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1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Just when it was all going so well...., 10 Feb 2006
By A Customer
Uncanny Xmen is the most successful american comic of all time. After a shaky start during comics silver age in the 1960's, the title created by comic book legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby was cancelled and then relaunched in the 70's with a new line up of characters. It quickly went on to become a no' 1 international best seller, a position it has retained for 30 years. The Essentials series is a chronological reprint of the original comics in black and white telephone directory sized books. Each volume averages out to 24 issues and represents fantastic value for the new comic fan and a great history lesson or nostaglia trip depending on your age.This 5th volume of the relaunched Uncanny Xmen sees our heroes righting wrongs from 1983 to 1985 under long term writer Chris Claremont and several artists, mainly John Romita Jnr. Saddly there is very little to recommend this volume. No' 182 features a good early Rogue story (see Xmen movies) and No's 190 & 191 feature a gripping yarn in which Manhatten is turned into a medievil village. And saddly that is it. The rest of the stories fall into two distincly unwelcome categories: The Dallas soap opera model and the adverts for new Marvel titles. The former features Wind goddess Storm loosing her powers and falling in love (then hate) with inventer Forge. Also teenager Kitty Pryde and metalic muscleman Colossus break up, which is handled very poorly by Claremont and must represent some of the worst issues Marvel have put out. The latter is very different from the classic 'Marvel cross over' that so many readers enjoy. The guest heroes and villans come courtesy of (then) new IP's Power Pack and Rom Space Knight, typical 80's titles created to exploit a demongraphic. Marvel did this type of thing welll with GI Joe and Transformers, but here it just grates and makes for some very dull comics. Even UK legend Barry Windsor Smith can't breath life into the two issues he guest pencils. But most unforgivable of all are Romita Jnr's (at the time) sub amatuer skills as a story teller. It beggers beleif that he was given pencilling duties on Marvels flagship title when many of the stories make little sense from panel to panel and Claremont is apparently forced to give exposition above and beyond the call of duty. AND annual 7 included here serves not only as the worst xmen annual of all time but as Marvel injoking at it's very very worst. You have been warned!
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by John Romita Jr.
by Paul Smith
by Barry Windsor-Smith
by Chris Claremont
by Chris Claremont
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