X-Men Epic Collection: The Brood Saga review

The first thing that strikes a person upon going back and reading the Claremont years of the X-Men is how unflaggingly creative those issues are. They are, of course, foundational – the work Chris Claremont and his sundry artists and inkers did during the staggering 16-year run established an entire mythology that is unshakable to this day. Relationships are established and characters are developed at an incredible pace. There’s rarely an issue, from 1975 to 1991, that doesn’t introduce something vital to the franchise; those that do not nonetheless present something otherwise fantastic.

The year presented in X-Men Epic Collection: The Brood Saga (1982 – 1983) might serve as a perfect example of that creative barrage. In the 14 and a half issues (the monthly, an annual, and a backup story from a reprint), so many things happen.

The Brood are introduced, of course – they make their first appearance in issue #155 – and identifying it as a “saga” is by no means unfitting; the final crumbs of their narrative influence aren’t wiped away until a year later in #167, when the Brood egg residing in Charles Xavier is done away with. This is accomplished by cloning a whole new body for Charles. Presumably, his original body (Brood and all) was incinerated like any piece of biological waste. Against the larger, over-the-top barrage of ideas, this existential detail barely registers.

Brood aside, in these issues we see Carol Danvers attain the Binary power set for which she is known – the glowing fusion energy that swaddles actress Brie Larson in the MCU. This transformation occurs in #164, and is barely commented upon in the issues following.

Four issues before that, a six-year-old Illyana Rasputin is whisked off to Limbo; the X-Men, following, encounter the gruesome fact of their extra-planar corruptions and deaths at the hands of Belasco and his lackey, Sym. Illyana is returned to Earth, now a magic-powered teenager.

This epic also occurs over the course of a single issue.

Also: the groundwork for The New Mutants is laid when Charles receives a letter about Karma from Reed Richards. Also: Scott Summers realizes that his Corsair is his long-lost father; Alex subsequently gets an introduction. Also: Nightcrawler’s faith is established in a brief conversation with Wolverine. Also: Storm becomes a vampire (almost) twice. Also: Kitty Pryde meets her extraterrestrial dragon, Lockheed.

Also: Charles Xavier regains the use of his legs.

There is the abduction to and escape from an alien planet; an intergalactic queen is dethroned by her murderous sister; every X-Man is implanted with a Brood egg, which culminates in Storm becoming the spiritual messiah of an entire race of space whales. Earthside, the X-Men engage in a bit of espionage as they break into the Pentagon to delete intel. They have their first meeting – and obligatory battle – with the New Mutants. Another entire issue is dedicated to Charles’ past with the mother of his child and Magneto, as they battle Nazis.

Every page of The Brood Saga feels essential to the makeup of not only the X-Men but of the larger Marvel universe. Every issue here is a key issue. That alone is almost overwhelming; consider, then, that this is only one of fourteen volumes that collect the Claremont years – and that’s discounting further volumes of The New Mutants.

The series is a treasure trove of ideas, an impossible chain of endless invention. The Brood Saga is only a drop in the bucket of one of the most important runs in comic history. With character-defining artwork from Dave Cockrum near the end of his time with these characters, this volume is an iconic work that deserves a place on your shelf.