icemanjeff79 wrote:
Incidentally, if the original post refers to the current ongoing series X-Men Forever by Chris Claremont, I must vent for a moment. After thumbing through several issues, I just have to say that that particular series is an absolutely abysmal "sour grapes" series and a slap in the face to anyone who enjoyed the stories post October 1991.
I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Are you saying that "Forever" takes place outside of continuity? Or is it an "in-between" series, telling previously unrecorded stories? Either way...well, I was going to buy it for no more reason than I love Tom Grummett, but when I picked up the book, I don't know--I just didn't want to revisit those early 90s days. X-Men was pretty much moribund in those times; I know McFarlane and Liefeld were moving things into new directions and there was a lot of excitement, but I was just kind of sick of X-Men at the time. Claremont was always a good writer, but over those 16 years he managed to leave too much up in the air concerning the subplots and back stories. I couldn't follow X-Men. I kept reading to the end of the decade but I frankly wasn't enjoying it all that much. Lobdell and friends deserve kudos simply because they were restoring the book to its original concept--finding mutants, fighting prejudice, etc. Claremont wrote good stuff, but he always segued into these never-never land mutli-parters that had nothing to do with the X-Men or mutants, or anything remotely tied in with the original concept. Stuff like Mojoworld, the Starjammers/Shi-Ar universe, Dracula, the demons, the Brood, 2 dozen different alternate futures...all this stuff had nothing whatsoever to do with mutants. Lobdell's team pretty much ignored that stuff for good solid storylines set on firm solid ground on Marvel earth. Claremont's run, taken as a whole--it's just too damn much going on. Notice his most popular storylines were stuff like Logan in the sewers, the Morlock massacre, etc. Realistically played, and definitely in line with Stan & Jack's original intent for the series.