Comments on: A Year of Cool Comic Book Moments - Day 55

By: Tom Daylight

Tom Daylight — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:07:11 +0000

Why Paul Smith isn't a bigger name: his X-Men run lasted a whopping TEN issues. And that's the longest run he's ever had on anything! Too bad because his work is legitimately awe-inspiring.

By: JG

JG — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 05:45:46 +0000

Such an underrated run. Thanks!

By: Lt. Clutch

Lt. Clutch — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:39:09 +0000

My first issue of X-Men was actually Paul Smith's last. I later went back and read all of his run many years later. I found it to be excellent storytelling. Some of the key moments in the team's history occurred during
Paul Smith's brief tenure.

By: Nitz the Bloody

Nitz the Bloody — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:00:00 +0000

Similarly, that Wolverine's healing factor wasn't a matter of invulnerability so much as pain resistance-- the previous issue made it clear that Logan's game was thrown off by being poisoned, even if he wasn't hospitalized with the other X-Men. I miss when he wasn't so much the Terminator as Inigo Montoya....

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:32:32 +0000

The amazing thing to me about this scene is the power levels of the two - back then Wolverine had a healing factor, but it wasn't over the top, he did put himself at risk.
And Rogue wasn't just grabbing powers every other week - it was a big thing if she touched somebody.

By: dhole

dhole — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:52:35 +0000

Not an obvious choice, but a good one that brings memories rushing back.

I remember the first time I read this thinking it was weird that Wolverine would pass on his powers by making out with a woman that he's hated up until this point. Now that I see the panels again I realize there's no clear indication that's what happened.

Don't know why I jumped to that conclusion as a kid. Maybe because Rogue, the villain, often absorbed powers with a fully-planted kiss on the lips. More likely I just had it in my head that Wolverine was just a hopeless babe-hound.

I'm really liking these X-men entries, these were my comic-collecting wonder years...

By: RVass

RVass — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:08:11 +0000

Oh, man, this two-parter was the first X-men story I've ever read (in a foreign edition, though. - Thank God Rogue's accent never showed in the translations, they just ignored it completely)

Great choice.

By: Tuomas

Tuomas — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 20:33:57 +0000

It's been over 15 years since I last read this story, but it must've left a big impression on me, because just quick glance at those pages immediately brought it all back to my mind. This was prime X-Men, Claremont at the peak of his powers, and I always preferred Paul Smith's simple and cartoonish yet elegant line to Byrne's hyperdetailed realism. Just compare these pages to the Jim Lee pages in the previous entry; there so much more dynamism and compositional skill in Smith's art compared to Lee's stiff cheesecake figures.

By: Seth

Seth — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 20:12:54 +0000

The other great place to find this is the 40 years of X-men DVD. Full color, with all the original ads and everything.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:56:17 +0000

I really liked this two-parter when I read it in X-Men Classic.

Actually, I liked the whole of Smith's run. He definitely deserves to be a bigger name.

By: T.

T. — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:14:56 +0000

Although I disagreed with the Captain America and Black Widow moment (that was the jump the shark X-moment for me), THIS I agree with 200%. GREAT choice.

By: Colby

Colby — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:02:49 +0000

You know, I think that horrible southern accent is why Rouge has neer really clicked as a character for me. I've lived in the south for all 18 years of my life, been to some of the most redneck family affairs you could imagine, and I have never heard anyone talk in any way that could sound anything like that dialogue

By: Nick Marino

Nick Marino — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:50:14 +0000

damn i love Smith and Claremont on Uncanny.

By: Scott MacIver

Scott MacIver — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:16:49 +0000

"Paul Smith was so good on Uncanny X-Men."

Wedged between Byrne and JRJR, Smith sort of slipped through the cracks of history. I'm very happy he's been getting his due lately.

By: Joe Rice

Joe Rice — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:24:09 +0000

Ah wonder if Claremont has ever heard someone from the South for really reals.

By: chad

chad — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:37:04 +0000

cool scene. i remember at the end where wolverine shows rouge that he now trusts her by repaying her saving his and Mariko's lives . not to mention shows that even a viiian like rogue can change

By: Neal K

Neal K — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:35:54 +0000

I think there is an Omnibus with a lot of the classic Claremont Uncanny X-men run - it collects Giant-Size X-men # 1 and Uncanny 94-131. It is currently out of print, though, I think. If you are looking for a cheap way to read them, the Essentials are a good bet, though the low quality and black and white art usually persuade me to forget about the Essentials volume and purchase in another format unless its not collected elsewhere.

By: Not_Your_Friend

Not_Your_Friend — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:34:59 +0000

The Essentials are great, but this issue in full colour is part of the From the Ashes tpb. One of the best trades for X-Men.

By: John Seavey

John Seavey — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:04:57 +0000

I'd recommend going with the Essentials myself; if you don't mind black-and-white, you can follow the whole story from Giant-Sized X-Men #1 all the way up through 'Inferno' for under a hundred bucks (Amazon can usually get you the books cheaper than your LCS, depending on discounts and sales.)

By: Duff McWhalen

Duff McWhalen — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:17:10 +0000

Dunc I'd check a local comic shop or online store for back issues of the "X-Men Classics" series. Essentials (this would be in volume 4 I believe) go here and far beyond, but X-Men Classics isn't a hard series to find, pretty inexpensive, reprints from (technically) the beginning, and for better or worse, has added pages and back-up stories in the earlier issues. That'll take you through the mid seventies to mid eighties. This scene was somewhere early in the eighties. I really wish Paul Smith was on longer, but I loved JRJR on art just about as much, anyway.