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X-Men Epic Collection
X-Men Epic Collection, Vol. 12: The Gift
Swords and sorcery, mutant style! When Kulan Gath strikes, the X-Men, Avengers and Spider-Man find themselves in the middle of a barbarian nightmare! Can they defeat the sorcerous villain and restore the world? Things are no less mystical for the X-Men and Alpha Flight when the trickster god Loki offers a gift to the people of Earth...but, big surprise, it comes with a price! And, blade in hand, Nightcrawler swashbuckles his way through an other-dimensional solo adventure! Enough fantasy for you?
COLLECTING: UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) 189-198, X-MEN ANNUAL (1970) 8, X-MEN AND ALPHA FLIGHT (1985) 1-2, NIGHTCRAWLER (1985) 1-4 (X-MEN EPIC COLLECTION VOL. 12)
COLLECTING: UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) 189-198, X-MEN ANNUAL (1970) 8, X-MEN AND ALPHA FLIGHT (1985) 1-2, NIGHTCRAWLER (1985) 1-4 (X-MEN EPIC COLLECTION VOL. 12)
503 pages, Paperback
First published December 29, 2015
14 people are currently reading
200 people want to read
About the author
Chris Claremont
3,278 books892 followersChris Claremont is a writer of American comic books, best known for his 16-year (1975-1991) stint on Uncanny X-Men, during which the series became one of the comic book industry's most successful properties.
Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.
Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.
Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.
Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
January 15, 2021
On balance, this isn’t the most stellar part of Claremont’s run, and JRJR’s art is…fine. It doesn’t exactly set me comic-loving loins aflame.
But, two fun additions bump this collection up a star—a very dramatic X-Men/Alpha Flight crossover that sees Claremont in top form (not God Loves, Man Kills form, mind you, but really good) and a fun, swashbuckling Nightcrawler miniseries by Dave Cockrum (it came out in the mid-80s, but Cockrum was clearly channeling wacky 70s Marvel energy in it).
(Unrelated: I keep trying to come up with a joke involving ol’ Dave’s unfortunate surname and the best I can do is, “What do you call a pirate’s semen? Cockrum.” It’s not great. Suggestions welcome.)
But, two fun additions bump this collection up a star—a very dramatic X-Men/Alpha Flight crossover that sees Claremont in top form (not God Loves, Man Kills form, mind you, but really good) and a fun, swashbuckling Nightcrawler miniseries by Dave Cockrum (it came out in the mid-80s, but Cockrum was clearly channeling wacky 70s Marvel energy in it).
(Unrelated: I keep trying to come up with a joke involving ol’ Dave’s unfortunate surname and the best I can do is, “What do you call a pirate’s semen? Cockrum.” It’s not great. Suggestions welcome.)
March 28, 2018
2.5 stars
Old school Uncanny X-Men is my jam, especially that post-Dark Phoenix pre-Mutant Massacre sweet spot that had Kitty Pryde and Rogue joining the team, cosmic adventures with Carol Danvers, punk rock Storm, and Paul Smith's art. So The Gift was set to be some prime nostalgic comfort reading for me. Unfortunately this volume only included 9 actual issues of Uncanny; about half the pages of this collection and half the usual amount in an Epic Collection. The rest of the book is the Nightcrawler miniseries and Alpha Flight crossover special. The formatting is unusually awkward for an Epic Collection too, sandwiching 130 pages of annuals and miniseries between issues 192 and 193 when there's a huge cliffhanger at the end of 192.
The year this collection pulls from was already not a strong time for the X-Men. Claremont was leaning hard into grim and gritty street level stories, with ugly, blocky art by John Romita Jr. Rachel is a drag and Kitty Pryde is approaching peak Mary Sue (At one point the 15 year old is serving as team leader). But the '80s fashions are hokey fun, with Michael Jackson t-shirts and leg warmers galore. If there had been more Uncanny, it might have been okay, but the Nightcrawler mini is 96 pages of dumb action and the Alpha Flight crossover is 96 pages of pompous speeches and dumb misunderstandings.
Old school Uncanny X-Men is my jam, especially that post-Dark Phoenix pre-Mutant Massacre sweet spot that had Kitty Pryde and Rogue joining the team, cosmic adventures with Carol Danvers, punk rock Storm, and Paul Smith's art. So The Gift was set to be some prime nostalgic comfort reading for me. Unfortunately this volume only included 9 actual issues of Uncanny; about half the pages of this collection and half the usual amount in an Epic Collection. The rest of the book is the Nightcrawler miniseries and Alpha Flight crossover special. The formatting is unusually awkward for an Epic Collection too, sandwiching 130 pages of annuals and miniseries between issues 192 and 193 when there's a huge cliffhanger at the end of 192.
The year this collection pulls from was already not a strong time for the X-Men. Claremont was leaning hard into grim and gritty street level stories, with ugly, blocky art by John Romita Jr. Rachel is a drag and Kitty Pryde is approaching peak Mary Sue (At one point the 15 year old is serving as team leader). But the '80s fashions are hokey fun, with Michael Jackson t-shirts and leg warmers galore. If there had been more Uncanny, it might have been okay, but the Nightcrawler mini is 96 pages of dumb action and the Alpha Flight crossover is 96 pages of pompous speeches and dumb misunderstandings.
July 16, 2016
I adore these Epic Collections. I think everyone should be reading them! They are the best idea Marvel has come up with in ages. I'd say I wish they'd come out more and faster. But I'm having a hard enough time keeping up at the pace they are doing.
I'd call it a 4-star collection. Gets an extra star for the Dave Cockrum NIGHTCRAWLER mini-series collected at the back of the book. It looks marvelous and is great, light-hearted fun. And makes this book a must read for X-Men fans.
I'd call it a 4-star collection. Gets an extra star for the Dave Cockrum NIGHTCRAWLER mini-series collected at the back of the book. It looks marvelous and is great, light-hearted fun. And makes this book a must read for X-Men fans.
October 1, 2019
This one has it all. Instead of writing an essay, I'll list every cool thing from this collection: Storm with a mohawk, the fight with Magus, the criminally underrated fight with Kulan Gath, anything with Nimrod the coolest looking killer pink robot ever designed, John Romita Jr's art, Paul Smith drawing the tie-in with Alpha Flight in Asgard, anorexic Storm drawn by Windsor-Smith, and Dave Cockrum returning to both draw and write Nightcrawler with a sword.
My high-school English teacher would probably flunk me for that awful run-on sentence.
My high-school English teacher would probably flunk me for that awful run-on sentence.
December 17, 2021
It's a very very weak collection of X-Men comics featuring the team in one of their weirdest eras.
You'll see Storm without powers, Xavier walking around with them, no Cyclops, Cyclops' daughter of DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, lots of early New Mutants, and, worst of all, the team in stories that have little to no relevance to any future storylines. There are like 3 multi part storyarcs in here that are basically time travel stories.
I think there's only one comic I liked in this and it's a one-off where Colossus and Kitty Pryde are kidnapped by Arcade and forced to fight what you think is Doctor Doom. I wish I could say the low point was the 4-issue NIGHTCRAWLER mini-series where he becomes a sky pirate for no reason, but I honestly think the Power Pack issue with the whiny kids with superpowers was so much worse.
Oh yeah, if you want any sort of recurring plotline throughout this collection, it's the vague references to The Beyonder because SECRET WARS was running concurrent to most of these issues. Does it attempt to explain why they keep referencing this villain you never see? Nope.
It's not unreadable, but it's not anywhere near good or worth your time either. For completists only.
You'll see Storm without powers, Xavier walking around with them, no Cyclops, Cyclops' daughter of DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, lots of early New Mutants, and, worst of all, the team in stories that have little to no relevance to any future storylines. There are like 3 multi part storyarcs in here that are basically time travel stories.
I think there's only one comic I liked in this and it's a one-off where Colossus and Kitty Pryde are kidnapped by Arcade and forced to fight what you think is Doctor Doom. I wish I could say the low point was the 4-issue NIGHTCRAWLER mini-series where he becomes a sky pirate for no reason, but I honestly think the Power Pack issue with the whiny kids with superpowers was so much worse.
Oh yeah, if you want any sort of recurring plotline throughout this collection, it's the vague references to The Beyonder because SECRET WARS was running concurrent to most of these issues. Does it attempt to explain why they keep referencing this villain you never see? Nope.
It's not unreadable, but it's not anywhere near good or worth your time either. For completists only.
October 1, 2020
The Nightcrawler 4-issue miniseries is about four issues too long? The only unreadable part of this book!
I admit it is uneven but I think Claremont is really experimenting and being pretty daring with his ideas.
Also Rachel Summers is a great character, albeit tragic, and really creates great moments in this team.
I admit it is uneven but I think Claremont is really experimenting and being pretty daring with his ideas.
Also Rachel Summers is a great character, albeit tragic, and really creates great moments in this team.
July 31, 2024
I had as much fun reading this collection as I did when I was eleven years old! Classic Eighties X-Men, Claremont and Romina Jr at their best!
May 29, 2024
One of the joys of the Marvel Epic Collections is that they contain long swaths of comic runs, so you never feel cheated on the amount of stories. One of the complications of such long books is tonal whiplash between storylines. This happened a few times over the course of this book.
I am neither a fan of magic in superhero comics (particularly Chris Claremont's take on magic) nor the Conan comics, which is where this collection's first big villain, Kulan Gath, comes from. A magic amulet turns a normal man into the sorcerer villain, who turns New York into a medieval fantasy hellscape. This is not the first time Claremont has used magic to turn New York into an alternate universe, and it's not the last as we'll eventually get to X-Men: Inferno, which has a similar conceit, and which I think I enjoy a little less than this story. The story also involves Selene, the new Black Queen of The Hellfire Club, who we've seen in the background of some X-Books, and who was a major New Mutants villain in the not so distant past. I give the Kulan Gath storyline a C-.
In the background of all of this, Storm, who was depowered in the first part of X-Men: Lifedeath, is trying to get back to Africa and get in touch with her roots. But before we follow her there, Magus, the father of the New Mutants' Warlock hits Earth roughly the same time that Nimrod, a sentinel from the future, arrives in the timeline to eliminate fellow time traveler, Rachel Grey. Dizzy yet?
There is an issue of campfire stories where the X-Men tell sci-fi and fantasy stories about themselves, which is about a C+ story. Then, there's a crossover with Alpha Flight where Loki shows up and, you're never going to believe this, uses magic to transform the world so that all mutants and people are equal, but they lose the power of creativity, so the mutants and humans rebuke this "gift", making an enemy of Loki. This is a B/B+ storyline. Yes, it has magic, which I don't enjoy, but it's one of the rare superhero team crossovers where there is minimal fighting before everyone agrees to get along and solve the problems together. Also, Loki's magic depowers all the other magic users, which is a nice plot wrinkle.
Next up, Professor X is attacked by anti-mutant students and is saved by The Morlocks, who are unaware that a subset of their group has kidnapped a group of super-powered children, The Power Pack, because one of The Morlocks lost her children and can't cope without stealing someone else's. It's a weird story, made odder by the inclusion of several of the X-Men, including Kitty Pryde and Wolverine who've been missing from the action for at least half a dozen issues as they were off fighting in Japan. This is another wild B/B+ story.
The Nimrod and Arcade storylines are C+ retreads of earlier Claremont stories, and then we get to the second part of LifeDeath with Barry Windsor-Smith. This one focuses on a hallucinating Storm in Africa (who was shot in the background of the Nimrod and Arcade storylines) who is trying to stay alive as well as rescuing a pregnant woman with the help of a dying shaman. It's a lot. It's well-intended and not as problematic as an 80s story about Africa written by two very white guys usually is but it still feels off and appropriative in 2024. It's also not a very exciting part of Storm's depowered storyline. C-.
Somewhere in this mess, Claremont uses Kitty Pryde to drop the N word AGAIN. D-/F
The final arc is a very silly Nightcrawler miniseries by Dave Cockrum, who usually just handles art duty for Chris Claremont. This is another story where a danger room accident transports someone to another world, this time is takes Nightcrawler through several of them where he plays a pirate, and we're introduced to actual Bamfs, which are tiny Nightcrawler like transporting chibis which were previewed in one of the camfire stories earlier in the collection. This is a harmless story that's not too shabby for an artist taking over writing duty but it's also meaningless fluff that borders on fun but never quite arrives there. C+ It coming directly after the very serious LifeDeath Part 2 is the biggest tonal whiplash in the collection.
If you love the X-Men and, in particular, Claremont's time as the X-scribe, this is a a perfectly serviceable book. On its own merit, I'd rather put the X-Men/Alpha Flight series into my headcanon than the upcoming Inferno. But there's too much fluff here for me to really recommend this for a casual reader.
I am neither a fan of magic in superhero comics (particularly Chris Claremont's take on magic) nor the Conan comics, which is where this collection's first big villain, Kulan Gath, comes from. A magic amulet turns a normal man into the sorcerer villain, who turns New York into a medieval fantasy hellscape. This is not the first time Claremont has used magic to turn New York into an alternate universe, and it's not the last as we'll eventually get to X-Men: Inferno, which has a similar conceit, and which I think I enjoy a little less than this story. The story also involves Selene, the new Black Queen of The Hellfire Club, who we've seen in the background of some X-Books, and who was a major New Mutants villain in the not so distant past. I give the Kulan Gath storyline a C-.
In the background of all of this, Storm, who was depowered in the first part of X-Men: Lifedeath, is trying to get back to Africa and get in touch with her roots. But before we follow her there, Magus, the father of the New Mutants' Warlock hits Earth roughly the same time that Nimrod, a sentinel from the future, arrives in the timeline to eliminate fellow time traveler, Rachel Grey. Dizzy yet?
There is an issue of campfire stories where the X-Men tell sci-fi and fantasy stories about themselves, which is about a C+ story. Then, there's a crossover with Alpha Flight where Loki shows up and, you're never going to believe this, uses magic to transform the world so that all mutants and people are equal, but they lose the power of creativity, so the mutants and humans rebuke this "gift", making an enemy of Loki. This is a B/B+ storyline. Yes, it has magic, which I don't enjoy, but it's one of the rare superhero team crossovers where there is minimal fighting before everyone agrees to get along and solve the problems together. Also, Loki's magic depowers all the other magic users, which is a nice plot wrinkle.
Next up, Professor X is attacked by anti-mutant students and is saved by The Morlocks, who are unaware that a subset of their group has kidnapped a group of super-powered children, The Power Pack, because one of The Morlocks lost her children and can't cope without stealing someone else's. It's a weird story, made odder by the inclusion of several of the X-Men, including Kitty Pryde and Wolverine who've been missing from the action for at least half a dozen issues as they were off fighting in Japan. This is another wild B/B+ story.
The Nimrod and Arcade storylines are C+ retreads of earlier Claremont stories, and then we get to the second part of LifeDeath with Barry Windsor-Smith. This one focuses on a hallucinating Storm in Africa (who was shot in the background of the Nimrod and Arcade storylines) who is trying to stay alive as well as rescuing a pregnant woman with the help of a dying shaman. It's a lot. It's well-intended and not as problematic as an 80s story about Africa written by two very white guys usually is but it still feels off and appropriative in 2024. It's also not a very exciting part of Storm's depowered storyline. C-.
Somewhere in this mess, Claremont uses Kitty Pryde to drop the N word AGAIN. D-/F
The final arc is a very silly Nightcrawler miniseries by Dave Cockrum, who usually just handles art duty for Chris Claremont. This is another story where a danger room accident transports someone to another world, this time is takes Nightcrawler through several of them where he plays a pirate, and we're introduced to actual Bamfs, which are tiny Nightcrawler like transporting chibis which were previewed in one of the camfire stories earlier in the collection. This is a harmless story that's not too shabby for an artist taking over writing duty but it's also meaningless fluff that borders on fun but never quite arrives there. C+ It coming directly after the very serious LifeDeath Part 2 is the biggest tonal whiplash in the collection.
If you love the X-Men and, in particular, Claremont's time as the X-scribe, this is a a perfectly serviceable book. On its own merit, I'd rather put the X-Men/Alpha Flight series into my headcanon than the upcoming Inferno. But there's too much fluff here for me to really recommend this for a casual reader.
September 12, 2025
This omnibus edition covers X-Men publications mostly from 1985, including Uncanny X-Men 189 to 198, X-Men Annual 8, X-Men and Alpha Flight 1-2, and Nightcrawler 1-4.
A lot of these are episodic one-offs, showcasing two or three of the X-Men on an adventure. Claremont is a good writer but has a lot of dialogue in his stories. Even Wolverine talks a lot. The highlight of the collection are a two-parter called "The Gift" featuring most of the X-Men and the Canadian superhero group Alpha Flight. They all wind up in a wintery, isolated Canadian location where an amazing city has sprung up in a bubble of warm weather. Unbelievable healing has happened in the city--Cyclops can control his eye-blasts without any tech, Rogue is free from her absorbing powers (so she can touch people), Wolverine no longer has berserker rage, etc. Loki has given this "gift" to them in hopes of appeasing some even higher-up gods, though things do not work out for him. The very promising cover image of Doctor Doom fighting the X-Men is a later story and a bit of a disappointment to me.
Woven through the stories is Storm's tragic situation--she has lost her power and returns to Africa to find out what to do. Another ongoing plot is Colossus and Kitty having relationship problems. And 1985 was the year the Beyonder showed up and had an epic story line that involved all of the Marvel universe, so he shows up in a few stories.
The collection ends with a four-part adventure for Nightcrawler, who gets sucked into other dimensions where he encounters a lot of whimsical situations and action. He fights a shark-man who is also a magician bent on gaining Nightcrawler's teleportation powers. It is very silly but also very fun.
This set is a mixed bag. Some stories I liked, some I didn't. The cover promises more than the content delivers which was disappointing for me. Otherwise this is a fine if less famous bit of the Chris Claremont X-Men era.
Mildly recommended.
A lot of these are episodic one-offs, showcasing two or three of the X-Men on an adventure. Claremont is a good writer but has a lot of dialogue in his stories. Even Wolverine talks a lot. The highlight of the collection are a two-parter called "The Gift" featuring most of the X-Men and the Canadian superhero group Alpha Flight. They all wind up in a wintery, isolated Canadian location where an amazing city has sprung up in a bubble of warm weather. Unbelievable healing has happened in the city--Cyclops can control his eye-blasts without any tech, Rogue is free from her absorbing powers (so she can touch people), Wolverine no longer has berserker rage, etc. Loki has given this "gift" to them in hopes of appeasing some even higher-up gods, though things do not work out for him. The very promising cover image of Doctor Doom fighting the X-Men is a later story and a bit of a disappointment to me.
Woven through the stories is Storm's tragic situation--she has lost her power and returns to Africa to find out what to do. Another ongoing plot is Colossus and Kitty having relationship problems. And 1985 was the year the Beyonder showed up and had an epic story line that involved all of the Marvel universe, so he shows up in a few stories.
The collection ends with a four-part adventure for Nightcrawler, who gets sucked into other dimensions where he encounters a lot of whimsical situations and action. He fights a shark-man who is also a magician bent on gaining Nightcrawler's teleportation powers. It is very silly but also very fun.
This set is a mixed bag. Some stories I liked, some I didn't. The cover promises more than the content delivers which was disappointing for me. Otherwise this is a fine if less famous bit of the Chris Claremont X-Men era.
Mildly recommended.
September 6, 2022
Chris Claremont really was making the greatest soap opera ever made with his 80s X-Men run.
I've long been curious about this legendary run, but I bounced off it after reading the Phoenix Saga and Days of Future Past and they were .. good. But not as much as I expected. Then in the last couple years through a random walk through comics I ended up reading the Inferno crossover and realized the Phoenix Saga wasn't the peak of 80s XMen, its just the start!
Now I'm filling in those years, and this was a fine collection of middling year yarns.
Cyclops is married, and shows up here only for the showstopper arc The Gift. But everything around it remains a blast. Storm on a journey of self discovery revisiting her homeland without her powers. Colossus and Shadowcat feeling out their complicated relationship. Rachel Summers reckoning with her past and future especially is a standout. She really became a favorite of mine reading through these issues. Such a tragic but hopeful character.
The bizarre Nightcrawler run they tack on the end of this one isn't as bad as some people here say, but it sure ain't Claremont, and it does overstay it's welcome.
I've long been curious about this legendary run, but I bounced off it after reading the Phoenix Saga and Days of Future Past and they were .. good. But not as much as I expected. Then in the last couple years through a random walk through comics I ended up reading the Inferno crossover and realized the Phoenix Saga wasn't the peak of 80s XMen, its just the start!
Now I'm filling in those years, and this was a fine collection of middling year yarns.
Cyclops is married, and shows up here only for the showstopper arc The Gift. But everything around it remains a blast. Storm on a journey of self discovery revisiting her homeland without her powers. Colossus and Shadowcat feeling out their complicated relationship. Rachel Summers reckoning with her past and future especially is a standout. She really became a favorite of mine reading through these issues. Such a tragic but hopeful character.
The bizarre Nightcrawler run they tack on the end of this one isn't as bad as some people here say, but it sure ain't Claremont, and it does overstay it's welcome.
January 11, 2019
I’ve been working my way through every issue of X-Men starting with 1975’s Giant Sized Special, and I have to say, this is the first time I found the result to be pretty uneven. Sure there is still some of that Claremont magic in issues like “Life Death,” but I found a lot of the other issues to be pretty tedious. That being said, Claremont had been working on X-Men for 10 years(!) at this point. I think it’s fair to assume the tank might have been running a little dry at this point.
Don’t get me wrong, nothing is “bad” exactly. In some respects, it’s even more ambitious than some of his more “classic” storylines. I’m just not sure it works all that well. Anyway, I’d recommend this for completionists, but I wouldn’t exactly call it required reading.
Don’t get me wrong, nothing is “bad” exactly. In some respects, it’s even more ambitious than some of his more “classic” storylines. I’m just not sure it works all that well. Anyway, I’d recommend this for completionists, but I wouldn’t exactly call it required reading.
April 27, 2018
I have actually read all of the other comics in this book in other books, so I'll keep my review of them short and sweet. I like the balance of the soap opera and the action a lot and I kind of wish that the modern comics were better at the balance these books had.
But I mostly read this book for the Nightcrawler series in the back because I literally couldn't find it anywhere else. To put it simply, I thought is was massively entertaining and laughed so hard at times that my sides hurt. I absolutely loved it and was so glad to read more comics about my favorite super hero.
But I mostly read this book for the Nightcrawler series in the back because I literally couldn't find it anywhere else. To put it simply, I thought is was massively entertaining and laughed so hard at times that my sides hurt. I absolutely loved it and was so glad to read more comics about my favorite super hero.
May 25, 2018
Collects The Uncanny X-men #189-198 and Annual #8 (January-October, 1985), X-men and Alpha Flight #1-2 (December 1985-January 1986) and Nightcrawler #1-4 (November 1985-February 1986).
The Annual and Nightcrawler miniseries are just silly follow-ups to "Kitty's Fairy Tale" (from Uncanny X-men #153, January 1982). Otherwise it's a pretty solid collection of mid-80s X-men. Especially good is "Lifedeath 2", the further development of Rachel Summers and the final stages of Magneto's rehabilitation.
The Annual and Nightcrawler miniseries are just silly follow-ups to "Kitty's Fairy Tale" (from Uncanny X-men #153, January 1982). Otherwise it's a pretty solid collection of mid-80s X-men. Especially good is "Lifedeath 2", the further development of Rachel Summers and the final stages of Magneto's rehabilitation.
May 14, 2019
Greatness and learning
This is a fantastic collection we see storm (depowered) starting journey to understanding who she is now with out her powers at the same time we have a young Rachel summers learning how to fit in to this time and trying to understand how her memories might fit and might not fit into her new daily life. Also the young brash rouge who truly becomes not only a main stay powerhouse on this team, but seems to at-last be growing in comfort as a woman and a mutant and mostly and x-man.. this is the next step in her journey to what she will be.
This is a fantastic collection we see storm (depowered) starting journey to understanding who she is now with out her powers at the same time we have a young Rachel summers learning how to fit in to this time and trying to understand how her memories might fit and might not fit into her new daily life. Also the young brash rouge who truly becomes not only a main stay powerhouse on this team, but seems to at-last be growing in comfort as a woman and a mutant and mostly and x-man.. this is the next step in her journey to what she will be.
December 14, 2024
Kind of a low point in the Claremont run. Maybe because he'd taken on too much, maybe because of the god-awful Secret Wars 2 interruptions (and continuing fallout from SW1), this collection just feels disjointed and unenthusiastic. X-Men/Alpha Flight is pretty good, though, and the Nightcrawler mini is absolutely fantastic. Wish Cockrum would've wrote more!
November 3, 2022
Not the best year for X-men books. The stories are sort of all over the place. Rachel disappears, Nimrod appears and yet is not a big deal, and lots of other weird stuff. Didn't like the Nightcrawler mini series at all, and the Asgard stuff with Loki was pretty out there too.
June 12, 2017
Not as good as the previous volume, X-Men Epic Collection Second Genesis.
August 4, 2025
This Epic Collection is put together a little oddly just because things in certain issues don't match up the best. The X-Men / Alpha Flight crossover happens right after Professor X is beat up and left for dead. It's such a long break that I forgot all about it by the time we got back to it. There's some cool stuff in here though. Kulan Gath, the sorcerer from Conan takes over Manhattan and reverts it to Conan times. This book and New Mutants are pretty much commingled. The X-Men have to take on Warlock's pop, Magus. Loki, Nimrod, the Hellions, the Morlocks, Arcade, Power Pack. All good stuff. The last issue features Storm in Africa by Barry Windsor-Smith and it looks gorgeous. Finally, there's the wacky Nightcrawler miniseries by Dave Cockrum.
July 4, 2024
Sort of a grab bag, a number of smaller arcs as opposed to one overarching story; so the collection sinks or swims based on the individual stories. The crossover with Alpha Flight was interesting, and it’s always cool to see Arcade and his Murderworld, but some of the other issues are forgettable. It’s not JRJR’s best art either, though it grew on me as the volume progressed. And the four issue Nightcrawler miniseries, written and drawn by Dave Cockrum, is a lot of fun; it’s a zany adventure that doesn’t take itself seriously. As a collection, it’s far from essential, and far from the best of Claremont’s epic X-Men saga.
June 5, 2016
Book automatically gets one star because Storm has a Mohawk.
A really nice collection, with a pretty wide range of collected materials. Doesn't have much to do with the book itself, but I was glad to see the X-Men/Alpha Flight two issue series and the Nightcrawler series make it into an Epic Collection. I've been wondering how they were going to tackle that kind of stuff, especially once we get to the collections of 90's material. Will Wolverine have an Epic Collection that is literally just Wolverine related mini-series'? Could be, given the material collected here.
This book is from an era I know very little about, so most of this is brand new stuff for me. There is a real focus on Rachel Summers, who I mostly know as a background character from the Wolverine and the X-Men comic. I knew that she was from the future and I knew who her parents are, but beyond that, not much. So it was cool to read about her. Also liked that even though she has the same powers as Jean Grey, she doesn't really act like her, so it was cool that they didn't just take a lazy way of getting "Jean" back into the story.
The team is an interesting one. No Cyclops because he is off enjoying the married life. Storm is there, but she doesn't have her powers, so she doesn't help much. Wolverine is there to, but it's a big fucking surprise how little he is actually used. He mostly just stands around and stabs people.
Instead we get a focus on Nightcrawler, now the leader of the X-Men(?!), Kitty Pryde, a long time fan favorite (for damn good reasons, she is FUCKING awesome) and even Professor X, who is a big part of the X-Men but always seems to be in the background(or dead). It's cool to see a time when Marvel wasn't shoving Wolverine and other flavors of the week down our throats.
The story's themselves are really good to. I'll admit I just scanned through the annual, but I basically read everything thing else(it's a really wordy book, cause Claremont). Most of the single issues are PACKED with story. Cannot not believe some of those were just one issue. The one with Warpath's brother is so crazy full it seems like it has to be a double issue! Oh, wait, it is? Well it reads like a triple issue then!
The non X-Men issues, the Alpha Flight cross over and the Nightcrawler mini, are also great. The Nightcrawler one is especially good. It's just plain fun. After reading through the endlessly angst filled issues before it, it was almost like getting a really sugar filled snack after a super healthy dinner.
The big down side to this book is that it doesn't have any of the New Mutants, or secret wars 2 issues in it, and I feel like it needs those. At least the New Mutants. It seems unlikely we will get an Epic Collection for them, so it would b nice to have them here in some way. Though I understand why they didn't since it mean this collection would only cover about six months of comics, rather than two years.
So, yeah, a nice edition to the Epic line, and a goof read for X-Men fans.
A really nice collection, with a pretty wide range of collected materials. Doesn't have much to do with the book itself, but I was glad to see the X-Men/Alpha Flight two issue series and the Nightcrawler series make it into an Epic Collection. I've been wondering how they were going to tackle that kind of stuff, especially once we get to the collections of 90's material. Will Wolverine have an Epic Collection that is literally just Wolverine related mini-series'? Could be, given the material collected here.
This book is from an era I know very little about, so most of this is brand new stuff for me. There is a real focus on Rachel Summers, who I mostly know as a background character from the Wolverine and the X-Men comic. I knew that she was from the future and I knew who her parents are, but beyond that, not much. So it was cool to read about her. Also liked that even though she has the same powers as Jean Grey, she doesn't really act like her, so it was cool that they didn't just take a lazy way of getting "Jean" back into the story.
The team is an interesting one. No Cyclops because he is off enjoying the married life. Storm is there, but she doesn't have her powers, so she doesn't help much. Wolverine is there to, but it's a big fucking surprise how little he is actually used. He mostly just stands around and stabs people.
Instead we get a focus on Nightcrawler, now the leader of the X-Men(?!), Kitty Pryde, a long time fan favorite (for damn good reasons, she is FUCKING awesome) and even Professor X, who is a big part of the X-Men but always seems to be in the background(or dead). It's cool to see a time when Marvel wasn't shoving Wolverine and other flavors of the week down our throats.
The story's themselves are really good to. I'll admit I just scanned through the annual, but I basically read everything thing else(it's a really wordy book, cause Claremont). Most of the single issues are PACKED with story. Cannot not believe some of those were just one issue. The one with Warpath's brother is so crazy full it seems like it has to be a double issue! Oh, wait, it is? Well it reads like a triple issue then!
The non X-Men issues, the Alpha Flight cross over and the Nightcrawler mini, are also great. The Nightcrawler one is especially good. It's just plain fun. After reading through the endlessly angst filled issues before it, it was almost like getting a really sugar filled snack after a super healthy dinner.
The big down side to this book is that it doesn't have any of the New Mutants, or secret wars 2 issues in it, and I feel like it needs those. At least the New Mutants. It seems unlikely we will get an Epic Collection for them, so it would b nice to have them here in some way. Though I understand why they didn't since it mean this collection would only cover about six months of comics, rather than two years.
So, yeah, a nice edition to the Epic line, and a goof read for X-Men fans.
October 11, 2016
Not overly impressed with the stories here. Claremont, for whatever reason, has the various characters either comment or think about EVERYTHING that they or other characters are thinking or doing. It gets to be a bit much and yet seems par for the course on Claremont's X-MEN run. I could be wrong here, but that's the impression I walk away with.
The artwork is strong here, but the stories are all over the place. Some of the stories seem to come out of nowhere e.g. an early two issue story where NYC and various superheroes and villains are made over in medieval style. With Spider-Man appearing briefly along with Avengers characters you get the feeling this was a cross title story, but there's no real way to tell.
OK, but just OK.
The artwork is strong here, but the stories are all over the place. Some of the stories seem to come out of nowhere e.g. an early two issue story where NYC and various superheroes and villains are made over in medieval style. With Spider-Man appearing briefly along with Avengers characters you get the feeling this was a cross title story, but there's no real way to tell.
OK, but just OK.
January 15, 2026
The Gift collects another uninspired phase of Chris Claremont's run, I think this and "I, Magneto" are two of the poorest volumes on this Epic Collection, but there's still plenty of fun material here, including Lifedeath II, the Alpha Flight crossover, and the Nightcrawler miniseries.
April 5, 2017
500 pages of, near pure Claremont X-Men action for when they were at their peak? This book is a must read! Only by comparison of the compelling plotting and character work does the Nightcrawler miniseries, which is already very retro, fall a bit flat. Alpha Flight! Nimrod! Even the Kulan Gath story is much better than I remember. Plus with Paul Smith and John Romita Jr. on most of the art, you have a very nice to look at book (with some Barry Windsor Smith thrown in as well). Get this book and hopefully we'll see another epic collection with the issues before and after soon!
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