Marvel Now Rankings, Part 8: 12-10

Part 9 of the Marvel Now Rankings, going over titles 12 through 10.

These books show much-improved X-Men books than seen previously and show the mostly unfulfilled potential of the main X-Men books during Marvel Now.

12. Amazing X-Men: Written by Jason Aaron with art by Ed McGuinness

At the time this was the only regular X-Men book, with Uncanny X-Men being about Cyclops and the evil X-Men and Wolverine and the X-Men being about the Jean Grey School more than adventuring mutants. The first arc of this book deals with the resurrection of Nightcrawler, who had died a few years prior. Then the next arc dealt with a different team of X-Men and a Wendigo threat.

The first arc of this book was stupendous, and having Nightcrawler as the main character really showed what had been missing from the other X-Men books. Happiness and fun. Nightcrawler’s return brought a lot of emotion, with a heartwarming scene pictured above involving Kurt and Wolverine. The other arc was nothing special and its shift of focus to a different team seemed to offset the chemistry of the previous team.

Image by Marvel Comics

11. Magneto: Written by Cullen Bunn with art by Javier Barranco

This book follows Magneto in his solo adventures away from Scott Summers’ new Uncanny X-Men. He is on a mission to hunt down any and all threats to mutant kind. Shield gets involved and a young woman that is important to Magneto shows up, and it all gets more intriguing from there.

This dark and gritty take on the classic X-Men villain shows the brutality of the character while making you feel sorry for him. This book not only makes you understand Eric but you also fear him. The art helps to sell the dark atmosphere that Cullen Bunn is trying to sell. This book is the quintessential story for anyone who wants to read about the bad guys,

Image by Marvel Comics

10. Nightcrawler: Written by Chris Claremont with art by Todd Nauck

This book follows Kurt Wagner on his own solo adventure, steeped in the rich continuity that the character has been building since his introduction in 1975. Most of the issues deal with Kurt’s ex-girlfriend, Amanda Sefton, a magic user from his days growing up in the circus. The story shows off a lot of Nightcrawler’s roots and why he has become the character that he is today.

The first book in the top 10 might be surprising, as a solo series of a B-List X-Man that was canceled after 12 issues, but it deserves it. This book sucked me into the world of Nightcrawler, a character I had liked before but had not known much about. The interactions between him and Amanda showed off there chemistry really she became a welcome part of the book. There is one issue that is a tribute to Wolverine due to him dying in his own miniseries, title Death of Wolverine, that showed the bond that he and Kurt shared. This one issue showed their relationship as best friends grow over the years and gave James Howlett a great send off.

The next part will cover a change in character, a romance and a detective story.