Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Comics Milestone: Uncanny X-Men #500


Today, Uncanny X-Men, the comic published by Marvel since 1963, hits issue #500.

I've been a fan of comics for a long time. Pretty much since I could read. I started off reading mostly DC; Superman, Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern. Eventually some Spiderman crept in there along with some Captain America.

But I really started to become obsessed with comics when I read Uncanny X-Men #211, which had the kick-ass John Romita Jr. cover shown below.





How could you not like that cover? I read it and didn't really know what was going on, but it was dark, complex and brutal, totally unlike the happier DC comics I was familiar with. It hooked me. For a long time, Uncanny X-Men, as written by Chris Claremont, was my favourite series. When he left the series, so did I, and although I would come back every now and then, it never captivated me in the same way.

But with issue # 500, I'm thinking of jumping back in. Ed Brubaker is Marvel's best writer right now, and Matt Fraction works well with him (they co-wrote the excellent Iron Fist relaunch). Here's hoping that the magic is back.

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