Y’know, I stopped reading X-Men after the marriage because of all the nostalgia that was popping up throughout the line. The original X-Force lineup, old costumes for the Uncanny cast, Rogue and Gambit being together, Laura going back to X-23, etc. The marriage was just the inciting incident.
It felt like there was no vision behind the X-books because, well, there just wasn’t. I’ve been keeping up through reviews and tumblr screencaps, and since the marriage, it just feels like a highlight reel of recognizable X-Men tropes (this is especially egregious in MMX, which straight up looks like Marvel decided to publish someone’s Romy fanfic sometimes and is well below what I expect from KT after Hawkeye). Red was cool, because it felt like a Tom Taylor book, but it suffered because editorial rushed it to it’s death. Age of X-Man looks interesting, because it tackles wildly different themes from AoA and the best of those minis seem to have a strong creative vision behind it.
Hickman is exactly what the doctor ordered. A Morrison-level shakeup, respectful of the past yet looking forward to the future. But if Marvel wants my money (for X-Men stuff, I still read other Marvel comics) Rogue and Gambit gotta break up. I don’t care if Hickman never touches Gambit, if they break up I’ll be happy.
NOTE: Hickman’s Twitter DMs are open and I am very tempted to message him about the divorce.