were there x-men fans prior to 1975?

[Cosmicman]

I discovered X-Men in the middle 80s while I was a young lad. Moved over to X-Factor (that took a dive and crapped out) and back to the X-men.

I went out and bought the whole entire X-Men on DVD adobe Acrobat comicbooks so I could read stuff that was written "back in the day" and read stuff I missed later on.

[Gorn Captain]

I've been with The X-Men since 1972.
Back them, they translated all comics here in Dutch, so most of them had "colourful" titles.
Daredevil was "Durfal" ( "dares all")
Hulk was "Rauwe Bonk" ("rough bruiser")
The Fantastic Four were "De Vier Verdedigers" ("four defenders").

Luckily, the X-men weren't lost in translation.
I still have those comics, the earliest being X-Men 11.

To be honest, I liked those earlier times better than now.
These days, all stories and panels are too cluttered. A total overload of the senses.
I liked the clearer art better. Men weren't all bodybuilders, and women weren't all bigbreasted longlegged pin-ups.
I remember buying my first US X-Men, issue 171, introducing Rogue, I think.
I was visiting my sister in South-Africa, and there they were, a whole display of comics.
Fantastic!

My favourite storylines are still from way back, with the intro of Sabretooth, the Marauders, Days of Future Past. When Betsy Braddock was still a "normal" gal, with special powers, not some pumped-up oriental superninja with no clothes on.

These days, I just follow Uncanny X-Men, more out of loyalty than out of real interest.

And I still treasure the moments when Beast was just a guy with really big feet!

[The Toyroom]

I remember buying my first US X-Men, issue 171, introducing Rogue, I think

That's when Rogue joined the team....she was first introduced as part of the Brotherhood back in Avengers Annual #10

[samurainoir]

When Betsy Braddock was still a "normal" gal, with special powers, not some pumped-up oriental superninja with no clothes on.

You'll be happy to hear the "Original" Betsy with the butterfly eyes is back...
Newsarama | EXCLUSIVE: Uncanny X-Men #509 Preview - She's Back

Alan Davis drew the hell out of her back in the day. In Captain Britain and the X-Men Annuals.

Although I have to admit I did think that the Jim Lee SuperNinja gave the character a much needed shot in the arm during a period where the X-Men were kind of foundering in the outback (direction-wise).


Were there really any X-Men runs worth following after Claremont left? I know it really became an artist driven book and made a few careers. Age of Apocalypse perhaps, but that's kind of an "elseworlds/what if".

[The Toyroom]

Were there really any X-Men runs worth following after Claremont left? I know it really became an artist driven book and made a few careers. Age of Apocalypse perhaps, but that's kind of an "elseworlds/what if".

I couldn't really say....it seems like it became one big convoluted mess with too many X-teams and too many characters jumping from book to book. Having the X-Men go "public" didn't help either. I always liked it best when they were underground and hated by the world they were sworn to protect.

I followed the Grant Morrison X-Men and the Joss Whedon X-Men but other than that I've been out of the X-Men loop since forever it seems.

[aquatroy]

"Were there really any X-Men runs worth following after Claremont left? I know it really became an artist driven book and made a few careers. Age of Apocalypse perhaps, but that's kind of an "elseworlds/what if"."

Wow. I can't say either. I left X-Men when JR Jr. came on the book and didn't come back until Whedon's Astonishing run.

[Bionic Joe]

The first issue i ever saw of the X-MEN was issue 94 and it cost me 25 cents and at the time i didn't care for it, i saw the following issues and paid no attention to em since i didn't care for 94. i started buying the book with issue 122 which i brought because i loved the cover and became a steady reader of the book till the mid 90s when i just lost intrest in the book

[clemso]

I can't say that I was an original fan of X-Men. Having grown up on 1970s British reprints. Only FF, Spider-man, Hulk & Thor were originally reprinted, although the Kirby X-men stories had been reprinted in the mid to late 60s. The All New X-Men. I think my first issue that i bought off the news stand was 96 or 97? I love the Kirby X-Men stories now though and Neal Adams and lets not forget Steranko's short stints were outstanding.

Clem

[ctc]

>Were there really any X-Men runs worth following after Claremont left?

Hmmmm.... tough call. I think what really made the book was Claremont having long-term control over it. It allowed for longer term planning, and they could have things simmer for a while. A lot of the stories since the mid-90's happen way too fast and abruptly; so even if they'e interesting on an intellectual level there isn't so much feel on an emotional level.

Don C.

[goldenryan]

hardly any x-men merchandise before 1980 either.

[ctc]

>hardly any x-men merchandise before 1980 either.

Yeah. The X-Men seemd like the "redheaded stepchild" of the Marvel universe for the LONGEST time. I get the impression the staff liked it more than the fans, and that was a big part of what kept it going. It wasn't until the "All new, all different" X-Men that it took off.

Don C.

[goldenryan]

some great artists on the early issues (Kirby,Tuska, Adams,Steranko) to name a few.

[goldenryan]

was reading just rereading x-men #4-8, decent stuff once kirby left the book went to s***. i'm sorry werner roth isn't a great artist imo.

[Marvelmania]

I actually like the original X-Men stuff better than the GS #1 and up.

[Raydeen1]

I started on Xmen around '83. I was 12 and there was a great little comic shop literaly 2 minutes from my house. I bought mostly back issues at this shop. I had from about #4 up to the new team in various sporadic clumps of issues. I still have about 90% of them. I was reading both the old team and the new team simultaneously. Byrne is the man! I never liked anyone after him except Jim Lee. Paul Smith's art really turned me off the book. I did quite like Excalibur but eventually just stopped buying most comics. I only buy 70s back issues now but we go to Free Comic Book Day every year and I pick up some new stuff then.