This was a cool bit of X-men history and I'm really glad that I got to read the original (Giant-X-men #1) before reading it so I knew the background. For some reason people don't like having their heads messed with, go figure. ( )

Well enough told, but so many retcons to render the plot and characters unrecognizable. Also, having been underwhelmed by Brubaker's follow-up work with Vulcan et al, any interest in the character was already undermined. The most interesting twist was what was done with Charles Xavier after the Scarlet-Witch-reboots-mutantkind plot (which I'll not spoil here). ( )

This was an ok story. The House of M fallout (new Sentinels, Professor X's reappearance, people's loss of powers) were the best parts. The villain was whiny and unsympathetic and the reveals about the past (which I knew nothing about) weren't that compelling. In part because that, Scott's final actions didn't have the emotional impact that they should have. ( )

As far as retcon's go, this one wasn't too bad. Turns out the team of X-Men that Professor X forms in Giant-Sized X-Men #1 is actually the second team that he sent to Krakoa to rescue the original X-Men. The first set of X-Men he sent were actually students of Moira Mactaggert's, who Professor X quickly trains through mind manipulation and sends off to Krakoa, only to have that entire team seemingly killed on their first mission. The only other person who knows of this tragedy is Cyclops, but Professor X wipes the memory from his mind to make it easier for Cyclops to cope. What I didn't like about this story is that it struck a little too close a cord with the DC Comics mini-series Identity Crisis which was released the year before, in which a terrible mistake in the JLA's past is mindwiped from everyone to keep the secret safe. Deadly Genesis, IMO, was handled well and the repercussions from this story have had significant effects on the X-Men as a whole; I just wish it didn't seem like Marvel was trying to copy the success DC had with so similar of an idea.

This volume does introduce us to Vulcan, the mysterious third Summers brother, who quickly becomes one of the X-Men's deadliest villains. It is also a direct lead-in to Rise & Fall of the Shi'Ar Empire, which ran in Uncanny for a full year after this mini-series. Banshee's death is handled well, too. He doesn't seem to have died in vain, and he appears to have remained dead, which doesn't always happen in comics. I personally feel that the X-Men as a whole seemed to be lacking direction post-House of M, but this volume does seem to start to steer them in a somewhat unified direction. ( )

This little bit of retcontinuity asks the question, "What really happened during Giant-Size X-Men #1?" And while I am not a big fan of constantly changing comic book characters' histories to invent new stories, Ed Brubaker answers this question very smartly, managing to stay true to characters while still introducing a secret history that changes current events. Leads in to the events of Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire arc of Uncanny X-Men and also Professor Xavier's story in X-Men Legacy. ( )