Monday Marvel Mimosas: I Went Down the X-Men Rabbit Hole
Yes, I went down the X-Men rabbit hole this weekend, and I REGRET NOTHING. Yes, a different rabbit hole.
After going round and round with the Uncanny X-Men, All-New X-Men, and then the Extraordinary X-Men, I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to know about the Terrigen Cloud. I had to know about the downfall of Cyclops. I had to know how the OG X-Men got to the present, and seriously, WTF happened to Angel’s wings. Last Friday, I broke down and picked up the volumes from the 2013 Uncanny X-Men series and All-New X-Men series. I had to alternate the trades, because they intersected frequently and referenced things that happened in the other books. The same writer penned both series, which made it an incredibly smooth transition between the books.
Aside from way too much time travel and cross-overs with yet OTHER Marvel books, both series are great, great reads. While I really loved the young X-Men’s interactions with the present day, as well as their interactions with Cyclops and Wolverine, I personally enjoyed Uncanny X-Men more. From the very first issue of Uncanny X-Men in 1963, Scott Summers has always doubted himself. He doubted his abilities. He doubted his control. He doubted he was worthy of love. In the 2013 series, he’s more confident of himself, yet he still carries the self-doubt and even self-hatred after he killed Charles Xavier. I was tempted to research which issues he tapped into the Phoenix Force, but I’m not ready to go that much further into the rabbit hole just yet.
Most importantly, I loved seeing Scott without Jean Grey. The young Jean Grey is there, and while that did stir his past memories of his Jean, he was quite able to separate young Jean from his Jean. There was no pining for Jean, no questioning if she loved him or Wolverine, none of it. He didn’t even mope that he wasn’t worthy of her love. I wish I could have had this Scott years ago. He’s delightful when he’s not whiny over Jean and, well, everything.
Since I am most decidedly not a fan of Jean Grey, I was quite pleased with how she was portrayed in present day. She’s not perfect. She messes up, quite a bit. She can’t control her telepathy, and she barely tries to. She’s constantly invading others’ privacy, and she uses her mind control to “fix” things when she doesn’t get her way. She can’t decide if she still loves Scott. Maybe she loves Hank. Maybe she has feelings for older Scott. Wait, what about present day Wolverine? Ugh she’s a mess.
Despite all of the comments that nearly everyone makes about the presence of the young X-Men messing up the timeline, nothing has gotten messed up, yet. I infer this to mean that these kids will go back to their own time eventually, and Professor X will wipe their memories of all these events. But, um, what is he going to say about Angel’s wings of fire?
Now that I am thoroughly caught up on the events leading up to the current X-Men series, now I can read Death of X and catch up with Extraordinary X-Men. I’m going to have the weirdest dreams soon, I just know it.
