Two of the stronger X-Men titles during an incredibly strong period for X-Men titles in general, April will sadly see the cancellation of both Greg Pak’s X-Treme X-Men and David Lapham/Robert De La Torre’s Age of Apocalypse.
This comes as the finale to a crossover event between the two books and Marjorie Liu’s (safe) Astonishing X-Men series, called X-Termination. It looks like both books will wrap up their long-term story goals during the event, leaving this as a conclusion rather than a pair of dropped storylines.
Both books were fan favourites rather than best-sellers, with Age of Apocalypse receiving consistently good reviews with each issue. And of course, X-Treme X-Men was the book which put Dazzler back in the spotlight, where she resumed her long-running status as the best X-Men character of all time. The last two solicitations for the books are below:
AGE OF APOCALYPSE #14
(W) David Lapham (A) Roberto De La Torre (CA) Greg Land
PART 3 of X-TERMINATION! – FINAL ISSUE!
• The multi-verse is being consumed!
• No one is safe as our heroes split up to fight a war in two universes.
X-TREME X-MEN #13
(W) Greg Pak (A) Andre Arujo (CA) Kalman Androsofsky
Part 4 OF X-TERMINATION – FINAL ISSUE!
• With the rift into the AOA widening, the only chance might be to step into the void-but at what cost?
• Kid Nightcrawler makes the ultimate sacrifice!
I knew it was coming but still, damn. I really love these books.
I’m surprised AoA didn’t do better, I thought the original was huge back in the day. I wonder what would have happened if X-treme was named Exiles instead?
That’s a bummer– X-Treme X-Men has been a lot of fun, and is doing something different than the rest of the X-books.
Also, it was a $2.99 book. Interesting that two of the only $2.99 X-books are being cancelled, and the $3.99 book of that trio sharing the crossover (Astonishing) is safe.
@Mesketet – the original had rad alternate versions of all the x-characters. This one was like, a dour human resistance story. Not super surprising it didn’t sell well.
I’m still surprised that the fact that X-Treme X-Men had a gay Wolverine just flew under the radar.
Main page headline: “Treme X-men… to end”
I take it this means no more Gambit or adventures in the Big Easy?
Silly but true.
I loved the Astonishing X-Men arc that introduced the X-Treme X-Men, but I thought the ongoing was terrible from the get-go.
Ah well, I’m sure there will another alternate universe X-Men title before too long…
NOOOOOO!! the only reason i started buying comic books again was because of x-treme x-men.. This book has been so much fun, this news really makes my heart sink. Dazzler is actually a great character. And gay Wolverine has been my favourite wolverine since the 90’s.
To be relaunched again with some poor unassuming ex-DC employee writing. Your tears, are our gold
Ok, now scale the whole damn thing back down to just Uncanny X-Men and then you’ll have done something. Take the money you were spending on having a bazillion titles to get one good writer and one good artist to create one good book.
@MattComix: There are good books, and there are books that sell well. The two are often not the same thing.
Though I hear Wolverine and the X-Men is pretty great, despite being the most obvious cash-in title of the lot.
There is, of course, a school of thought that says books like Uncanny X-Men and Amazing Spider-Man are going to sell well no matter who writes and draws them, and so Marvel should use those big-name books to give more exposure to lesser-known creative teams, and put the big-name creative teams on lesser-known books. I tend to agree with that.
X-Treme would probably still be around if the first two issues had been as strong as the rest of the series. The visual storytelling was a bit of a mess. It’s a shame, had they started with a bang, they could have made it to 80 issues or so.
“(…) X-Treme X-Men was the book which put Dazzler back in the spotlight, where she resumed her long-running status as the best X-Men character of all time.”
That’s just because Darkstar hasn’t been on the X-Men yet!
You may be the wisest person of our generation, Pedro
Too bad X-treme is getting cancelled. It’s one of the few x-titles I continue to enjoy. I gave upon All New X-men after issue two. I gave up on X-men Legacy after issue one. Marvel should have kept Christos Gage on Legacy. His take on Rogue was great. Action and character development together, I haven’t come across that as often as I’d like. Anyway, enjoyed Uncanny X-Force #1, Todd the ugliest kid, The Talon, Punk Rock Jesus and others. Looking forward to Wolverine with Alan Davis. Also all female x-team in X-men #1.
they really should’ve called the book ‘Exiles’ instead of ‘X-Treme X-Men’, to capitalize on a more successful franchise. sad to see it go. goodbye the only wolverine i like.
Comments are closed.