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X-Men: The Hidden Years Vol. 1: The Hidden Years - Volume 1 (X-Men: The Hidden Years (1999-2001)) Kindle & comiXology

by John Byrne (Author, Cover Art, Artist, Contributor) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 50 ratings
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Collects X-Men: The Hidden Years #1-12 and material From X-Men (1991) #94.

The first twelve issues of John Byrne's fan-favorite X-project in one titanic tome! This series chronicles the adventures of Marvel's original team of merry mutants after their Silver Age saga had run its course and before the launch of the All-New, All-Different X-men. Thrill to their explosive x-ploits in the Savage Land, as well as guest appearances by Ka-Zar, Magneto, Sauron, The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and Namor!
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  1. Reading age
    9 years and up
  2. Part of Series
    X-Men: The Hidden Years (1999-2001)
  3. Print length
    323 pages
  4. Language
    English
  5. Grade level
    4 and up
  6. Publisher
    Marvel
  7. Publication date
    May 2, 2012
  8. Page Flip
    Not Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Not Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Not Enabled
  11. Sticky notes
    Not Enabled
  12. ISBN-13
    978-0785159698
  13. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B076HY8H58
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Marvel (May 2, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 2, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1915366 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Not enabled
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 323 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 50 ratings

About the author

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John Byrne

John Byrne

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John Lindley Byrne (born July 6, 1950) is a British-born American comic-book writer and artist. Since the mid-1970s, Byrne has worked on many major American superheroes. Byrne's better-known work has been on Marvel Comics’ X-Men and Fantastic Four and the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics’ Superman franchise, the first issue of which featured comics' first variant cover. Coming into the comics profession exclusively as a penciler, Byrne began co-plotting the X-Men comics during his tenure on them, and launched his writing career in earnest with Fantastic Four (where he started inking his own pencils). During the 1990s he produced a number of creator-owned works, including Next Men and Danger Unlimited. He scripted the first issues of Mike Mignola's Hellboy series and produced a number of Star Trek comics for IDW Publishing. In 2015, Byrne and his longtime X-Men collaborator Chris Claremont were inducted into the comic book hall of fame.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Corey Bond from United States (John Byrne. Cropped prior to upload.) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
50 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

S. H. Wells
5.0 out of 5 stars Tales of the X-Men's X-ploits During the Series' Cancelled Years
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2012
Verified Purchase
Collecting: X-Men The Hidden Years #1-12

The X-Men are Marvel's top-selling super team, and the characters are some of the most recognizable comic book characters in the world. However, the X-Men were nearly cancelled. After some low sales figures the X-Men series went into reprints. X-Men #67-93 simply had new covers and old material between them.

John Byrne helmed the Hidden Years series to tell the story of what the X-Men were doing during those lost issues. Byrne wrote some of the most iconic X-Men issues between 1977 and 1981. Byrne & Claremont's writing influenced the direction of the series for decades. Byrne returned to X-Men with the Hidden Years in 1999-2001.

The twelve episodes of the Hidden Years collected in this graphic novel are a superb blend of nostalgia and new. The style of the comics is very modern with asymmetrical panels and much less reliance on inner-dialogue than would have been the case in a true "retro" series. However the original X-team recently "graduated" from school play the protagonists. Of course, epic battles with Magneto abound in these pages.

What I especially enjoy is Byrne's clever use of hindsight. We catch glimpses of Sunfire, Storm and other X-men before they were X-Men. Readers will see Marvel Girl's first shiver of the Pheonix power.

If you've followed the early X-Men episodes in the Marvel Masterworks series, the Hidden Years graphic novel is a great addition. Read the Hidden Years after  Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men Vol. 6 (Hardcover) . The Hidden Years takes place during  Marvel Masterworks: X-Men - Volume 7 . If you're a long time x-fan, I believe you will enjoy these nostalgic episodes as much as I did.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars loved
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2017
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As a big fan of John Byrne , loved it
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David Keith
5.0 out of 5 stars BEST X-MEN BOOK IN YEARS!
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2012
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Best X-men book in years!

And easily the best book since Bryne and Claremont's original run in the 1970's. I adore this series and wish it'd gone on for a full run. Here's some info lifted from Wiki:

"The series attempted to fill in the period in the early 1970s when the original X-Men comic was publishing only reprints of earlier issues. The series was intended to fill in the team's chronology during the reprint issues of the original X-Men series (#67-93). According to Byrne, the series "was clearly finite, since [Giant-Size X-Men #1] was out there as an "end point" for my series, but the way I had it worked out, I could have easily done 100 issues or more before I had to send the team off to Krakoa."[1] However, as part of a retooling of the X-Men line, X-Men: The Hidden Years was cancelled, prematurely ending its run with issue #22."

If you're a longtime X-fan, you simply must read this volume. It'll be the most Marvel fun you'll have all year.
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Brad A. Bigam
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent X-Men Book!
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2015
When I saw this series come out originally, I was excited, as I really enjoyed the Thomas/Adams X-Men that had set the comics industry on its ears. However, by that time I had given up comics and didn't buy them. Having purchased X-Men since issue 29 through about issue 150, My favorite run was Thomas/Adams issues, followed by the Steranko issues around issue 50. The Hidden Years is comparable to the awesomeness of these: good writing, characterization, and art. I know others will disagree since the Claremont & Byrne or Cockrum issues were very popular. However the themes and stories of this is more to my liking.
We need someone to step up with a few more issues to finish what Jim Steranko had started with the City of Mutants. It just disappeared with him. Perhaps Jim himself?
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Anthony R. Cardno
3.0 out of 5 stars Hidden but Bloated
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2014
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I'm reviewing both volumes together in one entry since I read them back-to-back. I applaud Byrne's efforts to fill in the "missing years" of the X-Men, stories set during the time when their monthly title was in reprint-only mode.That time, leading from the last story featuring the original X-Men into the debut of the All-New X-Men (Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler and company) years later, as a reader has always had me curious. Byrne, having co-authored and drawn some of the best, most-lasting X-Men stories of the 80s, should have been the right pick for this project. I ended up being a bit disappointed when I finally got to read the run in these two collected volumes (especially after the favorable reviews from several friends). Byrne's art is as open and airy as ever, a nice change from the ever-darker current comics art market (which I also like, but a breather is nice occasionally). But his story pacing suffers from what I perceive to be two problems.

First, there's the modern penchant for "decompressed" storytelling, which is sometimes a boon and sometimes a curse. In Byrne's hands here, storylines drag out interminably before any conclusions are reached -- at one point in volume two I think there were 5 different major plots all going on at once. I'm fine with small character moments hinting at the next storyline to come (as with Candy Southern's appearance at the X-Mansion to deliver important news to The Angel), but when the author is juggling major plot action for 4 different groups of characters at once (Havok, Lorna, Iceman & Ka-Zar in the Savage Land; Cyclops, Candy, Angel and Marvel Girl in the hands of The Promise; Xavier and Beast with the Girl Who Controls Sentinels; and then the Fantastic Four vs. Magneto & Namor retelling from FF 102-104), something really has to give. Anyone one of these four storylines, or the ones that preceded, could have been shortened/compressed and still would have had room for character growth and Byrne's all-out fight scenes.

The second problem, which rolls of of the first, is that it seems like this series came along during that time when Editors still felt like they could leave Byrne to his own devices and not lend some constructive criticism. At this point in the X-Men's history, the team had 5 regular members (Cyclops, Angel, Beast, Iceman and Marvel Girl) plus Prof. Xavier and probationary members Havok and Lorna Dane. A small enough roster that should/could have been shown working together as the tight unite they'd become, dealing with the addition of two new members. And yet, in these two volumes representing 22 monthly comics, the team spends far more time apart than they do together, starting in the very first issue. I think a firmer editorial hand would have convinced Byrne to keep the team together, and still tell the stories he tells -- which might have helped make the stories feel less drawn-out and bloated.

There are some great characterization moments, and I'm glad I read the book simply for the early Cyclops-Havok sibling dynamic, for the look at Beast's concerns that he would "go wild," and especially the way Byrne uses Iceman as the youngest member / hothead of the group. I also liked Byrne's appropriation of mutants from early 1960s Marvel comics, linking the company's pre-FF past to its present.

I liked these stories, but felt they could have been so much better.
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Drew Hallman
4.0 out of 5 stars Marvel at its best
Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2014
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1.John Byrne
2.good storytelling
3.the inner thoughts of the Xmen during this period
4.the Fantastic Four
5.No white washing Magneto
6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

M3Gr1ml0ck
5.0 out of 5 stars John Byrne is always John Byrne
Reviewed in Italy on June 4, 2013
Verified Purchase
I'm so glad to finally have the chance to read some superhero books done as I think they should be done, even though this exposes me as an "old guard" guy (but I love Geoff Johns' works as well).
John Byrne' career had lots of highs and lows, and he is probably a bit too self-assured, considering that his current art level is nowhere near his best days, but this "Hidden Years" is a great read: a powerful nostalgia trip in the golden past of the Marvel superheroing days, a clever weaving of new plots that continue the adventures of the original X-Men, mixing themes from those days with a modern narrative approach. New villains, returning threats, awesome guests stars (and the Fantastic Four just had to be there, right?) and a compelling storytelling that makes this read a really exciting ride.
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