Best character-driven stories in x-books?

[Arachne]

Chris Claremont's New Mutants run.

This. In fact, I'd say almost all the New Mutants ongoing series have been more character driven than most comics.

[Hi-Fi]

Wow you listed 3 of my favourite stories of all time here. The first 2 in particular will make Ororo and Anna come alive like never before for someone who hasn't read them, and arguably turn them into fans of those characters for life. And X-Men #70 is a masterclass on how to kick off a new run and simultaneously respect what's come before while also feeling like a fresh jumping on point.

<3

Not only X-Men #70, but Joe Kelly's entire run is filled of character-driven moments. I also fondly remember a great Unimited X-Men issue from around that time focused on Kitty and Marrow, written by Brian K. Vaughan. So goos.

[jwatson]

The generation X run that ended with jubilee becoming human and getting her powers back was pretty good. As was Williams X-factor. Vita new mutants was some of the best character building and driven stories of this era. Hellions was also very good and character driven. Sabretooth, both minis. On reread extraodinary x-men was better than i remember, lemire really did a good job with both hands tied. The original onslaught had some powerful character moments from all sides of the MU. Operation Zero tolerance is a personal fave but does have a bit of action but the connections matter. I will never forget the issue with the team arriving back at the x-mansion and the bomb being removed from Cyclops and Juggernaunt showing up cause he owned the property now. lol

Oh the story where Betsy got her original body back was good too, seeing her rebuild herself as she saw herself.

The all new different x-men was pretty good too, i will never forget the air battle drawn by bachalo and the spin on the new 05.

Hunt for Xavier, i will always remember the scene with Storm putting out Pyro again drawn by bachalo.

I mean the X-men vol 2 # 80 that was a good run as well.

Lol there have been A LOT.

[Taurean Sun]

Many many to choose from but if you want some intense charachter work, probably the most detailed charachter work from an xbook you might wanna read life death by Chris Claremont. No mutant powers, no shenanigans just ororo feeling stuff and assessing who she really is and where she stands in the grand scheme of things. Xmen red is yet another solid charachter study of not only ororo but also magneto.

[jwatson]

X-treme X-men, like the whole run of x-treme was good. I mean characters were slowly pulled which affected the plots but what was there before Storm was basically left alone was top notch stuff. This was a family team doing their best during one of the darkest times in x-history, Morrison run. Though Morrison run did do a good job of setting mutants up to deserve House of M and being depowered. After all the crap they pulled and stealing land from humans, letting mutants run rampant, i did kind of shrug at the initial action of it happening but you can't really blame the characters for writers. No one was written in character imo during that run, it was the start of evident plot over subject or character.

[marhawkman]

I thought the original X-Men Unlimited arc was pretty good.

[K7P5V]

I'll echo what other's have said about Classic X-Men - this series from the '80's reprinted the main book (Uncanny X-Men) starting with the introduction of the All-New, All-Different team (Storm, Nightcrawler, Thunderbird, Wolverine, Banshee, Colossus). It's the BACK UP stories that are character driven, and there is an Omnibus which collects them all. Stories that build upon what was presented in the main book, yet written about a decade later.

You'll get one shots that include Jean Grey and her roommate Misty Knight; Wolverine versus a bear; Nightcrawler comforting a child at a hospital; Warpath mourning his older brother (Thunderbird) after his untimely death; a really cool Halloween party kerfuffle; flashbacks to Rogue's teenage years when her powers kicked in; Banshee doing some detective work ... and lots more. Just like you asked for, there is little action. These backup tales were clearly character building opportunities for Claremont, especially since the X-Men were the most popular book at the time.

Couldn't agree more. Even without either Claremont or Bolton, those back-ups were still entertaining (IMHO):

Another good series that had excellent character-driven stories was the original Excalibur, when the team consisted of Nightcralwer, Kitty Pryde, Rachel Summers (Phoenix), Captain Britain, and Meggan.

I concur, especially when Alan Davis was around...

[jwatson]

Woods x-men was pretty good and character driven. The issues drawn by lopez i hold a particular fondness of especially the COlossus/Storm confrontation.

[BobbysWorld]

Marjorie Liu's Astonishing X-Men run has some very under-rated character driven stories, particularly for Karma, Iceman and Northstar.

[HomoSuperior]

Chris Claremont's New Mutants run.

So true. Magik’s arc leading up to and thru the Demon Bear saga was pretty cool. She’s struggling to fit in, not quite sure what’s causing her armor to appear, and the rest of the team aren’t quite ready to trust her. By the time it’s over it’s clear she’s the MVP even though there aren’t any real answers about what is going on with her.

[Master of Sound]

Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 issue 182. A Rogue focused story how she deals with Danvers becoming the more dominant in her body. I was young when I did read it the first time, I cried

And it's Rogue in her orange tunique (I dont know how to write that word). What more can you ask for?

[jignat]

Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 issue 182. A Rogue focused story how she deals with Danvers becoming the more dominant in her body. I was young when I did read it the first time, I cried

And it's Rogue in her orange tunique (I dont know how to write that word). What more can you ask for?

tunic.


Good recommendation by the way.

[Winter_fury]

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New x-men 127

[Chubistian]

-Marvel Graphic Novel N.5, X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills, by Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson
-Wolverine, by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller
-Uncanny X-Men (2013), which complements really well, though the next series is more action packed, with All New X-Men (2013). Both series written by Brian Michael Bendis with a huge cast of outstanding pencillers. There are runs which I like more, like New X-Men, written by Grant Morrison, but where I think the high concepts may overshadow the characterizations
-Uncanny X-Force (2010), by Rick Remender with Jerome Opeña, Esad Ribic, Phil Noto and more!
-All New Wolverine (2016), by Tom Taylor, an amazing writer when it comes to character-driven stories, and many great pencillers, such as Juann Cabal, David López w/David Navarrot, and Ramón Rosanas, to name a few

[JJS]

Woods x-men was pretty good and character driven. The issues drawn by lopez i hold a particular fondness of especially the COlossus/Storm confrontation.

A writer remembering how he was always her ‘little brother’ during Claremont’s run.

Was never going to catch on that actually paying attention to the characterisation, relationships and development in the books most definitive run.

Why bother when you can fanfic.