Giant-Size X-Men

Cover of Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975) by Gil Kane and Dave Cockrum

Giant-Size X-Men #1 is a special issue of the X-Men comic book series, published by Marvel Comics in 1975. It was written by Len Wein and illustrated by Dave Cockrum. Chris Claremont has an uncredited plot assist. (He came up with the idea of Polaris using her powers to propel Krakoa into space.) Though not a regular issue, it contained the first new X-Men story in five years, titled "Second Genesis." The issue serves as a link between the original X-Men and a new team. Chronologically it is placed after X-Men #66 and before X-Men #94. The 68-page book was published with a May 1975 cover date and distributed to newsstands in February of that year. The issue has been cited as a start point of the bronze age of comics, and is notable for expanding the membership of The X-Men from beyond the white American cast to one of a more international flavor, an attempt to attract more readers from outside the US,^[1] even if some characters were portrayed somewhat stereotypically.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Publication history

The X-Men title stopped producing new stories after #66 in March 1970. From December 1970 through April 1975, Marvel reprinted many of the older X-Men issues as #67–93. Following the May publication of Giant-Size X-Men #1, Marvel began again publishing new issues of X-Men with #94 in August 1975.^[7]

The comic also collects reprints from X-Men #43, #47 and #57.^[8]

Plot

The story opens in medias res, with Professor X recruiting a new team of X-Men, to rescue the original X-Men (Marvel Girl, Iceman and Angel [but not Beast, who had left the team], plus X-Men recruits Havok and Polaris), who had disappeared on a mission to the island of Krakoa, with only their leader Cyclops escaping. The new team consists of Sunfire and Banshee, who had been introduced in earlier X-Men comics; Wolverine, who had made his first appearance in The Incredible Hulk #181 (Oct. 1974); and the newly created Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Thunderbird. These members are gathered from all over the world, and Professor X uses his telepathic powers to teach them all English so that they can communicate with each other.

The team soon learns that Krakoa is not just an island, but a giant mutant as well. Despite personality clashes among the individual members, as well as a fatality, the new team succeeds in rescuing the old X-Men and destroying the entity by shooting it into outer space with Polaris' power. The issue ends by posing the question of the future of a 13-member X-Men team.

The later storyline "Deadly Genesis" offers a ret-con of this story, which tells how Professor X had initially recruited a different team before the events in this issue.

Credits

• Story, edits — Len Wein
• Pencils, cover inks — Dave Cockrum
• Cover pencils — Gil Kane
• Inks — Dave Cockrum & Peter Iro
• Letters — John Costanza
• Colors — Glynis Wein

Reprint

The "Second Genesis" story was reprinted in Classic X-Men #1 in September 1986, with substantial editing to reduce its length, and a new backup story by Claremont and John Bolton bridging the gap between this and the following issue, Uncanny X-Men #94.

Collected editions

Marvel Masterworks

Title	Volume	Material collected	Publication date	ISBN
Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men	1	Giant-Size X-Men #1; Uncanny X-Men #94–100	December 2009	978-0785137023

Epic Collections

Vol	Title	Material collected	Publication date	ISBN
5	Second Genesis	Giant Size X-Men #1; Uncanny X-Men #94-110; Iron Fist #14-15; Marvel Team-Up #53, #69-70, Annual #1; material from FOOM #10	April 11, 2017	978-1302903909

Essentials

Title	Volume	Material collected	Publication date	ISBN
Essential X-Men	1	X-Men #94–119; Giant-Sized X-Men #1	May 2008	978-0785132554

Panini Pocket Books

Title	Material collected	Publication date	ISBN
Second Genesis	Giant Size X-Men #1; Uncanny X-Men #94-103	July 2004	978-1904419402

Second issue

Marvel published a second issue of Giant-Size X-Men later in 1975. This November issue had no new material, instead featuring reprints of stories from X-Men #57, #58, and #59, written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Neal Adams.^[9]

Third and fourth issues

In 2005, Marvel published two new Giant Size X-Men issues to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original. Issue #3 in July contained a story written by Joss Whedon and illustrated by Neal Adams. The issue also reprinted several older X-Men team-ups: the group's appearance in Fantastic Four #28, an Avengers guest appearance in X-Men #9 and a story featuring Spider-Man in X-Men #35.^[10] In November, Chris Claremont penned a story for issue #4, with artwork by Neal Adams. It also reprinted material related to the death of Thunderbird from X-Men #94-95, Classic X-Men #3 and Uncanny X-Men #193.^[11]

40th Anniversary edition hardcover

The series has also been collected into a hardcover paperback titled Giant-Size X-Men: 40th Anniversary Edition. The hardcover collects Giant-Size X-Men #1, 3-4; Classic X-Men #1; X-Men Origins: Colossus; X-Men Origins: Wolverine; X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1-6; What If? (1989) #9, #23; and material from X-Men Gold #1. The second Giant-Sized issue was likely omitted, due to it being reprints of X-Men #57-59. The 440-page paperback was released June 2015. ISBN 978-0-7851-9777-5)

Dawn of X

Five Giant Size X-Men one-shots, all written by Jonathan Hickman, were released as part of Marvel's 2019 Dawn of X relaunch of its X-Men books between February and September 2020. The first, Giant Size X-Men: Jean Grey and Emma Frost, was drawn by Russell Dauterman and colored by Matt Wilson.^[12] The second, Giant-Size X-Men: Nightcrawler, was drawn by Alan Davis and colored by Carlos Lopez.^[13] The third, Giant-Size X-Men: Magneto, was drawn by Ramon Perez and colored by David Curiel.^[14] The fourth, Giant-Size X-Men: Fantomex, was drawn and colored by Rod Reis.^[15] The fifth, Giant-Size X-Men: Storm, was drawn by Dauterman and colored by Wilson.^[16]

Prints

Issue	Publication date	Writer	Artist	Colorist	Comic Book Roundup rating[17]	Estimated sales to North American retailers (first month)
Giant Size X-Men: Jean Grey and Emma Frost	February 26, 2020	Jonathan Hickman	Russell Dauterman	Matt Wilson	8.6 by 19 professional critics	63,077[18]
Giant-Size X-Men: Nightcrawler	March 25, 2020		Alan Davis	Carlos Lopez	7.5 by 16 professional critics	46,861[19]
Giant-Size X-Men: Magneto	July 15, 2020		Ramon Perez	David Curiel	7.7 by 13 professional critics	Data not yet available
Giant-Size X-Men: Fantomex	August 5, 2020		Rod Reis		8.2 by 7 professional critics
Giant-Size X-Men: Storm	September 16, 2020[20]		Russell Dauterman	Matt Wilson	8.7 by 12 professional critics

References

1. The Real Reason Marvel Created SHE-HULK - Nerdist
2. Darowski, Joseph J. (2014). X-Men and the Mutant Metaphor : Race and Gender in the Comic Books. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 84. ISBN 978-1-4422-3208-2. OCLC 877868390.
3. Hall, Richard A. (2019). The American superhero : encyclopedia of caped crusaders in history. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-4408-6124-6. OCLC 1082518830.
4. Austin, Allan W. (2019). All new, all different? : a history of race and the American superhero (First ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-4773-1898-0. OCLC 1117642004.
5. Keywords for Comics Studies. New York: NYU Press. 2021. p. 229. ISBN 978-1-4798-1668-2. OCLC 1201179081.
6. Flowers, Johnathan (2021). Serrano, Nhora Lucía (ed.). Graphic Spaces of Remembrance, Transaction, and Mimesis. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315643991. ISBN 9781315643991. S2CID 241961595.
7. Radford, Bill (1999-11-14). "'X-Men' comics return to simpler times". Telegraph Herald. pp. 3E. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
8. Giant-Size X-Men #1, ComicBookDB.com
9. Giant-Size X-Men #2, Grand Comics Database.
10. PREVIEW: Neal Adams' "Giant Size X-Men" #3 Story
11. Taking An Early Look at "Giant-Size X-Men" #4
12. Giant Size X-Men: Jean Grey and Emma Frost #1
13. Giant Size X-Men: Nightcrawler #1
14. Giant Size X-Men: Magneto #1
15. Giant Size X-Men: Fantomex #1
16. Terror, Jude (February 17, 2020). "Jonathan Hickman and Russell Dauterman Give Storm the Giant-Size X-Men Treatment in June". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
17. "Giant Size X-Men (2020)". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
18. "February 2020 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops". Comichron. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
19. "March 2020 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops". Comichron. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
20. "Marvel Comics' September 2020 comic book solicitations and covers". GamesRadar+. June 19, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.