Is anyone else disappointed with the X-Men Red team?

[Sin Nick]

Gotta be honest, pretty much sums up my feelings. IMO Taylor could’ve done a better job in balancing the cast with known X-characters and unknowns that he wants to build up.

And, yes, I realize there are only two unknowns there. Three if you count Gabby (meaning in terms of general public knowledge of the character). Plus Namor, who is known but not typically associated with the X-men.

So three known quantities: Jean, Nightcrawler, Laura

Three unknowns: Gentle, Gabby, Tri-whatever

One known non-X-character: Namor

Wouldn't Nightcrawler and Namor be the only characters Jean have ever met or know of? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought she died before Laura even existed. Anywho, as much as a mess this roster is, I have nothing against the actual characters part of it... save for maybe Gabby/Scrappy Doo. As a matter of fact, part of me is kinda glad she's there so more folks can experience how much an annoying character she is on a grander scale. Maybe then it'll force the writer to rethink some of her appearances.

[WebLurker]

Wouldn't Nightcrawler and Namor be the only characters Jean have ever met or know of? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought she died before Laura even existed.

Not too familiar with X-Men chronology, but when Laura was fourteen/fifteen, Professor X and the school were outed as mutants/mutant facility (she saw a news broadcast of it in Target X). Not counting a brief stint in the Uncanny X-Men era, she joined the X-Men for good after Decimation and Emma Frost was a teacher. In most of the other solo series set after that, Cyclops and Frost were an item, so Jean had to be out of the picture for at least a good chunk of Laura's life.

[Triniking1234]

Not too familiar with X-Men chronology, but when Laura was fourteen/fifteen, Professor X and the school were outed as mutants/mutant facility (she saw a news broadcast of it in Target X). Not counting a brief stint in the Uncanny X-Men era, she joined the X-Men for good after Decimation and Emma Frost was a teacher. In most of the other solo series set after that, Cyclops and Frost were an item, so Jean had to be out of the picture for at least a good chunk of Laura's life.

Short version: Laura joined in early 2006 after Jean died in 2004 in NXM#150 and meeting the UXM in #450 in late 2005.

[WebLurker]

Short version: Laura joined in early 2006 after Jean died in 2004 in NXM#150 and meeting the UXM in #450 in late 2005.

Okay, thanks for the clarification.

(Wow, they really kept original Jean retired for a good stretch after killing her. Granted, they did have a teen version running around for part of that time, but it seems like usually a big character's death is undone in less than half the time that this one was.)

[Sutekh]

While I'm not thrilled with Gabby taking over a slot that I'd rather see filled with a dozen or more other favorite mutants, I do appreciate that she's important to Laura, and that it would be as wrong to exclude her as it would be to add Northstar to the team and then pretend that Kyle didn't exist. Some characters come with built-in supporting casts, and sometimes those supporting casts get ignored (or worse, written out completely) when they're on a team, which has always kind of bugged me.

So I guess, I'm not a fan of Gabby, specifically, but I am a fan of the kind of thinking that led to her inclusion.

[The Mary Janes]

While I'm not thrilled with Gabby taking over a slot that I'd rather see filled with a dozen or more other favorite mutants, I do appreciate that she's important to Laura, and that it would be as wrong to exclude her as it would be to add Northstar to the team and then pretend that Kyle didn't exist. Some characters come with built-in supporting casts, and sometimes those supporting casts get ignored (or worse, written out completely) when they're on a team, which has always kind of bugged me.

So I guess, I'm not a fan of Gabby, specifically, but I am a fan of the kind of thinking that led to her inclusion.

Yeah, I understand why Gabby is around, I just dislike the situation overall. Someone else said it, but Taylor knows how to write Laura and Gabby since he's doing her solo anyway.

[JudicatorPrime]

Is it too late to revamp the lineup and add 2-3 non-mutant heroes to X-Men Red that are sympathetic, if not staunch supporters of the cause? It just doesn't make any sense to me that we have so many good human heroes out there, all of them who are aware of the discrimination and genocidal policies being visited on mutants, yet not one of them side with the X-Men on a regular basis. It makes absolutely no damn sense at all. I have to believe in my heart of hearts that if Captain America wasn't an Avenger, he'd be an X-Man. If Daredevil didn't mind groups so much, he'd be an X-Man. If Blue Marvel wasn't relegated to limbo, he'd be an X-Man. (His second chance to join a civil rights cause.) Heck, I could even see someone like Miles Morales attending Xavier's academy on scholarship. Sure, it means that some of the mutants will have to step aside for humans, but this would make for a much more interesting and realistic dynamic than just yet another X-team with a gaggle of mutants.

And either way, Namor goes. He'll have to seek redemption elsewhere.