In this feature, I share with you three comic book "easter eggs." An easter egg is a joke/visual gag/in-joke that a comic book creator (typically the artist) has hidden in the pages of the comic for readers to find (just like an easter egg). They range from the not-so-obscure to the really obscure. So come check 'em all out and enjoy! Also, click here for an archive of all the easter eggs featured so far! If you want to suggest an easter egg for a future column, e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com (do not post your suggestion in the comments section!).
Today we look at appearances by famed X-Men writer Chris Claremont in issues of X-Men (or issues of other titles featuring the X-Men)!
Enjoy!
First off, I see 1975's X-Men #98 (by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum and Sam Grainger) frequently cited as having a Claremont cameo. I don't believe that to be the case. I am roughly 95% sure that that is Dave Cockrum and his girlfriend Paty Greer (later his wife from 1978 until his death in 2006) on the bottom righthand corner of the page. And I don't see where else Claremont could be on the front page...
In 1977's X-Men #105 (by Claremont, Cockrum and Bob Layton), Chris and Dave (along with Chris's then-wife Bonnie, Dave's girlfriend, Paty, and it looks like two other Marvel staffers) are working on the issue when they're interrupted by Phoenix and Firelord fighting...
In 1977's Iron Fist #15 (by Claremont, John Byrne and Dan Green, with Dave Cockrum doing the faces on the X-Men characters earlier in the issue), the X-Men, Iron Fist and Chris, Dave, Bonnie and Paty all hang out together...
In 1979's X-Men #123 (by Claremont, Byrne and Terry Austin), Claremont and Bonnie make a quick cameo...
In 1981's Uncanny X-Men #155 (by Claremont, Byrne and Bob Wiacek), Claremont is seen entering Marvel's offices in the background...
In 1984's X-Men Annual #7 (by Claremont, Michael Golden, Bret Blevins and a whole bunch of inkers), the Impossible man drags the X-Men to the offices of Marvel Comics, where Claremont and Paul Smith answer to Louise Simonson...
In 1988's X-Men Annual #12 (by Claremont, Art Adams and Wiacek), Mojo recruits the entire creative team of the X-Men, including Claremont, Adams, Wiacek, letterer Tom Orzechowski and editors Ann Nocenti (who also created Mojo with Adams) and Bob Harras to help him with the stories on Mojoverse...
In 1989's Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem OGN (as suggested by reader Shannon) (by Claremont, Adams and Austin), Kitty Pryde and the X-Babies have to steal the car Claremont is traveling in (Mike Lake, of Forbidden Planet, is the one whose car it is)...
Finally, in 1989's Excalibur #14 (by Claremont, Alan Davis and Paul Neary), Claremont and Byrne both appear as representatives of the dueling crossovers that they were dealing with at the time (I featured it in a Meta-Messages here).
That's it for this time! If YOU have a suggestion for a future installment of Comic Book Easter Eggs, feel free to drop me a line at bcronin@comicbookresources.com!