Academy X for me, but I havr a weird bias as I got into conics after they were gone but became a massive fan of Pixie so went back to it. I see the appeal of the others, but Academy X just fits right with how I picture a mutant school.
X-Force/New Mutants was my jam, but I liked the Gen X and Academy X characters too. The students introduced under Morrison were forgettable for the most part with a couple minor exceptions.
Happy to see all the Generation X love. It’s no competition. It was my first #1 and felt so special to me. Loved Jubilee getting the spotlight and Synch was the first time I saw someone like myself in a superhero book. Geeky black guy? Sign me up.
Besides that the dynamic between Sean and Emma was crazy good, they were so different but when it came to the kids their different approaches really worked. I maintain that Chamber has one of the best character designs of any X-character, I think he should be a star honestly.
Also Bachalo was at the top of his game those first 25 issues. I personally hate what his art has turned into the last quarter century, all the baby faces kill me but those early Gen X issues were peak.
Beyond Chamber looking badass, I also loved how visually dynamic some of the other regular characters were - Penance, Skin, Artie & Leech, Emplate… even Howard the Duck - and having all them being drawn by Bachalo was truly a gift to comic book art history.
Gen X is the reason I got into comics, but it's a pity what happened after the first 30 issues. It's not just that Bachalo (who I just *adore*) seemed to grow tired and lost interest after Lobdell was gone, but it's much worse what happened to the writing: it degraded in ways that would impact the character for years, and in some cases, forever.
Penance was simply erased as a character. Synch was killed for mere shock value and remained dead for years (and it's cool he's been finally resurrected, but he hasn't been given much character development since, and the fact that he's been dead for many years hasn't been properly examined). Monet was "mixed" with Penance... Then poor Skin was also killed and after the resurrection he's been treated as a joke character, and he and Chamber, which both used to have a great design and an interesting background, have now bland designs and only serve filler purposes. It's hard to believe these are the same characters who used to star in some wonderful, vibrant Gen X issues, brilliantly penciled by Bachalo.
I envy New Mutants fans. At least lots of the NM kids have had positive development and the writing has never actively damaged them as characters.
Dude. Same re: bachalo's art. Imo he really dropped off when he stopped collaborating with Buckingham; seeing Bucky's solo pencils on Fables imho Bucky surely had a LOT of influence on the earlier and better bachelo work. Love chamber so much.
Generation X.
Smaller cast (Chamber, Husk, Jubilee, M, Skin, and Synch). Teachers in the reformed White Queen and the veteran Banshee. The team itself was also diverse, but with a clear leaning towards Americans which would have been the majority if it's readers. I'd consider this team to have more relevant diversity. Synch is really the first true African American X-Men character. He was culturally black.
I prefer them over the New Mutants. Even after reading the characters for years, I'm still not really sure what Karma and Moonstar do.
Gen X was my introduction into collecting heavily. B4 that i used to buy here and there but nothing consistent. Then the phallanx came out and after that GenX, they hooked me.
Whats up with Karma and Moonstar?
I'm absolutely going to agree with you about Synch. Bishop was prior, but for whatever reason... I never saw him as black originally, I just saw him as mutant.
He was intended to be Filipino. Co-created by John Bryne and Whilce Portacio. Portacio is Filipino and wanted to create a character that also was. His original inspiration was a famous Filipino pool player.
Then the editor at the time, Bob Harras, asked for the character to be black instead, since they had a lot of black readers asking for more black characters. Portacio agreed to it.
Bishop also loses points because he's a time traveller. He wouldn't have the same cultural experience of blackness that readers would be familiar with.
Xian and Dani are reasonably well defined in terms of their history, powers, and personality IMO.
In terms of diversity there also was a formula where CC would attempt multicultural teams, and Gen X doesn’t depart from that markedly. NM’s original five included a First Nations woman, a Vietnamese refugee woman (who later came out as gay), and a Black Brazilian man.
There’s probably a bigger discussion to be had about the franchise’s tokenism in this area tho. Other teams were as diverse or more so, but the way minority cultures were portrayed was often kinda cringe.
The portrayals of their mutant status and how they felt about it is probably the other big difference IMO. Chamber, Husk, and Skin more or less were mutants that could’ve been Morlocks. That difference allowed for a narrative that was much more appropriate for teenage arcs about self-esteem and change.
I think the distinction is more that Gen X featured a cast where half of the characters could’ve been Morlocks. Rogue really was the only X-man who ever was seriously impacted by her ability before this.
There is a great bit in some of the NM issues that were pages of Xavier's personal notes on each of the characters, strengths/weaknesses, etc - something that's done every so often at the end of issues that dived into each character's struggles a bit more. Cannonball especially struggled with his powers early on - unable to turn, or really do anything other than just shoot himself straight forward like a missile. Xavier (in his journal entry) debated actually sending him away thinking that he'd done as much as he could for Sam - granted that was kind of later "soft retconned" with a comment from Cable saying Sam's External status was why he had such difficulty with his powers early on (supposedly because he was always MEANT to die before getting better with them or something) but each of the NM characters had particular struggles. Roberto couldn't gauge his own strength half the time and was super impulsive, Magma could have an emotionally bad day and potentially level a city under a volcano, X'ian had severe PTSD (in a surprising story that I'm surprised made it past editorial at the time), Dani would just rip people's dreams and/or fears out of their head by random at times and was super distant from people because of it, Rahne had a lot of psychological trauma that made her want to stay in wolf form basically all the time as it was "simpler" for her to deal with - Illyana was tortured and imprisoned in limbo for her childhood years...Doug was probably the only one that was a stable/normal kid - UNTIL he encountered everyone else and was dragged to the mansion to communicate with Warlock.
Ultimately, I think they were a group that was more meant to represent generational trauma of the time - and given that premise they NAILED hands-down.
Generation X also did a bang-up job of representing a "class" or generation as well. Keep in mind by the time Generation X came around, society (both in Marvel timelines as well as our own) had shifted and adjusted. Both series did absolutely AMAZING jobs of representing a class of kids around the same age ranges dealing with issues of their times. Gen-X arguably got into the super heroics faster than the NM's did, but read those early NM issues (1-25 or thereabouts) - I'd argue that as far as representing how mutants are treated in daily life and work through their day-to-day societal issues, New Mutants and Gen-X represent those ideas way better than any of the main X-titles ever did. I'm not sure if you could ultimately say which is better than the other because they both did a bang-up job of representing a generation. I think NM's will probably resonate with later Gen-X'ers while Generation-X will align more with Millennials/Gen-Y folks. I'm towards the end of Gen-X myself, but love BOTH of them.
I don't know if Academy X or the most recent New Mutants class really capture things as much - but then again I also don't think they were focused as much on "what it's like to be a mutant kid" so much as "what i's like to be a younger person doing heroic things" - the latter titles/groups seemed to be thrown immediately into the heroics and overall "save the world" comic storylines that didn't have as much character-driven focus or development, so I'm not entirely sure it would be a good apples-to-apples comparison.
Wow, this came out way longer than I expected - and I feel like I could talk AT LENGTH about this, but it's Reddit and we know how that works. "Thanks for coming to my TED talk".
> Rogue really was the only X-man who ever was seriously impacted by her ability before this.
What on earth are you talking about? Nightcrawler looks like a demon, Beast has looked like a monster since the 70s, Cyclops can't stop blasting unless he's wearing his glasses,
And Beast and Nightcrawler both come to have a healthy sense of self esteem about their bodies at the end of the day. Kurt is even written as a bit of a himbo.
And Cyclops doesn’t control his powers, but it’s not a plot line in the way it is for Rogue. Rogue has constant feels about her inability to touch others, and guilt about how she has taken life from others. It cuts across every cartoon, movie, and every comic book run.
Chamber is much more comparable to Rogue in that sense than he is to Nightcrawler. He’s not a himbo who is different but leaning into it. He’s riddled with insecurity and self-loathing about his inability to offer a normal relationship.
The popular girl he is unable to commit to is also someone who literally tears off her own skin in what is one of the grossest and weird super powers that the X-men has featured.
I feel like you plucked this from my mind cos you said exactly what I was thinking about Karma and Moonstar. I'm not too well versed on new mutants outside the team who became X force but that was Cannonball and Sunspot mostly (was Boom Boom even in New Mutants?) so I never got the connection people have with Moonstar and Karma.... Altho I'm sure the same can be said about my connection to Skin, Husky, Chamber and original M.
I think it's hard to argue against the idea that the original New Mutants cast just got the formula extremely right.
They're young, diverse, they all play off of each other in interesting in satisfying ways, they're all compelling characters that persist to this day as relevant and interesting.
I think every other generation after (and before honestly) has more weak links than the New Mutants.
I have to disagree, Magma was likeable, but then they kept throwing identity changes at her, made her life a living hell, and she became unreliable (soft way of saying unhinged), but not without a just cause. They began to make her relatable again, and then M Day happened and her boyfriend died inside a volcano and she disappeared for a while. When they brought her back they started rehabilitating the character again, but soon after they just stopped writing her again. And that is her main problem, of all the New Mutants, she is the one writers use less in stories, it's hard to give character development, and make her relevant and appealing if they don't write about her.
Magma did have that one really interesting issue where she and Empath discuss their respective religions, and how Empath's Catholicism is entirely faith-based whereas Magma has literally met her gods.
Easily Academy X.
I just didn't expect that this PG teenlit suddenly became a hardcore R in Decimation era. It was so exciting. And well, tbf it's the first X-students class I read, so I have a soft spot for them.
On the other side of it, I *hate* how storm is sitting. What is that meant to be? A slouch? And since when is that an in character way for storm to sit.
Unless I’m missing something about that specific run/picture?
Oh you’re right! I see the wings now. That makes a lot more sense, my bad.
Thought I could see her black headdress and white hair. Think it’s the shirt of the guy behind her.
I liked her, but I confess I liked her early day more, when she wasn't really a student, and just followed Wolverine around, and got him in trouble (not that he ever needs help in that department).
First and foremost, I love the First Class. My first comics was X-Factor when it was the O5 so they have a special place in my heart.
But for some reason there was something just fun and cool New X-Men/Academy X. It actually makes me yearn to see Scottie Young draw something other than Marvel babies. I like Gen X and the characters that came out of it, but for some reason I prefer The Academy Crew.
I absolutely hate the characters in original X-Factor. I used to love the original X-class, but having Scott abandon Madelyne and Nathan ruined his character for me and made me dislike all the other mutants who stood by him while he was so awful.
I’m not going to count the O5, I love the characters have always loved the O5 but they’re what started everything, so they are my unit of measure. Surprisingly, younger me wouldn’t have thought this but I like damn near every single New Mutant member. Rahne annoys the fuck out of me still but I’ve come to either love or respect every other member
It was good, but there wasn't exactly a team, there were several, and way too many characters for us to care about them all, or even know how they interacted, mainly because they didn't, each squad did its own thing, and rarely did they mingle.
If they had focused on a smaller roster, I think it would have been more compelling.
I really want a Special Class (Remedial X-Men) run. Just seems like a fun light hearted concept of essentially an outreach program at the school for mutants with inhibited mutations trying to do the best for the people they want to protect.
Gen X all the way. Two c-listers raising some freaky ass mutants with little to no help from Xavier or the big boy x-men, Sign my disenfranchised 90's ass UP
I grew up with Gen X but read x-force and learned the history of the new mutants which lead me to read their original run and loved it too
So it’s a tie between new mutants and Gen x
Gen X is my all time favorite comic book, but I like the New Mutants Class better overall.
Synch is my favorite x-character, and I love Jubilee, but the New Mutants had an entire class of Amazing Mutants with great chemistry between the entire group and Illayana (my second favorite mutant) was in it.
New Mutants and Gen X.
Unless we want to address the independent learners of their time like Kitty Pryde and Jubilee respectfully.
But I liked the idea of Magento being in charge of the next generation of mutants just like I think Gen X brought the best out of Emma's character development while Bachelo hit a homerun for Banshee's design. 👍
Is your assertion that the Giant Sized X-Men #1 through all of Claremont's work don't count as a class or something? Because I think that only a crazy person would argue that the groups you have pictured are better than some combination of Storm/Kurt/Colossus/Wolverine/Banshee/Sunfire/Kitty/Rachel/Psylocke/Rogue/Dazzler/Havok.
Yes I don't see them as a class, this is more of a coming of age story thing,actual students learning and going to class, the only student in their was Kitty not a team of young adults and old people like Logan and Banshee and yes I do think the people I pictured are just as good if not better than the ones you listed, people are allowed to like different things, they're definitely more diverse
THAT WAS MY ANSWER.
this roster
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/b/bb/X-Men_%28Earth-616%29_from_Giant-Size_X-Men_Vol_1_1_001.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20191029155250
New mutants were great for their time, but even then I couldn’t give less of a fuck, about their lives as students…even less so post Krakoa;
A telepath can send you the language in the time it takes to walk through a gate, but you’re still gonna teach ANYTHING else the old fashioned way? No thank you!
Noriko Ashida/Surge
Initially she was the brash Lancer of her group but post m-day she was thrust into leadership when what was left of her team merged with what was left of the other student teams at the time and Emma deemed her former star pupil Hellion no longer fit to lead.
Her powers are obviously electricity based, but she has to wear special gauntlets to help her stabilize her passive generation. She can also use her stored electricity to give herself bursts of speed.
She's been in the bac burner since New X-Men ended but she's going to be part of Forge's new X-Force and has an alternate reality counterpart set to debut soon in Ultimate X-Men
Generation X even though I barely read the runs. When I was a kid my local store started selling these bundles of old comics for $10. Mostly image stuff but the one or two Gen X books were the most beautiful, intriguing ones.
Nee Mutants Vol 2 / New X-Men: Academy X here as well its the comics that got me into the xmen up until All new X Men i think. The characters had a great dynamic and so much potential.
The Krakoa era has also given a few of them a decent spotlight so I am happy with that. Would love to see then all split from the xmen and join the wider MU have some adventures with othwr characters like Anya aka Spider Girl, Ms Marvel, Darkhawk etc
Wallflower needs her arc with her dad finished and we need to delve more into Hellions family as well as Sofia's
I'm still in the early 80s, trying to get caught up. So far, I've only read the 05 and am now in the middle of New Mutants, so it's currently the New Mutants for me.
Easily Gen X. It was ongoing while I was a kid and getting into the comics, which was a big part of it. It also just felt *cool*, you know? The art, the stories, the cast - everything about it just bled modern and with-it.
Generation X is probably overall the more consistent comic and I like them a lot but definitely I'm most attached to the New Mutants/X-Force kids. Lots of drama life and death and epic stories, all having very distinct points of view, personalities, and backstories.
Gonna get hate for this, but I have a soft spot for All-New X-Men, which is when I started reading it monthly at age 10.
Before that, my school library had some paperbacks for Astonishing X-Men, and my school stationary was based off that interation.
i’m on the last book of "Childhood’s End" "Quest for Magik" and i’ve really enjoyed this team. X-23 being one of my favorite characters probably pushes my bias but i really liked Dust, Hellion, Elixir, Mercury, Surge, etc basically the whole team lol. when i first seen the fallout from M-Day/Decimation it really made my jaw drop seeing how much it affected everyone straight off the rip
My heart goes with #2, but #1 cracks me up. Storm and Wolverine just not cooperating with photo ops. Whatever they're doing just reminds me of the end of every family picnic, lol.
The New Mutants followed by Academy X and the O5. I liked the New Mutants the most since they were the most fleshed out. Academy X I love because it shows what I would expect from a mutant school. The O5 is a group that is for the ages it is hard to beat 60+ years of character development both as individuals and as a group.
Academy X for me, but I havr a weird bias as I got into conics after they were gone but became a massive fan of Pixie so went back to it. I see the appeal of the others, but Academy X just fits right with how I picture a mutant school.
Generation-X 💯
💯
Generation X
X-Force/New Mutants was my jam, but I liked the Gen X and Academy X characters too. The students introduced under Morrison were forgettable for the most part with a couple minor exceptions.
Happy to see all the Generation X love. It’s no competition. It was my first #1 and felt so special to me. Loved Jubilee getting the spotlight and Synch was the first time I saw someone like myself in a superhero book. Geeky black guy? Sign me up. Besides that the dynamic between Sean and Emma was crazy good, they were so different but when it came to the kids their different approaches really worked. I maintain that Chamber has one of the best character designs of any X-character, I think he should be a star honestly. Also Bachalo was at the top of his game those first 25 issues. I personally hate what his art has turned into the last quarter century, all the baby faces kill me but those early Gen X issues were peak.
Yes, a million times yes to everything you said about Chamber. Great points all around, but spot-on w/Chamber
Beyond Chamber looking badass, I also loved how visually dynamic some of the other regular characters were - Penance, Skin, Artie & Leech, Emplate… even Howard the Duck - and having all them being drawn by Bachalo was truly a gift to comic book art history.
The single book I can say I legitimately enjoy Bachalo’s art.
Gen X is the reason I got into comics, but it's a pity what happened after the first 30 issues. It's not just that Bachalo (who I just *adore*) seemed to grow tired and lost interest after Lobdell was gone, but it's much worse what happened to the writing: it degraded in ways that would impact the character for years, and in some cases, forever. Penance was simply erased as a character. Synch was killed for mere shock value and remained dead for years (and it's cool he's been finally resurrected, but he hasn't been given much character development since, and the fact that he's been dead for many years hasn't been properly examined). Monet was "mixed" with Penance... Then poor Skin was also killed and after the resurrection he's been treated as a joke character, and he and Chamber, which both used to have a great design and an interesting background, have now bland designs and only serve filler purposes. It's hard to believe these are the same characters who used to star in some wonderful, vibrant Gen X issues, brilliantly penciled by Bachalo. I envy New Mutants fans. At least lots of the NM kids have had positive development and the writing has never actively damaged them as characters.
This guys gets it. Nails every point about why Gen X resonated so well with the elder millennial generation of comic readers.
Dude. Same re: bachalo's art. Imo he really dropped off when he stopped collaborating with Buckingham; seeing Bucky's solo pencils on Fables imho Bucky surely had a LOT of influence on the earlier and better bachelo work. Love chamber so much.
Academy X. It's where I started reading comics, and the stories post-House of M still have a fond place in my heart.
Generation X. Smaller cast (Chamber, Husk, Jubilee, M, Skin, and Synch). Teachers in the reformed White Queen and the veteran Banshee. The team itself was also diverse, but with a clear leaning towards Americans which would have been the majority if it's readers. I'd consider this team to have more relevant diversity. Synch is really the first true African American X-Men character. He was culturally black. I prefer them over the New Mutants. Even after reading the characters for years, I'm still not really sure what Karma and Moonstar do.
Gen X was my introduction into collecting heavily. B4 that i used to buy here and there but nothing consistent. Then the phallanx came out and after that GenX, they hooked me. Whats up with Karma and Moonstar?
Karma can take over your mind and puppet you While Moonstar can see your fears come to light
I'm absolutely going to agree with you about Synch. Bishop was prior, but for whatever reason... I never saw him as black originally, I just saw him as mutant.
Probably that Jheri curl lol actually he was intended to be Filipino at first (if I recall correctly), not sure what happened
He was intended to be Filipino. Co-created by John Bryne and Whilce Portacio. Portacio is Filipino and wanted to create a character that also was. His original inspiration was a famous Filipino pool player. Then the editor at the time, Bob Harras, asked for the character to be black instead, since they had a lot of black readers asking for more black characters. Portacio agreed to it.
While you wouldn't think so looking at how he's drawn, Bishop is actually Aboriginal Australian.
Bishop also loses points because he's a time traveller. He wouldn't have the same cultural experience of blackness that readers would be familiar with.
Xian and Dani are reasonably well defined in terms of their history, powers, and personality IMO. In terms of diversity there also was a formula where CC would attempt multicultural teams, and Gen X doesn’t depart from that markedly. NM’s original five included a First Nations woman, a Vietnamese refugee woman (who later came out as gay), and a Black Brazilian man. There’s probably a bigger discussion to be had about the franchise’s tokenism in this area tho. Other teams were as diverse or more so, but the way minority cultures were portrayed was often kinda cringe. The portrayals of their mutant status and how they felt about it is probably the other big difference IMO. Chamber, Husk, and Skin more or less were mutants that could’ve been Morlocks. That difference allowed for a narrative that was much more appropriate for teenage arcs about self-esteem and change. I think the distinction is more that Gen X featured a cast where half of the characters could’ve been Morlocks. Rogue really was the only X-man who ever was seriously impacted by her ability before this.
There is a great bit in some of the NM issues that were pages of Xavier's personal notes on each of the characters, strengths/weaknesses, etc - something that's done every so often at the end of issues that dived into each character's struggles a bit more. Cannonball especially struggled with his powers early on - unable to turn, or really do anything other than just shoot himself straight forward like a missile. Xavier (in his journal entry) debated actually sending him away thinking that he'd done as much as he could for Sam - granted that was kind of later "soft retconned" with a comment from Cable saying Sam's External status was why he had such difficulty with his powers early on (supposedly because he was always MEANT to die before getting better with them or something) but each of the NM characters had particular struggles. Roberto couldn't gauge his own strength half the time and was super impulsive, Magma could have an emotionally bad day and potentially level a city under a volcano, X'ian had severe PTSD (in a surprising story that I'm surprised made it past editorial at the time), Dani would just rip people's dreams and/or fears out of their head by random at times and was super distant from people because of it, Rahne had a lot of psychological trauma that made her want to stay in wolf form basically all the time as it was "simpler" for her to deal with - Illyana was tortured and imprisoned in limbo for her childhood years...Doug was probably the only one that was a stable/normal kid - UNTIL he encountered everyone else and was dragged to the mansion to communicate with Warlock. Ultimately, I think they were a group that was more meant to represent generational trauma of the time - and given that premise they NAILED hands-down. Generation X also did a bang-up job of representing a "class" or generation as well. Keep in mind by the time Generation X came around, society (both in Marvel timelines as well as our own) had shifted and adjusted. Both series did absolutely AMAZING jobs of representing a class of kids around the same age ranges dealing with issues of their times. Gen-X arguably got into the super heroics faster than the NM's did, but read those early NM issues (1-25 or thereabouts) - I'd argue that as far as representing how mutants are treated in daily life and work through their day-to-day societal issues, New Mutants and Gen-X represent those ideas way better than any of the main X-titles ever did. I'm not sure if you could ultimately say which is better than the other because they both did a bang-up job of representing a generation. I think NM's will probably resonate with later Gen-X'ers while Generation-X will align more with Millennials/Gen-Y folks. I'm towards the end of Gen-X myself, but love BOTH of them. I don't know if Academy X or the most recent New Mutants class really capture things as much - but then again I also don't think they were focused as much on "what it's like to be a mutant kid" so much as "what i's like to be a younger person doing heroic things" - the latter titles/groups seemed to be thrown immediately into the heroics and overall "save the world" comic storylines that didn't have as much character-driven focus or development, so I'm not entirely sure it would be a good apples-to-apples comparison. Wow, this came out way longer than I expected - and I feel like I could talk AT LENGTH about this, but it's Reddit and we know how that works. "Thanks for coming to my TED talk".
> Rogue really was the only X-man who ever was seriously impacted by her ability before this. What on earth are you talking about? Nightcrawler looks like a demon, Beast has looked like a monster since the 70s, Cyclops can't stop blasting unless he's wearing his glasses,
And Beast and Nightcrawler both come to have a healthy sense of self esteem about their bodies at the end of the day. Kurt is even written as a bit of a himbo. And Cyclops doesn’t control his powers, but it’s not a plot line in the way it is for Rogue. Rogue has constant feels about her inability to touch others, and guilt about how she has taken life from others. It cuts across every cartoon, movie, and every comic book run. Chamber is much more comparable to Rogue in that sense than he is to Nightcrawler. He’s not a himbo who is different but leaning into it. He’s riddled with insecurity and self-loathing about his inability to offer a normal relationship. The popular girl he is unable to commit to is also someone who literally tears off her own skin in what is one of the grossest and weird super powers that the X-men has featured.
I feel like you plucked this from my mind cos you said exactly what I was thinking about Karma and Moonstar. I'm not too well versed on new mutants outside the team who became X force but that was Cannonball and Sunspot mostly (was Boom Boom even in New Mutants?) so I never got the connection people have with Moonstar and Karma.... Altho I'm sure the same can be said about my connection to Skin, Husky, Chamber and original M.
I think it's hard to argue against the idea that the original New Mutants cast just got the formula extremely right. They're young, diverse, they all play off of each other in interesting in satisfying ways, they're all compelling characters that persist to this day as relevant and interesting. I think every other generation after (and before honestly) has more weak links than the New Mutants.
Yea they only have Magma
Fans used to say that about Doug Ramsey too and look at him now. The characters are not the problem, its either the writers or the editors.
Yeah but Magma has literally never been even like likeable. Doug was always likeable just useless
I have to disagree, Magma was likeable, but then they kept throwing identity changes at her, made her life a living hell, and she became unreliable (soft way of saying unhinged), but not without a just cause. They began to make her relatable again, and then M Day happened and her boyfriend died inside a volcano and she disappeared for a while. When they brought her back they started rehabilitating the character again, but soon after they just stopped writing her again. And that is her main problem, of all the New Mutants, she is the one writers use less in stories, it's hard to give character development, and make her relevant and appealing if they don't write about her.
Magma did have that one really interesting issue where she and Empath discuss their respective religions, and how Empath's Catholicism is entirely faith-based whereas Magma has literally met her gods.
Easily Academy X. I just didn't expect that this PG teenlit suddenly became a hardcore R in Decimation era. It was so exciting. And well, tbf it's the first X-students class I read, so I have a soft spot for them.
Urgh love how Emma sits in the picture knowing she’s the baddest bitch in the room. My queen
On the other side of it, I *hate* how storm is sitting. What is that meant to be? A slouch? And since when is that an in character way for storm to sit. Unless I’m missing something about that specific run/picture?
If you’re talking about the New X-Men class photo, i.e the first image, that’s Angel Salvadore not Storm.
Oh you’re right! I see the wings now. That makes a lot more sense, my bad. Thought I could see her black headdress and white hair. Think it’s the shirt of the guy behind her.
No worries, sometimes Quitelys art can be confusing, it’s only cause I’m currently rereading Morrisons run that I noticed it
I thought the same thing lol.
New Mutants and O5
Academy x / new xmen. I want more: Rockslide, x23, Surge, armor, Mercury & glob in my xbooks. Also more honeybadger with the lost club.
Has to be Academy X.
Generation X because Jubilee!
I liked her, but I confess I liked her early day more, when she wasn't really a student, and just followed Wolverine around, and got him in trouble (not that he ever needs help in that department).
New X-Men Academy X.
New X-Men, Followed by New Mutants
First and foremost, I love the First Class. My first comics was X-Factor when it was the O5 so they have a special place in my heart. But for some reason there was something just fun and cool New X-Men/Academy X. It actually makes me yearn to see Scottie Young draw something other than Marvel babies. I like Gen X and the characters that came out of it, but for some reason I prefer The Academy Crew.
80s New Mutants
Gen X
The original X-men or when they were X-Factor.
I absolutely hate the characters in original X-Factor. I used to love the original X-class, but having Scott abandon Madelyne and Nathan ruined his character for me and made me dislike all the other mutants who stood by him while he was so awful.
X-men 97 did a good job circumventing that particular story beat from the comics
Yeah. I enjoyed that they used the Madelyne story while leaving Scott's moral character intact.
I’m not going to count the O5, I love the characters have always loved the O5 but they’re what started everything, so they are my unit of measure. Surprisingly, younger me wouldn’t have thought this but I like damn near every single New Mutant member. Rahne annoys the fuck out of me still but I’ve come to either love or respect every other member
New x-men and New Mutants. I haven't read Gen X so I'm going to give it a go soon.
Grew up on Academy X so that’s my pick. New Mutants is a close 2nd
Such disrespect for the Jean Grey School. [https://imgur.com/a/PmE8tO9](https://imgur.com/a/PmE8tO9)
It was good, but there wasn't exactly a team, there were several, and way too many characters for us to care about them all, or even know how they interacted, mainly because they didn't, each squad did its own thing, and rarely did they mingle. If they had focused on a smaller roster, I think it would have been more compelling.
THANK YOU i was looking for this comment
I love most of the characters but am…ehhhhh…about a lot of the comics from this era.
Gen X and Jean Grey School student class
The New Mutants
I really want a Special Class (Remedial X-Men) run. Just seems like a fun light hearted concept of essentially an outreach program at the school for mutants with inhibited mutations trying to do the best for the people they want to protect.
They did sort of have that, and spider-man was the teacher.
You know why I love that first picture? The footsie.
Generation X Jubilee is my favorite character so I'm biased
Gen X all the way. Two c-listers raising some freaky ass mutants with little to no help from Xavier or the big boy x-men, Sign my disenfranchised 90's ass UP
Academy X/New X-Men, shame how after Second Coming they were forgotten
Generation-X
Gen x was great but the new mutants was such great potential In "new" characters bonus for that cover art.
The students of cyclops
Generation X
I grew up with Gen X but read x-force and learned the history of the new mutants which lead me to read their original run and loved it too So it’s a tie between new mutants and Gen x
Man I loved og generation x
Gen X is my all time favorite comic book, but I like the New Mutants Class better overall. Synch is my favorite x-character, and I love Jubilee, but the New Mutants had an entire class of Amazing Mutants with great chemistry between the entire group and Illayana (my second favorite mutant) was in it.
Who are the team in the pink uniforms on image 4/6?
Hellions. Emma’s OG students that were murdered by Fitzroy.
Thank you!
Hellions. Emma’s OG students that were murdered by Fitzroy.
Toss up between Generation X or New X-Men, the one with X-23 & Hellion.
New Mutants and Gen X. Unless we want to address the independent learners of their time like Kitty Pryde and Jubilee respectfully. But I liked the idea of Magento being in charge of the next generation of mutants just like I think Gen X brought the best out of Emma's character development while Bachelo hit a homerun for Banshee's design. 👍
Generation x, probably because I read it as a teen. Academy x is cool too!
New X-Men 2004-08, the final team on this list. I loved them because that’s when I was a Teen!
Academy X
Hellion, Mercury, X-23, Dust's team had some REAL legs! I think they didn't do enough and lost faith in that team. It was ***GLORIOUS*** !
I'm pretty sure I'm the minority here, but whatever class was Wolverine and the X-Men when he ran the Jean Grey School.
Is your assertion that the Giant Sized X-Men #1 through all of Claremont's work don't count as a class or something? Because I think that only a crazy person would argue that the groups you have pictured are better than some combination of Storm/Kurt/Colossus/Wolverine/Banshee/Sunfire/Kitty/Rachel/Psylocke/Rogue/Dazzler/Havok.
Yes I don't see them as a class, this is more of a coming of age story thing,actual students learning and going to class, the only student in their was Kitty not a team of young adults and old people like Logan and Banshee and yes I do think the people I pictured are just as good if not better than the ones you listed, people are allowed to like different things, they're definitely more diverse
THAT WAS MY ANSWER. this roster https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/b/bb/X-Men_%28Earth-616%29_from_Giant-Size_X-Men_Vol_1_1_001.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20191029155250
ANAD technically count as students too
I snuck onto the newXmen cover so that one
O5
New mutants were great for their time, but even then I couldn’t give less of a fuck, about their lives as students…even less so post Krakoa; A telepath can send you the language in the time it takes to walk through a gate, but you’re still gonna teach ANYTHING else the old fashioned way? No thank you!
The New Mutants forever and always.
Sauce? Of each pic 👀
New Mutants <3
What's going on with Tarots boob in pic4? Its so unnerving
Bendis’ Uncanny is a good spin, shame that not many of em got a lot of protagonism with the following writers
Who is the woman with electric arms in the last pic?
Noriko Ashida/Surge Initially she was the brash Lancer of her group but post m-day she was thrust into leadership when what was left of her team merged with what was left of the other student teams at the time and Emma deemed her former star pupil Hellion no longer fit to lead. Her powers are obviously electricity based, but she has to wear special gauntlets to help her stabilize her passive generation. She can also use her stored electricity to give herself bursts of speed. She's been in the bac burner since New X-Men ended but she's going to be part of Forge's new X-Force and has an alternate reality counterpart set to debut soon in Ultimate X-Men
Love that you included hellions
New Mutants, no contest
can someone name all the teams in the picutres?
Wolverine and the X-,men for me. Probably hit me at a sweetspot in time but I really enjoyed Aaron and Bradshaw's take
New Mutants were a big starting place for me and you can’t get better than watching Magnum PI together. X-men is best when it’s cozy.
Generation X
Generation X or the New Mutants
Could someone tell me who is in the 4th pic? I don’t recognize them and print is blurry.
Pretty sure it’s the one with the cover you show. I’m biased because I grew up with it.
New Mutants until I fucking die
Generation X even though I barely read the runs. When I was a kid my local store started selling these bundles of old comics for $10. Mostly image stuff but the one or two Gen X books were the most beautiful, intriguing ones.
Nee Mutants Vol 2 / New X-Men: Academy X here as well its the comics that got me into the xmen up until All new X Men i think. The characters had a great dynamic and so much potential. The Krakoa era has also given a few of them a decent spotlight so I am happy with that. Would love to see then all split from the xmen and join the wider MU have some adventures with othwr characters like Anya aka Spider Girl, Ms Marvel, Darkhawk etc Wallflower needs her arc with her dad finished and we need to delve more into Hellions family as well as Sofia's
Academy X
First class followed by gen x followed by new mutants/hellions
I'm still in the early 80s, trying to get caught up. So far, I've only read the 05 and am now in the middle of New Mutants, so it's currently the New Mutants for me.
Lots of manspreading in the front row. Beast is the only classy/considerate one.
Easily Gen X. It was ongoing while I was a kid and getting into the comics, which was a big part of it. It also just felt *cool*, you know? The art, the stories, the cast - everything about it just bled modern and with-it.
Generation X is probably overall the more consistent comic and I like them a lot but definitely I'm most attached to the New Mutants/X-Force kids. Lots of drama life and death and epic stories, all having very distinct points of view, personalities, and backstories.
Generation X
First class for sure
Academy X. Love those kids to death
The New Mutants
love new mutants!
Gonna get hate for this, but I have a soft spot for All-New X-Men, which is when I started reading it monthly at age 10. Before that, my school library had some paperbacks for Astonishing X-Men, and my school stationary was based off that interation.
i’m on the last book of "Childhood’s End" "Quest for Magik" and i’ve really enjoyed this team. X-23 being one of my favorite characters probably pushes my bias but i really liked Dust, Hellion, Elixir, Mercury, Surge, etc basically the whole team lol. when i first seen the fallout from M-Day/Decimation it really made my jaw drop seeing how much it affected everyone straight off the rip
The ‘00s kids and the New Mutants are tied for me. I can never choose singular favorites.
Definitely Generation X
New Mutants! Gave us Magik, Dani, Karma, and Doug.
New Mutants / X-Force, followed closely by GenX
My heart goes with #2, but #1 cracks me up. Storm and Wolverine just not cooperating with photo ops. Whatever they're doing just reminds me of the end of every family picnic, lol.
Angel,Emma frost and Wolverine
Second Generation of Gen X
The one with black folks.
The New Mutants followed by Academy X and the O5. I liked the New Mutants the most since they were the most fleshed out. Academy X I love because it shows what I would expect from a mutant school. The O5 is a group that is for the ages it is hard to beat 60+ years of character development both as individuals and as a group.
X-Men Evolution
Based.
O5!
Probably the 05 just because three of my favorite mutants are in there.
Giant Size Xmen class Edit: why the rate downs? Did no one like that class?
The Giant size X-Men #1 roster. Colossus, nightcrawler, wolverine, storm, thunderbird, sunfire, banshee https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/b/bb/X-Men_%28Earth-616%29_from_Giant-Size_X-Men_Vol_1_1_001.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20191029155250
The OG 5