A year or two ago, I was on a convention panel where I was able to tell former X-MEN editor Louise Simonson just how much she’d screwed all of those X-MEN editors who came after her with her performance in that role in 1982. An incredible number of high-quality releases came out of the X-Men line in that year, including the X-MEN: GOD LOVES, MAN KILLS graphic novel, the launch of NEW MUTANTS, the ongoing UNCANNY X-MEN series with Paul Smith on art, the WOLVERINE limited series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, and this stellar inter-company crossover book. It’s a batting average that nobody who has served in that role has come close to equaling, and it took advantage of the increased attention on the series following the Death of Dark Phoenix storyline to turn UNCANNY X-MEN into a sales juggernaut that would remain unassailable for two decades. This was the fourth (and due to unforeseen circumstances, the last) of the original Marvel/DC crossover titles and is widely considered the best of them–and quite possibly the best of all time. It’s a great book and was super anticipated in the weeks leading up to its release.
At the time when this issue was released, there weren’t any two titles that were hotter in the Direct Sales marketplace than UNCANNY X-MEN and NEW TEEN TITANS. The latter had come out of nowhere to become a genuine contender to the X-Men’s crown, propelled by the efforts of co-creators Marv Wolfman and George Perez. As initially conceived, this crossover was originally intended to be a meet-up between the mutants and DC’s futuristic Legion of Super Heroes, both of whom owed a visual debt in the 1970s to Dave Cockrum. But much to Marvel EIC Jim Shooter’s dismay, late in the day DC insisted that the book feature their new hot series instead–Shooter had an affinity for the Legion, having written their adventures for several years. At the time this decision was reached, not even a year’s worth of TITANS issues had seen print, which meant that in large part writer Chris Claremont was going to be operating in the dark as he worked out his story, though he’d get help from DC’s editorial liaison Len Wein.
On the artistic front, Walt Simonson happened to be dropping by his wife’s office at Marvel that day when he came upon her and Chris discussing the plot for the upcoming crossover. In seeking out a villain big enough to take on two super-teams, they’d already tentatively landed on Darkseid. In their conception, the Lord of Apokolips would be attempting to harness the power of the Dark Phoenix for his own. (Chris was somewhat hung up on Dark Phoenix at this point in time, and continued to do riffs on that popular story until his attention moved elsewhere.) Upon hearing this, Walt, a huge fan of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World titles, volunteered to pencil the book, with regular UNCANNY X-MEN inker Terry Austin providing the finishes. To keep things equal, the team also chose to include Deathstroke the Terminator, a Titans foe, among the main players in the story, even though he doesn’t really get all that much to do.
The book was a massive 64 pages in length, which still made it shorter than the earlier crossovers despite the fact that it featured far more characters. Additionally, it was the first such crossover to be released at regular comic book size rather than in the Treasury Edition format–economics and rising costs had made the Treasury format prohibitively expensive by 1982 and it had fallen away. Still, this was a special book with a special price tag of $2.00. Nobody I ever heard of who dropped those two bills ever regretted it.
The story opens at the Source Wall where Darkseid and Metron parley among the Promethean Giants for a Psychon Wave device that Darkseid needs to collect the essence of the Dark Phoenix that’s been scattered across the Earth among those who have encountered her. With it, Darkseid extracts those bits of the essence of Jean Grey from the slumbering X-Men in their Westchester mansion, intending on reincorporating the firebird and taming its power. But Raven of the Teen Titans, an empath, gets psychic visions of what is to occur, which sends the group into action to track down whomever is reassembling the Phoneix. The Master of Apokolips has sent not only his Para-Demons to carry out his objectives but he’s also employed Deathstroke as a mercenary hireling, and the Terminator clobbers Robin on an assignment, creating a personal enmity with the Titans in the bargain.
The X-Men head out to where Professor X and Cerebro have reckoned that the perpetrator will strike next. Which leaves only the Professor in attendance when the Titans crash the X-Mansion. They wind up mixing it up with a troop of Para-Demons who show up to incapacitate the absent X-Men, and the Titans are mistaken for the mutant heroes and captured–all except Changeling, who heroically follows to try to rescue his friends but who is swiftly clobbered himself. Elsewhere, the X-Men do battle with the Terminator and more Para-Demons on the butte in the midwest where Scott and Jean had once consummated their relationship. But they get trashed, too, and everybody is transported to the space just before the Source Wall, where Darkseid can use the X-Men’s memories of Jean Grey to put the Dark Phoenix back together. Which he does. With the power of Dark Phoenix, Darkseid proposes to transform the Earth into a second Apokolips, using it as a stronghold from which to wage war on New Genesis, his hated godly rivals.
With the bad guys on their way to Earth, the good guys are able to free themselves from Darkseid’s device and agree to join forces against the impending threat. They’re able to use Metron’s discarded Mobius Chair to get back to Earth, with Changeling transforming himself into a gigantic dragon to carry them all into battle. They head into the bowels of the Earth, where they confront Darkseid and his minions and of course Dark Phoenix itself among the devices that Darkseid intends to use to create fire-pits across the globe. But it’s a doomed effort, for as powerful as the X-Men and the New Titans are, they’re no match for the forces that are arrayed against them.
But the power of love can conquer all, and when Dark Phoenix attempts to consume Cyclops, it is exposed to his love of Jean grey, which awakens something inside of it. Realizing that it is merely an abomination, a corruption of the true Dark Phoenix and Jean Grey, the firebird lashes out at its creator Darkseid, consuming him and conveying him through space back to the Source Wall, where both are disincorporated in a cataclysmic final blaze. So it’s a big, spectacular win, and the X-Men and the Titans celebrate in its aftermath, with Storm wondering if perhaps it was the essence of the true Jean Grey that saved them in the end. In a final epilogue, Metron reclaims his Mobius Chair and bids farewell to Darkseid, who has joined the Promethean Giants as one of the many enormous figures dotted across the Source Wall, a killer visual to go out on.
The book is a great piece of work, and it’s only real weakness is the fact that the Titans characters tend to sound a bit too much like stock Claremont characters rather than themselves. To Chris’s credit, that’s certainly at least in part due to the fact that there was so little reference material available when this story was undertaken on the new Titans characters at least. And in a Claremont X-Men story, that familiarity of cadence was perhaps as much a positive as a negative. As originally conceived, there was going to be a second X-MEN/NEW TITANS crossover produced the following year, this one put together by the DC team of Marv Wolfman and George Perez. Unfortunately, the drama that led to the next book, the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA/AVENGERS crossover, not happening also doomed that follow-up effort. Reportedly, the villains would have been Brother Blood and the Hellfire Club, which makes all the sense in the world. But if this was the final collaboration between Marvel and DC–as it was for about a decade–then it was a strong note to go out on.
The Tom Brevoort Experience 
If someone held me at gunpoint and demanded I name off my top five favorite X-Men stories, this would be one of them! And how could it not? This issue introduced me to Darkseid! To Walt Simonson’s art. To Deathstroke. To Cyborg, Raven, Starfire and Changeling. And all interacting with those X-Men who’s every issue I read and reread until I damn near memorized every page and panel.
So many great bits that stand out in this classic:
If nothing else, this issue also had me suddenly rethinking my steadfast devotion to reading only Marvel comics, opening doors to the Teen Titans, Legion and so on. All on a college kid’s budget that could have been better spent – on concerts and cheap beer!
Thanks, Tom, for the look back!
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Chris & Louise really included a lot. Some really good beats & interaction between the characters. The similar age of Gar & Kitty. The ethereal natures & nobility of Raven and Storm. The 2 armored strong guys. I kind of wish Rogue had been an X-Men by then. I consider her & the others shown here “my” definitive X-Mn, & there could’ve been a good moment with her and Wonder Girl, maybe a comparison to Ms. Marvel. Wally seems a bit out of place, but his remark about Peter being a “Russian” seemed spot on for a mid-western Cold War kid.
Waly Simonson’s big single splashes and double page spreads added depth and scale to the action. That huge white tubular contraption. The Promethean Source Wall. Giving each character space to demonstrate their abilities. I like his art better in this issue than in his guest art spot in UXM #171 (when Rohue officially joined up).
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Yeah, I remember that bit about Starfire learning Earth languages through kissing. And Kurt asking, “Sprechen Sie Deutsch, Fraulein?” I remember busting a gut when I read that bit.
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This era was truly the last Golden Age for Marvel and DC because by the 90s it was all downhill. It was exciting to read both mainstream and indie alternative, but my most vivid memories of the early 1980s is being at my elementary schoolyard with my classmates pouring over the latest issues of X-Men, New Mutants, New Teen Titans, All Star Squadron and haggling and trading used copies before the bell rang.
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And that was the end of Darkseid, forever. (In checking I see his turn as the Legion’s big bad was also 1982. He had a good year.)
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Though his end was fitting, there was no way he’d’ve been killed off for good in an ongoing shared universe. 😉
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I really do think it was the one-two punch of this story and the “Great Darkness Saga” in Legion that firmly established Darkseid as a major-league DC villain.
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I disagree that the TT’s sounded like stock Claremont characters. I never knew they were a late replacement for the LoSH. That makes it more impressive to me that I didn’t think Chris’s dialog for them was out of character. He noted the enmity between Slade & Robin, and the others. Changeling came off in character, and his asking Wolverine if they could be related was a nice inclusion. Cyborg, Kori, and Especially Raven came off consistently with what I knew of them.
Funny that maybe 15 years later, a fight between Wolverine & Deathstroke could’ve likely supported its own 80+ page miniseries, let alone a 64 page special. But in 1982, neither character was widely known outside comics. The 90’s X-Men TV cartoon would change their profile. And I guess 10 years after that, the first Teen Titans cartoon came out. But in this story, the few panels they get to spar in must’ve really started wheels turning in fans’ minds.
Though even back then, when Cyborg questioned why the Titans never met the X-Men before, or when Robin mentions the JLA and Avengers, it struck me as “too many heroes” for one Earth. Though the story possibilities would be almost endless. And there’d be a lot of potential fun seeing as many of them play out as possible.
Walt Simonspn did every character justice. And Terry Austin’s inks meshed extremely well with Walt’s dynamic drawing, and for this huge cast. Some really iconic shots of Cyclops possessed by the Phoenix. The flames surrounding Phoenix in its Jean form. Changeling’s shapes. Raven’s cloak. Good time to compliment the expert, expressive coloring of Glynis Wein. She had a pretty stellar career.
And NOBODY draws a better Darkseid than Walt. Few drew him as great or as effective as this. Massive, without going too large like Jim Lee did 30 years later, in my opinion. The reflective, metallic sheen of his helmet. His grim, rocky visage. I like his eyes best as red, without any pupils or irises, a glimpse to the immense power within his solid frame. Just one of many reasons why Walt’s “Orion” series 20 years later was a personal favorite.
I’m almost surprised Tom hasn’t covered this story before now, but I guess chronologically, it’s right when it should be. This was such a huge milestone for the industry, and for many readers’ own experiences. Very high watermark event. Made it more special after future crossovers were indefinitely cancelled. Many of us thought we’d never see something like it ever again. I’m hoping you get a lot of interesting comments and positive feedback on this.
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Ah, OK, this crossover was mentioned before in Tom’s “5 Best Crossovers” article.
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Robin’s 40-some year old costume REALLY looks outdated in this. Storm’s & Starfire’s haven’t aged well, either.
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Orion was that rarity, a non-Kirby New Gods story that I liked.
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I remember hearing that Walt originally drew this for Treasury Edition size but that was changed before he finished the story. I don’t have my copy handy but from the splash pages bleeding off the edge of the page at the beginning of the book I believed it.
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So many beautiful full-page splashes and double paged spreads. Gave it a huge scale.
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TOM, Chris Claremont is still alive so the X-Men/Legion of Super-Heroes crossover is still possible. Don’t know if Chris managed to get a plot started before DC wanted The New Teen Titans to substituted in, but if he did whoever the bad guys were could be shown among images of alternate timelines during time travel. TRIVIA: according to comicbook.com [ https://comicbook.com/comics/feature/marvel-and-dc-comics-have-officially-connected-their-universes-in-the-best-way-possible ] in Storm: Earth’s Mightiest Mutant#3 the Marvel Universe has a SOURCE WALL ( The other side of that wall is the DC Multiverse ). I enjoyed the X-Men/Teen Titans crossover, but can’t say it was the best of the bunch. I still enjoyed Avengers/JLA better and Darkseid vs. Galactus: The Hunger would come before the X-Men/Teen Titans for me.
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TRIVIA ( Had a vague memory of this and should have looked it up yesterday ): This crossover is the FIRST physical appearance of the SOURCE WALL. According to dc.fandom.com in the early Fourth World stories by Jack Kirby and Gerry Conway, the Source Wall was portrayed as a metaphysical barrier without a physical form, with the Promethean Giants strewn throughout space nearby[ New Gods#5 ( October-November 1971 ) first appearance — no one mentions Source Wall, only the Promethean Galaxy and 2 Promethean Giants seen ].
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I do recall being tempted by this due to the dazzling Simonson/Austin art, but Dark Phoenix popping up was enough for me to pass on this one.
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Though I enjoyed the Busiek/Perez take on Marvel and DC being in alternate realities (because it was so Earth 1/Earth 2), the earlier idea that all these characters really did inhabit the same world, and had just never met worked well also!
I think the only off thing in this story is Changeling being able to turn into such a big animal. I don’t know if the limits on his powers had been stated in Titans yet, but they had been when I read this crossover.
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After the Amazon’s Purple Ray saved Changeling’s life he went a little mad/crazy and turned into a Brachiosaurus about that size [ The New Teen Titans#13 ( November 1981 ) page 14-16 ].
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I realize that writers have their own style. This definitely read like a Claremont story. But the dialog written for the DC characters didn’t feel wrong for them. Robin still spoke credibly as Robin. Same for the others.
Tom wrote that the TT’s sounded a bit too much like Claremont stock characters, rather than the selves.
I think Claremont did a good job of having them speak like themselves. Not a lot of space for every reader’s fave character to get a lot of spoken lines or action in panels. I thought Claremont found a good balance.
I wonder if you only showed a reader the TT’s pages of this story, removing all imagery or mention of Marvel & Marvel characters, and the opening credits, especially no clue that it was produced in-house by Marvel, if most people could guess who wrote it. I doubt Claremont would be the majority’s first guess. They’d likely figure it was someone who’d written for DC bc before.
For anyone familiar with Walt”s art, there’d be no mistaking it for someone other artist’s. His renditions of all of them are easily recognizable as his, and as themselves. The fantastic layouts & kinetic action helped, the story.
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The X-Men did meet the Legion of Super-Heroes in the seventies in Uncanny X- Men 107 and battled some of them. They were called the Imperial Guard in Marvel. The Avengers met the JLA too in the seventies but they were called the Squadron Supreme. Or were those 2 teams homage “analogues?” Ha. Wolverine did meet some Legion members in one of the Access crossovers in the 90’s. I wish George Perez or John Byrne drew that crossover instead of Walt. They were my 2 favorite artists at that time. I don’t like Walt’s art much. It looks rushed and his anatomy isn’t that good. I liked several of the other crossovers better than this one. And Wolverine would decapitate Deathstroke if he let loose. He beat Lobo like it or not, and battled the Hulk and Juggernaut. Slade would be toast.
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The Titans did sound a lot like Claremont characters, but let’s face it, if the X-Men had crossed over with the Legion, the Legion would have sounded like Claremont characters. Heck, if they’d crossed over with Sgt. Rock and Easy Company, Rock, Ice Cream Soldier and Little Sure Shot would have sounded like Claremont characters.
That’s what Chris did.
And the readers loved it.
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I realize that writers have their own style. This definitely read like a Claremont story. But the dialog written for the DC characters didn’t feel wrong for them. Robin still spoke credibly as Robin. Same for the others.
Tom wrote that the TT’s “sounded a bit too much like Claremont stock characters, rather than themselves.” Again, I disagree.
I think Claremont did a good job of having them speak like themselves. Not a lot of space for every reader’s fave character to get a lot of spoken lines or action in panels. I thought Claremont found a good balance.
**I wonder if you only showed a reader the TT’s pages of this story, removing all imagery or mention of Marvel & Marvel characters, and the opening credits, especially no clue that it was produced in-house by Marvel, if most people could guess who wrote it. I doubt Claremont would be the majority’s first guess. They’d likely figure it was someone who’d written for DC be before.**
For anyone familiar with Walt’s art, there’d be no mistaking it for some other artist’s. His renditions of all of them are easily recognizable as his, and as the characters themselves. The fantastic layouts & kinetic action helped the story.
The script didn’t make me think I was reading “Marvel” or “Claremont versions” of the Teen Titans. If so, then I wish they’d finally given Robin some pants and better footwear.
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I was definitely one of those readers who loved every word Chris Claremont put onto a comics page at that time. His style of writing was right up there with good videos and pasta the night before a race! That said, I started seeing holes in that style a couple years later and grew weary of it by the end of that decade. When Claremont returned to the X-Men in the late 90’s, suddenly, a style I loved years earlier simply no longer appealed to me.
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I think the only time I saw him change his writing style up was a Nightcrawler maxi in 2014(?).
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“Still, this was a special book with a special price tag of $2.00. Nobody I ever heard of who dropped those two bills ever regretted it.”
So true. It was a stand-out book at a time when a number of adventure comics were featuring first-rate work. It was also my introduction to Walt Simonson’s work, and what an introduction it was. I loved it.
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For those interested in erratta – Claremont wrote a sequel to this crossover in Showcase ’95 issue 12. Lovely 10 pager drawn by Alan Davis and Mark Farmer featuring the character Maitresse, from Claremon’s Sovereign Seven series. It’s an amusing little story exploring Darkseid’s fate after he’s stuck in the Source Wall.
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Question in this shared universe which began with the first Spider-Man/Superman team-up, which Morgan le Fey/Morgaine le Fey is in it? I assume Marvel’s Hercules is active since DC Hercules was active as a hero in an alternate future.
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I paid far more as I live in the UK. Equivalent of about $7 and I was disappointed. By that time I preferred the Titans to the X-Men, who I went after fast following Byrne’s departure. I thought it was all a horrible mess, but I was slowly realising that , for me, Claremont without Byrne was not my cup of tea.
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