X-Men Disassembled … again
You’ve probably seen this cover by now. And it’s coming … the X-Men are going to be disassembled! The very fabric of the mutant team will be shoved in another direction, with September 10 being the day we find out. Insert “never forget” joke.
But this is literally nothing new. Marvel has disassembled the X-Men any number of times, to the point where it’s just stupid anymore. Here’s a few other times they’ve been disassembled.
(Uncanny) X-Men #46 – Professor Xavier apparently dies (actually Changeling). The team, at the behest of FBI Agent Fred Duncan, breaks up in order to better fight crime, each going their seperate ways.
Marvel Graphic Novels #4 – With the X-Men apparently dead, Xavier starts a new team – The New Mutants. Later the X-Men come back from Shi’ar space with a bad case of the Brood.
Post-Mutant Massacre Arc – In the battle with the Mauraders, most of the X-Men are taken out, leaving Storm, Rogue and Wolverine, who part ways with the school’s new headmaster, Magneto. They go about assembling a new, underground team comprised of Dazzler, Longshot, Havok and a returning Colossus.
Uncanny X-Men #247-250 – Master Mold and Nimrod attack, and Rogue sends them through the Siege Perilous, with herself in it. Longshot quits. The Reavers attack the X-Men at their Australia base. Psylocke tricks all of the X-Men, save Wolverine, into going through the Siege Perilous. In a famous moment, the Reavers crucify Wolverine. The team stays disassembled until officially around #280, when the disparate teams unite against the Shadow King, leading directly to the 1991 relaunch.
Uncanny X-Men #372 – An apparently stressed out Xavier pushes and pushes the team in training scenarios. Most of them quit due to his apparent megalomania. With no team to go on, Cyclops and Phoenix form a team of Cable, X-Man and Wolverine, covered in the second volume of “Astonishing X-Men.” Later, it’s revealed that Xavier was trying to bait the Skrull impostor Wolverine. Given recent events in “New Avengers,” this sounds oddly familiar.
EDIT – between X-Men #99 and #100 – All mutants lose their powers, thanks to Sinister and the High Evolutionary. The former mutants go on to lead real lives, before their powers are restored and they must face off against the Neo in Chris Claremont’s return arch.
EDIT – Uncanny X-Men #392 – With most of the X-Men gone after Claremont’s return run, Phoenix assembles a new team to battle Magneto.
This is obviously just a sample, and there have almost definitely been a few other times. It just goes to show that Marvel is just capitalizing on the success of Avengers Disassembled by recycling a plot that’s been used over and over.
Any others you can think of? We have comments for a reason other than bickering with each other.
Some more recent examples:
Rise and Fall of the Shi’ar Empire: Cyclops orders Professor X to leave the mansion, and the Prof drags a few disillusioned X-Men along for the ride.
X-Treme X-Men- Storm and Professor X have a major falling out and Ororo takes half the team in a more proactive direction on a quest to find Destiny’s diaries.
New X-Men- In the wake of M-Day, most of the students at Xavier'[s are powerless, forcing Emma Frost to disband the smaller squads and build one team she can shape into the X-Men of the future.
Also, X-Force, X-Factor and Exaclibur forming as separate entities were usually as a result of the members having some sort of a falling out with Xavier and company.
Nice list, guys.