Are There Really More X-Men Comics Now Than Ever Before?
“There are a lot of X-Men comics right now.”
That comment, or at least various approximations of that comment, is something that has been uttered by X-Fans quite a bit of late. And it isn’t just that the current era of the X-Men 11 feels like it has a run-of-the-mill title count for a high time. It genuinely seems like there are more X-Men titles than ever before. Whether you’re talking flagship ongoings like Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, and Exceptional X-Men, solo ongoings like Storm, Jean Grey, and Wolverine, or limited series like Mystique, Sentinels, or Dazzler, our cup runneth over with different flavors of Marvel’s Merry Mutants. And fans have noticed!
Now, that isn’t a qualitative statement necessarily. It’s almost entirely quantitative, actually. But the sheer number of current X-Titles — with more to come — is enough to make even the most avid fan of these characters feel a bit overwhelmed. 12 This isn’t a universal feeling, of course. Nothing ever is. Take my experience as an example. When I’ve written about this, I’ve had multiple people push back on the idea that the number of titles right now is atypical for the X-Men or even significant when compared to previous eras. The truth, some believe, ties back into a word I said in the first paragraph: “Seems.” There seems to be more X-Men titles than really any time before. But are there really?
It’s a good question to ask, and one that is answerable if someone was willing to dig through a whole lot of information to find it. It’s just no one has because, well, who would actually want to do that? “Seems” is enough, right?
Not for me!
Today, I have answers for both sets of individuals: those who think there are more X-Men titles than ever before and those who think it’s overstated conjecture. And the reason I have answers is because I went through 30 years of Marvel release lists to put together an X-Men Tale of the Tape, determining once and for all how this era’s list of X-Men titles compares to its predecessors.
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Which started as From the Ashes but I believe is no longer using that branding.↩
Naturally, that isn’t the goal. The number of titles is seemingly designed to ensure readers of all varieties have a title to call their own. More than that, you don’t have to read every title to enjoy these stories, so the volume shouldn’t matter. Shouldn’t, but X-Fans famously tend to be completionists.↩
Which started as From the Ashes but I believe is no longer using that branding.↩
Naturally, that isn’t the goal. The number of titles is seemingly designed to ensure readers of all varieties have a title to call their own. More than that, you don’t have to read every title to enjoy these stories, so the volume shouldn’t matter. Shouldn’t, but X-Fans famously tend to be completionists.↩
Whose titular operator sadly passed away late last year, so shouts to Mike for the amazing work. Also, hat tip to Comichron’s John Jackson Miller on guiding me in that direction.↩
That hurts my head a bit but I’m guessing you get it.↩
One tricky character/title was Deadpool. I elected to not count Deadpool solo-ish titles as a X-Book unless it was the character starring in a crossover miniseries with a X-Men character like January’s Deadpool/Wolverine series. Deadpool largely just operates in his own space.↩
And spot checks of previous years revealed that there was nothing too out of the ordinary before then.↩
The apex of Krakoa may have topped it, but that did not mesh with the timing of my tracking.↩
First caused by Marvel deemphasizing the X-Men due to a lack of film/TV rights and then Krakoa’s often less is more approach.↩
Which started as From the Ashes but I believe is no longer using that branding.↩
Naturally, that isn’t the goal. The number of titles is seemingly designed to ensure readers of all varieties have a title to call their own. More than that, you don’t have to read every title to enjoy these stories, so the volume shouldn’t matter. Shouldn’t, but X-Fans famously tend to be completionists.↩