Very well argued! I have no stake in the X-Men - I was always more of a New Mutants kid. The X-Men pinged off me I think precisely because they're designed to speak to the outsiders of the world, and frankly I can't claim to have ever seen myself as an outsider (except maybe as a fan of comics in general, which even now in the era of geek is still niche).
I did eventaully read pretty much all the Claremont stuff as an adult, thanks to the Panini Pocket Books (excellent value comics in small size!), and it's good clean superhero soap opera comics. I think I like it a fair bit more than you, Colin, althoguh I cannot argue with your observation that Claremont overwrites and underlines where Wagner might just have a silent panel...
In terms of 'importance', I guess for me it's that Claremont may have been the first superhero comics guy who managed to sneak in issues here and there that were pretty much just characters hanging around and chatting, or a single character going on some dreamlike empitional journey (LifeDeath) and those ARE the best ones, especially the 'Classic X-Men' back ups. But I find these were more of a signpost to me that I should read more Vertigo comics, that do this kind of thing better, and in more depth.
Everyone knows that Nightcrawler is the best, right? He just looks (and, frankly, acts) cooler than any other Marvel character by miles.
I did eventaully read pretty much all the Claremont stuff as an adult, thanks to the Panini Pocket Books (excellent value comics in small size!), and it's good clean superhero soap opera comics. I think I like it a fair bit more than you, Colin, althoguh I cannot argue with your observation that Claremont overwrites and underlines where Wagner might just have a silent panel...
In terms of 'importance', I guess for me it's that Claremont may have been the first superhero comics guy who managed to sneak in issues here and there that were pretty much just characters hanging around and chatting, or a single character going on some dreamlike empitional journey (LifeDeath) and those ARE the best ones, especially the 'Classic X-Men' back ups. But I find these were more of a signpost to me that I should read more Vertigo comics, that do this kind of thing better, and in more depth.
Everyone knows that Nightcrawler is the best, right? He just looks (and, frankly, acts) cooler than any other Marvel character by miles.