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X-Men (1991-2001) #80-84, ½
X-Men: The Hunt for Professor X
Collects Uncanny X-Men (1981) #360-365; X-Men (1991) #80-84, 1/2; X-Men Unlimited (1993) #22.
Missing for months, Professor X seemingly returns -- and debuts an newer, even more different team of X-Men! But when this new group kidnaps Shadowcat, something seems off to the real X-Men. The truth will spark a globetrotting hunt for Charles Xavier, leading to a showdown with the re-formed -- but far from reformed -- Brotherhood of Evil Mutants...and revealing the menace of Cerebro! But for the Children of the Atom to survive, must Professor X die? Plus: Gambit's back! But so is the Juggernaut! Meanwhile, Colossus has a ghostly Christmas, Kitty Pryde and Marrow play cat and mouse with the terrorist Flag-Smasher, and the X-Men find themselves trapped in a land of epic fantasy!
Missing for months, Professor X seemingly returns -- and debuts an newer, even more different team of X-Men! But when this new group kidnaps Shadowcat, something seems off to the real X-Men. The truth will spark a globetrotting hunt for Charles Xavier, leading to a showdown with the re-formed -- but far from reformed -- Brotherhood of Evil Mutants...and revealing the menace of Cerebro! But for the Children of the Atom to survive, must Professor X die? Plus: Gambit's back! But so is the Juggernaut! Meanwhile, Colossus has a ghostly Christmas, Kitty Pryde and Marrow play cat and mouse with the terrorist Flag-Smasher, and the X-Men find themselves trapped in a land of epic fantasy!
341 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 7, 2015
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About the author
Steven T. Seagle
499 books51 followersSteven T. Seagle is an American writer who works in the comic book, television, film, live theater, video game, and animation industries.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 3, 2021
So having apparently forgotten that Professor Xavier went missing about a year ago, the X-men writers finally get round to the team showing some concern about his whereabouts; a search for him sees an even newer X-men team appear and a new Brotherhood, before the real enemy is revealed. A often underrated period in which Morlock Marrow being in the team puts up a mirror to their, on the outside, privileged lives; saying all that this is definitely NOT a major party of the cannon that you really have to read, although it's a must-read for Marrow fans. 5 out of 12
around was lost along the way.
Marrow was a superb creation from the X-Men creators who was used as a lens to look a the 'good looking', 'well educated', 'coolly powered' etc. X-Men, and ask if they'd ever really help the less advantaged and less-tolerated mutant community. It's such a shame that the original concept got loss along the way, and she the writers had her evolve into a 'better looking' more mainstream mutant!
around was lost along the way.
Marrow was a superb creation from the X-Men creators who was used as a lens to look a the 'good looking', 'well educated', 'coolly powered' etc. X-Men, and ask if they'd ever really help the less advantaged and less-tolerated mutant community. It's such a shame that the original concept got loss along the way, and she the writers had her evolve into a 'better looking' more mainstream mutant!
May 17, 2019
Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, and Marrow are the only X-Men left to deal with a group of new mutants calling themselves the X-Men. Luckily, Excalibur just disbanded. Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, and Colossus head back to the states and get involved with these new X-Men. Our two groups meet up and become the core group of X-Men in both X-titles. Cerebro has now become sentient and is "cataloging" mutants to save them. Professor X has been missing since Operation: Zero Tolerance. The X-Men need to find the professor before Cerebro does.
The Good: There's some great art here. Chris Bachalo, Adam Kubert, Brandon Peterson, and Leincil Yu to name a few. The best story in the book is a stand alone by Brian K. Vaughan where the X-Men fight Ultimatom and Flagsmasher in the subways of NYC.
The Bad: The story in the main books is not very compelling or interesting. Joe Kelly has become a much better writer than is reflected here.
The Ugly: Marrow's personality gets particularly grating very quickly. I'm not sure why any of the X-Men didn't kick her to the curb.
The Good: There's some great art here. Chris Bachalo, Adam Kubert, Brandon Peterson, and Leincil Yu to name a few. The best story in the book is a stand alone by Brian K. Vaughan where the X-Men fight Ultimatom and Flagsmasher in the subways of NYC.
The Bad: The story in the main books is not very compelling or interesting. Joe Kelly has become a much better writer than is reflected here.
The Ugly: Marrow's personality gets particularly grating very quickly. I'm not sure why any of the X-Men didn't kick her to the curb.
February 13, 2021
2.5 stars. A very confusing time in X-Men history.
February 28, 2022
Well I'll give Marvel credit for assigning a stellar artist creative team line-up at this time: Bachalo; Peterson (back fresh from Top Cow); Skroce; Adam Kubert; Ringo and Yu, with early work from Ferry and Gleason - who Marvel would later be quick to promote as part of their
Stormbreakers artist push in 2020 once they signed him from DC.
The X-team line-up is pared back here, with those members who had been galivanting with Excalibur across the pond - back after being away from the man X-teams for more than 10 years. This feels editorially driven, given that it was only 10 months earlier that Kelly and Seagle were given the reins to play with the expanded cast. They have a decent awareness of the characters and their voices but the main storyline is just a chore to read. .
As it is, the high points are the non-related parts to this main story. The return of Gambit, where Skroce gets to go nuts with his eye for detail and on action scenes. case in point, Gambit's intro doing a backflip on a motorcycle after driving vertically down a building is pretty awesome. Plus it's filled with korean ninjas and features a temple raid, a storyline in keeping with the swashbuckling thief. It's just a nice done in one issue, which Skroce continued on X-Men: Gambit: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1 with Nicieza. BKV and Gleason, both get to do a one off Marrow and Kitty issue for Unlimited which has good character work. And lastly there's a nice Christmas story with Colossus, which looks to be Seagle's last story on the X-Men. It's a shame the main stories in this collection fall short of these solo issue stories.
Stormbreakers artist push in 2020 once they signed him from DC.
The X-team line-up is pared back here, with those members who had been galivanting with Excalibur across the pond - back after being away from the man X-teams for more than 10 years. This feels editorially driven, given that it was only 10 months earlier that Kelly and Seagle were given the reins to play with the expanded cast. They have a decent awareness of the characters and their voices but the main storyline is just a chore to read. .
As it is, the high points are the non-related parts to this main story. The return of Gambit, where Skroce gets to go nuts with his eye for detail and on action scenes. case in point, Gambit's intro doing a backflip on a motorcycle after driving vertically down a building is pretty awesome. Plus it's filled with korean ninjas and features a temple raid, a storyline in keeping with the swashbuckling thief. It's just a nice done in one issue, which Skroce continued on X-Men: Gambit: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1 with Nicieza. BKV and Gleason, both get to do a one off Marrow and Kitty issue for Unlimited which has good character work. And lastly there's a nice Christmas story with Colossus, which looks to be Seagle's last story on the X-Men. It's a shame the main stories in this collection fall short of these solo issue stories.
February 17, 2016
At the start of this volume, the X-Men are down to a rather sad group of four, including Marrow, Storm, Rogue, and Wolverine. It's not the most interesting group ever; thank heavens for the return of the Excalibur X-Men ...
Unfortunately, it's not enough to put the Seagle/Kelly X-Men on the right track ... And they're hampered by ugly '90s art the whole time ...
Children of the Atom (UXM 360, XM 80). The return of Kitty Pryde, Colossus, and Nightcrawler aren't enough to save this turgid, wordy story, which remarkably seems to be the 30th anniversary special for the comic. The X-Men repeatedly fight a group of "New X-Men" raised by "Professor Xavier", except the New X-Men are totally blank slates with no characterization, leaving this an entirely dull exercise [3/10].
Thrall (XM 1/2). This story by DeZago shows that it might not be the X-Men team members that are causing the problems, but instead the writers. Sure it's a transparent take-off of "Kitty's Faerie Tale" with a twist, but it's fun and interesting, even if a bit shallow (due to the length) [7/10].
Downtime (UXM 361, XM 81). These quieter stories are definitely better than the massive crossovers around them. Granted, their plots are still so-so (particularly the fight against Kali in the latter issue). But the character interactions of the team are good, as is the reintroduction of Gambit. [6/10]
Marrow (XMU 22). Vaughan's focus on Marrow is a nice bit of characterization, and it's more successful than most of the XMUs because it takes her on as part of the team rather than trying to give her a meaningless solo mission [7/10].
The Hunt for Xavier (UXM 362-364, XM82-84). Back in the main plot, and things once more become turgid and wordy. There's also a never-ending fight against Cerebro, a foe that's entirely boring due to his total lack of character. Meanwhile, the "New X-Men" are dealt with in a such a cursory way that it's insulting to the readers. There are some nice elements in this dull story, such as the Prof hooking up with the Brotherhood and a (final?) battle against a dying Pyro. But it's not enough to save this story [4/10].
The Ghosts of X-Mas Past (UXM 365). This story is a muddled mess with too much going on to make sense, but has a few nice emotional moments too. [6/10]
When everyone says that the X-Men was bad in the '90s, this is the run that they meant. It's got a bad team of X-Men, bad artwork, and writing that doesn't hold up. Overall: bleh.
Unfortunately, it's not enough to put the Seagle/Kelly X-Men on the right track ... And they're hampered by ugly '90s art the whole time ...
Children of the Atom (UXM 360, XM 80). The return of Kitty Pryde, Colossus, and Nightcrawler aren't enough to save this turgid, wordy story, which remarkably seems to be the 30th anniversary special for the comic. The X-Men repeatedly fight a group of "New X-Men" raised by "Professor Xavier", except the New X-Men are totally blank slates with no characterization, leaving this an entirely dull exercise [3/10].
Thrall (XM 1/2). This story by DeZago shows that it might not be the X-Men team members that are causing the problems, but instead the writers. Sure it's a transparent take-off of "Kitty's Faerie Tale" with a twist, but it's fun and interesting, even if a bit shallow (due to the length) [7/10].
Downtime (UXM 361, XM 81). These quieter stories are definitely better than the massive crossovers around them. Granted, their plots are still so-so (particularly the fight against Kali in the latter issue). But the character interactions of the team are good, as is the reintroduction of Gambit. [6/10]
Marrow (XMU 22). Vaughan's focus on Marrow is a nice bit of characterization, and it's more successful than most of the XMUs because it takes her on as part of the team rather than trying to give her a meaningless solo mission [7/10].
The Hunt for Xavier (UXM 362-364, XM82-84). Back in the main plot, and things once more become turgid and wordy. There's also a never-ending fight against Cerebro, a foe that's entirely boring due to his total lack of character. Meanwhile, the "New X-Men" are dealt with in a such a cursory way that it's insulting to the readers. There are some nice elements in this dull story, such as the Prof hooking up with the Brotherhood and a (final?) battle against a dying Pyro. But it's not enough to save this story [4/10].
The Ghosts of X-Mas Past (UXM 365). This story is a muddled mess with too much going on to make sense, but has a few nice emotional moments too. [6/10]
When everyone says that the X-Men was bad in the '90s, this is the run that they meant. It's got a bad team of X-Men, bad artwork, and writing that doesn't hold up. Overall: bleh.
October 22, 2022
Overall good, I guess? Some parts were well-written but a few issues suffered from sloppy writing and lazy errors. One thing that irked me was when the X-Men went to Tajikistan to look for Prof Xavier, and the subsequent issues kept misspelling the country as Tajikinistan or Tajikanistan. I mean seriously? This series was compiled and published in 2015 and you couldn't even google the country name and get it corrected? As for the storyline itself… the premise had potential but along the way it just felt convoluted and messy, the storytelling lacked direction and clarity, and in the end weakly resolved.
There was an interesting character development for Marrow, though, that I appreciate. It seemed like one issue in particular sort of hinted at something between Marrow and Shadowcat (at least from Marrow's side, and the subtext was not even very "sub"…). It is disappointing Marvel didn't develop this into an actual relationship and left it as another queerbait. Or maybe I need to check the following issues to find out…?
There was an interesting character development for Marrow, though, that I appreciate. It seemed like one issue in particular sort of hinted at something between Marrow and Shadowcat (at least from Marrow's side, and the subtext was not even very "sub"…). It is disappointing Marvel didn't develop this into an actual relationship and left it as another queerbait. Or maybe I need to check the following issues to find out…?
January 17, 2016
I would like see more of the Fake X-Men. And Mimic.
Generally, the book is fine but kind of directionless. The X-Men were kind of bumping from event to event for most of the 90's. Here the "Hunt for Professor X" doesn't seem much like an event so much as a flag that attempts to serve as an act break.
Marrow's arc is a lot less relatable than the authors intended it to be. It seems like deep down, she's just not a good person. And I understand that's supposed to be because she hasn't been treated well. But in order to keep the arc active, the authors prevent Marrow from learning "lessons," which, in turn, is what is supposed to make her one of the good guys. So he's just sullen and difficult.
And why were all the heroes constantly smoking?
Generally, the book is fine but kind of directionless. The X-Men were kind of bumping from event to event for most of the 90's. Here the "Hunt for Professor X" doesn't seem much like an event so much as a flag that attempts to serve as an act break.
Marrow's arc is a lot less relatable than the authors intended it to be. It seems like deep down, she's just not a good person. And I understand that's supposed to be because she hasn't been treated well. But in order to keep the arc active, the authors prevent Marrow from learning "lessons," which, in turn, is what is supposed to make her one of the good guys. So he's just sullen and difficult.
And why were all the heroes constantly smoking?
March 8, 2024
the art was decent but the Cerebro machine story i didn't care for.
January 12, 2025
Finally finished this run. Really not sure its getting any better than the previous '90's stuff and there's still plenty of hang over from all that mess.
Edit: I also hate allllll of the art. I feel like its sort of 'good' in a way i don't appreciate, but i find it overdetailed and just sort of trying too hard. I just don't like it.
Edit: I also hate allllll of the art. I feel like its sort of 'good' in a way i don't appreciate, but i find it overdetailed and just sort of trying too hard. I just don't like it.
August 3, 2022
Mixed feelings on this. Overall, it was a good but not great story. There were some nice character moments, and I liked the featured team. (Except for Marrow. I didn't hate her as much as some people do, but she can be kind of tedious and one-note.)
The plot was interesting but sometimes had the quality of being both overwritten and underexplained. It wasn't bad, but it could have used some tightening up too. I enjoyed the soap-opera aspects and character interactions. Of the two main writers, I tend to prefer Kelly, but Seagle had some good moments too.
I kind of hated most of the art. It was just dog-ugly to me. And these are artists who I generally have appreciated in other works. But here it was just a mix of cartoony awkward proportions and muddled storytelling more often than not. Nineties art is definitely a mixed bag.
The lead story itself was exciting but, again, kind of overwritten with muddled, ugly art. The bones were good, but I think it could have been better. Cerebro made in interesting villain - it kind of foreshadows both Danger from the Whedon run and HIckman's positioning posthuman AI as mutants' real mortal enemy - but I actually really liked the way the story resolved with Professor X teaching Cerebro why its plans were flawed.
Overall, I liked this. But it's probably not worth the trouble to try and find a paper copy of the TPB at a reasonable price unless you're a diehard collector, so either track down the single issues or go digital is my recommendation. I'd give this 3.5 Stars, rounded up. I don't know that I'd call the Kelly/Seagle era an overlooked gem exactly, but I'm enjoying my trip through it. On to the Magneto story next!
The plot was interesting but sometimes had the quality of being both overwritten and underexplained. It wasn't bad, but it could have used some tightening up too. I enjoyed the soap-opera aspects and character interactions. Of the two main writers, I tend to prefer Kelly, but Seagle had some good moments too.
I kind of hated most of the art. It was just dog-ugly to me. And these are artists who I generally have appreciated in other works. But here it was just a mix of cartoony awkward proportions and muddled storytelling more often than not. Nineties art is definitely a mixed bag.
The lead story itself was exciting but, again, kind of overwritten with muddled, ugly art. The bones were good, but I think it could have been better. Cerebro made in interesting villain - it kind of foreshadows both Danger from the Whedon run and HIckman's positioning posthuman AI as mutants' real mortal enemy - but I actually really liked the way the story resolved with Professor X teaching Cerebro why its plans were flawed.
Overall, I liked this. But it's probably not worth the trouble to try and find a paper copy of the TPB at a reasonable price unless you're a diehard collector, so either track down the single issues or go digital is my recommendation. I'd give this 3.5 Stars, rounded up. I don't know that I'd call the Kelly/Seagle era an overlooked gem exactly, but I'm enjoying my trip through it. On to the Magneto story next!
December 9, 2018
Steve Seagle and Joe Harris start this collection with a new roster with some familiar faces in this collection that ends their runs on Uncanny X-Men and X-Men (2nd Series) respectively. Archangel, Beast, and Iceman along with newcomers Maggott and Dr. Reyes are gone while Colossus, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde, and Gambit are back! It is essentially the classic X-Men of my youth (yay) -- plus Marrow (meh).
We start with Xavier assembling a completely new X-Men team. He isn't quite acting like himself, and he is leads his new soldiers against his former students -- the real X-Men.
The X-Men are forced to find their mentor after the first battle. Unfortunately, they can only pin his location to either San Francisco or Tajikistan. Xavier is actually hiding himself and a mannite named Nina from Cerebro. Bastion's Operations Zero Tolerance inadvertently turned the X-Men's former mutant location system into a sentient entity with a self-imposed mandate to catalog all mutants.
It isn't a stand-out story, but it is good to see the classic team back in action against a new and creative threat.
We start with Xavier assembling a completely new X-Men team. He isn't quite acting like himself, and he is leads his new soldiers against his former students -- the real X-Men.
The X-Men are forced to find their mentor after the first battle. Unfortunately, they can only pin his location to either San Francisco or Tajikistan. Xavier is actually hiding himself and a mannite named Nina from Cerebro. Bastion's Operations Zero Tolerance inadvertently turned the X-Men's former mutant location system into a sentient entity with a self-imposed mandate to catalog all mutants.
It isn't a stand-out story, but it is good to see the classic team back in action against a new and creative threat.
September 4, 2018
The only real consistency to this era of the X-Men is poor writing. Everyone talks the same, eveyone is constantly angry with each other, none of the characters ever understand what's going on around them, and X-Men are constantly joining and then quitting and then joining and then quitting the teams.
Like the previous volume, X-Men Blue, Vol. 0: Reunion, this is an unreadable mess. It gets one bonus star for the more consistent art. Chris Bachalo's art, in particular looks really striking in this volume, and the final issue shows shades of his evolution as an artist with some of the more spare layouts looking like the precursors to his Amazing Spider-Man and Doctor Strange runs.
I don't recommend this.
Like the previous volume, X-Men Blue, Vol. 0: Reunion, this is an unreadable mess. It gets one bonus star for the more consistent art. Chris Bachalo's art, in particular looks really striking in this volume, and the final issue shows shades of his evolution as an artist with some of the more spare layouts looking like the precursors to his Amazing Spider-Man and Doctor Strange runs.
I don't recommend this.
September 21, 2023
Story wise, this should have happened right after Zero Tolerance. I don’t like Xavier and think the X-men are better off without him but it shouldn’t have taken the team this long to finally search for Xavier after he was arrested and disappeared from the psi-plane during Zero Tolerance. Between that arc and this, Marvel focused on introducing 3/new characters(2 of which are gone from the main teams by the time this comes out) so it felt that time was wasted. The story itself felt like no real thought or consideration was put into it. Don’t bother reading this. Just find a summary online.
May 1, 2023
Love the X-Men and happy to find some of them here, but unfortunately there’re some things that I didn’t like.
First, I was not a fan of this kind of drawing. Yes, some panels were gorgeous, but only a few of them.
Second, the story was interesting, but the execution was pretty not the best.
I can firmly say that the fights were pretty dope and some of my favorite characters were used pretty well like Wolverine, Rogue, Gambit & Nightcrawler.
6/10
First, I was not a fan of this kind of drawing. Yes, some panels were gorgeous, but only a few of them.
Second, the story was interesting, but the execution was pretty not the best.
I can firmly say that the fights were pretty dope and some of my favorite characters were used pretty well like Wolverine, Rogue, Gambit & Nightcrawler.
6/10
August 27, 2017
In some ways these comics seem better than the painful end of the Claremont era...in other ways they are just a continuation of it, with too many crossovers and unnecessarily complex plots.
July 12, 2020
Perhaps a bit much padding. I like Nina, that's why I read this
January 9, 2022
2.5 stars I guess. It never really worked for me.
April 22, 2021
After some time missing, the X-Men finally think to themselves: hey where's Prof X?
Yeah, so this story has the team split into two separate teams, as they discover two separate pings for Professor X out in the world. Each team then goes after one of the pings, and find the villain of the story is someone - actually something - that they are very, very familiar with. To me, the premise is interesting, but the villain very much felt like a "monster of the week" type villain. Even though it should have been a compelling villain, it comes off as very "meh", with elements of the Phalanx and Bastion mixed in to give us this new adversary. Really, this was just a way to get Professor X back to the X-Men, and also give him his powers back.
I think at this point in the X-Men, the team and the books themselves did get a bit stagnant. The "extreme" nature of the stories can only carry you so far, before we need a bit more substance to really carry the book. Which is why the Grant Morrison run is coming up soon.
Not the worst X-Men story, but nothing really special, the somewhat redundant nature of what should have been a very compelling villain shows us how the X-franchise was begin to tread water a bit in this era.
Yeah, so this story has the team split into two separate teams, as they discover two separate pings for Professor X out in the world. Each team then goes after one of the pings, and find the villain of the story is someone - actually something - that they are very, very familiar with. To me, the premise is interesting, but the villain very much felt like a "monster of the week" type villain. Even though it should have been a compelling villain, it comes off as very "meh", with elements of the Phalanx and Bastion mixed in to give us this new adversary. Really, this was just a way to get Professor X back to the X-Men, and also give him his powers back.
I think at this point in the X-Men, the team and the books themselves did get a bit stagnant. The "extreme" nature of the stories can only carry you so far, before we need a bit more substance to really carry the book. Which is why the Grant Morrison run is coming up soon.
Not the worst X-Men story, but nothing really special, the somewhat redundant nature of what should have been a very compelling villain shows us how the X-franchise was begin to tread water a bit in this era.
May 13, 2025
Not great. Not bad either. Mid, as the kids say. The artwork and writing is a tad schizophrenic. It’s almost as if they needed someone at the helm to oversee this era of the x-men.
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