X-Men: June 2009 Archives

I'm always looking back on the Bronze Age of my childhood, but I read modern comics as well.  I tried initially to write new reviews here and failed miserably.  I just can't review each and every comic that comes out each week.  But I can review three comics that I read which made an impact on me.  They won't necessarily be from the past week, just the ones I read recently.

The War of Kings has absolutely floored me ever since it spun out of Secret Invasion in January.  It elevates one my favorite teams, the Inhumans, to super-star status in the Marvel Universe.  It brings together the Starjammers, Lilandra, the Imperial Guard, Havok, Ronan the Accuser, Darkhawk, and Vulcan in a summer blockbuster that Hollywood would never be able to film.  This issue ratchets up the action with Lilandra making a bid to take over the throne on the Shi'Ar homeworld.  But things go terribly wrong and Guardian proves that sometimes he is indeed fallible.

There are quieter character moments in this series that make it better than average.  Crystal was forced into marriage with Ronan the Accuser, who she once thought repellant, but now her emotions are changing.  The Inhumans are trying to find a way to use the Terrigen Mists on the Kree--think of David Brin's Uplift novels--but this plan seems to have failed.

War of Kings has sucked me into the rest of Abnett and Lanning's star-spanning Marvel mythos.  The Darkhawk mini-series and War of Kings: Ascension has brought Talon into WoK #4.  Talon is a fellow Raptor who has pledged his services to Vulcan, who he believes serves the "Great Purpose" to keep the Shi'Ar Empire strong.  Now I am catching up Guardians of the Galaxy and the past Annihilation issues as well.  Great stuff.

I've liked lot of the things Dan Slott has brought to Mighty Avengers.  He's brought back a lot of classic Avengers elements (Jarvis, Vision, Quicksilver, Hercules, etc) while twisting them for the current Marvel universe.  He really faked me out big time with the Scarlet Witch in the first three issues--who turned out to be Loki in disguise.  That's a con that goes way back to Avengers #1.  While Slott's stories have been good, I haven't really cared for the artwork.  It's a shame.  Bendis has been given superlative art on the other Avengers titles.  I think Slott's run would really pop with better artists.

Another thing I don't care for: Pym calling himself the Wasp.  It seems stupid.  I'll always prefer Yellowjacket.  What are they going to do when Janet Van Dyne returns from the whatever limbo she's residing in?

Despite the art, the story in issue #25 kicks off a new storyline gives us a lot of fun that only Slott can bring.  Pym's incredible new Avengers Mansion (or his super fantastic new lab), which exists outside of time and space, is losing it's connection to Earth when the Avengers escaped from Norman Osborne in the previous issue.  Pym can fix the problem if he can get Bill Foster's Wave Inducer, which is in the possession of Reed Richards--the MacGuffin for this arc.  Richards refuses to give it to Pym, because of his past mental problems.  Even more insulting, Richards tells him, I know more about Pym Particles than you.  Pym replies, It's on, bitch.  And then he goes about designing a full-on invasion of the Baxter Building and how his merry band of Avengers will take on the Fantastic Four.  I always like to see two super-teams fight each other, no matter how weak the excuse!

Matt Fraction has revitalized Uncanny X-Men since he took over, but it always seems one taco short of a combination plate.  I must confess that I am lost in the current Return of Madelyn Pryor arc.  I thought she kidnapped Psylocke to take over her body, but apparently she really wanted to inhabit Jean Grey's dead corpse?  I don't get it at all.  I find Greg Land's artwork very disorienting during the actions scenes.  The fight scene (where Pryor's Sisterhood team invades the X-headquarters) in last month's UM #510 very hard to follow.

I know Marvel thinks having Land and Terry Dodson on the art puts two of their best super-stars on the title.  But it's really strange going back and forth between them.  Land's X-men seems to take place in a world resembling Vogue magazine.  Dodson's X-Men takes place in the world of Maxim and Stuff magazine.  One month Storm is built like Angela Bassett, the next month she's got the body of Vivica Fox.  I like each woman, but call me old-fashioned, I'd just like a little consistency.

The current issue, Uncanny X-Men #511, was a little bit better and gives me hope for the future.  There are two terrific battles which are well executed.  Storm, the White Queen, Karma, and Dazzler take on the Sisterhood's HQ in San Francisco.  Cyclops, Wolverine, and Colossus head to the X-Men's old hangout in Westchester to stop Pryor before she unearths Jean Grey's body.  If all of this wasn't enough, Domino shows up as well!

What is really good about this issue is the soap opera elements.  Cyclops and Wolverine aren't talking after the revelation that Logan kept a lock of Jean Grey's hair in his room.  The dialogue between Madelyn and Scott is perfect: You always wanted me to be Jean all over again.  And when all the fighting is over, Hank McCoy pierces the thin bubble surrounding the secrets kept by Scott and Emma Frost.

Those are steps in the right direction.  The X-Men isn't an action comic, it's a soap opera drama.  Nuff said.

Here’s another gem from Foom #10 (1975) by Paty Cockrum.  The 1970s Marvel Bullpen as the original X-Men!

Len Wein is the Beast.  Marv Wolfman is Iceman.  Duffy Vohland as Angel?  Paty as Marvel Girl.  And Stan the Man in Professor Xavier’s chair.  Nuff said.

Dave Cockrum was a master of costume design and among his many creations were the outfits for Storm and Ms. Marvel.  John Byrne, after he took over the X-Men, made this observation...

From the booklet for the 1978 Comic Art Convention.  Nuff said.

I found this while researching the launch of the new X-Men in 1975.  Foom #10 had a special X-Men issue, and Marie Severin drew this great cartoon:

Severin drew Len Wein, Chris Claremont, and Dave Cockrum getting roasted alive by Marvel's fans--for replacing the classic X-Men team in Giant-Size X-Men #1.  They were indeed apprehensive about kicking out Angel, Marvel Girl, and Iceman!  No one could foresee the tremendous success that would befall upon the new and improved X-Men.  Nuff said.

There are many classic Marvel comics covers that are iconic.  Amazing Fantasy #15, Fantastic Four #1, and Hulk #1 are in that treasured line-up.  When it comes to the X-Men, while the first issue by Jack Kirby in 1963 has a place in history, it is the cover to Giant-Size X-Men #1 by Gil Kane and Dave Cockrum that remains supreme.

It is hard to imagine the impact of Giant-Size X-Men #1 for a fan of Marvel's mutants.  The last new X-Men was published in X-Men #66 in 1970, although the X-Men title continued publication with reprints of the Stan Lee and Roy Thomas stories.  Through those reprints, a new generation of Marvel readers became fans of Cyclops, Marvel Girl, the Beast, Iceman, and the Angel.  From 1970-1975, the X-Men made a few guest appearances--most notably in Marvel Team-Up #4, Avengers #110-111, and the Beast's series in Amazing Adventures #11-17. 

I snatched up my copy of GS X-Men #1 the instant I saw it.  If the X-Men weren't enough, I knew that Dave Cockrum was the artist.  He had already knocked me out with the superb job he did on Giant-Size Avengers #2, and the art in GS X-Men #1 was even better.  With Len Wein as the writer, I immediately recognized Wolverine on the cover from his debut appearance in the Hulk.  All of the other mutants were incredibly new and mysterious.  I couldn't figure out why Cyclops was just behind Wolverine--in the new team--and also in the faded background with the old X-Men.

The cover to Giant-Size X-Men #1 features a classic Gil Kane motif of having the heroes running toward the reader, exploding out of the comic book page.  Kane's cover to Giant-Size Defenders #1 is almost identical.  Gil Kane's pencil layout for this cover is shown above.  Looking at this, you can see Cockrum kept the essence of Kane's figures, but adding his own take on the characters.  Kane drew Colossus with pupils and Cockrum executed it with white eyes--the way he's drawn in the comic. 

Cockrum's costume design for Storm, Colossus, Thunderbird, and Nightcrawler were visually stunning.  It's interesting that on this famous splash page, Cockrum is showcasing his original creations front and center--with the pre-existing Banshee, Sunfire,and Wolverine hanging in the background.

This comic has one other special place in Marvel history--it's the first all-new series that was introduced within the Giant-Size Marvel line.  The other titles (like Giant-Size Avengers, Defenders, etc) were extensions of a well established monthly series.  This revival was designed for the Giant-Size format, the story in issue 1 is 35 pages.  The next chapters in X-Men #94-95 were clearly designed for Giant-Size X-Men #2, and split into two when it was decided to resume new stories in the X-Men title.

Giant-Size X-Men #1 was the best 50 cents I ever spent in the 1970s--probably the best two-bits ever in my entire life!  Wein and Cockrum concocted a near-perfect story that introduced us to a new generation of mutants, but they acknowledged the team that came before and treated them with respect.  Sadly, I sold my copy of this comics when I was 20 and needed money for something frivolous.  Haven't we all thrown away precious comics like this for a song?  Nuff said.

Looking back at Gil Kane's career at Marvel, he never stayed on any series for a long time, unlike his long runs on DC Comics' Green Lantern and Atom.  Probably his longest association was with Spider-Man and Marvel Team-up.  He did many Team-Up covers, here are some of my favorites...

I've always enjoyed the dynamic figures of Captain America and Spider-Man on the cover to Marvel Team-Up #13.  John Romita obviously inked this cover--the line work on Grey Gargoyle and the two heroes is unmistakable.  The positioning of the characters and the camera angles are pure Kane.

Marvel Team-Up #3 featured Kane's co-creation Morbius, attempting to bite Spidey once again.  Curses, foiled by the Human Torch!  This was the first issue of a two part story.  Spidey and the Torch subdue Morbius and take him to Professor Xavier's school, in search of a cure for the vampire.

Marvel Team-Up #4 was a landmark issue, because it featured the X-Men.  You have to put this issue into historical context--the X-Men's own title was effectively cancelled with issue #66.  The X-Men title was kept alive with reprints from issue #67 to 93.  But the mutants had been missing from the Marvel Universe for a few years until the Beast appeared in Amazing Adventures and this guest spot in MTU #4.  You had to be hardcore if your followed the X-Men at this point in time, and this issue was a real treat.

They tried something new to make the X-Men more exciting and dangerous--by putting them in street clothes instead of costumes!  Cyclops wore a suit, Jean Grey wore a sweater, and Angel stripped off his shirt when he needed to spread his wings.  They really did look cool and hip in the 1970s fashions, especially with Kane's art style--he did the interior art as well as the cover.  Nuff said.