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To kick off definitive X-scribe Chris Claremont’s new series “X-Men Forever,” Marvel Comics put out an “Alpha” issue collecting his three issues of the adjective-less “X-Men.” “X-Men Forever” will pick up from the end of “X-Men” #3, ignoring the eighteen years of continuity that followed. To show the difference, Claremont all ready has given the Cajun X-Man Gambit a new last name and has Nightcrawler and Shadowcat return to the fold in compilation issue’s 8-page “X-Men Forever” preview.

The storylines that are to play out in the new series are billed as being Claremont’s plans for the X-Men before he left the book. This Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed, however, creates some doubt as to whether that is even possible. According to the article, Claremont has already used many of his planned plotlines in his other X-Men books in the intervening years. Furthermore, the events of “X-Men” #1-3 all ready seem to deviate from the storylines spelled out by the blog post.

I also find that the Nick Fury storyline in “X-Men Forever” feels awfully similar to the direction Claremont put the X-Men in his last run of “Uncanny X-Men.” I could be off base but for most of this decade, he has seemed interested in connecting the X-Men to law enforcement and the idea of the X-Men as a legitimate organization. Those themes really don’t seem that apparent in his work two decades ago. The only thing that really suggests this could have been in the works back then is Fury’s reoccurring presence in storylines of that era.

Whether or not these stories truly are the unresolved of 1991 “X-Men,” I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious what Claremont has in store for the X-Men. His repeated attempts to return to the X-Men have previously created some lackluster tales, but each time I’ve been unable to resist keeping at least an eye on the events that unfold. The nostalgia really kicks in with August’s “X-Men Forever” offerings, as Paul Smith returns to draw the X-Men once more. That combo may be hard to resist, even with Claremont’s shakey track record. However, as unpredictable as the future of “X-Men Forever” is; readers can rely on the “Alpha” issue to deliver a fun storyline that is as classic as anything from 1990s Marvel can get.

-Nick

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