IYO.... Was making the Xavier Institute a bigger school a bad idea?

[khairston99]

I liked the around 25ish number of kids after m day . I don’t really like when we just have dozens of nameless student but I do think having a class of muntants kids is kinda important

[berserkerclaw]

I liked the New Mutants but after that I felt it got out of hand.

I feel simular. I love the new mutants and am fond of Generation X. After that its excessive. To the point where they dont use alot of characters. Mist modern creators seem to like or only truly know characters after morrison. Maybe cause@they grew with them or got into comics later. But i think some older ones need more respect and panel time. NM specificly. And not nessasarily together. They juay need to be in books again

[Star_Jammer]

Except, as you say in this very OP, the big school with the X-Men as teachers came from his X1. So it's completely relevant to the topic at hand.

Prodigy was the best part of New X-Men/Academy, but he is a poor substitute for Everett, and is no where to be found at the moment... did the Avengers take him, where is he? Didn't he lose his powers too?

Actually, you can find him in the craptacular America solo series.

(Sorry if this has been responded to already)

[donpricetag]

LOL! Is this for real? Did Mr. McDuffie really right this?

What funny/interesting is all of reminded me instantly of Static Shock cartoon on the WB. With being the creator of that character I wonder if the WB took liberties with the show to make fit more with their definition of black boys. I read the original graphic novel of Static a long time ago and there where major differences from the tv series.

As to the topic though......really most of the students now just seem like "Red Shirts" for easy drama and stories.

Negro Ninja thrashers? Why is no one else bugging out about this?

[Chaos Reigns]

Negro Ninja thrashers? Why is no one else bugging out about this?

Because he wrote it as joke not as an actual pitch.

[From The Shadows]

I actually really liked what Morrison did at the time by expanding the school. I also thought the X-Men reaching out to the public more was an interesting change. I was getting tired of the X-Men on the run stories by then. I thought the New X-Men kids were great creations and I may be one of a small minority but I actually thought New X-Men was one of the best books out at the time. But sadly the comics haven't been doing too well with larger casts so a lot have become wall paper of those that weren't outright killed.

[Criticalfan]

There is one new mutant character I don't like, so I had to vote no to all of them. Due to the wording of the poll.

Seriously, though, the huge school is horrible and exploring its org chart is worse. Like if there were Iron Man comics with Stark Enterprises meetings, with flow charts and TPS reports and the villain is THE COMPTROLLER.

[Sundowhn]

I think it turned into a disposal pit, over time, though the original concept was one I liked.

Every new writer that comes to the franchise wants to leave his mark, and seems to think his creation will be the one to capture the imaginations of readers and become the next big thing. Sometimes, they're really pushed, too, as long as the writer sticks around. The thing is, the creative teams change up too often, and one writer's baby is the next writer's cannon fodder, at worst, and wallpaper, at best.

The ones that I actively dislike are those that are clear rip offs of other characters without even a decent story as to why.

(Let me go ahead and say that X-23 gets a pass on this one, because she has a full and detailed reason for being. It's the same for Rachel, though, for me, I "met" Rachel before Jean, as I happened to pick up the X-Men in the direct aftermath of Jean's death, so Rachel was my intro to the character concept.) I still don't like that either of them were created for the purpose of replacing their older counterparts, but they do have good backstories.

It's also been used as a tool of token diversity -- multi-racial, multi-ethnic student body that nothing is ever done with.

In short, I see little point in getting excited (or surprised, when they go away) about new young characters because they're disposable.

[captain Qball]

It creates a fundamental flaw as the main characters need to be both teachers and superheros. I can't accept that they are all capable of doing both. There are enough characters they could pull it off though. There would need to be a super hero team, and the staff that run the school.

I like that it's changed, as we can actually see progress. And in general I like the new characters. So I'm split. I primarily consider the X-men as superheros, but part of that is having the next generation prepared. I do miss the mansion as a base of operations. As when it comes under attack now, there's too many kids to worry about. Maybe a smaller class size, of like 20 mutants at anytime would be good. Or as others have suggested, multiple schools, or separate the school from the superheroics. You could even get into a defined rotation, where characters need to put time in on both sides, just not at the same time.

[Dementia5]

I see little point in getting excited (or surprised, when they go away) about new young characters because they're disposable.

And therein lies the real problem with the post-2000 glut of new young characters. They’re not supposed to be disposable. Back in the days of Kitty and Jubilee, the New Mutants and Generation X, Marvel actually understood this. But at some point they forgot that for younger characters to truly catch on in a meaningful way they need to be low in number (so each can get the focus they need), and they each need to be nurtured and developed properly. When you toss a hundred new characters into a book this is impossible to do (unless you cherry-pick a small number for special treatment, as was done for Laura, Pixie and a couple of others). But then what do you do with the rest? Perpetual wallpaper? Shove them on a bus? It really is unconscionable.

[yogaflame]

How did Harry Potter rip off of the X-Men?

A school for gifted youngsters.

[yogaflame]

He's in the America book, so he was made into one of the many cheerleaders for the writer's self-insert. A fate worse than hell, if we're being honest.

Aww. That's too bad. The only arc I actually liked in New X-Men/Academy run was the one where Dani and Emma let him have a vision of his powers fully unlocked and he fixed the world and became President(only to predictably become corrupt or whatever...), which was a homage to the New Mutants time traveling arc that showed Roberto and Magma take over the world. That kid had potential(not quite like Synch, Gods of the earth and air rest his beautiful heroic soul).

[Triniking1234]

The school reaching boarding school levels was pretty ridiculous.

My first issue of Academy X was Elixir hooking up with Wolfsbane btw. Where was Chris Hansen?

[yogaflame]

The school reaching boarding school levels was pretty ridiculous.

My first issue of Academy X was Elixir hooking up with Wolfsbane btw. Where was Chris Hansen?

lol!! They bent over backwards to insist Rahne was only 19 to his, what was it, 16, and that they only kissed, but I agree, it was ridiculous!

[Sundowhn]

And therein lies the real problem with the post-2000 glut of new young characters. They’re not supposed to be disposable. Back in the days of Kitty and Jubilee, the New Mutants and Generation X, Marvel actually understood this. But at some point they forgot that for younger characters to truly catch on in a meaningful way they need to be low in number (so each can get the focus they need), and they each need to be nurtured and developed properly. When you toss a hundred new characters into a book this is impossible to do (unless you cherry-pick a small number for special treatment, as was done for Laura, Pixie and a couple of others). But then what do you do with the rest? Perpetual wallpaper? Shove them on a bus? It really is unconscionable.

Agree completely.
We keep getting new crops of them, so the old go into storage.

Older characters are bankable, so they aren't going away. If Marvel took a "graduating" class, and replaced a classic line up, the book would just tank.

I think Kitty and Jubilee were done the right way, by including them in older teams that still had room. By virtue of sheer numbers, there is no more room.