"Anyway, the die-cut was just not up to snuff.  So we fired the old time team of
die-cutters, and scrapped the plans.  We hired some of the best die- cutters in the business
for this one.  You will NOT be disappointed. This will be the most die cut cover ever. 
You can stick your hand in it without reaching the lowest part of the cover.  Honestly" 

Adds Assistant Editor Jason Liebig, "The glow-in-the-dark, prismatic, chromium foil was
a bit lacking, as well.  So we really upped the ante. This cover is REALLY bright.  I mean
at first I thought it was okay, but Harras nixed it as it went up the chain in editorial.  And
I'm glad he did."

Marvel Editor-In-Chief Bob Harras had this to say, "Yeah, the glow-in-the dark part was a
bit lame.  So we just switched to a day-glow type thing, because what kind of dork looks
at comics in the dark?  So it's really bright.  The red in Gambit's eyes are a _bit_
overpowering, so we suggest viewing with some sort of protective eyewear.  I mean, let's
say if a store has a lot of copies laying around, and the area has a lot of windows, planes
will be very confused.  I imagine will have about...15 cases of planes trying to land on
comic stores.  But it's worth it."

Mark Powers adds, "It is a bit over-powering, but this is #350 for crying out loud! 
Remember what we did for #300?  Um...it had something about Magneto I think...er..."

Jason Liebeg: "This cover just SCREAMS, look at me, I'm Gambit's big red creepy eyes. 
Make SURE that children and elderly are well-diapered before looking at this puppy.  The
goal is is to have Gambit's eyes always kind of staring at you, you know?  Like he's really
there, an abrasive, unshaven mystery Cajun, STARING YOU DOWN!  Because that's
what anniversary issues are all about.  We don't want someone to say, "Oh yeah, that's
Gambit's eyes all right..." This is #350, for crying out loud."

Mark Powers:  The paper quality was also a big concern.  It wasn't like we could just have
newsprint.  I mean, any issue of UNCANNY X-MEN would be on newsprint.  This is an
anniversary issue!  So we really stepped the paper up.  The main concern was the chew
factor.  So we threw copies out of #350 to rabid dogs at animal shelters, to see how badly
chewed up they would get, and we would just always step the paper quality up.  So we
ended up with a paper in which a dog actually chipped a tooth on the comic.  So it's about
4 and a half inches thick, even though it's only 48 pages.  But it's worth it."

As a side note, five dobermans were found dead in the New York City area, apparently
out of "chrome foil poisoning".

I then checked up with departing UNCANNY artist, Joe Maduriea.

"I admit; it's partially my fault.  I was looking for ways to sneak in plugs for my new book,
BATTLE CHASERS.  By the way, if any interested publishers are listening, I'm taking
offers.  Anyway, I had Gambit wearing a BATTLE CHASERS shirt throughout his trial,
and Angel was wearing a 

BATTLE CHASERS cap.  Marvel balked on this, so some segments were re-drawn.  But
I made a pretty good deal with Richard Starkings.  On page 18, when Rogue slugs Mr.
Sinister, the sound effect thingie is "SRESAHC ELTTAB"!  How cool is that!  Also, I'm
slow as hell. 

"Since this was my last UNCANNY issue, I wanted to do something special for it.  I know
a lot of people criticize me for my Manga-esque big eyes, so I got my revenge.  I
originally drew all the characters with NO EYES AT ALL.  Yeah, a bit much.  So I had to
re-draw that too.  I also wrote "Chris Bachalo sucks" on some of the backgrounds...heh..." 

I than checked up with departing UNCANNY writer Scott Lobdell.  "I knew #350 was
going to be my last issue, so I got nostalgic.  So I tracked down Steve Seagle, beat him up
and stole his wallet.  I mean...no.  Anyway, I had to help Seagle a lot with the plot, and
nailing the characters, it was a bit sad.  I'll only be writing FANTASTIC FOUR now, a
title with no spinoffs whatsoever.  But I've been planning.  I've talked to Bob [Harras]
about a revival of MARVEL TWO-IN- ONE, a new FANTASTIC FORCE, a RED
GHOST AND THE SOVIET SUPER APES mini-series, a BLACK PANTHER
solo-series.  I wanted to start a "junior FF, tentatively called GENERATION
FANTASTIC.  I've talked to Ben Raab, Terry Kavanuagh and Howard Mackie about this,
and they were very interested."

Steve Seagle, new UNCANNY writer, added: "Oh yeah, Scott gave me loads of tips. 
Mostly about dialogue, I gotta remember that Gambit always likes to drop little French
lines, like "Mon Dieu", "Sacre Bleu", and "Mon Ami".  Because, come on, he's CAJUN! 
Have you ever known a cajun?  Me neither.  But they speak French, damn it!  Even if
they're only with English-speaking-people, and can speak English perfectly. They just
gotta.  But everybody knows what those three sayings mean, so everything's okay.  Cajuns
aren't snooty are anything.  But Lord, they love saying French things...and why say more
than three phrases?  It's french; good enough."

Scott Lobdell added:  "Yeah, Steve needed some help.  I remember looking at his script
and he had Rogue saying "I".  I couldn't stop laughing. Come on, she's FROM THE
SOUTH!  They don't say "I"!  They say "ah"! 

Apparently, Seagle, traditionally a Vertigo writer, has a bit of a struggle getting used to
Marvel's more stringent editing policies. "I keep forgetting I couldn't make Gambit into a
homosexual sadomasochist. Powers just kept turning me down.  Oh well.  And when I
wanted to have 15 dead bodies prop up, just out of no where, they turned me down.
Cadavers are intelligent, krunk it."

Richard Starkings, whose Comic craft team letters UNCANNY, had his own problems. 
"This was bloody #350!  So we wanted to do different fonts for each character.  But Mr.
Sinister's font always ended up looking too...fruity.  So we just gave up.  They'll have to
call him Mr. Fairy from now on."

Steve Buceletto, colorist of UNCANNY, seemed to be getting off easy. "I just wish they
would get my the pages.  I'm planning on coloring everything brown, just because that's
the only way I'll make my deadline...sigh...Psylocke's costume, does not work out in Burnt
Sienna."

Finally, Editor Mark Powers said, "We decided to only ship this to the US and Canada. 
Nobody reads X-MEN in Europe!"

Side note:  A British man, calling himself "Warren Ellis" opened fire at the Marvel
headquarters in NYC.  Paul O'brien. X-fan, said "I have reviewed my last X-comic."

Well, there you have it.

--Albert