X-Men Epic Collection: God Loves, Man Kills

X-Men mastermind Chris Claremont continues his legendary tenure on Marvel's mutants in this volume - including arguably one of the greatest comic book stories ever written!

By 1982, the X-Men had become the biggest franchise in comic books. The engine driving it all was UNCANNY X-MEN, where Chris Claremont’s deft character work and potent exploration of the mutant metaphor captivated readers. Claremont continued to find new dramatic heights with artist Paul Smith as they unfurled the growing romance between Kitty Pryde and Colossus, the first appearances of Callisto and the Morlocks, Rogue’s debut with the team and the wedding of Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor! Claremont’s writing rose to find perhaps his most poignant and challenging expression in his graphic novel with artist Brent Anderson, “God Loves, Man Kills.” Meanwhile, he collaborated with Frank Miller on the first WOLVERINE miniseries, which rocketed the character’s popularity into the stratosphere!

COLLECTING: Uncanny X-Men (1981) 168-175, X-Men Annual (1970) 7, Marvel Graphic Novel (1982) 5, Wolverine (1982) 1-4, material from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (1983)

Industry legend Chris Claremont is best known for his epic sixteen-year run on Uncanny X-Men. Claremont’s focus on the themes of prejudice and tolerance struck at the hearts of comics fans, and he built an unparalleled following during the next three decades. Under his pen, the X-Men franchise spawned a vast array of spin-offs, many of them written by Claremont himself. His other credits include Iron Fist, Ms. Marvel, Power Man and Spider-Woman. Claremont has returned to the X-Men universe in New Exiles, GeNext, X-Men Forever, Chaos War: X-Men and Nightcrawler.

A former animator for cult cartoonist Ralph Bakshi, Paul Smith penciled Uncanny X-Men during a brief but pivotal run that included Rogue joining the team, Storm’s controversial makeover, Wolverine’s near-marriage and Cyclops’ wedding to future villain Madelyne Pryor. He then moved to Doctor Strange, Marvel Fanfare and others, later drawing the acclaimed X-Men/Alpha Flight miniseries. With James Robinson, he created DC’s groundbreaking Golden Age miniseries, highlighting the publisher’s wartime heroes like few before or since. His work for other companies includes First’s Grimjack and Image’s Leave It to Chance; he returned to Marvel to pencil the miniseries Kitty Pryde: Shadow and Flame, revisiting some themes from his Uncanny work.

Active since the late 1970s, Brent Anderson drew Marvel’s Ka-Zar the Savage series and a memorable Marvel Graphic Novel in 1982 featuring the X-Men story “God Loves, Man Kills.” He later co-created Marvel’s Strikeforce: Morituri, and is perhaps best known for co-creating the acclaimed Astro City series with Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross. Anderson’s many Marvel credits include Marvel Comics Super Special (Xanadu), Moon Knight and The Pulse.

Multiple Eisner Award-winner Frank Miller broke into the comics business during the late 1970s, landing a choice assignment on the series Daredevil. His work quickly made the title one of Marvel’s best-selling series, as well as establishing Miller as a fan-favorite superstar. During his tenure on Daredevil, he introduced the assassin Elektra, who became a major Marvel character in her own right. After completing his initial run, Miller returned to Daredevil as writer of the acclaimed “Born Again” run with artist David Mazzucchelli; he then collaborated with John Romita Jr. for the Daredevil: Man Without Fear limited series. Miller has also had monumental success with his work on other iconic characters. In 1986, he made a splash at DC with the wildly popular and hugely influential Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, which told the tale of an older Batman still fighting crime decades after his prime. The following year, Miller reteamed with David Mazzucchelli for Batman: Year One, putting a modern spin on Batman’s classic origin story. Miller writes All Star Batman & Robin with artist Jim Lee, continuing to put his distinctive mark on the Dark Knight. Miller has parlayed his talents as a comic-book creator to major success in Hollywood. In 2005, Miller collaborated with Robert Rodriquez to co-direct Sin City, a film that was widely praised by both fans and critics. Two years later, Miller’s 300 met with similar success, breaking multiple box-office records. Miller wrote and directed The Spirit, based on Will Eisner’s classic hero.