X-Men Legends: Past Meets Future

X-Men Legends (2021) #3

by Roy Thomas, Ann Nocenti, Whilce Portacio (Writer / Artist)

An all-new volume of X-MEN LEGENDS by a host of acclaimed creators begins with comic-book titan Roy Thomas! Before GIANT-SIZE X-MEN brought Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Thunderbird to an all-new, all-different team, Thomas had already redefined Marvel’s merry mutants in his two seminal 1960s runs on the book. Now, at long last, he returns to the saga of the X-Men to bridge the gap between his run and GSX #1! As the man called Logan undertakes government missions before his recruitment by Professor X — including new revelations about a certain famous battle against a green goliath — the Beast finds himself involved with a host of missing mutants! And that’s just the start of a series of new, in-continuity “lost tales” covering the length and breadth of X-Men history!

COLLECTING: X-Men Legends (2022) 1-6

Genres: X Men, Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes

136 pages, Paperback

First published May 16, 2023

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

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

X-Men Legends...where old stories go to be revived?

This time around the 3 stories they 'enhance' in the TPB are continuations of:
* Hulk #181/182 + Giant-Size X-men #1 (The Wolverine)
* Longshot miniseries (1986?) (Longshot)
* Uncanny X-Men #282/283 (Bishop)

It's not a bad idea to get the writers to write more about these characters they introduced. The only part that's iffy is if it's actually contributing anything overall.

Bonus: Secret Empire callbacks to OG Captain America issues. Deep cuts.
Bonus Bonus: So THAT's how Wolverine's mask changed from his first appearance in Hulk to Giant-Size X-Men?

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was unpleasant. Three stories from comics' legends telling tales in continuity right after big moments (Wolverine, Longshot, & Bishop's debuts). The first, by Roy Thomas was formulaic and very stiff. Everything felt forced and cheesy. The Longshot story by Ann Nocenti was awful. Mojo is hard enough to stomach but her script was worse. The art was also very suspect. The last story was the only redeeming thing in this book. While Portacio (terrible art) does tell an interesting story with Bishop, XSE, and Fitzroy. Its the only one that actually felt like it belonged. Overall, this isn't a series that is needed in any.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three decent stories even if they don't always answer questions that were unanswered. In the first story Roy Thomas shows what Wolverine and Beast were doing between Wolverine's first appearance in the Incredible Hulk and Giant-Size X-Men. Then Ann Nocenti returns to give us more Longshot after his original miniseries. Finally Whilce Portacio writes and illustrates a new Bishop story that leads into his first appearance in Uncanny X-Men #281. It was cool that Marvel got some of the original creators back from these runs to return and give us new stories.

[Rob Marney · Rating 3 out of 5]

These continuity deep dives are tailor made for podcast cold opens. A good opportunity for artists to draw their favorite era of X-Men, but completely forgettable.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Untold stories of past events that we never asked for and didn't need that most serve to further muddy the 'history' of established characters.
I especially liked the part where Wolverine fought the Hulk for 6 hours and didn't even have a tear in his uniform.