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This is the third Headcanon I've done for the X-Men in the past fifteen years. The first Headcanon "The X-Men In Ten Seasons" was just me looking at X-Men related collections and trying to remember which ones were good or seemed important to continuity, and dividing them up into seasons. It was fun but it was only moderately informed. I was a huge X-Men fan but I wasn't an exceptionally knowledgable one. The second Headcanon was based on The Most Important Stores In X-Men History. The most impactful, iconic stories that, if you asked any comic book store employee who had even a passing knowledge of the X-Men, they probably would recommend virtually the same list. In 2017/2018, I read most of the X-Men related books that had been released in trade paperback. But I'd get bored during the silver age stories, and start skimming pages, and I'd get frustrated in some of the 90s books, and start skimming pages, so I sort of read most of the X-Men chronology but not really. At the beginning of 2024 I started rereading earnest. Every volume of X-Men related book currently available in trades (and some stories that haven't yet been collected in trades but which I have the issues of). Weirdly, this improved my experience of reading some of the terrible books because I was really invested in how characters got from point A to point B, even if the story was jankily written, poorly drawn, or just a complete narrative mess. I am reading everything. I'm currently nearing the end of the 1990s, having read every available issue of X-Men (which will become X-Men Legacy), Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, New Mutants, Excalibur, X-Force, Wolverine, Cable, Deadpool, Generation X, and related miniseries for characters like Storm, Longshot, Bishop, and many more. My current posts about X-Men Headcanon are reviews of Every Book I've Read as part of this project. This is the first post of The Best X-Men Stories that I've enjoyed. While I certainly weighed the cultural importance of these volumes to larger X-Men lore, I haven't included books that were deemed important but that I don't think aged well compared to other books of the time. I haven't included The Mutant Massacre, even though it resonates through the X-Men lore for decades. It's just messy and difficult to keep track of if you haven't read many of the books before it. Likewise, I've left off Inferno which is a book I'd never been able to get through before, and now that I have read every page, I wish I'd spent the time doing something more fun, like dancing barefoot in a room full of thumb tacks and barbed wire. If you want to experience the best Inferno story, "X-Men '97" condensed the entire storyline into a single episode, and it's amazing. Watch that, instead of reading the original crossover event. This first season contains ten books, mostly written by Chris Claremont, that I could sit and have a long conversation with someone about why I liked the story, its political importance, why it made me care for the characters, and how it influenced other books for better or worse. With the exception of the first book, Magneto Testament, all these books are currently in print (or about to be put back into print in early 2025) and should be available for cover price or cheaper. It might also be possible to find Magneto Testament floating around your local comic book store or looking at sites like Thriftbooks and Bookshop Dot Org. X-Men Headcanon |
  | X-Men X-Cutioner's Song/X-Force Epic X-Cutioner's Song by Jim Lee, Fabien Nicieza, Peter David, Scott Lobdell, John Romita Jr, Brandon Peterson, Jae Lee, Andy Kubert, Greg Capullo, Lsrry Stroman, and Darick Robertson X-Men Blue: Professor X, Cyclops, Beast, Wolverine, Rogue, Psylocke, Forge, Gambit, Jubilee X-Men Gold: Storm, Jean Grey, Angel, Iceman, Colossus, Bishop X-Factor: Val Cooper, Havoc, Polaris, Madrox, Wolfsbane, Quicksilver, Strong Guy X-Force: Cable, Cannonball, Sunspot, Boom-Boom, Rictor, Shatterstar, Feral, Warpath, Siryn 1st Appearances: Mojo II The Sequel, Hazard Also Featuring: Longshot, Mojo, Major Domo, Arize, Dazzler, Gogg, Gog N'Magog, Fleabag, Spiral, Lila Cheney, Maverick, Stryfe, Rusty, Skids, Domino, Bridge, Kane, Wildside, Reaper, Forearm, Tempo, Strobe, Dragoness, Sumo, Zero, Kamikaze, Charlotte Jones, Trish Tilby, Caliban, War, Famine, Prodigal, Moira MacTaggert, Foxbat, Psynapse, Gauntlet, Tusk, Hardrive, Mainframe, Magma, Empath, Firestar, Speedball, Nick Fury, Peter Gyrich |
This was an overwhelming mess when I read it without the full context of the thirty years of comics that preceded it. It's a mistaken identity clone story, it's a family drama, it's a medical mystery, there's a few pages dealing with refugees, it's an intergenerational conflict, it's an action movie, it's A Lot to have to process without all the proper history before it.
With the proper history, it's ok. It's real strength is the combination of writers on this. Peter David had been writing dad-joke centric noir satire in X-Factor, Jim Lee and company had been writing classic superhero drama in the adjectiveless X-Men, and Fabien Nicieza had been writing family drama and time travel adventures in Uncanny X-Men while writing bland and unfocused action movie dialogue in X-Force. Together, the writing team tempered each other really well. David had to get focused on the intricacies of plot and inter-personal drama to balance Nicieza's action movie style so he dropped the dad jokes while finding a way to include the parts of his ongoing story that didn't seem like they meshed with the crossover. Lee and Lobdell seemed to be guiding the overall arcs to get the various books to move in new directions. Nicieza mostly got the fight scenes, which is clearly what he wanted to be doing. It made for a pretty fluid read. Again, if you've read everything before it.
There was also an odd but smart visual connection that all of the artists did for this book. While many of them had differing styles, they all took the second and third pages of their stories and paneled them landscape style instead of portrait style, so you had to turn the book sideways after you read the intro page, and then turn it back for the rest of the book. It didn't add anything other than a visual connective tissue but it was a neat device.
I had never realized before that Jae Lee, whose work I didn't start recognizing until he and David teamed up on The Gunslinger Born well over a decade later. Much of his work here is also focused and engagingly staged characters with minimal to no background images, which is a stark contrast to the noisy paneling of most 90s X-books. I'm going to have to do a read through of as much of his art as I can at some point.
I also forgot that Greg Capullo was involved with this era of X-books. I've always loved his DC work, particularly on Batman, and I even appreciate his work on Spawn, even if that isn't my favorite series to read.
So there's a lot to love, art-wise and editorially in this book. And if you're an X-pert (sorry) on Marvel's mutant section, I think this is a fun read but it was really frustrating as a reader who'd only read many X-books before, as opposed to pretty much all of them. So if you're a completist or deep into X-lore, this is a great pick. But if you're new to the X-books or a casual reader, this isn't where you should start.
It's also annoying that these volumes heavily overlap but they also each include stories pivotal to the readthrough that aren't published anywhere else.
With the proper history, it's ok. It's real strength is the combination of writers on this. Peter David had been writing dad-joke centric noir satire in X-Factor, Jim Lee and company had been writing classic superhero drama in the adjectiveless X-Men, and Fabien Nicieza had been writing family drama and time travel adventures in Uncanny X-Men while writing bland and unfocused action movie dialogue in X-Force. Together, the writing team tempered each other really well. David had to get focused on the intricacies of plot and inter-personal drama to balance Nicieza's action movie style so he dropped the dad jokes while finding a way to include the parts of his ongoing story that didn't seem like they meshed with the crossover. Lee and Lobdell seemed to be guiding the overall arcs to get the various books to move in new directions. Nicieza mostly got the fight scenes, which is clearly what he wanted to be doing. It made for a pretty fluid read. Again, if you've read everything before it.
There was also an odd but smart visual connection that all of the artists did for this book. While many of them had differing styles, they all took the second and third pages of their stories and paneled them landscape style instead of portrait style, so you had to turn the book sideways after you read the intro page, and then turn it back for the rest of the book. It didn't add anything other than a visual connective tissue but it was a neat device.
I had never realized before that Jae Lee, whose work I didn't start recognizing until he and David teamed up on The Gunslinger Born well over a decade later. Much of his work here is also focused and engagingly staged characters with minimal to no background images, which is a stark contrast to the noisy paneling of most 90s X-books. I'm going to have to do a read through of as much of his art as I can at some point.
I also forgot that Greg Capullo was involved with this era of X-books. I've always loved his DC work, particularly on Batman, and I even appreciate his work on Spawn, even if that isn't my favorite series to read.
So there's a lot to love, art-wise and editorially in this book. And if you're an X-pert (sorry) on Marvel's mutant section, I think this is a fun read but it was really frustrating as a reader who'd only read many X-books before, as opposed to pretty much all of them. So if you're a completist or deep into X-lore, this is a great pick. But if you're new to the X-books or a casual reader, this isn't where you should start.
It's also annoying that these volumes heavily overlap but they also each include stories pivotal to the readthrough that aren't published anywhere else.
Hoof.
I'm almost at a major turning point in X-history, the Muir Island Saga/X-Men #1 relaunch. An era of complex storylines, new characters, bold reimaginings, and a lot of storylines that were just dropped because 90's X-scribes Fabien Nicieza and Scott Lobdell generally never have any idea what they're doing from page to page, nevermind issue to issue.
But before we can get there, Alan Davis tries to make Chris Claremont's Excalibur run make sense, Larry Hama and Marc Silvestri change the focus on how Wolverine books are written, and Chris Claremont concludes his sixteen year run on Uncanny X-Men.
I'm almost at a major turning point in X-history, the Muir Island Saga/X-Men #1 relaunch. An era of complex storylines, new characters, bold reimaginings, and a lot of storylines that were just dropped because 90's X-scribes Fabien Nicieza and Scott Lobdell generally never have any idea what they're doing from page to page, nevermind issue to issue.
But before we can get there, Alan Davis tries to make Chris Claremont's Excalibur run make sense, Larry Hama and Marc Silvestri change the focus on how Wolverine books are written, and Chris Claremont concludes his sixteen year run on Uncanny X-Men.
Excalibur Epic The Cross-Time Caper by Chris Claremont, Alan Davis, Michael Higgins, Dennis Jansen, Rick Leonardi, Ron Lim
Excalibur: Captain Britain, Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Meggan
Also Featuring: Widget, Alistaire Stuart, Nigel Frobrisher, Bodybag, Joyboy, Waxworks, Gatecrasher, Scatterbrain, Thug, Brian Braddock, more people...I don't even want to transcribe things for these volumes anymore, I found them exhausting and painful to read.
The late 80s phenomenon of Chris Claremont goes to the movies, or turns on the TV, and decides to satirize it in an X-book is one of my least favorite tropes of the era. Unfortunately, that's all this book is. He just tosses every nonsensical idea in his head at these pages, and they are insufferable to me.
Oh look, there's a Dalek, oh, hey, let's throw all the Avengers into a page, Nightcrawler plays pirate again, now we're in the magical land of Bloogleflax where a fairy demon dragon princess falls in love with one of the characters at first sight and swordfights everyone with lasers. I hate it.
I have some very good friends who I share some opinions with who absolutely love this run because it's so bonkers, and so invested in just feeding bubby nostalgia to the people who read it. I understand why that appeals to some people but I think it's just the dumbest writing, and it meant that, for several years, some of my favorite X-Men were just out of continuity in this stupid Cross-Time Caper, instead of being involved in any stories I might have found interesting.
This might absolutely be a five star book for you but I am making a vow not to read this again unless someone pays me at least four digits before the decimal point.
Excalibur: Captain Britain, Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Meggan
Also Featuring: Widget, Alistaire Stuart, Nigel Frobrisher, Bodybag, Joyboy, Waxworks, Gatecrasher, Scatterbrain, Thug, Brian Braddock, more people...I don't even want to transcribe things for these volumes anymore, I found them exhausting and painful to read.
The late 80s phenomenon of Chris Claremont goes to the movies, or turns on the TV, and decides to satirize it in an X-book is one of my least favorite tropes of the era. Unfortunately, that's all this book is. He just tosses every nonsensical idea in his head at these pages, and they are insufferable to me.
Oh look, there's a Dalek, oh, hey, let's throw all the Avengers into a page, Nightcrawler plays pirate again, now we're in the magical land of Bloogleflax where a fairy demon dragon princess falls in love with one of the characters at first sight and swordfights everyone with lasers. I hate it.
I have some very good friends who I share some opinions with who absolutely love this run because it's so bonkers, and so invested in just feeding bubby nostalgia to the people who read it. I understand why that appeals to some people but I think it's just the dumbest writing, and it meant that, for several years, some of my favorite X-Men were just out of continuity in this stupid Cross-Time Caper, instead of being involved in any stories I might have found interesting.
This might absolutely be a five star book for you but I am making a vow not to read this again unless someone pays me at least four digits before the decimal point.
I want to just write "ibid".
I'll at least credit the creative teams who tried out new ideas that were just too similar to Claremont's previous ideas. None of them made me care about any of these characters nor did I express surprise when every time a friend shows up it turns out to be a Nazi dimension duplicate or a war wolf. I find the whole 20th century Excalibur title an absolute chore to read.
Excalibur Epic Girls School From Heck by Chris Claremont, Scott Lobdell, Mike Higgins, Simon Furman, Sue Flaxman, Dana Moreshead, Dave Ross, Ron Wagner, Tom Morgan, Bryan Hitch, Mark Badger, Dave Hoover, Gavin Curtis, Ron Lim, Brian Stelfreeze, Dwayne Turner, Butch Guice, Mark Leonardi, Erik Larsen, and James Fry
I'll at least credit the creative teams who tried out new ideas that were just too similar to Claremont's previous ideas. None of them made me care about any of these characters nor did I express surprise when every time a friend shows up it turns out to be a Nazi dimension duplicate or a war wolf. I find the whole 20th century Excalibur title an absolute chore to read.
Excalibur Epic Girls School From Heck by Chris Claremont, Scott Lobdell, Mike Higgins, Simon Furman, Sue Flaxman, Dana Moreshead, Dave Ross, Ron Wagner, Tom Morgan, Bryan Hitch, Mark Badger, Dave Hoover, Gavin Curtis, Ron Lim, Brian Stelfreeze, Dwayne Turner, Butch Guice, Mark Leonardi, Erik Larsen, and James Fry
Wolverine by Larry Hama & Marc Silvestri Vol 1 by Larry Hama, Marc Silvestri, Mike Mignola, Walt Simonson, and Alan Davis
Also Featuring: Apocalypse, Archie Corrigan, Tyger Tyger, Puck. Lady Deathstrike, Donald Pierce, Bonebreaker
This is a collection of stories from a series that you can tell is trying to get better but hasn't reached there yet.
The opening story with art by Mike Mignola suffers from Walter Simonson's thirty years out-of-date storytelling. I don't mean that I am looking at it in 2024, and thinking it's thirty years out-of-date, that would be fine, it was written over thirty years ago. The thing is, I was alive and reading comics in 1991, and this seems like it came out thirty years before that. Well-intentioned maybe but definitely racist tropes, twists you can see coming from outer space, none of the characters behaving like they do in other books. It's just terrible, and while it's a cool look at what Mignola could do with Wolverine thirty years ago, it's not nearly as cool as what this book would have looked like if he'd made it ten years later.
The Alan Davis material could have come right out of his or Claremont's Excalibur Classic, Vol. 1: The Sword is Drawn run. That's not a compliment.
As for the thrust of the collection, Larry Hama and Marc Silvestri slowly move the Wolverine story out of Madripoor and into the wider Marvel Universe. That's a great thing. And while I enjoyed how they brought Puck into the series, I just don't have an affinity for Nazi storylines, particularly not after having read so many of the terrible Claremont Nazi-Universe Excalibur stories. Still, the story is good enough that I have hope for the next volume by this creative team.
Also Featuring: Apocalypse, Archie Corrigan, Tyger Tyger, Puck. Lady Deathstrike, Donald Pierce, Bonebreaker
This is a collection of stories from a series that you can tell is trying to get better but hasn't reached there yet.
The opening story with art by Mike Mignola suffers from Walter Simonson's thirty years out-of-date storytelling. I don't mean that I am looking at it in 2024, and thinking it's thirty years out-of-date, that would be fine, it was written over thirty years ago. The thing is, I was alive and reading comics in 1991, and this seems like it came out thirty years before that. Well-intentioned maybe but definitely racist tropes, twists you can see coming from outer space, none of the characters behaving like they do in other books. It's just terrible, and while it's a cool look at what Mignola could do with Wolverine thirty years ago, it's not nearly as cool as what this book would have looked like if he'd made it ten years later.
The Alan Davis material could have come right out of his or Claremont's Excalibur Classic, Vol. 1: The Sword is Drawn run. That's not a compliment.
As for the thrust of the collection, Larry Hama and Marc Silvestri slowly move the Wolverine story out of Madripoor and into the wider Marvel Universe. That's a great thing. And while I enjoyed how they brought Puck into the series, I just don't have an affinity for Nazi storylines, particularly not after having read so many of the terrible Claremont Nazi-Universe Excalibur stories. Still, the story is good enough that I have hope for the next volume by this creative team.
Wolverine by Larry Hama & Marc Silvestri Vol 2 by Larry Hama, Marc Silvestri, Peter David, Andy Kubert, and Larry Stroman
1st Appearances: Albert, Elsie Dee
Also Featuring: Storm, Forge, Jubilee, Cable, Sabretooth, Lady Deathstrike, Donald Pierce, Bonecrusher, Nick Fury, Masque, Wolfsbane, Sunspot, Cannonball, Boom-Boom, Rictor, Warlock
The saga of a widduh chiwud andwoid and a duplicate of Wolverine is better than I remember. I don't like it but I managed to get through it this time. I think I put it down after the second or third cutesy-wootsy turn of phrase the last time I tried to read this run.
While hardly The Best Wolverine Story, it does feel fresher now that the series isn't stuck in Madripoor. Getting to see Storm, Forge, Cable, and Jubilee drop in and out of the plot was certainly more interesting than Jessica Drew and Lindsay MacCabe. Still, the story kept going well past the point of interesting. I felt like once they blow up a character, they'd be done with, but two characters have big finale explosions, only to pop again a couple of issues later.
The collection ends with another fantasy-based Wolfsbane story. This is the first one in the Wolverine series but there were a few when she was a member of The New Mutants. I didn't care about those. I don't care about this one. I enjoy Wolfsbane the mutant with conflicted feelings about her religion and her place in a superhero team. I don't care about how she dreams of being a fairy princess and just might actually be one.
While this is an improvement over the previous books, and I would definitely say Wolverine fans should peruse this and see if it speaks to them, it's not enough for me to add it to the Headcanon. Nor do I imagine I'll be reading it again.
1st Appearances: Albert, Elsie Dee
Also Featuring: Storm, Forge, Jubilee, Cable, Sabretooth, Lady Deathstrike, Donald Pierce, Bonecrusher, Nick Fury, Masque, Wolfsbane, Sunspot, Cannonball, Boom-Boom, Rictor, Warlock
The saga of a widduh chiwud andwoid and a duplicate of Wolverine is better than I remember. I don't like it but I managed to get through it this time. I think I put it down after the second or third cutesy-wootsy turn of phrase the last time I tried to read this run.
While hardly The Best Wolverine Story, it does feel fresher now that the series isn't stuck in Madripoor. Getting to see Storm, Forge, Cable, and Jubilee drop in and out of the plot was certainly more interesting than Jessica Drew and Lindsay MacCabe. Still, the story kept going well past the point of interesting. I felt like once they blow up a character, they'd be done with, but two characters have big finale explosions, only to pop again a couple of issues later.
The collection ends with another fantasy-based Wolfsbane story. This is the first one in the Wolverine series but there were a few when she was a member of The New Mutants. I didn't care about those. I don't care about this one. I enjoy Wolfsbane the mutant with conflicted feelings about her religion and her place in a superhero team. I don't care about how she dreams of being a fairy princess and just might actually be one.
While this is an improvement over the previous books, and I would definitely say Wolverine fans should peruse this and see if it speaks to them, it's not enough for me to add it to the Headcanon. Nor do I imagine I'll be reading it again.
Excalibur Epic Curiouser and Curioser by Alan Davis, Scott Lobdell, Jae Lee, Doug Braithwaite, Will Simpson, James Fry, Steve Lightle, Ron Lim, Dwayne Turner, Joe Madureira, Malcolm Jones, and Rick Leonardi
1st Appearances: Numbers, Kylun (as an adult), Necrom, Micromax, Cerise, Feron
Also Featuring: Alistaire Stuart, Saturnyne, Gatecrasher, Bodybag, Waxworks, Thug, Scatterbrain, Joyboy, Ferro, Chinadoll, Ringtoss, Widget, Hauptmann Englande, Roma, Merlyn, Professor X, Jean Grey, Cyclops, Wolverine, Gambit, Jubilee, Beast, Rogue, Psylocke, Jamie Braddock, Spider-Man
Many writers, when inheriting a series that have gone well off the rails, will just clear the deck of characters and plotlines and start fresh. Alan Davis was the artist on many of the issues where Claremont heaped bad idea upon bad idea until the series was just an unreadable mess, this has been pretty much his m.o. since the late 80s. He's a terrible writer who can't even commit to his own terrible ideas.
Davis takes the time to actually try and explain all the nonsense before he gets to his own stories. He reaches back into the origins of the characters and teams, or he offers new origins that enhance rather than contradict Claremont's ideas. It's a really sweet thing to do in order to make it seem like the previous issues weren't actually garbage, they just needed to be explained. The truth is, they were garbage.
I still can't get into this team. I find their adventures silly, and I'm never going to care about Otherworld or Marvel's UK magic continuity. I can, however, respect that, using that continuity Davis writes about as interesting a story as you can. I finished the volume with a better understanding of Meggan and Captain Britain. I was also surprised that he spent the time to flesh out some of the Technet characters, giving them distinct personalities rather than just giving them names and powers and tossing them off-panel like Claremont did.
Unfortunately, it seems to get caught up in trying to up sales numbers so there's an issue featuring the X-Men, one with a Spider-Man crossover, more X-Men stuff. None of it really works. Again, it's not terrible, it just feels flat. Technically, some of these issues definitely take place after a book or two in the next post I'll make about my readthrough, but this book is so inconsequential that it doesn't spoil anything or alter your reading experience if you read this first.
1st Appearances: Numbers, Kylun (as an adult), Necrom, Micromax, Cerise, Feron
Also Featuring: Alistaire Stuart, Saturnyne, Gatecrasher, Bodybag, Waxworks, Thug, Scatterbrain, Joyboy, Ferro, Chinadoll, Ringtoss, Widget, Hauptmann Englande, Roma, Merlyn, Professor X, Jean Grey, Cyclops, Wolverine, Gambit, Jubilee, Beast, Rogue, Psylocke, Jamie Braddock, Spider-Man
Many writers, when inheriting a series that have gone well off the rails, will just clear the deck of characters and plotlines and start fresh. Alan Davis was the artist on many of the issues where Claremont heaped bad idea upon bad idea until the series was just an unreadable mess, this has been pretty much his m.o. since the late 80s. He's a terrible writer who can't even commit to his own terrible ideas.
Davis takes the time to actually try and explain all the nonsense before he gets to his own stories. He reaches back into the origins of the characters and teams, or he offers new origins that enhance rather than contradict Claremont's ideas. It's a really sweet thing to do in order to make it seem like the previous issues weren't actually garbage, they just needed to be explained. The truth is, they were garbage.
I still can't get into this team. I find their adventures silly, and I'm never going to care about Otherworld or Marvel's UK magic continuity. I can, however, respect that, using that continuity Davis writes about as interesting a story as you can. I finished the volume with a better understanding of Meggan and Captain Britain. I was also surprised that he spent the time to flesh out some of the Technet characters, giving them distinct personalities rather than just giving them names and powers and tossing them off-panel like Claremont did.
Unfortunately, it seems to get caught up in trying to up sales numbers so there's an issue featuring the X-Men, one with a Spider-Man crossover, more X-Men stuff. None of it really works. Again, it's not terrible, it just feels flat. Technically, some of these issues definitely take place after a book or two in the next post I'll make about my readthrough, but this book is so inconsequential that it doesn't spoil anything or alter your reading experience if you read this first.
8. X-Men Epic Mutant Genesis by Chris Claremont, Fabien Nicieza, Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, Peter David, Ken Laminski, Kirk Jarvinen, Tom Raney, Terry Shoemaker, Paul Smith, Andy Kubert, Jerry DeCaire, Ernie Stiner, and Steven Butler
X-Men: Professor X, Forge, Storm, Banshee, Wolverine, Psylocke, Gambit, Jubilee
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Angel
1st Appearances: Foxbat, Gauntlet, Psynapse, Barrage, Hard-Drive, Askani, Shinobi Shaw, Fabien Cortez, Delgado, Birdy
Also Featuring: Magneto, Apocalypse, Cable (as a baby), Captain America, Thing, Human Torch, She-Hulk, Cameron Hodge, Tusk, Opal, Trish Tilby, Charlotte Jones, Black Bolt, Medusa, Gorgon, Crystal, Karnak, Lockjaw, Sebastian Shaw, Shadow King, Lian, Rogue, Strong Guy, Moira MacTaggert, Legion, Siryn, Madrox, Colossus, Stevie Hunter, Val Cooper, Mystique, Polaris, Chief Magistrate Anderson, Matsuo, Nick Fury
There's a ton of story packed into this penultimate Claremont storyline. Unfortunately, this trade starts with Fabien Nicieza's "Kings Of Pain" storyline already collected in the New Mutants Epic End Of The Beginning. Good news is, you can definitely skip it this time, if you didn't previously.
From there we dive into the conclusion to the X-Factor/Apocalypse storyline, which adds the Inhumans into the mix, and has big consequences for everyone, especially baby Cable.
From there, it's time to finally piece the X-Men back together as The Shadow King's rule over Muir Isle leads to the return of Professor X and a whole slew of changes for every X-Team besides Excalibur.
This collection also features X-Men #1-3. Personally, I would have put this in the next collection, as it truly feels like the beginning of a new era, even if it also wraps up Claremont's FIFTEEN YEARS-long run on the title.
X-Men: Professor X, Forge, Storm, Banshee, Wolverine, Psylocke, Gambit, Jubilee
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Angel
1st Appearances: Foxbat, Gauntlet, Psynapse, Barrage, Hard-Drive, Askani, Shinobi Shaw, Fabien Cortez, Delgado, Birdy
Also Featuring: Magneto, Apocalypse, Cable (as a baby), Captain America, Thing, Human Torch, She-Hulk, Cameron Hodge, Tusk, Opal, Trish Tilby, Charlotte Jones, Black Bolt, Medusa, Gorgon, Crystal, Karnak, Lockjaw, Sebastian Shaw, Shadow King, Lian, Rogue, Strong Guy, Moira MacTaggert, Legion, Siryn, Madrox, Colossus, Stevie Hunter, Val Cooper, Mystique, Polaris, Chief Magistrate Anderson, Matsuo, Nick Fury
There's a ton of story packed into this penultimate Claremont storyline. Unfortunately, this trade starts with Fabien Nicieza's "Kings Of Pain" storyline already collected in the New Mutants Epic End Of The Beginning. Good news is, you can definitely skip it this time, if you didn't previously.
From there we dive into the conclusion to the X-Factor/Apocalypse storyline, which adds the Inhumans into the mix, and has big consequences for everyone, especially baby Cable.
From there, it's time to finally piece the X-Men back together as The Shadow King's rule over Muir Isle leads to the return of Professor X and a whole slew of changes for every X-Team besides Excalibur.
This collection also features X-Men #1-3. Personally, I would have put this in the next collection, as it truly feels like the beginning of a new era, even if it also wraps up Claremont's FIFTEEN YEARS-long run on the title.
While I didn't love this period of X-books, it was a nice change of pace from the preceding era of Magical Silliness and movie homages.
This is the decline of the Claremont/Simonson era of X-books, as the titles are transitioned to Rob Liefeld, Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, and Fabien Nicieza. While none of those writers are destined to be my favorites, they all, at the very least, bring something different after Claremont's decade-long stranglehold over the X-Men portion of the Marvel Universe. It takes to the end of this section for their voices to start to creep in, but their impending creative injections begin to crack the foundations here.
You may note that, again, there aren't any books here that make Headcanon. That doesn't mean these are all bad. I'm just not going to suggest anyone but me buy/read 100 X-Men graphic novels, even that's not even 1/5th of what I'm going to read for the project.
This is the decline of the Claremont/Simonson era of X-books, as the titles are transitioned to Rob Liefeld, Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, and Fabien Nicieza. While none of those writers are destined to be my favorites, they all, at the very least, bring something different after Claremont's decade-long stranglehold over the X-Men portion of the Marvel Universe. It takes to the end of this section for their voices to start to creep in, but their impending creative injections begin to crack the foundations here.
You may note that, again, there aren't any books here that make Headcanon. That doesn't mean these are all bad. I'm just not going to suggest anyone but me buy/read 100 X-Men graphic novels, even that's not even 1/5th of what I'm going to read for the project.
Wolverine Epic Madripoor Nights by Chris Claremont, John Buscema, and Peter David
1st Apprearances: Roughhouse, Bloodscream, Nguen Ngoc Coy, Archie Corrigan
Also Featuring: Jessica Drew, Lindsay McCabe, Silver Samurai, Karma, Hulk, Sabretooth
Wolverine's first ongoing series is the basis for a million future Wolverine cliches. The adventures take place in Madripoor, they have an element of noir, Wolverine battles organized crime and political power, he gets amnesia for a time, he runs into women from his past, and he's the best there is at what he does, and what he does ain't wearing Bret Hart onesies.
After the initial issues by Chris Claremont, there's a tonal shift when Peter David comes in, drops in some humor and even has a few issues where Wolverine torments the Gray, Mr. Fixit-era Incredible Hulk.
Since this is the template of most Wolverine stories for the next thirty years, you could do worse than pick this up and see if the title is going to be for you. But it's not necessary to understanding the X-books around it, and it's not so much fun that you should make an effort to read it.
1st Apprearances: Roughhouse, Bloodscream, Nguen Ngoc Coy, Archie Corrigan
Also Featuring: Jessica Drew, Lindsay McCabe, Silver Samurai, Karma, Hulk, Sabretooth
Wolverine's first ongoing series is the basis for a million future Wolverine cliches. The adventures take place in Madripoor, they have an element of noir, Wolverine battles organized crime and political power, he gets amnesia for a time, he runs into women from his past, and he's the best there is at what he does, and what he does ain't wearing Bret Hart onesies.
After the initial issues by Chris Claremont, there's a tonal shift when Peter David comes in, drops in some humor and even has a few issues where Wolverine torments the Gray, Mr. Fixit-era Incredible Hulk.
Since this is the template of most Wolverine stories for the next thirty years, you could do worse than pick this up and see if the title is going to be for you. But it's not necessary to understanding the X-books around it, and it's not so much fun that you should make an effort to read it.
Marvel Comics Presents Wolverine 2 by Chris Claremont, Marv Wolfman, Erik Larsen, and John Buscema
Also Featuring: Spidier-Man, Mary Jane Watson
Even though this is a new, and very talented creative team, this is the same lather, rinse, repeat that we've seen in the previous Wolverine books. Madripoor, a woman in danger, corrupt police, a teamup with a big hero (this time it's Spider-Man instead of Hulk).
If you love Wolverine comics, this is probably great.
While there are some Wolverine comics that I love, and am excited to read soon, the early stuff just isn't for me.
Also Featuring: Spidier-Man, Mary Jane Watson
Even though this is a new, and very talented creative team, this is the same lather, rinse, repeat that we've seen in the previous Wolverine books. Madripoor, a woman in danger, corrupt police, a teamup with a big hero (this time it's Spider-Man instead of Hulk).
If you love Wolverine comics, this is probably great.
While there are some Wolverine comics that I love, and am excited to read soon, the early stuff just isn't for me.
X-Factor Epic: Judgment War by Louise Simonson, Walter Simonson, John Byrne, Art Adams, Paul Smith, Terry Shoemaker, Rob Liefeld
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Angel
Post Inferno Storyline Also Featuring: Artie, Leech, Rusty, Skids, Rictor, Boom-Boom, Ship, Cable (as a baby), Wiz-Kid, Nanny, Orphan Maker, Blob, Mystique, Pyro, Dani Moonstar, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Sunspot, Warlock, The Celestials, Professor X, Lilandra, Sikorsky, Apocalypse, Loki, Caliban
The end of the Claremont Era, which was also the end of Louise Simonson's era in the X-titles, was sad to experience.
The X-books went from a longform tale about overcoming prejudice with a subcurrent of soap opera relationships to a weird take on magic and alternate dimensions that just wasn't fun to read. After the dull but not terrible X-Men: Inferno, Vol. 1 crossover the X-Factor team has a brief battle with gold-greedy demons in the UK, and then is shunted off into space by their Ship for reasons neither it, nor the writers can explain. They just wanted a space story and couldn't figure out how to move from New York Is Overrun By Demons to Let's Go To Space And Have Conan The Barbarian Story logically, so they just tossed in a random plot device.
In theory, I was happy we were moving on from the Jean/Madelyne/Phoenix storyline, as well as getting out of Magic New York. But this wasn't the direction I was hoping it would go. I was incredibly bored by the entire space saga. When I finished reading the last issue, I tried to think back to what I liked and didn't like, and my mind was blank. It was as though I'd sleepread this.
This runs parallel to Excalibur hopping around the multiverse with Widget, and the X-Men each doing their own things while presumed dead in Australia. None of it was fun to read, and none of it has really been revisited in any other popular or fun storylines. I can't really recommend this to anyone but completists.
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Angel
Post Inferno Storyline Also Featuring: Artie, Leech, Rusty, Skids, Rictor, Boom-Boom, Ship, Cable (as a baby), Wiz-Kid, Nanny, Orphan Maker, Blob, Mystique, Pyro, Dani Moonstar, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Sunspot, Warlock, The Celestials, Professor X, Lilandra, Sikorsky, Apocalypse, Loki, Caliban
The end of the Claremont Era, which was also the end of Louise Simonson's era in the X-titles, was sad to experience.
The X-books went from a longform tale about overcoming prejudice with a subcurrent of soap opera relationships to a weird take on magic and alternate dimensions that just wasn't fun to read. After the dull but not terrible X-Men: Inferno, Vol. 1 crossover the X-Factor team has a brief battle with gold-greedy demons in the UK, and then is shunted off into space by their Ship for reasons neither it, nor the writers can explain. They just wanted a space story and couldn't figure out how to move from New York Is Overrun By Demons to Let's Go To Space And Have Conan The Barbarian Story logically, so they just tossed in a random plot device.
In theory, I was happy we were moving on from the Jean/Madelyne/Phoenix storyline, as well as getting out of Magic New York. But this wasn't the direction I was hoping it would go. I was incredibly bored by the entire space saga. When I finished reading the last issue, I tried to think back to what I liked and didn't like, and my mind was blank. It was as though I'd sleepread this.
This runs parallel to Excalibur hopping around the multiverse with Widget, and the X-Men each doing their own things while presumed dead in Australia. None of it was fun to read, and none of it has really been revisited in any other popular or fun storylines. I can't really recommend this to anyone but completists.
Essential X-Factor Vol 4 by Louise Simonson, Peter David, Terry Shoemaker, Colleen Doran, John Byrne, Ralph Macchio, Mark Gruenwald, and Peter Sanderson
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Angel
1st Appearances: Charlotte Jones, Opal
Also Featuring: Apocalypse, Caliban, Ship, Sabretooth, Trish Tilby, Cable (as a baby), The Locust, Colossus, Mesmero, Vera, Infectia, Forge, Banshee, Cameron Hodge
***I read these in issue form, rather than the black and white trade paperback***
I hope they release an epic collection version of this run soon. It is a warm breath of fresh air after the stale and unfortunately paced magic and space saga in X-Factor Epic Collection: Judgement War. The literal grounding of the story back in Manhattan, the addition of new human characters: Charlotte Jones and Opal, and more of a focus on the team's internal relationships are a vast improvement. That I don't really care about the villains in this volume isn't necessarily a drawback. The antagonists Simonson has chosen for this book seem to specifically compliment X-Factor's backstories.
While not an all-time classic, this is right up there with some of the more underrated versions of Chris Claremont's early 80s run on X-Men. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the more Downtime issues of the X-books where we get to explore their relationships and character growth.
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Angel
1st Appearances: Charlotte Jones, Opal
Also Featuring: Apocalypse, Caliban, Ship, Sabretooth, Trish Tilby, Cable (as a baby), The Locust, Colossus, Mesmero, Vera, Infectia, Forge, Banshee, Cameron Hodge
***I read these in issue form, rather than the black and white trade paperback***
I hope they release an epic collection version of this run soon. It is a warm breath of fresh air after the stale and unfortunately paced magic and space saga in X-Factor Epic Collection: Judgement War. The literal grounding of the story back in Manhattan, the addition of new human characters: Charlotte Jones and Opal, and more of a focus on the team's internal relationships are a vast improvement. That I don't really care about the villains in this volume isn't necessarily a drawback. The antagonists Simonson has chosen for this book seem to specifically compliment X-Factor's backstories.
While not an all-time classic, this is right up there with some of the more underrated versions of Chris Claremont's early 80s run on X-Men. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the more Downtime issues of the X-books where we get to explore their relationships and character growth.
Wolverine Epic Back To Basics by Archie Goodwin, John Byrne, Peter David, Walter Simonson, Mike Mignola, Jo Duffy, Gene Colon, John Buscema, Klaus Janson, Barry Kitson, and Bill Jaaska
1st Appearances: Tiger Shark, La Bandera
Also Featuring: Storm, Gateway, Roughhouse, Bloodscream, Tyger Tyger, Archie Corrigan, Daredevil, Nuke, Havoc, Psylocke, Colossus, Dazzler, Magneto, Karma, Jessica Drew, Lindsay McCabe, Nguyen Ngoc Coy
More of the same from the first volume. Wolverine is in Madripoor, sometimes in his Patch disguise. He's battling criminals and assassins. His stories border on noir. The only slight difference between these volumes is that we are given two quick glances of his life outside Madripoor that firmly set this as the time when the X-Men are believed dead and operating out of the Australian Outback. Otherwise, these stories could have taken place at any time.
If you love Wolverine books, this is part of the early template but it's neither the very first nor anywhere near the very best of Wolverine's solo books, so it can easily be skipped over.
1st Appearances: Tiger Shark, La Bandera
Also Featuring: Storm, Gateway, Roughhouse, Bloodscream, Tyger Tyger, Archie Corrigan, Daredevil, Nuke, Havoc, Psylocke, Colossus, Dazzler, Magneto, Karma, Jessica Drew, Lindsay McCabe, Nguyen Ngoc Coy
More of the same from the first volume. Wolverine is in Madripoor, sometimes in his Patch disguise. He's battling criminals and assassins. His stories border on noir. The only slight difference between these volumes is that we are given two quick glances of his life outside Madripoor that firmly set this as the time when the X-Men are believed dead and operating out of the Australian Outback. Otherwise, these stories could have taken place at any time.
If you love Wolverine books, this is part of the early template but it's neither the very first nor anywhere near the very best of Wolverine's solo books, so it can easily be skipped over.
Marvel Comics Presents Wolverine Vol 3 by Rob Liefeld, Fabien Nicieza, Michael Higgins, and Dave Ross
Also Featuring: Wildchild, Heather Hudson, Hulk, Mimic
Wolverine's solo adventures finally move away from Madripoor for a bit, as he ends up back in Canada and embroiled in more Alpha Flight drama, as Wildchild goes on a killing spree, and Heather Hudson joins in the investigation to take him down. Because it's a Fabien Nicieza story, it doesn't really go anywhere in the end, and proves inessential to Wolverine continuity.
The second storyarc brings The Hulk and Mimic back into the fold for an interesting, if inessential Wolverine story. This is actually the kind I prefer. Even though it's by no means great, you can tell the author, [author:Michael Higgins|243378] is having fun, and the low stakes story seems to serve as a bit of a model for how The Animated Series treated Wolverine and Mimic's relationship.
Worth it for Wolverine fans, and pretty decent if you skip over the Nicieza story.
Also Featuring: Wildchild, Heather Hudson, Hulk, Mimic
Wolverine's solo adventures finally move away from Madripoor for a bit, as he ends up back in Canada and embroiled in more Alpha Flight drama, as Wildchild goes on a killing spree, and Heather Hudson joins in the investigation to take him down. Because it's a Fabien Nicieza story, it doesn't really go anywhere in the end, and proves inessential to Wolverine continuity.
The second storyarc brings The Hulk and Mimic back into the fold for an interesting, if inessential Wolverine story. This is actually the kind I prefer. Even though it's by no means great, you can tell the author, [author:Michael Higgins|243378] is having fun, and the low stakes story seems to serve as a bit of a model for how The Animated Series treated Wolverine and Mimic's relationship.
Worth it for Wolverine fans, and pretty decent if you skip over the Nicieza story.
X-Men Epic: Dissolution & Rebirth by Chris Claremont, Jim Lee, Marc Silvestri, Rick Leonardi, Kieron Dwyer, Bill Jaaska, Mike Collins, Whilce Portacio, and Rob Liefeld
X-Men Dissolution: Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Havoc, Rogue, Psylocke, Longshot, Dazzler, Jubilee
X-Men Rebirth: Forge, Moira MacTaggert, Banshee, Polaris, Amanda Sefton, Callisto, Legion, Alysande Stuart, Sunder
1st Appearances: Jubilee, Matsuo Tsurayaba, Kwannon (shhhh...we're not supposed to know this), Gambit
Also Featuring: Tessa, Robert Kelly, Sebastian Shaw, Master Mold, Nanny, Orphan Maker, Donald Pierce, Lady Deathstrike, Bonebreaker, Skullbuster, Pretty Boy, Reese, Cole, Macon, Ricochet Rita, Spiral, Gateway, Barbarus, Amphibius, Ka-Zar, Shanna, Magneto, Sharon Friedlander, Masque, Destiny, Mystique, The Hand, Avalanche, Val Cooper, Pyro, Stonewall, The Mandarin, Captain Britain, Jamie Braddock, Mojo, Doug Ramsey, Strong Guy, Genegineer, Dr Moreau, Fenris, Jean Grey, Beast, Shadow King
Chris Claremont had completely lost his own plot by this point, and was just scooping his hands up his butt and throwing the contents at the walls.
His occasional good ideas in this volume are buried under the embarrassingly stupid Siege Perilous storyline, an attempt to introduce a new team, which he immediately abandons, being unable to decide who he wants to be a hero and who he wants to be a villain, the incredibly dumb Nanny and Orphan Maker characters turning Storm into a child for no discernable reason, trying to stuff every villain he's ever thought of somewhere in these twenty three issues (I'm including issues #244-#247 since they're not collected anywhere else, and SHOULD be a part of this collection), and just generally forgetting about storylines for issues and then abruptly bringing characters back with the lazy "amnesia" concept because of the Again Incredibly Stupid Siege Perilous.
It's really sad that someone so vital to X-Men history, and someone once so talented as Chris Claremont, thought this run of slop was acceptable to tack on to his previously interesting run.
Don't bother reading it. It was years before they collected this into trade, and there's a reason. It's really bad. You don't need to see the first appearance of Gambit because it's been retconned so many times that it doesn't even mean anything here. He's not even cool at this point, he's just one of a billion characters who shows up in five or six pages of story in a 470 page clusterfluff.
Your nostalgic glasses have to be shaded really really rosy to enjoy this book.
X-Men Dissolution: Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Havoc, Rogue, Psylocke, Longshot, Dazzler, Jubilee
X-Men Rebirth: Forge, Moira MacTaggert, Banshee, Polaris, Amanda Sefton, Callisto, Legion, Alysande Stuart, Sunder
1st Appearances: Jubilee, Matsuo Tsurayaba, Kwannon (shhhh...we're not supposed to know this), Gambit
Also Featuring: Tessa, Robert Kelly, Sebastian Shaw, Master Mold, Nanny, Orphan Maker, Donald Pierce, Lady Deathstrike, Bonebreaker, Skullbuster, Pretty Boy, Reese, Cole, Macon, Ricochet Rita, Spiral, Gateway, Barbarus, Amphibius, Ka-Zar, Shanna, Magneto, Sharon Friedlander, Masque, Destiny, Mystique, The Hand, Avalanche, Val Cooper, Pyro, Stonewall, The Mandarin, Captain Britain, Jamie Braddock, Mojo, Doug Ramsey, Strong Guy, Genegineer, Dr Moreau, Fenris, Jean Grey, Beast, Shadow King
Chris Claremont had completely lost his own plot by this point, and was just scooping his hands up his butt and throwing the contents at the walls.
His occasional good ideas in this volume are buried under the embarrassingly stupid Siege Perilous storyline, an attempt to introduce a new team, which he immediately abandons, being unable to decide who he wants to be a hero and who he wants to be a villain, the incredibly dumb Nanny and Orphan Maker characters turning Storm into a child for no discernable reason, trying to stuff every villain he's ever thought of somewhere in these twenty three issues (I'm including issues #244-#247 since they're not collected anywhere else, and SHOULD be a part of this collection), and just generally forgetting about storylines for issues and then abruptly bringing characters back with the lazy "amnesia" concept because of the Again Incredibly Stupid Siege Perilous.
It's really sad that someone so vital to X-Men history, and someone once so talented as Chris Claremont, thought this run of slop was acceptable to tack on to his previously interesting run.
Don't bother reading it. It was years before they collected this into trade, and there's a reason. It's really bad. You don't need to see the first appearance of Gambit because it's been retconned so many times that it doesn't even mean anything here. He's not even cool at this point, he's just one of a billion characters who shows up in five or six pages of story in a 470 page clusterfluff.
Your nostalgic glasses have to be shaded really really rosy to enjoy this book.
When I started this project, I mentioned that I had never made it through The Silver Age X-Men books before. I'd tried several times but only ever made it four or five books in.
Inferno is only two volumes, but I sturggled to get through them, too. As I will mention below, Chris Claremont saw Ghostbusters and Nightmare On Elm Street and decided to insert blatant, literal, homages to them as a magic New York Is Taken Over By Demons (instead of ghosts, see, it's different from Ghostbusters) storyline.
It's an absolute mess of a story. It has several writers, and it's pretty clear that Claremont is the only excited to be working on the project.
There are a couple of fun moments in many of these books but overall, none of them are even close to being in my Headcanon.
Inferno is only two volumes, but I sturggled to get through them, too. As I will mention below, Chris Claremont saw Ghostbusters and Nightmare On Elm Street and decided to insert blatant, literal, homages to them as a magic New York Is Taken Over By Demons (instead of ghosts, see, it's different from Ghostbusters) storyline.
It's an absolute mess of a story. It has several writers, and it's pretty clear that Claremont is the only excited to be working on the project.
There are a couple of fun moments in many of these books but overall, none of them are even close to being in my Headcanon.
Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown by Walt Simonson, Louise Simonson, John J Muth, and Kent Williams
Featuring: Havok, Wolverine, nobody else you need to rememeber
A fascinating looking painted series about Wolverine & Havok taking a vacation missing during the days when the X-Men were believed dead and were somehow invisible to technology.
All of the Not Havok or Wolverine characters are pretty standard issue background characters without any interesting powers or backgrounds. The trite and true trope of a villain obsessed with chess is used over and over and over and over. There's a questionable redhead who is somehow not Jean Grey, Madelyne Pryor, or Natasha Romanov. But by the end of the book you get the impression that these adventures and the villains will never be mentioned in any actual X-book.
So, if you want to check out the art, go for it. But if you're looking for a cool story, this is totally skippable.
Featuring: Havok, Wolverine, nobody else you need to rememeber
A fascinating looking painted series about Wolverine & Havok taking a vacation missing during the days when the X-Men were believed dead and were somehow invisible to technology.
All of the Not Havok or Wolverine characters are pretty standard issue background characters without any interesting powers or backgrounds. The trite and true trope of a villain obsessed with chess is used over and over and over and over. There's a questionable redhead who is somehow not Jean Grey, Madelyne Pryor, or Natasha Romanov. But by the end of the book you get the impression that these adventures and the villains will never be mentioned in any actual X-book.
So, if you want to check out the art, go for it. But if you're looking for a cool story, this is totally skippable.
Excalibur Epic: The Sword Is Drawn by Chris Claremont, Alan Davis, Michael Higgins, Herb Trimpe, Ron Lim, Marshall Rogers, Arthur Adams, and Erik Larsen
Excalibur: Captain Britain, Meggan, Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler, Rachel Grey, Lockheed
1st Appearances: Widget, Kylun
Also Featuring: Saturnyne, War Wolves, Juggernaut, Gatecrasher, Bodybag, Joyboy, Thug, Waxworks, Scatterbrain, Courtney Ross, Arcade, Miss Locke, Madelyne Pryor, Nastirh, Crotus, Dani Moonstar, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Sunspot, Warlock, Magik, Jean Grey, Moira Mactaggert, Callisto, the X-Babies, Major Domo, N'Astirh,
This is a book to be read almost in halves. Something I don't want to recommend too often in this readalong. But....
The Sword Is Drawn special and issues #1-5 introduce the Excalibur Team, Widget, Gatecrasher, the War Wolves and more. It's a decent primer for the absolute weirdness that is going to be this title. Then we get a couple of issues that take place during Inferno, and then...well...then we get the beginning of Dimension Hopping Excalibur, and it begins with the team being all Nazis! So...*whew*...yea.
Regarding the first portion: I don't know whether Chris Claremont intended Excalibur for a younger audience than X-Men but I've always felt Excalibur was the bottom of the barrel X-title. It's villains are silver age throwbacks, the dialog is more wooden than usual, Claremont relies on the absolute laziest of tropes in their stories (no comic writer should include Alice In Wonderland characters/references/storylines, it's been a stale cliche since the 1970s), and I just can't care about the magical world of Saturnyne or Merlyn or any of his other ideas of sorcery. My eyes glaze over almost immediately.
I understand that the childlike wackiness of the title appeals to some people, and I don't begrudge them. There are plenty of people who don't like/understand the appeal of the superhero comics I love. If I'm allowed to like often satirical sci-fi and fantasy, people are certainly allowed to love this tedious doggerel.
Excalibur: Captain Britain, Meggan, Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler, Rachel Grey, Lockheed
1st Appearances: Widget, Kylun
Also Featuring: Saturnyne, War Wolves, Juggernaut, Gatecrasher, Bodybag, Joyboy, Thug, Waxworks, Scatterbrain, Courtney Ross, Arcade, Miss Locke, Madelyne Pryor, Nastirh, Crotus, Dani Moonstar, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Sunspot, Warlock, Magik, Jean Grey, Moira Mactaggert, Callisto, the X-Babies, Major Domo, N'Astirh,
This is a book to be read almost in halves. Something I don't want to recommend too often in this readalong. But....
The Sword Is Drawn special and issues #1-5 introduce the Excalibur Team, Widget, Gatecrasher, the War Wolves and more. It's a decent primer for the absolute weirdness that is going to be this title. Then we get a couple of issues that take place during Inferno, and then...well...then we get the beginning of Dimension Hopping Excalibur, and it begins with the team being all Nazis! So...*whew*...yea.
Regarding the first portion: I don't know whether Chris Claremont intended Excalibur for a younger audience than X-Men but I've always felt Excalibur was the bottom of the barrel X-title. It's villains are silver age throwbacks, the dialog is more wooden than usual, Claremont relies on the absolute laziest of tropes in their stories (no comic writer should include Alice In Wonderland characters/references/storylines, it's been a stale cliche since the 1970s), and I just can't care about the magical world of Saturnyne or Merlyn or any of his other ideas of sorcery. My eyes glaze over almost immediately.
I understand that the childlike wackiness of the title appeals to some people, and I don't begrudge them. There are plenty of people who don't like/understand the appeal of the superhero comics I love. If I'm allowed to like often satirical sci-fi and fantasy, people are certainly allowed to love this tedious doggerel.
X-Men Inferno Book 1 by Chris Claremont, Louise Simons, Jon Bogdanove, Sal Velluto, Walter Simonson, Terry Shoemaker, Marc Silvestri, and Bret Blevins
X-Men: Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Rogue, Havok, Psylocke, Longshot, Dazzler, Madelyne Pryor
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Angel
X-Terminators: Rusty, Skids, Artie, Leech, Rictor, Boom-Boom, Wiz-Kid
New Mutants: Magneto, Dani Moonstar, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Sunspot, Magik, Warlock
Power Pack: Destroyer, Molecula, Counterweight, Starstreak
1st Appearances
Also featuring: Mr Sinister, N'astirh, Malice/Polaris, Gateway, Sabretooth, Scrambler, Vertigo, Arclight, Scalphunter, Riptide, Prism, Blockbuster, Harpoon, Trish Tilby, Candy Southern, Cameron Hodge, Nanny, Orphan Maker, Blob, Mystique, Pyro, Spiral, Avalanche, Crimson Commando, Ship, Frenzy, Tower, Stinger, Timeshadow, Cable (as a baby), Jim Power, Maggie Power, Bogeyman, J Jonah Jameson, Slug, Kofi, Yrik, Byrel, Friday, Shatterbox #1, Shatterbox #2, Speed Freak, Big Top, Monitor, Crotus, S'ym, Gosamyr, Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, Selene
There's a lot of mediocre but not terrible story crammed into this volume. Compared to some of the 90s crossovers, it's positively coherent and streamlined, but compared to the crossovers that preceded it, it's a bit messy.
The crux of the story is that New York has been turned into more of a hellscape than usual where inanimate objects come to life and eat people. Most of the scenes are silly, and you can tell that Chris Claremont had just seen Ghostbusters when he wrote this. He even tosses in a parody team of them. Most of the violence is corny and hard to get behind but there is a lovely two page spread at the very beginning of Uncanny X-Men #239 where a family is visiting the Empire State Building and, after some typical family bickering, they are eaten by the elevator, their blood seeps out, and is mopped up by a custodian wearing headphones who appears not to notice the horror that just occurred. Honestly, it's one of the smartest Claremont pages I can remember reading. It's legitimate horror.
Most of this volume focuses on X-Factor, which has been broken up into two teams: X-Factor (the original X-Men) and the X-Terminators (their trainees). X-Factor tries to track down Cyclops's missing son, and runs into Nanny and Orphan Maker, two of the least interesting villains in the X-Men universe. They have the potential to be interesting: a mutant locked in a cybernetic suit of her own making who kidnaps children, and her partner, an armored mutant she kidnapped who now assists her in capturing other children. They were used extensively during the Krakoan era in the 2020s, and they were somehow boring in that series as well.
While X-Factor tries to save babies from Nanny and Orphan Maker, the X-Terminators battle baby-kidnapping demons, and end up teaming up with The New Mutants, who have their own problems with the demons.
Also, the Marauders and Mister Sinister are involved somehow with the babynapping, and helping and hindering Madelyne Pryor from ascending into The Goblin Queen who is kind of sort of maybe responsible for the demon infestation.
While all of the pages and issues seem straight-forward while reading them, I felt like a lot of logic was missing in the connective tissue between the various very similar stories.
I was delighted when X-Men '97 boiled this whole crossover to about three minutes in a larger episode.
If you love big event crossovers, there are definitely worse X-crossovers than this one, but it's also probably the weakest crossover Claremont and Simonson were involved in.
X-Men: Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Rogue, Havok, Psylocke, Longshot, Dazzler, Madelyne Pryor
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Angel
X-Terminators: Rusty, Skids, Artie, Leech, Rictor, Boom-Boom, Wiz-Kid
New Mutants: Magneto, Dani Moonstar, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Sunspot, Magik, Warlock
Power Pack: Destroyer, Molecula, Counterweight, Starstreak
1st Appearances
Also featuring: Mr Sinister, N'astirh, Malice/Polaris, Gateway, Sabretooth, Scrambler, Vertigo, Arclight, Scalphunter, Riptide, Prism, Blockbuster, Harpoon, Trish Tilby, Candy Southern, Cameron Hodge, Nanny, Orphan Maker, Blob, Mystique, Pyro, Spiral, Avalanche, Crimson Commando, Ship, Frenzy, Tower, Stinger, Timeshadow, Cable (as a baby), Jim Power, Maggie Power, Bogeyman, J Jonah Jameson, Slug, Kofi, Yrik, Byrel, Friday, Shatterbox #1, Shatterbox #2, Speed Freak, Big Top, Monitor, Crotus, S'ym, Gosamyr, Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, Selene
There's a lot of mediocre but not terrible story crammed into this volume. Compared to some of the 90s crossovers, it's positively coherent and streamlined, but compared to the crossovers that preceded it, it's a bit messy.
The crux of the story is that New York has been turned into more of a hellscape than usual where inanimate objects come to life and eat people. Most of the scenes are silly, and you can tell that Chris Claremont had just seen Ghostbusters when he wrote this. He even tosses in a parody team of them. Most of the violence is corny and hard to get behind but there is a lovely two page spread at the very beginning of Uncanny X-Men #239 where a family is visiting the Empire State Building and, after some typical family bickering, they are eaten by the elevator, their blood seeps out, and is mopped up by a custodian wearing headphones who appears not to notice the horror that just occurred. Honestly, it's one of the smartest Claremont pages I can remember reading. It's legitimate horror.
Most of this volume focuses on X-Factor, which has been broken up into two teams: X-Factor (the original X-Men) and the X-Terminators (their trainees). X-Factor tries to track down Cyclops's missing son, and runs into Nanny and Orphan Maker, two of the least interesting villains in the X-Men universe. They have the potential to be interesting: a mutant locked in a cybernetic suit of her own making who kidnaps children, and her partner, an armored mutant she kidnapped who now assists her in capturing other children. They were used extensively during the Krakoan era in the 2020s, and they were somehow boring in that series as well.
While X-Factor tries to save babies from Nanny and Orphan Maker, the X-Terminators battle baby-kidnapping demons, and end up teaming up with The New Mutants, who have their own problems with the demons.
Also, the Marauders and Mister Sinister are involved somehow with the babynapping, and helping and hindering Madelyne Pryor from ascending into The Goblin Queen who is kind of sort of maybe responsible for the demon infestation.
While all of the pages and issues seem straight-forward while reading them, I felt like a lot of logic was missing in the connective tissue between the various very similar stories.
I was delighted when X-Men '97 boiled this whole crossover to about three minutes in a larger episode.
If you love big event crossovers, there are definitely worse X-crossovers than this one, but it's also probably the weakest crossover Claremont and Simonson were involved in.
 | Neither of these books are necessary for your enjoyment of reading X-Men. But if you're looking for the complete Inferno story, there are issues in these volumes not contained in the books with "Inferno" on the cover. They're both pretty decent. |  |
X-Men Inferno Book 2 by Chris Claremont, Louise Simonson, Terry Austin, Julianna Jones, Mark Gruenwald, Marc Silvestri, Alan Davis, Walter Simonson, Bret Blevins, Mike Vosburg, June Brigman, Rob Liefeld, and Jim Fern
X-Men: Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Rogue, Havok, Psylocke, Longshot, Dazzler, Madelyne Pryor
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Angel
Excalibur: Captain Britain, Meggan, Nightcrawler, Rachel Grey, Kitty Pryde
X-Terminators: Rusty, Skids, Artie, Leech, Rictor, Boom-Boom, Wiz-Kid
New Mutants: Magneto, Dani Moonstar, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Sunspot, Magik, Warlock
Power Pack: Destroyer, Molecula, Counterweight, Starstreak
Also featuring: Mr Sinister, N'astirh, Malice/Polaris, Sabretooth, Blockbuster, Nanny, Orphan Maker, Ship, Cable (as a baby), Jim Power, Maggie Power, Bogeyman, J Jonah Jameson, Crotus, Cloak, Dagger
Even less intriguing to me than volume one, this volume focuses mainly on Excalibur's trip to NYC for the Inferno event, as well as giving us a sort of After Dinner Mint X-Men/X-Factor story, as they have their final final battles with Sinister and what's left of The Marauders, even though Inferno technically ended for them in the last volume. The Power Pack/Bogeyman storyline is also resolved with the help of The New Mutants and The X-Terminators. We also see Cloak & Dagger's involvement in the event, which is confusing if you haven't read the Cloak & Dagger series leading up to this, as I haven't.
Unlike many Giant Crossover Events in the Marvel 80s and 90s, there are major repercussions from this. Teams are rearranged, characters are altered. As far as resonance, this is an important event but it was so widespread and silly that I lost interest in most of the characters. There's a ton of expository dialogue that seems hacky, even for the late 80s. I don't blame the creators, apart from Chris "I Just Saw Ghostbusters And Nightmare On Elm Street" Claremont, I don't think any of the other writers wanted to be involved in this, and it shows.
X-Men: Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Rogue, Havok, Psylocke, Longshot, Dazzler, Madelyne Pryor
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Angel
Excalibur: Captain Britain, Meggan, Nightcrawler, Rachel Grey, Kitty Pryde
X-Terminators: Rusty, Skids, Artie, Leech, Rictor, Boom-Boom, Wiz-Kid
New Mutants: Magneto, Dani Moonstar, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Sunspot, Magik, Warlock
Power Pack: Destroyer, Molecula, Counterweight, Starstreak
Also featuring: Mr Sinister, N'astirh, Malice/Polaris, Sabretooth, Blockbuster, Nanny, Orphan Maker, Ship, Cable (as a baby), Jim Power, Maggie Power, Bogeyman, J Jonah Jameson, Crotus, Cloak, Dagger
Even less intriguing to me than volume one, this volume focuses mainly on Excalibur's trip to NYC for the Inferno event, as well as giving us a sort of After Dinner Mint X-Men/X-Factor story, as they have their final final battles with Sinister and what's left of The Marauders, even though Inferno technically ended for them in the last volume. The Power Pack/Bogeyman storyline is also resolved with the help of The New Mutants and The X-Terminators. We also see Cloak & Dagger's involvement in the event, which is confusing if you haven't read the Cloak & Dagger series leading up to this, as I haven't.
Unlike many Giant Crossover Events in the Marvel 80s and 90s, there are major repercussions from this. Teams are rearranged, characters are altered. As far as resonance, this is an important event but it was so widespread and silly that I lost interest in most of the characters. There's a ton of expository dialogue that seems hacky, even for the late 80s. I don't blame the creators, apart from Chris "I Just Saw Ghostbusters And Nightmare On Elm Street" Claremont, I don't think any of the other writers wanted to be involved in this, and it shows.
Excalibur Epic: The Sword Is Drawn by Chris Claremont, Alan Davis, Michael Higgins, Herb Trimpe, Ron Lim, Marshall Rogers, Arthur Adams, and Erik Larsen
Excalibur: Captain Britain, Meggan, Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler, Rachel Grey, Lockheed
1st Appearances: Widget, Kylun
Also Featuring: Saturnyne, War Wolves, Juggernaut, Gatecrasher, Bodybag, Joyboy, Thug, Waxworks, Scatterbrain, Courtney Ross, Arcade, Miss Locke, Madelyne Pryor, Nastirh, Crotus, Dani Moonstar, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Sunspot, Warlock, Magik, Jean Grey, Moira Mactaggert, Callisto, the X-Babies, Major Domo, N'Astirh
Now that Inferno is over, we can pick up the second half of this book. If you really want to. This is the beginning of Excalibur's Weird World Tour, where we learn about similar dimensions. In this one, a dimension where lizards are the primary human-like lifeform, shows up (I'm on board), and the dimension of evil Nazi versions of the main characters show up to create havoc because Claremont ran out of ideas long before this series started, and is basically just spewing TV tropes and movie cliches during this era.
I wish I'd skipped it.
Excalibur: Captain Britain, Meggan, Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler, Rachel Grey, Lockheed
1st Appearances: Widget, Kylun
Also Featuring: Saturnyne, War Wolves, Juggernaut, Gatecrasher, Bodybag, Joyboy, Thug, Waxworks, Scatterbrain, Courtney Ross, Arcade, Miss Locke, Madelyne Pryor, Nastirh, Crotus, Dani Moonstar, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Sunspot, Warlock, Magik, Jean Grey, Moira Mactaggert, Callisto, the X-Babies, Major Domo, N'Astirh
Now that Inferno is over, we can pick up the second half of this book. If you really want to. This is the beginning of Excalibur's Weird World Tour, where we learn about similar dimensions. In this one, a dimension where lizards are the primary human-like lifeform, shows up (I'm on board), and the dimension of evil Nazi versions of the main characters show up to create havoc because Claremont ran out of ideas long before this series started, and is basically just spewing TV tropes and movie cliches during this era.
I wish I'd skipped it.
This era of X-books is so full of Huge Events that there's barely time to breathe between The Mutant Massacre, The Fall of The Mutants, and The Inferno. And while there are some huge shakeups during these events, it's tough to recommend them. There are so many characters involved with intricate backstories who just keep repeating the same expository dialogue in every issue while chaos occurs around them. If you keep counting how many times Jean Grey or Scott Summers explains their history and Cyclops's abandoned family, you'll get lightheaded and pass out two issues in.
This is also the beginning of The X-Men are "dead" and living in the Australian Outback era, which has not yet been collected in trade paperback form, which says a lot about its importance to canon.
No books in this section end up making my Headcanon, even though a couple of them have plot points that have major impacts on the X-Universe.
This is also the beginning of The X-Men are "dead" and living in the Australian Outback era, which has not yet been collected in trade paperback form, which says a lot about its importance to canon.
No books in this section end up making my Headcanon, even though a couple of them have plot points that have major impacts on the X-Universe.
X-Men Fall Of The Mutants Vol 2 by Louise Simonson, Walt Simonson, Ann Nocenti, Peter David, and Marc Gruenwald
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Rusty, Skids, Artie, Leech, Caliban, Rictor, Boom-Boom
1st Appearances:
Also Featuring: Angel, Apocalypse, Cameron Hodge, Trish Tilby, War, Pestilence, Famine, Starstreak, Molecula, Counterweight, Destroyer, Hulk, Rick Jones, Clay Quartermain, Hulkbusters, Betty, Doc Samson, Daredevil, Black Widow, Karen Page, Captain America, Falcon, Redwing, Nomad, Vagabond, Battlestar, Black Panther, Thing, Human Torch, Crystal, Carol Danvers, Dr Doom
This will probably not come as a shock to people who've spent years reading Marvel and DC graphic novels: This should actually be volume one of Fall Of The Mutants as all the stories take place before the events in X-Men: Fall of the Mutants, Vol. 1. I often wonder if the collection editors at The Big Two comic companies even read comics.
This volume mainly focuses on X-Factor's first major battle with Apocalypse (they faced him once before in X-Factor Epic Collection, Vol. 1: Genesis & Apocalypse but he's a much bigger threat in this collection). We also see Warren as Archangel/Death for the first time.
This is a battle scene comic where much of New York is destroyed in a battle between mutants. We even get to see the events from the perspectives of Captain America, Daredevil, and the Power Pack. It's...fine. Like most of the early X-Factor run, Scott and Jean Grey spend a great deal of time talking about the various Jean Grey clones that Cyclops dated and/or married while she was "dead". And there's a b-story where X-Factor is hired to hunt down a mutant who turns out to be the new grey Incredible Hulk. Those stories are also okay.
Despite the big stakes, and the Worthington storyarc, not much of this volume grabbed me. I mentioned this in my review of the other Fall Of The Mutants story: I just don't know if I can get excited about any of these X-books until we're past X-Men: Inferno, which I remember hating when I've tried to read it before.
If you like X-Factor or Apocalypse, this is a nice little romp, even if it's not quite as good as its much more concise Animated Series counterpart.
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Rusty, Skids, Artie, Leech, Caliban, Rictor, Boom-Boom
1st Appearances:
Also Featuring: Angel, Apocalypse, Cameron Hodge, Trish Tilby, War, Pestilence, Famine, Starstreak, Molecula, Counterweight, Destroyer, Hulk, Rick Jones, Clay Quartermain, Hulkbusters, Betty, Doc Samson, Daredevil, Black Widow, Karen Page, Captain America, Falcon, Redwing, Nomad, Vagabond, Battlestar, Black Panther, Thing, Human Torch, Crystal, Carol Danvers, Dr Doom
This will probably not come as a shock to people who've spent years reading Marvel and DC graphic novels: This should actually be volume one of Fall Of The Mutants as all the stories take place before the events in X-Men: Fall of the Mutants, Vol. 1. I often wonder if the collection editors at The Big Two comic companies even read comics.
This volume mainly focuses on X-Factor's first major battle with Apocalypse (they faced him once before in X-Factor Epic Collection, Vol. 1: Genesis & Apocalypse but he's a much bigger threat in this collection). We also see Warren as Archangel/Death for the first time.
This is a battle scene comic where much of New York is destroyed in a battle between mutants. We even get to see the events from the perspectives of Captain America, Daredevil, and the Power Pack. It's...fine. Like most of the early X-Factor run, Scott and Jean Grey spend a great deal of time talking about the various Jean Grey clones that Cyclops dated and/or married while she was "dead". And there's a b-story where X-Factor is hired to hunt down a mutant who turns out to be the new grey Incredible Hulk. Those stories are also okay.
Despite the big stakes, and the Worthington storyarc, not much of this volume grabbed me. I mentioned this in my review of the other Fall Of The Mutants story: I just don't know if I can get excited about any of these X-books until we're past X-Men: Inferno, which I remember hating when I've tried to read it before.
If you like X-Factor or Apocalypse, this is a nice little romp, even if it's not quite as good as its much more concise Animated Series counterpart.
X-Men: Fall Of The Mutants Vol 1 by Chris Claremont, Louise Simonson, Peter David, Marc Silvestri, Todd McFarlane, Kerry Gamill, Bret Blevins, and June Brigman
X-Men: Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Havoc, Psylocke, Dazzler, Longshot, Colossus, Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler, Madelyne Pryor
New Mutants: Magneto, Dani Moonstar, Cannonball, Wolfsbane, Sunspot, Magma, Magik, Warlock, Cypher, Bird Brain
Also Featuring: Forge, The Adversary, Mr Sinister, Sabretooth, Malice/Polaris, Vertigo, Scrambler, Arclight, Scalphunter, Harpoon, Hulk, Mystique, Destiny, Blob, Pyro, Spiral, Avalanche, Crimson Commando, Stonewall, Super Sabre, Roma, Moira MacTaggert, Lila Cheney, Cameron Hodge, Empath
We have officially entered the era where I think Chris Claremont overstayed his welcome as X-Men writer. While I enjoy his continued fleshing out of the X-Men characters, I think his villains get stale and silver-agey, and his transition from science fiction comic to magic comic annoys me. I just don't care about magic tropes in a superhero comic, it reminds me of reading the very science-forward A Wrinkle in Time, getting to the end and seeing science fall to the Christian Power Of Love, and losing all interest in continuing to read that series.
The X-Men portion of this story just didn't gibe with me. Claremont had done an effective job of taking a number of characters off the board, and it felt odd how he threw Colossus back into the mix just in time for his weird Outback Reboot stage. The use of The Adversary as a villain made me less engaged with Storm's storyline, and adding in Roma from Captain Britain didn't help.
This is supposed to be an epic story where characters are forever altered because of the enormous stakes but it was so boring that I had to struggle to not just skip several pages at a time to get to the end.
It's certainly nowhere near the worst X-Men story ever written but it becomes clearer that this book is becoming less Marvel's Awesome Mutant Superhero Team and more What Is Chris Claremont Thinking About This Month.
It has taken me much longer to slog through this because I also know that it's not going to get better for a while, X-Men: Inferno, one of my least favorite Comic Events of all time is on the horizon.
The New Mutants portion of the story is a really focused tale that hits a lot of YA tropes of the time: don't do drugs, don't disobey your adult supervisors, don't rescue an artificially created humanoid bird creature and feed him junkfood, and other things you see on Saved By The Bell. In many ways, it's better than the X-Men story, even if I did find the Birdbrain character, and the The Island of Dr. Moreaustyle villain extremely annoying.
While there are Important Plot Points for both the X-Men and New Mutants in this collection, I don't think it's a necessary read if you're just reading X-books for fun.
X-Men: Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Havoc, Psylocke, Dazzler, Longshot, Colossus, Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler, Madelyne Pryor
New Mutants: Magneto, Dani Moonstar, Cannonball, Wolfsbane, Sunspot, Magma, Magik, Warlock, Cypher, Bird Brain
Also Featuring: Forge, The Adversary, Mr Sinister, Sabretooth, Malice/Polaris, Vertigo, Scrambler, Arclight, Scalphunter, Harpoon, Hulk, Mystique, Destiny, Blob, Pyro, Spiral, Avalanche, Crimson Commando, Stonewall, Super Sabre, Roma, Moira MacTaggert, Lila Cheney, Cameron Hodge, Empath
We have officially entered the era where I think Chris Claremont overstayed his welcome as X-Men writer. While I enjoy his continued fleshing out of the X-Men characters, I think his villains get stale and silver-agey, and his transition from science fiction comic to magic comic annoys me. I just don't care about magic tropes in a superhero comic, it reminds me of reading the very science-forward A Wrinkle in Time, getting to the end and seeing science fall to the Christian Power Of Love, and losing all interest in continuing to read that series.
The X-Men portion of this story just didn't gibe with me. Claremont had done an effective job of taking a number of characters off the board, and it felt odd how he threw Colossus back into the mix just in time for his weird Outback Reboot stage. The use of The Adversary as a villain made me less engaged with Storm's storyline, and adding in Roma from Captain Britain didn't help.
This is supposed to be an epic story where characters are forever altered because of the enormous stakes but it was so boring that I had to struggle to not just skip several pages at a time to get to the end.
It's certainly nowhere near the worst X-Men story ever written but it becomes clearer that this book is becoming less Marvel's Awesome Mutant Superhero Team and more What Is Chris Claremont Thinking About This Month.
It has taken me much longer to slog through this because I also know that it's not going to get better for a while, X-Men: Inferno, one of my least favorite Comic Events of all time is on the horizon.
The New Mutants portion of the story is a really focused tale that hits a lot of YA tropes of the time: don't do drugs, don't disobey your adult supervisors, don't rescue an artificially created humanoid bird creature and feed him junkfood, and other things you see on Saved By The Bell. In many ways, it's better than the X-Men story, even if I did find the Birdbrain character, and the The Island of Dr. Moreaustyle villain extremely annoying.
While there are Important Plot Points for both the X-Men and New Mutants in this collection, I don't think it's a necessary read if you're just reading X-books for fun.
X-Factor Epic Angel Of Death by Louise Simonson, Walt Simonson, Marc Gruenwald, Tom DeFalco, Sal Buscema, Jon Bogdanove, Terry Shoemaker, Steve Lightle, Tom Artis, and Paris Cullins
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Rusty, Skids, Artie, Leech, Rictor, Boom-Boom
1st Appearances: Ship, Infectia, N'Astirh
Also Featuring: Caliban, Angel, Cameron Hodge, Trish Tilby, Apocalypse, Pestilence, War, Famine, Energizer, Lightspeed, Zero-G, Mass Master, High Evolutionary, Blob, Mystique, Destiny, Spiral, Avalanche, Pyro, Crimson Commander, Super Sabre, Stonewall, Thor, She-Hulk, Black Knight, Dr Druid, Lord Zano, Tower, Time-Shadow, Frenzy, Orphan Maker, Nanny, Candy Southern
This volume leans heavily on the X-Factor trainees: Rusty, Skids, Victor, and Boom-Boom, as they try and navigate their relationships with their mentors while also being curious teens. We see them help the rest of X-Factor bond with their new base of operations: Ship, a piece of Apocalypse's technology that almost literally fell into their hands.
The focus on this book is X-Factor deciding to try and win people over by publicly working to repair a city broken by a fight with a supervillain, as opposed to their previous plan: pretend to be humans hunting dangerous mutants, and then training them. The new technique works much better.
While the Archangel version of Angel is on the cover, and the book is named after him, he's really more of a background character in this book, trying to decide how reintegrate into society with his new appearance and wings.
While this didn't quite make it into my headcanon, it's a solid read that I recommend to fans of B-level mutants having some main character moments.
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Rusty, Skids, Artie, Leech, Rictor, Boom-Boom
1st Appearances: Ship, Infectia, N'Astirh
Also Featuring: Caliban, Angel, Cameron Hodge, Trish Tilby, Apocalypse, Pestilence, War, Famine, Energizer, Lightspeed, Zero-G, Mass Master, High Evolutionary, Blob, Mystique, Destiny, Spiral, Avalanche, Pyro, Crimson Commander, Super Sabre, Stonewall, Thor, She-Hulk, Black Knight, Dr Druid, Lord Zano, Tower, Time-Shadow, Frenzy, Orphan Maker, Nanny, Candy Southern
This volume leans heavily on the X-Factor trainees: Rusty, Skids, Victor, and Boom-Boom, as they try and navigate their relationships with their mentors while also being curious teens. We see them help the rest of X-Factor bond with their new base of operations: Ship, a piece of Apocalypse's technology that almost literally fell into their hands.
The focus on this book is X-Factor deciding to try and win people over by publicly working to repair a city broken by a fight with a supervillain, as opposed to their previous plan: pretend to be humans hunting dangerous mutants, and then training them. The new technique works much better.
While the Archangel version of Angel is on the cover, and the book is named after him, he's really more of a background character in this book, trying to decide how reintegrate into society with his new appearance and wings.
While this didn't quite make it into my headcanon, it's a solid read that I recommend to fans of B-level mutants having some main character moments.
X-Men issues #228-234 (Not collected in trade yet) by Chris Claremont, Tom DeFalco, Rick Leonardi, and Marc Silvestri
X-Men: Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Havok, Rogue, Psyclocke, Dazzler, Longshot, Madelyne Pryor
1st Appearances: Gateway, Bonebreaker, Pretty Boy, Skullbuster, Wipeout
Also Featuring: The Brood, Henry Peter Gyrich, Roma, Dani Moonstar, Cannonball, Wolfsbane, Sunspot, Magik, Warlock, Magneto, S'ym, Jean Grey, Cable (as Baby Nathan), Trish Tilby, N'astirh
There's a lot of story packed into these ten issues as Claremont bridges X-Men: The Fall of the Mutants and the first part of the X-Tinction Agenda. The heroes end up in Australia, then Genosha. The world believes them dead, so a bit of magic makes them invisible to technology, enabling them to operate with more impunity.
It's an interesting concept that I don't really remember, even though I'm pretty sure I've read much of this era before. There is also the best pre-Broo Brood storyline I remember reading. It's not a classic but it's not as formulaic as most of the X-Men vs Brook encounters, as the Brood in this instance are all made from mutants so they have different powers and personalities. It was fun to read.
I have a newfound respect for Claremont's run because of this read-through. I've always been impressed by his decade plus run on the flagship book but I don't think I've read it as closely. Very little of it is bad. I understand why both X-Men The Animated Series and X-Men '97 draw so heavily from this era of stories.
If you can find these issues in a library or a comic book store, by all means grab them, or check them out online. But it's not The Best of Claremont's run.
X-Men: Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Havok, Rogue, Psyclocke, Dazzler, Longshot, Madelyne Pryor
1st Appearances: Gateway, Bonebreaker, Pretty Boy, Skullbuster, Wipeout
Also Featuring: The Brood, Henry Peter Gyrich, Roma, Dani Moonstar, Cannonball, Wolfsbane, Sunspot, Magik, Warlock, Magneto, S'ym, Jean Grey, Cable (as Baby Nathan), Trish Tilby, N'astirh
There's a lot of story packed into these ten issues as Claremont bridges X-Men: The Fall of the Mutants and the first part of the X-Tinction Agenda. The heroes end up in Australia, then Genosha. The world believes them dead, so a bit of magic makes them invisible to technology, enabling them to operate with more impunity.
It's an interesting concept that I don't really remember, even though I'm pretty sure I've read much of this era before. There is also the best pre-Broo Brood storyline I remember reading. It's not a classic but it's not as formulaic as most of the X-Men vs Brook encounters, as the Brood in this instance are all made from mutants so they have different powers and personalities. It was fun to read.
I have a newfound respect for Claremont's run because of this read-through. I've always been impressed by his decade plus run on the flagship book but I don't think I've read it as closely. Very little of it is bad. I understand why both X-Men The Animated Series and X-Men '97 draw so heavily from this era of stories.
If you can find these issues in a library or a comic book store, by all means grab them, or check them out online. But it's not The Best of Claremont's run.
X-Men X-Tinction Agends by Chris Claremont, Rick Leonardi, and Marc Silvestri
X-Men: Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Rogue, Havoc, Psylocke, Dazzler, Longshot, Madelyne Pryor
1st Appearances: Jenny Ransome, Genegineer, David Moreau, Chief Magistrate Anderson
Also Featuring: Carol Danvers (sort of)
This is just a review of the first quarter of this book, as it takes place well before the rest of the book, which is also collected in New Mutants Epic Collection, Vol. 8: The End of the Beginning.
The crux of this part of the book is that the X-Men, currently believed dead but actually operating out of a ghost town in Australia, witness a Genoshan expatriate mutate be kidnapped by the government, and follow them all to Genosha, a nation where mutants are a slave caste to a military junta who try and pretend their nation is a paradise.
While the rescue mission is going on, Madelyne Pryor, who's been working as a tech advisor to the X-Men slowly evolves into The Goblin Queen, as this story dovetails into X-Men: Inferno.
The X-Men is about to get very silly to me as Claremont goes further and further afield from his original stories. I do like the Genosha element in this book, though, and wish he'd handed the title over to Jim Lee after the end of this storyarc.
This is also the basis for a storyline in X-Men The Animated Series, and while most of The Animated Series episodes take Claremont stories and vastly improve them, I think this arc is on par with the Animated Series version.
If you enjoy your X-Men comics politically progressive, and action packed, this is for you, if you're the kind of person who thinks comics are too woke right now....why are you even bothering to try and read the X-Men?
X-Men: Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Rogue, Havoc, Psylocke, Dazzler, Longshot, Madelyne Pryor
1st Appearances: Jenny Ransome, Genegineer, David Moreau, Chief Magistrate Anderson
Also Featuring: Carol Danvers (sort of)
This is just a review of the first quarter of this book, as it takes place well before the rest of the book, which is also collected in New Mutants Epic Collection, Vol. 8: The End of the Beginning.
The crux of this part of the book is that the X-Men, currently believed dead but actually operating out of a ghost town in Australia, witness a Genoshan expatriate mutate be kidnapped by the government, and follow them all to Genosha, a nation where mutants are a slave caste to a military junta who try and pretend their nation is a paradise.
While the rescue mission is going on, Madelyne Pryor, who's been working as a tech advisor to the X-Men slowly evolves into The Goblin Queen, as this story dovetails into X-Men: Inferno.
The X-Men is about to get very silly to me as Claremont goes further and further afield from his original stories. I do like the Genosha element in this book, though, and wish he'd handed the title over to Jim Lee after the end of this storyarc.
This is also the basis for a storyline in X-Men The Animated Series, and while most of The Animated Series episodes take Claremont stories and vastly improve them, I think this arc is on par with the Animated Series version.
If you enjoy your X-Men comics politically progressive, and action packed, this is for you, if you're the kind of person who thinks comics are too woke right now....why are you even bothering to try and read the X-Men?
Introducing the original X-Men as a team called X-Factor eventually ended up letting the proverbial "breath of fresh air" in, but it takes a while for the circulation to get going. Especially since the background for much of the first few years of the series is: Cyclops abandoned his wife and child for his high school sweetheart who happens to look precisely like the wife he abandons. It's weird. And it plays out much better in the X-Men '97 cartoon.
The Mutant Massacre, itself, is the first epic tragedy in X-history where a huge swath of mutants are killed off. And it's by a set of villains who weren't used before this crossover, and most of them don't get used too long after this event.
The highlight for me, though is how the X-Men interact with other teams in the post-Massacre status quo.
All numbered titles in BOLD are those I'd consider part of the Headcanon of X-Books I recommend. Anything not boldfaced or numbered is a book I read but will probably skip, should I ever do another readthrough. Understand MOST books will not be numbered or boldfaced. There are going to be at least 500 books on this readthrough. At most, 50-100 will make Headcanon. At most. I hope.
The Mutant Massacre, itself, is the first epic tragedy in X-history where a huge swath of mutants are killed off. And it's by a set of villains who weren't used before this crossover, and most of them don't get used too long after this event.
The highlight for me, though is how the X-Men interact with other teams in the post-Massacre status quo.
All numbered titles in BOLD are those I'd consider part of the Headcanon of X-Books I recommend. Anything not boldfaced or numbered is a book I read but will probably skip, should I ever do another readthrough. Understand MOST books will not be numbered or boldfaced. There are going to be at least 500 books on this readthrough. At most, 50-100 will make Headcanon. At most. I hope.
X-Factor Epic Genesis & Apocalypse by Roger Stern, John Byrne, Bob Layton, Bob Harras, Louise Simonson, Tom Defalco, Chris Claremont, John Buscema, Butch Guice, Keith Pollard, Paul Neary, Rick Leonardi, Marc Silvestri, Terry Shoemaker, John Bolton, and Mike Collins
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Angel, Beast, Iceman, Cameron Hodge, Rusty, Arthur
1st Appearances: Cameron Hodge, Rusty, Arthur, Skids, Tower, Frenzy, Apocalypse, Crimson Dynamo, Trish Tilby, Apocalypse
Also Featuring: Captain America, Photon, Hercules, Namor, Black Knight, Wasp, Mr Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, She-Hulk, Madelyne Pryor, Cable (as a baby), Vera Cantor, Carl Mddicks, Nick Fury, Iron Man, Spider-Man, J Jonah Jameson, Jon Robertson, Mary Jane Watson, Betty Brant, Mystique, Blob, Avalanche, Pyro, Spider-Woman
I struggled with whether or not to include this in Headcanon. I don't believe in needing to include Important Moments in my chronology, so I didn't really care that an early version of Apocalypse is seen here for the first time. He's not interesting in these issues.
The real story is that they bring Jean Grey back from the dead, and Scott has a crisis of "My first ever girlfriend died, and then I dated an alien entity that I thought was here but was actually an evil cosmic monster using her appearance, and while I was mourning the dead monster I stumbled into someone who I don't yet realize was just a clone of my first girlfriend who I married and had a kid with, then my original girlfriend was discovered alive somehow and I abandoned my wife and son to be a superhero with her and now I'm too much of a coward to tell her about the family I made while she was dead and too much of a coward to tell my family that my dead girlfriend is back and booooohooohooo life is hard. Cyclops has been The Worst X-Men since X-Men Epic Collection, Vol. 1: Children of the Atom but he's particularly loathsome here.
The other major storyline is that the original X-Men team are posing as mutant hunters in order to hunt mutants. It could be an interesting story but they keep bringing up how conflicted they are but they don't ever do anything about it in this volume. Their time is split between pretending to be the mutant hunting group, X-Factor, and being a mutant terrorist group called X-Terminators. Eh.
In addition to Apocalypse, this volume introduces Rusty, Skids, Cameron Hodge, and Trish Tilby, who are all a bit important to the late 80s/early 90s X-cast. It also feeds directly into the events of the next big crossover, X-Men: Mutant Massacre
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Angel, Beast, Iceman, Cameron Hodge, Rusty, Arthur
1st Appearances: Cameron Hodge, Rusty, Arthur, Skids, Tower, Frenzy, Apocalypse, Crimson Dynamo, Trish Tilby, Apocalypse
Also Featuring: Captain America, Photon, Hercules, Namor, Black Knight, Wasp, Mr Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, She-Hulk, Madelyne Pryor, Cable (as a baby), Vera Cantor, Carl Mddicks, Nick Fury, Iron Man, Spider-Man, J Jonah Jameson, Jon Robertson, Mary Jane Watson, Betty Brant, Mystique, Blob, Avalanche, Pyro, Spider-Woman
I struggled with whether or not to include this in Headcanon. I don't believe in needing to include Important Moments in my chronology, so I didn't really care that an early version of Apocalypse is seen here for the first time. He's not interesting in these issues.
The real story is that they bring Jean Grey back from the dead, and Scott has a crisis of "My first ever girlfriend died, and then I dated an alien entity that I thought was here but was actually an evil cosmic monster using her appearance, and while I was mourning the dead monster I stumbled into someone who I don't yet realize was just a clone of my first girlfriend who I married and had a kid with, then my original girlfriend was discovered alive somehow and I abandoned my wife and son to be a superhero with her and now I'm too much of a coward to tell her about the family I made while she was dead and too much of a coward to tell my family that my dead girlfriend is back and booooohooohooo life is hard. Cyclops has been The Worst X-Men since X-Men Epic Collection, Vol. 1: Children of the Atom but he's particularly loathsome here.
The other major storyline is that the original X-Men team are posing as mutant hunters in order to hunt mutants. It could be an interesting story but they keep bringing up how conflicted they are but they don't ever do anything about it in this volume. Their time is split between pretending to be the mutant hunting group, X-Factor, and being a mutant terrorist group called X-Terminators. Eh.
In addition to Apocalypse, this volume introduces Rusty, Skids, Cameron Hodge, and Trish Tilby, who are all a bit important to the late 80s/early 90s X-cast. It also feeds directly into the events of the next big crossover, X-Men: Mutant Massacre
X-Men Mutant Massacre by Chris Claremont, Louise Simonson, Walter Simonson, John Romita Jr, Sal Buscema, Alan Davis, John Bogdanove, Jackson Guice, Rick Leonardi, and Bret Blevins
X-Men: Magneto, Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Rachel Grey, Psylocke
New Mutants: Dani Moonstar, Wolfsbane, Sunspot, Cannonball, Magik, Magma, Warlock, Cypher
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Angel, Iceman, Beast, Cameron Hodge, Rusty, Arthur, Skids
1st Appearance: Malice, Scalphunter, Riptide, Scrambler, Arclite, Harpoon, Sabretooth, Boom Boom
Also Featuring: Dazzler, Sebastian Shaw, Selene, Callisto, Vertigo, Analee, Sunder, Moira MacTaggart, Magus, Beautiful Dreamer, Caliban, Leech, Blob, Mystique, Trish Tilby, Candy Southern, Apocalypse, Plague, Prism, Blockbuster, Thor, Hela, The Power Pack, Franklin Richards, Masque, Vanisher, Sharon Friedlander, Tom Corsi
The first megacrossover of the X-books delivers a ton of death, radical shifts in storylines, and action. If you haven't been reading the X-Men, New Mutants, X-Factor, and Power Pack, this is Not the place to start. If you're only reading one or two of the titles, then at least a third of this book is going to be very confusing as ever issue is pretty much in media res from a previous storyline. The action is dizzying and feels, sometimes, like it's being told slightly out of order across issues. There are also way too many characters to keep track of if you weren't already keeping track of them in their various titles, plus the Thor book.
It is rewarding if you have been keeping track of everything, though. There are character debuts, and newish characters finally getting fleshed out. The tone switches weirdly from time to time, as one of the titles in this collection is Power Pack, a group of elementary school aged powered kids who've dealt with The Morlocks before. Having them show up and battling a group of villains who've brutally murdered thousands of Morlocks before they arrive, and who've also taken down some of the X-Men, seems a bit odd. There's no way The Power Pack is strong enough to take on this level of villains, and yet...it happens right before an X-Men issue where the characters who get outbattled by first graders then nearly kill Wolverine. It's very odd.
I recommend this highly to X-fans who've read much of the material that leads into this, but I do Not recommend this to those who aren't already invested in 80s X-Men. This is an absolutely terrible jumping on point.
X-Men: Magneto, Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Rachel Grey, Psylocke
New Mutants: Dani Moonstar, Wolfsbane, Sunspot, Cannonball, Magik, Magma, Warlock, Cypher
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Angel, Iceman, Beast, Cameron Hodge, Rusty, Arthur, Skids
1st Appearance: Malice, Scalphunter, Riptide, Scrambler, Arclite, Harpoon, Sabretooth, Boom Boom
Also Featuring: Dazzler, Sebastian Shaw, Selene, Callisto, Vertigo, Analee, Sunder, Moira MacTaggart, Magus, Beautiful Dreamer, Caliban, Leech, Blob, Mystique, Trish Tilby, Candy Southern, Apocalypse, Plague, Prism, Blockbuster, Thor, Hela, The Power Pack, Franklin Richards, Masque, Vanisher, Sharon Friedlander, Tom Corsi
The first megacrossover of the X-books delivers a ton of death, radical shifts in storylines, and action. If you haven't been reading the X-Men, New Mutants, X-Factor, and Power Pack, this is Not the place to start. If you're only reading one or two of the titles, then at least a third of this book is going to be very confusing as ever issue is pretty much in media res from a previous storyline. The action is dizzying and feels, sometimes, like it's being told slightly out of order across issues. There are also way too many characters to keep track of if you weren't already keeping track of them in their various titles, plus the Thor book.
It is rewarding if you have been keeping track of everything, though. There are character debuts, and newish characters finally getting fleshed out. The tone switches weirdly from time to time, as one of the titles in this collection is Power Pack, a group of elementary school aged powered kids who've dealt with The Morlocks before. Having them show up and battling a group of villains who've brutally murdered thousands of Morlocks before they arrive, and who've also taken down some of the X-Men, seems a bit odd. There's no way The Power Pack is strong enough to take on this level of villains, and yet...it happens right before an X-Men issue where the characters who get outbattled by first graders then nearly kill Wolverine. It's very odd.
I recommend this highly to X-fans who've read much of the material that leads into this, but I do Not recommend this to those who aren't already invested in 80s X-Men. This is an absolutely terrible jumping on point.
6. X-Men Vs Fantastic Four by Chris Claremont, John Bogdanove, Barry Windsor-Smith, Jackson Guice, Marc Silvestri, and Dan Green
X-Men: Magneto, Storm, Havok, Wolverine, Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Psylocke, Longshot, Dazzler
Fantastic Four: Mr Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing, She-Hulk, Franklin Richards
Also Featuring: Dr Doom, Malice, Juggernaut, Madelyne Pryor, Polaris, Lila Cheney, Moira MacTaggert, Banshee, Alicia Masters, Sharon Friedlander, Tom Corsi
I'm including X-Men issues #314-#319, which have not yet been collected into trade paperback but serve to bridge the gap between Mutant Massacre and X-Men Vs Fantastic Four.
This uncollected storyline is not an epic but it's a fun series of two-issue stories where the X-Men battle Malice, then Wolverine goes berserk while Storm lives out The Most Dangerous Game against some WWII era heroes who've aged into unethical vigilantes, and then Dazzler and a bunch of the X-Men on Muir Island battle Juggernaut. They're all fun, if not Important To Continuity, and help setup the interpersonal relationships we see in Fantastic Four Vs X-Men.
This was the first comic series I ever read. So there's definitely some nostalgia inspiring my review.
The story involves the X-Men needing a device from Reed Richards of The Fantastic Four in order to save their youngest member, Shadowcat during the aftermath of The Mutant Massacre. Through a series of dream sequences and a jubilantly nitpicky Doctor Doom interventions, Reed doesn't trust that his machine will help. Thus the Vs. part of the title, as the teams do squabble a couple of times. But, mostly, this is a team up book that doesn't have Universe Changing Consequences. It's superhero friends calling superhero friends to help solve a very specific team-focused problem. I enjoy that level of stakes.
The dialogue is Chris Claremont hokey. But I think it's some of his better hokey work. The art is standard 80s Marvel.
I recommend this more for X-Men fans than FF fans, as that's Claremont's wheelhouse, and if you do love continuity, there's a ton of fun events in this self-contained mini-series. If you're the type that gets really frustrated that Jennifer Walters behaves in a different manner than you would imagine based on She-Hulk Issue 31, maybe steer clear of this one.
X-Men: Magneto, Storm, Havok, Wolverine, Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Psylocke, Longshot, Dazzler
Fantastic Four: Mr Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing, She-Hulk, Franklin Richards
Also Featuring: Dr Doom, Malice, Juggernaut, Madelyne Pryor, Polaris, Lila Cheney, Moira MacTaggert, Banshee, Alicia Masters, Sharon Friedlander, Tom Corsi
I'm including X-Men issues #314-#319, which have not yet been collected into trade paperback but serve to bridge the gap between Mutant Massacre and X-Men Vs Fantastic Four.
This uncollected storyline is not an epic but it's a fun series of two-issue stories where the X-Men battle Malice, then Wolverine goes berserk while Storm lives out The Most Dangerous Game against some WWII era heroes who've aged into unethical vigilantes, and then Dazzler and a bunch of the X-Men on Muir Island battle Juggernaut. They're all fun, if not Important To Continuity, and help setup the interpersonal relationships we see in Fantastic Four Vs X-Men.
This was the first comic series I ever read. So there's definitely some nostalgia inspiring my review.
The story involves the X-Men needing a device from Reed Richards of The Fantastic Four in order to save their youngest member, Shadowcat during the aftermath of The Mutant Massacre. Through a series of dream sequences and a jubilantly nitpicky Doctor Doom interventions, Reed doesn't trust that his machine will help. Thus the Vs. part of the title, as the teams do squabble a couple of times. But, mostly, this is a team up book that doesn't have Universe Changing Consequences. It's superhero friends calling superhero friends to help solve a very specific team-focused problem. I enjoy that level of stakes.
The dialogue is Chris Claremont hokey. But I think it's some of his better hokey work. The art is standard 80s Marvel.
I recommend this more for X-Men fans than FF fans, as that's Claremont's wheelhouse, and if you do love continuity, there's a ton of fun events in this self-contained mini-series. If you're the type that gets really frustrated that Jennifer Walters behaves in a different manner than you would imagine based on She-Hulk Issue 31, maybe steer clear of this one.
Not Yet Collected
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Angel, Rusty, Arthur, Cameron Hodge
1st Appearances: War, Famine, Ariel, Rictor
Also Featuring: Skids, Boom Boom, The Vanisher, Callisto, Caliban, Leech, Masque, Ape, Master Mold, Apocalypse, Plague, Trish Tilby
***As of this writing, X-Factor (Vol 1) #12-17 haven't been collected in trade paperback form. So this is a review for those six issues.***
These six issues follow X-Men: Mutant Massacre all the way until X-Men: Fall of the Mutants, Vol. 2. It involves the pivotal story of Apocalypse recruiting the first Four Horseman we encounter as readers, it sees the amputation of Angel's wings, and the rise of X-Factor's second wave of characters: Rusty, Arthur, Skids, and Boom-Boom, in more pivotal roles. We also see how The Morlocks recover from The Mutant Massacre.
So why hasn't it been collected?
It's two issues' worth of story spread across six very repetitive stories. I don't, in any way, blame Louise Simonson for this. This was the Jim Shooter (commonly regarded as the worst editor in the history of Marvel Comics) Era of crossovers and there were clearly plans for the main characters of this book to be heavily involved in the crossovers.
The most interesting part of this story takes place in the final two issues where the B-team of X-Factor make a deal with Masque, the most ethically bankrupt Morlock since Analee the childsnatcher was killed, to heal a woman that Rusty accidentally burned when he received his powers. Instead of the usual Victim Of Mutant Crime Hates Mutants And Refuses Help, the burn victim blames her aggressive sexuality for why she was burned, and is devoting her life to the healing power of Christianity, which she then decides to spread to The Morlocks. It's creepily sweet? Sweetly creepy? I disagree with what the character's intentions but she clearly thinks she'll be doing good.
Even if this were a tight, two issue story, this wouldn't be a terribly exciting storyarc. It progresses the story in an interesting direction there is neither a ton of action, nor much character growth (apart from, perhaps, the burn victim). Apocalypse is in the background of several of these issues recruiting his Horsemen but since we don't know why, and since he hasn't yet been A Major Villain, it's hardly riveting. I understand now why they've released all of the issues around this storyline but haven't bothered to collect these particular issues yet.
X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Angel, Rusty, Arthur, Cameron Hodge
1st Appearances: War, Famine, Ariel, Rictor
Also Featuring: Skids, Boom Boom, The Vanisher, Callisto, Caliban, Leech, Masque, Ape, Master Mold, Apocalypse, Plague, Trish Tilby
***As of this writing, X-Factor (Vol 1) #12-17 haven't been collected in trade paperback form. So this is a review for those six issues.***
These six issues follow X-Men: Mutant Massacre all the way until X-Men: Fall of the Mutants, Vol. 2. It involves the pivotal story of Apocalypse recruiting the first Four Horseman we encounter as readers, it sees the amputation of Angel's wings, and the rise of X-Factor's second wave of characters: Rusty, Arthur, Skids, and Boom-Boom, in more pivotal roles. We also see how The Morlocks recover from The Mutant Massacre.
So why hasn't it been collected?
It's two issues' worth of story spread across six very repetitive stories. I don't, in any way, blame Louise Simonson for this. This was the Jim Shooter (commonly regarded as the worst editor in the history of Marvel Comics) Era of crossovers and there were clearly plans for the main characters of this book to be heavily involved in the crossovers.
The most interesting part of this story takes place in the final two issues where the B-team of X-Factor make a deal with Masque, the most ethically bankrupt Morlock since Analee the childsnatcher was killed, to heal a woman that Rusty accidentally burned when he received his powers. Instead of the usual Victim Of Mutant Crime Hates Mutants And Refuses Help, the burn victim blames her aggressive sexuality for why she was burned, and is devoting her life to the healing power of Christianity, which she then decides to spread to The Morlocks. It's creepily sweet? Sweetly creepy? I disagree with what the character's intentions but she clearly thinks she'll be doing good.
Even if this were a tight, two issue story, this wouldn't be a terribly exciting storyarc. It progresses the story in an interesting direction there is neither a ton of action, nor much character growth (apart from, perhaps, the burn victim). Apocalypse is in the background of several of these issues recruiting his Horsemen but since we don't know why, and since he hasn't yet been A Major Villain, it's hardly riveting. I understand now why they've released all of the issues around this storyline but haven't bothered to collect these particular issues yet.
X-Men Vs Avengers by Roger Stern, Tom DeFalco, Jim Shooter, Marc Silvestri, and Keith Pollard.
X-Men: Magneto, Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Havok, Dazzler, Longshot, Psylocke
Avengers: Captain America, Thor, Photon (as Captain Marvel), Black Knight, She-Hulk, Dr Druid
1st Appearances: Ursa Major, Titanium Man 2, Vanguard, Darkstar
Also Featuring: Crimson Dynamo
A solid follow-up to the Trial Of Magneto. Like most Heroes vs Heroes book, there are minor kerfuffles between the teams but they mainly end up working together because they're heroes.
There's also a fun additional dynamic to this series in that it's X-Men vs Avengers vs a Russian mutant superhero team. Their involvement is hugely important to the action and the plot.
The centerpiece of the battles is that Magneto has been led to a remnant of Asteroid M and has decided to destroy most of it, lest it fall into "the wrong hands", while keeping some mind control circuitry for himself.
Apparently, the author of the first 3/4 of this story intended to turn Magneto back into a villain at the end of the series and refused to rewrite his ending so notoriously evil editor Jim Shooter put a new creative team on the final issue.
While I do hate editorial interference, the use of Magneto as an anti-hero, as opposed to a villain, was a great transition in Marvel history, and Claremont definitely needed him not to be evil for at least a few more years of his run. I don't dislike the ending of this series, even if it conflicts with Stern's original vision.
X-Men: Magneto, Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Havok, Dazzler, Longshot, Psylocke
Avengers: Captain America, Thor, Photon (as Captain Marvel), Black Knight, She-Hulk, Dr Druid
1st Appearances: Ursa Major, Titanium Man 2, Vanguard, Darkstar
Also Featuring: Crimson Dynamo
A solid follow-up to the Trial Of Magneto. Like most Heroes vs Heroes book, there are minor kerfuffles between the teams but they mainly end up working together because they're heroes.
There's also a fun additional dynamic to this series in that it's X-Men vs Avengers vs a Russian mutant superhero team. Their involvement is hugely important to the action and the plot.
The centerpiece of the battles is that Magneto has been led to a remnant of Asteroid M and has decided to destroy most of it, lest it fall into "the wrong hands", while keeping some mind control circuitry for himself.
Apparently, the author of the first 3/4 of this story intended to turn Magneto back into a villain at the end of the series and refused to rewrite his ending so notoriously evil editor Jim Shooter put a new creative team on the final issue.
While I do hate editorial interference, the use of Magneto as an anti-hero, as opposed to a villain, was a great transition in Marvel history, and Claremont definitely needed him not to be evil for at least a few more years of his run. I don't dislike the ending of this series, even if it conflicts with Stern's original vision.
7. New Mutants Epic Fallen Angels by Chris Claremont, Jo Duffy, Jackson Guice, Bret Blevins, Kevin Nowlan, Alan Davis, Rick Leonardi, Sal Buscema, Kerry Gammill, Marie Severin, and Joe Staton
New Mutants: Prof X, Magneto, Wolfsbane, Dani Moonstar, Sunspot, Cannonball, Karma, Magik, Magma, Warlock, Cypher
1st Appearances: Siryn, Renegade, Gomi
Also Featuring: Stevie Hunter, Magus, Kate Power, Sym, Carol Danvers, Corsair, Lilandra, Ch'od, Hepzibah, Waldo, Sikorsky, Storm, Sebastian Shaw, Selene, Tessa, Impossible Man, Sabretooth, Scalphunter, Vertigo, Harpoon, Empath, Roulette, Catseye, Shaman, Jetstream, Boom Boom, Ariel, The Vanisher, Beast, Iceman, Moon Boy, Devil Dinosaur
After the Mutant Massacre, the New Mutants were separated and shunted through time with Magneto and the remaining X-Men thinking they're dead. Each team has ended up in an alternate future while Magik, who was separated from both teams ends up encountering Professor X and the Starjammers.
The alternate future timelines where each team sees the aged-up versions of their missing teammates living in a different type of dystopia is a ton of fun, as is Professor X becoming part of the story again. We also see the showdown between Magus and Warlock before we return to the X-mansion in the proper timeline for a mediocre retread of the New Mutants vs The Hellions, and a very odd adventure with the Fantastic Four villain, Impossible Man.
This is the volume where the series veers away from the horror, and into the usual Claremont wheelhouse of superhero time travel/ space epic, and I think it's an improvement. We do have the typical team infighting, resulting in a brief spin-off series featuring Sunspot, Warlock, Siryn, Madrox, Boom Boom, Ariel, Renegade, and Gomi isn't a great story but it does let some lesser used Marvel mutants and lobsters shine.
New Mutants: Prof X, Magneto, Wolfsbane, Dani Moonstar, Sunspot, Cannonball, Karma, Magik, Magma, Warlock, Cypher
1st Appearances: Siryn, Renegade, Gomi
Also Featuring: Stevie Hunter, Magus, Kate Power, Sym, Carol Danvers, Corsair, Lilandra, Ch'od, Hepzibah, Waldo, Sikorsky, Storm, Sebastian Shaw, Selene, Tessa, Impossible Man, Sabretooth, Scalphunter, Vertigo, Harpoon, Empath, Roulette, Catseye, Shaman, Jetstream, Boom Boom, Ariel, The Vanisher, Beast, Iceman, Moon Boy, Devil Dinosaur
After the Mutant Massacre, the New Mutants were separated and shunted through time with Magneto and the remaining X-Men thinking they're dead. Each team has ended up in an alternate future while Magik, who was separated from both teams ends up encountering Professor X and the Starjammers.
The alternate future timelines where each team sees the aged-up versions of their missing teammates living in a different type of dystopia is a ton of fun, as is Professor X becoming part of the story again. We also see the showdown between Magus and Warlock before we return to the X-mansion in the proper timeline for a mediocre retread of the New Mutants vs The Hellions, and a very odd adventure with the Fantastic Four villain, Impossible Man.
This is the volume where the series veers away from the horror, and into the usual Claremont wheelhouse of superhero time travel/ space epic, and I think it's an improvement. We do have the typical team infighting, resulting in a brief spin-off series featuring Sunspot, Warlock, Siryn, Madrox, Boom Boom, Ariel, Renegade, and Gomi isn't a great story but it does let some lesser used Marvel mutants and lobsters shine.
This is a pleasantly weird but mostly unnecessary chunk of the Claremont era. Lots of subplots, and the beginnings of stories that will become more important later, this was the first section of my read-through that I started to struggle through.
All numbered titles in BOLD are those I'd consider part of the Headcanon of X-Books I recommend. Anything not boldfaced or numbered is a book I read but will probably skip, should I ever do another readthrough. Understand MOST books will not be numbered or boldfaced. There are going to be at least 500 books on this readthrough. At most, 50-100 will make Headcanon. At most. I hope.
All numbered titles in BOLD are those I'd consider part of the Headcanon of X-Books I recommend. Anything not boldfaced or numbered is a book I read but will probably skip, should I ever do another readthrough. Understand MOST books will not be numbered or boldfaced. There are going to be at least 500 books on this readthrough. At most, 50-100 will make Headcanon. At most. I hope.
6. New Mutants Epic The Demon Bear Saga by Chris Claremont, Bill Sienkiewicz, Bob McLeod, and John Buscema
New Mutants: Professor X: Dani Moonstar, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Sunspot, Magik, Magma, Cypher, Warlock
1st Appearances: Magus, Lilah Cheney, Legion, Guido, Reverend Craig, Sharon Friedlander, Tom Corsi
Also Featuring: Karma, Shadow King, Lockheed, Binary, Lilandra, Corsair, Ch'od, Waldo, Stevie Hunter, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Selene, Sebastian Shaw, Magneto, Lee Forrester, Moira MacTaggert, Cloak, Dagger, Rogue, Banshee, Madrox, Gabrielle Haller, Emma Frost, Dazzler, Rachel Grey
I'm putting this in headcanon purely for the first part of this collection. The Demon Bear Saga, is one of the best New Mutants stories. Much of this is the arrival of Bill Sienkiewicz as artist. Through a 2024 lens, his artwork is odd, anatomically jarring, a little sharp angled, and with a bit of a DC Vertigo or mid-90s MTV cartoon edge. But when it debuted in the 80s it was revelatory. I imagine traditionalists hated it but as a kid, I wanted more.
It does help that his first story is when the series pivoted from The Next Young Group Of Mutants Tries To Find Their Way In The World to a collection of stories that explore the effect of trauma on minority youth.
There is a noticeable dip in quality of story (but not art) as we transition to the arrival of Warlock, and then the fallout of a Cloak and Dagger story. The stories are fine, and do an admirable job of pushing the characters in new directions but they feel scattered after the focused and brilliant Demon Bear Saga.
Next up is the introduction of Legion, a character who can be used super creatively, and was the focus of one of the best Marvel related TV shows they've come up with. Certainly the best pre-streaming TV show. Unfortunately, much of the first Legion arc uses a dated, problematic trope that makes it cringey to read. While this trope is only introduced so that Claremont can invert it is admirable. The end of the story does make it so that the characters using the problematic language and ideals turn out to be wrong and learn a lesson. That doesn't make the journey there any easier to read. It's not quite as bad as Claremont dropping the N-bomb in X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills to prove a point about racism but it's pretty close and it's drawn out for Much Longer.
New Mutants: Professor X: Dani Moonstar, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Sunspot, Magik, Magma, Cypher, Warlock
1st Appearances: Magus, Lilah Cheney, Legion, Guido, Reverend Craig, Sharon Friedlander, Tom Corsi
Also Featuring: Karma, Shadow King, Lockheed, Binary, Lilandra, Corsair, Ch'od, Waldo, Stevie Hunter, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Selene, Sebastian Shaw, Magneto, Lee Forrester, Moira MacTaggert, Cloak, Dagger, Rogue, Banshee, Madrox, Gabrielle Haller, Emma Frost, Dazzler, Rachel Grey
I'm putting this in headcanon purely for the first part of this collection. The Demon Bear Saga, is one of the best New Mutants stories. Much of this is the arrival of Bill Sienkiewicz as artist. Through a 2024 lens, his artwork is odd, anatomically jarring, a little sharp angled, and with a bit of a DC Vertigo or mid-90s MTV cartoon edge. But when it debuted in the 80s it was revelatory. I imagine traditionalists hated it but as a kid, I wanted more.
It does help that his first story is when the series pivoted from The Next Young Group Of Mutants Tries To Find Their Way In The World to a collection of stories that explore the effect of trauma on minority youth.
There is a noticeable dip in quality of story (but not art) as we transition to the arrival of Warlock, and then the fallout of a Cloak and Dagger story. The stories are fine, and do an admirable job of pushing the characters in new directions but they feel scattered after the focused and brilliant Demon Bear Saga.
Next up is the introduction of Legion, a character who can be used super creatively, and was the focus of one of the best Marvel related TV shows they've come up with. Certainly the best pre-streaming TV show. Unfortunately, much of the first Legion arc uses a dated, problematic trope that makes it cringey to read. While this trope is only introduced so that Claremont can invert it is admirable. The end of the story does make it so that the characters using the problematic language and ideals turn out to be wrong and learn a lesson. That doesn't make the journey there any easier to read. It's not quite as bad as Claremont dropping the N-bomb in X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills to prove a point about racism but it's pretty close and it's drawn out for Much Longer.
X-Men Epic The Gift by Chris Clarement John Romita Jr, Dave Cockum, Paul Smith, Steve Leialoha, and Barry Windsor-Smith
X-Men: Professor X, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Rogue, Wolverine, Kitty Pryde, Rachel Gray
1st Appearances: Nimrod, Talisman, Kulan Gath, BAMFs
Also Featuring: Storm, Colossus, Madelyne Pryor, Alpha Flight (Northstar, Sasquatch, Aurora, Puck, Vindicator, Shaman, Snowbird), Selene, The Hellions (Empath, Roulette, Warpath), Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, Loki, The New Mutants (Magik, Cannonball, Magma, Dani Moonstar, Sunspot, Magneto, Arcade, Miss Locke
An absolute mess of tonal whiplash in this collection as we see the X-Men books, under Claremont's pen twist in odd directions, and we get an annual, a crossover, and a couple of miniseries that each have very different feels despite Claremont writing most of them.
We begin with a magic storyline where an old Conan The Barbarian villain arrives and turns New York into a fantasy hellscape (this is not the only time Claremont uses this plot device). We see The Morlocks return to rescue Professor X after he's beaten up by anti-mutant college students, while one of their subsects kidnaps The Power Pack, and an assortment of X-Men try and rescue them.
There is some turnstile turnover in these volumes as Storm, who was depowered just before this collection returns to Africa to reconnect with her roots, Rachel Grey becomes a more permanent member of the team, and Wolverine and Kitty Pryde return from Japan part way through this collection. Plus, Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor pop up twice.
The first time we see Cyclops in this collection, he and Madelyne Pryor end up being sort of captured and reprogrammed by Loki, who tries to balance the power between mutants and humans. This pulls in both The X-Men and Alpha Flight as his plan involves using magic to to transform New Y...sorry...Canada into a fantasy utopia. The second time is a rehash of every Arcade and Miss Locke storyline.
In Africa, Storm is shot and had a hallucinogenic journey before she rescues a pregnant woman and learns things from a dying shaman in an inoffensive but fairly appropriative story by a couple of white guys who probably hadn't spent time on the continent of Africa but had seen some Disney movies that took place there.
The volume closes with a goofy Nightcrawler story where a Danger Room accident results in him traveling through dimensions, playing pirate, and running into a dimension filled with tiny teleporting creatures that look and smell like tiny versions of him. It's very silly but not quite fun.
X-Men: Professor X, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Rogue, Wolverine, Kitty Pryde, Rachel Gray
1st Appearances: Nimrod, Talisman, Kulan Gath, BAMFs
Also Featuring: Storm, Colossus, Madelyne Pryor, Alpha Flight (Northstar, Sasquatch, Aurora, Puck, Vindicator, Shaman, Snowbird), Selene, The Hellions (Empath, Roulette, Warpath), Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, Loki, The New Mutants (Magik, Cannonball, Magma, Dani Moonstar, Sunspot, Magneto, Arcade, Miss Locke
An absolute mess of tonal whiplash in this collection as we see the X-Men books, under Claremont's pen twist in odd directions, and we get an annual, a crossover, and a couple of miniseries that each have very different feels despite Claremont writing most of them.
We begin with a magic storyline where an old Conan The Barbarian villain arrives and turns New York into a fantasy hellscape (this is not the only time Claremont uses this plot device). We see The Morlocks return to rescue Professor X after he's beaten up by anti-mutant college students, while one of their subsects kidnaps The Power Pack, and an assortment of X-Men try and rescue them.
There is some turnstile turnover in these volumes as Storm, who was depowered just before this collection returns to Africa to reconnect with her roots, Rachel Grey becomes a more permanent member of the team, and Wolverine and Kitty Pryde return from Japan part way through this collection. Plus, Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor pop up twice.
The first time we see Cyclops in this collection, he and Madelyne Pryor end up being sort of captured and reprogrammed by Loki, who tries to balance the power between mutants and humans. This pulls in both The X-Men and Alpha Flight as his plan involves using magic to to transform New Y...sorry...Canada into a fantasy utopia. The second time is a rehash of every Arcade and Miss Locke storyline.
In Africa, Storm is shot and had a hallucinogenic journey before she rescues a pregnant woman and learns things from a dying shaman in an inoffensive but fairly appropriative story by a couple of white guys who probably hadn't spent time on the continent of Africa but had seen some Disney movies that took place there.
The volume closes with a goofy Nightcrawler story where a Danger Room accident results in him traveling through dimensions, playing pirate, and running into a dimension filled with tiny teleporting creatures that look and smell like tiny versions of him. It's very silly but not quite fun.
Longshot by Ann Nocenti and Arthur Adams
X-Men: none
1st Appearances: Longshot, Spiral, Gog, Magog, Mojo, Arize, Major Domo, Quark
Also Featuring: J Jonah Jameson, Robbi Robertson, She-Hulk, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange
Usually, an X-Men miniseries gives you the origin story of a beloved or fairly new member of the team or someone associated with them. For, I think the only time, Longshot presents the origin of a character we haven't met yet but who is destined to meet the X-Men.
Longshot, like Wolverine, is a character whose mind has been wiped and who doesn't know who he is or where he's from, so we learn with him as the series progresses. It's a pretty fun ride by Ann Nocenti, with ruminations on fantasy vs reality, gun control, violence in the media, and the Spineless Ones who run the media in the world Longshot is from.
It's not really good enough for Headcanon status but it is one of the strongest X-Men origin stories Marvel has ever put out.
X-Men: none
1st Appearances: Longshot, Spiral, Gog, Magog, Mojo, Arize, Major Domo, Quark
Also Featuring: J Jonah Jameson, Robbi Robertson, She-Hulk, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange
Usually, an X-Men miniseries gives you the origin story of a beloved or fairly new member of the team or someone associated with them. For, I think the only time, Longshot presents the origin of a character we haven't met yet but who is destined to meet the X-Men.
Longshot, like Wolverine, is a character whose mind has been wiped and who doesn't know who he is or where he's from, so we learn with him as the series progresses. It's a pretty fun ride by Ann Nocenti, with ruminations on fantasy vs reality, gun control, violence in the media, and the Spineless Ones who run the media in the world Longshot is from.
It's not really good enough for Headcanon status but it is one of the strongest X-Men origin stories Marvel has ever put out.
X-Men Ghosts by Chris Claremont, Barry Windsor-Smith, John Romita Jr, Rick Leonardi, June Brigman, and Arthur Adams
X-Men: Professor X, Magneto, Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Rachel Grey
1st Appearances: Fenris
Also Featuring: Madelyne Pryor, Gabrielle Haller, Corsair, Lilandra, Carol Danvers, Ch'od, Hepziba, Mystique, Destiny, Blob, Pyro, Avalanche, Spiral, Val Cooper, Jessica Drew, Amanda Sefton, Cable (as a baby), Cannonball, Cypher, Warlock, Wolfsbane, Dani Moonstar, Magik, The Watcher, The Beyonder, Arcade, Miss Locke, Sentinels, Lady Deathstrike, Energizer, Jessica Drew, Lyndsey McCabe, Selene, Sebastian Shaw, Black Bishop, Tessa, Nimrod, Mojo, Major Domo
This collection would have benefitted from including some New Mutants issues as there are quite a few wholes in the narrative. There are also a ton of twists and turns as we go from Beyonder to Lady Deathstrike to the Hellfire Club to Mojo at a breakneck pace with the X-Men being moved to San Francisco, then the Morlock tunnels, and then we're suddenly back at the X-Mansion like none of the other events ever happened. It's a bit dizzying.
I would have loved to have included this as Headcanon, as having Magneto in charge of The New Mutants, and on equal footing with the X-Men is a major change to the StatuX Quo but it's just not on par Claremont's best work.
If you're desperate for the first appearance of the X-Babies, have the urge to see how easily The Beyonder, supposedly the most cosmically dangerous villain ever, is easily defeated by nonsense, maybe you want to see every Arcade appearance for some reason, or you need to read why there's a member of Power Pack present for Lady Deathstrike's first battle with Wolverine, this is the book for you. Otherwise, you can skip this one.
X-Men: Professor X, Magneto, Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Rachel Grey
1st Appearances: Fenris
Also Featuring: Madelyne Pryor, Gabrielle Haller, Corsair, Lilandra, Carol Danvers, Ch'od, Hepziba, Mystique, Destiny, Blob, Pyro, Avalanche, Spiral, Val Cooper, Jessica Drew, Amanda Sefton, Cable (as a baby), Cannonball, Cypher, Warlock, Wolfsbane, Dani Moonstar, Magik, The Watcher, The Beyonder, Arcade, Miss Locke, Sentinels, Lady Deathstrike, Energizer, Jessica Drew, Lyndsey McCabe, Selene, Sebastian Shaw, Black Bishop, Tessa, Nimrod, Mojo, Major Domo
This collection would have benefitted from including some New Mutants issues as there are quite a few wholes in the narrative. There are also a ton of twists and turns as we go from Beyonder to Lady Deathstrike to the Hellfire Club to Mojo at a breakneck pace with the X-Men being moved to San Francisco, then the Morlock tunnels, and then we're suddenly back at the X-Mansion like none of the other events ever happened. It's a bit dizzying.
I would have loved to have included this as Headcanon, as having Magneto in charge of The New Mutants, and on equal footing with the X-Men is a major change to the StatuX Quo but it's just not on par Claremont's best work.
If you're desperate for the first appearance of the X-Babies, have the urge to see how easily The Beyonder, supposedly the most cosmically dangerous villain ever, is easily defeated by nonsense, maybe you want to see every Arcade appearance for some reason, or you need to read why there's a member of Power Pack present for Lady Deathstrike's first battle with Wolverine, this is the book for you. Otherwise, you can skip this one.
New Mutants by Chris Claremont, Arthur Adams, Mary Wilshire, Rick Leonardi, Keith Pollard, Jackson Guice, Steve Purcell, Alan Davis, and Arthur Adams
New Mutants: Magneto, Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Dani Moonstar, Cannonball, Karma, Magma, Magik, Cypher, Warlock
1st Appearances: Psylocke, Brightwind
Also featuring: Loki, Kitty Pryde, The Beyonder, She-Hulk, Emma Frost, Stevie Hunter, Thunderbird, Jetstream, Empath, Tarot, Roulette, Catseye, Capt America, Hercules, Wasp, Namor, Knight, Photon, Lila Cheney, Icarus, Moira Mactaggert, Legion, Reverend Craig, Mojo, Spiral, Captain Britain, Meggan, The Bratpack, Sharon Friedlander, Tom Corsi
This is a very messy collection of stories. After adventures with the X-Men in Asgard, Charles Xavier leaves the planet, putting Magneto in charge of the team. As soon as he gains their trust, The Beyonder shows up and erases them from history. And, yet, in the next issue, it seems like a normal adventure that ends with the New Mutants transferring to Massachusetts Academy to join up with The Hellions.
Yes, there are shenanigans that are explained as the story moves on, but I don't recall there being an explanation for how The Beyonder erased them from history in all of the books except their own. There's a "Is This All A Dream" intro in the issue following their erasure but it's unclear if any of this is a dream or whether it's an alternate timeline, or whether The Beyonder's...spell?..power..?attack? has been undone. It's very sloppy writing. Then The Avengers show up for a typical Everybody Fights Rather Than Communicate Hero Vs Hero Battle, and then everything is maybe? maybe? maybe returned to status quo?
I really don't recommend this to anyone but New Mutants completists. While hardly the worst X-book in their history, I don't think there are any fun moments, and the other superhero cameos aren't worth the read. Skip it.
New Mutants: Magneto, Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Dani Moonstar, Cannonball, Karma, Magma, Magik, Cypher, Warlock
1st Appearances: Psylocke, Brightwind
Also featuring: Loki, Kitty Pryde, The Beyonder, She-Hulk, Emma Frost, Stevie Hunter, Thunderbird, Jetstream, Empath, Tarot, Roulette, Catseye, Capt America, Hercules, Wasp, Namor, Knight, Photon, Lila Cheney, Icarus, Moira Mactaggert, Legion, Reverend Craig, Mojo, Spiral, Captain Britain, Meggan, The Bratpack, Sharon Friedlander, Tom Corsi
This is a very messy collection of stories. After adventures with the X-Men in Asgard, Charles Xavier leaves the planet, putting Magneto in charge of the team. As soon as he gains their trust, The Beyonder shows up and erases them from history. And, yet, in the next issue, it seems like a normal adventure that ends with the New Mutants transferring to Massachusetts Academy to join up with The Hellions.
Yes, there are shenanigans that are explained as the story moves on, but I don't recall there being an explanation for how The Beyonder erased them from history in all of the books except their own. There's a "Is This All A Dream" intro in the issue following their erasure but it's unclear if any of this is a dream or whether it's an alternate timeline, or whether The Beyonder's...spell?..power..?attack? has been undone. It's very sloppy writing. Then The Avengers show up for a typical Everybody Fights Rather Than Communicate Hero Vs Hero Battle, and then everything is maybe? maybe? maybe returned to status quo?
I really don't recommend this to anyone but New Mutants completists. While hardly the worst X-book in their history, I don't think there are any fun moments, and the other superhero cameos aren't worth the read. Skip it.
Another healthy chunk of the sixteen year Claremont-era, this section is less beloved than the previous one. Magneto gets some evolution as a character, Kitty Pryde continues to change costumes every issue or so, The New Mutants debut, and we spend a lot of time in either space or Japan.
I think the previous Claremont books were more fun while this one is more focused on telling an epic scope story with a revolving cast of supporting characters. It works really well, I just don't enjoy it as much. Also, you don't see as many of these stories translated into The Animated Series, and the villains aren't as beloved to a wide swath of X-fans.
Oh, and I firmly believe Kitty's exclamation below should be on a t-shirt that says "Kitty Was Right."
All numbered titles in BOLD are those I'd consider part of the Headcanon of X-Books I recommend. Anything not boldfaced or numbered is a book I read but will probably skip, should I ever do another readthrough. Understand MOST books will not be numbered or boldfaced. There are going to be at least 500 books on this readthrough. At most, 50-100 will make Headcanon. At most. I hope.
I think the previous Claremont books were more fun while this one is more focused on telling an epic scope story with a revolving cast of supporting characters. It works really well, I just don't enjoy it as much. Also, you don't see as many of these stories translated into The Animated Series, and the villains aren't as beloved to a wide swath of X-fans.
Oh, and I firmly believe Kitty's exclamation below should be on a t-shirt that says "Kitty Was Right."
All numbered titles in BOLD are those I'd consider part of the Headcanon of X-Books I recommend. Anything not boldfaced or numbered is a book I read but will probably skip, should I ever do another readthrough. Understand MOST books will not be numbered or boldfaced. There are going to be at least 500 books on this readthrough. At most, 50-100 will make Headcanon. At most. I hope.
X-Men Epic: I Magneto by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, Michael Golden, Jo Duffy, Bob Layton, Brent Anderson, Paul Smith, Jim Sherman, Bob McLeod, John Buscema, and George Perez
X-Men: Prof X, Cyclops, Angel, Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde
1st Appearances: Wolfsbane, Spider-Woman, Carol Danvers, Rogue, Jacosta, The Badoon
Also Featuring: Magneto, Man-Thing, D'yspare, Stevie Hunter, Miss Locke, Arcade, Dr Doom, Beast, Havok, Banshee, Iceman, Candy Southern, Amanda Sefton, Magik, Dazzler, Capt America, Spider-Woman, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Beast, Wonder Man, Hawkeye, Peter Corbeau, Akron, Invisible Woman, Mr Fantastic, Thing, Human Torch, Sauron, Ka-Zar, Spider-Man, J Jonah Jameson, Robbie Robertson, Brainchild, Amphibius, Vertigo, Zabu, Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, The Sentinels, Harry Leland
There are a few misfires in this collection that keep this from being as iconic as X-Men Epic Proteus and X-Men Epic Fate Of The Phoenix but this is still a blast to read. Claremont keeps heaping storyline on top of storyline, pulling parts of the entire X-Men run from issue #1 all the way through his last collection.
These epic versions are also preferable to earlier collections as they pull from other titles in a sensible and narratively satisfying way. I don't know of other X-Men collections that thought to include the Avengers annual that introduces us to Rogue and pulls some of the X-Men into a battle with The New Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants (Destiny, Mystique, Pyro, Avalanche, and Blob). There's also a great run of Marvel Fanfare where Spider-Man, Angel, and eventually the X-Men voyage down to the Savage Land. The plot isn't any better than any of the other Savage Land stories but Claremont is constantly improving his character work (often with a billion thought balloons) so the story seems more intriguing.
I also enjoyed the explanations for Kitty Pride's increasingly awful costumes, and how much better her age discrepancy is handled here than Jubilee's will be in another few years. The Storm/Shadowcat dynamic is much more logical than the Wolverine/Jubilee.
There are tons of other great moments in this book that excuse the silliness of the Kitty Pryde fairy tale issue or the rebuilding of The Danger Room after Kitty's adventures in X-Men: Days of Future Past. I also appreciated that they acknowledged the expense of the repairs and that it took months of issues where the repairs happened in the background.
There are also conversations between Nightcrawler and Wolverine, Professor X and Angel, and Storm and Magneto that seem deeper than previous X-Men conversations. Claremont was really hitting his stride. Plus, artist Brent Anderson seems to have a blast on the Fantastic Four/Arkon storyline, posing Wolverine like The Marlboro Man and other cheesecake poses that sexualized him in a manner most artists of the time reserved exclusively for women. Whether intended or not, it felt queer coded.
I didn't imagine putting this in my Headcanon, as this makes three volumes in a row but I think it's solid enough that if you enjoy X-Men this is a great non-classic run of comics to experience.
X-Men: Prof X, Cyclops, Angel, Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde
1st Appearances: Wolfsbane, Spider-Woman, Carol Danvers, Rogue, Jacosta, The Badoon
Also Featuring: Magneto, Man-Thing, D'yspare, Stevie Hunter, Miss Locke, Arcade, Dr Doom, Beast, Havok, Banshee, Iceman, Candy Southern, Amanda Sefton, Magik, Dazzler, Capt America, Spider-Woman, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Beast, Wonder Man, Hawkeye, Peter Corbeau, Akron, Invisible Woman, Mr Fantastic, Thing, Human Torch, Sauron, Ka-Zar, Spider-Man, J Jonah Jameson, Robbie Robertson, Brainchild, Amphibius, Vertigo, Zabu, Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, The Sentinels, Harry Leland
There are a few misfires in this collection that keep this from being as iconic as X-Men Epic Proteus and X-Men Epic Fate Of The Phoenix but this is still a blast to read. Claremont keeps heaping storyline on top of storyline, pulling parts of the entire X-Men run from issue #1 all the way through his last collection.
These epic versions are also preferable to earlier collections as they pull from other titles in a sensible and narratively satisfying way. I don't know of other X-Men collections that thought to include the Avengers annual that introduces us to Rogue and pulls some of the X-Men into a battle with The New Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants (Destiny, Mystique, Pyro, Avalanche, and Blob). There's also a great run of Marvel Fanfare where Spider-Man, Angel, and eventually the X-Men voyage down to the Savage Land. The plot isn't any better than any of the other Savage Land stories but Claremont is constantly improving his character work (often with a billion thought balloons) so the story seems more intriguing.
I also enjoyed the explanations for Kitty Pride's increasingly awful costumes, and how much better her age discrepancy is handled here than Jubilee's will be in another few years. The Storm/Shadowcat dynamic is much more logical than the Wolverine/Jubilee.
There are tons of other great moments in this book that excuse the silliness of the Kitty Pryde fairy tale issue or the rebuilding of The Danger Room after Kitty's adventures in X-Men: Days of Future Past. I also appreciated that they acknowledged the expense of the repairs and that it took months of issues where the repairs happened in the background.
There are also conversations between Nightcrawler and Wolverine, Professor X and Angel, and Storm and Magneto that seem deeper than previous X-Men conversations. Claremont was really hitting his stride. Plus, artist Brent Anderson seems to have a blast on the Fantastic Four/Arkon storyline, posing Wolverine like The Marlboro Man and other cheesecake poses that sexualized him in a manner most artists of the time reserved exclusively for women. Whether intended or not, it felt queer coded.
I didn't imagine putting this in my Headcanon, as this makes three volumes in a row but I think it's solid enough that if you enjoy X-Men this is a great non-classic run of comics to experience.
X-Men Epic The Brood Saga by Chris Claremont, Terry Kavanagh, Dave Cockrum, John Byrne, and Paul Smith.
X-Men: Professor X, Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde
1st Appearances: Araki, Deathbird, The Sidri, The New Mutants (Cannonball, Dani Moonstar, Sunspot, Karma, Wolfsbane), The Brood, Sikorsky, Warstar, Belasko, Hydra, Belasco, Lee Forrester
Featuring: Carol Danvers, Corsair, Gladiator, Tigra, Jarvis, Chod, Hepzibah, Lilandra, Raza, Oracle, Moira Mactaggert, Robert Kelly, Polaris, Havok, Rogue, Mystique, Magik, Gabrielle Haller, Magneto
Most of this collection is the cosmic war against The Brood, who are essentially xenomorphs from Alien but more bug-like in appearance. Much like the xenomorphs, they lay eggs inside of hosts but instead of bursting out their chests and killing their human hosts, they possess them so that the host morphs into a new xenomorph queen.
Carol Danvers is still with the X-Men from the last story, and she ends up joining the Starjammers and becoming a new superhero, Binary. Like Kitty Pryde, she ends up with a bunch of hero names over the course of her career. I'm going to always list her as Carol Danvers because her main hero names (Captain Marvel or Ms. Marvel) are each shared with other characters who are going to end up in this continuity.
This volume also brings about one of the complications of reading the whole X-verse as a reading project: overlaps. There's a crossover with The New Mutants in this story, who we haven't met yet. This same issue is in our next collection which will introduce us to The New Mutants. I chose to put this volume first because most of that collection is dependent on knowing who The Brood are, and that the X-Men are gone, which all happen here.
This is a thoroughly skippable book for X-Men chronology. I would probably put it in a Carol Danvers Headcanon, but the only major thing covered in this book that is Important To Chronology and not covered somewhere else is that Colossus's sister Magik is aged-up, living many years in Limbo while only days pass in the real world. Unfortunately, the story is just cluttered with misogyny, sexual assault, and other things that Chris Claremont didn't have the skill to make non-traumatizing.
X-Men: Professor X, Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde
1st Appearances: Araki, Deathbird, The Sidri, The New Mutants (Cannonball, Dani Moonstar, Sunspot, Karma, Wolfsbane), The Brood, Sikorsky, Warstar, Belasko, Hydra, Belasco, Lee Forrester
Featuring: Carol Danvers, Corsair, Gladiator, Tigra, Jarvis, Chod, Hepzibah, Lilandra, Raza, Oracle, Moira Mactaggert, Robert Kelly, Polaris, Havok, Rogue, Mystique, Magik, Gabrielle Haller, Magneto
Most of this collection is the cosmic war against The Brood, who are essentially xenomorphs from Alien but more bug-like in appearance. Much like the xenomorphs, they lay eggs inside of hosts but instead of bursting out their chests and killing their human hosts, they possess them so that the host morphs into a new xenomorph queen.
Carol Danvers is still with the X-Men from the last story, and she ends up joining the Starjammers and becoming a new superhero, Binary. Like Kitty Pryde, she ends up with a bunch of hero names over the course of her career. I'm going to always list her as Carol Danvers because her main hero names (Captain Marvel or Ms. Marvel) are each shared with other characters who are going to end up in this continuity.
This volume also brings about one of the complications of reading the whole X-verse as a reading project: overlaps. There's a crossover with The New Mutants in this story, who we haven't met yet. This same issue is in our next collection which will introduce us to The New Mutants. I chose to put this volume first because most of that collection is dependent on knowing who The Brood are, and that the X-Men are gone, which all happen here.
This is a thoroughly skippable book for X-Men chronology. I would probably put it in a Carol Danvers Headcanon, but the only major thing covered in this book that is Important To Chronology and not covered somewhere else is that Colossus's sister Magik is aged-up, living many years in Limbo while only days pass in the real world. Unfortunately, the story is just cluttered with misogyny, sexual assault, and other things that Chris Claremont didn't have the skill to make non-traumatizing.
New Mutants Epic Renewal by Chris Claremont, Frank Miller, Bob McLeod, Sal Buscema, Paul Smith, John Buscema, Bill Mantlo
New Mutants: Prof X, Wolfsbane, Karma, Dani Moonstar, Sunspot, Cannonball
1st Appearances: Sage, Demon Bear, Silver Surfer, Viper, Dark Rider, Team America, Magma, Selene
Featuring: The Brood, Donald Pierce, Stevie Hunter, Moira MacTaggert, Magik, Gabrielle Haller, Peter Gyrich, Sentinels, Cyclops. Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde, Carol Danvers, Storm, Corsair, Sikorsky, Lilandra, Gladiator, Axe, Sebastian Shaw
The third generation X-Men team (I'm counting Gen 1 as the 1963 lineup, and Gen 2 as The Uncanny lineup introduced in the mid 1970s) has a bizarre but interesting first set of adventures.
While the X-Men are presumed dead during the previous story, the Brood-influenced Charles Xavier recruits a new team of mutants, not to act as superheroes but to learn to defend themselves and help rescue other mutants. While they are about the same age as both original teams (except for Wolverine, of course) were when they were recruited, Claremont does a better job of writing them as teens, so they feel younger than any of the X-Men we've experienced besides Shadowcat (who was going by Ariel during this period).
Apart from the crossover with the X-Men from the previous collection, and the first story, which was originally one of Marvel's first set of graphic novels, none of these stories are going to blow you away. The circumstances are often as silly as some of the silver age X-Men stories, especially the existence of Nova Roma, a Roman Empire offshoot that exists in the 1980s Amazon Rain Forest. It's sort of a Less Savage Land.
The character work in this book is really solid, though. While we saw how willing Claremont was to immediately remove when he killed off Thunderbird in the X-Men, he removes a New Mutant member from the team after a few issues here but while their disappearance is suggested as a death, anyone who's ever read a story before, particularly a comic, can tell that they're keeping the character alive for future use. We not only didnt see a body, we didn't see the incident where they might have died.
I think this is a fun book, even for the casual X-Men fan, and if you're going to read one or two hundred X-books in your life, you should definitely make this one of them but it's not quite Headcanon.
New Mutants: Prof X, Wolfsbane, Karma, Dani Moonstar, Sunspot, Cannonball
1st Appearances: Sage, Demon Bear, Silver Surfer, Viper, Dark Rider, Team America, Magma, Selene
Featuring: The Brood, Donald Pierce, Stevie Hunter, Moira MacTaggert, Magik, Gabrielle Haller, Peter Gyrich, Sentinels, Cyclops. Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde, Carol Danvers, Storm, Corsair, Sikorsky, Lilandra, Gladiator, Axe, Sebastian Shaw
The third generation X-Men team (I'm counting Gen 1 as the 1963 lineup, and Gen 2 as The Uncanny lineup introduced in the mid 1970s) has a bizarre but interesting first set of adventures.
While the X-Men are presumed dead during the previous story, the Brood-influenced Charles Xavier recruits a new team of mutants, not to act as superheroes but to learn to defend themselves and help rescue other mutants. While they are about the same age as both original teams (except for Wolverine, of course) were when they were recruited, Claremont does a better job of writing them as teens, so they feel younger than any of the X-Men we've experienced besides Shadowcat (who was going by Ariel during this period).
Apart from the crossover with the X-Men from the previous collection, and the first story, which was originally one of Marvel's first set of graphic novels, none of these stories are going to blow you away. The circumstances are often as silly as some of the silver age X-Men stories, especially the existence of Nova Roma, a Roman Empire offshoot that exists in the 1980s Amazon Rain Forest. It's sort of a Less Savage Land.
The character work in this book is really solid, though. While we saw how willing Claremont was to immediately remove when he killed off Thunderbird in the X-Men, he removes a New Mutant member from the team after a few issues here but while their disappearance is suggested as a death, anyone who's ever read a story before, particularly a comic, can tell that they're keeping the character alive for future use. We not only didnt see a body, we didn't see the incident where they might have died.
I think this is a fun book, even for the casual X-Men fan, and if you're going to read one or two hundred X-books in your life, you should definitely make this one of them but it's not quite Headcanon.
5. X-Men Epic God Loves Man Kills by Chris Claremont, Frank Miller, Paul Smith, Bob Wiacek, Walt Simonson, John Romita Jr
X-Men: Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Rogue
1st Appearances: Madelyne Pryor, The Morlocks, Callisto, Yukio
Also Featuring: Magneto, Lilandra, Stevie Hunter, Binary, Magik, Silver Samurai, Viper, Carol Danvers, The Starjammers, Mystique, Destiny, Candy Southern, Amanda Sefton, Angel, Lee Forester, Mariko, Mastermind, Sebastian Shaw, Tessa
This book mainly makes the Headcanon for the title story. Despite it having its own issues with institutional racism, the story presents Claremont's anti-bigotry themes in clearer and more nuanced ways than his usual hammer-to-the-head delivery. It has many strengths, one of them being the evolution of Magneto from villain to anti-hero.
We also see Wolverine's first solo outing which will lay the template for decades of dull rehashes of the formula: Wolverine goes to Japan to check in on the love of his life only to find himself embroiled in yakuza clan warfare.
What follows is one of the weaker parts of Claremont's run on X-Men. It has some important plot points but to get to them, it asks the reader to immediately care about new characters as quickly as it introduces them.
The biggest ask is that the reader cares about Madelyne Pryor, a woman who Cyclops meets and immediately falls in love with because she looks like Jean Grey. But is she Jean Grey? Is she The Phoenix? Not enough time or story is included to make her a fully fleshed out character. Also, Scott just slowly fell in love with another character we didn't know much about, and she is quickly discarded for this new Jean Grey fill-in.
We're also introduced to Callisto and The Morlocks in a decent story that will continue to bubble under the surface of X-Men comics for decades.
The Rogue story is interesting but not given enough time, and the Wolverine material would probably have been better without editorial interference. Reportedly, Jim Shooter, the worst person to ever stain the Marvel masthead with his name, wouldn't allow Claremont or any other writer to portray any queer relationships. Claremont had intended on having Storm fall in love with Yukio, a Wolverine side-character. Instead, Claremont writes Storm so that she meets Yukio is enamored of her, then cuts her hair into a mohawk and starts wearing leather, which is about as obviously coded as you can get. Cheers to Claremont on that. May Jim Shooter trip today, chipping a tooth and having one of his eyes fall out. The entire comic industry would rejoice in the news.
X-Men: Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Rogue
1st Appearances: Madelyne Pryor, The Morlocks, Callisto, Yukio
Also Featuring: Magneto, Lilandra, Stevie Hunter, Binary, Magik, Silver Samurai, Viper, Carol Danvers, The Starjammers, Mystique, Destiny, Candy Southern, Amanda Sefton, Angel, Lee Forester, Mariko, Mastermind, Sebastian Shaw, Tessa
This book mainly makes the Headcanon for the title story. Despite it having its own issues with institutional racism, the story presents Claremont's anti-bigotry themes in clearer and more nuanced ways than his usual hammer-to-the-head delivery. It has many strengths, one of them being the evolution of Magneto from villain to anti-hero.
We also see Wolverine's first solo outing which will lay the template for decades of dull rehashes of the formula: Wolverine goes to Japan to check in on the love of his life only to find himself embroiled in yakuza clan warfare.
What follows is one of the weaker parts of Claremont's run on X-Men. It has some important plot points but to get to them, it asks the reader to immediately care about new characters as quickly as it introduces them.
The biggest ask is that the reader cares about Madelyne Pryor, a woman who Cyclops meets and immediately falls in love with because she looks like Jean Grey. But is she Jean Grey? Is she The Phoenix? Not enough time or story is included to make her a fully fleshed out character. Also, Scott just slowly fell in love with another character we didn't know much about, and she is quickly discarded for this new Jean Grey fill-in.
We're also introduced to Callisto and The Morlocks in a decent story that will continue to bubble under the surface of X-Men comics for decades.
The Rogue story is interesting but not given enough time, and the Wolverine material would probably have been better without editorial interference. Reportedly, Jim Shooter, the worst person to ever stain the Marvel masthead with his name, wouldn't allow Claremont or any other writer to portray any queer relationships. Claremont had intended on having Storm fall in love with Yukio, a Wolverine side-character. Instead, Claremont writes Storm so that she meets Yukio is enamored of her, then cuts her hair into a mohawk and starts wearing leather, which is about as obviously coded as you can get. Cheers to Claremont on that. May Jim Shooter trip today, chipping a tooth and having one of his eyes fall out. The entire comic industry would rejoice in the news.
The Claremont Era of X-Men comics is filled with the most famous, influential, and referenced stories in the history of the franchise. There have been several amazing shorter tenures on the X-books, But Claremont started writing the X-books in the mid-1970s and didn't wrap up his original run until 1992. He had other runs since then but none of them were as successful or as relevant as his original tenure.
If you watched The Animated Series that's currently been rebooted as X-Men '97, most of the stories you've seen were from Clarmont's Era. The Dark Phoenix, The Hellfire Club, Proteus, Wolverine becoming The Most Important X-Man Ever, The Shadow King, Magneto's transformation from villain to anti-hero, these are all Chris Claremont adventures.
All numbered titles in BOLD are those I'd consider part of the Headcanon of X-Books I recommend. Anything not boldfaced or numbered is a book I read but will probably skip, should I ever do another readthrough. Understand MOST books will not be numbered or boldfaced. There are going to be at least 500 books on this readthrough. At most, 50-100 will make Headcanon. At most. I hope.
If you watched The Animated Series that's currently been rebooted as X-Men '97, most of the stories you've seen were from Clarmont's Era. The Dark Phoenix, The Hellfire Club, Proteus, Wolverine becoming The Most Important X-Man Ever, The Shadow King, Magneto's transformation from villain to anti-hero, these are all Chris Claremont adventures.
All numbered titles in BOLD are those I'd consider part of the Headcanon of X-Books I recommend. Anything not boldfaced or numbered is a book I read but will probably skip, should I ever do another readthrough. Understand MOST books will not be numbered or boldfaced. There are going to be at least 500 books on this readthrough. At most, 50-100 will make Headcanon. At most. I hope.
Wolverine Weapon X by Barry Windsor-Smith
1st Appearances: Dr Cornelius, Professor Thornton
I do not argue that this is a classic Wolverine story. It's his adult origin (his childhood will be revealed much later), and it contains some foundational parts of Wolverine's character. The only reason it doesn't make Headcanon is that, on its own, it's not terribly exciting. It's almost torture porn as two sadists, a team of doctors, and one of the sadist's assistants turn Logan the mutant with claws and a healing factor into Wolverine the killing machine with adamantium claws. It's appropriately graphic, and Windsor-Smith is a fantastic artist and solid writer. The story just feels like it goes on too long. Maybe because some of the scenes are used in flashbacks dozens of times after this. Honestly, seeing the story in brief flashbacks as opposed to the entire narrative is more satisfying, as you need a break from the constant torture, as the violence seems less horrifying as the story goes on. You get used to it, which shouldn't be the story's effect.
If you're a huge Wolverine fan, this is almost definitely a 5 star book for you. If you love X-Men lore, this is probably a five star book for you. On its own merit without the context of readers wanting to know Wolverine's origin, this is pretty boring.
Wolverine is unconscious for most of it, so this is mainly the story of two terrible people who don't communicate well but who are forced to work together to torture a man into becoming a monster. That could also be an interesting premise even devoid of the Wolverine context but it just doesn't ever really go anywhere, and I don't care about either character.
1st Appearances: Dr Cornelius, Professor Thornton
I do not argue that this is a classic Wolverine story. It's his adult origin (his childhood will be revealed much later), and it contains some foundational parts of Wolverine's character. The only reason it doesn't make Headcanon is that, on its own, it's not terribly exciting. It's almost torture porn as two sadists, a team of doctors, and one of the sadist's assistants turn Logan the mutant with claws and a healing factor into Wolverine the killing machine with adamantium claws. It's appropriately graphic, and Windsor-Smith is a fantastic artist and solid writer. The story just feels like it goes on too long. Maybe because some of the scenes are used in flashbacks dozens of times after this. Honestly, seeing the story in brief flashbacks as opposed to the entire narrative is more satisfying, as you need a break from the constant torture, as the violence seems less horrifying as the story goes on. You get used to it, which shouldn't be the story's effect.
If you're a huge Wolverine fan, this is almost definitely a 5 star book for you. If you love X-Men lore, this is probably a five star book for you. On its own merit without the context of readers wanting to know Wolverine's origin, this is pretty boring.
Wolverine is unconscious for most of it, so this is mainly the story of two terrible people who don't communicate well but who are forced to work together to torture a man into becoming a monster. That could also be an interesting premise even devoid of the Wolverine context but it just doesn't ever really go anywhere, and I don't care about either character.
X-Men Epic: It's Always Darkest Before Dawn by Steve Englehart, Len Wein, Sal Buscema, Tom Sutton, Gerry Conway, Gil Kane, Herb Trimpe, and Don Heck
X-Men: Prof X, Cyclops, Jean Grey
1st Appearances: J Jonah Jameson, Robbie Robertson, Betty Ross, Harry Osborn, Morbius, Lockjaw, Falcon, Moonstone, Dum Dum Duggan, Nighthawk, Valkyrie, Griffin
Also Featuring: Angel, Beast, Iceman, Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy, Hulk, Polaris, Havok, Iron Man, Mastermind, Blob, Unus, Juggernaut, Capt America, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Medusa, Black Panther, Vision, Daredevil, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Magneto, Banshee, Nick Fury, Human Torch, Dr Strange, Lorelei, Wolverine, Mr Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Thing, Madrox
During the era when the X-Men book was just reprints of the original run, the X-Men were "in hiding" (or trapped on Krakoa in space, depending on who was editing what). Professor X, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, and Angel were used very sparingly as guests in other titles. Beast, meanwhile, was tearing it up in "Amazing Adventures", and Iceman was teaming up with Spider-Man and the Human Torch.
This collection has Spider-Man and Iceman's teamup, which is a fun latter-day Stan Lee issue with hints of the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends cartoon.
The Beast story explains how Hank McCoy went from a bouncing, gymnastic human cannonball to a blue furry scientist, with brief stops as a silver fuzzy scientist, and then a black-furred scientist. His powers and his personality are all over the place, as he is initially given a Wolverine healing factor pre-Wolverine! This then disappears without explanation.
In some ways, this is maddening to read as Englehart never seems to have a handle on what he's trying to do. But the appearances of Iron Man, various other Avengers, Spider-Man, and then Hulk add enough silliness and Marvel continuity porn to keep X-Men fans interested.
The X-Men are definitely in the background of this collection, as opposed to being the stars but it is fun to see what they're up to during the "in hiding" years. It's also great to see Juggernaut be considered an important enough X-character to check in with during this era. Even if his frenemy team-up with Hulk isn't that inspiring.
Once again, if you're an X-Men fan, this is a fun look at a weird part of their history but it's not A Great collection, and it's certainly not required to understand X-history.
X-Men: Prof X, Cyclops, Jean Grey
1st Appearances: J Jonah Jameson, Robbie Robertson, Betty Ross, Harry Osborn, Morbius, Lockjaw, Falcon, Moonstone, Dum Dum Duggan, Nighthawk, Valkyrie, Griffin
Also Featuring: Angel, Beast, Iceman, Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy, Hulk, Polaris, Havok, Iron Man, Mastermind, Blob, Unus, Juggernaut, Capt America, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Medusa, Black Panther, Vision, Daredevil, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Magneto, Banshee, Nick Fury, Human Torch, Dr Strange, Lorelei, Wolverine, Mr Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Thing, Madrox
During the era when the X-Men book was just reprints of the original run, the X-Men were "in hiding" (or trapped on Krakoa in space, depending on who was editing what). Professor X, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, and Angel were used very sparingly as guests in other titles. Beast, meanwhile, was tearing it up in "Amazing Adventures", and Iceman was teaming up with Spider-Man and the Human Torch.
This collection has Spider-Man and Iceman's teamup, which is a fun latter-day Stan Lee issue with hints of the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends cartoon.
The Beast story explains how Hank McCoy went from a bouncing, gymnastic human cannonball to a blue furry scientist, with brief stops as a silver fuzzy scientist, and then a black-furred scientist. His powers and his personality are all over the place, as he is initially given a Wolverine healing factor pre-Wolverine! This then disappears without explanation.
In some ways, this is maddening to read as Englehart never seems to have a handle on what he's trying to do. But the appearances of Iron Man, various other Avengers, Spider-Man, and then Hulk add enough silliness and Marvel continuity porn to keep X-Men fans interested.
The X-Men are definitely in the background of this collection, as opposed to being the stars but it is fun to see what they're up to during the "in hiding" years. It's also great to see Juggernaut be considered an important enough X-character to check in with during this era. Even if his frenemy team-up with Hulk isn't that inspiring.
Once again, if you're an X-Men fan, this is a fun look at a weird part of their history but it's not A Great collection, and it's certainly not required to understand X-history.
X-Men Epic Second Genesis by Chris Claremont, Len Wein, Dave Cockrum, Bill Mantlo, John Byrne, Sal Buscema, Bob Brown, and Tony DeZuniga
X-Men: Prof X, Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Banshee, Sunfire, Thunderbird
1st Appearances: Krakoa, Peter Corbeau, Misty Knight, Firelord, Gladiator, Oracle, Vindicator, Warhawk, Angus MacWhirter, Araki
Also Featuring: Iceman, Jean Grey, Polaris, Havok, Count Nefaria, Ani-men, Moira, Eric The Red, Sentinels, Stephen Lang, Black Tom, Juggernaut, Magneto, Lilandra, Corsair, Mr Fantastic, Captain America, Beast, Ant Man, Wasp
A classic but not a classic that's necessary to read.
While Claremont slowly figures out different voices for each of the newly introduced or reintroduced characters, the first chunk of this story, by Len Wein is the same Every Character Is A Hothead Who Doesn't Know How To Play Well With Others garbage that Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, and the other 60s X-writers penned.
Seriously, every time someone suggests an idea, another character angrily shoots it down. While the inclusion of non-American White Dudes was stunningly progressive in 1975, it doesn't help if they're all prejudiced against one another. Apart from Nightcrawler who notes that mutants don't seem to be any nicer to mutants than humans are, every character is kind of a jerk here. It's so bad that when one of the characters tragically dies, I was happy that I wouldn't have to ready any more of his bullying bullshit.
The book also suffers from illogical tropes. Particularly in the first story when the characters are paired off and dropped on different parts of an island so that they can immediately meet in the middle. Why not just land the plane in the middle? I get that they were surprised to find a particular landmark, and made their way there, but there didn't seem to be any reason why they split up other than for us to see how none of the pairings got along.
Much like all of Stan Lee's characters talk the way Beast was presented in The Animated Series, this collection suffers from every character behaving and talking like Wolverine in The Animated Series. It does get better as Claremont fleshes it out, but it's a rough journey for quite a while.
Many of the plots in this volume would get four stars but Claremont has an odd pacing issue whish may have something to do with art. He'll send the X-Men through a Star Gate to rescue an alien princess, and then the next issue supposedly takes place after that one but has the X-Men at the mansion fighting what appears to be the original X-Men team. It's a tedious story which adds nothing to any narrative Claremont is telling. Then, in the next issue, they've gone through the Star Gate.
If this story was supposed to take place at some period before the previous issue, why does the issue open with the Professor dealing with the effects of Starlord from the previous issue? It's very confusing. I imagine it has to do with art deadlines.
Also, Erik The Red is one of the worst, most confusing villains in the X-Canon. His origin has since been explained through writing about comics but during the story there is one or two (out of a billion) narration boxes saying that he's a Sh'iar agent. How this has tied into any of his previous appearances in the comics doesn't make any sense. Worse, the X-Men overcome a magic crystal threatening the universe ... somehow ... and then we just don't ever hear about Erik The Red again for decades when more modern writers try and explain his origin and purpose. Claremont just abruptly seemed to forget he was supposed to be a major part of the story.
There are several other threads Claremont plants and forgets about in this volume, which drag down an otherwise fun story.
Yes, Claremont's Exposition/Narration boxes are a bit much if you're used to reading modern comics. I'm more forgiving of them in his 1970s/early 80s run than I am when he used the same style to write in the 21st century.
I thought I was going to include this volume in my Headcanon since it does have important milestones for the series. But there's too much scattershot in this collection. Also, the versions of these stories in The Animated Series are tighter and more intriguing, so I'm leaving them out of the comics headcanon and choosing to remember them as fun cartoons instead.
X-Men: Prof X, Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Banshee, Sunfire, Thunderbird
1st Appearances: Krakoa, Peter Corbeau, Misty Knight, Firelord, Gladiator, Oracle, Vindicator, Warhawk, Angus MacWhirter, Araki
Also Featuring: Iceman, Jean Grey, Polaris, Havok, Count Nefaria, Ani-men, Moira, Eric The Red, Sentinels, Stephen Lang, Black Tom, Juggernaut, Magneto, Lilandra, Corsair, Mr Fantastic, Captain America, Beast, Ant Man, Wasp
A classic but not a classic that's necessary to read.
While Claremont slowly figures out different voices for each of the newly introduced or reintroduced characters, the first chunk of this story, by Len Wein is the same Every Character Is A Hothead Who Doesn't Know How To Play Well With Others garbage that Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, and the other 60s X-writers penned.
Seriously, every time someone suggests an idea, another character angrily shoots it down. While the inclusion of non-American White Dudes was stunningly progressive in 1975, it doesn't help if they're all prejudiced against one another. Apart from Nightcrawler who notes that mutants don't seem to be any nicer to mutants than humans are, every character is kind of a jerk here. It's so bad that when one of the characters tragically dies, I was happy that I wouldn't have to ready any more of his bullying bullshit.
The book also suffers from illogical tropes. Particularly in the first story when the characters are paired off and dropped on different parts of an island so that they can immediately meet in the middle. Why not just land the plane in the middle? I get that they were surprised to find a particular landmark, and made their way there, but there didn't seem to be any reason why they split up other than for us to see how none of the pairings got along.
Much like all of Stan Lee's characters talk the way Beast was presented in The Animated Series, this collection suffers from every character behaving and talking like Wolverine in The Animated Series. It does get better as Claremont fleshes it out, but it's a rough journey for quite a while.
Many of the plots in this volume would get four stars but Claremont has an odd pacing issue whish may have something to do with art. He'll send the X-Men through a Star Gate to rescue an alien princess, and then the next issue supposedly takes place after that one but has the X-Men at the mansion fighting what appears to be the original X-Men team. It's a tedious story which adds nothing to any narrative Claremont is telling. Then, in the next issue, they've gone through the Star Gate.
If this story was supposed to take place at some period before the previous issue, why does the issue open with the Professor dealing with the effects of Starlord from the previous issue? It's very confusing. I imagine it has to do with art deadlines.
Also, Erik The Red is one of the worst, most confusing villains in the X-Canon. His origin has since been explained through writing about comics but during the story there is one or two (out of a billion) narration boxes saying that he's a Sh'iar agent. How this has tied into any of his previous appearances in the comics doesn't make any sense. Worse, the X-Men overcome a magic crystal threatening the universe ... somehow ... and then we just don't ever hear about Erik The Red again for decades when more modern writers try and explain his origin and purpose. Claremont just abruptly seemed to forget he was supposed to be a major part of the story.
There are several other threads Claremont plants and forgets about in this volume, which drag down an otherwise fun story.
Yes, Claremont's Exposition/Narration boxes are a bit much if you're used to reading modern comics. I'm more forgiving of them in his 1970s/early 80s run than I am when he used the same style to write in the 21st century.
I thought I was going to include this volume in my Headcanon since it does have important milestones for the series. But there's too much scattershot in this collection. Also, the versions of these stories in The Animated Series are tighter and more intriguing, so I'm leaving them out of the comics headcanon and choosing to remember them as fun cartoons instead.
Champions Classic The Complete Collection by Tony Isabella, Bill Mantlo, Chris Claremont, Don Heck, George Tusha, Bob Hall, John Byrne, and Jim Shooter
X-Men: none
1st Appearances: Ghost Rider, Harpies, Venus, Pluto, Ares, Huntsman, Zeus, Rampage, Titanium Man, Darkstar, Black Goliath, Stiltman, Swarm, MODOK, Dr Doom, Yellowjacket
Also Featuring: Angel, Iceman, Black Widow, Hercules, Griffin, Crimson Dynamo, The Stranger, Iron Man, Beast, Magneto, Thor, Capt America, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, Wasp, Vision, Hulk, Sentinels, Blob, Unus, Lorelei, Vanisher, Spider-Man
A very, and I mean very, silly and forgettable comic from the X-Men In Hiding era of comics. Angel and Iceman end up in a team with Hercules, Black Widow, and Ghost Rider to do some, sigh, shenanigans from Mount Olympus. None of the villains in this volume are interesting, the heroes really don't mesh together well, and it's filled with "Holy Hannah!"s and other 60s-era relics, even though this book came out comfortably in the 70s.
I had never read this series until now, and I didn't miss much.
From an X-Men historical perspective, the second half of the Champions Classic is much more interesting than volume one, as we see Iceman and Angel of the Champions team up with their former X-buddy, Beast of The Avengers. They also do battle with Magneto, The Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants, The Sentinels, The Vanisher, and...The Stranger (is anyone ever excited to see The Stranger appear in a comic), all the prime X-villains of the 1960s.
But we have the excess baggage of Black Widow, Hercules, and Ghost Rider, plus Doctor Doom, plus The Avengers, and more.
While the stories aren't particularly interesting, they do explain how Magneto has become an adult again, after being reduced to infancy in an issue of The Defenders. And, it's nice to see three of the original five X-Men in action together. But it's not so nice that this is a Must Read comic, if you're into X-Men.
X-Men: none
1st Appearances: Ghost Rider, Harpies, Venus, Pluto, Ares, Huntsman, Zeus, Rampage, Titanium Man, Darkstar, Black Goliath, Stiltman, Swarm, MODOK, Dr Doom, Yellowjacket
Also Featuring: Angel, Iceman, Black Widow, Hercules, Griffin, Crimson Dynamo, The Stranger, Iron Man, Beast, Magneto, Thor, Capt America, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, Wasp, Vision, Hulk, Sentinels, Blob, Unus, Lorelei, Vanisher, Spider-Man
A very, and I mean very, silly and forgettable comic from the X-Men In Hiding era of comics. Angel and Iceman end up in a team with Hercules, Black Widow, and Ghost Rider to do some, sigh, shenanigans from Mount Olympus. None of the villains in this volume are interesting, the heroes really don't mesh together well, and it's filled with "Holy Hannah!"s and other 60s-era relics, even though this book came out comfortably in the 70s.
I had never read this series until now, and I didn't miss much.
From an X-Men historical perspective, the second half of the Champions Classic is much more interesting than volume one, as we see Iceman and Angel of the Champions team up with their former X-buddy, Beast of The Avengers. They also do battle with Magneto, The Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants, The Sentinels, The Vanisher, and...The Stranger (is anyone ever excited to see The Stranger appear in a comic), all the prime X-villains of the 1960s.
But we have the excess baggage of Black Widow, Hercules, and Ghost Rider, plus Doctor Doom, plus The Avengers, and more.
While the stories aren't particularly interesting, they do explain how Magneto has become an adult again, after being reduced to infancy in an issue of The Defenders. And, it's nice to see three of the original five X-Men in action together. But it's not so nice that this is a Must Read comic, if you're into X-Men.
3. X-Men Epic Collection Proteus by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and George Perez
X-Men:Prof X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Banshee
1st Appearances: Nanny, Petrified Man, Mariko, Moses Magnum, Proteus, Snowbird, Northstar, Shaman, Sasquatch, Aurora, Luke Cage, Arcade, Colleen Wing, Arkon
Also Featuring: Beast, Mesmero, Magneto, Sauron, Ka-Zar, Zabu, Lilandra, Moira, Shadow King, Misty Knight, Sunfire, Angus MacWhirter, Vindicator, Mastermind, Polaris, Spider-Man, Madrox
For me, this is where Claremont's run on X-Men really clicks. We go from the Stan Lee Every X-Men Is A Hothead Who Argues Over Everything to the characters working together as a team, and Wolverine being the one character who continues to question authority.
We see the Claremont team of Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Banshee really gel and become The X-Men while Jean Grey and Charles Xavier are written out to have their own adventures that we check in on periodically but which are not the crux of the story.
Claremont really begins to weave his storylines well here. Introducing elements that won't resolve for several issues, and introducing characters and tropes that X-Men writers will continue to chip away at for decades.
This is an absolute must for any X-fan. It's the beginning of Claremont at his best, and includes several stories that were revisited in The Animated Series.
While still building to The Dark Phoenix Saga in the background, the separated X-Men are slowly reunited just in time for a showdown with Moira Mactaggert's insanely powerful mutant son. The Animated Series fleshed out this story really well but the source material here is also pretty great for late 70s/early 80s superhero comics.
There's even an adventure featuring Spider-Man where there is a ridiculously spelled out sound effect on the page, and Spider-Man says "(ridiculous sound effect)! I remember what that is!" It's precisely the right level of cheesy comic writing for me.
X-Men:Prof X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Banshee
1st Appearances: Nanny, Petrified Man, Mariko, Moses Magnum, Proteus, Snowbird, Northstar, Shaman, Sasquatch, Aurora, Luke Cage, Arcade, Colleen Wing, Arkon
Also Featuring: Beast, Mesmero, Magneto, Sauron, Ka-Zar, Zabu, Lilandra, Moira, Shadow King, Misty Knight, Sunfire, Angus MacWhirter, Vindicator, Mastermind, Polaris, Spider-Man, Madrox
For me, this is where Claremont's run on X-Men really clicks. We go from the Stan Lee Every X-Men Is A Hothead Who Argues Over Everything to the characters working together as a team, and Wolverine being the one character who continues to question authority.
We see the Claremont team of Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Banshee really gel and become The X-Men while Jean Grey and Charles Xavier are written out to have their own adventures that we check in on periodically but which are not the crux of the story.
Claremont really begins to weave his storylines well here. Introducing elements that won't resolve for several issues, and introducing characters and tropes that X-Men writers will continue to chip away at for decades.
This is an absolute must for any X-fan. It's the beginning of Claremont at his best, and includes several stories that were revisited in The Animated Series.
While still building to The Dark Phoenix Saga in the background, the separated X-Men are slowly reunited just in time for a showdown with Moira Mactaggert's insanely powerful mutant son. The Animated Series fleshed out this story really well but the source material here is also pretty great for late 70s/early 80s superhero comics.
There's even an adventure featuring Spider-Man where there is a ridiculously spelled out sound effect on the page, and Spider-Man says "(ridiculous sound effect)! I remember what that is!" It's precisely the right level of cheesy comic writing for me.
4. X-Men Epic The Fate Of The Phoenix by Chris Claremont, John Byrne,
X-Men: Prof X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Shadowcat
1st Appearances: Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, Dazzler, Smasher, Stevie Hunter, Rachel Grey, Franklin Richards, Mystique, Destiny, Pyro, Avalanche
Also featuring: Banshee, Moira, Madrox, Mastermind, Angel, Donald Pierce, Candy Southern, Dr Strange, Lilandra, Araki, Jarvis, The Watcher, Gladiator, Skrulls, Vindicator, Shaman, Snowbird, Wendigo, Blob, Magneto, Sentinels, Robert Kelly
xWolverine and Alpha Flight clash again a few times. And Mystique and Destiny debut during "Days Of Future Past" where we get to see the post-apocalyptic future of (checks notes) 2013!
These stories go on to influence events for the next forty years of X-Men comics, and the writing holds up surprisingly well. This is also where Wolverine started to become The Most Important X-Men Ever (to marketing people and editors, mostly).
If you're only ever going to read one twentieth century X-Men story, this is probably the one. But really, you should read at least two, and hit up X-Men Epic Proteus before this one. The pacing and unfolding storylines are prime twentieth century comics.
X-Men: Prof X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Shadowcat
1st Appearances: Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, Dazzler, Smasher, Stevie Hunter, Rachel Grey, Franklin Richards, Mystique, Destiny, Pyro, Avalanche
Also featuring: Banshee, Moira, Madrox, Mastermind, Angel, Donald Pierce, Candy Southern, Dr Strange, Lilandra, Araki, Jarvis, The Watcher, Gladiator, Skrulls, Vindicator, Shaman, Snowbird, Wendigo, Blob, Magneto, Sentinels, Robert Kelly
xWolverine and Alpha Flight clash again a few times. And Mystique and Destiny debut during "Days Of Future Past" where we get to see the post-apocalyptic future of (checks notes) 2013!
These stories go on to influence events for the next forty years of X-Men comics, and the writing holds up surprisingly well. This is also where Wolverine started to become The Most Important X-Men Ever (to marketing people and editors, mostly).
If you're only ever going to read one twentieth century X-Men story, this is probably the one. But really, you should read at least two, and hit up X-Men Epic Proteus before this one. The pacing and unfolding storylines are prime twentieth century comics.
Getting through the Silver Age Era of the X-Men is the most difficult time I've had reading X-Men comics. It's not any worse than the convoluted late 90s where storylines just disappeared as their hacky writers got too overwhelmed to figure out endings. But as I grew up in the 90s and was familiar with that style, I found it easier to eyeroll over those speedbumpy pages than the "Holy, Hannah, it's time for another dull alien or mutant to monologue through a few pages before we never have to think of them again!" era of the X-Men.
I made it through this time, though. And while I didn't exactly enjoy it, I finally feel comfortable saying that it doesn't suck, it just isn't for me or very many modern readers. Ed Piskor's Grand Design, which is also not exactly the pinnacle of great writing, is a much more compact way to read the silver-age material, and you really don't miss much.
Apart from Neal Adams's evolution in panel design and X-Men costumes from the last dozen or so 1960s comics, there's not a lot of historically relevant art or writing after the first couple of hacky storyarcs in the original series.
You'll find that nothing from this post ends up in my headcanon. It doesn't mean this is all bad or that you shouldn't pick it up without gloves, tongs, and a ton of bleach. If you can stomach Silver Age writing, this post is filled with books that provide is a mostly mediocre X-perience. There's certainly no dearth of story here. It's just a repetitive story without a ton of development or interesting villains.
I made it through this time, though. And while I didn't exactly enjoy it, I finally feel comfortable saying that it doesn't suck, it just isn't for me or very many modern readers. Ed Piskor's Grand Design, which is also not exactly the pinnacle of great writing, is a much more compact way to read the silver-age material, and you really don't miss much.
Apart from Neal Adams's evolution in panel design and X-Men costumes from the last dozen or so 1960s comics, there's not a lot of historically relevant art or writing after the first couple of hacky storyarcs in the original series.
You'll find that nothing from this post ends up in my headcanon. It doesn't mean this is all bad or that you shouldn't pick it up without gloves, tongs, and a ton of bleach. If you can stomach Silver Age writing, this post is filled with books that provide is a mostly mediocre X-perience. There's certainly no dearth of story here. It's just a repetitive story without a ton of development or interesting villains.
Avengers Epic Masters Of Evil by Roy Thomas, Gary Friedrich, John Buscema, Don Heck, Werner Roth, George Tuska, and Gene Colan
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey
1st Appearances: Hawkeye, Hercules, Wonder Man, Black Widow, Dragon Man, Red Guardian, Nick Fury, Power Man, Goliath, The Executioner, Enchantress, Mandarin, AIM, Whirlwind, The Collector, Black Panther, Bucky, Super Adaptoid
Also featuring: Scarlet Witch, Magneto, Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Ant-Man, Wasp, Magneto, Mimic, Hulk, Sue Storm, Mr Fantastic, Thing, Human Torch, Spider-Man, Namor, Dr. Strange, Daredevil
While it's not intriguing enough to make my X-Men headcanon, this is a fun, cheesecake factory level comic romp. While most of the volume is just random Avengers adventures with major character inconsistencies and over-the-top writing, the latter third starts to involve X-Men characters. It starts with Magneto returning from the space prison he was kidnapped to in the pages of the X-Men. And eventually we get to see an actual crossover where the X-Men and the Avengers battle before realizing they should be working together.
Is it the best crossover you've ever read? Certainly not. Is it a thousand times better than the 2010s Avengers vs X-Men fiasco. Hell. Yes.
If you enjoy silver age comics and are an X-Men fan, this Avengers collection is worth picking up. If you're an Avengers fan, you can pretty much skip this one. The non X-Men storylines are a mess.
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey
1st Appearances: Hawkeye, Hercules, Wonder Man, Black Widow, Dragon Man, Red Guardian, Nick Fury, Power Man, Goliath, The Executioner, Enchantress, Mandarin, AIM, Whirlwind, The Collector, Black Panther, Bucky, Super Adaptoid
Also featuring: Scarlet Witch, Magneto, Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Ant-Man, Wasp, Magneto, Mimic, Hulk, Sue Storm, Mr Fantastic, Thing, Human Torch, Spider-Man, Namor, Dr. Strange, Daredevil
While it's not intriguing enough to make my X-Men headcanon, this is a fun, cheesecake factory level comic romp. While most of the volume is just random Avengers adventures with major character inconsistencies and over-the-top writing, the latter third starts to involve X-Men characters. It starts with Magneto returning from the space prison he was kidnapped to in the pages of the X-Men. And eventually we get to see an actual crossover where the X-Men and the Avengers battle before realizing they should be working together.
Is it the best crossover you've ever read? Certainly not. Is it a thousand times better than the 2010s Avengers vs X-Men fiasco. Hell. Yes.
If you enjoy silver age comics and are an X-Men fan, this Avengers collection is worth picking up. If you're an Avengers fan, you can pretty much skip this one. The non X-Men storylines are a mess.
X-Men First Class Mutant Mayhem by Jeff Parker, Roger Cruz, Kevin Nowlan, Paul Smith, Mike Allred, Nick Dragotta, and Colleen Coover
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey
1st Appearances: Invisible Woman, Mr. Fantastic, Thing, Human Torch, Mad Thinker, Hulk
Also featuring: Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Blob, Juggernaut, Dragon Man
While not So Good You Don't Have To Read The Original Stuff, Just Read This Instead, this is a solid addition to the early X-Men canon. Sure, it provides a little headache, as the technology and cultural references place this in the early twenty-first century instead of the mid-twentieth, but Parker's ability to get the general feel of the early X-books but infuse more personality and character into the, well, characters. I still recommend this as a buffer between the silver age Epic Collections.
In particular, the story where Sue Storm and The Fantastic Four allow Jean Grey some time to spend time with a role model who isn't an angry old man, and Beast and Iceman's road trip to The Florida Keys.
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey
1st Appearances: Invisible Woman, Mr. Fantastic, Thing, Human Torch, Mad Thinker, Hulk
Also featuring: Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Blob, Juggernaut, Dragon Man
While not So Good You Don't Have To Read The Original Stuff, Just Read This Instead, this is a solid addition to the early X-Men canon. Sure, it provides a little headache, as the technology and cultural references place this in the early twenty-first century instead of the mid-twentieth, but Parker's ability to get the general feel of the early X-books but infuse more personality and character into the, well, characters. I still recommend this as a buffer between the silver age Epic Collections.
In particular, the story where Sue Storm and The Fantastic Four allow Jean Grey some time to spend time with a role model who isn't an angry old man, and Beast and Iceman's road trip to The Florida Keys.
X-Men First Class Brand Of Brothers by Jeff Parker, Roger Cruz, Craig Rousseau, and Colleen Coover
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey
1st Appearances: none
Also featuring: Sentinels, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Mastermind, Magneto, Blob
Unfortunately, Marvel's collections editors are rarely ever good at their jobs, so there's a bunch of repeat material in this collection. The new material is okay but not as strong as the previous volumes.
This is an entirely skippable chapter of the original team's adventures. It's not part of continuity, it's not very fun or original, and it doesn't add anything to mythos that surrounds it.
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey
1st Appearances: none
Also featuring: Sentinels, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Mastermind, Magneto, Blob
Unfortunately, Marvel's collections editors are rarely ever good at their jobs, so there's a bunch of repeat material in this collection. The new material is okay but not as strong as the previous volumes.
This is an entirely skippable chapter of the original team's adventures. It's not part of continuity, it's not very fun or original, and it doesn't add anything to mythos that surrounds it.
X-Men Epic: Lonely Are The Hunted by Roy Thomas, Gary Friedrich, Warner Roth, Don Heck, George Tuska, Ross Andru, Jack Sparling, Dan Adkins, and Jon Buscema
X-Men: Prof X, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey
1st Appearances: Puppet Master, Banshee, Moleman, Mekano, Mutant Master, Changeling
Also featuring: Mimic, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Spider-Man, Super Adaptiod, The Warlock, Bernard, Zelda, Juggernaut, Dr. Strange, Vanisher, Unus, Blob, Mastermind, Agent Duncan
Roy Thomas officially takes over writing duty in this collection. I wish that meant a welcome change from Stan Lee's tortured prose but Thomas was a student of Lee, and continued the stilted dialogue and familiar storytelling techniques that Lee used in his tenure. He does give each X-Man a little bit more of their own voice than Lee, as not every character speaks like Beast from the 90s Animated Series anymore but it's still a slog to get through.
The biggest disappointment is that while Thomas has the equivalent craft of Lee, his choice of villains is less inspired. There are several villains in the first half of this collection from "Suspense" and "Strange Tales" but none that you'll remember if you aren't a staunch silver age Marvel comics fan. Apart from Banshee, you really don't see any of these villains popping up again in post-Roy Thomas X-continuity. They just aren't memorable.
About halfway through, we move from forgettable villain-of-the-week to let's-get-super-into-continuity-and-examine-the-X-Men's-history-and-sprinkle-in-some-special-guests.
After a Juggernaut story, we focus on Factor Three, who were mentioned at the end of the previous volume. I both respect and am confused by the fact that there are more than three of them, and that none of them turn out to be Magneto. But the highlight of the Factor Three story is a one-issue appearance of Spider-Man who is mistakenly believed to be the villain. It totally fits in with his sad sack luck and with the X-Men's punch-first-figure-out-you-messed-up-later approach to pretty much everything.
The rest of the volume features more C+ X-Men tales but includes origin stories at the end of each issue. They're stories that were already explored in earlier issues but are told in more detail. They're fine but unnecessary if you're reading these in modern collections. They were mainly for people jumping into the story twenty or thirty issues in who also wouldn't have had any sort of access to the first few issues. Dark days.
The collection builds up to a major death. I'm not sure if it's impactful because the intervening fifty-someodd years of history have taught me that the character isn't going to be dead for long.
The major con to this story is still Roy Thomas's Stan Leeism-filled writing. Holy Hannah, it's repetitive and annoying. There are also an unfair amount of puns that would be outlawed in a better society.
I don't think this would be a highlight, even if you're a silver age fan.
X-Men: Prof X, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey
1st Appearances: Puppet Master, Banshee, Moleman, Mekano, Mutant Master, Changeling
Also featuring: Mimic, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Spider-Man, Super Adaptiod, The Warlock, Bernard, Zelda, Juggernaut, Dr. Strange, Vanisher, Unus, Blob, Mastermind, Agent Duncan
Roy Thomas officially takes over writing duty in this collection. I wish that meant a welcome change from Stan Lee's tortured prose but Thomas was a student of Lee, and continued the stilted dialogue and familiar storytelling techniques that Lee used in his tenure. He does give each X-Man a little bit more of their own voice than Lee, as not every character speaks like Beast from the 90s Animated Series anymore but it's still a slog to get through.
The biggest disappointment is that while Thomas has the equivalent craft of Lee, his choice of villains is less inspired. There are several villains in the first half of this collection from "Suspense" and "Strange Tales" but none that you'll remember if you aren't a staunch silver age Marvel comics fan. Apart from Banshee, you really don't see any of these villains popping up again in post-Roy Thomas X-continuity. They just aren't memorable.
About halfway through, we move from forgettable villain-of-the-week to let's-get-super-into-continuity-and-examine-the-X-Men's-history-and-sprinkle-in-some-special-guests.
After a Juggernaut story, we focus on Factor Three, who were mentioned at the end of the previous volume. I both respect and am confused by the fact that there are more than three of them, and that none of them turn out to be Magneto. But the highlight of the Factor Three story is a one-issue appearance of Spider-Man who is mistakenly believed to be the villain. It totally fits in with his sad sack luck and with the X-Men's punch-first-figure-out-you-messed-up-later approach to pretty much everything.
The rest of the volume features more C+ X-Men tales but includes origin stories at the end of each issue. They're stories that were already explored in earlier issues but are told in more detail. They're fine but unnecessary if you're reading these in modern collections. They were mainly for people jumping into the story twenty or thirty issues in who also wouldn't have had any sort of access to the first few issues. Dark days.
The collection builds up to a major death. I'm not sure if it's impactful because the intervening fifty-someodd years of history have taught me that the character isn't going to be dead for long.
The major con to this story is still Roy Thomas's Stan Leeism-filled writing. Holy Hannah, it's repetitive and annoying. There are also an unfair amount of puns that would be outlawed in a better society.
I don't think this would be a highlight, even if you're a silver age fan.
X-Men First Class The Wonder Years by Jeff Parker, Roger Langridge, Nick Dragotta, Roger Cruz, Karl Kesel, Patrick Scherberger, David Williams, Colleen Coover, Dean Haspiel
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey, Machine Man
1st Appearances: Galactus, Mysterio, Venom, Doop, Medusa, The Wizard, Spider-Man, Scorpion, Beetle, Gwen Stacy, Agent Baker
Also featuring: Sue Storm, Mr. Fantastic, Thing, Human Torch, Zelda, Skrulls
Jeff Parker ran out of ideas for his First Class series really quickly. This volume begins with an agonizingly bad "meta" fourth wall breaking story where a group of comic store employees called...prolonged sigh...The Continuiteens have read the previous collections of First Class and find themselves intertwined with the plot. It doesn't even sound like a good idea but it's much worse than it sounds.
From there, it gets a bit better, as Angel heads off to spend time with family, and Machine Man briefly joins the team. It's not terrible but it's also not an interesting addition to the X-Men canon. For a series that began with a lot of promise and some creative ways to slip modern stories into the 60s and 70s continuity, this was disappointingly bland. I don't recommend it.
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey, Machine Man
1st Appearances: Galactus, Mysterio, Venom, Doop, Medusa, The Wizard, Spider-Man, Scorpion, Beetle, Gwen Stacy, Agent Baker
Also featuring: Sue Storm, Mr. Fantastic, Thing, Human Torch, Zelda, Skrulls
Jeff Parker ran out of ideas for his First Class series really quickly. This volume begins with an agonizingly bad "meta" fourth wall breaking story where a group of comic store employees called...prolonged sigh...The Continuiteens have read the previous collections of First Class and find themselves intertwined with the plot. It doesn't even sound like a good idea but it's much worse than it sounds.
From there, it gets a bit better, as Angel heads off to spend time with family, and Machine Man briefly joins the team. It's not terrible but it's also not an interesting addition to the X-Men canon. For a series that began with a lot of promise and some creative ways to slip modern stories into the 60s and 70s continuity, this was disappointingly bland. I don't recommend it.
X-Men Epic: The Sentinels Live! by Roy Thomas, Arnold Drake, Linda Fite, Dennis O'Neill, Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, Barry Windsor-Smith, Don Heck, Werner Roth, and Sal Buscema
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey, Mimic
1st Appearances: Red Raven, The Warlock, Polaris, Erik The Red, Mesmero, Blastaar, The Dazzler (not to be confused with Dazzler), Candy Southern, Havok, Living Monolith, Sauron, Lorelei, Sunfire
Also featuring: Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Magneto, Toad, Juggernaut, Bernard, Zelda, Blob, Vanisher, Ka-Zar, Hulk
Given the quality of the first 48 issues or so of the X-Men, I expected it must have gone downhill a bit when it got cancelled. I actually found the last dozen issues or so to be the most intriguing the series has been so far. While Havoc and Polaris are hardly the most interesting characters ever created, they do add an element of flavor that the book had previously been lacking.
The villains continue to be forgettable, and Roy Thomas "Oh Hannah"s hard upon his return, but Neal Adams's panel layouts make the book more visually striking than it has ever been.
While I am grateful to be finished with this era of the X-Men comics, I'm glad I finally stuck it out and read the original material so I don't feel like I missed anything.
I didn't miss anything.
As with my reviews of the previous volumes, I think your enjoyment of this collection will depend on whether you're into the mid-twentieth century comic hackery style of lots of alliteration, puns, and characters leaning heavily into melodrama rather than logic or character development. I think, if you're a fan of comic art and panel layouts, this is several steps above the previous collections.
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey, Mimic
1st Appearances: Red Raven, The Warlock, Polaris, Erik The Red, Mesmero, Blastaar, The Dazzler (not to be confused with Dazzler), Candy Southern, Havok, Living Monolith, Sauron, Lorelei, Sunfire
Also featuring: Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Magneto, Toad, Juggernaut, Bernard, Zelda, Blob, Vanisher, Ka-Zar, Hulk
Given the quality of the first 48 issues or so of the X-Men, I expected it must have gone downhill a bit when it got cancelled. I actually found the last dozen issues or so to be the most intriguing the series has been so far. While Havoc and Polaris are hardly the most interesting characters ever created, they do add an element of flavor that the book had previously been lacking.
The villains continue to be forgettable, and Roy Thomas "Oh Hannah"s hard upon his return, but Neal Adams's panel layouts make the book more visually striking than it has ever been.
While I am grateful to be finished with this era of the X-Men comics, I'm glad I finally stuck it out and read the original material so I don't feel like I missed anything.
I didn't miss anything.
As with my reviews of the previous volumes, I think your enjoyment of this collection will depend on whether you're into the mid-twentieth century comic hackery style of lots of alliteration, puns, and characters leaning heavily into melodrama rather than logic or character development. I think, if you're a fan of comic art and panel layouts, this is several steps above the previous collections.
X-Men Grand Design by Ed Piskor
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman
1st Appreances: The Watcher, Storm, Shadow King, Gabrielle Haller, Lilandra, Corsair, Ch'od, Larry Trask, Stephen Lang, Bolicar Trask, Robert Kelly, Donald Pierce, Cameron Hodge, Legion, Madrox
Also featuring: Human Torch, Namor, Captain America, Wolverine, Magneto, Moira, Skrulls, Jack of Diamonds, Mastermind, Toad, Vanisher, Sue Storm, Mr Fantastic, Thing, Human Torch, Unus, Ka-Zar, The Stranger, Sentinels, Iron Man, Captain America, Giant Man, Wasp, Tinkerer, Mimic, Banshee, Super Adaptiod, Juggernaut, Changeling, Machine Man, Nick Fury, Living Monolith, Lorelei, Polaris, Havok, Mutant Master
I've occasionally tried to read as much of the full run of X-Men and related comics (X-Factor, X-Force, Generation X, New Mutants, etc.) as possible but until this year, I never managed to read all of the Silver Age material.
This book is like the best possible illustrated Wikipedia page for Silver Age X-Men. It's chronologically straight-forward, contains the bare bones of most of the stories, but it looks awesome.
It contains all of the stories from the first three Epic Collections ("Children Of The Atom", "Lonely Are The Hunted", "The Sentinels Live" in deliciously bite-sized portions.
I would recommend this for people who love the X-Men but don't have the time or patience for the Silver Age era, fans of the Silver Age era X-Men looking for a quick nostalgic overview of the first 65 issues, people who've never read the X-Men but are looking for a quick primer, fans of Piskor's Hip Hop Family Tree, Vol. 1: 1970s-1981, and mutant plot enthusiasts.
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman
1st Appreances: The Watcher, Storm, Shadow King, Gabrielle Haller, Lilandra, Corsair, Ch'od, Larry Trask, Stephen Lang, Bolicar Trask, Robert Kelly, Donald Pierce, Cameron Hodge, Legion, Madrox
Also featuring: Human Torch, Namor, Captain America, Wolverine, Magneto, Moira, Skrulls, Jack of Diamonds, Mastermind, Toad, Vanisher, Sue Storm, Mr Fantastic, Thing, Human Torch, Unus, Ka-Zar, The Stranger, Sentinels, Iron Man, Captain America, Giant Man, Wasp, Tinkerer, Mimic, Banshee, Super Adaptiod, Juggernaut, Changeling, Machine Man, Nick Fury, Living Monolith, Lorelei, Polaris, Havok, Mutant Master
I've occasionally tried to read as much of the full run of X-Men and related comics (X-Factor, X-Force, Generation X, New Mutants, etc.) as possible but until this year, I never managed to read all of the Silver Age material.
This book is like the best possible illustrated Wikipedia page for Silver Age X-Men. It's chronologically straight-forward, contains the bare bones of most of the stories, but it looks awesome.
It contains all of the stories from the first three Epic Collections ("Children Of The Atom", "Lonely Are The Hunted", "The Sentinels Live" in deliciously bite-sized portions.
I would recommend this for people who love the X-Men but don't have the time or patience for the Silver Age era, fans of the Silver Age era X-Men looking for a quick nostalgic overview of the first 65 issues, people who've never read the X-Men but are looking for a quick primer, fans of Piskor's Hip Hop Family Tree, Vol. 1: 1970s-1981, and mutant plot enthusiasts.
X-Men The Hidden Years Vols 1 & 2 by John Byrne
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast Man, Iceman, Polaris, Havok
1st Appearances: Deluge, Agatha Harkness, Ashley Martin, Sentinels, Master Mold, Kraven
Also featuring: Magneto, Blob, Toad, Juggernaut, Zelda, Ka-zar, Storm, Sauron, Lorelei, Sue Storm, Mr Fantastic, Thing, Human Torch, Candy Southern, Medusa, Larry Trask, Sentinels, Namor, The Dazzler, Agent Duncan, Moleman
The first time I read this, I was in the midst of reading modern X-Men comics, and the writing and forgettable aliens and villains felt really clunky. I struggled to finish the book. Reading it now, having just finished the silver aged Stan Lee/Roy Thomas era this legitimately feels like it belongs in the pre-Claremont X-verse.
It's not great. Tossing in a preview of the Dark Phoenix storyline seems less like fun backforeshadowing and more like an undercutting of a much better story. But the rest of the action is pretty on par with the Roy Thomas/Neal Adams run but with slightly (and I mean slightly) more modern writing. Byrne doesn't quite have the same flare for alliteration, purple prose, and Stan Lee-style editorial remarks that tunelessly hummed through the original run but that's ok. I don't think we need any more of that without tongue granited into cheek.
I will confess that I read this earlier this morning and I already couldn't tell you much about it other than: Savage Land, Iceman vs Havoc, the "ghost" of Magneto, the Fantastic Four are involved, and Storm appears ahead of Claremont's run, but that feels like enough. Again, it's not super fun, the writing is an improvement over the silver age dreck but it isn't good, and the art is best defined as John-Byrne-apes-Neal-Adams-to-a-reasonably-successful-degree but it's not worse than the comics it successfully emulates.
If you were curious as to what happens between the final all-new material issue of the classic X-Men run, and when the characters started popping up in Hulk, Spider-Man, and Amazing Adventures, this is a perfectly adequate bridge between them.
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast Man, Iceman, Polaris, Havok
1st Appearances: Deluge, Agatha Harkness, Ashley Martin, Sentinels, Master Mold, Kraven
Also featuring: Magneto, Blob, Toad, Juggernaut, Zelda, Ka-zar, Storm, Sauron, Lorelei, Sue Storm, Mr Fantastic, Thing, Human Torch, Candy Southern, Medusa, Larry Trask, Sentinels, Namor, The Dazzler, Agent Duncan, Moleman
The first time I read this, I was in the midst of reading modern X-Men comics, and the writing and forgettable aliens and villains felt really clunky. I struggled to finish the book. Reading it now, having just finished the silver aged Stan Lee/Roy Thomas era this legitimately feels like it belongs in the pre-Claremont X-verse.
It's not great. Tossing in a preview of the Dark Phoenix storyline seems less like fun backforeshadowing and more like an undercutting of a much better story. But the rest of the action is pretty on par with the Roy Thomas/Neal Adams run but with slightly (and I mean slightly) more modern writing. Byrne doesn't quite have the same flare for alliteration, purple prose, and Stan Lee-style editorial remarks that tunelessly hummed through the original run but that's ok. I don't think we need any more of that without tongue granited into cheek.
I will confess that I read this earlier this morning and I already couldn't tell you much about it other than: Savage Land, Iceman vs Havoc, the "ghost" of Magneto, the Fantastic Four are involved, and Storm appears ahead of Claremont's run, but that feels like enough. Again, it's not super fun, the writing is an improvement over the silver age dreck but it isn't good, and the art is best defined as John-Byrne-apes-Neal-Adams-to-a-reasonably-successful-degree but it's not worse than the comics it successfully emulates.
If you were curious as to what happens between the final all-new material issue of the classic X-Men run, and when the characters started popping up in Hulk, Spider-Man, and Amazing Adventures, this is a perfectly adequate bridge between them.
In 2017/2018, I read through most of the X-Men related trade paperbacks and hardcover collections that I owned. This is somewhere around 4-500 books. I rated many, but not enough, of them on a website to keep track of what I loved and what I never wanted to read again.
Well, I'm going to read them all one more time. This time, cataloging my reading experience here.
Consider this a companion to The X-Men In Five Seasons Worth Reading. A much longer, in-depth look at what books do and don't make it into my X-Men Headcanon. My Headcanon isn't focused on the Big Event Must Read Collections that many people my age and older cobweb poetic about, it's just books that I enjoyed, and I explain why I enjoyed them.
This first entry is made up of a few books that are set before the original X-Men run in 1963 but which were written much later, mainly in the 21st century. I just don't think modern readers should have to start out by reading Silver Age books. It's just not a fun way to get into comics unless you're an early reader who hasn't experienced serialized storytelling before.
I'm not starting with Wolverine Origins or including much of Wolverine's pre-Hulk #181 appearances in the early chronology because the entire first forty years of his character depended on him not knowing his history, so we will get to see his pre-X-Men adventures but not for a long while.
All numbered titles in BOLD are those I'd consider part of the Headcanon of X-Books I recommend. Anything not boldfaced or numbered is a book I read but will probably skip, should I ever do another readthrough. Understand MOST books will not be numbered or boldfaced. There are going to be at least 500 books on this readthrough. At most, 50-100 will make Headcanon. At most. I hope.
Well, I'm going to read them all one more time. This time, cataloging my reading experience here.
Consider this a companion to The X-Men In Five Seasons Worth Reading. A much longer, in-depth look at what books do and don't make it into my X-Men Headcanon. My Headcanon isn't focused on the Big Event Must Read Collections that many people my age and older cobweb poetic about, it's just books that I enjoyed, and I explain why I enjoyed them.
This first entry is made up of a few books that are set before the original X-Men run in 1963 but which were written much later, mainly in the 21st century. I just don't think modern readers should have to start out by reading Silver Age books. It's just not a fun way to get into comics unless you're an early reader who hasn't experienced serialized storytelling before.
I'm not starting with Wolverine Origins or including much of Wolverine's pre-Hulk #181 appearances in the early chronology because the entire first forty years of his character depended on him not knowing his history, so we will get to see his pre-X-Men adventures but not for a long while.
All numbered titles in BOLD are those I'd consider part of the Headcanon of X-Books I recommend. Anything not boldfaced or numbered is a book I read but will probably skip, should I ever do another readthrough. Understand MOST books will not be numbered or boldfaced. There are going to be at least 500 books on this readthrough. At most, 50-100 will make Headcanon. At most. I hope.
1. Magneto Testament by Greg Pak & Carmine Di Giandomenico
X-Men: none
1st Appearance: Magneto
If you've seen an X-Men movie, you've almost definitely seen a scene of a youngish Magneto in an office of a concentration camp using his powers of magnetism to kill someone. You've seen iron gates ripped from the ground, projectiles launched at Nazis.
That's not what this book is.
Interspersed with historical data about The Holocaust, we get the story of a young teenage Max (he has not yet taken the name Erich...his father's name) who's targeted at school because of his Jewishness, as the nation of Germany descends into anti-semitism and genocide. We get brief glimpses of important moments in his young life. He falls in love based on almost nothing. He rebels when it seems convenient. He protects his family when he can. But his powers are a hint, not a weapon.
When his family is murdered, he survives presumably because of his power of magnetism but we don't know. They could have just missed him or not delivered a fatal wound. He ends up in a concentration camp where he eventually is in charge of leading other Jew to their deaths.
It is, of course, a grim book. There is no moment of catharsis where he rips open an iron gate. He does not kill any officers by hurling cutlery at them. He survives. He does what he has to do to survive and to try and save a girl he loves, even though he doesn't seem to know very much about her.
I think this is a great starting point for a read-through of the Marvel Mutant Universe. It clearly sets the tone that, despite what your drooling, all-caps, anti-woke, right wing nutjob uncle thinks, this is a story about overcoming the harms of prejudice, bigotry, and racism/anti-semitism. Marvel's mutant sector, in particular has ALWAYS been about civil rights. Anyone who tells you otherwise lacks reading comprehension skills, and you should never give credence to anything they tell you about literature or writing because they're clearly too stupid to understand the basic premise of a comic series that's mostly directed at children and teenagers.
Carmine Di Giandomenico's art is superb, and I think the muted grey color palette helps the book feel like something from our past without that visual metaphor overwhelming the story.
The story is affecting but not devastating to read. If you're familiar with the basic horrors of The Holocaust, you're likely to learn some new details, and maybe get a better feel for the timeline but it doesn't delve so deep into the story that you're likely to be weeping.
X-Men: none
1st Appearance: Magneto
If you've seen an X-Men movie, you've almost definitely seen a scene of a youngish Magneto in an office of a concentration camp using his powers of magnetism to kill someone. You've seen iron gates ripped from the ground, projectiles launched at Nazis.
That's not what this book is.
Interspersed with historical data about The Holocaust, we get the story of a young teenage Max (he has not yet taken the name Erich...his father's name) who's targeted at school because of his Jewishness, as the nation of Germany descends into anti-semitism and genocide. We get brief glimpses of important moments in his young life. He falls in love based on almost nothing. He rebels when it seems convenient. He protects his family when he can. But his powers are a hint, not a weapon.
When his family is murdered, he survives presumably because of his power of magnetism but we don't know. They could have just missed him or not delivered a fatal wound. He ends up in a concentration camp where he eventually is in charge of leading other Jew to their deaths.
It is, of course, a grim book. There is no moment of catharsis where he rips open an iron gate. He does not kill any officers by hurling cutlery at them. He survives. He does what he has to do to survive and to try and save a girl he loves, even though he doesn't seem to know very much about her.
I think this is a great starting point for a read-through of the Marvel Mutant Universe. It clearly sets the tone that, despite what your drooling, all-caps, anti-woke, right wing nutjob uncle thinks, this is a story about overcoming the harms of prejudice, bigotry, and racism/anti-semitism. Marvel's mutant sector, in particular has ALWAYS been about civil rights. Anyone who tells you otherwise lacks reading comprehension skills, and you should never give credence to anything they tell you about literature or writing because they're clearly too stupid to understand the basic premise of a comic series that's mostly directed at children and teenagers.
Carmine Di Giandomenico's art is superb, and I think the muted grey color palette helps the book feel like something from our past without that visual metaphor overwhelming the story.
The story is affecting but not devastating to read. If you're familiar with the basic horrors of The Holocaust, you're likely to learn some new details, and maybe get a better feel for the timeline but it doesn't delve so deep into the story that you're likely to be weeping.
The First X-Men by Christos Gage & Neal Adams
X-Men:Wolverine, Sabretooth, Holo, Goldendawn, Bomb, Meteor
1st Appearance: Prof X, Moira, Virus, Sentinels
Also featuring: Magneto
If someone presented me with an outline for this story from concept to final page, I'd cautiously suggest that with precisely the right creative team, this could be interesting but on the surface the story feels very forced and not very original or fun.
The dialogue on the first few pages scraped against my eyes. I was trying to figure out if Gage was trying to suggest this took place at a particular time or whether he was trying to make a modern sounding patter between characters. Whatever he was trying to do, it didn't work. The syntax was off, and while it wasn't difficult to follow, it was jarring. But by the time the second issue rolled around, characters started talking somewhat stiltedly but believably.
Another big stumbling point for me is the art. You might love Neal Adams , and if that's the case, you might love the look of this book. For me, Adams's art has always felt inconsistent. It's not terrible. It's not ugly. It's just that Wolverine's face and haircut looks different from page to page, as do other characters. Every character was always recognizable and distinguishable from others but it's like watching a movie and an actor got a nose job and switched wigs several times during shooting, and since it wasn't filmed chronologically the nose seems to change from scene to scene.
The end result of this story is never truly in question, as it is supposed to take place "long before" Professor X builds the Westchester School (though, actually, we see him build it at the end of the story). We don't really learn anything new about any of the characters except it gives us a possible reason why Sabretooth has always been such a dick to Wolverine. It's sort of like a shoddier version of Star Wars' Rogue One, you know the new characters you're introduced to aren't going to survive to the parts of the story you've already seen so it seems like the creators don't even bother trying to give you any reason to care about them before they're inevitably killed off.
X-Men:Wolverine, Sabretooth, Holo, Goldendawn, Bomb, Meteor
1st Appearance: Prof X, Moira, Virus, Sentinels
Also featuring: Magneto
If someone presented me with an outline for this story from concept to final page, I'd cautiously suggest that with precisely the right creative team, this could be interesting but on the surface the story feels very forced and not very original or fun.
The dialogue on the first few pages scraped against my eyes. I was trying to figure out if Gage was trying to suggest this took place at a particular time or whether he was trying to make a modern sounding patter between characters. Whatever he was trying to do, it didn't work. The syntax was off, and while it wasn't difficult to follow, it was jarring. But by the time the second issue rolled around, characters started talking somewhat stiltedly but believably.
Another big stumbling point for me is the art. You might love Neal Adams , and if that's the case, you might love the look of this book. For me, Adams's art has always felt inconsistent. It's not terrible. It's not ugly. It's just that Wolverine's face and haircut looks different from page to page, as do other characters. Every character was always recognizable and distinguishable from others but it's like watching a movie and an actor got a nose job and switched wigs several times during shooting, and since it wasn't filmed chronologically the nose seems to change from scene to scene.
The end result of this story is never truly in question, as it is supposed to take place "long before" Professor X builds the Westchester School (though, actually, we see him build it at the end of the story). We don't really learn anything new about any of the characters except it gives us a possible reason why Sabretooth has always been such a dick to Wolverine. It's sort of like a shoddier version of Star Wars' Rogue One, you know the new characters you're introduced to aren't going to survive to the parts of the story you've already seen so it seems like the creators don't even bother trying to give you any reason to care about them before they're inevitably killed off.
Angel: Revelations by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa & Adam Pollina
X-Men: none
1st Appearance: Angel
A gothic horror take on the origins of Warren Worthington III (aka Angel/Archangel of the X-Men) was a solid read. A rich kid coming of age at a boarding school mixed with the story of a religious psychopath who kidnaps a psychic little girl and uses her to track down and kill mutants.
There are a ton of tropes in this collection including a priest who's a sexual predator, teens throwing homophobia at everything they don't understand, rich bullies with powerful parents, the protagonist having toxic parents who make know effort to know their own children, and secrets breaking apart a young romance. Aguirre-Sacasa handles them all well. This is almost a B+ coming of age movie that happens to work as the origin story of an X-Man.
Adam Pollina's art isn't my favorite for a long form story. He has a very particular style for how he draws anatomy that I think works beautifully for covers and full page spreads but which end up being distracting over the course of a full comic. Every feature is absurdly long and thin. Necks are almost giraffish, ears are twice the size of heads, and Warren, in particular, is 75% torso in this comic, and he's often walking around shirtless. I do love his backgrounds and shadow work, though. I think if this were a spot illustrated novel with mostly text, I'd love his work.
I don't think this is quite good enough for me to put in my headcanon for the best X-Men stories but it's a solid read with very stylized art that might appeal to someone looking for a slightly offbeat X-story.
X-Men: none
1st Appearance: Angel
A gothic horror take on the origins of Warren Worthington III (aka Angel/Archangel of the X-Men) was a solid read. A rich kid coming of age at a boarding school mixed with the story of a religious psychopath who kidnaps a psychic little girl and uses her to track down and kill mutants.
There are a ton of tropes in this collection including a priest who's a sexual predator, teens throwing homophobia at everything they don't understand, rich bullies with powerful parents, the protagonist having toxic parents who make know effort to know their own children, and secrets breaking apart a young romance. Aguirre-Sacasa handles them all well. This is almost a B+ coming of age movie that happens to work as the origin story of an X-Man.
Adam Pollina's art isn't my favorite for a long form story. He has a very particular style for how he draws anatomy that I think works beautifully for covers and full page spreads but which end up being distracting over the course of a full comic. Every feature is absurdly long and thin. Necks are almost giraffish, ears are twice the size of heads, and Warren, in particular, is 75% torso in this comic, and he's often walking around shirtless. I do love his backgrounds and shadow work, though. I think if this were a spot illustrated novel with mostly text, I'd love his work.
I don't think this is quite good enough for me to put in my headcanon for the best X-Men stories but it's a solid read with very stylized art that might appeal to someone looking for a slightly offbeat X-story.
X-Men Children Of The Atom by Joe Casey & Steve Rude
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey
1st Appearances: Jack Of Diamonds, Agent Duncan
Also featuring: Sentinels, Magneto
This is tough to review because it's specifically designed to set up the first issues of X-Men written by Stan Lee in 1963. It does an admirable job of making the characters as melodramatic and overwritten as they are in the original series. I just don't like that style, and didn't like the characters as they were presented in that era.
Like many Stan Lee-era comic characters, there is very little long term character growth or decision making. Every character is concerned precisely with what is happening in that panel. They'll be screaming in one panel and then calmly praising the same character in the next, usually mentioning that they were "testing" the character they were screaming at. You know, typical abusive parenting/mentoring techniques of mid-twentieth century America. Anyone who glamorizes that era of our history is a toxic fucken idiot.
The problem with this style of characterization, aside from panel to panel whiplash, is that it can render entire storylines within the larger text moot. For example, in this collection, Professor X goes undercover as a guidance counselor in a high school where three of the five future X-Men are students. He interacts with each of them briefly, and in each case they rebuke him and ask to be left alone. He later approaches all of them individually after they are no longer at the school with entirely different and more logical approaches. So you could just eliminate his entire time as a guidance counselor, and the story would be exactly the same.
Professor X is extremely frustrating in this book. As is Magneto, who is used very sparingly. But to give credit to Casey, their frustrating characterizations are completely in line with Stan Lee's over-the-top, inane characters during his tenure on X-Men.
If you love the silver-age X-Men comics, this is a really interesting setup for it. And it doesn't even contradict either of the two books I consider canon-y (but not Headcanon) that take place before this: X-Men: Magneto Testament and Angel: Revelations. It even sort of lines up with X-Men: First X-Men, which I'm pretty sure No One imagines as part of any canon.
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey
1st Appearances: Jack Of Diamonds, Agent Duncan
Also featuring: Sentinels, Magneto
This is tough to review because it's specifically designed to set up the first issues of X-Men written by Stan Lee in 1963. It does an admirable job of making the characters as melodramatic and overwritten as they are in the original series. I just don't like that style, and didn't like the characters as they were presented in that era.
Like many Stan Lee-era comic characters, there is very little long term character growth or decision making. Every character is concerned precisely with what is happening in that panel. They'll be screaming in one panel and then calmly praising the same character in the next, usually mentioning that they were "testing" the character they were screaming at. You know, typical abusive parenting/mentoring techniques of mid-twentieth century America. Anyone who glamorizes that era of our history is a toxic fucken idiot.
The problem with this style of characterization, aside from panel to panel whiplash, is that it can render entire storylines within the larger text moot. For example, in this collection, Professor X goes undercover as a guidance counselor in a high school where three of the five future X-Men are students. He interacts with each of them briefly, and in each case they rebuke him and ask to be left alone. He later approaches all of them individually after they are no longer at the school with entirely different and more logical approaches. So you could just eliminate his entire time as a guidance counselor, and the story would be exactly the same.
Professor X is extremely frustrating in this book. As is Magneto, who is used very sparingly. But to give credit to Casey, their frustrating characterizations are completely in line with Stan Lee's over-the-top, inane characters during his tenure on X-Men.
If you love the silver-age X-Men comics, this is a really interesting setup for it. And it doesn't even contradict either of the two books I consider canon-y (but not Headcanon) that take place before this: X-Men: Magneto Testament and Angel: Revelations. It even sort of lines up with X-Men: First X-Men, which I'm pretty sure No One imagines as part of any canon.
2. The X-Men Epic Collection Vol 1: Children Of The Atom by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Roy Thomas, and Warner Roth
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey
1st Appearances: Vanisher, Blob, Mastermind, Toad, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Namor, Bernard, Zelda, Unus, Lucifer, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Ant-Man, Wasp, Ka-Zar, Zabu, The Stranger, Juggernaut, Mimic
Also featuring: Magneto, Sentinels
Stan Lee is one of the most important people in comics history. He was incredibly creative, prolific, and he co-created almost all of your favorite Marvel characters. But Stan Lee is not, and never has been a writer. He was a carnival barker with a typewriter and some very talented artistic coworkers. (I struggle to call them friends, having read many of his coworkers' opinions on the man.) I find his thesaurized prose agonizing to read. He was just so proud of writing that I find cringey.
The characters he created are only beloved by people under eighty because other writers fleshed them out and gave them personalities. Every Stan Lee character is an angry buffoon who acts rashly. If they're a hero they have to constantly apologize for their idiocy. If they're a villain, they must twirl their imaginary mustaches and revel in how evil they are. That's it. That's all Stan Lee ever knew how to write. Every issue of his comics is exactly the same. If there is ever any actual progress in a story (a character moving on or having an epiphany) it will be undone during the issue, or in the following issue. Thanks to editorial asides and Stan's own tortured prose, continuity is always acknowledged but rarely do characters seem to have learned from said continuity.
For some people, this is The Best Era of X-Men. I don't begrudge them. I like some terribly written and constructed pop music. I like it unapologetically because it makes me happy, and likely nostalgic for when it came out. You, too should feel that way about comics. But I was born and started reading comics during the Claremont era (which I'm not nostalgic for), and didn't start trying to read the silver age adventures until I was well exposed to more complex and interesting stories.
They're important in the history of comics. They were an evolution in writing serialized stories, and shouldn't be forgotten. But even though Homo Erectus was a necessary and important stage of human evolution, I don't dream of hanging out in a cave somewhere listening to one tell me stories about a future that is now well within my past.
The second half of the collection matures into more long-form storytelling with an evolving and revolving cast of villains.
Mainly, a nebulous space character with a variety of powers gets entangled with Magneto, removes him from Earth, allowing the X-Men to deal with Juggernaut and then The Sentinels before Magneto returns with a much smaller scale scheme than usual.
It's the usual hokey Stan Lee yarns, though this volume sees Alex Toth and Warner Roth (as Jay Gavin) step in to pencil a few issues, and we also see the first couple of issues written by Roy Thomas, under Stan Lee's editorship.
I don't care about any of the villains in this book. The original concept of The Sentinels: Robots designed by man to protect them from mutants end up rebelling is such an early to mid-twentieth century trope that it requires defter hands than Stan Lee's to make it interesting to anyone over the age of nine. (Which, I understand, is around the target age of comics at the time.) Magneto continues to be a mustache twirling buffoon instead of the complex and conflicted villain/anti-hero he became later. Juggernaut is a great introduction here but The Stranger and the return of the incredibly dull pseudo-Magneto, Lucifer, had me barely resisting the urge to start flipping pages and skimming the stories rather than digesting them.
If you love silver-age stuff, this is still probably going to be a blast for you, but if you're not someone who adores 1960s comics, this isn't going to be the collection that changes your mind.
As much as this volume isn't for me, I am going to include at least this first one in my X-Men Headcanon, since the more interesting prequel stories do lead directly to the first issue in this collection. But I do it begrudgingly, and also to include the header image for this post, which is from page 8 of X-Men #1 (1963) which accidentally foreshadows something that was made canon in 2016.
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey
1st Appearances: Vanisher, Blob, Mastermind, Toad, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Namor, Bernard, Zelda, Unus, Lucifer, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Ant-Man, Wasp, Ka-Zar, Zabu, The Stranger, Juggernaut, Mimic
Also featuring: Magneto, Sentinels
Stan Lee is one of the most important people in comics history. He was incredibly creative, prolific, and he co-created almost all of your favorite Marvel characters. But Stan Lee is not, and never has been a writer. He was a carnival barker with a typewriter and some very talented artistic coworkers. (I struggle to call them friends, having read many of his coworkers' opinions on the man.) I find his thesaurized prose agonizing to read. He was just so proud of writing that I find cringey.
The characters he created are only beloved by people under eighty because other writers fleshed them out and gave them personalities. Every Stan Lee character is an angry buffoon who acts rashly. If they're a hero they have to constantly apologize for their idiocy. If they're a villain, they must twirl their imaginary mustaches and revel in how evil they are. That's it. That's all Stan Lee ever knew how to write. Every issue of his comics is exactly the same. If there is ever any actual progress in a story (a character moving on or having an epiphany) it will be undone during the issue, or in the following issue. Thanks to editorial asides and Stan's own tortured prose, continuity is always acknowledged but rarely do characters seem to have learned from said continuity.
For some people, this is The Best Era of X-Men. I don't begrudge them. I like some terribly written and constructed pop music. I like it unapologetically because it makes me happy, and likely nostalgic for when it came out. You, too should feel that way about comics. But I was born and started reading comics during the Claremont era (which I'm not nostalgic for), and didn't start trying to read the silver age adventures until I was well exposed to more complex and interesting stories.
They're important in the history of comics. They were an evolution in writing serialized stories, and shouldn't be forgotten. But even though Homo Erectus was a necessary and important stage of human evolution, I don't dream of hanging out in a cave somewhere listening to one tell me stories about a future that is now well within my past.
The second half of the collection matures into more long-form storytelling with an evolving and revolving cast of villains.
Mainly, a nebulous space character with a variety of powers gets entangled with Magneto, removes him from Earth, allowing the X-Men to deal with Juggernaut and then The Sentinels before Magneto returns with a much smaller scale scheme than usual.
It's the usual hokey Stan Lee yarns, though this volume sees Alex Toth and Warner Roth (as Jay Gavin) step in to pencil a few issues, and we also see the first couple of issues written by Roy Thomas, under Stan Lee's editorship.
I don't care about any of the villains in this book. The original concept of The Sentinels: Robots designed by man to protect them from mutants end up rebelling is such an early to mid-twentieth century trope that it requires defter hands than Stan Lee's to make it interesting to anyone over the age of nine. (Which, I understand, is around the target age of comics at the time.) Magneto continues to be a mustache twirling buffoon instead of the complex and conflicted villain/anti-hero he became later. Juggernaut is a great introduction here but The Stranger and the return of the incredibly dull pseudo-Magneto, Lucifer, had me barely resisting the urge to start flipping pages and skimming the stories rather than digesting them.
If you love silver-age stuff, this is still probably going to be a blast for you, but if you're not someone who adores 1960s comics, this isn't going to be the collection that changes your mind.
As much as this volume isn't for me, I am going to include at least this first one in my X-Men Headcanon, since the more interesting prequel stories do lead directly to the first issue in this collection. But I do it begrudgingly, and also to include the header image for this post, which is from page 8 of X-Men #1 (1963) which accidentally foreshadows something that was made canon in 2016.
or 2. X-Men First Class Mutants 101 by Jeff Parker, Roger Cruz, Kevin Nowlan, Nick Dragotta, Paul Smith, Colleen Coover, Victor Olazaba, Michael Allred, Laura Allred, Val Staples, and Pete Pantazis
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey
1st Appearances,: Lizard, Jarvis, Dr. Strange, The Vanir, Ymir, Skrulls, Gorilla Man
Also Featuring: Blob, Sentinels, Juggernaut, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Bernard, Zelda
If you just can't stomach the Silver Age comics, this is an alternative introduction to the first proper team of X-Men. Written in 2007, it takes place during Children of The Atom. While it never contradicts the stories there, it does muddle history a bit by including more modern technology. Also, the characters are more in-tune with their modern selves rather than everyone being a reactionary fool like they are in The Silver Age.
There's a ton of fun tie-ins to the original X-run, but none of them are necessary to follow the stories. Also, each issue is a one-off story, usually featuring a member of the wider Marvel Universe.
If you're a completist, or just wanting to read the adventures of the original team, I would place this between the two epic collections of the original run, Children Of The Atom and Lonely Are The Hunted.
X-Men: Prof X, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey
1st Appearances,: Lizard, Jarvis, Dr. Strange, The Vanir, Ymir, Skrulls, Gorilla Man
Also Featuring: Blob, Sentinels, Juggernaut, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Bernard, Zelda
If you just can't stomach the Silver Age comics, this is an alternative introduction to the first proper team of X-Men. Written in 2007, it takes place during Children of The Atom. While it never contradicts the stories there, it does muddle history a bit by including more modern technology. Also, the characters are more in-tune with their modern selves rather than everyone being a reactionary fool like they are in The Silver Age.
There's a ton of fun tie-ins to the original X-run, but none of them are necessary to follow the stories. Also, each issue is a one-off story, usually featuring a member of the wider Marvel Universe.
If you're a completist, or just wanting to read the adventures of the original team, I would place this between the two epic collections of the original run, Children Of The Atom and Lonely Are The Hunted.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to dive into one of the more interesting long-form stories they've told in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: The Secret Invasion.
The comic book series took place throughout most of 2008, and was a sloppy, divisive mess with a lot of very cool moments and ideas buried under a pile of mediocre plot points and side stories. The main series was a bit of a turd, especially given how promising the build up to it had been. But the build up and then the fallout were some of the best bits of storytelling Marvel has done.
I'm going to present this story three ways. First, All Of The Trade Paperbacks That Have Secret Invasion Somewhere In The Name. There are twenty-seven of them, and I'm going to give you a brief run down of all of them in as close to a satisfying chronological order as is possible, given Marvel's complicated relationship with how time functions.
Next, I'm going to cut everything down to The Best Ten Books Of The Series. You might notice that the order is slightly different and that's because it doesn't have to track with a bunch of dull side-stories. I hope the upcoming series is similar to this core set of books.
Finally, are the books surrounding Secret Invasion that tell a Marvel-encompassing story. It's my own continuity. All but one of the books on the list I consider to be four or five stars and they do build up to The Secret Invasion, and then give you a cool epilogue.
The comic book series took place throughout most of 2008, and was a sloppy, divisive mess with a lot of very cool moments and ideas buried under a pile of mediocre plot points and side stories. The main series was a bit of a turd, especially given how promising the build up to it had been. But the build up and then the fallout were some of the best bits of storytelling Marvel has done.
I'm going to present this story three ways. First, All Of The Trade Paperbacks That Have Secret Invasion Somewhere In The Name. There are twenty-seven of them, and I'm going to give you a brief run down of all of them in as close to a satisfying chronological order as is possible, given Marvel's complicated relationship with how time functions.
Next, I'm going to cut everything down to The Best Ten Books Of The Series. You might notice that the order is slightly different and that's because it doesn't have to track with a bunch of dull side-stories. I hope the upcoming series is similar to this core set of books.
Finally, are the books surrounding Secret Invasion that tell a Marvel-encompassing story. It's my own continuity. All but one of the books on the list I consider to be four or five stars and they do build up to The Secret Invasion, and then give you a cool epilogue.
Most of the reading guides I've encountered suggest you read the main title, Secret Invason, first, and then expand your knowledge by reading all the side stories. I politely disagree. The main volume of Secret Invasion is a jagged mess of continuity that tries to incorporate the main storybeats of the tie-in volumes which mainly take place in New York, while also telling the story of The Avengers and New Avengers dealing with a Skrull infestation in the Savage Land. I think the main title works best as a recap engine rather then setting up the story. S0 here's how I would read All Of The Secret Invasion Tie-Ins, if I had to.
1. The Complete Marvel Secret Invasion
1. Captain Marvel Secret Invasion
This volume begins back during Marvel's Civil War, where we discover that the Kree warrior, Captain Mar-vell, who has been dead in canon since the 1980s. No longer infected with the lung cancer that killed him many years ago, Mar-Vell is living in France where he obsesses over a painting in the Louvre. Soon, the outside world becomes aware of his seeming ressurection. A cult pops up. Tony Stark, the current head of SHIELD wants to know how Mar-Vell is alive again. Mar-Vell's mentee, Carol Danvers (herself, a future Captain Marvel) tries to help him understand his place in the world. Oh, and the Skrulls seem to somehow be involved, which makes Mar-Vell very nervous. This is one of the best books in the whole Secret Invasion line, and it shows a lot of heart and reverance for Mar-Vell and the universe he inhabits. It's on all three versions of my Secret Invasion list.
This volume begins back during Marvel's Civil War, where we discover that the Kree warrior, Captain Mar-vell, who has been dead in canon since the 1980s. No longer infected with the lung cancer that killed him many years ago, Mar-Vell is living in France where he obsesses over a painting in the Louvre. Soon, the outside world becomes aware of his seeming ressurection. A cult pops up. Tony Stark, the current head of SHIELD wants to know how Mar-Vell is alive again. Mar-Vell's mentee, Carol Danvers (herself, a future Captain Marvel) tries to help him understand his place in the world. Oh, and the Skrulls seem to somehow be involved, which makes Mar-Vell very nervous. This is one of the best books in the whole Secret Invasion line, and it shows a lot of heart and reverance for Mar-Vell and the universe he inhabits. It's on all three versions of my Secret Invasion list.
2. Secret Invasion Infiltration
This is a prelude anthology featuring several of the issues that lead up to the actual Secret Invasion. Shows like Buffy The Vampire Slayer used to do pre-credit teasers to remind you of the important storybeats that led you to the current episode. And some series (I think "Lost" might have done this) do an entire full episode where they recap the series highlights just before the final episode. This is collection is like that. Here are four of the most important stories that set up Secret Invasion, stretching all the way back to the first appearance of The Skruls in the 1960s. It's a decent collection, and certainly does its job at setting up the event.
This is a prelude anthology featuring several of the issues that lead up to the actual Secret Invasion. Shows like Buffy The Vampire Slayer used to do pre-credit teasers to remind you of the important storybeats that led you to the current episode. And some series (I think "Lost" might have done this) do an entire full episode where they recap the series highlights just before the final episode. This is collection is like that. Here are four of the most important stories that set up Secret Invasion, stretching all the way back to the first appearance of The Skruls in the 1960s. It's a decent collection, and certainly does its job at setting up the event.
3. Secret Invasion: Inhumans
A book of diminishing returns, this book focuses on the Kree-created inhumans who've discovered (as we did in Secret Invasion Infiltration, that one of their own has been replaced by a Skrull. While the Skrulls engage in a massive invasion of the Inhumans' base, a core group of Inhumans go off in search of revenge, and to discover what happened to the person who was replaced. There are some nifty art choices, but this was the first disappointing book in the series
A book of diminishing returns, this book focuses on the Kree-created inhumans who've discovered (as we did in Secret Invasion Infiltration, that one of their own has been replaced by a Skrull. While the Skrulls engage in a massive invasion of the Inhumans' base, a core group of Inhumans go off in search of revenge, and to discover what happened to the person who was replaced. There are some nifty art choices, but this was the first disappointing book in the series
4. Secret Invasion: Thor
If you like mediocre Thor stories, this is every one issue mediocre Thor story extended into three issues using extensive narration boxes. It's supposed to be a feel good story about how the people of Midgard come to the aid of their Asgardian neighbors but it's really just an excuse to involve Asgard in the Secret Invasion. It's written by Matt Fraction, who must have been busy with other projects because this is one of his least impressive books.
If you like mediocre Thor stories, this is every one issue mediocre Thor story extended into three issues using extensive narration boxes. It's supposed to be a feel good story about how the people of Midgard come to the aid of their Asgardian neighbors but it's really just an excuse to involve Asgard in the Secret Invasion. It's written by Matt Fraction, who must have been busy with other projects because this is one of his least impressive books.
5. Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four
Read the second half of this volume first, it includes a couple of issues that set up the first half of this book (Marvel's trade collection editors are notoriously awful at understanding how narrative structure works). Once you've read the 20th century stories, flip back to the beginning and see how The Thing and The Flash, the Richards children, and the top of the Baxter Building end up in The Negative Zone, and what that has to do with the sudden influx of Skrulls in the Marvel Universe. I think this is one of the better Secret Invasion books but that opinion doesn't appear to be unanimous among Marvel fans.
Read the second half of this volume first, it includes a couple of issues that set up the first half of this book (Marvel's trade collection editors are notoriously awful at understanding how narrative structure works). Once you've read the 20th century stories, flip back to the beginning and see how The Thing and The Flash, the Richards children, and the top of the Baxter Building end up in The Negative Zone, and what that has to do with the sudden influx of Skrulls in the Marvel Universe. I think this is one of the better Secret Invasion books but that opinion doesn't appear to be unanimous among Marvel fans.
6. Mighty Avengers Vol 3: Secret Invasion
A really enjoyable pre-Secret Invasion book, this volume contains four behind-the-scenes skrull activities set just before/at the beginning of The secret Invasion. Nick Fury in hiding. Nick Fury and Quake (yes, from the Agents of SHIELD show) recruit and form The Secret Warriors, the Skrulls fuck with the mentally unstable Sentry, and Hank Pym is targeted. Each story is solid, and gives insight into some of the impending storylines from the main series. It's definitely worth reading, no matter how involved you would like to get with Secret Invasion. It's a top tier side story collection.
A really enjoyable pre-Secret Invasion book, this volume contains four behind-the-scenes skrull activities set just before/at the beginning of The secret Invasion. Nick Fury in hiding. Nick Fury and Quake (yes, from the Agents of SHIELD show) recruit and form The Secret Warriors, the Skrulls fuck with the mentally unstable Sentry, and Hank Pym is targeted. Each story is solid, and gives insight into some of the impending storylines from the main series. It's definitely worth reading, no matter how involved you would like to get with Secret Invasion. It's a top tier side story collection.
7. Avengers The Intiative Vol 3: Secret Invasion
The Initiative was a post-Civil War book that threw 50 new teams together and tried to follow cool characters from several of them. It was too crowded with ideas and characters, and apart from a few interesting issues, it was mostly just a book to test out new characters as it waited to be canceled. Here, we got two interesting characters to focus on, and an ending that could have been really impactful is nerfed by bad pacing and general sloppiness. Even the timely return of Skrull Kill Krew went from oooooh to ewwwww pretty quickly. Feel free to skip this one
The Initiative was a post-Civil War book that threw 50 new teams together and tried to follow cool characters from several of them. It was too crowded with ideas and characters, and apart from a few interesting issues, it was mostly just a book to test out new characters as it waited to be canceled. Here, we got two interesting characters to focus on, and an ending that could have been really impactful is nerfed by bad pacing and general sloppiness. Even the timely return of Skrull Kill Krew went from oooooh to ewwwww pretty quickly. Feel free to skip this one
8. Secret Invasion: War Machine
Spinning out of a scene in Avengers The Initiative 3: Secret Invasion is this story about how Rhodey (aka War Machine) deals with the Skrull infiltration. It is, by far, the worst of the Secret Invasion books. It doesn't have any interesting concepts, there are no impactful character beats, it's a very generic superhero story focused on a character that isn't given much personality. It could seriously kill the momentum of someone who's enjoyed this Secret Invasion readthrough thusfar, so if you do read it and are thinking of tapping out, know that it never gets worse than this book
Spinning out of a scene in Avengers The Initiative 3: Secret Invasion is this story about how Rhodey (aka War Machine) deals with the Skrull infiltration. It is, by far, the worst of the Secret Invasion books. It doesn't have any interesting concepts, there are no impactful character beats, it's a very generic superhero story focused on a character that isn't given much personality. It could seriously kill the momentum of someone who's enjoyed this Secret Invasion readthrough thusfar, so if you do read it and are thinking of tapping out, know that it never gets worse than this book
9. Noval Vol 3: Secret Invasion
Kieth Giffen, Dan Abnett, and Andy Lanning brought Marvel's cosmic universe characters back to relevance around the time that Civil War and Secret Invasion were dominating the Earth-focused stories. The space soap opera does a great job at explaining alien races' goals and interrelationships. In this volume, Marvel's top space cop has to deal with failing technology, Galactus, and intergalactic politics, and THEN he becomes aware of the impending Skrull invasion. There's an effortless flow of plots in this book that makes me want to go back and read the entire 21st century Marvel Cosmic stories
Kieth Giffen, Dan Abnett, and Andy Lanning brought Marvel's cosmic universe characters back to relevance around the time that Civil War and Secret Invasion were dominating the Earth-focused stories. The space soap opera does a great job at explaining alien races' goals and interrelationships. In this volume, Marvel's top space cop has to deal with failing technology, Galactus, and intergalactic politics, and THEN he becomes aware of the impending Skrull invasion. There's an effortless flow of plots in this book that makes me want to go back and read the entire 21st century Marvel Cosmic stories
10. Captain Britain & MI3 Vol 1: Secret Invasion
This is the first volume that had to over come one of my prejudices. I just don't care about the British portion of the Marvel Universe or its magical/historical aspects. This book didn't help me win me over. It's filled with really melodramatic British nationalism, including a character being resurrected by a bunch of British flags weaving themselves together in the air. The only part of the books I found interesting was another Good Skrull storyline.
This is the first volume that had to over come one of my prejudices. I just don't care about the British portion of the Marvel Universe or its magical/historical aspects. This book didn't help me win me over. It's filled with really melodramatic British nationalism, including a character being resurrected by a bunch of British flags weaving themselves together in the air. The only part of the books I found interesting was another Good Skrull storyline.
11. New Avengers Vol 8: Secret Invasion
Perhaps the strongest anthology style volume, so far, as Bendis shows us the setup to Secret Invasion through the eyes of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Wolverine, Maya Lopez, and the Skrulls on homeland. Each story is interesting but the first two are especially strong. There's also an issue that takes place in the Savage Land during the midst of the main series. That issue is a mess, and hard to follow, even if you have an A in Marvel comic reading.
Perhaps the strongest anthology style volume, so far, as Bendis shows us the setup to Secret Invasion through the eyes of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Wolverine, Maya Lopez, and the Skrulls on homeland. Each story is interesting but the first two are especially strong. There's also an issue that takes place in the Savage Land during the midst of the main series. That issue is a mess, and hard to follow, even if you have an A in Marvel comic reading.
12. Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust?
A waste of paper. This should only be bought if you have a serious completist fetish. It has barely any stories in it, mainly devoting pages to Marvel Encyclopedia style information about the characters in the Secret Invasion. There is a brief story about Captain Marvel that comes after the excellent Captain Marvel Secret Invasion, and it's not great, and certainly not good enough to justify paying for the rest of this book.
A waste of paper. This should only be bought if you have a serious completist fetish. It has barely any stories in it, mainly devoting pages to Marvel Encyclopedia style information about the characters in the Secret Invasion. There is a brief story about Captain Marvel that comes after the excellent Captain Marvel Secret Invasion, and it's not great, and certainly not good enough to justify paying for the rest of this book.
13. X-Factor Vol 6: Secret Invasion
This is the first part of a crossover with She-Hulk that I'm calling Secret Invasion: Detroit, it has a promising sense of story. There's a focus on recent X-Men character, Darwin, the return of Longshot, and an intriguing connection to the Skrull Invasion. Unfortunately, it's saddled with what may be the worst art in the history of Marvel Comics. Larry Stroman was talented. His work on David's 90s X-Factor run was very much of the era but with an interesting sense of style. His work here looks like he metaphorically and literally took a dump on a page and then ran his fingers idly through it. It's unreadable.
This is the first part of a crossover with She-Hulk that I'm calling Secret Invasion: Detroit, it has a promising sense of story. There's a focus on recent X-Men character, Darwin, the return of Longshot, and an intriguing connection to the Skrull Invasion. Unfortunately, it's saddled with what may be the worst art in the history of Marvel Comics. Larry Stroman was talented. His work on David's 90s X-Factor run was very much of the era but with an interesting sense of style. His work here looks like he metaphorically and literally took a dump on a page and then ran his fingers idly through it. It's unreadable.
14. She-Hulk Vol 8: Secret Invasion
Part Two of Secret Invasion: Detroit, there's some overlap here, as we see She-Hulk's friend, a reformed Skrull warn her of the impending Secret Invasion before they end up caught up in X-Factor's madness. This is followed by The Good Skrull battling her father and her past. It has some real cheesy moments but the idea behind the story is interesting.
Part Two of Secret Invasion: Detroit, there's some overlap here, as we see She-Hulk's friend, a reformed Skrull warn her of the impending Secret Invasion before they end up caught up in X-Factor's madness. This is followed by The Good Skrull battling her father and her past. It has some real cheesy moments but the idea behind the story is interesting.
15. Secret Invasion: Young Avengers/Runaways
Part one of Meanwhile In New York. A messy crossover of two previously excellent books. Brian K Vaughan's Runaways was fantastic, as was Jim Cheung's Young Avengers. Neither of them workd on this book. Each team has Good Skrulls (TM) on them so it should lead to some theoretically interesting twists but it's just a boring paint by numbers Marvel adventure with some Skrull action sequences.
Part one of Meanwhile In New York. A messy crossover of two previously excellent books. Brian K Vaughan's Runaways was fantastic, as was Jim Cheung's Young Avengers. Neither of them workd on this book. Each team has Good Skrulls (TM) on them so it should lead to some theoretically interesting twists but it's just a boring paint by numbers Marvel adventure with some Skrull action sequences.
16. Secret Invasion: Home Invasion
I tend to enjoy books where you see a superhero universe through the eyes of a reporter or some random schlub. This is a random schlub story about an unimportant girl whose brother turns out to be a Skrull, even though he doesn't appear to be anyone worth impersonating. She escapes to her prom to meet up with her bf, and then they're chased by Skrulls until they run into The Young Avengers (but no Runaways), Binary, and Nick Fury. It's a very melodramatic teen book which wasn't my favorite but doesn't deserve the wrath I've seen other reviewers direct towards it. Part 2 of Meanwhile In New York.
I tend to enjoy books where you see a superhero universe through the eyes of a reporter or some random schlub. This is a random schlub story about an unimportant girl whose brother turns out to be a Skrull, even though he doesn't appear to be anyone worth impersonating. She escapes to her prom to meet up with her bf, and then they're chased by Skrulls until they run into The Young Avengers (but no Runaways), Binary, and Nick Fury. It's a very melodramatic teen book which wasn't my favorite but doesn't deserve the wrath I've seen other reviewers direct towards it. Part 2 of Meanwhile In New York.
17: Secret Invasion: The Amazing Spider-Man
Except it's not Spider-Man because he's in The Savage Land fighting The Secret Invasion so this book, the third Meanwhile In New York story follows relatively new Spider-family member, Jackpot, and some of Spidey's other B characters from the time. This is an inoffensive and unimpressive book that isn't necessary to follow the events of Secret Invasion, but it's a fun read.
Except it's not Spider-Man because he's in The Savage Land fighting The Secret Invasion so this book, the third Meanwhile In New York story follows relatively new Spider-family member, Jackpot, and some of Spidey's other B characters from the time. This is an inoffensive and unimpressive book that isn't necessary to follow the events of Secret Invasion, but it's a fun read.
18. Secret Invasion: X-Men
The Skrulls in San Francisco think they'll have it easy until they realize that the mutants have recently settled in Utopia, an island off the coast of California. This book does an excellent job of using many characters but using them well, and tying into previous storylines that have nothing to do with The Skrulls but that become important to how they free The Bay Area from Skrull concentration camps.
The Skrulls in San Francisco think they'll have it easy until they realize that the mutants have recently settled in Utopia, an island off the coast of California. This book does an excellent job of using many characters but using them well, and tying into previous storylines that have nothing to do with The Skrulls but that become important to how they free The Bay Area from Skrull concentration camps.
19. New Avengers Vol 9: Secret Invasion Book 2
The best of the Secret Invasion anthologies, we see the setups and crises of Secret Invasion through the eyes of specific New Avengers and their rogues gallery. This volume is Bendis at his best.
The best of the Secret Invasion anthologies, we see the setups and crises of Secret Invasion through the eyes of specific New Avengers and their rogues gallery. This volume is Bendis at his best.
20. Secret Invasion: New Warriors
The previous New Warriors team was responsible for the incident that caused Marvel's Civil War. This newer roster is mainly just a bunch of C-grade or less characters thrown together. I just didn't care about anything that happened in this book
The previous New Warriors team was responsible for the incident that caused Marvel's Civil War. This newer roster is mainly just a bunch of C-grade or less characters thrown together. I just didn't care about anything that happened in this book
21. Incredible Hercules: Secret Invasion
Despite the "Secret Invasion" label on this cover, it's referred to as the "Sacred Invasion" within the story. I found this story about various human gods versus various Skrull gods absoutely impenetrable. I would really have to struggle to care less about a single character or plot detail in this book. It has zero effect on the overall secret invasion story.
Despite the "Secret Invasion" label on this cover, it's referred to as the "Sacred Invasion" within the story. I found this story about various human gods versus various Skrull gods absoutely impenetrable. I would really have to struggle to care less about a single character or plot detail in this book. It has zero effect on the overall secret invasion story.
22. Carol Danvers: The Ms Marvel Years Book 2
The Secret Invasion focused portion of this book is long out of print, but this book stretches from the birth of The Initiative (which plays heavily in Secret Invasion anyway) to the aftermath of the invasion with a strong focus on some scenes from the main Secret Invasion title where Carol Danvers, a well-known Kree warrior, is believed to be a Skrull
The Secret Invasion focused portion of this book is long out of print, but this book stretches from the birth of The Initiative (which plays heavily in Secret Invasion anyway) to the aftermath of the invasion with a strong focus on some scenes from the main Secret Invasion title where Carol Danvers, a well-known Kree warrior, is believed to be a Skrull
23. Thunderbolts: Secret Invasion
Norman Osborn is about to be The Big Bad of the Marvel Universe at the end of Secret Invasion. Here we see his team of supposedly reformed criminals trying to get good PR by fighting The Skrulls. Apart from a brief Captain Marvel scene (which also appears in the main Secret Invasion book), this is a story of some pretty good ideas, poorly written.
Norman Osborn is about to be The Big Bad of the Marvel Universe at the end of Secret Invasion. Here we see his team of supposedly reformed criminals trying to get good PR by fighting The Skrulls. Apart from a brief Captain Marvel scene (which also appears in the main Secret Invasion book), this is a story of some pretty good ideas, poorly written.
24. Deadpool: Secret Invasion
For a better book explaining Osborn's rise to power (though he barely appears in the book), Deadpool is the way to go. It's a silly Wade Wilson vs Skrulls and Super Skrulls book that manages to include a key plot to the setup for Dark Reign that doesn't appear in any other book. This was the very beginning of Daniel Way's run on Deadpool, which is probably the best run in the title's history.
For a better book explaining Osborn's rise to power (though he barely appears in the book), Deadpool is the way to go. It's a silly Wade Wilson vs Skrulls and Super Skrulls book that manages to include a key plot to the setup for Dark Reign that doesn't appear in any other book. This was the very beginning of Daniel Way's run on Deadpool, which is probably the best run in the title's history.
25. Mighty Avengers Vol 4: Secret Invasion Book 2
Marvel made some strange editorial choices when it came to telling the Secret Invasion story. This book is one of them. This is not the story of what The Mighty Avengers were going through during The Secret Invasion, it's five major events of The Secret Invasion that all took place behind-the-scenes of the main book. The only connective tissue is that Skrulls are involved. Each book focuses on different characters and at very different points in the main storyline. I love it, but it's not really connected to The Mighty Avengers.
Marvel made some strange editorial choices when it came to telling the Secret Invasion story. This book is one of them. This is not the story of what The Mighty Avengers were going through during The Secret Invasion, it's five major events of The Secret Invasion that all took place behind-the-scenes of the main book. The only connective tissue is that Skrulls are involved. Each book focuses on different characters and at very different points in the main storyline. I love it, but it's not really connected to The Mighty Avengers.
26. Secret Invasion: Front Line
One of two Secret Invasion books that focus on the point of view of non-superheroes, there is a lot to like in this collection. Ben Urich of one of Marvel's great background characters, particularly when he shows up in Daredevil. Here, he's doing an interview when the Skrull invasion hits and has to reckon with his mortality, his relationship with his wife, and his commitment to his job. We also see a police officer trying to do the right thing and a daughter trying to connect with her father during the crisis. There are a few great emotional beats in this story. It does suffer from some of that good old accidental racism of early 2000s comics. Why do we need to have a gang pop up in the middle of this story? Why do they have to be Black? What purpose does that story tell that couldn't have been more compelling if it were a group of skinheads or just a random assortment of people consumed by the chaos of the invasion? It took me out of the story for a few pages as I thought about why that particular storyline needed to be injected into this narrative. Otherwise, this was a solid read.
One of two Secret Invasion books that focus on the point of view of non-superheroes, there is a lot to like in this collection. Ben Urich of one of Marvel's great background characters, particularly when he shows up in Daredevil. Here, he's doing an interview when the Skrull invasion hits and has to reckon with his mortality, his relationship with his wife, and his commitment to his job. We also see a police officer trying to do the right thing and a daughter trying to connect with her father during the crisis. There are a few great emotional beats in this story. It does suffer from some of that good old accidental racism of early 2000s comics. Why do we need to have a gang pop up in the middle of this story? Why do they have to be Black? What purpose does that story tell that couldn't have been more compelling if it were a group of skinheads or just a random assortment of people consumed by the chaos of the invasion? It took me out of the story for a few pages as I thought about why that particular storyline needed to be injected into this narrative. Otherwise, this was a solid read.
27. Secret Invasion
In professional wrestling, there are all sorts of different type of matches. There are technical masterpieces, strong style sluggers, hardcore violent matches, and spotfests, to name a few. In comics, I'm usually a fan of technical masterpieces. Stories that build up to a complex confrontation with twists, and turns. Even when you can easily guess the outcome, it's fascinating to watch the journey. Secret Invasion is Brian Michael Bendis's spotfest. It's less a story, and more of a bunch of cool reveals that bounce you to the next surprise plot point. It never really settles enough for you to get invested in the characters because it's always And This Person Is A Skrull And That Person Dies And This Person Is A Skrull And Look At All These Skrulls Who Is A Skrull Now Oh My God What Will Happen Now That We Know That Person Is A Skrull.
In professional wrestling, there are all sorts of different type of matches. There are technical masterpieces, strong style sluggers, hardcore violent matches, and spotfests, to name a few. In comics, I'm usually a fan of technical masterpieces. Stories that build up to a complex confrontation with twists, and turns. Even when you can easily guess the outcome, it's fascinating to watch the journey. Secret Invasion is Brian Michael Bendis's spotfest. It's less a story, and more of a bunch of cool reveals that bounce you to the next surprise plot point. It never really settles enough for you to get invested in the characters because it's always And This Person Is A Skrull And That Person Dies And This Person Is A Skrull And Look At All These Skrulls Who Is A Skrull Now Oh My God What Will Happen Now That We Know That Person Is A Skrull.
2. The Best Of Marvel's Secret Invasion
All of the descriptions for this list are in the above entry. This is just the streamlined order for people who don't have time to read the mediocre to terrible books.
1. Captain Marvel Secret Invasion
2. Secret Invasion Infiltration
3. Mighty Avengers Vol 3: Secret Invasion
4. Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four
5. Nova Vol 3: Secret Invasion
6. Mighty Avengers Vol 4: Secret Invasion Book 2
7. New Avengers Vol 9: Secret Invasion Book 2
8. Black Panther: Secret Invasion
9. Secret Invasion
10. Frontline: Secret Invasion
1. Captain Marvel Secret Invasion
2. Secret Invasion Infiltration
3. Mighty Avengers Vol 3: Secret Invasion
4. Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four
5. Nova Vol 3: Secret Invasion
6. Mighty Avengers Vol 4: Secret Invasion Book 2
7. New Avengers Vol 9: Secret Invasion Book 2
8. Black Panther: Secret Invasion
9. Secret Invasion
10. Frontline: Secret Invasion
3. The Marvelous Secret Invasion
Here's a look at a few of the most important storylines of 21st century Marvel, with some preamble, a focus on The Secret Invasion, and an epilogue that ties up some loose ends that don't, necessarily, involve Skrulls.
1. Marvels
The ultimate classic retelling of the early days of the Marvel Universe from the Golden Age of the 1930s to the early Silver Age of the 1970s, Kurt Busiek gives an in-depth study of the world's initial reactions to superheroes, mutants, and the mid-twentieth century science boom through the eyes of photographer Phil Sheldon. This is densely packed primer on Marvel history by one of its best writers. It's also the series that introduced the world to Alex Ross. Long gone are the days when I was interested in his endlessly static and uninspiring covers, but in this book, you really get a sense for why he was such a big deal when the world was first exposed to his art.
The ultimate classic retelling of the early days of the Marvel Universe from the Golden Age of the 1930s to the early Silver Age of the 1970s, Kurt Busiek gives an in-depth study of the world's initial reactions to superheroes, mutants, and the mid-twentieth century science boom through the eyes of photographer Phil Sheldon. This is densely packed primer on Marvel history by one of its best writers. It's also the series that introduced the world to Alex Ross. Long gone are the days when I was interested in his endlessly static and uninspiring covers, but in this book, you really get a sense for why he was such a big deal when the world was first exposed to his art.
2. West Coast Avengers Epic Coll Vol 3: Vision Quest
A spin-off of the Avengers series, the West Coast Avengers were a chance for writers to explore some of the less popular but equally interesting characters. So, no Iron Man, Captain America, or Thor but Moon Knight, She-Hulk, Hawkeye, Vision, and Scarlet Witch. There are several stories of varying quality in this collection, but for us, there's the problem of The Scarlet Witch's children. Where they came from, who they are. This book is the inspiration for WandaVision, as well as some later books on this list. It's a fascinating conceit.
A spin-off of the Avengers series, the West Coast Avengers were a chance for writers to explore some of the less popular but equally interesting characters. So, no Iron Man, Captain America, or Thor but Moon Knight, She-Hulk, Hawkeye, Vision, and Scarlet Witch. There are several stories of varying quality in this collection, but for us, there's the problem of The Scarlet Witch's children. Where they came from, who they are. This book is the inspiration for WandaVision, as well as some later books on this list. It's a fascinating conceit.
3. The Death Of Captain Marvel
Marvel's first ever graphic novel, this is the story of how an early hero succumbs to cancer as a result of his superheroing career. It features a bunch of Avengers, and other hero cameos.
Marvel's first ever graphic novel, this is the story of how an early hero succumbs to cancer as a result of his superheroing career. It features a bunch of Avengers, and other hero cameos.
4. Skull Kill Krew
Two of the biggest writers of early 21st century comics, Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, cut their Marvel teeth on this violent mini-series where the Skrulls who were turned into cows way back in Fantastic Four #2 are slaughtered and served as beef, infecting the human population who became heroes who hunted down Skrulls who were already, in the mid-90s, infiltrating the Marvel Universe.
Two of the biggest writers of early 21st century comics, Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, cut their Marvel teeth on this violent mini-series where the Skrulls who were turned into cows way back in Fantastic Four #2 are slaughtered and served as beef, infecting the human population who became heroes who hunted down Skrulls who were already, in the mid-90s, infiltrating the Marvel Universe.
5. Marvel Boy By Grant Morrison
A Kree warrior is on a quest to kill Skrulls when he gets caught on Earth, and loses all of his friends and loved ones and has to start his life over after being a prisoner of one corporation, only to be re-imprisoned by SHIELD. It's there that he declares war on Earth.
A Kree warrior is on a quest to kill Skrulls when he gets caught on Earth, and loses all of his friends and loved ones and has to start his life over after being a prisoner of one corporation, only to be re-imprisoned by SHIELD. It's there that he declares war on Earth.
6. Avengers Disassembled
Brian Michael Bendis is the main architect of Secret Invasion, and this was the first huge Marvel event by him that caught my attention. The Avengers are in a flux period, their roster isn't exactly The Best Team Ever. At a pool party, someone inadvertantly mentions an event from the past that ends up completely destroying the team.
Brian Michael Bendis is the main architect of Secret Invasion, and this was the first huge Marvel event by him that caught my attention. The Avengers are in a flux period, their roster isn't exactly The Best Team Ever. At a pool party, someone inadvertantly mentions an event from the past that ends up completely destroying the team.
7 & 8. New Avengers Vol 1 & 2
Six months after Diassembled, a breakout at a supervillain prison called The Raft means that a new, all-star team of Avengers comes together, featuring Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Spider-Woman, and The Sentry. And once the supervillains have been rounded up, the new team must figure out who exactly The Sentry is, and whether they can help him stay sane.
Six months after Diassembled, a breakout at a supervillain prison called The Raft means that a new, all-star team of Avengers comes together, featuring Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Spider-Woman, and The Sentry. And once the supervillains have been rounded up, the new team must figure out who exactly The Sentry is, and whether they can help him stay sane.
9. & 10. House Of M Prelude: Exclaibur, House Of M
While discussing staying sane, Wanda is stil recovering from Disassembled, and her father, Magneto, wants to protect her from the rest of the world. Professor X and a small team of mutants joins him to try and keep Wanda from harming herself and the world.
Only they do a terrible job, and Wands creates an entire new universe where mutants rule, and humans are the oppressed minority. Every mutant essentially gets what they wanted. But a new character who "knows things" starts showing up and giving mutants and humans their memories of the previous universe. This temporary group of heroes must band together and restore the proper universe.
While discussing staying sane, Wanda is stil recovering from Disassembled, and her father, Magneto, wants to protect her from the rest of the world. Professor X and a small team of mutants joins him to try and keep Wanda from harming herself and the world.
Only they do a terrible job, and Wands creates an entire new universe where mutants rule, and humans are the oppressed minority. Every mutant essentially gets what they wanted. But a new character who "knows things" starts showing up and giving mutants and humans their memories of the previous universe. This temporary group of heroes must band together and restore the proper universe.
11. Young Avengers Ultimate Collection
This original run of Young Avengers by Jim Cheung features a new generation of Avengers assembled by Vision who believes the real Avengers team will never get back together (apparently, he isn't reading my chronology). These young versions of the classic heroes have their own problems, and a couple of them seem like they might be connected to the Disassembled event.
This original run of Young Avengers by Jim Cheung features a new generation of Avengers assembled by Vision who believes the real Avengers team will never get back together (apparently, he isn't reading my chronology). These young versions of the classic heroes have their own problems, and a couple of them seem like they might be connected to the Disassembled event.
12. & 13. The Road To Civil War, Civil War
See the birth of the Marvel Universe's Illuminati. Check out how Iron Man is giving Spider-Man a new lease on crime fighting life. And, hey, The Fantastic Four battle (who else?) Dr. Doom when some Asgardian nonsense comes into play.
Then the actual Civil War. A group of young heroes makes a mistake, and a villain kills 600 people while they're filming a reality TV show. Ooof. So the United States decides to pass The Superhero Registration Act, which doesn't go over well with, let's say half the heroes. This is one of the best Event Comics in Marvel history, despite a ton of delays, and some inconsistent side stories.
See the birth of the Marvel Universe's Illuminati. Check out how Iron Man is giving Spider-Man a new lease on crime fighting life. And, hey, The Fantastic Four battle (who else?) Dr. Doom when some Asgardian nonsense comes into play.
Then the actual Civil War. A group of young heroes makes a mistake, and a villain kills 600 people while they're filming a reality TV show. Ooof. So the United States decides to pass The Superhero Registration Act, which doesn't go over well with, let's say half the heroes. This is one of the best Event Comics in Marvel history, despite a ton of delays, and some inconsistent side stories.
14. The Death Of Captain America Complete Collection
This came out during the Batman Is Dead (actually, he's just traveling through time somehow) era of comics. I remember my coworker reading the issue where Cap dies, and flinging the book across the room, calmly walking over, picking it up, and tearing it in half before hanging it up on our Variant Wall as "Captain America Torn Variant".
I think, as a piece of the larger Ed Brubaker run, it's fine. There's a lot of Winter Soldier in this volume, and once you get past the death of Cap and realize it's a comic book, and death is never permanent, you get a solid look at SHIELD and the Marvel Universe in a post-Civil War America. Brubaker is one of the best writers in comics, and he is at the top of his game here. The color scheme is a little dark for me, but this was during Marvel's muddy phase so there's not a lot to do about it.
This came out during the Batman Is Dead (actually, he's just traveling through time somehow) era of comics. I remember my coworker reading the issue where Cap dies, and flinging the book across the room, calmly walking over, picking it up, and tearing it in half before hanging it up on our Variant Wall as "Captain America Torn Variant".
I think, as a piece of the larger Ed Brubaker run, it's fine. There's a lot of Winter Soldier in this volume, and once you get past the death of Cap and realize it's a comic book, and death is never permanent, you get a solid look at SHIELD and the Marvel Universe in a post-Civil War America. Brubaker is one of the best writers in comics, and he is at the top of his game here. The color scheme is a little dark for me, but this was during Marvel's muddy phase so there's not a lot to do about it.
15 & 16. Annihilation Ultimate Collection 1 & 2
If you love the MCU's Guardians of the Galaxy movies, you should know that the inspiration for those films starts here. The cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe had long been kind of dark, broody, and removed from everything else. The Guardians were often cheesy characters who screamed out the names of their loved ones during tragedies. It was super hokey in a way that some people love. Not my thing. But here, Keith Giffen, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and a host of other creators tell the story of how Annihilus assembles an armada of war ships so large and threatening that every major Marvel cosmic character must team up to stop them. One of the many casualties of this war are the Skrull, which hastens their push towards The Secret Invasion.
If you love the MCU's Guardians of the Galaxy movies, you should know that the inspiration for those films starts here. The cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe had long been kind of dark, broody, and removed from everything else. The Guardians were often cheesy characters who screamed out the names of their loved ones during tragedies. It was super hokey in a way that some people love. Not my thing. But here, Keith Giffen, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and a host of other creators tell the story of how Annihilus assembles an armada of war ships so large and threatening that every major Marvel cosmic character must team up to stop them. One of the many casualties of this war are the Skrull, which hastens their push towards The Secret Invasion.
17. X-Men Endangered Species
At the end of House Of M, The Scarlet Witch declared "No More Mutants", and the population of mutants in the Marvel Universe went from billions down to 198. While many of the other X-Men still act as superheroes, battling Apocalypse, and their usual cast of villains, Beast goes on a trek to restore the X-gene and see how to increase the number of mutants in the world.
At the end of House Of M, The Scarlet Witch declared "No More Mutants", and the population of mutants in the Marvel Universe went from billions down to 198. While many of the other X-Men still act as superheroes, battling Apocalypse, and their usual cast of villains, Beast goes on a trek to restore the X-gene and see how to increase the number of mutants in the world.
18. Planet Hulk
The Illuminati that we met during The Road To Civil War have had to make difficult decisions throughout Marvel history. One of them is what to do about the constant stream of destruction that surrounds Bruce Banner/The Hulk. So they ask him to go to space to fix a satellite, only for him to discover that they're actually shipping him off to a planet without other life so he can live out his days peacefully, not harming anyone. He reacts by wrecking the ship, taking him to a planet with plenty of hostile life, where he becomes a gladiator during his attempt to find a ship and return home.
The Illuminati that we met during The Road To Civil War have had to make difficult decisions throughout Marvel history. One of them is what to do about the constant stream of destruction that surrounds Bruce Banner/The Hulk. So they ask him to go to space to fix a satellite, only for him to discover that they're actually shipping him off to a planet without other life so he can live out his days peacefully, not harming anyone. He reacts by wrecking the ship, taking him to a planet with plenty of hostile life, where he becomes a gladiator during his attempt to find a ship and return home.
19. World War Hulk
Probably the weakest of any series in this chronology, we follow The Hulk and his surviving friends and family from the Planet Hulk saga as Banner returns to Earth for revenge on those who jettisoned him into space.
Probably the weakest of any series in this chronology, we follow The Hulk and his surviving friends and family from the Planet Hulk saga as Banner returns to Earth for revenge on those who jettisoned him into space.
20. New Avengers The Trust
Our ultimate team of super Avengers are on an away mission to Japan to battle The Hand when they discover that one of their best frenemies has, at some point, been replaced by a Skrull, and they worry about the possibility that an invasion is underway. Perhaps, a Secret Invasion.
Our ultimate team of super Avengers are on an away mission to Japan to battle The Hand when they discover that one of their best frenemies has, at some point, been replaced by a Skrull, and they worry about the possibility that an invasion is underway. Perhaps, a Secret Invasion.
21-30. The Best Of Marvel's Secret Invasion (see above)
This is the Best Of Marvel's Secret Invasion in its entirety, except that I've removed the epilogue, Secret Invasion Frontline, as, instead of needing a wrapup, we're going to explore a little further into the aftermath of the invasion.
This is the Best Of Marvel's Secret Invasion in its entirety, except that I've removed the epilogue, Secret Invasion Frontline, as, instead of needing a wrapup, we're going to explore a little further into the aftermath of the invasion.
31. Punisher Dark Reign
Norman Osborn rose to power during the Skrull Invasion, and has groups of Avengers and X-Men under his power. He's being treated as a new Iron Man figure called The Iron Patriot. Frank Castle decides that this can not stand, and sets out to destroy Osborn, as well as any surviving Skrulls.
Norman Osborn rose to power during the Skrull Invasion, and has groups of Avengers and X-Men under his power. He's being treated as a new Iron Man figure called The Iron Patriot. Frank Castle decides that this can not stand, and sets out to destroy Osborn, as well as any surviving Skrulls.
32. Secret Warriors Complete Collection Vol 1
During the Secret Invasion, Nick Fury put together a new team to ferret out not only Skrulls but also Hydra members who infiltrated SHIELD. This is the story of how they operate during Norman Osborne's Dark Reign
During the Secret Invasion, Nick Fury put together a new team to ferret out not only Skrulls but also Hydra members who infiltrated SHIELD. This is the story of how they operate during Norman Osborne's Dark Reign
33. Avengers Prime
Captain America (oh yea, he's alive again, don't ask how), Thor, and Iron Man must put apart their Civil War differences to save Asgard, after it seems to be destroyed as a consequence to Seige (the final portion of Dark Reign, which isn't worth the read). This is a story about repairing relationships, and it's pretty well told.
Captain America (oh yea, he's alive again, don't ask how), Thor, and Iron Man must put apart their Civil War differences to save Asgard, after it seems to be destroyed as a consequence to Seige (the final portion of Dark Reign, which isn't worth the read). This is a story about repairing relationships, and it's pretty well told.
34. Avengers Children's Crusade
The Young Avengers go off in search of The Scarlet Witch, who has been mostly missing since the end of House Of M (we did see her pop up in X-Men Endangered Species). We get some answers to some questions that have been lingering since the West Coast Avengers Epic Coll Vol 3 Vision Quest. It may not be a wrap up on The Skrulls (we haven't really had one yet, and their recent appearances require way more continuity than I want to put on this already long, complex list), but it's a fun read, and really feels like the end of a very long Marvel storyarc.
The Young Avengers go off in search of The Scarlet Witch, who has been mostly missing since the end of House Of M (we did see her pop up in X-Men Endangered Species). We get some answers to some questions that have been lingering since the West Coast Avengers Epic Coll Vol 3 Vision Quest. It may not be a wrap up on The Skrulls (we haven't really had one yet, and their recent appearances require way more continuity than I want to put on this already long, complex list), but it's a fun read, and really feels like the end of a very long Marvel storyarc.
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