Is anyone else bummed about this day and age of x-men? I mean, they're all viewed as a villain, the family is broken, and all they do is fight each other. Hell kitty is dating star Lord... I just really miss the days when the X-men fought villains, when they taught children math and flight classes, and when they sat back and enjoyed each other's company

I agree its a bad time, I think. I've been accused of being negative and everything else by people who are entertained by this but whatever. Most of the stories are anti-climatic and needlessly convoluted and over-dramatized. The creativity is gone down the drain as far as I'm concerned and like I said this is a rough time for Xmen fans, though there are some who will undoubtedly post the inevitable "it's not that bad"

@dman1366: I was going to quit x-men comics after AvX but then they brought in the O5 story so i stayed for now. I alos get uncanny x-men from time to time.

@dman1366: let me guess this is just another way to slam Bendis????? lol

X-Men have arguably been shite since the mid 90's. You know, right around the time Marvel comprised their labels integrity for money. With the X-Men over the past 20 or so years there has just been too many characters to care about, too many constantly retreaded ideas and concepts (Phoneix nonsense, alternate timeline stuff), too many "Big event" crossovers that just get retconned over the following years.

@hopesummersforthefuture: i wish I could say that it is just him. I really do, but it is the whole franchise.

@dman1366: his uncanny run is great but slow paced

Darn, i was hoping someone else would prove Hawk right, but i guess it's up to me. "It's not that bad guys".

Honestly we are probably still going through a less then creative period but it's better then last year right? I mean overall i'm anxious for Uncanny X-Men, and genuinely want to see what happens next. X-Factor and X-Force are promising while they last, and Magneto, Storm and Cyclops are all highly praised. I mean you can't really say you dread picking up any of these titles, despite disagreeing with a element or two of the story.

X-Men and Amazing X-Men are average reads that clearly could benefit from a more personal feel on the team. But Guggenheim, Kyle and Yost give me more confidence in them then Jason Aaron ever did as a writer for the X-Men/JGS team as a whole. And given a few more issues we'll see them likely deliver as they get use to their roles.

Now we've got some bad seeds... All New X-Men refuses to tell a story or pick a direction and prefers random "isn't this cool" events, and Wolverine and the X-Men is arguably the worst X-Men book ever do to it's misaimed character focus and unforgivable art. And Nightcrawler.....exist? But overall were in a much better upswing then we were in last year.

I think we've got far more stories and potential then we've had since Regenesis, and while the quality is average at best at least it's at least got a potential light.

Why does everyone hate ANXM?!?!?!?!!? :'( marvel had that idea for years but was waiting for the right writer to come along ie bendis

I'm really digging Uncanny X-Men; I get that it's not everyone's cup of tea, but despite some slow issues, I still really enjoy it.

That said, I actually agree with @dman1366: and @hawk2916: (what?):

For how many X-men and X-related books are coming out all the time, the ones that are actually decent reads are few and far between. Every now and then there'll be a little arc that's actually good; but very few of the books (if any) are consistently decent. Most of them just aren't that great. And I do think that's how it's been for quite a while.

I know I generally tend to focus on the things I do like about what's going on, but when I look back at the last, say 5 years, there's been very few actually good X-men runs, and none of them very long lived. Lots of cool stuff seemed to be going on between 2004-'08, but all of the main books seemed to mostly meander downhill after that.

In a way, I feel kind of lucky that there is still one or two X-men books that I generally enjoy at any time. I mean, I started reading X-men comics in the 90's, and I still think the stuff from '93-'94 was pretty good, but between '95 and 2004 there were hardly any X-men comics I thought were very good. I liked the beginning of Morrison's run quite a bit, but even it went downhill about halfway through. Honestly, of the 50 years the X-men have been around, there's really only about 15* of those that the comics were all that good.

And then something great like All-New X-Factor comes along and it gets cancelled in less than a year because one of the biggest fandoms in comics doesn't give it enough sales to keep it going. I get why it's pretty frustrating for people; everyone wants their favorite characters to be in good stories all the time, but it just doesn't happen like that.

*(1980-'87, 1993-'94, 2004-'08)

I don't hate the idea. I hate the execution.

It took what could've been an interesting idea of the X-Men from the past coming to the present and changing it for the better and just wasted it. They haven't changed anything about the present X-Men world, they haven't explored the threats of the current X-Men world (besides Mystique and the Purifiers) and they haven't come up with a reason for being here beyond "i'm scared of what i'll grow up to be"...which would make sense for them but not for every other person in existence who might be erased if they die.

Then there's Bendis.... Who doesn't seem to have a direction for the book. He just says "Hey remember (insert storyline here), well the 05 (minus Tyke) are going to revisit it" and then he doesn't acknowledge that it even happened. Which is sad when this book should be a tribute to the years of X-Men history.

And his Jean Grey just annoys me. He claims that this character hasn't been touched on (which is a lie) and that he want's to explore her character. And then he gives her a power up, which is the one thing this character didn't need since it's the reason she doesn't have much exploration in the first place. If Bendis put more effort into the story then i'd enjoy it, but it seems like it's not going anywhere and the characters aren't developing toward anything.


@oldnightcrawler - You really let team positive down on that one :(

Honestly I would love the X-men to come back together. I am a bit tired of the infighting within the X-men. I'm really only a fan of Uncanny X-men. I was disappointed when the All New X-factor was cancelled. And X-men is alright. I can't stand Wolverine and the X-Men though now that he's gone maybe Spider-man and the X-men will fare better.

@dman1366: Marvel just bring back the old scott @koays

Ugh! the problem could probably be Bendis and I think its best they give back the title under the pen of Claremont (granted if he's still interested to write them).

hey, sorry.

I don't want to sound all negative, like I say, there are books I'm digging. I'm still super on-board with Uncanny X-Men.

I'm still loving All-New X-Factor (even if it is getting cancelled), Cyclops, and Storm -but none of those 3 are really The X-men, y'know?

• I'm still interested in X-Men, because I'm really digging Storm's team, but if I'm being honest, that book (which I consider the other main book, along with Uncanny') really hasn't had enough solid issues in a row to really recommend super highly.
• All-New X-Men just hasn't interested me since BotA, and no one's said anything about it that makes me feel like I'm missing anything.
• Wolverine & the X-Men seemed like it was going to be great in the first arc, but the art and direction of the book just seems to have become really sloppy and I can't be bothered.
• Amazing X-Men lost me around the end of the first arc, and hasn't seemed worth bothering with since. I am kind of excited to jump back on for the return of the Juggernaut, so that's cool, but it's also really too early to say it'll be really great either.

And that's kind of more what I was getting at: personally, I'd be happy to just feel like X-men and Uncanny' are going strong -anything else is just frosting to me. I'm happy to have lots of choices beyond that; but in the last 5 or 6 years, even with all those books, there's only been a few at any given time that I would really recommend. I mean, I'm digging Uncanny', but I also get why people wouldn't, and if you don't like Bendis' style, or his premise, or his direction, I dunno what X-men book from the last few years has really had a solid run.

So, having lived through years of not being interested in any of the current X-men books of the time myself (a few times), I can see why that would be frustrating is all.

I think after 2006 and schism the downfall began....

Many may argue that this is all for the good and this is the best thing to happen to Cyclops etc but I want the old X-Men, I love the classic couples the classic stories and the classic villains...

I honestly don't think we are in that sorry a state overall...when you have as many on-goings as a franchise, there will obviously be some that are more successful or more well received than others.

Uncanny is great, X-men is good...and the Storm, Cyclops, and Magneto solo's all range from solid to damn good (mags).

ANXM has its issues...you either love its premise or you hate it. Then even if you like the premise it has the issue of the story really not going anywhere solid. It had great potential and I would say was right up there with UXM prior to BotA, but after that the book seemed to completely lose its story direction and instead has become non-stop character moments separated by random encounters. Its great if you enjoy those character moments like I do, that talk Jean had with adult Scott, or the potential in Emma mentoring Jean...but if your looking for more story and substance to back up those character moments your currently disappointed.

As for the X-men currently being divided...I only somewhat agree here. Having this moral question between the teams is good, because they are both still fighting for the same goal, but in different ways. Honestly....if the others in the JGS were all more like Storm it would be a perfect situation. There is a real moral issue between the two camps and it brings up interesting discussions and is interesting to see play out. Storm we know completely disagrees with Scotts stance...but she is still tolerant of him and has given him the benefit of the doubt in several instances. They don't agree, but they can still work together. The problem lies in how Hank, Bobby, and Logan have been used to make things far more about personal anger and hate. Take those 3 and all their personal jabs and issues away and the dynamic between the teams is far more interesting because then the divide is about the issues rather than the personal BS

@lordmordor: I can agree with a lot of this. Especially what you mentioned about the divide and taking Hank, Logan and Bobby out of it. Actually the split opens up the possibility for more stories and less redundancy.

Listening to @koays speak about what All New Xmen should be is actually somewhat appealing but then we have what it is and of course the weak premise that derails that book.... At least for me.

I think if we could get Peter David as the writer for Xmen that would take the book from being decent hit and miss to great.

So true. I mean look at it now. Ultimate adventure goes on till December. In January you get one filler issue and then they join the Black Vortex crossover/event. It's just group joining random adventures at this point coupled with teen drama. There was a dip in sales last month and I wouldn't be surprised if that continues considering the direction of the book.

At least I can get my X-23 fix from Wolverines beginning in January

I think emma is to be blamed. there were not much conflicts before she joined the team. it seems like she masterminded schism by brainwashing scott. just my opinion

For me, I could care less about a "shock" story that has moral ambiguity. If I wanted that, I would just re-read Harbinger. Or watch Fox News, or delve into the Bible. The reasons that I liked the X-Men was for the characters and hospitality. Neither of those qualities hold true in any X-Book at the moment. It seems that it is all about the "shock" factor... (i.e. "I can't believe Iceman would say that?!?!", or "Scott is the new Magneto?!?!?!", or "OMG Deathbird is pregnant?!?!?!?"). That does not interest me. In recent years, I enjoyed, vastly, Yost's New X-Men, Gillen's Uncanny, and David's X-Factor. All of those stories had actual character interaction that was not horribly biased. The dialog was in character, and the stories did not feel forced or off-pace.

I always will appreciate anyone who enjoys the new X-Books because I wish I could. I am truly jealous. However, I know that there is nothing to do, but lay in wait. At this point, I will finish X-Factor and Amazing. Then all of my books will be Valiant, save for the new Spider-Woman and Teen Titans series.

*applauds*

Honestly, it seems that is all Marvel comics does these days. I suppose they think the modern day audience doesn't have an attention span and they always have to do stuff like that "brand new Avengers team led by villains that have absolutely no reason to be affiliated with one another!", "Wolverine dies!" "Spider-Man is Doc Ock in the body of Spider-Man...or something!" "The original X-Men from the past come to the future, but they are not the X-Men from the 616 past or.......what??". There is no cohesiveness or element of story telling to any of it.

I mean, if you had been building towards these events for some time and finally pulling the trigger on it, thats fine. But comics don't employ writers like that anymore. Unless of course you are someone like Peter David. These days it just feels like a lot of shit thrown at a wall to see what sticks. I really don't know what todays readers find so great about any of it. Maybe I am just too old :(

1. Agreed. In my mind, it isn't even so much a moral divide as a tactical one. Cyclops sees the battle he's fighting as necessary, but it's not really that Storm doesn't think mutants should be protected from legal persecution, so much as she wouldn't want to make it the divisive issue that Cyclops is by publicly fighting with the authorities. It's more how he's representing the X-men that I think she actually disagrees with than that they have different goals. But having the two teams makes them both more distinct, like when the original X-factor was around; we get teams with two distinct styles and functions, and that just is more interesting than all of them being one big team under a singular leadership.

2. And that's the thing, the two factions still have and do work together on most of the big issue things: Bota, NO MORE HUMANS, the current will arc in Uncanny', and Axis have all seen them team up; Wolverine and Cyclops teamed up to infiltrate SHIELD, and Uncanny X-men vs. SHIELD arc saw them work together and even had Beast help save the day in the end. And, even if I don't think all of those stories were great (although I did like some of them), the dynamic between the two teams does move the stories in ways that just having one big team that all followed a singular leadership wouldn't.

3. yeah. To be fair though, Wolverine and Cyclops have been bickering since day one (that's always been part of their dynamic) and Iceman's always been a self-entitled jerk (at least since the 80's), so it's not even like that level of bickering is out of character for anyone involved, it's just that it's become more personal. To me, the way that Beast, Iceman, Cyclops, and Wolverine bicker is much like how siblings bicker, and motivated by much the same type of relationship, so it works with the idea of the X-men as a family that you have that personal side to the disputes.

@koays: I know this is old news but in x-men the 100th anniversary special. Scott and emma were old when they got married but had no kids? Whats up with that?!?!?!???!?

Well I can relate to those thoughts. Uncanny X-Men and X-Men (moreso under Woods) seemed to be leading the pack in terms of setting the tone for the books. A good issue for either one tends to have more of an effect then a bad issue of anything else, and I'm certain with a little more strength on X-Men there'd be a better overall feel on the current state of the X-Men amongst the fans.

And while i get that if you don't like Uncanny your pretty much screwed in terms of quality books to read; I think alot of the reasons people say they don't like/read it aren't really standards the book can live up to. I mean while I sympathize with the desire for the X-Men to be as unified and as well written as they once were across a vast number of titles (04-08 as a good example), I can't really say that that's a complaint about Uncanny X-Men or Bendis either. I mean the fact that not everyone lives together in the X-Mansion, or that not everyone agrees with Cyclops aren't really standards to judge Uncanny's story quality because if those elements were changed it wouldn't be the same story. Though if everyone just want's a different story i guess that's sort of a fair judgement...

Basically, i can get not liking where were at and wanting it to change. But saying that we want a specific backdrop for the stories isn't a guarantee of better quality. And I think were better off asking for some improvement on the many things we have, then just asking for something completely different from everything.


@galerion- This is sort of the problem. We're going from a parallel universe to a crossover immediately. Even assuming they come out of this story somehow effected, we won't have time to see it developed or explored. Bendis' approach here is lacking because the characters aren't growing, their just going from event to event and only developing from them if they get a focus issue.

@hawk2916- I agree that the premise is weak. But the crime is that with a premise so weak they wouldn't make twice the effort to fill all the holes. As it stands the premise currently is "O5 X-Men brought to the dangers of the present with all of time at stake and no way to get home....but it's cool, they don't feel like leaving yet anyway"

Pfft. If Jean Grey came back in that issue and filed for child support while Scott was the President....he'd be running the country out of a shoebox. You think he's gonna risk having anymore kids?

each year is different at Marvel , sometimes its an Avengers year , other times its an X-men year . this year its avengers

LOL True

I agree: ANXM seems born by an innovative idea, but seems it is written without a definite plot about what evolution should have the characters. Bendis has begun very well, telling the upset of the Original 5, but now the series seems drag itself from an event to another without a purpose. The Original 5 don't do anything to understand or change the present. Only Beast do something, spend all day doing graphs on the blackboard.

If Bendis is prepare something big about the Original 5, he is very good to be keep it hidden.

Obviously I hope to make a mistake, because this is a story potentially very intriguing.

The thing about Bendis is, that he doesn't drop enough information in All New X-Men for the story. Most of the character development and direction we have is from him explaining things in interviews. I feel like if he actually just focused on this story then things would be far better, but he is spread across 4 or 5 titles at all different ends of the spectrum, so he may not even realize that their is almost zero sense of urgency in the book and a huge lack of direction for the plot.

You have right: if you read all the book write by Bendis, you can see he is outlining a formidable scenario, but if you read ANXM singularly it is very difficult sees the clues of this scenario.

@oldnightcrawler: @koays: @dman1366: Really oldnightcrawler you like uncanny even though emma and scot arent together anymore and bendis said this a few months past:

I know I’m going to take my lumps for this but I can’t imagine anything less interesting then getting these 2 back together

I thought the relationship brought out the worst in them. it made me like them less. consider that chapter closed until I am unceremoniously fired

is that a Bendis quote then?

I dunno, I like Cyclops and Emma as a couple -probably my favorite superhero couple ever, but who's going out with who has never been a major draw for me. I like them as a couple, but that's not what I like about Uncanny X-Men, since that's never been what it was about anyway. The story hasn't been less interesting just because they aren't together.

I do think that them both being on the same team despite their recent history kind of shows more about both of them anyways, both in terms of their genuine friendship and their priorities to their mission.

@oldnightcrawler: you are a breath of fresh air from the negativity. Just know that I take your opinions to heart

@dman1366: It's not always easy to be positive, I'm sure everyone who posts here has their own frustrations and disappointments that go far beyond what happens in the comics they read, and in truth maybe it's that little bit of an escape that we all want when we read these things -I know it is for me.

I guess maybe that's why, for me, it's so important to focus on the positive, to appreciate even the little glories; the colorful realm of fantasy may be ultimately trivial, but every little thing I can appreciate gives me perspective, gives me hope and light in an uncertain existence. If I couldn't appreciate the little things, I'd probably go bananers.

Erik was a great hero and just like, Obi-Wan he found out the hierarchy have joined the dark side and before he had a chance to tell the masses he was cut down by a powerful foe who didn't want the word to get out

I think as long as everyone hating each other and fighting each other and acting like supervillains sells then that is what they are going to do.

For real yes. Which is stuped. I don't know why writers are portraying them like they way they are. Dramas is the least I want. Fighting each other is getting annoying. Looking at them as villains is getting me worry because many people are really thinking they are. To me they are not villains. They just a bunch of stuped, morons, with no discipline whatsoever. I only wish for Xavier to come back and take over because they need a real good mentor :(

yeah, exactly.

and I think you're right about X-Men. This is some conecture, but I think if whoever was writing X-men had as much creative control (over the cast and direction of the book, how and when crossovers happen, some more consistent art, etc) as Bendis has with Uncanny X-Men, then there'd be at least one other main book that was of a more comparable quality.

Uncanny' has been solid, but it seems like the other books have to work around what Bendis is doing, and none f them seem to get the priority that his books do. If they gave even one of the JGS books the same considerations that Bendis gets, it seems more likely that the standard of quality would be more consistent.

X-men and Uncanny' could be the two main books, as they should be, each with their own distinct side of the story. As it stands now, if you don't like Bendis' direction, there really is no main book. I'd say, let someone like Greg Pak or Greg Rucka have X-men -really have it, for at least a year or two, not having to work around what Bendis is doing or any crossovers if they don't want, just some solid, character-driven adventure stories that these guys have shown to be capable of. Someone needs to reestablish the character of the main team, or we're probably going to continue to see 3 or 4 X-men books that flounder around with little identity or direction as the only alternative.

Were emma and scott ever friends????? I always thought they went from teammates to patient/therapist to lovers. Also sleeping with your therapist, lol. Anyways in matt fraction's run emma told storm that scott treats her like a girlfriend then a partner/equal. Maybe now its time to see them as friends and see if anything evolves. Also in BotA xorn/jean told emma that scott would never be hers as long as there is a jean "walking around/alive". So I"m guessing scott and emma wont get back together anytime soon or at least until the o5 go back. Unless jean and emma became friends and its ok with jean if emma goes back with scott????? Better yet kitty can set up adult scott with emma and teen scott with teen jean but when is teen scott coming back from space. I wish teen scott would come back to anxm. Also in feb the black vortex will evolve cyclops book and maybe anxm book. So he wont be back soon to anxm. Also if teen cyclops goes back to anxm and wouldnt mind if the blue girl joins the team too.

Oh yes that is a old bendis quote from his tumblr page.

Your probably right about more control or a completely hands on writer helping X-Men as a title. But really i think having X-Men as a second lead title, and then Amazing or one of the other satelite titles as it's junior book(just so we can see the results and effects of actions bleed over a little) might be all that's needed.

Uncanny is clearly setting the tone for the X-Men Universe and what's about to be the new status quo and that's fine. But it's hard to say why someone should read another book when the actions and developments of the stories don't have any bearing anywhere else. I mean if Beast were to have his actions in one book be relevant to another plot, then it wouldn't seem like his entire character is about dealing with Cyclops, whenever he's featured in Uncanny. And the JGS as a whole could benefit a lot from having their characters be more then just foils to the Cyke squad. Heck they'd arguably be better foils because they have other stuff going on that are all effecting the JGS as a whole, instead of making it seem like Scott Summers shows up and ruins a normally peaceful environment.

I'd totally be onboard for a Pak or Rucka "X-Men". Though they'd likely change the line-up that I'm enjoying. Really i'd even excuse that if it meant that the other X-Men titles had some momentum to follow after a roster shake up or something.The every X-Book is an island thing just makes the individual books seem less important, but if say Pak took X-Men and Rucka took Amazing around the same time I could see both building the X-Men internally while Bendis does his thing setting the course for the franchise. If we had two main teams at the JGS with distinct personalities and no overlap, but with occasional team-up's and references to eachother for a period of two years i think it would be a reasonable way to address the gaps in X-Men book relevance.

The only problem is that there is almost nothing to work with, since the established JGS front runners (Storm, Beast, Iceman, Rachel, Wolverine) have had no development, and what development they have had hasn't carried over past a story arc. And with the creator turnover rate even if new writers came on board, they'd likely wipe clean what we do have (bye-bye RachelvsShiar) and be gone before they can fully develop another character arc. Marvel just doesn't care much for infrastructure.

Bendis said: «The romance is done. They are not together anymore romantically. It's pretty hard to come back from what they went through in Avengers Vs. X-Men. Things were said, powers were stolen, and as we will discover in the very first issues of UNCANNY X-MEN, some things happen between them that cannot be taken back. And because they are Scott and Emma, this breakup is going to take a while. And it's not going to be pretty, but fun to write. If the Avengers are a family, then UNCANNY X-MEN is a very, very, very dysfunctional family. But these characters really do need each other. And some of them love each other. And some of them don't.»

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/JoshWildingNewsAndReviews/news/?a=69915

@ec2277: i like the bendis tumblr page where he said "they brought out the worst in each other" i for one couldnt agree more. Also i wonder if dazzler and cyclops might have a fling since shes on his team now

Maybe, but I don't think. I'm coming up an idea of what Bendis is making and where he want arrived with his run and if I am right, Cyclops will not be involved in any romantic relationship; for now at least.

Oh, is this about the guy that got banned? What did he do?

@koays: @time i found this cool pic

@oldnightcrawler: how do you like emma and teen jean being friends now? plus there is going to be more of them in anxm/jan and/or feb. I know bendis wants to take it to a new level but to me it seems force. Thats why i used there little hug moment as my avatar pic because its ironic, lol.

Honestly, I'm ready for Cyke to be with no one for the foreseeable future. Just let him be the leader and shoot down ever semi-romantic thing that comes his way. No Jean, no Emma, no Tempus, no Dazzler, no person at all. I'd like to see him dealing with the guilt, anger, frustration, etc on his own without some woman rescuing him. I'd like to see him pull himself out of that and I'd love to see what's going on inside his head. Maybe more moments of him talking to himself or raging when he's alone and away from other people so he can remain in control in front of them. Yeah, he doesn't need to be in any romantic relationship, though I wouldn't mind seeing him actually opening up to regular friends.

Or maybe I'm alone in this.

@numi: I wouldnt mind scott being alone but hes been with no one for more than a year. Also bendis books are slow paced, so it would be 20yrs before he chooses someone. Also lol at tempus, hopefully scott wont go there.

He should get with Wanda, marry her, have some babiez and live happily ever after.