THE CREATORS: Various

WHAT HAPPENED IN 2003: Assorted stories of little consequence.

X-Men Unlimited was cancelled in July, but that didn't stop Marvel from finding time to release eleven issues.  This begs the question: why?

This book started as a quarterly, along with a bunch of other Unlimited titles long since lost in the mists of time.  Nobody ever seemed all that clear what it was for.  It survived the cancellation of its brethren because it was selling quite well, but nobody knew what it was for.  It became an anthology for a while, but still nobody seemed to have much idea what the point was meant to be.  And in 2003 it started spraying out issues at an incredible rate - without ever really making it apparent what the point was meant to be.

Hands up anyone who can remember anything from a 2003 issue of X-Men Unlimited.  Anyone?

The final issue, which had a story by the creator of Lone Wolf & Cub.  Fair point.  Wasn't a very good story, though, was it?  The Claremont/Sienkiewicz New Mutants reunion?  Okay, yes.  But again, it wasn't exactly blow-away stuff.  Five Chuck Austen stories?  Yes, god knows we needed more of them. 

There's quite a good Nightcrawler story by Bill Willingham in issue #49, I guess.  And some oddball curios - Adam Warren doing a Psylocke story, and Mike Allred pastiching A Hard Day's Night.  But why?  What's the point?

When X-Men Unlimited was unceremoniously axed - after the final issue had shipped - it seemed an eminently sensible decision.  The title had always seemed like an endless quest to fill pages, rather than a vehicle for deserving stories that didn't fit anywhere else.  Incredibly, however, it's being brought back next year.

The 2004 version is slightly different, and emerges from the ashes of the Epic imprint.  It will supposedly be bimonthly vehicle for new talent.  Given the difficulty that Marvel had in filling it the first time round, you will forgive my scepticism that it's going to get any better now that it's the province of novices.

No doubt it'll produce the occasional decent story.  It always has.  But the strike rate has never been all that good, and I wouldn't bet on it improving.

back | continue