Finally caved and read the original 1960s X-Men run after years of skipping it

I always thought the early stuff was too cheesy compared to the modern Claremont era, but after binge-reading the first 20 issues last weekend I actually love the simple Silver Age storytelling. Has anyone else been surprised by an older run they assumed they'd hate?

3 comments

3 Comments

wood.faith13d agoMost Upvoted

Man you really gotta adjust your expectations for when comics were literally written for kids who just discovered reading. Those early X-Men issues are pure fun if you stop comparing them to modern stuff. The villains like Unus the Untouchable or the Vanisher are goofy but that's the whole point. They weren't trying to be deep or serious. They were selling you a quick adventure where a guy in a weird costume gets punched. If that sounds boring then maybe comics just aren't your thing anymore.

robins8313d ago

I'm gonna be the weirdo here and say I actually found those early issues pretty boring. The villains were goofy and the dialogue felt like it was written for a cartoon I'd fall asleep watching.

ellis.faith13d ago

Is "goofy villains" supposed to be a dealbreaker in a comic book series, or did you just expect Shakespeare in tights? Because last I checked, most early comics had villains who looked like they escaped from a bad fever dream, and that's part of the charm. The dialogue might've been cheesy, but that's because they were literally writing for kids who thought a guy in a tin hat was terrifying. You gotta meet a book where it's at, not where you wish it was forty years later. Sounds like you'd rather read a wiki summary than actually flip through the pages, if you ask me.