Reading every single issue of Uncanny X-Men, a usually-monthly comic series that began in 1963, has inspired countless spinoffs and related works, and is still probably being published today, depending on what month and year you're reading this.
For the sake of convenience I often say that I am reviewing "600 issues" of Uncanny, which is a blatant falsehood but it's a nice round number that easily conveys "a lot," and that this is an extremely long-term project when you consider I do about 40-50 posts per year.
I also take a few occasional brief detours where part of the "Uncanny" story is continued or completed elsewhere, but for the most part we are keeping focussed on this one throughline, doing our best to fill you in as we go with easily-gleaned information.
Why are you doing this?
You can read my introductory post to find my overall thoughts on what makes the X-Men such a unique phenomenon in comics and pop culture history, but in broad terms, this comic is the best of them all. If superheroes are hopelessly entwined with the medium of comic books, and comic books are meant to last forever, constantly replenishing and refreshing even as they rehash and repeat, this is the apex. Moreso than seemingly any other property, the X-Men are one long ongoing story with infinite permutations and offshoots that still manages to fit together, while also embodying a rich anything-goes mythos.
With a sprawling cast, limitless possibilities for stories, and an evergreen metaphor for prejudice and persecution at its core, the X-Men mean everything to me and so many others.
Who is this being written for?
Hopefully everyone. I want people who don't really love comics to enjoy the lighthearted tone and feel welcomed to our table, as much as people who live and breathe these stories and simply want to relive them/get additional insight. If you are someone who has spent a lot of time with these characters, my hope is you can read these writeups as if you have fresh eyes. I write as if nothing that came afterward exists yet.
What is your story?
I came to the X-Men in my childhood with their 1992 animated series and immediately immersed myself as soon as I was able to read comics. As a teen, I was a comic critic at a prominent X-Men themed website (with, like, a real audience and pages upon pages of responses) during a time when a particularly controversial writer was helming the franchise. I burned out on writing about comics, and eventually on reading them, before embarking on this project to rebuild that love.
So you only like old comics?
I have loved comics from the 1960's and 70's the 1980's and 90's, the 2000's, and 2010's, both major label superheroes and creator-owned properties. I don't doubt I will love some comics in the 2020's. They just maybe maybe won't be my favourites ever.
My personal belief is that comics are reaching new heights of what ideas and stories it is possible to tell (and who gets to tell them!) But there are also a lot of virtues in old comics that I feel have been left behind.
If you like the comics so much why are you so snarky about them?
Not "snarky," voice in my head! "Laconic!" Snark conveys a dismissive attitude and being "over" something, which I am very much not. But to be able to kid something the way I try to do shows you are in touch with the mechanics behind it, can close-read a situation, summarize it easily, and have pattern recognition, all of which are vital critical thinking skills. I clown on the X-Men not out of hate, but out of love and a desire for them to be as good as I know they can be and frequently are.
Plus, if you can make with the jokey-jokes, people will like you and listen to what you have to say. I learned that in grade school.
7/1/2020
Not "snarky," voice in my head! "Laconic!" Snark conveys a dismissive attitude and being "over" something, which I am very much not. But to be able to kid something the way I try to do shows you are in touch with the mechanics behind it, can close-read a situation, summarize it easily, and have pattern recognition, all of which are vital critical thinking skills. I clown on the X-Men not out of hate, but out of love and a desire for them to be as good as I know they can be and frequently are.
Plus, if you can make with the jokey-jokes, people will like you and listen to what you have to say. I learned that in grade school.
7/1/2020
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