Originally Posted by
ermac
I wouldn't say Claremont is overrated but I definitely agree that Claremont/Smith was the peak X-Men for me. Their storytelling was top-notch and all the plots were new and exciting.
I'm not a fan of the supposedly "deconstruction" of the title for the next few years. There is some good stuff (Rogue on Savage Land, Banshee/Forge bromance, Muir Island saga) but his writing started to get old and his decisions weren't as organic as before.
The constant changes of the status quo didn't help. We barely explored the effects of the Mutant Massacre when Fall of the Mutants happens, then we don't even use the hidden aspect of the Outback team when they go into the Siege Perilous... That means we never get to understand the point of things like Ororo becoming a child, Asian Psylocke or Longshot being on the team.
Sometimes I wonder WHAT IF we had other writers take on UXM back then. What would Roger Stern, DeMatteis, Starlin or even Alan Moore do with the mutants? It would be probably very healthy for the franchise to have another vision for the team, adding new and fresh ideas to the X-lore.