Comic Book Review – The Uncanny X-Men Omnibus Volume One

The Uncanny X-Men Omnibus Volume One (2020)
Reprints Giant-Size X-Men #1, X-Men #94-131, and X-Men Annual #3
Written by Chris Claremont and John Byrne (w/Len Wein & Bill Mantlo)
Art by Dave Cockrum & John Byrne

Last year, I read through the initial X-Men run featuring the original five. Stan Lee & Jack Kirby started out as the creative team, quickly stepped aside, and the title just never found its footing. There was a great stint when Roy Thomas wrote with Neal Adams on pencils; that was a standout, but overall, it was a forgettable comic book. For five years, the X-Men book reprinted its sixty-six issues, and as Marvel got closer to running out of stories to reprint, they decided to do something new with the concept. Len Wein was doing double duty as writer & editor at Marvel in the mid-1970s and worked with artist Dave Cockrum to create some new mutants to shake up the X-Men dynamic. He also pulled in a character he’d introduced around the same time in the pages of Incredible Hulk. It was a short, clawed Canadian superhero named Wolverine.

Wein chose not to be the series’ regular writer after the success of the Giant-Size special. That would go to Chris Claremont, who would write X-Men for the next sixteen years. Everything you know about these characters and this particular corner of the Marvel universe came from Claremont and his many artistic collaborators. Cockrum stuck around but was followed by John Byrne, only to return. Eventually, Paul Smith gave us a short but profoundly memorable run. John Romita, Jr. Marc Silvestri. Art Adams. Jim Lee. And more. But then, Claremont abruptly left the book in 1991 just as it reached a zenith of popularity. He resigned due to disagreements with his editor, Bob Harras, and artist, Jim Lee. Everything I have read about Harras indicates he was an asshole, at least at that time.

For this series, we will look at roughly half of Claremont’s run, with plans to read/review the second half later in the year or early 2025. This means we will review volumes one through five of the Uncanny X-Men Omnibus series, followed by the Mutant Massacre and Fall of the Mutants omnibuses. With each volume, I want to compare what I’m reading to the contemporary perception of these characters, especially how Claremont began interested in one direction only to be moved to put the spotlight on things that weren’t immediately in his purview.

One significant example of this is how Storm was a central character in the book while Wolverine was a supporting player for nearly a decade. Looking back to the first X-Men feature film, we can see how Wolverine is now in the spotlight while Storm is a bit player. Ironically, Wolverine has not maintained his ravenous fan following from the 1990s in the comics coming out today. He’s still there and has his own title, but I don’t see the emphasis on him as THE X-Men character.

Giant-Size X-Men is a solid story of building a new team while providing a send-off for the old one. Xavier’s students have gone missing, and he travels the globe, gathering mutants to make something new. Banshee and Sunfire had appeared as antagonists-turned-allies in the original run, and Wolverine was brought over from a brief appearance in Hulk. The brand-new additions came from Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Thunderbird. The result was a very international team. They discover the living island of Krakoa has been holding the original X-Men captive. They defeat Krakoa, and once everyone is safe, it’s decided the old class will be on their way except for Cyclops, who remains the team leader. Jean Grey quickly gets brought back into the fold when Claremont takes over because he has big plans for her.

X-Men #94-95 is Claremont’s introductory story, and I’ve never thought it was that great. I read through some of these issues in the late 1990s when Marvel did its budget-priced “telephone book” Essentials run. The choice of Count Nefaria and his Ani-Men for villains feels lackluster, and there’s a reason they don’t become recurring foes. We also get the killing off of Thunderbird, the only indigenous member of the team. That never sat well with me, but you can make the excuse he wasn’t an interesting character. However, we only say that because of the decades of development everyone else has. There’s more to the Thunderbird story, and perhaps if we make our way to the New Mutants/X-Force someday, we’ll deep dive into the story of Warpath.

It’s also important to note that the X-Men was not a monthly title at this point. 94-95 came out in June/July of 1975. Issue 96 would be released in September, with 97 hitting stands in November. It’s clear Marvel was playing things carefully, not wanting to lose money if the immediate popularity around the book fell through. Issue 96 introduces the N’Garai, Claremont’s take on Lovecraftian demonic monsters. While he developed many ideas for the book, not all found their footing. This was one where you could tell he thought there would be greater story potential one day, but it was not to be. We also get introduced to Moira MacTaggert, Professor Xavier’s former lover and housekeeper. That is retconned almost immediately as she’s presented as a scientific colleague in subsequent issues. I also want to note that Thunderbird was initially the hot-headed, outspoken X-Men before he was killed off, and now Wolverine is given that role, which he will maintain for decades to come.

Issue 97 would kick off Claremont’s first big story arc, that of the Phoenix. First, he’d introduce Erik the Red, someone using a fake identity Cyclops invented in the original run. Erik has put Havok and Polaris under his thrall and uses them to foment chaos at an airport. Xavier also speaks of strange dreams of an alien woman and a world under siege. By issue 101, after a fight with the Sentinels and a trip into orbit, Jean would become the Phoenix, a being possessing near-infinite power. Juggernaut and Magneto would be revived as pawns in this larger game. By issue 108, the X-Men would be transported to space to meet the rogue Starjammers, Lilandra, and The Imperial Guard of the Shi’ar and see Dave Cockrum depart as the artist. This fourteen-issue run is good; it establishes many core concepts. However, when John Byrne started drawing the book, I felt the X-Men come to life.

Cockrum’s style feels a little cruder but very much in line with Silver Age art. Byrne’s take on these characters feels modern and cinematic. There’s an energy and scale that wasn’t there before brought to the book. The artist comes in to draw the last issue in the Phoenix storyline and, right after, in issue 109, introduces Guardian, a Canadian-themed character from the minds of the book’s Canadian creators at the time. Cockrum pops in once again for #110, which has them fight the woefully forgettable Warhawk.

Issue 111 begins what I mostly remember X-Men for: long, winding story arcs that bleed into each other. Beast has found the X-Men are missing and tracked them down to a circus sideshow. Old villain Mesmero has them in his thrall, and Beast helps each member wake up. But who should show up to spoil an otherwise happy ending but Magneto. The master of magnetism takes them into space, prisoners on Asteroid M, where they are watched over by the robotic Nanny. They escape, but in the battle, Beast & Phoenix are separated, believing the rest are dead. The rest believe those two are dead but can’t confirm as they end up in the Savage Land. 

During this period, the book hops back and forth between those in the Savage Land as they form an uneasy alliance with the pterodonical Sauron, reunite with Ka-Zar, and take on the villainous Garrok. There’s an aside where Xavier recalls an encounter he had in Cairo with a powerful psychic named Amahl Farouk, aka the Shadow King. For now, that doesn’t hold much more significance, but the villain will later become a prominent foe, at least for one crucial story arc in the early 1990s. 

The Savage Land survivors make their way to Japan when a fishing boat picks them up, and they are reunited with Sunfire. While they fight Moses Magnum there, the most critical development is Wolverine meeting Mariko Yashida. In a later review, we’ll get into just what a pivotal moment this is for Wolverine, but for now, we get to see a slightly softer side of the anti-hero. 

The book hums with #120-121, where Guardian returns, and the Canadian superhero team of Alpha Flight is introduced. Everything about this two-parter feels very well thought out, and it’s clear the members of Alpha Flight are fleshed out beyond the boundaries of the page. Four years later, they would get their own book with Byrne writing & drawing. Seeing Wolverine before he became such a cliched tough guy is also interesting. That’s there, but it’s not so played up to the point of absurdity.

Eventually, Cyclops’ group returns to the mansion, which has been abandoned. Phoenix has left the country, and they still think she is dead. Xavier has left the planet with Lilandra. In the background, strange things are happening on Muir Island, the research facility Moira operates in Scotland, which is building towards a bigger arc. There’s some emphasis on Colossus for a few issues as the team has their first encounter with the over-the-top hitman/showman Arcade. A reunion is held on Muir Island, with everyone realizing they’re still alive, and it’s just in time because Moira’s son, an Omega-level mutant codenamed Proteus, is loose. The nature of Proteus’ power is to bend reality, so Byrne gets to show off some great art in those sequences. Also, Jean is under the control of Jason Wyngarde, a mysterious figure slowly seducing her.

Can you tell that Claremont was packing a lot into these issues? As we continue, this increases in frequency, with side plots being introduced and never addressed again. Claremont would become infamous over his affinity for hinting at new foes or plot lines only to lose them in the growing cast of the book. There are, in fact, lists of unresolved storylines from his sixteen-year run. Or a storyline would be introduced in the pages of X-Men but resumed elsewhere in the Marvel Universe with no indication to casual readers of where to go to follow that plot.

The Proteus story leads directly into the Dark Phoenix Saga, sliced in half here. This first volume of the omnibus ends with the introduction of the disco mutant Dazzler and Emma Frost, the White Queen. By this time, The Uncanny X-Men was a monthly title selling very well. It was also the end of the 1970s, a decade that saw this once seemingly defunct concept revitalized in a way I don’t think anyone could have imagined. 

My biggest takeaway from this book was that Storm was clearly meant to be the co-lead with Cyclops. The other characters have their own charms, for sure. I have always been a big fan of Nightcrawler and Colossus. From the start, Claremont puts a spotlight directly on Storm. She is the first of these new characters to get her origin told in the book. I actually felt the others had very little development during this period. Colossus has yet to share how he came to terms with his powers. Nightcrawler remains an enigma. Wolverine does get some growth through the Alpha Flight stories, but there are only about three of those. 

Uncanny X-Men was a book that was very interested in its female characters. Once Phoenix enters the picture, she dominates the book alongside Storm. It is a tremendous shame that Storm hasn’t been more prominent in other media because I find her incredibly well-written character in these pages. Ororo has clear goals and a set of principles. There’s a conflict between her mortality and the godlike nature of her powers. It has far more potential to become something interesting than the vagueness surrounding Wolverine. At one point, Claremont was toying with revealing that he was a literal wolverine that had mutated into a humanoid. 

This is just the beginning of our journey. There is a lot to come. The X-Men’s corner of the MU feels quaint and less over-crowded than it will get. There was a reason Scarlet Witch said, “No more mutants” in the House of M storyline in the 2000s. Let’s appreciate the simplicity because it will only stay that way for a short time.