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20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The End of the Glory..., August 1, 2000
This review is from: Essential X-Men, Vol. 3 (Marvel Essentials) (Paperback)
Once the Dark Phoenix Saga concluded, the X-Men became a victim of their own success, as the sensational collaboration between Chris Claremont and John Byrne began to sag beneath the weight of the artists' egos. The stories became verbose and overwrought as ideas seemed to perpetually recycle, the art lost much of its previous verve, and the title generally settled into a long decline. There remain some notable highlights in "Essential X-Men Vol. 3", however. The courtship of Dr. Doom and Storm is classic and totally unexpected. The story arc with Cyclops stranded on a desert isle housing his greatest foe is sensational, as is the appearance of Dracula (!). Unfortunately, these high points sink beneath the weight of drecch like Kitty Pryde's fairytale version of the X-Men and the touted return of Dark Phoenix. If you're a true fan of the X-Men, you'll want this collection to avoid bending the corners of your precious back issues. Otherwise, grab the first two volumes of this series instead.
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19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ah...for the Old Days, December 8, 1998
This review is from: Essential X-Men, Vol. 3 (Marvel Essentials) (Paperback)
At the risk of sounding like a complete fuddy-duddy (at the ripe age of 23), I hold this book and Essential #2 and sing to myself of the good ol days, when charicters were drawn in relative proportion, and eye-jarring color, atrocious pencils, and mediocre writing did not have a place in the world of the X-Men. I still browse the comics section at the local bookstore to keep abreast with the merry mutants, but it is often a painful journey, trying to make sense of the over-complicated, unoriginal art and the dumbing-down style of writing. Actually, I have come to enjoy Uncanny these days, but make it a basic policy to ignore the other ten or so X titles. This volume displays all the elements missing these days in the X-Men. Good stories, good art (if in black and white here), and a general sense that you could pick up the book at any place, understand, and enjoy the story unfolding. These days that is a patent impossiility, with such discordant threads as Onslaught et all to forever linger a sickening taint on this once grand series. Actually, I stopped reading around the Executioner's song. These are the X-men you should buy and relish, not the expensive replicas now on display. (3.00! What the #$@!?! I remember when good stories existed at 40 or 50 cents!) Not as good as the Claremont/Byrne collection of Essential #2 (Which rivals 'Watchmen') but pretty damned good. And it has Rouge, if even as a bad girl.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome...yet in dire need of reprint., February 2, 2007
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Essential X-Men, Vol. 3 (Marvel Essentials) (Paperback)
These stories are amazing. Pure and simple. After I read the Dark Phoenix Saga-well, of course, no X-Men story will ever equal the depth, perception, and feeling of those nine issues, but this volume comes close enough to be hailed. From the opening arc concerning Doctor Doom and Murderworld to the spellbinding cliffhanger on the final page, it's a great thrill form beginning to end.
You get to see some X-characters that don't get a lot of steam these days like Polaris and Banshee really work it, and it's a treat to witness the short-lived (and never formally ended) romance of Scott Summers and Lee Forrester. Thier entire subplot to 150 has just the right amount of emotion and serves as a great "breather" during those early issues. Kitty Pryde fully takes her place as an X-Man, yet Dave Cockrum's art doesn't do her justice (I always felt he made her look nerdy.) For everything else, Cockrum's art excels, and it's sad to think that he recently died. The events with Magneto in issue 150 are amazing, particularly the last pages. The Storm and White Queen Saga is very unusual, and Kitty's fairytale is a joke, but the good kind of joke. Then you get the whole complicated Brood and Shi'ar saga, which is always a blast (even if it takes up a thrid of the book)and two great issues illustrated by guest pencilers that, in my opinion, are the jewels of this collection. First you get X-Men 159 guest-starring Dracula and suprisingly astounding on levels of art, stories, and personality. Then next issue is where the mutants are transported to Limbo to save Illyana Rasputin and encounter evil and dead versions of themselves and eventually rescue Colossus' sister, but at the price of her aging seven to thirteen in the moment the X-Men exit Limbo without her. And, c'mon, when it features the Starjammers, Garrok (yeah, he's back!), Dazzler, and Spider-Woman, plus Arcade's revenge, it's impossible not to love these stories.
The one bad thing about this book is that it's gotten behind the times. All the other X-Men essentials have been reprinted with new covers, a better-looking continutiy shuffle, and more content. I think they're not doing it for this one because if they do they'll have to remove the X-Men Annuals 3-4 since they were replaced in thier rightful positon in Essential X-Men #2, leaving this book with one (albiet properly placed) annual and making the book significantly thinner. Maybe they'd find a place to put Annual 6 or something, since it seemed to get lost in the transistion for Essential X-Men Vol. 4 from first printing to second printing. Ah well, the clever mind can easily deduce the chronological placement of X-Men Annual #5.
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