Just finished reading Grant Morrison's New X-Men

[Spike Spiegel]

Back when it was coming out, I was an impressionable youngster who was more interested in Chris Claremont's "X-treme" team, mainly due to Rogue, Storm and Gambit. Since then, I have read Joss Whedon and Warren Ellis' runs on Astonishing (I liked Ellis the best), as well as Phoenix: Endsong.

Seeing the origins of the Scott/Emma romance, Jean's most recent death (well, original Jean, anyway), and some very interesting concepts was rather entertaining. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I don't think it's as awesome as some fans say it is. I do think Morrison may be the only writer that made Jean not seem like as much of a Mary Sue. She had (gasp!) an arc that showed subtlety in her personality traits, especially in comparison to Emma Frost.

I managed to find a copy of the 2006 (1st edition printing) omnibus at my local Half Price books for $49.99 after sampling the first two arcs from the library. I may double dip when they release the omni again in September, but the thickness of the pages makes up for the glued binding of the 2006 edition.

So what are your thoughts on Morrison's X-Men? Best ever? Worst of all time? Are the characters well written or self-indulgent cliches? I would love to hear some different opinions as I still can't fully decide exactly how I feel about it. Despite this fact, I am now on my third reading of the material.

One thing I will say is that nothing in the X-Men canon can touch the Claremont/Byrne/Cockrum/Smith eras IMHO.