Comic Report: Uncanny X-Men in the 1970s

You, my friend, are a Mutant -- and I have need of Mutants -- Desperate need!

After years of reprints, Uncanny X-Men comes roaring back in 1975 with Giant-Size X-Men 1, which introduced a new, international team of mutants.

The story was that the original X-Men had been captured by the living mutant island of Krakoa, so Xavier recruits a new team to rescue them. The new team saves the day, and everyone (except the island, which gets pelted into orbit by a very cranky Polaris) lives happily ever after.

Apparently the new and improved X-Men (Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Banshee and perennial leader Cyclops) were a hit with readers, because the original X-Men take their leave and the book returns with new stories and a new creative team headed by writer Chris Claremont, who would helm the book for the better part of two decades. And an era begins.

So the first few issues after the relaunch deal with getting the new team to gel. These are all adults, with different agendas and experiences, so the old rules didn't apply. Besides, I don't think Wolverine (who says "baby" way too often and is already hitting on Jean) would have taken too well to classwork.

Oh, and see ya Thunderbird and Sunfire. Don't let the door hit ya ...

We get some X-Men on X-Men action, the return of the Sentinels, and then Issue 101.

ENTER THE PHOENIX!!!

And damn ... Jean's sacrifice to save the team, her heartbreaking farewell with Scott -- this would have been a powerhouse of a storyline even without Jean rocketing out of the ocean with a cool new costume and phenomenal cosmic power.

The era of the Phoenix is one of the things that makes comics great. And these are some amazing, amazing stories. Jean struggling to deal with her power, the X-Men looking for their place, the introduction of Princess Lilandra and the Shi'ar, the X-Men's first ventures into space, battles with Alpha Flight and Arcade, the triumphant return of Magneto and his imprisonment of the entire team on Asteroid M ... wow!

And then it changes up even more.

In Issue 114, the team is split. Phoenix and Beast have escaped from the Arctic and believe the rest of the team has been killed. Brokenhearted, they return to tell Professor Xavier that his dream is dead.

In the Savage Land, the team mourns for Beast and Phoenix, and Scott finds himself unable to grieve for the woman he loved. Does this mean Jean wasn't the one for him after all?

The divided X-Men go through various trials and tribulations throughout the rest of the 1970s, reuniting for the Proteus storyline, in which we find one of the most powerful mutants the world has ever know -- and Moira MacTaggert's secret heartbreak.

These are just spectacular stories. If you're a comic fan, you must read them. If you've read them already, isn't it time to revisit them?

If only the comics I'm buying today were this good ...