#i just started reading the 60s x-men comics and

[byfulcrums]

her and her husband <3

idk how to do lighting and it turned out pretty ugly so here's the drawing w/o it!

[spaceorphan18]

How an animated series saved Remy LeBeau (again)

It's a bit of a hyperbolic title, but catchy, non?

I was looking over my comic collection as I've decided to reread X-Men's 60 year history over the course of the summer. And it got me thinking about a dead period of 616 canon that I've never actually read. Around the time Rogue hooked up with Magneto and scooted off to the Avengers, I decided I'd be done with comics for a while. And didn't start again until Rogue (and Gambit) came back to the X-books in 2017's Astonishing X-Men. But it made me wonder -- What happened to Gambit in that time??

Well, after his solo ended, he flitted around to X-Factor and hung out with X-23 and then kind of went 'poof' for a good long while.

Why? I can only guess the same reason this is a running motif with Gambit. There's something about him that drives the X-Office crazy. I'm not here to speculate what or how or who of it all. I don't know enough about the back end of Marvel to give concrete answers. But I think what has surprised me (recently) is that he's definitely a fan favorite character.

[Yes, I know he can be a divisive character. Yes, I know elements of his character from the 90s have not aged well. Yes, I know there are those of you who can't stand him. Don't really care - you can get off my lawn, thank you.]

Which got me thinking -- Gambit's original popularity, I believe, stemmed from the original X-Men Animated Series. He had just started showing up in the comics at the time, and had barely any kind of page time. And the X-Men TAS swung and was a hit. And so was Gambit.

I don't really know that Gambit would be around today if TAS hadn't done its thing. Would the X-Office have kept him around? I really have no idea.

But they did try to get rid of him. That was the point of leaving him in Antarctica. And things were just never the same after that. Claremont tried his best in the early 2000s. And then Deathbit happened. Carey's run wasn't bad. But Carey clearly had an agenda for other things... And then, Gambit just kind of faded into the background. (I hear his run as a side character for Laura (X-23) was good - but I haven't read that.)

Bless Kelly Thompson (always) for sparking life back into him with (and his relationship with Rogue). And bless the fact that she actually married him to Rogue. Yes, I understand comics -- my god look what they did to Peter and MJ, no one really gets to be happily married except Sue and Reed. He and Rogue are now really tied together in a way that I don't think is going to be undone any time soon.

Even if the X-Office still isn't thrilled with the guy. Krakoa era has been less than ideal. (I can't comment on it fully - I haven't read much of it, as I'm behind on my comic reading.) But I've heard rumors that one reason Thompson was let go was that she didn't want Gambit killed off. And she didn't like the direction they wanted to take the character.

Which leads me to X-Men 97. Killing him off sucked. Really. As a fan, it really sucked. But - my god, the reaction to it. Gambit was amazing. And all I've heard lately is good things about the character. There's been a Gambit resurgence in the best way. He may have went out -- but he went out with a bang. X-Men 97 made an emotional impact with people. And that changes things.

Gambit is cool again.

And I love it.

What's even more exciting is the fact that the X-Office has changed hands again and Gail Simone on Uncanny who (if her Twitter/X feed is to be believed) is really enjoying writing the character. Which means (hopefully) at least another year or two in the comics of some (hopefully) great Gambit stuff.

And maybe there will be some changing of hearts and minds in the X-Office.

It's actually very exciting.

And, guys, I really (really, really) doubt he'll be completely gone from X-Men 97, too.

Because Remy LeBeau never stays down for long.

But as a fan, it's nice to see him be on top again. And I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon.

[fastestmanalive333]

Teen Titans Reading List (Pre 52 Only)

Silver Age/Early Bronze Age(Humble beginnings, the stories are really really fun in my opinion, its a good starting point if you wanna know how the team got together, see where the teen titans started out its not for everyone but i love it! )

1964-1973

Brave and the Bold #54

Teen Titans: Year One #1-3

Brave and the Bold #60

Showcase #59

Solo #7/2 "Doom Patrol vs Teen Titans" (just a fun short story)

Teen Titans: Year One #4-6 (if you wanna skip silver age and you dont wanna read that stuff just read teen titans year one and you'll be fine)

Teen Titans Vol. 1 #1-18

Teen Titans Spotlight #21

Teen Titans Vol. 1 #19

Brave and the Bold #83

Teen Titans Vol. 1 #20-33

Brave and the Bold #94

Teen Titans Vol. 1 #34-39

Brave and the Bold #102

Early Bronze Age (I still consider this part of Silver Age as after these issues the series goes on hiatus as this was the 70s and comics were really not doing well during this time period you could conceptually jump here but i recommend jumping at the 1976 revival either way.. this is very very short)

Teen Titans Vol. 1 #40-43

1976 Revival/Bronze Age (the short lived revival of the series, the art is really really nice and introduces you to Titans West who are important to Lilith Clays as well as Gar, Bumblebee and Heralds characters you could jump here if you genuinely want too it gives good context to the Titans break up that leads into NTT)

1976-1978

Teen Titans Vol. 1 #44-53

DC Special Series #11 (1978)

Showcase #100 (1978)

Brave and the Bold #149 (1979)

New Teen Titans Era (One of my favorite eras, Wolfman and Perez do what Chris Claremont was doing with X-Men he revitilazed the Teen Titans it is definitely considered the gold standard, and was DC's most popular book at the time of its running outselling Superman, it is iconic and is really just one of my favorite runs I highly recommend jumping on here..)

1980-1984

Legends of the DC Universe #18 (1999) (just a good raven issue and prequel it is not needed)

New Teen Titans Vol. 1 #1-20 (1980)

Tales of the New Teen Titans #1-4 (a really good mini that is a good way of knowing the characters more)

New Teen Titans Vol. 1 #21-27

New Teen Titans Annual Vol. 1 #1  (1982)

New Teen Titans Vol. 1 #28-#34

New Teen Titans Annual Vol. 1 #2

New Teen Titans Vol. 1 #35-37

Batman and the Outsiders #5 

New Teen Titans Vol. 1 #38-#40

Tales of the Teen Titans #41-44

New Teen Titans Annual Vol. 1 #3

Tales of the Teen Titans #45-58

New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #1-5 (1984)

Wolfman Era Continued (George Perez Leaves about the time Crisis on Infinite Earths kicks off to write the series this era starts off ok, but like Legion of Superheroes after Crisis, sales did start to slightly tank, when the title changes to The New Titans it begins to get very very bad)

1984-1988

New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #6-9

New Teen Titans Vol. 2 Annual #1

New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #10-12

Crisis on Infinite Earths #1-9 (You do not need to read Crisis just know Kole dies in #12 of it)

New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #13-14 (Crisis on Infinite Earths Tie Ins,you dont need to read it as a whole just know Kole dies in it)

Crisis on Infinite Earths #10-12

Post Crisis

New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #15-22

New Teen Titans Vol. 2 Annual #2

New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #23-32

New Teen Titans Vol. 2 Annual #3

New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #33-46

New Teen Titans Vol. 2 Annual #4 (reminder since this is post crisis.. Diana was no longer Dianas sister as Wonder Woman was rebooted.. i believe its in 48 or 49 where they make it mentioned she has never met wonder woman)

New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #47-49 (Stop!! DONT CONTINUE AFTER THIS!!)

The New Titans Era (We kick this era off with Donna Troy Origin Fuckery.. good story tho.. Wolfman admits he wished this had never happened and that they could've been able to keep it as it was before.. you can tell he loses a lot of passion in this series and as a result the quality slips, due to many circumstances Editorial meddling, slipping sales etc. it becomes... awful!)

1988-1992

The New Titans #50-59 (1988)

The New Titans Annual #5 Batman (1940) #440-442 & The New Titans #60-61 (Lonely Place of Dying)

The New Titans #62-68 (GO BACK! GO BACK! BEFORE ITS TOO LATE!!)

The New Titans Annual #6

The New Titans #69-78

The New Titans Annual #7

The New Titans #79-86 (You have begun to reach the point of no return dont say i didnt warn you!!!)

The Bitter Painful End of the Wolfman Era (You can tell he is tired and washed af in these issues... this is your final warning you're fine? you sure? ok!!! here's evil Raven below so you know what you're in for!!)

1992-1996

Deathstroke The Terminator #1-13 (1991)

The New Titans #87-89, Deathstroke The Terminator #14-16, Team Titans 1-3

Titans Sell-Out Special #1 (1992)

The New Titans #90-93

Team Titans #4-6

The New Titans #94-96

Team Titans #7-10

The New Titans #97-100 (You have reached your death penalty these issues are painful to read) The New Titans #101-114

Team Titans #11-24

The New Titans #0 (this is probably where the run begins to pick up again in quality a little bit.. with a whole different fresh line up.. i unironically start enjoying it again i understand if its not for everyone tho)

Roy Harper takes over as the leader in short in #114

The New Titans #115-123

The New Titans Annual Vol. 2 #11

The New Titans #124, Green Lantern Vol. 3 #65, Darkstars #34, Damage #16, New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #125 (The Siege of the Zi Charam)

New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #126-130 (If you had made it this far... kudos to you!!!)

Young Justice/Titans Era(The 1999 Revival!! Titans are back after going through 90s hell!! and we also get Young Justice both Titans 1999 and Young Justice are really really good i definitely recommend both)

1999-2003

WF3: World's Finest Three (Superboy/Robin) #1-2

Robin Plus Impulse #1 (1996)

Young Justice: The Secret #1 (1998)

JLA: World Without Grownups #1-2 (1998)

Young Justice #1-4 (1998)

JLA/Titans #1-3 Titans Secret Files and Origins #1 (1999)

Young Justice Secret Files #1

Titans #1-3 (1999)

Young Justice #5-8

Young Justice 80-Page Giant #1

Titans #4-20

Young Justice #9-12, Supergirl Vol. 4 #36, Young Justice #13, Supergirl Vol. 4 #37

Titans #21-30

Wonder Woman Vol. 2 #153

Young Justice #14-19

Young Justice: Sins of Youth #1, Young Justice: Sins of Youth Secret Files #1, Sins of Youth: JLA Jr. #1, Sins of Youth: Aquaboy/Lagoon Man #1, Sins of Youth: Batboy and Robin #1, Sins of Youth: Kid Flash/Impulse #1,Sins of Youth: Starwoman and the JSA Jr. #1, Sins of Youth: Superboy Sr./Superman Jr. #1, Sins of Youth: Wonder Girls #1, Sins of Youth: The Secret/Deadboy #1,Young Justice: Sins of Youth #2

Beast Boy #1-4 (1999) 

Young Justice #20-40

Titans Annual #1

Titans #31-50

Young Justice #41-44, Impulse #85, Robin Vol. 2 #101, Young Justice #45 (Sins of Youth)

Young Justice #46-55

Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #1-3

Geoff Johns Era (In this Era we get Geoff Johns' Teen Titans Run, as well as Judd Winicks Outsiders run, which I will count here, Infinite Crisis happens, and theres some emotional stuff, I enjoy this era although for Titans personally again im biased as it was one of my first Teen Titans runs, and I love Geoff Johns, Judd Winicks Outsiders is a good read as well, i'll definitely include Infinite Crisis cause Conners death is important to latter issues, and the titans do have a bigger role in it then they do in the first crisis it is an optional read but just adding it)

2003-2006

Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files 2003

Teen Titans Vol. 3#1-16 (2003)

Teen Titans/Legion Special

Outsiders Vol. 3 #1-19 (2003)

Teen Titans Vol. 3#17-23

Outsiders Vol. 3 #20-24

Teen Titans Vol. 3 #24, Outsiders Vol. 3 #24, Teen Titans Vol. 3 #25, Outsiders Vol. 3 #25

DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy #1-4 (2005)

Teen Titans Vol. 3 #26-28

Infinite Crisis #1, Teen Titans Vol. 3 #29-31, Infinite Crisis #2-3, Teen Titans Vol. 3 #32, Teen Titans Vol. 3 Annual #1 (2006) (my favorite issue!!), Teen Titans Vol. 3 #33, Infinite Crisis #6-7

One Year Later (Geoff Johns does write for a little bit longer leaving the title entirely at 46, Sean Mckeever takes over, Cassie and Tim are the only two cour four members left and we get yet another new line up! Eddie and Rose are the best characters in this)

2006-2011

Teen Titans Vol. 3 #34-46, (47 is a countdown tie in and 48-49 are amazons attack tie ins.. skip those they're awful)

DC Special: Cyborg #1-6

Teen Titans Vol. 3 #50-61

Titans East Special #1

Titans Vol. 2 #1-4 (2008)

DC Universe: Decisions #1-4

Titans Vol. 2 #5-10

Teen Titans Vol. 3 #62-68

Terror Titans (2008) #1-6

Faces of Evil: Deathstroke #1 (2008)

Titans Vol. 2 #11, Teen Titans vol. 3 #69, Teen Titans Annual (2009), Vigilante Vol. 3 #4, Titans Vol. 2 #12, Vigilante Vol. 3 #5, Teen Titans vol. 3 #70, Titans Vol. 2 #13, Vigilante Vol. 3 #6 (Deathtrap)

Teen Titans vol. 3 #71-74

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds 1-5 (Bart and Conners resurrection)

Titans Vol 2#14-18

Teen Titans #75-76

Titans Vol. 2 #19-20 (Do NOT Read Past this.. every Titans 2008 issue becomes unreadable after 20.. just pretend they do not exist)

Teen Titans Vol 3. #79-87

Teen Titans Vol. 3 #88-89, Red Robin #18, Teen Titans Vol 3. #90, Red Robin #19, Teen Titans Vol 3. #91, Red Robin #20, Red Robin #20, Teen Titans Vol 3. #92, Red Robin #21

Teen Titans Vol 3. #93-100

Anyway Happy Reading!!!

And TITANS TOGETHER!!

[ffverr]

hello I come to you with a request. I watched x men 97 recently and was saddened by how little time the whole magneto in charge of the x men storyline got and I know he does this longer in the comics (I can't say why but the phrase "its seven in the morning max..." lives rent free in my brain) so I wanted to ask if you have any recommendation for comics from that era / any recommendations for comics with mister magnet-os because I want to get into x men comics but comics as always are so daunting

It is my great pleasure to answer this!!

Disclaimer 1, I am still going through a lot of the issues of this era but I will try my best to make it as clear a guide as I can for you!

Disclaimer 2, Headmaster of the school and leader of the X-Men are quite different positions that they kind of fused together in the 97 show so I do want to make it clear that magneto in the "seven in the morning" era is headmaster of the school, teaching young kids, while Storm is leading the X-men team and Scott is leading the X-factor team, so with that said:

Magneto's teacher arc starts in uncanny X-Men issues 199 and 200 (iconic issues containing the trial of magneto that was adapted in the show!) And then he is headmaster of the school in the book "The new mutants" by Chris Clermont, from issue 35 to issue 75. It is A LOT I admit and he gets a more minor place considering the book is about the kickass young class of new mutants that he's teaching. But it is worth checking out! Many consider this to kind of be peak magneto because.... he's trying so hard to be a good teacher and to handle all these kids and it's very humanizing for him!

I mean look at him and his 8 kids!

Now, how to get into Magneto overall? Let's get into it:

I believe it is impossible to get into Magneto without reading his ultimate origin story, Magneto: Testament by Greg Pack. It is a quick intro, it barely features his powers (not an action comic) and it is a very very emotional read. I consider it essential magneto reading!

Next up: Two One shots if you want to get a quick primer on the character pre moral arc instead of sitting through his few appearances in the Stan Lee comics:

A classic one: X-Men: God Loves, Men Kills by Chris Claremont. It is an iconic comic book one shot that can be read out of continuity just to see what his deal is when he's not necessarily on the side of the X-Men but fighting for his own ideals! It's overall a brilliant comic book!

If you want a more recent retelling of the first appearances of magneto you HAVE to read X-Men Mythos that retells magneto's major first appearance in the 60s in quite a beautiful and amazing way! It also has an absolutely insane magneto scene that is very memorable! (So this would "chronologically" come before God loves men Kills)

Now for his switch from cartoon villain of the 60s/early 70s to complex guy in the 80s, read the issues 149 and 150 from the run Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont. This is THE pivotal moment for "good guy" Magneto

(know that after issue 150, somehow he falls in the ocean from asteroid M, is rescued from a shark attack by Scott's girlfriend Lee Forester. They have a quick relationship where he struggled with his change of morals then he comes to the new mutants)

if you want to continue chronologically you read the issues 199 and 200 that I recommended at the start then go to the new mutants book I talked about earlier!

If you want MORE MODERN comics, then I advise you get right into what's happening at the moment!

House of X powers of X are two series that intertwine (you'll easily find them in the right order) by the same writer, Jonathan hickman!

It serves as a status quo change/relaunch of the X-Men universe. Magneto plays a big part of the story as he is directly involved in building a mutant nation. I'd say it's a bold but quite functional intro to X-Men comics!

Then he appears as a major character in the GREAT series X-Men Red by Al Ewing alongside Storm, a character that meant a lot to him in the 80s, so it's really nice to see again.

In this he is- epic, depressed, suicidal, sassy, it's great magneto stuff! This series is widely regarded as the best X-Men comic out right now!

(if you want context for this book read the event X of Swords, or I could explain if interested)

That's about all I will lay on you ! If this is hella confusing, don't hesitate to dm me! I can detail more cleanly exactly what you have to read and when!

Good reading!

[positivelybeastly]

I'm new to comics and love beast. Is there any comics with beast that you'd recommend? There's so many xmen comics and idk where to start.

Hello there, friend! Getting into comic books is damned hard, but, thankfully, resources like Reddit, Tumblr, and Marvel Unlimited (or your pirating site of choice) all make it a lot easier to get into them these days without having to worry about being confused.

Well. You'll still be a little confused. Comic books are convoluted. But at least you'll be able to engage with them on your own terms. :) And, it's worth it. Mostly.

I'll tell you straight out that if you want some good entry points, like, this is my first X-Men comic, what do I read, I'd recommend the following:

X-Men: First Class (2006)

X-Men vol. 2 (1991)

New X-Men vol. 1 (2001)

Astonishing X-Men vol. 3 (2004)

X-Men vol. 6 (2024)

As for Beast specific recommendations? I have a ton!

For Beast as a character, being examined in his own right, I would recommend the following:

X-Men Origins: Beast - a retelling of his origin, updated with modern art and writing. Written by Mike Carey, whose work you should generally look into if you like X-Men - he focuses a lot on characters like Rogue and Xavier, but also on Beast, which is handy for our purposes!

X-Men: Unlimited vol. 1 #10 and vol. 2 #10 - so, this may be somewhat confusing to a new comic reader, but comics have volumes. This is when a comic of a certain title ends, and it's then relaunched with a new creative team, usually with a very different story.

So, X-Men: Unlimited is an anthology series that tells unconnected stories that fit in other places, between other comics, and there were two different volumes of it, one in the 90s, and one in the 00s. Both volumes have an issue #10 that focuses on Beast, and I'd recommend them both! Vol. 1 #10 especially would be, in my opinion, required reading if you really want to get into Beast.

Amazing Adventures vol. 2 #11 through #17 - the first stab at giving Hank his own solo series, from back in the 70s! Don't let the age get you down, I find this series to be actually fairly modern and easy to get into, and it's a nice sort of superhero/horror blend of tones that I find really effective.

X-Men: Endangered Species - this is a Beast solo story dealing with the aftermath of the Decimation, the event where Scarlet Witch removed the powers of 99% of the world's mutants. It's quite dark, but I think it's probably one of the best examinations of the character in the medium, and it works as an excellent sequel to Unlimited vol. 1 #10. Most of the context you need is given to you in the comic, which is handy. :)

X-Men: S.W.O.R.D vol. 1 - this is kind of a team-up comic, kind of not? The context for this is reliant on reading another run that I'll be recommending, but trust me, it's worth it. This is an outrageously funny book with a good emotional core, and it really captures Beast's essence, as a dual sided goofball jokester with a heart of gold and the intellectual moralistic do-gooder who can't leave well enough alone. One of my favourite comics of all time.

For Beast as part of a team, I would recommend the following:

X-Men: First Class - a prequel book set during the days of the Original X-Men, this series bounces between Cyclops, Angel, Iceman, Marvel Girl and Beast a fair bit, but even in issues that don't focus on Beast, he's still a part of the story and quite well written. Very slice-of-lifey, with a lot of charm to it.

X-Men: Season One - a retelling of certain stories from the original 60s run of X-Men, this is a pretty good one-and-done graphic novel that does change a few things, but keeps the spirit intact and tells you a lot about these characters and how they relate to one another. Just watch out for Iceman's Bieber hair.

Avengers vol. 1 #137-211 - this is a pretty long run of comics that features Hank's initial tenure on the Avengers, and will occasionally require a bit of reading around to make sure that you're reading the Annuals in the right place - usually, the comic will tell you to go read Annual #6 or whatever, but if you find a lot of stuff has happened and the story jumped ahead without you, chances are, it's in an Annual. Very variable in quality, but if you want to see classic Beast in all his glory, there's some really good stuff here, especially the foundation of his lifelong friendship with Wonder Man.

The Defenders/New Defenders vol. 1 #96-152 - probably one of my actual favourite run of comics ever. Beast joins the team a little later than #96, but if you jump in when Hank does, you'll be just a little confused, so it's best to start at #96 and go from there. Especially once Hank reforms the team to the New Defenders in #125, he basically becomes one of the very main characters and gets a lot of focus. Absolutely love this comic.

X-Factor vol. 1 #1-70 - the first six or seven issues of this are pretty bad, but it really comes into its own once it starts being written by Louise Simonson, who makes it much more soap opera, more character driven, gives all the characters a lot to do. There's a lot of crossover with other books, but usually it'll just tell you what to read if you want to know more about a part of a story in little editor's notes!

X-Men vol. 2 #1-95 - the classic 90s run; not my personal favourite, because it's pretty confusingly plotted, but if you want something that hews extremely close to the 90s cartoon, this is that to a tee, to the point where a lot of stories and characters were adapted to and from the comics directly!

New X-Men vol. 1 #114-156 - a landmark run on X-Men by Grant Morrison, this evolves Beast into a new form and changes up his character in a new, tragic manner that, personally, is my favourite iteration of the character. Very high concept sci-fi, occasionally quite confusing and problematic, but extremely good stuff, imo, and essential for getting into modern X-Men.

Astonishing X-Men vol. 3 #1-35 - a sort of sequel to New X-Men, this is again an extremely good entry point into modern X-Men, and it's very, very classic while still progressing the story. Just a note - when you read issue #24, do NOT go to issue #25, you need to go and read Giant Size Astonishing X-Men instead, THEN go to #25. I know, it's confusing, I'm so, so, so sorry, comics are just like this. This is the comic that leads straight into S.W.O.R.D pretty much.

Wolverine and the X-Men vol. 1 #1-42 - a more zany, school focused book, Hank is part of the wider cast here, but he does get some spotlight issues, and I do enjoy him here, especially his relationship with Broo. There are crossovers with Avengers vs. X-Men and other events in here, but those events are kinda sort skippable because they're bad. If you feel confused, you can read them, but I don't necessarily recommend them.

X-Men vol. 6 #1-ongoing - the current run of X-Men, written by Jed MacKay! To put it very bluntly, Beast went through about a decade of being quite badly written and slowly turned into a scummy villain through the recent Krakoa era, which I was not a fan of. There are individual issues between 2013 and 2024 that I can recommend, but if you like Beast, I would not recommend reading them, because I think that they are pretty bad and not fun to read. This is me being kind. But the new series picks up after that's all fixed, and Beast is getting a lot to do in this series, so I'd recommend it!

X-Men: From the Ashes Infinity Comics #15-18 - a supplementary comic that focuses on Beast, best read alongside the above X-Men run I recommended; it can give you all the context you need for where Beast is at, and why he's feeling the way that he is. A very, very good read, way exceeded my expectations, and I'm really pleased I can actually recommend modern comics for Beast again!

These are the main runs I would recommend! There's a lot more, if we want to get esoteric, and I'm sure I'm missing out on a lot of material - Beast has been around for 60 years, he's been in a LOT of stories - but if you want to get stuck into X-Men comics and really immerse yourself into the world and the stories, there's a lot of really good material here!

Welcome to the X-Men comics, friend! Hope you survive the experience!

[s-sputnik-k]

me: starts watching x-men (2000), is excited to finally be getting into the proper xmen release order

also me: has to immediately pause and take a long sigh and repeat to myself "it's based on comics from the 60s, it's fiction, it's fun sci-fi/superhero stuff, it's fiction, it's made up" when the first line talks about evolution making humans the 'dominant species'

I think I just need to rant, bc I love x-men but even in the newer films the repeated talk about humans being superior or dominant just really irks me. like at this point I think it's not even malicious, it's just genuine ignorance or misunderstanding of evolution (or a rule of cool situation, which is fair enough because, again, it is fiction). but evolution is LITERALLY just becoming more suited to your environment through natural selection. that's all it means

like, first of all, what is the metric for superiority? is it complexity? because I'm sure there are single cell organisms that are extremely suited to their environment. there are also mushrooms with thousands of sexes (my information did come from tumblr, ik, misinformation central, but I do tend to read into the fun facts I learn here afterwards)--we are definitely not the most complicated organism we know of. hell, fungus is so complicated, we put it all in one category when really, we have no idea what most of it has in common other than the fact that they aren't a plant, animal or bacteria (simplified bc I'm not bringing up a classification chart for this)

so maybe it's about longevity. I mean, humans have only existed for, what, 300,000 years? there are so many living things that have existed for significantly longer! and even if we assume optimistically that humans will last much longer into the future, we still aren't winning on an individual lifespan basis. there are literal sea sponges that live longer than us

so, alright, fine, maybe it's about intellect--that is one of our best traits as a species. but intelligence is just one of many, many factors in a particular living thing's evolution. for many creatures, it's better that they aren't intelligent. I'd be willing to bet there are creatures that have evolved to be less intelligent after it became unhelpful. our massive, energy intensive brains are extremely draining (not to mention dangerous in childbirth); some animals can't even justify having colour perception, why would they need to be able to do algebra? it's like if honeybees decided to measure the evolution of all animals based on how well they spread pollen or make honey. like, it's just not a helpful or relevant metric unless you are a honeybee

so, yeah, humans aren't more evolved, we aren't better evolved, we're just. evolved. we are what we are, based on changes in our environment, random mutations and natural selection. and Charles would KNOW THIS but I understand that talking about human evolution and how it led to mutants having cool powers is an engaging way to start a film about, yknow, human evolution and mutants with cool powers

so, I do eventually finish my heavy sigh and unpause the film. because I love these characters and this story, so I will simply close my ears the next time charles says the word dominant, and pretend it didn't happen so that I can enjoy the film without going on another rant

[corsairesix]

i want to get into xmen but idk hwo :(

Great! There are a few ways to start reading X-Men, so I'm gonna go through a bunch of them.

Start with Giant-sized X-Men #1. X-Men had a run in the 60s that was canceled, and Giant-sized is the beginning of the 70s relaunch. Most of what you'd know from popular osmosis of the X-Men is going to come from this era from '75-'90, and it's mostly written by one writer, Chris Claremont. It's a great era, if sometimes of-it's-time. You can see it transition from a fun villain-of-the-week comic to one of the most iconic comics of all time.

After Dark Phoenix Saga. DPS was a really big event that brought in a bunch of people, so immediately after there was a comic that basically summarized everything prior to that. This is still in the Claremont era, but Dark Phoenix is really the turning point where it becomes the iconic 80s X-Men that people think of. Good place to start mid-Claremont-run.

Grab any classic collection from your library. Your local library will probably have collections of either events or just large chunks of the run. In the 80s, comics were sold at newsstands/spinner racks, so every comic was assumed to be someone's first, and any information you needed to know was pretty clearly exposited. The big events include Dark Phoenix Saga, Days of Future Past, Mutant Massacre, and Fall of the Mutants. Inferno and X-Tinction Agenda are really good too, but require a little more context.

Choose a student team. Every once and a while, X-Men will introduce a new crop of students. The books tend to be self-contained and focused on just that group. The big generations are New Mutants ('80s), Generation X ('90s), and Academy X (2000s). The first two are in books of the same name, but Academy X goes across two books--New Mutants Vol 2 and New X-Men Volume 2: Academy X. New Mutants is my personal favorite, followed by Generation X.

New X-Men. New X-Men was launched right after the movies brought in a lot of new fans, so it's friendly to new readers. At the same time, it's written by Grant Morrison, so it's some weird mystic wizard shit. The only thing you need to know is that Magneto took over a country called Genosha and Cyclops is traumatized through recent comic events (the details don't matter).

Krakoa era. Five years ago X-Men had a soft relaunch where mutants establish a nation on the living island of Krakoa. There are a bunch of books in this era, and are fairly cohesive, with lots of crossover between them. Luckily, the first era of books are collected in trade paperback as "Dawn of X." It's recent enough that your local library will probably have it. The reading order is House of X/Powers of X, Dawn of X 1-15, and X of Swords and then you can find the reading order going forward online. There are a lot of really good comics in this era.

Now! The Krakoa era just ended, and the new era going forward is less cohesive, so you can pick a comic you like and read just that! A bunch of new books just launched, so find a book with some characters you like. Gail Simone's Uncanny X-Men has a lot of fan favorites--Nightcrawler, Rogue, Gambit, Jubilee, and Wolverine. Just pick any that look good!

In general a good rule for getting into comics for the first time is that there will always be something that it's referencing that you might not have read, and that's fine. Most comics will explain what you need to know, and you should just roll with the rest.

[lakemojave]

Mojave Reads X-Men: X-Men #3, X-Men #4, and X-Men #5

Ok so I got a little distracted since the last reading, but I got through some more comics! I do feel myself getting into a groove with these ones, and like last time they were all a hell of a lot of fun! 60s X-Men is really growing on me! I kinda feel like I'm learning more about the Silver Age of comic books than I am about the X-Men, but honestly that's kinda the bargain I made going into this.

This time we've got a lot of villains to introduce. Up to issue #4 we were mostly doing a villain or hijink of the week format, but now we need to give this superhero team a group of supervillain rivals! Naturally this means that Magneto comes back, but you might be surprised by just how many iconic characters and concepts are introduced in this group of issues. It may not be the thematically dense gravy that I hoped for with X-Men, but the bones for that fine substance are absolutely here.

And now, the review!

X-Men #3

This comic introduces the X-Men villain The Blob, who is simply a very large man. The X-Men try and fail to recruit him, then must fend off Blob's retaliatory invasion of clowns, jugglers, and acrobats. It is, in comparison to our previous issues, a standard Silver Age X-Men caper. And yet I had a ton of fun with this one.

These issues will always start with a training sequence in the Danger Room, giving our young heroes a chance to show off their abilities. You see, comics used to be written with new readers in mind, considering the fact that some young readers might miss last issue--the comic stand at the grocery store straight up might've run out of last month's issue! So these little scenes to show off the team's powers and reestablish the X-Men team dynamic are certainly repetitive, but I find them really charming for this reason.

Even if there are some repetitive elements, the status quo is slowly morphing. Cyclops' real name is Scott Summers, and this is the first issue to actually use that name for the guy. We establish that he's no nonsense, occasionally brooding, but is also harboring a secret attraction to Jean Grey (which the other boys are much less secretive about). At the same time though, we learn that Charles Xavier is ALSO attracted to Jean! On one hand, uh, what the fuck dude she is a teenager and you're like 30. On the other, this is the seed of lots of soap opera family drama that'll come to characterize the team dynamic as the X-Men swell in the 70s!

But enough about that. It's time for the circus.

The Blob's whole deal is that he's super strong, super huge, and super durable. It makes him a good carnival attraction, but learning he's a mutant and what the X-Men are makes him want a little more out of his current setup. We're gonna see a lot of this kind of conflict a lot I think, our favorite mutants trying to bring some wayward mutant into their ranks, then falling short due to a gap in what the two parties want out of being a mutant. It's understandable to want more from life, discovering that you're more extraordinary than your circumstances have lead you to believe. It's also hilarious to see that perspective articulated by an all out invasion by n army of clowns.

This might be the most chaotic ending battle we've seen so far. I genuinely had a lot of fun reading this bit. It's goofy, but everyone on the team has something to do in the fight, and their enemies are more diverse than just generic mob goons with tommy guns. It comes to an end after Professor X charges up a techno doohickey to use his psychic powers to stop Blob in his tracks, then wiping his memory of the mansion and sending him on his way.

It's straightforward and familiar, but the series is clearly evolving as we go. For instance, Beast is starting to drop his trademark five dollar words and his generally refined personality. Mr. Hank McCoy has been my least favorite part of these early comics because without anything like this to set him apart, then he's just a normal guy with his toes out all the time. Now, he's a normal guy with his toes out all the time who would also quote Tennyson in the middle of a fight.

Good comic, but after 3 issues I've been excited for some kind of movement in the overall story of this team. I need them to have something to do that has consequence, something with real drama. I might not get that for a while, but issue 4 at least comes pretty close to satisfying.

X-Men #4

You know I'm not the first person to say this but I always thought "Brotherhood of Evil Mutants" was an odd name. Like if you genuinely believe that your cause is just, why would you willingly call yourselves that? It's a bit like the name Decepticons, right? An immediate red flag to anyone you're trying to convince to your side. "We are the league of murderliars, and our intentions are noble and pure!"

That said, I'm kind of astounded by how much is introduced here. After our standard training sequence and then a 1 year X-Men team anniversary celebration, we shift over to their villainous counterpart. I'm kind of shocked by how many pivotal characters in the canon are introduced here! Toad and Mastermind are here, they're alright I guess, but our other two members are Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver! I didn't know that these characters were so foundational to the fabric of the X-Men franchise, and it goes deeper! Wanda gets a brief backstory flashback that is the first time we see any kind of xenophobia and prejudice against mutants, an aspect of Wanda's character that is still with us to this day!

It's still all very silly, make no mistake. Magneto's back, but his personality is still pretty generic and the dialogue is still very stupid. Magneto's plan is to take over a South American island nation using an American battleship and Mastermind's power of mass hallucination. The panel that shows how Magneto steals the ship is hilarious, and Charles has one of my favorite lines in the series so far.

Yes. Who would dare attack a South American nation unprovoked. Utterly unthinkable.

There is so much stuff in this issue though. By this point, I think we're zeroing in on what concepts the readers are coming back for, and there's something about Magneto that comes off as pretty compelling! This issue establishes that he and Charles have some kind of history, giving them their first of many psychic conversations, and the very first usage of the iconic rallying cry, "Magneto was right!" The context of these things are all very threadbare, but as someone who loves Magneto as a character in the modern day, it's all so compelling to me.

The funniest part of the whole issue is probably when Magneto sets up a nuclear fuckin bomb to blow up the island he just took over. Dude is just making up this plan as he goes I guess.

The comic ends with the team escaping the island with an incapacitate Charles, who claims that his psychic powers aren't working anymore! Oh fuck! Now they have to defeat Magneto and his evil mutants all on their own!

X-Men #5

This is another hefty one! The evil mutants are still out and about so the X-Men have to stop them, following them to their secret base and kicking their ass without any support from ol' Xavier. What's exciting about this one is that their secret base has shifted from some unidentified island in the Atlantic to something more iconic.

This is Asteroid M! I actually know this one from X-Men '97, in which Magneto hoists this whole fuckin thing out of the sea and launches it back into space. It's a fantastic villain's base, suitable to Magneto's whole deal and emblematic of the evil mutants' "Homo Superior" mindset, seeing themselves above all humans, uninterested in living among them.

From this base, Magneto plots to lure Angel into a trap and take him up to the asteroid to be tortured. The X-Men are able to follow Toad into a little space pod that launches them all up to the base, and thanks to a very whimsical combination of powers, the team survives back down to earth as the asteroid crashes. If I didn't know the asteroid would return to the series in some form, I'd be pissed! What a cool idea they just shot down out of the sky, mere pages after it was introduced!

This issue has a lot of highlights though. The team has to dress like normal kids as they give Jean's parents a tour of the school, and Scott accidentally enters the Danger Room and has to survive training exercises tuned to the Beast's agility. We also get to see more fights with Quicksilver, who gets to show off how Kirby drew speedster characters! I love how they leave a streak of lines behind them, and turn into a blur of straight lines themselves. It's effective at conveying their speed and is easy to draw repeatedly!

Speaking of Kirby, at this point one notices how many little gizmos the guy liked to draw. I've already pointed out the stupid planes and helicopters in these comics, but this issue has my absolute favorite so far:

But Magneto also gets this stupid headpiece that enhances his abilities. It's very amusing to see characters who don't typically use gadgets just inexplicably have some kind of contraption. To jump back to issue 3, Charles even gets basically the same kind of gadget to enhance his own powers to stop Blob! Guess these two have a bit in common, hm?

The award for most out of touch dialogue this time goes to Wanda. It's insane that she would ask this question after Magneto was straight up about to give that island the Oppenheimer special in the last issue.

The ending, however, is just hilarious. All we get is three panels to show that...surprise! Charles had his powers the whole time! He's back to normal after all, and the X-Men are strong enough without his help! I mean, sure they are, but that means that Charles just put these teenagers through more danger than was necessary just to test them. Like dude you didn't wanna step in at all even when they were falling to earth from low orbit??? Hello??? Why is he grinning???

That's it for this batch though! Next up we have some more crossovers, including our first run in with the Fantastic Four!

[bookoftheironfist]

Do you have any recs for Misty Knight issues? Both inside Iron Fist and elsewhere (only if you have the time of course)

I do! And I apologize for the slow response, but this seemed like the perfect thing to post to celebrate her 50th anniversary. Here's a list of a few of my favorite Misty appearances, from the character-establishing to the just-plain-fun. (Please note: this is NOT a complete list of her appearances, but it should get you started.)

One detail you may notice is that none of these comics has the name Misty Knight in its title, and pretty much all of them are team-ups. As much as I love her team-ups (she has so many cool friendships...), consider this my plea to Marvel to give Misty a dang solo series already. It's been fifty years.

Marvel Premiere #21: Misty's introductory issue! She only appears for long enough to fight Iron Fist (and give him a big ol' crush), but it's a fun and memorable introduction.

Iron Fist volume 1: Misty is a main recurring character in this series, which builds upon her backstory (including introducing her bionic arm and related trauma) and further develops her friendship/partnership with Colleen and will-they-won't-they relationship with Danny.

Deadly Hands of Kung Fu volume 1 #32-33: An intense, gritty, black-and-white saga in which Misty supports Colleen in her mission to avenge her grandfather's murder. (NOTE: This story skews more mature than the average Marvel comic and includes themes of drug addiction and sexual assault.)

Marvel Team-Up volume 1 #63-64: Misty and Colleen come to Danny's defense in his first major fight against Steel Serpent.

Uncanny X-Men volume 1 #122: Misty's ties to the X-Men are understated but also really neat (she and Jean Grey were roommates for quite a while). This issue includes a brief but interesting encounter between her, Storm, and Luke Cage that makes it memorable.

Power Man and Iron Fist volume 1 #59-60: This classic series is essential reading, as far as I'm concerned, and Misty is a major recurring character throughout. Informally, I'm recommending the whole thing, but there are a few particularly Misty-focused stories. In this one, she is forced to reckon with her trauma when faced with another bomb attack like the one that took her arm.

Power Man and Iron Fist volume 1 #76: Misty and Danny versus Warhawk. (And Luke and D.W. versus a vampire.)

Power Man and Iron Fist volume 1 #78: Nightwing Restorations and Heroes for Hire (and El Águila!) team up to hunt down a serial slasher terrorizing the neighborhood.

Power Man and Iron Fist volume 1 #101: When Luke and Danny get hit with a deadly bioweapon, Misty and Colleen get on the case to hunt down their attacker and save their lives.

Bizarre Adventures (1981) #25: A Nightwing Restorations adventure. Misty and Colleen fight vampires.

Namor the Sub-Mariner (1990) #8-28: Danny Rand has returned from the dead! Or has he? Misty and Colleen investigate. (Also, Namor is there.)

Deathlok (1991) #1-5: This gripping and emotionally resonant story leans heavily into Misty's identity as a "cyborg", as she teams up with Deathlok to rescue other members of their shared cybernetic community.

Shadowland: Blood on the Streets: This is a tie-in to the "Shadowland" event (quick rundown: Daredevil gets possessed by a demon, builds a big fortress in the middle of Manhattan, and starts using Hand ninja to terrorize the city). This story holds up perfectly well on its own, though, putting Misty at the center of a good, old-fashioned murder mystery.

Heroes for Hire volume 3 and Villains for Hire: These are essentially two parts of a continuing series. Misty takes charge of a revamped version of Heroes for Hire while grappling with the aftereffects, both physical and psychological, of her false pregnancy.

Daredevil: Dark Nights #6-8: A flirty little team-up between Misty and Daredevil.

Secret Wars: Secret Love, "Misty and Danny Forever": There are only three things you can rely on in this world: death, taxes, and me putting this dang alternate universe story on recommendation lists. A glimpse into a world where Misty and Danny get their happy ending, and also, Misty rides a T-rex.

Secret Wars Journal #2, "The Hunt": A hilarious, hijinks-filled Misty/Paladin team-up. You don't need any "Secret Wars" context for this. Just enjoy the ride.

All-New Captain America and Captain America: Sam Wilson: The former Falcon takes over a very difficult job as the new Captain America after Steve Rogers becomes an old man (long story). Misty is a major presence in these series which, among other things, sparked her current ongoing romance with Sam.

Black Panther and the Crew: This series, written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, is short but packs a punch. Misty helps to take down a conspiracy undermining Harlem.

Daughters of the Dragon volume 2: READ. THIS. READ IT. This is a series of three digital-first DoD adventures that came out to capitalize on the success of the Netflix shows (but to be clear: they take place firmly in good ol' 616). It's fantastic. If there were any justice in the world, this would've turned into a hundred-issue ongoing series.

Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #78.1: Misty and Colleen have a fun occasional presence throughout this run, but this issue is specifically focused on them as they find themselves trapped in a simulated murder house. A good time all around.

Women of Marvel (2021), "Saturday Morning in Harlem": A nice little Misty-centered day-in-the-life story.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2022): Misty takes Miles under her wing as her unofficial superhero "intern". We never really get to see Misty in mentorship positions, so this is an absolute treat.

Enjoy!

[ariel-seagull-wings]

IMAGINARY FILM TETRALOGY: THE MAGNIFICENT X-MEN

@s10127470 @a-roguish-gambit @knivxsanddespair @thealmightyemprex @the-blue-fairie @themousefromfantasyland @professorlehnsherr-almashy @amalthea9 @thestreamweaver

Having recently read the 1991 and 1994 scripts for unproduced X-Men films (the first titled Wolverine and the X-Men and the second titled simply X-Men), I started to think which approach I would take in idealizing an X-Men film series, taking some elements I enjoyed from the unproduced scripts, while cutting out others and also mixing up my own ideas.

For me personally, the main appeal of the X-Men compared to other Marvel hero teams is how vast their own universe is, which gives the chance to not be limited to other super hero genre conventions of good guys fighting bad guys of the week to save the world from a catastrophe, but also takes many chances to deescalate the conflict to small stories that take the influence of other genre sources: romantic melodrama, gothic horror, science fiction comedy, urban fantasy, high school drama and work situational comedy.

So far the science fiction thriller and action comedy genres have been the aproach that studios and filmakers have taken to be safe.

I would like to give the X-Men a chance into the potential for exploring the urban fantasy, romance and horror angles, with a sprinkle of light sci fi and comedy, into a viewer’s digest of the existing story material provided not only by the main Uncanny X-Men comic books, but also take some elements from The New Defenders #125-152, Excalibur and the graphic novels and limited series staring the characters, and I would call this encarnation The Magnificent X-Men homaging the movies The Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven.

There would be relationship overhauls where characters who only casually flirted, had a will-they-or-will-they not long running unresolved romantic tension (that while can be taken for granted in the long running medium of comics, is not very satisfactory in the formats of movies and TV shows) would be official couples in the adaptation.

The timescale and timeline would avoid convolutedness by having characters who, in the comics, were originally clones or alternate timeline children to be children born in the main movie timeline born and raised by previous characters that while mentioned as important, are not the main characters of the narrative, exploring the idea that as a group, the X-Men have a history that goes back to the 60s, where there were founding figures, partisan dissidences, characters went to college, graduated, retired from the battlefield to get married and raise children, or died while fighting for mutant rights.

The influences and narrative style would come from shows like Gargoyles, The Real and Extreme Ghostbusters, and movies like Streets of Fire, 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Tutles, Wesley Snipes Blade and Guillermo Del Toro's Hellboy, being a rock and roll fable exploring the communities and culture built by mutants beyond just the Xavier Mansion in the cities undergrounds, where they built their own clubs, bars, safe spaces to live together, while borrowing fashion and architecture from the 80s and 90s with a little touch of the 50s, in contrast to the swashbuckler fantasy and circus influence, borrowing from Earth 5311, that would be highlighted in the battlefield costumes of the X-Men team members themselves.

There would be a total of four movies, and the main team would be formed by:

ALISON BLAIRE (DAZZLER)

ANNE MARIE (ROGUE)

ORORO MUNROE (STORM)

RACHEL GREY SUMMERS (PHOENIX)

ELIZABETH BRADDOCK (PSYLOCKE)

JAMES LOGAN HOWLETT (WOLVERINE)

HENRY PHILLIP MCCOY (BEAST)

KURT WAGNER (NIGHTCRAWLER)

PIOTR RASPUTIN (COLOSSUS)

WARREN WORTHINGTON III (ANGEL)

VISUAL CONCEPT ART INFLUENCES

DAVE COCKRUM

MARIE SEVERIN

ALAN DAVIS

PAUL MARTIN SMITH

BRENT ANDERSON

I will be slowly thinking of the plots that would narrow down each movie as time goes on.

[lav-reads-comics]

Oh boy oh boy, it’s time to start reading X-Men. From the very beginning!

That’s right we are (re)reading some old comics straight out of the 60s to see just how wonderfully they’ve aged. Starting with…

Uncanny X-Men #1, September 1963

This issue is literally nothing of substance because it’s all about introducing out WILD and CRAZY characters! The likes of…

Professor creep X and his weird brown nosing teenagers Cyclops and Angel.

Jack Kirby’s foot fetish AKA The Beast.

The world’s (not yet) gayest snowman, Iceman!

And Jean Grey, the GIRL.

This issue consists mostly of the boys showing off in training and being gross about a girl joining the team. All except Bobby, who for SOME reason has no interest.

Me too Bobby.

Remember kids. Sexual harassment is ok if the girl beats you up.

Magneto then saves the day by deciding to be evil and take over a military base. You know. Magneto stuff.

He has such nice handwriting.

If I were Jean I’d be running for the hills by now what is wrong with Men.

Anyways Warren is trans sorry if they didn’t want him to be trans shouldn’t have given him a binder.

The team gears up, blah blah blah, they fight Magneto, he gets away. Very standard fare.

Why is there a ten image limit this is bullshit.

[nitewrighter]

One complaint about comic book movies that makes me shake my head is “I hate all these ongoing storylines and crossovers, just be self contained!!”. On one level I understand, if someone is new to this, and there are genuine complaints about the mcu and the dc movies, but if continuity is their problem?

Those people would not last long reading the original comics, because they’ve been doing ongoing storylines since at least the 60’s. The guys who complain about not being able to watch an avengers movie without seeing a previous one, reading a few X-men comics would make their heads swim.

I mean even in comics though, for all the tangled storylines, there are loads of one-shots and graphic novels and multiple points of entry for readers to familiarize yourself with the characters. Hence my joke where you can just grab whatever trade paperback your library has and just get started from there. Really because comics themselves are such a mess, there's no shortage of writers and continuities to start shaping your tastes and experiences from. Of course, if you can get your hands on big compilations of famous comic book events or writers working on a continuous arc, such as a collected volume of Kirby's Fourth World, those can be better starting points than floppy thin trade paperbacks because then you got a big beefy compilation to work through rather than praying you can find the next ultra-thin volume of five back issues.

I think the main issue with the MCU is, ironically, you pretty much have just the one entry point back with Iron Man--or back with Captain America if you go chronological. But both those movies came out more than a decade ago, and like, if you want to watch "Agatha All Along" just because you like Kathryn Hahn, only you haven't tuned in to the MCU since like, Endgame (Half a decade ago!!) you're probably still going to watch at least Wandavision and Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness to know what's going on. That's like, 10 hours of content! Not to mention all the side characters who show up who are going to have all of these side jokes and references to the rest of the damn cinematic universe! That isn't to say that you don't have a lot of comics referencing other arcs and stuff, but if you pick up a comic in the middle of an arc, there will usually be some notes in the comic on where a good entry point/point of reference for this arc would be, but that's mostly a thing you have to deal with if you're choosing to brave the jungle of back issues. There's still plenty of graphic novels, one-shots, and compiled arcs that don't require much of a previous familiarity with the characters (For example, if you don't have the time for the whole Kirby Fourth World saga, you can read Ngozi Ukazu's Barda!). Or sometimes you have volumes like "Teen Titans: A Celebration of 50 Years" which, granted, cherrypicks from a lot of random issues, but still provides a combination of broad snapshots and some iconic moments (such as the Judas Contract) for characters and big comic events.

[wanderingmind867]

I think 1985 was the year when comics completely almost lose themselves to me. Based on reading marvel (and reading about DC) I know that this date has to be the date comics lose interest to me. I'll explain: comics from the 60s to the mid 70s seem okay. 1960 to 1974 or 1975 are the peak years, in my opinion. But then things start to go downhill in the late 70s. Frank Miller ruins Daredevil with his edginess, Chris Claremont kills Jean Grey and messes with the X-Men, The Hulk loses his love interest in Jarella, Denny O'Neill ruins Batman by making him darker again, Gerry Conway kills off Gwen Stacy (for no good reason!) etc. I know the Gerry Conway one was a bit earlier than the mid to late 70s, but it was still a bad decision.

Anyways, things only get worse from here (at least for my sensibilities). If i thought the mid to late 70s were bad, the 80s become a bit of a train wreck. Jim Starlin kills Captain Mar-Vell and Jason Todd, The Hulk has the Professor Hulk saga (something I don't really like), John Byrne messes with the Fantastic Four and Superman, Walt Simonson makes Thor ditch Don Blake (which I hate). Really, Jim Shooter messes with Marvel and sadly oversees a lot of bad stuff (I don't know if that's all his fault, but I get a negative impression of him as editor).

But I have time for one last paragraph, so let's talk more about 80s DC. Alan Moore gets brought in, and he brings his horrible pessimism and darkness over to DC. As someone who's already prone to sadness, I don't need depression in my fiction. But even besides Alan Moore, DC had issues. Like the Crisis on Infinite Earths, which was meant to uncomplicate things (but may have complicated things more). Then DC gets Frank Miller, Jim Starlin and John Byrne, and it all goes downhill. I'm really just repeating slander against certain people, but I guess it's just that I'm always opinionated about these sorts of things.

[scarlet--wiccan]

so, I'm sure you've heard people complain about Magento's origin not making sense for adaptions set in the modern day, and while I think this is silly due to the fact that it can be easily waved away as a secondary mutation which makes him age slightly slower, what should adaptations do about Magda? If Wanda was concieved in the past, she'd still be like 70-something at the least.

You know, I've never really understood the problem with Magneto or his childrens' ages. Marvel comics operate on a flexible time scale, where the past is never as long ago as it seems. It doesn't always make sense-- and I know that they have retroactively adjusted certain historical landmarks and come up with reasons to de-age characters before-- but my point is, there's a built-in excuse here. I feel like, if you're reading Marvel, you just need to buy into the idea that the 40s, 50s, and 60s are simultaneously a long time ago, and also very recent. Because if you actually expect time to progress realistically, every Silver Age hero would be in their seventies or older.

I don't know, it didn't take me long to get a handle on it when I started reading comics, and I've never found it terribly immersion breaking.

Uh, anyway, if we're talking about, like, cartoon or video game adaptations, I feel like it should be really easy to just mimic the comic-book time scale. If you're careful to never show dates, and you keep the present day setting slightly ambiguous-- like, don't make super topical references and stuff-- you can handwave it just as easily as comics do. Live action is harder, mostly because it implicitly demands a slightly more grounded worldview, buuuuuuut the live action versions of Wanda and Pietro are already a total wash. They're not gonna make Elizabeth Olsen Magneto's daughter, and you'd have to be an idiot and a racist to want them to.

Speaking of, it's worth mentioning that the twins are not, canonically, Magneto and Magda's biological children. I know a lot of people think they can just "ignore" the retcon, but it's been a decade and there's no sign it's going to change. Outside of X-Men '97, which is a continuation of a pre-retcon series, I assume that any adaptation Marvel puts out will follow the foster/adopted-family angle. But if you really want an excuse for Wanda to be a young woman, you can just move Natalya's pregnancy forward on the timeline. It doesn't really disrupt anything else, except for making Bova's little mix-up less plausible, but that's easy to gloss over.

[poppetsisters]

What do you think about the original human torch, I just found out he existed!

Despite his direct connection to Johnny Storm, I don't have too many thoughts about the Android Human Torch as a character. He'll be forever mythologized alongside Namor as the first official Marvel Superhero, but I've never read a comic starring him so I can't say.

Since I love and encourage people asking me questions, I'll share some extended thoughts.

Marvels by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross does a lot to reignite the character, stating definitively that his appearance is the start of the Golden Age of Marvel. It only makes sense that The Fantastic Four, with member Johnny Storm taking the name, kickstarts the Silver Age of Marvel.

The Android Human Torch appears as a playable character in LEGO Marvel's Avengers. In the mission you unlock him, he clarifies that he's the ORIGINAL Human Torch, stopping short of outright naming Johnny Storm. The reason he couldn't say his name outright is likely because of the tomfuckery Disney was up to between 2015 and 2018 in which no X-Men or Fantastic Four characters could be used in any licensed media. The Android Human Torch is a loophole in that regard.

Also, the Android Human Torch is canon to the MCU! Look, there he is in Captain America: The First Avenger!

So yea, I wish I had more to say but that's about it. Go read Marvels, it's not very long but it's a wonderful encapsulation of everything great about the 40s-60s era of Marvel.

[positivelybeastly]

I would've loved to have known more about the other Xmen if I didn't feel like the worst group of friends towards beast.

Well, then, let me give you some recommendations for X-Men runs where Hank and various members of the X-Men are the best of friends!

X-Men: First Class, by Jeff Parker!

Honestly, I always recommend this run to everyone who wants to start reading X-Men, but doesn't know where to go, especially if they're interested in going from the 'start.' So much more digestible than the 60s run, but still in continuity with it, it's a lot more slice-of-life and adventure of the week while still having a strong back bone of character work.

It isn't solely a Scott and Jean book, either, which a lot of more recent O5 books (All-New X-Men and X-Men: Blue especially) suffer from - Hank, Bobby, and Warren all get a decent amount of focus, and you see why this is a bond that persisted as long as it did.

Defenders/New Defenders, by J.M. DeMatteis and Peter B. Gillis!

I don't know if this is the most underrated runs of comic books in all of Marvel's history, but it's got to be up there. Deep, fulfilling character work on Beast (you can really tell that he was a favourite of DeMatteis'), and some really top notch interactions between him, Bobby and Warren, as well as an awesome friend dynamic in the team!

80s Marvel really does just hit different, honestly - the idea that you could go into a grocery store in the 1980s, pick up a copy of this, Claremont's Uncanny X-Men, Nocenti's Daredevil, Simonson's Thor, and still have enough money for a soda and candy is just insane to me. Just, a fucking great time for comic books. But yeah! My single biggest recommendation for anyone who wants to read Beast. It's become easily one of my very favourite comics ever. I recommend starting at issue #94!

New X-Men, by Grant Morrison!

Maybe not the first run you think of when you think about Hank being everyone's friend, but it really is present here - Hank is there for everyone, and, in a rare turn of events, they're actually there for him, too! His friendship with Emma is quietly understated, he and Jean are a brother and sister duo if ever there was one, and he's easily Scott's best friend here.

Wolverine and the X-Men, by Jason Aaron!

A very fun book! A lot of event tie-ins, which can be annoying, but very zany, very off the wall, with some decent character work. Issue #8 especially has one of my favourite Beast fights in all of comics, and I love his friendships with Logan, Kitty, and Broo in this book. It's also a great place to get a taster for a lot of other X-characters - if you see someone here you like, you can glom on to them and follow them elsewhere!

Storm, by Greg Pak!

Smek.

I love Greg Pak's work, pretty much uniformly, and this is a very fun book that exquisitely articulates what's to love about Storm, as well as tackles a lot of different aspects and angles of the mutant metaphor. Lots of crossover with Wolverine and the X-Men, since they were releasing roughly contemporary with one another, but that's no bad thing, to be honest.

Amazing X-Men, by Jason Aaron!

Hank's only in the first five issues here, but he's great fun, and this is a great gateway into a lot of 'classic' X-Men who appear here that you might find yourself going, 'hmmm, I wonder what their deal is,' and then you can go from there! Very classic book, very fun, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Astonishing X-Men, by Matthew Rosenberg!

Specifically, issues #13-17 of volume 4 (yes, comics books are fun, aren't they?) The X-Men are all rather caustic to one another here, and part of the joke is that they're all a little washed up (mostly Alex), but I honestly really like Hank's dynamic with everyone here, and you can tell Rosenberg has a lot of affection for the character. It's also another great gateway into other characters - I found this while doing my big Hank readthrough, thought my boyfriend would enjoy it, and now he's a die hard Havok fan. Amazing what just five issues can do, isn't it?

I do go on a bit about the ways in which the X-Men have failed Hank in various ways during his tenure, the ways in which they could have been there for him and weren't - but, despite what some writers might say, these people are usually Hank's friends. Maybe not his best friends, but there were, and are, good moments to be had here. It's best to try and embrace positivity where you can, friend. It's a better way to live.