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    X-Men

    Team » X-Men appears in 13417 issues.

    The X-Men are a superhero team of mutants founded by Professor Charles Xavier. They are dedicated to helping fellow mutants and sworn to protect a world that fears and hates them.

    Will an X-Men member ever get an ongoing?

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    moywar700

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    #1  Edited By moywar700

    So far, wolverine is the only x-men member with an solo ongoing series, but will there ever a another member who can pull one off Who are the best possible candidates for one?

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    CATPANEXE

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    #2  Edited By CATPANEXE

    Is it bad that I actually laughed out loud? If looking at history tells me anything, probably several attempts at series will be made but none will actually last. Wolverines popularity was actually somewhat immediate and not necessarily codependent on the X-Men, not unlike Iron Man and Captain America of the Avengers which sort of explains why his character pulled it off. Most mutants can pull off a title, Dazzler and Mystique are good proof of that, but maintaining one seems to have some kind of a stigma. My candidates are again Dazzler and Mystique, particularly the former since they already proved to at least be able to hold a few years. Any other character that can hold an X-book itself as a central storyline character would stand a limited chance, like Rogue for example who stood as X-Men Legacy's flagship character for years now. Psylocke is pulling the kind of attention currently to garner as series as well right now, though minding there's been attempts at that and they also felt that same stigma X-Universe characters seem to ail from.

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    jubilee042

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    #3  Edited By jubilee042

    what catpanexe said i mean jubes series only lasted six issues and x 23 pulled of 20 issues but then again she is wolvies clone(like father like clone),mystique lasted 24 issues and emma series lasted 18 issues so attempts hopefully will be made but keep your fingers crossed that they last longer cause"maintaining one seems to have some kind of a stigma".

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    MyraMyraMyra

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    #4  Edited By MyraMyraMyra

    I guess the problem is that while the franchise is full of interesting characters who can easily be written as the protagonist of their own series, only Wolverine is iconic and popular enough to keep the sales consistently high. It seems that the rest of the X-Men are only marketable enough as a group.

    I wish Gambit got his own series again.

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    jhazzroucher

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    #5  Edited By jhazzroucher

    1. Storm

    2. Psylocke

    3. Jubilee

    4. Multiple Man

    5. Shatterstar

    6. Rogue

    7. Jean Grey

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    cattlebattle

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    #6  Edited By cattlebattle

    Cable used to have a solo series that went into triple digits..... 
      
    I think Fantomex could carry his own series

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    papad1992

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    #7  Edited By papad1992

    @moywar700:

    X-23 - lasted 20 issues

    Dazzler - lasted 42 issues

    Mystique - lasted 24 issues

    Rogue - lasted 12 issues

    Nightcrawler - lasted 12 issues

    Gambit - lasted 25 issues

    Emma Frost - lasted 18 issues

    Cable - lasted 107 issues

    Storm - lasted 6 issues

    X-Man - lasted 75 issues

    Namor - lasted 62 issues

    PLUS THERE HAS BEEN MANY MINI-SERIES, LIKE:

    Pixe

    Jubilee

    Colossus

    Iceman

    Psylocke

    Longshot

    Magik

    and many others...

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    a0040pc

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    #8  Edited By a0040pc

    Personally I'd like to see.

    1. Gambit

    2. Kitty Pryde

    3.Nightcrawler

    4. Rogue

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    PhoenixoftheTides

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    #9  Edited By PhoenixoftheTides

    Short answer: No. The X-Men are primarily a team book and some of the more popular members are simply not that interesting outside of that team dynamic; not necessarily a bad thing nor a slam; The Fantastic Four would have similar issues since the series revolves around a family dynamic. Dazzler does deserve an honorable mention but IIRC the sales were pretty low and the only reason it was launched was due to a failed record label partnership that never panned out (I've read the entire series because every issue was available for five cents or less at most of the comic stores I shopped at). No other X-Man has been able to garner the interest Wolverine has (for what it's worth, many of his stories run the gamut from fanservice to well-written drama in quality, so his brand is more dynamic than just "he cuts things/people good!"). Iron Man, Captain America and Thor existed prior to The Avengers, and it seems that creating a full fledged character/brand and then integrating them into a team is often the key to making them successful.

    If I had to hazard an explanation - the stigma of the X-Men is that they are held back by their brand. For better or worse, they don't often appear in other stories, and when they do, characters that were written to be extremely good in the X books tend to be unimpressive compared to the heavy hitters among the Avengers, Fantastic Four and etc. Also, I notice that many of the X-Men were created as a result of pop culture - Dazzler will never live down her disco roots, while Dust, Psylocke, Magik, Pixie, Vampire Jubilee, Cable and even Nate/X-Man are the result of this pop sensibility whereas the more enduring Marvel characters manage to be somewhat original. Once the pop culture interest in magic and demonic possession died down during the original New Mutants run, for example, and interest switched to Terminator style future drama and shoulder pads, Magik was quickly de-powered, de-aged and pushed aside despite being one of the more popular New Mutants. Even Colossus and Storm suffer from this to a certain extent - All New, All Different was created to feature an international group of mutants to an extent that their personalities were quite stereotypical and came later. Storm has been able to tap into a certain fanbase as a glamazon but her character just doesn't drive interest or sales. For better or worse, Iron Man, Thor, Wolverine, Silver Surfer and Captain America seem to touch on something original yet timeless in a way that pop-inspired characters don't. It may be that the X-Men are simply more transparent in appealing to trends than other teams and are quicker to roll out characters of a certain race or background to appeal to trending topics.

    @papad1992: Great breakdown of sales figures.

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    WeaponX619

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    #10  Edited By WeaponX619

    I would love to see more X-Men solo books besides Wolverine but it doesn't seem probable, the most I really see working are mini series which sucks

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    haydenclaireheroes

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    I know Hope had an ongoing for a little while and X23 did too. But it would be cool to see other X-men have the chance to shine in their own ongoing.

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    Video_Martian

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    #12  Edited By Video_Martian

    If the character's name isn't WOLVERINE, then no.

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    papad1992

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    #13  Edited By papad1992

    @PhoenixoftheTides said:

    Short answer: No. The X-Men are primarily a team book and some of the more popular members are simply not that interesting outside of that team dynamic; not necessarily a bad thing nor a slam; The Fantastic Four would have similar issues since the series revolves around a family dynamic. Dazzler does deserve an honorable mention but IIRC the sales were pretty low and the only reason it was launched was due to a failed record label partnership that never panned out (I've read the entire series because every issue was available for five cents or less at most of the comic stores I shopped at). No other X-Man has been able to garner the interest Wolverine has (for what it's worth, many of his stories run the gamut from fanservice to well-written drama in quality, so his brand is more dynamic than just "he cuts things/people good!"). Iron Man, Captain America and Thor existed prior to The Avengers, and it seems that creating a full fledged character/brand and then integrating them into a team is often the key to making them successful.

    If I had to hazard an explanation - the stigma of the X-Men is that they are held back by their brand. For better or worse, they don't often appear in other stories, and when they do, characters that were written to be extremely good in the X books tend to be unimpressive compared to the heavy hitters among the Avengers, Fantastic Four and etc. Also, I notice that many of the X-Men were created as a result of pop culture - Dazzler will never live down her disco roots, while Dust, Psylocke, Magik, Pixie, Vampire Jubilee, Cable and even Nate/X-Man are the result of this pop sensibility whereas the more enduring Marvel characters manage to be somewhat original. Once the pop culture interest in magic and demonic possession died down during the original New Mutants run, for example, and interest switched to Terminator style future drama and shoulder pads, Magik was quickly de-powered, de-aged and pushed aside despite being one of the more popular New Mutants. Even Colossus and Storm suffer from this to a certain extent - All New, All Different was created to feature an international group of mutants to an extent that their personalities were quite stereotypical and came later. Storm has been able to tap into a certain fanbase as a glamazon but her character just doesn't drive interest or sales. For better or worse, Iron Man, Thor, Wolverine, Silver Surfer and Captain America seem to touch on something original yet timeless in a way that pop-inspired characters don't. It may be that the X-Men are simply more transparent in appealing to trends than other teams and are quicker to roll out characters of a certain race or background to appeal to trending topics.

    @papad1992: Great breakdown of sales figures.

    Thanks... and holy cow u wrote an essay!! Ur thoughts are very thought out and interesting! I feel like I'm back in college where I had to turn in term papers every other week...

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    John Valentine

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    #14  Edited By John Valentine

    Early X-Factor Vol.3 was basically a Madrox series with a supporting cast and it was BRILLIANT.

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    deactivated-579156ff11b09

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    - I think there are a few characters that could support an ongoing, but it would need a lot of stars to align for it to last very long.

    1 - A direction for the title that resonated with the fans of the character, a real purpose for the title and not just an obvious spin-off to tell random stories

    2 - Creating or using A-list villains, a hero is as only as good as their rogues gallery

    3 - Significant guest X-characters to keep it feeling tied to the rest of the books without being hijacked by them

    Storm - maybe

    Psylocke - maybe

    Gambit - likely

    Cable - maybe (his popularity really has died down)

    - Based on the quality of prior solo series and minis, it would likely be DOA, most were terrible

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    Burnstar1230

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    #16  Edited By Burnstar1230

    Like most people have mentioned, the character would need supporting characters, a rogues gallery all their own, and interest from readers so that they do buy it and continue to read it. With his past, supporting characters unaffiliated with the X-Men, and Rogues that could easily be said to be mostly his, Wolverine is the only person I can see right now with his own series that can last in the long run. Everyone else could have minis, but there hasn't been enough focus on other X-Men characters besides Wolverine.

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    Rabbitearsblog

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    #17  Edited By Rabbitearsblog

    Unfortunately, I think the only way for any of the other X-Men characters to get their own ongoing series is if they are as popular as Wolverine is, but none of the other characters were able to get to Wolverine's level of popularity, although there were some that were close. If Marvel just started making better stories for the other characters, then more fans would want to have other ongoing series that star other characters from the X-Men universe. Some characters that I wanted to have their own on going series are:

    1. Colossus and Magik

    2. Gambit

    3. Kitty Pryde

    4. Storm

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    BatteredArmor

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    #18  Edited By BatteredArmor

    If Cyke ever leaves the X-men I would love a series with him as the protector of Alaska. I'd prefer if he remained to lead the X-men though

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    Gambit1024

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    #19  Edited By Gambit1024

    Besides Wolverine? Probably not. But I think Namor, Gambit, Madrox, and Magneto are more than capable of getting their own books. It's not the characters' fault the book fails, it's the bad writers that make them suck.

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    Rabbitearsblog

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    #20  Edited By Rabbitearsblog

    @Gambit1024 said:

    Besides Wolverine? Probably not. But I think Namor, Gambit, Madrox, and Magneto are more than capable of getting their own books. It's not the characters' fault the book fails, it's the bad writers that make them suck.

    I definitely agree! The reason why Wolverine's books are so popular is because there are good writers writing his series, but when it comes to the other characters, there are barely any good writers writing them. If there were more good writers writing the other characters' series, then they would be as successful as Wolverine.

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    Gambit1024

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    #21  Edited By Gambit1024

    @Rabbitearsblog said:

    @Gambit1024 said:

    Besides Wolverine? Probably not. But I think Namor, Gambit, Madrox, and Magneto are more than capable of getting their own books. It's not the characters' fault the book fails, it's the bad writers that make them suck.

    I definitely agree! The reason why Wolverine's books are so popular is because there are good writers writing his series, but when it comes to the other characters, there are barely any good writers writing them. If there were more good writers writing the other characters' series, then they would be as successful as Wolverine.

    Exactly. Look at Aquaman. He's a character that everyone thought was a joke and his book literally outsold everything Marvel put out last month.

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    Rabbitearsblog

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    #22  Edited By Rabbitearsblog

    @Gambit1024 said:

    @Rabbitearsblog said:

    @Gambit1024 said:

    Besides Wolverine? Probably not. But I think Namor, Gambit, Madrox, and Magneto are more than capable of getting their own books. It's not the characters' fault the book fails, it's the bad writers that make them suck.

    I definitely agree! The reason why Wolverine's books are so popular is because there are good writers writing his series, but when it comes to the other characters, there are barely any good writers writing them. If there were more good writers writing the other characters' series, then they would be as successful as Wolverine.

    Exactly. Look at Aquaman. He's a character that everyone thought was a joke and his book literally outsold everything Marvel put out last month.

    Yep! Just goes to show how good writing can make a character really popular! By the way, which writers do you think can write these characters the best if they have their own on going series?

    Colossus

    Kitty Pryde

    Jean Grey

    Storm

    Cable

    Psylocke

    Magik

    Gambit

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    Gambit1024

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    #23  Edited By Gambit1024

    @Rabbitearsblog said:

    @Gambit1024 said:

    @Rabbitearsblog said:

    @Gambit1024 said:

    Besides Wolverine? Probably not. But I think Namor, Gambit, Madrox, and Magneto are more than capable of getting their own books. It's not the characters' fault the book fails, it's the bad writers that make them suck.

    I definitely agree! The reason why Wolverine's books are so popular is because there are good writers writing his series, but when it comes to the other characters, there are barely any good writers writing them. If there were more good writers writing the other characters' series, then they would be as successful as Wolverine.

    Exactly. Look at Aquaman. He's a character that everyone thought was a joke and his book literally outsold everything Marvel put out last month.

    Yep! Just goes to show how good writing can make a character really popular! By the way, which writers do you think can write these characters the best if they have their own on going series?

    Colossus

    Kitty Pryde

    Jean Grey

    Storm

    Cable

    Psylocke

    Magik

    Gambit

    Not sure about all of them, but I know the guy who's currently writing Nightwing would be a perfect match for Gambit, whoever's writing X-Force would /is still doing a great job with Psylocke, and I think Ed Brubaker would write a great Cable. Not really sure on the others you mentioned though.

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    jrock85

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    #24  Edited By jrock85

    It all comes down to the creative team--just look at how well Animal Man is doing. Marvel typically doesn't do a good job of putting creative teams together that can sustain a successful solo title in today's market; so now is not the time for any X-character other than Wolverine to get a solo title.

    @Gambit1024: Kyle Higgins is the writer of Nightwing (I've also suggested him for Gambit), and Rick Remender is the writer of UXF.

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    Rabbitearsblog

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    #25  Edited By Rabbitearsblog
    @jrock85 said:

    It all comes down to the creative team--just look at how well Animal Man is doing. Marvel typically doesn't do a good job of putting creative teams together that can sustain a successful solo title in today's market; so now is not the time for any X-character other than Wolverine to get a solo title.

    @Gambit1024: Kyle Higgins is the writer of Nightwing (I've also suggested him for Gambit), and Rick Remender is the writer of UXF.

    I agree that lately, Marvel hasn't really done a good job at getting the right writers to work on a solo series. I hope they get better writers in the future.
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    jrock85

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    #26  Edited By jrock85

    @Rabbitearsblog: If anything, they could use some better artists.

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    Rabbitearsblog

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    #27  Edited By Rabbitearsblog
    @jrock85 said:

    @Rabbitearsblog: If anything, they could use some better artists.

    Oh yeah! I haven't like the art in many of the current X-Men comics for awhile now.
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    Rabbitearsblog

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    #28  Edited By Rabbitearsblog
    @MyraMyraMyra said:

    I guess the problem is that while the franchise is full of interesting characters who can easily be written as the protagonist of their own series, only Wolverine is iconic and popular enough to keep the sales consistently high. It seems that the rest of the X-Men are only marketable enough as a group.

    I wish Gambit got his own series again.

    Also, Wolverine seems to have the best writers when it comes to writing his stories. Sometimes, the other X-Men don't have many good writers who could make their characters interesting, although there were a few good writers who wrote the other X-Men characters when they briefly had their own ongoing series.
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    Nudeviking

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    #29  Edited By Nudeviking

    @Rabbitearsblog said:

    @jrock85 said:

    @Rabbitearsblog: If anything, they could use some better artists.

    Oh yeah! I haven't like the art in many of the current X-Men comics for awhile now.

    Have you read Uncanny X-Force at all? The art Jerome Opena did for that is pretty amazing. He hasn't done the last two issues, and I miss him already...

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    Powerzone789

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    #30  Edited By Powerzone789

    @cattlebattle said:

    Cable used to have a solo series that went into triple digits..... I think Fantomex could carry his own series

    this...and i would also read a cyclops series if they ever made one

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    DarkChris

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    #31  Edited By DarkChris

    I have suggested in the past the creation of a new line of mini-series. Every four months, a new character will be exlpored. e.g. Iceman #1-#4, Psylocke #1-#4 etc. Each series would have a different creative team. Top artists, top writers and every limited would have its own unique character. Jubille could be a vampire-related horror story, Psylocke could be pure action, Magik could be fantasy, Cable could be futuristic etc.

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    Powerzone789

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    #32  Edited By Powerzone789

    @DarkChris said:

    I have suggested in the past the creation of a new line of mini-series. Every four months, a new character will be exlpored. e.g. Iceman #1-#4, Psylocke #1-#4 etc. Each series would have a different creative team. Top artists, top writers and every limited would have its own unique character. Jubille could be a vampire-related horror story, Psylocke could be pure action, Magik could be fantasy, Cable could be futuristic etc.

    thats actually a really good idea...it would be good for character growth as well

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    poisonfleur

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    #33  Edited By poisonfleur

    @papad1992 said:

    @moywar700:

    X-23 - lasted 20 issues

    Dazzler - lasted 42 issues

    Mystique - lasted 24 issues

    Rogue - lasted 12 issues

    Nightcrawler - lasted 12 issues

    Gambit - lasted 25 issues

    Emma Frost - lasted 18 issues

    Cable - lasted 107 issues

    Storm - lasted 6 issues

    X-Man - lasted 75 issues

    Namor - lasted 62 issues

    PLUS THERE HAS BEEN MANY MINI-SERIES, LIKE:

    Pixe

    Jubilee

    Colossus

    Iceman

    Psylocke

    Longshot

    Magik

    and many others...

    Storm has had 14 issues actually. But still that isn't anything special, Seeing how Dazzler can top that.

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