21, 20, 19, 18 …
Continuing my review of Marvel’s Top 25 comics (as chosen by a fan poll, and as published by Marvel over the next few weeks).
The Avengers were to DC’s Justice League was Spider-Man was to Superman — something grittier, more human, less predictable, something that had — well, if not real characters, than certainly soap opera characters to the DC cardboard cut-outs. This issue is filled with silliness — the Hulk hiding out as a clown, Ant-Man’s sexism, Thor and Loki’s goofy rivalry (“Bah! Defeating Don Blake means nothing to me! It would be a hollow victory!”), Iron Man’s pseudo-science (transistors!), and, of course, Rick Jones and the Teen Brigade. But it’s all good fun, enjoyable characters, clean (if occasionally screwball) storytelling, and even if it’s not clear what they are “avenging,” it’s another early masterwork by Lee and Kirby.
If Avengers #1 was clean, heroic fun, Uncanny X-Men #350 was convoluted, miasmic melodrama. Steven Seagle picks up on Claremont’s overcomplexities to finally reveal Gambit’s deep, dark secret — that he worked for Mr. Sinister and helped facilitate the Marvel Mutant Massacre (which most readers had mercifully forgotten by then, and which is even more unspoken of today). Guilty consciences and recriminations ensue, and Gambit and Rogue’s nascent romance bites the dust. The intro by Bob Greenberger hits the nail on the head (if unintentionally) by pointing out that, “compared with many of the other stories that earned their way into the top 25, this story is overly complex, showing how far comic book storytelling had progressed.” How far indeed?
It’s interesting to note that, while all of the characters in the 1963 Avengers are still around today in one form or another, most of the cast in the 1997 Uncanny X-Men are no longer around. Spat and Grovel, the ostensible villains of the piece, might as well never have existed. Trish Tilby, Beast’s beau, is out of the picture. Joseph, the Magneto clone (or whatever his origin was) is long gone. Psylocke is dead (at least for the moment). Maggot is vanished. And while the founding of the Avengers still reverberates nearly forty years later through the Marvel Universe, the events of this whole issue were buried a dozen times over in bigger and ever-more-roccoco “events” and “sagas” in the X-line. Today, nothing that happened or was revealed in this issue matters, really, in the Marvel universe, which is why including it as one of the 25 Greatest is, really, pretty darned goofy.
Of the Top 100, 25 of the 26-100 range are Uncanny X-Men issues, an amazing achievement. I just can’t believe this was ranked higher than all of those were.
The issue after the issue where Gwen Stacy died. This whole saga made a huge impact on comics readership, Spider-man, and Marvel. As noted earlier, I’m not much of a Spider-fan, but Gerry Conway’s story (with classic Gil Kane art) is a moving chapter in Peter Parker’s life, and truly deserving of the ranking.
Though this is one of several dozen (seemingly) “the Origin of Captain America” issues, it’s another fine Lee/Kirby creation (Kirby’s last issue on Cap), and so has a power and glory and even a poignancy all of its own. Good stuff.
So … three out of four. Not bad.