Even the X-Men believe that Marvel’s Extreme 90s comics were a bit far stretched and cringe.
An era of comics began in the 90s where surplus amounts of big guns became a popular thing among heroes along with costumes with a greater number of pouches and a serious sadistic attitude. Generally, to keep up with the demands of the times, the X-Men and Marvel started following this trend but not every trend is worth following right. Consequently, in a recent adventurous story of our very own Adam-X, they admitted that it was a big mistake and severely awkward.
While reading the X-Men Legends #1, the readers witness the 90s in all its extreme glory. Artists such as Rob Liefeld, Jim Lee, and Todd McFarlane grew greatly popular in the world of comics during the early 90s and bought along with them a wave of changes that completely turned the world of comics upside down. A never-before-seen portrait of heroes came into the buzz, one where the shocking new looks attracted the eyes of the readers.
The catchy costume of female superheroes started showing off the majority of their body almost as if they were barely dressed, while the male superheroes got healthier and muscular bodies who enjoyed carrying big guns. More army men-inspired look started dominating the hero mindset where their costumes had proper military belts and pouches which symbolized their ever battle ready attitude.
While the pioneer superheroes like Superman and Spiderman were started to get killed and replaced by more serious versions of themselves, brand new superheroes like Cable and Deadpool became popular and started stealing the hearts of the readers just after their debuts. Adam-X the X-treme also made his debut along with them now he makes a return after 30 years.
Remembering The Old Days
The issue begins with Adam-X meditation in a cornfield in Iowa while Cable is on the lookout for him. Upon finding him, Cable starts to close up on Adam-X, who then senses Cable and attacks him by throwing a scythe at him. The Scythe is stopped by Cable using his telekinetic abilities and making a referencing comment, “I thought both of us had gotten over our… extreme phase?” hinting at the old times.
Fabian Nicieza (who actually wrote the title during that time), very subtly reintroduces the characters well within their limits. The cable reveals to him the fact that he has joined the X-Men giving the alive and perfect example that everyone has some room for a little change and become better.
Despite both of them being the hyper machos of their time with high moral code, both of them presenting their homage to their time in their own manner. While Cable transitioned into a better version of himself, a more thoughtful soldier, Adam-X never moved on from his “Extreme” phase which became one of the key reasons why Adam-X got lost in the dust while Cable continued to reappear in different comics.
Even though the “Extreme” era of comics is now considered weird and cringe, there can be no doubt that they were the big shots of their time. The X-Men Legends assures the fans to take up the unfinished story of Adam-X, it is still expected that he would not be succumbing to change like Cable.
