The Original Run Is Complete!

So now that I've finished the original run of 66 comics let's talk a little bit about it. At this point, the X-Men comic was not doing particularly well, and was cancelled for about 6 months, and then when it was brought back at the end of 1970, it was just a reprint title. From issue 67-93, nothing new was added. Which makes this a good place to take a quick break and talk about what we've seen so far from a larger perspective than looking at each comic/storyline individually.

I think we can break things down into a few different "eras" of the original run.

Also, just a quick editors note, you'll notice I list the main comic as "Uncanny X-Men" even though at this point it is just listed as X-Men on the comics themselves. This is for ease of continuity, so that there is just one tag on the right for all of them, as this comic is renamed into "Uncanny X-Men" in the future, while there will be a separate un-adjectived "X-Men" comic.

Beginnings (#1-19, Writer: Stan Lee)

In the beginning of the comic, I get the strong feeling that the X-Men were a bit of an afterthought title for Marvel. There wasn't really a coherent idea running through it, and most everything was really one off and kind of whacky.

That said, being the beginning, there are some great characters introduced in this time, even if they aren't yet used to their full potential. The original five students, Professor X, Magneto, Juggernaut, Wanda and Pietro, and more.

Also, that is not to say there weren't any enjoyable comics from this era. To me the highlight would be the Sentinels storyline near the end of the run. This was the first storyline that really started bringing the X-Feel to the comic for me, bringing in a villain of "extremists humans who hate mutants" as a serious threat.

Throw at the Wall (#20-30, Writer: Roy Thomas)

This was an era where I feel like it really was just throwing whatever at a wall and seeing if it stuck. The villains were all over the place and either C-listers from other comics or just boring and forgettable. I just think that Thomas could not catch his footing at this point. There are also several abandoned arcs, like "Jean Grey is leaving forever" that just starts and immediately gets ignored and her being off at college is just treated as a minor inconvenience for her superheroing. Or Scott stepping down as field leader for the team. Plus it had the whole arc of Cal Rankin joining the X-Men and honestly I couldn't stand that.

The only comic I think is worth reading in this run is the Banshee introduction in issue #28. Everything else was garbage.

The Good Shit (#31-45, Writer: Roy Thomas*)

This is the point where Roy Thomas really starts to catch his footing. Factor Three as a central long term villain gave the comic a bit more direction, but even the comics that didn't feature Factor Three were improved by things like delving more into the X-Men as people and not just as superheroes. Seeing them in their civilian life trying to be normal people really brings the world more to life.

The series at this point was pretty evenly written, but if I had to pick a single storyline to highlight it, I would go with the return of the Juggernaut in issue 32 and 33. The weakest part of the arc is probably the death of Professor X, but even that wasn't terrible.

*Gary Freidrich wrote issue #45, but as it was finishing out an arc I included it in this era.

Floundering (#46-48, Writer: Gary Friedrich, Arnold Drake)

These three comics were just a bad attempt to shake things up. Split up the team. Give them "normal" civilian lives. It's honestly completely skippable because nothing important happens and every single thing established by it is completely ignored as soon as these three comics are over.

I'm not even going to include a "this is the good one" for this one. They are just bad.

Re-Establishing (#49-53, Writer: Arnold Drake)

The start of this arc just immediately jumps in with getting the team back together with a single long arc and then a one off comic with FF villain Blastaar. This isn't the most expertly written period, but it is enjoyable, and it does introduce a character I'm a huge fan of (Polaris), and her terrible, horrible, no good, very bad decisions.

And, that is the part that I think is worth reading. Seriously the Demi-Men/Lorna Dane arc is very good. Even if just for the Erik the Red costume.

The Really Good Shit (#54-66, Writer: Roy Thomas*)

This entire run is banger. With perhaps a few odd comics here and there, like the return of Professor X being just a wild story that should have probably been a multi-part arc, and probably should have had a better villain (though I actually liked the solution to beating them). This is peak original team stuff for me. The introduction of Havok, our first bit of Summers Family Bullshit, the return of the Sentinels, Sauron, Savage Lands Magneto, Sunfire, this is just a long list of great stories.

The biggest highlight for me was the Sentinels arc... for the second time. Maybe I just really like the Sentinels as villains?

*Drake wrote the first comic in this one, but it was the beginning of a story arc which Thomas finished, and issue #65 was written instead by Dennis O'Neill