Sixth Line-Up

I have a soft spot for Rick Leonardi's artwork, and this particular X-Men roster, most likely because this was the era when I started reading X-Men in the late 1980's.  This image comes from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition, and more team rosters can be found here:

http://unpublishedxmen.blogspot.com/search/label/Line-up

X-Men 33

Professor H. has provided not only the unused cover art for X-Men #33, but he also took the time to create a color version.  The original art is by Werner Roth, and the published version is by Gil Kane.  However, please take the time to notice that the floating heads on the published version are taken from Roth's unused cover art.  Professor H can be found in his wayback machine here:

http://professorhswaybackmachine.blogspot.com/

Thunderbird X2

This rendition of Thunderbird by Rafael Kayanan reminded me that he also did a portrait of Thunderbird for the Uncanny Dave Cockrum tribute book, so I decided to show both pieces here.

The Rampaging Hulk

The Rampaging Hulk #2, printed in 1977, featured a black and white tale of the original X-Men written by Doug Moench with art by Walt Simonson and Alfredo Alcala.  It was unusual to find the original X-Men featured in a story this soon after the introduction of the All-New All Different X-Men.  Incidentally, the painted cover is by Ken Barr.

Stan The Man

Scott Edelman's blog has some detailed character descriptions believed to be written by Stan Lee in the 1970's.  Scott was an assistant editor at Marvel Comics at the time, and he did print these in an issue of FOOM.  For more information, check out his post: http://www.scottedelman.com/2012/02/11/did-stan-lee-think-cyclops-should-sound-like-anthony-perkins/

Apologies for the scans, but with my secretary on vacation, I was unable to provide a transcript.  However, you can click on the image for a larger version.  Also, I know how much my readers appreciate rare X-Men art, so I have included a dose of John Romita Sr. to keep you from going through withdrawl symptoms.

What is it that disturbs you, Colossus?

We're bringing Paul Smith Week to a close with a special treat!  Paul Smith is well known for his work on both X-Men and Dr. Strange, and here's an image that combines both.  If only this could have been published as a complete story, as Dr. Strange conjures an image of Colossus's sister Magik, who was thought to be dead at the time.

Brotherhood

This Paul Smith pinup of The Brotherhood of (Evil) Mutants originally appeared in X-Men Unlimited #7.  Scans of the original art can be found below.

Paul Smith Week / Uncanny X-Men 169

While this image later saw print in the back pages of Classic X-Men #24, it was originally intended to be the cover for Uncanny X-Men #169.  Check out the original art and the published cover below.