The constant hero infighting is getting old. I also thik its pretty obvious that Marvel would like to elevate something else to the place xmen currently hold. All I'm saying is that the idea of the xmen being in a separate universe I not as distasteful as some think. I also think having less xmen and less books while focusing on quality and maybe printing a smaller number of books more often ( as opposed to just monthly) would do well. But thats my opinion

I can see where you're coming from, I just as a whole don't find the vampire thing to be that interesting all in all. Which is weird seeing as I created a mutant RP character that was essentially a vampire. Basically his mutation was closer to something like Darwin's naturally, but he was born with a rare blood disease that would have killed him if not for his mutant power activating at puberty and thus adapting him to survive. And while rambling I think I realize why it doesn't appeal to me, and it more about the fact that I feel like vampirism hasn't really been explored well within her current character arcs. Oh they did sort of a fast forward of the usual, "I have to try not to be evil" "The sun might be a problem for me" You know the vampire classics, but they never really tackle whom Jubilee is and how vampirism has effected her in a personal way. In fact I realize that I like vampire Jubes less than I like powerless Jubes. When she was powerless they had Nation X#2 and that was one of my favorite Jubilee stories not from the 90s and she was interesting and compelling, and just sitting on a bench. Jubes on a bench lamenting her lost powers and wondering if she has a place with the X-Men is better than vampire Jubilee to me. And that makes me realize that maybe it is less the vampire thing and more the way that the vampire thing has been handled that makes me not a fan.

Edit: Also, sorry for thread derailment.

yeah, I guess I see what you mean.

I guess I don't really see her being a vampire as being that much different than having some inconvenient mutant power, since there are lots of characters with similar powers anyway (Sauron, Selene, Emplate, etc), and lots of characters who have struggled not to have their humanity consumed by their powers (Beast, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Wolfsbane, Rogue, etc) or otherwise consider their powers a curse.

When Jubilee joined that secret school of vampires to learn how to use her powers without being evil (an obvious analogy to the X-men themselves, minus the PR mission of being a superhero), I was actually sort of glad because it meant that her learning to use her powers wouldn't have to be a hugely central aspect to her story going forward, that it needn't be that different from the experience of many mutants, but still somehow distinct among mutants. From that perspective, it just seemed like another way for her to have super powers, which i was happy for simply because it gave her the ability to be a more relevant member of the team.

That Jubilee was turned into a vampire around the time all the Twilight's and all came out was an obvious gimmick. I think that is what irritates people. There should be no need to jump on the bandwagon. The Xmen comics should set the trend not follow it

Definitely this.

Rogue, Hollow and X-23

1. Karma
2. Ariel
3. Dani Moonstar

Ok so I have a few variants...

Either:

Husk, Dani Moonstar, and Pixie

or

Sage, Wolfsbane, and Dust

or

Mercury, Dazzler, and Stacy X (bring her back... she's the "edge" the team really needs)

Oh and BTW (which I almost forgot to mention), Marvel is taking out the villains and use heroes vs heroes only because they know villains are more interesting then heroes. So they just wanted us to focused on the heroes characterization imo.

@flavalon said:

I was more thinking about Avengers villains and villains of individual characters when I said this but there is no shortage of villains for the X-Men or anyone else in the Marvel Universe. It would take too long to break down where all of these characters are but if you look their bios up you will see that many of them have had fairly recent appearances or revamps. Apocalypse for instance just had a story arc in Uncanny Avengers which is a Marvel NOW title.

You took this part out of context, I was saying that I don't think the Avengers & X-Men are fighting each other because their villains aren't good enough to be more of their focus. Several of Marvel's events have been centered around a powerful villain or group of villains. Civil War, Initiative, House of M, & Avengers vs. X-Men so far have been the only exceptions. That leaves Secret Invasion, Dark Reign, Siege, Fear Itself, Age of Ultron, Infinity, Annihilation, and now Original Sin.

Yes, I have been paying attention to everything NOT just X-Men. The entire Marvel Universe has been getting torn apart by villains for the last decade. Whole teams have been not just disassembled but destroyed. For there to be new Alpha Flight issues, Marvel had to figure out how to bring over half that team back from the dead. Several members of the X-Men have died in that time as well as the Avengers. Marvel's villains are doing exactly what they were created for.

Let's pretend for a second this is true. So what you're telling me is out of all the books on the shelf..all superheroes are doing in the Marvel Universe is fighting each other? So the Guardians of the Galaxy, Rocket Raccoon, The X-Men, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Wolverine, The Thunderbolts, Thor, Iron Man, etc. all they are doing is fighting other heroes? Or are you saying that heroes are only fighting each other in events because they don't have enough villains? Civil War & Avengers vs. X-Men are the only events that are truly centered around heroes fighting each other and they've done an event ever year since '06. That's not even including all of the events specific to certain teams and solo heroes that were centered completely around villains or a non-heroes vs. heroes conflict.

You didn't explain how Marvel is mistreating the X-Men, you just said the opposite of what I said and then went on talking about how there is a lack of villains.

@flavalon said:

What?

X-23

Domino

Emma

Dazzler, Magma, and Moonstar. But I think I prefer smaller teams.

Husk, Moonstar, Domino.

I would be pumped for any of these three.

@jhazzroucher said:

Rogue, Hollow and X-23

hmm, words, words, words... reading.... ahh, pictures! I vote with the pictures!

I agree. However, the X-Men comics have jumped on bandwagons before using gimmicks to create characters:

• Dazzler - created during the end of the disco era, with powers designed to work alongside a real-life singer that would have the same performing name and etc., which ultimately fell through before the deal was completed.
• Cable/Shatterstar/Anyone-With-Big-Shoulderpads-Plus-Big-Guns/Swords - created during an era when certain artists in the 90s popularized Big Everything...big hair, big muscles, body armor, and obsessive focuses on Xtreme superheroes with Rambo-like combat abilities.
• Magik - One of my favorites, but she was created during a time when magic and demonic possession was somewhat of a thing. It had been years since "The Exorcist", but there were a lot of movies about demons and magic at the time. I also think that's why her magical abilities have never really been integrated into the X-Men mythos - they've generally been accepted, but except for occasional spell usage, her magic usage was strict limited to Limbo for the most part. There were also other heroes associated with magic during this time period - Kulan Gath became associated with the X-Men during this time (he was an older Conan character, though), Jennifer Kale, Magali Szardos, and Dr. Druid were active around this time period as well with at least three crossover events prominently focused around magic (the Atlantis Attacks, Inferno, and the one where Manhattan was transformed into an island like one you'd find in Conan).
• Mirage/Thunderbird/Thunderbird II - This is interesting because there was a fascination with Native Americans at the time, that seems to have completely faded away from our pop culture memory. This was the time period when the commercial with the crying Native American, when celebs would dress up in the ethnic jewelry or clothing as a fashion statement, and etc.
• Dust - it's not a surprise, given the above, that Marvel writers thought it would be edgy to create a visibly Muslim character during a time period where they were (and still are) marginalized by some parts of the American population.
• Karma - her background was partially a result of more attention being paid to the aftermath of the Vietnam war. Unfortunately, because this dates the character by tying her to a specific time period, it's hard to reconcile that with her apparent age compared to her teammates and the fact that she hasn't aged since, while some of her teammates are young adults. Current writers don't really focus on her origins.
• Luke Cage and Misty Knight - created during an era where blacksploitation films were still in vogue; both characters were meant to personify the image of street smart, African Americans from the inner city (moreso for Cage), and cash in on the lingo, style of dress, and inner city problems faced during that time. There was even a story where Storm first met them, and Luke had to explain the street problems he fought against to her (not much of a stretch considering she spent most of her life in Africa).

The question is whether some of these characters were created because of the fads, or if interesting parts of this background legitimately inspired their creation. It's not always so clear.

Rogue

Kitty

Dazzler

I like this debrief analysis! Great job! You should do a whole blog centered around characters created in result of popular culture's transition and flow from one bandwagon to the next!

I like all the other X-Ladies too much to want to put them on the worst x-men title.

X-23

Agreed

Av book.