X-Men Doing Anything Interesting These Days?

[el-remmen]

Whedon has been like a death knell for so many comics. I hope his pretentious "I'll give you what you need cause the fans don't know" hind end gets canned and blacklisted.

I don't get this. Which titles has he been the 'death knell' of?

Astonishing X-men was a side title that (as far as I know b/c I don't read the main titles) did not have much effect on the continuity, and his Runaways made me interested in a comic I had never given a chance before, and his Buffy Season 8 has been good too.

If anything, Astonish X-men was more like the X-men I remember in the old days (could it be b/c Whedon and I are close to the same age?) than anything I have read since then. An action-oriented comic with good dialogue and our classic characters, and someone who understands that Wolverine is best when part of an ensemble because of his loner traits.

 

[Villano]

Did the whole Messiah Complex storyline actually do anything for the series? Do the X-Men actually do any superhero work anymore, or do they continue to simply eke an existence by staving off one attempt to annihilate them after another?

I'm really not thrilled with the whole "Super Mega Event That Will Change Everything Forever!" attitude Quesada's been using at Marvel. At best, they temporarily derail the storyline on which the writer is currently working, at worst they force a new status quo upon the book.

So far we've had Avengers Disassembled, House of M, Civil War, Spider-Man unmasking, the death of Captain America, World War Hulk, Spider-Man selling his soul to reboot his comics and get rid of that stupid unmasking idea, Messiah Complex, Secret Invasion, and probably a few others I forgot.

The only Marvel title I collect anymore is X-Factor and I'm honestly considering dropping that one, too. It was chugging along nicely, the effects of Civil War barely touched the book, and then, Bam!, we run smack dab into Messiah Complex. Honestly, I couldn't tell you what the crossover was about. All I know is that, after spending months setting up a romance between Rictor and Wolfsbane, she's gone from the book and starring in the new X-Force.

I really wish Quesada would trust the writers to do their own thing and not thrust a new editorial mandate upon them every two months.

 

[Relique du Madde]

And on the Clairemont front, he's actually going to be doing a new series, I believe its called GenNext, with some new mutants. How it fits into continuity I do not know, but it definitely has my interest.

From what I heard the concept behind GenNext was to show what would have happened if the X-Men actually aged in real time so as a result, all the characters are the children of the current X-Men.

The only Marvel title I collect anymore is X-Factor and I'm honestly considering dropping that one, too. It was chugging along nicely, the effects of Civil War barely touched the book, and then, Bam!, we run smack dab into Messiah Complex. Honestly, I couldn't tell you what the crossover was about. All I know is that, after spending months setting up a romance between Rictor and Wolfsbane, she's gone from the book and starring in the new X-Force.

Messiah Complex was the answer to House of M/Decimation. Basically, a new mutant was born aka The Mutant Messiah and Exodice + the Acolytes and the Marauders, Purifiers, and the X-Men all fought to see who would take control of the baby. In the process, Bishop's true motives were discovered (retconned) so that instead of going into the past to join the X-Men (his heroes) and prevent their betrayal he went into the past to betray them by trying to kill off the mutant messiah.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

...the death of Captain America...

I just can't let this one get thrown in with the events, as its definitely not one and not something Quesada has had his hand in when compared to the other mega-events.

The Death of Captain America is basically all Brubaker, who is constantly proving himself to be one of the best, if not the best, writer in comics today. I have no doubt in my mind that his run on Cap will go down as the quintessential Captain America story.

 

[Relique du Madde]

Technically Captain America *MIGHT* be still alive.. As part of the Secret Invasion the Avengers ran across a group consisting of their 1970s counterparts who crashed landed on Savage Land. Among those Avengers was Captain America. It's currently unknown if those avengers are skrulls, from an alternate earth, or if they are the REAL avengers, or any combination of the above.

 

[Villano]

I just can't let this one get thrown in with the events, as its definitely not one and not something Quesada has had his hand in when compared to the other mega-events.

The Death of Captain America is basically all Brubaker, who is constantly proving himself to be one of the best, if not the best, writer in comics today. I have no doubt in my mind that his run on Cap will go down as the quintessential Captain America story.

I've heard that his run on the book has been well done, but, like Spidey's unmasking, it's too wrapped up in the events mess of Civil War for me to see it separately.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I've heard that his run on the book has been well done, but, like Spidey's unmasking, it's too wrapped up in the events mess of Civil War for me to see it separately.

Except it really isn't at all.

Spidey unmasking was done because of One More Day. They already KNEW it was going to be wiped out, so Quesada pushed for it to happen in Civil War solely due to the fact that it would be gone soon after. THAT is bad decision making and the problem with events.

Captain America's death was something that Brubaker had been planning since the start of his run, regardless of other events occurring. Its just that Civil War provided the perfect time for it to happen. It would have happened anyway. It really is a much different scenario than everything else you listed.

 

[Villano]

Spidey unmasking was done because of One More Day. They already KNEW it was going to be wiped out, so Quesada pushed for it to happen in Civil War solely due to the fact that it would be gone soon after. THAT is bad decision making and the problem with events.

Honestly, I don't trust Quesada anymore. I know he's claiming that he had OMD planned from the beginning, but I could swear, back when he unmasked, he said that there were no plans on magically retconning it away or mindwiping people. In fact, I'm pretty sure they had someone from Marvel on Attack Of The Show and that person dismissed any such idea (they also claimed that his unmasking was a logical thing for him to do based on his 30 year history :rolleyes).

And back during Civil War, Quesada said, "No, Cap is not dying in Civil War for all of you comic book Nostradamuses out there."

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Honestly, I don't trust Quesada anymore. I know he's claiming that he had OMD planned from the beginning, but I could swear, back when he unmasked, he said that there were no plans on magically retconning it away or mindwiping people. In fact, I'm pretty sure they had someone from Marvel on Attack Of The Show and that person dismissed any such idea (they also claimed that his unmasking was a logical thing for him to do based on his 30 year history :rolleyes).

And back during Civil War, Quesada said, "No, Cap is not dying in Civil War for all of you comic book Nostradamuses out there."

Oh, I'm no fan of Quesada, either. In fact, I dropped Amazing Spider-Man thanks to that wonderful event. But it DOES make perfect sense to me that he would only let Peter unmask if they were going to retcon it months later. That's just textbook Quesada, sadly.

...and, technically, Cap didn't die in Civil War. Timeline wise, it was technically AFTER the series and didn't even occur in the Civil War books. Its wasn't even a Civil War tie-in. But, again, I agree that Quesada shouldn't really be trusted. On the other hand, I DO trust Brubaker. No matter how bad Quesada may be, he just can't taint how good Brubaker's Cap run has been, with Cap's death creating some of the absolute best moments so far.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

Whedon has been like a death knell for so many comics. I hope his pretentious "I'll give you what you need cause the fans don't know" hind end gets canned and blacklisted.

Never read any of his other comics, but Astonishing X-Men is a great series. Definitely reminds me of the old team back in the 90s when Jim Lee was drawing them.