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You're kidding me - swiped all the new X-Men? I know their prices have dropped a little recently but they're still worth a lot. I've got all the new lot from Giant Sized 1 up (except one issue), but it wasn't me!!! 
The X-Men (1963)
- Thread starter Perpetual Man
- Start date
Heck Tate
The Fleet Footed
I wonder if a superhero has ever stopped a comic book store robbery...
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X-Men 43
A bit of an odd selection this, a single issue, the last written by Roy Thomas on his initial run. It also deals with the return of Magneto, the first time Thomas wrote the character.
There's a throwaway line about him returning to Earth but no real explanation. Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are back with him, having had problems with their powers, but they are already discussing returning to the Avengers.
Strangely the X-Men, overcome with the loss of Xavier make mistakes and are trapped and apparently defeated in a cliffhanger ending...
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A bit of an odd selection this, a single issue, the last written by Roy Thomas on his initial run. It also deals with the return of Magneto, the first time Thomas wrote the character.
There's a throwaway line about him returning to Earth but no real explanation. Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are back with him, having had problems with their powers, but they are already discussing returning to the Avengers.
Strangely the X-Men, overcome with the loss of Xavier make mistakes and are trapped and apparently defeated in a cliffhanger ending...
Heck Tate
The Fleet Footed
Is the return to Earth an Asteroid M reference? I don't know where Magneto's evil headquarters were based in the first several issues. He looks pretty scared for a giant mutant on this cover, though, and I like the green Jean, looks good.
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No, no, the return to Earth was Magneto's second escape from the Stranger who had kidnapped him from Earth previously... (should be mentioned somewhere in this thread - but I might have missed that he was taken back after he escaped the first time.
Asteroid M turns up a little later...
Heck Tate
The Fleet Footed
Forgot about the Stranger, you covered him.
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X-Men 44-47
Perhaps it is the sign of a title with dwindling popularity, or perhaps it just happened that way, but the X-Men creative team suddenly became a lot more fluid, hardly regular. Half way through a major story arc Thomas is replaced by Gary Friedrich (a sign perhaps that Lee was still providing the plots, for the other writers to build upon.)
Art on these issues is provided by Don Heck, although former artist Werner Roth provides pencils over Heck's layout on issue 47 - an issue that is co-written by Arnold Drake.
The story covering the first two issues, carries on pretty much where the previous ended
Trapped by Magneto Angel manages to escape, finding himself on a deserted rock in the middle of the sea, he discovers that it is in fact, hollow, containing advanced machinery. It is home to the alien winged man RED RAVEN, who attack Angel. Although they come to an almost understanding Angel is lucky to escape alive, heading off to try and get some help in freeing the X-Men.
Cyclops manages to escape in 45, going toe to toe with Quicksilver, with his illness slowing him up, the former Avenger is beaten; which is exactly when the Avengers arrive. All they see is Cyclops standing over their friend and attack. The story is an all out crossover, carrying into the Avengers where all fences are mended, the X-Men and Avengers team up and destroy Magneto's base, leaving him apparently dead.
With time to reflect the X-Men try to mourn for Professor X at last, but the FBI contact them, as does Foggy Nelson (from Daredevil). He reads Xavier's will, that see his fortune put into a trust fund, to help mutants in need to be administrated by Scott Summers. Nelson leaves, and the FBI agent tries to tell the X-Men something but before he can the Juggernaut appears out of thin air and attacks. He trashes much of the high tech equipment in the school, then goes even crazier when he learns that Xavier is dead. With his powers close to overload he is pulled back into the strange dimension where he has been imprisoned since he last fought the X-Men, but it is then that the X-Men are told that the American government wants them split up, to go their separate ways and help mutants individually, the team spread out across the country.
With the team separated the next issue features Beast and Iceman facing off against a power crazed hypnotist, the Maha-Yogi.
Perhaps it is the sign of a title with dwindling popularity, or perhaps it just happened that way, but the X-Men creative team suddenly became a lot more fluid, hardly regular. Half way through a major story arc Thomas is replaced by Gary Friedrich (a sign perhaps that Lee was still providing the plots, for the other writers to build upon.)
Art on these issues is provided by Don Heck, although former artist Werner Roth provides pencils over Heck's layout on issue 47 - an issue that is co-written by Arnold Drake.
The story covering the first two issues, carries on pretty much where the previous ended
Trapped by Magneto Angel manages to escape, finding himself on a deserted rock in the middle of the sea, he discovers that it is in fact, hollow, containing advanced machinery. It is home to the alien winged man RED RAVEN, who attack Angel. Although they come to an almost understanding Angel is lucky to escape alive, heading off to try and get some help in freeing the X-Men.
Cyclops manages to escape in 45, going toe to toe with Quicksilver, with his illness slowing him up, the former Avenger is beaten; which is exactly when the Avengers arrive. All they see is Cyclops standing over their friend and attack. The story is an all out crossover, carrying into the Avengers where all fences are mended, the X-Men and Avengers team up and destroy Magneto's base, leaving him apparently dead.
With time to reflect the X-Men try to mourn for Professor X at last, but the FBI contact them, as does Foggy Nelson (from Daredevil). He reads Xavier's will, that see his fortune put into a trust fund, to help mutants in need to be administrated by Scott Summers. Nelson leaves, and the FBI agent tries to tell the X-Men something but before he can the Juggernaut appears out of thin air and attacks. He trashes much of the high tech equipment in the school, then goes even crazier when he learns that Xavier is dead. With his powers close to overload he is pulled back into the strange dimension where he has been imprisoned since he last fought the X-Men, but it is then that the X-Men are told that the American government wants them split up, to go their separate ways and help mutants individually, the team spread out across the country.
With the team separated the next issue features Beast and Iceman facing off against a power crazed hypnotist, the Maha-Yogi.
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X-Men 48 - 54
The next little segment of issues are written by Arnold Drake, with art provided by a number of talents. In many ways this could have been a run of issues showing a title toward the end of it's life, but in many ways they are some of the most important and key issues, setting the scene for what was to come in the distant future.
The first issue is the worst, although as far as characterizations go it is one of the best. Art is provided by Don Heck and Werner Roth. Although the story itself is forgettable, it is they way that Cyclops is handled that is by for the most important and enjoyable thing of the issue. Last seen he was still awkwardly mooning over Jean Grey, pandering to his insecurities as only a teenager can. Here he is her boyfriend, supporting her move into a new career, and having the women around him suddenly going gaga at the hunk. Protective, caring and giving of the best leader vibes we have seen from him, it makes you wonder what went on in between issues.
Things really kick off when the X-Men are drawn back together, facing the threat of the Demi-Men, half lives controlled by the self proclaimed premier acolyte of Magneto, Mesmero . With Mesmero taking control of common people, the X-Men get closer to reuniting, amongst all the chaos, Bobby Drake (Iceman) rescues a young lady, and the two of them hit it off. Her name is Lorna Dane, and when she is caught by the Beast with her hair undyed, naturally it is green, he guesses that she must be a mutant.
Comics Legend Jim Steranko provides art for 50, which sees the X-Men going up against Mesmero in his city for mutants. With Lorna Dane in his power the evil mutant manages to trigger her power, transforming her into Magneto 2, the daughter of... well guess. She turns her powers on the bad guys, much to the surprise of the X-Men, who are then thrown aside by a magnetic blast. Magneto enters the room.
The next issue sees the X-Men in all out battle with Magneto, Mesmero and the Demi men, they manage to escape, but Lorna Dane leaves with her father. This drives a wedge between Cyclops and Iceman, who in a fit of anger storms out and leaves the team. Meanwhile a new character Erik The Red attempts to find Magneto...
Near confusion runs riot, as the X-Men go after Magneto, who is under attack from Erik the Red, whilst Iceman makes his own way to the conflict. Everything goes crazy, Magneto's base is destroyed, Lorna learns that Magneto is lying about being her father, and the X-men return home with a new member...
Early work by the great Barry Smith sees a very much filler issue as the team take on Blastaar
54 is drawn by Don Heck once more, and is another classic, starting with Cyclops coming too in the middle of a museum accused of murder; then flashing back to how he got there. We get the first serious retroactive storytelling, as we learn that Scott has had a brother he has kept hidden from everyone for years. Alex Summers is about to graduate and that secret is revealed at last. However Alex is kidnapped by the Living Pharaoh who has some scheme in mind for him, the X-Men intervene, and in the mayhem the Living Pharaoh is apparently killed by Cyclops... we're back to the start of the issue again. Cyclops escapes, goes charging through hidden tunnels beneath the museum and finds the Pharaoh still alive and up for revenge....
The next little segment of issues are written by Arnold Drake, with art provided by a number of talents. In many ways this could have been a run of issues showing a title toward the end of it's life, but in many ways they are some of the most important and key issues, setting the scene for what was to come in the distant future.
The first issue is the worst, although as far as characterizations go it is one of the best. Art is provided by Don Heck and Werner Roth. Although the story itself is forgettable, it is they way that Cyclops is handled that is by for the most important and enjoyable thing of the issue. Last seen he was still awkwardly mooning over Jean Grey, pandering to his insecurities as only a teenager can. Here he is her boyfriend, supporting her move into a new career, and having the women around him suddenly going gaga at the hunk. Protective, caring and giving of the best leader vibes we have seen from him, it makes you wonder what went on in between issues.
Things really kick off when the X-Men are drawn back together, facing the threat of the Demi-Men, half lives controlled by the self proclaimed premier acolyte of Magneto, Mesmero . With Mesmero taking control of common people, the X-Men get closer to reuniting, amongst all the chaos, Bobby Drake (Iceman) rescues a young lady, and the two of them hit it off. Her name is Lorna Dane, and when she is caught by the Beast with her hair undyed, naturally it is green, he guesses that she must be a mutant.
Comics Legend Jim Steranko provides art for 50, which sees the X-Men going up against Mesmero in his city for mutants. With Lorna Dane in his power the evil mutant manages to trigger her power, transforming her into Magneto 2, the daughter of... well guess. She turns her powers on the bad guys, much to the surprise of the X-Men, who are then thrown aside by a magnetic blast. Magneto enters the room.
The next issue sees the X-Men in all out battle with Magneto, Mesmero and the Demi men, they manage to escape, but Lorna Dane leaves with her father. This drives a wedge between Cyclops and Iceman, who in a fit of anger storms out and leaves the team. Meanwhile a new character Erik The Red attempts to find Magneto...
Near confusion runs riot, as the X-Men go after Magneto, who is under attack from Erik the Red, whilst Iceman makes his own way to the conflict. Everything goes crazy, Magneto's base is destroyed, Lorna learns that Magneto is lying about being her father, and the X-men return home with a new member...
Early work by the great Barry Smith sees a very much filler issue as the team take on Blastaar
54 is drawn by Don Heck once more, and is another classic, starting with Cyclops coming too in the middle of a museum accused of murder; then flashing back to how he got there. We get the first serious retroactive storytelling, as we learn that Scott has had a brother he has kept hidden from everyone for years. Alex Summers is about to graduate and that secret is revealed at last. However Alex is kidnapped by the Living Pharaoh who has some scheme in mind for him, the X-Men intervene, and in the mayhem the Living Pharaoh is apparently killed by Cyclops... we're back to the start of the issue again. Cyclops escapes, goes charging through hidden tunnels beneath the museum and finds the Pharaoh still alive and up for revenge....
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Yes that's right, Lorna is Polaris, she gets her name in an upcoming issue..
And don't all the women have a thing for Gambit sooner or later?
(Completely unconnected but I missed something really important - Issue 50 saw a change in the cover logo, as X-Men adopts the common logo that it still uses till this day)
And don't all the women have a thing for Gambit sooner or later?
(Completely unconnected but I missed something really important - Issue 50 saw a change in the cover logo, as X-Men adopts the common logo that it still uses till this day)
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X-Men 55 - 56
This is where it all really begins, the beginning of the end and a run of issues that are the best in the X-Mens original run, possibly some of the best ever.
55 sees the return of Roy Thomas as writer, with Don Heck and Werner Roth maintaining art duties. Cyclops and his brother are kidnapped by the Living Pharaoh and taken to Egypt, while the X-Men give chase and are overpowered Cyclops attempts to fight free, struggling as he is he is a prime target for the Pharaoh, but it is a sudden unexpected blast from Alex that fells the bad guy.
56 One of the greatest Batman artists of all time, Neil Adams arrives and takes over the art, in a tale that sees the Pharaoh absorbing all the power from Alex, converting him to the nigh unstoppable Living Monolith. The story enhanced by Adams' stupendous ends with the X-Men managing to overcome the Monolith, but his powers flow back into Alex, who starts screaming he can't control it, and begins to build towards an explosion.
57 - 59 My favourite story of the original X-Men run sees the return of the Sentinels. It seems that Bolivar Trask, the man who designed the Sentinels had a son, Larry. Not only did he inherit his father's fortune, but also the hatred the man had for mutants; a hatred that has been fuelled by his old man's death.
Lorna Dane is coming closer to accepting her powers, but is over powered when her apartment is torn apart by a Sentinel. The X-Men lose a highly unstable Alex in Egypt, and are forced to head home. Alex struggling with self pity and his uncontrollable power is suddenly taken out of the picture by well you can guess. The X-Men return home and go their separate ways, unaware that they are being observed.
What follows is a rollercoaster ride, comic book storytelling at it's best as the Sentinels run rampage, the X-Men are taken out one by one, Magnetos' followers are all overpowered, Magneto turns out to be a robot (so where is the real one?). Alex is given a suit that controls his powers and takes the name Havok, old faces return, Vanisher, Blob, Banshee all fodder for the giant robots. Trask is convinced by an old friend that what he is doing is wrong, only to have his fathers' creations turn on him when they believe him to be a mutant. It just does not stop. In the end as Cyclops faces death he talks to the Sentinels, who have come to conclusion that all life is mutation, therefore all life must be destroyed. Cyclops sees the warped logic that is part of the Sentinels actions and manages to get them to trace the cause of mutation backwards. Once they deduce that the source of all life and mutation is from the sun, they leave, travelling to the heart of the sun to attempt to destroy it. They don't.
The whole thing is epic, Thomas writing in a manner he never managed on his first run, all backed up by the stunning Adams art and it does not stop here.
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X-Men 60 - 61
Another belting story, a two parter which is also prologue for the one that follows.
As the X-Men seek to recover from the battle with the Sentinels, helping wind down the operation; Jean and Scott seek help for Alex, rendered almost comatose in the battle with the giant robots. They end up under the care of Dr. Kyle Lykos a maverick genius. For years he has felt different, and part of his care is a strange system that allows him to siphon energy from his patients. It seems to help them in some strange way, but apart from giving him a buzz does nothing more. But he feels that there is more.
At the X-Mansion an argument breaks out about some of the survivors of the Sentinel caper, and Angel in a fit of anger adopts his original Avenging Angel costume and goes out on his own.
Lykos tries absorbing some of the almost limitless mutant energy that Alex possesses and is transformed into the man/pterodactyl and takes the name Sauron (yes, named after the great evil of Tolkien) Not only can he fly, but he has hypnotic powers on a level with Mesmero. He flies away right into the path of Angel.
The X-Men face off with Sauron, and manage to wear him down enough that he expends too much energy, reverts to Lykos and goes on the run. He makes it back to his surgery, where he is verbally attacked by his girlfriends father, stumbles into the room where Alex remains on the bed. Lorna Dane is visiting and Lykos stumbles into her. This time he need no machine, absorbs her energy and becomes Sauron again.
This time he goes after the X-Men for their energies, determined to remain Sauron, but is overpowered, and begins to revert to Lykos. He flees, overcome by what his power is doing to him, making his way to Terra De Fuego, the land of fire (now a frozen wasteland) he is cornered by the X-Men.
Many years earlier he had been here, with Tanya, his fiancee, where as a little girl she got lost, and together they stumbled onto the edge of the prehistoric Savage Land that exists beneath the ice.
Ironically this major part of Marvel mythology was first introduced in the X-Men (and I forgot to mention it back around about issue 17).
Lykos tries to flee. but the X-Men try to catch him, and it becomes apparent that he is not trying to regain his power, but is so scared of what he may become that he is running from himself. In full on despair he throws himself over the edge of a chasm and falls into the void below.
As the X-Men decide to head to the Savage Land just in case Lykos survived, Lorna admits to Alex that she is going to become an X-Man.
Another belting story, a two parter which is also prologue for the one that follows.
As the X-Men seek to recover from the battle with the Sentinels, helping wind down the operation; Jean and Scott seek help for Alex, rendered almost comatose in the battle with the giant robots. They end up under the care of Dr. Kyle Lykos a maverick genius. For years he has felt different, and part of his care is a strange system that allows him to siphon energy from his patients. It seems to help them in some strange way, but apart from giving him a buzz does nothing more. But he feels that there is more.
At the X-Mansion an argument breaks out about some of the survivors of the Sentinel caper, and Angel in a fit of anger adopts his original Avenging Angel costume and goes out on his own.
Lykos tries absorbing some of the almost limitless mutant energy that Alex possesses and is transformed into the man/pterodactyl and takes the name Sauron (yes, named after the great evil of Tolkien) Not only can he fly, but he has hypnotic powers on a level with Mesmero. He flies away right into the path of Angel.
The X-Men face off with Sauron, and manage to wear him down enough that he expends too much energy, reverts to Lykos and goes on the run. He makes it back to his surgery, where he is verbally attacked by his girlfriends father, stumbles into the room where Alex remains on the bed. Lorna Dane is visiting and Lykos stumbles into her. This time he need no machine, absorbs her energy and becomes Sauron again.
This time he goes after the X-Men for their energies, determined to remain Sauron, but is overpowered, and begins to revert to Lykos. He flees, overcome by what his power is doing to him, making his way to Terra De Fuego, the land of fire (now a frozen wasteland) he is cornered by the X-Men.
Many years earlier he had been here, with Tanya, his fiancee, where as a little girl she got lost, and together they stumbled onto the edge of the prehistoric Savage Land that exists beneath the ice.
Ironically this major part of Marvel mythology was first introduced in the X-Men (and I forgot to mention it back around about issue 17).
Lykos tries to flee. but the X-Men try to catch him, and it becomes apparent that he is not trying to regain his power, but is so scared of what he may become that he is running from himself. In full on despair he throws himself over the edge of a chasm and falls into the void below.
As the X-Men decide to head to the Savage Land just in case Lykos survived, Lorna admits to Alex that she is going to become an X-Man.
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X-Men 62 - 63
The X-Men descend once more into the Savage Land, and as Angel Scouts ahead he is attacked by a pteradon, he is knocked from the sky. The other X-Men search for him but cannot find him anywhere, instead running into the Tarzan like Lord of the savage land, Kazar (and pet sabretooth Zabu). There is a lot of mistrust in the land, and Kazar feels that interlopers are the cause. He will have nothing to do with the X-Men seeing them in the same light and leaves them.
He is attacked by primitive tribesmen, while the X-Men run to his aid.
Meanwhile Angel is rescued by a man called Creator. He has built a massive stronghold in the Savage Land and is studying strange mutations that are happening in the Savage Land, gathering them together like Professor X did the X-Men. He manages to save the near dead X-Man, and befriends him.
The other X-Men face the creatures of the Savage Land as they try to aid Kazar. It's no surprise that the Creator is the interloper that Kazar is concerned about, but the big twist comes, when after we have seen what a good and kind man he is, that he returns to his own chambers, and there on the table is his helmet. He is Magneto. (Seen here for the first time unmasked).
When Angel discovers the truth he is shocked, but alone stands little chance against Magneto, but when the other X-Men arrive it turns into a running battle, that ends with the X-Men winning, Magneto vanishing and the mutated natives slowly returning to normal.
The X-Men prepare to return home, unaware of the surprise waiting them there.
The X-Men descend once more into the Savage Land, and as Angel Scouts ahead he is attacked by a pteradon, he is knocked from the sky. The other X-Men search for him but cannot find him anywhere, instead running into the Tarzan like Lord of the savage land, Kazar (and pet sabretooth Zabu). There is a lot of mistrust in the land, and Kazar feels that interlopers are the cause. He will have nothing to do with the X-Men seeing them in the same light and leaves them.
He is attacked by primitive tribesmen, while the X-Men run to his aid.
Meanwhile Angel is rescued by a man called Creator. He has built a massive stronghold in the Savage Land and is studying strange mutations that are happening in the Savage Land, gathering them together like Professor X did the X-Men. He manages to save the near dead X-Man, and befriends him.
The other X-Men face the creatures of the Savage Land as they try to aid Kazar. It's no surprise that the Creator is the interloper that Kazar is concerned about, but the big twist comes, when after we have seen what a good and kind man he is, that he returns to his own chambers, and there on the table is his helmet. He is Magneto. (Seen here for the first time unmasked).
When Angel discovers the truth he is shocked, but alone stands little chance against Magneto, but when the other X-Men arrive it turns into a running battle, that ends with the X-Men winning, Magneto vanishing and the mutated natives slowly returning to normal.
The X-Men prepare to return home, unaware of the surprise waiting them there.
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X-Men 64 (Art by Don Heck)
The X-Men leave the Savage Land finding their way to Japan. There they meet the mutant Shiro Yoshida, Sunfire it's all involved in yakuza in fighting, ending in tragedy when he kills his own grandfather.
X-Men 65 (Written by Dennis O'Neill art Neil Adams)
It's interesting that Roy Thomas did not write this issue. Too busy, or the fact that the story undid one of his big plot point?
The X-Men return to the mansion, and find that Alex and Lorna are waiting for them. Now using the names of Havok and Polaris, there is the question of how they got into the mansion, but Havok tells them there is a lot more going on than they know - that the Earth is under attack (and has been for a while) by the alien Z'Nox. They are so powerful that there is no way that any of the superheroes in the world can stop them, but there is a chance that they might be able to fight another way.
Cyclops is surprised and suspicious. How does his brother know so much, there is no way he could have learned so much, let alone formulated a plan such as he has. Havok agrees and introduces the person behind it all: Professor Charles Xavier.
It seems that Xavier became aware of the threat of the Z'Nox and hid away to prepare to fight them, in his place the mutant The Changeling took his place (seen as a member of Factor 3). Dying anyway the Changeling had no fear in the things he faced, and it was he that was killed by Grotesk.
Xavier ultimately combines his powers with those of Cyclops, Havok, Polaris and Marvel Girl, forming a super-powered broadcasting beacon; then reaches out connecting his mind to countless people across the world, fusing them together into a single psychic gestalt and attacking the Z'Nox with it. The aliens try to resist but cannot face the assault and flee swearing to never return again.
X-Men 66
The X-Men take time to recover after their battle, while Professor X. lies close to death. Iceman and Havok start squabbling over Lorna, but it is then that Xavier revives enough to warn them that the Hulk is on the rampage nearby. What follows is a straight forward fight between the X-Men and the Hulk. A standard issue, much more like the early X-Men than previous issues, with a relatively poor script by Thomas with art by Sal Buscema.
The issues ends with a note from Stan Lee, saying that sales are low, and that the X-Men, no matter how good it has been of late has run it's course. There will be no more comics, it has been cancelled, but he believes in the characters he created and is sure that they will appear throughout the Marvel Universe in the future. (He is of course right, as the Beast will soon join the Avengers, in one of their most popular line-ups ever)
It's March 1970 and the title comes to an end. Not the massive hit, certainly never the best selling comic in the US, it is the end. Or is it?
The X-Men leave the Savage Land finding their way to Japan. There they meet the mutant Shiro Yoshida, Sunfire it's all involved in yakuza in fighting, ending in tragedy when he kills his own grandfather.
X-Men 65 (Written by Dennis O'Neill art Neil Adams)
It's interesting that Roy Thomas did not write this issue. Too busy, or the fact that the story undid one of his big plot point?
The X-Men return to the mansion, and find that Alex and Lorna are waiting for them. Now using the names of Havok and Polaris, there is the question of how they got into the mansion, but Havok tells them there is a lot more going on than they know - that the Earth is under attack (and has been for a while) by the alien Z'Nox. They are so powerful that there is no way that any of the superheroes in the world can stop them, but there is a chance that they might be able to fight another way.
Cyclops is surprised and suspicious. How does his brother know so much, there is no way he could have learned so much, let alone formulated a plan such as he has. Havok agrees and introduces the person behind it all: Professor Charles Xavier.
It seems that Xavier became aware of the threat of the Z'Nox and hid away to prepare to fight them, in his place the mutant The Changeling took his place (seen as a member of Factor 3). Dying anyway the Changeling had no fear in the things he faced, and it was he that was killed by Grotesk.
Xavier ultimately combines his powers with those of Cyclops, Havok, Polaris and Marvel Girl, forming a super-powered broadcasting beacon; then reaches out connecting his mind to countless people across the world, fusing them together into a single psychic gestalt and attacking the Z'Nox with it. The aliens try to resist but cannot face the assault and flee swearing to never return again.
X-Men 66
The X-Men take time to recover after their battle, while Professor X. lies close to death. Iceman and Havok start squabbling over Lorna, but it is then that Xavier revives enough to warn them that the Hulk is on the rampage nearby. What follows is a straight forward fight between the X-Men and the Hulk. A standard issue, much more like the early X-Men than previous issues, with a relatively poor script by Thomas with art by Sal Buscema.
The issues ends with a note from Stan Lee, saying that sales are low, and that the X-Men, no matter how good it has been of late has run it's course. There will be no more comics, it has been cancelled, but he believes in the characters he created and is sure that they will appear throughout the Marvel Universe in the future. (He is of course right, as the Beast will soon join the Avengers, in one of their most popular line-ups ever)
It's March 1970 and the title comes to an end. Not the massive hit, certainly never the best selling comic in the US, it is the end. Or is it?
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X-Men 67 - 93
December 1970 and the X-Men return to the shelves, but not with new tales, it is a reprint title now, retelling some of the old tales. Probably done as an experiment, and also to meet demand. Comics were not so much the collectables back then, people were not aware of what they would become in the future. Genuinely pulp fiction people took them off the shelf, read them and threw them away.
Coupled with this was the lack of creator rights - writers and artists were contracted to write and draw, and that was it, all material then belonged to the comic companies. There were no residuals, no money for reprints. You did your work and were gone. There was virtually no cost in reprinting, other than paying for it being printed, an artist to do a new cover.
Reprinting the title kept it in the comic readers eyes, allowing old readers the chance to re-read the issues that they lost and being out there to draw in new readers.
The title continued for another 4 years, 93 was the last issue, which boasted it would be continued in Giant Sized X-Men 1.
It was the April 1975 and the reprints ended. But it was point of change, mutation perhaps, and things, as the comic books are wont to say, would never be the same again.
That brings me to the end of the initial run of the X-Men, hope you have enjoyed it and that it sorted things out for those of you that inspired me to write it - the big question now is, should I continue or call it a day?
December 1970 and the X-Men return to the shelves, but not with new tales, it is a reprint title now, retelling some of the old tales. Probably done as an experiment, and also to meet demand. Comics were not so much the collectables back then, people were not aware of what they would become in the future. Genuinely pulp fiction people took them off the shelf, read them and threw them away.
Coupled with this was the lack of creator rights - writers and artists were contracted to write and draw, and that was it, all material then belonged to the comic companies. There were no residuals, no money for reprints. You did your work and were gone. There was virtually no cost in reprinting, other than paying for it being printed, an artist to do a new cover.
Reprinting the title kept it in the comic readers eyes, allowing old readers the chance to re-read the issues that they lost and being out there to draw in new readers.
The title continued for another 4 years, 93 was the last issue, which boasted it would be continued in Giant Sized X-Men 1.
It was the April 1975 and the reprints ended. But it was point of change, mutation perhaps, and things, as the comic books are wont to say, would never be the same again.
That brings me to the end of the initial run of the X-Men, hope you have enjoyed it and that it sorted things out for those of you that inspired me to write it - the big question now is, should I continue or call it a day?
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2006
- Messages
- 6,381
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2006
- Messages
- 6,381
Thanks Clansman, I was toying with the idea of doing something like opening a new thread, and wasn't quite sure, but with you suggesting the same thing I think I'll do just that
Heck Tate
The Fleet Footed
Hey PM, quick question:
I noticed the early Magneto's seem to be wearing a helmet. Is this the the telepathy blocking helmet we all know, or does that come in later? Also, where do they first explain the whole helmet thing, and do they ever say how it works, or just give a "because Magneto knows Prof X," answer?
I noticed the early Magneto's seem to be wearing a helmet. Is this the the telepathy blocking helmet we all know, or does that come in later? Also, where do they first explain the whole helmet thing, and do they ever say how it works, or just give a "because Magneto knows Prof X," answer?
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