Everyone loves the X-Men. Or at least they did. Or maybe they still do? It’s hard to tell with those Rotten Tomatoes ratings. But with Hasbro’s announcement that there will be a new brown-costumed Wolverine in the upcoming Marvel Legends “X-wave,” it seems a lot of us fans are remembering how much we used to love the X-Men. And, for me, all it took was one look at that upcoming Wolverine to reignite that spark, since that was the character and look that got me interested in the X-Men way back in the ‘80s.
When and how a person is introduced to something, their “jump-in point,” will forever affect that person’s relationship with that thing — first impressions and all that. The Uncanny X-Men #210, released in the fall of 1986, is the issue that turned me into an X-fan, and even now, when I think of the X-Men, every preference I have for the team comes from that version of the team and those costumes. It’s not because anything about them is superior; it’s because that was the moment that they became important to me, and I believe that phenomena is true for everyone. Ask someone who got on board during the Jim Lee years what their preferences for the X-Men are, and those preferences will probably align with that particular team composition and how the characters were depicted during that era (if my perusal of the forums is accurate, at least). It matters tremendously. That’s not to say it’s impossible for new incarnations to be objectively superior, but it’s difficult to top the subjective importance of that jump-in point even if other versions are objectively superior.
Marvel’s X-Men are in an odd place currently, and the position they once occupied as being front-and-center of the Marvel Universe is pretty much a memory. In 1986 The Uncanny X-Men, as a title, was a staple of the Marvel Universe, but it was a couple years away from being “THE” Marvel title. Even Wolverine was still largely unknown to anyone who wasn’t reading the comics. Seriously — I had close friendships form in middle school on the basis of another kid just knowing who Wolverine was because it was so rare that anyone knew who Wolverine was, and if you found someone who did know, that was a major bonding point. It was like being into Nirvana before “Smells Like Teen Spirit” hit. The cartoon was still a few years away; toys were not on the market, apart from Wolvie’s Secret Wars figure, which was very difficult to find; and the prospect of a Hollywood movie was unthinkable. So the X-Men existed in the pages of the comic and only the comic. And at the time that was perfect because comics and the X-Men started to really matter to me. This was my jump-in point.
Leading up to 1986, I was aware of the X-Men, but I wasn’t reading the comic yet. I was reading X-Factor because I was able to hop on board with #1, but the proper X-Men title was up in the 200s, so that was intimidating. That changed when I saw the cover of issue 210 on the rack, however. They just looked so cool and badass. It was impossible to resist. I bought it. The story made little sense to me because I had little background knowledge to work with, and this issue was the start of a major new story arc (“Mutant Massacre”). But that cover — that was all I needed. I looked at it and I wanted in. Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Storm, Rogue, and Kitty — that is still my ideal team, and those are still my ideal looks for those characters. The X-Men were small, underground, gritty, beat-up, and almost wholly without hope. In essence, they were the coolest thing in the world to pre-teen me.
As a kid who was bullied in school, these characters spoke to me (this would be a recurring theme in my life, in fact). They were the oddball misfits of the Marvel Universe, the outsiders who existed in a world where the brightly colored Captain America and Spider-Man were the superstars (funny how history kinda repeats itself, huh?). They were exactly what I needed at the time, and, suddenly, jumping in at #210 was a blessing because instead of suffering through the excruciating month-long wait for each new issue, I had so many back issues to read in the meantime (the ones I could afford to buy, anyway). And I went bananas with it. X-Men became my preoccupation in a savant-like capacity for roughly the next six or seven years.
So seeing pics of the upcoming Marvel Legends brown-costumed Wolverine reminded me of all that again. Not to sound completely corny, but it really was like seeing an old friend I haven’t seen in years — it really was. I still have the original ToyBiz figure, but I’ve kept it carded as I did with a handful of figures that I feel are important to me. But this new Hasbro figure will be opened. And posed. And played with. And I may even get a second just to keep with me for out-in-the-world photo opportunities.
Even though they’re not really “back” they way they once were, it’s going to feel great to add a new “X-wave” to the collection later this year, especially that brown Wolverine. I can’t wait.