View Full Version : Old X-men story recommendations
Austin Amarka
03-24-2011, 07:48 PM
I read the X-men from the 80's through the mid 90's and quit around issue #300 shortly after X-cutioners song. I would occasionally check a comic out here and there and keep tabs on major events like Colossus dying, etc. I have read things from the mid 2000's on like Morrison's run on the X-men and really like Whedon's run on Amazing, but after reading some old story lines and synopses I realized that I have missed a lot of X-men stuff, but most of it seems to suck hard. The Neo, the Phalanx, Nightcrawler being a demon and Warren being an Angel, The Twelve, etc.
Out of the mid 90 to mid 2000's, what are the good stories you would recommend. Whenever it comes to x-stories people say death of phoenix, brood saga, days of future past, but nobody is recommending anything in the last 15 years except Whedon and Morrison's run. Is there some stuff I missed that is worth reading?
The_Greatest_Username
03-24-2011, 07:52 PM
Craig Kyle and Chris Yost's X-Force is great.
viperstorm
03-24-2011, 07:57 PM
X-TREME X-MEN BY Chris Claremont
2001
Goggindowner
03-24-2011, 08:02 PM
Joe Casey and Ed Brubaker both had decent runs on Uncanny X-Men.
Some of us around here enjoyed the story that went through Deadly Genesis, Rise and Fall of The Shiar Empire, Emperor Vulcan, and so forth. So maybe check out Deadly Genesis and see if you want to continue with the story arc.
Other than that.....I got nothing that you didn't mention in your OP.
Gene M.
03-24-2011, 08:06 PM
Age of Apocalypse was pretty good.
The Kelly/Seagle run on X-Men and Uncanny (Uncanny 352-365, X-Men 70-85) was very enjoyable and should have lasted longer.
oh and the original Age of Apocalypse storyline. forget the more recent mini series. TRULY EPIC.
Austin Amarka
03-24-2011, 08:10 PM
I followed Kyle and Yost on X-Force and it was pretty good.
I liked Deadly Genesis, but didn't follow the space storylinesthat came afterwards for Vulcan too closely. Was never really into all that space opera stuff.
My favorite X-story ever after X-Cutioner's Song is X-Force #19-43, culminating Fabian Nicieza's run on the team. It's great, and art by Greg Capullo and Tony Daniel. The later run by John Francis Moore (art by Adam Pollina and Jim Cheung) was also fairly good.
Scott Lobdell's Generation X, with Chris Bachalo art, was stellar.
Chris Claremont's best are his X-Treme X-Men and Uncanny X-Men runs.
Peter David's X-Factor has been the best X-book by a mile for the last five years or so.
I haven't read it but I've heard a lot of good things about John Byrne's X-Men: Hidden Years.
DevilishRogue
03-24-2011, 09:34 PM
Classic X-Men 'Vignettes.' Back up stories by Claremont, Nocenti and Bolton.
The Excalibur run of Claremont and davis, Davis and davis, as well as the Ellis/Pacheco/Jones run. I think they are all collected.
Generation X run, especially the Lobdell/Bachalo issues. Some really good suggestions above.
Apathy Lad
03-25-2011, 08:16 AM
The problem with reading a lot of the good 90's X-Men, like Nicieza, Loeb, and Moore's X-Force and Lobdell, Faerber and Ellis' Generation X, is that a lot of good material hasn't been collected. Luckily, you can find some good trades here and there.
To begin with, Generation X has received two TPBs, one, Generation X Classic, collecting the Phalanx Covenant storyline and the first four issues, and another collecting issues 63 to 70. If you want the whole series, you'll have to scour Ebay; most of the complete collections I found are around 150 dollars.
Essential Wolverine has up until now reprinted Wolverine's 1988 series to 1997. They are, however, in black and white.
Although I haven't read them yet, Excalibur by Warren Ellis has received 3 trades collecting his run. I know logically I can't judge them, but dude; Warren Ellis.
Peter David's X-Factor has also been completely collected in trades, it's kind of an ancillary X-title, and some of it's pop culture jokes are outdated, but it's still a really funny title.
Lastly, the crown jewel of 90's X-Men, the Age of Apocalypse, has been collected in four TPBs, and it is pure excellence.
NewMutant
03-25-2011, 08:21 AM
The problem with reading a lot of the good 90's X-Men, like Nicieza, Loeb, and Moore's X-Force and Lobdell, Faerber and Ellis' Generation X, is that a lot of good material hasn't been collected. Luckily, you can find some good trades here and there.
To begin with, Generation X has received two TPBs, one, Generation X Classic, collecting the Phalanx Covenant storyline and the first four issues, and another collecting issues 63 to 70. If you want the whole series, you'll have to scour Ebay; most of the complete collections I found are around 150 dollars.
Essential Wolverine has up until now reprinted Wolverine's 1988 series to 1997. They are, however, in black and white.
Although I haven't read them yet, Excalibur by Warren Ellis has received 3 trades collecting his run. I know logically I can't judge them, but dude; Warren Ellis.
Peter David's X-Factor has also been completely collected in trades, it's kind of an ancillary X-title, and some of it's pop culture jokes are outdated, but it's still a really funny title.
Lastly, the crown jewel of 90's X-Men, the Age of Apocalypse, has been collected in four TPBs, and it is pure excellence.
Seriously. MARVEL get on that!
boobot
03-25-2011, 08:36 AM
There are some decent recommendations above, but the problem is that there is somewhat of a void in quality between the Age of Apocalypse storyline and Morrison's New X-Men.
Before AoA, you get the Phalanx Covenant, which I will go out on limb and recommend. Some don't like it, but I think it's not half-bad and is a good intro to the Generation X characters, some of whom are pretty interesting.
Shortly after AoA, you get the build-up to Onslaught, which was just dreadful, and the introduction of the Joseph character, arguably the worst addition to the roster in the history of the x-books.
Operation: Zero Tolerance is decent, but given the relative quality is probably the best storyline of the late 90's after AoA.
This is followed by several not-so-great stories, such as the Hunt for Xavier (featuring evil, sentient Cerebro) and the Magneto War, which could have been decent but just... isn't. The Twelve comes not too long after that, and takes a good idea, but just fizzles out.
Just before Morrison's run you get Revolutions, which is Claremont's shaky attempt at a comeback. Given enough time, I think he could have done something decent, but he spends too much time with the Neo, who were just annoying.
Then comes Eve of Destruction. Less said, the better.
Then comes Morrison's run, and you know the rest.
In short, there are a few decent stories from the 90's - Age of Apocalypse is great and Operation: Zero Tolerance is worth reading, and if you can find it for a decent price the Magneto War is at least important from a direction point of view.
However, the late 90's until Morrison's run are plagued by absurd stories, stilted characterization and some good ideas that aren't executed well, all accompanied by particularly cartoony art that is jarringly juxtaposed with the attempted seriousness of the stories themselves. All in all, it just wasn't a good era, and as much flak as the current direction of the x-books takes, I still would take almost anything from the 2000's (except Austen's run) over the late 90's.
Apathy Lad
03-25-2011, 10:03 AM
^The main titles were in a state of flux in the late 90's (although I didn't think they were that bad), but the X-spinoffs like Gen X and X-Force were still pretty good.
Of course, to someone like me who didn't think much of Morrison's run, pretty much all of the above (Kelly/Seagle, Alan Davis, Claremont's Revolution, Eve of Destruction) were better than NXM...but I know I'm in the minority there.
Also, with stuff like Generation X, you really do *not* want to pony up for the entire series unless you're a total completist. The first 25 issues will do just fine.
ElementalKing
03-25-2011, 02:10 PM
I'm sorry but do you guys remember how much of a epic fail Jean was during Eve of Destruction.
Never again.
Chaos_Alfa
03-25-2011, 02:12 PM
X-23: Innocence lost
X-23: Target X
I'm sorry but do you guys remember how much of a epic fail Jean was during Eve of Destruction.Isn't that the story when she put together a new X-Men team from scratch? Or am I thinking of a different story?
The_Greatest_Username
03-25-2011, 02:16 PM
Isn't that the story when she put together a new X-Men team from scratch? Or am I thinking of a different story?
Yepp that's the one, and no Jean wasn't an epic fail because her plan worked :wink:
ElementalKing
03-25-2011, 02:20 PM
Yepp that's the one, and no Jean wasn't an epic fail because her plan worked :wink:
Fine. It was still a fail. I have beef with the fact that she could find no one else!
The only people worthy on that team was Dazzler and Northstar...and that's saying something because Dazzler was a hot mess and Northstar was too busy simpering and/or trying to prove himself. Everyone else was straight-up poo...
As much as I love Jean, she's not too good of a field leader.
The_Greatest_Username
03-25-2011, 02:26 PM
Fine. It was still a fail. I have beef with the fact that she could find no one else!
The only people worthy on that team was Dazzler and Northstar...and that's saying something because Dazzler was a hot mess and Northstar was too busy simpering and/or trying to prove himself. Everyone else was straight-up poo...
As much as I love Jean, she's not too good of a field leader.
Wraith totally deserved to be on the roster. Northstar annoyed me (as usual) and Dazzler just didn't seem like herself.
I do agree though, Jean could've done a lot better with her mutant selection.
No, she's no great shakes as a leader, I fully agree with that, but that's what made Eve a great story to me. I really enjoyed her struggling with one of her weaker areas.
darknessatnoon
03-25-2011, 02:28 PM
Anything with Wolf Cub.
Wow, I had blocked Young X-Men from memory. I wish I had remembered it for the "books you regret buying" thread...
The_Greatest_Username
03-25-2011, 02:33 PM
No, she's no great shakes as a leader, I fully agree with that, but that's what made Eve a great story to me. I really enjoyed her struggling with one of her weaker areas.
Me too, I thought it was a fun story
ElementalKing
03-25-2011, 02:38 PM
Yes.
Young X-Men was terrible. Period.
They should've just kept New X-Men going and just added on to it with whatever story they wanted. Like the Final Genesis arc with Donald Pierce...it was a very good idea and the art was cool (Skottie Young is 4x better though) but, on paper, it was terrible. Everything after that was straight-up poo. Except Dani Moonstar and Sunspot...I love them.
Wolf Cub irritated me to no end...can't say I was sad to see him go.
darknessatnoon
03-25-2011, 02:39 PM
Yes.
Young X-Men was terrible. Period.
They should've just kept New X-Men going and just added on to it with whatever story they wanted. Like the Final Genesis arc with Donald Pierce...it was a very good idea and the art was cool (Skottie Young is 4x better though) but, on paper, it was terrible. Everything after that was straight-up poo. Except Dani Moonstar and Sunspot...I love them.
Wolf Cub irritated me to no end...can't say I was sad to see him go.
Wolf Cub was a New X-Man and would have been in a New X-Men continued ongoing, therefore ur post is moot.
ElementalKing
03-25-2011, 02:40 PM
Me too, I thought it was a fun story
Yeah...I enjoyed it for what it was. It's good to see that one of your favorite characters is totally not perfect.
Personally, Eve of Destruction and Planet X were way too close together. If there had been no Eve of Destruction, Planet X would've been 2x better because pressure would've been building from the moment the Legacy Virus was cured.
ElementalKing
03-25-2011, 02:42 PM
Wolf Cub was a New X-Man and would have been in a New X-Men continued ongoing, therefore ur post is moot.
No, I meant that Wolf Cub was annoying in Young X-Men. There was nothing wrong with him in New X-Men...granted, he didn't appear much but he did and when he did...he was cool.
All that belligerence came out of nowhere in Young X-Men...I was like...really?!?!
darknessatnoon
03-25-2011, 02:43 PM
All that belligerence came out of nowhere in Young X-Men...I was like...really?!?!
It's because he was a lupine. It's what happens when they age. See Wild Child.
The_Greatest_Username
03-25-2011, 02:44 PM
Yeah...I enjoyed it for what it was. It's good to see that one of your favorite characters is totally not perfect.
I agree, I don't like Mary Tsu's
poneley
03-25-2011, 02:53 PM
Astonishing X-Men: Ghost Box, Exogenetic and Xenogenesis by Warren Ellis. All three stories deal with mysterious events. The core group of X-Men in these books are Cyclops, White Queen, Armor, Wolverine, Beast and Storm. Highly recommended adventure/mystery stories with great characterization. Ghost Box is one of my all time favorite stories. I'm purposely being vague on details because they are mystery stories and you'll enjoy them more knowing less.
New X-Men by Grant Morrison. More idea driven stories and less action, adventure and soap opera drama. Grant had great ideas in my opinion but he has a very distinct writing style.
X-Men Legacy by Mike Carey. Great character driven stories that often use x-history to great effect. The stories do tend to be low key and tend to play separately to what is going on in Uncanny.
X-Factor by Peter David. Another great character book but it also tends to be very separate from the rest of the x-universe which is good/bad/neutral depending on your outlook.
Uncanny X-Men: Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire by Ed Brubaker. Fun space epic. Can be slow building at times but its a fun space adventure.
New Mutants by Zeb Wells. Its the New Mutants but they're grown up and written like adults trying to figure out where they fit in with the current mutant situation in the Marvel Universe. Its a fun book, well written, good characterization.
Honorable Mention: Uncanny X-Men by Matt Fraction. The pros: decent storylines that are well plotted and re-readable. The cons: characterizations can be very clunky and the book just feels "off". I actually enjoy re-reading Fractions take on the X-Men and he does introduce some interesting ideas but the book also does seem off. Legacy is a stronger book but doesn't deal with the nitty-gritty stuff that Uncanny has to tackle. Its a decent book though.
ElementalKing
03-25-2011, 02:54 PM
It's because he was a lupine. It's what happens when they age. See Wild Child.
What about Rahne? She's still naive...at the age of 19-20
darknessatnoon
03-25-2011, 02:56 PM
What about Rahne? She's still naive...at the age of 19-20
Rahne committed statutory rape. She mutilated Angel. She got her knee cap shot out. She ate her father. She became a heroin addict. She made her ex-boyfriend go gay. She had sex with a dog and is now pregnant with his litter. She misrepresented her pregnancy to couple-bust.
I think she's learned a thing or two about the real world.
ElementalKing
03-25-2011, 02:57 PM
Honorable Mention: [B][B]Uncanny X-Men by Matt Fraction. The pros: decent storylines that are well plotted and re-readable. The cons: characterizations can be very clunky and the book just feels "off". I actually enjoy re-reading Fractions take on the X-Men and he does introduce some interesting ideas but the book also does seem off. Legacy is a stronger book but doesn't deal with the nitty-gritty stuff that Uncanny has to tackle. Its a decent book though.
How do you classify Fraction's run on Uncanny X-Men as an "honorable mention?" How?
ElementalKing
03-25-2011, 02:58 PM
Rahne committed statutory rape. She mutilated Angel. She got her knee cap shot out. She ate her father. She became a heroin addict. She made her ex-boyfriend go gay. She had sex with a dog and is now pregnant with his litter. She misrepresented her pregnancy to couple-bust.
I think she's learned a thing or two about the real world.
Whoops...totally forgot about that. Is she still with X-Factor?
Wait, when did she become a heroin addict?
darknessatnoon
03-25-2011, 03:01 PM
Whoops...totally forgot about that. Is she still with X-Factor?
Wait, when did she become a heroin addict?
Risman made her one in X-Force, but that piece of jail bait, Elixir, helped her get through withdrawal. "He smells like honey."
poneley
03-25-2011, 03:02 PM
Its an honorable mention because I actually enjoy re-reading his run. There's stuff I don't like about it. I don't like some of the characterization and the focus on Cyclops and White Queen but the plots are enjoyable for the most part. I compare it to other stuff that's been in the x-books where the plots and characterization are boring and stupid. At least with Fraction, his plots are coherent and interesting, even though they don't scream "action packed." Its not perfect but he does a decent enough job and its enjoyable to re-read.
The_Greatest_Username
03-25-2011, 03:15 PM
I'd like to add that Peter Milligan had a great run on X-Men vol. 2
Risman made her one in X-Force, but that piece of jail bait, Elixir, helped her get through withdrawal. "He smells like honey."
Rahne and Elixir made a great couple.
nate-grey
03-25-2011, 05:21 PM
Rahne committed statutory rape. She mutilated Angel. She got her knee cap shot out. She ate her father. She became a heroin addict. She made her ex-boyfriend go gay. She had sex with a dog and is now pregnant with his litter. She misrepresented her pregnancy to couple-bust.
I think she's learned a thing or two about the real world.
Wow, when you put it like that, I would really love to put her and old, innocent Rahne in a room together to see the reaction.
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