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X-Men Origins
X-Men Origins: The Complete Collection
Discover the uncanny origins of some of the greatest X-Men of all! From legendary original members like Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast and Iceman, to iconic additions of the all-new, all-diff erent era like Nightcrawler, Colossus and Wolverine, to the fan-favorite Gambit, these gripping and personal tales reveal how the young mutants each gained their powers and found their way to the Xavier School! Plus, get inside the head of fi endish foe turned stalwart member, Emma Frost, and explore the bloody and disturbing past of the savage Sabretooth! And Wade Wilson is determined to tell his own story on the big screen, in Deadpool: The Major Motion Picture! A host of comic book talents unite to explore the early days of Marvel's merry mutants! COLLECTING: X-MEN ORIGINS: COLOSSUS, JEAN GREY, BEAST, WOLVERINE, SABRETOOTH, GAMBIT, CYCLOPS, NIGHTCRAWLER, ICEMAN, EMMA FROST, DEADPOOL
364 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 13, 2025
This was a mixed bag. I liked Jean Grey's and Deadpool's origin stories. Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Wolverine were also pretty decent. Cyclops, Emma Frost, and Iceman were okay but ultimately underwhelming. Beast started out good but took a nosedive later on. Gambit was predictable and disappointing for how much I like Gambit as a character. And lastly, Sabretooth was the biggest disappointment since it wasn't as much about him as it was about his obsessive rivalry with Wolverine.
I also really didn't like the endings of most of these - Professor X shows up, it's revealed he's been watching them from afar for a while, and he makes everyone close to them forget about them, or at least forget that they're mutants. So their only choice is to start a new life at Xavier's school with no ties to their loved ones? Some of the parents are really supportive, and yet the choice of whether they want to forget all about their kid is placed on the kid. Why doesn't Xavier at least talk to the parents? Also, some of these teens were drawn in a way that makes them seem much older (looking at you, Iceman and Beast).
I also really didn't like the endings of most of these - Professor X shows up, it's revealed he's been watching them from afar for a while, and he makes everyone close to them forget about them, or at least forget that they're mutants. So their only choice is to start a new life at Xavier's school with no ties to their loved ones? Some of the parents are really supportive, and yet the choice of whether they want to forget all about their kid is placed on the kid. Why doesn't Xavier at least talk to the parents? Also, some of these teens were drawn in a way that makes them seem much older (looking at you, Iceman and Beast).
June 27, 2021
⭒ 3.5 ⭒
I don’t own the complete edition, though I only own Phoenix Origins, which that was what I just read.
It’s a good comic and the drawing is just beyond fantastic— it was so realistic and upgraded.
The only problem I had was that the story lacks a lot of key and important points and it made me feel lost. Nonetheless, it was fun reading it.
I don’t own the complete edition, though I only own Phoenix Origins, which that was what I just read.
It’s a good comic and the drawing is just beyond fantastic— it was so realistic and upgraded.
The only problem I had was that the story lacks a lot of key and important points and it made me feel lost. Nonetheless, it was fun reading it.
September 26, 2018
I thought this held together pretty well as a collection even though each chapter is done by a different writer and artist. Not all of the artwork is done in a style that I like, but overall it was pretty good.
March 10, 2019
Some of the issues in this collection have beautiful artwork, some, not so much. The artwork in the Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, and Iceman "chapters" were my favorite. The cover picture is from the Jean Grey issue, each issue constitutes a chapter, I suppose.
Pros:
-Some of the artwork is gorgeous!
-The often convoluted stories are simplified to make sense as one chunk, when in the run of the various series, little bits were added, tweaked, or deleted through decades of writers.
Cons:
-Some of the artwork is not very well done. (Yes, it's my opinion, but that's what a review is.)
-The chapters (or issues) should have been put in chronological order, or order of the character's addition to the universe. It really bugged me that in the Iceman chapter, it mentions him being the second X-man added to the team, but he's the 3rd or 4th story.
Pros:
-Some of the artwork is gorgeous!
-The often convoluted stories are simplified to make sense as one chunk, when in the run of the various series, little bits were added, tweaked, or deleted through decades of writers.
Cons:
-Some of the artwork is not very well done. (Yes, it's my opinion, but that's what a review is.)
-The chapters (or issues) should have been put in chronological order, or order of the character's addition to the universe. It really bugged me that in the Iceman chapter, it mentions him being the second X-man added to the team, but he's the 3rd or 4th story.
August 17, 2020
Overall, the majority of these stories were really weak. There was a lot of beautiful art in here, but I think this collection has to be for an already established fan of the X-Men...there is no way anyone new would find any of these stories enlightening or enjoyable! They are all too short, with all over the place writing trying to create character development in about twenty five pages or so, with Professor X just rolling in and out of each story with no character-depth or personality other than "I'm a mutant too! Join me and by part of my X-Men! Also, I'm going to mind-wipe your parents so they forget you exist!"
Not an inspiring fearless leader to blindly follow into his army upon first meeting, imo.
Here's my rating for each individual story.
Cyclops "Eyes Wide" written by Stuart Moore, art by Jesse Delperdang & Andy Lanning was luke warm lame at best. I didn't like the art (the faces were all weirdly flat) and the dialogue was stiff. Tough story to open the book with, even though Cyclops is my favorite X-Men.
Disappointing 2 stars
Iceman "The Icy Beginning!" written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, art and colors by Phil Noto had a real 80's vibe with the art, which I both liked and disliked depending on the frames. The lines were really dark, but the colors looked almost like deep blended watercolors at times. The shadowing to make the ice was very pretty.
Solid 3.5 star story. It was fine, but not great. Also, Cyclops & Professor X are just the worst throughout this whole book.
Beast written by Mike Carey, art and colors by J.K. Woodward.
The art is super stylized Photorealism, like Alex Ross but with softer lines and lots of blending in the shadows. So, so impressive! 4 stars for the art & colors. The story itself was fine, just like Bobby's story... it was only OK (but a little less enjoyable because Hank is written like an old man from the 40's).
3 stars
Jean Grey written by Sean McKeever, art and colors by Mike Mayhew is just beautifully drawn. Same Photorealism style as Beast, but a little bit sharper, with defined lines and deeper colors. 5 star art!
The story is fine, like Beast and Iceman... they are all just too short too be meaningful. Jean's story should be super emotional and heavy (her guilt is so heartbreaking for a child's story & she and her family are in so much pain!), but there's something missing from the storytelling. Maybe it's because Jean's story is so much "shorter" than the others because it skips years over the few short pages of this issue? Maybe it's because Charles Xavier is an annoying secondary character in her story? Not sure, but I can only give this a 3.5 star review.
Nightcrawler "Nativity" written by Adam Freeman & Marc Bernardin, art by Cary Nord & James Harren was a good origins story. Too short, by far, but emotional with a self-contained plot, and I thought the rich colors by Chris Sotomayor were beautiful.
4 stars
Wolverine "Birth of A Weapon" written by Christopher Yost, art by Mark Texeira is a good Wolverine origin story. Super basic/classic (remember X2 the movie from 2003?) with a better written understanding of how Wolverine lost his memories, which I never got from the movies.
4 stars
Colossus written by Christopher Yost, art by Trevor Hairsine was only OK. The story is split between Piotr and Alexander, a friends of Piotr's dead brother Mikhail, who feels compelled to protect him. Xavier is in there too, and honestly, they just take up too much of Colossus's story for me to like this anymore than a 3.5.
Gambit "Random Acts of Redemption" written by Mike Carey, art by David Yardin & Ibraim Roberson was a sad re-read for me. I had actually read it before in X-Men Origins: Gambit, and only found it OK (then and now). The art is fine (a lot of fugly butterfaces), it does the job. It's a lukewarm story (it paints him in a "do-gooder-ish" light, but is a bit shallow) about a character I don't know anything about & this is not the right intro.
(Also, how come Gambit is the only one who comes into his mutant powers as an adult?)
2.5 stars
Sabertooth written by Kieron Gillen, art by Dan Panosian wasa my favorite story of the collection! It is dark and twisted and done so so well! The way he tries to goad Logan into fighting on his birthday... wow! So twisted. So well done.
Sabertooth embraces the animal; Logan chases the man.
5 star story!
Emma Frost "Will & Love" written by Valerie D'Orazio, art by Karl Moline is THE WORST STORY, period. It is the worst story compared against the rest of this volume, and standing on its own it's the worst story. It's just so so bad. Emma's father makes absolutely no sense as a character. He wants her to be successful, yet degrades her and smacks her around (and calls her lazy) for reading and excelling at school, and for generally being smart and studious. How else would a parent measure the success of a child if not by those things??
Anyway, the story sucked & if I could give it negative stars, I would. 1 star, if I must.
Deadpool "The Major Motion Picture" written by Duane Swierczynski, art by Leandro Fernandez was also one of my favorites of the volume. It was funny, within character & also kinda heartbreaking (with a killer punchline). 5 star story!
Not an inspiring fearless leader to blindly follow into his army upon first meeting, imo.
Here's my rating for each individual story.
Cyclops "Eyes Wide" written by Stuart Moore, art by Jesse Delperdang & Andy Lanning was luke warm lame at best. I didn't like the art (the faces were all weirdly flat) and the dialogue was stiff. Tough story to open the book with, even though Cyclops is my favorite X-Men.
Disappointing 2 stars
Iceman "The Icy Beginning!" written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, art and colors by Phil Noto had a real 80's vibe with the art, which I both liked and disliked depending on the frames. The lines were really dark, but the colors looked almost like deep blended watercolors at times. The shadowing to make the ice was very pretty.
Solid 3.5 star story. It was fine, but not great. Also, Cyclops & Professor X are just the worst throughout this whole book.
Beast written by Mike Carey, art and colors by J.K. Woodward.
The art is super stylized Photorealism, like Alex Ross but with softer lines and lots of blending in the shadows. So, so impressive! 4 stars for the art & colors. The story itself was fine, just like Bobby's story... it was only OK (but a little less enjoyable because Hank is written like an old man from the 40's).
3 stars
Jean Grey written by Sean McKeever, art and colors by Mike Mayhew is just beautifully drawn. Same Photorealism style as Beast, but a little bit sharper, with defined lines and deeper colors. 5 star art!
The story is fine, like Beast and Iceman... they are all just too short too be meaningful. Jean's story should be super emotional and heavy (her guilt is so heartbreaking for a child's story & she and her family are in so much pain!), but there's something missing from the storytelling. Maybe it's because Jean's story is so much "shorter" than the others because it skips years over the few short pages of this issue? Maybe it's because Charles Xavier is an annoying secondary character in her story? Not sure, but I can only give this a 3.5 star review.
Nightcrawler "Nativity" written by Adam Freeman & Marc Bernardin, art by Cary Nord & James Harren was a good origins story. Too short, by far, but emotional with a self-contained plot, and I thought the rich colors by Chris Sotomayor were beautiful.
4 stars
Wolverine "Birth of A Weapon" written by Christopher Yost, art by Mark Texeira is a good Wolverine origin story. Super basic/classic (remember X2 the movie from 2003?) with a better written understanding of how Wolverine lost his memories, which I never got from the movies.
4 stars
Colossus written by Christopher Yost, art by Trevor Hairsine was only OK. The story is split between Piotr and Alexander, a friends of Piotr's dead brother Mikhail, who feels compelled to protect him. Xavier is in there too, and honestly, they just take up too much of Colossus's story for me to like this anymore than a 3.5.
Gambit "Random Acts of Redemption" written by Mike Carey, art by David Yardin & Ibraim Roberson was a sad re-read for me. I had actually read it before in X-Men Origins: Gambit, and only found it OK (then and now). The art is fine (a lot of fugly butterfaces), it does the job. It's a lukewarm story (it paints him in a "do-gooder-ish" light, but is a bit shallow) about a character I don't know anything about & this is not the right intro.
(Also, how come Gambit is the only one who comes into his mutant powers as an adult?)
2.5 stars
Sabertooth written by Kieron Gillen, art by Dan Panosian wasa my favorite story of the collection! It is dark and twisted and done so so well! The way he tries to goad Logan into fighting on his birthday... wow! So twisted. So well done.
Sabertooth embraces the animal; Logan chases the man.
5 star story!
Emma Frost "Will & Love" written by Valerie D'Orazio, art by Karl Moline is THE WORST STORY, period. It is the worst story compared against the rest of this volume, and standing on its own it's the worst story. It's just so so bad. Emma's father makes absolutely no sense as a character. He wants her to be successful, yet degrades her and smacks her around (and calls her lazy) for reading and excelling at school, and for generally being smart and studious. How else would a parent measure the success of a child if not by those things??
Anyway, the story sucked & if I could give it negative stars, I would. 1 star, if I must.
Deadpool "The Major Motion Picture" written by Duane Swierczynski, art by Leandro Fernandez was also one of my favorites of the volume. It was funny, within character & also kinda heartbreaking (with a killer punchline). 5 star story!
September 5, 2020
2.5 stars. It was a mixed bag, both in terms of stories & quality of the art. It didn't help that, owning to the nature of the collection, there were some very abrupt endings that make this hard to rate highly.
Story-wise, I liked Beast (tho I didn't like the art for this one), Nightcrawler, & Colossus.
Art-wise, Jean Grey was the only one that I really liked.
Story-wise, I liked Beast (tho I didn't like the art for this one), Nightcrawler, & Colossus.
Art-wise, Jean Grey was the only one that I really liked.
April 5, 2021
I have a soft spot for collections like this. The convenience of having a bunch of stories centered around a specific theme, in this case the origins of pivotal members of the X-Men, bound together in one book can’t be overstated. This book is a great primer for fans new or old, though some familiarity with the characters and universe is recommended to get the most out of the some of the references in the individual tales. It should be noted that not all the X-Men get a starring feature, so this collection is not technically comprehensive. Aside from being impossible (there are so many X-Men), these stories are all easily digestible one-shot length, so characters who’s introductions ran through longer storylines-- such as Kitty Pryde-- are left out for brevity. Unfortunately, this also means fan favorites Storm and Rogue don’t feature. Peculiarly, Angel is the only member of the original five X-Men not to get a story of his own which makes the book feel somewhat incomplete. He even shows up on the cover and back cover, using art from Jean Grey and Beast’s stories, with the rest of the original team, which makes his absence feel all the more odd.
Enough of what’s left out. Let’s focus on instead what the book offers. Using their more popularly known names for shorthand, the characters featured are: Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Colossus, Gambit, Sabretooth, Emma Frost and Deadpool.
Different creative teams mean the stories naturally vary in quality, though I enjoyed them all to a degree and none came off as “bad”. For art, both Jean and Beast’s stories (by Mike Mayhew and J.K. Woodward, respectively) are gorgeous watercolor/paint styles that really stand out, with Iceman’s (by Phil Noto) being a close runner-up. These stories were a visual delight, and I think the dreamy-style of Jean’s art especially fit the more cerebral tale told there.
I enjoyed the writing on most of the stories, though having read Emma Frost’s origin series, I wasn’t a big fan of this abridged take on her introduction to the Hellfire club. Emma’s relationship with her family, especially her father, was definitely complicated, but the level of Daddy Complex here feels a little outside of what we’ve seen in other works of her life around this time, and feels reductive as a Freudian explanation for her stint as a lingerie wearing sadist. Despite the cheesecake covers of Emma’s personal series, I think anyone even remotely interested in the character would be better off forgetting about her story here and just reading that.
This is a great addition to any X-Fan's collection.
Enough of what’s left out. Let’s focus on instead what the book offers. Using their more popularly known names for shorthand, the characters featured are: Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Colossus, Gambit, Sabretooth, Emma Frost and Deadpool.
Different creative teams mean the stories naturally vary in quality, though I enjoyed them all to a degree and none came off as “bad”. For art, both Jean and Beast’s stories (by Mike Mayhew and J.K. Woodward, respectively) are gorgeous watercolor/paint styles that really stand out, with Iceman’s (by Phil Noto) being a close runner-up. These stories were a visual delight, and I think the dreamy-style of Jean’s art especially fit the more cerebral tale told there.
I enjoyed the writing on most of the stories, though having read Emma Frost’s origin series, I wasn’t a big fan of this abridged take on her introduction to the Hellfire club. Emma’s relationship with her family, especially her father, was definitely complicated, but the level of Daddy Complex here feels a little outside of what we’ve seen in other works of her life around this time, and feels reductive as a Freudian explanation for her stint as a lingerie wearing sadist. Despite the cheesecake covers of Emma’s personal series, I think anyone even remotely interested in the character would be better off forgetting about her story here and just reading that.
This is a great addition to any X-Fan's collection.
September 8, 2019
A compilation of stories detailing how several major X-Men (plus Sabertooth and Deadpool) got their powers and, with the exception of the above two plus Gambit, met Professor Xavier.
Some are better than others. For example, I found both Iceman and especially Beast’s bland and boring. Cyclops’ and Wolverine’s I’ve seen done to death in comics and other media, so those failed to hold my interest. And some directly flew in the face of established canon (Nighcrawler’s???).
Jean, Emma Frost, Gambit, Deadpool and Colossus were the best reads for me. These stories either filled in holes of my knowledge of the characters or approached their backgrounds with unique angles, fleshing out details I haven’t seen before.
All in all only half a decent read for me. This might better fit a reader new to the characters.
Some are better than others. For example, I found both Iceman and especially Beast’s bland and boring. Cyclops’ and Wolverine’s I’ve seen done to death in comics and other media, so those failed to hold my interest. And some directly flew in the face of established canon (Nighcrawler’s???).
Jean, Emma Frost, Gambit, Deadpool and Colossus were the best reads for me. These stories either filled in holes of my knowledge of the characters or approached their backgrounds with unique angles, fleshing out details I haven’t seen before.
All in all only half a decent read for me. This might better fit a reader new to the characters.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 23, 2019
After-the-fact origins are tricky. Many suck.
This didn’t suck. It was pretty awesome. The stories added to the lore and actually enhanced my appreciation for these characters. Each one was great.
Better yet, they actually fit the canon without having a weird, retconnish vibe.
The Nightcrawler and Colossus ones were the best, but Jean Grey, Wolverine, Emma Frost and Gambit were also awesome. Sabertooth was the weak link.
The Beast origin was drawn stunningly. I need to check out more of J.K Woodward’s work. He is amazing.
Overall, I’d say this is definitely a thing to read if you love muties.
This didn’t suck. It was pretty awesome. The stories added to the lore and actually enhanced my appreciation for these characters. Each one was great.
Better yet, they actually fit the canon without having a weird, retconnish vibe.
The Nightcrawler and Colossus ones were the best, but Jean Grey, Wolverine, Emma Frost and Gambit were also awesome. Sabertooth was the weak link.
The Beast origin was drawn stunningly. I need to check out more of J.K Woodward’s work. He is amazing.
Overall, I’d say this is definitely a thing to read if you love muties.
November 8, 2018
This struggled with any book that would have totally different stories all woven together. Like a book of short stories. You end up liking some, but not others. This is simply compounded when the artwork changes through the stories as well, and when it begins to change characters you've known and loved forever. I wanted more Colossus, and I felt his story was kind of slow and boring. I enjoy the Beast, but I thought his artwork was too much like watercolors.
It was very cool, but not really enough to be over the moon with.
It was very cool, but not really enough to be over the moon with.
December 29, 2018
An interesting peek into some of the X-Men's beginnings. Probably not as meaningful to those who aren't already familiar with the lore. Most of the stories feel more like glimpses into the characters' pasts rather than meaningful explorations. One notable exception is Beast's tale, which I thought was the best of the bunch (ironic since Beast is usually near the bottom of my X-Men "give-a-shit" list).
Bottom line: great art, interesting stories, but if you want meaningful explorations of the X-Men's origins, you might need to do a deeper dive elsewhere.
Bottom line: great art, interesting stories, but if you want meaningful explorations of the X-Men's origins, you might need to do a deeper dive elsewhere.
August 16, 2025
I’ve been trying to read comic books forever and I’m so glad that I’ve finally got around to it. The origin stories for some of these characters really shed light on who they are and why they act a certain way.
My only gripe is that I felt like some characters deserved longer origins and others shorter ones. For example, I was really looking forward to Scott Summers' origin story but it was so short and not really an origin. The fact that Sabretooth had a more in-depth origin is insane to me. However, the writing was good and so were the illustrations.
My only gripe is that I felt like some characters deserved longer origins and others shorter ones. For example, I was really looking forward to Scott Summers' origin story but it was so short and not really an origin. The fact that Sabretooth had a more in-depth origin is insane to me. However, the writing was good and so were the illustrations.
June 10, 2024
I've been wanting to get into X-Men comics for a long time, and this is how I finally did. Can't go wrong starting off with origin stories! This really helped me learn the backstories for a diverse array of familiar faces in the X-Men world and even includes a couple of super old comics that some of these updated stories are sourced from.
April 14, 2019
An excellent review of different mutants and how they got their powers from Sabretooth, Colossus, to Gambit, Nightcrawler.
https://nicolewbrown.blogspot.com/201...
https://nicolewbrown.blogspot.com/201...
September 27, 2021
Not bad.
August 28, 2023
This is a good read for people waiting to get into X-Men.
June 29, 2019
First off, the graphics in this book are amazing!! It took me so long to read this because I was busy looking at the wonderful graphics.
Most of the stories were well explained. Some stories were heart breaking. One story was just odd.
It was wonderful learning where these iconic characters first started and how they ended up!
Most of the stories were well explained. Some stories were heart breaking. One story was just odd.
It was wonderful learning where these iconic characters first started and how they ended up!
July 6, 2021
I really enjoyed reading the backstory about some of these X-men characters!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews