Conversely, the Sentinels were ruthless killing machines, but the entire storyline took place on a futuristic Earth. Nevertheless, the Shi’ar remained close allies with the gifted youngsters even after ensuring Jean Grey’s death. Of course, the Phoenix Saga introduced the Shi’ar. Despite the trials and tribulations up to this point, the X-Men hadn’t truly faced an off-world malevolence yet. Spanning from Uncanny X-Men #161-167, Claremont penned the “Brood” story arc. Putting Dark Phoenix, Mutant X, the Hellfire Club, and the upgraded Sentinels aside, Chris Claremont created some of the most iconic X-Men villains. And yet, Claremont found ways to perpetuate X-Men’s new-found success… Creating Worthy Villains This was The Avengers without Captain America and Iron Man. Starting in X-Men #139, the team would be without its remaining founding members. Jean’s death was shocking, but Claremont impressively managed to maintain high interest in an X-Men line-up without Jean Grey and Scott Summers. Although Jean Grey, as with most super-heroes, has come back from the dead numerous times since the conclusion of the Dark Phoenix Saga, her character didn’t first reappear for several years. Put simply, Chris Claremont’s X-Men was the Game of Thrones of comic books. To top off more than forty issues of innovative storytelling, Claremont created a parallel universe in which the X-Men are exterminated in a mutant holocaust by the Sentinels. Jean’s death prompted Cyclops to leave the X-Men, though he would eventually return. These bold and inventive storylines ultimately led to the death of Jean Grey after the Phoenix force turned her power-hungry and unstable. Following this, Claremont created Mutant X, AKA Proteus Moira MacTaggert’s demonic son who had the mutant abilities of realty-warping and possession. For starters, Claremont killed off a new team member, Thunderbird, in just his second issue. Since Chris Claremont started writing X-Men, the series became notorious for its daring storylines no other Marvel title would explore. In this article, we’ll look at what contributed to X-Men’s surge in popularity after Claremont took over. Claremont continued to helm the X-Men title until 1991 when he finally handed over creative control after a near 200-issue run.Ĭreating iconic characters and storylines with an emphasis on diversity and female empowerment, Claremont’s X-Men continues to be considered a franchise high-point. Introducing a diverse new team of heroes, Claremont’s Giant-Size X-Men #1 was met with a positive reception. Just when X-Men seemed to be on the verge of cancellation, a new writer by the name of Chris Claremont was hired to revamp the title. Throughout the 1960s, X-Men was one of Marvel’s worst-selling publications.

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