I’ve been reading comics for 14 years. From the beginning, the only titles I stuck with were the X-Titles. I started out with X-Factor #65-68 and Uncanny #274-277, and just like that I met my favorite fictional characters - first, the Original Five, and then Storm’s team. Before long, the X-plosion of titles in 1991 came upon us and I was knee deep in Muties: issues of Uncanny, X-Men, X-Force and X-Factor were always on my nightstand. I became involved in the lives of these characters, and came to care about their fates. I followed the storylines through various titles, mini series and crossovers. Lobdell and Nicieza could do no wrong in my book…
Soon, I started to familiarize myself with the great works of the past – Dark Phoenix Saga, Mutant Massacre, Fall of the Mutants, Asgardian Wars and more. I came to appreciate and recognize the vast tapestry of the X-Men saga, from its roots in the Sixties to its apex (as I saw it) in the Nineties.
Somewhere along the line, I became aware of the Internet and suddenly I had a window into the inner workings of my beloved medium. Not only that, I was exposed to other opinions and interpretations of other fans. I realized that I was reading (and feeling involved with) stories that HAD no ending, stories that were PLANNED to run forever. Worse, stories that seemed to develop without pre-planning, basically just “wingin’ it” to fall in line with whatever editorial vision currently dominating the franchise.
There were bright spots, though. Up until the end of the Age of Apocalypse, I had a GREAT time, and enjoyed every minute. I realized that the stories from 1991 and onward weren’t necessarily following the vision of Chris Claremont, who I learned to admire for his commitment and classic storytelling (though some of his “high and mighty” style of writing pseudo-Shakespearean dialogue, and soap opera plots seemed forced even then), but that was fine with me. I still loved the developments in the lives of the X-Titles.
The period from 1995-1998 was a slow, yet steady decline in my affection and commitment to the X-saga. Not even Kelly & Seagle managed to “stem the tide”, especially after their run was cut short by editorial, resulting in their resignation.
Never-ending storylines (Legacy virus, 3rd Summers brother, Creed’s murder, Cable vs. Stryfe vs. Apocalypse etc.), running-in-circles character developments, subplots that led to nowhere…It was getting to be a bit much. Alan Davis’ run tied up many subplots and briefly had me excited again ( I, personally, loved Magneto ruling Genosha)…right up to the end of The Twelve (and Ages of Apocalypse) and the High Evolutionary story that followed – my absolute favorite character (Cyclops) was gone, and my favorite franchise seemed, to me, at least, inaccessible.
The 21st century brought with it the promise of a Revolution. Handled by Claremont himself, no less! What I got was a year bad stories, bad character development (why did every character revert to their mid-Eighties incarnation??) and overall lack of direction. Aside from the Counter X GenX, X-Man, Cable, Gambit, and the Cyclops mini, I felt the X-Franchise was at its lowest. I was wrong.
2001 showcased an interim run by Lobdell which was surprisingly good (until the end of Eve of Destruction, which proved to be a non-event…), but the real treat came afterwards: the Relaunch by Morrison and Casey. Suddenly the X-Men seemed fresh again! Suddenly it truly seemed new , with a 21st century flavor and sensibility ! The True Revolution was upon us! Or not.
Casey’s run proved to be a mediocre combination of lackluster storytelling too involved in its own hype. His replacement was even worse. Chuck Austen revived the X-Men soap opera on levels unseen in decades. What’s worse, he wasn’t anywhere near as prolific as Claremont in his early days. Uncanny X-Men was a reminder of all that was wrong with the franchise. During this time (the “wolves” story) I actually stopped buying UXM after 12 years…
Morrison’s New X-Men was the funnest X-perience I had in years. Ideas and concepts were turned on their heads or reinvented to create a new, self-contained, and best of all, carefully planned IN ADVANCE chapter of the X-Men. As his run came closer and closer to completion, I even returned to buying UXM in TPB’s. I was hyped about the X-Men again. The thought of Morrison’s X-Chapter and his successors’ take on the characters made me CARE about the franchise again. I even bought Claremont’s XXM to stay up-to-date on the characters’ lives (Even though I thought CC was a shadow of his former self by now). I was psyched to read the end of New X-Men and the beginning of ReLoad…
Morrison’s ending didn’t disappoint (bet you didn’t see THAT coming  – it just set a standard I was hoping the new creative teams could meet.
And then came ReLoad… Astonishing X-Men is now my favorite, basically being “New X-Men Vol.2”. As for the others – It seems someone decided that moving forward with the X-concept was too X-treme a move. Instead CC was given the “keys to the kingdom” and started to systematically remove any and all evidence that Morrison’s run ever happened. Hell, any evidence ANY stories happened post-1991. Suddenly we have good, noble Magneto back without any explanation. We have costumed, angst-ridden, soap-opera flavored Mutants back. We have friggin’ Rob Liefeld on teen-oriented X-Force again…
So, I found myself so distanced with the current state of the X-Men, I just dropped Uncanny’ Excalibur and X-Men flat cold, leaving only Astonishing X-Men (for now)
So that’s the story of how my exposure to Morrison’s run taught me to aspire to better stories, bolder concepts and high quality writing—thing currently quite rare in the X-Universe… It also serves as my version of “X-Men’s State of the Union”.
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