Feb 26
The X-Axis Archive
Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2013 by Al in x-axis
After many, many questions from commenters asking where they’re available, we’ve decided to finally make the archive of the old X-Axis reviews available as a permanent link here on the site. You’ll find it on the right hand side for your ease of access. NB: this only goes up to the point where Paul moved his blogging to If Destroyed, so for anything after that point, check the If Destroyed site instead.
I can’t believe it’s been over four years since the X-Axis stopped being updated.
I’m getting old.
Because YOU demanded it!
Thank you! Now if only you would go back to that format…
Yeah, I also preferred the X-Axis format as well. Not saying the current format is bad or anything like that, just that I preferred X-Axis.
I liked it too, but looking at it, I suspect that updating it was a right pain in the neck.
Wow, Paul gushes over Greg Land’s artwork a lot in his Endsong reviews…
http://web.archive.org/web/20081116062542/http://www.thexaxis.com/minis/phoenixendsong1.htm
http://web.archive.org/web/20081116055427/http://www.thexaxis.com/minis/phoenixendsong5.htm
Thanks, guys!
I miss the indexes. Those were fun.
There’s a few holes in the archives. But mostly it’s all there.
You have no idea how excited I am to read your reviews of The Draco again. They’ve long been favorites of mine.
It’s about fuckin’ time! Thanks!
The worst part about the blog format is reading old reviews is a pain. I totally understand WHY this format is the one being used, though.
If there are any reviews missing, try changing the capture date in the way back machine. If Al used the link I put up, it’s not the latest date that was available, but the others were down for service when I was browsing. That tab has been open on my iPad for months.
I also recently read through all of if destroyed as well (over the Xmas break)
I can’t believe we’ve been coming to this website for over 3 years. Damn. I started reading the x axis back in 04.
04!!!!
Feeling old now.
Oh right. We need new indexes. Pretty please, Paul?
He probably hasn’t got time to do them, but I would also love to see new indexes!
Figured as much. I, personally, never cared about the heroes appearances, and the chronology part (erm, the point of them I guess), I just loved Paul’s summaries/”what you need to know” and his thoughts.
Every time the indexes were updated I got excited, but it wasn’t Claremonts run it was disappointing.
That’s right! I forgot all about the Past Issue reviews and that there was a very blank area starting at (I believe) Giant Issue #1 going to X-Men #3.
On one hand I would love to read what Paul has to say about the entire Claremont Run but on the other hand, if you have taken the time to read so many of Paul’s other reviews, you know where he (and you) stand on those issues.
(Mainly that it was a defining era to a comic that encompassed a ton of ideas and built the franchise up from a Stan & Jack leftover to a still timely metaphor for social issues. While at the same time working within the bounds of the comics industry and Claremont’s own pet themes.)
Look up “remarkable Claremont”. It’s an issue by issue assessment of the run. Just finished reading it last week. Really well written.
I always wanted to read reviews in Paul’s style on the original Claremont stuff, since almost everyone considers that the high point of the franchise. It always seemed like one day we would get it but it never happened. I also don’t care about all the index details, just reading thoughts on the older stuff was a blast. I really hope you reconsider going through that run some day Paul.
And reading all those old Draco and Mutant X reviews would always cheer me up if I’m having a bad day at work!
I’ll tell you, when I was moving last August and didn’t have Internet for about a week, I relished reading from the .rar X-Axis archive I downloaded from House to Astonish’s comments section. It almost made the irritating process tolerable.
Claremont really built up the X-Men I recently reread 94-143. Really essential reading for X-fans. Vut at the same time there’s a tipping point where it all starts going downhill badly. X-Tinction Agenda is drek! Would be interesting to see a retropective of the whole run.
Also drek… my typos! Wish their was an edit feature for these comments.
yay!
I don’t think Claremont’s run goes downhill until after Fall of the Mutants. I think he should have left at that point, after setting up a potential good starting off point for any new writers to go in whatever direction they wanted.
Paul is easily the most consistent comics reviewer of the past decade that I can think of, and arguably the most entertaining while still writing compelling reviews (I’d argue Abhay and/or Tucker Stone to be the most entertaining, but they don’t exactly write what I’d describe as “reviews” so much as chaotic rants and ramblings).
Thanks for this. I’ve been a fan of Paul since my early internet days. This is great news.
I don’t know about that, ww5kd. I think the outback era is my favorite from Chris Claremont’s X-Men.
Really, wouldn’t Inferno have been the best place for Claremont to leave since it wrapped up the major plot lines.
Granted, I haven’t read between inferno and X-men 1 (aside from the x-tinction x-over)…
Yes, that was where I always thought that Claremont’s end should have come.
I really enjoyed Inferno, but it was pretty much all downhill from that point.
A lot of other Claremont fans agree with that. Inferno marked a good ending point, as pretty much all of the plot threads were wrapped up.
I don’t think he should have left at all. Consider the ’90s.
I don’t think he should have left at all. Consider the ’90s. And all of his proposed plans leading up to Uncanny 300 and beyond are infinitely more interesting than what other writers (or should we call him artists?) plotted in the books that actually came out.
I’ll second that, errant. Claremont’s departure (and the editorial interference that led up to it) destroyed the franchise until Morrison came on. There is absolutely nothing in between X-Men #3 and New X-Men #114 that I am interested in reading. I’ve tried to read it, and it’s dull and directionless.
People loved AoA; I think it was a barely tolerable executions of a pretty good idea, and was the only part of the era that was even remotely readable. Onslought? The Psi-War? Wolverine in a feral state? All crap.
Now, if Paul would just go back to writing the Indexes, my life would be complete!
Love AoA, but aside from that, yeah, it was kinda dull. I haven’t seen anything at all from the time in between zero tolerance and Morrison.
Granted, since Morrison, Whedons (albeit entertaining) heavily delayed run clogged up the titles, and then you had M Day which went on for 3 years too long, and the fraction run…
(So the more editorial gets involved, the more it sucks?)
I’d say that’s usually the case.
Most of the plots that people seem to remember from post-Claremont to the Morrison tenure are re-worked ideas that Claremont was planning when he left the book.
Even AOA could be considered a heavily re-written version of where Claremont was going for issue #300.
I do wish that Claremont would have stayed at least until issue #300.
I was going by the actual events that happened, that Claremont was always going to leave when he did.
It was a shame that his X-Men:Forever book ended up being such a waste. I was hoping that Claremont would actually revisit all the plots he was planning before he left. Instead, we got a long series of barely anything happening, and then the book getting axed.
deworde — to be fair, much of the problem with Greg Land is that, 10-15 years ago, he really WAS a good artist back when he DREW rather than just light-boxed. Check out his old DC work on Chuck Dixon’s BIRDS OF PREY for example. I still love some lovingly-rendered con sketches (basically full-pencils, and drawn so quickly that I have no idea why he stopped properly drawing) that he did for me around the turn of the millennium during that run.
Thanks for putting these back up, Paul! I remember getting hooked on The X-Axis back in the days of Claremont’s return to the books. (now I feel kind of old…)
Browsing the old archives I can’t help but notice Paul predicted Daniel Way coming on to Astonishing X-Men.
“But sense has not been Marvel’s strong point of late, so it’s entirely possible I’ll be here next year typing the dreaded words “And then Daniel Way took over with issue #25.” Please let my cynicism be misplaced.”
Too funny.