X-Men Epic Collection: Proteus (Uncanny X-Men (1963-2011))

This is it, people. This is peak X-Men. Writer Chris Claremont and illustrator John Byrne (both co-plotting most of this collection) are at the top of their respective games, mixing in some older elements and storylines from previous X-Men stories into this magnificent comic run. It is awesome. The X-Men have finally reached their creative renaissance.So, yeah, that's a lot of praise.But it is well deserved. The X-Men have had a rocky road to travel up to this point with some creative highs but a LOT of creative lows. With the previous volume, the story quality has continued to climb and here we are, standing on the mountaintop of X-Men stories. In this collection, the X-Men team up with former X-Man and current Avenger, Beast, in a fight against Magneto which leads directly into a Savage Land adventure with the X-Men presumed dead after their fight with Mags. From there, we travel to Japan for a team-up with Sunfire in a battle against Moses Magnum, a quick trip to Canada to fight the new Canadian Alpha Flight, then back to New York for one of Arcade's first Murderworld stories, and finally off to Scotland and to reunite with Phoenix and the Muir Island mutants in a battle to the death against Moira MacTaggert's son, Proteus. It's a whirlwind of adventures that actually encapsulate a giant chunk of in-universe time as weeks might pass between issues. Nothing feels rushed but SO MUCH happens.One of the chief beneficiaries of this creative bloom is Magneto. After his rebirth in the previous volume, Magneto's powers have seen a dramatic increase. He's also stopped talking like a second rate Doctor Doom which is... well, it's kind of sad for me because his pompous demeanor was hilarious but good for the character because he comes across as more serious and dangerous. Magneto is always going to be a Big Deal due to his long history with the X-Men team but this portrayal of the character would help make his future appearances feel more special and by the time I started reading the X-Men in the nineties, a Magneto appearance was an event in itself.The X-Men team also benefits here, with each team member getting more depth of character. One of the strengths of the X-Men team is that everyone feels like a person instead of an icon. They are fleshed out as people with flaws and strengths, likes and dislikes. It is great to see little details dispersed throughout the stories.We also get to see the team start to BECOME a team instead of a group of individuals. In the initial fight with Magneto, it's fairly apparent that this X-Men squad is the WORST group of mutants to go up against the Master of Magnetism. Not only are they not working together, but Colossus and Wolverine are straight out of this fight what with magnetic metal being part of their deals. By the end of the book, however, their functioning a whole lot better as a team. Still rough around the edges and prone to going off script but working together more often than not.I have gushed quite a bit and that's because this book is so good but it isn't flawless. For a bulk of the issue, the X-Men are presumed dead by Phoenix, Beast, and Professor Xavier. The X-Men believe Phoenix and Beast are dead. This plot is carried well past the point where someone should have checked their stories. The X-Men interact with people who know that Jean is alive. Beast is an Avenger and at the very LEAST Cyclops would want to report his presumed death to Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Everyone would have wanted to tell Angel and Iceman about the fate of whoever they thought was dead and that should have ended things right then and there. Hell, there should have been reports of X-Men activity in Japan and Avengers activity wherever the Avengers were active. The point is, the X-Men's fate should have been known as soon as they reached Japan and certainly once they returned to the United States. It's the most challenging thing in this volume and it's only because everything else is so high-grade that it overcomes this forced state of affairs.This isn't my favorite X-Men time but it is probably the best the book has ever been. That's an odd thing to explain but when you take these adventures as a whole, they just knock so much out of the park that any other time period can't keep up. The only thing that comes close to this is the Roy Thomas/ Neal Adams run that makes up the majority of X-Men Epic Collection volume 3. That run provided the blueprint that THIS run roughly follows.Chris Claremont and John Byrne have never been better than right here. I first read these stories in the black and white Essentials and they looked amazing even without color. Inker Terry Austin was a great choice for this book. Claremont would continue his quality storytelling after Byrne left and Byrne would have excellent runs on Fantastic Four and Superman. Still, what they did together right here makes everything else look like a slow decline.So, y'know. Read this. It's pretty good stuff.As for extras, we get some house ads for the X-Men, some unused panel work from John Byrne, a Byrne X-Men cover for The Comic Reader, uncolored pages from various issues, the uncolored cover for Uncanny X-Men #115, Frank Miller's cover for X-Men Annual #3, a Master Mold character sketch and plot breakdowns for The Incredible Hulk Annual #7, the uncolored cover for The Incredible Hulk Annual #7, some 1993 illustrations of the X-Men that fit this timeframe from John Byrne, and the covers for Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men volumes 3 and 4 featuring some recolored covers from the Uncanny X-Men book. It's some nice stuff.Some other extras: Annuals and team-ups!Incredible Hulk Annual #7 is included here, showing us what's going on with Angel and Iceman around this time as well as following up on what happened to Stephen Lang after X-Men #101. This is more a follow-up on the Champions series than the X-Men but it's two former X-Men and a plot dovetailing out of the X-Men series. And the Hulk is here, too.Marvel Team-Up #89 and X-Men Annual #3 fits snuggly between Uncanny X-Men #124 and #125. MTU #89 features Nightcrawler and Spider-Man, shedding a little more light on Nightcrawler's background and has Arcade dancing around the fringes of the action. X-Men Annual #3 sees the X-Men go off-world into the fantasy realm of Arkon. The art is by George Pérez which is always a treat. If I remember correctly, Pérez was the first to draw Wolverine with hairy arms which paved the way for Byrne to make that Logan's defacto look. Before this, his arms were covered with flesh colored sleeves. Yeah. Not weird at all. XD Byrne's hairy armed Wolverine show up earlier in this collection but Annual releases are weird and where they slot into the ongoing storyline isn't exactly when they were first out. And it's also possible Pérez did this work well before release and Byrne saw it and went with it. I'm just going on memory here so just consider it apocryphal unless you want to do the work and look it up on your own. ;)Anyway, this is a slim collection that is nevertheless beefy. It is dense but flows well. If you want to see the X-Men book at its best, this is a good bet. Claremont and Byrne's run continues in the next volume and the quality doesn't diminish. In fact, it arguably gets even better. So stick around and read some very good X-Men stories. My appreciation for this run got even stronger upon rereading it and I can't recommend it enough.

I love these Epic Collection volumes. Softbound, not too heavy, and colors that leap off the page! This is the way these stories were meant to be produced.As for the stories themselves.... no real spoilers here. Just love. The two biggest highlights are.... 1) The X-Men face the menace of Magneto in the Savage Land--a hidden place where dinosaurs still live. One of the best comic stories ever. Byrne's art is mindblowing! And 2) the X-Men meet Canada's own Alpha Flight--a team connected to Wolverine's mysterious origins.You can't go wrong with this volume. If you like comics, you'll like this one! While you can read this volume on its own, I do recommend reading the preceding volume 5 that introduces the new team and sets up the relationships. While not technically one continuous story, the return of the X-Men in 1975 does read like it's all interconnected.Buy it soon! These Epic Collections sell out and so far Marvel hasn't been offering second printings that I know of. And the secondary market has some of these volumes doubling in price! Buy them while you can!

Super-Spectacular!!! I just received my copy in the mail and I am beyond EXCITED!!! A Special Shout-Out to 'Amazon' & 'Cheap Graphic Novels' - THANK YOU!!! During my childhood, three Names in the Uncanny World of the X-Men that captured lightning in a bottle were Claremont, Byrne, & Austin, Nuff Said. Their superb run on the X-Men Series were some of Marvel's BEST MATERIAL!!! I am looking forward to the next X-Men Epic Collection featuring the magnificent "Dark Phoenix Saga", which I believe comes out sometime in March of 2021... Thanks again AMAZON!!!

This book was described as : "Book has significant wear and tears- but is readable." The book is in brand new condition without tears or wear!! Packaged really well...cardboard...triple wrap. I am very happy with this out-of-print book.

Another great collection of the all new uncanny x-men. The Claremont, Byrne, and Austin run is the gold standard in this series. Glad that marvel did such an amazing job collecting these issues as well as two related stories. Sharp colors and great paper make this a well done addition to your bookshelf.

Great Comic Book Art. It's a classic. John Byrne at his best. If you have not read this, then you really haven't read X-Men.

The material is great!The condition of the item itself? Not so much... This is a brand new release (within the last two weeks), and should have been a brand new item. Instead, it's bent and creased and folded- not just on the cover, but throughout the book.I tried to report the condition, but none of the options were completely ideal (the packaging was fine, as were other items in the same box), and Amazon hasn't bothered to reach out.I guess I expect more for a $35.00 item listed as "new."

There's a reason that the Claremont/Byrne era of the X-Men comic is still held up as a high point even forty years later, and that reason is ably demonstrated in this, the second of three Epic Collections to gather that era (volume 5, Second Genesis, is already out and volume 7, The Fate of the Phoenix, will be the next one released after this).The 'new' X-Men had been firmly established by this point, and both writer and artist were free to take the time playing with the group's dynamics as well as throwing them against threats old and new. There's appearances with old foes Mesmero and Sauron, a trip to the Savage Land, a deathtrap challenge against Arcade and more. The team's archnemesis Magneto returns and is immediately built back up to the huge threat he should be, and the climactic arc with Proteus shows that there was time for new characters as well.Byrne's art is clear and dynamic, with each of the team immediately identifiable at a glance and full of individual character. Claremont makes sure to give each of the X-Men their own motivations, fears and challenges, and to juggle the main plots with a whole bunch of simmering subplots. Also included in the volume are a Hulk annual story (with art by Byrne and featuring Angel and Iceman) and an issue of Marvel Team-Up (written by Claremont and guest-starring Nightcrawler).Extras include four contemporary house ads, a Byrne cover for The Comic Reader, eight pages of original art by Byrne and Frank Miller, plot breakdown notes for the Hulk story, plates and thumbnails from the 1993 World's Finest Comic Book Artists portfolio, a novel cover and two Masterworks covers.It's the era that solidified the X-Men's comicbook dominance for the following two decades, in a well-presented and admirably complete collection - what's not to like? Wild to think that the next volume, containing Days of Future Past and the Dark Phoenix Saga, will be even better...

Great classic “second genesis” X-men stories from the Claremont/Byrne/Austin era. A nice package with some cool extras in addition to the original comics reprinted.

Classic stories by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. X-Men ar their best!

Wonderful stories - great memories of buying these books as a kid.