X-Men by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee Omnibus - Volume 1

Gnarly to the max, the '80s are back!

I first started reading X-Men comics when "Inferno" hit shelves and this story was a real blast from the past. You will get your X-Men/New Mutants fix right here, but be warned: this book is not recommended for new X-Men readers. You need to know a lot of back-story to really enjoy the conclusion to several major plot threads. Recommended reading for complete preparation: Uncanny X-Men Omnibus vol. 1 (intro to Phoenix), Dark Phoenix Saga (exit Phoenix), From the Ashes (intro Madelyne Pryor), Phoenix Rising (Jean Grey returns), Mutant Massacre (intro to Marauders), Essential X-Factor vol. 1 (Cyclops reunited w/Jean Grey, Madelyne goes missing), and Fall of the Mutants ('death' of the X-Men). Now you're ready!

7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Good book, but not the best X-Men book

This was a fairly good book, but not the best X-men piece I've read. The story is an intriguing one, and very action packed. However, with all the different titles in here (Uncanny X-men, X-Factor, Power Pack, New Mutants, Thor, and Daredevil) there is a bit of overlap. The issues do not lead into each other, rather they overlap and make it repetitive. This book tells the story of how the Morlocks were killed, and is important in the X-men continuity. I read this book due to seeing references to it in other X-men issues I recently read. It brings in many mutant characters and the Chris Claremont issues are top notch. That being said, the non-Claremont issues are lacking. The Power Pack issue was unreadable. I flipped through until I saw Morlocks or something related to the story. I also said to myself "Why did they make a comic based on the kids Thor helped in the previous issue? And why didn't they tell Thor they were the Power Pack? Oh, these are different kids, they just look pretty similar, and this has nothing to do with the previous issue." Overall my problems with this book were: 1) Too repetitive - Leave the Morlock tunnels already! You'll get killed down there!! 2) Issues I didn't care about - How/why did Daredevil and Thor get included with an X-men title. After you read those issues you'll say "why didn't they just have (insert name of mutant you like) do that? 3) X-Factor - Are they mutant hunters, or mutant criminals, or mutant heroes? Why are they pretending to be humans who hunt mutants?! And why don't they just tell their allies the truth?! (I suppose this is explained and resolved in earlier or later issues) 4) The non-Claremont issues - They just seem to be missing something compared to his issues. That being said, I am a Claremont fan and am biased towards his works. Overall, What I liked about the book: 1) Large Volume - 12 issues packed with characters you know, and hopefully love. It was nice to read a long story and see how it played out. 2) Great story - It's an interesting story that involves many mutants, and explains what happened to the Morlocks (why they are not in current comics, or even pre-House of M comics) 3) Great Writer - Chris Claremont makes this book worth it. Even if you skip past the Daredevil and Power Pack (the Thor issues are very key to the events, you can not skip them) you still get enough story/issues/action for it to be compelling. 4) Binding - This is a wonderful hardcover book. I love the hard cover books compared to the paperback. The pages are well bound and it seems well made. 5) Price - I bought it for $26.93. At or near that price, it is a bargain (Amazon currently has it for $26.39. At the $39.99 list price, you may want to pass. All things considered, this was a very good book and I would recommend it to any X-Men or Chris Claremont fan. I should also add the the cover is not the picture currently shown (Thor holding Angel in his arms, and Sabertooth and Wolverine staring down each other) but rather the one shown on Amazon (with Shadowcat, Rouge, Storm, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, and Colossus.)

Inferno Ignites Excitement!!!

This was the ultimate X-Men book ever! First of all, it is jam packed! 12 issues, including 3 double-sized ones. The onl bad thing is that the 2 Excalibur issues and the 4 X-Terminators issues that were part of Inferno, are missing. This is only because thre was probaly no more room in the book, and they weren't really important to the core storylines. Oh well. Anyways, Inferno is about Madeyline Pryor's transformation into the evil Goblyn Queen, where she teams up with Limbo and attacks the X-Men and X-Factor, while trying to sacrifice her own son. Sinister and the Marauders also appear throughout the books, and many secrets are revealed. The other storyline is that of the New Mutants, who watch as Illyana Rasputan decends into the demonic Dark Chyle, where she fights her own self to save her friends. This is such a cool book because it wraps up all the occuring storylines in an explosive and intense way. The coolest part is how Manhattan is turned into a demon city, and when all the demons reign down from Limbo. This is by far one of the best sagas ever, and I majorally recomend it to any X-Men fan! Inferno contains: X-Men 239-243, X-Factor 36-39, and New Mutants 71-73.

Classic X-Men, but could be better...

This is classic X-Men and definitely worth reading, but the poor printing quality gets in the way. The pictures are split up and shrunk down to accomodate the small mass market size, so the letters are almost unreadable in some parts and the pictures can be extremely confusing. I really wish this were in a color trade paperback.

The first X-crossover delivers... sort of.

I started picking up several X-titles in the mid-1990's and would read persistent references to the events retold in this volume: Angel losing his wings, the devastation of the morlocks, the big Wolverine/Sabretooth slobberknocker. Naturally, when I saw it all collected in one trade, I couldn't wait to read the stories for myself. There are a lot of powerful moments here, but so much is lost with unnecessary crossovers (with Thor and the Power Pack), poor pacing, and not enough emphasis on what's really important, that it's hard to really appreciate them. An enjoyable read, certainly, but it doesn't live up to its own legacy.

I Love

Quite simply put, one of the greatest pieces of comic literature ever written. Claremont writes stunninly. The art fits the story perfectly. An awesome story!

This is the greatest X-Men story ever told.

This is what the X-Men are all about. They are mutants, born with genetic 'gifts' that give them tremendious powers. They are the next step on the evolutionary ladder and they are feared and hated for for being 'freaks'. An obcessed Reverand Stryker leads a movement to exterminate the 'abominations to God', as he believes them to be. This is what the X-Men are all about. The X-Men are not fighting a superpowered juggernaught or intergalactic terrorist. They are fighting hatred and bigotry. The story is compelling and the artwork is crisp. I can't recomment this book enough.

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