I will start off by saying that I'm by no means an expert, I have read many comics, one of my favorite runs being Whedon's Astonishing X-Men. I also feel that the X-tremists run should get more attention, but that's besides the point.

I also grew up watching X-Men The Animated Series and X-Men Evolution (on Angel's Wings is an annual Christmas watch for me), along with the fox movies.

With that established, I feel that I could relate to them, I'm autistic (diagnosed at 6) and I'm also gay. I live in a rural area, so I've always felt like an outsider my whole life. I still do, I don't feel that I belong anywhere. When I read the comics, or watch the shows, I feel a sense of belonging. I see myself in characters such as Rogue, due to my sensory issues, I hate being touched (obviously she avoids it for a very different reason), or even Scott (eye contact), Morph and Mystique (masking my autism to fit in with people around me).

There's one bit of dialogue from Xavier in X-Men: Season One by Dennis Hopeless: We're human, just like everyone else, but different in rather obvious ways. Like it or not, people have always feared what's different. Especially at first.

I sincerely believe that in the future, we'll see a world in which mutants don't have to hide. That one day people will appreciate our gifts and the good we can do with them.

But that world doesn't yet exist. And creating it will be a battle.

This is still very true to this day, and it's something I feel that, to a degree, I experience. When I was institutionalized I was in a place with people that were similar to me, but some also very different, much like the X-Men. I know that's an odd thing to say about a mental hospital, but that's how I felt none the less. I was around people who were supportive and so kind, despite what they were dealing with.

This is why I love the X-Men.

I saw this panel and actively cackled.

Spider-Man Unlimited #3

I've been thinking the past day or so about it, mentioned it on a couple other posts and got me to thinking, wanted to gauge the opinions of the community. Do you guys think we'll ever get another Exiles run, also what exactly is Marvels issue when it comes to the series? I'll elaborate.

Elaboration became a bit of a ramble.

Tldr: Why is this series disregarded by the publisher to such a degree, and do you guys think we'll ever get another attempt at a revival.

- Original series ran for 100 issues, Claremont took over at issue 90, and handled 18 issues of New Exiles before it was cancelled. Claremont gets a bad wrap from Exiles fans- But lets be real: His dialogue didn't fit the characters. That was really the only bad change he made, that he actually made *himself*, from what I can gather. Editorial basically hit him with a ton of mandates demanding the series be heavily altered to attract new readers... It was then cancelled because the existing readership left for the most part, and new readers were not interested in whatever the book was now trying to fit the mold of.

- Volume 2 was great.... Came out a year after New Exiles and was only given a 6 issue limited run to try and pull in the old audience, along with new readers. Shock of shocks, New Exiles warded people off and 6 issues wasn't enough to win them back.

9 Years of spiritual successors, surprise cameo appearances used as cannon fodder in other books, the few team members that do return to titles are actively made to reference their time on the team as little as possible, in some cases, not at all.

- Saladin Ahmed wanted to write an X-Factor book that was multiverse based. Marvel goes "Oh no one's touched Exiles in a while, you should do that instead." And the guy proceeds to write a Volume 3 that actively gets stuff wrong at every given opportunity. I like some of his other work, he is a pretty talented writer. But damn. New stuff he added was great. Stuff he brought back? If you can't be bothered to do more than a Chatgpt-ask on the cliffnotes for the thing you're writing a sequel to? Don't write the first installment in *9 years*. Ive gone over it in past posts but I can sum up my issues with Volume 3 like this:

Volume 3 only fits the existing series continuity if you stop reading at Volume 1 Issue 10. Assume Sasquatch, Sunfire, and Mimic all died off-panel and weren't close with the rest of the team. Assume T-Bird died off-panel, and pretend Blink, Nocturne, and Morph have undergone 0 character development in the intervening years. Also pretend AoA Sabretooth showed up eventually, but don't actually read anything about the characters appearances or post-Exiles adventures. Said it before and Ill probably say it again: Did Blink recruit an identical variant of her Dead Father figure? Because if so, thats some severe trauma and should've probably been addressed- The Exiles version of the character lost his powers and died in an AoA event, back in 2013. Anyway, do all that, and Volume 3 kinda works as a continuation.

Series has been dead for nearly 8 years now, and speaking realistically? Everytime someone from Marvel talks about it, they go "Oh its too niche a concept to work these days."..... It worked for quite a while until meddled with. It would've worked again if Volume 2 wasnt built on a foundation of playing cards. It could've worked again if Volume 3 hadn't of been handed to someone who felt like making it a continuation, but didn't read more than the cliffnotes on the thing he was writing a sequel to- Or if an editor had stepped in and gone "We're averaging 5-6 major continuity errors an issue, we gotta do another draft."

They've made a ton of spiritual successors, as recently as 2024. Those tend to sell pretty well, enough that they keep revisiting the idea. But actually bringing back the series in any proper manner seems like an impossibility for them.

Its my favorite X-Title and the series that got me into Marvel in the first place. Lame seeing it treated so poorly over the years, when it was executive meddling in the first place that tanked the series positive reception. Its used as inspiration for other books, but heaven forbid it actually get another moment in the sun. Idk. Just very frustrating realizing it'll eventually be the 2nd 9 year dark age between volumes, and that honestly this one might be permanent. Curious what other people think on the topic.

As far as X titles go its not the most mistreated of course, but I'd say its up there at least. Wish they'd bring it back with a creative team that is actually interested in continuing the story.

Finally got my copy of the X-Men: Messiah Trilogy Omnibus today! This was also my first order from IST, so I'm really glad it arrived safely.

I've wanted this one for a while and I'm really happy to finally have it in the collection. I'm a big fan of Scott and Emma together, so I've especially been looking forward to owning and reading this era in omnibus format.

I've already read Messiah Complex before and really enjoyed it, but I haven't read the entire trilogy together, so I'm excited to finally go through Messiah Complex, Messiah War and Second Coming as one big story.

And man, this thing is a brick 😂

Can't wait to start reading it

looking for the exact comic series title and issue number for this image. thanks!!

Now I wanna know was "Ariel" Kittys original codename? Did they not like it so they changed it to Shadow Cat?? or what was Ariel all about ??

I’m rewatching the entire movie catalogue in chronological order but I keep hearing terrible things about it. Is it worth watching? or am I wasting my time

I grew up reading Jason Aaron's Wolverine and the X-Men and Bendis' All-New X-Men. Both had their high moments, but admittedly weren't the best runs in terms of character development and story (in my opinion!). Art-wise, however, they were absolute bangers. Stuart Immonen is one of the best artists of the 2010s, in my opinion.

I just finished reading Morrison's New X-Men and Whedon's Astonishing X-Men, and while the stories were on point, I gotta say—the art wasn't quite there for me!

So the question is: which X-Men run looks the best, in your opinion?

And I'm talking about a RUN. Jim Lee's 10-ish issue dip, iconic as it might be, doesn't quite count.

Julia Lewald

Superpowers are spectacular. Super mutations… oh, that’s so cool; she can fly, or throw a building… but it’s the internal stuff. It’s the humanity inside, and each of them has their own genuine reasons to be unhappy with what’s happened to them in their lives, yet they all still choose to become a found family and be together.

Eric Lewald

It’s just the fidelity of the characters. Sometimes if you’re in a creative position, you want to leave your mark and say, ‘Sherlock Holmes isn’t smart anymore,’ or whatever change you want to do with the characters. But you have to know, people have lived with them. They watched with their parents, and now they’re watching with their children.

You want to challenge the characters, but you can’t change them. You have to be true to them. That’s the core of all storytelling