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Dave B Stewart
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Posted: 18 August 2018 at 8:00pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

In the pencil practice thread, there’s talk of what happens after JB’s original splash in Elsewhen.  Talk of X-Men 138 reminded me of how much I loved the issue.  Before being able to access scans on a whim, this issue gave me the near 20 year history of the team in 22 pages.

I’ve wracked my brain on this, but I can’t think of another issue in any other series that provided such an overview.  Does anyone know of a similar issue?  Thanks.
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Brian Hague
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Posted: 18 August 2018 at 8:24pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

"Album issues" of this type are among my favorites, but I believe that X-Men #138 is unique in how comprehensively it deals with the team's history. 

Other issues that look backwards are... 

Captain America #255, also drawn by JB and shot from his pencils if memory serves; 

Iron Man #122, largely a retelling of his origin, but with a one-page "fast forward" taking us to the then-present day; 

Hulk #227 which gives a somewhat impressionistic view of the Hulk's past from the Hulk's point-of-view; 

Action Comics #500, in which Superman himself conducts a tour of the newly built Superman Museum and tells stories from his past; 

Spider-Man #191 in which Peter visits Uncle Ben's grave and brings him up to date on how his life has been going; 

Captain America #112 which looks back on his WWII career to the present. That was Kirby's last issue as the main artist on Cap until his return in 1976; 

The Untold Legend of the Batman mini-series #1-3, in which Batman reviews his past to find clues to who is waging a psychological war upon him in the present;

The Secrets of the Legion of Super-Heroes mini-series #1-3, in which the team gathers and reviews their history to find which of them is secretly the child of Legion financier R.J. Brande.

Sub-Mariner #37, in which Roy Thomas and John Severin take us back through Namor's past from the Golden Age to the present.

I'm certain there must be others, but these are all that come to mind at the moment.


Edited by Brian Hague on 18 August 2018 at 8:41pm
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Brian Hague
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Posted: 18 August 2018 at 8:35pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply

Legion of Super-Heroes #283 features a solo story looking back at the past of Wildfire, who relates some previously unknown bits about where he came from.

Legion of Super-Heroes #306 is a look back at the history of Star Boy as he reviews his romance with Dream Girl and the votes roll in on the latest Legion leadership race.

I have a vague recollection of the latter issues of Thomas's All-Star Squadron doing special issues featuring Robotman, Hawkman, and others but I don't think I ever read those. I can't say whether they contain comprehensive looks back at those character histories.

Looking it up, I believe Marvel Super Action #11 reprints the contents of Captain America #112.


Edited by Brian Hague on 18 August 2018 at 8:49pm
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Dave Phelps
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Posted: 19 August 2018 at 5:13am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

Five of the last seven issues of All-Star Squadron were origin issues for various series regulars (Liberty Belle, Shining Knight, Robotman, Johnny Quick and Tarantula). More or less "companion pieces" to the then-recently started Secret Origins series.

Anyway, Fantastic Four #190 was a kind of overview to date of the series, although IIRC it was somewhat focused on previous team break-ups.

Avengers #280 was the history of the Avengers through Jarvis' eyes.

I don't recall either as being as detailed as X-Men #138, but I believe they hit the highlights.


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John Byrne

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Posted: 19 August 2018 at 9:32am | IP Logged | 5 post reply

I’ve wracked my brain on this, but I can’t think of another issue in any other series that provided such an overview. Does anyone know of a similar issue?

≠≠≠

I don't recall either as being as detailed as X-Men #138, but I believe they hit the highlights.

••

So. no...?

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John Byrne

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Posted: 19 August 2018 at 9:34am | IP Logged | 6 post reply

Looking back, I think that issue was a bit too much on the navel-gazing side. After all, in a rapidly shrinking marketplace, we really needed every issue to be a grab-and-hold affair, which I cannot see in 138.

Remember, every issue is the first issue for somebody, and 22 pages of homework does not make for an enticing first issue!

(Gotta feel sorry for the kid who's first issue was 137, and who came back to find 138!)

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Tim O Neill
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Posted: 19 August 2018 at 10:04am | IP Logged | 7 post reply



I feel #138 is more effective than any other flashback I have seen because Jean’s funeral is a framing device for the story.  It brings a whole level of somber reflection that sets it apart and gives it gravitas.  You;re not just seeing the history of the X-Men, you are seeing the important role Jean played in the story, which I didn’t really know when I read #136-137 as a kid.  I understood Jean was a team member and her death was significant, but the funeral really hit it home.  “Elegy” followed up “The Fate of the Phoenix” and gave us a necessary way to grieve and helped give the whole “Dark Phoenix” story a proper coda.  


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Mark Haslett
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Posted: 19 August 2018 at 10:20am | IP Logged | 8 post reply

JB: (Gotta feel sorry for the kid who's first issue was 137, and who came back to find 138!)

**

I see what you mean.

Another thread just listed the actual sales from these years and it was a couple years after this issue before sales skyrocketed. [edit: well after JB left the book]

But as a reader, this "homework" was anything but -- it was more like a super-bonus, cast of thousands feast of action. And in the end, it was goodbye Cyclops (much more literally than anyone realized, I'm sure!)

It was this issue that hooked me for for the long-haul with the impression that this series was like a long novel that was unfolding in chapters.

THAT impression may have been one worth avoiding, coming as it did with the sticky-tar of the Death of Phoenix-- but that's another topic.

I know there are other flashback issues, but there are none that hold a candle to X-Men 138.

Edited by Mark Haslett on 19 August 2018 at 11:31am
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Eric Sofer
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Posted: 19 August 2018 at 10:57am | IP Logged | 9 post reply

Mr. Byrne, I have wondered about this since that era. X-Men #138 was an "album" issue. There was a Fantastic Four break-up at that time including such an album book... FF #190 was mentioned and I think that's it. Another book or two had such - I don't remember them specifically at this late date - maybe Captain America, maybe the Avengers - but they all seemed to come out at the same general time.

I am curious if this was an unannounced event by whomever was running things at the time, or just a coincidence. You vas dere, Charlie... can you expound, please?
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Michael Penn
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Posted: 19 August 2018 at 11:03am | IP Logged | 10 post reply

Because I'd been a longtime reader, I nostalgically enjoyed #138. And because I'd become a Byrne-Austin fan, I enjoyed seeing their quick-takes on the stories that predated them. But looking back, I was too old a reader by then. It wasn't much afterward that I stopped reading comicbooks altogether. Whereas I appreciated the breather of the issue, the downtime to reflect on the momentous run up to the death of Jean Grey (quite shocking for anyone who'd read the original team!), and I would not say that anything in the issue was handled anything but expertly -- I now understand that a new reader doesn't need or want a break. These are superheroes! Get to the action! 

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Cory Vandernet
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Posted: 19 August 2018 at 11:03am | IP Logged | 11 post reply

Secret Origins Annual 1 starring Doom Patrol was an overview issue very similar in scope to X-Men 138. Story and Art by Paul Kupperberg and John Byrne
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Charles Valderrama
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Posted: 19 August 2018 at 11:13am | IP Logged | 12 post reply

(Gotta feel sorry for the kid who's first issue was 137, and who came back to find 138!)

******
That kid was ME (sorta)!!!! I had been following JB on IRON FIST and MARVEL TEAM UP but not UNCANNY.... by the time I realized you were the artist of that book, the issue on the stands was #136... so I jumped in and relied on my friends (who were longtime readers) to catch me up on the events until I was able to read the earlier issues myself.

Still,I appreciated #138 for helping me catch up on X-Men history and being able to see JB draw the team (and villains!) in its various incarnations!

-C!
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