"Why Are Marvel's X-Men Comics So Terrible Right Now?"

[AJpyro]

Andru:
You can always read something like All New Wolverine or Uncanny Avengers if You want positive light

True but a solo and an avenger/xmen book should not be one of the few places for positive xbooks.

[FlawedCoil82]

http://io9.gizmodo.com/why-are-marve...now-1784655091

This sums up my problem with the current mainline x-men books. The only X-men book- not counting the wolverine books- is X-men 92.

Yea the only X-Men book that still shows the characters as I loved them is "X-Men '92", but very sadly that book is selling miserably (and will likely be canceled) as X-fans have clearly declared loud and proud to Marvel that they would still much rather keep reading about the X-Men being disgraced, depowered and doomed in the modern books, as long as they are still "Holy" canon instead of reading about the X-Men when they were actually still superheroes in a "forbidden" alternate universe book. So at this point, I have very little sympathy left for all the X-fans who supposedly hate to see Marvel digging the graves of the X-Men deeper and deeper, yet refuse to support the one X-book that has tried to bring some fun and respect back to the team, all because many foolishly believe it is somehow illegal to support imaginary characters in one imaginary universe if it is not "really happening" rather than finding value in both equally imaginary X-universes.

The main X-books also seem to have the luxury of being allowed to suck or be underwhelming over and over and repeatedly get away with it while "X-Men '92" is expected to bring perfection each issue because as soon as something happens to give an excuse to drop the book, it is dropped. Plus, nowadays many fans have been indoctrinated over time into only accepting an X-world that is just as dark and hopeless as our own reality and assume anything that is too colorful or less "doom and gloom" is automatically only meant for children.

[Star_Jammer]

Yea the only X-Men book that still shows the characters as I loved them is "X-Men '92", but very sadly that book is selling miserably (and will likely be canceled) as X-fans have clearly declared loud and proud to Marvel that they would still much rather keep reading about the X-Men being disgraced, depowered and doomed in the modern books, as long as they are still "Holy" canon instead of reading about the X-Men when they were actually still superheroes in a "forbidden" alternate universe book. So at this point, I have very little sympathy left for all the X-fans who supposedly hate to see Marvel digging the graves of the X-Men deeper and deeper, yet refuse to support the one X-book that has tried to bring some fun and respect back to the team, all because many foolishly believe it is somehow illegal to support imaginary characters in one imaginary universe if it is not "really happening" rather than finding value in both equally imaginary X-universes.

The main X-books also seem to have the luxury of being allowed to suck or be underwhelming over and over and repeatedly get away with it while "X-Men '92" is expected to bring perfection each issue because as soon as something happens to give an excuse to drop the book, it is dropped. Plus, nowadays many fans have been indoctrinated over time into only accepting an X-world that is just as dark and hopeless as our own reality and assume anything that is too colorful or less "doom and gloom" is automatically only meant for children.

Damn, that's deep.

I pick up X-Men '92 every month, yet I keep them in their bag and board, and place them in a box. Maybe I'll read the trade one day.

Is that still support?

[Rivka]

I apologize for not reading this entire thread.

But to answer the OP, in my opinion, I don't agree with the premise. The X-MEN books are NOT terrible right now. I'm enjoying them. They're innovative and interesting and I like them. I like Magneto's team in UNCANNY the best, of course.

What is "terrible" is the sense I get--as a very long time Marvel reader and X-Men fan--of being Marvel's abused step-child. I miss the excitement of the Marvel Universe, of all the characters inhabiting the same plane of reality and having the same importance. I hate that Marvel's pushing Inhumans to replace mutants, I hate the marginalization of the X-Men characters, I hate that Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are supposedly no longer mutants, I miss the interconnected-ness of the X-books and the Hero and Spidey books.

I think the X-MEN books at the moment are quite good. But there's this underlying tension, a dark fog of uncertainty regarding the future of the X-franchise, that takes some of the joy away (for me) when I read them. I am trying to be positive, but I still feel anxious about the future.

[Jay Dogg]

It's simple...they stopped being superheroes. But that's becoming the norm for most books, especially Marvel.

[LocoSteve]

Hurrah, another negative about the current status of the X-books thread is launched.

Stop complaining and start dancing.

[FlawedCoil82]

Damn, that's deep.

I pick up X-Men '92 every month, yet I keep them in their bag and board, and place them in a box. Maybe I'll read the trade one day.

Is that still support?

That counts much more than those who dont bother checking it out at all simply because it is not connected to the other books (I would still recommend reading them though.)

If people genuinely have given "X-Men '92" a fair shot and simply do not like it then that is cool. My beef is with those who say "Nope, if its not happening here in the all-important 'NOW' then it is automatically not worth reading or buying. No matter how bad it gets, I ONLY care about plowing straight ahead and never looking back; even if it means falling off the eventual cliff." They won't even acknowledge it as an actual X-book and act like it has no worth whatsoever.

[iacobusleo]

Unpopular opinion time.

Is there really much of a story left in X-Men to tell? Most of the major characters actually had completed their story arcs that I don't think there's anything left to do with them. Most obvious example is Magneto. He's bad, he's good, he's morally grey, he's bad again, he's morally grey again, the cycle repeats itself. Same with Rogue. She controls her power in Carey's Legacy, but whoops she's back to not being able to touch people again. All that's happening now with the characters so far are retreads.

There are THOUSANDS of background characters who deserve their chance to step up into the limelight, the nature of comic book storytelling means that the characters we focus on will always be the recognizable faces because that's what people want. I mean, some of our leads right now are young versions of old characters for goodness' sake, when there are so many others waiting in the wings.

I believe, and this is controversial, that the X-Men reached its natural conclusion with Scott's rise and fall as a mutant leader, Avengers vs X-Men, and the resolution of No More Mutants. It's not done exceptionally well, but we've already heightened the stakes as far as it possibly can get (the threat of extinction), that everything else that comes after seems like a retread.

Disclaimer here that I don't think the current comics are bad, at least in comparison to the older ones. I just think that there's no longer any momentum in the X-Men franchise. The books are simply existing because they need to exist to make Marvel money. I could be wrong and in ten years time I could look back and see that the current comics are building towards something, but for now, eh.

It requires an enormous amount of creativity to shake up the X-Men and bring some originality and nuance back to it again. But that would require a complete change in the way comic books tell their stories, which would be never.

For now, I'm perfectly happy with my X-Men, from Claremont's run all the way to Wolverine and the X-Men, Avengers vs X-Men and Consequences. With a little mental editing, they form a complete story for me.

Also disclaimer this is the opinion of someone who never grew up reading comics so all this could be different for someone who actually grew up reading them with no knowledge of where all this is going.

[Xelossik]

iacobusleo :

Rogue always wanted much more than simply control over her powers. She was looking and she is still looking for a place to live normal life with family (as X-men). Did she ever succeed?
Extreme X-men was close - she had her home and a man who was always on a road but she was without powers and without friends
X-men Legacy - she had control over her powers but what about friends? She lost trust of many of her friends (Cyclops and Wolvie for example also Magneto and Gambit"don't come to me at all" she was always about Unity)
Even in Legacy she thought :
"Home. Can't remember the last time someone outside X men made me feel Ah had one. This must be what it's like for the Avengers"
was she happy in Legacy? Yes
was she fulfill? No
Whole second part of Legacy is about how she run to teaching from her life mission (helping others, mostly X men and humans)

She should stop Schism but she was focused on teaching (X men always had "hearts" good mutants who could stop fights but Nightcrawler was dead, Kitty was heart broken and Colossus gained Cytorak, she was healthy but focused only on younger mutants)

Legacy wasn't ending it was only side quest. She was happy but she lost contact with many friends and humans.

heightened the stakes as far as it possibly can get (the threat of extinction

I think that mutants are close to extinction almost every week. I don't think that this the end

[skullfire]

The article had some good points (really needs some editing though, like most internet content.)

I believe the xbooks are at their nadir for creativity. Even in the late 90s there were a few bright spots here and there. These main three xbooks suck hard. The art, the stories, the characterizations are mind numbingly bad. What the hell is going on?

It's weird though, most of the comments under the article seem to hold up the Bendis run as some kind of gold standard. Now that's extraordinary, uncanny! I didn't think it could get worse than his wheel-spinning, "joke" telling, one personality fits all brand of X-Men, yet here we are.

[MyriVerse]

I apologize for not reading this entire thread.

But to answer the OP, in my opinion, I don't agree with the premise. The X-MEN books are NOT terrible right now. I'm enjoying them. They're innovative and interesting and I like them. I like Magneto's team in UNCANNY the best, of course.

It's impossible for me to see anything innovative, even in Uncanny. All of the plots are rehash. Terrigen is the new Legacy. Still same old lame Apocalypse nonsense, especially where it concerns Warren.

[MYCMTSC]

Yea the only X-Men book that still shows the characters as I loved them is "X-Men '92", but very sadly that book is selling miserably (and will likely be canceled) as X-fans have clearly declared loud and proud to Marvel that they would still much rather keep reading about the X-Men being disgraced, depowered and doomed in the modern books, as long as they are still "Holy" canon instead of reading about the X-Men when they were actually still superheroes in a "forbidden" alternate universe book. So at this point, I have very little sympathy left for all the X-fans who supposedly hate to see Marvel digging the graves of the X-Men deeper and deeper, yet refuse to support the one X-book that has tried to bring some fun and respect back to the team, all because many foolishly believe it is somehow illegal to support imaginary characters in one imaginary universe if it is not "really happening" rather than finding value in both equally imaginary X-universes.

The main X-books also seem to have the luxury of being allowed to suck or be underwhelming over and over and repeatedly get away with it while "X-Men '92" is expected to bring perfection each issue because as soon as something happens to give an excuse to drop the book, it is dropped. Plus, nowadays many fans have been indoctrinated over time into only accepting an X-world that is just as dark and hopeless as our own reality and assume anything that is too colorful or less "doom and gloom" is automatically only meant for children.

I think you're making a lot of assumptions about why people don't want to read X-Men '92.

[Rivka]

It's impossible for me to see anything innovative, even in Uncanny. All of the plots are rehash. Terrigen is the new Legacy. Still same old lame Apocalypse nonsense, especially where it concerns Warren.

Well, I respect your opinion more than most. And you might be right. But I also recall that X-Fans gripe and complain and say "it's the worst X-Books ever" every time a new writer takes over, or a new direction starts. Also, a lot of fans (myself included) judge the X-books based on where their favorite characters are. I'm so happy Magneto is an anti-hero in UNCANNY; but the book is also interesting, well-written, and I look forward to reading it. I'm really thinking the 8-month-gap thing and Marvel plucking Cyclops and Emma Frost out of the books with no explanation, has made a lot of fans very unhappy. I'm hopeful (but still anxious and not so sure) that after "Death of X" the X-books will coalesce, have new purpose, and move forward. I agree that the Inhumans/Terrigen Mist crap is annoying and boring as well as confusing. Each writer seems to have a different take on the Mists and what's going on. It needs to be solved and the plot buried so the X-books can move on. But then, maybe the writers' and editors' hands are tied.

[Lucyinthesky]

What is "terrible" is the sense I get--as a very long time Marvel reader and X-Men fan--of being Marvel's abused step-child. I miss the excitement of the Marvel Universe, of all the characters inhabiting the same plane of reality and having the same importance. I hate that Marvel's pushing Inhumans to replace mutants, I hate the marginalization of the X-Men characters, I hate that Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are supposedly no longer mutants, I miss the interconnected-ness of the X-books and the Hero and Spidey books.

I agree.

I feel like part of the reason the X-men books feel like, yes, they are telling stories but it feels like they are inside a box that doesn´t allow them to advance the story or the characters in a meaningful way. I am excited about Uncanny and even Civil War X-men but I know Death of X is coming and even if the X-men are not made to look bad at the end of the story like with the AvX crossover,it´s probable much of the actual stories may not be tackled again because the board could be too changed at that point.

I also miss the X-men having their place in the marvel universe and not just as filler characters for the annual crossovers but as actual characters that make choices and have opinions that matter. I can´t feel but think that marvel put the X-men, their story and characters on ice until they reach a deal with Fox and that´s hurting their comic development and story possibilities

[just-my-2cents]

I don't even think EXM is that bad, and UXM is pretty great. They're far preferable to me than the Utopia / Schism era which made me quit comics altogether until just this year.

I've seen many people complain about how UXM is a cast of non-X-Men...as if the painfully long run of Cyclops and his Uncanny friends Namor, Danger, Magneto, Demon Magik and Juggolossus, Emma Frost and the bloody dull as dishwater science club was some dream team of classic X-Men. And Bendis' Uncanny cast wasn't much better with his pitiful new recruits tacked on for extra offence.

I'd take another five years of mediocre adventures with the Extraordinary X-Men than suffer through that era again.

AMEN!!!!!!!!

Nor has it been for years as I've already stated. Namor, Danger, Emma, Science Club, Bendis rejects. Why is everyone giving those incredibly non-X-Men rosters a pass just because Psycho-clops was leading the team?

Archangel is an original X-Man. Psylocke is far more X-woman than Emma Frost ever was or ever will be. M is to Gen X what Magik is to the New Mutants these days. Magneto has been an X-Man for years - he's just not playing second fiddle to Scott anymore - and he and Sabretooth and Mystique are far more integral to the mutant story than most of the above mentioned characters.

The Uncanny team is more an X-Men team than it has been for years.

I agree with most of this!