Jim Lee's X-MEN 5: We miss Chris Claremont! WOLVERINE vs Omega (yawn) Red! Enter MAVERICK!

[@scottwilliams2581]

Pretty accurate on the who did what guesses. Just to specify, I inked EVERYTHING except pages 20, 21, 24, 25, and 29. Whilce helped with pencils (over Jim Lee tight layouts) on pages 22 and 23.

[@MrBlx4life]

You've been doing unbelievably amazing work ever since then. All the best to you Scott. Huge fan 😊

[@everObvious]

WTF?! THE Scott Williams!?! *goes to his KZbin page* *finds exactly 1 decade-old video of him inking* 😦

[@alanlawrence6584]

One of the things I've come to appreciate most about Jim Lee's best art is the exceptionally cinematic layouts he can create. In the issues from Uncanny X-men 268 to about 276, the layouts are so often perfectly balanced. The size contrasts between different figures in the panels create a vivid sense of depth, and the blocking of the characters makes for dynamic layouts, where each character is rendered really clearly. And the layouts in these issues go so far in terms of augmenting the drama of the story and making the narrative clear. This is, to me, what make these issues such an exciting run. I wish there had been two IDW Artists Editions--one for Lee's Uncanny X-men run, and another for the later X-men issues, because the two runs seem like very different eras for Lee's work. In an unboxing video he did for the Artists Edition, Lee mentioned he had a long lead-time for the Uncanny X-men issues, and by Issue #2 of X-men he was chronically behind on deadlines. There is so much evidence of that, from the farming out of inking to Whilce Portacio's pencilling of pages, and then there's Claremont and Byrne's issues dialoguing the book, as pages came in out of order, in clumps right at deadline. But I think the place where the evidence is most obvious is in the way the layouts of the X-men issues after #1 are so much less well-resolved. The blocking of characters gets very convoluted in these later issues--in this one, I think about all the head-on faces we get early in the story, and the way in which Maverick's introduction is him wedged into the background of this narrow panel at the bottom of a page. There are also these pages like the 12-panel one, where there seems to be less focus in the layout and the sequence in issue 2 where the hand takes possession of Omega Red's coffin--a sequence of undistinguished characters in small panels, where the layout choices have sapped the scenario of pretty much all of its drama (that was a sequence which, even as a kid I could tell, wasn't landing with any sort of emphasis). For Issue #5, what sticks out to me is the way in which, after page 3 or so, the layouts become flatter and more convoluted, and the drama and spectacle of the scenes gets drastically reduced. A van explodes in a tiny, squashed panel at the bottom of page 4, but almost nothing is made of that action (in fact, the X-men demolish the van a second time on the next page, and finally the driver surrenders, and it pulls off the main road and to a stop). The assembled team at the bottom of page 7 stand is such a flat way. A very similar panel at the bottom of page 13 of Uncanny X-men #275 is resolved so much more clearly--the characters are staggered in a more interesting way, their body language and expressions convey individual characterization, and there's real contrast in the size and cropping of the various characters. Omega Red turning on Matsuo Tsurabaya on page 16 is this potentially dramatic moment that is just squashed into the tiniest possible space. I think that part of it is the crunch of deadlines, but then I also get the feeling that writing the narrative leaves Lee less time to resolve how the panel and page layouts are going to further the story. That's what Lee did so well in the Uncanny run--enhance the drama of the scenes with intense, movie-like layouts. And back then he had one of the best writers in the business, a writer who was always coming up with dramatic scenes and key moments for Lee to draw. When he has both responsibilities, I feel that the degree of emphasis on one element or the other gets very downplayed. I also wish that the story had Claremont's sophistication to it--I imagine Claremont would have made more out of the short flashbacks we get in this issue, and he probably would have labored to come up with a less generic "take" on who Omega Red was and why we ought to be worried about him (I also imagine that the setting where most of this issue takes place would have been better established--Claremont never let that kind of thing remain ambiguous). And if Claremont had been plotting, we probably would have felt more momentum behind the issue's story. But in the absence of any more compelling story, what gets at me most is the way these layouts fail to make what story there is land with drama or any flair.

[@ChrisEliopoulos]

And, to add to the lateness, the last page was lettered, uncredited, by Mike Heisler

[@thomasschmidt7649]

As a teenager I thought that cover was incredible, insta-buy. I really liked the Omega red design and characters like Maverick got me excite about Logan's past. As a young guy I was all about how cool it looked.

[@armaogeddon]

I'm STILL mad at Bob Harras for Claremont's departure.

[@kerry-j4m]

That cover is-DYNAMIC-and nicely detailed !!! The cover made me pick it up too,it stood out from the other comics surrounding it. Didn't know about the drama between Lee and Claremont until Lee left to join Image comics.And I really like the interior art as well.

[@MythwrightWorkshop]

Claremont WAS the definitive X-Men writer. Byrne was a reasonable sub, Jimmy Lee was not.

[@猪武者]

The art is amazing quality.

[@williammahaffey354]

I've always felt like I see a lot of John Byrne in Jim Lee 's work too.

[@capsjukebox]

What I really wish Marvel would do is collect all the backup stories Claremont wrote for the Classic X-Men reprints

[@w.patrickcurry3521]

There is a collection of those

[@sergiorivera1656]

Say what you will, but no cap bros, that cover is totally righteous!!!

[@davidsparham658]

Bad news guys...it's not a trilogy it's a quartet! X-Men #4-7 are the Omega Red story

[@fireboy312002]

Who is going to tell Jim it's a four parter?

[@brotheryeti]

Hey fellas. I’d love for you to cover some Tony Millionaire. Thanks

[@geoffyuendesign]

I wonder how much time Byrne had to script this issue. As I understand it, Lee would draw whatever he wanted for 20 pages handing off pages to the inkers as he completed the pages. I assume Byrne would get photocopies of thumbnails and pencils and try to make sense of it all and then write dialogue?

[@GreenIronFist]

Wow that's such a dickish but baller move😂

[@geoffyuendesign]

@ronFistyeah it’s why Claremont “left” the book. He would get pages so late from Lee that he didn’t have time to properly write dialog. He made an ultimatum with Marvel to choose Lee or himself and obviously we all know what happened …it ended one of the longest runs on a big 2 comic. And of course Lee leaves after 7? issues 😂

[@mikeschmidt3382]

My buddy Nick and I would keep our parents lunch money (starving ourselves on ritz crackers) to buy more comics like these in 5th/6th grade. Good times. Riding bikes to the Comic shop, hiding figures in Walgreens, going to the local flea market at 5:30 am, basically staying up all night in anticipation of finding deals… Nick eventually pulled a Punisher 1 for like 50 cents (10 years later reminiscing). We were both out of the game but he said his hands were shaking handing over the money. Just the best times though.

[@dodgoblins9513]

Yous should check out Uncanny X-Men 267 Jam issue with Whilce Portacio and Jim Lee frist appearance of Gambit

[@josiahmacpherson6830]

Loved this story when it came out!

[@soulcraft_84]

Story wise these early X-men issues aren't well regarded, but they set the foundation for Fatal Attractions, which I thought had a lot of heavy stuff happen in it.

[@cookieDaXapper]

......side note, I didn't respect Omega Red as a character until he was in CAPCOM's X-MEN children of the atom fighting game. In the stories he's like a bogey-man menace, an empty bag of villainy. PEACE dear Brothers, and God bless.

[@thesloresby5128]

Anyone think Omega Red is gonna be in the new Deadpool and Wolverine movie?

[@spiderphil]

The jet reference made me spit out my water

[@cyke68]

On paper, boasting that John Byrne was part of the creative team for any project scored instant credibility. When he's relegated to scripting duties - the least impressive skill in his repertoire - the reality is considerably less exiting. To his credit, though, he'd also been scripting Uncanny X-Men from #281; with Claremont's departure, it only made sense to tap him for both books to ensure consistency (alongside Lee, who was co-plotting Uncanny with Whilce Portacio). And we get that to some extent, with the double page spread in this issue featuring half the team in formalwear. That's a set-up for Uncanny #281 - published concurrently with X-Men #1, but just now being caught up to in terms of continuity. Where things really fall apart is the internal consistency from cover to cover. By Byrne's own recollection, he'd received the faxed pages as they were completed by Lee (and Portacio). He scripted as he got them, but subsequent pages would end up contradicting the previous ones, resulting in Byrne doing rewrites and trying to paste over any artistic storytelling deficiencies with words. This would go on and on until it was so close to deadline that Byrne no longer had the time nor inclination to fix everything. That chaos was reflected in some truly bizarre sequences this issue, like the first page (which merely depicts an alarm going off) being weirdly overwritten, Psylocke inexplicably popping into frame in a bikini, flying a supersonic jet some ten miles out from the mansion, and Wolverine fighting Omega Red... somewhere? ...in the snow... despite being at the Hand's mercy last issue. My favorite would have to be Wolverine breaking free with some otherwise unmentioned mysterious cannister in hand, which is heavily implied to be the c-synthesizer (the MacGuffin the bad guys are after). Only it can't be because a.) why would be villains be probing Wolverine's mind for something they already have? and b.) we learn 2 issues later where the thing actually is. And it all leads to Wolverine leaping to his supposed death, disappearing without explanation, and the cannister he was so protective of never being mentioned again. It's utter nonsense, and just goes to show how desperately Lee needs a co-plotter, not merely a scripter, to wring some coherence out of the pretty pictures.

[@Jimshushi5251]

Definitely the 2nd Xmen series was very subpar. Jim I think was burnt out after the 100 card set, promo art and just drawing a team book this reflects in the quality of the published product. The poor storylines was a reflection of the artist being made more important than the writer.

[@fireboy312002]

One thing I noticed no one else does it seems, Jim Lee's women are not human. From the top of the head to the crotch is on average the same as crotch to ankles. Lee? The top of the head to the crotch are the thighs. Like Pyslock is a Giant. Page 3 panel is so insane. Oh well, it did its job.

[@mariop8852]

I know you give Omega Red a hard time and don't like current super hero stuff but he's honestly one of the best characters during the Krokoa arc.

[@sethharthun8321]

I agree. He jumps off the page from the moment he appears.

[@VZAAGE]

They fired up the Taylor Swift private jet to make it to the fight!

[@antgto]

I just revisited this issue yesterday. I echo Ed's sentiment, not much of a read, but I still love how it looks. Maverick is a mess though.

[@dwaynemuth8775]

They are running out of ice to skate on! Nice visuals and a very crowded story! Lee in the next issue or two paces the art with lots of big panels and by the last few pages has smaller panels! Someone wasn’t focused on the art/lackluster story? Still good artwork!