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From: [e-mail] (Kate the Short)
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Subject: rec.arts.comics.marvel.xbooks FAQ: 1/8
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Summary: FAQ for rec.arts.comics.marvel.xbooks--X-Men comic books
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-= REC.ARTS.COMICS.MARVEL.XBOOKS =-
   Frequently Asked Questions
   Part 1

   Version 2003.02, last updated November 2003
   URL: http://users.rcn.com/kateshort/racmxFAQ/faq1.html


------------------------------
Subject: Table of Contents


Part 1:

     PURPOSE/INTRO

     NEW (OR RETURNING) READER INFORMATION
      * The current list of X-Titles and Teams (+)
      * Hints for picking up back issues and older storylines (+)

     WHAT ARE THE X-BOOKS?
      * Philosophical Meanderings and Inspirations
      * What is a mutant? (+)

     RACMX NEWSGROUP QUESTIONS
      * Can you explain Paul O'Brien's review grading system?
      * Why do all those annoying dinos keep on complaining about
        the X-titles here? If they don't like the books, why do they
        read them?
      * What is this Kid Dynamo thing? Where can I find it?
      * Where can I get scans of comic art? Why doesn't anybody post
        pictures on the newsgroup?

     COMMONLY USED ABBREVIATIONS AND TERMS

     OTHER RACMXERS WHO MAY BE OF ASSISTANCE


------------------------------
Subject: PURPOSE/INTRO

This is the Frequently Asked Questions list for the Usenet newsgroup
rec.arts.comics.marvel.xbooks. FAQs for the rec.arts.comics groups in
general are posted regularly on rec.arts.comics.info.  Not wanting to
flood the general rac.* FAQs with a huge amount of X-related subjects,
the FAQ keepers decided to start a number of separate FAQs, to be posted
as needed on rec.arts.comics.marvel.xbooks (racmx) itself.

Readers are still encouraged to read the main FAQs for the rac hierarchy
in rac.info. Newcomers should also read the many helpful articles in the
news.* hierarchy, especially those in news.newusers.questions. You
should also read the newsgroup news.announce.newusers before you start
posting regularly to the rac.* newsgroups.

X-title fans are energetic and creative people, and a number of them
have written their own FAQs or created their own webpages for topics
close to their hearts. You can find a list of those FAQs, pages, and
mailing lists on more specific subjects than these in the "Where Can I
Find It?" FAQ. Please note that almost all of the rac.* FAQs can be
found at the FAQ page: http://users.rcn.com/kateshort/faqs/.

Please note: Background information on the creators and the X-titles
editorial offices is based on over a decade's worth of interviews,
articles, and personal questions, and as such is not directly
attributed here. Now that some of Marvel's staff members are on Usenet,
they are welcomed to correct and amend any of the answers listed below.


------------------------------
Subject: NEW (OR RETURNING) READER INFORMATION

--- The current list of X-Titles and Teams (+)

The current published monthly titles which tell the stories of the
interacting genetic soap opera which is the X-Men are as follows:

   * Uncanny X-Men: The original book; covers one main team of X-Men.
     Team members include Angel (winged flight), Havok (energy blasts),
     Husk (shape changing), Iceman (ice manipulation), Juggernaut
     (unstoppable strength), Nightcrawler (teleportation), Northstar
     (superspeed flight), and the book has occasionally featured
     Jubilee, Polaris, and Chamber.

   * New X-Men: The sequel and companion title to Uncanny X-Men.
     Team members, mentored by Prof. Xavier (telepathy), include Beast
     (strength and agility), Cyclops (eye blasts), former White Queen
     Emma Frost (telepathy and diamond skin), Phoenix (telepathy and
     telekinesis), and Wolverine (enhanced senses and self-healing).
     The title often features students at Xavier's school, including
     Angel, Beak, and Dust.

   * X-Treme X-Men: A third core title; covers another set of X-Men.
     Team members include Bishop (energy blasts), Storm (weather),
     Sage (memory, analysis, and the ability to "see" others' potential
     mutant powers), and Cannonball (flight from blasting power). The
     title has also featured Rogue, Gambit, and Shadowcat.

   * X-Statix: A team of corporate-sponsored mutants / celebrities.
     Team members include Orphan (super senses, athleticism), Anarchist
     (acidic sweat), Vivisector (bestial form), Phat (fat control and
     strength), Dead Girl (corpse memory, spirit communication), Venus
     Dee Milo (energy form and teleportation), El Guapo (skateboarding),
     and Doop (pocket dimension storage, cameraman).

   * New Mutants: Training the newest kids how to use their powers.
     Teachers and mentors include Prof. Xavier (telepathy), Mirage
     (brings desires/fears to life), and Karma (mind possession).

   * Wolverine: Solo adventures with the world's most popular X-Man.

   * Weapon X: Covert operations with former X-Men allies and villains.

   * Deadpool/Cable: Team-up adventures featuring very odd teammates.

   * Mystique: Solo adventures with the longtime X-Men nemesis.

   * Exiles: Magik and friends time-hop through alternate dimensions.

   * Ultimate X-Men: A hip, alternate version of the X-Men team.

   * Unlimited: One-shot X-Men-related stories by various new creators.


Obviously, these popular mutants have been featured as main characters
or guest characters in quite a few former and current titles. Even in
earlier decades Marvel was crossover happy, so it can be safely assumed
that the X-Men have made guest appearances in probably every Marvel
comic. Those interested in collecting them all should track down Aardy
R. DeVarque's Annotated Index to X-Men Guest Appearances and Exhaustive
Completist's Supplemental X-Men Checklist, both of which can be found at
http://users.rcn.com/aardy/comics/index.html .


--- Hints for picking up back issues and older storylines (+)

There are two ways to get into reading the titles: starting with the
current crop of books, or starting with the origins of the characters.

If you're diving back in after a few years away, go to the core titles:
Uncanny X-Men, New X-Men, and X-Treme X-Men, which feature most of the
characters from the X-Men movie, cartoon, and older comics. Each of the
titles rebooted with a new creative team multiple times over the past
few years, so there are numerous good starting points. For New X-Men,
start with #114 or #127 (the "E is for Extinction" or "Riot at Xavier's"
storylines. For Uncanny, #410 is the reboot jumping-on point (the "Hope"
storyline). For X-Treme, either start with #1 or wait until #24. For
newer titles like X-Statix, Wolverine (restarted), and New Mutants (new
version), just start with issue #1 or the first collected edition.

Tons of color trade paperbacks (known as TPBs) exist that collect the
various storylines and crossovers from the various titles. If you missed
a few years, and don't want to spend the cash to pick up a title you
don't want to read, check out your local library. Many libraries have
purchased the droves of TPBs Marvel has issued since 2001, so your home
library may have some of them, and/or may be able to get them through
Inter-Library Loan.  Just ask your local librarian--that person is there
to help.

If you're new to the X-Universe, the best way to learn who all these
people are and where they are coming from is from the back issues.
Essential Uncanny X-Men (only one volume) reprints issues 1-24 of the
original (Uncanny) X-Men in a large "phonebook-sized" black and white
paperback. The four volumes of Essential X-Men reprint Giant-Size
X-Men #1 and then Uncanny #94 through Uncanny #179, plus annuals through
Uncanny Annual #6. There are also three books of Essential Wolverine
reprints, which cover Wolverine #1 through #75 or thereabouts. Great
stuff for those just getting started. The Marvel Masterworks editions
also reprint early issues of X-Men in color, including #94-100, #101-110,
and 111-121, soon to be available through Barnes & Noble in TPB form.

Readers who left off before Giant-Size X-Men might appreciate the newer
stories in X-Men: The Hidden Years. Those stories are set during the
reprint years of the title. Although the title has been cancelled, you
should be able to find the issues in back issue bins. X-Men Classics and
X-Men: The Early Years reprinted old Uncanny issues, and are a cheap way
to pick up back issues without paying back issue prices (on the other
hand, you miss the letter columns, something desirable in back issues).

For the truly adventuresome, the book "Marvel: Five Decades of the
World's Greatest Comics" offers a large history of not just the teams
and the characters, but also the company itself. It's surprisingly
unbiased, considering Marvel's usually corporate jitteriness, but it is
expensive. Your local library may have a copy.

Above all else, be patient. The comics are based on over thirty years of
comic book history. A lot of that history is, unfortunately, somewhat
presumed knowledge to read the X-Men titles. You'll figure out what's
going on soon enough. In the meanwhile, enjoy the comics.


------------------------------
Subject: WHAT ARE THE X-BOOKS?

--- Philosophical Meanderings and Inspirations

The basic concept of the X-Men titles is the mutant. From the first
issue of X-Men, in 1963, the creators of the X-Titles have used the idea
of the mutant as an analogy to the civil rights movement. The thing that
made the idea so compelling in the comic book field, however, was that
the Marvel world's concept of the mutant had no single real-life
counterpart, and no limit of real-life analogs. Thus, while there are no
superhuman mutants being persecuted in our society, any reader can
identify with the feelings of persecution and alienation (no matter how
well-deserved :-). The plight of the Marvel Universe mutants can
therefore be compared to the black civil rights movement, the womens'
movement, religious persecution, gay rights, and so on.

There's a book that may have inspired the X-men: "Children of the Atom"
by Wilmar Shiras.  Wilmar H. Shiras was born in Boston (1908) and raised
there, but she did not start writing until she moved to California.
"CotA" originally was a series of stories published in 1948-1950,
starting with the November 1948 issue of "Astounding Science Fiction."
In the installments, a teacher gathers a group of intellectually
advanced kids who otherwise would be outcasts. Here we see the roots of
a teacher or mentor dealing with kids who are, essentially, mutants. The
chapters were collected in a paperback under the title "Children of the
Atom" (Avon Publications, New York, NY, 1953). Tilman Stieve provided
a ton of background information on the text, which I've summarized:

The children's mutation was caused by an accident in a nuclear plant in
1958 (the Helium City facility was there to make "a new type of bomb")
in which all workers were fatally irradiated, dying within 2 years. The
main part of the story is apparently set in 1972. In the first chapter,
"In Hiding," we meet Peter Welles, a psychiatrist/psychologist for the
city schools of Oakley, California. Peter meets the first of these
super-intelligent mutants, 13-year-old Timothy Paul, after he is
consulted by Timothy's teacher, Miss Emily Page, who a long time earlier
was Peter Welles's teacher.

In the second chapter, "Opening Doors", Peter and Timothy begin to look
for other mutants (orphans of other workers at the plant). Among the
first to reply to their cryptic ad "Orphans, b c 59, i q three star
plus" is one Jay Worthington(!!!). Elsie Lambeth is found in an asylum
run by Dr. Mark Foxwell. Peter Welles begins to organize a school for
these super-intelligent "Wonder Children." Miss Page becomes their
teacher, and Dr. Foxwell helps. The third chapter, "New Foundations,"
continues the organization and recruitment. Students Jay Worthington and
Stella Oates appear for the first time. In the fourth chapter,
"Problems," more and more children are gathered at the school and the
teaching begins in earnest.

In the fifth chapter, "Children of the Atom", the school stuff
continues, but then Tommy Mundy, a TV preacher, begins to rant against
the "inhuman monsters" and the mortal danger the Children of the Atom
supposedly pose to mankind "hidden under the disguise of a school for
gifted children." (This is pretty close to Xavier's "gifted youngsters,"
and Mundy is a character not unlike the villain in "God Loves, Man
Kills.") An angry mob shows up at the gates, but it can be pacified,
partly because some of the kids, such as Timothy Paul, are known by the
locals and regarded as non-threatening. Tim Paul then says he wants to
return to grade school and has this rather interesting bit (considering
some of the problems the X-teams would go on to have) to say about the
sudden fears of ordinary citizens:

     None of this would have happened if we had not cut ourselves off
     from the world and from almost everybody in it. As long as we lived
     like other kids, nobody hated us, nobody feared us, nobody was
     against us. Some of you said, and the magazines and things said,
     that I saved us from real trouble by talking to the crowd. But it
     wasn't what I said or what I did, it was that somebody knew me.
     Some of them knew Miss Page and some knew Dr. Welles. But if you
     strangers to town, and the other strangers who will come, shut
     yourselves up here and live inside this fence, nobody will know
     you.

And so, in the end, they decide to rejoin the human race.

The "nobody hated us, nobody feared us" line above sounds a lot like
the X-Men concept of defending "a world that hates and fears them." Even
if Stan Lee and Jack Kirby weren't inspired by the book, the "Children
of the Atom" tagline has been used by multiple X-Men writers to refer to
mutants.


--- What is a mutant? (+)

The main focus of the X-titles is a specific type of character called a
mutant. Forget most of your basic biology when hearing the term "mutant"
applied to a Marvel comic, because the writers usually do. For Marvel
purposes, a mutant is a being who possesses a genetic structure not
present in his parents. While it's useless as a scientific definition
(otherwise, any "non-mutant" child would exactly resemble her parents,
like clones), it's mainly used as a tag for a specific group of
superhumans.

Really, the definition is a bit looser than that, since accurate biology
is usually not the top priority for the writers. For instance, Siryn, is
called a mutant, despite the fact that her powers are the same as those
of her father, Banshee. Some say that Siryn *is* a mutant, in that she
can talk and scream at the same time (it makes perfect sense if you know
the characters), but the main difficulty is bad writing, not bad genes.
The easier way to categorize mutants is to see whether have an active
"X-Factor", and that's really the main point of the whole definition.
You will see references stating that "a mutant has to have a different
power than his parents" in mutant comics, though, so it's mentioned here
just to get you acquainted with it.

So, what are mutants, exactly? They are superhuman because they were
born that way. They didn't need any gamma bomb blowing up, or spider
biting them, or magical formula recited. They're superhuman because
that's what they were born to be. They are mutants because of their X-
Factor. And what is an X-Factor? Read below, true believer!

The reason there are mutants on Earth comes from Marvel cosmology.
Large, alien gods, called Celestials (who some say are but the
incarnations of the dreams of Eternity), visit all planets that will
bear life, early in each planet's existance. They perform genetic
tinkering with the early lifeforms that will, if everything works out
right, leave the species with three distinct superhuman bloodlines:
Eternals (who never suffer random mutations), Deviants (who always
suffer mutations in each generation), and normal folks. In the "normal"
lifeforms, the Celestials left a genetic trigger. Some normals would
gain powers after exposure to odd "triggering" events (like the
Fantastic Four, the Hulk, or Spider-Man). Others could self-trigger when
exposed in the womb to sufficient background radiation. When it's self-
triggered, that genetic trigger is called the X-Factor.

Now the X-Factor only makes a mutant when it's self-triggered. Something
happens to it when it does so that it becomes different than the same
gene that allowed the Fantastic Four to gain their powers; mutants show
up on mutant detectors (which look for the unique signature of the X-
Factor), while Spider-Man doesn't. Mutants also give off unique brain
patterns due to the X-Factor that enable telepaths who know what to look
for (like Professor X) to detect mutants far more easily than normal
humans or non-mutant superheroes. Devices that nullify mutant powers by
negating the X-Factor are useless against non-mutants as well. On the
other hand, Ship (an old base of Apocalypse) had a force field around it
that would only open if it detected the X-Factor inside a visitor. So,
yes, mutants are different than the "normal" superhumans in a Marvel
comic. Aside from that, there's no real appreciable difference or
superiority for mutant superpowers over non-mutant ones.  Prejudices,
however, still count most mutants as menaces and most non-mutant
superheroes as friendly (J. Jonah Jameson's views on Spider-Man
notwithstanding).

So, to sum up: A mutant in the X-Universe is anyone whose powers derive
from the mutant genetic X-Factor introduced into the human race by the
First Celestial Host during prehistory. Got it? Good!


------------------------------
Subject: RACMX NEWSGROUP QUESTIONS

These questions pertain more to the newsgroup than to the actual comics.


--- Can you explain Paul O'Brien's review grading system?

Here it is, in Paul's own words:

     A+ - unequivocally recommended.
     A  - highly recommended.
     A- - Could be better, but still recommended.
     B+ - Worth a look.
     B  - Fine if you like that sort of thing.
     B- - Passable.
     C+ - Unsatisfactory, though not actively bad.
     C  - Badly flawed; for fans only.
     C- - Bad; for completists only.
     D+ - You'll wish you hadn't bought this book.
     D  - You'll wish you'd never even read this book.
     D- - The creators wish they'd never even read this book.

It should be noted that the review grades vary depending on a number of
factors, including Paul's mood when reviewing the title. And no, there is
*no* grade of F. The UK grading system generally doesn't use F; work
that bad isn't accepted for a grade at all. Paul doesn't, hasn't, and
won't grade a book F. Perhaps a book so vile doesn't exist. If it does,
Paul certainly wouldn't bother to review it.


--- Why do all these annoying dinos keep on complaining about the
    X-titles here? If they don't like the books, why do they read them?

The answer to this is as diverse as the fans it's asked to, and the
question usually comes up once every three months or so on the
newsgroup. Realizing that this answer is going to be hopelessly
generalized, most older X-fans still follow the book because of the
loyalty generated by Claremont during his original run. Many of them
grew to care about the characters in the book during his run, and out of
some sort of perverse curiosity, care deeply when they are mismanaged as
they are currently perceived to be.

Dropping the book, of course, would send the "message" to Marvel that
they no longer agree with the direction the X-titles are heading. On the
other hand, a feeling like "If you don't vote, you don't have the right
to complain" also comes over some of them. And every small bit of good
comics that sneaks through fuels their memories of how much they once
loved it, and keeps them around for more.

It may be that they're now grown up, and wouldn't have liked the
original Claremont stories if they were coming out now. It may be that
they're just following them out of curiosity, because a few comic books
aren't much to keep up on with a professional paycheck. They may even
prefer the stories as they are now. In any case, older X-fans who are
still reading the book should be assumed to be getting some form of
enjoyment from it, or else they would probably have dropped it long ago.

It should also be noted that there is one particular breed of dino, who
don't read any of the books, but feel qualified to post on racmx
because they were once big X-Men fans, and will happily fill in
information on the older comics and the characters that appeared in them
to the newer fans.

Finally, many of the dino population have good friends who post
regularly to racmx, and hang around to share in their virtual
community.


--- What is this Kid Dynamo thing? Where can I find it?

Kid Dynamo is a fan-fiction written by once-netter Connie Hirsch, which
deals with the New Mutants in the days just after Magneto took over the
School (right after New Mutants #52). A very good story by any
standards, most people who have read it have granted it automatic status
in official Marvel history, vastly preferring it to the eventual rise of
Cable and the appearance of X-Force, or at least delaying that
inevitable occurence by including Kid Dynamo.

You can find Kid Dynamo on the Fonts of Wisdom Bootleg page. The URL is
http://home.att.net/~lubakmetyk/bootleg.htm . The fanfic is very long,
by the way; 12 full-size chapters. It takes a while to read. It's worth
it. (You can also find it on the http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~tsang/kd/
or http://ebonbird.tripod.com/kiddynamo.htm sites.)


--- Where can I get scans of comic art? Why doesn't anybody post
    pictures on the newsgroup?

Well, besides the fact that it's illegal under copyright law to
republish other people's artwork without their permission....

While it's perfectly possible, and commonplace, to post scanned artwork
to Usenet, it's not always a nice thing to do. The main reason is that
some people like to read their newsgroups using an off-line newsreader,
which downloads all the articles (and attached binaries) at once and
lets them read the postings without being hooked up to a modem.
Obviously, it's an inconvenience for them to have to download several
megs of binary graphics images if they aren't looking for them.

If you're looking for comic art on Usenet, the newsgroup
alt.binaries.pictures.cartoons is the closest thing you're going to
find--but be forewarned that X-Men art very rarely, if ever, finds its
way onto that particular group. Outside of Usenet, the Where Can I Find
It? FAQ has a listing of web pages and ftp sites with digitized comic
artwork.


------------------------------
Subject: COMMONLY USED ABBREVIATIONS AND TERMS

Abbreviations for discussing the various titles are hardly standardized,
but if you need some the following are all serviceable and properly
behaved, well-suited to be inserted into any needful post:

              AF  = Alpha Flight
           Excal  = Excalibur
            GenX  = Generation X
              NM  = New Mutants
Ultimate / UltXM  = Ultimate X-Men
   Uncanny / UXM  = Uncanny X-Men
            XFac  = X-Factor
            XFor  = X-Force
     Unlim / XMU  = X-Men Unlimited
  X-Men / New XM  = (New) X-Men
   X-Treme / XXM  = X-Treme X-Men

In general, the main confusion comes between Uncanny X-Men and X-Men.
Uncanny was originally called X-Men, then changed its title.  Up until a
few years ago, Uncanny was just called "X-Men," there being no actual
title called "X-Men" to confuse it with. To make things even more fun,
X-Men was renamed New X-Men when X-Treme X-Men debuted. If you're
talking about Uncanny, use "Uncanny" or "UXM" consistently and clearly
in your post. Similarly, call New X-Men just "NXM," and call X-Treme
X-Men "X-Treme." You'll get used to it as you go along.

Another thing to remember is that xbooks is a newsgroup, while the X-
books are the comics. To help prevent confusion, this FAQ recommends
calling the comics X-titles, and calling the newsgroup racmx (pronounced
"rack-em-ex").

The Net is a place of lazy typists. Here, then, is a glossary of some
terms commonly used around the 'Net, as well as some more specific to
racmx:

   * FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions. You're reading one. We hope you're
     enjoying it.

   * 616: This is an identifier from Alan Davis' stint on Excalibur.
     Roma, in her role as the omniversal guardian, and the people
     working under her adopted a numbering system for the multiple
     parallel Earths that exist throughout crosstime. The mainstream
     Marvel Universe and its associated continuity are numbered "616":
     Earth 616, Captain Britain 616, and so forth. Often used when
     comparing the mainstream Marvel continuity to that of alternate
     timelines.

   * AOA: Age of Apocalypse, Marvel's 1996 alternate-reality crossover
     for the X-titles. You will sometimes see references to the AOA
     versions of characters as AOA-Rogue or AOA-Jean.

   * canon: A term taken from the humanities, meaning the approved
     sources (or of them). The newsgroup considers only the comics and
     the OHOTMUDE canon; other things like letters pages and Wizard
     articles are considered enlightening but not Truth. Collectible
     card games are considered extremely unreliable. Your milage may
     vary, but that is racmx custom.

   * Counter-X: A radical retooling of the titles X-Man, Generation X,
     and X-Force that only lasted one year. Only X-Force survived, and
     it was radically retooled a year later.

   * dino: First used, puportedly, by the irascible Mike Ellis, "dino"
     is a term that he supposedly borrowed from the mudding environment
     of the Internet. It is now used as an identifier for X-readers who
     feel more at home with X-titles the less grim, gritty, and pocket-
     stuffed the costumes are.

   * fanboy: One who must insanely consume all possible crossovers and
     tie-ins to their dedicated icon, and who cannot accept that any
     other comic company could be putting out characters as totally
     cosmic as the ones they collect.

   * DOFP or DOF*: Days of Future Past, and its related storylines Days
     of Future Present, Days of Future Yet to Come, Days of Future
     Tense, and Wolverine: Days of Future Past. The first DOFP was the
     original (UXM #141-142), and it set up the others. DOFPresent was
     an Annuals crossover, the next two were Excalibur stories, and the
     last was a Wolverine limited series. All of them deal with a
     dystopian future where Sentinels rule, and DOFP is where Rachel
     Summers and the Hounds came from.

   * IMHO: In My Humble (or Honest) Opinion

   * IIRC: If I Recall Correctly

   * LS: limited series, sometimes known as a mini-series.

   * Lurker: An individual who reads the newsgroup, but for some reason
     chooses not to post.

   * nimbo: A person who is both a ninja and a bimbo. An invaluable term
     in discussing any book drawn by Jim Lee.

   * OHOTMU: Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. Once upon a time,
     the OHOTMU was the penultimate source of Marvel trivia, history,
     characters, and backgrounds. Unfortunately, its recent incarnation
     skipped out on all the background stuff and just gave us fighting
     stats, which sorely annoyed the old OHOTMU fans. The OHOTMU was the
     Official Marvel guidebook on what characters could do what and why,
     and is usually invoked as a reference to settle various arguments.
     Very few long-time Marvel readers will accept the newest version of
     the OHOTMU as more definitive than the older two, however. The
     older one is also known as the OHOTMUDE (for Deluxe Edition).

   * PAD: Peter A. David, writer of stuff, who was once the writer on
     X-Factor (#70-#89). An infrequent poster on rac.misc, he no longer
     hangs out on racmx.

   * rac: rec.arts.comics, now broken into many smaller groups,
     including rec.arts.comics.marvel.xbooks. Sometimes done as r.a.c.
     "rac" is sometime used as an abbreviation of the term "rec.arts.
     comics" in any instance; like "rac.marvel.xbooks". Often used the
     same way as "rac.*", below. Newsgroups abbreviations are often
     capitalized or not depending on the whim of the typist; "RAC" =
     "rac" = "R.A.C.", for instance.

   * rac.*: Used as a general abbreviation meaning "all of the
     rec.arts.comics.* newsgroups".

   * racmu: rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe, where Spiderman, FF, New
     Warriors etc. belong.

   * racmx: rec.arts.comics.marvel.xbooks.

   * racx: Abbreviation of rec.arts.comics.xbooks, the original
     incarnation of racmx.

   * rac'ers: Netters who frequent any of the rac. groups.

   * retcon: Short for "retroactive continuity." For the full story on
     retcon, see the full rac.* FAQ, posted montly on rac.info. A retcon
     is the act of a writer "squeezing" something into past storylines
     when no evidence of it at all existed when those storylines were
     written.

     The best example of this in the X-titles is Cable. When Liefeld and
     Simonson created Cable, he had never been seen, mentioned, or
     listed in any Marvel comic before. Suddenly, he appeared, and every
     mutant character who had been around forever was saying, "Ah,
     Cable, haven't seen you around for a while." Well, duh, he hadn't
     been invented yet. This mass infusion of history which had never
     existed before is a classic retcon. racmx'ers also sometimes call
     Jean Grey's "resurrection" in place of being Phoenix a retcon.

     While "retcon" is usually used in a derisive, insulting sense, this
     is more due to the fact that most retcons are the tools of
     modestly-skilled writers working under deadline with an improper
     grounding in continuity and thus end up being badly handled, as
     opposed to any inherent fault in the idea of the retcon.

   * troll: A newsgroup poster who posts trivial or inflammatory
     material in order to irritate other posters and, hopefully, trick
     them into making foolish spectacles of themselves. Avoid responding
     to obvious trolls at all costs, no matter how tempting a target
     they make themselves.

   * xbooks: A common abbreviation of rec.arts.comics.marvel.xbooks. To
     keep from being confused with the actual comics themselves,
     racmxers are encouraged to refer to the newsgroup as racmx, and
     the comics as the X-titles.

   * X:TAS: A quick abbreviation for X-Men: the Animated Series. Can
     also be used to set apart XTAS characters from their "normal" comic
     counterparts: Rogue-TAS versus Rogue, for instance.

   * YMMV: Your Mileage May Vary.


------------------------------
Subject: OTHER RACMXERS WHO MAY BE OF ASSISTANCE

Okay. You've tried ALL the above. You've gone through every site on the
net. You've even created your own, just to say you searched it. You've
posted your question to racmx, even, and you didn't get an answer
(well, actually, that isn't too surprising). What Can You Do?

You can do the last resort: emailing friendly netters! The following is
a list of racmxers who have, out of the goodness of their hearts, agreed
to be accessible net.help on any of the following topics. Please note
that the only payment these people are receiving is the warm glow of
seeing knowledge safely passed on, so please be polite and appreciative
of them. If you aren't, they'll stop answering questions. And we don't
want that.

Anyone who would like to be on this list can contact the FAQ keeper.
Please include an area of expertise that you'd be willing to field
questions on. And while it seems logical, please include your preferred
email address in your summary of your talents--you'll be surprised how
often this is forgotten. The listkeeper will tend to only put names here
that are recognized as netters who have been around long enough to know
that they know what they're talking about, but feel free to ask to be
put on. This is mainly to insure that any questioning newcomers won't
get shuffled off to some joker.

Here are the Friendly Folk, in their own (slightly edited) words:

  * Kate the Short ([e-mail]) and Aardy R. DeVarque
    ([e-mail])

     I've been on the newsgroup since early 1993, and now keep all
     of the FAQs for the newsgroup. Aardy is my husband, and he
     has been around almost as long. He keeps the Exhaustive
     Completist's Supplemental X-Men Checklist and Annotated Index
     (that is, all appearances of X-men outside of X-titles,
     one-shots, and limited series), though it hasn't been updated in
     a number of months.

     Our collection of X-titles is massive. We have complete runs of
     Uncanny X-Men from Giant-Size #1 to the present (and many issues
     from the original run), New Mutants, Excalibur, Generation X,
     X-Force, X-Factor, (New) X-Men, X-Treme X-Men, and most of the
     current-continuity X-titles, as well as a number of one-shots and
     limited series. We've dropped Cable, Deadpool, and Wolverine. We
     own tons of the old "crossover" issues and and cameo appearances
     in other titles. Aardy's best for the research while I usually
     deal with the internet resources.


   * Chris R. Barry, aka 23yrold3yrold ([e-mail])

     My love of the X-Books and characters stems from it's history,
     so I have a huge and rapidly expanding collection going back to
     Giant Sized X-Men #1, though I've only been reading since 1997.
     My books of choice are Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, Wolverine, Excalibur,
     X-Force, X-Factor, Cable and Generation X. And X-Man just because.
     In other words, the main stuff. I may not know the super-obscure,
     but I got the mainstream history. Still gotta catch up on my New
     Mutants back-issues, though....


   * Dwayne MacKinnon ([e-mail])

     This man loooooooooooves Alpha Flight. Nuff Said.


   * Blair Maynard, aka Doody Family ([e-mail])

     My very own special area of expertise is obscure Wolverine guest
     appearances in other Marvel books and a heap of Wolvie-related
     awful one-shots and mini-series. I also have a scary interest in
     Scott Lobdell, as I have most of his run on the x-books. Also,
     if you have AoA questions I should be able to answer them.


   * Samy Merchi ([e-mail])

     I'm proficient in all X-books published from 1975 to July 1999.
     My favorite stuff includes anything by Claremont, the X-Men's
     Australian period, Peter David's X-Factor, Claremont's New
     Mutants and Fabian Nicieza's X-Force. All X-books are my areas
     of expertise, but I'm especially knowledgeable with the New
     Mutants, X-Force and Sunspot.


   * Dan Miller ([e-mail])

     I *have*, readily available, several hundred issues of X-Men,
     virtually complete from about six years back through about Davis'
     run, plus back issues.  Also, I've been on racmx for six years or
     so and remember too much of what I've picked up. :)


   * Paul O'Brien ([e-mail])

     I'm a total continuity geek, me. You name it, I probably
     remember it. Unless it's something to do with the Brood, or
     early X-Factor, or the insanely convoluted pre-X-Men history
     of Wolverine. And don't even ask about Alpha Flight. Other
     than that, there's a pretty good chance I know it...



*** Continued in Part 2 ***


   Compilation Copyright 2000-2003 by Katharine E. Hahn
   SEND ADDITIONS / CHANGES / DEAD LINKS / MOVED LINKS / UPDATES TO:
   Kate the Short,  [e-mail]  (mailto:[e-mail])


--
Kate the Short * http://users.rcn.com/kateshort/