Revolution (comics)

"Revolution" thematic stories
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Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Title(s) Cable #79 Gambit #16 Generation X #63 Magneto: Dark Seduction #1 Uncanny X-Men #381 Wolverine #150 X-Force #102 X-Man #63 X-Men #100
Formats	Multiple, thematically linked individual issues from multiple ongoing series.
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	May – June 2000
Number of issues	9
Creative team
Writer(s)	Warren Ellis Chris Claremont Ian Edginton
Reprints
Collected editions
Counter-X: Volume 1: X-Force	ISBN 0-7851-3304-6
Counter-X: Volume 2: Generation X	ISBN 0-7851-3305-4
Counter-X: Volume 3: X-Man	ISBN 0-7851-3306-2

"Revolution" was the title given to the May 2000 revamp of Marvel Comics' X-Men-related comic books, timed to coincide with the publication of X-Men vol. 2 #100.

Publication history

In each series, the "Revolution" issue represented a jump of six months after the previous issue's events. In most cases, "Revolution" also marked an attempt to send each title in a new creative direction, and to this end new creative teams were assigned to the titles. Many characters' costumes were redesigned, and a "Revolution" logo was printed along the right-hand side of each issue.

The most publicized of the changes was the return of writer Chris Claremont to the flagship titles X-Men vol. 2 and Uncanny X-Men, after nearly a decade's absence.

The event also included nods to early-1990s marketing strategies such as printing variant covers^[1] and including trading cards.^[2]

The excitement of the event was dampened by Marvel Comics' timing, as most of the series involved had launched with all or part of their new creative teams a month before the event, even though the "Revolution" logo was still printed on the May issues, and Uncanny X-Men did not join the "Revolution" event until its June 2000 issue. Furthermore, Claremont stated in later interviews that he had ghostwritten several issues of various X-Men titles before the event.^{[citation needed]}

Counter-X

Furthermore, three of the titles involved in the event, (X-Man, X-Force, and Generation X), were rebranded to Counter-X. Writer Warren Ellis plotted the general direction for each of the Counter-X books, and co-wrote each title with Steven Grant on X-Man, Ian Edginton on X-Force, and Brian Wood on Generation X.

Aftermath

The "Revolution" event was poorly received by fans and critics, leading to Claremont leaving X-Men and Uncanny X-Men after nine months. The X-Men line of books were revamped again in July 2001 with Grant Morrison writing New X-Men, Joe Casey writing Uncanny X-Men, and Claremont writing the new title X-Treme X-Men.

Bibliography

The included issues, in order of publication, were:

• Cable #79, with new writer Robert Weinberg and recently-arrived penciller Michael Ryan and inker Andrew Pepoy.
• Gambit #16, with recently-arrived penciller Yanick Paquette and inker Sean Parsons.
• Generation X #63, with new co-writers Warren Ellis and Brian Wood, new penciller Steve Pugh, and new inker Sandu Florea.
• X-Men #100, with returning writer Chris Claremont, new penciller Leinil Francis Yu, and new inker Mark Morales
• Wolverine #150, with new writer/penciller Steve Skroce and new inker Lary Stucker (with "special thanks to" Larry Wachowski, and limited to a four-month story arc).
• X-Force #102, with new co-writers Warren Ellis and Ian Edginton, new penciller Whilce Portacio, and new inker Gerry Alanguilan.
• X-Man #63, with new co-writers Warren Ellis and Steven Grant and new artist Ariel Olivetti.
• Uncanny X-Men #381 (June 2000), with returning writer Chris Claremont, new penciller Adam Kubert, and new inker Tim Townsend.
• Magneto: Dark Seduction #1 (June 2000), the first issue of a mini-series by Fabian Nicieza, Roger Cruz, and Andy Owens.

Collected editions

The Counter-X run has been collected as trade paperbacks:

• Counter-X:
  • Volume 1: X-Force (collects X-Force #102-109, 192 pages, July 2008, ISBN 0-7851-3304-6)
  • Volume 2: Generation X (collects Generation X #63-70, 192 pages, October 2008, ISBN 0-7851-3305-4)
  • Volume 3: X-Man (collects X-Man #63-70, 192 pages, December 2008, ISBN 0-7851-3306-2)

See also

• One Year Later, a similar DC Comics event

References

1. ^ X-Men vol. 2 #100
2. ^ Uncanny X-Men #381

Externals link

• Revolution at the Comic Book DB
• "The Six-Month Gap", a detailed review of "Revolution" at uncannyxmen.net