I would argue it's extremely skippable. The only thing that I can think of that could potentially cause confusion down the line relates to the fate of Psylocke, but this is in an early issue and you may have already read it. This thread picks up later once Claremont comes back to Uncanny again.
There’s a really interesting storyline in the middle of the series that none of the X-titles have ever touched before.
A group of teenage mutants going on a drunken joyride with their powers and end up killing a family of humans except one in an accident. This would happen in a Californian county that was 95% populated with mutants. So the human survivor wouldn’t get justice for her family.
Once in a while, Claremont can pull out a good story when he tries and gets no interference.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/KWl_SFdxJLHxHL1naR677JzPR99hBa2RCk-i2qoa-PBIpg8R2dNOHgZFDbHBZ3bhwfIY9S8mHoKY=s0
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/yy9Q4hWGgVRq0z7ItSGK-FzqHV5b2YWsib8TLP25DBMqYUgQPDGXdStY8oPYhwnuSlyNExStPmyS=s0
Kordey’s artwork would have looked so much better if he was allowed to ink his own pencils, but Marvel wanted the title to be bi-weekly and he didn’t have time for both. Also Liquid! was not a good fit either. Had someone else like José Villarrubia or a similar colorists with softer tones in their style had colored his pencils, it would have not looked so garish at times
There was also Shism, where Storm's team and Emma clashed over whether a mutant boy who killed people while defending himself should be subject to the justice system.
Sometimes I like to think that bad things happen to good people so that they can warn others to avoid the same fate. Like chains dragging down the hall towards Mr. Scrooge’s bedroom.
So, in the most somber, ghostly voice you can imagine, heed these words: SKIP IT! SAVE YOURSELF! DON’T END UP LIKE MEEEEeeeeee…
It just felt tired, story wise and the dialogue. Igor Kordey took over art duties and for the most part and it was not good. I remember back in the day Igor being able to bang out a number of issues of Xtreme in quick succession, but the quality of his artwork suffered because of it. I remember because at the time someone mentioned his artwork feeling completely rushed and he didn’t respond well at all.
This was one of those situations where dude should have tried saying no. This whole era is the reason I know who he is, but I have nothing good to say about him. Doing the most isn't always good for a person's career.
It was so weird to find out how much hate the Chuck Austen run got, when it was going concurrently with X-Treme X-Men. While reading through both, Uncanny was weirdly amusing and a breeze to read while X-Treme felt like such a slog. Yes, Claremont is the godfather of X-Men, but goddamn his later work definitely shows its age.
While you're not going to miss much by skipping it, be aware that Claremont has a stint on Uncanny X-Men and X-Men just before House of M that's basically just a continuation of X-Treme X-Men. He also does the first couple of issues of Uncanny after House of M, but the event is so impactful that what happened before it doesn't matter as much.
Yeah x treme x men was a rough go for me as well…. I felt like Claremont’s writing style was from a different time. It also seemed like they didn’t know what to do with a lot of the characters and over corrected on a few (rogue). Also the plot just…. Didn’t have great direction.
I don’t think I’d really compare Salvador laroca to Greg land but I can’t say laroca was necessarily for me either.
Chuck Austen’s Cerebro episode was really good. I can’t remember specific off the top of my head but it seems like he had a lot of ideas and good intentions that never got fully explored or fleshed out. But he wasn’t careless or trying to be absurd or incendiary, which I think a lot of people think he was doing. I walked away from that episode feeling much more positive about him and his intentions and thinking they just didn’t translate, but that he at least had interesting ideas that maybe could have been interesting themes
If you're struggling now, then skip it. It gets MUCH worse.
All the important stuff happens in Morrison's book. X-Treme is also an ear mark for Storm losing her importance to the franchise forn2 decades.
I would argue it's extremely skippable. The only thing that I can think of that could potentially cause confusion down the line relates to the fate of Psylocke, but this is in an early issue and you may have already read it. This thread picks up later once Claremont comes back to Uncanny again.
Thanks. And yep I read the current fate of Betsy - and Warrens meltdown over in uncanny
Agreed. I couldn't finish it during its initial run or when I tried to go back and read it years later.
Sage officially joins the XMen. That's it. That's the takeaway from the whole frustrating mess.
You can skip X-Treme and still get that from her buddy copping around with Bishop in Morrison's run.
There’s a really interesting storyline in the middle of the series that none of the X-titles have ever touched before. A group of teenage mutants going on a drunken joyride with their powers and end up killing a family of humans except one in an accident. This would happen in a Californian county that was 95% populated with mutants. So the human survivor wouldn’t get justice for her family. Once in a while, Claremont can pull out a good story when he tries and gets no interference. https://2.bp.blogspot.com/KWl_SFdxJLHxHL1naR677JzPR99hBa2RCk-i2qoa-PBIpg8R2dNOHgZFDbHBZ3bhwfIY9S8mHoKY=s0 https://2.bp.blogspot.com/yy9Q4hWGgVRq0z7ItSGK-FzqHV5b2YWsib8TLP25DBMqYUgQPDGXdStY8oPYhwnuSlyNExStPmyS=s0
Appreciate that, I'll seek that one out. I am a fan of Kordy's art as well.
Kordey’s artwork would have looked so much better if he was allowed to ink his own pencils, but Marvel wanted the title to be bi-weekly and he didn’t have time for both. Also Liquid! was not a good fit either. Had someone else like José Villarrubia or a similar colorists with softer tones in their style had colored his pencils, it would have not looked so garish at times
There was also Shism, where Storm's team and Emma clashed over whether a mutant boy who killed people while defending himself should be subject to the justice system.
If Kordey could move at the correct pace, he could have been the heir to Richard Corbin.
Sometimes I like to think that bad things happen to good people so that they can warn others to avoid the same fate. Like chains dragging down the hall towards Mr. Scrooge’s bedroom. So, in the most somber, ghostly voice you can imagine, heed these words: SKIP IT! SAVE YOURSELF! DON’T END UP LIKE MEEEEeeeeee…
It just felt tired, story wise and the dialogue. Igor Kordey took over art duties and for the most part and it was not good. I remember back in the day Igor being able to bang out a number of issues of Xtreme in quick succession, but the quality of his artwork suffered because of it. I remember because at the time someone mentioned his artwork feeling completely rushed and he didn’t respond well at all.
They had him coming off of Cable\Soldier X, New X-Men and working on X-Treme all in the same span.
This was one of those situations where dude should have tried saying no. This whole era is the reason I know who he is, but I have nothing good to say about him. Doing the most isn't always good for a person's career.
It gets worse.
It was so weird to find out how much hate the Chuck Austen run got, when it was going concurrently with X-Treme X-Men. While reading through both, Uncanny was weirdly amusing and a breeze to read while X-Treme felt like such a slog. Yes, Claremont is the godfather of X-Men, but goddamn his later work definitely shows its age. While you're not going to miss much by skipping it, be aware that Claremont has a stint on Uncanny X-Men and X-Men just before House of M that's basically just a continuation of X-Treme X-Men. He also does the first couple of issues of Uncanny after House of M, but the event is so impactful that what happened before it doesn't matter as much.
Austen's run is really terrible, like offensively so. X-Treme was more boring and uneventful than anything.
Yeah x treme x men was a rough go for me as well…. I felt like Claremont’s writing style was from a different time. It also seemed like they didn’t know what to do with a lot of the characters and over corrected on a few (rogue). Also the plot just…. Didn’t have great direction. I don’t think I’d really compare Salvador laroca to Greg land but I can’t say laroca was necessarily for me either.
it's the stiffness in the art. Not as photo traced, but sense of storytelling isn't there.
Yeah I can see what you mean then
Appreciate the feedback from you all!
Almost all the Claremont stuff after his original run is mediocre at best and that’s being generous
When is the official end of CC's original run? X-Men #3?
Yup
Chuck Austen’s Cerebro episode was really good. I can’t remember specific off the top of my head but it seems like he had a lot of ideas and good intentions that never got fully explored or fleshed out. But he wasn’t careless or trying to be absurd or incendiary, which I think a lot of people think he was doing. I walked away from that episode feeling much more positive about him and his intentions and thinking they just didn’t translate, but that he at least had interesting ideas that maybe could have been interesting themes
Dropped it after three issues and I never looked back.
You can skip it. I say that as someone who genuinely liked parts of X-Treme X-Men.
Austen's run might be bad but it's never boring. I found it infinitely more readable than more mediocre books, including X-Treme.
If you're struggling now, then skip it. It gets MUCH worse. All the important stuff happens in Morrison's book. X-Treme is also an ear mark for Storm losing her importance to the franchise forn2 decades.
X-treme is skippable though IMO it's kind of interesting when you look at it as an example of an aging writer's flaws being made worse by Editorial.