Comics 616 continuity issues

[EvilClareToo]

I just wondering what is the sequence of events in the X verse these days. We have about about 7 X books currently taking place in the standard 616 universe, all dealing with pretty much the same characters (except X Factor and possibly New Mutants) who are all doing different things at pretty much the same time. For example:

Wolverine is currently 1) in hell 2) leading X Force against Apocalypse 3) a vampire and possibly something else in Astonishing, which I don't follow. You can see how this can be a bit confusing. And don't get me started on Cyclops and Emma, who also seem to appear in every frakkin book! I miss the old days when different books meant different characters who on occasion would guest star in each others books (Uncanny X Men, New Mutants, X Force *sigh*)

So my question is, how do you sequence events in the X universe these days (did Wolverine go to hell before becoming a vampire?) or do you just give up? Has the X office at Marvel finally lost the plot?

 

[kinetic]

i thought the x editors are the ones who are supposed to sort this kinda things out, but they seem to be failing miserably.

I'd say the Wolverine family of books have their own continuity and they take place at around the same time.

Other then that i don't have a fricken clue, it makes me want to pick one book and not read any others.

Also very annoyed that Cyke and Emma are in almost every book

 

[Mace Dolex]

Ever since the early 2000's all the X-titles have been a mess that supposedly Astonishing X-Men was a back to basics approach but that didn't help and people complained that Chris Claremont's plots were confusing but there was the advantage of only being one X-Men title in the 80's.

 

[javi1024]

Astonishing was a back to basics approach, the only problem was it was still contending with Uncanny and Adjectiveless, both still working off 40+ years of continuity. i really wish Whedon was still writing that book. id wait an entire year for a six-issue arc, i wouldnt care. he is hands down the best writer the X-Men have had in the past 15-20 years.

 

[Havok83]

I thought Joe Kelly was the best Xmen writer from the last 20 years. Too bad his run was so short, yet so amazing for that year and a half

With that said, I dont see the current continuity as confusing. Each book is its own entity and shouldnt be matched up with each other on a monthly basis, except when its crossover time. I think people are still reading these books with a 90s mentality. That clearly isnt the case anymore

 

[javi1024]

i think Whedon ties with Lobdell, if not barely inches ahead, but i could even go as far as saying either of them are better than classic Claremont. i cant say im very familiar with Kelly's stuff, that era in X-Men is still sketchy in my back catalogue. but i do remember one story he wrote with Marrow and Angel in the Morlock tunnels and i absolutely loved it. made me love her even more, and hate Davis for screwing with her.

 

[EvilClareToo]

I thought Joe Kelly was the best Xmen writer from the last 20 years. Too bad his run was so short, yet so amazing for that year and a half

With that said, I dont see the current continuity as confusing. Each book is its own entity and shouldnt be matched up with each other on a monthly basis, except when its crossover time. I think people are still reading these books with a 90s mentality. That clearly isnt the case anymore

So, then you're saying if you want continuity on a heavily used character, such as Wolverine, Cyclops or Emma Frost, you then have an Uncanny continuity, an X Force continuity, a Legacy continuity, etc that has nothing to do with each other? That would work, I guess, if they were different continuities, but they do from time to time refer to events that happened in other books (sometimes quite randomly). Astonishing, when Whedon was writing it, was on purpose supposed to be non-continuity (which I liked-at that time I really hated M-day events) but has since recognized M-day and its aftermath under Ellis.

I'm also a big fan of Whedon, but that started back in his tv work. Most of his shows are a bit like "spot the X Men references!"

Thanks for everyone's imput so far!

 

[Havok83]

Im saying you need to ignore all that until its referenced in another book. You'll drive yourself crazy otherwise bc the books simply arent set up likt they were in the 90s. They all run in the same continuity; its not like each is its own alternate universe. Just dont expect stuff from one title to be referenced in another until the story is over or during a crossover

 

[javi1024]

well the thing about most of these book is theyre using the same characters in different kinds of stories. Uncanny is the main book driving the status quo, X-Men (vol 3) is the book that tells adventure stories featuring the rest of the MU, Astonishing was telling larger than life sci stories. add in all those limited series, one-shots, crossovers, and guest appearances. all in-continuity but not meant to necessarily stack up neatly on a timeline. when a writer has Book "A" and refers to something that happened in Book "B", yeah you can say this happened after that, but its more the writer using that as a story mechanic. in comics time only exists for that writer in that story/run. after that it doesnt matter anymore.

 

[Havok83]

yeah its a sign of the change in the X-status. In the 90s, there were only 2 core titles. The other books, Gen X, X-force, X-factor, Excalibur, etc.. forthe most part were all set in different locations. For this reason they rarely shared the same characters and stories except when it came time for the yearly crossover. With only 2 core titles and each supporting title operating as its own entity, things were alot easier to manage and piece together. It also helps that there were long stretches when Xmen and Uncanny were writte by one writer

Now, we have 4 titles,bearing the X-men name. They share alot of the same cast of characters. With the exception of X-factor, the characters in the other books are also all located in the same location, Utopia, so theres much more overlap. Stories these days tend to be told in arcs and they cant just break to start referencing stuff from other titles especially since arcs vary in their length of time. One might last a day while another lasts several days and another might last just a few hours. There's 365 days in the year but we only get 1 issue a month of each book. When you see someone in 2 titles in a month, just think of them as being there on a different day.Its easier than trying to pinpoint the exact point in time that it fits in. Alot of times that doesnt even matter. Like does it really matter which comes first, Rogue's adventure in India in Legacy or her traveling with Hope to get the Five Lights? Unless something major happens to the character, I dont think it does

 

[EvilClareToo]

yeah its a sign of the change in the X-status. In the 90s, there were only 2 core titles. The other books, Gen X, X-force, X-factor, Excalibur, etc.. forthe most part were all set in different locations. For this reason they rarely shared the same characters and stories except when it came time for the yearly crossover. With only 2 core titles and each supporting title operating as its own entity, things were alot easier to manage and piece together. It also helps that there were long stretches when Xmen and Uncanny were writte by one writer

Now, we have 4 titles,bearing the X-men name. They share alot of the same cast of characters. With the exception of X-factor, the characters in the other books are also all located in the same location, Utopia, so theres much more overlap. Stories these days tend to be told in arcs and they cant just break to start referencing stuff from other titles especially since arcs vary in their length of time. One might last a day while another lasts several days and another might last just a few hours. There's 365 days in the year but we only get 1 issue a month of each book. When you see someone in 2 titles in a month, just think of them as being there on a different day.Its easier than trying to pinpoint the exact point in time that it fits in. Alot of times that doesnt even matter. Like does it really matter which comes first, Rogue's adventure in India in Legacy or her traveling with Hope to get the Five Lights? Unless something major happens to the character, I dont think it does

That's a good explanation, thanks! You can see how an old fan like me can get confused at times as far as what is happening to who, when and where. In your example, I feel like there are two different Rogues, a Legacy Rogue and an Uncanny Rogue-I was wondering if that was intentional on behalf of the editorial staff or whether they are milking their cash cow for all of its milk and could care less about continuity and characterization, since events in one's life does shape a character, if you get my meaning. I still think it would be a bit helpful to give some sort of chronological reference to the events in the various books, but that's just me. I like serialized storytelling because you get to see the characters develop according to the events and people they encounter over time. It's easier with less used characters, like Gambit and Colossus, who tend to appear in one book at a time, occasionally two, but their appearances don't conflict with the chronology of events in their personal timelines.

 

[javi1024]

yeah id like it if the X-Men world was condensed more, but what can you do. Alonzo said they put out 300 Deadpool books cuz theyre trying to give everybody out there a chance to find a Deadpool that they like. you can kinda think of the X-books in the same way. people hate Uncanny and love the new X-Men and vise versa. same characters, different kinds of stories.