Scan barcode
A review by scheu
Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 1 by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, Len Wein
4.0
My review of this trade will actually be a brain dump about the X-Men in general - mostly.
I read the X-Men comics monthly for about ten years (let's say 1982 to 1992). I still fondly recall the first half of those stories (maybe up through Inferno, and along with New Mutants) but the older I got the less patience I had with Claremont's writing. People just didn't talk the way he made his characters talk. Not that other comic-book dialogue was BETTER, but it still grated on me. Then the art changed (Marc Silvestri, ugh), random characters like Longshot came in, Fall of the Mutants, and that was before the 90s really started rolling. Lucky, I suppose, that when I started college and ran out of disposable income, I missed out on the worst of 90's-era Marvel.
Recently I decided that since the X-Men are a sort of 'black hole' in my Marvel fandom, I ought to reconcile my dusty appreciation for these stories. I'm not interested in the Lee/Kirby era so I started with Wein, Claremont and Cockrum. Cockrum's art was really dynamic (especially every other face contorted in rage). Wolverine was distinctly NOT IMPORTANT. I would say that every other 'new' X-Man got more screen time. Scott Summers was still a jerk, and somehow built like Schwarzenegger. Most importantly to me, though, was the fact that Claremont's dialogue had not yet become so bad. You might chalk that up to his characters being "early" in the characterization process, but if that's the case, does that mean they were overwritten later?
Anyhow, the popularity and quality of these stories is not lost on me. It's great stuff. I plan on picking up the rest of these Masterworks in trade but once we hit Silvestri I make no guarantees.
I read the X-Men comics monthly for about ten years (let's say 1982 to 1992). I still fondly recall the first half of those stories (maybe up through Inferno, and along with New Mutants) but the older I got the less patience I had with Claremont's writing. People just didn't talk the way he made his characters talk. Not that other comic-book dialogue was BETTER, but it still grated on me. Then the art changed (Marc Silvestri, ugh), random characters like Longshot came in, Fall of the Mutants, and that was before the 90s really started rolling. Lucky, I suppose, that when I started college and ran out of disposable income, I missed out on the worst of 90's-era Marvel.
Recently I decided that since the X-Men are a sort of 'black hole' in my Marvel fandom, I ought to reconcile my dusty appreciation for these stories. I'm not interested in the Lee/Kirby era so I started with Wein, Claremont and Cockrum. Cockrum's art was really dynamic (especially every other face contorted in rage). Wolverine was distinctly NOT IMPORTANT. I would say that every other 'new' X-Man got more screen time. Scott Summers was still a jerk, and somehow built like Schwarzenegger. Most importantly to me, though, was the fact that Claremont's dialogue had not yet become so bad. You might chalk that up to his characters being "early" in the characterization process, but if that's the case, does that mean they were overwritten later?
Anyhow, the popularity and quality of these stories is not lost on me. It's great stuff. I plan on picking up the rest of these Masterworks in trade but once we hit Silvestri I make no guarantees.