By Kyle Gnepper

I've always been a little afraid of reading the X-Men. It's mainly due to the huge amount of history involved with them. The X-men have been around in some form since1963 and like most comics from that point they have a huge amount of back story, and rightfully they should. The X-men story just seems so much more complicated because of the rotating cast.

The X-men roster has been re-organized, re-started from scratch, shuffled and divided so many times even wikipedia can't keep up with them. People have switched sides from good mutants to bad with a surprising regularity. I have no idea who Gambit or Angel/ Arch Angel are really working for right now.

I'm the sort of person who really likes to know as much of a back story as possible for the books I read. With a lot of characters its incredibly easy to sum up a character's history and major motivations. Batman and his supporting cast can each have their major points explained pretty easily. I once asked an X-men fan to tell me what the whole story with Cyclops and Jean Grey exactly was, and he felt I wouldn't be able to understand it without a complicated chart.

I've read some of the stories, I was really impressed when I borrowed Joss Whedon's run. I even collected Warren Ellis' run because I've always been entertained by what he does. The main draw of these stories for me so far has been that they haven't largely addressed the teams complicated past.

Marvel does have a type of solution to this problem. There are the X-men Essential books available. Now you can even subscribe to their online service. Unfortunately both of these are a little costly when you look at the number of Essentials you would need to buy, or the amount of time you would spend online reading each individual issue. From my understanding Marvel hasn't put ever comic they've ever written online, so that's not even a good way to go about it.

Still, I have my own idea as to what would help people like me who want to like/ read more X-men but feel it would be too difficult. My own idea is to do a few issues as a limited series that tells the abridged history of each major x-men milestone and change that has happened. I realize a lot of that has happened on Wikipedia and so many other fansites, but it would be nice to have it come from the creators. Marvel can let us all know which stories are still in continuity, get the perspective of the artist and writer at the time putting in their notes as to why Beast turned blue, and whatever else is considered a major turning point. And if Marvel thinks this seems like a lot of work, imagine how we feel.

By Kyle Gnepper

In the recent years DC comics has gone on and on several times about their 'Big Three'. Those three being Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. These three are touted as the cornerstones of the DC. There was even a recent weekly series (Trinity by Kurt Busiek) covering how absolutely essential they are to the fabric of the DC universe. The problem is that I just don't buy it. No matter how many times they say it, I do not see Wonder Woman being on the same level as Batman and Superman.

I'm willing to admit Wonder Woman is entertaining. I can even admit to buying the book during Amazon's Attack, and I continued to buy it. Princess Diane has a fascinating story and origin and I think she can make sense as a mythology/ magic hero next to Bruce Wayne as a technology hero and Clark Kent as a science hero. I can easily see the symbolism and the convenience of a female presence showing the opportunity to empower young female readers as well as male.

The biggest proof of these point is purely in the titles. At most given times Batman will have at least 4 titles (at this time 'Batman', 'Batman and Robin', 'Batman: Streets of Gotham', 'Batman Confidential' and "Detective Comics') along with any mini series (currently 'Batman: Widening Gyre'). Superman is generally in the same boat with ongoing (Currently, Superman, Action Comics) and limited ('Superman: New Krypton', 'New Krypton's Last Stand') series. Not to mention Superman's big event 'War of the Supermen' on the horizon. Wonder Woman has been featured in other books since her debut in 1941, she's had membership in the Justice Society of America (As a secretary to start) and in the current continuity is a founding member of the Justice League of America, but she hasn't had more than one ongoing title.

The reason for this is simple. Wonder Woman isn't as popular as the other two. This is reflected in comics and in the movies. Warner Brothers has understandably put a lot behind the supposed reboot that will come with a new Superman movie, and the recent press release with Christopher Nolan made every fanboys dreams of another Christian Bake Batman come true. Meanwhile the talks of a Wonder Woman remains in movie limbo.

Now this isn't to say Wonder Woman isn't a good read. Since taking over the title Gail Simone has taken us readers through all the roles Princess Diane holds in her life. New villains have been developed and even after being around for nearly 70 years it even feels like she's matured in that time. However that doesn't mean she earns a place at the top of the DC mountain more than the Flash or Green Lantern.

While it may be convenient to have Wonder Woman standing shoulder to shoulder with the worlds greatest detective and the big blue boy scout, its a lie.