In our Funnybooks podcast, we focus on current events, and usually large events.  Most times, the conversations are constrained so that we can fit everything into an hour or so, but here at Funnybooks After Hours the discussion continues to topics not covered, greater questions of events in comic past or whatever else strikes our fancy.

Walking up the alley, you are unsure if this is the right place.  A non-descript door halfway down the alley catches your eye and after a brief scan of the area, you see the marker that indicates that this is in fact the place.  Etched into a brick above the building is a bat symbol with an ‘X’ through the middle and a lightning bolt below it.

Knocking on the door, you hear a grating sound as a man with a luchador mask and vampire fangs opens the door, “What’s the password?” he asks.  “Beak is lame” you reply, nodding as he steps aside.  Visibility is limited, but as you look around you realize that you found the place.  Stepping up to the microphone, the five recliners are set up on a small stage in the back, as the crew eagerly awaits the question that drove you all the way here, to this secret place.

This week’s question:

After Second Coming cleaned the slate for the X-universe, describe the X-team that would excite you?  What would be your ideal X-men team for a book you would want to pick up?

Wayne shrugged, “I’m having a hard time coming up with an ideal team.  In the end for me it’s mostly the team they used on the 90s cartoon with a few additions and no Jean Grey.  Cyclops, Wolverine, Gambit, Storm, Beast, Rogue, Professor X, and I would add Iceman, Psylocke and Archangel.  I miss the old Blue and Gold teams so I would probably expand the team to include Colossus, Kitty Pryde, and Emma Frost and a few younger characters just so it was large enough to split.  I like the idea of one team being more public relations and the other being the strike force.  To me these are the X-Men.”

Paul stepped in, “What’s funny about my choices for an X-Men team is that, for the most part, they’re closer to more of an X-Force team, in that it’s mostly the heavy hitters.  The new Uncanny X-Force from Rick Remender feels like it’s going to scratch the itch I’m looking for in the X-Men universe.  Here are my choices…

• Archangel….I’ve never been the biggest fan of the character, but he looks so damn cool.  I think with a little more focus on character beats for him, he’d be wicked interesting.
• Gambit…I like the ties to Apocalypse that Gambit now has.  I think it would make for some interesting interaction with fellow Apocalypse-victim Archangel.  Plus, didn’t everyone love Gambit back in the 90’s?  Why isn’t the character cool anymore?  Maybe with a bit of a redesign, and a little less whining, we’d get an interesting take on him.
• Wolverine…Despite my misgivings about having Wolverine on every team in the Marvel U, I think Wolverine deserves a place on my X-Men team.
• Cyclops…I like what Cyclops has become, as far as the tactician, doing whatever it takes to get the job done.  I like the determination I see in the character, and mostly I like him with Emma Frost, which brings me to….
• Emma Frost….man, I have loved having her in the X-Men.  Sexy, strong, smart.  She’s better for Scott Summers than Jean Grey ever was.
• Psylocke….for a potential romantic angle with Archangel.  Plus, I think we need some sexy on this team, and between Frost and Psylocke…that’s plenty of sexy.
• Hope…kind of like the new Jubilee – our view into this world from a newcomers POV.  She’s battle hardened, but still naive, which makes for an interesting combination.
• Dr. Nemesis….kind of an asshole, and incredibly smart.  He’s like Beast, but way more fun.

“I keep wanting to add more characters, like Iceman (love Iceman), but I think 8 is still a pretty big team.  Any more than that is probably overcrowding the book.”

Tim weighs in, “I really liked the Chris Claremont run, so I’d put Colossus and Storm on the team.  These two characters are a little bit more in line with the Heroic Age ideals.” He pauses for a second before continuing, “I like Wolverine, but I’d rather put in X-23.  I like how Second Coming ended for Laura, and I’d want to put her on the team with some more heroic examples.

“I would also add Namor to the team.  He’s been more interesting as an X-man, and I want to see more interactions with him and the rest of the team.  The others are harder to qualify, other than I like the characters, which is Psylocke, Iceman, and Quicksilver.

“The last character I’d add is Pixie.  I’m starting to realize that she is the one new X-men character that will make it through the test of time, and i’m sort of liking her persona more and more.  That is slightly painful to admit, but there you have it.”

All eyes from the group turn towards the shady characters sitting in the area commonly referred to as ‘The Peanut Gallery’. “Anyone have a different opinion?  Any other questions tonight?”