A review by literarygoblin
Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 1 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Bill Mantlo, Dave Cockrum, Gil Kane, Len Wein, George Pérez, Stan Lee

5.0

 The debut of the new X-Men in Giant-Size X-Men #1 changed everything for the course of this comic book series back in 1975 - it brought life to a franchise that, previously, garnered limited interest, and it boasted an all-star lineup of mutants from around the globe. The popularity of the X-Men is all thanks to the impact Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum had on the revitalization of the team, and without their week it’s a guarantee that the X-Men wouldn’t be as massive as they are today.

So, how does the reboot of the series stand up in retrospect?

From the first few pages, I already noticed something special about this series. The art was drawn with care and appreciation, and the coloring is some of the most beautiful I’ve seen in any comic book.

And on top of the delightful art was Claremont’s poetic writing, which in itself is something worth admiring; take away the plot elements, and his prose still stands out as something very unique to comic books. There’s depth in Claremont’s writing and use of language - he isn’t simply trying to tell a story, he’s trying to engulf the reader entirely in the world of the comic. I think these were the first comics I read that had a creative voice that didn’t feel forced - Claremont’s style is believable and incredibly interesting.

In Giant-Size X-Men #1, the first issue in this collection, we’re introduced to a brand-new team that has become very iconic over the decades, and most of them are the mutants that people think of first when they hear the name X-Men. Most of these characters had enticing and promising introductions, making me excited to see the new team come together. It’s a strong start to a reemerging series and, once again, Claremont’s writing helps the work stand out. Once the team was assembled, it was a clash of various tempers and temperaments, and each X-Man, at one point or another, got the opportunity to show off their powers and abilities.

Once the X-Men encountered their first foe together, the stakes they faced were so creative and fun, but also very intense and well-written. It promised even more unique enemies, and the rest of the comics collected here didn’t disappoint - nearly every issue had unique foes to face, while also building towards the greater conflict that pops up at the very end in issue #100.

Despite the reputation that comics have of being goofy, Uncanny X-Men Vol. One shows that comic books can get serious too. When one character is mourning the loss of another, the writing acknowledges the difficulty of that loss, the art shows how much the character, Cyclops/Scott Summers, is struggling because of the blame he puts on himself. For a comic printed in 1975, the serious subject was handled quite well, and it helped me care for these characters even more.

Although this book certainly had its strengths, there are a few weaknesses that stood out to me, many of which stem from the era these stories were written in. When Marvel was bringing back the X-Men, whose series had been canceled for five years at that point, these new X-Men were hyped up as being a diverse team of people from around the globe. And even today, 45 years later, this run is still sometimes spoken of as if the cast is incredibly diverse.

But I think modern readers will see that that’s a bit of a cop-out. We’re introduced to seven new team members in Giant-Size X-Men #1 - 6 of the 7 are men, and 3 of the 7 are people of color. But before the end of the book, 2 of the 3 people of color are no longer a part of the team, leaving Storm/Ororo Monroe - the only woman and the last person of color - the job of representing minorities in a book designed to be a metaphor for real life minority groups. I understand that in the 1970s it was important to feature Russian or German characters in a positive way, hence the introduction of Colossus/Piotr Rasputin and Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, but it still feels thoughtless to write two POC out of the team so quickly.

Aside from the obvious bias that modern readers will find regarding the POC in this story, the rest of this book is incredibly strong. The stories are fascinating, the writing is fantastic, and the artwork is absolutely beautiful. The characters are all unique, they grow on you, and they have varying relationships with each other that make the team dynamic interesting and believable. For anyone that grew up on the X-Men cartoons or movies, or for anyone that would like to start reading X-Men comics, Uncanny X-Men Vol. One is a great starting point - it’s the introduction to so many iconic characters, and it’s full of stories that are entertaining without becoming too complex to use you.