Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men Vol 1 (ComicCraft cover) (1998) [Hardcover]

Stan Lee (Author), Jack Kirby (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1998

Graphic Novel

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Marvel Enterprises (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785106642
• ISBN-13: 978-0785106647
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,264,876 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forget the 'Essentials', Masterworks are the best!, June 10, 2003

By 

Tommy Wiley (Kingston, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men Vol. 1 (Hardcover)

The 'true' X-men from back-in-the-day are finally available for the X-men fans of today. First off, this book contains the first ten issues of the series, including individual covers, in full color on glossy stock and and hard bound. These stories (Uncanny X-men 1-10) were written in '61 and '62 by Stan Lee and drawn by the Jack Kirby, with both a forward and afterward by Stan...'nuff said. It tells the origins of the X-men (original team: Professor X, Cyclops, Beast, Angel, and Iceman), the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (Magneto, Toad, Mastermind, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver), introduces modern mainstay characters like Jean Grey, Blob, and Kazar all for the first time, and guest-stars old-school Marvel money-makers like Namor the Sub-mariner and the Avengers. New-school fans may be a bit thrown by the presence of sixties throw-back characters like the Vanisher, Unus the Utouchable, and Lucifer or the lack of explanation of Magneto's powers or his prior relationship with Xavier, but it's worth it to see the Beast and Angel before they turned blue...It is incredible to see how good the story was in the sixties, even reading it now after the year 2000.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Professor Charles Xaiver's School for Gifted Children, September 2, 2002

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men Vol. 1 (Hardcover)

There is a sense, albeit very simplistic, that can look at "The X-Men" as a cross between Marvel's two most successful comic books, "The Fantastic Four" and "The Amazing Spider-Man." From the former you get the idea of a group of superheroes who received their powers through mutation (specifically, exposure to them good ol' cosmic rays) with the idea of a superhero who is alienated from the very society they are trying to success. As it was made clear from the first issue of "The X-Men," mutants were feared by "ordinary" people. The sub-text of the prejudice of the majority against the differences of the minority certainly became stronger as the series progressed and is perhaps its most defining element; certainly it was the centerpiece of the promotional campaign for the film version. I remember liking the comics because the original X-Men were basically teenagers (Scott Summers and Jean Grey are the proverbial starcrossed lovers here). That meant it was easier to identify with them, especially since the Legion of Superheroes had about a hundred members and it was always a hit-or-miss proposition that your favorite one would be involved in the story in any given month.

This first volume of "X-Men" comics collects the first ten episodes of the series, written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby. We are introduced not only to our merry band of mutants (Professor X, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Iceman, and the Beast) but some of the seminal villains for the group: Magneto (#1 and 4-6), the Vanisher (#2), the Blob (#3 & 7), the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants consisting of Magneto with Mastermind, Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch and Toad (#4-6), the Sub-Mariner (#6), and Unus the Untouchable (#8). There are also those fun clashes between heroes with the Avengers (#9) and Ka-Zar (#10). What stands out from this list is that Lee and Kirby were able to come up with THE X-Men villain right off the bat with Magneto, who represents the flip side of humanity's fear of the mutants. He also makes up for the Blob. It is always fun to see what gets abandoned from these early issues, most notably Bobby Drake as the Snowman and Professor X pining away for the lovely Jean Grey because he is old and confined to a wheel chair (that sure would have been a very interesting love triangle once you throw Scott Summers into the mix). None of these stories are particularly great, but these are the first ten issues of what would eventually become THE comic book on the planet so you have to check these out to see how it all began.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A review from www.marvelmasterworks.freeservers.com, April 27, 2002

By 

merlebuck (Macon, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men Vol. 1 (Hardcover)

This is the 2002 edition of the X-Men Marvel Masterworks, Vol. 1, reprinting the first 10 issues of X-Men stories from the early 60's. This is NOT the ComicCraft edition, for which many are thankful (I kinda liked that design) but a brand new dust jacket design that is very tasteful and hearkens back to the late 80's/early 90's trade dress style.

If you don't have this collection, I strongly urge you to get it. I re-read it again after many years, and was pleasantly surprised how strong it was. Jack Kirby and Stan Lee were slowly encroaching on some incredible themes in these pages. You can feel the creative urges these guys were having growing story by story.

Some of the ideas they were trying were quickly and unceremoniously dropped, but others were germinating in ways that would eventually change the history of comics. This is a very important book, as Jack and Stan are building up the X-Men mythos, which would in turn become the foundation of the Marvel Universe. The "mutant universe" that is now an omnipresent reality is hardly evident in these pages, so there is an absolute sense of innocence and naivete all throughout, but there is also an intense foreshadowing, too. Which makes these stories irreplaceable in the Marvel canon.

Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants make their first appearance in these pages, as does the evil Lucifer...