X-MEN EPIC COLLECTION: THE SENTINELS LIVE [NEW PRINTING] Paperback – March 23, 2021

I have bits and pieces of this collection of X-Men books multiple times over and I just keep buying it because it's one of my favorite runs on the X-Men. I'm specifically talking about the second half of this book so... let's back up and talk about this thing as a whole.This book collects X-Men #'s 46-66, books that were initially published between 1968 and 1970. Roy Thomas had left the book (as of the last Epic Collection) and the series didn't seem to recover, profit-wise, remaining one of Marvel's lowest selling titles. Creatively, things seemed to pick up ever so slightly. Gary Friedrich continues on as X-Men scribe and while his short run ends up splitting up the team, these issues increased the emotion and sense of urgency from Roy Thomas' run. When Doom Patrol (DC) co-creator, Arnold Drake takes the writing reigns, this sense of weight continues to be ramped up, especially when comic legend, Jim Steranko, takes over pencils. Or maybe I'm just really excited for where this series is headed? That is quite possible.Regardless, the X-Men seem VERY emotionally charged in Steranko's two issues on the title (50 and 51), tackling their enemies (and each other!) as though the weight of the world were on their shoulders. While Jim Steranko's time on the title is limited, his footprint on the X-Men would be long lived. He redesigned (uncredited) the X-Men's clunky logo into the much more professional logo that has graced the book for a majority of its continued existence.Arnold Drake picks up a frustrating habit an issue or two into his run of hating the whole concept of word balloons. It's almost as though he's writing those balloons for Twitter as a sentencewill be separated between multiple balloons with norhyme or reason as to why it is so disconnected.Kinda like that. Once you notice it, you can't unnotice it and it happens in more than one of his books (I think I also noticed it in his issues of Captain Marvel). As someone who has flirted with the idea or doing my own comics, I understand how hard it is to fit words and pictures together but... this doesn't work. It's really distracting.So far, the book has been a slight improvement over the previous Epic Collection but it is what follows that really steps up what you should expect from both X-Men comics and comics in general. Neal Adams had already made a name for himself as a rock star penciler over at DC before he took over co-plots, pencils, and colors on X-Men with Roy Thomas returning to the book as co-plotter and scripter. It is a drastic change for the better as both creators are at the top of their game (IMO). Complementing Adams' pencils is inker Tom Palmer who is probably an unsung hero of this collection... but more on that later. For now, just know that Palmer's inks on Adams' pencils look amazing.I can't upsell this art enough. From layout, figure work, to panel structure, everything is beautifully crafted. The X-Men had never looked better. Heck, even the colors are remarkably improved. Take a look at previous colors in this collection and then compare them to the colors on Neal Adams' work and the difference is enough to make you question in what decade these comics were originally released. Apparently, Adams got Marvel to agree to use a more complicated coloring technique than was usually done on their books, allowing for a greater range of colors.And the stories seem just as nuanced. In the first Epic Collection, I was surprised to learn how well Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Sentinels story held up, allowing for a subtle take on politics and the human condition in a super-hero story about fighting giant robots. The Sentinels show up for their second appearance in THIS volume and those subtleties remain, reinforced by a strong action adventure story. The X-Men follow that up with their first Sauron story and then a trip to the Savage Land to fight Magneto before heading home to find Professor X alive and well... just in time for an imminent alien invasion. It's a fun ride with beautiful art.Between the Savage Land story and the X-Men's return to their Mansion in Westchester, they visit New York and Washington D.C. to confront the Japanese nationalist super-hero, Sunfire, in his first appearance. I list this separately from above because Neal Adams didn't pencil it. It was done by Don Heck. While I enjoy a good Don Heck story, his pencils couldn't really compare to Neal Adams' work. Except, here, he almost pulls it off. With Tom Palmer inking over Heck's pencils, Don Heck has never looked better. The colors also seem to be just as intricate as the rest of the Adams/ Thomas run so it helps this feel like part of the story instead of a fill-in issue.Speaking of fill ins, Neal Adams came back for the next issue to bring back Xavier and depict the alien threat that had so occupied the founder of the X-Men that he faked his own death... but Roy Thomas isn't here to co-plot or script it. Instead, Neal Adams fully plots this particular issue and Denny O'Neil takes on scripting detail, doing an admirable job. The two would go on to work together on several DC titles but I believe this is the first paring of Adams and O'Neil.For the final issue of X-Men (for now), Adams has left to title, Roy Thomas has returned, and Sal Buscema is on pencils. While Thomas has stated that he hoped that this would be the beginning of another great creative run on the book, that was obviously not meant to be and instead, it clears up some outstanding details left over from the previous issue and ends things pretty much wrapped up. Sal Buscema was... he was a competent penciler but Neal Adams was a hard act to follow. The colors here return to the more simple techniques that were usually employed on Marvel's books.While the X-Men book COULD have been cancelled at this point, sales during the Adams/ Thomas era were at least strong enough to keep the title in publication, albeit as a reprint book. Those Adams/ Thomas issues would inspire later creators on the title, particularly artist John Byrne and I believe future X-Scribe Chris Claremont (as an intern, Claremont was the one who suggested the ending of the Sentinels story so he already had a small influence on what the X-Men would become). The run isn't without its flaws, of course. There was a disconnect between art and script on occasions (also common on Jack Kirby/ Stan Lee comics) and some dangling plots were left dangling and forgotten. Neal Adams' pencils look rushed on his final issue. Finally, there's a certain level of camp but... these are super-hero comics! That's just what you get. ;)But the legacy here is strong. The X-Men title would have inevitably been relaunched even if Neal Adams and Roy Thomas hadn't worked together on the title but what would have been created would probably be decidedly different. Even without playing up hypotheticals, this is a run on the X-Men that offered a strong roadmap of what you could do with the title.Finishing off this collection is a three part story featuring the Angel written by Superman co-creator, Jerry Siegel. The book was written in 1968 during that time when the X-Men team was working separately but wouldn't be published until the book was in reprints. That makes it hard to fit properly within continuity since it features a pretty major change in the life of the Angel that kinda sorta contradicts dialogue in the rest of the collection. Beyond that, it feels like a book written by a Golden Age creator (it was!) and published in a time when the Silver Age of comics was coming to an end. I liked Siegel's take on mutant issues, though. That minor detail is an issue not given a lot of depth in these earlier stories but Jerry Siegel treats it in a manner that would be more common in the eighties era of the book.If the previous Epic volume was a series low point (it was), then this is one of the high points, providing one of the first definitive runs on the title. If you have never read the Neal Adams/ Roy Thomas issues of the X-Men, do yourself a favor and pick this volume up. Or pick up JUST the Adams/ Thomas issues. Trust me, those collections are available because I have one of them. ;)

This IS the X-Men!!! The end of the original run of the X-Men title! Finishing off with Neal Adams’ run as artist and Roy Thomas’ prose!! This was my introduction to the X-Men when I was young! This collection brings back those memories of long gone days of reading and trading our comics! This was long before these current horrific days of bagging and boarding and these ridiculous collectors and the accursed Speculators!! How they have ruined the joy of comic collecting!! This was also a time when writers actually wrote something that you could read!! And artists that drew with dynamic style!! Not like todays imposters that call themselves comic writers and artists!! So pick this up and slip back to a time when comics were thrilling and exciting and inspiring!!

Book arrived in perfect condition. My gift recipient will be pleased.

Werner Roth's art makes for decent if unexciting storytelling, but it's interesting to me how even the writing seems to improve beginning with issue #50 with Roth's departure. The real treasure in this edition of X-Men stories are the Steranko and Neal Adams issues.

Totally five stars ! Seeing the classics with the artwork of Neal Adams and the introduction of Havok and Polaris make these stories worthwhile if your a classic Xmen fan.

Great X-men comics for fans of 1960's and 1970's issues.

great x- men history

This Marvel Epic book features the final issues of the original X-Men from issues 46 to 66 from the original X-Men series from 1968 to 1970. The U.S. at the time these books were written was in the middle of the Civil Rights movement, which influences the plots of a number of these stories. It takes place after the death of the X-Men's leader and mentor Professor X has died (and before Professor X comes back to life later in the future). A political movement rises from the fear of mutants. The Sentinels return to track down all mutants. This book contains the first appearance of Cyclops' brother, Havoc. Magneto's daughter, Polaris, also first appears in these stories. Also the X-Men (and readers) finally get to see Magneto face (without his helmet). The X-Men never have seen the face of Magneto, their arch foe, before. They do not know that this silver haired stranger seks to be an ally is really Magnet. This facct is first revealed to the readers at the end of one of the issues in the story-arc in which Magneto musing to himself looks at his old Magnet helmet and says "apparently closthes do make the man."Also contained in this book are the back-up stories that appeared in the original books featuring the origin of each of the original X-Men. In sum, these stories show how Professor X finds these individuals and forms the first/original X-Men team. These stories take place before "X-Men 1" in which the team is completed with Jean Grey/Marvel Girl arrives to the school to join the X-Men. These stories tell what occurred before the events in "X-Men 1."These issues are the precursor to the New X-Men. I recommend this book.

Article avec défaut, Réexpédié dès réception. Impression décalée sur couverture (voir photos) . Défaut visible, comment expédier un tel article. Serait-ce pour cette raison que le prix avait baissé !? Est-ce le seul exemplaire de votre stock à présenter un tel défaut ? Un échange contre un article sans défaut n'était même pas proposé . A quoi sert une livraison aussi rapide si c'est pour recevoir des articles défectueux . Déçu .

I love this comic book. The story lines and art are great!!! Probably the best before Wolverine/Phoenix era.

das TPB war in einem exzellenten Zustand.

This volume wraps up the sixties adventures of Marvel's mixed-up mutants, and indeed that's where the title itself wrapped up, originally; it seems hard to believe now, but the X-Men just weren't a great seller when they first arrived. Rereading this material now, it's not that hard to see why; the original five X-Men were certainly developing, but were still far less interesting than most of their costumed contemporaries.Writer Arnold Drake and artist Werner Roth certainly were trying, plotwise; with Professor X dead, they have a go at breaking the team up and then alternating between the members, but this is soon given up. They introduce new ally Polaris and the villainous Mesmero, as well as featuring back-up tales of how the five teens came to join the X-Men in the first place. It's all fine, but nothing special.Then, at the last gasp, the new creative team of Roy Thomas and Neal Adams took over the ailing book, and it's suddenly like a whole new comic. Adams's incredible pencils and page layouts make everything simultaneously more real and more cinematic, a perfect presentation for the return of the Sentinels, the debut of Sauron and a trip to the Savage Land. Everything seems far more exciting, and their run, lasting less than a year, is worth buying this volume for alone.Sadly, it was not to be enough, and the book switched to reprints for the next five years. Still, it's great to have them collected nicely here as a testament to the work that probably could have saved the comic given more of a chance. Also included is a three-part tale of the Angel by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel; while very old-fashioned, it's an interesting curio.Extras include a handsome 13 pages of original art by Roth, Adams, Don Heck and Jim Steranko (who also created a couple of the issues contained here), 5 pages of colour guides by Adams, the covers and recap pages from X-Men Classics 1-3, which reprinted these stories, the cover to X-Men Visonaries: Neal Adams, and the covers to volumes 5 and 6 of the Marvel Masterworks.

Supersedes the one last Marvel Masterwork I had by adding a number of pre-Adam stories. The X-men at that point really was a little lacklustre compared with the other titles in the Marvel titles but with Neal Adams, the book suddenly became amazing and just a pity the title was stopped. Love all the new X-men tales but the originals are still pretty decent and it would have been great to see what stories would have been created on from issue 66, if only they had had a chance. A good selection of bonus items. I know I will probably upgrade the epic to the omnibus at some point if they ever re-release X-men omnibus 2