Friday, January 1, 2016

The End of the Road: 2015 Recollections and Upcoming Joys


I already told you the story of how Christmas 2014 went. I was drunk on eggnog and playing with my young cousins when I came to the coolest decision that I wanted to start with an all-X-Men comics diet because who's stopping me? I have loved this quirky superhero team of misfits and outcasts since a kid after all. I want to not only familiarize myself with their canon and mythos beyond the cartoon and movie adaptations but also because I needed more intimate experiences about comics. So by the time 2015 rolled around, I was pretty much glued to my computer, reading the downloaded copies of said comics, particularly the Chris Claremont nineties stuff. My very first ever official review was I believe something I have written hours after midnight struck and 2015 began which I then posted by the 2nd of January. Now here I am, exactly a year later, doing the same thing by typing this closer for my 2015 X-Men Comics Diet. 

I had tons and tons of great times. I had some silly and absurd moments too. Heck, I even had sickening and disheartening times while reading. I was almost cross-eyed in both grief and nerd rage. In a nutshell, a year-round X-Men comics diet wasn't always the healthiest thing but it was a choice I stuck by and was glad to accomplish. 

That being said, I will have a third wave of X-Men comics this 2016. I admit that I even took a break in 2015 around July-August because I have to devote some time with my other comics diets which are Hellblazer comics and Batman comics (whose third waves will happen in April and May 2016 respectively). But X-Men for 2016 will happen much earlier than the other two which would be on March. I only plan on reading two titles:

  • Uncanny Avengers
  • Avengers vs X-Men

This could only mean that my 2016 would include less X-Men material because I have other graphic novels from Image, Vertigo and IDW I would like to get started with since I've neglected them for an entire year already. Still, I will be updating this blog every couple of months or so by posting three essays/recaps:

  • Professor X and Magneto in Comics: A Personal Shipping Manifesto
  • YEAREND X-MEN 2015: A Recap
  • On Favorite Characters for 2015

So do watch out for those. I have no fixed schedule and date for when I'll get around them but just in case, I might even divide each essay/recap with several installments so there is something you guys can read here on the blog while I'm away, mostly more active in READEMPTION LITERATURE.

How was my 2015 X-Men Comics Diet in retrospect? 

  • I had encountered new favorites (like Warbird, Quentin Quire, Broo, and time-dispeled Jean Grey) and familiarized myself with old characters (Kitty Pryde, Kurt Wagner, Hope Summers, Scarlet Witch and Psyclocke) and who I only started to like once I read them in comics.
  • I had learned to let go of some childhood favorites and preconceived notions.
  • I had made a final decision on certain characters and regarding how I feel about them such is the case with Cyclops, Gambit, Beast, Wolverine and Storm--and a few of them are not always positive.
  • I had fallen more madly in love with the story of friendship and heartache between Professor X and Magneto and definitely look forward to seeing them again in the X-Men: Apocalypse film! CHERIK FOREVER!
  • I had formed a deeper and more nuanced appreciation for the Marvelverse and definitely feel more comfortable and knowledgeable about the canon, much more so than DC (but I will always choose DC no matter what, though).

I will expound on these in my essays/recap posts. Until then, everyone!

Stay sexy, everyone. I know I will.