Tag: #chrisclaremont

14. Uncanny X-men 106

Jul 15th, 2023

Thoughts

Ah – the dreaded fill-in issue. At the end of the previous issue, we were left on a great cliffhanger with Lilandra kidnapped and hurled into Space, with the X-men in pursuit. A great tease for what’s next, especially given that we know this is going to be Cockrum’s Space which is certainly going to be awesome.

And this issue… well, we don’t see any of that. Instead getting a fill-in issue. The plot of which – Fake versions of the original X-men turn up to attack the new X-men was already done just six issues earlier. We’re introduced to the Evil Xavier / Mr Hyde to Xavier’s Dr Jekyll, a slightly batty concept that Claremont clearly never comes back to.

I remember how annoying fill-in issues could be when collecting monthly titles, but it must have been even worse back in 1977 when this comic only came out every two months. Fans were going to have to wait a whole third of a year to get to what happened next after the great cliffhanger.

None of that matters too much in an Omnibus. You can sail through this fill-in and on to the next one in a matter of minutes.

Mutant Mailbag Mayhem

Kudos once again to the Letter’s Page, the Editorial staff and even Chris Claremont for giving a blunt and honest explanation of the fill-in issue on the letter’s page. They even remark that this issue was effectively drawn with the hope that it would never be necessary to actually print it! It’s a nice touch, especially as it allows Claremont to pay tribute to the artist who had recently died.

Another nice touch that not all fill-in issues had is that they actually take a few pages to add new art to at least turn the fill-in story into a genuine flashback. We open with Firelord, and we slip into Xavier’s memory of Evil Xavier, before returning to basically leave us back at the same cliffhanger. With the promise of Dave Cockrum Space Adventure next time!
7. Uncanny X-men 99

Jul 8th, 2023

“DEATHSTAR RISING”

Thoughts

A relentlessly paced issue, this is Claremont not messing about when it comes to storytelling. Last issue’s cliffhanger is quickly resolved, alongside getting the remaining Earthbound X-men into Space, setting up a future storyline and bringing us to another cliffhanger.

Indeed, the whole shebang feels incredibly cinematic. Cockrum’s art captures a swashbucking action adventure tone, while the structure frequently cuts between players as the various storylines come together.

There’s not actually a huge amount of story here. Nor much by way of characterisation. But a collection of set pieces that lead nicely to a truly unexpected, and slightly odd, cliffhanger.

Fun Panel

This is the first issue I noticed that the cover collection of faces doesn’t have Thunderbird. Which made me think when had they removed him. Turns out, he was never there. A clue that he was never going to be on the team long term!

Also the old Nostalgic in me misses these on the cover. The little faces of the heroes you could expect to follow inside always seemed intriguing. It also, in a good way, reminds me of the faces that used to appear at the start of classic Hollywood cartoons. “Hey! This comic doesn’t feature Bugs Bunny or Droopy, but we can promise you the adventures of these freaks!”

None More Claremont

Claremont is rightly famous as a writer for his long-running story arcs, but in these early issues he’s dropping ideas and concepts that had the potential to be developed but which never actually are. Last issue we saw the abandoned concept of Wolverine being a mutated animal, and this issue we learn of Colossus’ lost cosmonaut brother. It’s a story Claremont never got round to telling, so its interesting what he ever had in mind for it.

Mutant Mailbag Mayhem

One of the joys of having seventies letters pages in the reprints is that it always feels like seeing into another era. This isn’t a page designed to push the corporate line, but instead to reflect the feedback they’re getting and earnestly trying to answer genuine questions. There’s a great question highlighting the somewhat sappy Lorna dialogue a few issues back, and the response builds a credible answer to this valid criticism. Maybe its coming from the age of Twitter but its fun to see disagreements aired like this.

You also get complete addresses printed with the letters! I wonder what happened to Murray Baughnon?
6. Uncanny X-men 98

Jul 7th, 2023

“MERRY CHRISTMAS X-MEN”

Thoughts

A great thing about reading from the start is noticing elements that emerge in Claremont’s writing that were key to getting you hooked on the book. The opening of this issue has a great few pages of the characters in downtime. Their interactions are relaxed, and natural. Each panel, each caption just giving you fun details about the character.

Of course, it can’t last and three pages in The Sentinels arrive, heralding a slugfest that Cockrum executes perfectly. And after that the pace is relentless. As giant mutant-killing robots, the Sentinels are pure b-movie sci-fi threats, led by a cackling b-movie Bad Guy. This issue illustrates why both those concepts have so much mileage.

Fun Panel

I’m a big fan of costumes that can only real work in comics. Storm’s outfit definitely falls into this category. It looks absurd, impractical and just a tad male-gazey. But you also great simple panels such as this

That Don’t Make A Lick of Sense

It feels a bit mean putting this here, because its not really bad writing. But its a definite WTF (WTX?) moment when it happens. In reality it was meant to be setting up a fascinating storyline where Wolverine was revealed not to be a human mutant with an animaloid mutation – but a mutant wolverine with a humanoid mutation. I love this idea, even though I can understand why it was dropped. (I think it emerges later on in the Hellions as the character of Catseye, but that’s never been confirmed.)

Any Googling

I guess I should google the Sentinals backstory in all the earlier issues. But to be honest everything that seems important about them is established in this and the previous issue. So don’t really feel the need.

None More Claremont

Claremont’s commitment to Banshee’s Oirish accent is an ongoing source of amusement – but definite points in this issue for “An’ on that note, me boyos, Moira ‘n’ I’ll be movin’ on ourselves… we’re t’be showin’ each other the sights o’ New York“