Too Many X-Men/Lack of Team Structure

[CRaymond]

Also the current X-Men roster is too homogeneous in personality

QFT

Give me more unique perspectives with regard to mutancy and power and goals. More Emma, more Gambit, more Rachel.

[Uncanny Mutie]

You can have a roster of ten over 3 books but if you only want to tell stories where one character does everything you're still going to fall into the same problem. Not too many X-Men but no X-Men team books with rehashing the same nostalgia crap over and over

Really some characters aren't interesting enough to hold a series where they do everything and there lies the problem looking at you Red, Gold and Blue. There meant to be team books not solos

Also the current X-Men roster is too homogeneous in personality

I know EXACTLY what you mean. X-Men Red is the perfect example: On paper, the book had a very nice roster/mix of X-Men, but they all went to waste because it pretty much got treated like a bland, run of the mill, adult Jean solo book. You had the popular/experienced A list X-Men (Jean, Storm, Nightcrawler, Gambit, even Namor) and your younger, newer characters (X-23/Gabby, Gentle, and a brand new character in Trinary), but they all ended up wallpaper for a boring, super decompressed story where Jean became the focal point of the entire series. And sorry, but Jean has never been interesting enough for a solo title, so even though she is an A-list X-Men TEAM member, you should have known that wasn't going to work).

[DragonflyJones]

I know EXACTLY what you mean. X-Men Red is the perfect example: On paper, the book had a very nice roster/mix of X-Men, but they all went to waste because it pretty much got treated like a bland, run of the mill, adult Jean solo book. You had the popular/experienced A list X-Men (Jean, Storm, Nightcrawler, Gambit, even Namor) and your younger, newer characters (X-23/Gabby, Gentle, and a brand new character in Trinary), but they all ended up wallpaper for a boring, super decompressed story where Jean became the focal point of the entire series. And sorry, but Jean has never been interesting enough for a solo title, so even though she is an A-list X-Men TEAM member, you should have known that wasn't going to work).

Absolutely agree

[Goddess]

The core X-Men is everyone from the Gold & Blue team circa 1991 w/ Nightcrawler, Kitty, Emma and others more as secondary tier.

Sure you have newer mains like X-23 and Magik but they aren't core.

Also, Storm is not more essential than Cyclops since most of the iconic stories evolve around him, his love life, his children and his daddy issues and the weeds that sprout from said roots. Cyclops is more important to the X-Mythos than Storm who is important as an identifier but not in the realm of the narrative (relative to Scott, I mean; she's still core like the others circa 1991).

Also, why is Kwannon being mentioned in the OP with the core characters? Psylocke is core regardless which body she occupies, not Kwannon.

[924COLLECTIVE]

Would be happy with a core line-up of: UNCANNY X-MEN, X-MEN, NEW-X-MEN, and EXILES (for those What If? /Alternate reality adventures)

For goodness sakes, just put some top tier writers and artists on the books, and give the artists enough time to finish a complete arc without
having to hand off issues to a 2nd/ 3rd tier filler artist because of time constraints PLEASE & NO CROSSOVERS for a solid two years minimum.

[Uncanny Mutie]

The core X-Men is everyone from the Gold & Blue team circa 1991 w/ Nightcrawler, Kitty, Emma and others more as secondary tier.

Right. I don't know how/why more X-Men fans don't understand that. I think Nightcrawler and Kitty are arguably first tier, and that Emma is best as a villain, but definitely agree that the 90's Blue and Gold team pretty much are the core/a-list X-Men, which is why they merged all of them together in the first place when they came up with the concept of Blue and Gold teams.

[Wiccan]

Jean Grey is the only character in fiction privileged enough to be absent for like 25 years of a franchise that's about 55 years old and still be considered core.

Her absence on those years has influenced the direction of the franchise more than some character's presence have at the same time-frame lol.

[blinkingblah]

I know EXACTLY what you mean. X-Men Red is the perfect example: On paper, the book had a very nice roster/mix of X-Men, but they all went to waste because it pretty much got treated like a bland, run of the mill, adult Jean solo book. You had the popular/experienced A list X-Men (Jean, Storm, Nightcrawler, Gambit, even Namor) and your younger, newer characters (X-23/Gabby, Gentle, and a brand new character in Trinary), but they all ended up wallpaper for a boring, super decompressed story where Jean became the focal point of the entire series. And sorry, but Jean has never been interesting enough for a solo title, so even though she is an A-list X-Men TEAM member, you should have known that wasn't going to work).

Wow never even thought about it that way but you are 100 percent correct. They focused way too much on Jean and not everybody. I feel like if they were given another 78 issues with this same roster than we might be singing a different tune.

[thechronic92]

An identifiable roster won't magically make the books better. What's holding the X-Men books back is the writing and editing.

[924COLLECTIVE]

Wow never even thought about it that way but you are 100 percent correct. They focused way too much on Jean and not everybody. I feel like if they were given another 78 issues with this same roster than we might be singing a different tune.

Each character on the team had their moments to shine. Unlike this current Uncanny Re-boot where everything is just generic lines and throwaway action.

[sunofdarkchild]

Have to agree that the problem is not the roster.

A Peter David could make a bunch of d-tiers interesting and a great book around them. A Guggenheim would take great characters who should write themselves and make them boring and unlikeable.

[Uncanny Mutie]

Each character on the team had their moments to shine.

Ah, yes. The obligatory, super-brief "moment to shine," right before they become wallpaper for the rest of the series...lol.

Unlike this current Uncanny Re-boot where everything is just generic lines and throwaway action.

Have to agree. The Uncanny reboot has been even WORSE than Red. I guess we should have known it would be bland, generic, and directionless from all the solicits and art teases showing an undefined roster of 3,000 different random X-Men.

[Uncanny Mutie]

Have to agree that the problem is not the roster.

A Peter David could make a bunch of d-tiers interesting and a great book around them. A Guggenheim would take great characters who should write themselves and make them boring and unlikeable.

Amen to that!!!! The roster still helps, though, if we are talking about the MAIN X-Men team(s) and getting them back to the place where they were commercially and critically. Even the Avengers roster that they used for the MCU movies consisted of mostly heavy hitters and A-List Avengers, and just look at how popular the Avengers are now, even to people who don't read the comics.

[Criticalfan]

Morrison's roster (but with only Jean OR Emma) is the equivalent of the Avengers' Trinity. Or the roster from the 1st movie. (Storm for beast). That's the core.

The roster question is basically:
A) one "flagship" book starring them, then the rest

B) split the core into 90s blue/Gold type books whose rosters are filled out by the 2nd tier/B+/A- types, (necessitating 2 established quality editor/writer/art teams), then the rest

[MentalManipulator]

I agree the most popular X-Men are the 90's Blue and Gold teams and Nightcrawler and Kitty. The core for me are: Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Jean Grey and Professor X.

We really need a bigger, long game plan for the X-Men books. The ever changing rosters and small stories feel superficial and not important.

My ideal rosters:

Uncanny X-Men:
Storm - leader
Wolverine
Nightcrawler
Psylocke
Northstar
Colossus
Jubilee

X-Men:
Jean Grey - leader
Cyclops
Bishop
Iceman
Armor
Gambit
Rogue

X-Force:
Cable - leader
Domino
Shattestar
Feral
Deadpool
X-23
Kwannon

Excalibur:
Captain Britain - leader
Meggan
Pixie
Pete Wisdom
Chamber
Rachel Grey

X-Factor:
Multiple Man - leader
M
Polaris
Strong Guy
Rictor
Hepzibah

Professor X, Beast, Forge, Dr.Reyes and Kitty Pryde are based at the school and are supporting characters.