Here’s an out-of-nowhere mini ramble/review of the OG Giant Size X-Men #1 that you have no choice but to read, unless you just don’t read it in which case I can’t do anything about that really but shame you.
Shame.
I’ve been out of the game of actually reading comic books for quite awhile, not counting the occasional time when I get bored and look over something I've already read like 50 times just to look at the pretty pictures in them. It's kind of funny considering I frequently talk about them, kinda have a whole comic-adjacent licensed game retrospective series going on or something on a different website. Does that make me hypocritical in a sense? Who knows. What I do know is that I want to get back into the ol' reading funny mags game and so, well, here we are. I'll probably actually write about them here too, so I don't randomly explode out a barrage of snarky comments to unaware people in my actual real life. "How does Storm's mutant power work? How does she affect the complicated series of variables necessary to alter localized weather instantly? When she summons a giant storm front all around her which she does practically all the time, wouldn't that mean the surrounding areas suddenly feel the effects too? Does that mean Storm is just a fucking asshole, causing miles worth of innocent people to have to deal with sudden humidity and thermobaric pressure changes because of the dramatic whims of an uncaring goddess?" I'm still not allowed back at that Tim Horton's, not after the last time...
"I-I don't know who Gambit is, p-please let me leave" they said, "oh gods, those tentacles! Run!" they also said, it was kind of a mess.
I've decided to start reading something pretty influential in the comic world, not just for everyone's favourite mutant paramilitary team disguised as something ridiculous like a school, but also for the genre as a whole; Chris Claremont legendary Uncanny X-Men saga, that ran from 1975 to 1991. This run defined what capeshit comics would become over the next era, colloquially known as the 'bronze age'. This run lasted for 16 consecutive years, which is absolutely impossibly insane in the world of comic books. Like, record holding insane. 16 years, of the same writer and same continuity. Wild. I don't know if I'm going to read the entirety of those 16 years, but I'll give it my best go, until the kind of famously powerful Claremont melodrama filters me potentially.
The whole thing started with the real subject of this article; 1975's Giant Sized X-Men #1. The X-Men started all the way back in 1963 as I'm sure everyone reading this knows off by heart, but what a lot of people nowadays don't realize is that they were objectively a failure. The original X-Men run lasted for a little bit (66 issues to be specific), but it never had any readership or sales of any note or significance; Fantastic Four and eventually a little guy named Spider-Man dominated the Marvel sales charts, no one had time for some silly teenagers with astonishing powers. The series had actually been cancelled after #66 in 1970 due to overwhelmingly low sales, and the mutants everyone clearly didn't like in and out of universe were relegated to the dark pits of reprints...until Giant Size X-Men five years later.
Enter a very young baby writer, Chris Claremont. He had started at Marvel as a 'gofer'; "hey Chris, go-fer some coffee for me." He did some previous actual writing work at Marvel before Giant Size, but it was really minor. He did a single filler issue of Daredevil once, and contributed a villain for the Fantastic Four (Madrox the Multiple Man). He did also write a bit for my beloved character, Iron Fist, and even managed to secure a 15 issue or so run with him. But he eventually got noticed by Len Wein, Marvel's editor, who also noted that Claremont really liked the X-Men, for some reason, and also liked the purely-for-fun new mutants that Wein and artist David Cockrum had been working on that had been shown to him. Taking a chance, they decided to try and relaunch the actual C-list comic team of the X-Men just to see what happened, with an all-new cast of eclectic mutants. Just for shits and giggles, ya know? The decision was then made to have a debut relaunch with a whopping 68 colour pages, hence the 'Giant Size' name. This wasn't anything new for X-Men, as the F4 had a giant sized issue as well as Spider-Man, but still.
The bombastic and really fucking goofy dawn of a new era of overly melodramatic comic books.
Claremont wasn't credited for writing this in the actual book, as Len Wein did most of it, but Claremont was involved all the same bouncing ideas off his editor/boss and helping to shape the characters that he was planned to then have a go with afterwards. Cockrum was assigned as series artist which made sense considering he visually designed the new characters to begin with. Wein would go on to get co-writer credit for the next two issues before becoming the editor again, so it's fairly safe to say that the two writers were collaborating together there despite Claremont not having a credit in Giant Size. After this, Claremont would of course go on to have his 16 year run that actually revolutionized the comic world and turned about every one of the characters introduced into household pop culture names, so suffice to say Giant Size started something big here.
Some of Cockrum's character bible design sheets for some now very recognizable mutants. I like his sense of humour; "when drawing Nightie from the front, DO NOT connect the tail directly to his crotch-- you'll give the code fits!"
Seriously, 16 years; goddamn. It literally ran from 1975 to 1991, unbroken. It also introduced the world to plenty of Claremont's barely disguised fetishes of course, like the really obvious fondness for domineering women in lingerie and a really odd one of women having their arms turned into tentacle masses, though that one doesn't come in until later. It only happened three times, but that's still just such a bizarrely specific thing that you know Claremont was doing it on purpose.
Anyway, Giant Size X-Men #1. I’m a fan of a good cold open, so here’s the literal first page of Nightcrawler getting lynched by an angry mob before Xavier comes to his rescue and recruits him for some unspecified emergency mission.
No dramatic build-up or setting establishment, just an angry mob chasing guy-who-does-some-sort-of-crawling-at-night. Love it. Sets the more serious tone throughout pretty quickly. I also like how quick Kurt was to just say fuck it and decide to go down swinging, last stand style.
If you're asking yourself "why doesn't he just teleport away?" Well, shhhhhhh. Kurt's teleporting ability was really downplayed originally, like a lot of the X-Men's powers. It was kind of just a different time of action writing; they usually get one really cool power showcase per issue, then the rest of the time just punch around, old-fashioned style.
Cockrum is a really great classic comic style artist, by the way. I really like his dynamic and dramatic faces. Every major character has enough identifiable aspects to their face that you can recognize them right away, which is kind of important when there's a lot of characters crammed into a panel. He also had really consistent anatomy and knew how to have action poses and scenes that flow. That panel of Nightcrawler crouching in the flames I've always remembered for how jacked it makes him look.
Wolverine gets recruited next, there’s nothing really to bring up about it other than Wolvie’s very inconsistent set-up here based on what we’d get later with the character, but that has nothing to do with Len or Claremont. Wolverine was famously a very rushed character when he was introduced in Incredible Hulk a year or so before Giant Size. The only reason he was even included in this was that Claremont allegedly liked him and wanted some Canadian representation. Believe it or not, Wolverine wasn't even a mutant until he was included here; he didn't even have an origin yet, or even a normal person name yet. He was just a one-off random character Hulk fought once, designed to likely never to be seen again. Comics were just like that back in the day, goofy things happen when you have to make a new enemy of the week to hit your silly story deadline. “cOmIcS uSeD tO bE sO mUcH mOrE sErIoUs!” says some modern doomer grifter just now who's never even read a comic book, “tHeY uSeD tO bE a MyThOlOgY!”
From Incredible Hulk #180, art by Herbe Trimpe.
The introduction I really find fascinating for a reason or two is Storm. First, we get some sick art of tribal goddess Storm, topless and I like to think directly because of Claremont. Dave Cockrum I think really gets overshadowed by the later art in the run by John Byrne (spoilers!) who of course is exceptional, but Cockrum here is just as fantastic. It's a shame; I've read numerous discussions of Claremont's Uncanny X-Men that don't even mention Cockrum's name, despite him being essential to the design of the character's that these references attribute to Byrne instead. Poor David Cockrum.
"Well, she's an African goddess, so she should be topless" said Chris Claremont, notorious comic book pervert. "It will add some realism, Cockrum!" he says while licking his lips. I don't know if that actually happened, but...
Storm's been using her powers to help her tribesmen by ending droughts and shit while basically being worshipped as a goddess. So Xavier's recruitment tactic here is to tell her to stop LARP-ing which is just a wild move to be honest.
“God Storm, stop using your powers for the benefit of your people, providing lifebringing rain to your country and tribesmen as a benevolent goddess. That’s fake shit, Storm, a fantasy. Put on the spandex and do real shit like punching robots with us already, Storm.”
Some of Xavier’s recruitment speeches here are perhaps a little insane, like when he convinces Apache tribe member Thunderbird/John Proudstar to join up by negging him like an abusive partner, one who may also be just a little racially insensitive. Storm was already maybe a little iffy, but Thunderbird is especially so.
"Oh, well I guess you're just a coward then for not wanting to punch robots in spandex. Cool dude, way to be real lame. Guess you're just a cowardly Native American, then." Professor X, right there.
What's even funnier is that it actually works both times.
Oh, and they really want you to know that Colossus is a Soviet in this.
“For the people”, and all that. “Comrade”, or whatever. I'm surprised Xavier didn't call the Soviet Union fake here, to be honest.
I could go on for awhile here, so I won't go over Sunfire's recruitment. He's kind of just an asshole, there's not much to really say. I will just drop this here for Banshee though, who they want to see as being Irish as badly as they want to sell Colossus.
What is an 'opry'? Are the Irish supposed to be known for watching operas or something?
Team from all over the world get's recruited for some super dangerous mission, which leads us to one of the greatest and most famous X-Men team splash pages.
I’m still unclear if Xavier is the one who designed the newcomers of Colossus, Thunderbird and Storm’s clearly personalized and individually styled outfits. Like, did he decide that Storm was going to wear some shorts held up by nothing but a flimsy ring just so he could look at that sweet midriff? Was this the start of his midriff fascination that continued with the Ultimate comics? If he did, then damn dude, he has some really stylish fashion ideas to be honest. Tassels? He's fashion forward for sure. If Xavier didn't design these himself, then I'm grossly entertained by the idea of Colossus deciding to put himself in briefs and thigh high boots. The meme in me likes to think that Xavier had them pre-designed for the next wave of disposable students to put on then inevitably die in, that seems on-brand for the dangerously irresponsible teacher of Charles Xavier.
Anway, Colossus’s odd costume mistake with him wearing blue pants for some reason lasts until he transforms for the first time, and they’re never mentioned or seen again. Pretty sure they're actually just a colouring mistake.
Speaking of snazzy new costumes, Cyclops' reveal here is pretty sweet. Keep in mind some context here; the last time anyone saw Cyclops was actually 5 years previous, and he was a scrawny teenager.
Puberty hit him like a goddamn freight train. That, and the steroids Xavier was probably sneaking into his milkshakes. He's a really weird fucking dude.
The new team is sent to find out what happened to the original X-Men team. They went to investigate some strange readings on a random island, something happened, Cyclops was the only survivor with no memory of the events.
I’m just going to fast forward a little bit here as my snarky comments could last awhile. The new team bickers a lot, especially Sunfire who again is just oddly a really big asshole for some reason. The writing here is that classic hokey 70's stuff, lots of odd sayings and expressions and sassy remarks to the other characters. Here's some random panels as the new X-Men wander around a weird island.
Seriously Sunfire, why are you such an asshole? And stop saying 'misfit', it just makes it sound like a stand-in for something that I can't really identify.
Anyway, eventually they find out the island is literally sentient and calls itself Krakoa. Cockrum's art here is exceptional, he knew how to draw a good monster.
It's also itself a mutant? I don't know, just go with it. That's this era of comics in a nutshell; 'just go with it'.
Classic comic big action splash page incoming;
My favourite bit is Nightcrawler in the bottom there just aggressively shaking Krakoa’s leg. Props to his initiative and spirit, I guess.
How do they defeat Krakoa? Classic comic shit. You see, they supercharge Polaris (one of the original X-Men who has magnetic gravity powers, and shhhhh she's not related to Magneto yet) with lightning, then she shoots her gravity beam or whatever into the planet’s core somehow which apparently severs it from gravity? Then it launches into space.
One of my favourite 'take an old comic panel out of context' picks. Cockrum really liked his dramatic face close-ups.
“CoMiCs UsEd To bE SeRiOuS aNd NeVeR hAd SiLly ThInGs In ThEm BeFoRe CuRreNt YeAr!” the grifter says, about books meant for children. "wHaT hApPeNeD tO tHe SeRiOuS sTuFf?!"
The X-Men launch an entire island and the goofy monster on it into space by shooting a beam into the core of the earth. Classic comic shit. I absolutely love it.
Overall, it’s about what you expect from a mid 70’s comic book. The action is all ‘canned heat’ (“by gods, this is our hardest fight yet! Fight until the last, X-Men!” only for them to win in the very next panel with little effort), and the dialogue is that classic hokey-ness. But the content is why this is such a famous and monumental comic.
The first bit is that this entirely revived the X-Men. Giant Size revived them utterly. If it wasn't for Giant Size, you wouldn't even know who they were, I cannot stress that enough. They were nobodies who hadn't had a new comic or even an appearance in 5 years before this came out. Then Giant Size came out, smashed sales records, and went on to define an entire new era of the team, a run that would entirely define the genre going forward with it's focus on melodrama and character work. Giant Size was such an utter slamdunk that it still holds some sales records to this day, beaten only by the relaunch of the series in 1991, also written by Chris Claremont. It's only beaten by its direct descendant, put some respect on Giant Size's name. It was a slamdunk that came out of nowhere, like the guy wasn’t even on the court yet and then jumps in, does a cool flip and just murders that ball on the hoop. I think I lost the metaphor there, but this is the root cause of a comic team becoming some of the most instantly recognizable pop culture characters of all time and the single most defining comic characters of all time, and it was all started by Giant Size X-Men #1.
The other reason it’s so fondly remembered ultimately I think is the focus on the international characters. It was no accident that each of the new X-Men introduced here are from different countries and backgrounds, if you didn't notice. This broader focus, on an African goddess and a Soviet hunk toiling away on a commune farm, defined the team going forward, and really solidified the ensemble cast that they'd be from now on. The original team was just all white teenagers, basically; Iceman was a jokester, and Beast was a jokester, and Cyclops was a jokester...Giant Size not only made them diverse in nationality and background, but also in personality, even if it was written very hokey. Wolverine was the gruff loner who always wanted to claw things, Storm was the curious but dramatic and regal stoic, and Colossus really wanted to jump out of the plane as he was just a goofy Russian guy; they all had some defining aspect of them that wasn't just their silly outfit or power set. Sunfire was just an asshole though, I really don't know why he was so mean.
Len Wein was famously a real hippie dippie dude, and Claremont was really into politics (he even studied political science as a university degree before he worked at Marvel) so this international focus makes sense. It was also partly business driven by the desire to have more international readership, but I mean the thought was still there all the same, credit where it's due.
TL;DR: Giant Size X-Men #1 was a really charmingly goofy comic book that entirely revived, reinvented and led to the X-Men becoming pop culture dominating behemoths, and kickstarted an uninterrupted run that lasted 16 years with the same writer, and itself redefined the era of comics around it. Everything tried to copy Chris Claremont's Uncanny X-Men after it started, including things from Marvel themselves.
Last but not least, here’s an out of context panel of Wolverine saying what anyone attempting to read through the early Claremont melodrama was likely thinking.
Claremont's Uncanny X-Men was just a little dramatic, is what you can take from this whole post.
There you go, a lot of me just rambling about a 50 year old comic. You’re welcome. Maybe now they'll let me back into Tim Horton's.
Shame.
I’ve been out of the game of actually reading comic books for quite awhile, not counting the occasional time when I get bored and look over something I've already read like 50 times just to look at the pretty pictures in them. It's kind of funny considering I frequently talk about them, kinda have a whole comic-adjacent licensed game retrospective series going on or something on a different website. Does that make me hypocritical in a sense? Who knows. What I do know is that I want to get back into the ol' reading funny mags game and so, well, here we are. I'll probably actually write about them here too, so I don't randomly explode out a barrage of snarky comments to unaware people in my actual real life. "How does Storm's mutant power work? How does she affect the complicated series of variables necessary to alter localized weather instantly? When she summons a giant storm front all around her which she does practically all the time, wouldn't that mean the surrounding areas suddenly feel the effects too? Does that mean Storm is just a fucking asshole, causing miles worth of innocent people to have to deal with sudden humidity and thermobaric pressure changes because of the dramatic whims of an uncaring goddess?" I'm still not allowed back at that Tim Horton's, not after the last time...
"I-I don't know who Gambit is, p-please let me leave" they said, "oh gods, those tentacles! Run!" they also said, it was kind of a mess.
I've decided to start reading something pretty influential in the comic world, not just for everyone's favourite mutant paramilitary team disguised as something ridiculous like a school, but also for the genre as a whole; Chris Claremont legendary Uncanny X-Men saga, that ran from 1975 to 1991. This run defined what capeshit comics would become over the next era, colloquially known as the 'bronze age'. This run lasted for 16 consecutive years, which is absolutely impossibly insane in the world of comic books. Like, record holding insane. 16 years, of the same writer and same continuity. Wild. I don't know if I'm going to read the entirety of those 16 years, but I'll give it my best go, until the kind of famously powerful Claremont melodrama filters me potentially.
The whole thing started with the real subject of this article; 1975's Giant Sized X-Men #1. The X-Men started all the way back in 1963 as I'm sure everyone reading this knows off by heart, but what a lot of people nowadays don't realize is that they were objectively a failure. The original X-Men run lasted for a little bit (66 issues to be specific), but it never had any readership or sales of any note or significance; Fantastic Four and eventually a little guy named Spider-Man dominated the Marvel sales charts, no one had time for some silly teenagers with astonishing powers. The series had actually been cancelled after #66 in 1970 due to overwhelmingly low sales, and the mutants everyone clearly didn't like in and out of universe were relegated to the dark pits of reprints...until Giant Size X-Men five years later.
Enter a very young baby writer, Chris Claremont. He had started at Marvel as a 'gofer'; "hey Chris, go-fer some coffee for me." He did some previous actual writing work at Marvel before Giant Size, but it was really minor. He did a single filler issue of Daredevil once, and contributed a villain for the Fantastic Four (Madrox the Multiple Man). He did also write a bit for my beloved character, Iron Fist, and even managed to secure a 15 issue or so run with him. But he eventually got noticed by Len Wein, Marvel's editor, who also noted that Claremont really liked the X-Men, for some reason, and also liked the purely-for-fun new mutants that Wein and artist David Cockrum had been working on that had been shown to him. Taking a chance, they decided to try and relaunch the actual C-list comic team of the X-Men just to see what happened, with an all-new cast of eclectic mutants. Just for shits and giggles, ya know? The decision was then made to have a debut relaunch with a whopping 68 colour pages, hence the 'Giant Size' name. This wasn't anything new for X-Men, as the F4 had a giant sized issue as well as Spider-Man, but still.
The bombastic and really fucking goofy dawn of a new era of overly melodramatic comic books.
Claremont wasn't credited for writing this in the actual book, as Len Wein did most of it, but Claremont was involved all the same bouncing ideas off his editor/boss and helping to shape the characters that he was planned to then have a go with afterwards. Cockrum was assigned as series artist which made sense considering he visually designed the new characters to begin with. Wein would go on to get co-writer credit for the next two issues before becoming the editor again, so it's fairly safe to say that the two writers were collaborating together there despite Claremont not having a credit in Giant Size. After this, Claremont would of course go on to have his 16 year run that actually revolutionized the comic world and turned about every one of the characters introduced into household pop culture names, so suffice to say Giant Size started something big here.
Some of Cockrum's character bible design sheets for some now very recognizable mutants. I like his sense of humour; "when drawing Nightie from the front, DO NOT connect the tail directly to his crotch-- you'll give the code fits!"
Anyway, Giant Size X-Men #1. I’m a fan of a good cold open, so here’s the literal first page of Nightcrawler getting lynched by an angry mob before Xavier comes to his rescue and recruits him for some unspecified emergency mission.
If you're asking yourself "why doesn't he just teleport away?" Well, shhhhhhh. Kurt's teleporting ability was really downplayed originally, like a lot of the X-Men's powers. It was kind of just a different time of action writing; they usually get one really cool power showcase per issue, then the rest of the time just punch around, old-fashioned style.
Wolverine gets recruited next, there’s nothing really to bring up about it other than Wolvie’s very inconsistent set-up here based on what we’d get later with the character, but that has nothing to do with Len or Claremont. Wolverine was famously a very rushed character when he was introduced in Incredible Hulk a year or so before Giant Size. The only reason he was even included in this was that Claremont allegedly liked him and wanted some Canadian representation. Believe it or not, Wolverine wasn't even a mutant until he was included here; he didn't even have an origin yet, or even a normal person name yet. He was just a one-off random character Hulk fought once, designed to likely never to be seen again. Comics were just like that back in the day, goofy things happen when you have to make a new enemy of the week to hit your silly story deadline. “cOmIcS uSeD tO bE sO mUcH mOrE sErIoUs!” says some modern doomer grifter just now who's never even read a comic book, “tHeY uSeD tO bE a MyThOlOgY!”
From Incredible Hulk #180, art by Herbe Trimpe.
Look at this goofy little fuckin' dude. Look at his mask, he doesn't even have eye coverings yet. His claws were just part of his gloves, he didn't even have actual claws yet. Hilarious.
The introduction I really find fascinating for a reason or two is Storm. First, we get some sick art of tribal goddess Storm, topless and I like to think directly because of Claremont. Dave Cockrum I think really gets overshadowed by the later art in the run by John Byrne (spoilers!) who of course is exceptional, but Cockrum here is just as fantastic. It's a shame; I've read numerous discussions of Claremont's Uncanny X-Men that don't even mention Cockrum's name, despite him being essential to the design of the character's that these references attribute to Byrne instead. Poor David Cockrum.
"Well, she's an African goddess, so she should be topless" said Chris Claremont, notorious comic book pervert. "It will add some realism, Cockrum!" he says while licking his lips. I don't know if that actually happened, but...
Storm's been using her powers to help her tribesmen by ending droughts and shit while basically being worshipped as a goddess. So Xavier's recruitment tactic here is to tell her to stop LARP-ing which is just a wild move to be honest.
“God Storm, stop using your powers for the benefit of your people, providing lifebringing rain to your country and tribesmen as a benevolent goddess. That’s fake shit, Storm, a fantasy. Put on the spandex and do real shit like punching robots with us already, Storm.”
Some of Xavier’s recruitment speeches here are perhaps a little insane, like when he convinces Apache tribe member Thunderbird/John Proudstar to join up by negging him like an abusive partner, one who may also be just a little racially insensitive. Storm was already maybe a little iffy, but Thunderbird is especially so.
"Oh, well I guess you're just a coward then for not wanting to punch robots in spandex. Cool dude, way to be real lame. Guess you're just a cowardly Native American, then." Professor X, right there.
What's even funnier is that it actually works both times.
Oh, and they really want you to know that Colossus is a Soviet in this.
“For the people”, and all that. “Comrade”, or whatever. I'm surprised Xavier didn't call the Soviet Union fake here, to be honest.
I could go on for awhile here, so I won't go over Sunfire's recruitment. He's kind of just an asshole, there's not much to really say. I will just drop this here for Banshee though, who they want to see as being Irish as badly as they want to sell Colossus.
What is an 'opry'? Are the Irish supposed to be known for watching operas or something?
Team from all over the world get's recruited for some super dangerous mission, which leads us to one of the greatest and most famous X-Men team splash pages.
I’m still unclear if Xavier is the one who designed the newcomers of Colossus, Thunderbird and Storm’s clearly personalized and individually styled outfits. Like, did he decide that Storm was going to wear some shorts held up by nothing but a flimsy ring just so he could look at that sweet midriff? Was this the start of his midriff fascination that continued with the Ultimate comics? If he did, then damn dude, he has some really stylish fashion ideas to be honest. Tassels? He's fashion forward for sure. If Xavier didn't design these himself, then I'm grossly entertained by the idea of Colossus deciding to put himself in briefs and thigh high boots. The meme in me likes to think that Xavier had them pre-designed for the next wave of disposable students to put on then inevitably die in, that seems on-brand for the dangerously irresponsible teacher of Charles Xavier.
Anway, Colossus’s odd costume mistake with him wearing blue pants for some reason lasts until he transforms for the first time, and they’re never mentioned or seen again. Pretty sure they're actually just a colouring mistake.
Speaking of snazzy new costumes, Cyclops' reveal here is pretty sweet. Keep in mind some context here; the last time anyone saw Cyclops was actually 5 years previous, and he was a scrawny teenager.
Puberty hit him like a goddamn freight train. That, and the steroids Xavier was probably sneaking into his milkshakes. He's a really weird fucking dude.
The new team is sent to find out what happened to the original X-Men team. They went to investigate some strange readings on a random island, something happened, Cyclops was the only survivor with no memory of the events.
I’m just going to fast forward a little bit here as my snarky comments could last awhile. The new team bickers a lot, especially Sunfire who again is just oddly a really big asshole for some reason. The writing here is that classic hokey 70's stuff, lots of odd sayings and expressions and sassy remarks to the other characters. Here's some random panels as the new X-Men wander around a weird island.
Seriously Sunfire, why are you such an asshole? And stop saying 'misfit', it just makes it sound like a stand-in for something that I can't really identify.
Anyway, eventually they find out the island is literally sentient and calls itself Krakoa. Cockrum's art here is exceptional, he knew how to draw a good monster.
It's also itself a mutant? I don't know, just go with it. That's this era of comics in a nutshell; 'just go with it'.
Classic comic big action splash page incoming;
My favourite bit is Nightcrawler in the bottom there just aggressively shaking Krakoa’s leg. Props to his initiative and spirit, I guess.
How do they defeat Krakoa? Classic comic shit. You see, they supercharge Polaris (one of the original X-Men who has magnetic gravity powers, and shhhhh she's not related to Magneto yet) with lightning, then she shoots her gravity beam or whatever into the planet’s core somehow which apparently severs it from gravity? Then it launches into space.
One of my favourite 'take an old comic panel out of context' picks. Cockrum really liked his dramatic face close-ups.
“CoMiCs UsEd To bE SeRiOuS aNd NeVeR hAd SiLly ThInGs In ThEm BeFoRe CuRreNt YeAr!” the grifter says, about books meant for children. "wHaT hApPeNeD tO tHe SeRiOuS sTuFf?!"
The X-Men launch an entire island and the goofy monster on it into space by shooting a beam into the core of the earth. Classic comic shit. I absolutely love it.
Overall, it’s about what you expect from a mid 70’s comic book. The action is all ‘canned heat’ (“by gods, this is our hardest fight yet! Fight until the last, X-Men!” only for them to win in the very next panel with little effort), and the dialogue is that classic hokey-ness. But the content is why this is such a famous and monumental comic.
The first bit is that this entirely revived the X-Men. Giant Size revived them utterly. If it wasn't for Giant Size, you wouldn't even know who they were, I cannot stress that enough. They were nobodies who hadn't had a new comic or even an appearance in 5 years before this came out. Then Giant Size came out, smashed sales records, and went on to define an entire new era of the team, a run that would entirely define the genre going forward with it's focus on melodrama and character work. Giant Size was such an utter slamdunk that it still holds some sales records to this day, beaten only by the relaunch of the series in 1991, also written by Chris Claremont. It's only beaten by its direct descendant, put some respect on Giant Size's name. It was a slamdunk that came out of nowhere, like the guy wasn’t even on the court yet and then jumps in, does a cool flip and just murders that ball on the hoop. I think I lost the metaphor there, but this is the root cause of a comic team becoming some of the most instantly recognizable pop culture characters of all time and the single most defining comic characters of all time, and it was all started by Giant Size X-Men #1.
The other reason it’s so fondly remembered ultimately I think is the focus on the international characters. It was no accident that each of the new X-Men introduced here are from different countries and backgrounds, if you didn't notice. This broader focus, on an African goddess and a Soviet hunk toiling away on a commune farm, defined the team going forward, and really solidified the ensemble cast that they'd be from now on. The original team was just all white teenagers, basically; Iceman was a jokester, and Beast was a jokester, and Cyclops was a jokester...Giant Size not only made them diverse in nationality and background, but also in personality, even if it was written very hokey. Wolverine was the gruff loner who always wanted to claw things, Storm was the curious but dramatic and regal stoic, and Colossus really wanted to jump out of the plane as he was just a goofy Russian guy; they all had some defining aspect of them that wasn't just their silly outfit or power set. Sunfire was just an asshole though, I really don't know why he was so mean.
Len Wein was famously a real hippie dippie dude, and Claremont was really into politics (he even studied political science as a university degree before he worked at Marvel) so this international focus makes sense. It was also partly business driven by the desire to have more international readership, but I mean the thought was still there all the same, credit where it's due.
TL;DR: Giant Size X-Men #1 was a really charmingly goofy comic book that entirely revived, reinvented and led to the X-Men becoming pop culture dominating behemoths, and kickstarted an uninterrupted run that lasted 16 years with the same writer, and itself redefined the era of comics around it. Everything tried to copy Chris Claremont's Uncanny X-Men after it started, including things from Marvel themselves.
Last but not least, here’s an out of context panel of Wolverine saying what anyone attempting to read through the early Claremont melodrama was likely thinking.
Claremont's Uncanny X-Men was just a little dramatic, is what you can take from this whole post.
There you go, a lot of me just rambling about a 50 year old comic. You’re welcome. Maybe now they'll let me back into Tim Horton's.
