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Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1

1 rating: 4.0

Marvel TPB

The X-Men are a superhero team in the Marvel Comics Universe. They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1 (September 1963). The basic concept of the X-Men is that under a cloud of increasing anti-mutant … see full wiki

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The Second Genesis.

Oct 30, 2011

by Madpenguin
posted in Speech Bubbles: Comics & Graphic Novels

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After responding to the appearance of a new and powerful mutant. The original X-Men lead by Cyclops are ambushed and soundly defeated. Cyclops escapes to warn Professor Charles Xavier that the X-Men may be prisoners. Xavier embarks on a mission to form a new team. During his search, he's able to convince seven mutants to become his new X-Men. Now, once again with Cyclops at the helm, this new inexperienced and undisciplined team must find a way to cooperate with each other. -summary

Personally, I was never too fond of the original X-Men team. It had nothing to do with me not being familiar with them as much as the second team. But it was due to the second team having more of a spunky attitude. It appears that almost everyone had a chip on their shoulder, which resulted in some good back and forth between the characters. Written by the legendary Chris Claremont, along with Len Wein and Bill Mantlo; Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men Volume One reprints the origin story as well as the earlier adventures of the second generation X-Men, and some of them would go on to be among the most popular in the franchise.

This new team of X-Men features Wolverine: He possesses animal like instincts and rapid healing, along with an unbreakable metal that is laced to his bones, with retractable claws housed in his forearms made of the same substance. Storm: The female who can manipulate and control the weather. Colossus: The Russian powerhouse who can turn his body into solid steel with a thought. Banshee: The Scottish man who uses an ear ripping sonic scream that can emit energy. Nightcrawler: He can teleport, cling to surfaces, and is completely invisible in the shadows. Sunfire: He's capable of flight and can fire burst of flames from his hands. Thunderbird: He's a proud Apache Indian with something to prove, he possesses super strength and durability.

The meat of these first few stories are no doubt the characters. The writing is superbly done when portraying the X-Men as the motley crew they really are. Each of the characters have some type of flaws with them, and teamwork is almost non existent. Also, unlike the original team, I enjoy that the characters are of different races with many interesting backgrounds. I know from personal experience that it's very difficult to take a group of people who are either lacking experience, or have their own ways of doing things, and trying to turn them into a cohesive unit. This is actually a real nice revamping for the story, because the original team came together almost too unrealistic. This team on the other hand functions more real like people, who are either too green, or are too indivdual and they're constantly evolving. They even get a chance to experience the death of a team mate. This all adds to the series authenticity.

When concerning the characters, I think there's someone for everyone. The stories are also pretty good, and they don't rely on a repetitive formula, when compared to most of the earlier stories in the series. The first three stories I think are ok at best. However, later on, a plot does begin with numerous subplots taking place that are cleared up later. The action also becomes better as the stories begin to develop.

One of the problems I can think of is how bland the first few villains appear. They come off as nothing more than stock bad guys who are taken care of rather quickly. Fortunately, this doesn't continue and the new X-Men get a chance to take on the mutant killing Sentinels, and these battles boast some of the best action panels in this first book. Now on a side note, I have a very good memory of these stories in original form, and I can guarantee that there's at least one missing page of action during the battle with the Sentinels, but it doesn't hurt the story at all for those who never read it before.

The artwork still holds up well to me, and the character designs are pretty good. The characters are rather average and there's no huge exaggeration in the men's muscular size, and the women aren't insanely overflowing with sex appeal. The coloring is also brighter and more detail than I remember when compared to the original books.

This first chapter of the series is pretty solid, and it does end on a serious cliffhanger. Thus, making the second volume a mandatory pick up. I highly recommend this to die hard X-Men fans. I also think this is a great place to start for the late bloomers, who are only familiar with the movies.

These are the series chapters with a total of 167 pages:

Giant Size X-Men #1 1975
"Second Genesis!"

The X-Men #94 August 1975
"The Doomsmith Scenario!"

The X-Men #95 October 1975
"Warhunt!"

The X-Men #96 December 1975
"Night of the Demon!"

The X-Men #97 February 1976
"My Brother, My Enemy!"

The X-Men #98 April 1976
"Merry Christmas, X-Men!"

The X-Men #99 June 1976
"Deathstar, Rising!"

The X-Men #100 August 1976
"Greater Love Hath No X-Man!"

Pros:
-Decent stories, a plot later pick ups, interesting "new" team

Cons:
-Ends on a big cliff hanger, a few uninteresting villains, small amount of missing content

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FM_ALEX November 06, 2011

Great write up man, and I agree with you on the teams.

Madpenguin November 06, 2011

Thanks man.

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Count_Orlok_22 October 31, 2011

For me, this is when X-Men went from being just another superhero team to really developing a powerful combination of science fiction, action, and social relevance. While some of the dialogue and costumes come off as dated or even silly, the artwork and the general ideas being put forth were pretty revolutionary at the time.

Madpenguin October 31, 2011

I always found Havok's costume to be on the silly side, but I do agree this is when the stories got a lot better and they aged very well, unlike the earlier X-Men stories that are so difficult to get through now.

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woopak_the_thrill October 30, 2011

Giant-sized X-Men # 1 is one of my prized possessions. This is the beginning of the inherent mature storyline the series took on in the 70's and proved to be the culmination of the said premise in the 80's. The X-men remained in my top 5 titles until the mid-90's, and they never felt the same after the 2000's. (though there were some top storylines such as House of M and Messiah Complex) I also liked Morrison's "New X-Men"....

Madpenguin October 30, 2011

It's definitely a memorable book, and Claremont cmanaged to change the face of what comics should be like inmy view. I think his run on X-Men was directly responsible for the attitude we would later see in comics. The 2000' had their moments, and House of M gave the X-Men the long overdue revamping it needed.

woopak_the_thrill October 30, 2011

The Scarlet Witch may be about to re-emerge..."The Search" seems about to reach the climax....

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