19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The fateful Dark Phoenix saga of Claremont and Byrne, April 13, 2003
It was nice to see that inker Terry Austin was credited on the cover of "The Essential X-Men Volume 2" along with writer Chris Claremont and pencilers John Byrne and Brent Anderson. Of course, Byrne is also the co-plotter for most of these issues and Anderson only draws one of them, so it is not like all names are created equal when it comes to such things. But Austin was always the best inker of Byrnes pencils and deserves some of the credit for making "X-Men" the premier comic book of its day during this particular run of issues from #120-144.
As the cover shot indicates, this particular collection of stories is highlighted by the Dark Phoenix saga and the "death " of Jean Grey. It was the controversy over the latter that was partially responsible for Byrnes decision to leave the book, which came from Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter's dictum that superheroes never kill anybody. In issue #135 "Dark Phoenix," Jean Grey's alter ego goes over to the dark side and jets off into space to find something to eat, which ends up being a G-Type star. The problem is that of the eleven planets in that system the fourth is inhabited by an ancient, peace-loving civilization hitherto known as "the Asparagus people." The bottom line was that in the super nova that resulted 5 billion beings died; at which point Dark Phoenix took out a Shi'ar warship as well. The consequence of this was a trial in the count of Lilandra; originally Claremont and Byrne intended for Jean to have the Dark Phoenix entity psychically removed, leaving her a mere mortal who had to live with the great guilt of what she had done. The idea was that down the road Magneto would offer her the chance to regain her power and in a moment of great triumph she would refuse. But Shooter decreed otherwise and the new ending was that issue #137 "Phoenix Must Die" now became a literal fate.
I have always been of the mind that Shooter was not just wrong but stupid; following the simplistic rules of 1940s superhero comic books is shortsighted. Eventually Marvel comics would deal with a superhero forced by circumstances to kill: Captain America, without his shield, gunned down a guy with a machine gun who was shooting a crowd of civilians. Even Superman had to take some lives and live with the consequences. Claremont and Byrne had come up with a serious storyline and Shooter threw it away on a simplistic principle.
This Volume 2 collection represents the high point of the "X-Men" comic book, not just because of the Dark Phoenix saga, which is still pretty good even with the altered ending, but because we have the Canadian government's attempt to bring back Weapon X (a.k.a. Wolverine), an encounter with Arcade's Murder World, a showdown with Proteus, and a lengthy fight with the Hellfire Club. Kitty Pride also joins the X-Men at this point in their history and one of my all-time favorite stories is issue #141 "Days of Future Past"/#142 "Mind Out of Time" when the Kitty Pride of a dystopian future ruled by the Sentinels sends her mind back in time to her younger body to try and change the future. This two-parter is a great time travel story and ends up being Byrne and Austin's swan song for the "X-Men," even though they did one more issue.
I am well aware that there are those who disparage the Marvel Essentials collections because they reprint the original comics in black & white. Getting these same comics reprinted in color in the Marvel Masterworks series would cost you four times as much. From an economic standpoint this is the way to go. But I would also argue that the artwork of Byrne and Austin, as with that of Steve Ditko, actually looks better in black & white. You might not want to go beyond this collection of X-Men comics, but picking up the first two Essential volumes does give you almost four years worth of issues representing one of the celebrated runs of a particular title in the history of the field.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Trapped in a World they Never Made...., July 31, 2000
With the X-men movie lighting up the box office, there is no better time than the present for new fans to be introduced to the classic past of this long-running comic title. "The Essential X-Men Vol. 2" delivers, nicely covering the terrific Chris Claremont/John Byrne run which resurrected the X-Men and made the book must reading for a generation of comics fans.
The collection features the most tumultuous and terrific two years of the dynamic duo's run on the book, including the legendary "Dark Phoenix" saga and "Days of Future Past". During this run (Uncanny X-Men 120-144), Claremont turned up the realism and alienation a couple of notches and delivered some incredible stories. John Byrne's art is bold and detailed (the black and white presentation here only reinforces his fine pencils).
If the movie left you hungering for more X-Men (and the current spate of mutant books left you cold), check out this collection and see what made this such a great book.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential X-Men Volume 2 is essential reading!, September 7, 2004
Essential X-Men Volume 2 is essential reading! This volume contains the classic Marvel Comics run of the Phoenix Saga. These issues lead to the death of one the most beloved X-Man in the comics, Jean Grey. Chris Claremont wrote a powerful story on how the Phoenix force turned evil and she tried to destroy the Uncanny X-Men and the Marvel Universe! The artwork was done by John Bryne. The set collects Uncanny X-Men #120-144. Buy it! Highest Possible Recommendation. The only problem with this paperback edition is that it's not in color. If you want to see the Dark Phoenix Saga in color, I suggest you look for the actual comics and the old X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga trade paperback.
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