Customer Reviews

X-Men: Mutant Massacre

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

in case you were wondering, this collection includes 10 issues:

Uncanny X-Men 210-213
X-Factor 9-11
New Mutants 46
Thor 373-374
Power Pack 27

technically an issue of daredevil also tied into this crossover, but it's not included here.

crossovers are always fun, but as another reviewer mentioned they tend to meander. the writers didn't seem overly concerned about keeping the crossover self-contained, so a lot of the comics bring up events that don't get resolved until after the events in the books contained here. most of the backstories are explained enough that newbie readers shouldn't be too clueless, although if you're new to the x-men you should start off w/ the essential x-men series.

highlights: great fight w/ psylocke, wolvie, and sabretooth; apocalypse assembling his four horsemen; angel getting overwhelmed by the marauders.

minor gripe: WHY does thor not have a beard on the cover when he does at the time of these comics??

If you want complete stories, then you are not going to do much better. If you want to see the X-Men in a state of war, then this is a far better storyline than the X-Tinction Agenda. Lots of mutants, lots of fights, and lots of poignant moments, from the injuries that led to the creation of Excalibur and Archangel, to Psylocke joining the X-men, to the death of so many Morlocks. The inclusion of Thor and Power Pack was well-handled. This novel can not be more highly recommended.

A good story with good art, featuring the first appearence of the Marauders, the foundation for Excalibur, the loss of Angel's wings, and the deaths of most of the Morlocks! There are two Wolvie vs. Sabretooth battles and some sub plots featuring X-Factor, Power Pack, Thor, and the New Mutants.

This is a complete collection of what is probably the first crossover storyline ever in the X-Men titles. Claremont wrote this one long before Marvel's current economic straits, when good writing came first and foremost. Includes the hard-to-find Thor and Power Pack issues as well.

Excellant graphic novel. One of the better X-men novels. Allstar cast includes X-men, X-factor, New Mutants, Power Pack, Morlocks, Marauders, Apocalypse and the beginings of his four horseman, and the Mighty Thor. Only dissapointment was not seeing Thor pummel the overrated sabertooth like the insignificant flea that he is, who comments that he would have torn Thor to shreads. All in all I highly reccomend this.

That's exactly what the Mutant Massacre is. It was the first X-Men crossover, and it crossed over to Uncanny X-Men #210-213, X-Factor #9-11, Thor #373-374, New Mutants #46, & Power Pack #27. A group of mutant assassins called the Marauders have been sent to the Morlock tunnels for one thing & one thing only: to kill the Morlocks.

During the Mutant Massacre, we witness alot of events unfold, from Wolverine battling Sabretooth, to Angel having his wings destroyed by the Marauders, as well as Psylocke joining the X-Men.

If your looking for classic X-Men storyline, I highly recommend picking up the Mutant Massacre.

So , I read this while living abroad but I am thinking about adding it to my collection. It is not better TPB then Dark Phoenix, but it is fast paced and has in your face beginning: a group of superpowered beings who are well trained begins to hunt Morlocks. Not scarier than Inferno but near; end of the book is little slower, but the beginning beats every good action/shocker movie, including Predator, Terminator etc. which were the law when I was the kid.

Anyway, if you like old school X-men, get Essential X-men (where you'll see how a new team of Wolverine, Collosus, Storm etc. was forged), Dark Phoenix Saga OR Essential X-men vol.2 , and then Mutant Massacre. I wouldn't reccomend latter to kids, there is too much cruelty.

SPOILER:
And yeah, if you think you hate Mr. S. after you read M.M. , get Further Adventures of Cyclops And Phoenix ... you'll feel for guy...

X-MEN: MUTANT MASSACRE, a thrilling read, went down sometime in the mid-1980s (I wanna say, 1986), right around when the X-Men were at their most popular and when Chris Claremont still had good stories left in him. Nowadays, crossover events are a dime-a-dozen, but back in the day, not so much. The Mutant Massacre arc was the first to feature an epic X-Men crossover, sweeping into the pages of X-FACTOR, NEW MUTANTS, and even POWER PACK and THOR. Anyway, we get to witness a slew of very intense X-Men throwdowns, as they go up against the frightening, merciless Marauders, a strike team who had descended to the subterranean tunnels beneath Manhattan Island and proceeded to murder the community of mutants known as the Morlocks. Hundreds died, and even if most of them went nameless, it was still something to see, those tunnels strewn with bloody mutant corpses.

Just to get a fix on the make-up of this team, this was when Magneto was the uneasy headmaster of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. This was when the British telepath Betsy Braddock (a.k.a. Psylocke) was new to the X-Mansion and gingerly feeling her way around. When Wolverine snikt around in his brown and ocher outfit. When Storm was leader of the X-Men, and never mind that she'd been stripped of her weather-summoning ability. This was also when Storm was rocking that mohawk. I'd also add that, at that period of time, anti-mutant hysteria was on the rise. But what else was new, really?

And not to forget about the original X-Men, then holding it down in the X-FACTOR title. Jean Grey a.k.a. Marvel Girl, newly returned from the dead, had just reunited with Cyclops, Beast, Angel, and Iceman, and they'd just formed X-Factor. But they went about their business in a unique way, performing a flim-flam on the masses with their dual disguises: as the publicly-admired mutant hunting X-Factor and also as the reviled mutant outlaws, the X-terminators. X-Factor tangles with the Marauders, but also end up locking horns with the Freedom Force, a team which comprised of members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Kinda foreshadows today's sinister government-sanctioned teams like the Thunderbolts and the Dark Avengers. On a personal level, there was that romantic triangle going on among Jean, Scott, and Warren.

This trade collects UNCANNY X-MEN #210-213, X-FACTOR #9-11, THOR #373-374, NEW MUTANTS #46, and POWER PACK #27. The core of the Mutant Massacre story is chronicled in UNCANNY X-MEN and X-FACTOR, with the supporting titles (NEW MUTANTS, POWER PACK, THOR) contributing related side stories, but also setting up or continuing their own respective plot elements. NEW MUTANTS #46, for example, heralds the coming of Warlock's evil dad, the Magus. In THOR Hela curses the bearded Thunder God with immortality but also with brittle, unhealing bones, and never mind that I've always thought dude was immortal all along. In POWER PACK (one of my favorite comic books) writer Louise Simonson continues to delve into the fallout of the Pack's swapping of powers. By the way, not to be all smug but Power Pack handled their business against the Marauders pretty well. They certainly fared better than the X-Men and X-Factor.

Some serious fallout spins out of Mutant Massacre. Several of our merry mutants are gravely wounded, resulting in Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler soon leaving the team to join Excalibur. This is where Wolverine and Sabertooth really cement their ferocious, bitter rivalry. The story's aftermath finds Psylocke officially joining the X-Men. Putting aside the horrifying massacre itself, there are two really shocking moments that I still remember from this storyline: what happens to Angel down in the tunnels and what a crazed Colossus does to one Marauder.

And, somewhere along here, Apocalypse begins to recruit his four deadly Horsemen. For me, the most memorable thing about the Mutant Massacre isn't the vicious fighty fights or the tragedy of the Marauders' acts of genocide or the crossovers (the X-Men and X-Factor don't even hook up here). I'll probably remember this most for setting the stage for the eventual transformation of Warren Worthington III from a boring winged wimp to a formidable blue-skinned mo-fo, this taking place in the Fall of the Mutants arc.

And because, sometimes, I like to end these things on a downnote, I'd like to point out a continuity glitch. In UNCANNY X-MEN #211, Magik teleported the X-Men to the Morlock tunnels and then teleported the injured (including Nightcrawler) back to the X-Mansion's infirmary. Yet, in NEW MUTANTS #46, there's no acknowledgment of this, and Magik, in fact, seems unaware of Nightcrawler and others having been grievously injured until the X-Men return home from their tussle with the Marauders (with Rogue now dragging Nightcrawler in tow). This is unforgivable even if there were two writers involved. But Chris Claremont wrote both issues. But, okay, other than this snafu, the Mutant Massacre story is a taut, gripping adventure and worth your time to check out.

I got into an X-Men reading binge after reading 'Watchmen'.

I started with 'Dark Phoenix Saga' and took it from there.

So when I got up to 'Mutant Massacre' I was expecting great things, A+ material.

All I read was about B, maybe B+.

The story is fast-paced and diverse and I found myself especially delighted by the 'Thor' storyline and annoyed with 'Power Pack'.

Action is abound and there are a myriad of dilemmas and conflicts that arise, even though some seemed cliched or just plain unneccessary.

Still, at the end of the series, I felt it a solid read and worth it if your a fan of the X-Men, casual or otherwise.

I was going through an old X-Men kick and reading a bunch of TPB's of old X-Men stories like Phoenix Saga, Xtinction Agenda, etc. This was one of the ones I picked up and hadn't read before, and I came away a bit disappointed. The story itself is interesting and obviously had some major implications for the X-Men's history, but it was hard to get into the artwork (normal for the period, but I hate it now) and I also hated the parts with Thor and Power Pack. Thor was ok but it's an X-Men story and I felt his role wasn't particularly interesting.

I also didn't have any knowledge of the Power Pack and who they were, so encountering a kid story in the middle of the book was a bit jarring and not something I really cared for. Mutants are getting killed left and right and we see Wolverine doing his thing but we're stuck reading about these random kids. Not my cup of tea, but I'm sure others don't mind as much as I do.