#but mostly Claremont run

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

Chappell Roan and Casey McQuiston let’s go

Good Luck, Babe - Shara Wheeler!!! Shara heard this for the first time when it came out and dropped to her knees.

Naked In Manhattan - One Last Stop!! The most One Last Stop song to ever One Last Stop. Seriously. It’s SO them.

Casual - Alex after the lakehouse. I know you’re thinking “but the song is so Henry!! Two weeks and your mom invites me to her house in Long Beach!” but you’re wrong. Henry meant for it to be casual the whole time, and when it was clear than for Alex it wasn’t casual, he ran. It was never casual for Henry, sure, but Alex thought it was after he left the lakehouse. Also Jane when August kept insisting the kisses were purely “for research”.

Picture You - Somehow both Henry and August.

Pink Pony Club - IKSW cast after leaving False Beach in the future (specially Shara), also August through the book, with all the people she met (oh Santa Monica, you’ve been too good to me)

My Kink Is Karma - Chloe Green!

HOT TO GO! - I feel like this will fit The Pairing (no I haven’t read it, but I do have read reviews)

Red Wine Supernova - August!! I mean, “she was a playboy, she showed me things I didn’t know, she did it right there, out on the deck, put her canine teeth on the side of my neck” and “fell in love with the thought of you” is SO august.

Femininomenon - Nora, Shara, and Myla would know the whole song from memory and scream it during car rides.

California - Teen Jane after running away from home to be herself, finding herself missing her sisters and her parents.

Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl - June Claremont-Diaz the super graphic ultra modern girl that you are.

Kaleidoscope - Henry before the lakehouse, thinking than Alex would eventually get tired of him and it was all just casual fun.

Die Young - Somehow, Bea (before rehab)

Coffee - Kit perhaps. Again, haven’t read the pairing, but based on reviews (containing spoilers) then…

After Midnight - Our bisexual icon, Alex (while drunk)

Guilty Pleasure - August! Also Shara (guilty cause you know)

Love Me Anyway - Both Alex and Henry!!! “When I met you at summer camp, I would never give you the chance,” Alex hating Henry after meeting him at Rio, and Henry wanting to keep distance from Alex. “Turned you down at your high school dance” Alex insisting to keep things casual and Henry leaving the lakehouse.

Good Hurt - Baby Henry with Philip’s uni friend, who he knows is not the best choice, but he’s just lonely and grieving and needs someone, anyone.

Meantime - Perhaps Liam’s pov of his situationship with Alex during high school.

Sugar High - Rory about Smith.

Bad For You - idk (and no, it is not rwrb)

The Subway - DUH august during the month she thought Jane went back to the 70s. Also Alex after the lakehouse, but mostly August.

rest in peace, chappell roan, you would LOVE one last stop

[ffverr]

Any suggestions on getting into Storm centered comics? what should i read if i wanna understand her upcoming solo? thank u so much !

So you're looking to get into Marvel's greatest character? I got you 🤝

Ok so this is a very daunting question because 1-Storm's character very organically develops all throughout the Claremont run which is like...300 issues of "old" comic books. 2- I'm not all that caught up in the 2000s and 2010s comics so I have a huge gaping blind spot.

But if I were to suggest important issues to get her deal as a character and to prime yourself on her inner conflicts for Storm (2024) here are my suggestions (mostly 70s-80s focused because that's when she has her most major character arcs):

(in blue the ESSENTIAL reads, remember these are team comics, so not always 100% Storm)

My quick Storm (ororo Munroe) reading guide:

Giant size X-Men #1 (1975)

Classic era:

Her first comic book appearance

Uncanny X-Men (UXM) #113

It's got a quick Ororo scene that personally, made me fall in love with the character

UXM #102

Ororo's origin story revealed!

UXM #145, #146 and #147

Her first meeting with Doom who will appear in her solo and her "Rogue form" that will also be explored in the solo!

UXM #150

Storm being essential to Magneto's character development and overall a badass! Storm and Magneto have a very interesting relationship which begins here.

UXM #154-#155

Read this if you want insight into Storm and Cyclops' great friendship (they're siblings your honour!) and their relationship to being leaders of the X-Men! Cyclops is set to appear in her solo, so I'd say it's good to know that they're great friends.

UXM #165

Ororo has a VERY cool moment in this issue and it earns her the title "she who swam with Acanti". It's badass, it shows her inner strength in the face of defeat, it's great Storm content. Read the Brood saga (UXM #154 to #167) for more context of this alien space adventure.

Storm's main character arc! :

If there are ever storm comics you gotta read, it's truly these ones.

Before the fall:

UXM #169, #170!!!, #171, #172, #173

In these issues Storm knows change, and she is rattled by her own ruthless actions. This will lead her through a path of transformation and self reflection that is what makes Storm such an incredible character to me.

UXM #179, UXM #180

To see her with the morlocks again and to get an idea of her unstable mental state at this point before her BIG depowered arc. She also has a very touching moment with kitty (they have an older sister/younger sister relationship 🥺)

Depowered Storm (the fall AND the rise):

Unarguably her most iconic arc. Storm losing her powers gives us incredible and touching insight into who she is as a person beyond the picture of a perfect goddess. A MUST read

UXM #184 (for context), #185!

The loss of powers

UXM #186!!!!

AKA. Life death part 1, widely regarded as some of the best X-Men comics ever along with life death part 2 that you will see later on.

UXM #187 and #188

Full no powers badass Storm.

UXM #198!!!

Aka. Life death part 2, a religious experience. Storm excellency. This is like no other X-Men comic you'll ever read!

UXM #201

It isn't the Storm centric issue everyone makes it out to be, but her being asked to duel Scott for X-Men leadership is still very iconic.

UXM #211 and #212

The mutant massacre is a very interesting and tough challenge for Storm who finds herself again at her lowest despite life death part 2. Important reads!

UXM# 215-216

Fun storm centric action!

This is pretty much all I'll recommend of classic stuff for the moment as I am also reading through the insane amount of bronze age issues.

To hop onto Storm (2024):

Planet size X-Men (2021)

Here are the modern age issues I find relevant to get her current state of mind:

Ororo's role during the Krakoa era truly kick-starts here with helping Terraform Mars, which will become the planet Arakko that she rules along a council of mutants. This era is important to understand Ororo as she is in her solo and shows how she navigates many challenges.

The full series X-Men Red (2022) by Al Ewing! *Read Immortal X-Men #11 along with X-Men Red #11 (I can't remember in what order)

This is the most recent Storm-lead book, it's great Ororo stuff!!!!

Resurrection of Magneto by Al Ewing!

Despite the name, this is a BRILLIANT Ororo comic that is extremely recent, extremely good and explores her character in beautiful ways.

I think it's a great primer for her solo if you only wanna read four issues. (Chronologically it comes after X-Men Red)

That's about all I would lay on you! Good reading! And remember that Storm (2024) is written with new readers in mind so, no pressure at all to know everything <3 🌩️

Wanna read some recent leader of X-Men Ororo? X-treme X-Men by Chris Claremont is made for that. (In between the classic era and the modern era chronologically? It's not that good, but it's something.

Avengers (2023) by Jed McKay.

Storm will be in the avengers as well as her solo! She is introduced into the team at issue #17 so you can pick up from that and read in synch with the solo!

[spaceorphan18]

The Rogue and Gambit Project: Previously On X-Men... Rogue (Part 1)

Ten years before Gambit even came along, Rogue became a staple of the X-Men line. That's a lot of time for her to be established, so I thought I'd give a quick run down of her adventures in the 80s. There's so much to go over, though, I've decided to split it into two parts...

The Basics:

What's her name? Hahahaha, canon has no desire to tell you. It'll take the movies to force the comics to give her a first name and her marriage to give her a last. So, we're getting way ahead of ourselves. But, in case you don't know, it is Anna Marie LeBeau. I'm going to need to keep an eye for when we first learn it!

What's her backstory?? Again, we're not going to find out for a long, long while and... like all superhero origin stories its wonky and weird and doesn't make a whole lot of sense. (Oh, guys, just wait...)

Power Set (via uncannyxmen.net) : Absorb the essential energy of others on contact, allowing her to draw upon a template of their memories, learned skills, and superhuman powers, with the strength of the template proportionate to the side-effects to the victim, ranging from minimal weakness to leaving them temporarily powerless or comatose; accumulated residual templates make her mind extremely difficult to read

She'll have more but... we'll get to that, too....

Previously on Rogue's Story...

Alright, so jumping in, there's a lot of canon to go over in ten years, but Rogue doesn't play a huge role in her first decade. However, she is around, a lot, once she arrives, so I've decided to go over some of the best issues that feature her. Overall, though, Chris Claremont's 17 year run on the Uncanny X-Men is pretty classic, and I do recommend the whole thing if you're ever feeling like really digging into the X-Men...

Anyway... Rogue's best stories during the 80s (Part 1)...

Avengers Annual #10

Rogue's first appearance. This sets up a few key things you should know about her --

She was originally a part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants working for Mystique. We learn that Mystique (and Destiny) is somewhat of a foster mother to her.

In her attempt to steal powers, she steals from Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers - then known as Ms. Marvel) and absorbs her power set a little more permanently.

That power set consists of flight, invulnerability and super strength - the power set she's often associated with.

Absorbing Carol also means that Carol is often a part of her psyche, and Rogue has somewhat of a split personality for most of the 80s. Often times, Carol comes to the forefront and Rogue herself is buried.

She clearly has no qualms about assault and villainy at this point.

Classic X-Men 44

We do get a little bit of her backstory some years after her first appearance. There are a few nods to this incident before Classic X-Men comes out -- about her past with Mystique and about Cody, the first boy she ever kissed and the time she discovered her powers. (He ultimately ended up in a coma, btw.) He's going to be a seminal part of her story for a long, long time. But this issue lays them out a little more plainly.

I should note: when she kisses Cody and when she runs away from home is not always consistent. Sometimes the kiss comes before she ends up with Mystique, sometimes it's after.

But this issue at least gives us the first real look at it.

Uncanny X-Men #158

The first time she appears in Uncanny X-Men - the main X book of the time. Carol Danvers is on the team at the moment, and spots her. The two throw down. Rogue ends up (kissing!) and stealing Wolverine's powers, Nightcrawler's powers, and Storm's powers. Storm eventually sends her away via tornado. Not a whole lot of character development here as she's purely in a villain role, but it is nice to see her in X-Book.

Dazzler #22-24, 28

Rogue then spends some time in Dazzler's solo book - as one of the primary villains there. Mostly, she's jealous that Dazzler has everything that she (thinks she) wants -- fame, money, the ability to kiss people without killing them... The Dazzler solo is mostly action heavy, but it is interesting to see Rogue in such a villain role, especially since she'll be notable hero for so much of her history.

An interesting note - Rogue takes on Angel, and Mystique wants her to steal his powers, but she's terrified of doing so since she's never absorbed someone with a more physical defining mutation. She also claims that kissing is the best part of her power stealing (she's drastically going to change her mind about this). And she doesn't hesitate to say she'll kill if she has to (an aspect of her character that she does go back on, but when push comes to shove, she will kill if she absolutely has to.)

Uncanny X-Men #171

Rogue finally comes to the X-Men after the voices in her head become too much and she wants help controlling her power. The X-Men stand around debating whether to take her in or not, and Xavier finally gives her a chance despite reservations from literally everyone on the team.

I love this issue. Not only do we see Rogue finally coming on board, but she's drawn much differently in the issue. She's much softer and more vulnerable as she comes to terms that she hasn't been a great person and her powers are something that draws a line from having actual intimacy with anyone.

This is also where we can really see that Mystique (and Destiny)'s parentage has been rather terrible and that Rogue just has zero idea what to do. As an aside - we learn here that she's only 18!!

Uncanny X-Men #173

When Wolverine's fiancée goes missing, Rogue teams up with Wolverine to see what's going on. This starts Rogue's slow integration into the team and how she befriends Wolverine. I don't know if I'd say they're super close over the years, but they do have each other's backs, and they do make a great team -- all of which starts here.

Uncanny X-Men #(177-)178

Mystique comes back to take Rogue home but Rogue isn't about to go. She's found a new home and ultimately does the healthy thing and reject Mystique here. (Mystique takes it relatively well even if she doesn't like it.)

Uncanny X-Men #182

The first issue that mostly focuses on Rogue. We get a big insight into what's going on in her head as her own psyche battles with Carol Danvers. It's a really great issue that digs into who Rogue is and the identity battle that she's going to face for a long, long time.

Uncanny X-Men #185

This is a great issue for the development of Rogue and Storm's friendship. There's a huge conversation about trust and vulnerability and it's an issue that really solidifies the bond they have with each other. This is also the issue where Storm loses her powers, and kicks off a mini arc with Rogue on the run, all of which is really good.

Uncanny X-Men #192

While not a huge Rogue focused issue, she does get to spend some time with Nightcrawler and Colossus and is beginning to really feel integrated onto the team.

After this, things take a turn. For one, Rachel Summers (the alternate reality daughter of Scott and Jean -- ooff, comics) has shown up and has become Chris Claremont's darling. Rogue kind of takes a backseat, and while she'll have a moment or two hear or there, is not a primary focus for a long, long while.

Secondly, we start to move into the crossover era, where the X-Books are less about one shot stories and mini arcs, but become sprawling, cross book stories. It's a lot to untangle, and while Rogue is never center stage through any of it, it's enough that I'll pick it up in Part Two...

[happiness-of-the-pursuit]

WIP Wednesday (and Last Line Tag)

Hi! Since the last time I posted I got an awful cold, traveled to visit friends, and toured a law school while I was there. So basically, that's why I haven't participated in the last few games and things BUT THAT CHANGES TODAY. Thanks for the tags below!

Needed a brain break from Daddy Issues, so finally wrote the Leo Chapter from my fic that's Outsiders POV of RWRB (Shades of Bougainvillea if you remember). This is also my last line, so it fulfills that tag too:

With June turning down the campaign job, and Alex still working through his penultimate semester of undergrad, not much changes in the Claremont White House over the course of autumn months. Mostly, everything’s as busy and bustling as it ever is, and Leo does his best to support everyone as best he can. He does, however, take note of a specific trend as he observes his step-children across the breakfast table. Alex has always had his phone attached to his hand, but recently it’s led to fewer impassioned rants about right-wing tweets, and more grins followed by rapid typing. He doesn’t think it’s Nora, either—more than once he’s witnessed this phenomenon occur while Nora’s sitting at Alex’s side, mid-conversation with June. Which means that Alex is talking to someone else other than June and Nora. Leo can’t help but grin into his coffee mug. He likes that someone besides the two of them can draw that smile from Alex; he hopes that maybe he can meet whoever it is one day.

Lots of thanks and tags, so below the cut!

Thanks you for the tags for various things over the past week @bigassbowlingballhead @captainjunglegym @getmehighonmagic @wordsofhoneydew @magicandarchery @heysweetheart-writes @eusuntgratie @itsmaybitheway @rmd-writes @kiwiana-writes @inexplicablymine @suseagull04 @cactusdragon517 @read-and-write- @run-for-chamo-miles @sparklepocalypse @myheartalivewrites @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @songliili @futureseaempress @welcometololaland!!!!

I am tagging anyone who tagged me and hasn't posted today, plus @affectionatelyrs @bribumblebee @cultofsappho @daisymae-12 @emmalostinwonderland @firenati0n @gayrootvegetable @gay-flyboys @junebugclaremontdiaz @jackzimmermemes @leojfitz @nocoastposts @rockyroadkylers @user-anakin @violetbaudelaire-quagmire @whimsymanaged @xthelastknownsurvivorx @zwiazdziarka and @14carrotghoul!!!

[salarta]

Polaris/Lorna Dane, Original Intent, and Marvel's Refusal to Set Things Right

I wrote this elsewhere. I felt it was worth sharing here too. It was in response to a discussion about original creator intent vs later writers, and how to view treatment in official works.

As the original creator, they knew best who the character is meant to be. They're the ones who put tons of thought into traits they should have, who undoubtedly thought of things influencing the character or important history for them that never hit the page. It's the original creator who visioned up what this character is meant to represent and offer to the narrative and readers. Without the original creator, the character wouldn't even exist.

That does not mean every single thing from the creator should be taken as gospel truth never to be changed or questioned. Lovecraft, for example, was horribly racist. There's no reason to keep his racism intact for the sake of "being faithful." However, the core concepts like what the elder gods are and represent are a thing where looking back at that work makes the most sense if you're trying to do something new with it.

So for Lorna, I look to the original creator and what they clearly intended when they created her. What we see out of that is: Lorna is SUPPOSED to be a powerhouse character who even the X-Men dread the prospect of having to fight, but who they're pleased to have on their side when she's with them. She's supposed to be more progressive and feminist, she's supposed to have a struggle between Xavier and Magneto philosophies, and at least some mutants are supposed to think of her as mutant royalty due to her lineage from Magneto.

Most nostalgia-based depictions of Lorna have none of these elements. The closest they come to it recently is HALF of the last point, where she's of Magneto's lineage but not seen as mutant royalty. And even that one, Brevoort was fighting against it a decade ago. I think the reason for him being so opposed to it comes from how nostalgia-based depictions violate all the other core elements of who she's supposed to be, so he thinks Lorna shouldn't have any of it.

We've talked before about how Claremont toward the end of his run had tried to turn Lorna into a completely different character, down to even changing her powers and plans to change her codename. We say he didn't pull it off, but if we're being real blunt and honest about it, he actually succeeded in his goal. He ripped apart every single thing she's supposed to be, and decades later, it's still a struggle to get even one of those elements to be recognized and respected.

She's supposed to be a powerhouse that the X-Men dread fighting, but she's regularly depicted as a punching bag who may talk and look tough but gets bested easily. "I'm a big gun" she's written saying in 2020s X-Factor, right before getting mind controlled and called stupid because the story decided she had to be depicted acting stupid to benefit others. She's supposed to be someone the X-Men want on their side, but she's completely excluded from most major X-Men activity. She's supposed to be progressive and feminist, but she's instead made out to have her entire identity revolve around supporting other characters, mostly men, mainly Havok. She's supposed to struggle between Xavier and Magneto philosophies, but instead she's most often depicted as towing the Xavier line. She's supposed to be seen as mutant royalty, but most characters act like she's a nobody, with even Exodus getting to be on the Quiet Council instead of her.

This is a character who's been deeply wronged, and decades later, people like Brevoort refuse to set things right because they'd rather be nostalgic for sexism that Marvel got away with decades ago.

[corsairesix]

i want to get into xmen but idk hwo :(

Great! There are a few ways to start reading X-Men, so I'm gonna go through a bunch of them.

Start with Giant-sized X-Men #1. X-Men had a run in the 60s that was canceled, and Giant-sized is the beginning of the 70s relaunch. Most of what you'd know from popular osmosis of the X-Men is going to come from this era from '75-'90, and it's mostly written by one writer, Chris Claremont. It's a great era, if sometimes of-it's-time. You can see it transition from a fun villain-of-the-week comic to one of the most iconic comics of all time.

After Dark Phoenix Saga. DPS was a really big event that brought in a bunch of people, so immediately after there was a comic that basically summarized everything prior to that. This is still in the Claremont era, but Dark Phoenix is really the turning point where it becomes the iconic 80s X-Men that people think of. Good place to start mid-Claremont-run.

Grab any classic collection from your library. Your local library will probably have collections of either events or just large chunks of the run. In the 80s, comics were sold at newsstands/spinner racks, so every comic was assumed to be someone's first, and any information you needed to know was pretty clearly exposited. The big events include Dark Phoenix Saga, Days of Future Past, Mutant Massacre, and Fall of the Mutants. Inferno and X-Tinction Agenda are really good too, but require a little more context.

Choose a student team. Every once and a while, X-Men will introduce a new crop of students. The books tend to be self-contained and focused on just that group. The big generations are New Mutants ('80s), Generation X ('90s), and Academy X (2000s). The first two are in books of the same name, but Academy X goes across two books--New Mutants Vol 2 and New X-Men Volume 2: Academy X. New Mutants is my personal favorite, followed by Generation X.

New X-Men. New X-Men was launched right after the movies brought in a lot of new fans, so it's friendly to new readers. At the same time, it's written by Grant Morrison, so it's some weird mystic wizard shit. The only thing you need to know is that Magneto took over a country called Genosha and Cyclops is traumatized through recent comic events (the details don't matter).

Krakoa era. Five years ago X-Men had a soft relaunch where mutants establish a nation on the living island of Krakoa. There are a bunch of books in this era, and are fairly cohesive, with lots of crossover between them. Luckily, the first era of books are collected in trade paperback as "Dawn of X." It's recent enough that your local library will probably have it. The reading order is House of X/Powers of X, Dawn of X 1-15, and X of Swords and then you can find the reading order going forward online. There are a lot of really good comics in this era.

Now! The Krakoa era just ended, and the new era going forward is less cohesive, so you can pick a comic you like and read just that! A bunch of new books just launched, so find a book with some characters you like. Gail Simone's Uncanny X-Men has a lot of fan favorites--Nightcrawler, Rogue, Gambit, Jubilee, and Wolverine. Just pick any that look good!

In general a good rule for getting into comics for the first time is that there will always be something that it's referencing that you might not have read, and that's fine. Most comics will explain what you need to know, and you should just roll with the rest.

[radiofreederry]

I'm trying to get into comics, any recommendations?

I'm a DC girl so this list is gonna be very DC heavy, sorry.

DC

All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely: The book that made me a Superman fan. Beautiful, joyful, self-contained story.

The Flash by Mark Waid: Will make you a Flash fan. Some of the first comics I ever read come from this run. The original run is collected in omnibus format but Mark had a second, shorter run from around 98-2000 that wrapped up a lot of loose ends, and another one around 2008. Those are good too.

The New Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman and George Perez: This book probably saved DC, and it's a wonderful read.

Batman by Scott Snyder: One of the best modern Batman runs, although it suffers from the stink of the New 52 at times.

52 by Mark Waid, Greg Rucka, Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns, and Keith Giffen: Might need some onboarding for this one but it's a great read focusing on some of the second-string characters in the DCU and a triumph of collaborative storytelling. Its spinoff Booster Gold series is great too.

Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross: A surprisingly-accessible refutation of the 1990s trend towards darker and edgier superheroes, it's a must-read for the beautiful painted artwork alone.

Mister Miracle and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, both by Tom King: Tom King's had some big misses, especially Heroes in Crisis, for which as a Wally West fan I should want his blood. He makes up for it when he hits, though. These two titles are his best work.

Secret Six by Gail Simone: A great off-beat title revolving around a small group of supervillains trying to do good. Wish they'd bring this concept back tbh.

DC: The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke: A love letter to the Silver Age of Comics with gorgeous artwork. Was later adapted into an animated film, which is also very good.

Dwayne McDuffie's original Milestone Comics (incl. Icon, Hardware, and Static), are all very good titles focusing specifically on Black heroes. McDuffie also had a great run on Justice League of America from 2007 to 2009.

Justice League International by Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire: A great and hilarious book that offers a much more lighthearted take on the DC Universe. There's a lot of focus on more obscure and minor characters which I always enjoy.

Doom Patrol by Grant Morrison and Rachel Pollock: If you've seen the TV show, it cribs heavily from this. A lovely series featuring a group of misfits trying to find their way in the world.

Jack Kirby's Fourth World: Brilliant, esoteric, at times close to incomprehensible. A must-read.

The Question by Dennis O'Neil: A wonderfully cerebral and philosophical series. Denny left reading recs in every issue! See also his run on Green Lantern/Green Arrow, which is a bit outdated but still electrifyingly political for its time, and his seminal run on the Batman titles.

Marvel

Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont: One of the greatest comic book runs of all time. Largely defined the X-Men for several generations basically until the Krakoa era. Most X-Men stories on the "greatest of all time" list come from this run.

Vision by Tom King: Hey, it's Tom King again! He wrote for Marvel too. This one's a really good character piece featuring a character who often doesn't get to stand on his own.

Daredevil by Mark Waid: The best Daredevil run, hands down.

The Amazing Spider-Man by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko: The original Spider-Man run is still my favorite. Some great Silver Age nonsense combined with great character drama is what put Marvel on the map, and it's on full display here.

Runaways by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona: A really good series that's mostly self-contained about a bunch of kids who run away from home after discovering that their parents are supervillains.

Fantastic Four by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo: I sing Waid's praises a lot, but damn can he write. The best run for Marvel's First Family.

Others

Bone by Jeff Smith: An epic fantasy adventure starring three cartoon funny animal characters. My favorite comic of all time.

Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai: Another epic starring funny animals, this time set in the Edo period of Japan. Mostly episodic, so it's really easy to jump into.

Astro City by Kurt Buseik: Another love letter to the Silver Age, and to superheroes in general. Essential reading.

[three-drink-amy]

Thank you for the tags @cricketnationrise @kiwichaeng @orchidscript @alrightbuckaroo @carlos-in-glasses @cha-melodius! Here’s a look at my newest WIP!

Suddenly, the door to the room opens and in strolls Alex Claremont-Diaz. Henry’s first impression of him is that his suit fits him like a fucking glove. He wonders if it’s more or less helpful when running away from disaster. His second, third, and fourth impressions are mostly all to do with his appearance, namely: his hair, his smile, and the fact that while Henry’s glad he knew what Alex looked like before meeting him, his photos don’t do him enough justice.

The man is positively beautiful. It may end up being a problem if Henry can’t stop fucking staring at him.

No pressure tagging: @everwitch-magiks @clottedcreamfudge @indomitable-love @strandnreyes @rmd-writes @welcometololaland @bonheur-cafe @liminalmemories21 @dumbpeachjuice @walkinginland @kiwiana-writes

[positivelybeastly]

I would've loved to have known more about the other Xmen if I didn't feel like the worst group of friends towards beast.

Well, then, let me give you some recommendations for X-Men runs where Hank and various members of the X-Men are the best of friends!

X-Men: First Class, by Jeff Parker!

Honestly, I always recommend this run to everyone who wants to start reading X-Men, but doesn't know where to go, especially if they're interested in going from the 'start.' So much more digestible than the 60s run, but still in continuity with it, it's a lot more slice-of-life and adventure of the week while still having a strong back bone of character work.

It isn't solely a Scott and Jean book, either, which a lot of more recent O5 books (All-New X-Men and X-Men: Blue especially) suffer from - Hank, Bobby, and Warren all get a decent amount of focus, and you see why this is a bond that persisted as long as it did.

Defenders/New Defenders, by J.M. DeMatteis and Peter B. Gillis!

I don't know if this is the most underrated runs of comic books in all of Marvel's history, but it's got to be up there. Deep, fulfilling character work on Beast (you can really tell that he was a favourite of DeMatteis'), and some really top notch interactions between him, Bobby and Warren, as well as an awesome friend dynamic in the team!

80s Marvel really does just hit different, honestly - the idea that you could go into a grocery store in the 1980s, pick up a copy of this, Claremont's Uncanny X-Men, Nocenti's Daredevil, Simonson's Thor, and still have enough money for a soda and candy is just insane to me. Just, a fucking great time for comic books. But yeah! My single biggest recommendation for anyone who wants to read Beast. It's become easily one of my very favourite comics ever. I recommend starting at issue #94!

New X-Men, by Grant Morrison!

Maybe not the first run you think of when you think about Hank being everyone's friend, but it really is present here - Hank is there for everyone, and, in a rare turn of events, they're actually there for him, too! His friendship with Emma is quietly understated, he and Jean are a brother and sister duo if ever there was one, and he's easily Scott's best friend here.

Wolverine and the X-Men, by Jason Aaron!

A very fun book! A lot of event tie-ins, which can be annoying, but very zany, very off the wall, with some decent character work. Issue #8 especially has one of my favourite Beast fights in all of comics, and I love his friendships with Logan, Kitty, and Broo in this book. It's also a great place to get a taster for a lot of other X-characters - if you see someone here you like, you can glom on to them and follow them elsewhere!

Storm, by Greg Pak!

Smek.

I love Greg Pak's work, pretty much uniformly, and this is a very fun book that exquisitely articulates what's to love about Storm, as well as tackles a lot of different aspects and angles of the mutant metaphor. Lots of crossover with Wolverine and the X-Men, since they were releasing roughly contemporary with one another, but that's no bad thing, to be honest.

Amazing X-Men, by Jason Aaron!

Hank's only in the first five issues here, but he's great fun, and this is a great gateway into a lot of 'classic' X-Men who appear here that you might find yourself going, 'hmmm, I wonder what their deal is,' and then you can go from there! Very classic book, very fun, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Astonishing X-Men, by Matthew Rosenberg!

Specifically, issues #13-17 of volume 4 (yes, comics books are fun, aren't they?) The X-Men are all rather caustic to one another here, and part of the joke is that they're all a little washed up (mostly Alex), but I honestly really like Hank's dynamic with everyone here, and you can tell Rosenberg has a lot of affection for the character. It's also another great gateway into other characters - I found this while doing my big Hank readthrough, thought my boyfriend would enjoy it, and now he's a die hard Havok fan. Amazing what just five issues can do, isn't it?

I do go on a bit about the ways in which the X-Men have failed Hank in various ways during his tenure, the ways in which they could have been there for him and weren't - but, despite what some writers might say, these people are usually Hank's friends. Maybe not his best friends, but there were, and are, good moments to be had here. It's best to try and embrace positivity where you can, friend. It's a better way to live.

[meraki-yao]

RWRB Audiobook Thoughts 11 1 2024

Near the end of both the audiobook and my Alex drawing! Should be finishing it off this week’s lesson on Thursday. I wanted to write last week’s thoughts earlier but then shit happened so here’s me making up for it to run away from my problems

Mainly two thoughts:

Alex’s Speech

The book speech and the movie speech are different, and I love both. They each serve to delivery a similar message but with different emphasis, and both were effective.

That being said, as someone who used to do public speaking at school

These two feel like two distinctly different genre of speeches

Movie Alex’s speech is succinct, to the point: stating this is an invasion of privacy and that forced outing is wrong, and stating that he genuinely loves Henry. It’s kind of what you expect from a news conference statement. He is only addressing the present issues.

 Book Alex puts a little more emphasis on his identity as First Son, and I guess in a way it’s still part of his mother’s campaign, because at the end of the speech he is still using persuasive language to urge people to vote Claremont. He doesn’t quite linger on the invasion of privacy aspect of the situation. This speech is also a lot more personal than movie Alex’s, which is really interesting given the setting. It sounds a little less like a statement and more like some of the speeches I did for competitions.

To be clear I love both, it’s just interesting pinpointing the differences as someone who has done both (granted in an academic setting)

Audiobook Recording

I been wishing for a full cast audiobook recording for the longest time mostly because I want to hear Taylor and Nick read book quotes

But while listening to the audiobook I realized audiobook reading and acting line delivery are really different

Then I realized I think what I want is an audio drama of the book

So there’s that  

[rei-ismyname]

The Phoenix/Phoenix Force sucks

If you're not familiar with Marvel/X-Men's The Phoenix catching you up on the full context is not really possible. I'll summarise the salient bits, but I definitely recommend checking out The Phoenix and Dark Phoenix sagas in Chris Claremont's Uncanny X-Men. The big dumb Firebird has appeared earlier in the timeline for better or worse, but that's the definitive phoenix story (and very entertaining.)

An abridged Publication History of the Phoenix

- The Phoenix is introduced as a cosmic abstraction, a vital entity that is part of the universe. Jean Grey is sacrificing herself to save the rest of the X-Men and this happens.

And this.

It's wild shit, totally iconic and mostly internally coherent, though it doesn't end well. Jean as the Phoenix eats a star and destroys a planet of broccoli people. A very effective use of girl power. A lot happens and she ends up sacrificing herself again. It was established that Jean is The Phoenix, now and forever.

- Rachel Grey, Jean and Scott's daughter from an alternate timeline shows up and is a phoenix host for years without any genocides or whatnot. There's angst, but it's just a part of her. Rachel was a bit of a Jean expy at times but it still made sense and was exciting. She's Jean's daughter so it doesn't take too much handwaving to accept her as a 'host.' (She still is btw, no idea how this works but I like her.)

- Over the next few decades the Phoenix showed up an awful lot. Avengers Vs X-Men is probably the most well known instance. The bird is a lot less picky about hosts now. Hope Summers is the intended host (another Jean expy at times,) but due to Tony Stark's arrogance the phoenix ends up in five other people - Namor, Emma Frost, Scott Summers, Magik and Colossus. It makes very little sense tbh, but after much needless conflict it ends up in Hope and she uses it for some cosmic magnificence.

- Over the next few decades it's all over the place. The Stepford Cuckoos, Quentin Quire, tean Jean, this Shi'Ar dude with a big sword, a prehistoric woman called Firehair, this utter dipshit called Faithful John, and others. It's become a problem of the week, deus ex machina, and worst of all - the stories are not very good. The lore of the phoenix is nonsensical at this point but Marvel was not showing any restraint. Personally, I'd groan whenever it appeared because it meant repetitive plot points and further muddying of how the thing works.

- The Avengers got hold of it and the less said about it the better. It's the mid 2010s and this supposedly unknowable universal abstraction, a god of sorts, has become frankly silly (derogatory.) The wonder has been strangled through overuse and conflicting lore. I'm actually understating it a bit - if you don't believe me check out the wiki for The Phoenix. This cosmic abstraction, one of the most iconic X-Men concepts/moments/arcs had become cringe and boring through overuse and lack of imagination.

- In 2019 Jonathan Hickman's House of X dropped and it was a great time to be an X-Men fan - the Krakoan age. A decade plus of deeply average stories and nostalgia bait were in the past and the status quo had changed in wonderful ways. The Phoenix received a mention on a data page, but it was in a list of powerful entities to give context to a new and interesting concept. At the time it wasn't necessarily foreshadowing.

- In 2023 Marvel was (unwisely IMO) speed running an end to Krakoa and the aforementioned concept emerged as the endgame threat. The Phoenix found its way into the story in an organic fashion and the X-Men put all their hopes in The Phoenix to defeat the threat. Kieron Gillen, under difficult circumstances and with less time than promised, actually did it! He used the Phoenix in a quality story with appropriate gravitas and wonder - and he cleaned up the lore so it made sense again. That run (and era) ended in a better place than most of us imagined it could. It didn't surprise me because Gillen is the best writer in comics today IMO, but we got lucky. He left it on a high note but Kieron Gillen is not at Marvel anymore and Tom Brevoort is in charge of X Books. I'll come back to this polycule erasing bozo.

Phoenix (2024) picks up where he left Jean and The Phoenix (and some infinity comics but let's ignore those for now) - both lore and characterisation-wise. It's explicitly solicited as a cosmic run and the first issue has delivered on that. It's not hard to imagine an ending with The Phoenix seeing itself out of the story in an entertaining way with clean lore and sense of wonder intact. Hopefully without killing Jean again 😅.

Ideally, Marvel will have the good sense to leave it alone for a few years at least. The books are already milking nostalgia and historically X-Men keep returning to the Phoenix, Apocalypse, and some new hate group/the US government deciding genocide is on the menu again. Apocalypse has had character growth (and if they ever undo that I'm doing violence) and moved on & we've just had an attempted genocide plus past victims resurrected - so I'll be generous and say they're off the table. The X line has all new writers and seems to be looking to synergise with '97 and the MCU while claiming they're going for fresh and exciting.

We might get lucky again. X-Men 97 is way past the OG Phoenix stuff and so far has avoided using bottom of the barrel storylines from that time. The 2000s contains danger, but most instances don't fit the 'greatest hits' style they've used so far. An exception to that could be Avengers vs X-Men, but I think they'd save that for a summer blockbuster if anything. I suspect a lot of people would get hype about a movie called AVX, especially if they never read the comic. The MCU hasn't been shy about reconceptualizing events for movies, like Civil War, for instance. The essence of the premise was there but the film made a lot more sense. There's plenty of other reasons (better ones even, ones that don't feel OOC and forced) for the X-Men and avengers to fight, and they'd have to set it up with Disassembled (kinda already happened, not Wanda's fault,) House of M (please no) and then all the Hope Summers/Messiah events. The Fox Movies already did the Phoenix, too, bad as it was. I don't think they'll go that way.

Secret Wars has a phoenix egg in the comics, but it's not important and it's barely an X-Men story. I don't see The Phoenix menacing our screens anytime soon, thankfully. What I fear most is editorial playing it safe and/or nostalgic (which is why Tom Brevoort concerns me - check out his Spider-Man manifesto and you'll see what I mean) and a writer returning to the well when pitching story ideas. Everyone is confident at the start of a new era bc it takes a while to internalise that Marvel repackages and reskins the same 25 tropes while deliberately presenting the 'Illusion of change.' Once the initial ideas dry up and it's crunch time it's natural to look to the past for ideas and characters to reuse. Maybe sales dip a little, or the comics are in a holding pattern waiting for the MCU to do something. Whatever the cause, it will get pitched again and Brevoort will likely say yes. I don't want to be unfair to the guy, but he's been failing upwards for years.

After all, it's happened so many times already. Metatextually, The Phoenix is a symbol of rebirth. That would be a good thing. It can be easy to mistake repetition for rebirth, but it's the avatar of life and creativity. In universe one of its roles is to destroy stagnant ideas or species. Anything that's static and has stopped evolving. Ironically it's been used in some of the worst instances of creative stagnation in Marvel comics. The Phoenix, recent goodness aside, sucks.

I genuinely hope I'm an old 'man' shaking my fist at a cloud while telling Tom Brevoort to get off my lawn. I love being wrong. Nothing would make me happier than Spider-Man or Magneto hosting the Phoenix being an Impossibility. I know I'm not the target demographic but I don't just hope these things for myself. We all deserve good stories, new ideas, the joy of being vulnerable enough to get invested in escapist media. The Mouse, like all capitalists, does not give a fuck about those things though unfortunately. They care about profit. Eh, there's always Fan Fiction. If it does happen I'll commit to a million words. 💜

Don't even think about it.

[onetwistedmiracle]

Royally Big Bang!!

My latest fic:

Baby, you’ll always be my prince

which is going to be full of utterly adorable art from the fabulous oneminutxold (https://linktr.ee/oneminutxold. You should follow them on Insta and/or X!)

is going to start posting on May 3!

Summary: Alex, fairly new to London, meets a hot guy at the park. The guy seems kinda/maybe/pretty interested, their dogs get along great, but no matter what Alex tries he can never seem to get things past polite friendship. Mostly because he's clearly saying the occasional thing that makes this guy super uncomfortable. To the point where he shuts down. What the hell kind of cultural barrier is he running into face-first here, and how does he STOP already?

Four chapters plus a lil bonus cutie extra chapter!

14,576 words, aaaannndd

Four different pieces of original art!

Grateful for beta and general ass-kicking assistance from @sunshineandalittleflour, @myheartalivewrites, @lightninghitsground, and @henryspearl

Tags:

Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor

Angst with a Happy Ending

Eventual Romance

Alternate Universe

Confessions

Getting Together

canon typical homophobia (Mary)

Implied/Referenced Character Death (Arthur)

Light-Hearted

deliberate witholding of information

Original Character(s) (Shelley the dog)

Original Character(s) (Clive the Neighbor)

Pining

Royalty

Secrets

Tension

Lawyer Alex

Henry is in publishing

Hunter is still an ass

Ellen is still a politician

so is oscar

Alex is not the 1st son

Author is Not a Lawyer

[wellnoe]

Just found your blog and am in love with your art style, especially how you draw Jean Grey! The depth of emotions I see really move me. What comics (arcs, single issues, etc.) do you recommend that feature her? Please feel free to info dump! 😄

thank you!! i'm really bad at recommending comics, but i will try. for jean.

in general i would recommend louise simonson's run on x-factor, as well as her jean grey (2023) book (though i've only read the first two issues). i really and truly think simonson is the best jean writer to ever do it. she writes jean as someone who is very kind, very committed to heroism, and very much struggling w a lot of baggage. simonson's jean has an explosive temper and is fixated on her ability, what she can and can't do. she can be mean! and condescending! but those things feel very rooted in other parts of herself, and it makes it fun to see them come to the surface. idk i can talk about jean in x-factor esp forever, but the tldr is that i think simonson does a good job of showing off jean's most negative traits in such a way that it makes sense that they live alongside her most positive traits. this is also a really good series for like. looking at the way scott and jean can suck together, and why they are both so invested in their relationship.

also you should read the original inferno bc it is really good jean and maddy material.

i also recommend uncanny x-men 261-263? these are by claremont, and are mostly about forge, but they are really interesting in how they present a) jean's relationship to the x-men and b) jean's relationship to her body (two things i love!!) they do this by giving jean tentacles, which is a very claremont thing to do.

i think the adventures of cyclops and phoenix are good, but i'm actually going to rec the further adventures of cyclops and phoenix? the pencils are by john paul leon, so the art is incredible, and you get to see scott and jean be in love on a time-travel mission together, which i think is fun. ALSO, if you read inferno like i told you to, you get to see them completely swap positions on whether to kill sinister, which i think is really interesting? to me, this swap clarifies some of jean and scott's ethics regarding killing people period, and its fun to see them clash a bit over something like this.

and that's where i'm going to end it to avoid this getting longer!!

[hondafuckingodyssey]

X-men comic recommendations

The other day I went on a rant about how nobody should attempt to read all of the x-men comics in order because if the x-men have no respect for the spacetime continuum, you shouldn't have to respect reading their shit in order.

So here's a list of comics series, some that I've read and some that are on my to read list. Mind the authors and the dates, Marvel likes to recycle titles so sometimes you'll accidentally pick up something that's a completely different story from ten years later.

If you're going to getting your comics from the library and different sources (cough archive.org cough), or skipping around to different eras, I recommend an app like Comic Geeks where you can track which issues you've read. As a bonus, you get a satisfying little dopamine hit every time you check off a comic you read.

The original silver age comics from 1963 Stan Lee and Jack Kirby These are fun, but they kind of suck. I believe X-men was one of their worst selling titles for many years. They are campy fun though, like that island has a giant acme magnet on on top of it, I wonder if that's Magneto's secret base, hmmm? I'm kind of working through these when I just have my phone because they're easier to read on a smaller screen than the new stuff with full page spreads.

Chris Claremont's classic X-men run, starting in 1975. This is the classic starting point I hear recommended again and again. You start with Giant Size x-men number 1, and then go to X-men issue 94. This is where all the classic x-men are introduced. You got your Dark Phoenix saga, and Days of Future Past, and a lot of the storylines that were used in the 90's animated series. Everybody should read some of these. But Chris Claremont was writing the X-men for FOURTEEN years. Do not attempt to read all of these before you move onto the modern stuff.

The Dark Phoenix saga, 1980 Chris Claremont, issues 129-138 Ok, I just finished these last night and they're so good that I want to make a special call out for them. I jumped ahead to read them and I'm so glad I didn't wait. I can't figure out how the movies sucked so bad when they had this source material to work with. We could have had an epic moon battle? If you don't read anything else from this era read these. Pro tip: get the epic version of like a prayer stuck in your head right before starting on issue 137. Really adds to the atmosphere.

X-men Season 1 by Dennis Hopeless, 2012 This is a graphic novel (so published altogether instead of in individual issues) retelling of the original silver age comics. It's mostly from Jean Grey's point of view. It's very fun.

Children of the Atom, 1999 by Joe Casey, 6 issues Sort of a prequel, explains how Charles Xavier recruited a bunch of teenagers. This looks good, but it started out with mutants being lynched, and with the way I always compare being a mutant to being queer, and the election and project 2025 looming, I decided this one was too much for me right now.

X-men First Class, 2006 by Jeff Parker, 8 issues I read the first four of these and they were cute. Bobby is writing home to his parents about his time in school, Scott and Jean go to the beach. Lots of fun character stuff. Originally 8 issues but it looks like they immediately did another run of issues the next year.

New X-men, 2001 by Grant Morrison his run starts with issue 114 This is a great place to jump in if Deadpool & Wolverine got you interested in x-men comics, because it's got Cassandra Nova in it. She's doing her weird finger thing! Supposedly this is one of best places to jump into modern x-men. I've read about 6 of them, so far so good.

Astonishing X-men, 2004 by Joss Whedon This is supposed to be the best x-men run ever. It continues directly from Grant Morrison's run. I'm saving it for next time I have a mental breakdown a rainy day.

All-New X-men, 2013 by Brian Michael Bendis This is what I'm reading the most of right now. Cyclops is being an asshole, and Beast decides the best way to solve this problem is to go back in time and bring the original teenage x-men from '60s back with him to confront him. This works particularly well as a jumping in point because they keep explaining backstory through the kids finding out all the ridiculous things that have happened. Like, poor Jean asking how she died, and they're is like, um which time?

[orangedodge]

Okay, another few questions:

1, how old were the original five X-Men at their introduction? 2, how old were they (OG team) when Banshee and the other "new X-Men" joined Cyclops in stopping Krakoa? And 3, how old were the original five when M-Day happened?

Sorry, these are details I just want to know for myself. Hope you don't mind the questioning, and keep up the good work!

According to [Uncanny] X-Men #1, Bobby Drake was sixteen when the team made its public debut. Furthermore he describes himself as a "couple" of years younger than his friends. We also know that Hank is somewhat older than Scott, Warren, and Jean. So, the short answer to your first question is: Bobby is 16, Warren, Scott, and Jean are 18, and Hank is probably 18 or 19.

It's not specifically clear whether Bobby is literally two years younger, or if "couple" is being used in a more figurative sense. I think it's safe to take at face value though, given that he is clearly presented as a member of their age cohort (along with Lorna and Alex); is meant to be reasonably close to the same age as Peter Parker and Johnny Storm (who should also be in the same general range as the original X-Men, as they were all teenagers at the same time); and lastly when Claremont revived the X-Men publication years later, Bobby was depicted as now comfortably a young adult, finishing up his accounting degree, at the same time that Jean was dealing with her first job drama, and Warren was off with the family business.

I also think it's safe to guess Hank is no more than a year older than the others. He's treated as a peer of his teammates rather than as a helper to the Professor, and seems comfortable as a member of the group even outside of X-Men training. Hank's more advanced academic pursuits with respect to his teammates are also shown to be a product of his intelligence and not simply him being in a more senior class, which I think furthermore point to him being loosely their age.

Later authors have occasionally given different ages to the first team, or at least to Scott. Bendis, who wrote them for the longest, identifies the younger Scott as sixteen when he first comes face to face with his modern counterpart (Uncanny X-Men volume 3 no. 12). In Matt Fraction's inexplicably titled Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus, Scott gives a televised speech in which he claims to have joined the X-Men at age 15. And in Stuart Moore's X-Men Origins Cyclops, Scott is shown to have first met Charles when he was 17 (which works), but he also dates X-Men #1 as taking place when Scott was 21 (which contradicts every other version of the story).

I think it makes the most sense to just go with the original story, and take 18 as the team's median age. I think you could also just as well argue that the 15-17 number isn't in contradiction per se, but only reflects Scott's age when Charles started training him, or even when he first became Cyclops, and not his age in X-Men #1 when Jean joined the team and they confronted Magneto for the first time.

I know some fans also feel that the Bendis' run discounts the possibility that they're in their late teens, because he writes them so young, but I think that's kind of ridiculous. Bendis writes everyone like that, and in any case people are basically the same at 14 as they are at 34, so how much more mature does anyone get from 16 to 18, really?

I think having them remain (mostly) at 18+ is the most plausible reading of the original run, and the most consistent with their general dislike of Charles recruiting actual child soldiers in later classes, and as well with Marvel's editorial policy that the X-Men have existed for ten years in-universe in perpetuity and are now just shy of 30.

Second question: Their ages later on, when the All-New, All-Different team first formed aren't given directly, but they're easy to work out.

So, at time of first death, Jean was 24ish depending on when her birthday falls in the year. Scott and Warren are the same age, Bobby is two years younger, and Hank is probably around 1 year older.

How much time passes between Jean's introduction to Storm, Thunderbird, Wolverine, Banshee, etc and her death isn't specified, and during his first run, Claremont tried to maintain a pretense of everything occurring in real time, but already it had started to become untenable and can't be trusted.

At the time of Jean's death, the core Claremont trio of Storm, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler are still very early in getting to know each other as people, despite spending a lot of time together on page. So I think it's very likely that only a few months have passed between the new recruits joining the team and when Jean died and the remaining original X-Men make their departure. So I would just treat the Dark Phoenix Saga as taking place in the same year as the first mission to Krakoa, with Jean/Scott/Warren remaining 24 throughout.

Third question: To get to their ages at M-Day, I need to do something cataclysmically stupid. Something that I always tell everyone to never do when talking about the X-Men: I have to talk about how old Kitty Pryde was. She who has had three separate, non consecutive, fifteenth birthdays; and she who, famously, began the 1990s three years older than Jubilee, but still managed to end the decade two years younger than her. But, for once, bringing her into things is going to make everything else make more sense.

In X-Treme X-Men we're told directly that Kitty joined the X-Men five years ago. This is useful to know, because she joined the team on the exact same day that Jean died, so it has also been 5 years since that happened. X-Treme X-Men takes place at the same time as New Mutants volume 2, later to be relaunched as New X-Men: Academy X, which documents the first academic year of the Xavier School post its outing as a mutant boarding school. The two books ran parallel to one another and reference the same events in the lives of the original New Mutants.

Academy X concludes during the House of M crossover itself, and with the depiction of the typical US/Canadian school dances, and the inclusion of a year book issue, I think it's reasonable to conclude that the entire Academy X era takes place over about one full school year. So adding that together, M-Day should fall around 6 years after Jean's first death, making her, Scott, and Warren around 29-30, Hank 30-31, and Bobby 27-28.

If you want corroboration while also having the chance to experience a desperate urge to kick something, here's a cropped out section of the House of X/Powers of X timeline.

My version has a type mistake, where years 49 and 50 were incorrectly reversed. Genosha should be year 50, and Moira's "death" at 49. (IIRC later print editions fixed this) M-Day and Decimation would happen in year 51. The Year 47 event references the storyline beginning in Jim Lee's X-Men #1, and so the formation of the Claremont X-Men would likely be in Year 45 or 46. Scott and co being 30ish at Year 52, and working backwards...It actually all kind of lines up?

Which I hate! I hate that it works. It forces you to accept that everything after M-Day occurs over the course of just one single year. And it's so annoying that it's actually kind of possible, when you remember how much everyone loved decompressed storytelling in those days, and subsequently how almost nothing actually happened for a decade and a half of comics. But still! That's so ridiculous! Why do they do this!

Hope that helps! Thanks for the ask.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Katherine Stewart at TNR (08.10.2023):

Earlier this year, nearly 1,000 supporters of “National Conservatism” gathered at the semicircular auditorium of the Emmanuel Centre, an elegant London meeting hall a couple of blocks south of Westminster Abbey, to hear from a range of scholars, commentators, politicians, and public servants. NatCon conferences, as they are often called, have been held in Italy, Belgium, and Florida and are broadly associated with what is increasingly called the “New Right.” In London, speakers denounced “woke politics,” blamed immigration for the rising cost of housing, and said modern ills could be solved with more religion and more (nonimmigrant) babies. The break room was lined with booths from organizations such as the Viktor Orbán–affiliated Danube Institute, the U.K.-based conservative think tank the Bow Group, the Heritage Foundation, and the legal powerhouse Alliance Defending Freedom, which is headquartered in Arizona but has expanded to include offices in nearly a half-dozen European cities. When I attended NatCon London in May, I heard a number of American accents in the crowd, and I was not surprised to see Michael Anton, a former national security official in the Trump administration and a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, a right-wing think tank, on the lineup. These days, Anton and other key representatives of the Claremont Institute seem to be everywhere: onstage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC); at the epicenter of Ron DeSantis’s “war on woke”; and on speed-dial with GOP allies including Josh Hawley, J.D. Vance, and Donald Trump.

Most of us are familiar with the theocrats of the religious right and the anti-government extremists, groups that overlap a bit but remain distinct. The Claremont Institute folks aren’t quite either of those things, and yet they’re both and more. In embodying a kind of nihilistic yearning to destroy modernity, they have become an indispensable part of right-wing America’s evolution toward authoritarianism. Extremism of the right-wing variety has always figured on the sidelines of American culture, and it has enjoyed a renaissance with the rise of social media. But Claremont represents something new in modern American politics: a group of people, not internet conspiracy freaks but credentialed and influential leaders, who are openly contemptuous of democracy. And they stand a reasonable chance of being seated at the highest levels of government—at the right hand of a President Trump or a President DeSantis, for example.

[...]

Founded in 1979 in the city of Claremont, California (but not associated in an official way with any of the five colleges there), the Claremont Institute provided enthusiastic support for Donald Trump in 2016. Individuals associated with Claremont now fund and help run the National Conservativism gatherings; Claremont Institute chairman and funder Thomas D. Klingenstein also funds the Edmund Burke Foundation, which has held those National Conservatism conferences across the globe. Claremont is deeply involved in DeSantis’s effort to remake Florida’s state universities in the model of Hillsdale College—a private, right-wing, conservative Christian academy in Michigan whose president, Larry Arnn, happens to be one of the institute’s founders and former presidents. Claremont honored DeSantis at an annual gala with its 2021 “Statesmanship Award,” and the governor returned the favor by organizing a discussion with a “brain trust” that included figures associated with the Claremont Institute. If either Trump or DeSantis becomes president in 2024, Claremont and its associates are likely to be integral to the “brain trust” of the new administration. Indeed, some of them are certain to become appointees in the administrative state that they wish (or so they say) to destroy.

The Claremont Institute in the Trump era has become a clearinghouse for far-right and fascistic ideas.