Favorite X-Men

[Slothy]

I remember reading one issue a while back where Emma frost dressed up in Jean Grey's old outfit and laid a psychic mindfunk on cyclops where he was fantasizing he was wolverine, and how the only reason Professor X made him team leader was that he was so pathetic if the prof didn't do something to encourage him he would have never amounted to anything. Then there was of course the B-plot where Kitty and colossus finally get it on. It read like some torrid 14 year olds fan fiction and the sight of emma in the prior issue posing like a slut saying she's in cyclops's favorite outfit (AKA making herself look like Jean Grey) made me hope the next page had him "accidently" letting loose an optic blast that vaporized her.

Sadly it didn't. And that was the last time I picked up an X-men comic.

I really do think it's a shame about that since as far as I'm concerned the arc not only made a lot of sense in the end, but was Whedon's best yet. Yeah that whole issue and those moments were just plain wierd and off the wall, but that was kind of the point. I'm not going to knock your opinion though since you're entitled to it. It seems you have a healthy love and respect for a lot of the classics which I can appreciate and understand and my hats off to you for it. If some of the newer blood doesn't tickle your fancy then there's nothing wrong with that.

As for wolverine. I just want to find the first wolverine mini series that clairemont did, the one where he first meets mariko and fights Shingen, and make it mandatory reading for all those that write a wolverine story. Now THAT was how you make wolverine cool without going overboard with the tough guy trip. Even the part in Dark phoenix saga where he has to take on those hellfire grunts alone was good because at a couple of points he was almost killed and got out of there by luck.

Agreed on all of that. It's those stories that show why Wolverine is a great hero when done correctly; not indestructable skeletons and healing from any injury.

Problem with X-men these days, and most marvel franchises, is that it is a franchise. It can't and won't really end. This makes any real deaths or story developments pointless because you know a year later it's going to be canceled out or the characters are going to be written differently. This is the main draw behind Manga and Anime. The stories often have a clear and concise beginning, middle, and end. Regardless of the quality, it's good to see a story that is finite and that has a point other then just making $$$. I respect clairemont because for his run on the book he established plot strings and story elements that have gone on and been developed for over thirty years now. It's just that by now, It looks like all the stories he established have run their course. Maybe it's time to put this dog to sleep.

I can agree with that to a certain extent. No the comics won't ever really end, and retcons can be a pain, but it always seems to me that a lot of the best writers try to avoid that whenever possible. A lot of my favourite writers and titles actually introduce huge changes, or bring back old continuity in the process of making great stories. And often now a days the comic book deaths actually do have meaning, and characters see some closure. Jean Grey for example hasn't been brought back since Morrison killed her several years ago now, and she's the Pheonix for god's sake. In fact, Marvels editor-in-chief, Joe Quesada doesn't like the practice of constantly bringing back dead characters. Though he's somewhat relaxed his stance against it in the last few years, he still prefers it not happen. Also, I think that because books run in definite story arcs, and since writers are often on only for a few years at most usually, it makes it much easier to simply drop a book. A lot of writers will tie up many of their loose ends before passing off the book to someone else allowing readers to get some closure, particularly if they don't want to continue reading it under a new writer.