The X-Men comics have been going for almost 50 years. In that time there have been hundreds of stories, some good, some bad and some fantastic. With so many stories, it is difficult to know where to start if you want to get into X-Men comics.
Uncanny X-Men 122 to 201 is the perfect starting point. Issue 122 is the first issue after the new X-Men returned to the mansion from their world tour. It is also the beginning of the greatest X-Men story, The Dark Phoenix saga. Issue 201 is a significant issue by itself, but it is also the last X-Men comic before X-Factor volume 1. Although X-Factor is not a terrible comic, the creation of the comic effectively ruined the character development from 122 to 201.
Here are 10 reasons why the run from Uncanny X-Men 122 to 201 is the greatest X-Men run ever.
10. It Is Easy (And Cheap) To Follow
Currently there are many different X-Men comics running at any one time; there was a time when X-Men comics were much simpler. At the time of Uncanny X-Men 122, there was only one X-Men comic running. In this run, there are some crossovers with other teams and comics, but they aren’t essential to following the story of the X-Men.
The entire run from 122 to 201 can be collected in black and white in Marvel Essentials X-Men volumes 2 to 6, for about US $15 each. It can be partially collected in colour from Marvel Masterworks volume 4, as issues 168 to 201 are yet to be released as Marvel Masterworks. If only all comics were so easy and cheap to collect…
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4 Comments
“God Loves, Man Kills” is one of the finest pieces of comic fiction I have ever read. It’s poignant and shows a very gritty form of racism. I just read it again after ten years and it hasn’t aged a bit. I really loved Byrne and Claremont during this run. I agree that Wolverine has been exposed too much. When I was a kid and he was getting more popular, he was a fascination. It was a blast watching him evolve from this reckless loner to what he is now.
Thanks David. God Loves, Man Kills is indeed fantastic, so much better than X2. I think there are some stories that are just far superior in a comic to any other medium.
The Wolverine stories during this run are some of my favourites. The miniseries and wedding, the Brood Saga, the Wendigo story with Nightcrawler, and issue 205 Wounded Wolf which is just outside the run.
Couldn’t agree more this run was what made me into the comic geek I am now alongside the Miller Daredevil run. However wasn’t God Loves Man Kils a graphic novel and not actually part of the original run ?
God Loves, Man Kills was published in 1982 which was during the run, but the story is not canon. Although it is not officially part of the run, it certainly reflects the spirit of the comics during the run.