Posted in: Comics | Tagged: giant-size x-men, x-men

Rewriting Giant-Size X-Men (A Little) As Well As Redrawing It

In the back of this week's Giant-Size X-Men Tribute comic book published by Marvel, Len Wein's widow Valada Wein talked about the project and a few minor changes along the way.

 MARVEL: As part of this tribute, Marvel worked with you to update a few words that would not be appropriate in a modern reader's view. How do you think Len would have written it today?

VALADA: I am pretty sure Len would have understood and cooperated with the minor rewrite that was done to address contemporary concerns about language. Len, I think, did a good job of giving characters their own 1., voices, even having them use language or terms he would not ; use himself. John was an angry character, possibly reflecting what Len might have gleaned from the Wounded Knee protests in 1973 (although that ved the Sioux and not Apache). The changes are — = retain the rhythm that Len used in his writing and a -e ess likely to cause unnecessary offense in these more enlightened times.

So what words changed? Well, we noticed a few.

"Squaws" to "mice"…

"Cripples" to "old man"…

"The Jap" to "He's Back"…

And "crippled one" to "legless one"… the choices are always interesting, but it's notable that God Loves, Man Kills was just published, as is.

GIANT SIZE X-MEN TRIBUTE WEIN COCKRUM #1
MARVEL COMICS
MAR200904
(W) Len Wein (A) Alex Ross, Kevin Nowlan, Chris Samnee, Marcus To, Siya Oum, Stephen Segovia, Marguerite Sauvage, Carmen Nunez Carnero, Bernard Chang, Aaron Kuder, Takeshi Miyagawa, Juan Cabal, Gurihiru, Mark Brooks, Kris Anka, Phil Noto, Valerio Schiti, Leinil Francis Yu, Matteo Lolli, Emanuela Lupacchino, Carlos E. Gomez, R. B. Silva, Ramon Rosanas, Joshua Cassara, David Baldeon, Marcelo Ferreira, Javi Garron, Rod Reis, Javier Rodriguez, Marco Checchetto, Jen Bartel, Michael Del Mundo, Rahzzah, Pepe Larraz, Mike Hawthorne (CA) Adi Granov
CELEBRATING THE CLASSIC'S 45TH ANNIVERSARY!
Forty-five years ago, a comic book came out that would change the face of Marvel Comics forever. Writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum revamped the X-Men completely, replacing the bulk of the teen heroes with a completely new international cast! The legendary one-shot took comic fans by storm and set the series off in a new direction, setting the stage for the legendary X-scribe Chris Claremont to make them the most popular heroes in the Marvel Universe! Now, 37 of Marvel's top artists come together to re-create this epic story, each re-drawing one pulse-pounding page in tribute to this Marvel masterpiece! Rated T+ In Shops: Sep 30, 2020 SRP: $5.99

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