The All New, All Different X-Men (1975)

[Heck Tate]

I don't mean to give anything away, but I've heard mention of Colossus's brother, but never knew that to be his origin story. I don't think I've actually seen him in an issue (no picture comes to my mind when I think of him) but I know I've heard him mentioned in passing by other characters. Also, I think the thing about Wolverine being a real Wolverine is hilarious. How different would his character have turned out if that had been what Marvel went with.

 

[Perpetual Man]

The trouble with going back over these stories is my sudden desire to re-read the comic as I either work from memory, or worse, flick through them. (The urge get's even worse when it's my favourite run of issues which we are now getting into...).

That being the case though you begin to notice things that you did not think about - like the Wolverine/real Wolverine - you can actually see they were writing toward the revelation that he was an evolved animal - then brought up another excuse as to why he was slightly different to other mutants!

 

[Mouse]

I'm glad they didn't go with the Wolverine evolving from a real wolverine too, that'd be daft!

Kurt uses an image inducer thingy in Evolution (yes, I've watched a couple of episodes. I feel like a traitor to the 90s). I thought they'd made it up for that cartoon so I'm glad they didn't!

 

[Clansman]

I feel the wonderful Phoenix Saga coming on (which eventually goes on, and on, and on... until it finally ends (or does it?)).

 

[Perpetual Man]

I feel the wonderful Phoenix Saga coming on (which eventually goes on, and on, and on... until it finally ends (or does it?)).

Technically it end in Uncanny 137... but... well you know how things are in comics...

The genuine first story though is complete within itself and you do not need (probably should not have to read anything after that.)

 

[Perpetual Man]

All New, All Different X-Men 101 – 103 (Claremont & Cockrum)

I’ve decided to try and cut back on the descriptions of the stories that are ‘standard’ and probably concentrate on what I consider classics, but still I won’t miss an issue. This is entirely subjective... but as we are about hit a run of nearly 40 issues that are some of the best in the X-Men’s history I can see myself being busy for a while.

The shuttle falls from the sky, panicking everyone at the Kennedy airport. The shuttle should have been destroyed long before any landing, but somehow it manages to hit the runway, almost as though someone is still piloting it, but the landing disproves it. The shuttle is torn apart on impact, skidding along the runway, through the fence at the edge of the airport and straight into Jamaica Bay, where it sinks without a trace.

Minutes later the X-Men surface, surprised to find they are still alive, but of Jean Grey, Marvel Girl, there is no sign. Cyclops is determined to dive back down to try and find her, but Nightcrawler tries to stop him, the water starts to bubble and a figure bursts from the depths.

“Hear me X-Men! No longer am I the woman you knew! I am Fire and Life incarnate. Now and Forever I am Phoenix!"

For a few moments she hangs in the air, then falls back into the bay, where she is rescued and taken to a nearby hospital.

Determined to show her how he feels Wolverine turns up with flowers, not understanding the nature of friends, he has always been a loner and that is all he knows. When he opens the door to the lounge he finds all the X-Men there waiting to hear how she is.

Cyclops is driven mad with not knowing what is happening, but when the doctor eventually arrives and tells them that Jean is going to be okay, he excuses himself and breaks down, wondering how he would have survived should she have died.

Xavier decides that the X-Men could do with a well deserved break, and as Banshee has just inherited a property (Castle in Ireland) they leave to investigate it, leaving Scott and Xavier behind to look after Jean.

Once in Ireland the X-Men go to the castle where they are unaware they are being watched. They get ready to relax, but are all captured and attacked, by Banshee’s cousin, a man named Black Tom Cassidy, and his new partner... The Juggernaut.

What follows is basically a three issue scrap between the X-Men and Black Tom and the Juggernaut, including Colossus vrs Juggernaut, Banshee being captured, Leprechauns (I kid you not), Nightcrawler using his image inducer to look like Xavier and throwing everyone off balance.

The culmination of the battle sees an all out assault on one of the castle’s towers, while Storm completely loses it in the sky above blasting lightning in all direction while the rain pours. It all comes down to a one on one between Black Tom and Banshee, Tom is thrown over the edge of the tower and into the sea below, causing Juggernaut to panic at the loss of his friend and throws himself after him.

Subplots: While trapped in a small room of the castle Storms claustrophobia gets the better of her, and in flashback we get to see her origin. How she lived in Cairo with her family, and how a plane crashed into their building killing her parents, and leaving her trapped with their bodies. How she escaped, became a thief and wandered the plains of Africa, becoming worshiped as a goddess, before Professor X fond her.

We learn that Nightcrawler becomes near invisible in shadows.

Jean claims that she actually died and brought herself back.

Professor Xavier sees the figure from his dreams in a mirror while he is awake.

Colossus hefts Wolverine and throws him a great distance into a fight – the start of their Fastball Special manoeuvre

We see Jeans friendship with characters outside the X-Men from the larger Marvel universe, Misty Knight and Colleen Wing.

And a new figure yells at Erik The Red that his sister must not be allowed to reach the X-Men, that she is getting closer and closer. Erik swears he will stop this meeting from happening

In the background on another of Eriks’ screens we can see Magneto....

 

[Perpetual Man]

The All New, All Different X-Men 104 (Claremont & Cockrum)

Before heading home the X-Men travel to Muir Island, home/work of Moira MacTaggert. A major research facility into mutants, it also serves as a detention centre for those mutants that could well be deemed dangerous. Included here is Magneto, regressed to childhood in another title.

Erik the Red arrives and somehow restores Magneto to his prime, more powerful than ever and he attacks the X-Men. In a massive battle the X-Men are horrendously outmatched, but the struggle on.

At the same time Cyclops arrives to bring Moira home, they find her head of security Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man, unconscious and he tells them what has happened. Cyclops joins the battle against Magneto, but when he learns that Erik the Red is involved something clicks in his mind. He realises that every attack made has been on Professor X. Meaning this is a diversion and Xavier is alone and unprotected.

The X-Men head home, leaving Magneto victorious and Wolverine severely annoyed at being labelled a coward.

Sub-plots: We meet local Angus McWhirter for the first time. We learn Magneto can sense Nightcrawler teleporting through the Earth’s magnetic fields. Unwittingly Magneto damages a lock on a cell door marked Mutant X,. We get the first glimpse of the Starjammers, where their leader referred to as Christopher notes that stars are moving into alignment, and if the Emperor goes ahead with his plan it will destroy everything... For the first time outside of Xavier’s dreams we see the ship and woman he has been dreaming of, she’s in Earth orbit and under attack; and Jean and Misty play hosts to visitors in their new apartment, Jean’s parents and Professor X, while outside Erik, Havok and Polaris look on.

 

[Mouse]

Who's the fella in the green suit, Perp?

 

[Perpetual Man]

Ooops, sorry a label would have helped, that would be Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man. (I added a picture because at some point in the far flung future, he will be an X-Man, and currently leader of X-Factor no less)

 

[Mouse]

D'oh! Yes, I can see that now. Those yellow bits on his suit are familiar. Can't place where I've seen him though. Must've been 90s cartoon. (He's in the third film isn't he? But I don't think he has those yellow bits in that.)

 

[Perpetual Man]

I think you're right Mouse. I'm sure I've seen pictures of hims for a cartoon, and he was in the last movie.. He'll be around in the background for a long time.

 

[Perpetual Man]

All New, All Different X-Men 105 (Claremont & Cockrum)

Are we ready?

The X-Men catch up with Erik at an airport, and attack (why he is no longer at the apartment is a mystery), and attack, but Erik has more help than just Havok and Polaris, he has tricked Firelord into helping him Firelord is a former herald of Galactus, making him one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe – powered by the same power-cosmic as the Silver Surfer. Needless to say he wipes the floor with the X-Men, and Erik sends him after Xavier.

Above the planet the alien cruiser attacks the smaller ship, but when they learn that Earth, a primitive backwater world has actually fought off Galactus they turn tail and flee, but not before firing a final salvo at the fleeing ship, which is destroyed, but not before the lone pilot manages to teleport.

As Xavier, Misty, Jean and her parents enjoy a quiet afternoon tea... the dream figure arrives on the other end of the teleport beam.

Xavier is stunned, it’s the being from his dream, made solid. It pulls of it’s helmet to reveal an exotic alien woman who speaks in an alien tongue and collapses, but without warning Xavier shouts out her name Lilandra as though he knew it without being told.

As the group tries to look after the unconscious alien the wall is torn apart and Firelord arrives, demanding that the humans should stand aside and give him Xavier, as they are as nothing to his powers. Jean transforms into Phoenix and casually swats Firelord away.

And a battle of near epic proportions begins. With Firelord using more and more power and yet Jean seems to match him at every turn.

The X-men arrive just after Erik The Red who has set up a Stargate (long before SG1 or even the original movie I hasten to add), grabs Lilandra and leaps through it. The gate closes, leaving only lifeless technology, and there is no power on Earth strong enough to reopen it.

But Jean draws on even more of the Phoenix force and manages to repower the gate herself. The X-Men give chase and the gate closes behind them, leaving Xavier alone with the furious Greys’ wanting to know what is going on. At which point Firelord returns, furious at being humiliated by Phoenix.... and Xavier and the others are on their own.

Note: There is a scene in the issue as Firelord and Phoenix fight overhead, a crowd of terrified New Yorkers run for cover, including Dave Cockrum and Chris Claremont!

 

[Perpetual Man]

All New, All Different X-Men 106 (Mantlo & Brown with Claremont & Cockrum)

After a stunning cliffhanger at the end of the previous issue, this one must have come as a bit of a shock, as it is an old style traditional filler. A totally different creative team telling a single one off story, with an opening and closing framing sequence by the regular team.

Firelord returns for a rematch with Phoenix only to find the X-Men gone, Xavier explains where they have gone, and then collapses, remembering an event from a few weeks earlier...

The X-Men are training in the Danger Room when they are suddenly attacked by the original X-Men, all in their original costumes and with their original attributes – Beast is not blue and furry. There is a big fight, when Xavier realises that they are all psychic constructs created by a dark part of his subconscious mind. The ‘evil’ Xavier tried to take control of the physical body, but Professor X summons the psychic original X-Men and they safely lock the dark Xavier away.

Xavier comes to on the floor of Jeans apartment and realises that the X-Men are gone, on their own a facing a bigger threat than any they have faced before.

 

[Perpetual Man]

All New, All Different X-Men 107 - 108 (Claremont, Cockrum and John Byrne)

The X-Men appear in an ancient alien city, at the centre of which is a giant glowing crystal. At the base of the base of the crystal Erik The Red hold Lilandra hostage, while a few others of the same species as Lilandra stand with them. However between the X-Men and all of this are a large group of strange beings, claiming that they are the Imperial Guard of the Sh’iar Empire, that Lilandra is a traitor brought to justice. With little time to think Cyclops goes on the offensive and they attack.

Outnumbered the X-Men fight valiantly, and we learn that the Emperor of the Sh’iar is Lilandra’s brother D’Ken, he has come to believe that the giant Crystal contain the greatest power in the universe and he is determined that it is going to be his. Lilandra opposed this thinking that whatever was locked away in the crystal was done so for a reason, and was determined to stop him. In her desire to find aid and desperation her mind made a link with a literal soul mate, Charles Xavier on Earth and she headed their hoping to find the help she needed.

D’Ken used all his resources to stop her finding allies and agents on Earth, particularly the man who took the identity of Erik, who had been working against the X-Men for months.

Outnumbered and overpowered the X-Men manage to rescue Lilandra, but are soon overwhelmed by the Imperial Guard, but before they are truly beaten there is a flash of light and another, smaller group of aliens appear, led by what appears to be a human dressed in near piratical attire. Lilandra identifies them as The Starjammers.

With the newcomers aid the X-Men overcome the Imperial Guard, but the leader of the Starjammers, Corsair indicates that although they have sided with Lilandra this time, they are still against the Sh’iar imperial family. To make sure they are going to be loyal for the moment Jean scans Corsair’s mind and is startled by what she finds.

But in that moment D’Ken announces that they are too late that he has activate the M’Kraan Crystal a set of stars above moves into alignment, the crystal explodes into life...

And in the moment of activation, on Earth Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four & Peter Corbeau notice that the entire reality just blinked out of existence for a second...

On Earth we get to see various other heroes of the Marvel Universe all reacting to the sudden blip in reality, there is nothing they can do and many of them are worried or scared.

The X-Men and Starjammers reach the crystal and one of the latter, Raza throws the mad D’Ken into the heart of the Crystal, but this does not stop the power growing. As they try to formulate a plan a small alien figure appears claiming to be the guardian of the Crystal and they will be stopped.

Wolverine thinks it’s funny and walks straight up to the alien, only to be punched into orbit by a single blow. (He is rescues by the Starjammers ship)
The little alien starts to wipe the floor with the X-Men, until Banshee allows himself to get caught and then unleashes the longest, most powerful sonic scream he has ever done. It knocks the dwarf out, but there is a second, longer blink in reality and the second guardian appears, this time a giant robot like figure.

As they fight desperately they manage to touch the crystal itself and are pulled into another city, this inside the crystal at the heart of which is a large glowing sphere. They all feel uneasy in this place, but Jean feels a connection with the sphere. When she touches it, it unleashes a force that makes them all live their greatest nightmares.

Jean’s is the fear of death, but is able to overcome it having faced it reality when the shuttle crashed on Earth. She uses her powers to help everyone else, then draws strength from each of them. When Corsair is wary about allowing this to happen, she lets him know that she knows who he is: Major Christopher Summers. Cyclop’s father. She tells him that Cyclops is his son, the steps into the sphere.

Here Phoenix becomes one with reality, and in a display of stunning art work she knits reality back together, the Phoenix effect seen throughout the galaxy, then reseals the crystal, opens the star gate and returns the X-Men to Earth, where they are greeted by Xavier and Firelord, who has realised his error and makes his peace.

Just as the stargate closes a final figure stumbles through. It seem Lilandra could not bear to be cut off from Xavier and has followed his team home.

 

[Clansman]

PM, you have a great thing going here. Looking forward to your next post.

(Hint, hint).

 

[Perpetual Man]

Oops, sorry Clansman, I had it all lined up and forgot to do it...


And there we go...

 

[Perpetual Man]

Chris Claremont & John Byrne

A lot could be said (and has been) about these two creators, Byrne is no longer seen as the greatest comic artist in the universe (as he once was) and Claremont is not seen as one of the greats, as perhaps he should be. He is often regarded as being to verbose in his writing. To be fair to many of his critics his more recent works have not be to the standard of his X-Men years, although on occasion he has come close.

Byrne quite often does himself no favours, but in truth he stands up for what he believes, and although his style has very little in common with the current top names, he is one of the few artists who can draw any character with a minimum of line work and make them look as they are meant to.

But as he joined the X-Men on 108 he formed perhaps one of the true greatest creative teams in comic history. Together he and Claremont would build on what had been started with Cockrum and take the X-Men from a slowly improving (sales wise) comic, and transcend what anyone would have thought possible – turning a near third rate, already cancelled title and make it the best selling comic book in Marvel’s history.

To be fair to Claremont, he would keep the title at the top of the popularity ladder for years, but despite some true masterpieces along the way, he would never match so perfectly the run of issues with Byrne.

Together with inker Terry Austin the two of them became a proper creative team, with Byrne having input into the stories, bouncing ideas from one to another and having the ability to bounce off editorial interference, strengthening the stories in the process.

Between them they never produced a weak issue, even the poorest was above standard, and when they hit the mark, which they did consistently they were a near unstoppable force.

When people talk of classics in comic history, the inevitable names get thrown around, Miller’s Dark Knight Returns, Moore and Gibbons Watchmen, Gaiman’s Sandman, but some of the Claremont/Byrne tales match up with that and should be recognised in the same light – indeed amongst the solo issues there are some true masterpieces – the often under-rated Proteus saga, The Hellfire Club saga, The unforgettable Dark Phoenix conclusion, not to mention the swansong for Byrne the epic Days of Future’s Past.

But all that is to come...

 

[thatollie]

PM, thanks for all you've done and are yet to do with this X-Men history. It's fascinating reading.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Thanks for the post thatollie, this is not the kind of thread that evokes much response, so it lets me know it's being looked at. (Other than Clansman and Mouse...).

I'm trying to do at least a post a week, but sometimes I forget, so need a prod...

 

[Perpetual Man]

All New, All Different X-Men 109 (Claremont and John Byrne)

The X-Men return to the mansion following their epic space adventure, and all seem determined to put their feet down and relax. You really get a sense of the mansion becoming a home and the X-Men a team of people here, with personality traits coming to the fore. Banshee’s delight at seeing Moira; learning that Storm’s room is in the attic, a space filled with lush greenery that she waters with her powers (in the nude no less – not that we see anything but it becomes funny later).

We learn what happened off panel after Jean knitted the universe back together, how despite being the sole air to Shi’ar Empire Lilandra was still classified as a traitor and it was better she was gone until things could be sorted out; how Corsair made Jen promised not to tell Scott that he was his father; that Storm overheard the conversation and now has to share Jean’s burden.

At home Scott notices that there is a subtle change in Jean’s character, that started after she became Phoenix and has increased even more since she saved them all. We also learn that Alex and Lorna now free of Erik the Reds influence have travelled to Muir Island to recuperate, and that Jean’s parents are worried about their daughter. They are terrified when she shows them herself as Phoenix, Scott broods about it and Kurt plans a date with his girlfriend Amanda Sefton.

The other X-Men Sean (Banshee), Ororo (Storm), Peter (Colossus) and Moira plan a little picnic, but are surprised when Wolverine says he will be joining them. He tells them that while they are playing he will do some hunting, and Ororo is horrified. We begin to see some character development for Wolverine now, as he informs her that there is no skill in hunting and killing, but to get close enough to a deer to touch it, now that is a real talent. She is surprised and apologetic. He does not seem to care.

He is true to his word and is soon hunting, getting closer to a deer, when it suddenly runs. He is convinced it did not hear him, when the ground is torn open and a figured dressed in a stylised Canadian Flag bursts from below the ground. He refers to Wolverine as Weapon X, himself as James MacDonald Hudson – Weapon Alpha. He has come to bring Wolverine back to the Canadian government where he belongs.

His forcefield blocks Wolverines claws and his enhanced strength actually gives Wolverine a run for his money, actually throwing him back through the air to where the X-Men are playing. During the brief fight, Wolverine calls his attacker Jimmie Boy – obviously an old relationship there, and actually calls himself Logan, at last revealing his name.

Peter and Ororo are talking about an incident where she went swimming in the X-Men pool not understanding protocol with clothing, she is wearing a swimsuit, but only because she is told she has to.

Sean and Moira are playing in a nearby river – and this is when Wolverine is thrown through the trees. When Weapon Alpha follows, Peter tries to stop him getting to the unconscious Wolverine, and when the other laughs in his face, he transforms into Colossus and knock the Canadian flying.

Dermined to fight back Weapon Alpha tears a tree up by its roots only to have storm blow it apart with lightning, he panics and fires and electromagnetic blast that hits Colossus, reflects of his steel form and hits Moira in the head. Sean pulls her limp form from the water and goes crazy, letting loose more sonic scream than he ever has before.

Weapon Alpha’s armour can’t take the sheer power of the assault and he runs, promising to himself that he needs to vindicate his performance, and that next time he is bringing Alpha Flight with him.

As the X-Men rush to get Moira treatment, Wolverine tells them that he and Jimmy were once as close and brothers, and that something is wrong now. This is only the beginning of something bigger.

Weapon Alpha was originally a creation of John Byrne, from his school days no less.