Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Re-Reads (Now Reading: Swamp Thing: 1971 through 1985)

Good point, Lardy. When I myself discovered him, it was through a combination of the immediate post-Claremont aftermath and the original Dark Phoenix Saga trade, so it makes sense that I'd favor the yellow.

And, Cobie, thanks for setting the record straight on Warhawk and for the reminder about Nightcrawler's guest appearance in ASM. I'll have to re-read that soon. If you all will forgive the tangent, I think it's amazing (no pun intended) how consistent the quality of ASM was for its first 200 issues.

Now that we know Warhawk had appeared prior to the issue, I find myself slightly stunned that there were neither references by the character to having faced Power Man (for example) accompanied perhaps by a quick flashback panel or even an editorial caption referencing prior appearances that was common practice for the times and used in many other instances throughout this re-read already. It doesn't hurt my enjoyment or anything, but I'm still kinda shocked!

That reminds me of how shocked I was that Mystique first appeared in Ms. Marvel!

Oh, and we forgot another major X-appearance: their guest shot in MTU Annual #1! Their first major appearance outside of the main series, it was also right around #101. And unfortunately, I've never read it!

^ Interesting! And a Spidey comic that Cobalt Kid doesn't HAVE?!?!

Here's the cover and description of the issue, courtesy of mycomicshop.com:

"The Lords of Light and Darkness!" Guest-starring Spider-Man and the X-Men. Plot by Chris Claremont, Bill Mantlo, and Bonnie Wilford. Script by Bill Mantlo. Art by Sal Buscema (breakdowns) and Mike Esposito (finishes). Cover by Dave Cockrum. Something else else has gone terribly wrong at a top secret government installation in the Nevada desert! Meanwhile in the same vicinity, the World Conference on Man-Made Mutation is taking place onboard a 747 airplane! The Daily Bugle sends a photographer, Peter Parker, to cover the airborne conference; and Professor Xavier and his students are also present to keep an eye on the proceedings! But when a group of robots attacks the plane in mid-air, the Amazing Spider-Man meets the New X-Men for the first time! After safely landing the plane, the heroes discover the source of the problem: an underground "nest" teeming with deadly radiation! However, unbeknownst to the web-slinger and the X-Men, eight mystically-powered beings are waiting down below...and they want the power of Phoenix! Can your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and the Uncanny X-men beat the Lords of Light and Darkness? And prevent a global meltdown? X-men lineup: Banshee, Colossus, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Storm, and Wolverine. (Notes: The wall-crawler's southwestern adventure continues in Marvel Team-Up 53. This issue was the first appearance of the New X-Men outside their own title. This story was reprinted in Marvel Tales 235 and 236.) 48 pages Cover price $0.50.



I'm not sure whether I have that or (more likely) have read it in a Marvel Tales reprint. It doesn't ring a bell....

Oh, I forgot to ask you about this last week:



This was a controversy?!? I mean they were right there in GS 1! Can you explain what this was about for those of us who don't have the original issues to look at the lettercols?

So in Giant Sized #1, we see Colossus' parents first hand. Then somewhere during the Sentinels story (I think) there is mention that Colossus' parents were dead. So in the letter's pages from like #100 onwards, fans are writing in demanding to know which one is true. It actually becomes a bit of a joke with the editor playing coy and simply saying 'maybe one day we'll find out!'. So it was good to see Claremont address that at last in #109.

I'm honestly not sure if we have it or not...I have to check! Marvel Team-Up was a comic my father never cared about one way or another, so I spent the last 15 years tracking down most of the issues. I believe I've got them all but for the life of me don't remember if we have any of the annuals. I've definitely never read the story. There are a lot of MTU issues I've never read, particularly most of them after #100. Even though it starred Spidey, it never really felt like a Spidey series to me for some reason, probably because not much ever happened with his supporting cast. The one great exception was the Wrath Saga with Iron Man which made Jean DeWolf such an awesome character.

However, this reminded me--and I unfortunately confirmed it--that we definitely DON'T have the first two all-new X-Men Annuals! Those are issues we don't have and I've never read. I always seem to forget about them (as does my Dad) and we just never look for them. Hmph. I need to figure out how to read those when we get to them!



Fanfie, you know I'm in total agreement there! Sometimes I think I should rewrite my review of Spidey's history (and finish it) in the All-Spidey thread, as the way I wrote it in 2003/4 doesn't have as much depth as I'd like (specifically on the creators) and I was going simply by memory alone at the time instead of looking at any actual issues.

I would say the first #300 issues of Spider-Man are consistently fantastic with the small exception of the gap between Woflman and Stern which had a few stinkers (mainly courtesy of Denny O'Neil) and the poor decision of Peter and MJ getting married. Even the first 25 or so of McFarlane's issues with David Michellinie were great until it became more about Todd's art than anything else. ASM was Marvel's flagship series and they basically always delivered.

X-Men 111

So this issue begins a kind of trilogy, as the first issue ends with the return of Magneto. It starts off, though, with the feel of a fun, kooky standalone as our X-Men are inexplicably turned into the denizens of a circus sideshow.

Our eyes and ears for unraveling this mystery is none other than Hank McCoy, the Beast. The Beast is the lone original X-Man not to appear in any of the relaunch stories, other than a few brief cameos and as a doppleganger in 100 and 106. But here we have the bonafide original in all of his blue furry Avenger-y glory.

He is portrayed fittingly here as kind of a gumshoe trying to get to the bottom of a mystery, trenchcoat and all. It's not all that easy for him to crack because he's never met these new X-Men and can't be totally sure it's them. Finally, he runs into the two people he does know, Jean and Scott, and confirms that something's wrong. (Though his moment of doubt with the vampy Jean is pretty comical!) Things go downhill quickly for him from there, though.

I like that it's Wolverine who breaks free first. And I wonder if the scene in which he helps Jean break through would be rendered in modern comics. It was a little shocking to see him slap her to snap her out it. I personally thought it was a good scene in that it was clear that Logan took no pleasure in it.

With Jean freed, the others quickly follow suit and the defeat of Mesmero, the obscure mutant hypnotizer behind their situation, is imminent. But then, shockingly, enter MAGNETO!

Byrne gets a chance to render the X-Men's archfoe in a beautiful full-page shot to end the issue. In fact the story is fairly mediocre, but the quality of his art elevates the content significantly. Again, I'm particularly fond of his Wolverine, and the extended looks of the character, both in and out of costume, do nothing but reaffirm that fondness. One thing to note is how Logan's arm hair disappears when he's in costume. Byrne has said that Marvel editorial dictated that particular strange differentiation for a while, something that frustrated him a good bit.

So, anyway, this issue was mostly notable for being a lead-in to the next Magneto story and, by extension, the next batch of the X-Men's continuing road from one adventure to another. It's not particularly memorable or terribly good, but it's a nice diversion and would lead to another series of great stories. The sideshow versions of the characters rendered by Byrne were pretty fun, though!

X-Men 112-113

Of personal note is the fact that 112 is the earliest individual issue of this long Claremont run that I own. My personal unbroken run on the book begins with 137 and continues until some time after 300, but I did make an effort to acquire some older issues for a while, especially when I was in my teens, to attempt to complete the run. So I have a few, scattered, mostly beat-up back issues in this era. It was the original trade collecting the Dark Phoenix saga and the "Classic X-Men" reprint series that eventually sated my desire to own the whole run because it was only ever my desire to read all of their adventures.

So here, we get the second battle with Magneto, one that is not abbreviated like the one back in 104. We immediately get a demonstration of how awesome his power can be in the simplest way possible: by discovering that the trailer that they are all in is miles above ground. Even the part where he lowers Mesmero to the ground is kind of awesome in its own way.

Even cooler, though, is when we end up at Maggie's new base--inside of a volcano! Now, how "classic villain"-esque is a volcano base, eh? The shot of the structure itself underneath is just classic Byrne. It's one thing Byrne brings to the table that distinguishes him from Cockrum: his knack for rendering imaginative and futuristic-looking tech. Again, that's not meant to put down Cockrum at all--I loved Cockrum's alien bug ship designs for example--but it's hard not to see Byrne's particular stamp on structures like Magneto's base and, soon, Garrok's fortress in the Savage Land. It's just one of those things that help Byrne put his own stamp on the book.

From there, we get the obligatory fight scene. As Scott observes, the X-Men attack as individuals, instead of as a team, and it dooms them against such a powerful foe. I like, though, that there are moments when they almost have him. Storm's fear of killing him causes her not to press her advantage; Phoenix surprises him with her massive power upgrade until it suddenly cuts out on her; Wolverine nearly tags him while he's distracted by Jean. But in the end, Magneto prevails, and he's got a particularly wicked fate in store for them. I especially love that close-up on Maggie's face to end 112 on that cliffhanger.

113 opens with Magneto wreaking havoc with no one to oppose him. The narration explains that these raids are the source of all of that high technology we're seeing him use. Meanwhile, Prof X and Lilandra are still on vacation. Chuck's sensing something's wrong with his X-Men, but apparently the happy couple are too busy cavorting to turn on a TV and see all the Magneto coverage we've just seen. That may have provided him with a clue!

So the X-Men are as helpless as babes and being cared for by the creepy robot 'Nanny'. Long before I ever read this issue, I remember reading a scene (probably circa 150) where Storm encounters Nanny's remains and visibly shudders at the memory of her. I remember being curious about the original story referenced, but never got to read it myself until Classic X-Men series reached that point some years later. It was nice to eventually complete the circle.

This leads to Storm's lockpicking skills being shown for the first time. I like that it didn't come completely out of the blue because there was a reference to her life as a thief during her origin sequence in 102. Even better, Claremont wouldn't forget the skill either and would bring it into play in many future instances. I also like that the first attempt doesn't immediately succeed, and the failure takes an emotional, very human toll on her.

Off-panel, she succeeds in freeing them all, and when Magneto returns, they finally fight against him as a team and with a solid plan. But before they can defeat him, something crucial gets smashed, and the volcano is able to assert it's destructive power. Magneto gets away, and it looks like only Jean and Hank survive....or so they would think, even as the other X-Men will think for a while that those two perished. And Jean and the X-Men would be separated for a good while because of this.

In my mind this battle with Magneto solidifies Byrne's place as Cockrum's rightful heir. And there are many great stories to come!

This was a great couple of issues. I remember how creepy Nanny was, and how well the art sold the frustration that (particularly) Wolverine and Storm were experiencing. Claremont & Byrne also, IIRC, did some good work portraying Cyclops as the 'grown-up' of the group, pulling things together and getting the best out of everyone (and yet also being flexible enough to adjust his plans on the fly for when Jean did her own thing, or Logan didn't play well with others).

The end, with Beast narrating how impressive it was that Jean just basically blasted her way through a mountain to get them to safety, was cool, as was the bit where he estimates that he won't make it more than a mile or two, and then collapses within a hundred yards... (IIRC, it's been decades since I read any of this stuff!)

Great stuff, and particularly cool how aspects of the characters that have nothing to do with their mutant powers (such as Ororo's lockpicking skills, Scott's leadership, Hank's brains and Logan's determination) end up helping them carry the day.

These aren't just a collection of super-powers, they are becoming fully realized characters, and that's pretty awesome, particularly in that it didn't subtract from the action or adventure or super-powered whizbang of it all.

Characterization happened *during* the action, and was married to the storyline organically, it didn't require a 'time out issue' where everyone sat around a table talking.

Interesting. I don't remember coming across that reference to his parents being dead during the re-read. I either missed it or forgot it somehow or maybe they actually edited it out in the Masterworks...



I definitely have, and have read, all the Claremont-era annuals. Annual #3 (featuring Avengers foe Arkon) is up soon chronologically and is reprinted in the next volume of Masterworks. (The first 2 annuals were original-era X-Men and both only reprinted previous material.) I'll fit in some comments about that Arkon story when I get to it.

You have a GREAT memory, Set!



Ab-so-LUTE-ly!!! Modern writers writing in the Bendis style could learn a LOT from Claremont and what he did with Cockrum and Byrne! That's one of the delights of this re-read: re-experiencing old school storytelling and really feeling like you get so much more bang for your buck in every issue!

I think it's that so much of this run was so memorable.

The savage land stuff? The upcoming hellfire club bits? So many small parts that went on to become big points. (Wolverine slashes up some dudes, and they get cyborged up and are showing up *ten years later*.) Could anyone have imagined that Sebastian Shaws emotionless serving girl Tessa would go on to become Sage? That Emma Frost would become an actual X-Man, and effectively take over Jean Grey's role? It's amazing to me how much the modern day X-Men are still being defined / effected by stuff that was first introduced during this run, and how many of the classic moments from this run have been re-used in other media.

(Such as the scene where Jean shows Mastermind the universe, expanding his consciousness and breaks his tiny brain, later recycled in sci-fi shows like Andromeda *and* Star Trek: Next Generation *and* Babylon 5. Too much light makes the baby go blind, indeed!)

It wasn't just the X-Men 'though. Marvel was really on top of it's game in these years, IMO.

In talking about Warhawk, it got me thinking more about the various series Claremont was also writing at Marvel during the early years of his X-Men run, and how they had countless characters that tied into the X-verse or later did so. There really is a grand tapestry to Claremont’s work that had all kinds of people coming in and out of the X-Men’s lives. To a lesser extent, the same goes for Byrne and Cockrum, who often were Claremont’s collaborators elsewhere too. If no one minds, I’ll delve right into it…

DISCLAIMER - as I was writing this post it got incredibly lengthy; I thought about putting it in another thread so not derail out discussion but I feel as if both Lardy and Fanfie would appreciate keeping it all in one place.

PART 1
In his very first story he was given full credit in, Claremont had Stilt Man battle Daredevil and the Black Widow in Daredevil #102. He would regularly return to both the Stilt Man and the Black Widow thereafter.

It’s worth noting that early in his career, Claremont had a few go-rounds with Dracula in Vampires Unleashed and Giant-Sized Dracula. He also wrote Satana in Haunt of Horror (and possibly in Vampires Unleashed—I’ve never known which character he wrote there). Later, Dracula would play a role in X-Men where he inevitably has a thing for Storm (like so many other strong leading antagonists). He would also return to Satana fairly regularly outside of X-Men, including her battle with the Son of Satan in Marvel Spotlight #24. These early Satana stories feature a lot of demons that are probably a prototype for his later ideas with the N’Gari.

As mentioned, Claremont also created Madrox the Multiple Man in Giant-Sized Fantastic Four #4, which is really the best thing about that story. He would have been another long-forgotten throwaway character if Claremont wasn’t determined to keep him relevant, as he did so many others that eventually became really great parts of the MU.

Claremont also wrote several war stories early in his career on War is Hell, where he used the pre-existing throwaway character John Kowalski. Later, he’d move Kowalski into his run on Man-Thing where John played a big role.

Tigra was another female lead character that Claremont had an obvious affinity for, beginning with his writing her early solo adventures with Marvel Chillers #4 (after Tony Isabella transformed the former “Cat” sans costume, which went to Hellcat, into Tigra in Marvel Chillers #3). Interestingly, one of John Byrne’s earliest assignments was a Tigra story in Marvel Chillers #6 (though not with Chris—he only was there for #3). Tigra, of course, showed up in the X-Men later on, one of the many Marvel female superheroes Claremont tried to keep relevant like Ms. Marvel and Spider-Woman.

As mentioned, Claremont had Warhawk show up for a second appearance in Black Goliath #2 when he began a very brief run on that title even though it was doomed to cancellation almost from the beginning. Claremont clearly had an affinity for Bill Foster, as well as Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, as did John Byrne, since they would continue to appear in their stories, even if it wasn’t the X-Men that had those appearances. Also showing up in Black Goliath was the Stilt Man and the Centurion, a character Claremont would reuse in Ms. Marvel. Claremont would also introduced Regina Clayborne, almost as a walk-on, and then a few months later John Byrne would pick up the obscure character and use her in a Champions story, once again showing how in sync Claremont, Byrne and Cockrum were.

Claremont’s first ongoing assignment, of course, was Iron Fist. He no doubt loved the character, and the Daughters of the Dragon as well. Beginning in Marvel Premiere #23, he took over the series and introduced the aforementioned Warhawk. Colleen Wing was already a major cast member of the series (as was her father), and Claremont took an immediate liking to her. Misty Knight had previously appeared briefly in one issue, but it was Claremont (and then John Byrne) who turned her into the wonderful character she is today, as well as cemented both her partnership with Colleen and romance with Danny. Claremont also used Angar the Screamer, a character he would return to many times (which leads to me believe he may have had an behind the scenes role in Angar’s creation in Daredevil #100-101, especially since his first real scripting job was Daredevil #102). One other character introduced was Lt. Rafael Scarfe, Misty’s former partner, who would occasionally appear in Iron Fist and Marvel Team Up under Claremont’s pen.

Around the same time Claremont came on as writer of X-Men, he was joined by John Byrne on Iron Fist, which soon spun out into its own monthly series, and it was here that the Daughters of the Dragon became who they are today. I’ve never read this whole run but I’ve heard it’s quite excellent. Eventually as we all know, Jean became Misty’s roommate and appeared a few times (with Scott) leading to the eventual big appearance of the X-Men in Iron Fist #15. They also co-created a character that would much later become a major X-character, Sabertooth. Interestingly enough, Sabertooth was for the longest time a second rate Power Man / Iron Fist villain before the Mutant Massacre made him a star.

Along with the main series, Claremont also did a few stories in Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu that featured Iron Fist and / or the Daughters of the Dragon. The stories centered on a woman named Jade who was being hunted by Dhasha Khan, an agent of the N’Gari. I’ve never read these stories but its interesting that Claremont continued to expand the N’Gari’s role in the MU here (of all places). These issues also feature Bill Mantlo’s awesome White Tiger and his equally cool creation the Jack of Hearts. After a brief interlude, he returned again to Deadly Hands to feature the Daughters of the Dragon in their own story without Danny in #32-33 (which is where they are first given the moniker, Daughters of the Dragon). These are the final issues of the series, so I bet Claremont would have loved to keep doing more Daughters stories. He eventually would do a few more in random places such as a few years later in the random Bizarre Adventures #25, which had the Daughters of the Dragon not only as lead characters but on the cover alongside the Black Widow.

Claremont’s first foray into the world of Luke Cage took place in his first Annual, in which Claremont took the obscure character of Moses Magnum and his dangling plotlines from Gerry Conway’s Giant-Sized Spider-Man #4 and resolved them. Claremont would take a liking to Magnum after he established his Japan connections here and of course reuse him in X-Men.

Another series Claremont delved into early in his career (right after X-Men got going) was Captain Britain for Marvel UK, which he helped co-create with Herb Trimpe. Captain Britain and his world would be something Claremont returned to again and again, and of course be a big part of the extended x-universe. Though he's on issues #1-11 or so, it's not quite as much as one thinks considering it was a weekly magazine and each issue's story was only the size of a backup, with most the magazine being filled with other Marvel reprints. One thing Claremont does is establish Betsy Braddock, his twin sister, and Jamie Braddock, their older brother, early on though neither is similar to what they would become in the 80's when Claremont came back to them. Since it was weekly, Claremont only was on the series for like 3 months before moving on.

Chris Claremont’s third ongoing assignment with major staying power, while also doing X-Men and Iron Fist, was Ms. Marvel. Coming on with #3, he took what was amounting to be a pretty mediocre and forgettable character and tried making her a major player at Marvel. All these decades later he’s probably quite happy that it finally happened though not without a lot of pain in between. In Ms. Marvel, Claremont introduced a whole host of X-related characters: early on he used the Silver Age character Grotesk, who was famous for being the one to “kill” Professor X (when it was really the Changling) and thankfully had Grotesk die so that random character was removed from the board; he also had Peter Corbeau guest star and then revealed a large back story where Michael Rossi was once Carol’s mentor and lover. Deathbird appears in the same Michael Rossi issue, and later comes back another time or two to tussle with Carol, thereby tying her directly into the Shi’ar / Starjammers / X-Men universe. It’s interesting that Deathbird appears at least twice in Ms. Marvel before she ever shows up in X-Men, as she’s relatively important to the Shi’ar mythology. Of course, the real major first appearance is Mystique, who first battles Carol in all her glory, highlighted her abilities as a mistress of espionage, as well as her interest in military intelligence and the Pentagon. As mentioned before, Centurion (from Black Goliath) shows up for a few issues as something is actually done with that previously walk-on character; those issues contain guest appearances by Yellowjacket and the Wasp as well. Eventually Dave Cockrum comes on board to try to help the series gain some sales momentum, giving Carol a new costume, but by now the end is in sight and won’t last as the series is soon cancelled. It’s worth noting too that Claremont scripted Defenders #57, which seems random until you realize it was so he could have Ms. Marvel guest star in an attempt to highlight her at Marvel.

Of course, as we all know, Ms. Marvel showed up in Avengers soon after and joined the team, which was coincidently in the middle of a brief run by John Byrne (perhaps encouraged by Claremont?). However, once Byrne moved on, the Avengers team put Carol through one of the worst and grossest storylines ever for any super heroine in which she was essentially raped but in a way that creators and characters thought could be laughed at. In a legendary move that basically all fans know, Claremont was beside himself furious and came to Carol’s rescue by doing Avengers Annual #10, in which he tried to save Carol anyway possible and remove her from the Avengers, and add her into the then highly popular X-Men. In doing so, he used the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and introduced Rogue, and stripped Carol of her powers (only to later turn her into Binary, which was likely his plan all along). Carol was surprisingly with the X-Men as a supporting cast member for a long time—something like 25 issues even if she didn’t appear in every one. But I’m getting pretty ahead of myself…

PART 2
Claremont and Byrne’s Iron Fist was getting all kinds of recognition, and the two of them liked one another quite a bit, so the partnership hit the next big phase, as the Iron Fist title was coming close to its end. The series other than X-Men that really put them on the map was Marvel Team-Up, which is what they moved on to next. Byrne, being amazingly prolific, was able to do two series at once and even 2.5 series (2 monthly and 1 bimonthly). So after doing a brief stint on the Avengers and another one on the Champions, he settled in to do MTU and Iron Fist monthly with X-Men bi-monthly, and then eventually X-Men went monthly as Iron Fist moved on, with Byrne doing various other series every month so that it was MTU, X-Men and a random fill-in. The man was on fire in those days!

Marvel Team-Up during this era is basically jammed packed with Claremont and Byrne’s favorite characters. It starts with MTU Annual #1, which features the X-Men by Claremont; meanwhile in the main series, Byrne came on first, joining then writer Bill Mantlo for three issues before finishing up his Iron Fist run. Meanwhile, Claremont joins the next issue (#57) with Sal Buscema, and in his first outing he used the Black Widow and an obscure Daredevil one-off villain called the Silver Samurai—beginning his long association with the character, as Claremont turned him into a formidable villain. After his buddy pinch hits for #58, Byrne comes on full time with #59 as another legendary Claremont / Byrne run begins. First they use their favorites, Yellowjacket and the Wasp with Lt. Rafe (Misty’s former partner) as an ongoing guest star; then of course Ms. Marvel as Claremont tried to put her in the public eye; then Iron Fist & the Daughters of the Dragon (which I’ll get to below); then Captain Britain—Claremont’s next pet project at Marvel that he’ll push hard over the next decade; in that same story we also are introduced to Arcade and Miss Locke, who will be longtime X-enemies; then Tigra who I mentioned above as a Claremont favorite (this being her first appearance since her series was cancelled, thus setting her up as a potential Avenger a year or so later); Kraven the Hunter, who both Claremont and Byrne like to use; Man-Thing, who was yet another character Claremont has a long association with; and of course Jennifer Kale, whom I deliriously love; battling Man-Thing and Spidey is D’Spayre, who Claremont introduces and will continually use, usually in Man-Thing stories; Havok and the Living Pharaoh, as Claremont and Byrne at last tie up the loose end of what Havok and Polaris were up to during the Shi’ar story. This leads into a story with Thor, but its obviously a nod to the Thomas / Adams run which both creators dearly loved.

Following the Havok story, both creators leave for a time, though Claremont is quickly back to do a Saturday Night Live episode which also features the Silver Samurai—and in perhaps the oddest bit of Marvel U continuity there is, SS gains a teleporting ring from John Belushi…which actually stays in continuity! Byrne comes back for a story with Luke Cage, and then the next issue he’s out and Claremont and Terry Austen are back for a Dr. Strange story—another character Claremont loved to use. As Claremont and Cockrum were really pushing Ms. Marvel, new look and all, they had her return to MTU, as the Dr. Strange stories continues. The whole team reunites again as Claremont / Byrne / Austen figure out a way for Spidey to team up with Red Sonja. Claremont finishes up the Dr. Strange story with Satana who is basically the last character left that Claremont previously wrote that could be featured. Black Widow returns after that, as well as Silver Samurai and Boomerang (who Claremont used against Iron Fist in the past), and also Viper—as Claremont now establishes the Silver Samuari / Viper partnership which he’d continually use against the X-Men and New Mutants. Previously, Viper was a very good, albeit one-off, obscure Captain America foe; it’s this story and her subsequent partnership that saves her from obscurity and makes her into the formidable foe she is today. Shang-Chi also shows up for this story, as does Nick Fury and a whole host of SHIELD agents. Claremont then uses the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Invisible Woman (with Yellowjacket and the Wasp guest starring) and then the Hulk, in the second MTU annual which introduces an oft-used Claremont character, Russian General Alexei Vazhin, who is a military intelligence man with deep connections to Xavier, Rossi and others. Vazhin had previously appeared only as a robot in X-Men when they first met Arcade. From there, Chris finally gets to feature a solo X-character, which is none other than Nightcrawler! Reteaming Nighty with Spidey from their ASM appearance, it’s another fantastic story that features the third appearance of Arcade and Miss Locke, as well as Amanda Sefton and other X-related stuff. By now the X-Men series was cooking full steam so this was likely well received. Claremont moves on afterwards, though not without returning to the series for its 100th issue anniversary where he presents the team-up of Spider-Man, Marvel’s #1 franchise and the X-Men, which was now on the rise as a rival #1 in the post Dark Phoenix Saga era, plus the Fantastic Four, who was cooking under Byrne by now. In this story, Claremont introduces yet another young mutant, this time Karma; and this time, it’s a very excellent story with awesome Frank Miller artwork (pairing him with Claremont for the first time). #100 also features a back-up story by Claremont & Byrne teaming Storm with the Black Panther, establishing that they two once knew each other and perhaps fell in love, long ago. This is a fantastic little story, though it sets up the unfortunate sham marriage of T’Challa and Ororo decades later.

During their long run on MTU, the X-Men went monthly with Byrne at the helm and that’s when the series exploding, making both Byrne and Claremont’s careers. They also worked together to keep Iron Fist relevant for a time, as Iron Fist’s title came to an end: first, they moved him into a two-part story in Marvel team-up that tied up one of the major loose ends (the Steel Serpent) and featured Misty & Colleen, retroactively establishing a random cameo in MTU #1 was actually Misty for no apparent reason. Meanwhile, Claremont had taken over Power Man with #47, so Claremont had Byrne join him as they came up with the idea to move Iron Fist to that title beginning in #48 which ties up the long-running Bushmaster subplot from Iron Fist’s title. Colleen and Misty along with Lt. Rafe and Danny Rand’s attorney Jeryn Hogarth clear out Luke’s supporting cast (save Claire Temple, who was Bill Foster’s ex-wife) as the series becomes Power Man & Iron Fist. #50 incidentally has Dave Cockrum inking John Byrne’s pencils. Byrne leaves after #50 to focus on MTU and X-Men, while Claremont is joined by Mike Zeck for some phenomenal artwork as Chris begins a brief Cage run (though Zeck sadly stuck around only for a short time). In short order he takes obscure walk-on character Blake Tower, the District Attorney and gives him a fairly regular role starting a long running series of guest appearances for Tower in the MU’s “street level” characters series for the next few decades. Eventually though, Claremont had to move on, saying goodbye to Danny Rand after writing him throughout four different ongoing series.

It’s worth noting that Claremont, Byrne and Austen all teamed up to do a 51 page Star-Lord story in Marvel Preview #11 that I’ve never read but my comic book shop guy told me is a contender for their best story ever. Claremont did a few other Star Lord stories too which I don’t know much about.

Claremont did a fill-in Captain America story with occasional collaborator Sal Buscema in Cap #237 that co-stars his usual favorite Avengers (Beast, Ms. Marvel, Wasp) that really focuses on a flashback to WWII. The major reason for the story is to visit the idea of Concentration Camps, which is what makes the issue relevant. Clearly, he had more to say on the topic, as he soon after would fill-in Magneto’s backstory in a big way by tying it to WWII and the Holocaust.

As his runs on Power Man & Iron Fist, Ms. Marvel and Marvel Team-Up all begin to end one after another, Claremont soon finds another ongoing series to go along with X-Men in the form of Dr. Strange, sandwiched between the great Steve Englehart and Roger Stern runs like Jim Starlin and Ralph Macchio before him. Claremont’s major contribution was to give Strange an alternative love interest to Clea in the form of Madeline St. Germaine. He also utilized a few of his recurring characters such as D’Spayre showing up in his first outing and then the N’Garai soon after. BTW, that makes two additional N’Garai appearances between X-Men #96 and #142 (the Kitty Pryde Christmas issue). Claremont soon moved on though and Roger Stern began his legendary run with Marshall Rogers. Claremont would feature a lot of Dr. Strange themes in his stories featuring Magik and Limbo; he would also feature some of Dr. Strange’s characters directly, such as in Thor Annual #9. Which, coincidently, started his usage of Asgardian characters, who would eventually start popping up in the X-titles regularly (though that was likely more do to editor / later writer of New Mutants Weezie since hubby Walt was writing Thor at the time).

During his Dr. Strange run, he had Man-Thing and the-always-welcome-in-my-bed Jennifer Kale show up in #41, which turned into a crossover with Man-Thing’s series, which Claremont then took over, so he was back to three ongoing series along with Dr. Strange and X-Men. Even a title like Man-Thing is chalk-full of Claremont characters, though one of the best is new to the series in the form of Barbie Bannister, an excellent if now forgotten supporting cast member (as was Sheriff John Daltry). Eventually Claremont brings in the extremely obscure star of the old War is Hell comic, John Kowalski, my beloved Jennifer Kale and then in the big series finale Margali Szardos and Amanda Sefton, who play a big role in a non-X comic that many don’t know about. Man-Thing, of course, plays a big part in the Cyclops issue after he quit the X-Men following Dark Phoenix, as does regular Claremont villain D’Spayre.

Claremont also revisited one of his pet characters, Captain Britain, following the entrance of the character into the MU proper in MTU. In Marvel Tales, of all places, he presented an origin story for Capt as a back-up over a few issues at 5 pages an issue. He'd again move on, only to return to the character later. Btw, Captain Britain has one of the most convoluted publishing histories of any character ever--in typical British fashion. He goes from series to series throughout the late 70's and early 80's, eventually ending up with Alan Davis on art, who gives him his better known revised costume (and makes a name for himself doing the strip). Davis is then joined by up and comer Alan Moore whose brilliance shines through like always; they co-create a few concepts that play into the X-Men later on when Claremont gets interested in it again such as Roma. Even Mad Jim Jaspers' has a big cameo in the trial of Magneto (or his (616 version at least).

With his Dr. Strange and Man-Thing runs coming to an end, the last great non-X series Claremont settled into for a significant run was Spider-Woman. It follows a familiar script: strong female character with sliding sales that gets a spike in quality, as Claremont infuses the series with familiar guests, supporting cast and villains that make it part of a larger whole. And of course, the other part: sales never recover, the series is cancelled and the heroine subsequently is depowered and written into limbo...only for Claremont to save her by roping her into the X-universe where he reigned supreme and had carte blanche. He also brought with her her cast of Lindsey McCabe and David Ishima (who he created). Showing up first is none other than Angar the Screamer. Up next, we get Black Tom & Juggernaut plus the X-Men as Claremont introduces Siryn, who is revealed to be none other than Banshee's daughter! This leads into Jessica and Siryn showing up in X-Men with Dazzler in toe in the story that introduces Caliban. From there we get General Nguyen Ngoc Coy (had to look that up) who is none other than Karma's father, and he'd continue to show up and plague Spider-Woman for the remainder of the run, something I'm sure most people don't know or remember. Naturally Viper and Silver Samurai make an appearance in a story that also touches on WWII concentration camps as Claremont moves ever closer to exploring that in Magneto's past. This story also opens up the subplot of Viper possibly being Jessica's mother. Bill Foster stops by and then Claremont moves on as his X-editor Ann Nocenti takes a turn at writing...choosing to have none other than Tigra stop by, which definitely had to happen after a conversation with Chris.

As the X-Men began to soar in popularity in the post-Byrne years, they would appear randomly in places and usually Claremont was the one writing their stories, such as Bizarre Adventures #27 which featured a flashback Phoenix story (after her death, which made this the big draw). The issue also featured a Nightcrawler story by Dave Cockrum and an Iceman story by George Perez. When Marvel Fanfare launched, it regularly featured both Spider-Man and the X-Men, including a Spidey story by Claremont fearing Sauron and the Savage Land Mutates with help from Dave Cockrum, Paul Smith and Terry Austen in various places. Eventually Angel and the X-Men were roped in as the story introduced Zaladine. Claremont did a Dr. Strange story next.

By now though, circa 1982-83, the X-Men's ascendency has reached a fever pitch and Marvel wanted more X-projects. Claremont wasn't ready to share the series so he began dedicating his time to basically just X series. The more narrower focus brought in some nice triumphs too early on: the first Wolverine miniseries with Frank Miller; the New Mutants; God Loves, Man Kills; the X-Men / Teen Titans crossover; Magik featuring Storm & Illyiana; X-Men and Micronauts; the Wolverine and Kitty Pryde miniseries; X-Men / Alpha Flight; the back-ups in Classic X-Men; and so on and so on.

When Claremont became exclusively devoted to all things X it didn't make the franchise any less extensive or connected, but it eventually lost something by not being tied into the larger tapestry that was his corner of MU beyond all things X. It was definitely part of the growing sense that it wasn't as accessible and a little unwieldy. Of course, that all comes much later down the road.

But for those early years, it's quite an eclectic mix of series that all weave together.

PS - And that doesn't take into account all the efforts Byrne made on his own: the many series he weaved Angel and Iceman through, the Shi'Ar in Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight and Wolverine's ongoing connection.

Informative and very welcome stuff, Cobie! I was aware of Claremont's having worked on most of those titles (with the possible exception of Man Thing), but it was nice to see you break down some of the commonalities and recurring favorite characters that I wasn't aware of. Sadly, I've read virtually none of this. I've read most of his Marvel Team-Up run and a little bit of his Spider Woman but pretty much nothing else. I'd particularly like to read his Iron Fist/DotD stuff. Makes me wish they'd do some Claremont non-X-Men Omnibuses....

I must say that this re-read is so unbelievably awesome that it makes me wish they still made comics like this! Sadly, many of the books currently on my pull list can't even hope to compare. I mean, really, Cobie--I know you are loving the Marvel Now X-Men books, but are they really even half as good as the stuff we've been reading, even to the 110s?

You'll get no argument from me. You and Set nailed it above on how the action sequences would allow for major doses of characterization, and how that's just one example of a larger trend of making every issue count back then-- every issue has action, drama, humor and forward momentum. These days, when you get one of those things, you usually don't get the rest.

So much has been lost somehow. The bang for your buck is just incomparable.

And the ability to create a story that is appealing to anyone ages 5 to 95 is lost too. You can read X-Men #108 no matter how old you and love it.

X-Men 114-116

And we have a Savage Land trilogy to follow up the Magneto almost-trilogy!

114 and 116 are the next 2 earliest floppies I own (after 112), and they are also in very poor condition. 114 actually had the letters (and hyphen) in "X-Men" on the cover with a smaller version of each within the logo in red ink. *sigh* I was really desperate for cheap back issues back then!

It's noteworthy that 114 debuts "The Uncanny..." on the cover, formally replacing "The All-New, All-Different" once and for all after the last two issues dropped it to advertise the book's new monthly status. "Uncanny" had been used on the title page within for pretty much the entire run, but here, it's now front and center for the duration.

This new Savage Land trilogy is the final major touchstone to the Thomas/Adams run that Claremont, Cockrum and Byrne obviously admired and paid homage to. This arc transitions the title formally to where it blazes its own path from that point. Many old villains and concepts will be used again, but it feels like this run becomes its own thing more than ever after this last homage. The villain reveal at the end really stamps the callback.

Nice scenes with Phoenix and beast getting rescued and Jean grieving over Scott. I especially like how time is taken for Beast and Lilandra to acquaint with each other later, even as Jean and Prof X share a poignant silent panel of grief.

Meanwhile, the bulk of the issue is spent with the presumed-dead X-Men as they have managed to escape the volcano and end up in the Savage Land. Lots of nice scenes with Byrne drawing them all scantily clad in shredded costumes and some in native clothing. Banshee fares particularly well here, fairly ripped in a Ka-Zar-type get-up. And of course another opportunity for Byrne to draw a sexy Storm in bikini and cloak. Nice establishing moments like Wolverine killing the pterosaur and a moment with Scott showing him strangely unaffected by Jean's supposed death. Of the latter, I'm curious to see how Scott gets from this point to the heights of love I remember him and Jean experiencing around the Dark Phoenix Saga.

Weird how most of the X-Men now have unshredded costumes! I guess we can chalk it up to the unstable molecules?!?

And so we end the issue with the reveal of the Thomas/Adams creation Sauron who has powered up by draining an unsuspecting Ororo. That's where 115 picks up as Wolverine fails to heed Scott's warning and falls under Sauron's thrall. Absolutely GORGEOUS 2-page spread of Wolverine charging Sauron as the other X-Men look on. But the X-Men make fairly quick work of Sauron after a quick skirmish. Seems our Petey has returned just in time from getting a little somethin'-somethin' (much later revealed to have borne him a child) to overload their foe with the energy produced by his transformation into steel.

This leads to the larger threat as Ka-Zar (for what is a Savage land story without Ka-Zar?) himself enters the fray. Seems a rogue sun god named Garokk is marking out some turf in the SL for himself. Surprisingly, Scott refuses to help, citing Magneto as the larger looming threat. Petey says goodbye to his jungle fling, and the X-Men depart---only their escape is cut off by inclement weather as Antarctica seeks to reclaim the SL because of Garokk's machinations. CLIFFHANGER!

Incidentally, this issue apparently tied in in some way with Ka-Zar #20 somehow. Did Claremont write that, too, Cobie? In any case I wonder if Zaladane and Garokk appeared in Ka-Zar as well

116 opens with the X-Men now forced to help, and we get another instance of Byrne's gift for illustrating awesome high-tech fortresses in another great 2-page spread. In short order all but three X-Men are captured. I like that not all are captured (avoiding a cliché in the process), leaving us more time with Storm, Nightcrawler and Wolverine, who remain free and must go to the rescue.

Wolverine has 2 contrary moments on successive pages that help define the contradictions in the character. On one page he tames Zabu and communicates with him, to Kurt's astonishment. On the next he apparently kills his first human in the run to date, to Kurt's and Ororo's horror. On the next page he kills a small dinosaur and obliquely references, perhaps for the first time, his healing factor. Now, most of his attributes have now been referenced with the exception of his entire skeleton being adamantium-laced, not just his claws (though I think there was a quick hint in this trilogy about that as well).

So we end with a quick but awesome battle, highlighted by a burning red-hot Colossus, a determined, pursuing Cyclops and Ororo trying and failing to save their enemy. In the latter case, Wolverine, like Banshee in 114, shows tremendous insight and compassion for her by recognizing that she needs her space to deal with her failure to save Garokk. In hindsight, Wolverine really shows a lot of different sides in this trilogy!

And so the X-Men leave amidst a raging tempest, but not before we have my favorite bit, Nightcrawler marveling at the bond between Zabu and Logan with a quick "Phantastisch!" that quickly showcases the wonder and lightness at the character's core.

Awesome trio of stories! Just one of many examples of why I've always been fond of adventures set in the Savage Land. Those stories rarely disappoint!

I’ve fallen a bit behind, but hopefully I can catch up early next week. These are some of my favorite issues to come so I can’t wait to get into them.

Very nice thought, Lardy, on the Savage Land being the last story to harken back to the Thomas / Adams run that the creators obviously loved before truly being off and running to blaze their own trail. You’re absolutely right. The Thomas / Adams run—just as much as the original Kirby / Lee run—gave the all-new creators a foundation which they could work from in these early days. The fact that it coincides with the re-usage of the “Uncanny” designation is serendipitious, as the series hereafter clearly sees itself as the heir to all things X that came before.

I don’t think Ka-Zar had a series around this time, so the Ka-Zar #20 must be referring to his second series in the mid-70’s. (His first was only a three issue reprint series in the late Silver Age when he was oddly enough featured in Astonishing Tales). I haven’t read those issues, though I know Claremont didn’t do any of them. Doug Moench was the writer who is best known to do a run on that series. #20 was the final issue of the series so there is a good chance that was the last time Ka-Zar had actually appeared in the MU after being fairly prominent throughout the entire 70’s, so perhaps that is why this issue referenced that one, as it was the first time Ka-Zar was in comic book limbo. The series itself is best remembered as being the series where Ka-Zar and Shanna finally hook up, and for having Klaw as a continuing villain throughout much of it. I don’t think Sauron, Garokk or other characters in the X-Men run had any appearances.

I also second your love of stories set in the Savage Land. In general, there’s just been so many great ones in X-Men, Avengers, the team-up titles, and even places like Spider-Man, which had a fantastic one in the 70’s.

X-Men #111-115

Not much I can add to what's already been said about these excellent issues. I think Magneto's revenge on the X-Men is deliciously sadistic. One thing I don't understand is how the X-Men got free if Storm dropped her lockpick. Did she have a spare lockpick or something? And despite my antipathy for Kazar (I just don't generally care for Tarzan or any of his clones) I agree that the Savage Land seems to bring out the best in creators.

It looked to me like the art depicted more than one lockpick concealed in her tiara-thingy, and Nanny put it back on Storm. Presumably, Storm started from scratch and eventually succeeded. If Bendis had written this, he'd probably have devoted an entire issue to each attempt!

I believe there is one lock pick in each part of the tiara.

Yeah, I always keep at least two in MY tiara!

It's where you keep your tiara that worries me...

He's also learned to keep spare handcuff keys taped to the back of the headboard on his bed, but that's for a different sort of emergency.

Okay, was able to catch up a little over the weekend and even today as we have yet another snow day here in the northeast (with just a bit more than that *rough* two inches of snow the south had last week ;)).

X-Men #111-113
#111 kicks off series of what I’d consider to be the best X-Men issues in its history, which is pretty much the uninterrupted Byrne run where every creator was firing on all cylinders. It’s hard to even discuss the Mesmero / Magneto issues without just focusing entirely on the pure beauty that is the artwork; Byrne and Austen are so in sync and so incredible—I’m at a loss on how to praise them!

It’s not just the gorgeous line-up either. Hell, it isn’t even the incredible panel layouts too, which are classic Marvel in the sense of ever present action and forward momentum. It’s the color contrast of costumes, blue fur, hair color, etc. It’s the contrast between some scenes being in the day time and some at night; the wonderful shadow play for both. It’s the constant cool locations of a circus, a volcano, a high tech base, the frozen mountains, the savage land, and so on and so on. It’s just so creative in every way…all the time. Today’s comics suffer from talking head syndrome. This is so light years ahead of that its hilarious; not only is that problem resolved on page 1 every issue, the creators make sure they resolve 20 other problems in addition to that.

It’s worth mentioning too that the covers of #111 and #113 in particular are just gorgeous to behold.

Anyway, on to the story—and there isn’t much too add that hasn’t already been said so I’ll just say I agree with all of that. It’s such a treat to have the Beast show and have an adventure with the X-Men, and this issue doesn’t disappoint. Claremont clearly loves and knows the character, while Byrne draws perhaps the single best version of him in his whole history. It’s amazing that the Beast had really only *just* joined the Avengers when Giant Sized X-Men #1 was released; but because of the bi-monthly schedule, by 1979 the Beast had become a quintessential Avenger—perhaps moreso than any other since the Vision. Meanwhile, the X-Men hadn’t had all that many adventures due to their schedule since that time.

While Magneto is clearly the major star here, it’s also another nice callback to Adams / Thomas by having Mesmero. Mesmero is somewhat forgettable except that Adams (or was it Steranko?—I’ll have to check) designed one of the best looking costumes ever for him, with the classic Spider-Man villain purple / green combo. It’s also nice that while he isn’t much of a threat facing the X-Men one on one, the creators very smartly turn the story into the wonderful circus mystery that is just interesting from panel 1 to the end.

Anyway, onwards to Magneto. This battle, unlike the last, ends in pretty much a stalemate, and it benefits from the X-Men first getting their heads handed to them for trying to win without teamwork, and then shows them take on Magneto as a team—but with a clear focus on strategy every step of the way that takes the tension all the way to maximum. The subtly in characterization during fight scenes is so well done: Colossus puts his life at risk by changing back to human form during the collision with Kurt to save his friend; Storm considers killing Magneto but doesn’t and he uses that hesitation against her; just one scene after another like that.

Magneto’s personality isn’t quite at where it’ll be later, which really starts with the story in #148-150, but it’s getting there. It’s clear he’s highly intelligence, incredibly powerful, and has a real bone to pick with the world. As Fanfie says, the punishment he gives the X-Men is incredibly inventive and deliciously sadistic for a comic book.

Also, it’s probably my single favorite super-villain lair in comic book history. The only way to get in or out is via a magnetically shielded bubble through a volcano? BRILLAINT.

Magneto was still suffering a bit from being too overly used in other series since his last appearance, just like all the other great Silver Age villains in the 1970’s. (See the Mandarin, the Red Skull and of course, Dr. Doom). He had appeared in Super Villain Team-Up and then the Champions (but in the one issue not by John Byrne at this time, unfortunately). Soon, Claremont would gain immense implied power at Marvel though, and any usage of an X-character would require his blessing.

My favorite scene is when Storm tries to pick the locks to free them, and the tremendous struggle it is to do so. And ultimately, she fails. But she tries again (off-panel) and ultimately succeeds. I love when they later recall this scene over a decade later in the X-Tinction Agenda.

Also, it’s just nice in general to see the X-Men fighting a battle with Phoenix included. There are so few of these from the time Jean becomes Phoenix to her death. Basically Firelord / Shi’Ar, this one, Proteus and then the final Hellfire Club / Death, which can’t really count.

This story is also notable for how it cleverly intersects with Marvel Team-Up and the Avengers during the Korvac Saga. Spider-Man and Havok are in trouble in MTU, so they ask Beast for help, which sets Beast on the path to this story; therefore, Thor goes looking for what happened to Beast and ultimately helps out Spidey and Havok. This explains why Beast and Thor are nowhere to be found for large portions of the Korvac Saga. This was when continuity was awesome and used to enhance the story, something that probably will be lost for all time.