X-Men in 1969
Steranko left the series, so now we’ve traded sublime art for merely very good Don Heck art. I don’t mean to cast any aspersions to Don Heck or any other artists who have graced this series thus far, but Steranko’s art elevates everything. In the case of X-Men. it’s so amazing to see how inspired illustrations can elevate a mediocre story.
But we’re eventually rescued by Neal Adams’ pencils and the introduction of Alex Summers, code-named Havok and Cyclops’ brother. The mutants have also finally become “the mutant menace” thanks to media manipulation by Bolivar Trask’s son. Now we’re finally getting somewhere.
Suddenly, with Adams’ pencils, the growth of the team and matured writing by Roy Thomas, the series feels completely rejuvenated. An interview with Adams several years before his death reveals his beliefs about the X-Men book and its creativity as he walked into the series.
There almost feels like there’s some thematic and artistic continuity with Claremont’s X-Men (which will eventually come). This reveals the importance that artistic sensibility can have — it just matures a story.
I realize this is a relatively petty point of mine, but Angel gets a new, more iconic suit that fits his character much better. Like Jim Lee in the 90s, Neal Adams had a way with rendering superhero costumes and making them appear like a second skin on heroes.
Toward the end of the year, we get the introduction of Sauron, in a story that feels not unlike Batman’s scuffle with Man-Bat. These one-note sort of tales have thus far been extremely limited and formulaic for the series, but not here. Episodic tales have a higher burden, in that they need to provide a compelling beginning, middle, and end. Serials have the benefit in that the looong middle simply has to keep the reader hooked.
Finally, the year ends with Magneto. This Magneto scheme is actually rather interesting this time, as it required more than a couple brain cells to formulate.
