Broken Frontier

New creative teams have taken over Uncanny X-Men and X-Men and the fans and critics are in agreement: X is where it’s at for great stories and eye-popping art.  Uncanny X-Men #475, by Ed Brubaker and Billy Tan, and X-Men #188, by Mike Carey and Chris Bachalo, have knocked readers out with their debut issues and the reorders for both books have been coming in at a Civil War-like pace.

Upon learning of the stellar reader reaction to X-Men #188, Mike Carey says, “I've got to admit, I was really nervous about how my first issue was going to be received - even more nervous after Ed's spectacular open on Uncanny last week.  You get so close to your own stuff, you never know whether it's any good or not: but now I can breathe again.  It's really beyond cool that so many people have given us this vote of confidence.  Now we're going to live up to it.”

On how he feels, Ed Brubaker admits, “Overwhelmed, is how I feel. I never imagined I'd be writing Uncanny X-Men, even as a kid - I wanted to pencil it once, but that's another story -- so to suddenly be here, and getting such a great response from both fans and retailers is really humbling. And seeing how much people are digging Billy's art is a real bonus. I think Billy will go down as one of the classic X artists by the end of this arc, because all the stuff I've seen from upcoming issues looks even better. We've only scratched the surface of this story, and I can guarantee you, no one sees what's coming up, especially not the X-Men.”

The critical acclaim has been non-stop for both X-books.

Dave Farabee of Ain’t It Cool News reviewed Uncanny X-Men #475 and says, “This old school X-fan is willing to admit Marvel’s mutants still offer a special appeal when done right. Brubaker…he’s doing ‘em right.”

Dexter K. Flowers of BrokenFrontier.com’s Uncanny X-Men #475 review says, “Like Steve McNiven on Civil War, Billy Tan has taken this opportunity to up his game, and after one issue he’s running with it like Quicksilver would if he still had super-speed. You name it, Tan pulls it off in this issue with style and panache...This first chapter looks like the Uncanny X-Men story we’ve been waiting for.”

Marvel has also announced that both the “Supernovas” and “The Rise and Fall of the Shi'Ar Empire” story arcs will not be collected until after their conclusion.  Both the Uncanny X-Men and X-Men story arcs will be collected in an oversized hardcover first featuring all twelve issues of each arc.

The new X-writers are also creating waves in other areas of the Marvel Universe as Mike Carey is going to be taking over Ultimate Fantastic Four with issue #33 and Ed Brubaker is currently writing Captain America (last year’s Wizard book of the year) and the critically acclaimed Daredevil.  Buckle up for a year of fantastic X-stories from these two expanding writers with art by the spectacular Billy Tan and Chris Bachalo.  Just check out these preview pages from Uncanny X-Men #476 and X-Men #189 for further proof.

X-MEN #190   (JUN062001)
Written by MIKE CAREY
Pencils & Cover by CHRIS BACHALO
32 PGS./Rated A ...$2.99
FOC – 8/3, On Sale – 8/23/2006

UNCANNY X-MEN #477  (JUN061997)
Written by ED BRUBAKER
Penciled by CLAYTON HENRY
Cover by JOHN WATSON
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$2.99
FOC – 7/13, On Sale – 8/2/2006