The Bendis Board goes for the nostalgia vote:
“I was an impressionable 9-year old in 1996, the year when Xaiver and Magneto’s respective consciousnesses combined to form Onslaught. I read some of the crossover (mostly just the X-Men and Excalibur issues) and enjoyed it, but my tastes had not matured or were not fine-tuned by age or wisdom. I see it’s collected in a few TPBs and I’m interested in hearing any thoughts on the crossover by those who read it. I think I may take the dive if I hear good things.”
“I read the first trade of the original Onslaught collection, and to be honest, it wasn’t as horrible as I imagined.”
“I enjoyed the core titles involved immensely when I read them first, and still enjoy re-reading them every so often. I didn’t read too many of the minor crossovers but the few I did were done reasonably well. I loved the fact that even though it was mainly a big x-event, it crossed over with the MU too. And I REALLY loved that they relegated their main x-character to the background for almost the entire thing (having Wolverine helping the emergency services because his abilities were almost no use against Onslaught).”
“I passionately love the Onslaught saga. Blatant marketing gimmick that was meant to make people buy every single Marvel comic? Yes. Will I ever invest in a similar endeavor the way I invested in that one? No. But I think it’s probly one of the best, most under-appreciated Marvel stories to ever come out.”
Dammit, now I have a strange desire to read the damn thing.
February 17th, 2008 at 10:14 am
“Not as horrible as I’d imagined” is actually a fair assessment. It’s a total mess – the plot was never properly worked out, and the bits that they DID work out weren’t assigned coherently to the writers. Key bits fell through the cracks altogether, and the “behind the scenes” issue contained a plot summary bearing little resemblance to the story that actually appeared.
But there are still some good moments in there, and some talented creators trying their best. It’s better than its reputation might suggest – or more accurately, it’s not as bad. I wouldn’t go out of your way to read it, though.
February 17th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
I remember when it came out, and while it wasn’t the pinnacle of quality, Onslaught was a pretty fun story (Maximum carnage – now THAT was a bad story), a lot of action, it gave Marvel a chance to clean house with the oh-so-awful status of the Avengers at that time (I mean, Kid Iron Man? Powerless and human thor, living with what’s her name? the awful roster post The Crossing – another Awful and terribly confusing story). Hey, and any story that features the Hulk with a broken Jaw is worth it in my book.
And by the way, the recent Onslaught reborn wasn’t THAT BAD.
February 17th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
It reminds me of the current spider man pickle.
I didn’t like how it was done but I liked what it did. Zero Tolerance and Heroes Reborn were mostly good coming out of Onslaught.
February 18th, 2008 at 3:56 am
I’m actually scared to re-read it for the fear of the realization that I’ve become a jaded asshole.
It was a compelling story–I couldn’t stop reading it back then–that much I remember.
Would I buy that many crossover books again–no.
Dammit–I’m going to be digging those up this week…thanks a lot, guys.
February 18th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
“And by the way, the recent Onslaught reborn wasn’t THAT BAD.”
Um… in what sense? Because it’s one of the worst comics I’ve ever laid eyes on.