The Uncanny X-Men Thread

[Starbreaker]

Just had the pleasure of reading some of the first few X-Men comics, retroactively titled Uncanny X-Men.

#1 X-Men


Very good start to the series. They've already set up the major players: Professor Xavier, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, and Angel along with the evil supervillain Magneto.

I had forgotten that Beast hadn't undergone his transformation yet. He's just a little over-sized in the beginning. He can go out in public. Professor X is kind of a jerk. Maybe I'm just not used to this characterization of him, but he is a strict guy.

#2 No One Can Stop the Vanisher

This is mostly a forgettable issue, but the idea of the Vanisher is cool.

#3 Beware of the Blob

This one is silly. A giraffe actually sticks his head into Bobby's room when The Blob and the circus come to wage war on the X-Men.

#4 The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants

This one is much better than the previous two and we finally get a look at Magneto's henchman: Toad, Mastermind, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver. Great stuff, with a good cliffhanger.

#5 Trapped, One X-Man

Angel is kidnapped by the Brotherhood and the X-Men go to save him without the aide of Professor X.

#6 Sub-mariner Joins the Evil Mutants

I've never read a thing about Sub-mariner in my life, but he seems like an interesting character. I'll have to check him out some more. Crossovers between the titles back in the 60's happened more often than I though.

#7 The Return of the Blob

The Blob is back, and this time with a better story. The X-Men finally graduate, so the next time the Professor thinks about being with her, it won't be as creepy.

#8 The Uncanny Threat of Unus the Untouchable

Now, here's an underused villain. This guy can repel anything that's coming near him. That's a pretty cool power. They have to come up with an interesting way to stop him that I would have never thought of.

#9 Enter, The Avengers

The X-Men have to go safe Xavier from the evil Lucifer (great naming ) from the depths of somewhere not so close to Hell. Apparently this is the guy who caused Xavier to lose his legs, so I'm interested to see more about him.

Also, the Avengers show up. I don't really know much about the Avengers either. I'll have to check out some of their issues.

#10 The Coming of Ka-Zar

They don't fight mutants for once. Instead they go to Antarctica and hang out in the Savage Land with a Tarzan wannabe and his overgrown cat. Okay... I didn't really like this one although the Savage Land is cool. It does show up several times in Marvel.

#11 The Triumph of Magneto

I really liked this one too. The Stranger shows up, and he's not who I thought he was, and it sets up a very interesting ending that I can't wait to see resolved.

#12 The Origin of Professor X

Of the first dozen issues, this is the best. We get some history of Xavier and his step-brother Cain Marko / The Juggernaut while the X-Men prepare for an assault on the school. Lots of suspense in this one, something that was lacking from the previous issues.

#13 Where Walks the Juggernaut

The Juggernaut attacks the school, and the Human Torch is enlisted to help stop him. Professor X rewards him by wiping his memory for no reason. Very weird.

Also...

Tales of Suspense #49

The Iron Man story features Angel. Angel is accidentally exposed to some rays over Tony Stark's labs and becomes somewhat evil.

Strange Tales #120 The Torch Meets the Iceman

Another good crossover. Crossovers are way too much fun. I'm really starting to get into the Marvel Universe of the 60's now. In this one, there is no mutant to take of, but the duo does fight off some pirates.

Next up, the introduction of the Sentinels!

 

[Mr Light]

I have a hard time stomaching those early 60s comics. A little too infantile for my tastes. Still, it is interesting to see the first appearances of all these classic characters, as silly as they are.

 

[Smiley]

I got the 40 Years of X-Men DVD-ROM not too many months ago, and I am on Issue #232 right now (sometime in 1988). I am marking the issues that warrant future revisits and writing short summaries of the rest. Since there are crossovers aplenty, I am picking up trade paperbacks and hardcovers where I can.

So far, I can usually find at least two issues per dozen that are spectacular reads. The introduction of Juggernaut was one of the first landmark stories in the series.

 

[DarthPipes]

I actually just picked up the first two volumes of Uncanny X-Men, from the first issue to the 21st. Also got the first Avengers volume.

My problem with the 60s comics..

-Exclamation points after every sentence!

-Dialogue that had to explain every single thing that was going on and unnatural dialogue that no one would say in real life.

-Female characters (particularly the Wasp) that are absolutely embarrassing stereotypes.

Still though, the early issues are a great deal of fun, featuring some terrific action and brings up back to the day when comic storylines weren't so damn complicated, overstuffed, and confusing.

I've actually been on a pretty big X-Men kick, specifically the old Claremont stuff from the eighties. Started reading The New Mutants trade paperbacks, which I'm enjoying a great deal.

 

[Starbreaker]

I'm trying to tune the "Awesome Teen-agers" that's on every page out, as well as the fact that everyone pretty much sexually harasses Jean on every page.

And yes, it's annoying that every single box has the action spelled out, but that was the norm for Marvel back then apparently. They're still fun reads.

 

[DarthPipes]

Definitely.

They're especially nice reads because everything was so so fresh back then.

 

[Praetor]

"First Class" is a pretty nice update of these types of stories, IMO.

 

[Starbreaker]

I'm going to read through First Class after I finish up the stories with the original five and The Hidden Years. I've read a couple FC and I like them, even though I'm not a big fan of them having Cerebra as a teacher. Weird.

 

[Praetor]

I thought so at first, too. (And technically it's Cerebro at that early stage unless I'm mistaken.) But, I reckon they were trying to explain how a school could only have one flesh and blood teacher yet five students and an apparently full curriculum.

(Which begs the question: who certifies them, anyway?)

 

[Starbreaker]

I don't know. Xavier is a well-respected scientist so I guess he pulled some strings.. and they do call the machine Cerebra in the first few issues of X-Men... not sure about First Class.

 

[Praetor]

That's so weird, I never realized it went from Cerebra to Cerebro back to Cerebra...

 

[coolghoul]

I actually just picked up the first two volumes of Uncanny X-Men, from the first issue to the 21st. Also got the first Avengers volume.

Best of luck with that Avengers volume. I got the Essential volumes (the first 5 volumes) but I'm finding it VERY VERY tough reading. They are constantly bickering and infighting and I absolutely want somebody to torture Hawkeye to death!! The height is even Cap America is a major pain in the ass! And all the stuff with Hank Pym and the Wasp is such a throwback that I feel embarassed to be reading this...

 

[DarthPipes]

You know, my favorite bit of Hawkeye stupidity has to be in issue #16. Now, I've never read that one but I've seen the page where you have Hawkeye wondering why Captain America should be the leader when he has no obvious powers. This coming from a guy with no powers whatsoever and a guy who uses a freakin bow-and-arrow to fight 20th century supervillains.

I've also noted Cap's distrubing relationship with Rick Jones.

 

[Mr Light]

Yeah I got Essential Avengers 2 and 3 at a book sale and they're not that fun to read. It was interesting to see the first appearance of Ultron but that's about it. If Hawkeye called Cap "Methuselah" one more time I was gonna slit my wrists.

 

[Turtletrekker]

#2 No One Can Stop the Vanisher

This is mostly a forgettable issue, but the idea of the Vanisher is cool.

This issue is mostly memorable to me due to my owning a good condition original copy. They are currently doing some interesting things with the Vanisher in X-Force.

The original Sentinels story is the high point of Stan Lee's too-short a stint as writer.

 

[Mistral]

Not to side track but I just finished Messiah War (Cable) and wondered if "Home" is part of another TPB.

 

[Starbreaker]

You know X-Men #2 goes for a couple of thousand dollars right?

And I just read Cable #20 today. It's my favorite X-title.

And I'm loving the Vanisher in X-Force.

 

[Mistral]

You know X-Men #2 goes for a couple of thousand dollars right?

And I just read Cable #20 today. It's my favorite X-title.

And I'm loving the Vanisher in X-Force.

I own a ton of Cable, Xforce and mini-series featuring Cable. Check Cable and Deadpool - its a fairly unique take on the character. *points upward* Anyone have an answer to my question?

 

[Starbreaker]

Which issue is that?

 

[Mistral]

Which issue is that?

Which one? The Messiah War is about 6-8 issues of Cable and The Cable/Deadpool was a 4 issue mini-series.