How do you feel about the way X-books are written?

[Nick Miller]

Bunn only got good at the end? Str8 up lie..ge had more continuity and more build than anything Morrison did in his gimmick run. His Emma worship story was boring..

Gimmick run?

Please

[JasonEsta]

Gimmick run?

Please

None of that crap lasted. It was shock writing..make Magneto a Nazi like villain and use different names to get things done? Wtf....the whole Esme saga. She dies and doesn't have to face those she betrayed. The Emma/Scott crap was horrible..so he's not gonna bang Psylocke but Emma is enough to get him to heel on Jean ? Ridiculous.

Second mutations? Another gimmick that died off.

[Magneto]

None of that crap lasted. It was shock writing..make Magneto a Nazi like villain and use different names to get things done? Wtf....the whole Esme saga. She dies and doesn't have to face those she betrayed. The Emma/Scott crap was horrible..so he's not gonna bang Psylocke but Emma is enough to get him to heel on Jean ? Ridiculous.

Second mutations? Another gimmick that died off.

Well, to be fair, Psylocke is an empty shell.

[FlawedCoil82]

The current X-books are driven entirely by nostalgia. We have 10 X-books and not a single one has an original idea or concept in it. But as long as the X-Men dress like circus clowns and play baseball the vast majority of the fanbase will be satisfied.

Certainly not enough for me. I want a modern/slightly updated take on the early 90s team. Nothing about the current X-books has made me want to read these books. Its just the same bland, disgraced imposters that Marvel has destroyed over the years, with a 90s themed title and their continued cluelessness of once again desperately trying in vain to design new uniforms that will never in a million years be remembered as "iconic" nor heroic. They will instantly be forgotten as soon as they find the next delusional fool waiting in line who wants to see if he can miraculously achieve the humanly impossible and create an all-new look/direction for these characters that would restore even an iota of their former glory.

[Jdsm24]

Well, to be fair, Psylocke is an empty shell.

And Cyclops wanted to get revenge on Phoenix for her making out with Wolverine while in Warp Savant's mind/pocket dimension and her trying to cheat on him again with Wolverine back at the Institute.

[FUBAR007]

The writers are hired guns. They script individual issues, but they don't set the direction of the franchise or the core cast of characters. They can contribute ideas, but it's the editors who have creative control.

Since Bob Harras left, a big problem with the X-Men editors is that the fans know the franchise, the canon, and the characters better than they do. The editors have no attachment to it. No sense of custodianship. Little or no appreciation for consistency. Indifference to continuity. Hence, bizarre swerves in the behavior of long-standing characters. Repeatedly recycled ideas and concepts. Focus on cheap thrills and stimulation instead of character-driven, organic storytelling. And, of course, the relentless, never-ending onslaught of deconstruction.

[Mia]

The other day I bought a copy of X-Factor: Visionaries vol. 1 and I couldn't help but smile at all the 90's pop culture references. I found an exchange between Polaris and Havok interesting where they were discussing their favourite authors and Lorna mentioned that she liked Emily Bronte.That wouldn't happen today because so many books are written for the trades which are supposed to last longer.

The writers are hired guns. They script individual issues, but they don't set the direction of the franchise or the core cast of characters. They can contribute ideas, but it's the editors who have creative control.

Since Bob Harras left, a big problem with the X-Men editors is that the fans know the franchise, the canon, and the characters better than they do. The editors have no attachment to it. No sense of custodianship. Little or no appreciation for consistency. Indifference to continuity. Hence, bizarre swerves in the behavior of long-standing characters. Repeatedly recycled ideas and concepts. Focus on cheap thrills and stimulation instead of character-driven, organic storytelling. And, of course, the relentless, never-ending onslaught of deconstruction.

A few years ago, CBR aired an interview on the site with Fraction at a convention. I guess some fan went off on him for his treatment of the characters. And his reaction was 'it's just a comic book'. I've never liked the guys writing to begin with , but the whole 'I don't give a darn' attitude just made my limited tolerance and respect for him disappear. It was just unprofessional and denoted a lack of commitment to quality work.

When I see flippant and dismissive attitudes like that, it's like why bother shell out money? Especially when the character don't reflect the qualities I admired them for. I'm a massive fan of Laura Kinney/X-23. But the character in ANW doesn't remotely resemble the character I discovered in X-Force. I don't even find her likeable to be honest.

[Tmacaoni]

Well, to be fair, Psylocke is an empty shell.

[Magneto]

Sorry, not sorry.

[Uncanny X-Man]

The writers are hired guns. They script individual issues, but they don't set the direction of the franchise or the core cast of characters. They can contribute ideas, but it's the editors who have creative control.

Since Bob Harras left, a big problem with the X-Men editors is that the fans know the franchise, the canon, and the characters better than they do. The editors have no attachment to it. No sense of custodianship. Little or no appreciation for consistency. Indifference to continuity. Hence, bizarre swerves in the behavior of long-standing characters. Repeatedly recycled ideas and concepts. Focus on cheap thrills and stimulation instead of character-driven, organic storytelling. And, of course, the relentless, never-ending onslaught of deconstruction.

I never thought I'd say this because I always hated Bob Harras for his role in driving Chris Claremont away, but I must say the X-books REALLY started going downhill after he took over as EIC and left the role of X-editor to the much less competent Mark Powers, Jason Liebig, etc. While the immediate post-Claremont was a bit of a mess understandably, Harras always brought a consistency and high-quality to the X-titles that is still unmatched today. So many of today's superstar artists are superstars because they worked on the X-books at the top of their popularity, yes, but it was Harras who put them there. I didn't much care for Harras as editor in chief but as a group editor I think he's still unmatched.

[Goggindowner]

I might get a lot of flak for this but, Grant Morrison was the last truly great X-writer. He picked a relatively small cast to work with, had a story to tell with each of them, and dared to do big stories with actual consequences. It paid off in my opinion, regardless of how angry some people got at him for doing this and that.

Completely agree. In hind sight, I kinda see Morrison's run as the unofficial "end" of the franchise for me. It reads as one, and there hasn't been anything in the years since that would be worthy of not seeing it that way (with the sole exception being Whedon's run of Astonishing). The characters developed, new ideas were put out there, and one creative voice directed the series for a long enough time to establish an actually series. It really had everything I miss about comics.

The X-Men books need a single writer who loves the franchise. Someone who is willing to put their best creative foot forward regardless of creative rights. A writer with a passion for the franchise and some fresh ideas about what to do with these characters. I haven't attached to a new character since Armor in Astonishing X-Men, and almost all of the characters that "make" the X-Men are gone, now. Xavier, Jean Grey, Cyclops, Wolverine....... the most recognizable and core figures of the franchise, and they are all gone. And there haven't been any characters that have reached that level to step into their shoes. Instead, we have been given a cavalcade of replacement characters that don't really offer anything new or different, and they are mixed in with a cast of characters that have been stripped of anything recognizable or any piece of the heart that was left in them. Kitty has become boring. Colossus is a nothing character now. Rachel Grey has never been interesting, really. Storm is just there. I mean, I want to see new characters and new dynamics introduced into the franchise, but having three replacement Wolverines, a cast of teenage versions of the O5, and teams that look like they are pulled straight out of the 80's isn't new or different. Looking at the line ups right now, Gold is basically late 70's or early 80's Uncanny X-Men and Blue is 80's X-Factor. Nothing new. Nothing.

[Goggindowner]

I would be interested to know where everyone would reset the franchise to, if given the option.

For me, unsurprisingly, it would be to start over immediately after Morrison's New X-Men. That was the last time the franchise felt like it could have gone in any direction, and I have always felt that Marvel decided on the most boring possible one. They literally just reverted back to X-Men of the late 90's, but in an era where that didn't really work anymore. What has come since then has just further and further derailed the franchise into the unrecognizable mess that it is right now.

[motherofpearl1]

Certainly not enough for me. I want a modern/slightly updated take on the early 90s team. Nothing about the current X-books has made me want to read these books. Its just the same bland, disgraced imposters that Marvel has destroyed over the years, with a 90s themed title and their continued cluelessness of once again desperately trying in vain to design new uniforms that will never in a million years be remembered as "iconic" nor heroic. They will instantly be forgotten as soon as they find the next delusional fool waiting in line who wants to see if he can miraculously achieve the humanly impossible and create an all-new look/direction for these characters that would restore even an iota of their former glory.

This.
I gave up on them after they killed off Wolverine,but the rot set in long before then, with the character assassination of most of the best characters.

I frankly have lost interest in much of what Marvel does,even the movies - Thor 3's reimagining as a Guardians of the Galaxy rip off is the last straw.

[Likewater]

Its crap and it has been crap for a while now(I am talking about pre-soft reboot), post soft reboot I am hearing a lot of lack of creativity. I would call the current Black Panther speculative fiction, I would not use that term for X-men right now.

[blanchett]

...I might be in the minority but I am liking the stuff at the moment. Not everything but most things.