Uncanny Avengers (Vol 1 - 3), Rick Remender

"The Marvel Universe's greatest era starts here! In the wake of Professor X's funeral, Captain America creates a new Avengers unit comprised of Avengers and X-Men, humans and mutants working together. But the Red Skull has returned - straight out of the 1940s - and he wants to destroy all mutants! What gruesome weapon has given him dangerous new powers? Rogue and Scarlet Witch face off against the Red Skull's S-Men, Wolverine and Captain America investi gate the worldwide mutant assassination epidemic, and Havok and Thor battle the spreading infl uence of Honest John, the Living Propaganda! And when an Avenger defects, the rest must face the terrible might of the Omega Skull! Plus: Wonder Man, Wasp and Sunfire join the team - just in time for the Grim Reaper's revenge! Uncanny Avengers Assemble!"

"The future begins in the past! It's an 11th century clash of the titans as Thor batt les Apocalypse! The Avengers' ancestors are being hunted, with Rama-Tut and Kang pulling the strings, and only a young Thor can save his future companions! And in the present, the beginning of the end looms as the Apocalypse Twins debut! Why are they targeting the Celestials? What is their connection to Kang? And how is Thor responsible for their mighty power? Apocalypse's Ship attacks S.W.O.R.D., a Celestial meets a shocking fate, and the Four Horsemen of Death are' unleashed! And as the Twins' new henchmen shatter the Uncanny Avengers, Wolverine discovers the Midnight City - and immediately wishes he hadn't! When all hope dies, Ragnarok begins! Plus: Kang and the Apocalypse Twins enter the Age of Ultron!"

"It's the dark origin of the Apocalypse Twins, as Kang's true motives are revealed! A secret pact between Ahab and the Red Skull will bring horror to all mutants. But against his masters' orders, a deranged and vengeful Sentry kills an Uncanny Avenger! It's no hoax, no dream...and only the first casualty of many! To allow reinforcements from other eras, the Wasp must find and destroy the Twins' tachyon transmitter, but first she'll have to defeat the Grim Reaper. Meanwhile, the Scarlet Witch makes an impossible choice that will define her forever. And Sunfire and Rogue, without backup, must defeat the combined might of both Apocalypse Twins - or watch the end of our world! Bring on the bad guys, because Ragnarök is now!'




Uncanny Avengers is the Avengers at its very worst, a joke line up that competes with West Coast Avengers for how much of the barrel it's prepared to scrape. The idea behind it is that following the events of AvX, and the fact that people now hate and fear mutants and ever before, the Avengers have suddenly realised that maybe if they stopped punching the X-Men for more than a week people might learn to trust them. So Captain America looks to create a 'unity' team of all the X-Men and Avengers no other writer wanted; Wonder Man! Wasp! Havok! Scarlet Witch!

If those aren't names to inspire confidence, they also have Thor and Wolverine thrown in. So, just to go over that: Wonderman (was a villain in last appearance), Wolverine (unsanctioned murder squad leader), Havok (Brother to 'Terrorist' leader) and Scarlet Witch (only Avenger to ever actually commit Genocide). Fortunately, they also have Rogue ... who's a former member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. So I can't see how that plan can possibly go wrong.

It's hard for me to express how much hate I feel for some of these characters. Not in a detatched, 'oh they're so annoying, but they're fictional' way, but in a very real, very visceral 'I wish they had never ever been written' way.

Scarlet Witch is a great example of that. Daughter of Magneto, chaos magic wielder and reality warper, Scarlet Witch's most famous action in the last two decades was to kill half of her own Avengers team, rewrite reality into a mutant-lead parallel universe, then destroy all but 200 mutants. She then came back and tried to hand wave it all away as being Doctor Doom's fault.

If you're looking for a reason why people hate mutant, that right there is it. She single handedly fought every superhero in the world to a standstill, then when she lost she almost destroyed a species. Wow, guys. I can't at all understand why someone might be afraid of that. You should probably put her up on stage as the face of mutant rehabilitation.

Or Havok, a guy whose very first defining action in the book is to renounce Cyclops, a flawed, but great, leader who successfully reignited mutantkind, saving his species. Then, he follows it up, by deciding he doesn't want to be called a mutant because Havok is a whinge. I hate Havok. When I say he's the third best Summers brother, you know that it's low.

You know what. There are better X-books, and better Avengers books. This is just a hot mess that nobody will remember in 5 years time. Art is lovely though.

Also Try:
Any X-Men book
Any Avengers book
Avengers Assimilate: Identity Politics in Uncanny Avengers, http://comicsalliance.com/uncanny-avengers-5-rick-remender-identity-politics-mutants/ (and Remender's response: http://www.newsarama.com/17328-remender-responds-to-uncanny-avengers-m-word-controversy.html)

Excalibur Visionaries - Warren Ellis Vol. 3, Warren Ellis

"Nightcrawler! Colossus! Shadowcat! Wolfsbane! Captain Britain! Lockheed! Based on Muir Island, Excalibur has become Europe's most famous team of super heroes; now, they face their deadliest threat yet! The Hellfire Club has infiltrated the British government, and they've got a powerful demon at their beck and call! Plus: Pete Wisdom and Kitty Pryde track a serial killer! Don't miss some of Warren Ellis' finest work!"










Way back when I reviewed Volume 1 and 2 of these Warren Ellis collections of eXcalibur, I remarked that I found them to be better but duller than the straight Americanism's of the mainline X-Men.

High vs Low Culture is not a debate I care to wade into too much, especially insofar as comics are concerned. The culture is already niche enough that a schism between those who think 'Maus' is an incredible work of visionary genius, a heartfelt and nuanced portrayal of the Nazi regime, and those who prefer a vision of 1930s Germany that features 100% more American super-soldiers straight up punching Hitler on the front cover. There are a lot of great 'high' comics, where mainstream or indy, and a lot of terrible 'high' comics, and that's also true of 'low' comics.

And just like with films, some of the worst comics are also the most entertaining. Go read comicsalliance deconstructing Batman: Odyssey ( http://comicsalliance.com/batman-odyssey-review-commentary-part-4-neal-adams/) or anything by Chris Sims on Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose, and you'll find awful comics that are still entertaining. Likewise, some of the best films and comics are ... well, they're pretty boring.

Warren Ellis is fantastic. Warren Ellis can do little wrong in my book. Warren Ellis is an excellent writer, and these are, aesthetically, intellectually, classically, great comics. There is nothing functionally wrong with them. They just don't do it for me.

I read them and they leave me empty, I feel ... nothing. I leafed through 'Red Rover Charlie' in a comic store today, and that almost made me cry then and there. It features art from someone described by the staff at Nostalgia and Comics as "an artist who can only draw animals. Well, dogs. Well, three specific dogs" and yet it has had more emotional impact from a 3 minute glance, and 12 pages of story than this whole volume featuring a half dozen characters I have invested far too much time in.

It is a well made comic. But it isn't a great one.

Its roughly the same situation I talked about in dissecting the previous two volumes, but in doing so I kind of left them to one side. They disappointed me, so I didn't analyse them in depth. They were a slog, and writing about something that's that much effort to read is a chore, so I didn't. But now I'm going to try and analyse exactly why these comics do not work.

The key thing that needs to be understood is that eXcalibur is "the English X-Men". Based out of Muir Island, featuring a cast of established X-Men (Nightcrawler, Colossus, Kitty Pryde) and their Marvel UK compatriots (Captain Britain, Meggan, Wolfsbane and Pete Wisdom), they protect Britain from threats both mutant and magical.

The conveniently tight focus on the New York scene that allowed for easy cameo appearances, cross-overs and world building between titles within Marvel as a whole leaves a lot of room for heroes operating outside of that - there's a whole lot more of the planet than the areas of New York, or, at a stretch San Francisco the X-Men usually operate in.

So a British team has been, off-and-on, a near constant for years, and the influx of young British creators into the American comics scene meant there were plenty of people willing to tell stories set in London, rather than Manhattan.

But the problem with any spin-off is that you are assuming that there's enough there to sustain the interest when divorced from the original source material, in this case; the X-Men.

Excalibur, at least under Ellis, are not. But it isn't like there's much chance of it carving out its own identity, when three of the main cast are core X-Men team members. Colossus and Nightcrawler appeared in the Second Genesis relaunch, and Kitty was the first new member introduced, in Uncanny X-Men #129, 35 issues later. So these guys have been here since, nearly, the very beginning, and they naturally overshadow even established characters like Moira, Brian and Meggan.

Considering that the cast is rounded out by 'a guy who will grow up to be Ahab' and Douglock, you can see why they were bound to be the most focussed upon.

Making ex-X-Men the most popular and visible characters in a book that's meant to be demonstrating its independence from the X-Men is a bit of a bum start then. It's resolutely not written as an X-Men book. It's 'darker and grittier' in the sense that the phrase 'darker and grittier' was originally intended for. People smoke, die, kill, sleep together, swear and act like humans. They usually do this without needing to remind the reader how dark and gritty this all is. They're mature, without being childishly so. It's not Torchwood. And it's not the X-Men, or at least not the X-Men in the way that someone picking up an issue which prominently displays three X-Men on the cover might expect.

Even ignoring that though, there's the secondary problem that throughout the book the real X-Men keep showing up. It's like they forgot this wasn't their book, so at least once an issue they appear to explain what's happening in New York (it's Onslaught).

A little sidenote; this is, alongside Thunderbolts, the best depiction of the world post-Onslaught. The very first thing that the US Government does, following the deaths of 90% of the worlds non-mutant superheroes, is send agents to warn eXcalibur not to come to the US, or else they'll be killed. At this point you would think that the authorities would be desperate to get some heroes on-board who can actually fend off the next Kree-Skrull war, or stop a giant planet eater from consuming Earth. But no, instead we get fantastic racism.

It's deliberately played up as a weirdly 'American' thing; the idea that their hysterical reaction to mutants is cultural, but that undermines the whole point of the X-Men, that they protect a world that hates and fears them. They are a positive and benign creation of an age of fear and unreason. These children of the atom aren't the villainous destroyers, but protectors of a society that rejects them. Their sacrifice for people who will never, can never, accept, appreciate and understand them resonated in a society, culture and time where racism, sexism, homophobia were real, and bigotry and fear were (and are) accepted.

Rejecting that in British society, selling it as an American disease, undermines the whole concept of who mutants are and why they need protectors and champions. It creates a cultural void that invalidates the basic need for eXcalibur. And they're left dangling without the core delineation between the roles of mutants and other heroes.

And this really is why I think Ellis' eXcalibur doesn't work and why, for instance, Paul Cornell's Captain Britain does; there isn't enough faith in who these characters are as heroes. There's a point where Brian muses on the fact that compared to how people felt about Captain America, the emotional, patriotic response wasn't the same for him. Contrast that with Cornell's pages of Britain's reaction to Brian sacrificing himself:

"when Captain America died, Americans heard it in an American way:

through the media.

When Captain Britain died, the British felt it in their chests."

(I really wish I could get that page up, because I can't tell you how much I love it. For me, it's the ultimate expression of Britishness; we're a nation learning how to deal with what we've lost. Between that, the Black Knight and Faiza holding the bridge alone, and Captain Britain's return, Cornell's series is stunningly worth reading).

British heroes don't have to just be spies, and magic. They can be bombastic and still be British. They don't have to have the in your face jingosim of the Ultimates, but can still represent Britain, and what it means to be British. And they can be separate from the X-Men and still be compelling.

What they can't be is a sub par X-Men lite, divorced from the reasons behind the X-Men and plonked in a new setting. Or rather they can be that, but it doesn't work, and it just makes me want to go read about how the heroes saved New York by jumping into Onslaught, and were themselves saved by a small child's imagination.

Also Try:
Paul Cornell, Captain Britain and MI13
Chris Claremont, Uncanny X-Men
Warren Ellis, eXcalibur Visionaries Vol. 1 and 2
Warren Ellis, Planetary

New X-Men (vol 1 - 3), Grant Morrison

"Sixteen million mutants dead...and that's just the first step in Cassandra Nova's plans. With an army of evolved Sentinels primed for annihilation, Nova will stop at nothing to see every mutant exterminated. Led by Professor Xavier, the X-Men have always sought an end to the ongoing strife between mutants and humans, hoping to one day unite the two species in peaceful coexistence. But the time for dreams is past. Now, their entire existence is under direct attack. Now, it is time for the X-Men to fight."

"Enter the U-Men! When envious humans begin dissecting mutants and grafting their body parts, it's up to the X-Men to stop them! But things at home aren't much better as Cyclops and Jean Grey can't stop fighting, Jean's powers flare out of control, and Professor X's mind is trapped in the body of his comatose evil twin! Introducing the new Angel, and the X-Men have never seen anything like her!"

"As protesters lay siege to the Xavier Institute, mutant mentor Professor X lies in a coma, trapped within the shattered form of his evil twin! Cassandra Nova inhabited Xavier's body and escaped to the starts in the wake of her initial encounter with the X-Men; now, the psionically empowered psychopath is returning to Earth- possessed of the most powerful mutant mind on the planet, and with the might of the Shi'ar Imperium at her back!"






Rather than review these three separately I decided I would do it as one (longer) shake-down, mainly because writing about all three one after another doesn't appeal, but also because Grant Morrison is a writer who rewards those who read everything and actively confuses those who only dip in.

As a result these three books may as well be collected in a single volume, because it's a single story arc: Cassandra Nova achieve consciousness and sets out to destroy the X-Men. Everything else in these is almost incidental.

I actually have all three of these volumes on disc somewhere, from when I first got into comics from scans lent to me by other people, and random trades I found in the library. New X-Men was one of those runs that seemed to totally redefine what I though of a comic as being. It lacks the long term status of Watchmen or Sandman, but was a totally different comic to, say. Morrison's JLA.

In part that's thanks to Quitley's art. Usually acknowledged as a master of expressions (just look at his work on All Star Superman, also with Morrison) here his skills are put to use redefining the X-Men as outsiders; they aren't all attractive, movie star-lite celebrities. This was back to basics mutant-kind; hated-and-feared, barely tolerated and, in the first issue, almost exterminated by Sentinels in an act of mass-genocide.

This entire run is epoch-defining and nothing after it was the same. That gets bandied around a lot, but here Morrison really does try and do something different. Retcons aside, this is the book that destroyed Genosha, killed Magneto and Jean, redeemed Emma, moved Wolverine on from his unrequited love, devolved Beast, and introduced Beak, Angel, Cassandra Nova, John Sublime, the U-Men and Quentin Quire and Xorn. Everything that came after new X-Men was informed by it, from Whedon's Astonishing X-Men run, to 'House of M' and 'Generation Hope'. Even the current Bendis and Aaron runs owe as much to this as Lee, or Claremont.

Just as 'Avengers Disassembled' deconstructed the idea of the Avengers, and launched them in a new direction, so the events of the first few issues of 'E is for Extinction' set the stage for a more military Scott, the nexus around which all X-Men events of the last 15 years have circled.

The breadth of the concepts introduced is equally vast. Secondary mutation turns up for the first time here, as does the idea of being pro-mutation as a fashion statement (for Morrison's 'Magneto Was Right' deconstruction, see the post-AvX 'Cyclops Was Right' fandom, both in universe and from fans, for the logical extension).

The mindscape rescue issue of Professor X in 'Earn Your Wings' is usually picked up on for being a bold and daring departure; a silent issue with only two lines of actual dialogue, delivered on the final page, post-procedure. But the real joy is just how many of these there are, whether it's Xavier taking over the Shi'ar Empire (and especially his fight with Gladiator), or Cyclops killing Ugly John - none of these go down how we expect. Every issue features a departure from the norm, culminating in the psychic episode.

Morrison has many faults, and some of them will be on show later in this series, especially as Xorn develops more of a presence and is later revealed as ..., well, that's complicated actually. But this early on, backed by Quitely and genuinly changing the face of the X-Men, this is a blockbuster run, and a must read.

Incidentally, all of this run can be found in The Works for £4 each. Pick up the first and third books to sample it, the second is (good) filler but not as consequential. I guarantee you a good time.


Also Try:
Joss Whedon, Astonishing X-Men
Brian Michael Bendis, Uncanny X-Men
Brian Wood, X-Men
Chris Claremont, Uncanny X-Men

Uncanny X-Men; Beyond The Farthest Star, Chris Claremont

"The X-Men are a million miles from Earth, at the mercy of a rcae if deadly creatures known as the Brood. Infected with parasitic larvae, the mutant team must find a way to free themselves from the alien's insectoid clutches before they are transformed into new Brood warriors. An epic battle ensues as the X-Men struggle to stop their foes, whilst desperately fighting to keep control of their minds and bodies. Returning to earth for a final showdown the group must then confront one of their strongest members ho hass been infected with the embryo of a new Brood Queen. Get ready fro some classic X-action at its very best."








This is the bit where I geek out about just how strong this run on the X-Men is and everyone gets bored silly because this is, what, the third time now? The fourth? Who cares! This is magnificent. Claremont's world building is ridiculously vast, and it shows here where the conflict ranges from space battles, war on alien worlds, to internal struggles for the control of self.

Even the most ridiculous stuff (an over-reliance on cloning and magical-healing is already beginning to creep in) is counterbalanced by a rich imaginative seam of wonder, from the Brood's space-whale hunts to the idea of Lockheed.

The brood are a weird mix of blatant 'Alien' rip-offs and super creepy 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' by way of hosting, and their lack of success is a hindrance to what is supposed to be the greatest threat to life in the galaxy.

This isn't the best in the series, by this point Claremont has passed most of the real big moments, like 'the Dark Phoenix Saga' and 'God Loves, Man Kills', and is surfing to a close. It's for completists only, I guess, but really, if this doesn't make you happy, nothing will.

You said it Kitty.

Also Try:
Chris Claremont, Uncanny X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga
Brian Michael Bendis, All New X-Men
Joss Whedon, Astonishing X-Men: Gifted

Also Try -Professor Xavier is a JERK edition:
Ed Brubaker, Deadly Genesis
Joss Whedon, Astonishing X-Men: Dangerous
Various, Avengers vs X-Men

Excalibur Visionaries - Warren Ellis Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, Warren Ellis

Born in whimsy though it was, the British mutant team had its share of dark days - never moreso than under the horrific hands of Warren Ellis Excalibur enters the Genoshan war zone with Peter Wisdom, smoking sardonic spy extraordinaire, as their guide Plus: Nightcrawler's magic girlfriend Daytripper joins the cast when a sorcerous struggle centers on Shadowcat's Soulsword Mutant terrorism, extraterrestrial espionage, and more Guest-starring Wolverine










Romance is in the air for Englands's Premier super-team! Captain Britain loves Meggan, Pete Wisdom has moved in with Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler and Day Tripper are back together, and Wolfsbane and Douglock are best friends! But things don't stay rosy long as the team faces threats from a group of Brood in the future, an all-powerful X-Man and...Colossus!? Plus: The Starjammers save the Shi'ar Empire! 









I read these two together, so rather than splitting them into the two books that they came as I'll just review them as one.

I was initially drawn to these for two reasons, a fondness for Warren Ellis, and a particular love of Excalibur (or eXcalibur, as it's often titled), the English X-Men. Marvel have had a long history of creating excellent UK titles, most recently in Cornell's Captain Britain books, although the Marvel UK brand is relaunching imminently.

A further draw was that the second book features the appearance of Colossus, although as it turned out that was less positive than I had hoped, as my favourite character basically turns up to be jobbed as a villain.

There's certainly a lot to love, especially in the first volume, but compared to the Claremontian run (which I'll review some of soon, as I've also been reading that) it's not half as fun. It's certainly better, but it's not as enjoyable, especially once we get into the second volume which just gets duller and duller without an overarching plot.

I would reccomend the first volume certainly, it brings a nice Sci-Fi and Spy vibe to English heroics, which is entirely fitting and nicely distinguishes it from the much more clearly super-heroic American set. The second, not so much though, as it all topples over into turbulent boredom.

Also Try:
Warren Ellis, Planetary
Chris Claremont, eXcalibur
Paul Cornell, Knight and Squire

X-Men; Powerless, Alan Davis

"Mutants are supposedly evolution's next step, but the High Evolutionary doesn't like where it's headed! All over the world, mutants are robbed of their powers, leaving X-Men and adversaries alike on the edge of defeat! But who is the Evolutionary's mysterious patron, and how is the disempowerment his next step? Plus: threats from the Acolytes, the Neo, and more! Guest-starring the New Warriors, X-Force and more than thirty years' worth of robots! Collects Uncanny X-Men #379-380, Cable (1993) #78, X-Force (1991) #101, Wolverine (1988) #149, and X-Men (1991) #99."








Proving that there really are no news ideas at all, here is the pre-House of M story of mutants losing their powers as the High Evolutionary and Mr Sinister devolve all mutants to baseline humans. Now, this is the kind of story that was obviously the inspiration for a later big event, and it's honestly (and unsurprisingly) handled a lot better by Bendis in House of M and by the X writers in every X-Men book after that until Second Coming.

Still, this is a pretty neat little book, that allows the X-Men to showcase what they do (go to space and beat up scientists mostly) whilst also giving Polaris a chance to do something with an actually interesting Magneto plotline.

The main problem with the book is that it's one of those classic X-tie ins which feature issues from half a dozen separate books, with competing art styles and plot lines to flesh out the idea. So alongside the main story in Uncanny X-Men and X-Men you also get a truly rubbish Cable story with some of the most pedestrian art imaginable and a totally out of place tale of Wolverine fighting robots with Nova and the New Warriors whilst dying of Adamantium Poisoning. He almost gets killed by a Spider Slayer, and it is awesome.

Also Try:
Brian Michael Bendis, Avengers: Disassembled, House of M
Brian Michael Bendis, Uncanny X-Men
Grant Morrison, New X-Men
Mark Millar, Old Man Logan

X-Men Forever; The Secret History of the Sentinels, Chris Claremont

"Comics legends Paul Smith and Terry Austin join the X-Men Forever team! As the X-Men attempt to recoup from brutal recent events, they're tested by an unlikely obstacle. Meanwhile, something big has surfaced in South America - an enemy the battered X-Men will have to face head-on! Collects X-Men Forever #6-10."














X-Men Forever, even by the standards of any series that has been running for 40 years, is probably the most continuity-snarled and least accessible book I have ever read. It's part continuation of the original Uncanny run of Claremont, designed to show 'what would have happened' if he had stuck around, but exists in its own continuity (where death is permanent, Sabretooth IS Wolverine's Dad, and Storm is evil).

So If you can keep up with it being a book designed exclusively for X-Men fans who want to see the 'real' Claremontian story completed that has no actual continuity or canon reality, then here is a book for you.

And boy, is it weird. This is volume 2 of the book, and considering that I've not read the first I was pretty lost. Storm has been cloned as a child and her holder version has gone evil. That's the easiest twist to explain in a series that also features a blind Sabretooth living in the X-Mens house so that he can more easily hunt Kitty who now has Wolverine's claws. It's just totally nuts.

The story itself is pretty run of the mill stuff - Nick Fury shows up when Sentinels attack his men in South America. The X-Men head off to fight them alongside Nick and Daisy Dugan (daughter of 'Dum Dum'). We then get a secret origin of Nick Fury and Wolverine, where they meet to fight Sentinels in World War Two. Don't question it.

The arts pretty, the story is characteristically bombastic, and even if it doesn't add anything new it's fun in its own slightly nuts way. But ultimately this is a tale that didn't need telling, that has no consequences at all for the X-Men, and serves as a slightly worse Elseworld or What If? tale.

Pick up Ultimate X-Men instead. Unless you really, really miss Chris Claremont.

Also Try:
What If?
Mark Millar, Ultimate X-Men
Chris Claremont, New Exiles
Chris Claremont, Uncanny X-Men

Wolverine and the X-Men Vol. 1, Jason Aaron

"Wolverine has taken half the X-Men back to Westchester to start over with a new school and a new mission. Schism tore them apart, but can Wolverine lead the new Children of the Atom into the future? Only if they survive the new Hellfire Club and the return of another classic villain! Collecting: Wolverine & The X-Men 1-4"

This is the one of the two that I least expected to like. Despite it having an artist I really enjoy I don’t really have any idea about Jason Aaron before this – I'm aware of some of his previous work but he’s someone like Dennis Hopeless who I know exists, but who just hasn't written anything I’ve been interested in reading (although unlike Dennis Hopeless I'm not viscerally appalled by the output of his I have seen).

The very concept of this is not something I was particularly fussed about – I love the X-Men and I love X-School books, but Wolverine is a character so overplayed in the past ten years that I instinctively try to avoid books he’s appearing in.

Working in the youth sector I quite often get exposed to some truly bizarre slang. My personal favourite is DBI, or ‘Don’t Beg It’ a phrase used in conjunction with a withering look to let the recipient know that their enthusiasm is offputting, and that they risk looking desperate if they continue with whatever they’re doing – they’re begging for attention, and should stop. Since the success of X-Men: The Movie, Marvel have pushed Wolverine as THE X-Man of note. It’s a common joke that Wolverine’s real mutant power is that he can be in multiple places at once, due to his presence on a few X-teams, the Avengers, his solo titles and whichever monthly book needs a boost.

So the idea that, post-schism, Wolverine has split from the majority of the established X-Men to go and set up a school (The Jean Grey School, just to rub it in Cyclops’ face that little bit further) doesn’t just stretch credulity on the basis that this is a man who moonlights on a black-ops team that seeks out potential threats to mutantkind and murders them. Quite how he can be headmaster of a school (presumably on a normal teaching schedule) whilst also enforcing world peace with an Avengers team that he’s still nominally part of and teaming up with whichever character has seen drooping sales is beyond me.

So, Marvel, from the start; DBI. Wolverine is overplayed. Unless it’s a relaunch of the incredible ‘Wolverine and the X-Men’ cartoon that was cancelled a few years back I am not interested in anything that has Wolverine in the title.

Except.

This comic is brilliant.

I really never expected this but somehow of the two X-titles I picked up (Gillen’s Uncanny X-Men was the other) this is the one I loved.

It’s not hard to put my finger on what I loved about it, but it’s definitely a surprise to me. It’s not the art – whilst I like Chris Bachalo a lot, and think that some of his X-Men art is superb, his style isn’t a good fit for this book. His messy, living characters need more room to breathe and it’s noticeable that he’s at his best when dealing with more established, monstrous characters; his Wendigo, Krakoa and Ice Men are excellent, but his Wolverine frequently looks too bestial to fit with the school look that is being pushed, and there’s on panel in the second issue where he’s either twist his entire head round or the arms have been drawn on the wrong way. Either way, it’s not his finest. Things pick up a lot once Bradshaw steps in, and his art is wonderful.

But by this point, despite some sub-par artwork, I was already hooked because this is excellent, classic X-Men standard storytelling. There’s a refreshingly wide cast, from Kitty Pryde and Iceman, to the students, as well as a strong debut from the new Hellfire Club.

Normally Wolverine doesn’t work especially well alone because he requires something to rail against. It’s one of the reasons why the classic Cyclops/Wolverine argument works so well; Scott is all about control and Logan is barely suppressed rage. They’re the classic straight-man-fall-guy of superhero dynamics. Without someone to rail against Wolverine doesn’t especially work. He’s not interesting enough on his own, in part because he’s not especially unusual compared to the majority of the Marvel Universe, where nearly everyone is conflicted, and most heroes are happy to kill whenever it’s necessary.

But Aaron makes the great connection that the straight man he’s raging against is himself. Wolverine’s most difficult battle is to try and turn his back on that life and create a stable home for a bunch of superpowered pre-teens.

At one point, there’s a cover of Quire (code name: Kid Omega) with a graffiti sign behind him remarking ‘Do You Remember When Wolverine Was Interesting? Me Neither’. It’s a pithy put down, but it’s not quite right. Because this is where Wolverine is showing that he’s not begging it. And he’s not been this interesting in years.

Also Try:

Joss Whedon, Astonishing X-Men

Grant Morrison, New X-Men

Brian Michael Bendis, All New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men

Christos Gage, Avengers Academy

Uncanny X-Men Volume 1, Kieron Gillen

"In the wake of Schism, Cyclops leads a team of X-Men whose express purpose is to deal with extinction-level events. Meet the X-Men's ""Extinction Team"": Storm, Emma Frost, Magneto, Namor, Colossus, Danger, Magik and Hope. And the team's formation hasn't come a moment too soon, for Mr. Sinister has brazenly taken possession of the massive alien Dreaming Celestial - an act of open hostility designed to put the X-Men in their place, but also an offensive that will draw the attention of the godlike Celestials themselves. Collecting: Uncanny X-Men 1-4"










I got two X-Men graphic novels in a bid to catch up on the post Schism story lines as I'm loving the current run of X titles from Marvel. For those who are unaware, Schism was the sundering of the united mutant front into two separate sides, led by Cyclops and Wolverine. After years of simmering romantic competition over Jean Grey, a mutual distrust of one another's methods and the fact that they're just a ridiculous buddy cop duo (uptight control freak mutant leader meet psychotic berserker Samurai super soldier) their relationship utterly broke down and leads to the creation of two separate teams of X-Men.

With Wolverine off teaching school in Wolverine and the X-Men, Scott is left in Utopia leadin the cool mutants, like Magneto, Colossus and Doctor Nemesis. So, we have the best, and most powerful characters, characters bunched into a single 'Apocalypse Team' and it's written by fan-favourite writer Kieron Gillen! So, I was pretty excited about this one, certainly more than Wolverine's title.

Sadly, this isn't living up to expectations. Gillen can be bait hit or miss, and for a writer who is known for his ability to create 'the feels' he's created an exceptionally sterile narrative. Part of this is down to the large cast; with a focus on Scott and Emma Frost, mutant messiah Hope, Storm, Danger and side characters galore there's very little here to allow anything like emotive resonance.

But a bigger problem is the villain; Mr Sinister is probably one of the most underwhelming enemies the X-Men have. I don't really know what his deal is. He's an immortal Victorian geneticist obsessed with mutants, and the Summers bloodline especially, who wants to create a master race and was the lieutenant for Apocalypse? And he can shoot energy and has psychic powers? Or something.

Whatever, the point is that he's a rubbish villain, which make an introductory book that features him creating an entire city of Sinister's to fight the X-Men slightly boring. It doesn't help that the back up story is all about a mechanical parasitic alien that turns people into robot duplicates. That's two stories about impersonal replicants in one book! So if you're into that kind of thing, go for it.

Also Try:

Joss Whedon, Astonishing X-Men

Age of Apocalypse

Judd Winick, Exiles

Victor Gischler, X-Men: Curse of the Mutants
Jason Aaron, Wolverine and the X-Men

Ultimate X-Men: Return to Weapon X, Mark Millar

"Now pawn of the mysterious weapon X program, the mutant heros' only hope lies with the one team member to evade capture: the enigmatic, unproven Wolverine! Can Logan go it alone against the shadow-ops organisation that transformed him into one of the worlds most lethal killing machines."













I remember pretty clearly the first time that I read this book. It was at an Ottakers around the corner from my school and I was captivated by a scene in which Wolverine daydreams his slaughter of the rest of the X-Men. That's the kind of book this is. One in which the heroes hate one another, and wish they could kil one another. It's Mark Millar's X-Men, and its an excellent second Universe book.

This is not how I want all my X-Men books to be mind. The Astonishing, or All New , or Uncanny books at their best over the last few years have blown this out the water. But it's an unbelievablely good way of introducing the X-Men in a new way, not just as victims of prejudice, but of state sanctioned murder, persecution and rendition.

It's an extraordinarily political book, just as the Ultimates is a celebration of the power of the US, this is a deconstruction of the vagaries and dissembling of state power. The framing of the Weapon X programme as a black ops group operating through SHIELD removes the ridiculousness of Department H and the Canadian super-soldier programme, introduces a raft of new characters (Rogue and Nightcrawler stand out) and adds depth to the Wolverine and X-Men relationship.

There's a lot to love here, and its another one that sworn a read. It can get dark at times, so if you prfer your superheroes light and bright, I would avoid it, but if you like some dysfunctional, unusual ideas with a side helping of mutant on mutant conflict, this is your book!

Also Try:

Mark Millar, The Ultimates
J Michael Straczynski, Squadron Supreme
Peter David, Young Justice

Ultimate X-Men: The Tomorrow People, Mark Millar

"Star writer Mark Millar delivers Marvel's mutant heroes in a streamlined, character-rich adventure perfect for fans of their smash hit movie. Brought to life by the talented Kubert brothers, the X-Men fight for the future in this break-neck thrill-ride.Mutants, those born with strange powers, through genetic mutation, are not only hated and feared, but brutally murdered in the streets by U.S. sanctioned killing machines. Driven by a dream of peace, Professor X gathers his mutant soldiers, his X-Men, to try and bring sanity to an insane world. But can he forge his band of misfits into a strike force capable of defending the Earth from the evil Magneto and his Brotherhood and even from the very humans they seek to protect."







The Ultimate line was a great idea, an attempt to create an Earth 2 style spin-off line of continuity free, newly restarted heroes that welcomed new readers and retold classic stories in an updated setting. Spearheaded by Mark Millar's Ultimates and Ultimate X-Men it was an uncomplicated method of trying to take people who had seen the super movies of the early '00s and translate them to comic sales.

Over a decade later it has developed its own vast and sprawling myth arc and is as undeniably complex as the mainstream Marvel Universe (or Reality 616), despite attempts to reduce and simplify the cast through mega crossovers like Ultimatum, in which roughly half of all introduced heroes were killed off (including 90% of the recognisable X-Men). The Ultimate Universe has become a series of diminishing returns, with the notable exception of Ultimate Spider-Man, which has enjoyed a creative resurgence since killing off original Spider-Man Peter Parker and introducing legacy character Miles Morales.

But back in the day these were some of the best comics around, especially as an introduction to the wider Marvel Universe. They emerged at a perfect time for me to get into them as I started to read comics, and are fully responsible for my love of Marvel over DC. In reselling classic stories and reintroducing classic heroes and villains, they name dropped enough that I actively sought out those characters more.

Tomorrow People serves as a particularly excellent introduction to the X-Men, complete with teenage angst and the perils of being unwelcomed defenders of humanity. Much like the animated series, it opens with the sentinels rather that Magneto, leaving the reader in no doubt about who the real villains of the comic are: humans.

It also distils the original lineup down to a few of the more interesting characters: no Angel, Banshee. Havoc, Polaris, Sunfire or Thunderbird in this line up, so we're left with the pick of the original line-ups. Most of these will be introduced within the following few books, including Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde, but the distiller adaptation of everything X-Men, from films to TV, and ever some comics lore, means that you have a potently crafted mix which brings together the best line-ups and origins.

If you want to know where to start with comics it's hard not to suggest this - its a stand out first read, often funny and relatively realistic in comparison to the 60s X-Men, or even their 616 counterparts.

Also Try;

Brian Michael Bendis, Ultimate Spider-Man, All New X-Men

Grant Morrison, New X-Men

Joss Whedon, Astonishing X-Men

Mark Millar, The Ultimates

Uncanny X-Men, the Hidden Years, The Ghost and the Darkness; John Byrne

"Before House of M, before Onslaught, before the tragedy ofnthe Dark Phoenix, there were a handful of troubled teenagers and one man with a dream. Return to the X-Men's early days and discover the teams lost tales in this exclusive collection, expertly crafted by legendary comic book created John Byrne. The first seven issues of John Byrne's X-Men: The Hidden Years are collected in one titanic tome for the first time! This series chronicles the adventures of Marvel's original team of merry mutants after their Silver Age saga had run its course, and before the launch of the All-New, All-Different band of heroes. COLLECTING: X-Men : The Hidden Years 1-7"










This one is totally bizarre, a John Byrne scripted look back at the 'missing' adventures of the original X-Men team of Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Angel and the Beast. Now, this is a time period ripe for rewriting, as it's widely agreed that the early first X-Men run was not very good, at least until Mutant Genesis and the second team came in.

The problem is that the idea of showing previously unseen adventures of the early team has been done better elsewhere, in First Class. Where as that contained a fresh start for the X-Men that welcomed new readers and old alike, this is a book that is only really relevant to those who have read the full early run, or at least enough to know about the Z-Nox and Professor X's decision to fake his death.

The behaviour of Iceman in particular only really works as part of a larger storyline, and casting the most (literally) chilled out of the original five X-Men as a hot head who quits the team in a huff seems a little bit odd. He's mostly absent for this story, which instead concentrate on Scott, Jean, Warren and Hank journeying to the Savage Land to find the body of Magneto and prove to the Professor that their enemy is truly dead.

Spoiler alert; he isn't.

Although he is a ghost for most of the book; because, the Savage Land.

The Savage Land is such a perfectly goofy comic book concept (mysterious zone in the antarctice circle where Dinosaurs, primitive humans and various other creatures still reside) that's so undervalued by the amount of time that's actually spent there. The stakes are always supposedly raised by a visit there and this never usually pays off, so it's nice to see something more than just the usual 'team turns up, fights a dinosaur, continues as normal' story, and some actual threat from the inhabitants.

Still, this lives up to the early X-Men reputation for being pretty weak. Definitely check out either First Class or All New X-Men instead.

Also Try:
Jeff Parker, X-Men: First Class
Brian Michael Bendis, All New X-Men
Mark Millar, Ultimate X-Men: Hellfire and Brimstone
Chris Claremont, Uncanny X-Men

X-Men: Scarlet in Glory, Chris Claremont

"When Angel is kidnapped by the freakish mutants known as the Morlocks the X-Men head into the sewers beneath New York to rescue him. Once there Storm is forced to fight their leader Callisto in a vicious duel to the death. Upon returning to the mansion, the group are shocked to discover the former mutant terrorist Rogue at the door begging for sanctuary. Next the team travel to Japan to attend Wolverine's wedding. But the happy day is marred by the arrival of the Silver Samurai. Finally, the group face a terrible spectre from the past as the Phoenix rises from the ashes to torment the group once more."








It constantly amazes me how much of X-Men lore comes from Claremont. Say what you will about his writing style, and how he shaped the majority of the major X-Men storylines. Here for instance we have Storm fight Callisto for control of the Morlocks, the 'return' of Phoenix (by way of Mastermind and everyone's least favourite Jean Grey contrivance, Madelyne Pryor) Storm gets a mohawk, Kitty and Colossus have their first kiss, the almost-wedding of Wolverine and Mariko, Rogue joining the team, Wolverine fighting Silver Samurai.

That is an insane amount of material for what's a tiny fraction of an epic run.

Virtually every single great X-en storyline has its roots in these issues, so it makes for compelling reading, even when the outcome is now so well known that there's little mystery (see Madelyne, Storm's Mohawk, Kitty and Peter, eveyone hating Rogue). Whilst some of those can drag a little bit there's never a lull in the action - this is anything but decompressed. In the spand of a few issues you get the introduction, set up, reveal and defeat of villain after villain.

The art's a little inconsistent, especially compared to the early Byrne work, with Wolverine's head changing size and shape a little through his time in Japan, but otherwise it's a solid representation of the X-Men, especially in their battle against Cyclops and Phoenix towards the end.

Also Try:

Chris Claremont, Uncanny X-Men

Hulk: Broken Worlds, Various

Across the infinite stretches of the multiverse, countless worlds are forever changed by the monster known as the Hulk... but must his tale always end in tragedy? Join us as we revisit Marvel's alternate worlds for new tales of the rampaging green goliath! Go on a journey to the House of M, the Microverse, a Future Imperfect, Age of Apocalypse, the Days of Future Past, the Marvel Mangaverse, and the years 1602 and 2099! Then, you know the HULK, but it's time you met his whole family. From Bruce's cousin She-Hulk to those who've inherited his irradiated genes, Hulk's family tree is looking a little greener all the time. Featuring: The Sensational She-Hulk, Skaar, The Daughter of Hulk, and Thundra! Plus: legendary scribe Chris Claremont delivers an epic battle between the Hulk and Colossus! Collects Hulk: Broken Worlds #1-2, Hulk Family #1, and X-Men vs. Hulk.

A collection of random Hulk-centric Elseworlds tales - Future Imperfect, the Microverse, Days of Future Past - and Hulk Family bio's, featuring Skaar, She Hulk and Scorpion, in one volume - interesting, but not why I bought this.

Sadly for the Hulk I actually picked this up for the X-Men story at the end (Colossus and Kitty Pryde fight the Hulk so Wolverine can see how tough Colossus is). That was worth the price of admission alone, and is a nice showing of how Colossus might take down the stronger, tougher Hulk.

But actually the other stories are pretty good - I like alternate universe tales and the massive number of artists (eleven for 5 issues) used to draw each different one makes this an incredibly interesting showcase of talent. Especial highlights are a really sweet Days of Future Past issue in which the Hulk breaks out of his concentration camp to post some letters and a hilarious issue from Future Imperfect where the hulk hurling Captain America's shield has some fairly bad consequences for a random thug a few miles away.

Also Try:

Planet Hulk and World War Hulk, Greg Pak

World War Hulk: X-Men, Christos Gage

Days of Future Past, Chris Claremont

X-Men Legacy; Sins of the Father: Mike Carey

As Professor X searches to fill the gaps in his memory, someone else searches for him. His psyche rebuilt from the ground up after he suffered a near-fatal gunshot wound, the former leader of the X-Men has set out to rediscover his forgotten past. But when one of his former students, Gambit, tracks him down, he brings news of an assassination plot centering on Xavier, among others. The reason for the plan is obscure, but all the targets share a history with the recently deceased X-Men foe Mr. Sinister. Though he no longer walks the earth, the man once known as Nathaniel Milbury has managed to reach beyond the grave, by way of a plot conceived decades ago but only coming into effect upon his death. In the process of defending Professor Xavier, Gambit is forced into an uneasy alliance with one of the X-Men's oldest foes. Can they put their differences aside long enough to uncover the truth about Sinister's plot and the attempts on Xavier's life? This volume also includes a story by X-Men co-creator Stan Lee, in which "The Man" himself explores the relationship between Xavier and his sometime foe, sometime friend Magneto. Plus: a recently uncovered X-Men story by classic creators Roger Stern and Dave Cockrum!

I am a huge fan of the X-Men, but a surprisingly poorly read one - I have a lot of the early Claremont run, and am picking up a lot of the current Bendis run, but I like to pick up random back issues where I can to supplement my knowledge, and I am a sucker for anything featuring Cyclops, especially post-House of M. So I picked this up on the basis of Cyclops on the cover, only to find it was all about Charles Xavier.

Sure, Cyclops shows up for a few issues at the end so that he can have a heart-to-heart with Xavier, but it's mainly about the Professor, Gambit and Sebastian Shaw teaming up to take down Mr. Sinister. Of those characters, I actually only like the two bad guys, so this wasn't a huge draw.

It does however feature a back up in which Magenton and Professor X kidnap Stan Lee to ask him to stop making them fight as they want a holiday. That one is excellent.

Also Try:
Joss Whedon, Astonishing X-Men
Brian Michael Bendis, All New X-Men, Uncanny X-Men
Chris Claremont, Uncanny X-Men
Grant M|orrison, New X-Men

Exiles: Point of No Return, Jeff Parker

"Heroes are being pulled out of the worlds they know - The Beast. The Witch. Panther. Forge. Polaris. All find themselves in a place out of time with a new mission in life. But something seems to have shifted in the mechanics of the universe, and things may not be quite what we remember. But one thing we know for certain - BLINK is BACK! Collects Exiles #1-5."













Exiles is one of my favourite series, a What-If worlds tour between different realities starring alternate versions of classic X-Men and Avengers righting the course of history in different dimensions. It's a wonderful concept, designed to appeal to those who love the history of the Marvel Universe as much as a casual comics or X-Men fan. The original series, running for 100 issues, is one that I collect to this day, picking up the (many) trade paperbacks whenever I can.

It has an easy appeal to explain: big storylines that were ended by the heroes are taken to their logical extreme. It's a series where writers can do whatever they want - kill all the heroes, let the villains win, destroy all mutants, whatever they want! From realities where Captain America became a vampire (in that reality he hadn't got a collar on when Baron Blood attacked him) to ones where Wolverine killed everyone (he was never rescued from Hydra brainwashing) or Professor X is a supervillain, it served as a replacement for the off-and-on again What If?, or DC's Elseworlds titles.

Whilst it declined in quality when Chris Claremont (and his beloved Psylocke) joined, this first volume of Exiles (2), is a real return to form. So of course, it got cancelled after 6 issues, meaning we never got to see the planned worlds of Magic or Savage Land World storylines.

Split into two basic stories, with the first returning for the final few issues, this see's a new team of Exiles jaunting to realities where all mutants united under Magneto on Genosha, and one where a Cerebro-Ultron programme share retasked all robots to destroy humanity.

The art and story are both excellent, and if you're a fan of reality hopping tales, Marvel history, or just great comics it's really worth picking up.

Also try:
Exiles, Judd Winick
What If?, Various Writers
Superman: Red Son, Mark Millar
Marvel Zombies, Robert Kirkman