Uncanny X-Men - Chris Claremont III.

X-Men v1 #111-116.


At this point, a few issues past the end of the Phoenix Saga, it's safe to say that the transition period is over. Claremont has settled. Even better, the new faces on the team have proven themselves as worthy by being so damn interesting. Reader reaction was very favorable, though the title wasn't noticed by a wider audience right away. I take the fact that it took the book three years to switch from bimonthly to monthly to be evidence of this. (#112 was the first issue in the new schedule.) Another important thing to note: #114 was the first issue where the book's title gained the "Uncanny" header. It's standard hyperbolic superhero aggrandizement, but it took a while until it actually became part of the title.

Uncanny X-Men - Roy Thomas II.

X-Men v1 #55-66.

And they fought happily ever after....??

Roy Thomas returned to the X-Men for one final stretch of issues, starting with 55 (1969) and ending with 66 (1970). The only exception was the penultimate issue, 65, which was filled in by Dennis O'Neil. This was before he became famous, of course.

As for the art, issue 55 was drawn by good old Don Heck and Werner Roth, and issues 64 and 66 were done by, respectively, Don Heck alone and Sal Buscema, but most of the work, 56-63 and 65, was by the legendary Neal Adams. Adams was pretty much one of the best artists in the industry during the Bronze Age. Just a few years after his stint on X-Men, he and Dennis O'Neil did some very important work at DC which did a great deal to help them catch up to Marvel after the revolution of the sixties. This included redefining Batman, essentially making him the character he is today. Adams has also been one of the foremost advocates of creators' rights in the comics industry.

By the way, Stan Lee still received first billing as editor.

Uncanny X-Men - Gary Friedrich, Arnold Drake.

X-Men v1 #44-54.

As of this moment... the X-Men no longer exist as a team!

Roy Thomas left the X-Men in 1968. He'd be back in less than a year.

It's safe to say that his immediate successor, Gary Friedrich, was probably only a fill-in. Thomas plotted the first arc, which was concluded in a crossover with his own title, Avengers. Friedrich only wrote one of his four issues independently. #47 was co-written with Arnold Drake, who then took over for the remaining six issues until Thomas's return. Stan Lee was still credited first.

The art team for the eleven issues was more consistent. Issues 44-49, and 52, were all laid out by Don Heck and penciled by Werner Roth. 50-51 were done by the famous Jim Steranko, 53 by Barry Smith (who would later, as Barry Windsor-Smith, do some unforgettable work on Thomas's Conan the Barbarian title I mentioned last time) and 54 by Don Heck by his lonesome. Iceman's and Beast's respective origin arcs in the back-ups of issues 43-46 and 51-53 were drawn by George Tuska and Werner Roth respectively.

Uncanny X-Men - Roy Thomas I.

X-Men v1 #20-43.



Roy Thomas's first stint on X-Men lasted from 1966 to 1968, covering issues #20-43. He was accompanied along the way by six different artists, the foremost among them being Werner Roth, who drew issues 20-29, 31-33 and 35, and who dropped the pseudonym “Jay Gavin” after #22. The other pencillers were Jack Sparling (30), Dan Adkins (34) and Ross Andru (36-42). Don Heck took over for five issues (38-42), but relinquished the final one (43) to fill-in George Tuska. Roth also pencilled the five-issue “Origins of the X-Men” back-up storyline from #38-42.

Uncanny X-Men - Stan Lee.

X-Men v1 #1-19.

"Don't miss this fabulous 1st issue!"
"In the sensational Fantastic Four style!"
"The strangest super-heroes of all!"



X-Men #1, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, was cover-dated September 1963. The book started off on a bimonthly schedule. Lee would stay on writing duties for nineteen issues, the last of which was cover-dated April 1966. Kirby penciled only eleven of them, and did the layouts for several issues as well before disappearing completely with #17. Seven of the eight remaining issues were drawn by Jay Gavin (Werner Roth). The art was competent throughout, never outstanding. I won't have much more to say about it.