''Giant-Size X-Men'' #1 is a special issue of the ''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

series, published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

in 1975. It was written by

Len Wein Leonard Norman Wein (; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine (character), Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel sup ...

and illustrated by

Dave Cockrum David Emmett Cockrum (; November 11, 1943 – November 26, 2006) was an American comics artist known for his co-creation of the new X-Men characters Nightcrawler (character), Nightcrawler, Storm (Marvel Comics), Storm, Colossus (character), Colos ...

Chris Claremont Christopher S. Claremont (; born November 25, 1950) is an English-born American comic book writer and novelist. Claremont is best known for his 16-year stint on ''Uncanny X-Men'' from 1975 to 1991, far longer than that of any other writer,Clarem ...

contributed to the plot, having conceived the idea of

Polaris Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris (Latinisation of names, Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an ...

using her powers to propel

Krakoa Krakoa is a fictional living island appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It first appeared in '' Giant-Size X-Men'' #1 and was created by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. While often depicted as an antagonist, Krakoa later fe ...

into space, but went uncredited. Though not a regular issue, it contained the first new X-Men story in five years, titled "Second Genesis." The issue serves as a link between the original X-Men and a new team. Chronologically it is placed after ''X-Men'' #66 and before ''X-Men'' #94. The 68-page book was published with a May 1975 cover date and distributed to newsstands in February of that year. The issue has been cited as a start point of the

bronze age of comics The Bronze Age of Comic Books is an informal name for a period in the history of American superhero comic books, usually said to run from 1970 to 1985. It follows the Silver Age of Comic Books and is followed by the Modern Age of Comic Books. ...

, and is notable for expanding the membership of the X-Men from beyond the white American cast to one of a more international flavor, an attempt to attract more readers from outside the US, even if some characters were portrayed somewhat stereotypically.

Publication history

The ''

'' title stopped producing new stories after #66 in March 1970. From December 1970 through April 1975, Marvel reprinted many of the older X-Men issues as #67–93. Following the May publication of ''Giant-Size X-Men'' #1, Marvel began again publishing new issues of ''X-Men'' with #94 in August 1975. The comic also collects reprints from ''X-Men'' #43, #47 and #57.

Plot

The story opens ''

in medias res A narrative work beginning ''in medias res'' (, "into the middle of things") opens in the chronological middle of the plot, rather than at the beginning (cf. '' ab ovo'', '' ab initio''). Often, exposition is initially bypassed, instead filled i ...

'', with

Professor X Professor X (Prof. Charles Francis Xavier) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 ( ...

recruiting a new team of X-Men, to rescue the original X-Men (

Marvel Girl Marvel Girl is an alias used by at least three fictional Marvel Comics superheroines: *Jean Grey, best known as a founding member of the X-Men *Valeria Richards, daughter of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman (of the Fantastic Four) *Rachel ...

, Iceman and

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

, plus X-Men recruits Havok and

), who had disappeared on a mission to the island of

, with only their leader

Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; , ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguished. In Hesiod's ''Th ...

escaping. The new team consists of Sunfire and

Banshee A banshee ( ; Irish language, Modern Irish , from , "woman of the Tumulus#Ireland, fairy mound" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member, usually by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or kee ...

, who had been introduced in earlier ''X-Men'' comics;

Wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

, who had made his first appearance in ''

The Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book ...

'' #181 (Oct. 1974); and the newly created

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...

, Nightcrawler,

Colossus Colossus, Colossos, or the plural Colossi or Colossuses, may refer to: Statues * Any exceptionally large statue; colossal statues, are generally taken to mean a statue at least twice life-size ** List of tallest statues ** :Colossal statues * ...

, and Thunderbird. These members are gathered from all over the world, and Professor X uses his telepathic powers to teach them all English so that they can communicate with each other. The team soon learns that Krakoa is not just an island, but a giant mutant as well. Despite personality clashes among the individual members, as well as a fatality, the new team succeeds in rescuing the old X-Men and destroying the entity by shooting it into outer space with Polaris' power. The issue ends by posing the question of the future of a 13-member X-Men team. The later storyline "Deadly Genesis" offers a

ret-con Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in fictional story telling whereby facts and events established through the narrative itself are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subsequently published work ...

of this story, which tells how Professor X had initially recruited a different team before the events in this issue.

Credits

*Story, edits —

*Pencils, cover inks —

*Cover pencils —

Gil Kane Gil Kane (; born Eli Katz , ; April 6, 1926 – January 31, 2000) was a Latvian-born American comics artist whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s and virtually every major comics company and character. Kane co-created the modern-day vers ...

*Inks — Dave Cockrum & Peter Iro *Letters —

John Costanza John Costanza (born August 14, 1943, in Dover, New Jersey) is an American comic book artist and letterer. He has worked for both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. He was the letterer during Alan Moore's acclaimed run on ''Swamp Thing''. The bulk of C ...

*Colors —

Glynis Wein Glynis Oliver, also credited as Glynis Wein (), is an artist who has worked as a colorist in the comics industry. For several years, she was married to Len Wein. She returned to her maiden name in 1985. Work In the fall of 1972, Len Wein and wri ...

Reprint

The "Second Genesis" story was reprinted in ''

Classic X-Men ''Classic X-Men'', originally titled ''X-Men Classics'' and later retitled ''X-Men Classic'', is a reprint comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The first volume was a limited series which collected stories from the Thomas/ Adams/Palmer r ...

'' #1 in September 1986, with substantial editing to reduce its length, and a new backup story by Claremont and

John Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican Party (United States), Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to ...

bridging the gap between this and the following issue, ''Uncanny X-Men'' #94.

Collected editions

''Marvel Masterworks''

''Epic Collection''s

''Essential''s

Panini Pocket Books

Second issue

Marvel published a second issue of ''Giant-Size X-Men'' later in 1975. This November issue had no new material, instead featuring reprints of stories from ''X-Men'' #57, #58, and #59, written by

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...

and illustrated by

Neal Adams Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a Creator ownership, creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and re ...

Third and fourth issues

In 2005, Marvel published two new ''Giant Size X-Men'' issues to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original. Issue #3 in July contained a story written by

Joss Whedon Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon ( ; born June 23, 1964) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, comic book writer, and composer. He is best known as the creator of several television series: the supernatural drama ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer' ...

and illustrated by

. The issue also reprinted several older X-Men team-ups: the group's appearance in ''Fantastic Four'' #28, an Avengers guest appearance in ''X-Men'' #9 and a story featuring Spider-Man in ''X-Men'' #35. In November,

penned a story for issue #4, with artwork by Neal Adams. It also reprinted material related to the death of Thunderbird from ''X-Men'' #94-95, ''Classic X-Men'' #3 and ''Uncanny X-Men'' #193.

40th Anniversary edition hardcover

The series has also been collected into a hardcover paperback titled ''Giant-Size X-Men: 40th Anniversary Edition.'' The hardcover collects ''Giant-Size X-Men'' #1, 3-4; ''

'' #1; ''X-Men Origins: Colossus''; ''X-Men Origins: Wolverine''; '' X-Men: Deadly Genesis'' #1-6; ''What If?'' (1989) #9, #23; and material from ''

X-Men Gold ''X-Men: Gold'' is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics and initially created by writer Marc Guggenheim and artist Ardian Syaf. This series builds off of plot points established in '' X-Men Prime''. The first issue was released April 5, ...

'' #1. The second Giant-Sized issue was likely omitted, due to it being reprints of ''X-Men'' #57-59. The 440-page paperback was released June 2015. )

Dawn of X

Five ''Giant Size X-Men'' one-shots, all written by

Jonathan Hickman Jonathan Hickman is an American comic book writer and artist, best known for his creator-owned series '' The Nightly News'', '' The Manhattan Projects'' and '' East of West'', as well as his lengthy stints as a writer on Marvel's '' Fantastic Fo ...

, were released as part of Marvel's 2019

Dawn of X "Dawn of X" is a 2019 relaunch of the ''X-Men'' line of comic books published by Marvel Comics in the wake of the twin miniseries ''House of X'' and ''Powers of X'' and is the first phase of the Krakoan Age. This initiative culminated in the cro ...

relaunch of its ''X-Men'' books between February and September 2020. The first, ''Giant Size X-Men:

Jean Grey Jean Elaine Grey-Summers is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''Uncanny X-Men, The X-Men'' #1 ...

and

Emma Frost Emma Grace Frost is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne (comics), John Byrne, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''The Uncanny ...

'', was drawn by

Russell Dauterman Russell Dauterman is an United States of America, American comic book illustrator known for work on ''Supurbia'' for Boom! Studios and ''Nightwing'' for DC Comics. Before breaking into comics Dauterman served as a costume illustrator in the movie ...

and colored by Matt Wilson. The second, ''Giant-Size X-Men: Nightcrawler'', was drawn by

Alan Davis Alan Davis (born 18 June 1956) is an English comic book writer and artist, known for his work on ''Captain Britain'', ''The Uncanny X-Men'', ''The ClanDestine, ClanDestine'', ''Detective Comics'', ''Excalibur (comic book), Excalibur'', ''JLA: ...

and colored by Carlos Lopez. The third, ''Giant-Size X-Men:

Magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...

'', was drawn by Ramon Perez and colored by David Curiel. The fourth, ''Giant-Size X-Men:

Fantomex Fantomex is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Grant Morrison and artist Igor Kordey, the character first appeared in '' New X-Men'' #128 (August 2002). Fantomex is an escaped experiment fr ...

'', was drawn and colored by Rod Reis. The fifth, ''Giant-Size X-Men:

'', was drawn by Dauterman and colored by Wilson.

Prints

50th Anniversary Event

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first ''Giant-Size X-Men'' issue, it was announced that five one-shots written by writing duo Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing and illustrated by

Adam Kubert Adam Kubert (; born 1959) is an American comics artist known for his work for publishers such as Marvel Comics and DC Comics, including work on ''Action Comics'', '' Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine'', '' The Incredible Hulk'', ''Ultimate Fanta ...

, C.F. Villa and Francesco Manna, will be released between May and July 2025. The event will involve Ms. Marvel being pulled by

Legion Legion may refer to: Military * Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army * Aviazione Legionaria, Italian air force during the Spanish Civil War * A legion is the regional unit of the Italian carabinieri * Spanish Legion, ...

in a battle across time, where she would encounter the X-Men during their most iconic moments in history and alternate timelines, including the "Second Genesis" and "

The Dark Phoenix Saga "The Dark Phoenix Saga" is an extended X-Men comic-book storyline published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist John Byrne, the storyline first appeared in ''X-Men'' #129 (January 1980). It focuses on the superhero Jea ...

" storylines and the ''

Age of Apocalypse "Age of Apocalypse" is a 1995 comic book crossover storyline mostly published in the X-Men franchise of books by Marvel Comics. The ''Age of Apocalypse'' briefly replaced the universe of Earth-616 and had ramifications in the main Marvel Comic ...

'' and "

House of M "House of M" is a 2005 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics, consisting of an eight-issue comic book limited series with a number of crossover tie-in books written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Olivier Coipel. Its first i ...

" continuities. The event will begin with ''Giant-Size X-Men'' #1 and be followed by ''Giant-Size Dark Phoenix Saga'' #1, ''Giant-Size Age of Apocalypse'' #1, ''Giant-Size House of M'' #1 and ''Giant-Size X-Men'' #2. In addition, each issue will feature a Back-Up Revelations story.

Issues

References

{{X-Comics Comics by Len Wein Defunct American comics X-Men titles 1975 comics debuts Individual issues of comic series