With the X-kids seemingly nonexistent, and them always getting sidelined, should Marvel just mandate no more X-kids?

[HeWhoSlapsAll]

I mean they seemingly always go back to the well of 90s, and backwards, X-Men characters, in the end, don't they?

I read about how Extraordinary, All-New, and Uncanny, are bringing us "fresh new stories", but these "fresh new" things always seem to revolve around 20 year old characters. Not even a hint at any of the new generation, minus Laura. Obviously, for obvious reasons, I don't count the O5.

A lot of us have X-kids that we've grown attached to. For me (besides Laura/X-23) it's Hellion, Armor, Rockslide, Elixir, Mercury and Dust. For others it Pixie, Bling!, Surge, Goldballs, Cipher, etc. The problem is that these characters hardly last in the spotlight, and are made into wallpaper, only for another writer to create his/her own version of the same character (either power wise, or character/personality wise). People either don't give them a chance because there's already another character they like, and/or have seen with the same powers, so it's not as interesting, or they don't bother with the book because they know that another writer, or an editor, will just wipe the set clean. In WatXM's case, the stories were just not that good, and/or placeed far too much emphasis on 2-3 of the large student body.

With the reveal of the post-SW X-Books, based off what we've seen so far (because not all the ANAD books have been revealed; there's like 10-15 books still kept in the dark), there doesn't seem to be any mention of the X-school, or the X-kids, in any capacity (even Young Avengers affiliated characters have gotten spots in new, post-SW books). Also, with the hinting of some sort of tragic events happening to the mutants within the post-SW 8 month time skip, it's looking more, and more, like Marvel just killed off a lot of the X-kids off screen, or even just made it that some don't exist anymore following SW.

So yeah, I admit that I may be coming off as hella pessimistic, but Marvel should just stop creating new kids for us to get attached to if they're not really going to be the next generation of anything. Even New Mutants are pretty much irrelevant, and Fox developing a movie focused on them probably mean nothing on them anytime soon as they're not super popular enough to grudgingly publish.

Also, I get that this is essentially stopping creativity, I do, but when the next writer can just "bus" the last writer's creations to make room for their guys, does it even matter (Sorry KYost; I love yall, but that was uncalled for)? Look at the NXM: a lot of characters put thru several major events, and situations, that you'd think would give them experience that would help them on their way to being X-Men, or just superheroes in general. What happened to them? They're turned into wall paper for Aaron, and Bendis's, mutant kids, all of which don't have the same amount of character development because 1) they're not written all that well, or 2) they're not given much time to develop over 3-5 years. Hell, look at Bendis's Triage....he's basically a much less interesting, and less powerful version of Elixir. I'm all for new minority characters, but make them interesting...and don't make him look like a witch doctor just cuz.

[Ambaryerno]

I mean they seemingly always go back to the well of 90s, and backwards, X-Men characters, in the end, don't they?

I read about how Extraordinary, All-New, and Uncanny, are bringing us "fresh new stories", but these "fresh new" things always seem to revolve around 20 year old characters. Not even a hint at any of the new generation, minus Laura. Obviously, for obvious reasons, I don't count the O5.

A lot of us have X-kids that we've grown attached to. For me (besides Laura/X-23) it's Hellion, Armor, Rockslide, Elixir, Mercury and Dust. For others it Pixie, Bling!, Surge, Goldballs, Cipher, etc. The problem is that these characters hardly last in the spotlight, and are made into wallpaper, only for another writer to create his/her own version of the same character (either power wise, or character/personality wise). People either don't give them a chance because there's already another character they like, and/or have seen with the same powers, so it's not as interesting, or they don't bother with the book because they know that another writer, or an editor, will just wipe the set clean. In WatXM's case, the stories were just not that good, and/or placeed far too much emphasis on 2-3 of the large student body.

With the reveal of the post-SW X-Books, based off what we've seen so far (because not all the ANAD books have been revealed; there's like 10-15 books still kept in the dark), there doesn't seem to be any mention of the X-school, or the X-kids, in any capacity (even Young Avengers affiliated characters have gotten spots in new, post-SW books). Also, with the hinting of some sort of tragic events happening to the mutants within the post-SW 8 month time skip, it's looking more, and more, like Marvel just killed off a lot of the X-kids off screen, or even just made it that some don't exist anymore following SW.

So yeah, I admit that I may be coming off as hella pessimistic, but Marvel should just stop creating new kids for us to get attached to if they're not really going to be the next generation of anything. Even New Mutants are pretty much irrelevant, and Fox developing a movie focused on them probably mean nothing on them anytime soon as they're not super popular enough to grudgingly publish.

Also, I get that this is essentially stopping creativity, I do, but when the next writer can just "bus" the last writer's creations to make room for their guys, does it even matter (Sorry KYost; I love yall, but that was uncalled for)? Look at the NXM: a lot of characters put thru several major events, and situations, that you'd think would give them experience that would help them on their way to being X-Men, or just superheroes in general. What happened to them? They're turned into wall paper for Aaron, and Bendis's, mutant kids, all of which don't have the same amount of character development because 1) they're not written all that well, or 2) they're not given much time to develop over 3-5 years. Hell, look at Bendis's Triage....he's basically a much less interesting, and less powerful version of Elixir. I'm all for new minority characters, but make them interesting...and don't make him look like a witch doctor just cuz.

I think there's a combination of factors involved:

First, it's INCREDIBLY hard for new characters to take off, and you usually only have one or two from each "generation" to really become iconic. THE breakout character of the 80s was Kitty Pryde, and even if others have stuck around, she's still the one that struck the chord. The 90s you might have a bit more to choose from, with Jubilee, Gambit, and Deadpool, and possibly Cable. For the Aughts it's quite clear the standout was X-23. We're not through the 10s yet to figure out who the icon of the current generation will be.

Second, you have the problem that mainstream books don't like to have characters change or evolve. And introducing new characters as the "next generation" is incredibly problematic when the LAST generation isn't allowed to move on.

That's why Hellion and Rockslide are stuck being students still, even though they were right in the thick of things; Nimrod, Messiah Complex, Second Coming. Those kids have bled and died, and there's no logical reason that they SHOULDN'T be considered true X-Men. Unfortunately, Editorial doesn't want to let the kids grow up.

[Bafflement]

You don't need a mandate, you just need some smart direction from the editors (which is supposed to be part of their job). They should be encouraging the writers to look at underutilised characters. Instead, there's a trend to just let incoming writers make a new bunch of young characters every time because everyone's too lazy to check whether an existing character is suited to the story.

[ChronoRogue]

It's because of the 05 are taking up unneccessary spots. Rather read about the NM/Gen X/Academy X kids than them.

[Xoxx]

That's why Hellion and Rockslide are stuck being students still, even though they were right in the thick of things; Nimrod, Messiah Complex, Second Coming. Those kids have bled and died, and there's no logical reason that they SHOULDN'T be considered true X-Men. Unfortunately, Editorial doesn't want to let the kids grow up.

Lets say that they graduate, become full X-Men and all that. What's next for them? Teams are already full of older X-Men and we won't get more than three-four teams. Writers will pick Storm over Cypher, I guess.

[HeWhoSlapsAll]

Lets say that they graduate, become full X-Men and all that. What's next for them? Teams are already full of older X-Men and we won't get more than three-four teams. Writers will pick Storm over Cypher, I guess.

That's the problem. Why can more of these older characters die off permanently, or just retire from active duty?

Also, the NXM kids could always form a new X-Factor.

[HeWhoSlapsAll]

It's because of the 05 are taking up unneccessary spots. Rather read about the NM/Gen X/Academy X kids than them.

This, so much, as well.

[Xoxx]

Also, the NXM kids could always form a new X-Factor.

Less I see of those quitters, better.

[Lutecius]

I don't have a problem with creators trying things. If a character sticks that's great. The Cuckoos, Quentin Quire, Pixie, Idie, even Elixir have been used in other books and may be used again (well, probably not Elixir). If no other writer has a story for them, that's fine too. They can stay in the background (a school needs students after all) or leave. It is assumed there are thousands of mutants out there (at least there was. they could be killed by the Terrigen Mist or turned into inhumans) but not every one of them needs to appear in a book.

Yes, Bendis and Aaron didn't need to create so many new kids (especially Bendis, who didn't do much with his and is very bad at giving them distinct personalities) but what should really be forbidden is doing what Kyle & Yost did: killing them in droves for cheap shock value or to make room for their own pet creation.
If you want death to mean something, only kill your own characters or those that matter in the larger X-universe (they at least, will have a chance to be brought back if fans miss them).

[Master of Sound]

Some are doing quite well of the current generation. Like all other generations. The favorite pets of writers will get far. Hellion, Rockslide, Pixie, Armor and Anole seem to do quite well. Others were used but are now forgotten, like Surge Dust and Mercury. A d the others are high potential material barely used like Indra and Trance.

I would applaud for a no NEW kids rule. Use the ones that currently are there. There are so many to work with.

[Kieran_Frost]

NO!!!! Because people have been saying "make no more X-kids" for years; and had that happened we'd have never had Tempus or Triage or Morph or Goldenballs or Hijack (all five WONDERFUL characters). We just need an X-kids book to capitalise on them.

[Penacity]

NO!!!! Because people have been saying "make no more X-kids" for years; and had that happened we'd have never had Tempus or Triage or Morph or Goldenballs or Hijack (all five WONDERFUL characters). We just need an X-kids book to capitalise on them.

I'm still holding out that this book will be one of those not mentioned yet.

[Moondoggie]

I don't think this would even be possible because you have a two way street. X kids are the easiest new characters to create they already have a reason to join up where as an established older mutant you'd need to write a credible back story and include change which throws them into the arms of the X Men. Having a school has almost become like a testing ground for new characters and most just don't seem to make the cut or they do and get dropped like a rock because a new writer came in and they have all these ideas for new characters so the rest are shoved aside to make room for the new character who needs a lot of time and development to make them interesting to readers.

Maybe what they should do is say "Okay we like some of these characters so maybe use a couple and mix them with some older characters that people like" but then you get a case like KYost where it's like they have their favourite core cast and everyone else is an extra so somewhere some kids will get dropped that's just how it is but I think it's fine for a writer to have their own project as long as they don't bury everyone else for it. X-23 was thrown in as the new star when KYost took over New X Men but main characters like Hellion,Dust,Surge,Elixir etc still played a big part. Though they did kinda bury Pixie as just comic relief. Oh and they killed off a bunch of popular characters for lulz.

[Ambaryerno]

You also have problems with characters like Elixir and Tempus who are just TOO powerful to really use. I mean seriously, what situation is really a threat when Tempus can just flip off causality at a whim. Why do Karma, Hellion, and Forge still need prosthesis when you have an OMEGA CLASS HEALER around? Hell, not just a healer, someone who can OUTRIGHT ALTER biological material at the molecular level. There would be no reason for Xavier to ever go back into the chair again. Hell, depending on the retcon of the week, he could fix Cyclops's inability to control his optic blasts (considering it's supposed to be the result of brain damage).

[The_Greatest_Username]

I'm going to say no. If a writer wants to use/create them, then let them. If a writer has no interest in the X-Kids, don't force them to use them either.