Giant-Size X-Men

(Marvel, 1975)
™ and © Marvel Characters, Inc.

1975’s Giant Size X-Men #2 declared itself to be “an annual collection of The X-Men’s greatest battles.” Thirty years later, here’s #3. The lead story, an eight-pager, is cute, but it’s not enough to warrant the purchase. Joss Whedon’s plot is nice (with a little twist for those up on their X-history), and you have to give Neal Adams credit for apparently drawing this despite problems (sorry, but it’s not his best work!), but it’s essentially filler and fluff.

The real meat here consists of the reprints, showing The X-Men’s early battles against The Avengers (a diversion), The Fantastic Four (mind control), and Spider-Man (a misunderstanding). Most of Marvel’s original Giant-Size issues featured a new lead story, backed by reprints. Giant-Size X-Men always was an odd duck; the first issue introduced the All-New, All-Different in a book-length tale, while the second featured All-Old, All-Same reprints. This late arrival is equally odd, in that the new tale is the icing rather than the cake. You may enjoy them, but it’s hardly the thing itself.

— Jack Abramowitz

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