| Title | : | X-Men: Days of Future Past |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0785115609 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780785115601 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 184 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1981 |
X-Men: Days of Future Past Reviews
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Days of Future Past is a good story.
I mean, they even made a movie out of the general idea of the plot.
Things have taken a terrible turn in the future and only a few surviving X-men remain to attempt to make it right. Decades in the past, a group of evil mutants (aptly named The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants) assassinated a political candidate that was spewing anti-mutant sentiment and raising questions about how dangerous they could potentially become. After his death, humans freak out and the Sentinels are activated. And we all know how that turns out.
When the story picks up, the Sentinals have largely devastated North America, and due to their faulty programming have gone rogue. They seem to think the only way to stop all mutants is to take over the world. The clock is ticking down and within days countries with nuclear capabilities are going to declare war on the Sentinals.
The X-men are convinced this will not end well.
The science behind it is murky at best, but they manage to send Kitty's consciousness back in time to her teenage body, in the hopes that she can avert THERMONUCLEAR WAR.
When the new old Kate Pryde arrives in the noggin of her past self, the X-men aren't convinced of the validity of her statements. As they should.
But only for about 10 seconds because this is a comic book, folks!
They check Kitty's brain waves and find out that they are older/more advanced...? Something that sounds like a vague pseudo-sciencey reason to believe a 13 year old when she tells you it's her 30somthing year old self speaking to you from a dystopian future that some of your fuckwit peers kicked off by making a martyr out of some asshole senator.
So they hop in the X-jet and run off to find Charles, kick Mystique's ass, and hopefully save the douchey senator. Does it work? Can they all fight for the greater good fix the future?
Kind of. Sorta. Maybe?
It's the X-men. You know shit will eventually go sideways for them no matter what.
The problem is that DoFP only two issues long, so in order to sell it, Marvel padded this volume out with extra issues that really only have a tenuous connection to the event.
That's not to say they are all useless or uninteresting.
Were you interested in Cyclops' entire backstory up till Jean-as-Phoenix's death in a condensed version? If so, this has you covered.
Then the X-men go to a hellscape that looks like Dante's Inferno in order to rescue Kurt. It was a bit goofy but I like anything that has a Doctor Strange crossover in it, so I found it maybe a bit more interesting than it actually was.
The worst of the bunch was easily when teenage Kitty Pryde gets left at the mansion all alone on Christmas Eve and ends up fighting an Aliens lookalike. It was a garbage story and really didn't need to be included.
I'm pretty sure I've read at least the Days of Future Past story before somewhere, but it was still good, and worth a read if you're a fan of the X-Men. -
One of the strongest X-Men stories ever
This edition not only include the main story "Days of Future Past" but also several issues before and after of the story. This particular collected TPB contains "Uncanny X-Men" #138 - 143 and also the "X-Men" Annual #4. So, my rating is an overall average based on the sum of all individual ratings per story.
Creative Team:
Chris Claremont (Writer) & John Byrne (Illustrator), both co-plotters
Also: John Romita, Jr. (Illustrator) (in the Annual)
ELEGY
Uncanny X-Men #138
Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )
...Here I sit...alone! Now, for the first time, I realize how it must have been for the Professor all these long months...always apart, always alone...
This is an astonishing account of the major events of the X-Men history since its beginning to date (1981) narrated by not other than Scott Summers aka Cyclops!, the leader of the team. Told from his personal point of view, he takes the audience in an uncanny journey through the happiest and saddest moments. All done in one single issue! Definitely a marvelous reading.
NIGHTCRAWLER'S INFERNO
X-Men Annual #4
Rating: **** ( 4 stars )
Good evening. My name is Stephen Strange. I am a... physician. I believe I am expected.
Nightcrawler aka Kurt Wagner is celebrating his 21st birthday but an unexpected gift takes his soul to a hellish place that only the guest starring of Doctor Strange can help to the X-Men to go there and to help to save Nightcrawler's soul!
...SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES! & RAGE!
Uncanny X-Men #139 & #140
Rating: *** ( 3 stars )
I fought that monster durin' my first mission, as Wolverine, for Department "H". My first mission-- My only failure. I'd been sent to deal with the Hulk.
While, Professor X and Storm are doing their best efforts to make feel at home to the newest member in the X-Men, Kitty Pryde; Wolverine travels to Canada, to make peaces with his old friends, James MacDonald Hudson (Vindicator) and his wife, Heather Hudson. Nightcrawler signs up to go along with Wolverine.
When Wolverine and Nightcrawler are able to reach James MacDonald Hudson aka Vindicator, he is on an official mission of Alpha Flight, the Canadian government's sanctioned super-hero team. Alpha Flight is tracking a mysterious monster and the team is decimated due some members are away in another mission over USA, so Vindicator is having only Shaman and Snowbird. Soon enough, Wolverine knows that the monster has to be the Wendigo, which he has some reckoning to do, so he offered his help to find the monster.
DAYS OF FUTURE PAST
Uncanny X-Men #141 & #142
Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )
Our actions may not make things better--for humanity or mutantkind--but they cannot make them worse.
One of the most famous and celebrated stories of the X-Men titles, if not the best, or the only one able to compete against The Dark Phoenix saga, but taking in account that Days of Future Past was developed in only two comic book issues, that's something astonishing impressive!
Those "good ol' days" where creative teams aren't mandated by the publishing house to extend any storyline to 6 issues at least thinking already in the marketing of the trade-paperback. (Notice that here, Marvel needed to "fill up" the TPB edition with other issues to be to able to charge what they want for the TPB)
1980: Kitty Pryde is 13 and a half years old, making her the youngest student ever included into the X-Men team so far. She is the newest addition to the team. She is shy and sweet.
2013: Kate Pryde is 43 and a half years old, making her one of the very few mutant survivors after the Sentinels took over the country. She is the only hope to save humanity and mutantkind. She is outspoken and driven.
The Fantastic Four are dead. The Avengers are dead. The X-Men are mostly dead. And only like 5 mutants are still alive but living in concentration camps. The Sentinels are ruling USA.
A crucial moment, in 1980, was the trigger to this dark future, so the solution is clear... the past must be changed!
So a bold plan is forged to send the "conscience" of the old Kate Pryde to reach the body of the young Kitty Pryde, back in the past, to prevent that that future may ocurr.
Literally there was a "before" and an "after" in the X-Men's comic book history with the publication of this story.
DEMON
Uncanny X-Men #143
Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )
Finally, they're all gone. Omigosh! What am I saying?! They are all gone! I'm all alone!
Shy and sweet Kitty Pryde is all alone in the X-Mansion, but soon enough she will have a lethal visit and she will have to deal with it all by herself!
A lonely remmant of the N'Garai monsters reaches the X-Mansion and it's up to Kitty to defend home against this nightmarish creature! -
This collection is labeled as “Days of Future Past” but seeing as the feature presentation is only a two issue story, there’s a great deal of padding on either side of it and while DOFP is tremendous, everything else in here kind of sucks.
Before the stories even begin, we’re given a massive amount of history bringing us up to date on what has been going down in the X-Men universe. We’re treated to lots of epic storytelling involving the birth of Phoenix, the death of many mutant brethren, and Cyclops’ departure from the group, leaving Storm as team captain.
From there, we’re thrust into a story involving Doctor Strange and the team's venture into a version of Hell inspired by Dante’s Inferno. Nightcrawler is accused of murder and his punishment is brought about by a demon. Sounds cool, right? Well, I was bored to tears and this is mostly due to the horrifically bad dialogue. Tip to Chris Claremont - when you’re using a visual medium like comic books, there’s no need for your characters to tell the reader every single thing they’re doing using the very limited space you have for dialogue. Let the images carry you.
The Days of Future Past story line itself was fantastic and I’m beyond excited for the big screen adaptation in just a few short weeks. From the trailers I've seen, it looks like the screenwriters are playing around with a few of the roles each character has in the original story - which is fine by me. I already have a deep rooted appreciation for anything post-apocalyptic and Claremont and company really nail it. Again, aside from a few complaints about dialogue, DOFP is one of the great stand-out X-Men tales I've read.
The final story involves Christmas and while that’s all well and good in playing to my inner Christmas fanatic, it was in a tough spot having to follow the book’s title track.
If you’re interested in brushing up on the original source material for Marvel’s upcoming X-Men big screen presentation, pick this book up and skip everything else inside. DOFP is the only thing worth checking out here.
Also posted @
Every Read Thing. -
Uno de los mejores arcos de los mutantes en la etapa Claremont/Byrne(probablemente la mejor etapa).
Tenemos de todo:
Viajes en el tiempo y un futuro apocalíptico en la historia principal.
En los números anteriores y anual se enfrentan a seres mitológicos como el Wendigo y Cerbero.
Hacen presencia una infinidad de personajes de Marvel.
la primera aparición de Kitty Pryde y la primera aparición del grupo Alpha Flight(mutantes canadienses).
Y como si todo esto fuera poco se adentran en el mismísimo Infierno de Dante, de La Divina Comedia. -
Days of Future Past is only 2 issues long. It packs a lot for such a short story. Kitty Pryde comes back from a future (2013) where the Sentinels have taken over the U.S. and killed most super-humans. She's come back to stop the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly from happening which kicks off her dark future. It was the first appearance of Rachel Summers and the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants including Mystique. Claremont even alludes to the fact Mystique and Nightcrawler are related way back then. The other issues included are the rest of John Byrne's run on Uncanny X-Men after
The Dark Phoenix Saga ended. It ends with the first issue of Uncanny X-Men I ever owned where Kitty Pryde is alone in the mansion and attacked by one of the N'Garai. Sure, it's a total Alien ripoff but it terrified me at the time. And you get to see Kitty Pryde really kick butt for the first time. -
Welcome to "Days of future past" arc from 1981 (which inspired 2013 epic movie version which surpassed all expectations) aaaaand four other totally unrelated stories!
We pick up the story right after "Dark phoenix saga" and find ourselves reading over 25 years of X-men history in 20 pages.
And we call him Giant Potato!
Right after that painful chapter, Cyclopes takes an extended leave of absence and X-men adds a new member to their team: Kitty Pryde!
In second story, X-men along with Benedic...uh.. I mean Doctor Strange goes to Dante's hell to save Nightcrawler on his birthday! *My birthdays are never this exciting, damnit.* Nothing exceptional here.. Move along!
In third story, Wolverine and Nightcrawler travels to Canada to handle some unfinished business and ends up fighting Wendigo! This is the second best arc in this book after DOFP!
Uh.... Sure it is, Logan.
And then comes the fourth and the most exciting story of this book, Days of future past!
Kitty pryde projects her mind from 2013 to 1981 to avoid a horrible attack which results in extermination of mutant kind! The stakes are high, time is running out. Will they make it? Pfft, of course they do!
And as always, they saved the worst arc for the end. Kitty Pryde is alone in X-Men mansion on Christmas eve and guess who decides to show up? Not Santa, but alien from 'Alien' movie!
*Marvel: It's not an alien, they are the elder gods , the accursed N'garai!*
Whatever, man.. They totally look like Alien (chasing young Ripley?)
Overall, the writing sometimes lacks to deliver and the dialogs are dated. But the story is still full of heart and tries to deliver a good read.
And Wolverine never gets boring. That helped too! -
Man oh Man! My memories of
Days of Future Past were about as inaccurate as I've ever seen my memories be. To be fair to myself, I was eleven when it came out 32 years ago, and I only read it one time, and I've never owned a copy of the original. I read it at a friends house, so I suppose I shouldn't have an expectation of clear memories, but still ... it was a surprise to read it again and see just how far removed my brain was from the reality.
First, I remembered the story being big. HUGE, in fact. But it spanned only two issues: X-Men #141-142. Second, I remembered Kitty Pryde, Colossus' Katya being more epically impressive; instead, she was heroic and cool, but in an understated, almost maternal way. Third, much of what I thought was part of the arc -- the rise of the Sentinels, the Trasks, Rachel Summers, Nimrod -- either happened before or after these two issues. Finally, I was sure Professor X was an important part of the tale, but Storm, Mystique, Kitty, Colossus, Wolverine and Franklin Richards were all much more important than the bald professor.
Yet reading it again wasn't in anyway a disappointment. It is a cool tale, and it is easy to see why so many writers have gone back to those issues for inspiration, and some have even added to the "Days of ..." mythology, which is, I suspect, precisely what Brian Singer is hoping to do with his monster-sized Days of Future Past X-Man movie -- add to the mythology. I just hope he doesn't fuck it up because this is a wonderful, compact and thrilling tale.
Kitty Pryde is a heroine with brains (she's a genius, after all), and the dystopian 2013 (yep. it's set in our current year) is creepy with very little effort. Muties in concentration camps, and Sentinels (drones) policing the movements -- and dampening the powers -- of the few mutants still wandering the Earth, and Wolverine leading the resistance from Canada, and two fights happening in two times to make the most horrible of futures impossible combine to make Days of Future Past one of the most unforgettable entries in Claremont/Byrne's phenomenal collaboration (topped, for me, only by
Dark Phoenix Saga).
Yep, we named our youngest Katya because of my love for Kitty Pryde, and this arc is a huge part of the reason why. -
This was funny. I almost threw up from laughing so hard. There was like thirty pages of recap in the beginning involving all sorts of random shit, like a T-Rex and caveman villain, the whole Wendigo story (Sasquatch + Solomon Grundy + eating your frozen meat popsicle friends turns you into a tundra werewolf monster), and an evil pterodactyl man villain thing. Good laughs.
Nightcrawler has a birthday where he gets a little crystal figurine of himself as a gift (no joke), probably from the Hallmark store. Guess what happens? He blows up Harry Potter voice) and dies.
When the story actually begins (still not Days of Future Past), the X-Men go to "hell" to try and find Nightcrawler. Dante's Inferno, etc. etc., circles of hell. Definitely borrowing here. But it made for interesting reading.
We finally get to DOFP like a third of the way in, or at least it felt that way. This story is nothing like the movie but I really enjoyed it, just don't expect much from the dialog. I feel like the greatest stories involve time travel.
Random thoughts:
Why must everything be a proverbial something? The X-Men are always like, “good thing I arrived in the proverbial nick of time," "well that was a proverbial good stroke of luck," "I saved you from the proverbial death stroke." This phrasing was a proverbial pain in the ass.
Okay really, more disco?
Thirteen year old Kitty Pryde says "Merry Christmas, sexy" to a thirtysomething (?) Peter Rasputin. That does not hold up over time.
Overall, the Days of Future Past storyline is pretty cool, I really like time travel stories, but there's a lot of buffer in this book. Like the Christmas story where the happy couple gets eviscerated by a demon but at least Kitty learns how to destroy everything the X-Men own. Yep. But hey, lots of unintentional laughs, too. -
This collected edition started right after the events of the Dark Phoenix Saga with Cyclops reminiscing on his time with the X-Men and with Jean.
The story then moves on to (re-)introduce the audience to the Alpha Flight members. I enjoyed seeing the different side of Logan those characters brought out but felt the story itself was too obvious in trying to sell these characters to X-Men readers.
I LOVED the Days of Future Past story line! X-Men #141 and Uncanny X-Men #142 were the best comics in this volume.
As a fan of (most of) the films, I was hesitant in reading this and of being disappointed. I shouldn't have worried!
The layout and flow of the story made it really easy to delve straight in, without being dragged down by unnecessary exposition.
Something I really loved was that the comics showed us this 'event' not only affected the X-Men but the Avengers and Fantastic Four as well!
I didn't read that final issue, where it was just Kitty and an Alien rip-off. -
This was a rather misleading collection.
First of all, what you need to understand is that this volume only officially contains the two issues concerning the time-traveling storyline that has been known now as a classic Claremont must-have. The rest were supplemental ones. Comprised of issues #138-143 of The Uncanny X-Men line plus the Annual #4 with Dr. Strange, this volume of Days of Future Past is actually less about the famed story arc mentioned. It mostly offers us great character material concerning Kitty Pryde, the newest and youngest member of the X-Men.
This also picks up events after Jean Grey's The Dark Phoenix saga which was why issue #138 features a tribute to the life and times of the said fallen heroine as told in the perspective of her lover Scott Summers a.k.a. Cyclops, as well as the history of the sixties X-Men.
It's worth mentioning that Cyclops also takes a sabbatical leave to grieve Jean properly so the leadership role goes to Ororo Munroe (Storm) in his abrupt absence. With the loss of Jean Grey comes the advent of one Kitty Pryde, a thirteen-year-old mutant and aspiring superheroine who can go through any solid surfaces as her power. The next issues (#139-140, Annual #4, #143) were devoted to her character development where she slowly finds her way into the schematics of her second family, trying to fit in and learn combat skills to enhance her mutant abilities. I suppose I understand why this volume had to include these issues since they are vital in understanding and sympathizing with this new character. After all, she will eventually play a key role for issues #141-#142 which are the Days of Future Past installments. Yes, only two issues.
If you have seen the movie adaptation first last year, know by now that the content of comics counterpart was very much different than what we have seen on screen. In this Claremont tale, it was Kitty Pryde who takes the center stage and travels back in time through the help of Rachel Summers so she can warn her comrades about the Brotherhood of Evil Mutant (led by Mystique) and their nefarious plans to assassinate Senator Kelly which prompted the deadly re-launch of the Sentinels project. Once that project comes into fruition, the mutant-hunting killer robots become unstoppable which cost so many lives of the X-Men which was why a thirty-something Kitty travels back to 1980. Funny enough, the distant future she comes from was 2013.
When Kitty-from-the-future takes over, she possesses the newbie version of herself who now has to convince her comrades of the threat in the future if they didn't stop the Brotherhood. The two issues that feature this storyline were compact and action-driven, with enough fight scenes to sustain the excitement and drama of the scenes. At this point, I've been invested on Kitty as a character and I'm glad she was so dynamic and relatable, as oppose to an obvious Jean-replacement which she is clearly not. Claremont did a fine job establishing how important her role is in the present by showing us how she's growing as an X-Men recruit (notably in issue #143 where she single-handedly defeats an alien enemy during Christmas; it pretty much served as her rite of passage), and this therefore gave some weight to her role in the future where she is one of mutantkind's last chance for survival. I would assert, however, that this volume would be disappointing if you're hoping to collect all of the DoFP-related material because the story arc honestly run only for two issues!
Still, the truth for the matter is that if you have plans to read everything about Days of Future Past, then you're going to have to check out certain flashbacks and tie-ins from The Uncanny X-Men (#188-189, #192, #199, #202), Excalibur (#35, #52), and Wolverine Days of Future Past which has three issues. You may also want to check out Days of Future Present and Days of Futures Yet to Come for the posterity of it all if you like.
As for this volume, I think I can recommend this to Kitty Pryde fans because I think the supplement issues are really more about her, but if you're more inclined to read something plot-heavy then just check out #141-142 issues by themselves.
RECOMMENDED: 7/10
DO READ MY REVIEWS AT:
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One of the original future dystopias and copied so many times, a worthy classic from one of the best X-Men eras. Claremont and Byrne were truly on a roll then, right after the Dark Phoenix saga.
A lot happens in these two issues, with time-travel and the introduction of the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with foreshadowing about Mystique and Nightcrawler's connections to boot.
Fun to reread every few years. Much of it has since become cliché, but it wasn't cliché back then. Also, better than the movie! -
Brief Introduction:
As I read through these older X-Men stories originally written by Chris Claremont, I wondered to myself about how the X-Men stories were like back then versus how they are now. The stories back then seemed to flow together nicely and the character interactions were fantastic and reading some of the newer X-Men stories currently being made, they seem to lose that magic that made them great in the first place. But enough about my little rant on the state of the “X-Men” comics nowadays, this is about the most popular story in “X-Men” history since “The Dark Phoenix Saga,” “Days of Future Past.” This graphic novel does contain the popular story “Days of Future Past” written by Chris Claremont with artwork by John Byrne, but it also contains issues 138 – 143, so there are multiple stories in this collection that were quite enjoyable!
What is the story?
This collection of stories takes place after the events of “The Dark Phoenix Saga” and the X-Men get into more adventures which includes the inclusion of a young Kitty Pryde into the X-Men! There are a total of six issues in this collection and therefore there are six stories that include:
Elegy – After the events of “The Dark Phoenix Saga,” Cyclops decides to leave the X-Men in order to cope with Jean Grey’s unfortunate death.
Nightcrawler’s Inferno – When Nightcrawler’s soul is stolen by an evil force in the Inferno, the X-Men along with Doctor Strange journey to the Inferno to save Nightcrawler’s soul from the evil forces of the Inferno.
Something Wicked This Way Comes and Rage! – Wolverine and Nightcrawler journey to Canada and not only meet up with the mutant team Alpha Flight, but they also discovered that a monstrous beast named Wendigo is on the loose in the Canadian wilderness!
Days of Future Past and Mind out of Time! – In this classic tale, Kate Pryde (who is Kitty Pryde in the future) goes into the past and takes over Kitty Pryde’s mind in order to warn the X-Men about the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants’ attempt at assassinating Senator Robert Kelly that will unfortunately cause a terrible chain of events that will cause the Sentinels to kill all the mutants in the future. The X-Men then try to stop the Brotherhood of Mutants from killing Senator Robert Kelly in order to prevent this terrible future from happening!
Demon – On Christmas Eve, all the X-Men left the Institute to spend the holidays with their families, leaving Kitty Pryde by herself. Unfortunately, Kitty Pryde will soon realize that she is not alone in the Institute when a frightening demon comes to the Institute and tries to attack Kitty!
What I loved about this comic:
Chris Claremont’s writing: As usual with most of the older “X-Men” comics written by Chris Claremont, Chris Claremont’s writing was truly excellent and exciting! I loved the way that Chris Claremont makes sure that the readers understand what was happening over the years that the characters spent their time as the X-Men, especially in the first story of Cyclops telling readers about the events that happened while he was with the X-Men from the day he first became an X-Men to the death of Jean Grey when she turned into the Dark Phoenix. I also loved the way that Chris Claremont portrayed the relationships between the X-Men, especially between Storm, Kitty Pryde, Colossus, Wolverine and Nightcrawler as all of these members have an extremely close relationship with each other and it was hilarious seeing the witty banter that takes place between Colossus, Wolverine and Nightcrawler. I especially loved the way that Chris Claremont wrote the story “Days of Future Past” as it was the first X-Men story where the X-Men deals with an apocalyptic future that would soon inspire many other apocalyptic themed stories in the future and the dark and dreary mood of the dystopian world that that X-Men would face in the future was done extremely well and I often felt so much remorse for the X-Men as they had to survive in a world where mutants were becoming extinct. I also loved the story “Nightcrawler’s Inferno” as Chris Claremont clearly showed the close relationship between the X-Men and Colossus was just so awesome in that story!
John Byrne’s artwork: John Byrne’s artwork was so fantastic and beautiful and I especially loved the appearances of most of the characters, especially of Kitty Pryde herself having a cute face and long and wavy brown hair (even though I often wonder why she is drawn with having a long face). I also loved the way that John Byrne illustrated the dystopian future in “Days of Future Past” as the world looks dark and dreary with images of buildings being worn down and Sentinels occupying everything in its mist.
What made me feel uncomfortable about this book:
The only problem with this collection of stories is that each story is a bit too long to read through as the pages are littered with information about what happened in past events and the characters are constantly talking about the limits of their powers and how they plan on defeating their enemies. Now, I love stories where there is so much information about the characters, but in a graphic novel or comic format, it might be a bit too much for new readers to handle and you might get a “brain burn” after you try to read all the information about the characters and the story itself.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, “Days of Future Past” is easily one of the most memorable “X-Men” stories next to “The Dark Phoenix Saga” and “God Loves Man Kills” and I am definitely sure that “X-Men” fans will take delight in reading this story!
Review is also on:
Rabbit Ears Book Blog -
The rating applies to the two relevant comics in the five-section series. The other three introduce Kitty Pryde but have no relevance to the story. In all honesty, although I found the comics interesting, it irritated me to try to understand how it fit. It didn't fit. They include it because the main character in the main event comes to Marvel for the first time.
The two comics follow the basic story-line of the movie and the cartoon series from the 1990's (on Disney Plus, which I enjoy and recommend). The story involves different characters. Kitty comes to her own body from the future as the Sentinals wipe out mutant-kind and a final war will break out, a hopeless situation for the mutants. In the future, many mutants have died, including Xavier. Wolverine still lives, although an older man, but we see a similar fate before Kitty goes back for one final desperate plan:
I enjoyed it, a classic in the Marvel history. As for the rating of the choice of all five, and especially if people pay for the five, I would consider this a two to three star series (I read on Marvel Unlimited, which you can read on an app or online for ten dollars a month if you like Marvel and want more). -
I was almost convinced that I would never finish this! It was thicker than the average volume and they just cram so much onto each page.
But anyway, this was a good comic. However, I have to admit that it's a little misleading. Only two of the issues presented here are actually about the Days of Future Past storyline. There are like three or four issues that take place at the beginning of this volume that summarize the history of the X-Men and explain what happened in the Dark Phoenix Saga, which precedes this. There are a couple of issues that have random adventures, then the Days of Future Past story, then an issue at the end focused on Kitty Pride (who might be my new favorite after finishing this one).
The artwork was good (It's vintage/old school/classic. It's almost good by default). The dialogue was pretty good for an older work. The plot was strong for something published decades ago. I'm glad I have read this so I have something to compare the movies too, and because it just expands my X-Men knowledge in general. I would consider this a must-read for X-Men fans. -
This is one of the most famous X-Men stories and for my money, the first GREAT X-Men story. I actually enjoyed this tiny tale more than the much-lauded Dark Phoenix Saga. The writing is more polished, the concept is great, the stakes are fully formed and it’s told with impressive efficiency. It’s the famous tale of desperate X-Men from a future ruled by the Sentinels sending the mind of an adult Kitty Pryde back in time into her younger body to convince the present X-Men to stop an assassination attempt on an anti-mutant senator in order to prevent the future from happening. Along with God Loves, Man Kills, it’s a real distillation of everything the X-Men is all about. But beyond the two-issue story, this book has a few filler issues that are less than stellar (especially the annual issue with Doctor Strange), and it's also a big showcase for the introduction of Kitty into the X-Men.
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The best X-Men comic I've read so far.
The main reason I like this book is because it has clarity unlike other X-men comics which are confusing and without context.
The drawings in this book are beautiful too.
P.S There's no similarity between the 2014 movie and this comic except for the title -
Actually a short story collection with Days of Future Past being a two-issue story, Chris Claremont ensures you will hate the X-Men with his ultra-crappy writing and storytelling. Full review
here! -
In my memory, this was so much better. I remembered it as an epic tale of X-men lore. Instead, 34 years later, it's an undeveloped and rather dull disappointment. It turns out the original story is only two issues long and nowhere as good as I recalled it. The cover art is great. The rest of it is just plain meh...and the other issues packaged with "Days of Future Past" in the graphic novel? They're awful: Cyclops gives a dull rehash of his career with the X-men before he takes some time off after Jean's death; Wolverine and Nightcrawler team up with Alpha Flight to fight the Wendigo (sounds promising, but nope); and demons, demons, demons...holy cow, enough with the stupid demons, Chris Claremont. It's the X-men, not Son of Satan or Ghostrider.
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Acho que não tenho mais paciência para ler coisas da Marvel...
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Acabo de leérmelo para tener una referencia cuando estrenen la película en mayo, y solamente puedo decir... WOAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! Es una pasada! La trama se me hace muy corta en solo 2 números, pero es muy intensa y te engancha desde el principio. La realidad alternativa en Days of the Future Past es un escenario que tengo muchas ganas de ver recreado en pantalla. Hay un pasaje al inicio del cómic en el que la Kitty Pryde adulta entra en el campo de mutantes donde los tienen presos y tiene que pasar por delante de un cementerio donde yacen todos sus amigos mutantes asesinados por los Centinelas, es muy heavy.. Merece mucho la pena!
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Chris Claremont a jeho X-Meni jsou kultovní, ale až nyní jsem se pustil do možná jeho největší klasiky, která je bohužel dost bruh. Předně, název booku Days of Future Past je trochu zavádějící protože z celé knihy je DoFP všehovšudy jen dvoučíselná takže lepší název by byl Kitty Pryde: First Steps.
Víceméně hlavní věc kterou zde sledujeme jsou začátky Kitty u X-Menů, o ničem jiném to moc není.
Samotný DoFP je strašně nudně napsaný, má tolik co vyprávět ale na hřišti o velikosti dvou sešitů to je zkrátka nemožné. Navíc když se Claremont využívá v tom aby ve vizuálním médiu popsal každý prd, kdyby to postava udělala tak se zjeví žlutý rámeček a tam bude napsáno: Hle! Wolverine si prdnul.
Jediné co mě vážně bavilo je kresba která je výborná, John Byrne mě strašně baví.
Ve finále je to celkem fajn, ale asi ne na takové úrovni jako třeba Dark Phoenix Saga. -
The first issue is a summary of The X-Men up to that point from the perspective of Scott Summers (Cyclops), who is leaving the group. It's good. The next adventure has Dr. Strange guest starring and is also pretty good. The one that sets this book apart is the story from which they took the cover of the collection, in which we get a glimpse of the dystopian nightmare world of...2013!
Pretty cool. Recommended for X-Men fans, especially if you like Kitty Pryde. -
Why did nobody tell Claremont he was writing comics and not prose? This is too wordy, which makes it a real chore to read. There's also the fact that only two issues of this collection are the Days of Future Past story, the rest is just put in because Marvel cant release collections with only two comics in them.
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![Nessa [October Tune]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1678566234i/7750565._UX200_CR0,0,200,200_.jpg)
Half of this had nothing to do with the actual Days of Future Past storyline and was (I believe) only an introduction to the character Kitty Pryde. And yeah honestly I wouldn't mind, but I went into this expecting a full book about the Days of Future Past storyline... I actually skipped one or two stories to get to the actual DOFP comics because I was starting to feel bored... And this old comic style isn't my favourite either so I was basically just reading the text...
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This picks up immediately after the Dark Phoenix Saga ends, which I just read before this. That’s excellent. Everybody should read and study that. This too. The recap issue w the funeral is great and so is the two issue run of time travel. Here in America we don’t have folk heroes anymore, tall tales, we got comic books. So they should be looked at and studied the same way John Henry and the Steam Drill is analyzed. If you want.
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If you are reading this book post 1995, It will be hard to appreciate the impact it has had on Science Fiction, and Story telling in general. One wouldnt stray very far from a similar analogy of reading Edgar Rice Burroughs "A Princess of Mars" story today and exclaiming out loud, "so whats the big deal about this story? Its just a rehash of stories which we have allready read". So many other stories have used the plot point which was first used here, that now this story would seem old, stale, and dated, even though claremont and Byrne were the first to do it.
Chris Claremont and John Byrne tell a story for the ages here. SOme of the story elements are corny, but hey, this is a 80s comic, what do you expect. Other than that, this book set the bar for telling time travel stories, and non linear story telling in particular. It was the first instance of a story in which a protagonist from the future travels back in time to avert a catastrophe in that future. (suddenly the terminator dosent look all that novel & innovative now, does it?)The way this story is told, is absolutely innovative for its time, incorporating non-linear story telling as a device.
Now that I have explained the important position this story holds in Sci-fi, lets answer the main question "But yea it may be the first, but does that necessarily translate into a good read?" Well in this case, its absolutely true. This is one of the best X Men stories ever told, and that goes a long long way in a franchise filled with fantastic stories.
The story begins with a Mature, aged Kitty Pryde in a dystopian future sending her consciousness back in time with a dying Jean Gray's help, to warn her past self about an impending disaster in the future. In the future Kitty Pryde's timeline, the world is ruled by the sentinals, mutants are hunted, most of them are dead, and now the sentinals have their eyes set on all of humanity, since humanity gave rise to mutants in the first place. Now that there are no mutants to eradicate, they are going after the next best thing: Humans.
Future Kitty Pryde wants her past self to avert the killing of Senator Robert Kelly in the past, which is the catalyst for the Government passing a resolution banning all Mutant rights and interning them in Mutant Camps, and activating the sentinals to hunt all mutants who refuse to be interned in the concentration camps. This results in all kinds of mayhems, and the XMen and the brotherhood of mutants uniting in the fight against the sentinels.
This comic book storyline has it all: OOdles of pathos, great action and fight scenes, and above all, It showcases the man behind the mask that is The Wolverine. It shows just how vulnerable he is, even though he is ultimately invincible. The story telling itself is quite novel and nuanced for a format like a comic book, and might surprise prudes who dont think of comic books as an art medium.
Overall, If you like intelligent story telling, coupled with great humour, heart, and all the ideals which form the basis of comic book superheroes, this is one of the finest story you will read. Do yourself a favour, and pick this story up immediately. -
I have to say, I remember reading these initial books when they came out in 80-81 and I remember being absolutely blown away by them. This was the introduction of Kitty Pryde, who, if you are a comic reader and my age, you had developed a massive crush on at just the right time in your formative years (it didn’t hurt she was Jewish, as I was, so, ya know, there was a bond). So it was with this sense of nostalgia I picked up the compilation (I refuse to call this a graphic novel – a Graphic Novel is a coherant story told in a visual medium with the depth of a piece of literature. It is not a mere collection of monthly comics bound together in a paperback format in the hopes of turning more people on to the comic form by giving it a high falutin’ name). The other reason for my return interest is the thought they are basing the next X-Men film (going by title alone) on this particular sequence of the comic history.
Boy, was I disappointed.
I know, we have to look at the comics in the context of their time and how important they were then, and I am, but still, the artform has come a long way. Not to mention the collection is slightly padded out with stories which really have nothing to do with the “Days of Future Past” storyline, including an issue long catch-up which, if the editros had really wanted us to know what was happeneing, they could have accomplished with a three paragraph piece of prose rather than a 28 page piece of clunky exposition. And speaking of clunky exposition... wow. I understand the need to keep the casual reader up to date with what’s been happening in the story (and I will admit, if you’re reading these issue by issue, it might even help a bit), but reading it straight through, you come out of it feeling that everyone who ever compared comic books to soap operas was 100% spot on.
That all said, the two issue arc which actually hits the “Days of Future Past” stuff offers up some interesting discussion starters on political gain at the cost of human rights, congress vs. The White House and of course, causality and time travel. So while it wasn’t a bad read, like other pieces of literature I’ve tried to recapture recently from my youth, it might have been better to keep it as a distant memory rather than try to relive it. -
I would have given this collection five stars, but didn't understand why the first two stories were included. "Elegy" was just a backstory about Jean Gray and "Inferno", while a very intriguing story (this is the first time I've read it), isn't part of the storyline. I actually got confused, thinking I had gotten the wrong collection, expecting it to be just the two issues for Days of Future Past. As a Kitty fan, I also enjoyed "Demon!"
This was one of the first X-Men stories I had ever read after starting to read Marvel's Excalibur. My then-boyfriend was introducing me to Kitty Pryde as a character he thought I'd like. I LOVE Kitty and was thrilled to see her have such a large role in a pivotal storyline.
When I re-read it, I hadn't realized that the storyline 30 years in the future was 2013.
It was nice to refresh the story and I was thrilled to find Amazon had it as a Kindle book!
I now wonder what the movie will be like. I haven't seen Rachel cast, but Ellen Page is retuning as Kitty. I also heard a rumor that it would be Mystique, not Kitty, that would be coming back to present day. I hope that's not the case.
I'd recommend this as a good starter for current day X-Men story lines. I feel it has held up very well over time. -
I’ve seen all of the X-Men movies made up to this point except for one and enjoyed them for the most part. I haven’t read many of the books. I prefer the way the stories have been changed for the films, although some of the characters’ personalities are better developed on the page. I’m not a big fan of the storytelling style of this collection.
Things I did like: Quite a bit of diversity among the characters in terms of gender, country of origin and religion. Lots of girl power. A Canadian superhero squad (Wolverine’s former teammates), including a guy whose spandex suit fabulously features a maple leaf! Lots of quippy Wolverine dialogue.
Hey!/Aw, man... They put a super-villain prison in New Mexico (I like to see my home state mentioned)--but misspelled the city. It’s Deming, not Demming. -
Days of Future Past is an excellent two-issue storyline, and I enjoyed the surrounding material as well. Just be aware that's what you're getting -- Back in the day stories came in long character arcs chopped up into one- or two-issue plots, and slightly-less-back in the day it was the fashion to collect chunks of issues but name the book after whichever arc was most well-known.
