Giant-Size X-Men

Giant-Size X-Men #1 was a special issue of the X-Men comic book series, published by Marvel Comics in 1975. It was written by Len Wein and illustrated by Dave Cockrum. Though not a regular issue, it contained the first new X-Men story in five years, titled Second Genesis. The issue serves as a link between the original X-Men and a new team. Chronologically it is placed after X-Men #66 and before X-Men #94. The 68-page book was published with a May 1975 cover date and distributed to newsstands in February of that year. The issue has been cited as a start point of the bronze age of comics, and is notable for expanding the membership of The X-Men from beyond the white American cast to one of a more international flavour, an attempt to attract more readers from outside the US,[1] even if some characters were portrayed somewhat stereotypically.[2][3][4][5][6]

Cover of Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975) by Gil Kane and Dave Cockrum

Publication history

The X-Men title stopped producing new stories after #66 in March 1970. From December 1970 through April 1975, Marvel reprinted many of the older X-Men issues as #67–93. Following the May publication of Giant-Size X-Men #1, Marvel began again publishing new issues of X-Men with #94 in August 1975.[7]

The comic also collects reprints from X-Men #43, #47 and #57.[8]

Plot

The story opens in medias res, with Professor X recruiting a new team of X-Men, to rescue the original X-Men (Marvel Girl, Iceman and Angel [but not Beast, who had left the team], plus X-Men recruits Havok and Polaris), who had disappeared on a mission to the island of Krakoa, with only their leader Cyclops escaping. The new team consists of Sunfire and Banshee, who had been introduced in earlier X-Men comics; Wolverine, who had made his first appearance in The Incredible Hulk #181 (Oct. 1974); and the newly created Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Thunderbird. These members are gathered from all over the world, and Professor X uses his telepathic powers to teach them all English so that they can communicate with each other.

The team soon learns that Krakoa is not just an island, but a giant mutant as well. Despite personality clashes among the individual members, as well as a fatality, the new team succeeds in rescuing the old X-Men and destroying the entity by shooting it into outer space with Polaris' power. The issue ends by posing the question of the future of a 13-member X-Men team.

The later storyline "Deadly Genesis" offers a ret-con of this story, which tells how Professor X had initially recruited a different team before the events in this issue.

Credits

Reprint

The "Second Genesis" story was reprinted in Classic X-Men #1 in September 1986, with substantial editing to reduce its length, and a new backup story by Claremont and John Bolton bridging the gap between this and the following issue, Uncanny X-Men #94.

Collected editions

Marvel Masterworks
Title Volume Material collected Publication date ISBN
Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men 1 Giant-Size X-Men #1; Uncanny X-Men #94–100 December 2009 978-0785137023

Epic Collections
Vol Title Material collected Publication date ISBN
5 Second Genesis Giant Size X-Men #1; Uncanny X-Men #94-110; Iron Fist #14-15; Marvel Team-Up #53, #69-70, Annual #1; material from FOOM #10 April 11, 2017 978-1302903909

Essentials
Title Volume Material collected Publication date ISBN
Essential X-Men 1 X-Men #94–119; Giant-Sized X-Men #1 May 2008 978-0785132554

Panini Pocket Books
Title Material collected Publication date ISBN
Second Genesis Giant Size X-Men #1; Uncanny X-Men #94-103 July 2004 978-1904419402

Second issue

Marvel published a second issue of Giant-Size X-Men later in 1975. This November issue had no new material, instead featuring reprints of stories from X-Men #57, #58, and #59, written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Neal Adams.[9]

Third and fourth issues

In 2005, Marvel published two new Giant Size X-Men issues to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original. Issue #3 in July contained a story written by Joss Whedon and illustrated by Neal Adams. The issue also reprinted several older X-Men team-ups: the group's appearance in Fantastic Four #28, an Avengers guest appearance in X-Men #9 and a story featuring Spider-Man in X-Men #35.[10] In November, Chris Claremont penned a story for issue #4, with artwork by Neal Adams. It also reprinted material related to the death of Thunderbird from X-Men #94-95, Classic X-Men #3 and Uncanny X-Men #193.[11]

40th Anniversary edition hardcover

The series has also been collected into a hardcover paperback titled Giant-Size X-Men: 40th Anniversary Edition. The hardcover collects Giant-Size X-Men #1, 3-4; Classic X-Men #1; X-Men Origins: Colossus; X-Men Origins: Wolverine; X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1-6; What If? (1989) #9, #23; and material from X-Men Gold #1. The second Giant-Sized issue was likely omitted, due to it being reprints of X-Men #57-59. The 440-page paperback was released June 2015. ISBN 978-0-7851-9777-5)

Dawn of X

Five Giant Size X-Men one-shots, all written by Jonathan Hickman, were released as part of Marvel's 2019 Dawn of X relaunch of its X-Men books between February and September 2020. The first, Giant Size X-Men: Jean Grey and Emma Frost, was drawn by Russell Dauterman and colored by Matt Wilson.[12] The second, Giant-Size X-Men: Nightcrawler, was drawn by Alan Davis and colored by Carlos Lopez.[13] The third, Giant-Size X-Men: Magneto, was drawn by Ramon Perez and colored by David Curiel.[14] The fourth, Giant-Size X-Men: Fantomex, was drawn and colored by Rod Reis.[15] The fifth, Giant-Size X-Men: Storm, was drawn by Dauterman and colored by Wilson.[16]

Prints
Issue Publication date Writer Artist Colorist Comic Book Roundup rating[17] Estimated sales to North American retailers (first month)
Giant Size X-Men: Jean Grey and Emma Frost February 26, 2020 Jonathan Hickman Russell Dauterman Matt Wilson 8.6 by 19 professional critics 63,077[18]
Giant-Size X-Men: Nightcrawler March 25, 2020 Alan Davis Carlos Lopez 7.5 by 16 professional critics 46,861[19]
Giant-Size X-Men: Magneto July 15, 2020 Ramon Perez David Curiel 7.7 by 13 professional critics Data not yet available
Giant-Size X-Men: Fantomex August 5, 2020 Rod Reis 8.2 by 7 professional critics
Giant-Size X-Men: Storm September 16, 2020[20] Russell Dauterman Matt Wilson 8.7 by 12 professional critics

References
  1. The Real Reason Marvel Created SHE-HULK - Nerdist
  2. Darowski, Joseph J. (2014). X-Men and the Mutant Metaphor : Race and Gender in the Comic Books. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 84. ISBN 978-1-4422-3208-2. OCLC 877868390.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. Hall, Richard A. (2019). The American superhero : encyclopedia of caped crusaders in history. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-4408-6124-6. OCLC 1082518830.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. Austin, Allan W. (2019). All new, all different? : a history of race and the American superhero (First ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-4773-1898-0. OCLC 1117642004.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  5. Keywords for Comics Studies. New York: NYU Press. 2021. p. 229. ISBN 978-1-4798-1668-2. OCLC 1201179081.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  6. Flowers, Johnathan (2021). Serrano, Nhora Lucía (ed.). Graphic Spaces of Remembrance, Transaction, and Mimesis. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315643991. ISBN 9781315643991. S2CID 241961595.
  7. Radford, Bill (1999-11-14). "'X-Men' comics return to simpler times". Telegraph Herald. pp. 3E. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  8. Giant-Size X-Men #1, ComicBookDB.com
  9. Giant-Size X-Men #2, Grand Comics Database.
  10. PREVIEW: Neal Adams' "Giant Size X-Men" #3 Story
  11. Taking An Early Look at "Giant-Size X-Men" #4
  12. Giant Size X-Men: Jean Grey and Emma Frost #1
  13. Giant Size X-Men: Nightcrawler #1
  14. Giant Size X-Men: Magneto #1
  15. Giant Size X-Men: Fantomex #1
  16. Terror, Jude (February 17, 2020). "Jonathan Hickman and Russell Dauterman Give Storm the Giant-Size X-Men Treatment in June". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  17. "Giant Size X-Men (2020)". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  18. "February 2020 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops". Comichron. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  19. "March 2020 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops". Comichron. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  20. "Marvel Comics' September 2020 comic book solicitations and covers". GamesRadar+. June 19, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
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