All New X-Men

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

Just read the first 8 issues from Brian Michael Bendis. This comic is insanely awesome! If you were ever a fan of X-men, I HIGHLY recommend it! Such a cool premise! Story is great, artwork is first class (pun intended).
Go. Read. This. Title.

[slym2none]

I wish I could share your enthusiasm. I stopped reading at Uncanny #510 and never looked back... those comics at the time were horrible. Now I hear that Cyclops is the new Magneto, Bishop is a bad guy, and Spiral is a good-guy (-girl.)





-slym

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

Well, what's cool about this title, is so far it seems to be self contained. No crossovers, no having to buy other issues. Yes, Cyclops is not the man he once was (that's all I'll say), there's been no mention of Bishop or Spiral, so I don't even know their status'.

But I'll say this. The premise really works well, and you can only do this with a title as established as the X-men. Read the first issue or two, and I bet you won't be disappointed. After that, it really takes off!

I understand the skepticism. When I got back into comics last year, I tried to revisit the whole X world of titles, and found myself so completely lost, and having to read like 30 different books to figure out what the hell is going on. I dropped all of them, it was just too much WORK! As I said, this title seems like a stand alone though, and excellently executed (<---Bret Hart reference).

And it really only has the impact it does have because you know the characters and their histories. This isn't something you could dow with a new title and make it have any meaning. Great idea, and basis for the title.

[MarrowMan]

Spiral isn't good in any sense of the word. Bishop has gone nuts though, but if you Read Messiah Complex, and then the previous Cable Series, you'd understand why.

[slym2none]

Time travel...? REALLY?





-slym

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

Time travel...? REALLY?





-slym

Yes, but very well done in my opinion. Reads very much like a What If? comic, which I always enjoyed. So what it's time travel. The concept is very cool.... in my opinion. Am I alone in not thinking time travel is not a deal breaker?

[slym2none]

I don't mean to sound like I am insulting you... pardons if you or anyone else took it that way. I am just personally not a fan of time-travel. Even "alternate dimensions" are better than that plot device.





-slym

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

I don't mean to sound like I am insulting you... pardons if you or anyone else took it that way. I am just personally not a fan of time-travel. Even "alternate dimensions" are better than that plot device.





-slym

You know what, I hear you. Generally, time travel is used to explain the un-explainable, or when a writer/ title is backed into a corner with no way out. "Hey, let's say it was time travel!" I understand the dislike of the use of time travel.
However, this title is based on it. Unapologetically. So, you know that it wasn't a band aid for a failed plot line. It's the basis for an incredible one. In this situation, not all!

I like the concept of it, and to be honest, it's really not ABOUT time travel, but more the characters. I think it's extremely well handled. But I do appreciate the dialogue we have going here about it!

[Cyberstrike]

X-Factor is the best book Marvel that puts out. Bendis is good but Peter David is better.

All-New X-Men doesn't sound interesting it sounds like a rip-off of the Young Tony Stark storyline from the various Iron Man and Avengers comics in the 90s (just before Heroes Reborn started).

Now the upcoming X-Men series written by Brian Wood sounds much more interesting.

[ian_house]

All New X-Men has been excellent. As someone who also tried it, unlike the automatic doubters, I was pleasantly surprised that an X-Men book could be so much fun whilst also seeming to have such an important story. I'm interested to see a little more of Beast now in the upcoming issues now that he is cured and faces a bit of a backlash for his actions!

[erwinrafael]

The surprise is that Uncanny X-Men is even better. It's like Bendis actually wanted to write the X-Men in the first place which made me wonder why he stayed so long in the Avengers where his work was very uneven.

[ian_house]

The surprise is that Uncanny X-Men is even better. It's like Bendis actually wanted to write the X-Men in the first place which made me wonder why he stayed so long in the Avengers where his work was very uneven.

I skimmed through the 1st issue and thought that twist was really poor so left it be. Has it improved (or is there more to it) from there?

[Dr. Solar]

So, the people that haven't read All New X-men think it is terrible, and the people that have read it think it's great. Hmmm...

I've heard really good things about this series. A bunch of folks at my LCS last week were telling me that it is great.

[slym2none]

Well, I never said I thought the book was terrible - as I haven't read it, that would be fallacy.

I don't like the idea of time travel is all I said... but I really should stay away from these conversations, as I am not going to read any of these any time soon. I would say my funds are tied up in food and shelter, but I don't actually have any funds and am living by the grace of my mother right now.





-slym

[pixierosa]

All New X-Men is good. Worth reading. I got fed up with all of the various X titles, but this one is well written, and I enjoy seeing the 'young" versions of the characters. Bendis is doing a good job.

[Xtianhardy]

The surprise is that Uncanny X-Men is even better. It's like Bendis actually wanted to write the X-Men in the first place which made me wonder why he stayed so long in the Avengers where his work was very uneven.

I'm not quite sold yet on Uncanny X-Men. Maybe it's the overall tone of the book, which seems to be much darker and colder, or the fact that I am not as much a fan of Cyclops, Emma, and Majik as the Original Five, but I am absolutely loving All New X-Men.

It's such a throwback to the Claremont days but at the same time, for the first time since House of M, the X-Men feel important and invigorated. I was not originally planning on buying this, and was instead going to follow the Avengers books, but I've dropped both Avengers/New Avengers and have no plans to quit reading All New X-Men.

As much as I've always been more of an indie-underground kind of comic book reader, and very little mainstream work appeals to me, this is the best X-Men series I've read in years and I couldn't possibly love it more. The only Marvel series I'm enjoying as much as this right now is Avengers Arena, which despite its premise, is an excellent book with great art and some really nice character work.

[Xtianhardy]

Well, I never said I thought the book was terrible - as I haven't read it, that would be fallacy.

I don't like the idea of time travel is all I said... but I really should stay away from these conversations, as I am not going to read any of these any time soon. I would say my funds are tied up in food and shelter, but I don't actually have any funds and am living by the grace of my mother right now.





-slym

Time travel is really just used as a red herring to get the story moving. I understand if you've got you know, real life stuff to pay for before you buy your comics, but don't get hung up on the time travel thing. If you get hung up on the specifics, you're really missing out on what is basically just a great character study. The time travel element is only used to bring the Original Five into the story and force them to confront, for drama's sake, their older selves. Faced with that, each of the characters then must decide what to do with their lives in the present. They're all reacting very differently to their own individual futures, and the comic is fascinating because of that.

I'll be the first to agree with anyone who says that Bendis broke the X-Men franchise with House of M, but here he is in a reconstructive mode and seems intent on breathing new life (figuratively and metaphorically) into this side of the Marvel Universe.

[Phoenix8008]

I looked at one of these in a bookstore the other day. Young cyclops going to the bank - very interesting. Especially when he came back to the school and gave the invitation which he found in the safety deposit box to Young Jean. I can't afford to buy this one on a regular basis, but I could enjoy it I think if I was able to pick it up. Sounded like they were yanked from the point in time just a few issues into the original series? They talked about fighting Magneto at the military base and fighting somebody else, but not much further down the timeline than that. Scary (for the Youngsters brought to modern day) but interesting concept.

[Xtianhardy]

I looked at one of these in a bookstore the other day. Young cyclops going to the bank - very interesting. Especially when he came back to the school and gave the invitation which he found in the safety deposit box to Young Jean. I can't afford to buy this one on a regular basis, but I could enjoy it I think if I was able to pick it up. Sounded like they were yanked from the point in time just a few issues into the original series? They talked about fighting Magneto at the military base and fighting somebody else, but not much further down the timeline than that. Scary (for the Youngsters brought to modern day) but interesting concept.

The book has been staying very mum about where these young X-Men are from. But yeah, they have no idea who the 80s X-Men like Wolverine are and still think that Magneto is an evil tyrant so it's safe to assume that these are the original X-Men from the 1960s. They're not delving into which time period though because if you actually start to think about the dates of the Marvel timeline your head will start to hurt.

And yes, the plot gets much better because it's really not about time travel at all. It's about a group of people who see how messed up their lives have become in the future and are desperate to change that. It's kind of like Back to the Future 2, only time travel is just what gets these characters into this situation. The book is really all about what happens after they get to the present.

Spoilers to follow:

Beast helps stabilize his future self's mutation, and in process causes Beast to change again.

Angel meets his future, post-Archangel self and becomes hysterical because he knows something seriously wrong has happened to himself in the past 2-3 decades of continuity, even if he's not sure what happened since no one wants to talk about it (including Archangel).

Jean Grey learns about her entire convoluted history, including the memory of every time she's died. This obviously has had a real impact on her personality. Also, she learns that she can read minds, a power that she didn't learn about until much later in the original continuity. She is the wild card of the series right now. Also she mind controlled Angle into calming down after he went nuts over his future self, in front of the entire school.

Cyclops is dealing with the fact that everyone thinks he should be dead (in order to prevent the future Cyclops from killing Xavier, etc, etc.) He's also trying to convince his friends, and his girlfriend (who he learns he will one day marry, and witness her death, a lot) that he's not going to turn out that way.

Iceman is...well...he's Bobby. What do you expect? He's a little weirded out that he looks so different, and he's taking lessons from his future girlfriend (Kitty), but Bendis hasn't delved too deeply into the psyche of young Iceman yet, which probably means it's going to be an even bigger deal when we get the opportunity to get inside his head.

If that doesn't sound good to you, I don't know what else could sway you.

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

I'm just proud that I finally realized how to read blacked out text in these forums! Huzzah!
But yes, liking this book

[Xtianhardy]

I'm just proud that I finally realized how to read blacked out text in these forums! Huzzah!
But yes, liking this book

[Dr. Solar]

I'm just proud that I finally realized how to read blacked out text in these forums! Huzzah!

The highlight of your day!

[/groan]

[depluto]

I'm just proud that I finally realized how to read blacked out text in these forums! Huzzah!

The highlight of your day!

[/groan]

[Cyberstrike]

If that doesn't sound good to you, I don't know what else could sway you.

I'm not just interested in All-New X-Men it doesn't sound very interesting to me. Sorry, I still think X-Factor is much better and more enjoyable (the continity is less convoulted) and the Brian Wood written X-Men seems more interesting to me.

[Chiclo]

X-Factor is the only X book I am still reading. I was reading the new Uncanny X-Men but I dropped it.

I guess my two decade dedication to the X-Men finally ended when Cyclops killed Xavier. Sure, Charles will be back but I won't be there to see it this time.