The reboot has been the top trend in movie franchises for nearly a decade. Old TV shows, classic films and, of course, super heroes have all received the update treatment in some form or another for the big and little screens. But decades before Christopher Nolan reinvented Batman, Marvel Comics started reviving its old stories with visual facelifts and a marked increase in the quality of the writing itself. In the mid-1970's Marvel made a big push to capture new readers by inventing a large cast of new characters and reviving books that had been in mothballs for years. 1975 saw what was essentially a reboot for The Uncanny X-Men, starting with a special edition called Giant-Size X-Men #1. Marvel released a few books with the Giant-Size label to drum up interest in their big-name properties, but Giant-Size X-Men might just be the most important comic in Marvel's storied history.

The Uncanny X-Men hadn't seen a new edition since 1970. For nearly half the book's run the original team of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby hadn't really been involved. Art and writing duties went to a series of less well-known teams until Marvel decided to can the entire franchise. In that tumultuous period, X-Men went through all the same desperation maneuvers as a flailing TV show. New characters were introduced, only they lacked the originality of the starting cast, and there were even some costume changes along the way. It was only when writer Len Wein and illustrator Dave Cockrum came on the scene that X-Men got the opportunity to come back, and with a vengeance at that.

The premise of Giant-Size X-Men #1 is basically a short-order introduction to a plethora of new characters. Some would end up becoming indelible parts of the team, others would eventually be shed for one reason or another. The old team (Cyclops, Angel, Iceman and Marvel Girl) get trapped on a mysterious island while Beast has simply graduated from Professor X's program and is off on his own. Xavier gathers a new team of mutants to rescue the X-Men and in doing so introduces readers to some now famous names.

Among the members of the new team that modern audiences would recognize are Nightcrawler, Colossus, Storm and Wolverine. It's clear from the start that these four characters have the strongest, most lasting appeal. The rest are little more than racial stereotypes with no real inner life. By Uncanny X-Men #94 the Japanese mutant Sunfire is gone of his own accord and the broad Apache caricature Thunderbird gets killed off on the new team's first solo mission. Banshee lasts a bit longer, leaving the team several years later and coming back on occasion, though he hasn't been a part of the regular X-Men since 1979. As for the old team, they just up and leave to make room for the new folks.

What's most striking about the X-Men revival is the change in art and writing. Each panel is a lot busier and more chaotic, especially the fight scenes. Len Wein's writing in Giant-Size #1 is downright poetic, but everyday writing duties soon fell to Chris Claremont, the series' longest running writer. Wein would stay on as a plotter and editor for a few more years before he left Marvel at the end of the decade. Really, what we know as the X-Men came to be in this new batch of characters and stories. My analysis is going to slow down as we dive into where the franchise went in mid-1970's.