Where did it all go wrong?

[ospfwildcard]

its started to go downhill when disney bought marvel.

[xhx23x]

AvX. Things were pretty fine if only a tad lackluster in some books, but AvX took away a storyline that had been building for years and used it to push the Avengers and after that the books lacked any sort of direction.

[Kusanagi]

House of M: Specifically "No more Mutants"

Since then nothing but rehashed extinction or X-Men vs. either each other or other heroes stories.

[Mutant God]

Bendis. It all went wrong when Bendis came to the franchise with AVX

Even before that, with him writing House of M and decreasing the number of mutants to the beginning point of almost extinction.

[Bafflement]

Even before that, with him writing House of M and decreasing the number of mutants to the beginning point of almost extinction.

Absolutely. I don't quite think there's one singular moment that made everything bad though, instead there are people who've done their damage over time. Bendis is a major one, who did a lot of damage with House of M and then made things worse with his tedious runs on the flagship books and further poorly-written events. Alonso seems to be another: with editors it can be harder to tell exactly what their contribution was, but Alonso presided over a lot of bad storylines in the mid and late 2000s, then followed up his promotion by overseeing the sidelining and demonising of the X-Men in recent years. And of course, Perlmutter's grudge against Fox has been a major driving factor for all of this.

That's what makes it hard for people to agree on one moment as the turning point - the current problems are really the consequence of years of poor handling.

[ImprobableQuestion]

The differing amount of opinions regarding when did it all go wrong speaks to how difficult it is to write/adapt the X-Men comics. Everyone has their own version of the X-Men. You have people on here who have hated the franchise since Morrison (an opinion I can't really understand XD), and yet you also have hardcore fans like Jay and Miles Xplain the X-Men who still enjoy certain books right now.

Personally, the decline started with Bendis. Everything before that felt like it built to something, even if the end result isn't always good. Avengers vs X-Men and Consequences felt like the grand conclusion to most long running story threads for me. Right now the Inhumans thing just seems a repeat of an extinction story we just came out from, but that's just the big picture stuff. The actual book themselves are fine.

I am of the opinion that this decline is just momentary. The X-Men has gone through rough patches before, and this is comics, so it's all gonna reset eventually (as seen with Resurruxtion). For me, I can't get invested and emotional about things happening in comics right now until I give it a few years and see where it all leads up to.

This is why I find the Complex so bizarre. The X-Men are RUINED FOREVER everytime a new writer comes in, and then they aren't. So why did it have to be so personal this time?

[electr1cgoblin]

Can anyone who currently reads the X titles tell me what the X-Men are really about now? I'm being serious. When I was a sprout back in the Claremont days, the Uncanny X-Men was about a band of outcasts (a fairly small band at the time) who were thrown together by a need to survive, despite many differences. Their interactions and conflicts (internal and external) were the hub of the book, and there was also a strong theme of prejudice and the folly and horror of hating someone just because they are different.

I've dipped my toe in the book since then, mostly with Morrison and Whedon, but have always left after the good runs. What I've seen from most writers is waaaay too much convoluted storytelling, unclear focus, and a complete abandoning of the team's status as heroes (as one poster already mentioned).

So, honestly...what is the book about today?

[CuteClops]

Bendis and the whole "no more mutants" thing.
F*** the Scarlet Bitch!

[dragonmp93]

Can anyone who currently reads the X titles tell me what the X-Men are really about now? I'm being serious. When I was a sprout back in the Claremont days, the Uncanny X-Men was about a band of outcasts (a fairly small band at the time) who were thrown together by a need to survive, despite many differences. Their interactions and conflicts (internal and external) were the hub of the book, and there was also a strong theme of prejudice and the folly and horror of hating someone just because they are different.

I've dipped my toe in the book since then, mostly with Morrison and Whedon, but have always left after the good runs. What I've seen from most writers is waaaay too much convoluted storytelling, unclear focus, and a complete abandoning of the team's status as heroes (as one poster already mentioned).

So, honestly...what is the book about today?

Surviving Genocide; maybe hiding in a literal hellish Limbo (Extraordinary), killing any threat to the mutantkind (Uncanny), saying "$%& this" and going on a road trip doing your own thing (All New).

[dragonmp93]

This is why I find the Complex so bizarre. The X-Men are RUINED FOREVER everytime a new writer comes in, and then they aren't. So why did it have to be so personal this time?

Well, if you are talking about the Inhuman stuff, "it is the last straw that breaks the camel's back".

[amoretpax199]

When Bendis touched the X-Books.

[Jdsm24]

Ah, it all went to hell when they brought back the First Five, of whom only Bratty Teen Jean is perhaps the only one really worth keeping around. Decimation was a necessary evil, that actually forced a change in the status quo, as every remaining genetic mutant suddenly became important, and writers were forced to handle and develop everyone else still remaining aside from the A-Listers.

[chamber-music]

I'll say things went wrong when they started to scatter x-men characters all over the place making many mutants M.I.A Or just dividing the X-men in general.

Yep.

All the infighting and squabbling got boring really fast. I miss the family and team dynamic.
Also the repeated extinction threat got old fast as well.

[Ricochet Rita]

I'll say things went wrong when they started to scatter x-men characters all over the place making many mutants M.I.A Or just dividing the X-men in general.

Absolutely. Although I think this was the effect, not the cause.

Specifically for me, this was the beginning of the end



and this was the last straw.

[Confuzzled]

House of M and Xploding Bus. When the literal future of mutantkind was neutered and then horrifically destroyed in flames, it was only natural that the entire line follow suit.