Giant-Size X-Men #1

May 1975
Len Wein, Dave Cockrum

Story Name:

Second Genesis!


Synopsis

Giant-Size X-Men #1 synopsis by Anthony Silvestro
Rating: 4.5 stars

Our bombastic story starts off in a small town in Germany, where a blue, agile mutant named Kurt Wagner is being chased by an angry mob. Kurt realizes they intend to kill him and fights back before eventually getting overwhelmed. Just before the mob can kill him, Kurt is saved by Professor Charles Xavier, who invites Kurt back to his school, both to realize his potential and for a specific mission. Professor Xavier then travels the world recruiting other mutants for his cause. He finds Wolverine in Canada, who happily leaves with the Professor after thinking he’ll have more freedom than with Department H. Professor Xavier then locates and recruits Banshee, an old, redeemed enemy of the X-Men. He then travels to a small area in Kenya, where he finds a woman named Ororo Munroe, revered a goddess for her ability to control the weather, and implores her to use her wondrous gifts for the betterment of the whole world.

In Japan, Professor Xavier calls upon another former acquaintance of the X-Men, Sunfire. In Russia, he finds a large young man named Piotr Rasputin, just after Piotr used his ability to turn into organic steel to save his sister Illyana from a runaway tractor. Though Piotr is reluctant to leave his home, he departs with Xavier for the greater good. Finally, Xavier locates John Proudstar in Arizona, a young Native American with a chip on his shoulder, and convinces him to join his cause as well. With this new team assembled back at his school, with new costumes to boot, Professor Xavier psychically teaches the whole team English before turning things over to Cyclops. Cyclops reveals that he and the original team of X-Men, which included Jean Grey, Iceman, Angel, Havok, and Polaris, were sent to locate a new mutant that Cerebro had discovered on the island of Krakoa. While there, the whole team suddenly vanished and Cyclops found himself on his way back home, unsure of what exactly happened.

Cyclops then reveals that this new team’s mission is to fly to Krakoa to rescue the old team from whatever may have befallen them. Sunfire refuses to help fellow mutants that he doesn’t even like and the rest leave without him. While on the way to Krakoa, Sunfire reappears, having decided to help after all. When they reach Krakoa, the X-Men split into pairs, in order to investigate the island from all directions. Storm and Colossus search from the north, Wolverine and Banshee from the east, Nightcrawler and Sunfire from the south, and finally Cyclops and Thunderbird from the west. After Cyclops and Thunderbird land, they discover that the Blackbird jet has disappeared, and a strange temple has sprung up in the center of the island. The four pairs each make their way to the temple, with each encountering their own obstacles along the way. They all meet in the center and break down the door to the temple, wherein they find the original X-Men team tangled up in strange vines that seem to be feeding on them!

They free the original team and Angel reveals the shocking truth, that Krakoa IS the new mutant! The result of atomic testing, the consciousnesses of every living organism on the island got fused together into the central consciousness of Krakoa! Turns out, Krakoa let Cyclops go to gather more mutants for him to feed on, while psychically influencing Xavier to seek them out. The X-Men fight back against Krakoa but find their attacks largely ineffective until Professor Xavier joins the battle from afar, psychically attacking Krakoa while concocting a plan to stop him. The other X-Men keep Krakoa busy while Storm charges up Polaris with electrical energy, supercharging her magnetic powers. This culminates in a magnetic blast straight down to the center of the earth, causing gravity to fail for Krakoa, sending him shooting off into space! The X-Men escape in an ice dome courtesy of Iceman, before finding their Blackbird jet so that they can return home. On the way home, Angel ponders the final note of the issue, which is, “What are we going to do with thirteen X-Men?”


 

Review / Commentaries


Giant-Size X-Men #1 Review by (May 22, 2024)

Review: It’s the dawn of a new era! This landmark issue successfully revitalized a dead franchise and breathed new life into the X-Men, which had been stuck in limbo, reprinting old issues for years at this point. This issue introduces to the team several mainstays moving forward including Wolverine (heard of him?), Storm, Colossus, and my personal favorite X-Man, Nightcrawler, as well as returnees to the franchise, Sunfire and Banshee. Oh yeah, Thunderbird’s here too, I guess. Don’t get used to him. There’s also the sneaky first appearance of Illyana Rasputin, Colossus’ sister, who will become much more important later. Not to mention the first appearance of the central villain of the story, Krakoa, who surprisingly does show up again.

The actual plot of this story is fairly simple, as the original X-Men team, sans Cyclops, has gone missing while investigating a new mutant, and Professor Xavier assembles this new team in order to rescue them. There’s an odd moment where Sunfire refuses to help, even after coming all the way there, so they leave without him, but then he shows back up on the way there anyway. He’s gone for like three panels, what’s the point? The new team saves the old team and discovers that the island is the mutant and work together to defeat him. It’s a simple tale, but no less classic, introducing many new, fan-favorite members, as the characters, and audience, are left wondering what they’re going to do with so many X-Men? Tune in as the saga of the All-New X-Men continues in Uncanny X-Men #94!

Comments: First appearances for Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Thunderbird, Krakoa, and Illyana Rasputin. Wolverine’s first appearance in an X-Men comic, following his original appearance in the Incredible Hulk #180-181. Formation of the All New X-Men.



> Giant-Size X-Men comic book info and issue index

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Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Dave Cockrum
Dave Cockrum
Glynis Wein
Gil Kane (Cover Penciler)
Dave Cockrum (Cover Inker)
Glynis Wein (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: John Costanza.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Angel
Angel

(Warren Worthington III)
Banshee
Banshee

(Sean Cassidy)
Colossus
Colossus

(Piotr Rasputin)
Cyclops
Cyclops

(Scott Summers)
Havok
Havok

(Alex Summers)
Magik
Magik

(Illyana Rasputin)
Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler

(Kurt Wagner)
Polaris
Polaris

(Lorna Dane)
Professor X
Professor X

(Charles Xavier)
Storm
Storm

(Ororo Munroe)
Wolverine
Wolverine

(James Howlett)

Plus: Krakoa, Thunderbird (John Proudstar).