X-Men Omnibus 2

X-Men by Chris Claremont & Jim Lee #2

by Chris Claremont, Jim Lee (Illustrator), Whilce Portacio (Illustrator)

X-Men superstars Chris Claremont and Jim Lee bring their legendary run to an Earth-shattering crescendo! The X-Men are shanghaied into outer space to outwit a Skrull infiltration and return Princess Lilandra to the throne - while back home, X-Factor must contend with the return of Apocalypse and the loss of Cyclops' son, Nathan Christopher! Then, both teams unite to face the menace of the Shadow King, leading into an all-new era as the X-Men evolve once again - becoming more than merely Uncanny! And they'll need to be in full fighting form when Magneto gains a cult following, Omega Red returns to menace Wolverine, the time-traveling Bishop joins the team, and the alien Brood assimilate Ghost Rider!

X-Factor (1986) 63-70; Uncanny X-Men (1963) 273-280; X-Men (1991) 1-9, material from 10-11; Ghost Rider (1990) 26-27

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

744 pages, Hardcover

First published January 18, 2012

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

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just one of the best X-Men comics collections ever, always a fan favourite of mine.
Storylines went downfall for good after the awesome ending of the long Claremont run, but Omega Red saga is still a great read and the final one in the Mojoverse is still a funny and good conclusion to X-Chris' years long sub-plots.



And Jim Lee is just the best X-Men artist ever.

'Nuff said!

[Dusty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took a break (3 months) from comics but I finally finished. A lot to unpack in this Omni.... Iceman has girlfriend troubles, Rogue in the Savageland (hubba hubba), Apocalypse showdown featuring the Inhumans, Scott gives up his kid, Skrulls tangle with Gladiator's peeps, Shadow King sits Charlie down forever, Magneto Protocols, Omega Red scraps with Wolvie and The Brood take over Ghost Rider. The Omni has fold out posters of Lee's goodness. A great "must read" for Marvel fans. Only crappy parts are the Mojo stuff. Lame-O.

[Malum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good mix of '80s and '90s X-Men, with a good Ghost Rider crossover thrown into the mix. There is a lot of overlap between this and other collections from this era, but this is one of the only books that I know of that collects the A-stories from issues 10 and 11.

[James Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was making it my goal to read all of UNCANNY X-MAN Vol 1. Note--was.

After reading the two Claremont/Lee omnibuses, I can't push myself through anymore. It turned into nothing but fight scenes and verbal posturing. The fighting has zero stakes because the logic is as flexible as kids playing make-believe superheroes in the backyard. "I got with with my ultra ray-gun!" "No you don't because I have amour that repels ultra ray-guns!!!" Stretch that over 800 pages, and becomes frustratingly tiresome.

I understand some people might have nostalgia for this era. But I don't. It's simply too dumb and not nearly fun enough to make the dumb palatable.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really truly terrific collection of X-Men comics. One of the best. My historical digging finally pays off. Now I see why folks are so fond of the "X-Men '92" era. Though I think part of the love I'm feeling is due in part because there was some drudgery involved with getting to this point along the way. Inferno, I'm looking at you.

[Cameron H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading these comics chronologically, it really is amazing to see the dip in quality. Actually, I’m not even sure that’s right. It’s not that these stories are “bad.” They just feel so dramatically different from before—both in art and writing. There’s a war going on on each page between words and images, and while neither are awful, there’s an awful lot of each leading to an almost sensory overload.

I’m also not sold on Gambit. He’s nowhere near as cool as Marvel was obviously positioning him to be.

[HW cuthalion12 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man. Maaaaaaan. This. Oh this? This shit slaps and looks so good it's like ym ym mmm you know what i'm saying? Beautiful. I didn't think in the last year i would read an x-men comic but a guy just told me to see this and it's really , really great. Mostly the art itself cause Jim Lee is an artist but the story is also very good if you are engaged with the characters. But for the art alone it's really worth reading.

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Piękny kolorowy, pełen szczegółów i do tego ciekawie napisany. Czego chcieć więcej? :)

P.S. W Wydaniu od MuchaComics nie znajdują się albumy
X-Factor (1986) 63-70;
Uncanny X-Men (1963) 273-280.

[Burton Olivier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some fun stuff. Definitely reads better than the first volume.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Sigh* Those were the days. Such a shame what 🦊 has done with the movies.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A real hodge-podge.

Preludes: The Opal in the Orient story that kicks off the volume is as dull as much of Louise Simonson's writing [5/10]. We then get a strong X-Men in space story [7+/10]. Claremont's writing on the X-Factor finale isn't as good as his other writing from the period, perhaps because he's scripting someone else's writing, but it's still fun and nicely sets up the interesting Askani arc [6/10].

The Muir Island Saga: Unfortunately this doesn't live up to its long buildup, and you can guess that Claremont was increasingly dragged down by the artists that were given a chance to participate in the story [5.5/10]. Peter David's transition is much better, thanks to its great basis in humor [8/10].

Later Stories: In reading the Magneto three-parter, one can see why Claremont felt that Lee was making him retread old ground, but at least Magneto's new trajectory is somewhat more patriotic and less evil than his last one [6/10]. The Omega Red 4-parter starts off very well with Byrne scripting, and thus we get an interesting new villain with connections to Wolverine's past [7/10]. However, as soon as Lobdell takes over, the script takes a nose dive; it's confusing and cliched [5/10].

Ghost Rider: The Ghost Rider 4-parter is truly a story of two comics. The X-Men issues are interesting and have some neat character moments, though Lobdell seems to get Jubilee and Gambit very wrong; she's totally useless, at odds with her early portrayal, while his having a wife that he truly loves is hard to believe [6/10]. The Howard Mackie Ghost Rider issues, meanwhile, are pretty badly written, only saved by nice art [4/10].

Longshot: The Longshot story that finishes things off is an enjoyable conclusion to long-dangling Claremont plot threads.

[Aildiin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this Omnibus.
The art by Jim Lee is amazing but a little repetitive ( Jim Lee's strength is characters and there's only so many way you can draw each X-Men member so after a while you get a sense of deja-vu with the art). The art by Whilce Portacio is very decent too.
The writing is however sub-par ( we get the end of the Claremont run and then some not so great writing by Jim Lee).
All in all you should still read this if you are interested by comics history as this book is a prime example of what was being done before the comic crash of the 90s. This Omnibus features the launch of the second X-Men book, including the famous X-Men number 1 who sold 8 million copies and remain by far the best selling comic of all time...

[Remxo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave the previous volume 5 starts. But this took me 10 months to finish. The quality dips significantly after Claremont leaves the book and I struggled to finish this. It felt like a chore to read. It just doesn't hold up very well imo.

[Lance Grabmiller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collects X-Factor #63-70 (February - September 1991), Uncanny X-Men #273-280 (February - September 1991), X-Men #1-11 (October 1991 - August 1992) and Ghost Rider #26-27 (June - July 1992) and lots and lots of extras.

So ends Chris Claremont's legendary run on the X-Men (1976-1991). Despite not feeling the X-Men comics much since the end of the Inferno crossover (1989) and thinking his best work was behind him by the end of Mutant Massacre (1986), Claremont made a nice run there towards the end. It's too bad that Marvel decided to start yanking all control away from Claremont in his last few years and undoing some of his best work. Magneto's final turning here seems rather silly and sudden (as is the X-Men attacks on Magneto leading up to it), but Claremont eases into the idea early, attempting to make the transition as smooth and as natural as the many years leading up to his reformation. A lot has gone wrong with the X-Men books as Marvel slowly wrestled control of them away from Claremont and rapidly multiplied them (there would be six published every month by this point - Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, X-Force, X-Factor, Excalibur and Wolverine, not counting the yearly onslaught of short special series), but this ending feels good. In fact, I sort of wish this book had ended with Claremont's final issue (X-Men #3) because past that it seems like it's moving somewhere else.

[Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall it’s a fun and exciting read, but unfortunately Lee’s writing lacks the emotional core of the previous era. It’s interesting to see the change of the guard with Claremont slowly being worked out of the picture (from writing the plots to just writing the dialogue to quitting altogether). The end of X-factor and The Muir Island Saga are pretty exciting and there’s some good stuff afterwards too, just not on the level it was before. The willingness to constantly change the lineup and the environments and the great character work by Claremont is sorely missed. Lee is an amazing artist and the X-men never looked cooler, but here’s also the part where X-men starts retreading old ground for the next couple of decennia. Magneto becomes a villain again, all the X-men go back to the Xavier mansion, etc. Still, it’s not all bad; the basketball issue, more focus on Gambit and Jubilee and The Omega Red Saga were some of my post-Claremont highlights.

[Gary Rhodes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read. It marks the end of an era for the X-Men as Chris Claremont capped off a 16-year-run with X-Men #3 in 1991. As much fun as I had re-reading the iconic X-Men #1 that I remember from my childhood as a child of the 80’s and 90’s, the run up to that moment was probably even more enjoyable a read for me. Jim Lee gets much recognition for his art, and rightly so, but I equally enjoyed the artwork of Whilce Portacio. The book starts off with some of his gorgeous artwork and a strong story about Bobby Drake/Iceman and doesn’t really let up until the last page. I look forward to sharing this with my son and re-revisiting it again in the future.

[Rumi Bossche · Rating 4 out of 5]

The x men of my childhood with wonderfull artwork by Jim Lee. Not every story as good as I remember but still a great collection of a golden age of marvel and x men comics in general. Also some really cool extras. Worth every penny !

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This captures the end of an era, Chris Claremont’s last issues in his epic run on Uncanny X-Men. It was great at points and always pretty good. Jim Lee takes over with great art and weaker storytellings. But still a fun read.

[Ramón S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't get to connect with Chris Claremont and Jim Lee X-Men.
I find their adventures boring and with a forced drama. Most of the time controlled by evil enemies and with lack of depth in their psychology

[TK · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is so 90's in the best way possible.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

The “Brood Trouble in the Big Easy” 4parter is the apex of the medium & other gems include ‘Too Many Mutants!’ & the ‘Free Charley’ 3parter, but the rest is meh, nostalgia aside

[Jerome Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The beginning of the 90s X-Men. This omnibus has the world's best selling comic issue in it, X-Men #1. This volume omnibus is a better read than Volume 1 of the same series.

[Timothy Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jim Lee is a hell of an artist.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good read! Love the story line and the art work!

[Sean Gallagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pure nostalgia. Great read. Never as good as the first time when you’re young.

[Jacob Hess · Rating 5 out of 5]

love the omega red story arch. underrated

[OmniBen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the third time I have written a review for this sad mess of a book, but Goodreads broken platform refuses to save it. I'm done with this site and I'm done with this book.

[Levi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great historical xmen omnibus. Pretty good story lines and writing along with what I would consider THE quintessential xmen artwork. (note: much of the story lines do build upon the foundations laid in the volume one omnibus, naturally.)
Generally the story arcs in this omnibus are good, wrapping up many of the story lines from Claremont's previous work. As always his writing can lend to being wordy, but overall I would say it was not overbearing. In all fairness some of the issues in this omnibus were not enjoyable at all and seemed like worthless filler (looking at you mojo,) but there were also some excellent arcs like the xmen/ghost rider crossover and the arc with omega red.
The artwork. O the artwork. Possibly some of the best artwork i've seen in a while. Jim Lee and Wilce Portacio's pencils are phenomenal. Really just awesome, the work speaks for itself.
This omnibus has more bonus stuff than any other omnibus I have seen so far. A lot of additional art and some artist interviews make this really cool.
Standard omnibus construction so no worries there.
Overall a solid omnibus, not the greatest xmen book, but definitely one of the essentials for xmen fans.

[Relstuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

"There comes a time, twixt life and death, when all men stop to catch their breath. We ask the stars "Why?" We question our lot. The heavens open wide and reply, Why not?" - Chris Claremont

Contains some of the seminal X-men stories. The X-men participate in the Shi'ar war in space, Cyclops son being taken away from him, Invention of Omega Red, introduction of Bishop, Magneto taking over the brotherhood of evil. Claremont does a good job as the writer and Jim Lee is superb in his artwork. There is some dissonance between a couple of the stories as characters seem to react differently since the last time you saw them. No doubt because of events that took place outside of the stories in this book. A little disappointing that is an issue in an omnibus but such is the nature of comics many times.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun revisit to a shockingly bygone era (over 20 years ago?!) that inspires equal parts nostalgia and consternation. At times the action, relationships, and storylines are so convoluted that the dialogue has to do the heavy-lifting to help readers understand what we're seeing. The X-Men and X-Factor comics collected here rest on a fascinating fault line between the '80s and '90s -- between what some consider the high point of modern superhero storytelling (especially the X-Men) and the genre's downfall during the "extreme" '90s. Jim Lee can't be remotely called the worst offender of that era, but his over-the-top, sometimes overly-detailed style (and its countless imitators) contributed to it. The comics collected here represent some of the best and worst tendencies of both eras, and are fascinating to read (and, at times, merely skim) for that reason alone.