Essential Classic X-Men, Vol. 2

Essential Classic X-Men #2

by Roy Thomas, Gary Friedrich, Arnold Drake

Enemies both infamous and obscure abound in another archive of the X-Men's early adventures! Guest starring Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and the Avengers, this collection also features mainstay malefactors such as Magneto, the Juggernaut and Factor Three.

Collects: X-MEN #25-53 and AVENGERS #53.

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

632 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 1969

About the author

Roy Thomas was the FIRST Editor-in-Chief at Marvel--After Stan Lee stepped down from the position. Roy is a longtime comic book writer and editor. Thomas has written comics for Archie, Charlton, DC, Heroic Publishing, Marvel, and Topps over the years. Thomas currently edits the fanzine Alter Ego for Twomorrow's Publishing. He was Editor for Marvel comics from 1972-1974. He wrote for several titles at Marvel, such as Avengers, Thor, Invaders, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and notably Conan the Barbarian. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes — particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America — and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles.

Also a legendary creator. Creations include Wolverine, Carol Danvers, Ghost Rider, Vision, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Valkyrie, Morbius, Doc Samson, and Ultron. Roy has also worked for Archie, Charlton, and DC among others over the years.

Reviews

[CJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really not much better than the first 25 issues, or however many Vol. 1 constitutes. One might ask, CJ, why do you read things you don't enjoy? I do not know. I guess I just want to see where the X-Men began. It's not that complex. I will likely run out of steam early in the Chris Claremont run.

These issues definitely increase in complexity and begin to have arcs instead of single issue bad guys that crop up and disappear. Character work is still pretty non-existent, except for Scott's moody behaviors. Occasionally the art work is fairly decent, much improved from the early issues. I do not understand everyone's praise of Jack Kirby, X-Men #1 sucks and is super ugly.

Having said all that, I do enjoy reading them (I know I already said I don't enjoy it, but somehow both are true?) They are light, and I know it opens up to a much larger story in the future. It's cool knowing it only gets better.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this collection isn't any better, and it is in fact worse, than the first essential. However it fills in the gap I've had in continuity. Roy Thomas serves as a Stan Lee clone, but to the detriment of this series. Arnold Drake's scripts at least sounded a bit different than Lee or Thomas. I did enjoy some of the steps in art, and was quite surprised by the Jim Steranko issues. Those were quite impressive if still fairly rough. The faces especially could use some refining.

The most notable events in this essential are the introductions of Banshee (yay!) and Polaris. And the apparent death of a certain character. Even if it isn't true, it helps give the characters a new direction and independence, which is important for the rest of the series before the cancellation. Almost all the villain introductions are pretty forgettable. Mesmero is the only one that gets some later play for the most part and even then not all that much.

So I won't recommend the book, but I still enjoyed myself quite a bit.

Next up Neal Adams!

Includes Uncanny X-Men #25-53 plus Avengers #53

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

1960s ridiculousness, with some uncomfortable racism and stereotypes to make things frustrating. Par for the course, but I enjoy the non-racist parts.

I read the first two issues in this collection so you don't have to. Skip them. They have some seriously sketchy representations of Latin Americans and just...all you need to know is that Angel flies into Cyclops's eye blasts and then Cyclops wonders later if he did it on purpose because they're both into Jean at this point.

Look, I find these collections enjoyable. They have that over-the-top intensity that would be familiar if you grew up on Boomerang from Cartoon Network (though I don't know if they hold up as well as Thundarr the Barbarian, but what does?) with things like Thundarr and Johnny Quest. But I also cringe at points, and I have deep reservations about *everyone's* judgement. Jean could just ask Scott if he likes her and invite him on a date. The villains declare themselves evil. Professor X is sketchy. Mary Shelly is almost set into canon as a mutant, and then that's backwalked. Literary references abound.

Apart from the real-world racism and stereotypes, there's also a persistent thread of considering mutants a different species from humans altogether and making that a distinction that even the "good guys" make. They'll refer to homo sapiens vs "homo superior" and it's very reflective of the same pseudoscientific demarcations of "race" in history (which is a social construct and I'm not going to teach a whole anthropology less here but...just know that.) They aren't a separate species (at least that we can tell), because what denotes separate species is that they can't together have kids who can also have kids, and I don't think that's ever a thing.

Jean...is clearly the product of a male creative team's thinking about what women are like. Behold: her parents "force" (??) her to go to a normal co-ed college, and she makes friends with this dude, and then goes to his track practice with a load of other people (some of whom have signs) to cheer for him. At. PRACTICE. This scene so frustrated me because I thought she'd gone to a women's lib rally, and then it was some dude's track practice. And she's cheering. Even though she regularly watches the super-powered X-Men (or boys. They are "teen-agers" after all, though their musculature isn't drawn that way.) train and fight. It would have been so much more fun if her college adventures were women's lib and exploring her sexuality. But, alas.... Also at one point Angel is super pissed and yelling at her that they have to save Cyclops, and she leans back against a desk with one foot propped up in the weirdest "I'm a woman" pose for a scene where someone is yelling at her and she's also upset. And at times I'm not sure the artists are familiar with how boobs work, because in one panel especially, it looks like her boobs are trying to go somewhere else, actively. (Maybe it was better in color. These collections are black and white.) And, last thing for the moment, her costume update has a belt that sits partway down her thighs and looks terribly impractical for fighting, like it's falling down.

Anyway, there's some fun ridiculous fights (Spiderman has a fun appearance. Jean kills some Doctor Strange-type villain with a wristwatch. Banshee appears and is for some reason drawn as though he has a split upper lip, like the part-dog guy in the Dark Angel TV series. ???).

Partway through, they start doing X-Men Origins shorts to show how Scott, Beast, and Iceman join the X-Men, and those are REALLY INTERESTING. Not cheerful, but interesting. Since these collections are getting old (and, I assume, hard to find), I'll summarize a bit.

SPOILERS

Trigger warning: rape, lynch mobs

Scott accidently reveals his dangerous powers to a mob. Prof. X sees this news, realizes he wants to form a mutant team, and gets the FBI to sign off on this (which feels strangely realistic, actually). Scott hightails it out of town and gets drawn into the orbit of a dude called Jack Winters aka Jack of Diamonds aka The Living Diamond (Scott Summers, Jack Winters, seasonal naming *shrug*) who has diamond hands and other assorted powers and wants more and wants to use Scott's powers to get it. Prof. X tries to stop Jack, Jack plans to kill him, Scott oscillates a bit between wanting to leave and thinking he can't, Prof. X survives long enough to convert Scott and get him to fiddle with a machine that *kills the Living Diamond by shattering him into a million pieces*. You'd think Scott would be put off by this, but he becomes the first X-Man, which maybe makes him the default leader ?? (I have a theory that instead of appointing leaders and then teaching them to lead, you should pick the one who is doing the most leading, but no one asked.) Ok, what's good about this arc is that you can see how young and vulnerable orphan Scott is to whoever happens to get to him first. He *needs* a mentor figure, and even if his own code of ethics is against Jack, it's really hard for him to push back against a more secure personality. Is Prof. X a GOOD GUY? Eh. He has his moments, and his bad moments, but, comparatively, he's better than some.

The real origin of interest in this collection is ICEMAN. (Bobby, because it's faster to spell and he hasn't taken his code name in this story.) I've read the collected 3 volumes of Iceman from the 2010s, and those + this = really interesting perspective. If you've read those or are interested, I recommend reading his origins here. So poor Bobby is on a date with a girl, and they're walking home from a movie, having a fun time. At this point the title announces "The Iceman Cometh" which is a humorous entendre the Comics Code Authority did not catch. Unfortunately, no, nothing like that is in the cards for Bobby. His date's (abusive ex? rejected suitor? stalker?) reject, who appears to be on the football team and to have brought his mates along, interrupts their walk to grab her and try to drag her off while his brawny buds threaten Bobby. It is very textually clear that the boy attacking Bobby's date is *going to rape her* once he's dragged her off. She cries out for help. Bobby is very clear that fighting back will get his butt handed to him, but he does the ethical thing and decides to use his ice powers against the would-be-rapist, coating him in ice. (I was a bit disappointed we came in when he knew he had powers already, but that's a reasonable decision.) It's never clear if the would-be-rapist suffocates and dies (I wouldn't have minded, but I feel like Bobby would be upset by this.), but it freaks out his goons, who run off. It also freaks out Bobby's date, which is a shame. I'm not saying she owes him a thank you and instant understanding, but it would have been nice if she'd had a "oh, yikes, I don't know how I feel now I know you have powers and I was very nearly raped I want to go home for now bye" instead of screaming and running immediately off. After all, she lives in Spiderman's universe and these things (powers. I mean powers. Not attempted rape. That shit is perpetrated and should never happen.) happen. So twenty minutes or less later the suburb is up in an armed mob and Bobby bursts into his home telling his parents he panicked and used his powers. And the first thing they ask is if anyone saw. And then he says yes and the mob arrives to haul him off to jail (the danger felt really real here; he's lucky he's a white kid; and they become a lynch mob later, but the writers needed to leave room for escalation.). Now, in addition to the "danger feels real" cred, this story shows Bobby's parents in a much better light than the Iceman series. His dad steps out on the porch to face the mob and tries to tell them they have to go through him to get to his son. (hearts) As opposed to older Bobby's parents who aren't down with his mutation or his being gay. And to be fair, they did tell him not to use his powers or be seen, but given that the reaction to mutant powers is an angry mob, it does seem like they were trying to keep him safe. So, the mob takes him to jail, the sheriff insists there'll be a fair trial, Bobby trusts the system (mmh, not a good choice), and then Cyclops blows the wall out of the jail to rescue him, not realizing it is the worst way to handle the situation. They fight because Bobby wants to stay put, the mob decides they're trying to escape and escalates to a lynch mob, and finally Prof. X shows up to wipe the mob's minds like he should have done in the first place instead of sending Cyclops. BUT--of interest to the Iceman fans out there, Prof. X doesn't stop at the mob. He also ERASES BOBBY'S PARENTS' MEMORIES OF HIM HAVING POWERS AND JUST SELLS THE SCHOOL AS A PRIVATE SCHOOL for Bobby and choice students. I can't help but think that Bobby's parents might have adjusted much better than we saw in the Iceman series if Prof. X hadn't done this. Given time, space, and knowledge that A) yes, the town formed a mob just because their son didn't let someone rape a girl and B) they'd stood up for Bobby and tried to protect him (well, his dad did. His mom didn't do much of anything because...women don't? in the 60s? *rolls eyes*) and C) he's an X-Man saving the world, I think they might have been more firmly on Bobby's side, come to offer love and acceptance, and been more ready to accept of other forms of divergence from the cishet male norm (i.e. when Iceman comes out as gay, LGBTQ+ rights, etc.) But with their minds wiped, they probably don't have the chance for that discomfort and growth, and maybe some residual memories make them subconsciously uncomfortable and make things worse. Prof. X is unnecessarily terrible.

Anyway, I enjoy these collections and am hoping to read vol 3 soon.

[Steven Heywood · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second half of the original X-Men run was a pretty incoherent mishmash of stories trying — and failing — to find some sort of direction. Having said that, there are a few good stories in here, and some of the sixties period vignettes are fun. Most of all, though, it's the art: Steranko provides a couple of graphically-staged set pieces; Don Heck, as ever, does a good workmanlike job; but it's the cruelly-underrated Werner Roth who does the business for me.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had this essential X-Men book sitting on my bookshelf for over 5 years and decided to finally crack it open this month. I read one issue per day, and while it took the whole month of January to do it I actually enjoyed it. Some issues were better than others I’ll admit, but overall it was an enjoyable read through.

I liked the idea of giving brief backstory issues to the X-Men in some of the later issues. I was always curious as to how and when each member joined the team. It feels like it’s starting to come full circle to issue #1 when Jean joins the team! Speaking of whom, she seems to have gotten small character development in these issues. Xavier is dead (surprisingly) and while Scott is the active leader of the group, Jean takes over as the telepath considering that she had been having secret sessions with Xavier in order to exercise her powers. She now the one that uses Xavier’s machinery and communicates telepathically with the rest of the team.

I also liked getting more back story with my favorite duo Iceman and Beast! As I said in my review of the first essential collection, I was surprised that they had such a close friendship with each other, so close that they even go on double dates. It seems like an unexpected friendship in my eyes but I’ve only grown up with the films and animated television series, both of which exclude that detail.

Overall, fairly enjoyable collection of issues! I’m itching to buy the next one to continue!

[Matthew McElroy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could have given this 2.5 ⭐️, but 3 would have been too much. I tried to put it in its time and place, but in the end that wasn't enough to overcome its dull villains and overwhelming exposition. Quick refresher for the unitiated: the X-Men are a team of superheroes, who are called mutants, because they have genetic changes that have given them unique powers. They were assembled and taught by Professor Charles Xavier. If you picked this up, you probably are initiated, though. I haven't read much from the X-verse in the last 20 years, but that is kind of a conscious choice, because there is so much to keep track of.

These are some of the earliest comics, all being written in the early 60s. They are clearly a production of their time- the heroes are all white, and predominantly male, despite their intention to represent marginalized groups. Not even a Jewish or Catholic mutant, which would have been interesting given the cultural phenomenon of the Kennedys or the integral presence of Jewish Americans to the Civil Rights Movement. Jean Grey is consistently referred to as a female, and heroes and villains alike are impressed by her... assets... along with her telepathic abilities.

It is interesting to see that killing off major character and bringing them back to life has been a story staple for 60 years. Xavier dies, and isn't brought back in these issues, but we all know he's coming back.

[Shaun Phelps · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here we start to see the injection of overall storylines, moving slightly from episodic into serialized, though the scope of the stories remains small, told in the big way only Stan Lee would do. Which is exhausting and bland, though occasionally fun. Not much was rewarding here, though the X-Men are starting to feel a little more real.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collecting issues #25-#53 this compilation gives you a really good history on the X-Men and their beginning. I've never been a big X-Men fan but thought I'd read some of their earlier exploits. It was good, not great, but good.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some real duds in here, but it got a little better by the end. Loved the Jim Steranko art!

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

a fun dash back through the classic run of the original team.

[Adam Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book collects 25-53 of the original X-men series along with Issue 53 of the Avengers.

The first 20 issues are the latter part of Roy Thomas' run on the book and it's mostly fairly mediocre villain of the month stuff. Even the two part return of the Juggernaut isn't all that impressive until Issue 35. The big highlight is Issue 35 with Spidey v. the X-men, Issues 37-39 with the X-Men battling a group of evil mutants, and Issue 42 with the death of Professor X. Also, in Issue 38, the book began to be divided in a similar to the Thor series, with the first sixteen pages dedicated to the main story and five or six dedicated to telling the backstory of the X-men. This was helpful in a way because the X-men were not as well-developed characters as other Marvel groups such as the Fantastic Four or the Avengers.

Gary Friedrich took over with Issue 45 and his idea was to separate the X-men into three different groups with the FBI giving the order. As established in this book, Xavier is established as having federal permission from them to start the School for Mutants. It was an early attempt to address the problem that all these Marvel Superhero teams were in New York, but in retrospect it looks kind of silly because even in three groups, five X-men can't cover the whole country. Given the massive number of X-men in recent years, this actually could work.

Friedrich's tenure was short and he gave to Arnold Drake in Issue 48. Drake was best known for creating the Doom Patrol for DC at about the same time as the X-men. The Doom Patrol had many commonalities with the X-men excepts they were actually more interesting. Drake reunited the X-men fairly quickly and then introduced Lorna Dane in an epic story arc as "Queen of the Mutants" and apparent daughter of Magneto. The legendary Jim Steranko took over the art chores for Issues 50 and 51 in what is the highlight of the book. Steranko art is unique and it gives Drake's story an epic feel. It's a shame that Steranko didn't stick around to finish it in Issue 52 but Don Heck is no slouch. The book concludes with a melee against Blastar.

Overall, despite its failings, there's a lot to commend the book. The Arnold Drake stories are the best and Steranko makes the Lorna Dane story extra special. But even beyond that, the art is consistently good from cover to cover and a Spider-man guest spot and the Death of Professor Xavier (which wouldn't last of course) are enough to make this a worthy read for X-men fans.

[The_Mad_Swede · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first volume in this series was quite faultily named Essential Uncanny X-Men volume 1 (in order to separate it from the Essential X-Men volumes starting from the 70s relaunch, which were already on the market), but from this second volume of the earlier X-Men material has been turned into Essential Classic X-Men instead. This volume collects X-Men #25–53 and Avengers #53.

Roy Thomas had by this time taken over plotting and scripting duties from Stan Lee and he holds onto those reins until #45 when Gary Friedrich takes over for three issues, followed by six issues by Doom Patrol creator Arnold Drake which closes the volume. Artistically, the volume is dominated by Werner Roth (a highly underestimated artist, in my opinion) and Don Heck, although others contribute as well, e.g. an early Barry Windsor-Smith and a couple of issues by Jim Steranko.

Now, this stuff is not bad. There's a lot of fun to be found, encounters with Juggernaut, the introduction of Banshee, individual costumes, etc, but it's still not among the most high ranking of X-Men material out there. It is fun for continuity reasons, and to see the development of the comic over time, but the real pop, of course, comes with the team up of Thomas and Neal Adams, following Drake's run. Something that is material to be found in the next volume (or as in my own case, in the Masterworks edition collecting issues #54–66).

Not a bad read at all, but certainly not the best one to be found on the market either. Fun stuff for X-Men fans is guaranteed, however.

[Mike McAdam · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the X-men comics when I was a kid. The issues were almost to 200 (if I recall correctly) and they were REALLY good. Great characters. Great stories. So I decided on a whim to go back and it read the X-men comics from the very beginning. I read the first volume and pretty much hated it. I read this volume and nothing has changed. The characters talk out loud to themselves (to further the story I guess) constantly. They all seem like mental patients. And, much worse, they are constantly able to do things that don't make sense even with their mutant powers. When reading something like this, I always ask myself, "If something like this were to happen, could it happen like this?" The characters and the world they live in make sense but it felt like the characters and their abilities were being compromised or changed to fit the particular story. I hated that. And the villains in this compilation were mostly forgettable. There were some exceptions (Magneto, etc) but for the most part the villains were lame. And they all seemed to have lackies that were saying "You are the master! Our only wish is to do whatever you want!" I hated that too. I am going to continue to read them as I hear they do get better but I have to say that up to and including issue #53, they are dreadful.

[Rexhurne · Rating 1 out of 5]

A lot of these stories were tough to get through. Boring plots and lame villains. A lot of them don't return much in the later marvel comics which says enough about their quality. The only positive point was the first appearance of Banshee. Not because of the 'quality' of the story, but because he will become a staple character in the X-men lore. The death of professor X was ehhh. Maybe when it was printed it would be exciting, but of course for everyone who reads it at present it's a cheap plot. For the rest there is not much to talk about. Magneto and juggernaut appear once in a while, those seem to be the go to villains when they're out of ideas for the lame villain of the month.

Not surprisingly i wasn't a fan of those issues. There is a lot better silver age material to be found within (and of course outside) marvel.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like Volume 1, Essential Classic X-Men Volume 2 initially suffers from predictable stories, with the same structure - X-Men practice their skills in their Mansion, ludicrously-named baddie who's only motivation is TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF EARTH pops on the scene, X-Men fight him (always him), and save the day. Towards the end of this Volume, things get a bit more interesting with the death of a main character (but obviously this being X-Men, no one really dies for long), and a multi-part story format that really kicks up a gear at issue 50 when the artwork and script both receive a boost. It's given me a hankering to start Volume 3 soon!

[Rich Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better Essentials volumes, simply for the diverse art styles. The original X-Men title was beginning it's way out (and was nearly canceled entirely after issue #66, when it became a reprint title), but that meant there could be a lot of experimentation by writers and artists. This volume has such diverse artists as Werner Roth, Don Heck, Ross Andru, Jim Steranko and Barry Windsor-Smith handling things.

Storyline highlights include the X-Men graduating into their new costumes, the finale of the Factor Three story, the first Cobalt Man tale, and the origins of the X-Men featurette.

This is one of the Marvel Essentials volumes that I can definitely recommend.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bleh.

There is a reason when Marvel started this Essentials line they (basically) started the X-Men when Claremont took over the book and skipped all the early drek.

Professor X dies in this book. But it was more annoying than shocking as I knew he'd be coming back at some point through some bullshit.

The best thing about this collection are the two issues with art by Jim Steranko. Wow, I can see why he is highly regarded. The next of these books I get may need to be S.H.I.E.L.D/Nick Fury to see more of his work.

[Kevruzz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is what they call the sophomore slump. While the writing has largely improved and the characters have settled comfortably into their respective roles, it feels like all the best ideas were used up in the first volume. Writers Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich are definitely trying, but not a single story stands out, not even the long-gestating "Factor Three" arc that ends with the death of Professor X (I'm sure he'll be fine.) It's not surprising that X-Men limped along for a few more issues before needing the all-new all-different reboot.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is a compilation of the second half of the first x men run. and it is clear while reading this, that this series was going in a downward spiral. some issues are better than others, but overal this is a compilation of very mediocre comics. and some of the sentiments and the pacing are very outdated.

[C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The back of the book sums it up perfectly: "The Thunderous threat of Factor Three! The first appearances of Banshee and Polaris! Mimic vs. the Super-Adaptoid! Subterranean civil war!" 'Nuff said, true believers!

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection of the early X-men comics. I do find Roy Thomas's writing to be rather lacking though. Some of the plots and villans just have not aged well at all! I did enjoy reading some of the back stories of the characters.

[Adam Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this volume the stories started getting better as the characters became more established. Everything is still GLORIOUSLY over-written, and some of the comments, especially ones directed at Jean and other female characters, are quite cringeworthy, but that aside, it's quite a romp!

[bluetyson]

Essential Classic X-Men, Vol. 2 (Marvel Essentials) by Roy Thomas (2006)

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this better than volume 1, though it was still very cheesy and misogonystic.

[Matthew Ledrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picks up about half way through and finally starts to be the X-Men I remembered. When the costumes changed, so did the writing. :)