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The X-Thread
saint2e
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, I did a search and didn't find an all-purpose X-Men thread, so I thought I'd create one. If there is one already, mods, please do your thing.
The reason for me doing a thread is mainly because there are (arguably) 15 X-Men/X-Men related series on the go at the moment. The main ones continue to be (spoilering rosters due to some enemies now being "friends"):
Astonishing X-Men:
[spoiler:e367aa22f8]
Cyclops
Beast
Colossus
Emma Frost
Shadowcat
Lockheed
Wolverine
[/spoiler:e367aa22f8]
X-Men (Or Adjective-less X-Men)
[spoiler:e367aa22f8]
Rogue
Cable
Cannonball
Iceman
Karima Shapandar
Lady Mastermind
Mystique
Sabretooth
[/spoiler:e367aa22f8]
Uncanny X-Men
[spoiler:e367aa22f8]
Professor X
Darwin
Havok
Marvel Girl
Nightcrawler
Polaris
Warpath
[/spoiler:e367aa22f8]
New X-Men
[spoiler:e367aa22f8]
Surge
Dust
Hellion
Mercury
Prodigy
Rockslide
X-23
[/spoiler:e367aa22f8]
Ultimate X-Men
[spoiler:e367aa22f8]
Angel (spying for Xavier)
Beast
Colossus
Cyclops
Iceman
Jean Grey
Nightcrawler
Rogue
Shadowcat
Storm
Wolverine
Charles Xavier
[/spoiler:e367aa22f8]
Now, I don't claim to be an X-Men expert (far from it in fact), but I thought I'd create a discussion about all things X. Particularly with the latest arc's in the comics, character histories, etc.
That being said, I'm getting caught up on my comic reading since I spent Xmas break back in Canada with my family, and the latest Ultimate X-Men had an... interesting twist.
[realspoiler:e367aa22f8]Basically the cliffhanger at the end of the episode with Charles admitting that he loves Jean to Scott.[/realspoiler:e367aa22f8]
Just wondering since that's happening in the Ultimate universe, if that had happened in 616 or any of the other infinite universes out there? Seems kind of an odd direction for the storyline to take to me.
The reason for me doing a thread is mainly because there are (arguably) 15 X-Men/X-Men related series on the go at the moment. The main ones continue to be (spoilering rosters due to some enemies now being "friends"):
Astonishing X-Men:
[spoiler:e367aa22f8]
Cyclops
Beast
Colossus
Emma Frost
Shadowcat
Lockheed
Wolverine
[/spoiler:e367aa22f8]
X-Men (Or Adjective-less X-Men)
[spoiler:e367aa22f8]
Rogue
Cable
Cannonball
Iceman
Karima Shapandar
Lady Mastermind
Mystique
Sabretooth
[/spoiler:e367aa22f8]
Uncanny X-Men
[spoiler:e367aa22f8]
Professor X
Darwin
Havok
Marvel Girl
Nightcrawler
Polaris
Warpath
[/spoiler:e367aa22f8]
New X-Men
[spoiler:e367aa22f8]
Surge
Dust
Hellion
Mercury
Prodigy
Rockslide
X-23
[/spoiler:e367aa22f8]
Ultimate X-Men
[spoiler:e367aa22f8]
Angel (spying for Xavier)
Beast
Colossus
Cyclops
Iceman
Jean Grey
Nightcrawler
Rogue
Shadowcat
Storm
Wolverine
Charles Xavier
[/spoiler:e367aa22f8]
Now, I don't claim to be an X-Men expert (far from it in fact), but I thought I'd create a discussion about all things X. Particularly with the latest arc's in the comics, character histories, etc.
That being said, I'm getting caught up on my comic reading since I spent Xmas break back in Canada with my family, and the latest Ultimate X-Men had an... interesting twist.
[realspoiler:e367aa22f8]Basically the cliffhanger at the end of the episode with Charles admitting that he loves Jean to Scott.[/realspoiler:e367aa22f8]
Just wondering since that's happening in the Ultimate universe, if that had happened in 616 or any of the other infinite universes out there? Seems kind of an odd direction for the storyline to take to me.
saint2e on
0
Posts
Yeah, it was established in 616 during the whole Onslaught deal.
Is there a reason for this other than Marvel capitalizing on Astonishing's success?
It actually harks back to something way, way back in one of the Stan Lee issues. [spoiler:fc0903f3c8]Xavier confesses (I think to himself) that he's in love with Jean Grey.[/spoiler:fc0903f3c8] Then Lee sobered up and realised what an awful, awful idea that was and never mentioned it again. Or he just forgot about it.
Well, Whedon got first dibs on the X-Men and picked all the best ones. They're the ones who would have been making guest appearances on other comics anyway.
Adjectiveless is actually pretty good. Bachalo's art sometimes veers off into utterly bizarre layouts that make it impossible to tell what's going on, but on the whole it's a good, solid X-Men. It's certainly leagues above anything the title's done since Morrison left it.
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in fact I think I'll dig through my boxes later today so I can point it out correctly
New X-Men is my favourite X-Title right now, mainly because I'm still trying to figure out who everyone is in Uncanny/Adjectiveless, whereas New X-Men, everyone is relatively new, so their histories are less convoluted.
To answer an earlier question, I think after M-Day they wanted to make it seem like the X-Men are a cohesive team, that's why the Astonishing X-Men show up in a lot of the books.
I also agree with Saint, New X-Men is probably the best out of all of them, and, while it hurts to say it, I think it might even be better then Astonishing.
I really liked the Supernovas arc of the Adjectiveless, though don't they do the super-evolved group out to wipe out both humanity and mutantkind thing too often? Best moment was Cannonball in the last issue. The team chemistry is top notch.
For Ultimate X-Men, Cable was never one of my favorite characters but we'll see where they go with him.
Is it worth picking up the other X-books for someone who is sorta indifferent to the X-Men but wants good stories?
Methinks I need to pick up some old TPB's and fill in some of my mental gaps of X-Men history. Most of what I remember is from the 90's cartoon, sadly.
Astonishing is always good value. The plots are occasionally meh, but Whedon's jokes and dialogue are always superb.
Uncanny is in the home stretch of a twelve-part story set in outer space that relies on the least interesting bit of X-Men continuity - the Sh'iar stuff. Also, it's by far Brubaker's least impressive book, coming nowhere near Cap, Daredevil or Criminal in terms of quality.
New X-Men is pretty good, having just got over its killathon storyline which saw half the cast (the dull half) blown away. Hopefully now it'll cut back on the gratuitous deaths and settle down with the characters it's chosen as the main cast.
X-Factor is great, and probably your best bet if good writing and interesting stories are what you're after. The cast is funny, varied, and each personality comes across vividly.
The X-Men books are better than they have been for a long time, but that's only because they were so terrible for so long. That said, if you're indifferent to the X-Men as characters I'd be hesitant about recommending you buy anything except Astonishing and X-Factor. Buy Runaways instead.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
I kinda/sorta agree, except for the following points:
1. The team has Nightcrawler and Rachel, my two favs.
2. This story is light-years better then X-Men: Genesis which started it.
3. I find the whole Shi'ar angle interesting, but how long it holds my interest is really going to depend..
I don't really know which X-Book has the best stories... I think New X-Men has the best characterization, but I can't say which one has the best stories per se.
EDIT: Holy crap!! How could I forget about X-Factor??? X-factor is far and away the best X-book... and I don't mean right now, I mean the best X-book ever...
Also, I hope the New X-men arc after this one has a crazy Wither.
Also, homophobic bat-shit crazy Nightcrawler is awesome.
Doesn't Ultimate Charles have a real problem falling for his students though? Moira, Frost and now Jean. I guess it's part of how pretty much everyone in the Ultimate-U has to be fundamentally flawed somehow.
...with the exception of Colossus
Anally.
Oh, and like everyone else is saying, New X-Men is really great. I know it's a book people will be resistant to trying, probably because of X-23, but it's really great. I was a big fan of the previous writers' run on the book, and was all set to drop it when Kyle and Yost came on, but it's really the best it's ever been right now.
My problem with New X-men is that to get the most of it you have to read the really mediocre earlier issues. Post House of M the book has been arguably the best X-book out, but it's really worlds better if you know who the people involved are. I caught a lucky break and knew someone who had them around, but if I hadn't it wouldn't have been worth buying the back issues and I'm not sure I'd think the book is as great as I do now if I didn't know the backstory.
I agree here. I think my reading the Academy X TPB's really helped me appreciate New X-Men, and what situation the characters were/are in going into the series.
I really enjoyed Academy X, so I guess it's logical that I really enjoy New X-Men.
Plus, having Nimrod show up is always cool, right?
and the nimrod thing was great. I know I ragged on it in one of the tournament threads, but it was really well done.
I am not sure if it's tough to find, but the Yearbook Special or whatever it's called was very neat and fleshed out a lot of the 'Hogwarts' stuff from the Weir/DeFilipis run.
Actually, I just dropped every X-book except Astonishing. I have not been happy with them recently. I really liked the Nimrod arc in New X-Men, and I was excited to see Selene returning. But this Target: X-23 crap is a complete turn-off to me. I don't even like the concept of a clone of Wolverine in the first place, and then they want me to put up with yet another "event." Fuck 'em.
I can't really speak about any of the other X-Books except X-Factor and Ultimate X-Men. The others I don't read. X-Factor is easily the best Marvel book I buy. Ultimate X-Men is fun and unburdened with backstory, but it also produces a lot of "WTF" and "OH SHI-" moments (this is pretty true about most of the Ultimate line, actually).
I'll be damned. I was always though the big "reveal" panel was just drawn in the style of Kirby's run, not a direct lift.
Cocaine's a hell of a drug, eh, Stan?
EDIT: in regards to New X-Men; I don't really see myself picking the book up after getting attached to the Gen Xers back in the nineties and, well, we know how that ended...
I should probably pick up some back-issues, if only to remind myself how good Bachalo's work used to be.
Astonishing is really really good though. I'd put it third.
More people need to read X-factor.
is...is it young avengers?
well, i guess so
i forgot ya isn't started yet
Annnyhow, yeah, I'll talk a bit about X-factor now.
I has M, from Generation X. This is amazing. Since when do Generation X characters get used? I mean yeah there are very few sill alive. I guess Chamber gets some use, but he is just treated as the generic sarcastic British dude.
M actually has personality. And Peter David really knows her history. Like, She took Banshee's death harder than Siryn. And I don't think a lot of writers would have picked up on that. The dude just knows how to write.
Also,that scene with Madrox and Rictor in the bar was one of the best things I've ever read.
Well, if you read through to the end of the issue, you'd find that [spoiler:2507b69e89]X-23 wasn't the target.[/spoiler:2507b69e89]
Although I have no idea what qualifies this as an 'event'. Or was that just a Civil War bitch you felt like dropping in?
I believe that he's referring to the X-23 storyline that's after her origins, but before she joins the x-men.
Hm. I thought that X-23: Target X limited series was an event tying into New X-Men. I went back and looked through Marvel's site, and I see that I misinterpreted it. The point is, I'm tired of "events." I thought the latest arc in New X-Men would be tying into the limited series as an event-style story arc, and that rather turned me off. If I can follow New X-Men without having to read one to four other books in order to keep up on the story, I'm happy to keep reading that series.
As for the other X-books, I just couldn't find anything interesting in Adjectiveless X-Men (oxymoron lol) and Uncanny X-Men.
No, the X-23 miniseries thing she's captured by the good guys. Because, she [spoiler:1fe3f46d57] killed a buttload of people[/spoiler:1fe3f46d57] And the instance they use is actually from her origin miniseries.
I loved Generation X when it first came out but I got annoyed with how much it suffered from being caught up in the various X events and changing writers/artists every 4-5 issues.
New X-Men has a really good blend of teen drama and action. The fact that they don't seem to mind killing off characters gives it a lot of tension that most books lack.
If you track down the 20 or so back issues before Academy X became New X-men, that should give you most everything you need. All the major players in the current book are fleshed out, and their relationships are pretty well developed.
One thought that I keep having about New X-Men: If they are going to keep pushing a Julian/Laura romance, they need to bring in a new girl who shoots lasers out of her eyes and her go for Hellion, too.
For continuity's sake.
also, skip the House of M issues. they're trash.
For serious.
I think it's interesting that the New X-Men actually have a normal person on their team. When's the last time an X team had a non-mutant on the squad, Ms. Marvel? David doesn't even have any awesome powers either.
He used to. But HoM screwed him.