Have I ever mentioned that this was my first X-Men comic book? Well, it was. I remember it being part of a 3-pack my parents bought for me at the airport. Apart from a non-costume reprint story from the Astonishing Spider-Man tabloid, this was my first exposure to Marvel's less than merry band of mutants. Even as a young lad, I think I knew that everything looked better inked by Terry Austin. I was really intrigued by the character design of Colossus. I was not buying comics with an overall game plan back then (I had just turned 7 years old), but I made sure that I got a copy of #129 when it was released. There really is something very special about this particular special about this era in X-Men history and I'm happy that I climbed aboard when I did. Strange to think that I was pretty much stopped reading it by #160. I probably felt I was getting too old for comics. Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Memoirs of a Bronze Age Baby: Uncanny X-Men #128
Have I ever mentioned that this was my first X-Men comic book? Well, it was. I remember it being part of a 3-pack my parents bought for me at the airport. Apart from a non-costume reprint story from the Astonishing Spider-Man tabloid, this was my first exposure to Marvel's less than merry band of mutants. Even as a young lad, I think I knew that everything looked better inked by Terry Austin. I was really intrigued by the character design of Colossus. I was not buying comics with an overall game plan back then (I had just turned 7 years old), but I made sure that I got a copy of #129 when it was released. There really is something very special about this particular special about this era in X-Men history and I'm happy that I climbed aboard when I did. Strange to think that I was pretty much stopped reading it by #160. I probably felt I was getting too old for comics. 
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6 comments:
This was my first X-Men comic too! I have no idea how I got it - I would have been four when it came out, so must have gotten it later, perhaps in a three-pack like you.
I remember loving the art, and enjoying the sheer variety of characters with such striking designs. I hadn't read many super-hero books at that point, and this became my gold standard for years.
"Even as a young lad, I think I knew that everything looked better inked by Terry Austin."
You are SO right! How come we don't see his work anymore? Did something happen to him? I sure hope not.
I also liked what Terry did as a writer on the short lived STRANGE TALES (v.2) anthology in 1987-1988. He wrote a fun Cloak & Dagger storyline where Dagger went blind. He did a lot of research to write that.
I have never been a fan of the X-Men, except for the early Kirby issues that I read in the AMAZING ADVENTURES reprint series from 1979-1981, and the early run (first year or so) of UNCANNY X-MEN by Dave Cochrum which I read in french reprints by Editions Héritage. I think Lein Wein (people forget he was the one to create those "All new, all different X-men") was still writing at this point.
Never liked Chris Claremont writing and always thought that a lot of merit he got actually was because he always worked with the best artists at Marvel, when they were still using the "house style" where the artists often had a lot of involvement in the story and/or plot. I did like some of the John Byrne issues: I know i somehow found myself with a copy of the christmas issue where Kitty Pride is alone in the X-mansion and has to fight off a Alien-type monster. And there were the Alpha Flight issues of course...
Hey Four-Color Kid, Len Wein never actually "wrote" the X-Men. He did co-plot issues 94 and 94 with Claremont, and along with Claremont, Wein did co-write the new X-Men's first appearance, in Giant-Size X-Men 1. But Wein never wrote any X-Men by himself.
Scott, you were wise to abandon ship around issue #160. You caught the very best years of the book and were fortunate enough to miss the comic's sad decline into chaos and confusion.
Oops, I meant to say he did co-plot issues 94 and *95*.
Not my first X-Men comic, but the only one that back issue provider Robert Crestohl could send me at the time (being sold out on the others)... along with many issues of Kull the Conqueror. Good memories! I would subscribe to X-Men just a few months later.
IMO, the "good" years lasted a little longer than up to issue 160. After the death of Jean Grey, Chris Claremont spent many issues describing how, after grief, comes acceptance and how eventually people rebuild their life. The fertilizer really hit the fan with the trivialization of all those efforts by a stupid resurrection and the arrival of the X-Factor book.
I have met Terry Austin in person, and he was unbelievably nice. I later sold him a comic via eBay, and he was gracious and friendly in his correspondence. A class act and a tremendous talent.
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