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Tuesday, February 7, 2023

60 Years of X - 1967

Year 5: 1967


1967 X-Men Comics & Appearances: X-Men #30-41

025 - Year 5 Cover: X-Men #39


Showcasing the first batch of character-specific costumes against a striking black background, there's good reason this one got recreated by John Cassady for an omnibus collection

026 - Year 5 Creator: Roy Thomas


Overshadowed in his 2nd run, for better & worse '67 is the defining year of Roy Thomas' X-Men, a combination of villains & plots seemingly imported from the wider Marvel Universe alongside his stab at a true Silver Age epic.

027 - Year 5 Character: Factor Three


A loose affiliation of evil mutants (& a secret alien) plotting to destroy the world & rule the ashes, Factor Three drives the first X-Men event story; their actions push the X-Men to come into their own as superheroes.

028 - Year 5 Comic: X-Men #40


Sometimes you just have to embrace the absurd, like when the X-Men fight Frankenstein's Monster, whom Xavier has always suspected was real, but who is also an alien android & NOT the actual Monster (who *is* real in the Marvel Universe).

029  - Year 5 Fun Fact: Cover Redux


X-Men #33 had *three* covers. The first, by Werner Roth, featured Juggernaut but was passed over in favor of a Gil Kane cover w/the Outkcast. But the Comics Code Authority felt it was too scary, so Kane subbed in Juggernaut.

030 - Year 5 Memorable Moment: New Looks!


After nearly 39 issues, the X-Men "graduate" (again) & receive new individual costumes (created by *sigh* Jean...). Two become iconic looks (while one is hot garbage). All in all, a key development for the X-Men!

2 comments:

  1. I'm sad that we never got that first Gil Kane cover. It's just more striking than the Juggernaut one. Which, while still a good cover, lacks a little something. I think it's that I don't find Juggernaut's design all that impressive when he's not scaled and sharing the page.

    I can't believe anyone saw that Angel design and thought, "Wow! This is will be a hit with the kids!" It stands out like a sore thumb next to the rest of the team. All I can think of is that Jean must have designed to distract their enemies.

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  2. Angel’s costume is even worse in light of a better one being retroactively established a short time later as worn during his pre-X-Men career. Meanwhile, I say this as someone who likes this outfit of Cyclops’ but it will never not be hilarious that his personalized outfit is even more generic than the group uniforms they graduated from.

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