X-Men (Vol. 2) #1, August 1991
My first #1 may have been
Spider-Man Unlimited #1, part of the Maximum
Carnage crossover, which Matt touched on earlier in this calendar. I don’t
remember what my first X-book #1 was. Considering I started collecting in
earnest in 1993, it was probably Generation X #1, which came out the following
year. So let’s say this was the first #1 I bought on the back-issue market. And
if X-Force #1 tries to argue, I’ll
make fun of its high-top ponytail.
X-Men #1 had everything: A bigger team than ever before,
Magneto, Nick Fury, a brand-new X-Mansion, art by Jim Lee, collect-’em-all
variant covers, verbose exposition by Chris Claremont (the last X-fans would
see for
a while), a cameo by President George H.W. Bush in which he uses the word
“prudent” and a new band of henchmen
in the Acolytes.
The Acolytes were the first of a number of new characters
created during a new era for the X-Men, including Bishop, the Upstarts, Omega
Red and Colossus’ long-lost brother Mikhail Rasputin. That first year also saw
creators shuffling on the regular, with Claremont leaving X-Men after issue 3,
Jim Lee and Whilce Portacio leaving the books to help found Image, John Byrne
temporarily plotting stories and, finally, the ascension of Scott
Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza, which is about where I came in.
The X-Men of fall 1991 – Prof. X, Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm,
Beast, Jean Grey, Gambit, Rogue, Jubilee, et al – formed the backbone of the
cartoon that debuted on Fox the following year. That cartoon was my formal
introduction to the characters, which in turn led me to seek out the
source material, which brought me to my first local comics shop – the Hobby
Shack on Morris Avenue in Union – which is how I started collecting back
issues, including the one I’m currently writing about. My point is, TIME IS A
FLAT CIRCLE!
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