I've been an X-Men fan most of my life. Two years ago, after Divided We Stand, I dropped all the X-books. I knew where the creative team in charge was taking the series and I knew I wouldn't like it. In my opinion, this era of X-Men that will forever go unread by me can be attributed, for the most part, to Marvel Editorial -- who regularly play the role of greedy villain in the comic book industry -- and of course, Matt Fraction. 
 
I think Fraction is a great writer; he did more for Iron Fist than any writer probably will do or has done and he breathed new life into Iron Man. And, in all fairness, I've not read most of his X-Men work. It's not the writing that I have issue with -- I'm sure its excellent -- it's the general direction of the series and characters. I have issues with the X-Men being led by Cyclops and Emma Frost, who seem to be pretty amoral (or at least they were before I stopped reading), the absence of Professor Xavier's influence, the presence of Magneto as a quasi-spiritual figure, and their base of operations being on the west coast. I have other issues with specific character's as well: Wolverine being all over the damn place, Deadpool being all over the damn place, etc... But I'll chalk these up to "things that will never change because they make a crap-load of money".
 
Bottom line: I want the X-Men back to their roots. Back to moral and social conflict, back to Magneto being the most terrifying and radical villain in the Marvel Universe, back to the X-Mansion for christ's sake, and back to being led by Xavier. Marvel has literally stripped the X-Men genre of comics of everything that made them successful.
 
This is why I enjoyed X-Men #7 so much (see my other blog post). It felt like Victor Gischler was taking the X-Men back in the right direction. I could do without valley brat Emma being there, but it wasn't a detriment. Seeing Gambit, Storm and Wolverine in NYC and dealing with Spidey was fantastic. And by the way, Gischler wrote Wolverine the way every writer should: as a member to the X-Men. Not the star of the book, not the Avenger, not the mindless tank. I love Wolverine as a character, but I hate the over exposure and trying to make the character into something he's not.
 
I hope Gischler and Bachalo continue to deliver the classic-esque X-Men stories, and I'll read the book until they stop doing so. But I also want change across the board. I'm hoping that "Year of the X-Men" will bring such a change, although I do fear that it will end up just being another stupid crossover. I want to read all the X-Books again, I want to be a fan. But I want X-men, not whatever you call what's been going on for the past 2+ years.

I've been an X-Men fan most of my life. Two years ago, after Divided We Stand, I dropped all the X-books. I knew where the creative team in charge was taking the series and I knew I wouldn't like it. In my opinion, this era of X-Men that will forever go unread by me can be attributed, for the most part, to Marvel Editorial -- who regularly play the role of greedy villain in the comic book industry -- and of course, Matt Fraction. 
 
I think Fraction is a great writer; he did more for Iron Fist than any writer probably will do or has done and he breathed new life into Iron Man. And, in all fairness, I've not read most of his X-Men work. It's not the writing that I have issue with -- I'm sure its excellent -- it's the general direction of the series and characters. I have issues with the X-Men being led by Cyclops and Emma Frost, who seem to be pretty amoral (or at least they were before I stopped reading), the absence of Professor Xavier's influence, the presence of Magneto as a quasi-spiritual figure, and their base of operations being on the west coast. I have other issues with specific character's as well: Wolverine being all over the damn place, Deadpool being all over the damn place, etc... But I'll chalk these up to "things that will never change because they make a crap-load of money".
 
Bottom line: I want the X-Men back to their roots. Back to moral and social conflict, back to Magneto being the most terrifying and radical villain in the Marvel Universe, back to the X-Mansion for christ's sake, and back to being led by Xavier. Marvel has literally stripped the X-Men genre of comics of everything that made them successful.
 
This is why I enjoyed X-Men #7 so much (see my other blog post). It felt like Victor Gischler was taking the X-Men back in the right direction. I could do without valley brat Emma being there, but it wasn't a detriment. Seeing Gambit, Storm and Wolverine in NYC and dealing with Spidey was fantastic. And by the way, Gischler wrote Wolverine the way every writer should: as a member to the X-Men. Not the star of the book, not the Avenger, not the mindless tank. I love Wolverine as a character, but I hate the over exposure and trying to make the character into something he's not.
 
I hope Gischler and Bachalo continue to deliver the classic-esque X-Men stories, and I'll read the book until they stop doing so. But I also want change across the board. I'm hoping that "Year of the X-Men" will bring such a change, although I do fear that it will end up just being another stupid crossover. I want to read all the X-Books again, I want to be a fan. But I want X-men, not whatever you call what's been going on for the past 2+ years.

Due to March having a five week spread, this week's comic haul seemed pretty light yesterday. I'm not a big spender any week of the month, but I usually buy at least 3 or 4 titles. In the case of yesterday, there just wasn't much on the stands that seemed to catch my interest. Aside from the usual (Batman Beyond and Green Lantern), there was one that got my attention, though: X-Men.
 
Now, the X-books always attract my eye. I grab one, flip through it and put it back on the rack usually unimpressed. The reason the X-books always keep me looking is because, in many ways, they're what got me into comics in the first place. Like many youngsters in the 90s, I got into comics after religiously following the X-Men cartoon. Long story short, I've been reading about the X-Men ever since -- that is, until Messiah Complex ended.
 
For me, Messiah Complex represented everything that I ever loved about the X-Men. I devoured every issue, every week and couldn't wait for more. I thought the story was brilliant and the entire thing handled really well. Once it ended, I expected more of the same good stuff, but all I got was weak stories. Needless to say, I was disappointed. I stuck with the X-Men titles through Divided We Stand, but after the conclusion I reluctantly left my favorite titles behind. I just wasn't enjoying them anymore, and every week reading them started to feel more and more like a chore rather than a hobby. This state of mind is a good representation of my feelings toward Marvel Comics in general. By this time, I had been so disgruntled with Marvel titles that the X-books were the only Marvel floppies that I was reading. When I dropped X-Men: Legacy and Uncanny X-Men, I dropped Marvel.
 
Thankfully, DC was hitting home runs at the time, and I was thoroughly enjoying the Green Lantern books and the Batman titles. In fact, my buying habits have remained pretty much constant ever since. I've been Mavel-less since roughly early 2009. Yesterday changed that when I saw Victor Gischler and Chris Bachalo's X-Men on the rack. When I opened it, I felt like you do when you bump into an old friend: happy, nostalgic, a little uneasy... I must admit, it was Bachalo's art that grabbed me the way it did. Chris Bachalo was always one of my favorite X-Men artists and when I saw his work yesterday, coupled with the fact that the book was set in NYC with a cast of (pretty much) standard X-Men, I was sold. I bought the first part of the arc, but left the newest issue on the stands in anticipation of being disappointed by Gischler's writing (no offense Victor Gischler!).
 
I must say, I was more than pleasantly surprised. I was about as enthralled as I get from comics. The book felt so familiar, so right, and yet, so fresh. That's a huge feat, in my opinion. The fact that the X-Men are operating out of San Francisco still bothers me for some reason, but it's handled well in the opening pages and shows why the heroes are in NYC again. I've heard rumors of Scott's turn toward douche-ism and Emma's seemingly erratic personality during my two year hiatus, but  haven't had the opportunity to experience it first hand. That may be good, or bad. Whatever the case is, I think Gischler handled things perfectly. He managed to blend the classic feel of the X-Men that I love with the current story lines in a way that wasn't detrimental to either aspect -- something Matt Fraction failed to do, in my opinion.
 
But like old friends, I can't say whether this is just one of those cases where a "nice to see you" suffices, or a reconciliation is warranted it. I can't say for sure that I'll be buying this book from here on out, but I will at least read the entire arc; and from the look of things, I'll enjoy it. If I do, I'll consider myself an X-reader again. 
 
 
NOTE: This blog was written in partial response to another blog that I recently read. The other blogger is at the opposite end of the spectrum, but we ought not forget that things usually come full circle. That blog is here: http://stormantic.wordpress.com/2011/03/02/state-of-the-x-men-storm/