I didn't start cutting my Marvel titles until the Onslaught started (not the crossover). IMHO, the last good story line they had was the Legion Quest / Age of Apocalypse thing. After that I decided it was time to clean house and I now only read 5 - 6 Marvel titles.

Well, all hail Claremont the King is back at Marvel. Bow down before his awesome presence and fork over your money for the X-titles just because he's back writing them (instead of because they're being written well).

If Claremont is as great as everyone says he is, then why am I not impressed that he's back?

Could it be that he uses cheap plot devices like the 6 month gap in the X-Titles so he doesn't have to work with what previous writers have done with characters? Could it be because Kitty Pryde is suddenly 16 again (quick, throw Wisdom in jail for child molestation)? Could it be because Jean's lost her telekenisis? Because Betsy has lost her Crimson Dawn powers and telepathy and is now telekenetic herself? Because the Neo make absolutely no sense at all?

Actually it's all these things. Now, I'm not knocking the old stories that Claremont did, they were excellent pieces of writing. But quite frankly I think the man is written out as far as the X-Men are concerned. It's pretty clear he wants the X-Men back the way they were when he left and is deliberately ingoring the work of other writers (as with the age regression of Kitty Pryde).

Mr. Claremont, if you really want to impress me why don't you take what others have written and instead of ignoring it take and run with it. That to me is the true test of a writer, taking a started plot and characters and being able to seemlessly blend your own ideas into it. If you want an example why don't you take a look at several X-Men role-playing games on the net.

Now without further ado, here are the rants, discussions, and real solutions for and about Marvel comics.

The Tamster Quits Marvel Comics

Will the Real Magneto Please Stand Up?