Amazing Adventures #11
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAmazing Adventures #11 is the pivot point that transformed Hank McCoy from a conventionally human-looking founding X-Man into the grey-furred (later blue-furred) creature that became one of Marvel's most beloved and enduring character designs. By permanently locking the Beast into his new form — with no reversal possible — writer Gerry Conway and editor/conceptual architect Roy Thomas committed Marvel to a genuinely irreversible character evolution, a bold storytelling choice for 1972. That redesign gave Beast the visual distinctiveness needed for his subsequent careers as an Avenger, a Defender, and eventually a linchpin of the X-Men's intellectual core under writers including Joss Whedon and Grant Morrison. The issue also introduced the Brand Corporation and Linda Donaldson as a spy for the Secret Empire, plot threads that rippled outward through Steve Englehart's concurrent work on Captain America and into the larger Marvel Bronze Age continuity.
In "The Beast!", Hank McCoy—once a founding X-Man—steps away from mutant heroics to work at the Brand Corporation, only to find his scientific ambitions unleash a terrifying transformation. Written by Gerry Conway and brought to life by Tom Sutton’s expressive art and Syd Shores’ dynamic inks, this pivotal 1972 issue marks a turning point in the character’s journey. The cover by Gil Kane and Bill Everett captures the moment of monstrous change with striking intensity.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The Beast solo feature launched in issue #11 after Amazing Adventures had rotated through Inhumans and Black Widow strips, giving the title a new direction at a moment when the X-Men franchise itself was running only reprints. According to a later letters page in the series, it was editor-in-chief Roy Thomas who conceived the idea of mutating Hank McCoy into a furry form, partly to make the character more visually distinctive and partly to ride Marvel's early-1970s wave of horror and monster comics — the same commercial current that produced Morbius, Tomb of Dracula, and Werewolf by Night. Gerry Conway scripted the debut with Tom Sutton on pencils and Syd Shores on inks, under Stan Lee as editor; Conway placed Hank at the fictional Brand Corporation research lab and engineered the self-mutation scenario, though he handed the feature to Steve Englehart beginning with issue #12. The cover was penciled by Gil Kane with inks by Bill Everett, and the issue carried a December 1971 on-sale date despite its March 1972 cover date.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Beast (Hank McCoy) in his furry, animal-featured form — initially depicted with grey fur, later recolored to the familiar blue in subsequent appearances and adaptations.
- Story title: 'Lo! A Beast Is Born!' — written by Gerry Conway, penciled by Tom Sutton, inked by Syd Shores; cover by Gil Kane (pencils) and Bill Everett (inks).
- First appearance of the Brand Corporation, the shadowy genetics research company that serves as Hank's employer and a recurring presence in the Marvel Universe.
- First appearance of Linda Donaldson (revealed as Agent 9, a Secret Empire operative) and Professor Carl Maddicks (apparent death); Maddicks is later established as the father of Artie Maddicks from X-Factor.
- Hank McCoy formally departs the X-Men in this issue; the original team (Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Angel, Professor X) appear only in flashback.
- The transformation is established as permanent and irreversible — a deliberate creative decision by Roy Thomas (confirmed in a later Amazing Mails letters column) rather than a temporary plot device.
- Beast's solo run continued through Amazing Adventures #11–17 (March 1972–March 1973), with Steve Englehart taking over as writer from issue #12 onward and weaving the Secret Empire subplot into his concurrent Captain America storyline.
- The entire Amazing Adventures Beast run (#11–17) has been reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men Vol. 7 (October 2008) and Essential Classic X-Men Vol. 3 (February 2009).
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Reprints
Reprinted in Frankenstein #2 (1975), Héroes Marvel #12 (1975), X-Men: Mutations #[nn] (1996), Marvel Milestones: Beast & Kitty Pryde #[nn] (2006), Marvel Milestones: Star Brand & Quasar #[nn] (2006), Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men #7 (2008), Essential Classic X-Men #3 (2009), Marvel Firsts: The 1970s #1 (2011), Marvel Classic #6 (2012), X-Men : l'intégrale #1972-1975 (2012), Marvel. Официальная коллекция комиксов #112 (2018), X-Men: Children of the Atom #[5] (2019), X-Men Epic Collection #4 (2019)
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