I have to admit, my primary interest in X-Men Forever has nothing to do with the actual contents of the book. Despite the fact that the Claremont-era X-Men were a big part of my induction into the world of comics in my youth, I don't have a lot of interest in seeing him continue that story at this late date. His barely readable return to Uncanny X-Men in the late '90s acted as a vaccine that prevents me from ever being excited about Chris Claremont writing the X-Men again, despite my continuing love for his initial run.
No, what excites me about this book, and makes me hope that it is successful, is that its basic structure is an extended - nay, more than extended, indefinite - riff on another Marvel concept near and dear to my heart: "What If?" I've loved those type of imaginary, alternate universe stories almost as long as I've loved comics. I love that "What If?" always starts with a turning point or event in the Marvel Universe at large, or at least a big event for a particular character or team, and can go anywhere from there. Its the sense of total unpredictability, and therefore limitless possibility, that always had me hooked. No matter what happens in the "real" Marvel Universe, we all know Spiderman isn't going to die (at least not permanently). In a "What If?," Spiderman might die on page 2.
Regular "What If?" stories were always told in a single, self-contained issue, or occasionally a two-parter. X-Men Forever, on the other hand, is a different animal completely. It has the same "anything goes" possibility as a normal "What If?" tale, but this time the question being asked isn't "What if event X had gone differently?" but "What if creator X had stuck around?" This time, though, Creator X gets to tell a long-form, potentially unlimited story, without the constraints of working in a shared universe. If Claremont wants to have Wolverine go nuts and kill Tony Stark, he can. Heck, if Claremont wants to go nuts and kill off Wolverine, he can do that too.
While I'm not too interested in checking out Claremont's vision in this particular case, there are certain creators I would love to see do a project like this. We all have our favorite runs by various creators, and I'm sure that we'd all love to see what would have happened next if those creators had stayed on their respective books. Barring that, I'm sure there are creators we'd love to see handed the keys to the entire Marvel Universe, whether in the present day or in a particular era, and given the freedom to do whatever they feel like with it. While it may seem like an odd idea for a comics series when you first think about, if X-Men Forever eventually leads to a project or two like that, it can only be a good thing.
P.S. Oddly enough, I'm having kind of a tough time thinking of examples of this type of thing I'd like to see. I'll try to mull it over a bit and post a Top 5 "continuation series" I'd like to see happen sometime in the very near future.
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