What were the worst X-Men storylines you have read?
X-Men
Team » X-Men appears in 13419 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.
Worst X-Men storylines?
@FadeToBlackBolt said:
- Warsong
- Schism
- Deadly Genesis
I thought that Schism was so poorly written because the characters were so off base in that story.
Agreed. Additionally, the writer was an absolutely avid fan of one of the key characters, and the story is supposed to be objectively told? Come off it.@FadeToBlackBolt said:
- Warsong
- Schism
- Deadly Genesis
I thought that Schism was so poorly written because the characters were so off base in that story.
Schism had the least writer-integrity of any comic arc ever.
@Steps said:
The one where Nightcrawler's path to becoming a priest was just an elaborate plot by mutant haters to make him pope and exposing him as a mutant thing... yup that one.
I want to say it was The Draco or one of the storylines preceding it. It was definitely Austen's run, so you should probably just disregard it ;)
@Steps said:
The one where Nightcrawler's path to becoming a priest was just an elaborate plot by mutant haters to make him pope and exposing him as a mutant thing... yup that one.
unfortunately i think i have that trade somewhere...@FadeToBlackBolt said:
- Warsong
- Schism
- Deadly Genesis
you have read my mind
@FadeToBlackBolt said:
- Warsong
- Schism
- Deadly Genesis
Agree on Schism, didn't mind Deadly Genesis and Warsong was just lackluster as opposed to outright awful.
What is TRULY awful? Two words: Chuck Austen. His entire X-Men run was plagued with terrible storytelling.
@FadeToBlackBolt said:
@Rabbitearsblog said:Agreed. Additionally, the writer was an absolutely avid fan of one of the key characters, and the story is supposed to be objectively told? Come off it. Schism had the least writer-integrity of any comic arc ever.@FadeToBlackBolt said:
- Warsong
- Schism
- Deadly Genesis
I thought that Schism was so poorly written because the characters were so off base in that story.
I totally agree with this! Sometimes the problem with writers who are huge fans of one character is that they focus too much on one character rather than focusing on the whole cast and I think that's where Schism sort of fail to really capture the motive of the story.
@The Dark Huntress said:
@ApatheticAvenger said:
Chuck Austen. His entire X-Men run was plagued with terrible storytelling.
His was the first stuff I read :(
I'm sorry, but the point still stands. However, to me, the 90s (Operation Zero Tolerance, especially), was ground-breaking.
@John Valentine said:
@The Dark Huntress said:
@ApatheticAvenger said:
Chuck Austen. His entire X-Men run was plagued with terrible storytelling.
His was the first stuff I read :(
I'm sorry, but the point still stands. However, to me, the 90s (Operation Zero Tolerance, especially), was ground-breaking.
Oh, I totally agree, now that I've read other stuff. My point was more along the lines of, poor little me, I didn't actually know that it was bad at the time. My intro to the X-Men and comics was cartoons and then fan-fids on Youtube to get a taste for what art I liked. From there, it was purchasing comics. First one I bought was Endsong, IIRC. And from there I started going back and buying up the X-Men trades, starting with Dixon's run.
It's why I was so worried about Fractions reign of terror run. There's a whole new generation of readership who don't understand what terrible writing and characterization that is, simply because they've never experienced anything else.
@The Dark Huntress said:
@John Valentine said:
@The Dark Huntress said:
@ApatheticAvenger said:
Chuck Austen. His entire X-Men run was plagued with terrible storytelling.
His was the first stuff I read :(
I'm sorry, but the point still stands. However, to me, the 90s (Operation Zero Tolerance, especially), was ground-breaking.
Oh, I totally agree, now that I've read other stuff. My point was more along the lines of, poor little me, I didn't actually know that it was bad at the time. My intro to the X-Men and comics was cartoons and then fan-fids on Youtube to get a taste for what art I liked. From there, it was purchasing comics. First one I bought was Endsong, IIRC. And from there I started going back and buying up the X-Men trades, starting with Dixon's run.
It's why I was so worried about Fractions
reign of terror run. There's a whole new generation of readership who don't understand what terrible writing and characterization that is, simply because they've never experienced anything else.
Haha, poor you. Ah, the 1990s Animated Series. So want to get that full DVD collection, what a series!
End Song was one of the first graphic novels I bought.
It's just a bad memory now. Just a bad memory.
@John Valentine said:
@The Dark Huntress said:
@John Valentine said:
@The Dark Huntress said:
@ApatheticAvenger said:
Chuck Austen. His entire X-Men run was plagued with terrible storytelling.
His was the first stuff I read :(
I'm sorry, but the point still stands. However, to me, the 90s (Operation Zero Tolerance, especially), was ground-breaking.
Oh, I totally agree, now that I've read other stuff. My point was more along the lines of, poor little me, I didn't actually know that it was bad at the time. My intro to the X-Men and comics was cartoons and then fan-fids on Youtube to get a taste for what art I liked. From there, it was purchasing comics. First one I bought was Endsong, IIRC. And from there I started going back and buying up the X-Men trades, starting with Dixon's run.
It's why I was so worried about Fractions
reign of terror run. There's a whole new generation of readership who don't understand what terrible writing and characterization that is, simply because they've never experienced anything else.Haha, poor you. Ah, the 1990s Animated Series. So want to get that full DVD collection, what a series!
End Song was one of the first graphic novels I bought.
It's just a bad memory now. Just a bad memory.
I'm shamed to admit that I've never actually seen it. Although it is streaming on Netflix, IIRC. I was more into X-Men: Evolution, JL and JLU and then WaTX is what gave me the final shove.
Land wasn't terrible, then.
And thank god. I'm so happy with what Gillen's done so far. And Dodson is gone :D
@Halle Romanova said:
@Steps said:
The one where Nightcrawler's path to becoming a priest was just an elaborate plot by mutant haters to make him pope and exposing him as a mutant thing... yup that one.
I want to say it was The Draco or one of the storylines preceding it. It was definitely Austen's run, so you should probably just disregard it ;)
I decided to go back to read it and see if I can find any redeeming qualities to it... damn I must be some glutton for punishment.
Schism was pretty bad. Felt contrived, meant only to create another event and split the X-Men.
Necosha, however, I feel takes the cake in worst X-Men storylines. Onslaught is probably the only thing that comes close to it.
@JoseDRiveraTCR7 said:
Schism was pretty bad. Felt contrived, meant only to create another event and split the X-Men.
Necosha, however, I feel takes the cake in worst X-Men storylines. Onslaught is probably the only thing that comes close to it.
Yeah, I felt that Schism was just there to split up the team for no logical reason. What's worse was that most of the X-Team weren't even there when Cyclops and Wolverine started fighting, so why would they choose sides without asking them what really happened?
@JoseDRiveraTCR7 said:
Necosha, however, I feel takes the cake in worst X-Men storylines. Onslaught is probably the only thing that comes close to it.
Why?
@Steps said:
@Halle Romanova said:
@Steps said:
The one where Nightcrawler's path to becoming a priest was just an elaborate plot by mutant haters to make him pope and exposing him as a mutant thing... yup that one.
I want to say it was The Draco or one of the storylines preceding it. It was definitely Austen's run, so you should probably just disregard it ;)
I decided to go back to read it and see if I can find any redeeming qualities to it... damn I must be some glutton for punishment.
We're comic book fans. We're masochists by nature ;p
I have been an X-Men fan since I was a little kid and I have seen some bad stories over the years.
My least favotite stort lines are:
House of M: This piece of **** actually drove me away from comics for over a year and the "no more mutants" conclusion pissed me off more than the actual story.
E is for Extinction: The introduction of Cassandra Nova and the destruction of Genosha came from this little gem and I use that term lightly. I hate the whole concept of Cassandra Nova her being a mummudrai, a noncorporeal parasite from the astral plane. I know comic creators have to take chances from time to time when creatng new enemies but this just plane sucked.
I know with these 2 story lines there was some editorial pressure to thin out the mutant population so to speak as the number of mutants in the marvel universe had entered into the millions and it was getting difficult for the for the heroes (avengers, fantastic four, spiderman and others) to continue to ignore the treatment of mutants who outside of their little enclaves were hunted and treated badly in the world. So to allow the heroes to continue on in blissful ignorance the number of mutants in the marvel universe was reduced drastically.
Another other store line I was not a big fan of was Legion Quest but I generally let that slide as it lead to the Age of Apocalypse, one of my favorites.
Schism was a completely contrived poorly written pile of garbage making some characters do things against their established history. Of course I am speaking of Wolverine. If Wolverine had previously had a problem with the younger X-Men being put into dangerous situations he never said anything before, in face he would help prepare them for combat taking them under his wing so to speak. One thing the writers got right was instead of being a responsible adult being at the actual event to look out for the younger X-Men Logon was in a bar having a drink. The rest is a contrived piece of **** whose goal is to drive a wedge between Wolverine and Cyclops and fractue the X-Men into 2 smaller groups. The stupidest thing of all is Wolverine is going to be headmaster of a new school a job he is totally unsuited for. Yes there has to be an opportunity for growth and character development but not where it is a complete divergence from their established history.
@lorex said:
I have been an X-Men fan since I was a little kid and I have seen some bad stories over the years.
My least favotite stort lines are:
House of M: This piece of **** actually drove me away from comics for over a year and the "no more mutants" conclusion pissed me off more than the actual story.
E is for Extinction: The introduction of Cassandra Nova and the destruction of Genosha came from this little gem and I use that term lightly. I hate the whole concept of Cassandra Nova her being a mummudrai, a noncorporeal parasite from the astral plane. I know comic creators have to take chances from time to time when creatng new enemies but this just plane sucked.
I know with these 2 story lines there was some editorial pressure to thin out the mutant population so to speak as the number of mutants in the marvel universe had entered into the millions and it was getting difficult for the for the heroes (avengers, fantastic four, spiderman and others) to continue to ignore the treatment of mutants who outside of their little enclaves were hunted and treated badly in the world. So to allow the heroes to continue on in blissful ignorance the number of mutants in the marvel universe was reduced drastically.
Another other store line I was not a big fan of was Legion Quest but I generally let that slide as it lead to the Age of Apocalypse, one of my favorites.
Schism was a completely contrived poorly written pile of garbage making some characters do things against their established history. Of course I am speaking of Wolverine. If Wolverine had previously had a problem with the younger X-Men being put into dangerous situations he never said anything before, in face he would help prepare them for combat taking them under his wing so to speak. One thing the writers got right was instead of being a responsible adult being at the actual event to look out for the younger X-Men Logon was in a bar having a drink. The rest is a contrived piece of **** whose goal is to drive a wedge between Wolverine and Cyclops and fractue the X-Men into 2 smaller groups. The stupidest thing of all is Wolverine is going to be headmaster of a new school a job he is totally unsuited for. Yes there has to be an opportunity for growth and character development but not where it is a complete divergence from their established history.
I agree with Schism and House of M. I thought that House of M was an interesting idea, but after that, Marvel just didn't have any good stories to tell after it and therefore, House of M became a waste of time. I really did not like Schism because while the idea was interesting, the characters were too out of base and it felt like the plot didn't make any sense at all. If Wolverine had a problem with Cyclops sending children into battle, then it should have been written in the story about Wolverine' past history about being a killer and what that has done for him or they could have mentioned about the incident where Wolverine killed his own children and how that affected his stance on the situation.
I enjoyed Curse of the Mutants during it's publication, but in hindsight, the whole "vampire season" gimmick is such a cheap ploy by Marvel.
@yumyumbubblegum said:
I enjoyed Curse of the Mutants during it's publication, but in hindsight, the whole "vampire season" gimmick is such a cheap ploy by Marvel.
I didn't care much for the Curse of the Mutants arc since there was no clear storyline during that arc, at least the publication I got was mainly random stories of the X-Men fighting vampires.
Curse of the Mutants was pretty bad. Mostly because I hate Vampires but more so because it seemed like a cover for making Jubilee more than just a normal girl without her mutant abilities.The only think I hate worst than Vampires is my favorite characters BECOMING Vampires.
@Vance Astro said:
Curse of the Mutants was pretty bad. Mostly because I hate Vampires but more so because it seemed like a cover for making Jubilee more than just a normal girl without her mutant abilities.The only think I hate worst than Vampires is my favorite characters BECOMING Vampires.
I still can't get over the whole "Jubilee is a vampire" thing. I mean, why didn't they just let her be a normal girl with no powers. Being a vampire just doesn't make a whole lot of sense, especially in the world they live in and turning Jubilee into a vampire was just too odd.
Apocalypse The Twelve. There was some excitement while reading it, but a few flaws jumped out right away, but it got worse when looking at later stories and how anything panned out.
Their were individual parts that I liked about it too, don't get me wrong. Wolverines Death costume was cool (him as Death really seemed to end up pointless all around), Erik Larsons issue where Angel gets new wings (again, doesn't end up having a purpose nor panning out), and the Ages Of Apocalypse break was nice. But everything aside from being flawed (Apocalypse didn't know Magneto's powers weren't working in his lifetime planned master plan, Skrulls-mutant Skrulls-Egyptian warriors Oh My!, the choice horsemen who pretty much didn't pan out either nor really even had a solid reason for being there, Mikhail Rasputin?, and again not a single thing holding water in continuity about this, except maybe the permanent damage done to Apocalypses characters reputation. There was a mutant Skrull team led by Xavier shortly. Cyclops returns like nothing happened. Apocalypse tries not to mention this awful day, as does everyone else involved just kind of ignore it. Oh, and there's a Skrull Wolverine body over there, anyone notice. Certainly not the Skrulls themselves, they decided not to even bring this up during Secret Invasion, even the X-Men tie in. I could write on this to the bottom of the page, but needless to say stands out as my most loathed storyline.
@CATPANEXE said:
Apocalypse The Twelve. There was some excitement while reading it, but a few flaws jumped out right away, but it got worse when looking at later stories and how anything panned out.
Their were individual parts that I liked about it too, don't get me wrong. Wolverines Death costume was cool (him as Death really seemed to end up pointless all around), Erik Larsons issue where Angel gets new wings (again, doesn't end up having a purpose nor panning out), and the Ages Of Apocalypse break was nice. But everything aside from being flawed (Apocalypse didn't know Magneto's powers weren't working in his lifetime planned master plan, Skrulls-mutant Skrulls-Egyptian warriors Oh My!, the choice horsemen who pretty much didn't pan out either nor really even had a solid reason for being there, Mikhail Rasputin?, and again not a single thing holding water in continuity about this, except maybe the permanent damage done to Apocalypses characters reputation. There was a mutant Skrull team led by Xavier shortly. Cyclops returns like nothing happened. Apocalypse tries not to mention this awful day, as does everyone else involved just kind of ignore it. Oh, and there's a Skrull Wolverine body over there, anyone notice. Certainly not the Skrulls themselves, they decided not to even bring this up during Secret Invasion, even the X-Men tie in. I could write on this to the bottom of the page, but needless to say stands out as my most loathed storyline.
I've wondered about the whole idea about Wolverine being Death in that arc, although it was a bit shocking.
@ApatheticAvenger said:
What is TRULY awful? Two words: Chuck Austen. His entire X-Men run was plagued with terrible storytelling.
This
@TDK_1997 said:
I can say that Schism was the worst X-Men thing I have ever read(I admit,I haven't read much X-Men storylines).
I agree. Even if I was new to the X-Men, the one thing that will always stand out in my mind when reading this is how would the other X-Men know what is going on if they weren't there when Cyclops and Wolverine started fighting? I can't really see the other team members really choosing sides at a time like this because they probably would have stopped them if they could, not just stand around and let them split up the team.
@TDK_1997: @Rabbitearsblog: I kinda disagree with Schism...it wasn't the best written story arc. However, it was an interesting concept. The execution wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either. I can cut a little slack for less than stellar writing on a good concept. The same with Civil War. Civil War was an AWESOME story. All of the characterization wasn't completely faithful though. However, I cut the line at Countdown to Final Crisis.
You want a bad X-Men story? Brace yourself. This is frightful.
Once upon a time Matt Fraction was born.... Oh god I can't muster the courage to continue....
@ssejllenrad said:
You want a bad X-Men story? Brace yourself. This is frightful. Once upon a time Matt Fraction was born.... Oh god I can't muster the courage to continue....
Yes, his run of X-Men was terrible...
Schism, Curse of the Mutants, Planet X, Operation: Zero Tolerance, Phoenix: Warsong, and im not too much liking the whole Generation Hope storyline (dont care for Hope herself either) ...
@GREGalicious said:
Schism, Curse of the Mutants, Planet X, Operation: Zero Tolerance, Phoenix: Warsong, and im not too much liking the whole Generation Hope storyline (dont care for Hope herself either) ...
I didn't like Curse of the Mutants either.
@lykopis said:
House of M. A few others, but this stands out the most to me. Annoyed me to no end.
Yeah. I didn't like the way that House of M ended although we saw it coming.
@Ouija said:
Colossus's resurrection, it made his death worthless.
I actually liked the story about Colossus being resurrected, but I do agree with you that it made his first death pointless and his death was truly moving.
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