X-Men Annual #12
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeX-Men Annual #12 is a three-story package that does significant narrative work at a pivotal moment in the X-Men's Copper Age run. Its lead story permanently restores the Savage Land — which had lain in ruins since Avengers #257, with Marvel maintaining that continuity across titles for roughly two years — making it a rare example of real, sustained consequence being reversed with equal deliberation. Its backup story, 'I Want My X-Men!', delivers the first official team appearance of the X-Babies, the child-clone versions of the Australian-era roster (Rogue, Wolverine, Havok, Storm, Dazzler, Longshot, Colossus, and Psylocke) created by Mojo as ratings-driven replacements for the X-Men the world believed dead after 'Fall of the Mutants' — a concept durable enough to spin off an Excalibur special the following year and return repeatedly across decades. The issue also carries the seventh chapter of 'The Evolutionary War,' the line-wide 1988 annual crossover that wove a single villain's agenda across eleven titles simultaneously, an ambitious format that influenced how Marvel structured its subsequent event storytelling.
In "Resurrection!", the X-Men journey to the Savage Land, a once-primeval realm now scarred by ruin, to confront the threat of Terminus. With the High Evolutionary and Garokk working to restore the land to its ancient glory, the mutant team faces a battle that tests both their strength and their resolve. Written by Chris Claremont and brought to life by Art Adams' dynamic art, this 1988 annual delivers a thrilling clash of survival and evolution, with cover art by Arthur Adams capturing the wild, untamed spirit of the setting.
In "Resurrection!", C'Jime and M'Rin find themselves caught in the upheaval of the Savage Land’s rebirth, as the High Evolutionary and Garokk restore the primal wilderness to its former glory. With the X-Men battling Terminus in the wilds, the two characters navigate a world remade—where ancient dangers stir and the line between past and present blurs.
In a bizarre twist of cosmic casting, Mojo recruits the X-Babies—adorable, pint-sized versions of the X-Men—to fill the void left by fallen stars, setting off a chaotic mix of nostalgia and mayhem. With Vanna White, Art Adams, Bob Wiacek, and Tom Orzechowski all part of the creative team, this 1988 Annual delivers a delightfully absurd chapter where mutant fame takes a very small form.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The annual went on sale June 16, 1988, edited by Bob Harras under editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco. Chris Claremont wrote both the lead Savage Land story and the Mojo backup, with pencils on the main story split between Art Adams (who also provided the cover) and Ron Lim, inked by Bob Wiacek, and colored by Glynis Oliver with lettering by Tom Orzechowski — essentially the same artistic unit Claremont had deployed on prior Adams-drawn X-Men annuals. The 'Demon Night' third story, written by Mark Gruenwald and drawn by Ron Lim, formed part of the crossover's running history of the High Evolutionary that appeared in each 1988 annual; that installment's depictions of the births of the Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Jessica Drew's origins have since been rendered largely non-canonical by later retcons to all three characters' histories.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First official team appearance of the X-Babies — child-clone versions of the Australian-era X-Men (Rogue, Wolverine, Havok, Storm, Dazzler, Longshot, Colossus, Psylocke) created by Mojo to replace his ratings stars after their apparent deaths in 'Fall of the Mutants'; their story continues directly into Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem (1989).
- Restores the Savage Land to its prehistoric state: the High Evolutionary uses Garokk as a living catalyst to revive the devastated land, resolving a continuity thread that had been maintained across Marvel titles since Avengers #257.
- Part seven of eleven in Marvel's 1988 'Evolutionary War' annual crossover, continuing from Amazing Spider-Man Annual #22 and leading into Web of Spider-Man Annual #4.
- First cameo appearance of Matthew Kyle Andrew Plunder as an infant — the son of Ka-Zar (Kevin Plunder) and Shanna the She-Devil.
- Written by Chris Claremont (stories 1 and 2) and Mark Gruenwald (story 3); pencilled by Art Adams and Ron Lim; cover by Art Adams; edited by Bob Harras.
- The Mojo backup's premise — Mojo furious that Psylocke's bionic camera-eyes went dark when the X-Men 'died' — directly references and extends the Psylocke/Mojo mythology established in New Mutants Annual #2 (1986) and Uncanny X-Men Annual #10 (1986).
- The third story's depictions of the origins of the Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) — including Magda Lehnsherr as mother of the twins and Jonathan Drew as co-founder of the Citadel of Science — have been substantially overwritten by later retcons and are now considered non-canonical.
- Reprinted in: X-Babies Classic #1 (2010), X-Men: Inferno Prologue hardcover (2014), Marvel Visionaries: Chris Claremont (2019), and Marvel Universe by Arthur Adams Omnibus (2023).
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Reprinted in X-Men, Les étranges #15 (1989), X-Men Saga #3 (1991), Star Magazine #25 (1992), X-Men Legends #3 (2003), Marvel Visionaries: Chris Claremont #[nn] (2005), X-Babies #1 (2009), X-Babies Classic #1 (2010), Evolutionary War Omnibus #[nn] (2011), X-Men: Inferno Prologue #[nn] (2014), Avengers / Doctor Strange: Rise of the Darkhold #[nn] (2018), Marvel Visionaries: Chris Claremont #[nn] (2019), X-Men: Inferno Prologue Omnibus #[nn] (2021), Marvel Universe by Arthur Adams Omnibus #[nn] (2023), Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men #16 (2024)
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