Are these all long-running series? What’s the difference between them? Which do you think is best? Thanks.
Well, come on! I mean, one series is ‘uncanny’ and the next is ‘astonishing’ which isn’t anything like the ‘incredible’ series which edged out the ‘amazing’ series which predated that ‘surprising’ series and followed the ‘marvelous’ series before ‘ultimate’ finally came out, dude.
The Ultimate X-Men is part of the Ultimate universe, where the Marvel heroes were all rebooted and started from scratch without the old continuity.
I have no idea what the differences between the rest of them are these days, but I presume all the others are set in the original Marvel universe.
I am waiting eagerly for the “Marginally Above-Average X-Men”
“Uncanny X-men” is the original X-men book that dates back to 1963, which is why it’s almost on issue number 500. While this should make it the “flagship” book, getting it the best writers and artists, it’s instead been one of the most embarassing comics on the shelves for years. The current writer is so unbelievably terrible that a recent issue found iceman (who creates his ice by drawing moisture out of the air to creat his ice-body) locked with Havok in a “moisture free” chamber. The solution; Hakov peed a new piss-body for Iceman so that they could make it out of the bind. No, it wasn’t supposed to be funny or even tongue-in-cheek. This should give you a clue as to how unbelievably “jumped the shark” the series is.
“Astonishing X-men” is a new series - it’s only on issue #5. It’s written by Joss Whedon, the writer behind geek-faves “Buffy: the vampire slayer” and “Firefly”, and features a stripped down 5-person team (no more 20+ character soap operas). Many fans, including myself, feel that “Astonishing” is one of the best comics to hit shelves in years. It’s everything that the original “Uncanny” was back in the 80’s when people like me fell in love with it.
“Ultimate” is part of Marvel’s “Ultimate” series of books, a line of “alternate reality” comics that they started a few years back to cash in on character licenses.
You mean Alpha Flight?
I’ve said before (yet never started a thread and I swear that someday I will) that I don’t like comic books but love animation. That includes the early-90s X-Men cartoon. Would this be more along my line, since the thing I liked about the cartoon (other than that it was easier than trying to figure out decades of plots, continuity, and so on) was that the cast was fairly simple (Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Beast, Gambit, Storm, Jubilee, Rogue, Professor X), even if they tried to hit all the big points of the X-Men series?
The other problem I have is that with the decades of plots, continuity, reboots, retconning, and so on, there never seems to be a big anthology where I could just plunk down some money and read it all straight through.
Asterion, this is your book, if you’re looking for one. Joss Whedon obviously knows and respects the long history of the characters (their personalitites, behaviors, and decisions are actually in character and consistent with their 40+ year histories, and there are occasional allusions or minor references for the hardcore in the audience), but this is a book that anyone could pick up and read.
The funny thing about your quote The other problem I have is that with the decades of plots, continuity, reboots, retconning, and so on, there never seems to be a big anthology where I could just plunk down some money and read it all straight through is that there are such anthologies - Marvel’s “Essential” series. They’re pretty killer, because for about $12, you get ~30 issues, in order, of almost any classic series. The Essential X-men collection is already up to Volume 5 , basically covering the first 200 issues of the series (ie. the golden age).
Don’t forget X-Men (sometimes called Adjectiveless X-Men), which is another X-Men book (launched in the early '90’s) in the same vein as Uncanny X-Men. Recently Grant Morrison took it over for a couple years, renamed it New X-Men, and did a fantastic run of comics. A few months after he left the “New” was dropped and the book went back to being adjectiveless. (There’s another book called New X-Men now which isn’t really connected to Morrison’s X-Men run; instead, it’s a relaunch of the New Mutants.)
–Cliffy
Are those things supposed to be in black and white? As I said, I don’t read comic books because they’re too much work (give me a 700+ page novel and I’ll be just fine, but there’s just something about comic books), and the reviews are not exactly turning me on, especially when I can get the next DVD of Batman: The Animated Series for the same price. Or a manga (which I also don’t read) or two, which I know are supposed to be in black and white.
Well, yes and no. Yes, to save costs for you, and no, as in “they were originally in color.”
I’d rather pay more and get a higher-quality product in color. So thanks for mentioning it, but it’s just not quite what I’m looking for.
So, where does one get back issues of Astonishing X-Men?
Go to your local comic shop. They should have most, if not all, of them in stock. Issue #1 may be hard to find, but they can probably order it for you. Or wait for the trade to come out once the current arc is done.
There are also about four or five high quality reprints in hardback with remastered color on top quality paper. They retail for $50 each for a 10 issue collection, with a street price of about $35. Two of them are available in trade paperback for $12 each for the ten issue set, and I’d expect that the others will be reissued in paperback.
These start with the beginning of the New X-Men (Giant Size #1 and Uncanny #94), which is where current continuity actually starts. You don’t need to know anything about the stories from the 60’s to get into them at that point.
However, what would really be best is the Ultimate X-Men trade paperbacks. Each covers some 6-7 issues, there’s only one title to follow, you can read it from the beginning, and the stories are hitting the high points of the last 30 years of continuity with the stories updated for a modern audience. The Ultimate line was designed specifically for fans with your complaint about continuity.
Back issues of Astonishing can be found as a group on E-bay, or you could wait for the trade paperbacks. Whedon is set for two six-issue arcs, and you can bet that a trade collection of the first arc will be out within a month of its conclusion.
Marvel publishes high quality color “Marvel Masterworks” of about 10 issues each for $50 per. Barnes and Noble has paperback versions (still in color) for about $13. This includes the first couple volumes of the Uncanny X-Men.
They key word to search for on eBay is “lot”. Then you’ll get results like “Uncanny X-Men Lot 186-200 Very Nice” for $4.