GIANT-SIZE X-MEN #1: THE RESCUE TEAM

GIANT-SIZE X-MEN #1: THE RESCUE TEAM The 1975 X-Men relaunch starts with a rescue. Cyclops has returned from Krakoa, but Jean Grey, Angel, Iceman, Havok and Polaris are still missing. Xavier needs people who can go back with Scott and bring them home. Beast wasn't on that mission. Len Wein and Dave Cockrum build Giant-Size X-Men #1 around seven recruits: Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Banshee, Sunfire and Thunderbird. With Cyclops leading them, that's eight people in the field. Xavier recruits and coordinates from outside the rescue squad. The recruitment scenes visit different countries and very different lives. Some of these people already know the X-Men. Others are hearing Xavier's offer for the first time. They have different reasons for agreeing, and becoming teammates doesn't immediately make them friends. Cockrum's designs make that clear before anyone speaks. There's no matching student uniform tying everyone together. The capes, masks, colors and body shapes give each person a separate identity within the group. Krakoa also puts the earlier team back into the action. Rescuing them doesn't finish the job; the two groups have to survive together. The relaunch depends on what came before it. This thread covers that rescue lineup. The next steps belong in separate roster updates: Sunfire and several veterans leave in X-Men #94, and Thunderbird dies in #95. The ongoing team changes almost immediately.