covie

When I was but a boy, I was an avid collector of Marvel Comics. Most specifically all of the "X" titles. There was something about that make believe world where people who were loathed and feared by the vast majority of the population, fought the baddest of the bad to keep that very population safe. All the while, they willingly took the slings and arrows of popular opinion knowing that the world they were defending was better than the alternatives. When you're twelve years old, that gives you something to aspire to.

In my case, I tried to be Nate Grey, The X-Man. Needless to say I did have pure unadulterated access to all of the power of the psionic plane. Nor I have that really cool glowing eye thingy. I did have a pencil though, and I started copying every page I cover I could get my hands on for months. This was my primary form of entertainment as in the summer of my twelfth year, my mother cut the cord on the TV. I do mean literally cut the power cord and added an attaching plug type thing so that she could take said cord with her when she left, leaving me without the talking picture box during the day, and plug it back in when she returned from work each day. Being the lazy child that I was, and seeing TV was my best of friends at the time, I started collecting comics to fill that entertainment void.

Sadly though, as the years went on, my funds for the acquisition of my monthly tales of hope and heroism dwindled and eventually dried up. In my late teens I could no longer afford comic books anymore as I had rent and a girlfriend and all the other expenses that accompany not being a child anymore. Fast forward several years through driving cross country, being homeless, couch hopping, a dozen different jobs, and now owning part of a business while looking towards getting married, and I've finally stepped back in to reading these magnificent monthly morsels.

The books that I've specifically gotten into are again X books. Uncanny X-Force, Uncanny X-Men, and X-Factor are the three staples that come into my drop box every month. Though, has have been accompanied by event cross overs as well, Age of X and Fear Itself. In all of these, I have to say I'm really happy with what I'm reading. I love the entire premise behind X-Force now. The characters are perfect, the writing is great, and the artwork has been phenomenal. X-Factor has be really fun with fantastic pop culture referencing done in the writing; a very fun feel of satire on today's current events without being preachy and off-putting. It's great that they push some social boundaries with out having to rub in your face like a cream pie that gets up your when it's rubbed in your face because you gasp in surprise of having a cream pie rubbed in your face, and when it's up your nose all can think about is how much it burns and what kind of douche bag would hit you in the face with a cream pie, until you clean off your eyes and see that it's Danny DeVito reviving his character from Taxi and all you can do is grin and shake your finger at him while saying, "Yoooouuuuuuu...."

I feel like I've missed an entire world's worth of content though. The House of M stuff I missed. I keep hearing/seeing references to the Messiah Complex which has me intrigued. How did Utopia come into being? Maybe someone could give me a hand and a history lesson on the stuff I've missed in the last ten years? How doth thou all feelest about these books, and do you have an recommendations for the real MUST READS out there?