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.

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).

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.

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.

Marvel Team-Up - Spider-Man and Havok.

Marvel Team-Up v1 #69-70.

Let's make a short departure, shall we?

We're still in 1978, and the Phoenix Saga had just wrapped up. Last time, I discussed how Havok and Polaris were unceremoniously dumped out of the story without any real resolution. It seems Claremont and Cockrum got the idea of brainwashing them and setting them up against the X-Men – getting some mileage from the fraternal opposition of Scott and Alex in the mean time – but had no idea whatsoever where to take them from there. Nothing much came of Eric the Red, and they were just accessories to him, so they were ultimately rendered rather meaningless. And so they were packed off and sent to Muir Island, the depository for momentarily unneeded mutants.

However, Claremont would actually have had a golden opportunity to tie up their subplot satisfactorily, and possibly throw them a bone in exchange for portraying them as such chumps earlier. He failed to do either.

Uncanny X-Men - Chris Claremont II.

X-Men v1 #101-110.


Issue #101 marked the beginning of the Phoenix Saga, the conclusion of the Eric the Red subplot and culmination of a year's worth of stories from Claremont. And yet, the Phoenix Saga was also a stepping stone for bigger and better things. It's a story where the X-Men save the entire universe, an epic, and yet it was handily eclipsed by the Dark Phoenix Saga. It brought back a few classic X-Men villains to face off against the new team, but it also introduced a veritable host of new supporting characters.

This period also marks a transition for the art team. Penciller (and co-creator) Dave Cockrum decided to leave the book, though he returned for a considerable stretch of issues a few years down the line. He handed the reins over to Jack Byrne starting with #108. He unfortunately left right during the climax of the storyline, but Byrne was similar enough to him stylistically that the change isn't exactly jarring, or perhaps even very noticeable (at least to someone whose eye for art is as horrible as mine).

#106 was filled in by Bob Brown (and, incidentally, plotted by Bill Mantlo, due to complicated circumstances that I'll explain later) and #110 by Tony DeZuga, with assists provided by Cockrum.