This omnibus was released last year and contains virtually every piece Arthur Adams did for Marvel Comics, both published and unpublished, between the years 1982 and 1999 inclusive. It is divided into sections, the first of whcih is...
EARLY WORK - 1982-1985
This section begins with a Wolverine pin-up from the sample packet he submitted to Marvel in 1982 when he was only 19 years old; it eventually saw print in Classic X-Men #23 (1988). Also included in this section are pin-ups from Doctor Strange Classics #3-4 and Marvel Fanfare #37, and the covers of Marvel Fanfare #13, Marvel Team-Up #141 and The New Defenders #142 as well as several other pages of unpublished pencils. The cover of the omnibus is taken from the 1991 Marvel Holiday Special and the "bearded man" the heroes are chasing (on the other side of the wraparound cover) is Santa Claus, but for the back over of the ombibus he substituted a figure of himself.
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LONGSHOT - 1985-1986
This is my second time reading Longshot but, believe it or not, the first time wasn't in 1985 but 2022. I said everything I had to say about the series itself in this thread. In the omnibus, the mini-series is supplemented by 110 pages of "extras" including sketches, character designs, thumbnails, pin-ups, un-inked pages, coner boxes, UPC art for the direct market, unused covers, Ann Nocenti's series bible, etc.
THE ASGARDIAN WARS - 1985-1986
I took a few days off from the Arthur Adams omnibus to read the two-part X-Men and Alpha Flight mini-series whihc leads into the Asgardian Wars. It has been years... decades... since I last read it. I have been away from the X-Men for so long it was resfreshing to recall a time when I actually enjoyed reading X-Men. I often cite Grant Morrison's run of the Joss Whedon/John Cassaday versions as among my favorite "recent" versions, but even Astoniishing X-Men was 20 years ago. (Gulp!) XM & AF is really a nice coimplement to Walt Simonson's Thor, which I am also currently rereading. XM & AF is by Chris Claremont and Paul Smith, and tells what Loki is up to when he is not actively being featured in Thor. Claremont introduces "Those Who Sit Above in Shadow," the beings even the Asgardian Gods worship, but doesn't do much to explain who or what they actually are. That he leaves up to Dan Jurgens to do many years later, but that's another story for another time.
Essentially, Loki must do something good and selfless to prove himself worthy of a boon from "Those Who Sit etc., etc." He elects to bring the X-Men and the Alphans together and to grant them god-like powers, but his plan backfires. It ends with "T.W.S.A. in S." making Loki swear not to seek revenge on the X-Men of Alpha Flight. This series of events lads directly into...
NEW MUTANTS SPECIAL EDITION #1:
At the same time I was enjoying X-Men, I was also enjoying The New Mutants, which I had been reading since the very beginning in Marvel Graphic Novel #4. I continued to enjoy it right up through Bill Sienkiewicz's classic run, and I kept reading beuond that. I didn't so much care for the Steve Leialoka issues (#32-34), but #34 leads directly into Special Edition #1, which, together with X-Men Annual #9, bring the "New Mutants" saga to a spectacular conclusion, AFAIAC. (I wish I could tell you that that's where I stopped reading The New Mutants, but it wasn't.) In the Special Edition, although Loki has promised not to go after the X-Men himself, he found a loophole and enlisted the Enchantress to attack them. She mistakenenly attacks the New Mutants, however, scattering them hither, thither and yon across the Nine Worlds and even across time to a degree. (For some of them the story occupies the span of weeks, for others months.) Basically, they spend the entire 64 pages trying to reunite. When they finally do, team co-leader Cannonball suggests they return to Earth to seek the X-Men to rescue Storm (who lost her powers in X-Men #185 and had been serving as teacher and was captured along with her stidents), but he is shocked to discover than none of them want to leave Asgard... ever. They resolve to rescue Storm by themselves.
X-MEN ANNUAL #9:
One needn't have read XM & AF to have enjoyed New Mutants Special Edition, not is it necessary to have read the SE in order to enjoy the annual (although it continues directly from it). Kitty Pryde has a special link with Illyana Rasputin, which clues them in that the New Mutants are in trouble in Asgard. Cyclops has a quiverful for Arkon the Imperion's lightning bolts which they use to teleport themselves to Asgard. At this point, Madelyne is pregnant with Cyclops' son, and this is the last time we see her before she gives birth between X-Men #200-201. Rachel Grey is the daughter of Scott Summers and Jean Grey from an alternate reality, but she has not yet told Cyclops who she is. It is in this annual that she decides to adopt the identity of Phoenix. At this time I was beginning to lose interest in the X-Men as quickly as I was The New Mutants, but I reralize now, in hindsight, that I should have concentrated my attention solely on the mutant annuals and specials and ignored the regular series. But I digress.
Loki's plot this time is to turn Storm into a duplicate Thunder God and maneuver her into the leadership of Asgard in Odin's absence. He has already magically restored her powers and is also mind-controlling her. In addition, he conscripts Eitri the Dwarf to make a magic hammer for her, like Thor's Mjolnir and Beta Ray Bill's Stormbreaker. This story takes place during Thor #361-362 when Thor and Balder are leading the Einherjar into Hel to free the innocent souls that Hela has imprisoned their (see "Walt Simonson's Thor" discussion). His scheme doesn't work, of course, and he agrees to send the mutants (both "old" and "new") back to Midgard and forego revenge, but only if all of them go, which leads to a scene of typical Claremont angst. He makes an exception for Storm, however, should she decide to stay, but she rejects him, angering him further, Then he sends them all off to X-Men #200.
EXTRAS include 53 pages of artwork the cover of Heroes for Hope (in various stages), character designs, costume sketches, and page after page of uninked pencils.
HEROES OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE - 1986-1987
This next section includes two comics I have never read before.
WEB OF SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #2:
By 1986 I was so disappointed with Marvel annuals that I had stopped buying them completely, but if I had known this one was drawn by Arthur Adams I probably would have bought it. the story is written by Ann Nocenti and features Warlock of the New Mutants who comes to Manhattan to learn about humanity. Hijinks ensue. Lots and lots of pop culture and topical references.
CLOAK AND DAGGER #9:
I followed Cloak and Dagger from the very start, but when they graduated to their own series I quickly lost interest. I think they were good supporting characters, but not interesting enough to maintain their own title. (Either that or the Secret Wars II crossover in #4 drove me away.) Again, if I'd've known Arthur Adams was the artist, I might have bought it. (Marvel should have let him do the covers of these two comics.) This issue is set in Marseilles, France. By #9, C&D had left New York to trace theit crusade against drugs back to its source. They are travelling with a guy named Bill Clayton who has an agenda of his own. This issue has loads of exposition, so I had no trouble following it even though I prabably haven't read a C&D comic in 40 years. In a way, it was kinda nice to learn what happened to them. (Are they atill around in the MU?) The series lasted only two issues beyond this until it was cancelled.
EXTRAS: Covers include New Mutants #38-39, Firestar #3, Overstreet's Price Update #5, Daredevil #238-239 and The Marvel Saga #25. Also included are six pages from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe which he illustrated, a New Mutants plate from a limited edition print series, a page from Marvel Age Annual #2, plus the usual assorted inked and uninked pages of original art.
Are the uninked pages from Arthur Adams himself? Other collectors? Marvel's vault? Unknown?
Tough to say. The source(s) of the pages identified as "original art" is/are not given; I would assume the layouts and thumbnail sketches are from Adams himself; many of the uninked pencils are identified as "photocopies," so I assume those belong to Marvel.
The only reason I read Longshot, was because my brother bought it
I never really got into the New Mutants, but once again I read because of my brother...X-Men too.
MUTANT MAYHEM - 1986-1990
I'm going to have to break this section up into chunks because there are too many to handle in a single entry.
CLASSIC X-MEN: Arthur Adams provided covers and frontispieces to 21 of the first 23 issues.
THE NEW MUTANTS ANNUAL #2:
As with the two-issue X-Men and Alpha Flight series, I took a break from the Arthur Adams omnibus to read this non-Adams issue. (It is by Alan Davis.) The New Mutants Annual #2 is a key book in several ways. It fits in New Mutants continuity (obviously), but it also bridges the gap between the British Captain Britain series and X-Men, bringing Betsy Braddock (soon to be the X-Man "Psylocke") over to the United States. It is also the first post-Longshot appearance of Mojo and the "Wildways" (although Longshot himself does not appear). I reead this annual when it was first released and it would have been my first exposure to the "Mojo-verse." I never did like Mojo, largely because the concept was so badly explained here. Chris Claremont just loves to introduce characters or concepts or mysteries and then never explain them (at least that's how it seems to me). That's why I didn't feel too bad for Chris Claremont when it was reported that he didn't care for Barry Windsor-Smith's Weapon-X; Claremont had plenty of time to get his version into print if that's what he wanted.
X-MEN ANNUAL #10:
New Mutants Annual #2 leads directly into X-Men Annual #10, which does introduce Longshot into the X-Men. The X-Men annual does do a better job of introducing Mojo and the Wildways to a new audience, but not by much. It may even be preferable to read the X-Men annual directly after the Longshot mini-series, from his POV, and bypass the New Mutants annual entirely. In this one, Mojo "youthens" the X-Men to children (and Claremont outdoes himself with "cutesy" dialogue, believe me, enough to make me sick). Then he "re-ages" them and they "grow up" to be evil. It is up to the New Mutants to don the post-graduation uniforms and become the "X-Men" in order to defeat the real team. Betsy Braddock was blinded in Captain Britain; Mojo restored her sight (with cybernetic eyes) in New Mutants Annual #2, and in X-Men Annual #10 it is revealed that Mojo is using the eyes to spy on the X-Men. Longshot becomes an X-Man in this issue, but I don't like him any more than I do Mojo (and you can throw Warlock in with them as well).
EXTRAS include Marvel Press posters and covers for X-Men #214, #218 and Marvel Age Annual #4.
Chris Claremont just loves to introduce characters or concepts or mysteries and then never explain them (at least that's how it seems to me).
No sooner did I write than than I read in this week's Comic Shop News that Chris Claremont will soon be writing a Wolverine mini-series (Deep Cut) following up on a plot thread left dangling in X-Men #246 (1989), 35 years ago!
X-MEN ANNUAL #12:
By 1987 I had stopped buying Marvel annuals but I made an exception for this one for three reasons: 1) Arthur Adams, 2) Terminus, and 3) the Savage Land. Terminus was introduced (by John Byrne) in Avengers #269-270, continued (by Roger Stern and John Buscema) in Avengers #256-257, and concluded (by Chris Claremont and Arthur Adams) here. Ka-Zar (the Savage) was once a favorite character of mine, and I made a point to follow him to all of his appearances after his solo series was cancelled. (The Savage Land was destroyed in Avengers #270 but is restored here, and Ka-Zar makes a cameo appearance on the last page.) I am also a pretty big fan of the High Evolutionary, although I had less than no interest in the "Evolutionary War" epic whihc ran across Marvel's 1987 annuals.
The X-Men themselves had gone through quite a few changes since Arthur Adams last drew them in X-Men Annual #10 [like 25 issues of their regular series plus an annual (drawn by Alan Davis)]. Suffice it to say that they are now presumed dead by the general populace (and some of their friends, allies and even former teammates) and are living in Australia. Also, the Classic X-Men series included a number of retroactive continuity implant back-ups stories, one of which is a prequel to X-Men Annual #12. Although Claremont doesn't come right out and say it, he strongly implies that Colossus is the fater of Nereel's son. Does anyone know if that was ever followed up on? Knowing Claremont and his proclivity for dangling plot threads, probably not.
Annual #12 also contains a "humorous" back-up feature by Claremont and Adams featuring Mojo and the X-Babies. (Ugh.) "Richochet Rita" (from the original Longshot mini-series) also returns.
EXTRAS include an interview with Art Adams from Marvel Age, Chris claremont's introduction to the "Asgardian Wars" tpb, Adams' new cover for it, plus a recolored version.
X-FACTOR #41-42:
I remember very well how excited I was when Marvel revealed that they would soon be reuniting the five original X-Men as a new team called X-Factor. I also remember how quickly disappointed I was at the execution of that premise (but that's another discussion for another time). I remember being excited all over again when it was revealed that Walt Simonson would take over as the series' regular penciler with #10, Unfortunately, his X-Factor never clicked with me the way his Thor had (probably because he wasn't writing it as well), but I was a die-hard "True Believer" in those days, and I stuck with it, hoping that it would get better, all the way through the exccrable "Inferno" crossover. I decide to drop the title cold, but then something quite remarable happened: Arthur Adams came aboard for a two-part story. After that, Paul Smith joined for the eight-part "Judgement War" storyline featuring Jack Kirby's Celestials. #43-50 was the best the series had been since its launch (and I'll go ahead and throw #41-42 in there as well), but I really did drop the series cold after #50... at least until Peter David came aboard with #71 (but again, that's another discussion for another time).
Arthur Adams' two-parter was the result of Marvel's "Mutant Registration" contest, in which contesants were encouraged to submit mutant character concepts, the winner to appear in an upcoming Marvel comic. The winning entry was a character named Thomas Jones (a.k.a. "Alchemy"), whose power was to transmute the chemical make-up of any substance he touched. As a British chemistry student, he was busy studying for his exams and was inadvertantly changing his pen from one substance to another, which is what brought him to the attention of a small group of Trolls living beneath the streets of London.
The five Trolls were Phee, Phy, Phough, Phumm and Phay, who banded together as the Troll Associates, whose plan was to force Thomas to create so much gold that England's economy would collapse, thus driving all of the people from the British Isles. Phy, their leader, kidnapped Thomas but his mother, who witnessed the abduction, assumed he was a mutant and called X-Factor (whose adverts she had seen on the telly). X-Factor rescues the boy, but he inadvertantly turns to of the Trolls to lead (first to gold) in the process. He does not know enough about molecular biochemisrty to change them back, so he resolves to learn all he can so that he can someday restore them to life. To the best of my knowledge, he has never been seen since.
EXTRAS: An article from Marvel Age announcing the winner (Paul Beatsow of Sheffield, England) as well as a blank Mutant Registration" entry form. Also included are two introductions written by Ann Nocenti for two different Longshot collections, a 1989 tpb and a 2008 Marvel Premiere Classic HC, as well as a poster and verious other artwork.
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