for four issues or so, fights Azazel. For like two pages, with a quick "Join me" bit that Nightcrawler doesn't have time to make a Star Wars reference to, before the castle collapses...or something, and Azazel falls laughing to his 'death.'
Kurt and the rest get out, and life returns to normal. He now has a couple half-brothers, but I'm pretty sure Kiwi Black and Abyss haven't been seen since either. Kiwi stays silent until the last issue, and when he finally opens his mouth, his dialog sounds cribbed from a Fosters ad. Come to think of it, I have no idea how Abyss gets back to earth without getting turned inside out...Professor X asks Kurt if he's all right with losing his father; but Kurt says he hasn't: Professor X has been like his dad for years, and he's fine with that.

Just for artistic continuity, it would've been nice if Philip Tan had done this issue. Not that I cared for his art, but this isn't much better. But, that wraps up the saga of Azazel; although with him appearing in the X-Men: First Class movie some writer's bound to get the bright idea to use him for something. You've been warned.