Five Decades Of The X-Men [Mass Market Paperback]

Stan Lee (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2003 | Series: X-men

This collection of stories celebrates five decades of X-Men adventures. An all-star cast of X-Men super-villains are set against a backdrop of some of the most important events in X-Men history.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stan Lee is known to millions as the man whose superheroes propelled Marvel Comics to its prominent position in the comic book industry. Stan has written more than a dozen bestselling books for Simon & Schuster, Harper & Row, and other major publishers. Presently he resides in Los Angeles, where he chairs Marvel Films and has served as co-executive producer for Marvel's many motion picture, television and animation projects. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: I Books/Marvel (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743475011
• ISBN-13: 978-0743475013
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,378,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader, December 18, 2007

By 

Blue Tyson "- Research Finished" (Legion clubhouse) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Five Decades Of The X-Men (Mass Market Paperback)

Taking a slightly different approach to the other X-Men anthologies, this anthology is all novellas.

Each one is set in a particular decade of X-Men activity, starting at the beginning in the 60s, right up until the 00s.

Quite good quality, with a 3.40 average.

Five Decades of the X-Men : 1 Baptism of Fire Baptism of Ice - John J. Ordover and Susan Wright
Five Decades of the X-Men : 2 Firm Commitments - Sholly Fisch
Five Decades of the X-Men : 3 Up the Hill Backwards - Thomas Deja
Five Decades of the X-Men : 4 The Cause - Glenn Greenberg
Five Decades of the X-Men : 5 Gifts - Madeleine E. Robins

Basically the first x-men comic, adapted with some Bobby Drake extra.

3.5 out of 5

A geneticist with a new technique goes to work for a company that is under the control of the Secret Empire, and literally experimenting with exploiting mutant power. Being your basic smart good guy, he lets the X-Men in on the info, at great risk to himself.

3.5 out of 5

Recovering from the Massacre, the X-Men's current roster is green (Dazzler, Longshot, Psylocke, etc.) and Ororo asks Sean Cassidy to do her a favour and help with training them, and getting Alex Summers to take a leadership role.

A worked out training exercise between them and some government agent types is interrupted by Peter Wisdom and his crew, and a N'Gari out for mutant snacks via portal.

4 out of 5

With Reverend Stryker betting out of prison, anti-mutant sentiment is stirred up, as well as different anti-mutant factions themselves.

2 out of 5

The X-Men are sent to investigate a destructive disturbance that is very likely to be mutant, and find both a student and teacher involved.

4 out of 5

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The de-evolution of a tolerant society, May 8, 2005

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: X-Men: Five Decades of the X-Men (X-Men (Ibooks)) (Paperback)

The trend of the stories in this collection moves countercurrent to the way the American society has evolved. Over the last fifty years, overt racial prejudice has declined, tolerance is in vogue and there is more mixing of the races than ever before in history. In the early stories of the X-Men, while the mutants were different, society generally tolerated them and treated them as heroes. However, as the stories evolve over the decades, prejudice against mutants grows to be a pervasive force, so much so that armed vigilante groups arise. Their sole purpose is to hunt down and exterminate mutants.

This leads to a fragmentation of the mutant population. Some believe that they should make no attempt to integrate themselves into society, creating a new form of segregation. The other faction, led by Professor Xavier, the leader of the X-Men, believe that they should use their powers to aid all of humanity. This leads to two ongoing battles, one between the mutants and the rest of humanity and the other between the mutant factions.

The stories are well written and I was struck by how much the authors of the later stories had learned from the American civil rights movement. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the non-violent integration faction and the militant Black Panthers advocated armed struggle and a form of segregation. Like some of the mutants that die in these stories while trying to help society cope, King and many others were also killed.

This is not a book of cartoons; it does not contain a single image. Nevertheless, the stories are very well written and quite frankly, the later ones where mutants are greeted with fear are far more believable than the early ones.