X-Men Epic Collection, Volume 5: Second Genesis by Chris Claremont, et al.

Successfully reinventing the wheel

Given the proliferation in X-Men characters, comics, and films since the 1990s, it is hard to believe that there was a time when The Uncanny X-Men was one of the least successful comic books in the Marvel pantheon. In fact, the title was essentially cancelled in 1970 after issue #66, following which old stories were rerun for the next few years. The X-Men comics came back to life in 1975 with the publication of Giant-Size X-Men #1, a landmark issue in which Marvel took the drastic step of replacing the founding X-Men with an almost all-new team of heroes. The result was a personnel-change comeback perhaps second only to AC/DC’s Back in Black. Marvel’s X-Men Epic Collection Volume 5 reprints this landmark Giant-Size issue, as well as the newly revived Uncanny X-Men issues 94 to 109. The volume also includes an Iron Fist crossover and two Marvel Team-Up crossovers consisting of a couple issues each.

Nowadays there are dozens of X-Men in various teams, but prior to 1975, the X-Men were defined as five characters: Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast, and Marvel Girl, plus a couple hangers-on like Havok and Polaris. For their new team, writer Len Wein and Dave Cockrum made the bold choice of introducing three brand new characters—Storm, Colossus, and Nightcrawler—that would fortuitously turn out to be very popular. They also repurposed some previously introduced mutants, the somewhat forgettable Banshee and the overachiever Wolverine, who would go on to become arguably Marvel’s most popular character since Spider-Man. Cyclops was the only official holdover from the original X-Men, though Jean Grey/Marvel Girl was often on hand, beefed up with new and improved powers. 

Another formidable addition to the X-Men was to its creative team. Writer Chris Claremont joined Wein for issue #94 and would soon take over to become the definitive X-writer for decades to come. I have always thought Claremont was a bit overrated, but after reading this volume of early second-generation X-Men, I have to admit that his stories here are very good. As far as the art is concerned, there is certainly nothing to complain about. The very talented Cockrum pencils most of the issues included here, only to be followed by the even better John Byrne. Sal Buscema handles one of the Team-Up crossovers. If “Our Pal” Sal is the worst artist in your comic book, you’ve got one damn good-lookin’ comic book. As is always the case with the Epic Collection paperbacks, these classic comics are reprinted in vibrant full color.

As for villains, Magneto, the Sentinels, Black Tom, Juggernaut, Eric the Red, and the Living Monolith all make appearances. Most impressive, however, is the creation by Claremont and Cockrum of the empress Lilandra of the Shi’ar and her defenders the Starjammers. This new race of celestial beings would prove to be enduring and popular guest stars in many a Marvel comic to come.

The crossovers are included for continuity, but they’re really not very important in the grand scheme of X-things. I would rather have gotten several more issues of The Uncanny. They’re not bad comics, however, so I’m merely quibbling over technicalities. When all is said and done, X-Men Volume 5 is a very good entry in Marvel’s series of Epic Collection comics.

The Best of 2024

Top ten reads of the year
In 2024, Old Books by Dead Guys matched 2023’s output of book reviews with an even 100 posts for the year. Listed below are my ten favorite books read this year, arranged chronologically by date of publication. (None of them were actually published in 2024; this is Old Books by Dead Guys, after all.) It just so happens that this year’s list is half fiction, half nonfiction. Surprisingly, the oldest book on this year’s list is 1925, but there are a few history books that reach back further to tell of dead guys in earlier times. I read a lot of Nobel Prize winners this year (15 books), but none of them made the list. Click on the titles below to read the full reviews.

 

The Cotton-Pickers by B. Traven (1925)
This novel, which takes place shortly after the Mexican Revolution, follows an American drifter wandering through Mexico. When he and a handful of companions sign on as cotton pickers on a Mexican farm, their adventures reveal the ugly truth of imperialism, classism, and racism south of the border. A gallows-humor comedy told with down-to-earth matter-of-fact bluntness, Traven’s writing is remarkably forthright and uninhibited, with the unpretentious feel of vintage pulp fiction.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by B. Traven (1927)

The basis for the 1949 Humphrey Bogart movie of the same name, this novel tells the story of three American drifters in Mexico who decide to stop chasing dead-end jobs and start prospecting for a mother lode of gold. This realistic and unromanticized story of friendship and greed is an adventure novel that rises to the level of great literature. Traven’s original novel expresses anti-capitalist, anti-church, and anti-imperialist sentiments not found in the film.

Maigret and the Reluctant Witnesses by Georges Simenon (1959)
Not the first time a Maigret novel has appeared in one of these best-of lists, and it probably won’t be the last. In this installment, Inspector Maigret is called in to investigate the murder of the CEO of a popular brand of cookies. Maigret uncovers secrets of the family business that reveal a motive for the killing. This is a good, perplexing murder mystery with an interesting supporting cast. It’s an exemplary entry in the consistently entertaining Maigret series.

True Grit by Charles Portis (1968)
This novel was adapted into the famous John Wayne movie, but the later Coen Brothers’ version is closer to the book. Mattie Ross, the elderly narrator, tells the story of how, as a 14-year-old girl, she accompanied the cantankerous marshal Rooster Cogburn on the hunt for the man who killed her father. This intelligent, funny western can be enjoyed even by readers who thought they’d never read a western.

Life: A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth by Richard Fortey (1997)
Fortey, a senior paleontologist at London’s Natural History Museum, provides a four-billion-year biography of life on Earth, following the course of evolution from our planet’s first molecules of living matter to we humans today. Though written for a popular audience, the content is not dumbed-down, and the text is filled with fascinating details.

Sly and the Family Stone: An Oral History by Joel Selvin (1998)
The text of this band biography is an oral history assembled from interviews with about forty different persons who lived and/or worked with Sly and the band. (The reclusive Sly himself did not participate.) What starts out as an inspiring and triumphant story of a talented musician turns into a shocking and tragic tale of a deranged, violent, drug-addled control freak.

The Modern Mind: An Intellectual History of the 20th Century by Peter Watson (2000)
This is essentially a history textbook, but instead of focusing on political events, wars, or world leaders, it concentrates instead on developments in the arts, sciences, and humanities. The result is a very ambitious, panoramically erudite, and thoroughly engaging intellectual history of the twentieth century. Watson summarizes countless published books by the greatest thinkers of the century and compares and contrasts them articulately. No matter how well-read you think you are, you’re bound to find much to learn from this impressive work of staggering scope.

Sea of Glory: America’s Voyage of Discovery, The U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838–1842 by Nathaniel Philbrick (2003)
After almost every European country had made its round-the-world voyages, the United States decided to do the same by launching the U.S. Exploring Expedition to circle the globe, explore the Pacific, and search for the as yet undiscovered Antarctica. Philbrick’s book is not so much about the Expedition’s discoveries as it is about the terrible leadership of its captain and the personnel conflicts that ensued. Nevertheless, this is a riveting narrative of nautical exploration.

The Golden Cockerel and Other Writings by Juan Rulfo (2017)
Mexico’s (and perhaps Latin America’s) most highly respected author is known for only publishing two books, but this volume reprints an additional “lost” or “forgotten” novel of the early 1960s, The Golden Cockerel. Also included is a mixed bag of short stories and essays previously uncollected in English translation. Rulfo fans will be delighted by the long lost writings in this volume. 

El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten History of Hispanic North America by Carrie Gibson (2019)
Since the first Spanish conquistadores landed in the New World, Hispanics and Hispanic culture have had a profound effect on the development of North America. Journalist Carrie Gibson corrects the Anglo-biased histories of North America with this objective and well-researched account of historical and cultural events in the U.S., Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

  

Old Books by Dead Guys has been posting these year-end lists since 2013. To see the top tens from years past, click on the “Best-of lists” tag and scroll through the results. Happy reading in 2025!