X-Men - Part 1

[Manic]

God dammit, Marvel! When I said there were too many X-titles, I wanted you to cancel one of the recent ones! Nobody's reading Generation Hope.

 

[chamber-music]

I only read X-Factor and Uncanny X-Force. I pick up New Mutants ocassionally.

X-Men Legacy is half the time is just Rogue Magneto fan fiction. The X-Franchise has slowly but steadily gone down the toilet

 

[kguillou]

Oh boy, the cancellation/relaunch saga continues. I guess Amazing Spider-Man is next.

 

[Dread]

The X-Men franchise have been a walking corpse since they were robbed of their central metaphor and thus half their motivation (besides aliens and cyclical soap opera) in 2005 with M-Day, which was a Quesada/Bendis jam. Until anyone at Marvel can see it for what it is, a colossal failure, anything else is just a stunt.

Tom Brevoort did warn us several weeks ago to prepare for the inevitability of UNCANNY X-MEN being relaunched at CBR. In that he was telling the truth, and I assumed he was.

It was pointed out that due to this, HELLBLAZER is currently the longest running sequential volume of a U.S. comic, not counting ARCHIE (which should be around issue #600 but is far less due to not really counting until about issue #114).

Someone said something prophetic in, of all things, the special feature segment in the DVD of "ULTIMATE AVENGERS", about how the Avengers of the 90's before the Busiek/Perez era were "chasing trends instead of setting them". If memory serves, Tom Brevoort himself said that, but I could be wrong. Now, the X-Men are doing this here. They're chasing after CIVIL WAR's dust as well as DC's, and GREEN LANTERN of all things.

Until the core problems of M-Day are removed completely, instead of partial measures like GENERATION HOPE, I don't think anyone can make UXM what it used to be. I mean think of all the talented writers who have failed to make that status quo work - Ed Brubaker, Peter Milligan, Matt Fraction, and now Kieron Gillen (who, like on THOR, seems to be a hatchet-man whose sole gig is to wrap up loose end continuity stories and do little else). This is akin to a woman who whines about how all her relationships with different men all end the same way - eventually you gotta stop blaming THEM, honey, and take a look within.

It's a stunt. UXM will either return with #1 or be replaced by 2-3 other books with fresh #1's and it will spike sales for approximately one, maybe two months and then things will be right back in standard decline, at best. At worst, it may backfire like giving Daken WOLVERINE and shifting Logan to WOLVERINE: WEAPON X, which was a disaster from which Wolverine's franchise has STILL not recovered. The fact that nobody was demoted editorially for that debacle speaks volumes at the lack of accountability at that level. I get the feeling Marvel editorial are a close knit group, but so close that nobody holds anyone else accountable. And while that may be fine for a tree-house club, for a business that doesn't ****ing work.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

God dammit, Marvel! When I said there were too many X-titles, I wanted you to cancel one of the recent ones! Nobody's reading Generation Hope.

Seriously!

 

[runawayboulder]

Oh boy, the cancellation/relaunch saga continues. I guess Amazing Spider-Man is next.

Technically X-Men Legacy is now Marvel's longest running book without a relaunch. Thunderbolts would have been next but that was relaunched then reverted back to it's original numbering just after 1 year.

Sigh, I remember when every 25 issues (2 years) of a book would be some kind of anniversary milestone issue. 325, 350, 375, 400, so on and so forth. New creative teams and the start or end of an arc revolved around this concept. Instead, Marvel relaunches a book every 3 years with the mindset of #1's sell. Ok, a #1 with a $4.99 price tag on it is a top seller every 3 years.....you can slap a $4.99 or up price tag on a book every 25 issues/2 years and get the same thing in a shorter amount of time. S**t, bring back bi-weekly shipping during the summer and then it's you hit the anniversary number even faster.

#1's sell high, yeah that may be true but it's a mindset that got you in trouble back in the 90's when the speculator bubble exploded in your faces. The were 2 or 3 comic book stores in every town and most went out of business, smaller companies went belly up and the grand daddy of them all, Marvel, declared bankruptcy. To this very day, 15 years later the industry still hasn't recovered to an extent.

It makes me wonder what's next? Is some idiot assistant editor going to convince a group of idiot editors to bring back chromium covers? These companies need to stick to the basics instead of these half brained money making schemes, because not having the flexibility of a #1 didn't create your problems, it was the saturation of fancy hologram covers, fancy glossy paper and a mini series for every c-list villain that was the source of you headaches.....

 

[El Bastardo]

Dread, the sky is not falling. The X-Men franchise has had plenty of good writing and stories since M-Day. And it hasn't had any more stinkers than any other franchise has.

 

[kguillou]

Well Joss Whedon had arguably the greatest X run since Chris Claremont and that was after M-day. Seriously, that book was so damn good and was a representation of how the x-men books should be written.

 

[Havok83]

Joss Whedon is arguably the most overrated X-writer since CC's original run

 

[Manic]

Whedon cranked out two dozen really good issues, but let's not pretend he's the best thing to happen to the X-Men since Giant Size #1. His run stands out so much because it was happening alongside Milligan's Adjectiveless run and post-80's Claremont's Uncanny. It was also marred by so many delays that his 24 issues took place before, during, and long after Decimation.

 

[Panthro]

I liked Whedon's run. It had a number of engaging and/or amusing moments ("I want this thing OFF my lawn."), it even almost got me to like Emma Frost (ALMOST). And he brought back Colossus, how can anyone not love that?

 

[runawayboulder]

I loved Morrison's run although it seems most around here hated it. Scott Lobdell isn't getting mentioned much, he was a good follow up to Claremont but his long running mysteries became too much over time. Steve Seagle and Joe Casey were decent too.

 

[vindrow]

Can't say that this surprises me....Hell, I haven't bought a marvel comic since they killed Nightcrawler and wont buy any till they bring him back, and now they are cancelling UXM and will probably relaunch it with a new #1...shame on you again, Marvel.

 

[kguillou]

Whedon cranked out two dozen really good issues, but let's not pretend he's the best thing to happen to the X-Men since Giant Size #1. His run stands out so much because it was happening alongside Milligan's Adjectiveless run and post-80's Claremont's Uncanny. It was also marred by so many delays that his 24 issues took place before, during, and long after Decimation.

See what was so good to me about it was that for once it was simple. Most X-writers focus on big events and giving the xmen these huge, convoluted plots that make no sense (btw who exactly is Hope?) Whedon kept it simple. He took 6 core members and focused on their relationships and the more "family" aspect of the X-men that used to be prevalent in the old days. He made the X-men a superhero team again instead of these mutant outlaws. And best of all, wolverine wasn't the star of damn book like he is nowadays. He was that lovable grunt that he used to be before the 90's. Pretty much he made it feel like classic X-men but updated.

 

[roach]

honestly X-men needs a reboot

 

[Panthro]

See what was so good to me about it was that for once it was simple. Most X-writers focus on big events and giving the xmen these huge, convoluted plots that make no sense (btw who exactly is Hope?) Whedon kept it simple. He took 6 core members and focused on their relationships and the more "family" aspect of the X-men that used to be prevalent in the old days. He made the X-men a superhero team again instead of these mutant outlaws. And best of all, wolverine wasn't the star of damn book like he is nowadays. He was that lovable grunt that he used to be before the 90's. Pretty much he made it feel like classic X-men but updated.

In the bold: that was another favorite aspect of it for me. I loved the part where during a fight with the monster we go from the serious thoughts of Kitty and Colossus to Wolvie and what's Wolvie thinking as he's attacking the giant monster in the middle of New York?

"I like beer."

Makes me every time.

 

[runawayboulder]

honestly X-men needs a reboot

It seems "Schism" is going to be that reboot.

 

[Manic]

You know what's been pissing me off about the X-Men for the past few years? They can't maintain any new status quo for more than a year. They're constantly moving, breaking up the team, reforming the team, changing their legal status, etc. I'm not saying I want them to become stagnant, but when storylines are told in 4-6 parts and you can't get more than a few stories out before it's time to change the status quo, you're moving too fast.

For example, writers hadn't even finished setting up the initial move to San Francisco before they relocated to Utopia. In fact, they hadn't even established where most of the characters lived yet.

 

[Scourge2099]

I stopped reading X-Men after that business with Osborn was done with. Scott is becoming Magneto and the X-Men are his Acolytes and Brotherhood.

 

[hippie_hunter]

I stopped reading X-Men after that business with Osborn was done with. Scott is becoming Magneto and the X-Men are his Acolytes and Brotherhood.

Scott has actually been becoming less and less like Magneto after Second Coming where he realized the error of his ways.

 

[Dread]

As a story, Joss Whedon's 25 issue run was a bit over-long and overrated, but still entertaining overall. It stumbled a bit during the middle, but the beginning and end were the highlights.

However, it taking so many years to ship hurt it quite a bit.

You know what's been pissing me off about the X-Men for the past few years? They can't maintain any new status quo for more than a year. They're constantly moving, breaking up the team, reforming the team, changing their legal status, etc. I'm not saying I want them to become stagnant, but when storylines are told in 4-6 parts and you can't get more than a few stories out before it's time to change the status quo, you're moving too fast.

For example, writers hadn't even finished setting up the initial move to San Francisco before they relocated to Utopia. In fact, they hadn't even established where most of the characters lived yet.

Agreed. Marvel likes to think this makes the X-Men seem "exciting", but all it does it give the impression that editorial has no clue what to do and is making it up as they go along, like grade school students playing tag.

 

[Scourge2099]

Scott has actually been becoming less and less like Magneto after Second Coming where he realized the error of his ways.

Why's Wolverine turning on him then ? Is he still butt hurt that Kurt died ?

 

[Dread]

Why's Wolverine turning on him then ? Is he still butt hurt that Kurt died ?

To be fair, Nightcrawler WAS one of Logan's best friends. I would hope he wouldn't have simply forgotten about it. In fact, quite a few characters shouldn't have, either.

 

[Scourge2099]

To be fair, Nightcrawler WAS one of Logan's best friends. I would hope he wouldn't have simply forgotten about it. In fact, quite a few characters shouldn't have, either.

I wonder if Kurt's death is what caused Logan to be more cynical ? He reformed X-Force behind Scott's back and now he's forming an open rebellion against him.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Why's Wolverine turning on him then ? Is he still butt hurt that Kurt died ?

Wolverine disagrees with Scott's methods. Right after Scott disbanded X-Force, Wolverine went right behind his back and formed a new X-Force with the same goals and purposes that the Magneto-esque Scott had in mind. My theory is that Logan probably thinks that if Scott were even tougher against foes of mutantkind, then Kurt would still be alive.