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Amph The X-Project

Discussion in 'Archive: SF&F: Books and Comics' started by Mastadge, Jan 3, 2008.

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  1. Mastadge

    Mastadge Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jun 4, 1999
    Okay. It's simple. You've seen it done before, with other franchises. Maybe even this one. But then, maybe not. My goal is simple: to take a journey through every X-Men comic. (All of 'em, eventually. Good, bad and ugly. Including solo books, stuff like Exiles and First Class, all the Wolverine nonsense. . . I might not live long enough to see this through.) This will not be a strictly chronological journey. I'm going to start by working through what's been collected in TPBs, and then if I'm still interested we'll see about filling in the gaps by tracking down old comics. And I will not be doing it an issue at a time, most likely, but by stories, runs or events. And I will not be starting at the beginning. I will -- in fact, I have already -- started with Len Wein and Dave Cockrum's Giant-Size X-Men #1 (and only), titled "Second Genesis!" from mid-1975. But first a little background.

    The original X-Men had run 66 issues, from 09/1963 - 03/1970; issues 67-93 would simply be reprints of old material. (In 1999, John Byrne would launch X-Men: The Hidden Years, which was supposed to fill in the gap between 1970 and 1975. He made it to #22 (09/2001) before, thanks to editorial decision rather than lack of quality or sales, the book was cancelled. I'm still hoping for a nice hardcover collection of these stories.) In 1975, Giant-Size X-Men #1 introduced a team of "all new, all different X-Men" who would carry the title through much of Chris Claremont's legendary run, from issue #94 in 08/1975 to #280 in 08/1991 -- and he only left to take over the new X-Men (the original book having long since become Uncanny X-Men).

    So that's where our story will begin in my next post, a little later this afternoon.
     
  2. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2002
    This will be a very daunting task, but I'm sure you know that already. Obviously some older books will be hard to find. Especially older minis that haven't been reprinted in trades. I've been trying to find old issues of Mutant X (Havok in an alternate universe) for a while now to no avail. I wish you luck. You'll be reading some of the best superhero books in the industry (along with some of the worst).
     
  3. Mastadge

    Mastadge Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jun 4, 1999
    I know. I've already got most of what's available in trade. But I've only read a small fraction of it, mostly stuff published since 2000. I wanted to familiarize myself with the old school stuff. Once I'm through what I've got, I'll decide if it's worth it to me to push on and try to track down old Liefeld and Lobdell stuff, short-lived series, old minis that don't matter anymore and all that kind of thing.

    I already know, God help me, that I'm going to be reading Chuck Austen's run, between my read of Morrison's New X-Men and Claremont's X-Treme, and I'm dreading it.
     
  4. chiss_man

    chiss_man Jedi Master star 6

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    Jul 1, 2002
    Heh, I remember seeing that series all over flea markets here last year or so... :p
     
  5. NJOfan215

    NJOfan215 Jedi Grand Master star 5

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    May 17, 2003
    Some of the newer x books like cable and deadpool, new x-men, and x factor are awesome. The x 23 mini's are pretty good also.

    I haven't read much of the older x stuff, i'm not that interested in it, mainly because of the look of the books. The reprints that are published in books like giant sized wolverine were good, but there is a lot of stuff coming out currently that is interesting to me.

    Do you intend to read the ultimate x stuff as well?

    Maybe marvel's new digital comic subscription service might be helpful to you.
     
  6. Mastadge

    Mastadge Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jun 4, 1999
    The digital business would be very useful to me if it was complete, but as things are, aside from the 66 original issues and a few others, most of what I'm interested in isn't there. We'll see.

    I'll probably do Ultimate when I'm done with everything else.
     
  7. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

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    Aug 12, 2002
    Ultimate X-Men would be easy, as every issue except for the 5 or 6 most recent ones is already collected in trades and hardcovers.
     
  8. StarscreamPrime

    StarscreamPrime Jedi Padawan star 4

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    Dec 9, 2006
    LOL If you need easy access to the Liefeld/Lobdell stuff, I could stand to ship some of my copies of that, away. But I gotta warn you; that branch of your upcoming quest could prove to be a bit rough. (In fact, that could stand to be a blanket statement for a majority of the 90's-era X-Men material.)
     
  9. Mastadge

    Mastadge Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jun 4, 1999
    I know. Not too worried about it yet, though. What I'm kind of wondering about now is the best way to proceed without killing my bank account. I've got collected pretty much everything since Morrison's New, Austen's Uncanny and Claremont's X-Treme, and I've got the Uncanny Omnibus and a couple TPBs taking me up to Uncanny #143 I think, as well as some trades of the 80s and 90s crossovers and all the Age of Apocalypse stuff. But I'm scratching my head as to the best way to get my hands on the material, especially Uncanny and adjectiveless, between 1981 and 2001. The Essential collections would get me to Uncanny #245, but I'm not fond of black-and-white reprints of color comics. I could get most or all of them digitally, but it would take forever to try reading so many comics on my laptop's monitor. Moderately priced lots or full runs might be a way to go, or seeing if I can find a collector who'd be willing to loan or rent books out . . . I'm probably going to jump to peripheral books fairly early on for a little while as I figure out what course to take.
     
  10. NYCitygurl

    NYCitygurl Manager Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jul 20, 2002
    This sounds ilke a really daunting project. Good luck with it!!
     
  11. Mastadge

    Mastadge Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jun 4, 1999
    Okeydokey. Sorry about the delay. I finished reading my first chunk of comics last week, but haven't had time to sit down and post about it yet. I've made some decisions, though -- as far as the main books go, I'm going to go through as chronologically as possible. So I'll be making my way through Uncanny, then, after a couple dozen more issues, alternating between Uncanny and New Mutants, and then adding in X-Factor, X-Force, Generation X, etc as they came out. I don't really have a format yet -- for this first entry, I'm just going to write as I think, make a few notes. Anyone who's going to be following along -- what kind of stuff would you like me to focus on? Any ideas or suggestions?

    And I will not use spoiler tags for comics more than a year old.

    Anyway, I began with:

    Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975), X-Men (Vol. 1 #94-114) and Uncanny X-Men #115-143 plus Annual #3 & 4
    This takes us from August 1975 through March 1981
    Giant-Size X-Men #1 written by Len Wein with art by Dave Cockrum
    Chris Claremont writes everything else; art by Dave Cockrum (94-107) and John Byrne (108-143)
    Fill-ins: #106, plot by Bill Mantlo with pencils by Bob Brown; #110, art by Tony DeZuniga
    Annual #3 (1979) - art by George Pérez; Annual #4 (1980) - art by John Romita Jr

    Well, here we have it. The beginning of the "all-new, all-different" X-Men. Many would argue that these issues mark the X-Men's glory days -- that while it's not quite all downhill from here, the X-books never quite ascend to these heights again. We'll see whether I agree.

    Summary: The original X-Men have gone missing; only Cyclops escaped. Xavier rounds up a group of new mutants -- Kurt Wagner, Nightcrawler, from Germany; Wolverine, from Canada; old hand Sean Cassidey, Banshee; Ororo Munroe, Storm, from Kenya; Shiro Yoshida, Sunfire, from Japan; Peter Rasputin, Colossus, from Siberia; John Proudstar, Thunderbird, of the Apache, from Arizone -- to find and rescue them. They do so. (Giant-Size) Afterward, Sunfire returns to Japan. The original X-Men leave to live their own lives, with the exception of Cyclops, who stays to train and lead the new team. After several weeks of training, they have their first mission: to stop Count Nefaria and his Ani-Men and their plot to activate NORAD's Doomsmith Weapon. They succeed, but Thunderbird dies. (94-95) Several weeks later, Xavier decides to go on vacation and brings old flame and mutant researcher Moira MacTaggert to the school. (96) They fight Polaris and Havok, who've been brainwashed by Eric the Red. (97) They fight some new Sentinels and end up in space (98-100), where Jean Grey pilots them back to earth through a solar storm, during which she dies and comes back as the Phoenix. Xavier and Cyclops stay with her as she recuperates; the rest of the team goes to Ireland, where they fight Banshee's cousin Black Tom and Juggernaut (101-103) before going to Scotland where they get whupped by Magneto (104). They return to New York, where they fight a former Herald of Galactus named Firelord before Lilandra of the Shi'ar shows up and Phoenix whisks the X-Men away to save the universe. (105) With the help of the Starjammers, they beat the Shi'ar and Phoenix saves the day. (107-108) Upon returning home, Lilandra, temporarily in exile, decides to stay with her love Xavier. The X-Men try to take some r&r, but Canada sends its premiere superhero to bring Wolverine back -- seems they don't accept his resignation. (109) The X-Men, with Beast, coming over from the Avengers, fight Mesmero (111), and then fight Magneto, who takes them hostage beneath Antarctica. They escape, in two groups: Phoenix and Beast think everyone else has dies and vice versa (112-114). The X-Men end up in the Savage Land, where they fight Sauron and help Ka-Zar beat Garokk, saving the Savage Land. (114-116) They leave by sea, and end up in Japan, where they join Sunfire to save Japan from Moses Magnum, Wolverine meets his love Mariko, and Banshee loses his voice (118-119). They fly back to New
     
  12. whiskers

    whiskers Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    May 19, 2005
    I've you've got any flea markets/antique malls in the area, check them out. I've gotten some X-books for good prices there. Check the local comic stores' bargain bins, too. You never know.
     
  13. Mastadge

    Mastadge Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jun 4, 1999
    I haven't been slacking here, guys. I'm slowly moving through the 80s. Reading Dazzler, Uncanny up past the Brood arc, the beginnings of New Mutants, Wolverine's first book by Claremont and Miller, and the Storm/Ilyana Magik story. Just haven't made the time to do a monster post about it all yet.

    Also read the entirety of Grant Morrison's New X-Men and now working through Claremont's X-Treme.
     
  14. Spiderfan

    Spiderfan Jedi Knight star 5

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    Mar 9, 2004
    Heh, bored of trying fruitlessly to find the missing issues in the Spidey continuity, I have began trying to find all I can of X-Men as well, though there are some things I refuse to read. The minis, one shots, maxiseries, solo or team up stuff I enjoy reading as well as the major volumes but there are some series I just can't be bothered with...namely X-Factor (after the original X-Men leave the title) and X-Force. Still on the fence about Exiles and a few others.
     
  15. Mastadge

    Mastadge Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jun 4, 1999
    Exiles is great fun.

    And you seriously don't like Peter David's X-Factor? I thought it was a big improvement on the "original team" concept.
     
  16. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

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    Aug 12, 2002
    Exiles is fantastic. Unfortunetly, it took a nose dive in quality when Claremont took over last year.
     
  17. Sith_Sensei__Prime

    Sith_Sensei__Prime Chosen One star 6

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    May 22, 2000
    Mastadge, I admire the journey on which you're embarking, as I found the X-Men way more enjoyable than the "Super Friends/Justice League." I know I couldn't do it, because I find it hard enough to keep current on this now. I missed out on the whole "Onslaught" saga, but I'm happy to find out it being re-released in trades.


     
  18. Spiderfan

    Spiderfan Jedi Knight star 5

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    Mar 9, 2004
    Exiles: I never really saw anything to cling to, though given the recommendation I might give it a try for an arc or two.

    X-Factor - The only reason I have any interest in the series to begin with is because I want to learn more about the original X-Men and the various things that would become important story elements (namely Apocalypse). On the David run the only character that really interests me is Rahne and not enough for me to try to work my way through an entire series. Now thats not to say that I won't ever read it, just right now I don't see much of a reason.
     
  19. Raven

    Raven Administrator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Oct 5, 1998
    Exiles was hit and miss. There were some really great stories in there, and some that really fell flat.
     
  20. Axle-Starweilder

    Axle-Starweilder Jedi Grand Master star 6

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    Jan 6, 2005
    i started undertaking a similar project myself last summer.
    it all started with some issues of x-factor that had the original five in it, and i went from there as i was prompted to with the inferno crossover.

    i read almost every x-factor comic up until issue 101 or so.
    i must say, the original five in this seiries was good, but their first 20 issues or so were really pretty boring. eventually walt and wheezie took over creatively and the series profited from their service. but the real gems of this day and age did happen in x-men issues that were coming out at the same time. claremont's 80s x-men were the whup. they were invisible, living in australia, and they had longshot. what more could you want?

    but yeah, it's really a shame that when x-factor got a new cast peter david didn't stick it out with them a little longer. same story for penciler larry stroman. his art and pete's stories were timeless. of course, as we all know, peter david had to go do more important work with spiderman 2099, but that's another story.
     
  21. FlareStorm

    FlareStorm Jedi Grand Master star 6

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    Nov 13, 2000
  22. Mastadge

    Mastadge Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jun 4, 1999
  23. Sith_Sensei__Prime

    Sith_Sensei__Prime Chosen One star 6

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    May 22, 2000
    So would you be taking that CD into consideration?

     
  24. Mastadge

    Mastadge Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jun 4, 1999
    The DVD is an excellent resource, but its limitations are annoying. It has every issue (including ad pages and letters pages) of X-Men/Uncanny X-Men, including Annuals. It does not have any of the other X-books, so crossovers can be frustrating. It also does not have any Age of Apocalypse stuff, so 1995 has fewer issues than most years. Still, it's far preferable to tracking down 400 issues of Uncanny, and the scans are hi-res enough that I have no problem reading them on the screen.

    If I ever undertake anything similar with the Avengers titles, you can bet I'll be picking up the complete Avengers, Captain America and any other versions for those books.
     
  25. Mastadge

    Mastadge Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jun 4, 1999
    Alright, I'm about halfway through X-treme X-Men, and it's getting better. Really it is. But there are some annoying continuity errors that are just too stupid not to annoy me. For example, in one issue the X-Men are getting together for Thanksgiving. The very next issue, taking place shortly afterward, there's a newspaper clearly dated October. Stupid.

    In the Invasion arc, a character does not travel with the group from Australia to Madripoor. The next issue, he's inexplicably there with him. Similarly the Big Bad, Vargas, who again inexplicably appears within an impenetrable shield. It's these things that bug me more than big oversights, which can usually be fairly easily retconned (although there's one I'm trying to figure out now that's got me scratching my head).

    As far as continuity goes, the X-Treme X-Men: Savage Land mini doesn't seem to fit, as in that the X-tremes go to the Savage Land with Beast, who at that time happens to be comatose at Xavier's. It's such an abysmally stupid story that I'm tempted to just say it's out of continuity, except it's mentioned in a throwaway line a few issues later.
     
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