[TheBlueMarvel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GizmoTron

That's the thing, for the "comic book guys" in the shops event fatigue set in a long time ago. Like I said, that's always been true for those that hung around the shops, read their Comic Shop News and Wizards and stayed in the know. They knew what was going on and were harder to impress.

But AOA, while it certainly wasn't the first line wide event ever, wasn't just like another Inferno, or a Fall of the Mutants, or the previous big event with the Phalanx Covenant. It was a huge gamble for Marvel as they literally cancelled/shelved the regular X-Men line for at least half of a year in order to relaunch the entire line with a brand new story in a new continuity. Sure, DC had done big things like kill Superman and replace Batman, but those stories continued on through the regular monthly books. With AOA and barely any message boards or social media like today you had people subscribing to Uncanny X-Men every month, who knew or may have known little or nothing at all about the ending to Legion Quest, suddenly receive the Alpha issue and a new Astonishing X-Men #1 out of the blue without much warning. That's quite ambitious in hindsight, even though big marketing pushes, renumberings, and relaunches aren't so special now, back then it was a pretty big deal, especially with Marvel's arguably top property at the time.

Of course the other kicker was that AOA was by and large was by and large well written, too, which is what fans remember the most. For a long time it was peak X-Men, and turned out to be more than a gimmick or just another comic fad which is why it's had such a lasting impression with X-fans new and old.

And Marvel and comics as a whole as well, since they really do return to the AOA template every once in awhile for their latest events (to varying degrees of success of course).

All of your points are reasonable and I get where you are coming from, but it doesn't change the original assertion that there were diametrically opposed views ('polarization') within the comic community when the event was initially published and digested, differences that apparently persist even today. Popularity and critical acclaim might correlate much of the time, but that's not always the case. There are 13 Fast and Furious movies and the franchise obviously enjoys a robust fanbase. However, that creative team isn't likely to win an oscar any time soon. No one can doubt the affect the Fast series has had on its fanbase, nor can anyone deny the importance of AoA to X-Heads. I just don't know if either have much relevance outside of the choirs to which they individually preach.

In any event, Legion/Sabretooth/Colossus are nabs for me. Legion because I've always wanted the fig - he's a bit too brawny tho'. Sabretooth because of the Exiles head and my want to get some representation for tha team - by the way, IMO Exiles does/did better what AoA/What If? only play at. And Colossus because that thing looks damn cool.