Are we as X-Fans resistant to new ideas?

[ExodusCloak]

Our X-books are flooded with alternate versions of the O5, we have Xorn, we have an Alt Xavier who looks identical to Xavier. Lets not forget how the Phoenix, Phoenix, Phoenix solves every story line possible.

Are we as X-fans responsible for this? Is it because we're resistant to change that they keep plying us with the same shit? Or is it that Marvel feel it's the safe choice.

The 'Planet X' story was partially intended as a comment on the exhausted, circular nature of the X-Men's ever-popular battle with Magneto and by extension, the equally cyclical nature of superhero franchise re-inventions - Grant Morrison

[jen]

I think the X-Fans are desperate for change. It seems the stories are kinda stuck right now. It needs a kick in the pants and strong move forward. Enough with schism and the O5. We need a new direction that brings back the drama, fun and adventure.

[ExodusCloak]

I think the X-Fans are desperate for change. It seems the stories are kinda stuck right now. It needs a kick in the pants and strong move forward. Enough with schism and the O5. We need a new direction that brings back the drama, fun and adventure.

Are we really desperate for change? Is that why we have copies of alternate characters running around? Why we had Hopes ties to the PF, Jeans ties to the PF and Quentins ties to the Phoenix Force. Not to mention Endsong and Warsong. I mean do we really want change?

Marvel can't please every fan but is that because we are happy with the same thing every few years?

[AcesX1X]

define "change."

[jmc247]

Are we really desperate for change? Is that why we have copies of alternate characters running around? Why we had Hopes ties to the PF, Jeans ties to the PF and Quentins ties to the Phoenix Force. Not to mention Endsong and Warsong. I mean do we really want change?

Marvel can't please every fan but is that because we are happy with the same thing every few years?

I think the bigger issue is the generation of writers/editors. Once the generation switches out of those nostalgic about the 80s and early 90s then we will start to get change.

Obviously, the generation of fans plays a role as well, but early to mid last decade when the x-books tried something new fans accepted it as shown by sales of the titles, hard core fans are a different animal and are much more reluctant to accept change.

[vitamin]

House of Ideas is conceptually bankrupt and hardcore fans only want the illusion of change so Marvel is content to recycle the same ideas over and over, but with mediocre thought put into it.

Just look at anticlimactic Messiah trilogy and 05's Blast from the Past plot. But most fans eat it up.
I don't.

[Ambaryerno]

To be honest, I don't think you can single out any one fan community for this. Fandoms in general don't like to see change. They want the property they follow to be the same, familiar thing that it was when they first got hooked on it. MST3K fans hated when Joel left. It's why Star Trek Voyager played as TNG-lite after the very heavily arc-based DS9. It's why ending the Will They/Won't They angst and putting the alpha couple together for good can be so tricky to pull off.

That's just the nature of the fanbase, and the studios and editors are aware of that.

Unfortunately this is ALSO a gross oversimplification, as there are people who do enjoy watching characters, relationships and environments evolve. Especially when change is handled well, organically, and flows naturally based on the characters involved (which is why Idiot Ball-reliant stories such as Schism, AvX, and One More Day that have to ram the shakeup down peoples' throats SERIOUSLY piss people off).

[ExodusCloak]

House of Ideas is conceptually bankrupt and hardcore fans only want the illusion of change so Marvel is content to recycle the same ideas over and over, but with mediocre thought put into it.

This is exactly what I'm getting at. It's an illusion. Sure create these new teen characters and put them in the exact same stories their predecessors were in. Idies/Hellfire thing for example. I think there's far too much "weak" story telling being passed off as "homage".

Lets not forget the Hellfire Brats.

[Siddon]

No I believe we want change and we hate stagnation which is what we have right now. Anytime something creative or different comes along a segment of the X-fans jump on it, Dakan, X-statix, New X-men, New New X-men, X-Force, NYX, Old Man Logan, Enemy of the State, Mystique, Exiles, Age of Apocalypse, All New X-men, X-factor. The problem is ever since Disney showed up it's been downhill for the X-books they are basically the ghetto. When was the last time you felt like this issue of Uncanny X-men was important? Right now the best X-book on the market is Magneto and that should tell you where we are at with X-men.

[just another user]

I think the X-Fans are desperate for change. It seems the stories are kinda stuck right now. It needs a kick in the pants and strong move forward. Enough with schism and the O5. We need a new direction that brings back the drama, fun and adventure.

Iirc you weren't desperate for the change in Rogue's non-deceasedness

[gurkle]

Haven't X-fans traditionally been less resistant to change than most super hero comic fans? When X-Men was at its height of popularity and influence, the franchise was constantly creating new characters, at a time when most of the other Big Two franchises were already reduced to coming up with slightly newer takes on old characters. The popular version of X-Men moved farther away from its Silver Age version than any of the other big Marvel books, which have mostly been doing what Stan n' Jack or Stan n' Steve did in new packaging.

Obviously, X-Men is not now what it was then. It's harder to introduce new characters and make them stick, partly because the franchise now has fan and creator nostalgia attached (whereas the original '60s X-Men was basically a failed franchise that even its fans knew had room for improvement). And even some of the attempts at doing something new, like Morrison's run, are at least partly about finding new takes on old story concepts. Maybe that's inevitable when a franchise runs so long.

But I would say that it's not so much that X-Men fans are resistant to change, or even that Marvel is resistant to change, as that the whole business is resistant to change - and it stands out more because this was one of the last big super hero franchises where you could pick up a book and enjoy new characters, new ideas, that didn't owe everything to a previous generation's stories.

[jen]

Iirc you weren't desperate for the change in Rogue's non-deceasedness

Wow. SMH

It is completely different to be open to new story lines than have a character written poorly and whose death had no impact to an overall story nor did it give closure to the character in general. I was not upset Rogue was moved to the Unity squad, just the execution of the story.

[Supernature]

I don't think it's got much to do with the fans to be honest.

For instance, I think many of us would enjoy seeing the Phoenix take a long break from the X-Stories and see new concepts, characters and ideas thrive.

The problem is that most of the writers who get to write for Marvel / DC would rather keep their original ideas to themselves. Once they get on a book from the X-Verse, it's less risky to quickly whip out a reductive story about Phoenix fanatics, or Sublime's little sister, or random character with designs that resemble those of established ones, or alternate / time displaced version of beloved characters, etc etc...

It'll probably sell as much (if not more) than a new thing and the person who wrote said story gets to keep their ideas for their personal indie projects.

[jarrod]

Desperate for progression maybe? Even death doesn't get rid of the same old guard, they just get resurrected, cloned or crosstime-napped. The idea that Cyclops, after 2 marriages and a kid in his mid 20s, is now only in his late 20s is frankly insane. We need to move on in major ways but the nature of the medium/IP won't allow for it. That was fundamentally why Claremont left originally.

[Mahes]

Desperate for progression maybe? Even death doesn't get rid of the same old guard, they just get resurrected, cloned or crosstime-napped. The idea that Cyclops, after 2 marriages and a kid in his mid 20s, is now only in his late 20s is frankly insane. We need to move on in major ways but the nature of the medium/IP won't allow for it. That was fundamentally why Claremont left originally.

100% this. A lot of shake-ups are needed but they won't happen. Look at what happens to titles without the "core members".