Review # 185: "X-Men - The Shattering"

Marvel made what SHOULD have been a good decision when it put Alan Davis in charge of the X-Men in the late 90s. With his quality work on "Excalibur," strong knowledge and dazzling art, along with the company's similar hiring philosophy propelling the "Avengers" to its all-time best run under Kurt Busiek and George Perez, this move should have turned the company's flagship franchise around. Unfortunately, things don't always work out that way as Davis offered up what is arguably the most disappointing story in X-Men history. "The Shattering" is NOT that story, but it sets it up.

Review # 135: "X-Men: Fall of the Mutants"

Regarded as the second major X-Men crossover, "Fall of the Mutants" takes a much better approach for its titles at the time than what had been done in its predecessor "Mutant Massacre." In essence, it's not a crossover at all - each series was slated to go through a significant change at exactly the same time under the same banner headline. This allowed the creators to do whatever they wanted and fail or succeed on their own merits.

Giant Size Review # 2: The State of the X-Men ("Amazing X-Men," "No More Humans," and more)

Another Giant Size review! This time, the central topic is the current state of the X-Men where the question of the day is: Why does Brian Michael Bendis have to be in charge? Come to think of it: who is in charge at all?

Review # 130: "X-Men - Days of Future Past"

"Days of Future Past" is one of the greatest X-Men stories ever. The concept of a time-traveler from a bleak future venturing to the past was a fresh idea at the time, as beaten into the ground as it's become now. Still, there's a reason why pop culture keeps going back to it: when done correctly, it works. Look no further than the X-Men film based on this very title.

Review # 76: "X-Men by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee Omnibus Vol. 1"

Even though I've gone through all the issues included here before, there's a bit of culture shock as the last Chris Claremont X-Men work I'd read was the omnibus collecting the start of his run up until the beginning of "The Dark Phoenix Saga." We're talking about a ten year gap and a definite shift in style as the X-Men storylines are darker and a lot more cruel to the characters. This is coming in at a key moment, as - after "Inferno" wrapped up years worth of stories in a single swoop - Claremont is spinning a trademark, complex web of narratives for the last time before his exit from the franchise he defined.

Review # 72: "Dark Avengers/X-Men - Utopia"

Norman Osborn had secretly taken over the world. His Green Goblin persona under control, he had formed a secret cabal, taken command of SHIELD and formed his own Avengers team while keeping the originals on the run. Far more frightening as a villain smiling for the cameras than he had ever been with a glider and pumpkin bombs, life for Orborn was as good as it got.

Review # 45: "Uncanny X-Force - Final Execution"

It's time for Rick Remender to kiss "Uncanny X-Force" goodbye as Marvel moves him over to their flagship title of Marvel NOW!, "Uncanny Avengers." "Final Execution" offers a satisfying conclusion to his run, ending on a high note after the misstep that was "Otherworld."

Review # 35: "Wolverine and the X-Men by Jason Aaron Vol. 5"

While I appreciate Jason Aaron's ambition to make "Wolverine and the X-Men" a mixture of both whimsy and darkness (almost like Hogwarts with mutants,) there's always a line that can be crossed and things become too absurd. I think he may have done that here.