CBR: Cup O' Joe - Aug 26, 2011

[CBR News]

With the battlelines after "Schism" drawn, Marvel Comics E-i-C Axel Alonso is back to discuss how big the X-line can get, the role of an editor in events and solo titles and tease the future of Gambit, Ghost Rider and more.


Full article here.

[EXCELSIOR 2.0]

That Jim Cheung is the bees knees.

[CMBMOOL]

Hawkeye vs Ghost Rider, very interseting match up.

[Skaddix]

darn can't view on ps3

[maniacmatt]

Man, I wish the line-ups in that spread were actual line ups for Avengers and X-Men.

[red eyes]

Dammit, more unlikley that Gambit won't show up in WATXM.

[Vivica Kang]

AVENGERS VS X-MEN a nasty brawl to end this year!

[joshc167]

Pretty stoked that my question got answered about Ant Man... well vaguely anyhow. Also I think Scott Lang (Giant Man) will be back in the ultimates

[Trey]

SO the Schism is:

Whether new, young mutants should be thrown into the fire? Or what?

[Sighphi]

So X-man is back, Wolverine got some HUGE pouches, Shaw is an X-men now, and Nightcrawler is back?

By the way, why are they relaunching UXM if all those books are keeping their numbers?

[cookepuss]

Not a bad interview. I can't shake the feeling that he sort of skirted that first "line bloat" question. It's really not 8 X-books that Marvel's putting out monthly. It's actually 12.

· Generation Hope
· X-Men Uncanny
· X-Men
· New Mutants
· Uncanny X-Force
· Wolverine & The X-Men
· X-Men Legacy
· X-Factor
· Astonishing X-Men
· X-23
· Daken - Dark Wolverine
· Wolverine

That's not even including limited series, one-shots, or Deadpool (which sorta lives on and off the fringe of X). That line is huge. Definitely needs paring down by 1/2.

[cookepuss]

So X-man is back, Wolverine got some HUGE pouches, Shaw is an X-men now, and Nightcrawler is back?

Sorta Nightcrawler, but yeah. Feels like the 90s again, eh?

By the way, why are they relaunching UXM if all those books are keeping their numbers?

Not that I agree with their reasoning, but I think that the logic behind the relaunch has to do with this being a major tonal shift to the book. So big that it's designed to be more new reader friendly, at least within the context of the X-world.

[Vivica Kang]

Not a bad interview. I can't shake the feeling that he sort of skirted that first "line bloat" question. It's really not 8 X-books that Marvel's putting out monthly. It's actually 12.

· Generation Hope

· X-Men Uncanny
· X-Men
· New Mutants
· Uncanny X-Force
· Wolverine & The X-Men
· X-Men Legacy
· X-Factor
· Astonishing X-Men
· X-23
· Daken - Dark Wolverine
· Wolverine

That's not even including limited series, one-shots, or Deadpool (which sorta lives on and off the fringe of X). That line is huge. Definitely needs paring down by 1/2.

It feels like pre-siege Avengers comics all over again.

[cookepuss]

It feels like pre-siege Avengers comics all over again.

Let me put that bloat issue into context for you.

The year 1987 only saw four (4) monthly X-tiles and three (3) limiteds.

Monthly (1987)
· X-Factor
· Uncanny X-Men
· Classic X-Men
· New Mutants

Limted Series (1987)
· Fallen Angels
· Fantastic Four VS X-Men
· X-Men VS Avengers

Wolverine didn't even get his solo book until 1988. Classic was essentially reprinted material with a short backup story at the end. Realistically, Marvel only had 3 X-books that year.

Flash forward to 1996. The number on X-family ongoing titles with non-reprint material more than tripled from 3 to 10 in that brief 9 year span. Scary.

Monthly (1996)
· Uncanny X-Men
· X-Men
· Wolverine
· Cable
· Excalibur
· Generation X
· X-Factor
· X-Man
· X-Force
· X-Men Unlimited

Limted Series (1996)
· Pryde & Wisdom
· XSE
· Magneto
· Rise of Apocalypse

That's not even counting the monthlies like X-Men 2099, X-Nation, Adventures of the X-Men, & Professor Xavier and the X-Men that didn't tie into core goings on. Also not including the post-AoA stuff.

Think about that for a second. Marvel will be putting out MORE monthly x-books in 2011/2012 than they did in 1996, the same year they filed for bankruptcy.

[JmH Reborn]

Think about that for a second. Marvel will be putting out MORE monthly x-books in 2011/2012 than they did in 1996, the same year they filed for bankruptcy.

Factor in a booming economy in the 90s to a lagging economies of now, and the price increases from 2.99 to 3.99 without even any incremental updates, you have to wonder what the bean counters are thinking.

The line is completely bloated and I just don't understand the rationale. Is it really any better to have 2 titles selling 35K each or devote your best resources and sell 70k of one.

Hell I go into my LCS and just get befuddled with all the choices and can't believe even half of them come correct.

The only positive I see from this is...that I've stuck with UXM consistently...since issue 231ish through sheer devotion and now that they're breaking the line, I see no reason to pick it up. I've been begging myself to drop it because of the writing and art, and now Marvel helped me out. Its the only title I've ever kept consistently and now that is done, the chains are broke!

My pull list will be Uncanny X-Force, Wolverine, WaTXM (Uh...BACHALO!) and we'll see what happens with X-Men: Legacy.