Uncanny X-Men:First Class 8
What is it about the whole retroactive continuity thing that is so attractive nowadays? It used to be a manner to enhance a previous story, to correct continuity errors or even justify such errors, yet now we have numerous titles on the stands that pump out exactly that – additional stories containing extra looks at past events.
The back-up strip in Classic X-Men, which reprinted the Uncanny X-men early issues back in the eighties, was always for me the whole selling point of the comic. Nowadays we are being treated to the First Class line of titles starring the X-Men, Spider-Man revisiting the Secret Wars, the fall-out from Our Worlds At War seen in the pages of Superman/Batman, and of course Batman Confidential.
These serve many purposes. Firstly they serve to keep the older stories alive, for newer readers. After all, both major companies continuities are complex, daunting, and possibly a little impenetrable to newcomers. Many of the major events of both companies deserve a new look (and yes, to my shame, I am even involving the Infinity Gauntlet or Millenium in that list), especially when we see how much story is provided in events nowadays, Dark Reign, Civil War and Blackest Night being fine examples.
This also makes these crossovers easier on the wallet. I have praised Fall Of The Hulks and Realm Of Kings as being nicely contained, Siege less so, and Doom War looks like it too will have a limited drain on our weekly finances. However, with these many retroactive titles out there, we can always revisit these events. As much as I enjoy the Marvel Adventures or Forever lines, I want to see more of the main continuity, not the latest fashionable alternate reality designed for new readers, and this style is perfect.
Speaking of the current events, so far I figure it this way. Fall Of The Hulks is after Siege, as Thor is readily available. Doom War I think may begin between the two, it depends what happens to Doom at the culmination of that story to see if he is still available to be turned into a gibbering idiot by the Intelligentsia.
What brought this train of thought to mind was reading Uncanny X-Men:First Class #8. I thoroughly enjoyed the issues leading to this, a return to the simple days around the creation of the Phoenix. However, this recent issue was a Leprechaun murder mystery at Cassidy Keep. How can you resist that?
Still, it was news to me that Cassidy Keep was home to three hundred and fifty seven Leprechauns as part of the household staff, and I want to see some more of that.
