Essential X-Men, Vol. 4 (Marvel Essentials) (v. 4)
Essential X-Men, Vol. 4 (Marvel Essentials) (v. 4)
Newly remastered! Call them freaks. Nature’s mistake. Mutants. They are born different, with characteristics and abilities that make them outcasts. Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, Colossus, Nightcrawler and more - gathered together by telepath Professor Charles Xavier, the X-Men are sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them. Ever expanding their ranks, the Children of the Atom combat evils threatening both mutants and humans - including the Morlocks, the Hellfire Club and the alien Brood. Collects Uncanny X-Men #162-179 & Annual #6 and X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills.
User Ratings and Reviews
3 Stars the stories are good and solid but I’m not a fan of the art
This volume contains great stories like the attack of the brood, Rogue joining the X men and the transformation of Storm. The only problem that I have with this volume is the art. It kind of bugs me
4 Stars Essential X-Men Volume 4
This tome contains Uncanny X-Men #s 162-179, plus the Annual #6–which means this collection represents when I joined the X-Men for regular thrills. Which means I missed some key stories, yes, wouldn’t you say? Don’t worry, though…I backtracked too, like crazy. Having acknowledged the greatness of what came before, I must say that these, here, are some of my favourite X-Stories ever. Let’s face it–the Phoenix Saga was a big event in this series, but look at all the high-impact series-shaping plotlines that unfold in Essential X-Men Volume Four. It’s quite stunning, really–and quite a masterful balancing act by author Chris Claremont.
Not perfect, alas. Claremont simply writes too many words, at times. Most of these mutants fall into a routine of analyzing the good and bad of their situations, their choices, their teammates’ choices, the pros of the various cons, the cons of the various pros. This leads to a sameness in the way most X-Men ponder things, sorting and itemizing their angst, either in dialogue, or bloated thought-balloons (”If I choose this, I am no better than so-and-so, but if I fail to do this, I am guilty of such-and-such.”; “I must do this to feel whole, but I cannot do it, or I betray whatsisname…oh dear, what shall I do? I’ll mull it over for five issues…”) Maybe when they were writing the Sphinx’s dialogue for the superhero movie satire called Mystery Men, they were actually mocking the X-Men. I would believe it. Because almost all the X-Men come off as great philosophers, tireless ponderers of what is going on around them; it reveals the Claremont Overmind, the author resorting to one technique, too much.
The refreshing exception to this is Rogue. She’s been rather a wicked villainess up til she arrives at Professor X’s doorstep, pleading to be allowed a shot as a heroine–and the X-Men don’t want her around. They don’t trust her. And to maintain the readers’ suspicions that Rogue may be pulling a trick, planning a betrayal as some kind of Brotherhood of Evil Mutants mole, Claremont is forced to keep us out of her head. We have to judge her by her actions, by her choices as they are made. This makes Rogue a delightful anomaly amongst all the chatty-mutant-Cathies infesting this team; she’s an instant hit, as far as I’m concerned, precisely because of this subtle distinction; we don’t see her mulling her morality too much. She just…does. She just…springs in to action. Slowly proving that she is there to stay, with the quiet determination to battle the distrust and cruel comments of her new teammates, as well as their foes, as they come charging over the horizon. And, incidentally, Rogue never looked sexier than when she was drawn by Paul Smith (Rogue, you had me at “Hello. Anybody home. Please don’t kill me, Wolverine.”.)
I guess, to be fair, there’s a lot for the X-Men to ponder in these stories. Will Cyclops fly into space with his father, or stay and marry a woman who may be the greatest threat to the universe, reborn? Will Storm handle recent trauma, in space and in the series, well enough to retain her gentle essence? How does Wolverine cope with rejection by the love of his life? Is Kitty Pryde really to be demoted from X-Man down to the wimpy New Mutants? Why won’t Charles Xavier’s mind allow his legs to walk again? Okay, all this does require some deep thought while battling The Brood, Dracula, The Brotherhood of Evil You-Knows, the Morlocks (a couple times), Viper and Silver Samurai, a hidden villain who doesn’t quite pull the grand-illusionist fake-out that Mysterio pulled on Spidey in his Amazing Comic (#’s 193-200) (but as master manipulator villain-types go, this guy is still pretty good), and a giant squid (the weakest villain of the bunch, this squid, and probably killed off by Scourge not long after, alongside the Grinder, the Pickler, and Mister Fish. But I digress.)
Final decision, after pondering and mulling like a Claremont character: I love these stories. I love Paul Smith drawing Rogue, even just for a little while. And if the X-Men think too much, well, at least they distinguish themselves, collectively as a team with a conscience. Thankfully, there are also a lot of terrific fights.
5 Stars Graphic Novel junkie
Ok, ok, I should say comic book junkie, because that’s what they were called when I first started reading them some decades ago. This whole series of Essential X-men books are a fun read unless you get bogged down in details. I never did, I just enjoyed reading them. This is a great book. Enjoy
4 Stars Graphic SF Reader
Nasty alien monsters, Storm and the Morlocks, Cyclops solo, Wolverine in Japan. The legend continues. Some of the best X-Men stories are set in space, and you could I suppose view the whole thing as a form of space opera. That being said, when Wolverine and/or one or two of the others venture into Japan those are usually very good, as well. No different here.
1 Stars Reprinted in Black and White
I missed the reviews of some of the other books in the Essential X-Men series and was very disappointed when this book arrived to find that it was a reprint in black and white. I’m a fan of these stories but for me they fall flat w/ out the color.
Filed under: Top X-Men Comics