Essential X-Men, Vol. 3

Essential X-Men #3

by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum

Follows the adventures of the X-Men as they face numerous adversaries.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, X Men, Marvel, Comic Book, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

528 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 1982

About the author

Chris 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.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Previous series artist Dave Cockrum returns, and with Chris Claremont plays a hand in bringing on, and get ready for yet another classic list of original characters and places - the Brood, Deathbird, Binary, Illyana Rasputin, the Massachusetts Academy, Caliban, Gabrielle Haller, and in addition for the first time in the X-Men, Dr Doom, Man-Thing, D'Spayre, HYDRA, Baron Von Strucker, Rogue(!!!!!), Limbo, Belasco, Tigra and more.

The first real re-imaginings of Magneto are also brought in #150. The true X-Men legacy post Phoenix is weaved in these incredible building-up the franchise years with Claremont the king of the world! What struck me more than anything reading this is that every single panel is relevant, every word spoken, glance or action taking, this series had substance. And so many great refreshing proactive woman characters such as Storm, Kitty, Danvers , Lillandra, Deathbird, Stevie Hunter, the list goes on an on, this series revolutionised the portrayal of women in super hero comics despite putting almost al of them in lingerie at some point or another! 8 out of 12, Four Stars

This volume is the trade paper back reprinting of X-men #145-161, annuals #5-6 and Avengers annual #10 (first appearance of Rogue!). Absolutely essential X-Men lore is written in this period.

2010, 2014, 2017 and 2023 read.

[Malum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the previous volume (but, really, how do you follow both "Dark Phoenix" and "Days of Future Past"?). There are some important moments between Corsair and the Summers brothers, an important Illyana Rasputin (Magik) development, and some neat cosmic action, though.

The only first appearances I noticed were Caliban (in what was a pretty lame first appearance), the Brood, and Rogue makes her first appearance in the included Avengers annual and her first X-book appearance here as well (in X-Men #158).

[giulia · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is done. hallelujah. thankful for the comic store that provided the physical copy after my illegal comic website went down and all hope was lost. hope has returned

[Nicolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Magneto: yes
Deathbird: no
Kitty's weird costumes: yes
Space: no
Dracula: yes
Kitty's fairytale: no

For more on X-Men check out this deep dive we did on the All the Books Show: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/ep...

[CJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now, deep into the Chris Claremont era, I really see his value. We are post-Days of Future Past and his stories are still great. Less iconic, but great character work is being done. Kitty Pryde has taken the stage as a somewhat main character as we watch her grow and become a hero. Introducing her gave the series a throughline that it lost with the death of Jean Grey. Seeing Kitty Pryde develop with Ororo taking on a motherly role has been my favorite element of the story.

Besides the Kitty/Ororo relationship, I'm seeing depth open up in all of the characters as Scott explores his grief, Kurt challenges Logan's willingness to kill, Peter reconciles with his sister's fate, and Xavier reflects on his shared past with Magneto. It was also interesting to see Warren abandon the X-Men over a dispute about Logan's berserk nature. That principled stance was interesting, as well as furthering the hot-headed side of Warren that we only began to see in the final issues of the Classic run. The 'Avenging Angel' is a much better character than the boring as bricks Angel from the early Classic issues. The introduction of Carol Danvers and Rogue was dark, but great storytelling. It made me interested enough to go back and read early Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel issues.

I want to highlight the melodrama of the series. Modern storytelling, or rather postmodern, is filled with jokes and is fearful to take itself seriously. Reading the 'First Class' issues published in the mid 2000's is fun and entertaining, but none of the characters seem affected by the traumatic events they are living through. They are cracking jokes throughout. It's light, it's fun, but it makes me appreciate Claremont's work here in the 80's. It is nice to see people going through tough times and being forced to grapple with it. I'm loving the melodrama and I hope it continues.

I'm really enjoying this era of X-Men. I care because the characters care. What happens in one issue affects them in the next. Well done Chris Claremont, I enjoyed these issues even more than the Dark Phoenix saga.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nineteen issues-worth of X-Men adventures from the early 80s.
Here the X-Men battle Doctor Doom, Arcade, Magneto, the Hellfire Club and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, as well as teaming-up with the likes of the Avengers, the Starjammers, the Fantastic Four and Doctor Strange.

Unfortunately for my appreciation of this book, I read it immediately after having finished 'Essential X-Men Vol. 2', which contains perhaps the best run of X-Men stories ever published. Until reading this book I had never appreciated just how much influence artist and co-plotter John Byrne had over the series, but now I suddenly see that the Claremont/Byrne collaboration was something of a perfect storm of creative talent, with a certain Lennon and McCartney vibe, which means that Byrne's departure from the series sees it take an immediate downturn.

Here we're returned to a far more episodic type of storytelling, with the long-form sagas like Dark Phoenix done away with and replaced with a series of shorter, less consequential stories. These include entire issues' worth of content that amounts to nothing; such as, using just two examples, comatose hallucinations and bed-time fairy tales.
We also lose the progressive character development seen previously and instead the X-Men sort of reset to the status quo after almost every adventure. This is nothing unusual in comics, but that makes it no less disappointing considering what has come before.

If you've not read the Claremont/Byrne run then perhaps you'd enjoy this book more than I did but, honestly, why waste time on this when you could be reading that one instead?
At least now I finally know why the Kitty's pet dragon is called Lockheed in later stories.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com *

[Woody Chandler · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a previous reviewer said, the transition away from John Byrne & the Hellfire Club saga made for a tough act to follow. I was really put off by all of the off-world/outer space stuff. Even as a kid, I was a mystery & detective fiction fan while my late-Pops dug both that & science fiction. I was never a fan of S-F & it made these stories a slog.

At this point, I am going to return to "real" superhero action & close out Essential CAPT America, Vol. 2, which got shunted to the side when several volumes came in as inter-library loan books. 8=O I wanted to read them before their Due Dates, but it is all a (currently) moot point as the library is shut tight & no returns are possible. 8=( At least, I have read through all of them & can return them without feeling guilty.

[Greg Callahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5) After the riveting events of the last wildly packed volume, this third one felt a little...Routine. The overarching events aren't entirely captivating and the ends of many issues or exciting moments are summed up quite annoyingly within a single panel, sometimes with something along the lines of "moments later" or "eventually." Like...What transpired during that time seemed like it was going to be interesting or complicated, but Claremont just could not care. Still, the overall continuance of the tale is enjoyable. Some fun cameos and great character/story development. The chemistry between the team is well realized by the author and it's still a very enjoyable ride. Just one that leaves something to be desired.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not QUITE a good as volume two, which I put down as perhaps one of the best Marvel Essentials volumes ever produced, Claremont's winning streak continues. It takes strikes for really only two problems. 1. Two issues that were clearly done because one storyline ended and Claremont clearly wanted to wait until X artist was available to do the next big arc. 2. Instead of gives us six more issues in the Brood War arc (which was insanely long and flows through 1/4 of this book and about halfway through the next volume), it was use THREE of the X-Men annuals and two of them are also in most printings of Volume 2 and I'm not sure about all copies, Annual #5 also appears in my copy of Vol 4.

[Barbalace Maximiliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential X Men Vol 3. Es el punto final donde el arte y las historias mantienen una línea clásica más situada en la Bronze Age, para dar el salto a la modernidad.

En el próximo volumen Cockrum se despide definitivamente de los X-Men, luego de haber dejado su marca en estos últimos números con algunas historias memorables tales como el enfrentamiento contra Doom, el regreso de Corsair y el re encuentro con su hijo, el cuento de hadas de Kitty o el primer cruce entre Xavier y Magnus.

Gran tomo e increíble artista.

[Maurice Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This period of X-history was interesting. They'd recently come through two major events, the Phoenix saga and Days Of Future Past. Kitty Pryde joined the team as Sprite, the Angel hung around after helping during the Phoenix adventure and Storm took over from Cyclops as team leader.

This collection covered issues 145-161 plus a few annuals. During this time, the team faced down Dr. Doom for the first time, met Caliban when he unsuccessfully tried to steal Kitty to be his bride and while searching for Cyclops and his new love Lee Forrester, found themselves face to face with Magneto. The Angel left the team before the Magneto battle due to his dislike of Wolverine's killing ways. They fought the Badoon alongside the Fantastic Four to save Arkon the Imperion's land from the Badoon's hostile takeover, battled the Hellfire Club and then found themselves diving headfirst into a cosmic adventure that stretches past this collection and into the next.

Corsair of the Starjammers returned and revealed to Cyclops that he is Scott's father. They and Storm fought off an attack by alien bounty hunters who destroyed the X-Mansion and regrouped with the others on the island Magneto abandoned after their battle. In between a first fight against the Brood on Earth and space battles against a rogue faction of the Shi'ar who wanted to destroy the Earth, Storm had to deal with Dracula, lord of vampires- twice.

Colossus' little sister Illyana fell through a supernatural warp on the island and returned to them seven years older. Only seconds passed on Earth, but she spent seven years with the demon-lord Belasco in what to the X-Men was the blink of an eye. Before they could even process this, they were attacked and captured by the Brood.

This was a jam-packed and exciting time in the team's history, and I enjoyed the look back.

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate to say it, but when John Byrne leaves, the quality dips. He was apparently keeping some of Claremont's bad habits in check, as these issues are overwritten in a way they weren't when Byrne was on board. Dave Cockrum is a talented pencilist, but he just can't match up to Byrne. The standout issue is the Annual. Claremont has always done good work with the FF, and Brent Anderson's penciling is excellent.

[Toad Soup · Rating 4 out of 5]

I FINALLY FINISHED, AFTER AN ENTIRE YEAR OF THIS FREAKING BOOK, I AM DONE!!!!!!

Listen, this one was a little harder to get through. Some of the arcs are just… not there, but I enjoyed her!!! It’s wild to me how much influence that one “Kitty’s Storytime” comic had on the rest of the series, like bro… why was Chris so obsessed with that… king…

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book really does quite a bit to set up a new era of the X-Men (after the big events of the previous volume) and for the most part it does a pretty good job of that.

Kitty Pryde really shines here.

[Peter Zackowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read issues 160 &161. To bridge the gap between Marvel Masterworks Unaccny X-Men vol 7 to essential X-Men vol 4. So those two issues were pretty good.

[Chaitra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars for Brood. I've read the Brood saga collected in an epic collection before and while I wasn't impressed then, they're certainly a better class of villains to our intrepid heroes. That and the Brood come after some rather uninspired stories - how do you go from Days of Future, Past to the ridiculous Storm Dracula story I've no idea. At least Belasco had Storm being badass, however long it took her, Dracula was plain drivel. So yes, I'll take the Brood.

Next is more Brood and the New Mutants.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm actually reading this on Marvel Unlimited in full, bold color, but this is the only way to keep track of it.

[Kae-Leigh Patricia Tapscott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rated Essential X-Men, Vol. 3 5 stars because it’s another fantastic installment in the X-Men saga that brings more iconic moments and unforgettable characters to the forefront. The stories in this volume are packed with action, emotional depth, and crucial developments for the team. I loved how the relationships between characters like Cyclops, Wolverine, and Jean Grey continued to evolve, and the internal conflicts they face make them feel even more real.

The battles and stakes are higher than ever, especially with the introduction of some powerful villains, and the pacing never lets up. I was hooked from beginning to end, especially with the rich themes of heroism, loyalty, and sacrifice that continue to be at the heart of these stories.

The artwork is, of course, phenomenal. The classic style really brings the X-Men to life, with dynamic action sequences and vibrant colors that make each page pop. Every page feels like a snapshot of an era that helped shape the X-Men legacy.

Overall, Essential X-Men, Vol. 3 is a must-read for any fan of the X-Men universe. It’s packed with drama, excitement, and unforgettable character moments, making it a 5-star read through and through.

[Monean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This comic book is defintely awesome!

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is unfortunate moving from John Byrne back to Dave Cockrum (who was the original artist for the reinvention of the X-Men). The stories likewise take a downturn. A lot of things feel more like an 80s comic in this essential.

Bill Sienkiewicz makes an appearance which is entertaining... that is if it wasn't for the story he is given which feels entirely out of place from the rest of the series. I mostly just know Sienkiewicz for his, what I presume are, paintings. His art here is interesting, if not always consistent. Also the poses are a little too extreme for me at times. However it is far more interesting to see than Cockrum's. I look forward to seeing more of his stuff come New Mutants.

It is also fun to see a couple big name artists show up in the annuals they combine with this book. George Perez got quite famous around this time, but for his DC work on the title that was basically X-Men's competition (New Teen Titans). So there's a spot of irony in this. It is also quite solid work and really shows up well in the black and white of the essentials. I can see why so many people liked his 80s work. The next annual has a young John Romita Jr. who's work was almost entirely unrecognizable to me (and not very good). But it was still fun to see his early work. In a few years he takes over the Uncanny line but by then his own style is starting to take hold.

Unfortunately the stories for the annuals included are not very good. They are side stories which feel disjointed from the rest of the series. Especially considering two of them were more around the time of Byrne's run.

I kinda feel that Claremont got a little lost through this patch of X-Men comics, while he tried to find a new way post-Byrne and some of their biggest titles. The essential ends on a cliffhanger and the beginning of one of my favorite storylines. This same storyline coming up begins the run of a new artist who which will be the cause of much rejoicing.

I did however really enjoy the Ilyana/Belasco story. The most twisted of stories thus far, which gives you a good sense of dread for things to come. (Another thing I am looking forward to seeing unfold in New Mutants.)

Oh and they finally decided to humanize Magneto. He is given the beginnings of the backstory that people have come to know. He is certainly better. I don't find him quite as understandable as other people argue, but oh well.

First Appearance: Caliban (yay!), the Brood, Gabrielle Haller, and some remakes of old characters, but technically not first appearances.

Includes The Uncanny X-Men #145-161 and The Uncanny X-Men Annuals #3-5

[Paul Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

By Chris Claremont & Dave Cockrum, published in 1981-1982.

This is another collection of comics in black and white featuring the Uncanny X-Men from the early eighties. And I must say I am not disappointed with them because of the lack of colour.

As I’ve said before, at least for me, it’s the stories which grab my imagination and not necessarily the pretty colours when I’m reading anyhow.

So in this volume of Essential X-Men we get issues 145 - 161 and three annuals 3 -5, though my copy (an older first printing I think) only has annuals 3 with 4 duplicated and no 5. Maybe it is a collector edition?

So what do we get in this giant inexpensive edition of X-Men? Well, Cyclops is gone and Storm is leader or the X-Men, Kitty is a full blown member now too. The X-Men will tangle with Dr. Doom, Arcade (again), Storm going rogue (ala Phoenix), the introduction of the real “Rogue” in edition 158 (my fav. character!), the sunken city of R’lyeh (come on what else could it be?), Dazzler, Magneto, Sentinels, Dracula (I kid you not), the Hellfire Club, . . . and (catches breath) even more.

Other major developments include Scott meeting his father, Kitty getting closer to Colossus, Storm struggling with leading the X-Men and Professor X blowing a gasket and spending quite a few episodes in a coma while the Shi’ar empire is in peril. We get a fun comic which is Kitty telling a fairy tale (very cool actually) and the Starjammers show up for some fun.

Again, when you read a condensed series of X-Men comics in a short while you can see just how much ground if covered and how every episode is not unlike a television action adventure series. Fun at every turn and neat to see how the characters develop.

I’m really looking forward to Vol. 4 when Rogue (have I mentioned that she is my fav?) Actually joins the X-Men. Can’t wait and since I picked up Vols. 4, 5, 6 and 7 for Christmas, I will have a ton more eighties X-Men to read.

If you feel the urge, go ahead. For a small price you get a ton of reading value, just remember they are not in colour, but if you are like me that won’t make a whole lot of difference.

[Zack! Empire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some what of an up and down collection. The biggest problem it seems to be facing is that, while it's not meant to be a follow up to it, it follows after Volume 2, which has some of the best X-Men stories ever. Chris Claremont is still the writer, so it's not a matter of trying to top the previous creators, and Chris doesn't seem to be trying to out due himself, but his work with John Byrne was such a high that anything after it will seem less good no matter what. It even seems like Dave Cockrum, who has a awesome name and is a really underrated artist I think, is doing his best to draw in a Byrne style. It really seems like Dave was doing this all the way up to issue 161, which is the last issue collected in the book.
The content itself, as I said before, is really up and down. It starts off really strong, with the X-Men having a conflict with both Arcade, and Doctor Doom. It's a good story where we see how dangerous Doom is, and how much power Strom really has. Then there is a weird one off issue where at the end the villain simply disappears off panel, and the story just continues like nothing happen, which was fairly shitty. From there it goes to a story about how Cyclops was shipwrecked on an island that turns out to be the new basecamp of Magneto! But then there is an Avengers Annual that was quite difficult for me to even get threw. Like I said, up and down.
Overall, it's not a bad bunch of stories at all. I like the X-Men, and I plan on continuing to read these Essential collections, but this one didn't leave me feeling that I have to run out and buy the next one right away like the last one did.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a black and white collection of Uncanny X-Men 145 to 161. These stories come right after John Byrne left the title and the whole Phoenix saga was resolved. I started collecting comics about a year after the last issue collected here.

If you are a comic book fan, you will notice how comics, as a form of storytelling, has changed in recent years. Gone are the word bubbles and lengthy expository dialog. This collection harkens back to the time where every character would think through everything they were doing. This was done, supposedly, because of the adage that every comic book was somebody's first. Comics weren't dumbed down for kids to enjoy. It was assumed if you were drawn to the medium, then you could handle the content.

That being said, this is an enjoyable romp. I picked it up used for $6.00 at That's Entertainment in Worcester, MA this past weekend. Even if you find it new (for about 12 bucks, I think) you are getting 19 comic books (also included are the three Annuals from the time period) for a ridiculously low price.

Fans of the genre probably already have the individual issues somewhere. This phonebook size collection allows you to reread the stories in a nice one volume deal.

[Gordon Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

While some may argue that these may or may not have been the best stories, it has a sentimental value to me. The reason being, this is where I came in at age eight. My earliest memories of The X-Men involved Deathbird, The Starjammers, The Imperial Guard, and the first appearances of the Brood. While, I came in a little too late for the Dark Phoenix, I still regard the stories in this volume to be among my favorites. One of the highlights that always stood out to me was the splash page of the acanti. I'd been amazed by the artwork on that since I was a kid. For those who aren't familiar, the acanti are like giant space whales that are used as transportation by The Brood aliens. Anyway, my first impressions of the X-Men was that they were some type of galactic team. I soon realized that they weren't and this kept me from continuing on with the series until coming back to it years later. I am giving this one five stars for nostalgia's sake but I'm recommending all of volumes 1-4 of The Essential X-Men series. It was after those volumes that the series got a little more complicated with new villains, characters from the future, Storm's makeover, but don't take my word for it as you may like all that more than I did.

[Krystl Louwagie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't quite rate these the same as I'd rate comics I read in more "current" times, just because they were a bit of a different beast back then. Comics were written in a style different from now (which is what I'm used to and prefer just because that's what I grew up with). These older comics have so much "background" info written in that sometimes it's gets jumbled and boring. A lot of the "thought bubbles" are very obvious as well. Still, these older comics are very important to the development of what comics are today, which is why I like to read them. I am reminded of why I like X-Men more than most other titles Marvel or DC staple titles, and once again, I'm reminded of why and how Wolverine became so popular-he's just so different from everyone else in the comic.

The art is still fabulous in these, even if it's not super original, that comes later. I enjoy the amount of alien and sci-fi elements for sure. I'm confused why Kitty is wearing a swim suit, like, all the time (she's very young and not voluptuous by any comic book standards-catering to pedophiles??).

Other than that, not sure what to say. It's a mix of good and of not-so-good and cheesy in these older ones.

[RP Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been slowly making my way through the X-Men Essentials and though I enjoyed this volume I have to say it has been my least favorite so far. Byrnes departure is a huge blow to the series here as I feel it was going backwards for awhile in terms of story. Also, how many artists did they run through during this period? Too much fluff in this for me; I actually couldnt even make it through Storms tangle with Dracula. Seeing Scott and Alex being reunited with thier father, Illyanas transformation into a teenager and the story of Charles and Magnus vs Nazi Hydra were all high points but too few and far between. All in all a great romp through some nostalgic X-history but I hope volume 4 is a bit more even.

[Leila Anani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic X-Men omnibus graphic novel collecting together Uncanny X-Men #145-161 and X-Men annuals #3-5

What stood out for me particularly was Nightcrawler's Inferno (annual #4) which has an amazing Nightcrawler story featuring Dr. Strange.

We have all manner of cameos throughout the volume - Dr. Doom, Dr. Strange, Dracula, The Fantastic Four, a couple of the stories take us to Thor's home Asgard.

Mixed bag of stories - there's some great Nightcrawler, Storm and Kitty Pryde moments in particular. We get a star jammers story and meet Scott's father and there's some Shi'ar sci-fi arcs - with Xavier's love interest Princess Lilandra. Never too keen on those but there's enough other material for this to merit 4 stars.

An absolute must own for classic X-Men fans.

[Sam Poole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kitty develops into the greatest xmen character of all time here. Kitts Fairy Tale, more exploration of Magnetos backstory and the seeds of the brood saga, Ilyana storylines and strong character work cement these stories as classic. Not earth shaking and at times a little continuity confused; after a great arcade story and OCTOPUSHEIM all the shi'ar stuff just goes a little too far. But even that said, I'm remembering the tiny moments (mostly about kitty!). I love this series and I love this book. Just a little too much confusing at times cosmic
Stuff to consider it among the best xmen collections. Though I certainly will remember every story here FKR a lone time

[Alex Robinson]

This was always a weird period for me when I was an X-Men fan, sort of a lull between the Byrne and Smith. Mostly Dave Cockrum, but also a bunch of fill-in artists, and a lot of issues that don't seem like X-MEN stories (Dracula??) and ending with the muddled brood/Shi-ar storyline. The highlight is a the inclusion of AVENGERS annual #11 featuring gorgeous Michael Golden art and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

[Mike McAdam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am glad I stayed with this series after suffering through some really lame beginnings. New characters and more involved stories have breathed new life into this series. They do spend a little too much time way out in space (the Lilandra stories) rather than defending earth ON earth (which are the most interesting stories to me) so I gave it 4 stars instead of 5. But I am really enjoying this series now.