| Title | : | The Uncanny X-Men Omnibus, Vol. 1 |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0785121013 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780785121015 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 808 |
| Publication | : | First published March 10, 1980 |
COLLECTING: UNCANNY X-MEN #94-131, and GIANT-SIZE X-MEN #1.
The Uncanny X-Men Omnibus, Vol. 1 Reviews
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This is like the teenage years of the X-Men. Not that the characters are teenagers, mind you—this is actually an older, more diverse international team than the squeaky clean (and exceedingly white) teens who made up the original X-Men. But, in terms of the book’s evolution, this marks the transition from punch-out-the-bad-guy kiddie entertainment to a more mature, soap opera-esque serial where the stories are grander and more epic, the interpersonal drama is more (melo)dramatic, and not everyone makes it out alive.
Claremont is still finding his footing early on, and it’s bumpy at times, like the 15-year-old kid who’s too cool to say goodbye to his parents when they drop him off at the mall but still has a favorite stuffed animal tucked away in his bed (or was that just me?). This collection doesn’t reach the glorious and dizzying heights to come in later issues (Dark Phoenix, Days of Future Past, God Loves, Man Kills, etc.), but it’s fun watching the book grow and evolve, and you especially get a sense of just how novel the book’s approach was when you read the letters pages at the end of each issue (I’m delighted that Marvel included them in this collection—they’re great, as are the responses from Claremont and the editors). By the end of this collection, you get the sense that Claremont and Byrne are on the cusp of greatness (which they were).
I’m not sure most people appreciate just how big X-Men got and how influential the book was, especially if they’ve gotten into comics over the past 15-20 years. Thanks to Claremont (and Byrne), X-Men became a juggernaut that dominated the comics landscape and helped usher in an age of more character-driven stories and higher stakes. At one point, anything with an X in the title became an instant best seller, no matter how crappy it was—Marvel could have published a comic called “X-Crement” (speaking of crappy) and it would have been a top 10 bestseller and outsold everything from DC. Younger folks reading this collection may not quite get why that was the case, but that’s simply because comics have evolved so much since these issues hit the stands in the late 70s/early 80s—in large part precisely BECAUSE these books hit the stands and influenced so many future comic creators.
An essential collection for X-fans, and a worthwhile read for comics history aficionados. -
Any fan of the X-Men should read this book. I've been reading the X-men since the 80's but I've never had the chance to go back and read the first year and a half (probably because they've never been readily available) of what is surprisingly billed as the All-New, All Different X-Men on each cover. I always thought that goofy moniker was made up for the Marvel initiative of a few years ago. There's some great (and goofball) stuff in here. Like the first team up of Black Tom and the Juggernaut where leprechauns (Yes, leprechauns!) give the X-Men some assistance. Some of the classic stories like Krakoa, Thunderbird's death, Jean Grey's death and rebirth as the Phoenix, and the X-Men's first meeting with the Shi'ar are all within X-Men #95-#110. It includes Dave Cockrum's entire run and then onto John Byrne's run along with some Iron Fist (including Sabretooth's first appearance) and Marvel Team-Up issues Claremont and Byrne collaborated on. I also found it interesting that neither Wolverine's healing factor or adamantium skeleton had been introduced yet.
Dave Cockrum created fantastic character designs that still hold up today like Nightcrawler and Storm, but his early issues especially are rough. Banshee's face looks like he's been hit with a shillelagh a few times. Logan's widow's peak goes down to his nose.
It's astounding how much better the book looks once John Byrne takes over. John Byrne's X-Men art is sublime. You get appearances from classic villains like Magneto, Master Mold, Mesmero, Sauron, Amahl Farouk, and Arcade. Alpha Fight makes its first appearance, as does Proteus. I didn't realize X-Men villain, Nanny (of Nanny and Orphan Maker), made her first appearance all the way back at the beginnings of the Claremont/ Byrne days. They were also playing the long game introducing Wolverine's love, Mariko, and Jason Wyndgarde. It finishes up with Kitty Pryde and Dazzler's first appearances and a showdown with the Hellfire Club. Plus, the last 10 issues or so have the lead-up to the Dark Phoenix Saga where you can see the beginnings of Jean Grey's corruption by Jason Wyndgarde.
One of the things I really like about these collections is they include hidden gems like Incredible Hulk Annual #7 where Angel and Iceman team up with the Hulk to fight Master Mold and John Byrne drew that too! -
It's hard to believe in these days of a dozen X-titles, but there was once a time when the X-Men weren't popular. Despite a well-liked run by Neal Adams revamping the original team with new costumes, the book fell into reprints and from there, cancellation. Almost. A young upstart named Chris Claremont, fresh off smaller Marvel books like Iron Fist, came in with artist Dave Cockrum and created a completely new team, ditching all but one member of the original team. They added minor, unknown characters like Banshee and Wolverine to a cast of brand new names like Storm, Colossus and Nightcrawler. And thus, the world-spanning empire of the X-Men began, in Giant-Size X-Men #1. Cockrum left relatively early in the run to be replaced by an up-and-comer named John Byrne, and together, Claremont and Byrne created a legend that is still making money hand over fist for Marvel today. The Uncanny X-Men Omnibus collects the beginning of what is most likely the best the X-Men will ever be, and certainly the best that they have ever been (and yes, I'm taking into account Grant Morrison's generally excellent but flawed New X-Men run).
In the same ballpark in terms of importance to comics (or at least Marvel), this one contains the Giant-Size X-Men #1, X-Men Annual #3 and Uncanny X-Men #94-131. Within the almost 850 pages of this oversized hardcover volume are classic X-Men stories, including their first run-ins with Alpha Flight, Proteus, the Shi'ar and the Hellfire Club, as well as fights with classic foes like Magneto, Juggernaut and the Sentinels. The DNA for practically everything that the modern X-Men are, as well as the source material for the majority of the movies, is found in these stories.
The characters are much stronger in these early days, partly by virtue of being new but also because Claremont gives them more depth than their often two-dimensional characterization in modern comics. Wolverine is a cocky, competent scrapper willing to break the X-Men's laws against killing, but he's not the uber-badass that makes for such boring modern-day tales. This Wolverine is shaken when he faces the reality-warping Proteus, such that Cyclops has to snap him out of it. Cyclops is likewise not the milquetoast that most modern writers present him as, but a confident leader who breaks out of the head schoolboy mode he had been in when a battle strands him away from Professor Xavier's counsel, forcing him to truly lead the X-Men, in the field and off, for a good chunk of these stories. Storm is presented as one of the most powerful mutants on the planet, not an also-ran X-Man to be married off for stunt value. Colossus, while conflicted, isn't as whiny and mopey as the character who has now suffered the loss of his sister, his brother and his parents at the hands of unimaginative writers who could think of no better plotline than to kill off a supporting cast member for angst value. Nightcrawler is also not mired in angst, but rather has a healthy dose of rough times thanks to his socially-unwelcome appearance combined with a generally upbeat attitude that serves his swashbuckling persona well.
While the stories are solid from the start, there's a noticeable uptick in quality of story when John Byrne comes aboard as co-plotter. Perhaps Byrne and Claremont shored up each others' weaknesses, perhaps they were just both young and at the top of their game, but at any rate, this run on Uncanny X-Men is probably the best argument there is for the perfect synergy that can occur in comic-book creating. With innovative new villains, constant surprises and status quo changes, all without resorting to cheap shock tactics like crossovers, deaths and "everything you know is wrong" revelations, these comics read like a manual on how to write the superhero genre.
The plotting of these X-Men issues shows off Claremont's reputation for long-developing subplots. In later years, he was known for creating dangling stories that never resolved, but at this point in his career, these one- and two-page teasers sprinkled into current stories paid off, sometimes a year down the road, in stories that benefitted from the build-up. The Dark Phoenix saga, which just gets rolling as this book closes out, has its beginnings early on as Jason Wyngarde begins influencing Jean Grey's mind. The story of Proteus, Moira MacTaggert's powerful and evil mutant son, gets started in the return of Magneto issues and only comes to fruition almost two years later, with scenes sprinkled throughout to build up to the epic conflict. Even Claremont's scripts, now so easily mocked for their over-the-top style, are fresh and evocative. The first time you hear Wolverine's catch-phrase, it's a clever summing-up of who he is, not a cheesy cliche. The same goes for Claremont's description of the awesome power at Storm's command, the physical strength of Colossus or the scary cosmic energy that Phoenix wields.
Some, including the artist himself, would probably argue that Byrne's best work is to be found later in his career, and certainly he has some fine work to his name, but it's hard not to look at these issues and see an artist working at peak skill. Byrne depicts stunning vistas in Japan, the Savage Land, Scotland and a snowed-in Canadian airport, as well as plenty of believable New York scenery. Byrne's take on many of these characters, from Cyclops to Nightcrawler to Colossus, is the definitive one in my mind, and it takes only a glance at any of these pages to see why. He captures the savage danger barely restrained of Wolverine, the allure of Storm and Jean Grey and the anguish of Cyclops when he believes Jean to be dead (not once but twice during these tales). Byrne delivers any number of exceptional action scenes as well. In one particularly memorable example, the Alpha Flight/X-Men battle starts with Sasquatch, barely visible except for muscular arms, holding back a DC-10 as it tries to take off, followed by a full-on well-choreographed battle between two superteams that closes out with an infuriated Cyclops about to knock out Northstar's teeth. Dave Cockrum's work is solid and grows stronger with each issue, and George Perez's guest turn is some of his strongest art, with plenty of the detailed fantasy backgrounds to be expected, but artistically, Byrne steals the show.
Beyond its impressive contents, the Marvel Omnibus is a triumph of production values. It's the same oversized trim as Marvel's other hardcovers, and it's printed on a nice, thick paper that has just the right balance between flatness and glossy. The colors have been "reconstructed" in some places, but not "remastered," and the result is that this is like the original comics, presented on the best possible paper for their style of illustration and coloring. There are also a few nice extras, including a few pages of original art, text pieces by Chris Claremont and Stan Lee, Dave Cockrum's original sketches for some of the characters (with copious design notes), pinups and a puzzle page (!) by John Byrne and even the 37 covers from the '80s Classic X-Men that reprinted these issues. The inclusion of these covers was a big bonus for me, as I first read all of this material in Classic X-Men and those covers stimulate my memories of the stories in a nice, pleasant nostalgic way. They're also just plain terrific covers by guys like Art Adams and Steve Lightle. These extras give a strong indication of the attention to detail that the editors and designers put into this book. Mark Beazley, Cory Sedlmeier, Michael Short, Jennifer Grunwald and Jeof Vita should all take a well-deserved bow.
Another bonus that makes the Omnibus special is that it contains the letters pages from all the issues, which helps to put the issues in the context of their time. Many of the fans were in an uproar about this complete change of cast and new creators, and it was clear that the book was struggling in the marketplace. Ironically, most of the books that were selling well in this time period are either looked down upon or forgotten, while this is held up as the gold standard of superhero comics. This might provide a slightly bitter comforting thought to creators struggling with low sales and critical acclaim in today's market, although I suspect it's about as helpful as struggling artists hearing that most artists are only appreciated after their death. The letters pages were an interesting place for debate, though, as the editor ran not just positive buzz but several negative (often brutally so) letters, and responded thoughtfully to all of them. It's still not as stimulating as the fondly-remembered letters pages of Cerebus, Grimjack, Starman and other esoteric books, but it's much more interesting than most current letter columns and their modern equivalent, the message boards.
If you do check this one out and wind up digging it, you might want to know that this is the second such volume, the first one containing the first thirty issues of the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby Fantastic Four. With any luck, we'll be seeing more in the future... at the very least, a volume two (and maybe even more?) of Uncanny X-Men would be nice to complete this well-regarded run. -
SUMMER OF X-MEN CAPSULE REVIEW #2
2018 REREAD:
I decided it was time to go oldschool, and did a slow month-long reread of this behemoth, taking notes along the way (because Claremont writes like way too many words, man).
It's still total genius that he assembled pretty much every major X-Men plotline (continuing thorugh today) in the first five years of his tenure on the title. I mean, like, either you plan on reading this book before you die or you don't, so I'm not sure what else to tell you. Some people have Moby Dick, some have Infinite Jest, and then a stone cold motherfucker like me has read Uncanny X-Men Omnibus Vol 1 TWO FUCKING TIMES.
That's right. Get in line for autographs, dudes.
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ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I apparently bought this for sixty bucks back in 2006, according to Amazon records. I would guess this is one of the smartest things I did that year. -
I’m attempting one of the biggest feats in comic book reading by deciding to read all the X-Men books as chronologically as possible. I might get impatient and begin to read different eras at the same time, but for right now I’ll try to do it completely in order. I’ve read or am familiar with much of the X-Men stories but I’ve never read it fully all the way through. I decided the skip the original Stan Lee and Roy Thomas Silver age runs because most of that stuff that I’ve tried to read has been terrible and there’s no wonder it was cancelled quickly and revamped.
I’m starting here, in the first hardcover omnibus volume of Chris Claremont’s famous, history-making run, starting with the Giant-Size X-Men reboot. This is the beginning of what defined the X-men as we know today, a group of diverse young outcast mutants from around the world, who fight to defend a world that hates and fears them for the way they were born. The original X-Men have gone missing on the island of Krakoa and Professor Xavier gathers a new group of mutants (including mainstays Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Banshee, and the Wolverine) to travel to the island and save them. This launches one of the longest runs of a creator on a comic book line and takes the X-Men from a niche title, to the most successful comic book franchise at Marvel. The book is still a pretty dated read, spanning the mid to late 70’s, and especially in the first half, features a lot of throwaway, episodic, adventure-of-the-week tales, with some of them being pretty silly, like when the X-Men fight leprechauns, dinosaurs, a demon dragon, and Count Nefaria. But some of the stories are actually pretty engaging, like the battles with Magneto and with the Sentinels. Once artist John Byrne comes in to draw and co-plot, the stories take off, with the highlights being the adventures in outer space with the Shi’ar and the Starjammers, and the final battle with the Hellfrie Club featuring the introduction of Kitty Pryde. You also see the fateful transformation of Jean Grey into the Phoenix and slowly get the hints of her being overcome with the cosmic power, with the book ending with a lead-up to her epic climax, the famous Dark Phoenix Saga. We also get the first appearance of the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight, and cool tie-ins with Claremont’s other Marvel title at the time, Iron Fist, with regular appearances by Misty Knight and Colleen Wing.
I expected to really struggle through this book because of the dated material, but while it does take a while to read Claremont’s extremely verbose and overwrought prose, it’s still relatively entertaining and essential. -
Man this was a long time coming. I’ve always heard of Claremont’s long run on X-men and years ago I got a taste of it with those popular trades, Dark Phoenix Saga and Days of Future Past. Loved those two books and was determined to find and read the rest of his X-men books. That is until I discovered how expensive they were no matter the version, single issue, Master Works and Omnibus. I was extremely excited when I learned Marvel was reprinting all 3 omnibuses and finally making a fourth. This book was so much fun. So many adventures to be had here in these 40 issues. It was great seeing these early X-men learning to work together and growing as a team/family. These guys were everywhere. All over the world from Japan, the Savage land, Scotland etc etc. then they were off on different planets and what not. So much fun reading this as Wolverine is my favorite character and the X-men my favorite team. I absolutely cannot wait for volume 2 to hit the scene. If you’re an X-men fan and haven’t read this yet, get on it!!
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Actual rating: 3.5 stars (haven’t done that in a while!)
This was really good for an older comic, but the style of it is still just not as interesting to me as modern comics. Most modern comics don’t have a narrator, and if they do it’s just written differently. I think what made me like this more than other classical comics I’ve read is that the actual story and writing were more modern (or more correctly said modern comics are more similar to this in style, but you know what I mean). Overall I think this was really good, but if you don’t care about the X-Men I’m not sure this’ll change that. -
Why did i wait so long to read this. I’ve only really read modern comics and just never could get in to older stuff finally bought the omnibus and couldn’t stop reading this was so good. Can’t wait for volume 2.
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Going back to something that you loved from your childhood can be a daunting experience. If you've ever tried to re-watch an old episode of 'Thundercats' or 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' (and you're not deluding yourself into thinking that they're still good), then you'll know where I'm coming from. As such, it was with some hesitance that I approached this Marvel Omnibus. Chris Claremont's legendary 20 year run on 'Uncanny X-Men' is considered the most influential period in the franchise's history but, at the same time, Claremont is a writer whose notoriously verbose style is pretty much synonymous with the word “dated”. The black & white reprints of his early stories, from Marvel's “Essential” line, were some of the most defining reads of my teenage years, so perhaps I'd be best of leaving the cherished memories, instead of risking another “Thundercats”. However, against my better judgement, I read this book and, frankly... I had nothing to worry about.
Let me get the glaring problem out of the way first. Yes, Claremont's writing has undeniably dated. There are many instances where, for example, a character will go into a big monologue to explain something that a modern writer would never explain when the art expressed it perfectly. Also, the story-lines aren't quite as “epic” and “deep” as I remember them being as a teenager. As such, I would never recommend this collection to a new adult comic book reader. However, these are, nonetheless, some pretty excellent superhero comics, and they definitely represent the X-Men at their most quintessential. Of course, I don't expect (or want) the X-Men to remain like this 40 years later, but when I read this I really did feel pangs of nostalgia for when the characterisation was just so spot on, when Storm was an amazing character, and Wolverine was still mysterious (and small and ugly!). The only character I didn't really care for was the clichéd Russian strongman, Colossus, the only X-Man in here that I think it took later writers to flesh out. Similarly, Magneto was a pretty bland super villain within these pages, and it would be a few more years before Claremont himself would turn him into the three dimensional character he is now.
Another problem is that, with Claremont being a newcomer just taking over the reins of the series, it takes a little while for the book to really hit its stride. The first issue, 'Giant-Size X-Men' #1 by Wein and Mantlo, while of great historical value to the X-Men and pop culture in general for introducing the “all new, all different” X-Men to the world, is a pretty average 1970s superhero comic. The quality improves when Claremont joins as co-writer in 'X-Men' #94, and then shoots up again when he's free to do whatever he likes as sole writer from #96. However, it isn't until John Byrne joins Claremont as regular artist and co-plotter at #108 that the series really begins to shine. Without wanting to detract from Claremont's unbelievable contributions to this franchise, it's not really fair to look at his entire 20 year run as a homogeneous entity that single-handedly redefined comics. In reality, the truly stand-out moments of that run were from the Claremont/Byrne partnership, of which the cream of the cream doesn't happen until vol. 2 of this Omnibus series (which re-prints most of “The Dark Pheonix Saga”, which begins in this volume, and all of “Days of Future Past”).
The way I'm glowing over this book probably makes me sound like I'm reviewing a dated 'Watchmen'. No. The level of sophistication in here is nowhere near that, nor is it even close to the likes of Grant Morrison's 'New X-Men' run, or Joss Whedon's 'Astonishing X-Men'. However, what this book reprints, in a beautiful and worthy hardcover, are some absolutely solid 1970s and '80s superhero comics. If you're into the X-Men, and you can look past its many flaws to appreciate it for what it is, then you can't do much worse. But, if you're new to the series, perhaps after watching the movies, I'd recommend starting off with something a bit more modern (like the Whedon run), and then maybe working your way back. -
Though not as polished as modern-day comics, these still remain gripping. They're also impressive for the raw creativity that continues to influence the comics today, including creations such as the Shi'ar, the Imperial Guard, Alpha Flight, the Hellfire Club, and of course the new X-Men themselves.
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You know how you can read something that you know is a classic, you can see why it's great, but it's obviously old.. And might be hard to get thru at times.
Well this isn't it. This is not only classic, it's fun, it's epic, it's entertaining in every way. For some reason or another after a couple of years ill end up rereading it from the start. Maybe there's some issues in the end I never got to, I mean it's a pretty big book. And rereading it, it just doesn't get old. I started reading X-Men in '95 when I was 10 so this collection must be pretty great if I still enjoy it. Added bonus crisp clear art in this volume. -
When Marvel relaunched the X-Men in 1975 with the special Giant-Sized X-Men #1 and Chris Claremont took over writing duties with X-Men #94 afterwards, this series became something really special. Some of the early issues here show some of the sillier Silver Age trappings that the book was about to leave behind, but by the final few arcs represented here, Claremontian X-Men is in full swing, and it's wonderful. His characters are well-formed, his writing is becoming more sophisticated, and his ideas far more interesting than the first few story arcs. And of course co-plotter John Byrne on art is as responsible for the magic as Claremont is. With the cliffhanger storyline that Vol 1 ends on, Omnibus Vol 2 and 3 promise Claremont perfection.
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This was great. Sure, it's very outdated, but everything that I love about the x men is here.
Believe it or not, this is where all your favorite characters joined the X-Men. Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, and Nightcrawler. There all here! There were some spots that I didn't love as much. The Space stuff in my opinion went on for a bit too long. Same with the savage land. I definitely will want to read
The Uncanny X-Men Omnibus, Vol. 2, since I would like to read more about, Pheonix and The Hellfire Club.
Anyways, I highly recommend!
Thank you to Chad, for recommending this. -
This was an amazing read. I'm a person who enjoys a lot to see the beginning of things, and for the X-Men, this was the perfect way to do that. Sure some of the stories are a bit outdated, but some of them were really good, the Phoenix arc was a space trip, the savage lands, the beginning of the dark phoenix story, the hellfire club, plus the introduction of amazing characters such as: Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Storm, Kitty Pride...Great stuff.
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Boa parte dessas histórias eu havia lido quando era criança e adolescente. É interessante retornar mais de 20 anos depois e é satisfatório ver como essas histórias continuam muito boas. Há quem não goste do Claremont por ser verborrágico, abusar de diálogos e quadros expositórios e ser, em vários momentos, melodramático e piegas (a comparação com soap operas/telenovelas não é gratuita), mas é inegável que ele sabe (ou sabia, a julgar por algumas obras mais recentes) prender o leitor com boas tramas. E aqui também há o uso abusivo e bem feito de vários recursos narrativos característicos de séries regulares: ganchos, deux ex machina, situações absurdas, etc. Pelo jeito, deu certo, já que o título escapou do cancelamento e em pouco tempo deixou de ser bimestral para voltar a ser mensal (essa edição mantém as seções de cartas das edições originais. A julgar pelo teor de boa parte, havia o apelo para que isso ocorresse).
Len Wein coloca um bando de personagens "novos e diferentes" para trabalhar juntos, mas com os quais o leitor ou tinha pouca familiaridade (Banshee, Wolverine, Solaris eram personagens que já haviam aparecido em X-men ou outros títulos) ou desconhecia (como os estreantes Noturno, Colossus, Pássaro Trovejante e Tempestade). Claremont é quem depois vai desenvolvendo esses personagens, lhes dando personalidade e um passado. À medida em que vai avançando, consegue dar consistência e coerência ao título, melhorando cada vez mais o que era bom. E a coisa atinge um novo patamar com a entrada de John Byrne.
Não que os desenhos do Dave Cockrum não fossem bons (eram espetaculares!), mas a parceria com o Byrne acaba sendo bem produtiva, já que o mesmo passa a trabalhar também nas histórias, que acabam sendo algumas das melhores e mais memoráveis dos personagens.
Detalhe para a participação de Misty Knight e Colleen Wing (com quem Scott tem um envolvimento após a "morte" de Jean Grey), que passam a ter uma certa partipação no título após a saída da dupla Claremont & Byrne de Iron Fist & Power Man. Segundo Claremont, era por que o novo escritor do título descartou as personagens. Como tinha um carinho pelas mesmas, trouxe-as para os X-Men. Até que Jo Duffy as pedisse de volta... -
I joined Verizon in my most recent move and they kindly included a year of free Disney+ in the membership (all my phone calls, hours waiting, and bungled appointments paid off!). I was overjoyed to see the 1990s X-Men cartoon available and promptly began streaming the shit out of it all summer, happily strolling down memory lane with Wolverine's petulance, Gambit's nonchalance, Rogue's astounding power, etc. I love the X-Men, especially the cartoon over the films, which I haven't been as much of a fan of, always feeling like they didn't capture the real essence of what makes the X-Men so amazing. The cartoon, with Beast's high vocabulary, Cyclops' rigid but somehow empathetic leadership (why do they cast short, unendearing actors for Cyclops in the films?), and the AWESOME THEME SONG, was always the true presentation of the X-Men to me.
In revisiting my favorite childhood cartoon, I had a revelatory moment of concern, "Why have I never read an X-Men comic book?" No "true fan" status for me, having only done figurines and films. Well, I have corrected that status to the tune of 800+ pages of comics and am glad that I have. Unfortunately (but it's all good), the comics ruined the cartoon for me in the same way that the cartoon ruins the films. I'll still enjoy them, but the comics are definitively better. The artwork is amazing and captures a paradoxically more cosmic yet more real presentation of the characters and their world. The characters are more fleshed out. And there are phenomenal sequences, such as Storm trying to pick a lock with her headband crown, that are somehow more intense and exciting than any expensive CGI sequence can be.
But most importantly, the comics address themes and go into territory that the more financially minded film and cartoon can't address, in trying to appeal to broader audiences. The Proteus segment, Mesmero circus hypnotism, and Magneto's "nanny robot" really dip into horror territory. Wolverine (and Air Force pilots) drinks and smokes. Characters die, lose their powers, and have relatable inner turmoil. And like most print to film adaptations, the comic lays out great storylines that are for some reason altered and convoluted in a way that's like, "Why did they change that?" I imagine real X-fans were scratching their heads (or worse) when 20 year+ OGs like Nightcrawler and Colossus were relegated to side distractions in the cartoon in favor of Gambit, who had just appeared in the comics a couple years before, and Morph (who is a cool character, but isn't from the comics).
The book was better, as usual. I'm glad I finally rectified my ignorance of the true X-Men essence. -
These are the original X-Men stories from the early 70s. They are equal parts fun and frustrating; fun because they are campy and cheesy and embrace this completely. One of the most interesting aspects are how, on the one hand, the X-Men are a metaphor for every discriminated minority, and yet on the other how oblivious the writers were to the casual sexism and occasional racism. At one point (in the first issue, no less) Professor X race-shames a Native American mutant named Thunderbird to stop helping his tribe and come with Professor X to do "more important things." Still, a lot of fun is to be had despite it all.
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(Zero spoiler review)
So here it is. My first Marvel omnibus. When I first got into the comics medium, I was rather adamant that I would never have anything to do with any superhero books, as they have never held any interest to me whatsoever. A few months into my collecting, and I started collecting the omni's of the most highly regarded stories. More because I was bitten so hard by the collecting bug, than any great reversal in my opinions on superhero stories. I'm fairly relieved to say, especially considering how many superhero omni's I bought in the meantime, that I rather enjoyed this introduction to the X-men. Sure, the earlier issues were a bit laborious, and didn't have me turning the pages with reckless abandon. But as the series went on, and Claremont grew into the role of writer, the stories they started to tell were of more and more interest to me. The one and done, villain of the month stories which made up the bulk of the early run of this book doesn't hold a lot of interest for me. The more Claremont builds the world. The more fleshed out the characters become. The more we spend time with them, rather than just have an endless line of bad guys continuously appearing, to be beaten up, only to have another one appear a few pages later. Again, that doesn't do it for me. By the end of the book, I was basically sold. John Byrne, and to a slightly lesser extent, Dave Cockrum deliver some absolutely gorgeous art. I had looked at older styles art in the past and thought that it would never really gel with me. Somewhere during my time with this book, It all twigged, and I couldn't get enough.
Whilst not flawless or paradigm shifting, at least in my opinion. This was a wonderful introduction to these characters, and the world of superheroes in general, and I'm bloody glad I managed to get over my superhero apathy. 4/5
OmniBen. -
I give it a 3 only because of the old campy start and inconsistency of the story. The uncanny xmen start and develop from beginning but the writing explains obvious details and the commentary is cheesy golden era or Adam west batman feeling. Once Byrne starts on art half way it rapidly changes to allow the story carry itself without the hand holding (or I just got used to it).
Story and character development occurs right from the beginning with a rapid handover from the old team and parsing( so glad sun fire didn't make it hate that ass) the xmen to the team that lasts the book.
What seems like a minor detail will be recalled 3 issues later as the larger arcs unfold. Even single frame art you will pickup in minor movie events such as in apocalypse in the final danger room scene the robots they fight were a single frame of a surprise prof x left the team. Back story events played out in the 90s cartoon as I had read in the book. Even Canadian Prime Minister Turdeau made an appearance as Alpha Flight sought to regain weapon x.
I mostly enjoyed the arc but some of the spacey transdimentional stories were too over the top the first one about 25% I really struggled with. The Phoenix saga gave some good history and Phoenix in general is awesome and the framework for dark Phoenix is set and I am eager to start the next book (after a lighter tmnt break)
If you enjoy xmen in general I would say that this is a worthy read but despite the team antics is rather verbose and takes time.
As a side note my wife and I always make fun of Jean for always fainting after using her powers and this book didn't disappoint even after Phoenix came I mentioned how she was holding her own for a long while, flip page and she is on the ground a good laugh. -
I borrowed this off a buddy. Thanks, man. WHERE TO BEGIN? In 1975, Chris Claremont begins his long and prolific run on The Uncanny X-Men, a struggling Marvel title that had been in reprints for like 5 years. The "CHILDREN OF THE ATOM" need to be reinvigorated. So Professor Charles Xavier recruits new X-Men for his fake school/real superhero team. They would form a POP CULTURE JUGGERNAUT that would dominate the world of comics for the next, hmmmmmmm, maybe 20-odd years. Well, the juggernaut is formed here but with some kinks to iron out. Sorry, Thunderbird.
It all starts with Giant Size X-Men. Professor Xaiver, owner/principal/sole teacher of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters (what a name, eh?) and disabled telepath, rolls up on various mutants from various X-otic locales (boom!), from the beautiful hills and mountains of Kenya to some government/military conference room in Canada. Prof X needs a new team and he's picking some winners. And yeah, there were also some losers in the bunch. I'm looking at you, Sunfire. What's your problem, bro?
Storm is Ororo Munroe, an African "goddess" who can control the weather AND FLY! Super foxy. She's more than just "the woman" though. She quickly shows her wisdom and steps in as de facto second leader of the group, after Cyclops. Cool character.
Colossus is Peter Rasputin, a Russian farmer living with his family on commune. He can turn his body into organic steel. His power is BOSS as hell - as the gifted youngsters would put it, but perhaps he should sit out all fights with Magneto, the master of magnetism. Actually, no "perhaps" about it. Gotta put him on the bench. Use your head, Peter!
Nightcrawler is Kurt Wagner, German acrobat and, quite frankly, freakish blue demonic/elfish looking mutant who can teleport a small distance. BAMF! He's actually a cool character, who's personality is that of a friendly and kind young man who only seeks swashbuckling adventure. This belies his superficial "evil" outward appearance, so don't judge a book by its cover kids, although I would so effing run if I ran into something that looked like Nightcrawler. BUT CLAREMONT'S POINT STANDS!
Wolverine is just Canadian. Nothing else to talk about here. Who gives a crap about this character? JKjk Do I have to go into Wolverine? He's the best there is at what he does. A killer, a brute, an antihero, an animal, a little person, but also fiercely loyal with a definite code of honor. And he has claws that go SNIKT!...and an animal's sense of smell for tracking purposes. AND regenerative healing powers! AND an adamantium skeleton (though the last two powers are retconned in later, I believe)! Useful guy, that Wolverine. I hope they keep him around.
Banshee is Sean Cassidy. He's...okay. He doesn't catch on like the other aforementioned new guys, but he isn't dropped like a sack of potatoes - sorry again Thunderbird. He says things all Irish-like, an either endearing aspect of Claremont's writing or just the frigging worst. I guess it depends on the reader. I like it. Who doesn't read Banshee like a cheerful leprechaun? Who doesn't read Moira in a heavy, heavy Scottish accent. Colossus and Nightcrawler can also be fun to read with accent in mind. Oh yeah, and aside from being Irish, Banshee has a supersonic scream that allows him to fly and pack a wallop. I like to always think of him like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pBbtm...
And Cyclops is Scott Summers, who has to wear ruby glasses or some shit so his solar powered optic blasts do not kill everyone. He's an old X-Man and leads the team in the field. His ladyfriend is Jean Grey, total babe, also old X-man, codename Marvel Girl. She's telekinetic and telepathic, and also not Phoenix yet. Not in this volume. And there's old X-Men sprinkled throughout like Beast, who can be an annoying, pretentious dipshit. Like seriously, stop talking Beast. And there's Angel, who's mainly just rich, but he has wings and can fly. That's it, unfortunately. He gets cooler waaaaaaay later. Havok and Polaris had some neat powers and they play a role in this. Iceman...not really there at all. Sunfire, who has heat powers and is Japanese, is a bit of a haughty jerk. His presence is like when Namor is hanging with the Avengers and just wants everyone to know he doesn't have time for this crap and needs to get back to his home. Well, get lost, Sunfire. No one likes you anyway!
And then there's Thunderbird, arrogant John Proudstar (whose name totally fits, you guys). Uhhh...sorry for the umpteenth time, fictional character (why am I talking like he can hear me?). TBH, he was just a waste of a cool name.
This collection is standard comic book fare from the '70s, but done very, very well. Sure, it may be somewhat dated, and Claremont can get WORDY as hell, but these were different times. It was almost always well-plotted and the characters were new and inventive. And they were entertaining. Read it, bub. -
HOT TAKE: Banshee deserves a solo book.
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THE X-MEN ARE BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER!! That's right, Im continuing the X-men reading order and finally we get to the stuff of wonders. The stories so acclaimed and talked about, I already know good chunks of what's going to happen even before reading it. Because EVERYONE sings this runs praises. And I will be one of the millions of people to tell you- THE HYPE IS REAL!! In this first omnibus we get the beginnings of the new X-men team. We get introduced to legendary characters that went on to make huge impacts in the comic book world. We get first appearances of Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Jean Grey as Phoenix. We also get Wolverine on the team after his two appearances in 'The Incredible Hulk.' And even though this was not our first time seeing him, we see him grow as a character and get more personality from him. It all starts with Giant Size X-Men #1 where we get introduced to the new team. Charles Xavier hand picks these new Mutants and brings them together to help save humanity. Sounds simple right? Oh but it's far from that. After that its back to the regular run and Chris Claremont takes over the pilot seat to take the X-Men where they've never been before. Partnered with Dave Cockrum on artwork. We start off with some space adventures, the rise of Jean Grey's Phoenix, the return of the Sentinels, return of the Juggernaut, return of Magneto, stoping an intergalactic apocalypse, back stories on our new cast, the return to the savage land, the intro to alpha flight, intro to the Hell Fire Club, drama, action, and so much more! I mentioned before that Dave Cockrum on artwork started the new series off and it really was a perfect start. Dave gave us such unique character designs that to this day are loved and in some ways still used. He gives a solid 15 issues and they are all beautiful. The main artist job is then moved to John Byrne and all I can say is WOW. I've know John and his work as he is a legend in the comic biz however finally reading with it is just a whole different experience. Story tale illustrating at its finest. Partnered with Terry Austins inks and it only makes sense that sales went up. However we can't leave all the success to the artwork, right? No because the man of the hour is of course the OTHER LEGEND HIMSELF, CHRIS CLAREMONT. One of the great parts of this run so far is how everything feels connected. Everything is apart of a story. Chris comes up with these grand ideas and gives us hints early on to then reveal the overall plan. And it always works! Each issue feels important to the overall goal in mind for Chris. However the stories can still feel self-contained and appetizing all on their own. You usually get 2-3 issue arcs with maybe a filler issue in between but it all feels nicely paced and still super entertaining. Chris delivers so much drama and emotion you just can't help but to keep turning the pages. He also adds the importance of representation. It's never forced, always genuine because he believes in it. I admired how much him and the team gave attention to Storm. Making her a powerful women of color and never shying from giving her the spotlight. They skip the cliches and stereotypes and just write an amazing character. Same goes for Nightcrawler and Colossus. Two immigrants. Intentional or not the respect he puts on these characters is something that must be recognized. Overall if you couldn't tell I loved this read. If you were ever interested in reading X-Men, do yourself a favor and start here. The Lee and Kirby stuff was nice as it was the beginning however this is what people think of when they hear X-Men. At least they should.
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Pheonix is just so cool
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Forgive me Stan Lee for saying but I like Chris' writing better. This isn't as long winded as the 1st X-Men run. This volume also has better story arcs. Nice to see the overall improvement with the comic. No wonder it is still a strong franchise today.
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Una grande rilettura.
Le storie sono decisamente dei classici, scritte grandiosamente da Chris Claremont e disegnate prima dal compianto Dave Cockrum e poi da un John Byrne giunto all'apice della forma, apice che manterrà per oltre un decennio. Diversi inchiostratori all'opera, tra cui spicca Terry Austin e i sempre eccellenti colori di Glynis Oliver.
Qui, tra la fine degli anni '70 ed i primi anni '80 del secolo scorso, nasce e si consolida il mito degli X-Men con storie che ancora oggi sono capolavori, e che furono le migliori del fumetto mondiale in quegli anni. Claremont & soci riuscirono a mantenere un livello qualitativo altissimo per diversi anni, e questo è il vero e vincente motivo del successo del super gruppo Marvel. -
It took me a while to read this but oh boy this is the epitome of Bronze Age greatness. The plots are creative and fun, the characters are well rounded and likable and the art is gorgeously kinetic. It takes a bit to get going, but once Byrne hops on the book it’s pure magic.
The best part about this book in my opinion, is the characters. Claremont does a great job developing them and turning this completely different characters into a team and a family by the end. The creative team continues to add to the X-Men mythos with every issue, it’s like watching the wheel get invented.
8.5/10. There are a few stinkers in this omnibus, but it gets better and better as it goes. By the end, the 1-2 issue plots get stretched into 3-5 issue epics. -
As far as super hero books go this run has just about everything you could ask for: space pirates, mutant pterodactyl vampires, space bird people, the X-Men in a giant pinball machine, the list goes on. It takes a little while for the book and characters to find their feet but that's also kind of the point, this is the new X-Men becoming a team and by the end we're left with a book (and team) that's really firing on all cylinders. This part of Claremont's run is a bit overshadowed by all the great stuff that came immediately after it but for any fan of the X-Men this is almost as good as it gets.
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I used to read this title when I was a teenager ( it was translated to french in the 80s) and I have to say it did not age well.
Still some of the stories are pretty good like the one involving Proteus or the one introducing the Hellfire club. -
the stories that made me a life-long comic book reader and they still hold up nearly 40 yrs later
