General Information

Title: Essential X-Men Vol. 4
Credited to: Claremont, Smith, Cockrum, Romita Jr. and Co.
Original Publication Date: 2001 reprint of material first published from 1982-1984.
ISBN: 0-7851-0775-4
Cover Price: $14.95 US, $21.95 Can
Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.ca

Premise

The X-Men continue their adventures.

The Issues

This collects Uncanny X-Men #162-179 and Uncanny X-Men Annual #6. The breakdown of these issues is as follows:
Issues 162 - 166: Binary is introduced while the X-Men try to escape a Brood trap.
Issue 167: The professor deals with his own Brood attack.
Issue 168: Kitty tries to deal with being moved to the New Mutants.
Issues 169-170: Angel is captured by Callisto.
Issue 171: The villainous Rogue arrives at X-mansion and asks for help.
Issue 172: The group travels to Japan for Wolverine's wedding.
Issue 173: Wolverine and Rogue try to protect Mariko and the other X-Men.
Issue 174: No villain this issue; interpersonal relationships are developed.
Issue 175: 20th Anniversary Issue with the return of Mastermind.
Issue 176: Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor are interrupted on their honeymoon.
Issue 177-178: The Brotherhood returns and attacks the X-Men.
Issue 179: Kitty and Caliban are to be wed.
Annual 6: Dracula returns to put Storm to work.

Issue 180, not reproduced here, is the issue in which the team leaves to fight the Secret Wars.

High Point

Issue 173 did an excellent job of developing Rogue and Wolverine without slowing down the pace of the action.

Low Point

I don't know if it's the original art, or just the reproduction here, but much of the Annual looks terrible. There were times I had to stare at a panel for ten or fifteen seconds just trying to figure out what had been drawn there.

The Scores

There were original moments, but it's hard to feel new when the title has been written by the same guy for over seven years. It's also nice to see the aliens that were so obviously taken from Ridley Scott's Alien in their first appearance used in a storyline that predicts the plot of James Cameron's sequel. I give it 4 out of 6.

The artwork was very good through the regular issues, but was lacking in the annual. I give it 4 out of 6.

The story was well plotted, and held together quite well (until we hit the annual at the end of the book that so obviously predates most of the volume; that should have been the first entry in this collection.) I give it 5 out of 6.

The characterization was very strong. Storm developed considerably (which is the main reason the annual is so obviously out of sequence,) Wolverine and Rogue had some exposure of aspects of their personalities we hadn't seen before, Colossus and Sprite developed well, and we began to see some self-doubt and personal curiosity from Nightcrawler. Even Mastermind and Mystique had some development here. I give it 5 out of 6.

The emotional response was probably hampered by the knowledge that all of these characters (save one, who died in issue 390) are still around today, in essentially this form. I give it 3 out of 6.

The flow was excellent, both throughout the course of a single issue, and between consecutive related issues. I give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, this is a very entertaining read, and it contains some of the foundations for the current X-books and X-stories. (This is the volume that sets the stage for some of Cable's origins.) I give it 5 out of 6.

In total, Essential X-Men Vol. 4 receives 31 out of 42.