MARKLEY’S FEVERED BRAIN: X marks THE spot

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Wayne Markley

di Wayne Markley

Over the last three weeks, marvel has released three epic collections reprinting the early runs of three crucial books to the mutant mythos. all of these books collect the earliest issues, and at times the issues that lead up to the series, in the sequence they were originally published. all of these are good reads and lay down a lot of the foundation of what you see in today’s X-verse. As these collections are the beginning of the series, the creators tend to have grand visions that have mixed results. Also, as each of these three volumes are from different time frames of the marvel Universe, at times it was a bit confusing as to what happened when. overall though, I found them very enjoyable.

X aspect epic Collection: Genesis & Apocalypse

X aspect epic Collection: Genesis & Apocalypse collects Avengers #263, wonderful four #286 (which set up the storyline that launched X-Factor), and X-Factor #1-9. plus there is amazing Spider-Man #282 and Iron man annual #8 which feature X-Factor but does not necessarily tie into the main book. There are also two Phoenix stories from the long running title classic X-Men. The basic premise behind X-Factor was to bring back the original five X-Men from the 1960s as a group as close to the original fab five as possible. In doing this, they brought back Jean Gray, minus her telepathy; the Beast is de-furred and is back to being a normal human; Scott leaves his partner and family for the returning Jean, and so much more. The premise is that X-Factor, when in their non X-Men costumes, are mutant hunters and are siding with the anti-mutant hysteria. As the X-Terminators (which they are known as when in their X-Men uniforms) they try help to mutants and take them in, just as Xavier did originally for them. The stories are not the greatest as the premise is a hard sell as it seemed odd to me that Scott would just run off and leave his partner and child behind and throughout the first nine issues they are nearly an afterthought. The subplot is discussed, but it is never really explained other than he left and then his family moved and he can’t find them. nor does he seem to try to. Bob Layton wrote the first five issues of X-Factor with Louise Simonson taking over with issue six, which by the way, also introduced Apocalypse. In these early appearances you really do not see, or get much of a feel, as to who Apocalypse is, and in the beginning he seems like another incarnation of Magneto. He is just gathering a group of evil mutants (who are the good guys) to fight the X-Terminators (who are X-Men in disguise pretending to be bad guys). a lot of of the X-Factor issues are drawn by Jackson Guice, and they are competent, but nowhere as great or as polished as Guice’s later work would become. What really struck me reading this collection is the difference in the detail and style of art in the Avengers story by John Buscema and Tom Palmer and the rest of the book (Buscema and Palmer were amazing). overall this is a good read, but it is really a primer for material to come, as the later X-Factor stories, which will hopefully be in future epic collections, are much better than this material. These stories are from 1986 except for the classic X material which is from 1987 and 1990.

New Mutants epic Collection: Renewal

New Mutants epic Collection: renewal collects marvel graphic novel #4 (their first appearance), new Mutants #1-12, Uncanny X-Men #167, marvel Team-Up annual #6, Magik #1-4 and extras. all of the stories are written by Chris Claremont (with a helping hand from bill Mantlo) and art was by Bob McLeod initially, and he was later joined by Sal Buscema, Ron Frenz, John Buscema, and others. It is interesting that the first story is a Spider-Man/Fantastic four crossover from the pages of marvel Team-Up #100 (and drawn by Frank Miller) which introduces the character of Karma. This story was from 1980. then in 1982, Claremont wrote the new Mutants marvel graphic novel (volume #4 in the series) which introduced the team of the new Mutants as he brought back Karma as well as introduced Cannonball, Rahne (Wolfbane) Sinclair, Moonstar, and Sunspot. This graphic novel is generally an introduction to the characters and how they pertained to be a group. It is very similar to the original X-Men story as professor X brought them together as they were all mutants who were shunned from their homes and families. These characters came from around the world unlike the original X-Men, but the basic struggles and stories are very similar to the early X stories, although with much better art. (After Kirby left the original X-Men with issue #10 the series went through a long run of mediocre artists.) The series moves along at a quick pace with a number of guest stars in the early issues such as Spider-Man and Cloak and Dagger. They also have to confront the Hellfire Club and the Silver Samurai among others. maybe the most crucial part of this volume is the introduction of Colossus’ sister, Magik, who goes on to became a major part of the X-Men universe. This collection is a fun updating of the original concept and a good read. The stories reprinted range from 1980-1984.

Excalibur epic Collection: The Sword is Drawn

Excalibur epic Collection: The Sword is Drawn collects a large mix of material including Captain Britain #1 and 2, Excalibur #1-11, Excalibur special Edition, Mojo Mayhem, Mighty world of marvel and marvel Comics Presents. With this collection it is a mixed bag. nearly all of the art is great, with Alan Davis doing a lot of of it. but there are also stories by Marshall Rogers, Art Adams and Erik Larson. The stories are by a long list of creators, far too long to all list here. The bulk of the Excalibur stories are written by Chris Claremont, and the marvel U.K. material is by a number of people. In an attempt to expand the X franchise, marvel put together a team lead by Captain Britain and his partner, Meggan, and they were joined by Nightcrawler, Kitty Pride, and Rachel “Phoenix” Summers to form a sort of an English X-group. Really, the premise was they all got together to save Rachel Summers and made a decision to hang together. These are fun, and at times, overly written stories, but the Alan Davis art is beautiful. The team runs into all sorts of evil doers, such as Arcade, the crazy Gang, and the mighty X-Babies. Over the years, Excalibur has been restarted a number of times, with a changing membership and focus, but has never really found an audience. This collection is really some of the best of the various Excalibur incarnations, generally due to the artists that are collected here. It is an entertaining read that is a lot more upbeat and less angst ridden than the early X-Factor or new Mutant stories were, but then again they were also less impactful on the X-Universe than the other titles. all of the Excalibur stories are from 1989 and the reprints of the marvel U.K. stories are from 1977 (Captain Britain) and 1983 (Mighty world of Marvel) which are precursers and set up the Excalibur world that was to come.

Coming very soon is X-Force epic Collection: Under the gun which is significant for it replaced the new Mutants and put cord into the leadership position and has some of Deadpool’s earliest appetences in the marvel Universe. It is also some of the greatest work that Rob Liefeld has ever done (when it was first launched it was a substantial seller). as with these three prior epic Collections, this forth title helps build the foundation for the modern X-Universe, in both the comics and the films.

Marvel has been making an effort to slowly get all of these classic mutant tales back into print. at times it is a bit befuddling as the series were done at different times and the continuity can be a bit tough to figure out. On the other hand, these are fascinating reads that shaped what is the X-Verse today. all of these first volumes start out strong and as the series went on the quality was not as always as high as they were in these first volumes. Still, all three of these books are strongly recommended reading for any X-Men fan of any age.

This wraps it up for this time. I would love to know what you think of this classic material. lo hai letto? Does it hold up? I can be reached at MFBWAY@AOL.COM or on Facebook at Wayne Markley. everything I have written here is my opinion and does not reflect the thoughts or opinions of Westfield Comics or their employees. Onesto. and finally, what are you reading that you would recommend? Mi piacerebbe sapere! Come sempre…

Grazie.