The X-Men Comic That Changed Everything: LifeDeath Artwork

Comics Rot Your Brain!

COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions). In this weekly podcast, screenwriters Chris Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) & Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) discuss favorite books, runs, and creators.

The Bronze Age is — for us — the greatest era in comics history. This time period was defined by a weird rift in the fabric of spacetime that allowed an industry in flux to reimagine what was possible. We all remember the eye-popping results: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, WATCHMEN, CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, LOVE & ROCKETS, MAUS, etc.

…But what of the lesser-known gems of this era: THRILLER, GRIMJACK, NEXUS, CONCRETE, MR. MONSTER, SCOUT, STRAY TOASTERS, and so many others!? These comics and their creators blazed radical new trails that changed the course of comics forever but often are left out of today’s discourse.

COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! exists to celebrate and reckon with the extraordinary legacy of 1980s American comics — all of it.

Join us!

All Episodes

Comics Rot Your Brain!

The X-Men Comic That Changed Everything: LifeDeath

December 07, 2025 • Steven Bagatourian & Christopher Derrick • Season 3 • Episode 2

Uncanny X-Men #186 — “LifeDeath” — remains one of the boldest creative swings in Marvel history. Instead of battles and villains, Chris Claremont and Barry Windsor-Smith deliver a quiet, emotionally devastating story about identity, trauma, and the cost of rebuilding yourself after everything is taken away.

COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions). In this weekly podcast, screenwriters Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) and Christopher Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) discuss their favorite books, runs, and creators from the Bronze Age.

In this video, Chris examines why LifeDeath is such a groundbreaking moment in the X-Men's long, fabled canon — from Storm’s loss of her powers, to Forge’s haunted past, to the painterly visual language Windsor-Smith used to redefine what superhero comics could look like in the 1980s.

If you love the X-Men, Storm, Forge, Claremont’s writing, Windsor-Smith’s art, or deep-dive comics analysis, this issue is essential, and its legacy still echoes today.

#XMen #MarvelComics #comichistory

Drop us a line!

Support the show

+ Check out our YouTube channel to get a look at some of the fantastic art featured in our episodes. Visit ComicsRotYourBrain.com to sign up for our newsletter, Letter Column. You can also find us wherever you stream your favorite podcasts.

+ We appreciate your support of the show via Patreon: ComicsRotYourBrain

+ For even more cool shit, read Chris's Substack (cinema, comics, and culture) - THIN ICE

©2024 Comics Rot Your Brain!

#comicbooks #comics #graphicnovel