When did X-Men jump the shark? 0

[Ken Aldred]

One could also make a strong case for Annual 7 with the Impossible Man.

 

Annuals 3-6 were like magic, each one was terrific. Couldn't believe the tone of 7 when I got it home and read it--I've never reread it.

 

I stopped buying the title regularly at 175. Didn't like JRJR's art as much as Paul Smith's, and I wasn't enjoying the stories as much. I then only bought the issues by artists I collected at the time - BWS, Alan Davis, George Perez, Arthur Adams, Bill Sienkewicz. From that list you can tell I liked many of the Annuals.

 

This has always been one of my favourite X-Men covers, very warm and rich colours when you see it in hand...

 

 

 

 

[joe_collector]

While X-Men 176 was a downer, as I thought Paul Smith was almost as good as Byrne, there were some later issues and runs that were quite good in the 180-200 range. Like the Nimrod stuff, the return of the Hellfire Club, Mutant Massacre, etc.

 

Read those and then go pick up the 220's and 230's - Ugh!

[Reno McCoy]

I'm surprised at how many people stopped enjoying UXM prior to issue 200. Especially considering this is a Copper Age forum. What, no love for Inferno, Fall of the Mutants, or X-Tinction Agenda? What about the coming of Bishop? I loved that stuff as a kid.

[davidpg]

I actually loved Paul Smith's work on the book. The stories were just terrible though, light a light bulb got switched off or something. Mutant Massacre and Fall of the Mutants were okay, though don't stand the test of time.

 

Heck, the Brood Saga is one of the most underrated story lines of all time. Great stuff there.

[John R]

 

 

I agree. Once Romita Jr. came on board, it was pretty much all downhill. Paul Smith's run was the last great run on the title. I love the Brood storyline.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 23, 2013 by prodigy44

[RockMyAmadeus]

Holy smokes! I came here to post 176 as well! It's almost unanimous...interesting.

 

[Point Five]

I dumped it right after Fall of the Mutants. I couldn't take it.

 

Definitely in the 220's for me. I think Marc Silvestri was doing the art then and the stories were just horrible with stupid premises. They were just phoning it in at that point.

Win and win. Exactly.

 

#226 from February 1988 (2nd part of the "Fall" 3-parter, with a hateful cover to boot) was, and remains, the last X-Men book I bought off the stands.

 

 

[Point Five]

While X-Men 176 was a downer, as I thought Paul Smith was almost as good as Byrne, there were some later issues and runs that were quite good in the 180-200 range. Like the Nimrod stuff, the return of the Hellfire Club, Mutant Massacre, etc.

I agree with this too. I have a soft spot for the 180s and 190s in particular, which were current when I started reading the title.

 

The first X-Men I ever read was #185, the Rogue/Storm/Dire Wraiths issue... a few of my friends at school were talking about how great the title was, so I went out and bought the newest issue at random. Looking back from today's perspective, I think you could hardly find a worse jumping-on point... the most popular characters (Wolverine & Kitty) weren't even in the story, the X-Men never appeared together, there were dozens of characters I didn't know and lots of bewildering subplots relating to previous and future issues going on at the same time... yet the overall plotting was excellent, and even a first-time reader could be taken through the book, understand loosely what was going on and be made to care about the characters. I was hooked. I recently went back and reread the issue, along with the excellent #186, and IMO it still holds up.

 

 

[Stryfe1000]

Somewhere around #241 when Jubilee was introduced. It was apparently going down in popularity long before this but some of the story lines are still pretty popular to this day in the back issue market. But around this point in time you see a complete abandonment of key issues (with the exception of #265 & #266) and just ridiculous stories being told.

 

+1

 

Inferno is still my second favourite X-Men storyline (After Dark Phoenix Saga).

 

There was the occasional gem such as X-Tinction Agenda but all in all, pretty mediocre from then on and actually truly awful during the 400's

 

Messiah Complex was a welcome turning point for me which saw the title begin to get back to being an enjoyable read which I actually looked forward to each month.

 

Then it got cancelled

 

[Jeffro.]

I'm was very disappointed that Paul Smith left after only 10 issues.

I lost interest during the Romita Jr run. Claremont's writing was starting to go downhill.

Never cared for the Silvestri years. I was never a fan of his work.

[Magneto]

I'm surprised at how many people stopped enjoying UXM prior to issue 200. Especially considering this is a Copper Age forum. What, no love for Inferno, Fall of the Mutants, or X-Tinction Agenda? What about the coming of Bishop? I loved that stuff as a kid.

 

I liked that stuff too!

 

These X-Men books in the 200's is also the reason I liked Banshee as a character.

 

The issues with Freeedom Force when the Reavers attacked Muir Island

 

The Shadow King taking control of Legion

 

Wolverine struggling with his healing factor

 

X-Tinction Agenda

 

Awesome Jim Lee Art

 

YES, there were some bad stories, but there was some good material as well.

[Rommin]

I started going through the motions around The Fall of the Mutants story line which I couldn't stand. However, I kept blindly buying them through 275 just to keep the run going

[Bronty]

This is such a validating thread I didn't pick up an xmen book until the early 200s and I thought it sucked haaaaaaaaaard and yet the x-men were such a big deal to everyone else. Nice to see I'm not crazy and everyone else secretly thought it sucked too In retrospect its amazing how long the byrne/cockrum/smith momentum kept things going despite major suckage

[Dr. Balls]

I've not caught up with UXM in many, many years - I started waning when Scott Lobdell started writing. It was just so forgettable at that point. (around #295 or so).

 

His writing really sank the book, even with the awesome art of Roger Cruz and Joe Mad. I don't know if I just needed a break or what - I'll be re-reading them and catching up this year. So maybe they are not as bad as I remember.

[pwog]

I have to start by saying that I love the X-Men. I have stopped and started keeping up with them a few times over the past many, many years. I am back reading them now. In fact, I am closing in on completing the entire run. That being said, when a title has been around for as long as the X-Men with so many issues, there are bound to be highs and lows. I have been really enjoying a few of the X-titles over the past few years. One title that I bought just the first six issues of is X-Factor (3rd series - 2005). I just got around to reading them and I am hooked! Peter David's writing is great. Now, I have to catch up on the rest of the series.

[Sal]

While X-Men 176 was a downer, as I thought Paul Smith was almost as good as Byrne, there were some later issues and runs that were quite good in the 180-200 range. Like the Nimrod stuff, the return of the Hellfire Club, Mutant Massacre, etc.

 

Read those and then go pick up the 220's and 230's - Ugh!

 

I also agree. I had a subscription to the book at the time and I remember taking 176 out of that open-ended brown envelope they sent sub copies in and thinking "WTF is this sh**? Seriously? Cyclops is fighting a giant squid or octopus, or some sh**? Where is Paul Smith?"

 

Of course I didn't cancel my sub and did find some of the books you mention to be quite good, but I was ready for PMS to be on that book for at least another year

[Sal]

I'm was very disappointed that Paul Smith left after only 10 issues.

I lost interest during the Romita Jr run. Claremont's writing was starting to go downhill.

Never cared for the Silvestri years. I was never a fan of his work.

 

To reiterate my above post, I'm was very disappointed as well

[gaz973]

Although the quality of the stories had dropped at times, I still think there was a lot of good stuff in the # 200's. It was when Scott Lobell took over that it really went downhill for me.

[krighton]

All New X-men is the Mac Daddy

 

[Comicopolis]

It could have fallen off the face of the Earth after issue 175 as that was the end of any decent story writing.

 

There have been a few high spots here and there with it, but nothing that resembles any consistency after that.

 

This is the truth.

 

Strangely enough the worse it got the more popular the characters became and Marvel milked the mutant mania for all it could - and keeps on doing it now.