Books

Uncanny X-Men Omnibus Vol. 1

By Leroy Douresseaux
March 23, 2007 - 21:26

Mr. Charlie #112 spent 100 bucks for this and doesn't regret it.  Consume more than you need, put a cork in it Tracy Chapman:

I avoided it for a long time, but I finally broke down and bought the Uncanny X-Men Omnibus, Vol. 1, the huge, hardcover tome that reprints Giant-Size X-Men 1, X-Men #94-131, and X-Men Annual 3.  The reader gets the story pages of 40 comic books plus the letters pages of individual issues where available.  The book also closes with 29 pages of extra material that is reminiscent of the extras including on DVD's.

Some buyers might avoid this omnibus because they have the Marvel Masterworks reprints of these beloved X-Men comics, and this tome does reprint the first four Masterworks volumes of the " New X-Men."  I sold my Masterworks because the printing quality here is much better than in the Masterworks.  The colors are crisp and the lines snap and crackle.  In fact, the introductions that Chris Claremont and Stan Lee wrote for the Masterworks volumes (two each) are included here.

The extras make this omnibus even nicer.  They include various magazine pieces (including a house ad featuring the original and new X-Men characters).  There are several pages of character designs by the late Dave Cockrum, including early versions of Nightcrawler and Storm and rejected costume designs for some X-Men.  X-Men fans just discovering the early past of the New X-Men will delight to see samples from a John Byrne portfolio and two images of Byrne X-Men original art.  The extras conclude with a portfolio section of the covers for Classic X-Men 1-37 (most of them drawn or penciled by Art Adams), which reprint most of what's in the omnibus.

Uncanny X-Men Omnibus Vol. 1 reprints just about the entirety of my favorite period in the X-Men's publication history, and beside the original comic magazines, this is the best way for me to reread them.  It is pricey (and apparently out of print), but it's the best reprint edition… yet.

Thanks to barnesandnoble.com for the images.

I also write movie reviews at http://www.negromancer.com.

 

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12