Doug's X-Journey
Feb 17, 2012 20:29:26 GMT -5
Post by Doug on Feb 17, 2012 20:29:26 GMT -5
I recently got my hands on some torrents that contained every single issue/appearance of the x-men, their splinter teams, and solo series. In a fit of madness, I have decided to undertake the task of reading all of them in chronological order. I have decided that I will also post in here my thoughts and opinions as I go on this journey. I am more of a DC fan than a marvel one, so most of my x-men knowledge is from the 90's cartoon and newer issues. Thus most of these stories are first time reads for me.
My hope is that my opinions and thoughts as I go through literally hundreds of issues will inspire comments/conversation from other fans. With that said, let's kick this off.
I started with X-men #1, and have read through X-men #66 covering everything up until the start of the reprint issues. This being the beginning of the franchise, a lot of core concepts are introduced, as well as several iconic characters.
On the hero side of things besides the original lineup and Xaiver, we also are first introduced to Havok and Polaris. Meanwhile on the Villains side Magneto and the Brotherhood, The Sentinels, The Juggernaut, Sauron and The Blob are just a few of the early year opponents.
Even with all these important first appearances, It still felt like a chore reading most of them. The art was not exactly amazing to me, and most of the stories seemed very generic, and badly paced at times. I suppose for the sixties these were groundbreaking, but they just don't hold up well to me. Random things like Professor X thinking about being in love with Jean, or Beast being angry at always having to be the smart guy are quickly dropped or never expanded on, and seemed more like forced drama then actual drama.
A love triangle between Angle, Cyclops and Jean was always hinted at but never expanded on, yet you can see the groundwork for what would later become the Logan/Jean/Scott one from Claremont. Also, Early Professor X was a real dick, and super secretive, I'm surprised any of the other x-men trust him with as much shit as he seemed to keep from them.
Another thing that really stuck out to me was just how generic a villain Magneto started out as. I'm more used to the sympathetic, sometimes honorable villain he is portrayed as now, so seeing him being so stereotypically evil was odd. On the other hand, I will give them credit for the early portrayals of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, as I'm not sure Villains that were not really in it for the villainy had been done so well before. The issues they were in tended to be more enjoyable reads for me.
Havoks introduction was weird as well, as until that point, Cyclops had been portrayed as an orphan, then suddenly he has a brother he's kept secret. It seemed weird and forced. On the other hand, I thought the stories with Mimic where rather well done, and am now disappointed that more was not done with that character.
All in all, the earlier issues are important for character introduction, but not something I would want to read again.
My hope is that my opinions and thoughts as I go through literally hundreds of issues will inspire comments/conversation from other fans. With that said, let's kick this off.
I started with X-men #1, and have read through X-men #66 covering everything up until the start of the reprint issues. This being the beginning of the franchise, a lot of core concepts are introduced, as well as several iconic characters.
On the hero side of things besides the original lineup and Xaiver, we also are first introduced to Havok and Polaris. Meanwhile on the Villains side Magneto and the Brotherhood, The Sentinels, The Juggernaut, Sauron and The Blob are just a few of the early year opponents.
Even with all these important first appearances, It still felt like a chore reading most of them. The art was not exactly amazing to me, and most of the stories seemed very generic, and badly paced at times. I suppose for the sixties these were groundbreaking, but they just don't hold up well to me. Random things like Professor X thinking about being in love with Jean, or Beast being angry at always having to be the smart guy are quickly dropped or never expanded on, and seemed more like forced drama then actual drama.
A love triangle between Angle, Cyclops and Jean was always hinted at but never expanded on, yet you can see the groundwork for what would later become the Logan/Jean/Scott one from Claremont. Also, Early Professor X was a real dick, and super secretive, I'm surprised any of the other x-men trust him with as much shit as he seemed to keep from them.
Another thing that really stuck out to me was just how generic a villain Magneto started out as. I'm more used to the sympathetic, sometimes honorable villain he is portrayed as now, so seeing him being so stereotypically evil was odd. On the other hand, I will give them credit for the early portrayals of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, as I'm not sure Villains that were not really in it for the villainy had been done so well before. The issues they were in tended to be more enjoyable reads for me.
Havoks introduction was weird as well, as until that point, Cyclops had been portrayed as an orphan, then suddenly he has a brother he's kept secret. It seemed weird and forced. On the other hand, I thought the stories with Mimic where rather well done, and am now disappointed that more was not done with that character.
All in all, the earlier issues are important for character introduction, but not something I would want to read again.