Page 45 Review by Stephen
Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Banshee, Nightcrawler, Sunfire and Warpath join Cyclops as a new team of mutants is coerced by Professor X into rescuing the other original members of the X-Men who left on a school outing without proper adult supervision and ended up in a terrible accident on an island. Well, in an island.
It was hungry.
Actually the original X-Men are adults by this point, as are ex-X-villain Banshee, Sunfire (who promptly flounces out with a pout of Japanese nationalistic pride), and of course Wolverine who was already pushing 100, though looking remarkably spry on it. Alas, in those 100 years he had yet to learn any social skills whatsofuckingever.
Of the originals only Cyclops remains, wailing about responsibility of wearing spectacles, though Jean will be back pretty pronto and regret it almost immediately.
This 500-page, full-colour whopper reprints GIANT SIZE X-MEN #1, X-MEN #94 to #110, IRON FIST #14-15, MARVEL TEAM-UP #53, 69-70, ANNUAL #1 with Wolverine only appearing on six of those eighteen X-MEN covers.
That's an extraordinary observation from a current perspective, but back then it was Cockrum on covers, as well as most of the insides, and Cockrum was all about Storm, Colossus and Nightcrawler who here discovers that he has the ability to blend into shadows. Cockrum wasn't remotely interested in Wolverine, a character so new to readers that they knew nothing of his back-story, let alone that there was a century of it to come.
As far as Logan's concerned these are the first friends he's ever had, and he doesn't even like them very much. He certainly doesn't know how to react to friendship. He's curt, very defensive and quick to rise to any bait. But Wolverine's sometimes right on the money as witnessed when he reaches out, quite uncharacteristically, by announcing his intention to join Storm, Colossus, Banshee and Moira McTaggart on a countryside picnic so that he can hunt. Here's Storm:
"You would take the lives of innocent animals -- not for survival but merely for sport?!"
"Even if I would, broad, what flamin' business is it of yours?! I said huntin', honeybunch -- I said nothin' about killin'. It takes no skill t'kill. What takes skill is sneakin' up close enough to a skittish doe t'touch her..."
"Wolverine, I am sorry. I... misjudged you."
"I could care less, 'Roro. You've all been misjudgin' me since the day I joined this turkey outfit!"
This is issue #109, the first truly accomplished issue which will settle in to become the classic run on UNCANNY X-MEN when Logan's past first comes back to haunt him in the form of James Hudson and Alpha Flight. But the issues leading up to that are still vitally important in terms of sub-plot and context, kicking off with the death of Jean Grey in the space-shuttle crash, her rise from the river as the nigh-omnipotent Phoenix, and the first signs of Logan's burning desire for her.
Also revealed is Storm's past as a petty thief in Cairo following the death of her parents in such a manner as to catalyse a profound claustrophobia. Plus there's this new team's first confrontation with Magneto on Muir Island, and a hint of the Proteus story to follow in a couple of dozen issues' times. Finally, Professor X is haunted by dreams that will lead to Lilandra's first appearance (along with the Shi'Ar Imperial Guard) and the first, worrying hint that Jean Grey is not in control of her new powers nor comprehends the true extent of them as she becomes transfigured into a creature of pure, burning energy and knits together an entire neutron galaxy.
Scott Summers immediately spots the problem but Claremont and Byrne cleverly contrive to keep the couple apart often enough and long enough over the next several months so that there's little time for them to talk, and it will be Jason Wyngarde who gets there first.
Oh dear.
Cockrum's art was sturdier the more space he was afforded: his splash pages and double-page spreads had real weight, balance and eye-popping power as did most of his covers including the one above, which, I have only just realised thanks to Jonathan, features Xavier standing in the form of a cross. How is he standing? Oh come, I've given far too much away already.
Whereas Claremont's figures tended to become toy dolls when cramped, Byrne, on the other hand, could make the most of the tiniest of panels. He had the ability to draw in miniature and there's more of his art here than you might think as - for the first time - Marvel editorial has elected to fill in the mutants' appearances in other titles.
It doesn't actually benefit the story, but completists will thrill at all the missing links.
