Marvel Essentials We'll Probably Never See No.6

The kids of today may find it hard to believe, but there was once a time when the Uncanny X-Men were not a part of a monolithic mutant franchise. Indeed, before the mid-1970's efforts of Len Wein, Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum and John Byrne, the title was languishing in reprints and on the verge of cancellation.

 

Despite reservations within the Marvel offices themselves, the relaunch of "Uncanny X-Men" hugely benefitted from the extended story-arcs and character-driven narratives devised by Chris Claremont. (Ironically, it was this very aspect of "Uncanny X-Men" that at the time alienated casual readers such as my pre-pubescent self. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't really follow the slowly evolving storylines, accustomed as I was to what Stan Lee privately referred to as the "illusion of change" that drove the plots of the major titles).

 

All of which doesn't seem to be leading up to anything in particular, but in 1982 something happened that hadn't happened before. Initially viewed as a mere spin-off, "The New Mutants" helped create an impetus that would soon snowball into an insanely intricate mutant narrative (almost all penned by Claremont) that would regularly spew out increasingly complex crossovers to diminishing returns, before being hijacked by Marvel's marketing department.

 

ESSENTIAL NEW MUTANTS Vol.1

 

"The New Mutants" premiered in Marvel Graphic Novel #4 (at the time an exciting and erm... novel new format), and was soon given a regular series.

 

Today it would be called a reboot, but in those more innocent days, it was merely seen as getting some teenagers back into Professor Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters (which remains a damn cool name for a school, and one I would have been proud to attend).

 

And rather jolly it all was too. In addition to the usual mutant-angst of the X-titles, you also got some genuinely interesting characters (a rarity in 1980s Marvel) and a wonderful snapshot of American teenage growing pains.

 

Often veering from dark to downright weird, "The New Mutants" eventually became a victim of the franchise it helped create. No longer viewed as being particularly "new", the title was systematically stripped of its charm and originality, until it sadly ended up in the hands of Rob Liefield.

 

The series was cancelled at its hundredth issue in 1991, and immediately relaunched as the more militaristic, franchise-friendly (and fucking awful) "X-Force".

But that's another story for another day...