Uncanny X-Men; Beyond The Farthest Star, Chris Claremont

"The X-Men are a million miles from Earth, at the mercy of a rcae if deadly creatures known as the Brood. Infected with parasitic larvae, the mutant team must find a way to free themselves from the alien's insectoid clutches before they are transformed into new Brood warriors. An epic battle ensues as the X-Men struggle to stop their foes, whilst desperately fighting to keep control of their minds and bodies. Returning to earth for a final showdown the group must then confront one of their strongest members ho hass been infected with the embryo of a new Brood Queen. Get ready fro some classic X-action at its very best."








This is the bit where I geek out about just how strong this run on the X-Men is and everyone gets bored silly because this is, what, the third time now? The fourth? Who cares! This is magnificent. Claremont's world building is ridiculously vast, and it shows here where the conflict ranges from space battles, war on alien worlds, to internal struggles for the control of self.

Even the most ridiculous stuff (an over-reliance on cloning and magical-healing is already beginning to creep in) is counterbalanced by a rich imaginative seam of wonder, from the Brood's space-whale hunts to the idea of Lockheed.

The brood are a weird mix of blatant 'Alien' rip-offs and super creepy 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' by way of hosting, and their lack of success is a hindrance to what is supposed to be the greatest threat to life in the galaxy.

This isn't the best in the series, by this point Claremont has passed most of the real big moments, like 'the Dark Phoenix Saga' and 'God Loves, Man Kills', and is surfing to a close. It's for completists only, I guess, but really, if this doesn't make you happy, nothing will.

You said it Kitty.

Also Try:
Chris Claremont, Uncanny X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga
Brian Michael Bendis, All New X-Men
Joss Whedon, Astonishing X-Men: Gifted

Also Try -Professor Xavier is a JERK edition:
Ed Brubaker, Deadly Genesis
Joss Whedon, Astonishing X-Men: Dangerous
Various, Avengers vs X-Men

X-Men: Scarlet in Glory, Chris Claremont

"When Angel is kidnapped by the freakish mutants known as the Morlocks the X-Men head into the sewers beneath New York to rescue him. Once there Storm is forced to fight their leader Callisto in a vicious duel to the death. Upon returning to the mansion, the group are shocked to discover the former mutant terrorist Rogue at the door begging for sanctuary. Next the team travel to Japan to attend Wolverine's wedding. But the happy day is marred by the arrival of the Silver Samurai. Finally, the group face a terrible spectre from the past as the Phoenix rises from the ashes to torment the group once more."








It constantly amazes me how much of X-Men lore comes from Claremont. Say what you will about his writing style, and how he shaped the majority of the major X-Men storylines. Here for instance we have Storm fight Callisto for control of the Morlocks, the 'return' of Phoenix (by way of Mastermind and everyone's least favourite Jean Grey contrivance, Madelyne Pryor) Storm gets a mohawk, Kitty and Colossus have their first kiss, the almost-wedding of Wolverine and Mariko, Rogue joining the team, Wolverine fighting Silver Samurai.

That is an insane amount of material for what's a tiny fraction of an epic run.

Virtually every single great X-en storyline has its roots in these issues, so it makes for compelling reading, even when the outcome is now so well known that there's little mystery (see Madelyne, Storm's Mohawk, Kitty and Peter, eveyone hating Rogue). Whilst some of those can drag a little bit there's never a lull in the action - this is anything but decompressed. In the spand of a few issues you get the introduction, set up, reveal and defeat of villain after villain.

The art's a little inconsistent, especially compared to the early Byrne work, with Wolverine's head changing size and shape a little through his time in Japan, but otherwise it's a solid representation of the X-Men, especially in their battle against Cyclops and Phoenix towards the end.

Also Try:

Chris Claremont, Uncanny X-Men