Welcome!

[sheliak]

Welcome to X-Men Classic!

This is a community dedicated to the classic Claremont-era X-Men! Related titles very much included. If you want to talk about New Mutants, X-Factor, Excalibur, the Magik miniseries, the Fallen Angels or anything else X-related from this time period—go right ahead! We hope you’ll have fun here.

To get the discussion rolling, tell us about the comic or arc that got you hooked on the era, or X-Men comics in general!

Comments

[sholio]

For me I'm pretty sure it was the punk!Storm arc where she's depowered. I got into Marvel comics when I was pretty young, about 8 or 9, I think. I already loved comics (we had a bunch of my mom's old comics from the 50s and 60s from when she was a kid, mostly stuff like Superboy, Legion of Superheroes, and Classics Illustrated) and for Christmas I was given a "grab bag" gift set of Marvel comics that included an issue of all their currently running titles. I know this was what hooked me on X-Men, but while I remember specific issues of some of the other comics because they were first of all so memorable (the Thor issue where he turns into a frog was one of them, and an Iron Man one in which he got shrunk to microscopic size and attacked by computer viruses that looked like alien fighter planes) and second because they were the only issue of most of those titles that I had for most of my childhood, with X-Men I got into it enough to start collecting it, so I'm not sure of the specific issue. But it was definitely in that arc because I absolutely loved depowered Storm so much that it's the defining arc for her character for me, and I was disappointed when she got her powers back.

... NO WAIT, I just remembered the issue #, it was 202 - this one. (Thank you brain for storing useless trivia like that. Where are you when I need useful information like people's names or remembering appointments?)

I haphazardly collected X-Men and a couple other titles (Power Man & Iron Fist and Alpha Flight were the other ones I was mainly into) but it wasn't until I started getting the collected volumes in the late 90s that I ever had a clear idea of what happened when, because the comics I bought were so completely out of order - it was a combination of buying whatever was cheap in back issue bins and occasionally picking up the latest issue when I could get my folks to take me to the comic store, which was in a big city not very close to the small town we lived in, and therefore was a once or twice a year thing).

What I was really into, though, was the team stuff overall (especially those parts of it involving various combinations of Storm, Rogue, Wolverine, Kitty, and Nightcrawler), and especially the times when the team would just hang around together in their civilian clothes and do normal-person things, which was something I loved and could never get enough of. I also got into Rogue/Gambit later on, but he wasn't around yet in the time period when I first got into them.

[rachelmanija]

Oh! I just remembered that the first X-Men issues I read were the one with Psylocke AND the one where Storm and Rogue are swimming together and bonding and then Storm gets shot with the de-powering ray!

I love the depowered Storm arc so much. Normally female characters get depowered in order to make them, well, less powerful. And also to shove them into the background. And typically make them more stereotypically feminine. Depowered Storm became MORE badass, kept on being LESS stereotypically feminine (not that she really ever was, but...), and became EVEN MORE prominent, oh and also the team leader of a team of superpower mutants where she was the only non-powered one and it didn't matter. That whole arc could not have been more my id (among other things, I love "badass normal" and it's almost never written with women. It's probably my all-time favorite single X-Men arc.

[sheliak]

I loved how without her powers Storm was just focused and distilled--not a lesser person or hero, but more stripped down to her core. And that entire storyline was about her, about how losing her powers made her change and grow and rise to new challenges, not about anyone else. It was great.

(There's this one scene I particularly love—the X-Men are in the middle of a nasty fight, and one of their enemies can cancel people's superpowers. So he thinks he's cancelled Storm's and starts gloating, and she says "Such a pity I have none," and punches him. I just loved that bit.)

[jedishampoo]

I think I got in right around there, too -- early 200s, when Dazzler et al join the team. Dazzler was my fave then and she still sort of is?

I had never really read comics but my brother gave me some and said "there are girls in the comics too," so I picked up a couple. Next thing you know I was at the comic store buying all the backissues. ALL THE BACKISSUES.

I gotta admit, I really like some of the Claremont/Lee issues as well as the Davis and Silvestri ones. Oh, and while most of Australia was a mess, I still have a huge soft spot for it. I still in my heart ship Longshot/Dazzler.

[rachelmanija]

LOL, Claremont X-Men was the most "there are girls in the comics too" comic ever. Good for your brother.

I love Dazzler and I also really enjoyed Longshot/Dazzler.

[sheliak]

I'm really fond of a lot of the Australia era—it was weird in a lot of ways, but I loved the art and the characters (Maddy as mission control!) and the Genosha arc was excellent.

And yes, the X-Men comics are great for female characters!

[teshumai]

I am so continuously impressed by classic x-men's women.

[sheliak]

Storm's depowered arc was SO GOOD. I love her with her powers too, but I loved how the storyline about her losing them was handled, and how instead of fading into the background without her powers she became even more central and kept right on leading the team.

And yes, that core team and their relationships were wonderful! Pretty much every pair out of those five characters have a really interesting relationship.

(And Frog Thor! My first experience with comics Thor was when he showed up, as a frog, to give Dani Moonstar some much-needed encouragement. So of course he came across as very kind and noble, and also he just happened to be a frog right then! Why wouldn't he be a frog, in this universe?)

[lilacsigil]

I remember that kind of haphazard collecting! In my case the comic store was 2 hours away in the city, and I didn't have the money for it anyway. But the newsagent would have sporadically have these excellent 2 or 3 packs of random comics for 50c, and I got most of my comics from that.