[Dr Kain]

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Originally Posted by VonPooten

Completely agree with you, Kain. (Oh, and it sounds like you're missing an Omnibus, where Psylocke coerces the X-Men to go through the Siege Perilous and each character undergoes a memory wipe and transformation (the story where Betsy is turned into an Asian Hand ninja))

I am. I'm missing the first Omnibus to Claremont/Lee, which contains issues 144-169 because it is out of print and the jokes on ebay want $200+ for it. I'm not willing to spend more than $100. Oh, and I'm also missing oversized hardcover for X-Tinction Agenda, which I can get on ebay for $35, I just don't feel like it right now.

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I reread Claremont's run a couple of years ago, and for me X-Men started to go downhill after Fall of The Mutants. I know the Outback "era" is hugely popular, but the stories majorly flopped after that. Nothing happened story-wise, with most characters appearing in and out of issues with nothing to do. Madelyne went from a fascinating character to a psychotic ex-wife in the space of about six issues, Polaris was character assassinated repeatedly, the Brood returned with no consequence, and Marc Silvestri's art deteriorated very quickly.

I've been reading the Claremont stuff for the first time this year. I picked up the trades to Dark Phoenix and DoFP and loved them so much I went out and bought the three Omnibuses that are available right now. Not only was it amazing to experience these Claremont stories for the first time ever, but getting to read 94-175 all in order along with the various side stories that accompanied them like the 4 issue Wolverine mini series, the Magik mini series, God Loves, Man Kills, the annuals, etc.

To be honest, after reading Fall of the Mutants, Inferno, and where I am currently in this Claremont/Lee Omnibus, I feel like issue 175 may have been the perfect ending for the series. Of course, if it had, then Mr Sinister and Apocalypse would not exist and they are two of my favorite Marvel villains period, but from a story point of view, it seems like things go out of control as the series got closer to issue 200.

That doesn't mean I won't buy any more omnibuses after Volume 3 nor if they were to reissue all of the oversized hardcovers to the crossovers, but 175 feels like that could have been THE END.

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It does become apparent that Claremont was slowly running out of ideas, or at least less well-written ones, and after Bob Harras replaced Ann Nocenti as the editor, everything was thrown out of the window in favour of pleasing the artist over the writer. By the time Jim Lee came along, Claremont was a dead man walking.

It seems like Clareont's freedom to tell stories fell apart after Jim Shooter left.