Worst writers on X-books

[Gray Lensman]

I’m on a read-through of the X-books, and while I read some of Fraction’s run and didn’t dislike it, I haven’t read Bendis’ run. I also haven’t read Austen’s run, seems like I should avoid it.

Austen was able to get some good character notes, but the ideas he used them with read like they came out of a drug induced stupor. Specifically, the drug induced stupor of someone who has less creativity than 90% of the people posting on these boards.

Nightcrawler, Son of Satan...er..Azazel, Warren basically being an actual angel, Nurse Annie's romance with Alex while he was in a coma (still better characterization for Alex than Remender though), several other things that take the route that would be most obvious to someone who has never picked up a comic book, much less an X-book, and the high point of his run, Sammy (fish-boy).

Bendis's problems are 'Bendis-speak', where everyone talks in the same voice (even if the personalities are obviously different even under Bendis), and a complete inability to do a decent follow through, instead relying on meandering, meaningless filler. Guy managed to take what should have been a two to three issue arc and go for 9 or 10 issues - it was an event tie-in that wasn't finished until the event after was complete. I still say very few people can set up a hook like Bendis, but I think I'd trust any of them to finish after the first issue to two over BMB any day.

[Magnusilver]

Bendis for sure. this guy had some good concept but failed to realize it.

[donpricetag]

Bendis for sure. this guy had some good concept but failed to realize it.

I'm going to 2nd or... 20th this motion. Lots of good ideas, horrid execution. It's like he did Operation Zero Tolerance 5 times.

[yogaflame]

It's like he did Operation Zero Tolerance 5 times.

That ending was horrible. Great beginning though, for sure, and was that Pacheco on art? Killer.

[nx01a]

I agree with this. Morrison was a good to great writer, but the result is that he left lasting damage to the franchise.

Exactly. The fact that editorial allowed him to do half the things he did still boggles my mind. His X-Men run certainly was progressive... but progress in the wrong direction is bad.

[keeen]

Fraction's run wasn't bad, exactly; it just wasn't X-Men. First, it was off-brand Avengers (Graymalkin Industries; the X-Men as the public heroes of San Fran). Then, it was off-brand Inhumans (the first couple of years on Utopia; a small enclave of an outcast race led by a militant couple). I also got the feeling that what Fraction really wanted to do was write an X-Club series.

I'm hardly an expert, or even a regular X-reader, but man I loved Fraction's run, for a lot of the reasons you mentioned, lol. I thought it was a good change of status quo that still kind of fit the characters and their mission, plus he juggled a really wide cast of characters that I wasn't familiar with, but made them all accessible (and the X-club stuff was fun, but yeah, not X-men). Cyclops' increasing isolationism and militancy was really compelling character work, in my opinion. Granted, Fractions is really the only run that I've read in it's entirety, so I'm judging it in isolation, which might prove your point.

[yogaflame]

I'm hardly an expert, or even a regular X-reader, but man I loved Fraction's run, for a lot of the reasons you mentioned, lol. I thought it was a good change of status quo that still kind of fit the characters and their mission, plus he juggled a really wide cast of characters that I wasn't familiar with, but made them all accessible (and the X-club stuff was fun, but yeah, not X-men). Cyclops' increasing isolationism and militancy was really compelling character work, in my opinion. Granted, Fractions is really the only run that I've read in it's entirety, so I'm judging it in isolation, which might prove your point.

[MYCMTSC]

I loved his Hawkeye, but I think it will be hard to find a run I hated more than Matt Fraction's tool-filled Uncanny X-Men run.

Fraction's run was boring, replaced the strong X-Woman with an army of Stepfords, and was so obnoxiously suburban that I struggle to find anything positive to say about it.

I can at least appreciate some Austen developments and the entertainment factor. Guggenheim wrote a good Mojo. Bendis wrote an incredible issue starring Teen Jean and Emma Frost and had several great/good issues sprinkled throughout a fairly meandering stay at the helm.

[Tarantino]

Bendis is not the worst as some people keep mentioning. He is overrated and not deserving of the same attention Claremont and Morrison usually gets. Not one writer has really stood out to me in recent years. Marvel needs to get Tom King on the X-Men books when he is done with Batman.

[SonOfPsylocke]

Bendis is not the worst as some people keep mentioning. He is overrated and not deserving of the same attention Claremont and Morrison usually gets. Not one writer has really stood out to me in recent years. Marvel needs to get Tom King on the X-Men books when he is done with Batman.

Bendis IS definitely the worst writer of the X-Men.
He character assassinated everyone, his plots went nowhere, his villains were the absolute worst and he didn’t understand anything the X-Men stood for.
I solely blame him for the mess we’re in now.

[PenUltimateInkmaster]

Bendis...just Bendis.

[Gray Lensman]

Bendis is not the worst as some people keep mentioning. He is overrated and not deserving of the same attention Claremont and Morrison usually gets. Not one writer has really stood out to me in recent years. Marvel needs to get Tom King on the X-Men books when he is done with Batman.

Even though I don't consider him the worst, I think he does have the single worst X-story I have ever read to his credit. The Eternal...er, Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier.

[Sam Robards, Comic Fan]

I'd have to say that Austen, Aaron, Guggenheim and Lemire top my Worst X-Writers list.

As for some of the other names on here...
-Bendis: He has some really good moments, but the run as a whole kinda fizzled out and didn't really go anywhere
-Fraction: I enjoyed Utopia well enough (especially bringing Namor onto the team), but the rest of his stuff was mediocre
-Morrison: I haven't read his stuff in forever, but I remember being ok with it, even with the horrifically rushed art the book often had
-Carey: Did someone actually put Carey on this list?! Considering that he's my second favorite X-Writer of all time after Claremont, I can't fathom someone thinking his work was bad, to say nothing of the worst
-Humphries: Talk about squandered potential. He had a terrific lineup but did absolutely nothing interesting with it. I really want a good writer to do something with Spiral
-Milligan: What the Hell was that run, anyway? Pure @$$
-Pak: Weapon X blows, but I keep buying it because I'm a masochist
-Way: I actually really like Way's Wolverine work. Fight me
-Brubaker: I liked Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire well enough, and he tied into Messiah CompleX, but there's not too much else to say beyond that. Pretty bland, honestly

Still, everyone has their opinions and all that jive...

Adding the bold, as things have gotten crappy the last few months...

[nx01a]

Even though I don't consider him the worst, I think he does have the single worst X-story I have ever read to his credit. The Eternal...er, Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier.

Surely you mean The Draco or Dominant Species or She Lies With Angels or Holy War or... Last Will dragged and we guessed the ending early on but it wasn't truly horrible IMHO.

[WheelchairX]

I feel that Bendis' run was derailed by Secret Wars as those last few issues felt crammed with several issues worth of stories.