X-Men after Age of Apocalypse: Opinions?

[Andru]

Every few years, I do a complete re-read of X-Men starting with Giant Size and ending with the conclusion of Age of Apocalypse.

I have always been pretty steadfast in stopping after AOA and then directly jumping into Morrison's New X-Men when I am in the mood to read "modern" X-Men.

I have never really read the material that bridges AOA & New X-Men. However, now that I am nearing my intended conclusion, I was wondering if it was worth continuing?

I know some of the bigger events are Onslaught, Operation Zero Tolerance, The Twelve, Claremont's return, & Eve of Destruction. However, I have not heard good things about any of this material. Common opinions I have seen associated with this period are "directionless", "filler", "skippable", & "uninspired".

Are there any fans here of this particular period who might have some positive things to say?

Essentially, is it really worth investing in this time period of writers, artists, & characters? And if not X-Men or Uncanny, how were X-force, Wolverine, etc. at this time?

[Maestroneto]

Kelly/Seagle is very underrated. There's some fun stuff in the pre-Twelve Alan Davis run too.

Road Trip X-Force was around that time too, I think. Probably some of the very best that title has been in its 30 year history.

[NewMutant]

X-Men always in flux. It's been lucky that even if it lacks direction or a flagship the supporting books typically can carry the extra burden when the A-team in down. There's over half a century of stories that have been told you have plenty of options, chose the ones that appeal to you.

[Will Evans]

Every few years, I do a complete re-read of X-Men starting with Giant Size and ending with the conclusion of Age of Apocalypse.

I have always been pretty steadfast in stopping after AOA and then directly jumping into Morrison's New X-Men when I am in the mood to read "modern" X-Men.

I have never really read the material that bridges AOA & New X-Men. However, now that I am nearing my intended conclusion, I was wondering if it was worth continuing?

I know some of the bigger events are Onslaught, Operation Zero Tolerance, The Twelve, Claremont's return, & Eve of Destruction. However, I have not heard good things about any of this material. Common opinions I have seen associated with this period are "directionless", "filler", "skippable", & "uninspired".

Are there any fans here of this particular period who might have some positive things to say?

Essentially, is it really worth investing in this time period of writers, artists, & characters? And if not X-Men or Uncanny, how were X-force, Wolverine, etc. at this time?

If you’re a Bishop fan, read the various Bishop/Deathbird one shots.

Then read Bishop: The Last X-Man.

Gambit’s first solo series was during this time.

[Andru]

Kelly/Seagle is very underrated. There's some fun stuff in the pre-Twelve Alan Davis run too.

Road Trip X-Force was around that time too, I think. Probably some of the very best that title has been in its 30 year history.

I plan to pick up the X-Force Epic Collection that covers this material when it is released late this year. Looking forward to it!

If you’re a Bishop fan, read the various Bishop/Deathbird one shots.

Then read Bishop: The Last X-Man.

Gambit’s first solo series was during this time.

I do have all the Gambit Complete Collections, but I have yet to read them. Need to get on that!

[pandafarmer]

Eh, if you're going to spend the time rereading some of the clunkier books between Giant Sized and AOA, it's worth reading through the rest at least once. Yes there are some directionless slogs, but when I did a re-read a couple of years ago it was easy to recognize when I was in one of those personal ruts and fast read them.

[Whim]

This was one of my main reading points. AoA made me from a casual reader to weekly.

Onslaught was hit or miss. Good parts but honestly seems more of a plot device to reboot the rest of the Marvel Universe.

OZT was pretty fun actually. The brief Iceman/Marrow/Cece Reyes team was good. Got Maggot and some other fun line ups.

The Seagle/Kelly run I think is really underrated. Unfortunately seems editorial tanked it but I loved the whole Hunt for Xavier and Cerebro's X-men stuff.

Claremont's return and The Twelve tho was a big pile of crap. Lots of potential but it stunk.

It stayed bad for a while. Casey and Austen were just awful. Decent ideas but really bad execution and I'm one that hates Morrison the most. It didn't feel like X-Men and had lasting damage it felt like.

[Alan2099]

Erik Larsen had his Wolverine run during this time. I can understand that it won't appeal to everyone but there was some interesting stuff there. I liked what he was doing with Arnim Zola, but it never really seemed to go anywhere.

There's also the story where Wolverine fights Galactus. Seriously.

[nx01a]

This was one of my main reading points. AoA made me from a casual reader to weekly.
Onslaught was hit or miss. Good parts but honestly seems more of a plot device to reboot the rest of the Marvel Universe.
OZT was pretty fun actually. The brief Iceman/Marrow/Cece Reyes team was good. Got Maggot and some other fun line ups.
The Seagle/Kelly run I think is really underrated. Unfortunately seems editorial tanked it but I loved the whole Hunt for Xavier and Cerebro's X-men stuff.
Claremont's return and The Twelve tho was a big pile of crap. Lots of potential but it stunk.
It stayed bad for a while. Casey and Austen were just awful. Decent ideas but really bad execution and I'm one that hates Morrison the most. It didn't feel like X-Men and had lasting damage it felt like.

I really enjoyed The Twelve and the subsequent Ages of Apocalypse.
Yes, Claremont v2 was horrid, especially for giving us telekinetic Psylocke.

[Tugger]

I don't know if these fit into your timeline but I really enjoyed adjectiveless X-Men #188-204 (collected in a volume called Marauders) and The Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire.

[Bunch of Coconuts]

OZ:T was pretty great, actually (IMO of course), only having read the two main X-titles + GenX.

Speaking of which, you should really read Generation X up till Hama takes over. If you like that, skip Hama and give Faerber a go (didn’t like myself, but it has some good points to it), and then stop when he leaves the title; the Ellis/Wood reboot sucked and will likely just piss you off.

[Andru]

OZ:T was pretty great, actually (IMO of course), only having read the two main X-titles + GenX.

Speaking of which, you should really read Generation X up till Hama takes over. If you like that, skip Hama and give Faerber a go (didn’t like myself, but it has some good points to it), and then stop when he leaves the title; the Ellis/Wood reboot sucked and will likely just piss you off.

I am waiting until Marvel starts collecting Gen X in some physical format...I know they started years ago with the classics, but then stopped. But Gen X is one I am definitely interested in reading, especially after Phalanx Covenant.

Thank you everyone for your input! I may try some Seagle/Kelly issues digitally.

[Alan2099]

the Ellis/Wood reboot sucked and will likely just piss you off.

Anything with the Counter X logo on it needs to be ignored.

[The BaRoN]

Onslaught has some fantastic art and moments, it's all collected including the build up that began with X-Men prime once AoA ended.

I re read these runs a lot because until the Hickman era the X-men sucked for years and these stories were during the glory years for me, Kubert, Pacheco, joe Mad, Bachalo, Kelly, Lobdell, Waid, Seagle, Larroca and more.

These trades are worth grabbing in this order and begin after AoA.

X-men Road to onslaught Vol 1-3
X-Men Onslaught Vol 1-4
X-Men Onslaught aftermath
X-Men trial of Gambit
X-Men Operation Zero Tolerance
X-Men Gold Vol 0
X-Men Blue Vol 0
X-Men Hunt for Xavier
X-Men Magento War
X-Men the shattering
X-Men the twelve
X-Men ages of apocalypse
X-Men powerless
Avengers/X-Men Maximum Security
X-Men Eve of Destruction

That should bring you to Morrison's which I dislike so no idea where you go from there.

Some other trades I like during this time outside the main X-men comics include

Wolverine - The dying game
Wolverine - Shadow of apocalypse
Classic Deadpool by Joe Kelly Vol 1-3
Excalibur by Warren Ellis - Vol 1-3

[Cane_danko]

I love the onslaught stuff personally. I won’t claim that the entirety of it is masterful or anything but the whole concept of the villain and the face off where he battles the xmen and the avengers is brilliant. As far as the run after age of apocalypse, i would say that its like everything else xmen, hit and miss. While i love old clermont as much as the next person, some of the stuff from the 80’s was pretty funny in a bad way. In the world of comics i just tend to not dwell on those sort of missteps and especially with xmen. Luckily for me, there is so much xmen and i can’t get enough so it is a symbiotic relationship i guess you could say lol. Sometimes it can be a pain trying to keep up with it all like xforce and excalibur but hey its not going to stop me from trying!