Key Issues - The Uncanny X-Men - Part Three

Uncanny X-men #428 by Phillip Tan 

I finally got around to finishing the third part of the Uncanny X-Men key issues list.  Parts one and two can be found at the respective links.  We've reached #400 - #544 and I had to dig deep to find key issues.  In this era of the X-Men a lot happens without anything really happening at least until you get to Brubaker's run starting in #475.  At that point lots of great storylines come out with Messiah Complex, Messiah War, Nation X, Second Coming, etc.  I was planning on ending this with #544 but with #600 announced to come out in October 2015, perhaps I'll do a part 4 that includes, the two Uncanny volumes, Wolverine and the X-Men, and All-New X-Men just to tidy things up before the new Marvel Universe debuts in September.


Uncanny X-Men #401 - Banshee forms X-Corps.  1st appearance of X-Corps.

Uncanny X-Men #404 - Death of Sunpyre (Leyu Yoshida).

Uncanny X-Men #410 - 1st appearance of Sammy Pare (Squid Boy).

Uncanny X-Men #411 - 1st appearances of Annie and Carter Ghazikhanian.
Uncanny X-Men #415 - Revealed that Iceman will permanently mutate into ice.  Northstar has a crush on Iceman.

Uncanny X-Men #417 - 1st appearance of Maximus Lobo.

Uncanny X-Men #493
 by  Billy Tan

Uncanny X-men #420 - Angel revealed to have healing abilities.

Uncanny X-Men #423 - Deaths of Bedlam and Skin, they were crucified by the Church of Humanity.

Uncanny X-Men #428 - 1st appearance of Azazel.  Azazel revealed as Nightcrawler's father.
Uncanny X-Men #429 - 1st appearance of the Neyaphim: Ginniyeh, Jillian, Kiwi Black, Ophis, and Ydrazil. 1st appearances of Maryin Hannah and Sanji Yamamoto.
Uncanny X-Men #435 - 1st appearance of Earth-A She-Hulk.
Uncanny X-Men #437 - 1st appearance of Julia Cabot.
Uncanny X-Men #444 - 1st appearances of the Weaponeers, Rogue's Advocate Squad: Boggart, Naiad, Pinpoint, Trovao, Umbra, Xenon.
Uncanny X-Men #445 - 1st appearance of the Fury.

Uncanny X-Men #455 - 1st appearance of the Hauk'ka.
Uncanny X-Men #462 - 1st appearances of Flight Leader and Sky Captain of the Captain Britain Corps.
Uncanny X-Men #466 - 1st appearance of Colonel Miguel Reyes.

Uncanny X-Men #526
 by Terry and Rachel Dodson

Uncanny X-Men #467 - 1st appearance of the Shi'ar Death Commandos: Black Cloak, Colony, Devo, Hypershot, Krait, Offset, Sega, Shell, and Warshot.
Uncanny X-Men #468 - 1st appearance of Flaw of the Shi'ar Death Commandos.
Uncanny X-Men #475 - 1st appearance of Warpath's vibranium knives.
Uncanny X-Men #478 - 1st appearance of Korvus Rook'shir.
Uncanny X-Men #493 - X-Force is reformed to track down Cable and baby Hope.
Uncanny X-Men #500 - The X-Men relocate to San Francisco.
Uncanny X-Men #526 - 1st appearance of Transonic.
Uncanny X-Men #527 - 1st appearance of Velocidad.
Uncanny X-Men #528 - 1st appearance of Idie Okonkwo.
Uncanny X-Men #529 - 1st appearance of Teon.
Uncanny X-Men #542 - Colossus becomes the Juggernaut.

Key Issues - Uncanny X-Men - Part One
Key Issues - Uncanny X-Men - Part Two

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Glossing Over the Death of Wolverine

It was with great anticipation that I picked up Death of Wolverine #4 today.  And then, disappointment.  Not with Charles Soule, Steve McNiven, Jay Leisten, or Justin Ponsor who did a masterful job of sending our hero off with beautiful artwork and a subtle story of self-sacrifice.  The entire series was wonderful even though it seemed a bit hurried.  Perhaps one or two more issues would have been better.

The real letdown is how Marvel is treating Wolverine's death. Let's start with the timing of this mini-series and the timing of Axis, the latest Marvel event.  Apparently, there were some slight delays with Death of Wolverine, but dropping this issue in the middle of Axis seems to give short shrift to his death.  Wolverine, an Avenger and arguably the most popular of all the X-Men, dies before the events of Axis (I'm assuming, otherwise why wouldn't he be there fighting alongside all of his teammates) and no one even makes mention of it.  Sad and inexcusable.

In another stupid scheduling move, Marvel releases Wolverine and the X-Men #10 on the same day with a "Death of Wolverine" banner across the cover.  Ideally, this issue would show up a week later after some time for his death to resonate both with fans and Wolverine's students and fellow X-Men.  Instead, we get a poorly written issue with way too many artists depicting those closest to Wolverine who apparently skipped the first four stages of grief and moved on to acceptance.

I haven't read the Logan Legacy #1 yet, but from what I've heard, the book will really only deal with other Weapon X program characters.

None of this would matter if Logan were suddenly resurrected in a week, but from Axel Alonso down to Charles Soule, we've been told that there's been no thought given to how he would come back and that dead Wolverine will be the status quo for the foreseeable future.  Disheartening when you consider that Marvel is usually planning stories two to three years out.  Even more disheartening to see one of the characters that helped keep Marvel out of bankruptcy paid such little respect.

Steal of the Week

Cover by Mike Esposito and Carmine Infantino

The steal of the week this week comes from Baltimore Comic Con and the guys at Zapp Comics. I picked up this sweet copy of Batman #197 for $10 at their booth along with some Bronze Age books at a good price.  This wonderful issue follows a "reformed" Catwoman in her quest to marry Batman and outdo her perceived rival for his affections, Batgirl. Written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Frank Springer, this issue shows us the one weakness in Batman's detective skills...

So just like every teenage boy who read this comic, Batman is clueless when a girl likes him. 

Why Marvel's De-emphasis of the X-Men Would Be a Good Thing

Because the conversation and rumors surrounding Marvel's plans for the X-Men don't seem to be going away (this was posted on Tom Breevort's Tumblr page today), I thought I'd add my two cents...

Fourteen. That is the number of current ongoing Marvel titles featuring the X-Men, a subset of X-Men, or a solo series for a character from the X-Men. Add in Specials, Annuals, One-Shots, and mini-series and your total cost for X-titles will be over $60 per month. To be fair, the Avengers titles do have more ongoings if you count anyone who's been an Avenger. Though almost everyone has been an Avenger at some point in their superhero career.

When I started collecting, I typically bought three to four titles a week. At the time, there were only four in continuity X-books: Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, X-Factor, and X-Force. So each week I got my one X-book and had enough money left to pick up some other titles.  Maybe it was Captain America, Batman, Wonder Woman. The next week I'd pick up another X-book and two or three others. Maybe this time it was Spawn and Moon Knight.

For those of us that enjoy the shared universe and like to follow all of the storylines for our favorite characters, this is almost impossible today. If comic book pricing suddenly dropped by 50%, I might be able to manage it. However, the number of titles in each family today means I need to make a choice.  I can either read all the X-books and their solo titles or give up on some continuity and pick up a few other series. Talk to DC readers and you'll hear the same complaint about the Batman family of titles.

This is one of the primary factors for low sales of B and C list characters. I'd love to pick up an issue of All New Ghost Rider or Elektra as I've heard these are fantastic series. There's just no room on my pull list to get these books if I'm interested in continuity for my favorites. I've read the first four issues of Dan Slott's Silver Surfer. It's not for everyone, but I loved it. Unfortunately, I don't have the budget to add it. So this progression follows; consumers with limited budgets trying to keep up with continuity or crossover storylines leads to low sales of B and C list characters which leads to cancellations which leads ultimately to less familiarity with these characters.

Here's where that will come back to bite Marvel and DC. Eventually, an actor's contract runs out (already seeing this with Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans) or an actor will get older (Anthony Hopkins can't possibly live as long as the All-Father, Odin). This means that film franchises will end and they'll need to replace it with a new franchise. People flocked to see Avengers because they'd been waiting almost 50 years for someone to make that movie. However, in my opinion, the Guardians of the Galaxy success is a bit of a fluke. Yes, Marvel Studios did everything to make it a success: perfect director for the film, the perfect ensemble cast, and fantastic marketing. What's not obvious to most people who saw that film is that incredible source material already existed to base that script on.  If Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning hadn't had an opportunity to create their stellar series in 2008, that film wouldn't have been possible. Will there be similar recent material for Inhumans?  Not if Charles Soule's series doesn't start selling better. It should be selling better because it's very good.

Armchair quarterbacking here, but if I had any sway at Marvel I'd be slowly reducing the number of titles in each family. This would leave room in comic buyers budgets for a new Black Panther or Dr. Strange series or the current Inhuman series. With all of the rumors swirling behind the outcomes of Axis and Time Runs Out and a possible refresh of the Marvel Universe, maybe this is already underway.