What do you think?
Rate this book
Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men #8
Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men, Vol. 8
It was August 1961, and change was in the air. Throughout the nation, a new comic book filled the stands, heralding an era of creativity soon to be dubbed the Marvel Age of Comics. Fantastic Four #1 did not feature the squeaky-clean heroes of yesteryear, clad in gaudy primary colors and hiding behind secret identities. These were real characters placed in extraordinary circumstances. They lived together, they fought among themselves and sometimes, they even lost to the bad guys. This was more than a change in attitude: It was the beginning of something entirely different. And readers couldn't get enough.
Thanks to the fertile imaginations of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and others, the runaway train called Marvel showed no signs of slowing down. An unending list of heroes followed the FF with ever-increasing acclaim and popularity: the Amazing Spider-Man, the Mighty Thor, the Incredible hulk, Daredevil, Iron Man and the X-Men, to name but a few. These were the Marvel heroes, born of conflict and a continous struggle to balance human lives with superhuman responsibilities.
Thanks to the fertile imaginations of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and others, the runaway train called Marvel showed no signs of slowing down. An unending list of heroes followed the FF with ever-increasing acclaim and popularity: the Amazing Spider-Man, the Mighty Thor, the Incredible hulk, Daredevil, Iron Man and the X-Men, to name but a few. These were the Marvel heroes, born of conflict and a continous struggle to balance human lives with superhuman responsibilities.
The Masterworks series was created to give comic-book readers everywhere the chance to experience the creation of the Marvel Universe firsthand. The works contained within pulse with the same vitality, the same originality and the same genius today as they did so many years ago. But, above all, the pure joy and fun that went into making these stories continues to transcend the illustrated page. So lay back, dig in and enjoy Marvel again for the very first time.
EXCELSIOR!
279 pages, Hardcover
First published March 24, 2010
8 people are currently reading
128 people want to read
About the author
Steve Englehart
1,395 books97 followersSee also John Harkness.
Steve Englehart went to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. After a stint in the Army, he moved to New York and began to write for Marvel Comics. That led to long runs on Captain America, The Hulk, The Avengers, Dr. Strange, and a dozen other titles. Midway through that period he moved to California (where he remains), and met and married his wife Terry.
He was finally hired away from Marvel by DC Comics, to be their lead writer and revamp their core characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern). He did, but he also wrote a solo Batman series (immediately dubbed the "definitive" version) that later became Warner Brothers' first Batman film (the good one).
After that he left comics for a time, traveled in Europe for a year, wrote a novel (The Point Man™), and came back to design video games for Atari (E.T., Garfield). But he still liked comics, so he created Coyote™, which within its first year was rated one of America's ten best series. Other projects he owned (Scorpio Rose™, The Djinn™) were mixed with company series (Green Lantern [with Joe Staton], Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four). Meanwhile, he continued his game design for Activision, Electronic Arts, Sega, and Brøderbund.
And once he and Terry had their two sons, Alex and Eric, he naturally told them stories. Rustle's Christmas Adventure was first devised for them. He went on to add a run of mid-grade books to his bibliography, including the DNAgers™ adventure series, and Countdown to Flight, a biography of the Wright brothers selected by NASA as the basis for their school curriculum on the invention of the airplane.
In 1992 Steve was asked to co-create a comics pantheon called the Ultraverse. One of his contributions, The Night Man, became not only a successful comics series, but also a television show. That led to more Hollywood work, including animated series such as Street Fighter, GI Joe, and Team Atlantis for Disney.
Steve Englehart went to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. After a stint in the Army, he moved to New York and began to write for Marvel Comics. That led to long runs on Captain America, The Hulk, The Avengers, Dr. Strange, and a dozen other titles. Midway through that period he moved to California (where he remains), and met and married his wife Terry.
He was finally hired away from Marvel by DC Comics, to be their lead writer and revamp their core characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern). He did, but he also wrote a solo Batman series (immediately dubbed the "definitive" version) that later became Warner Brothers' first Batman film (the good one).
After that he left comics for a time, traveled in Europe for a year, wrote a novel (The Point Man™), and came back to design video games for Atari (E.T., Garfield). But he still liked comics, so he created Coyote™, which within its first year was rated one of America's ten best series. Other projects he owned (Scorpio Rose™, The Djinn™) were mixed with company series (Green Lantern [with Joe Staton], Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four). Meanwhile, he continued his game design for Activision, Electronic Arts, Sega, and Brøderbund.
And once he and Terry had their two sons, Alex and Eric, he naturally told them stories. Rustle's Christmas Adventure was first devised for them. He went on to add a run of mid-grade books to his bibliography, including the DNAgers™ adventure series, and Countdown to Flight, a biography of the Wright brothers selected by NASA as the basis for their school curriculum on the invention of the airplane.
In 1992 Steve was asked to co-create a comics pantheon called the Ultraverse. One of his contributions, The Night Man, became not only a successful comics series, but also a television show. That led to more Hollywood work, including animated series such as Street Fighter, GI Joe, and Team Atlantis for Disney.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 15, 2022
Oof. This one was rough. It's a collection of X-Men guest appearances during the period where their comic was cancelled, mostly written by Steve Englehart and Len Wein. Some of these are good comics, such as Captain America's Secret Empire arc, but none of them are good X-Men comics.
February 8, 2021
Written in response to watergate and the faltering perception of American exceptionalism, the Avengers and XMen team up to uncover “the secret empire” a cabal of industrialists and advertising men secretly led by a powerful politician and united under the moniker the “Committee to Regain America’s Principles”. They unleash Moonstone “the new defender of the heritage” to spin lies into truth and make Americans question the patrotiotism of Captain American and exploit society’s outcasts, mutants.
Cap reflects on this by saying “say anything loud enough long enough it will sound like the truth, but I considered it the tool of totalitarian governments and not possible in America. I was wrong.”
Also it refers to lasers as "lurid lances of lethal light"
Cap reflects on this by saying “say anything loud enough long enough it will sound like the truth, but I considered it the tool of totalitarian governments and not possible in America. I was wrong.”
Also it refers to lasers as "lurid lances of lethal light"
January 17, 2016
A mishmash of assorted stories from the interval between the original X-Men and its revival. Nothing special, nothing terrible.
June 30, 2024
As hard as it may seem to believe to modern comic fans, there was a time when the X-Men were canceled due to low sales. That's right, after Issues 66, the title became a reprint magazine until the infamous Issue 94. This volume, along with volume 7, document 'The Hidden Years' of the X-Men, where assorted Marvel Bullpen-ers kept the team alive with guest spots in various titles. Giant-Size X-Men No. 1 would be released in the Spring of 1975 and introduce the "New" X-Men, and change the course of comic book history along the way.
Writer Steve Englehart did an excellent job of having an actual ongoing plotline for the X-Men through these various Marvel mags during this time, if readers cared to follow or piece it together for themselves. I had never read any of his run on Captain America and was very impressed with those issues. Artist Herb Trimpe's rendering on the Incredible Hulk issues was great, too. His version of Wolverine would be tweaked by Dave Cockrum and then perfected by John Byrne. What started out as a quasi-villain in the Hulk would go on to become one of the most recognizable characters in all of comics.
This Volume isn't essential for the casual X-Men fan, but if you are a diehard, it's a must. Seeing the puzzle pieces all together like this really changes one's perspective on what would appear to be a scatter shot of issues in one hardcover.
In closing, this book, like all Marvel Masterworks and Omnibus editions released in the last few years, is perfect. The paper, the coloring, the binding, are all done to perfection.
Writer Steve Englehart did an excellent job of having an actual ongoing plotline for the X-Men through these various Marvel mags during this time, if readers cared to follow or piece it together for themselves. I had never read any of his run on Captain America and was very impressed with those issues. Artist Herb Trimpe's rendering on the Incredible Hulk issues was great, too. His version of Wolverine would be tweaked by Dave Cockrum and then perfected by John Byrne. What started out as a quasi-villain in the Hulk would go on to become one of the most recognizable characters in all of comics.
This Volume isn't essential for the casual X-Men fan, but if you are a diehard, it's a must. Seeing the puzzle pieces all together like this really changes one's perspective on what would appear to be a scatter shot of issues in one hardcover.
In closing, this book, like all Marvel Masterworks and Omnibus editions released in the last few years, is perfect. The paper, the coloring, the binding, are all done to perfection.
April 20, 2024
The final X-Men Masterworks book before Chris Claremont's run makes it Uncanny X-Men Masterworks, we have more adventures of the X-Men "in hiding." The highlight of this volume is The Captain America Secret Empire storyline....no, not the one where he isn't a Nazi but everyone thinks he is. In this Secret Empire Story, the American government is corrupt and Steve has to figure out who's behind the conspiracy and how to stop them. Part of the conspiracy is that "they" are kidnapping mutants, so Professor X, Marvel Girl, and Cyclops get involved to track them down.
The X-Men are definitely in the background of this collection, as opposed to being the stars but it is fun to see what they're up to during the "in hiding" years. It's also great to see Juggernaut be considered an important enough X-character to check in with during this era. Even if his frenemy team-up with Hulk isn't that inspiring.
Once again, if you're an X-Men fan, this is a fun look at a weird part of their history but it's not A Great collection, and it's certainly not required to understand X-history.
The X-Men are definitely in the background of this collection, as opposed to being the stars but it is fun to see what they're up to during the "in hiding" years. It's also great to see Juggernaut be considered an important enough X-character to check in with during this era. Even if his frenemy team-up with Hulk isn't that inspiring.
Once again, if you're an X-Men fan, this is a fun look at a weird part of their history but it's not A Great collection, and it's certainly not required to understand X-history.
January 12, 2022
The final book in the Masterworks series of the original X-Men collects all the rest of the appearances after their series was cancelled and before the revival became the biggest comic book sensation in years. A couple issues of Avengers, four very key issues of Captain America, a couple Marvel Team-Ups, a couple Defenders, a Giant-Size Fantastic Four story. Oh, and three issues of the Hulk, two of which introduced a character who hadn't been a part of the original X-Men, but would make a splash in the new version - the Wolverine.
These stories are hit and miss, but I enjoyed them nonetheless, especially the Avengers and Cap issues written by Steve Englehart. Some nice art by Don Heck, Sal Buscema, Herb Trimpe, and especially Gil Kane helps things along. I'm not remembering whether the secret mission the X-Men were put on in an issue of Marvel Team-Up had anything to do with the first issue of Giant-Size X-Men. If not, they didn't follow up on that one.
These stories are hit and miss, but I enjoyed them nonetheless, especially the Avengers and Cap issues written by Steve Englehart. Some nice art by Don Heck, Sal Buscema, Herb Trimpe, and especially Gil Kane helps things along. I'm not remembering whether the secret mission the X-Men were put on in an issue of Marvel Team-Up had anything to do with the first issue of Giant-Size X-Men. If not, they didn't follow up on that one.
April 28, 2018
Bridging the gap between the Original X-Men and the New X-Men, after the Englehart stories are wrapped up, the cohesion of the collection falters. Interesting, but hardly essential.
September 17, 2023
AVENGERS #110-111, INCREDIBLE HULK #172, 180 & 181, CAPTAIN AMERICA #172-175, MARVEL TEAM-UP #23 & 38, DEFENDERS #15-16 and GIANT-SIZE FANTASTIC FOUR #4
January 27, 2025
The 3 stars are solely for the inclusion of the first appearance of wolverine. Everything else in this collection is trash. Opposite of excelsior!
August 23, 2025
they really just had my babies reduced to cameos for years huh. you hate to see it
November 18, 2013
Fairly good Masterworks volume, though very sporadic in content. This fills in the final holes between the old and new X-Men teams. The first appearances of Wolverine are here, along with the climatic issues of Steve Englehart's Secret Empire story arc in Captain America. There are some okay Avengers, Defenders, and Marvel Team-Up stories, as well as a very mediocre tale from Giant-Size Fantastic Four that introduced Jamie Maddox.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews