X-Men Epic Collection, Vol. 5: Second Genesis

X-Men Epic Collection

by Bill Mantlo, Mark Bagley (Illustrator), Chris Claremont (Writer)

With the original X-Men captured, Professor X recruits an All-New, All-Different team to take on the mantle of the Uncanny X-Men! Including Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Banshee, Sunfi re, and Warpath, this new international cast redefined super-hero teams forever. The transition won't come easy, though. Wolverine and Cyclops will clash. X-Man will battle X-Man. Death and rebirth will visit the team, and an old nemesis will return. Also featuring the debut of Alpha Flight and the Weapon X program, the fi rst outer space saga with the Starjammers, and rare X-Men adventures. Comic-book titans Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, and John Byrne guide their new X-Men through it all, raising the series to the peak of white-hot popularity. And it all starts here! COLLECTING: VOL. 5; GIANT-SIZE X-MEN (1975) 1, X-MEN (1963) 94-110, MARVEL TEAM-UP (1972) 53, 69-70, ANNUAL (1976) 1, IRON FIST (1975) 14-15, MATERIAL FROM FOOM (1973) 10

Genres: Comics, X Men, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Comic Book, Science Fiction, Fiction

528 pages, Paperback

First published March 29, 2017

About the author

William Timothy Mantlo is an American comic book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics.
(source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Sr3yas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holy 70s X-Men!

This epic collection is indeed epic in historical sense as it opens with the famous 1975's Giant Size X-men #1 which introduced fan favorites like Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus to the Marvel universe, and replaced the old X-men team with the aforementioned trio, Scott, Jean, Banshee, and GODAMN WOLVERINE, forming the most popular X-Men lineup in the history.



While that is pretty cool, the introductory tale is very much 70s, with one too many explanations along with a bit overcooked tale where old X-Men team is kidnapped, but instead of asking for help from some existing Superhero team, Xavier travels across the world to recruit his New X-Men and sends them to face the mysterious enemy.

There are a lot of fun episodic plots to go around, and the writing team did a great job fleshing out the characters and forming the bonds between the new members. Nightcrawler and Colossus are a pleasure to read, but there are times when the portrayal of the girls of team X-men reminds the reader that the story was written by a bunch of guys. Also, Scott and Wolverine turned out to be annoying!



I know! Shocker! But Wolvie was really acting like a dick in one too many panels. I'm starting to think that he became likable after Kitty Pride was introduced in the 80s.



There are a lot of cameos in this collection, like Hulk, Thor, Spidey and Iron Fist. Villains like Magneto, Eric the Red, Sentinels, and Juggernaut (AKA potato-head) does their best to beat X-Men in this collection but somehow falls short. But full points for their mad proclamations and spectacular showmanship.





At the end of the day, this 500-page epic collection contains classic 70s over sharing characters, average plots, colorful art and many wonderful adventures filled with friends and foes, land and sea, space and explosions.



Dated, yet fun.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any fan of the X-Men should read this book. I've been reading the X-men since the 80's but I've never had the chance to go back and read the first year and a half (probably because they've never been readily available) of what is surprisingly billed as the All-New, All Different X-Men on each cover. I always thought that goofy moniker was made up for the Marvel initiative of a few years ago. There's some great (and goofball) stuff in here. Like the first team up of Black Tom and the Juggernaut where leprechauns (Yes, leprechauns!) give the X-Men some assistance. Some of the classic stories like Krakoa, Thunderbird's death, Jean Grey's death and rebirth as the Phoenix, and the X-Men's first meeting with the Shi'ar are all within X-Men #95-#110. It includes Dave Cockrum's entire run and the first couple of John Byrne issues along with some Iron Fist (including Sabretooth's first appearance) and Marvel Team-Up issues Claremont and Byrne collaborated on. I wish Marvel would keep on collecting Claremont's entire run on X-Men. I also found it interesting that neither Wolverine's healing factor or adamantium skeleton had been introduced yet.

Dave Cockrum created fantastic character designs that still hold up today like Nightcrawler and Storm, but his early issues especially are rough. Banshee's face looks like he's been hit with a shillelagh a few times. Logan's widow's peak goes down to his nose.



It's astounding how much better the book looks once John Byrne takes over. Also included are Dave Cockrum's early character designs. The X-Men were originally pitched as a spinoff to Legion of Super-Heroes called the Outsiders. It's fun to see how the characters morphed into the X-Men.

[Michael Emond · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are stories I have loved for a long time with a few ones I had never read because of the extras. A Hulk story which only tangentially involves the X-men (not sure why it is here - but it is officially the first time Byrne drew the New X-Men so it was always priced high at the used comics shop) and Marvel team-Up Annual 1 which I always longed to buy but it was too expensive when I was growing up. So glad I didn't waste $20 on it because the story by Bill Mantlo is clunky...like he wanted to write a novel about something and then turned it into a bad super hero story at the last minute with some of the worst art by Sal Buscema I have ever seen (might be the inks that killed it - not sure). Also some Marvel Team up stories with Havok which again is questionable to be included in an X-men collection but they are Byrne art so why not?

The highlight (for me) is this contains the first two issues Byrne drew of the X-Men - this was the start of one of the THE BEST runs on comics ever. I don't say that lightly. Claremont and Cockrum might have started the New X-Men (yes I know Len Wein really started them, but seriously it was Claremont who elevated them) but it was the addition of Byrne that took it from a pretty good comic to a classic. Not only was the art so much better (hey, I like Cockrum but sorry, there is no comparison) but Byrne's extraordinary storytelling skills added with Claremont's strength at building characters and plot arcs pushed this comic over the top.

I won't say the earlier stories in this collection are five stars but for history value alone I have to give this collection 5 stars.

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second Genesis marks the first relaunch of the X-Men series which replaced the original members with the exception of Cyclops, with Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Banshee, Sunfire and Thunderbird. It is the beginning of Chris Claremont's run, and not his best era in my opinion, his writing was very much in the early stages here, giving these comics a dated feeling, inflated with a lot of dialogue exposition and goofy villains, but they do go up in quality later in the book as Claremont slowly finds the right formula, and I really enjoyed revisiting them, so three stars. Recommended to X-Men completists.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the best X-men comics of all time in this one and a must-read for any X-men fan. This was such a fun book and to see Claremont’s flood of ideas issue to issue is seeing an artist at their creative peak. The art from Dave Cockrum and John Byrne is also some of the best comic art you’ll ever see. The classic costume designs to this day still hold up. Also, how every issue’s story leads right into the next issue must have been so exciting to read month to month when they first came out. Can’t wait to read more from this classic era of X-men.

[Jase · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time to delve into all those new characters and stories from Claremont that mold the whole X-Men universe. We introduce not only the 'Team 2' but more with Muir Island stories but the whole Shiar Empire storyline and Phoenix comes into play also. Fast pace with a move in every direction.

[zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly great stuff that stumbles occasionally in attempts to find its footing. A first time read might’ve resulted in a higher rating, however, knowing how good the future stories are cannot allow me to give some of these solid foundational stories the same treatment the future stories will get.

(however the issues included that weren’t written by Claremont - Giant Size X-Men #1 excluded - weren’t all that special)

Still a fun time and easily one of the best runs in the medium, quite possibly my favorite in all honesty.

[maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

such a great foundational book! i’ve really loved getting know these characters (except you, scott summers!)

i can’t wait to continue reading about the x-men YAY!

2.75 stars 🌟

[Mariano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, this has everything. I didn't remember that so much stuff happened so early into the new series. It's mindblowing. I only remembered Byrne's art, but Dave Cockrum's art looks sooo good. It pisses me off a little bit that he left the Legion right when he got awesome :P

As a sidenote, the Marvel Team Up issues are a little bit boring, but the Havok story holds up.

[Judah Radd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is necessary X Men reading. Every story that takes place from 1975 to the present draws from these events.

Now, when it comes to Chris Claremont, I have mixed feelings. At times, I find him boring, long winded and difficult to remain engaged with... but at other times, I find him poignant, compelling and often, fucking brilliant. He is a mixed bag. He’s a phenomenal writer in desperate need of an editor. His arcs contain amazing, incredible stories that are often bogged down by distracting and uninteresting fluff... but the meat of the narratives are almost always inspired.

These issues really set up The Dark Phoenix saga. We’re introduced to Jean’s mysterious Phoenix powers, we delve into her relationship with Scott Summers, and we get a glimpse of the X Men’s very important role in the larger cosmic Marvel landscape.

If “Dark Phoenix” is X Men’s “Infinity Gauntlet”, then this volume is it’s “Avengers vs Thanos.” It’s the story that lends significance to a larger story.

We are introduced to so much here. The players, the forces, the struggles... it’s all laid out bare here, to be fully exploited in later chapters.

So, Dave Cockrum’s art is good. The coloring, however, sucks. All coloring prior to the 90s sucks, and this is no different. The garrish, bland colors are offensive to the eye. It would be wonderful to some day see how these panels would look if they were colored to a level worthy of the art, but alas... the 70s color scheme largely detracts from the finished product, especially to someone used to modern day standards and production quality.

As you can see, despite the obvious weaknesses, this earned 4 stars from me, and that is largely due to the monumental and iconic level if innovation in these characters and stories. Like I say in the first paragraph, if you love X-Men, this is essential. Have fun!

[Ronald Esporlas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This marks the start of Claremont's X-Men run. The new X-men replaces the first class which is a good thing because it introduces diversity in the team and interesting characters. This collection also introduces a lot of X-men mythos from the Phoenix saga, Muir Island, Shiar empire, Starjammers, Proteus etc. that builds up to great storylines in the future.

I love Cockrum's art especially his costume design to every character that made them iconic. This collection also mark the beginning of the Claremont/Byrne tandem that was very historic in X-men.

[Ned Leffingwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

They don't make comics like this anymore. This is vintage Marvel, full of hothead minority characters, contrived situations, and Thor speaking like a bad production of Shakespeare in the park. Also, leprechauns make a brief appearance. This is a collection of X-Men comics that covers the incident where Jean Grey obtains the Phoenix powers. I enjoyed it. There is a lot of reading material here. Recommended for fans of bronze age comics.

[Cristhian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Estoy 90% seguro de que nunca había leído la introducción de los nuevos mutantes. Grandes momentos sin duda.

La calificación es porque los comics de Hulk, Spiderman, Thor y otros más no tenían nada que hacer en este recopilatorio.

[Brent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly filler that hasn't aged well. Unsurprising for a comic twice my age. I do have hopes that this run gets better.

[NewWorldGod · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/10

Most of the X-men issues are 10/10 but I really don’t care for the teamup issues. They aren’t bad but they aren’t why I bought this •_•

[Gabe Carvalho · Rating 4 out of 5]

it’s a bit dated but the dynamic between the characters is really fun and it’s cool that this was one of the first superhero teams in comics to feature an international roster

[Aisling · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Professional X should have stayed dead.

[Jeff Skott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection from the 70s

The new X-men meet old and you can see the beginning of some of our favorites like Wolverine, Phoenix and Nightcrawler, while losing Icema, Angel and interestingly Marvel Girl. And, Professor X goes insane. That can never be good.

[Jesse Bradstreet · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10

Although Chris Claremont's 15+ year run on X-Men is pretty legendary in the comics world, I hadn't really hunkered down and read any of it prior to purchasing this Marvel Epic Collection, which covers the first chunk of the run, cutting off a bit past the end of the Phoenix Saga nee Dark. I got Marvel Unlimited after getting this volume, which is probably a more efficient way to read Claremont's run for reasons I'll explain in a second, but I stuck with this book to the end--and overall, what a great start it is. The volume begins with a story I had read before, Giant Size X-Men #1. Claremont wasn't on board yet, leaving minor comics legend Len Wein as the scripter--the story itself, entitled "Second Genesis" (hence the name of the collection) isn't anything especially fantastic, but it does introduce the new X-team, including Colossus, Storm, Nightcrawler, and pre-existing characters Wolverine and Banshee alongside old X-Men team leader Cyclops, and a couple minor players, Gunfire and Thunderbird. The scenes introducing the new characters are more fun than the actual plot scenes, involving an effort to rescue the old X-Men from a mutant island which is feeding off their powers. We are also treated by art from the excellent, underrated David Cockrum, who Claremont would collaborate with for a good chunk of these stories.

It's when we get to the monthly X-book that Chris Claremont begins his run. The first story here is a two-parter involving minor baddie Count Nefaria, but Claremont immediately sets his run apart by focussing on the internal strife in the X-Men family, and by killing off one of his leads, in what turned out to be a fairly permanent death. There's a pretty forgettable one off issue after this before Claremont really launches into the story that made him famous, and the first great story of his run (or the first half of said story anyways)--The Phoenix Saga. The massive Phoenix Saga is a story with many protagonists, starting with an internal mental struggle by Charles Xavier and including battles between the X-Men and Cyclops brainwashed brother Havoc, the alien Erik The Red, X-Men arch foe Magneto, X-villain stalwarts the Sentinels, an evil version of Charles Xavier himself, and finally the Shi'Ar Empire, led by the villainous D'Ken. Along the way here, Jean makes her evolution into the Phoenix, and art duties hand off from the good Cockrum, to the great John Byrne. It's an excellent saga, despite flaws like convoluted plotting and overly wordy dialogue, and makes up the bulk of the book. The rest of the book is something of a mixed bag. We get two Iron Fist crossover issues, another Claremont character. The good tie-in doesn't involve the X-Men at all, but is a worthy inclusion to the book due to the introduction of Wolverine arch nemesis Sabertooth. The bad tie-in is a painful "hero fights hero due to massive misunderstanding that could've been easily avoided" story. We also get two issues from the Claremont X-Men run immediately following the Phoenix saga, one of which is a "danger room turns evil" story, and the other of which is a pretty good Alpha Flight set up. The book finishes up with my least favorite chunk of it, two stories from "Marvel Team-Up" which includes a good 40+ pages which only barely relate to the X-Men. Some of the art is pretty good, especially the stuff penned by John Byrne, but overall the Spider-Man/X-Men team up stuff is pretty flat. The collection ends with some great concept art, unused pages, parodies, etc., most of which is pretty cool. Not perfect volume, but pretty cool--definitely can't wait to continue the Claremont X-Men run proper.

[Alex E · Rating 4 out of 5]

An essential read for any X-Men fan, this touches on two hugely important story lines from the original Uncanny run: The creation of the new X-Men, and the Phoenix saga.

I decided to go back and do a chronology read of the X-Men, something I have done once before, just because.... its the quarantine and what else is there to do right? So I thought, this collection, which starts with Giant Size X-Men 1 is a good a place to start as any. I thought it would be a bit of a tough read as far as the writing... but this actually holds up pretty well. Sure the dialog is very much "of it's time" but the plots and subject matter are still very compelling. I may be biased because I am a big X-Men fan, but this just... works. From the new team (Storm, Banshee, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Thunderbird, and of course Wolverine) meeting the old team, to the new team just getting used to each other and the notion of being X-men in general, the interpersonal relationships are a huge part of the book, and Claremont makes it feel very natural and easy to read.

The Phoenix Saga was touched on in this book, and gives you the origins of how Jean Grey becomes the Phoenix. And even though it only skims the surface of this story line, you can still see how and why it was so impactful and still widely regarded as one of the most important X-Men (or any comic really) story lines ever.

There are a couple of filler issues towards the end of this collection that slowed me down, but overall, there are some great issues collected in the volume. And some cool back matter as well.

If you are an X-Men fan, you must read this. This is essential reading for any fan of the team and I promise, it is worth your while.

[Tony Romine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Epic Collection features issues 94-110 of X-MEN (then branded as 'All-New, All-Different') as well as the legendary GIANT-SIZED X-MEN from 1975 that preceded those issues and various issues of MARVEL TEAM-UP and IRON FIST from the era that feature the X-Men. There is also a healthy portion of extras including original character sketches and panel art.

After their 5 year long hiatus, the X-Men returned in 1975 with Giant-Sized X-Men and it was like a shotgun blast to the original series. Gone was the stale bread original team of Cyclops, Angel, Marvel Girl, Beast, and Iceman. The new team consisted of a couple original members (Cyclops and Jean Grey) and introduced the world to what are now classic X-Men staples: Wolverine, Colossus, Storm, Banshee, and Nightcrawler. This new team was exactly what the series needed: something unique and different.

The most important part is that along with this new X-Men lineup came a new writer Chris Claremont, whose work would set the tone of the series for a long time and he would remain the primary writer for the X-Men for almost 20 years. What we get in this collection are his first 17 issues where we get to know these new characters and see the seeds of future storylines planted. Some of the comics are a bit confusing, boring, and tedious (cough...Starjammers...cough) and some of them are downright cheesy (Iron Fist vs. the X-Men in Jean Grey's apartment), but there are some true classics in here. The artwork is incredible, the best of the classic issues. All in all though, it's a good collection and will definitely have you eager for more. Essential reading for any X-Men fan.

[Buddy Scalera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid collection that gives you the foundational issues of the modern X-Men storyline that would run for 30+ years. Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, and John Byrne would all go on to define the X-Men universe, and it all starts here.

No spoilers. The creative team seems to be feeling around, learning about the characters, and building storylines that they will explore later. What's important is the evolution of Jean Grey into Phoenix.

Are there some slow spots? For sure. I've never been a fan of the Star Jammers or the Shi'Ar or whatever they are. It's just not enjoyable to read. Cockrum seems to enjoy drawing the characters, but the story never really comes together.

The rest of it? Worth reading. These characters will all evolve into far more interesting characters later, so this volume gives you some perspective.

These collections also bolt on a few extra stories that are relevant for one reason or another. There are a few issues of Marvel Team Up, some extras from FOOM, and some character sketches. This stuff is gold. It makes these collections far more interesting than just a straight reprint of a run of issues.

Worth the money. Not quite 5 stars, but a solid 4 star collection.

[Harry Rubin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow what a fantastic glow up! As a long time running fan of anything X-men it is shocking to myself that it took me this long to read the original X-men comics. I am glad that I read all of the original comics up to this point because now I feel like I've earned reading the best glow up I'm comic book history. If you're only a casual fan of comics and you're currently watching X-men 97' this would be the place to start. Unless you're like me and you want to embrace all things X-men because you're a long time fan you'll want to skip the first four epic collection volumes as most of the stories are corny and forgettable. Some of them are really good like anything dealing with the Sentinels, but other than that I wouldn't recommend the first stories to most of yall. You can actually start here since most of the original characters quit the team.

The characters and stories here are more interesting. You actually feel the weight of the world. The art is also superior here. This is actually the X-men we all know and love.

[Matt Aukamp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course, the dialogue and captions in this book are VERY Claremont-y. No action is complete without Claremont explaining to you the action in words exactly as you're seeing it. However, Claremont is charged and energetic in this era. The action never stops, even when it's ridiculous. You get the sense that he's brimming with ideas and just can't bring them to us fast enough, so stories start being teased 10-20 issues ahead of their payoffs. Plus, these characters come out nearly-fully-formed with so much personality that you can tell Claremont is just aching to let you know every detail about who they are. Character is packed into every line of dialogue.

Even though the wordiness is slightly tiring, the cultural depictions are incredibly 70s, and a few of the "character traits" are basically just "Is Russian and will talk about being Russian every 3 panels," it's still a wild ride, even in 2024. I expected to be bored, re-reading all this, but it's an absolute classic run and remains so for a reason.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A large collection of the beginnings of the new X-men and the start of Chris Claremont's classic run writing the x-men- first with Dave Cockrum and then with John Byrne handling the artistic duties.
I read this to read the classic Claremont/Cockrum issues as well as reacquaint myself with the early Byrne years.
What surprised me was how raw the early writing was . Claremont was clearly thrown into the deep end of the pool and forced to sink or swim. Many of the early issues are filled with hokey 70's dialogue and it was criminal that the prejudices of the time towards Native Americans and the lack of understanding of just how deep and rich their cultural heritage fed into the abysmal handling of Thunderbird character.
By the time Byrne arrives in issue #108 , The change in Claremont's writing is astounding. The 70's cheese is gone and the series begins to show what would become a genre changing run of High quality writing and stunning artwork.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chris Claremont managed to take the X-Men, a cancelled series that was mostly-terrible to read, and reinvent it into a massive sprawling story. Introducing a diverse cast that has a lot of depth, some great sci-fi adventures across the world, and an absolutely killer roster of artists, this is an exciting collection to read through. The downside to this collection is the amount of middling material covered - mainly from outside the main X-Men title itself - as well as the awkward quirks that the main series takes to get the ball rolling. It's a great experience seeing Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum (later John Byrne) work out the quirks of the X-Men and decide where they want this series to go, but there are certainly elements that don't end up working out and are better left abandoned. Still, there's no reason not to give this series a try and dive right into it.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would think that all of this would be old hat because it's replayed and referenced so frequently. But darned if it's not good (even if I can't fully explain why and even if Thunderbird can only be pitied as a severe PTSD case rather than admired as he's written as someone with no sense of proportion. As, actually, are Sunfire and Wolverine. But Sunfire abandons the team early and Wolverine never follows through on any of his rage. He's as neutered as the 90's cartoon version relative to his bombast.)

Also, had one of the more interesting "extras" ever used to pad a book. We learn that the "New" X-Men were really a DC team composed of Nightcrawler (as an actual demon) and four characters who became Storm.

[Raul Reyes · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can really feel a shift in direction when Claremont takes over as the sole writer, and the book becomes a lot better, but his writing shines best in the character moments, and you didn’t get that many of them during this set of issues. A lot of the setup of pretty important characters beats like Wolverine developing a crush on Jean, and Storm and Jean becoming friends happen off panel, so it all feels very tell don’t show. Lastly, while I really liked the issues where it’s Christmas and when they go to Ireland, I didn’t like the actual conclusion to the storyline they set up when they actually go to space because none of the characters actually had a connection to the princess. The first set of Marvel team up issues were also really boring.

[L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The line-up of the X-men fluctuates at first. Cyclops is the only original member to stick around. Sunfire leaves after only one adventure. Thunderbird is Slipknotted. Jean Grey leaves but then pops back up so we can see how she's turned into the Phoenix. What isn't explained, though, is how Jean could afford that sweet, sweet New York apartment. Sure, Misty Knight is her room mate, but I don't think Misty makes enough to even afford to pay for a closet in this Greenwich loft, let alone half the rent. Unless Jean is using her mental powers to "convince" the landlord to set the rent at five bucks a month.

It's what I would do.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was much better than the original book issues. You can see that Claremont's writing is already way better. The adventures are still pretty weird though and stuck in the past. That said, he's already begun laying the groundwork for Phoenix, as well as a bunch of other stuff, and I'm excited to see it come together.

I gotta say though, its weird to see how much of a dick Wolverine is. He's my favorite character, but I started reading him in the 90's when he had developed much further along. For as much as he complains and mouths off at everyone, I don't understand why he's still on the team.