With the departure of both Chris Claremont and Jim Lee from X-Men titles in early 90s, there were 8 ongoing series with each having their own team. In case of The Uncanny X-Men and X-Men books, we saw Scott Lobdell, Fabian Nicieza, filling in for Claremont. However for Lee, he was succeeded by Brandon Peterson initially followed by John Romita Jr and later by Joe Madureira in Uncanny X-Men where as Andy Kubert would remain a long time artist for X-Men similar to his brother Adam who remained for Wolverine
Other titles saw multiple changes to their lineup as well. Joe Quesada for X-Factor didn’t continue for long while Greg Capullo did the same for X-Force
Below are some of the most memorable covers and panels by the artists who became part of X-Books in the post-Claremont & Lee era (not incl. artists who exclusively worked on a limited series run):
Joe Quesada
Brandon Peterson
John Romita Jr.
JR JR’s Cable cover is included because he worked on Uncanny X-Men titles as a regular
Andy Kubert
Adam Kubert
Jae Lee
Ian Churchill
Greg Capullo
Joe Madureira
End Note
The mid-90s X-Books may not be recognized by many as good as Claremont era team’s work but they left an indelible mark on readers for years to come
Jack Kirby with some of Marvel Legends (top to bottom):
George Perez
Alan Moore
Joe Simon
Erik Larsen, Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee
Neal Adams
Stan Lee and John Romita
Frank Miller
John Byrne
Stan Lee
If Marvel Age was a tesseract then its three sides would be represented by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. However, the age started with Fantastic Four no. 1
What remained incomplete at DC Comics (New Gods), saw a proper foundation being established at Marvel. Jack “The King” Kirby had won praise for introducing a line-up of characters that were not typically superheroic or cliche
The catalyst for both may have been biblical stories about the creation of the universe but in case of Eternals, it drew a lot of inspiration from Greek Mythology
The team may not have had the success in the real world when it comes to long-run publishing similar to Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four etc., but they sure left a mark on Marvel Universe and the reasons behind its existence within the realm of fiction
Over the decades, various writers have explored the possibilities that can be used to garner readers’ interest. Thanos turns out to be the son of an Eternals couple with gene of Deviants. One of the Eternals, namely Sersi, was a member of the Avengers where she fell in love with Dane Whitman, the Black Knight. Both underwent a bonding process of gann josin which would later expose Whitman to Eternals’ powers…briefly
But while this happened in the 90s, one of the best short story was written by Len Kaminski entitled “Fear the Reaper”. This 3-part story pitted the Avengers, led by Black Knight, bringing the team up against one the team’s darkest as well as dreadful foes: The Grim Reaper
The team’s roster was minus the conventional Avengers such as Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Ant Man, Wasp etc. Instead, the team had an Inhuman (Crystal, then Quicksilver’s wife), Sersi (Eternal), the Olympian Hercules (hero of Olympia but not an Eternal) and Vision (the only classic Avenger)
Of all the teams in Marvel Universe, the Avengers have had the most to deal with Eternals and their extended family (especially Thanos and Star Fox). This story is a must read for anyone who is a fan of both teams
With the late 90s, Marvel started to experiment with Indy writers’ approach for its major characters. The era known as Marvel Knights era, also brought in some of the best writers from across the pond, namely Mark Millar, Paul Jenkins, Garth Ennis but another writer was given the task of reviving the Eternals. His name is Neil Gaiman and like Frank Miller, he redefined the team for 21st century readership. This 12-part series is considered one the best runs in Marvel and second only to Kirby’s work in Eternals titles’s history
Despite their turbulent publishing history, the Eternals comics offer a rich story telling about Marvel Universe, the origin of species: of humanoids, of deviants, of titans and our favorite superheroes
Here, Jack Kirby and Neil Gaiman represent the masterclass
Stan had decided to quit if his pitch wouldn’t get accepted. The Justice League was in it’s second year at DC Comics. It was a resounding success for it was a team of A-list Superheroes. The then Marvel’s publisher, Martin Goodman, wanted Stan to have something similar but he (Stan) was on a different trajectory
Upon his wife’s encouragement, Stan pitched a new comic magazine that would focus on a family who accidentally are exposed to cosmic rays that would give them superpowers. The man who would illustrate the idea flawlessly would be none other than Jack Kirby. Somehow, Goodman gave the go-ahead and the result was the beginning of the Marvel Age of Comics
It’s worth reminding that what Avengers are today and the X-Men were in the 90s, it was the Fantastic Four that redefined the concept of superheroes. As stated earlier, DC’s Justice League like it’s predecessor Justice Society was a team of A-list heroes but the FF despite being unknowns, a family of various temperaments would resonate so profoundly with the readers at the time because they would look like a family next door. This gave Marvel the secret recipe for a successful content strategy that would span for decades, even proving to be successful for it’s studios
But besides being a team of relatable characters, the FF are the reason that Marvel has a well organized space realm. Even on Earth-616, some of the characters introduced in FF comics went on to become members of other teams due to being extremely popular with the readers. The list of important characters (other than FF mainstays) and races is as follows:
The Kree (incl. Ronan the Accuser)
The Skrulls (incl. Lyja)
Galactus
Silver Surfer
Uatu
The Black Panther
Mad Thinker
The Inhumans
Annihilus
Dragon Man
Moloids
Agatha Harkness
Him aka Adam Warlock
Nova (Frankie Raye)
The Nova Corps
Terrax
Nathanial Richards (whose futuristic descendant is Kang)
Ahab
Mobius. M. Mobius
The list of names may not be complete but it is enough to show that how much one comic magazine influenced it’s sister titles which can now be seen on the silver screen
Fantastic Rosters
The team has had some of the most iconic rosters
Doctor Doom
“Your enemies define you” and no truer it is than in the case of FF
A psychologically complex character, a genius, a scientist and the one who doesn’t shy away from facing darkest of magic & mystic forces head on. Perhaps the greatest creation of Stan and Jack within the FF-verse and possibly in the entire Marvel Universe
This antagonist has crossed paths with Avengers, Doctor Strange, X-Men; who dared to strike at Galactus, who sees eye-to-eye with Kang the Conqueror. One can’t think of his equal in the comic book industry. He is unique in his own way much like Joker in DC Comics
In Marvel’s 80 years of existence, the impact of Fantastic Four cannot be understated, both within Marvel as well as within the industry itself
The 70s was a special decade in Marvel’s history due to external influences on comics
Blaxploitation, TV series & Movies adaptation to comics, rights to publish stories of Conan and Doc Savage. While these influences were making their mark, another external influence was Kung Fu thanks to Bruce Lee’s movies and David Carridine’s series but what makes this rare gem is the fact that it meshed the martial arts heroes in a quintessential Marvel Team-Up format (another highlight of 70s Marvel)
The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu issue no. 31 had the most high-profile Team-Up of Martial Arts superheroes one could ever think of. The black and white comic series, published to meet the demands of growing readership of Kung Fu fans had recurring characters such as The Sons of the White Tiger, The White Tiger, Shang Chi, Iron Fist, Colleen Wing and Misty Knight but in this particular issue, the team-up was between Shang Chi, Iron Fist, The White Tiger and the Avenger, Jack of Hearts in which they go up against The Corporation
Three Martial Arts Superheroes and a soon to be Avenger go up against a nation-wide criminal-political organization with a personal connection to The White Tiger. Is there anything left to build the excitement?
Marvel’s decade of the 70s was very turbulent with one Editor-in-Chief stepping down or leaving after another but the level of creativity that was unleashed in that era remains unmatched to this day. Whether it was redefining X-Men, introducing Vampires, introducing anti-heroes such as Wolverine and the Punisher, introducing diverse characters inspired by Hollywood craze at the time; the amount of work published especially for Kung Fu has never been done with such passion ever since
Surely the series and this issue in particular is must read
