Kieron Gillens X-Men appreciation

[krisis]

Gillen's run was incredible considering that the clock was ticking on him from the moment he started. He was in the unusual position of being on an X-flagship for the semi-long-term but still knowing he was simply filling time between status quos.

Did we get the full-on Gillen insanity we could have had if he wasn't maneuvering Cyclops into checkmate while navigating a pair of line-wide events and an X x-over? No. But, did we get a handful of issues that were the best UXM has been in decades and the first good writing on the Rasputins in just as long? Did we get an Emma that finally felt arch again even as we got rationalization for Cyclops's seeming descent into tyranny? Yes!

Because of his foreshortened run, I would place Gillen behind the long-running heavy-weights - namely, Claremont, PAD, and Carey, and the self-contained stories like Whedon and Remender. However, if we're going sheerly on characterizations, pushing his artists to deliver their best work in years, and his ability to send fans into a tizzy month after month, at the moment I grade him just a notch below the Claremont/Byrne era.

[GambitXRemy]

Gillen's run was incredible considering that the clock was ticking on him from the moment he started. He was in the unusual position of being on an X-flagship for the semi-long-term but still knowing he was simply filling time between status quos.

Did we get the full-on Gillen insanity we could have had if he wasn't maneuvering Cyclops into checkmate while navigating a pair of line-wide events and an X x-over? No. But, did we get a handful of issues that were the best UXM has been in decades and the first good writing on the Rasputins in just as long? Did we get an Emma that finally felt arch again even as we got rationalization for Cyclops's seeming descent into tyranny. Yes!

Because of his foreshortened run, I would place Gillen behind the long-running heavy-weights - namely, Claremont, PAD, and Carey. However, if we're going sheerly on characterizations, pushing his artists to deliver their best work in years, and his ability to send fans into a tizzy month after month, at the moment I grade him just a notch below the Claremont/Byrne era.

that was quite a thoughtful summary

[DarthCyclopsRLZ]

Did we get an Emma that finally felt arch again

Pretty much agree about everything else, but Gillen's Emma was literally a prop to bring down Cyclops. Amusingly enough, that's why she was so upset with Cyclops: her being so inconsequential to the overall narrative.

[Shingen]

Gillen's run was incredible considering that the clock was ticking on him from the moment he started. He was in the unusual position of being on an X-flagship for the semi-long-term but still knowing he was simply filling time between status quos.

Did we get the full-on Gillen insanity we could have had if he wasn't maneuvering Cyclops into checkmate while navigating a pair of line-wide events and an X x-over? No. But, did we get a handful of issues that were the best UXM has been in decades and the first good writing on the Rasputins in just as long? Did we get an Emma that finally felt arch again even as we got rationalization for Cyclops's seeming descent into tyranny? Yes!

Because of his foreshortened run, I would place Gillen behind the long-running heavy-weights - namely, Claremont, PAD, and Carey, and the self-contained stories like Whedon and Remender. However, if we're going sheerly on characterizations, pushing his artists to deliver their best work in years, and his ability to send fans into a tizzy month after month, at the moment I grade him just a notch below the Claremont/Byrne era.

This is the truth. For these reasons I hope we get him back, eventually.

[direction9]

i still have no idea what it is that gillen did so right to all of you guys
none of his characterization shifted from the previous status quo i don't think. maybe just colossus.

[direction9]

there were two really special issues and i would trade anyone else for him, lest we lose those
and that's about all i can say for it

[SuperSparkplug]

I've always loved the X-Men, but with the direction it took over the past few years, I was disappointed, though I occasionally kept an eye out for what was going on every now and then. Schism got me back into reading an X-Book again, but I thought it sucked and it was just another reason for Marvel to put Wolverine on another book...

Then I started reading Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen.

Do I like the direction the X-Men took in the past few years? No, but Gillen made a damn good book out of a premise I hated. I was only giving it a try on issue #1, but it got me hooked! I actually started liking the X-Men again! The real X-Men, not Wolverine's sham of "X-Men". It was not only greatly written, it really got to what attracted people to the X-Men in the first place: Being different and trying to do the right thing in a world that hates and fears you, something that, in the few recent X-Men stories I had read before then, felt kinda lost or misplaced. All of the characters were handled with almost equal respect, especially Cyclops, who many writers have been shitting on ever since Whedon made him look cool. Gillen's stories were memorable, had actual impact, and just felt epic. He cemented Mister Sinister as one of my favorite X-Villains and it was a joy seeing him write for that magnificent bastard. Their first arc with him gave off such an impression and the end of it, where they stood down gods and made them blink, while being feared and respected by a viewing public cemented itself so well in my mind. This was much more memorable than Wolverine desperately trying not to bomb or stab bratty children.

His Uncanny run felt so cut short. There was so many things he could've done from where he was prior to AvX, especially involving Juggalossus.

It occurred to me today that with the end of AvX: Consequences (Which might as well be called X-Men: Consequences because the Avengers never cared or did anything in the slightest) and with him beginning his stint on Iron Man, this is the last time the X-Men will be under Gillen's pen for the foreseeable future. I have never read a Gillen book before Uncanny, but now I am now a huge fan and I think he's one of Marvel's best and underappreciated writers.

Sadly, it is the end of an era cut much too short.

The future of the X-Books lies with Bendis now. I think Bendis is a great writer and I love his work, but, after Gillen's run, he has big shoes to fill and I'm not sure if the X-Men are really his thing - They aren't like the Avengers. I'm definietly giving him a chance, but time will tell. Either way, it will be different.

Who else is going to miss Gillen writing the X-Men? What are your favorite moments from his run? Are there any other Gillen books, besides Uncanny and AvX: Consequences that you'd recommend?

[DarthCyclopsRLZ]

I'll always remember Gillen as the most awesome Cyclops troll ever.

[mr_hyde2120]

KG Is awesome! never been a reader of Iron Man or Young Avengers. But I'm gonna definatley pick up YA, and maybe try out Iron Man

[GambitXRemy]

http://forums.comicbookresources.com...run&highlight=

[Atomiq]

Gillen is definitely a classy son of a bitch. I always look forward to his comics the most from the super-hero set. Going to miss him on the X-books. Generation Hope was cool.

[Atomiq]

http://forums.comicbookresources.com...run&highlight=

This thread is better. I'd rather read appreciation without people's bullshit rankings.

[SuperSparkplug]

I'll always remember Gillen as the most awesome Cyclops troll ever.

Oh, this reminds me of an idea I had when I first read the preview for that issue a while back... Now, you've forced me to unleash it upon the world!!!

[mr_hyde2120]

This thread is better. I'd rather read appreciation without people's bullshit rankings.

Who is that In your avatar?

[SuperSparkplug]

I think it's an alternate universe version of Dazzler...