X-Men Legends: Rewind To The X-Men Glory Days

      I often mention how my the title 'Dayspring Discussions' is an X-Men reference, and how I feel like I don't talk about X-Men enough, even though Marvel's mighty mutants are my favorite thing about Marvel Comics.  Also, in recent weeks, I have been trying to get back into writing more.  This site started out as a blog to talk about all my theories, reviews, and fan castings for my geeky interests.  But as podcasting has become more popular I too made the switch over to modern media.  That is why I don't suspect anyone will read this entry, but like I said, it's more about getting back into writing for me.  And talking more about X-Men. So, this is me trying to hit two Sentinels with one optic blast. ZING!

     My earliest memory of buying an X-Men comic from the local comic book store was when Age of Apocalypse was going on.  I remember at the time Gambit was my favorite X-Man so the title was Gambit and the Xternals.  As I grew up my taste changed, and for years now Cyclops has been my favorite X-Man.  He's the leader who does what he feels is right and makes the tough calls.  And most of the time his colleagues disagree with him.  Nevertheless he does what he feels is best and never apologizes for it.  He takes responsibility for the entire mutant race and it's future.  Since the 2000's he's been more bad boy than boy scout, and some have compared him to being a mixture of Xavier and Magneto.

     Because of my current affinity for Scott Summers I feel like I know a good amount about the whole Summers clan.  Havok, Cable, Corsair, Rachel, Vulcan, Jean Grey, and I would even put Polaris in that group.  And during the 90's their were hints of Cyclops and Havok having a brother, and who it could be.  Some thought it might even be Gambit given that he was an orphan adopted by the Thieves Guild.  But, an answer was given in Deadly Genesis and Gabriel Summers, Vulcan, was revealed to the world.  But last week a new series came out that makes it seem that Adam X, a popular mutant in the 1990's, is indeed the brother of Cyclops and Havok.

     X-Men Legends starts off with the kidnapping of Scott and Alex's grandparents.  Followed by the reintroduction of Adam X.  Adam is being pursued by Erik the Red and thinking he is important on a cosmic scale.  Cyclops and Havok find Adam, and so does their father, Corsair, who then seems to fire a pistol at his own son.  And that's where issue one ends.

     I had heard about this series, but never really dug into what it was going to be about aside from the famous "third Summers brother" conspiracy.  The book is written by Fabian Nicieza who helped bring life to Deadpool, and has written many X-Men and Marvel comics in his career. This reminds me of years ago when Chris Claremont did another take where he left off with X-Men.  What would he have done if he was still writing X-Men?  To be honest, I could not get into the series because at that point the X-Men had grown so far past where Claremont left them.  That's how I feel about this comic series.

     I have mixed feelings about the current status of X-Men comics with House of X been going on for a while now, but at least it's something different and new.  I feel like Legends is just trying to take us back in time when the X-Men was the best selling book Marvel had.  I never knew much about Adam X because I thought he was created just to make a character that reflected the current youth.  I preferred Nate Grey; the X-Man.  

     While this series is great nostalgia for long time X-Men readers, I find it moot.  The costumes and art are great, but why dig up an old mystery that has already been solved by one of my favorite X-Men and Marvel writers; Ed Brubaker.  Brubaker created Vulcan into a far better character than Adam X ever could be in my opinion.  So even if you didn't like who the lost Summers brother turned out to be there is no point in living in the past.  That's when you become what you hate.  Right Magneto? 

5 X-Men Who Should Have Their Own Solo Movie

This weekend The Wolverine will hit screens around the country.  This will be the 6^th time Hugh Jackman has played this character, and the 5^th X-Men film that is centered around him.  Yes, I know, Wolverine is pretty awesome and you have to put the star at the center of your film if you want it to make money, but is anyone else sick of Wolverine taking up all the X-Men glory?  As a long time X-Men reader  I can tell you that there are plenty of mutants whose story is just as interesting, if not more so, than Wolverine’s.  Logan’s last solo film didn’t turn out so well, and though this new one focuses more on his samurai roots I think it’s time the studio gives another character their shot at a solo film.  Lucky for them I know five X-Men who would be great in their own movie.

5) STORM

Halle Berry played this character in three films and did a pretty crappy job if you ask me.  She had three different accents in all three films and word has it she wasn’t going to do X3 unless she got more screen time, which ended up poorly wasted, just like that whole film.  Berry will play Storm again in the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past and I can only hope her screen time for this film is limited to several minutes, and no speaking lines.

Aside from Berry’s film performance the character would be a great focus of a film.  Ororo Monroe started out as a little pick-pocket thief in Africa till she developed her mutant powers to control the weather.  Then she was worshipped as a god by her people.  Professor X found her and convinced her to join his cause.  Since then she’s gone on to be the X-Men’s field leader and co-head mistress of the Xavier school.  Her flaws include her doubt in herself and the claustrophobia she developed when she was buried alive as a child.  The character is dripping with leading lady material.  Just don’t let Berry try to do that horrible African accent again, please!

 4) HAVOK

For some reason this character was in X-Men: First Class, played by Lucas Till.  This never made sense since his older brother looked at Charles Xavier as a father figure, yet in the film Xavier and Alex were only a few years apart in age.  Throughout most of his life Alex Summers has lived in the shadow of his older brother, Cyclops.  Havok eventually stepped out of that shadow to lead his own team, X-Factor, and it’s been a bumpy road ever since.    

Alex spent his childhood jumping foster homes until Scott and Xavier found him and joined them as part of the X-Men.  There he met Lorna Dane and they fell in love.  Polaris and Havok dreamed of leaving the X-Men and the fight for mutant liberation, but just like his brother and Jean Grey, the two kept getting pulled back in.  They helped form the government-based mutant team, X-Factor, and thought they could live happily ever after.  Since then Alex has since been turned in a brainwashed assassin, traveled to an alternate reality to lead a rebel band of X-Men, and lead his father’s group of space pirates, The Starjammers, against his little brother, Gabriel, to stop him from ruling the galaxy.  Now Alex is an Avenger, working beside Captain American and Thor, trying to redeem himself for the wrongs he and his family have done.  Tell me this torchered soul doesn’t have enough for a screenwriter to work with? 

 3) JOSEPH

The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #327 with no memory of whom he was.  He looked like a young Magneto and had his mutant abilities as well.  Joseph was taken in by Sister Maria and bunch of orphans, but after seeing what he can do he sought out to find the X-Men.  He encountered Rogue and soon the rest of the X-Men and everyone believing he was Magneto, their former arch-enemy.  He joined the X-Men in many battles, mostly famously the fight against the villain Onslaught.  But Joseph’s true origins were a lot complicated than it seemed.

Joseph was a clone of Magneto, created by one of Magneto’s scorned allies, Astra.  She had Joseph attack Magneto and he almost defeated the Master of Magnetism, but ended up losing his memory in battle and later stumbled upon Sister Maria’s home.  When Magneto threatened the world by reversing Earth’s magnetic pull only Joseph could stop him, and did just that, sacrificing his own life in the process.  His whole existence was a search for who he was, and he turned out not to be the villain most thought of him, but a hero; till the very end.  Let the water works begin to flow!

 2) GAMBIT

Played by Taylor Kitsch(or Tim Riggins as I think of him) in Wolverine: X-Men Origins,Kitsch didn’t do the best job of playing the Cajun X-Man, but I’ll give him some points for trying to bring to life this extremely complicated and diverse character.  Remy Lebeau grew up on the bayou with his adopted family, a guild of thieves.  In order to keep the peace between the thieves and assassins Remy married his best friend, Bella Donna, but her brother, Julian, would have no such peace.  In a heated battle Remy killed Julian and was banished from the bayou. 

Remy traveled around, thieving, until one night he ended up saving Storm’s life.  He soon joined the X-Men and tried to live an honest life, but the sins of his past keep coming back to haunt him.  Gambit fell in love with Rogue, a woman he could never actually touch, and their forbidden flirtation has been a highlight of the X-Men for many years.  Remy now lives at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, helping teach young mutants how to control their powers and hoping that enough good can make-up for all the bad he’s done.  Redemption always makes for good entertainment!

 1) ICEMAN

One of the original X-Men, Bobby Drake has always been the comic relief for his teammates.  Sometimes he’s been considered a little too much of a jokester, certainly nothing like his film adaptation, played by Shawn Ashmore.  Bobby Drake’s early career found him in love with Lorna Dane, but he lost her to Havok.  Bobby quit the X-Men once to take of his father, who was brutally beaten while standing up for mutant rights.  During Operaton: Zero Tolerance, while the rest of the X-Men was either in space or being held captive, it was up to Iceman to lead a small group of mutants against the evil Bastion and save mutant kind. 

One of my favorite Iceman stories is when the X-Men were being attacked by vampires Iceman was blessed by a priest and then threw down his frozen holy water to defeat the invaders.  Bobby was the first X-Man Wolverine asked to join him when he decided to start his school because he knows how likable and strong Bobby is.  Iceman has a strength and a charm that has gotten him this far in life, but can it get him far enough to make things work with the co-head mistress of the Jean Grey school, Kitty Pryde?  Everyone loves and underdog!