Forum for Geeks

We have had the X-Men Gold and Blue teams, X-Force, X-Factor, Excalibur, Generation X, X-Force again, X-Factor again, etc...
Has there ever been a series featuring only the characters that have fallen by the wayside in the X-Universe? There are plenty of X-Men characters that have plenty of promise that writers just don't use and then fall into "Limbo" and only come up every so often. Hell, for quite awhile they did this to Havok, Polaris, Rachel and everyone else who went off into space during the Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire storyline.

I would love to see a mini or a maxi series focusing on characters that were interesting and had good stories to tell that just aren't utilized, characters such as Cerise or Thunderbird II or even Shola, Wicked, and Freakshow from that shortlived Excalibur series. Marvel is throwing so much money around with 10+ Averngers titles each month and numerous Spider-Man and X-Men series, I wouldn't mind seeing a mini devoted to some long-forgotten faces from the past. Until I get my wish, I guess I will have to wait around for events such as Necrosha to go all fanboy over seeing some of my faves pop up in cameo roles in the background of fights (BTW, this storyline still would be a good "out" to use for bringing back any of the resurrected mutants that weren't on Genosha when Selene stole their souls back)

Just wondered if anyone else felt the same way and had some characters in mind that you know are out there and would like to see in a min or maxi series devoted to the forgotten of the X-Universe? I hope I am not completely alone in this.

Gotta have a creative pair willing to try it, and have it be good enough to convince marvel to print.

I'd like to see Marrow again. Last time I saw her she fought Sabertooth with bone claws. Penance, Lifeguard and Slipstream too. Celia Reyes seems to be making a comeback, which is good.

Just resurrect all the dead gen xers and I will be happy.

X-Factor's relaunch post House of M was pretty much made up of characters that hadn't been used for several years. Rictor and M aren't what I'd call A or B list. But Peter David took them on and has made an enjoyable title out bunch of cast off characters.

Peter David's X-Factor is a great example of what can be done with these kinds of characters if given to the proper writer. I do remember the LONERS series that lasted a few issues awhile back. That had a wealth of forgotten characters, but no plot or character development to go with them.

The 4th (I think it was 4th, anyway) volume of New Warriors was another good example of this as it basically took D-List X-Characters to rebuild the team with Beak, Angel Salvador, Chamber, Stacy-X and Jubilee (don't call her Wondra!) as the cast. I didn't read it all - but I did sorta enjoy it as an unofficial X-Book.

Yeah, that New Warriors volume started out pretty strong (Paco Medina art!) and kind of whimpered out around Secret Invasion.

As far as D-lister books go, I don't think anyone has come close to the relative success of X-factor. The mutant New warriors was interesting, but all the mutants were written like completely different people, and the book was essentially a way to clean house, and kill off a few Morrison era dreggs. All the while, it seemed completely unrelated to New Warriors. It was not a recipe for longevity.

It's got to be hard to come up with a second D-lister book, that is good enough of a concept as X-factor. And even then, taking a chance on existing at the same time as X-factor. I've got to wonder how feasable it is saturate the X-men market with two books about has-beens. New Mutant had a good 3 year run along side of it. But really it was only decent for one year, and reliant on the nostalgia of people who cared about the team back in the 80's to buy it.

If say, they relaunched Gen-X. They have to first have the right voices for the characters. They need to have a unique mission statement a' la detective agency, and not have it be dependant on other titles, a' la Cyclops' clean up crew. Make it true to the nostalgia of the original Gen-X but give them something better to do and make it relevant. And have it be X-treme. Not Liefeld extreme, or Greg Pak x-treme. I'm talking big last page suprises, and twists. Tailor it to the grunge era, as if this were that generation all grown up. Every generation since then, just bites the grunge era anyway, so fans of all ages could enjoy it.

These are some good points, Cibawag. I would be up for a return of GenX except for a number of key members of that group have been thrown into such radically different situations since that title. A few are dead, others are being used in creepy stalker love stories in Wolverine and the X-Men and I believe Artie and Leech are over in Ff, right?

If we were lucky enough to get a writing team that understands the characters and someone with an art style that can adapt to any variation on the team roster (Bachalo), what D-Listers would you all like to see, not thrown into a book all willy nilly, but put together into a development-heavy/interaction-heavy storyline such as X-Factor? Rosters we would like to see? Also, other than the alternate dimension route or the 'detective agency' route, how can a writer create a sense of independence from the other X-books?

This would require some resurrection or repowering in a few cases:
Forge (leader)
Caliban (skinny version)
Dazzler
Maggott
Marrow
Chamber
Husk

You gotta bring back synch!

I'm not far off from Paul on this. First of all, yeah it would totally be a lucky break for this not just to happen, but to be good. I don't think there is a huge incentive to make something like this, unless licensing for the Generation-X title is up for renewal soon. And from there it's got to be hard to find a writer who is actually passionate enough about writing such a thing, to stick with it like Peter David, and who is not just filling out a mandate, while waiting for an opportunity to write Spider-man. The stars are really going to have to be perfectly aligned for this to work out like we want.

But with that title, you can get Husk, Chamber, Jubilee, and M back, who are floating around the x-verse limbo in various background roles, but haven't been long forgotten. Add Marrow and Maggot to the mix. I know Maggot is presumably dead, but I remember a little while back, Skottie Young said in an interview, he is dying to bring him back. And with that kind of passion, Skottie might just be yer boy.

VJ - Note that I said "SOME resurrection or repowering in a FEW cases".

Cibby - Good points. However, Marvel seems willing to bet something a Legion solo series of all things. He's pretty damn D-List.

Paul, you know Legion is going to be interacting with all the heavyweights. Expect a lot A-list cameos.

Necrosha is possibly the easiest retcon that the X-writers could use to bring back dead characters. I was hoping that Pyro would have been a return that would stick, along with Caliban for that matter. Instead it was used to bring back Cypher (which has been blah for every issue since his return) and Blink (who magically changed her personality and only shows up when it is convenient in New Mutants).

I would love some serious panel time devoted to the following characters, deceased or alive:

Caliban in his skinny form
Adam X (I know, but I really liked the one-off issue in Uncanny where he saved his supposed grandfather from a plane crash. Also, his power is unique.)
Maggott (would be great to seem him be useful and alive again)
Hellion (um, completely forgotten after Second Coming? Seemed promising, then dropped.)
Cerise (would be interesting to see her status in the current Shi'ar Empire)
Pyro (Hey, didn't ANY villains come back after Necrosha??)
Siena Blaze (kinda 90's, but I liked her style)

I really don't care to see synch or skin back. Their powers were some of the most terrible powers I've ever seen. I was kind of disappointed they got rid of Mondo so quickly. He had a really interesting powerhouse power and personality, but I guess him and Rockslide are too similar.

I want to know whatever happened to Sage. I'd like to see her come back.