Scan barcode
A review by art_cart_ron
Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men, Vol. 1 by Stan Lee
4.0
This being listed as "by Stan Lee" is the first point of order - - it is equally by Jack Kirby, and by Paul Reinman and Chic Stone.
These issues are a little painful in spots. Very slow going, and not just by contemporary standards - but in comparison to the work they initially set out to emulate, the popularity of the Fantastic Four.
Jack Kirby's pencils are laid to waste by the slipshod inking of Paul Reinman (first 4 or 5 issues), but start shining through once Chic Stone is treating them with more care.
The stories are very much like a couple of overburdened creators being told to add another book to their workload, one they don't seem to have a lot of interest in. The interest in the characters grows over the first two years - and by the time you get to issue 5 or so, there are fewer and fewer cringe-worthy moments (Professor X thinking about how much he wants to be teenage Jean's lover - ew).
That Magneto manages to remain a staple in the series is a testament to his strength in these initial issues - though there were some weird uses of his power (magnetic astral projection). Prof X has no qualms about brainwashing villains - which was also put to good use later in the character's story.
Ka-Zar is a painful Tarzan rip-off in every way. The Blob is in 30% of the first 10 issues - and spearheads a pretty awesome circus raid of the X-Mansion at one point.
A worthwhile read, and one that is historically important for the medium (though X-Men was cancelled at the end of the 60's, it was revived and reinvigorated in 1975 with a new cast and creative team). That, and the much improved issues once they got rolling (again, around issue 5), earns it a 4 from me. If it were in a vacuum, I'd rate it a 2 or 3 - but the property would eventually rise to become the most popular comic in the US through the 80's and 90's.
Then Marvel went bankrupt in the late 90's and sold the X-Men to Sony... who promptly squandered them terribly in mediocre movies, and with Disney's Marvel acquisition - Marvel was instructed to give more attention to the properties they could sell in the movie and TV industries... and the X-Men became all-but defunct in the comic store. A messed up industry. A weird beginning. Uncanny, even.
These issues are a little painful in spots. Very slow going, and not just by contemporary standards - but in comparison to the work they initially set out to emulate, the popularity of the Fantastic Four.
Jack Kirby's pencils are laid to waste by the slipshod inking of Paul Reinman (first 4 or 5 issues), but start shining through once Chic Stone is treating them with more care.
The stories are very much like a couple of overburdened creators being told to add another book to their workload, one they don't seem to have a lot of interest in. The interest in the characters grows over the first two years - and by the time you get to issue 5 or so, there are fewer and fewer cringe-worthy moments (Professor X thinking about how much he wants to be teenage Jean's lover - ew).
That Magneto manages to remain a staple in the series is a testament to his strength in these initial issues - though there were some weird uses of his power (magnetic astral projection). Prof X has no qualms about brainwashing villains - which was also put to good use later in the character's story.
Ka-Zar is a painful Tarzan rip-off in every way. The Blob is in 30% of the first 10 issues - and spearheads a pretty awesome circus raid of the X-Mansion at one point.
A worthwhile read, and one that is historically important for the medium (though X-Men was cancelled at the end of the 60's, it was revived and reinvigorated in 1975 with a new cast and creative team). That, and the much improved issues once they got rolling (again, around issue 5), earns it a 4 from me. If it were in a vacuum, I'd rate it a 2 or 3 - but the property would eventually rise to become the most popular comic in the US through the 80's and 90's.
Then Marvel went bankrupt in the late 90's and sold the X-Men to Sony... who promptly squandered them terribly in mediocre movies, and with Disney's Marvel acquisition - Marvel was instructed to give more attention to the properties they could sell in the movie and TV industries... and the X-Men became all-but defunct in the comic store. A messed up industry. A weird beginning. Uncanny, even.