By Geoff Klock(geoff.klock@gmail.com) Guest Blogger Jason Powell continues his issue by issue look at Chris Claremont’s X-Men run. For more in this series, see the toolbar on the right.] Claremont also makes this issue tie in to the “Dire Wraith war,” the premise of his friend Bill Mantlo’s action-figure-based comic book Rom. As...

By Chris Mautner – I enjoyed this LA Times piece on the legal battles surrounding the Watchmen film. – Buy a copy of Stan’s Soapbox and get it signed by John Romita Sr. – If you can read Polish, here’s an interview with Milo Manara where he talks about his X-Men project he’s working on with Chris Claremont.

By Geoff Klock Jason Powell has taken on the yeoman's job of doing an issue by issue analysis of Chris Claremont's 17 year Uncanny X-Men run in an effort to make me feel bad for saying Morrison invented all kinds of things he did not in his New X-Men ...

By Brian Cronin However, Claremont’s intent with that stuff was strictly to be a really weird coincidence, so Cyclops and the X-Men would always be left wondering, “COULD she be Jean?” But in Claremont’s intention, she was not related to Jean Grey at all.

By Geoff Klock(geoff.klock@gmail.com) In “Madness,” Claremont and his collaborators finally give the palpable sense of something truly awful having occurred, as the harshness of both Rogue’s assault and its after-effects are dramatized effectively for the first time. Employing a particularly oblique style of storytell...

By Geoff Klock(geoff.klock@gmail.com) All in all, Uncanny X-Men #181 is a kind of throwback to ‘70s-era Claremont (hence the inclusion of Sunfire, whose last X-appearance was in 1979); the adventure is more light-hearted, brightly colored and fun, but with resonances that imply the superhero action has meaning beyond the o...

By Geoff Klock(geoff.klock@gmail.com) Having apparently struck upon the idea months ago to end Colossus and Kitty’s relationship, Claremont made the odd decision to lay much of the emotional groundwork for the idea in issues of New Mutants rather than X-Men. New Mutants #’s 13 and 14 see Kitty palling around with a fellow teen c...

By Chris Marshall Essential Wolverine Vol 2 TPB Essential Wolverine Vol 3 TPB Essential X-Men Vol 5 TPB Essential X-Men Vol 6 TPB Marvel Visionaries Chris Claremont HC Marvel Visionaries Stan Lee HC Hulk Visionaries Peter David Vol 6 Marvel 1985 Premiere HC Cover A Marvel 1985 Premiere HC Cover B

By Geoff Klock(geoff.klock@gmail.com) Green’s organic and gesturely style is different from anything yet seen on Uncanny X-Men, which up to now has always been at its best when Claremont was paired with tidier artists like Byrne and Paul Smith. (Even when Green himself did fill-in inks for one X-Men comic back in 1977, it was in a...

By Geoff Klock(geoff.klock@gmail.com) A 22-page story, “Sanction” wastes a ridiculous 12 pages on a dismally unimaginative scene depicting Mystique in training against Arcade’s X-Men robots. Romita’s choreography is stiff, and Claremont strains, but ultimately fails, to give Mystique a compelling first-person narrat...

By Chris Marshall Essential Wolverine Vol 2 TPB Essential Wolverine Vol 3 TPB Essential X-Men Vol 1 TPB Essential X-Men Vol 3 TPB Essential X-Men Vol 4 TPB Essential X-Men Vol 5 TPB Essential X-Men Vol 6 TPB Marvel Visionaries Chris Claremont HC Marvel Visionaries Stan Lee HC

By Travis The Amazing Spider-Man 574, Captain America 43, Daredevil 112, New Exiles 13, She-Hulk 34, Wolverine: Manifest Destiny 1, X-Factor 36, and X-Men: Legacy 217 New Exiles 13 by Chris Claremont and Tom Grummett She-Hulk 34 Wolverine: Manifest Destiny 1 X-Factor 36 X-Men: Legacy 217

By Geoff Klock(geoff.klock@gmail.com) X-Men Annual #7 is notable for its opening, which marks only the second time that Claremont’s X-Men begin a story playing baseball. In spite of the few times the author has used this particular image, the idea – such a quintessential example of “heroes at play” – has come to be emblematic of C...

By Geoff Klock(geoff.klock@gmail.com) Thus, Claremont is deliberately flagging up problematic moments in the story of the X-Men – moments that Claremont himself is responsible for – in order to plant the first seeds of a new kind of X-Men. In the coming years, Claremont will upset the status quo in significant ways. Valerie Coop...

By Geoff Klock(geoff.klock@gmail.com) A shrewd plotter, Claremont also smartly weaves in other ongoing arcs into this climactic issue: His use of the recently-added cast-member Rogue is quite clever, as is the fact that Storm’s newfound affinity for “violent weather” becomes a key to the team’s victory.

By Geoff Klock(geoff.klock@gmail.com) This and the previous issue make for one of Claremont’s best small-scale stories in the entire Uncanny X-Men canon, memorable enough that Bryan Singer even cannibalized it – specifically lifting the “Wolverine lets Rogue take his powers” dramatic beat – for the first X-Men film, made o...

By Geoff Klock(geoff.klock@gmail.com) Storm’s angst seemed so gradual, and repetitious, it makes for a wrenching surprise when the actual turn is so violent and so fast. What Claremont has created is an inverse of the “Dark Phoenix” cliffhanger at the end of Uncanny X-Men #134 (exactly three years earlier), where the sudden ch...

By Geoff Klock(geoff.klock@gmail.com) But how, then, to still satisfy genre requirements? How can Claremont still utilize recurring villains, for example, but fight free of the “riff” paradigm, wherein every creator of X-Men offers a new spin on the same old chords? We get a taste of the answer here, as Claremont begins to rec...

By Chris Marshall Essential Wolverine Vol 2 TPB Essential Wolverine Vol 3 TPB Essential X-Men Vol 5 TPB Essential X-Men Vol 6 TPB Marvel Visionaries Chris Claremont HC Marvel Visionaries Stan Lee HC Avengers First to Last Premiere HC Cover A Avengers First to Last Premiere HC Cover B

Related articles from Toon Zone.

By Geoff Klock(geoff.klock@gmail.com) Conceived as a comic book that would stand on its own entirely apart from the continuity of the serialized monthly, “God Loves, Man Kills” is a 64-page self-contained story by Claremont and artist Brent Anderson involving a bigoted Christian preacher, William Stryker, on a crusade aga...

By Chris Marshall Essential Wolverine Vol 2 TPB Essential Wolverine Vol 3 TPB Essential X-Men Vol 6 TPB Marvel Visionaries Chris Claremont HC Marvel Visionaries Stan Lee HC Astonishing X-Men Volume 2 HC Cover B X-Men Complete Onslaught Epic Book 4 Comic Book Tattoo Special Edition HC

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) Geoff has noted that Joss Whedon seems to have learned everything he knows about serial writing from Chris Claremont. But the lesson in how to do a good vampire story that also incorporates teen angst ...? Clearly Whedon picked that one up somewhere else.

By Travis One of these is a must-read! Which one is it? The Amazing Spider-Man 571, Civil War: House of M #1, Ms. Marvel 30, New Exiles 11, and X-Men: Magneto Testament 1 Civil War: House of M 1 Ms. Marvel 30 New Exiles 11 by Chris Claremont and Paco Diaz Luque X-Men: Magneto Testament 1

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) Uncanny X-Men #167 is the transitional issue marking the paradigm shift in Claremont’s approach to writing the series. However, thanks to the vagaries of publishing schedules combined with the mysterious nature of comic-book chronologizing, a few blatantly superheroic epics fall i...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) By his own account, Claremont’s invention of the New Mutants was something of a pre-emptive strike, to prevent a misconceived “West Coast X-Men” spin-off that would have turned the X-Men universe into something too corporate in tone for the author’s liking. Opting instead to re-emphas...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) Trivia: That the new X-Men’s superhero phase ends with #166 is a striking coincidence of numbering, given that the Silver Age X-Men were cancelled with #66. In a strange way, Uncanny #266 will mark a similar milestone as the first appearance of Gambit – the first Claremont X-character del...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) In terms of storyline, “Wolverine” is cannily conceived despite its unapologetically anachronistic portrayal of Japan. In fairness, Claremont is hardly the only comics author to portray all of his main Japanese characters as honor-obsessed clichés, but that context doesn’t necess...

By Dan Grendell Big Hero 6 #1 (of 5) Writer: Chris Claremont Artists: David Nakayama and Terry Pallot Company: Marvel Comics X-Men: Magneto Testament #1 (of 5) Writer: Greg Pak Artist: Carmine di Giandomenico Company: Marvel Knights/Marvel Comics

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) In the comments to Jason's post on Uncanny X-Men 160, Cove West wrote -- in three parts -- about the Lovecraft mythos as it appears in Marvel Comics. Comment pull quote? Comment pull essay.] Sound familiar? Claremont DID refer to both Magik and Phoenix as Darkchild.

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) Claremont and Cockrum execute a sort of tonal segue into the Wolverine mini with Uncanny X-Men #162, a solo Wolverine story that utilizes the same first-person narrative captions, and also apes the miniseries’ use of Mariko Yashida as a touchstone for the deepening of Wolverine’s char...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) Claremont gently segues readers into the meat of the issue – an extended flashback revealing how Xavier and Magneto first met. (When this issue was first published, that Xavier and Magneto had any history pre-Lee/Kirby’s X-Men #1 was a watershed revelation. But anyone reading this comic...

By JK Parkin o Jim Cheung, artist of Young Avengers o Steve McNiven, artist of Wolverine and Civil War o Brandon Peterson, artist of Uncanny X-Men o Greg Land, artist of X-Men o And Chris Claremont, Marvel Comics’ legendary X-Men writer, who shepherded the title for over 20 years.

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) If not immediately obvious from the opening seduction of Illyana, the theme is signaled in Claremont’s most shockingly explicit scene yet, when an alternate-reality version of Nightcrawler molests Kitty Pryde. Though the panels are conceived subtly enough to circumvent the Comics C...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) Of course, the most significant aspect of issue 158 in X-Men history is that it contains the first appearance in the series of Rogue. She will go on to become the second member of the X-Men actually created by Chris Claremont (the first being Kitty Pryde), and actually emerge as a fan favorit...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) On the other hand, the tight plotting exhibited by Claremont in the previous two issues slackens a bit here. His impulse to again top himself by making the scope of the story even more vast now works against him, as the actual X-Men, who are meant to be the stars of the series, get lost among the...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) Claremont has some fun with the reactions of the eavesdropping “real” versions of Nightcrawler and Wolverine to their bedtime-story counterparts, but generally speaking proves incapable of matching his partner’s sense of whimsy. The author even admits as much in his intro to a reprin...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) Guest blogger Jason Powell continues his issue by issue look at Chris Claremont’s Uncanny X-Men Run. For more in this series, see the toolbar on the right.] It is interesting how the comic book idea that the villains are reflections of the heroes makes it easy to may characters like the White...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) “X-Men Minus One” Claremont also botches the reveal that Storm and Emma have switched bodies, with narration that cheats – why is Storm reluctant to break her loving embrace with Kitty if, at this point, she already has Emma’s mind?

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) To get to that point, however, Claremont first embarks on yet another homage to Neal Adams. It begins with Angel (plus Spider-Man) descending to the Savage Land and facing the Savage Land Mutates. Spider-Man leaves at the end of issue 2 but Angel sticks around, to be joined by the rest of the X...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) The greatest single accomplishment of Claremont’s original 17-year X-Men run is his character arc for Magneto, transforming a previously one-dimensional villain into one of the most powerful and tragic characters in Marvel’s vast stable. “I, Magneto” is a key chapter in Magneto’s tr...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) Uncanny X-Men 500. My local comic shop lost a box or something, so you guys are going to have to review this one for me, at least until I get it. The Wolverine / Kitty Pride Miniseries. I have not read this republished 80s story yet, but it is all part of my plan to read all of Claremont's X-Men. I have l...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) The best part of “And the Dead” occurs on the third page, when Xavier thinks to himself, “In too many ways ... Magneto and I are uncomfortably alike.” At this point, Claremont and Cockrum have already begun to devise the Holocaust backstory for Magneto that will make its first appearance next i...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) Claremont was superhero comics’ first feminist writer. He clearly had an affection for Storm -- the “new” X-Men’s only female member originally – right from the start. Indeed, it is Ororo who saves the day in Uncanny X-Men #96, the first X-Men issue that Claremont plotted. (Cockrum’s favor...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) A noteworthy step in Wolverine’s development occurs in this issue when Wolverine employs an “old ninja trick” that he “learned in Japan” during a duel with Nightcrawler. Logan’s affinity for Japan was first introduced during Byrne and Claremont’s Moses Magnum arc (issues 118-119), an...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) Meanwhile, Claremont inches along the Cyclops/Lee Forrester romantic relationship in this issue, as Lee learns for the first time about Scott’s optic blasts. Like the material with Colleen Wing, the relationship with Lee gets a big buildup, but – as with all potential girlfriends for S...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) Jim Shooter has commented in interviews that Claremont and Byrne became aggressively competitive once Byrne moved from X-Men to Fantastic Four, and that Byrne’s unprofessional ret-conning of Claremont’s story was a manifestation of that rivalry. It’s possible that Claremont’s sub...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) The use of the N’Garai is one of the more interesting things about the issue; they were the villains in Uncanny X-Men #96, the first issue of the comic fully plotted and written by Chris Claremont. That the same villains from Claremont’s first issue are reprised in John Byrne’s last is someh...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) Claremont hints in this issue that she and Nightcrawler – both possessing blue skin and yellow eyes – might be related somehow. Unfortunately, just like the material about Nightcrawler’s origin in X-Men Annual #4, the Kurt-Mystique connection is something Claremont won’t explain, in...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) A dramatic scene from Claremont and Bolton in Classic X-Men #1 featured Angel and Wolverine getting into a violent altercation over Jean Grey (both men nursed an unrequited love for her at different periods in the history of the franchise). It ends with Warren passionately denouncing Wo...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) The issue is an extended riff on Dante’s “Inferno,” right down to the baroque chapter notations: Part the Second, Part the Third, etc. (Claremont will notate his chapters of the 1988 “Inferno” crossover in the same fashion, but the only thing the latter “Inferno” shares with Dante is the t...

By Geoff Klock(noreply@blogger.com) Unfortunately, “Inferno” was so confusing as a story that the attempted fix of Cyclops got lost in the shuffle. Claremont’s work in the “Little Boy, Lost” two-parter is actually much stronger in terms of making Cyclops a great character again, but its publication in the low-selling Clas...

By Manolis Vamvounis CABLE #2 4/10 8/10 MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #38 Chris Kipiniak / David Nakayama) 7/10 YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS #3 7/10 YOUNG X-MEN #1 NEW EXILES #4 Chris Claremont / Tom Grummett) I’ll just let Claremont himself -through his darling Psylocke- sum up my feelings on the New Exiles:

By Brian Cronin 90. Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr’s X-Men – 106 points (1 first place vote) Uncanny X-Men #175(partial), #176-197, 199-200, 202-203, 206-211 The Avengers #35-104 Stan Lee pronounces it "Boo-SEM-uh" in the How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way video, IIRC

By Geoff Klock “Magneto Triumphant” is part one of a two-part story that is considered by a large number of X-Men fans to be the best straight-ahead “X-Men vs. Magneto” story. It is the last one Claremont will do – after this, Claremont begins the deepening of Magneto into a noble character, so the pure, “go...

MARVEL ADVENTURES THE AVENGERS #24 32 PGS./All Ages …$2.99 MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #11 MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS #11 MARVEL ADVENTURES IRON MAN #3 64 PGS./All Ages …$4.99 NEW AVENGERS #41 SECRET INVASION TIE-IN! 32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99 SECRET INVASION TIE-IN! 32 PGS./Rated A …$2.99 X-FORCE #4 X-MEN: KITTY PRYDE AND WOLVERINE PREMIERE HC Written by CHRIS CLAREMONT Trim size: standard These WOLVERINE: ORIGINS TRADE PAPERBACKS STILL AVAILABLE! WOLVERINE ORIGINS VOL. 1 – BORN IN BLOOD…$13.99 (ISBN: 0-7851-2287-7) WOLVERINE: ORIGINS VOL. 2 – SAVIOR…$13.99 (ISBN: 978-0-7851-2288-3 WOLVERINE: ORIGINS VOL. 3 – SWIFT AND TERRIBLE…$13.99 (ISBN: 978-0-7851-2613-3) X-MEN: LEGACY BY DAVID FINCH POSTER   [read the full post]

By Derek Marvel Comics Released on 2/20/2008 Avengers Classic #9 $2.99 CABLE & DEADPOOL #50 HULK #2 Marvel Adventures Avengers #21 $2.99 MIGHTY AVENGERS #9 Ultimate X-Men #91 $2.99 WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #22 COVER BY: DAVE COCKRUM WRITERS: CHRIS CLAREMONT and BILL MANTLO WOLVERINE: EVOLUTION

By Brian Cronin Ed Brubaker wants her on Uncanny X-Men? Easy - “It didn’t work out.” Claremont has them say IN THE COMIC that they are unsure if it will work - so really, not a big deal, and certainly not Claremont trying to screw with other writers. If Claremont had some pattern of trying to hurt other writers,...

By Brian Cronin When the Exiles show up later to help stem the tide, it also worked well, because, as I just said in the last paragraph, Claremont is quite good with fight scenes. In fact, when the Exiles show up, Claremont uses his trademark long caption boxes - but here, mixed in with Santacruz’ effective a...

By Rokk Krinn I have been impressed with how Whedon has handled Scott during his run on Astonishing X-Men. I have never found Cyclops to be an interesting character. I have always found Cyclops to be dull and boring. A boy scout with a rather vanilla personality. If Cyclops was a color then it would be beige. Not anymore. Whedon has taken Scott’s character and shown us what a ballsy leader Scott is. That Scott is to the X-Men what Captain America is to the Avengers. Overall: Astonishing X-Men #22 was another excellent read. Despite the pathetic shipping schedule I still love this title. Whedon consistently delivers quality reads each and every issue. Whedon is serving up some of the best X-Men stories since Chris Claremont’s original run on Uncanny X-Men.   [read the full post]