X-Men v1 #129-134.
Chris Claremont's run on (Uncanny) X-Men is regarded by many as the best the X-Men have ever been, and accordingly, the Dark Phoenix Saga is regarded as the absolute apex of his work. Mutant X and Days of Future Past are two other storylines cited as standouts. There is some talk of decline in his later years which I don't think is unfounded. At the end of the day, he's only as good as his collaborators. John Byrne is freely credited as co-plotter, and the exact extent of their relative contributions isn't exactly clear. At least in the case of this story though, you should mentally substitute “Claremont and Byrne” in most cases where I type “Claremont.”
The Dark Phoenix Saga's ending is the one X-Men scene everyone remembers, and the whole thing has more iconic moments than you can shake a stick at. Being such a focal point, it's also been hit hard by certain retcons, but not to the extent that it's been ruined. And keep this in mind: as I've tried to emphasize, Claremont excels in long-format stories, with plenty of foreshadowing of the future and referencing of the past. As such, even a compact ten-issue arc like this is reliant on the greater context surrounding it. It's 'only' the payoff of something Claremont and Cockrum started over three years earlier.
Monday, 31 January 2011
Friday, 31 December 2010
Uncanny X-Men - Chris Claremont VI.
X-Men v1 #125-128.
Mutant X is one of those stories. You know what I mean – a classic.
When the time came to reinterpret the X-Men mythos twenty years later, one of the first story arcs in Ultimate X-Men was a retelling of Mutant X. In fact, it arguably got one of the most faithful reinterpretations in the new series. Aside from the fact that it's a damn good story, the general affection for it is probably due to two facts: the figure of Proteus (whom I'll discuss more at the end) and the concision of the arc. Despite the laborious, long-reaching setup, the story itself is contained neatly in just four issues. This distinguished it among Claremont's web of plots, and made it stand out more than, say, the Phoenix Saga, which was composed of a lot of separate elements and was told over a longer period of time.
Mutant X is one of those stories. You know what I mean – a classic.
When the time came to reinterpret the X-Men mythos twenty years later, one of the first story arcs in Ultimate X-Men was a retelling of Mutant X. In fact, it arguably got one of the most faithful reinterpretations in the new series. Aside from the fact that it's a damn good story, the general affection for it is probably due to two facts: the figure of Proteus (whom I'll discuss more at the end) and the concision of the arc. Despite the laborious, long-reaching setup, the story itself is contained neatly in just four issues. This distinguished it among Claremont's web of plots, and made it stand out more than, say, the Phoenix Saga, which was composed of a lot of separate elements and was told over a longer period of time.
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Uncanny X-Men - Annual 1979.
X-Men v1 Annual #03.
By 1979, the X-Men had gotten popular enough to earn an annual. Technically, this was their third one (as acknowledged by the numbering), but the first two were reprints thrown together from regularly published issues during the dark days of 1970-1975, so they didn't really matter.
By 1979, the X-Men had gotten popular enough to earn an annual. Technically, this was their third one (as acknowledged by the numbering), but the first two were reprints thrown together from regularly published issues during the dark days of 1970-1975, so they didn't really matter.
Uncanny X-Men - Chris Claremont V.
X-Men v1 #122-124.
It's early 1979 and big things are afoot. The most significant X-Men storyline of all is just around the corner, less than a year away, and another plotline has been teased for years now. But the X-Men have just returned from a madcap globe-trotting adventure, they're separated from some of their own and still believe the others to be dead. At this point, there's really no status quo to speak of. Moving right on to the next epic storyline would have been foolish, and if you think Claremont (and co-plotter Byrne) would have made that mistake, you haven't been paying attention.
The intervening three issues shift focus a bit, first with another breather issue and then a fairly fluffy supervillain attack with little drama (though that might not have been intentional).
It's early 1979 and big things are afoot. The most significant X-Men storyline of all is just around the corner, less than a year away, and another plotline has been teased for years now. But the X-Men have just returned from a madcap globe-trotting adventure, they're separated from some of their own and still believe the others to be dead. At this point, there's really no status quo to speak of. Moving right on to the next epic storyline would have been foolish, and if you think Claremont (and co-plotter Byrne) would have made that mistake, you haven't been paying attention.
The intervening three issues shift focus a bit, first with another breather issue and then a fairly fluffy supervillain attack with little drama (though that might not have been intentional).
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Uncanny X-Men - Chris Claremont IV.
X-Men v1 #117-121.
While Wolverine was already starting to drift into focus in the Savage Land story, he became much more prominent in the final chapters of the X-Men's tour around the world. We started finding out more and more about him – including, at long last, his real name. (Which wasn't actually his real name at all, of course, but let's not split hairs.) Buuuut this information was presented to us in tantalizing bits and pieces. In contrast, Storm's we learned of Storm's entire history in the span of a couple of pages. Wolverine is an enigma, a man whose past is shrouded in mystery... even to himself, as it turned out. This would become crucial to his character. Claremont had a plan for his backstory, but it ultimately didn't work out, so for the longest time, he literally didn't have a past.
While Wolverine was already starting to drift into focus in the Savage Land story, he became much more prominent in the final chapters of the X-Men's tour around the world. We started finding out more and more about him – including, at long last, his real name. (Which wasn't actually his real name at all, of course, but let's not split hairs.) Buuuut this information was presented to us in tantalizing bits and pieces. In contrast, Storm's we learned of Storm's entire history in the span of a couple of pages. Wolverine is an enigma, a man whose past is shrouded in mystery... even to himself, as it turned out. This would become crucial to his character. Claremont had a plan for his backstory, but it ultimately didn't work out, so for the longest time, he literally didn't have a past.
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