I've slowly been picking up some of Marvel's Essential line and have been pleasantly surprised by just how well some of those older stories hold up. This volume of the Claremont and Cockrum run is hands down the best of any Essential I've read so far.
So much stuff that's become core X-Men lore is here. It really is great to be able to read the introduction of the Brood or see the first steps of Illyana's journey into becoming Magik. There's also stuff that's just plain cool like the X-Men taking on Doctor Doom and Dracula, guest shots by the Avengers and Fantastic Four and even a team-up with Tigra of all people. It's the X-Men put out there will the whole Marvel Universe to bounce off of and it's wonderful. I *love* things like that.
And what with this being X-Men there's plenty of soap opera to go around. The team butt heads which each other just as often they fight bad guys. But to Claremont's credit he makes Cyclops' romantic problems and Kitty's angst about her parents' divorce just as compelling as the saving the world action.
I can't say enough good things about Claremont's handling of Kitty. She really is one of the best written teenage girls I've ever encountered in fiction. She was to the early 80s what Buffy was to the late 90s and it's easy to see why so many male geeks from that era had crushes on her.
While Claremont's writing is legend among X-Men fans equal credit most go to the late Dave Cockrum. His work is still really enjoyable after 30 years. The man knew how to make every page interesting and there's a greater sense of realism to his work that really helps drive the stories home.
Honestly, if you're an X-Men fan you have no excuse to not have this on your self. Go grab a copy today.