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X-Men: First Class (Collected Editions) #1

X-Men: First Class - Tomorrow's Brightest

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For millions of years, mankind's place on Earth was unchallenged - until five young people paved the way for a new kind of human. While students at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Beast and Iceman taught the world what it meant to be X-Men. These are the hidden stories of the team that laid the foundation of a mutant dynasty.

Collecting: X-Men - First Class #1-8.

184 pages, Hardcover

First published July 18, 2007

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Jeff Parker

1,130 books127 followers
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5 stars
377 (26%)
4 stars
466 (32%)
3 stars
434 (30%)
2 stars
122 (8%)
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26 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
Profile Image for Baba.
3,842 reviews1,299 followers
September 16, 2023
The initial volume of the less angsty more 'fun' tales of the original X-Men team. First Class volume 1 #1-6 and Special. A pretty pointless ad more so needless addition to the X-men mythos! 4 out of 12, Three Stars.

2011 read
Profile Image for Jeff .
912 reviews776 followers
April 11, 2017
A bargain find at the local thrift shop found right between the store’s hundredth stocked copy of Twilight and a book about Carrot Top…

It’s a movie tie-in without being a movie tie-in.

Marvel who doesn’t own the film rights to the X-Men wanted to somehow cash in with a same-titled yet unique-from-the-film volume. So they contrived some tales from Charles Xavier’s long lost notes – a cockamamie Untold Tales of the X-Men, if you will. *

This one harks back to the original five X-Kids.



Not all the way back where the Beast talks like he just moved out of Yancey Street and has the IQ of a Moloid or Marvel Girl has a girlish faint after doing nothing more than bending a spoon – these are throwback tales with the modern trappings (computers, email, indoor plumbing at the X-Mansion).

Thankfully, Parker gave Iceman, one of my favorite X-men, and his humor, more than his share of the spotlight here. No longer Snow-Cone Boy…



…or the icy-lad having puberty problems…



…or a token Spidey-Friend public service spokesperson…



…or a punch line.



He’s an integral and functioning member of the group.



Laugh, clown, laugh.

As for the rest, Jean Grey gets slighted, Hank McCoy (the Beast) has some moments, Warren Worthington (Angel) is pretty much a lost cause no matter who’s writing these books and Scott Summers typically has a huge stick inserted up his butt.



Bottom line: Who should read this book? The issues collected here are self-contained stories without the trappings of fifty-plus years of continuity weighing them down. As written, they’re inoffensive (mutant hatred is toned way down) and slight tales, probably aimed at the younger set, so they’d be perfect for introducing kids to the X-books. Plenty of Marvel Universe cameos, from the Skrulls to Dr. Strange to Thor. For the more savvy big-boy X-reader, there are better X-books out there.

*Not true. I made this up. Not deliberately, but I have a head cold, I'm probably feverish and I'm too sick to re-write it. The book came out first.

Thanks, Paul.

*sips tea, goes back to bed*
Profile Image for Molly™☺.
847 reviews59 followers
August 14, 2022
A collection of entertaining shorts featuring the original X-Men. It's very much geared towards a younger audience, with lighthearted themes and charming cartoon-like art that, whilst directed at a specific demographic, can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Each member gets to shine, and the personalised pages are a nice touch that offer even more insight into the characters. A three star simply because a lot of the stories are fairly predictable, this mini-series knows exactly what it wants to be and succeeds very well at it.
Profile Image for Frankh.
845 reviews169 followers
June 15, 2015
Not to be confused with the 2011 X-Men film adaptation that features the young, hot versions of Professor X and Magneto going all-out bittersweet bromance of the same name, Jeff Parker's kiddie-to-early-teen series is nothing nearly as gripping but is rather so insistently fucking adorbs with a heartfelt sincerity that matches its varied visual color and illustrations courtesy of artist Roger Cruz.

Though basically a re-vamp of the sixties version where the core five as mentioned before have the leading roles, the timeline for this comic book series seems to be placed in a more modern setting since Bobby mentions e-mail which means they have internet, which means this is not happening during the sixties.

I was also happy with the fact that the long-held characterizations for both these characters are intact for this AU series. Just like in the Stan Lee originals, young Scott is hopelessly self-doubting, always terrified that he might injure someone he cares about with his powers. He'd approach the professor about him not being worthy of the leadership role only to be comforted time and time again that he is made to lead. I love emo-Scott like you wouldn't believe so this was a nice touch to preserve the vulnerability of an aspiring hero back then who has now turned into comics' most formidable villains these days.

Meanwhile, we have Jean Grey who is such a sweet thing that even the stuffy Xavier finds himself softening whenever he's around her, most likely because they're both telepaths which means there's an immediate intimacy and relation there. I sure hope they won't bring back the angle where the professor is secretly infatuated with his teenage student because goddammit, Stan Lee, that was creepy as all fuck. But at this point, being the only girl but with badass telekinesis at that, who can't help falling for Jeanie?

And then we have Henry McCoy who is your typical big-guy-with-a-soft-heart but also a nerdy motherfucker who is totes the teacher's pet during classroom discussions. It's because Henry doesn't really have anyone to bond with when it comes to science stuff aside from the professor so he eagerly chats away whenever Xavier is around to accommodate him. We have Warren who would rather fly out in the sky with his pretty wings than study world history. Xavier communicates telepathically with him when this happens, always finding the right words to say to humble the impulsive upper-class white boy himself.

Finally, we have Bobby Drake who is the youngest of the bunch and his zingers and overall laid-back attitude make me laugh. He definitely makes everything in the stories fun.

If you want something light, quirky and fun then you will enjoy this series as long as you're not the type of comic book reader who thinks superhero stories need to be gritty and mature all the time. Centered around the Original Core Five of Stan Lee's idyllic sixties era, X-Men: First Class is endearing and captivating enough for all ages to enjoy. If you have a child of your own or any niece or nephew who loves the superheroes particularly the X-Men and they're under 13 or so then this is the series I can recommend you buy for them.

RECOMMENDED: 9/10

DO READ MY REVIEWS AT:

Profile Image for Anne.
4,428 reviews70.3k followers
September 27, 2011
2 stars for adults
4 stars for kids

This was cute. If you're looking for a kick-ass mutant story, skip this one and move on to something else.

I'm going to assume that the target audience here is kids, because there is not much here that an adult would find interesting. It reads like one of my son's Marvel Adventres books.
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man Vol. 9 Fiercest Foes by Fred Van Lente Marvel Adventures Iron Man Volume 1 Heart Of Steel Digest Heart of Steel Digest v. 1 (Marvel Adventures Iron Man) by Fred Van Lente Marvel Adventures The Avengers Volume 7 Weirder And Wilder Digest (Marvel Adventures) by Jeff Parker Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four Volume 9 Digest (Marvel Adventures) by Paul Tobin Marvel Adventures Super Heroes Volume 1 triple Threat Digest by Paul Tobin
In other words, if you're looking for a comic that's appropriate for the younger set, then this one would do just fine.
Profile Image for Michael.
1,568 reviews188 followers
June 6, 2015
Eine beträchtliche Enttäuschung bereitet mir Parker hier; für wen sind die Stories konzipiert? Jugendliche Leser dürften eher gelangweilt sein und manche der gottlob vorhandenen Witze und Anspielungen gar nicht erst bemerken, und mir waren die Geschichten zu substanzlos und forderten massiv das Opfer des Intellekts, mehr, als ich bereit zu geben war.
Ein "X-Men 101", das mit dem Charm des Originals nicht mithält und zeichnerisch nicht meinen Geschmack trifft, zu cartoonhaft hingehuscht sind die Panels (dabei hatten die einzelnen Cover die Erwartungen hochgeschraubt).
First Class - im umfassenden Sinne oberflächlich!
Profile Image for Himanshu Karmacharya.
1,072 reviews108 followers
July 30, 2019
This book was incredibly fun to read. The writer has done an excellent job with the early lives of the very first X-Men. The vivid personalities of different characters, their lack of experience, the jokes and dialogues are exceptionally well done.
I wasn't a very huge fan of the art at first, but it grew on me. I have to admire the fact that the artist has added lots of details and easter eggs in the book.
Profile Image for Gökçe.
79 reviews16 followers
August 23, 2018
Okuması eğlenceliydi ama ben daha başlangıç bir hikaye istiyordum, X-men’in nasıl oluşturulduğunu, karakterlerin bundan önce ne yaptığını biraz olsun görebileceğim... Yine olmadı. Genel olarak Marvel’ın çizgi roman serilerine Stan Lee’nin yazdığı seriyi okumadan en başından başlamak mümkün olmuyor anladığım kadarıyla.

Karakterleri yeterince tanıyamadık. Olayların bir ağırlığı ya da büyük bir düşman yok gibiydi. Bilmiyorum eksik olan bir şeyler vardı. Scarlet Witchli bomboş bir bölüm vardı mesela bir anlam veremediğim... Tabii bunlar seriye devam etmeme engel değil, sadece First Class’ın hiç aşina olmayan biri için seriye doğru bir başlangıç noktası olmadığı kanaatindeyim.
415 reviews3 followers
October 22, 2017
It's a very lighthearted read. The stories are all separated and are very much based in humour.
Although I've never been a fan of the original "first class" lineup, they are actually fairly likeable in this run.
It's a fairly enjoyable read with a stronger appeal to kids.
Remember: don't expect any high stakes or serious moments and don't expect big villains, serious conflict or much reference to the quintessential mutant discrimination that is synonymous with X-Men.
Profile Image for Belén Perrone.
88 reviews10 followers
October 29, 2019
Hace un tiempo que quería empezar a leer lo más básico de X-Men e internet me sugirió arrancar con First Class. El primer volumen (9 issues en total) muestra a la primera generación en diferentes circunstancias y aunque no hay mucha historias continuada es entretenido y siento que es una buena forma de entrarle a este universo.
Profile Image for Jesse.
1,140 reviews13 followers
May 18, 2020
This was a lot of fun. Light hearted compared to some of the X-Men collections I've read. Great art, a cool look at the beginning of Xavier's school. I'd read more in this series.
Profile Image for GodzillaGus.
70 reviews5 followers
September 22, 2021
First Class is easy reading, episodic, and easy on the eyes. Though I'm unsure where each issue lands in the timeline, I'm not too bothered by it. It's enough to know we're teamed up with literally the 1st class. From what I can tell, this volume doesn't replace the original 1960's run, just adds to it somewhere. I hesitate to use the word "filler" because there's so much negative baggage that comes with that word and this was genuinely a fun read.
252 reviews2 followers
January 26, 2016
Well I’m about to seriously delve into X-Men, which I have been avoiding until now for 2 reasons. Firstly, it’s difficult to know where to start. I would like some sort of origin to start me off, but I hear that the pre-Claremont issues from the 60s are not that good. Secondly, there are so many issues of X-Men and its spin-offs that I was afraid of opening a Pandora’s Box given that I’m a bit OCD about collecting stuff.

Anyway, I decided to give it a go, starting with ‘First Class’ from the mid-2000s as a substitute for any 60s origin stories that may exist. ‘First Class’ depicts some of the early years of the X-Men’s formation, but still doesn’t give much of a back story to any of the characters, such as how they ended up at the School for Gifted Youngsters to begin with. There are also references to a few other characters and events that aren’t depicted in these pages, but it’s not too hard to follow. It might also help that I’m somewhat familiar with the X-Men from collecting cards, watching the television show and movies, and talking about them with my obsessed cousin as a young teen.

While this isn’t as much of an origin as I would have liked, it still introduces the reader to some of the title’s more interesting ideas, such as Xavier’s philosophy behind the school and reasons for choosing these particular mutants, and what it is about Cyclops that makes him a good leader. It doesn’t get too deep though, with each comic a little one-shot that is wrapped up nicely by the end. I guess in this sense it is done in a bit of a Golden or Silver Age style, but set in the present and with more modern art (which is still pretty clean and unexciting, though I think #8, set in a jungle, looked pretty nice). In the sense that these sit outside of a complex continuity, these are perhaps a good primer, but ‘First Class’ doesn’t really build on the X-Men’s world in any interesting way. In fact, it makes for pretty light reading - the issue with Aliens (#6) is cute but there isn’t anything really touching in this collection, as opposed to something like ‘All Star Superman’. I think that’s what I didn’t really like about Tom Strong and other nostalgic comics - it may give you an insight into what comic readers liked in the 50s and 60s, but I think we’ve all moved on a bit since then.

Being more familiar with DC, it was interesting to see the Marvel analogues - Dr. Strange being any number of mystical DC characters, like Sargon or Fate; the Lizard being pretty much identical to Killer Croc, with an equally stupid name; Ken Hale (Gorilla Man) is basically Congorilla (or another one of the many primate characters).

One final thing to mention is that the humour in this is pretty subtle and done well. This is a bit of a rarity in the more mainstream DC superhero comics I’ve read, which tend to be on the more Mad magazine side of predictable one-liners (yes, I’m talking about you Keith Giffen) or are just shallow adolescent sass.

Next up: ‘X-Men Season One’ (another contemporary origin series), and perhaps the 2nd volume of ‘First Class’, before hitting the Omnibus and the start of the long Claremont run.
Profile Image for Gayle Francis.
1,006 reviews8 followers
August 21, 2012
A fun update to the original X-Men team, allowing for curious readers to get caught up in an 8-issue mini specifically designed to do just that. In this mini, Parker hands us the original five: Scott, Jean, Warren, Hank, and Bobby, and puts them at the Xavier school, only this time they're older teenagers (it's noted they're in a college environment), and Xavier is only about 10% as creepy as he was back in the day (there's still occasional mind-reading-without-permission). It's a really fun book that introduces all the basic characters in the X-Men universe. You get the original five and Xavier, mentions of Magneto and the Brotherhood, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, and a really interesting story device where rather than taking up whole issues resetting old, well-known stories, they're mentioned as part of what the X-Men have already done.

The issues are technically standalones, with each issue taking on a single villian, but there's an overall story arc of simply the team being a team and being friends. It's a fun read with pretty solid art (there are a few faces I didn't care for), and it's nice to see an X-Men book where people are actually having FUN and not just grim-facing at one another.

Profile Image for k.wing.
723 reviews25 followers
December 3, 2007
This is an excellent new series by Jeff Parker (art by Cruz), and this trade consists of 8 stories. The beauty of First Class is the novelty ironically mixed with nostalgia. Although the stories are all new, the setting and time is back when the X-men first began with Beast, Marvel Girl, Angel, Iceman, and everyone's least favorite X-man, Cyclops. There are many guest appearances including Dr. Strange, which allude to things that happen in the future or in other series.

Rarely do I laugh out loud reading, but it seemed as though I couldn't turn a page without giving a chuckle. The only draw-backs to X-Men First Class are: 1. it only comes in hard cover as of now (about $25) and 2. the stories leave you wanting a little more, as if they were cut short. However, I am very happy I spent my hard-earned twenty-five bucks on it, and although I thought the stories could have possibly developed quicker or could have been more climactic, they were still extremely fun to read. Plenty of pop-culture references, great globe-trotting adventures, refreshing art, and hilarious one-liners are all in store for anyone who decides to pick this one up.
Profile Image for Tracy.
519 reviews10 followers
December 2, 2014
True story: on my way home from picking this up at the library where I'd put it on hold, a friendly stranger sitting across from me on the train asked which one I was reading, so I held up the cover for him to see. "How long have you been reading comics?" he asked, and I just shrugged. Since forever, really, since I could read. I grew up on Tintin and Asterix and Suske en Wiske, at first mostly in Dutch. I tend to forget that not everybody reads comics, that they're kind of marginalized even when dressed up as "graphic novels" in marketing-speak. Anyway, he gave an eloquent hand wobble at about waist height, and I nodded agreement.

Is there a point to this story? I don't know, but this was a fun book, even if's hell of creepy that Professor Xavier tells Scott "You're welcome" after finding a way to get Scott and Jean alone together. Creepy creepy creepy! but for the rest this book had remarkably few off notes; it's fun to watch these characters having relatively low-drama high-school-kid hijinks (highjinks? I don't know how that's spelled), especially since the last X-book I (re)read was the Dark Phoenix Saga. Yay for unicorn chasers!
Profile Image for Sandra Rosa.
157 reviews37 followers
January 7, 2008
For millions of years, mankind’s place on Earth was unchallenged – until five young people paved the way for a new kind of human! While students at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Beast and Iceman taught the world what it meant to be X-Men. These are the hidden stories of the team that laid the foundation of a mutant dynasty! Written by Jeff Parker (AGENTS OF ATLAS) and illustrated by Roger Cruz (ARAÑA). Collecting X-MEN: FIRST CLASS #1-8.
The X-Men these days are so grim and gritty that it's nice to see this new take on the old group, specially nice with all the references to the old age (geez who even remembers those old villains anyway) and all the in-jokes about the future.
It's also nice to see Jeanie again, and without all the cluttered up back story always surrounding a Marvel Comic, this is a real breath of fresh air among the X Books, i think i'll continue to collect this in paperback form.
Profile Image for Mariah.
552 reviews5 followers
March 3, 2015
This is a really fun and relaxing read! There are eight different stories featuring the characters: Angel, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Marvel Girl and Professor X. I picked this up because the X-Men are probably the superheroes I know the least about. This is a really nice read. You don't really find out the back stories of each of the characters, but it's a really good first novel for newbies like me. I would recommend this and I already put the second graphic novel in the series in my "to read" on goodreads.

My favorite character is probably Iceman just because I have always thought that he was super funny and sarcastic. Though all the characters are entertaining for many reasons.

I highly recommend this, it was fun to read!
Profile Image for Vendea.
1,555 reviews164 followers
September 16, 2012
Můj první X-men komiks. Skvěle jsem se bavila. Knize jen prospěl fakt, že tu najdeme několik různých příběhů jdoucích po sobě, takže si každý určitě najde ten svůj oblíbený. Mimo klasickou první pětku u profesora X tu najdeme i hrdiny jako Thora a další Marvel hrdiny. Vše je doplněno krásnými kresbami - obvzláště vydařené jsou ty se Scarlet Withc a Angelem ♥.
Profile Image for Dani.
198 reviews4 followers
January 28, 2020
Delightful! Fun! I like the X-Men, but it can be hard to read X-Men because (like any comic series, actually) I haven't read every previous issue and don't always know what's going on. This series can be a great introduction to X-Men, I feel, but it also served Marvel fans well since various other characters "guest starred". It was also just an enjoyable, light-hearted read!
2 reviews1 follower
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October 14, 2015
Adrian Gallegos
The superheroes fight a red monster and deletes it and also fight a large great lizard and make it bite its own tail. Lol
Profile Image for Airin.
429 reviews4 followers
March 15, 2023
Sin duda el que más me ha gustado y me ha sorprendido de estas entregas.

Este es el último número de esta colección que cierra con los X-Men y que me ha dejado con buen sabor de boca.

No soy muy aficionada a los X-Men, la verdad. No son de mis favoritos; pero tengo que admitir que este cómic me ha gustado mucho y me ha mostrado un lado de estos personajes que me ha sorprendido mucho.

Como en los anteriores números, comienza con la presentación de los personajes y cómo llegan hasta el colegio privado del Profesor X. En este número los personajes que aparecen son los primeros mutantes que forman parte del grupo del Profesor: Cíclope, el Hombre de Hielo, Bestia, Ángel y Rogue. Cuanta la historia de cada uno y cómo llegan hasta el colegio privado.

Me ha gustado conocer más sobre ellos y sobre sus poderes y saber cuáles han sido sus primeras aventuras como grupo. Ha sido divertido y, sobre todo, con mucho mensaje de trasfondo, lo que ha hecho que la historia sea más amena e interesante.

Para quienes queráis conocer más de este mundo tan inmenso como es el de Marvel, recomiendo mucho estas entregas que se leen muy rápido y abre un poco la puerta hacia los personajes reales que hay detrás de los que siempre nos han presentado.
Profile Image for Tshepiso.
564 reviews27 followers
April 7, 2022
After bringing most of the X-Men movies this week I wanted to get a feel for what they were like in the comics. X-Men comics have always been incredibly intimidating, but I was told this was a good place to start and I concur. This comic was a fun series of adventures set in the early days of the original five X-Men.

I will say Jeff Parker's dialogue was a little on the nose at times. Characters would occasionally spout lines that were clearly intended to inform the audience about a character's personality or backstory but didn't feel like something they would naturally say. But despite that, I overall really enjoyed this series. It was a fun, lighthearted series of episodic adventures that gave me a strong sense of who these characters were and how they relate to each other.
Profile Image for Chaitra.
4,075 reviews
April 12, 2024
Again, glad this is the version of early stories I'm reading instead of Stan Lee's creepy Jean obsessive version (I hope I'm remembering that wrong, but I don't think I am). They have fun here, these kids. I found some of the yearbook covers hilarious, especially one where poor Xavier says he had to print 1000 copies of his yearbook despite having only five students (can I say cerebro sucks? Why are there only 5 students. Magneto seems to be having better luck just randomly talking to carnies). Iceman is still the best character. I didn't much care for the art, except for when there were gators. Or hippos.

So far so good.
Profile Image for Seleni.
75 reviews5 followers
Read
November 8, 2019
Quizá amé tanto estos cómics porque los leí en un momento específico de mi adolescencia donde el dolor de Jean Grey, los problemas amorosos de Scott Summer y todo los desajustes identitarios de Ángel entraban en perfecta sintonía con un corazón angustiado de escolar en plena crisis. Por lo mismo creo que puede ser una historia muy disfrutable para una persona dentro de ese rango etario. Sin embargo, no sé si desde una perspectiva más adulta funcione de la misma manera; para saberlo tendría que echarle una releída.
339 reviews2 followers
December 1, 2019
For a set of six stories that try to simultaneously transport the original cast of Xavier's School to the modern age of internet and pop culture while also filling in fun inconsequential stories about the first year of the Xavier School. It was fun to see the kids interact, with a predominate focus on Bobby Drake's perspective. For feeling like filler issues, it was enjoyable and some good character studies.
Profile Image for Lola.
197 reviews65 followers
August 26, 2017
2,5/5

I liked it, but it was a rather simple, uninteresting way to get into the X-Men universe. I think I'm going to jump from this directly to the Phoenix Saga story arc and more fascinating stories about my favorite mutants.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews

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