X-MEN #1

I'm sick of hearing about it, but yeah, in 1991, Jim Lee and Chris Claremont sold seven million copies of X-Men #1. To put in perspective how big comic books were in the early 90's, the best-selling comic book of June 2010 was New Avengers #1 and it sold only 129,084 copies (this number is based on the number of copies pre-ordered, which means a lot less probably actually sold). That's fucking nuts, right? Granted, every book didn't sell seven million copies back then, but it does go to show how big things were. They seem to be getting a little bit bigger now with all of the comic book movies these days, although with free comics found easily on the internet, no comic will ever sell a million copies let alone seven. I'm not sure why Marvel decided it was time...but it's time. The first X-Men #1 in nineteen-years! Instead of getting a superstar artist, writer, or multiple awesome covers, they've done neither. They've also put the X-Men up against Dracula. Yes, they seemingly want to fail. I like Dracula, though, and I thought writer Victor Gischler's last prominent job, writing that “Welcome to the Bayou” arc in The Punisher, was pretty cool. The art here isn't all that great, though. Paco Medina's pencils are pedestrian but his cartoon-esque style is not a good fit for a dark storyline featuring vampires. & since there is already X-Men: Legacy, Uncanny X-Men, and Astonishing X-Men out there, do we really need another X-Men monthly? No. But a good one wouldn't hurt. **1/2