Slowly but surely there's progress
Originally written 5-29-10
Professor Xavier realizes the battle with evil mutants and the threat of humanity is never ending. Therefore he keeps his X-Men on their toes and constantly monitors rogue mutant activity. The X-Men soon learn that the constant threat of Magneto is only the beginning.-summary
Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men Volume 2 is a graphic novel that contains issues 11-21 of the original X-Men series that was written by Stan Lee in 1965-1966. However, Stan Lee was responsible for writing 11-19. While Roy Thomas did issues 20 & 21. Jack Kirby continued with the artwork but shared the duties with Werner Roth and Alex Toth.
Last volume introduced the X-Men team to include their nemesis Magneto along with each of their goals. This volume continues their feud with Magneto, but he soon takes a backseat for new character appearances and story lines. This second volume is a step in the right direction. Along with several new faces, there is more back story given on some characters and the seeds are planted for the possible romance between Marvel Girl and Cyclops. Overall, there's more character and story depth.
The writing is a lot better. The depth in the story begins to take form when humanity finally begins to fear the threat of mutants, and their fear eventually grows into anger. This motivates a man named Bolivar Trask to create the highly intelligent and formidable mutant killing robots called the Sentinels. Spanning over three issues, I found these stories to be the most exciting. Not only because some of the best action scenes in X-Men comics have been against the Sentinels, but because of the themes that are examined, as well as the destructive path they can possibly lead to: such as blind fanaticism and racial profiling. There's nothing more vile than to condemn an entire race for the mistakes and crimes of a few.
This volume introduces another long running X-Men villain named the Juggernaut. This character is driven by rage, is invulnerable to all forms of physical harm, and proves to be the X-Men's greatest challenge so far. This was another story which is a two parter that I really enjoyed due to the suspense. Even though I already had knowledge of the Juggernaut's abilities prior to reading this. I have to give credit to the writing for such incredible build up. I'm sure Juggernaut's first appearance must have been a sight to see for those whom were following the series at that time.
Another character called the Mimic has an interesting ability that lives up to his namesake. This story was good concerning action but I really didn't care for his drive. I feel the writing was cheaply done and I couldn't feel for this character. The action scenes throughout are mainly good due to the imagination, with the best battle to me being against the Juggernaut; but the battles against the Sentinels doesn't begin to compare with the later battles that takes place much later in the series. The artwork is still passable with some very clean coloring along with that dated feel.
Once again, as in the previous volume. The story lines are wrapped up, so a cliffhanger isn't a worry. This means a speedy purchase of the next volume shouldn't really be considered, unless you're a die hard fan. Although there has been some slight improvement in this batch of stories. I still wouldn't truly consider this to be high art. I think fans of that era will appreciate this more and collectors may also benefit.
Those who have grown up with some of the more mainstream X-Men, such as Wolverine, Gambit, Storm, & Rogue. I recommend the first book only for history sake, but keep in mind, these earlier stories are nowhere on the same level of the X-Men series from the mid to late 70's on up. Even though these stories are entertaining. I don't believe I'll be going back to them anytime soon.
Pros: Improves in many areas
Con: Room for a lot more improvement