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Jan 16

Extraordinary X-Men vol 1: X-Haven

Posted on Saturday, January 16, 2016 by Paul in x-axis

So here we go again.

This time around, Extraordinary X-Men is the flagship of the X-books, which is to say that it’s the one that actually has the X-Men in it, as opposed than the time travelling teens or a rebranded X-Force.  And so it’s the book that has the task of dealing head on with the new status quo, in which the Terrigen Mists are empowering Inhumans while wiping out the mutants.  I wrote last week about why that’s a pretty bad idea, and I may come back in another post to look in more detail at how it messes up the formula that the X-Men’s popularity was built on.  No point repeating all that again here; you can take it as read for now.

What’s really striking about this book, though, is how traditional it is in pretty much every other respect.

In some ways that isn’t so surprising.  Aside from being an olive branch to sceptical fans, it’s also a sensible decision – if it’s meant to be a radical new status quo, then a nice familiar X-Men team makes a better contrast.  And although writer Jeff Lemire has done some excellent and eccentric comics like Sweet ToothTrillium or Underwater Welder, his superhero work for DC has been fairly conventional.

Still, alongside the dodgy new status quo, there’s a back-to-basics feel.  Not only are we returning to the X-Men proper, who got pretty much ignored in favour of spin-off teams during the Bendis era, but we’re back with an actual team, instead of the open-ended sprawl that’s been the norm this century.  And that team is packed with the old faithful characters: Storm, Iceman, Colossus, Magik, Nightcrawler, Jean Grey and Wolverine.  Yes, it’s the teenage Jean and the Old Man Logan version of Wolverine, but it’s still those characters.  The wider institute is still there – now relocated to Limbo to avoid the Mists – but these guys are the X-Men proper.

A new direction and a smaller core cast – and, let’s face it, the contrast with the diffuse meandering that preceded it – give this a focus that’s been lacking for many a year.  Lemire has a pretty good sense of the characters’ voices, and there’s something a bit Claremontian about it all (without taking on his personal tics), which is no bad thing.  Humberto Ramos’ jagged exaggerations are a bit less traditional, but hell, at least he ensures the visual tone is about energy and excitement, not morose brooding about the death of a species.

The A-plot is basic, because it’s a frame on which to hang a gathering of the cast and an introduction of the new status quo.  One problem with the Terrigen Mists is that they aren’t actually an antagonist, so Lemire sensibly decides to wheel out Mr Sinister, as a villain who’s all about the future of the mutant race.  It’s a shame that Kieron Gillen’s inventive revamp hasn’t stuck, but the trad version makes sense for his role here.  Anything that threatens to wipe out mutants is a major spanner in his life’s work.  So he’s been trying to save mutantkind in his usual style: demented mad scientist experiments.  Ultimately, he decides that mutants are a lost cause and he’s going to get with the programme and get behind the Inhumans.  All very simple – and the final fight with a Cyclops clone feels contrived, not least because there’s a false-drama cliffhanger which sets him up as the real thing, only to brush it aside in the opening pages of the next issue.  But it’s about getting a character to go out there and serve as a mouthpiece for the new status quo, and Sinister’s fine for that role (save perhaps that he’s not much of an A-list threat in this story).

This leaves plenty of time to introduce the cast and set some character arcs going – and Lemire’s said in interviews that he wants to make this a character-driven series, not least because he thinks that’s where he went wrong on the Justice League books.  Some of these are interesting, some a bit more questionable, but at least the characters are being given something to do.

Storm is the leader trying to hold everything together (including herself) while faced with a seemingly impossible crisis that she doesn’t have an answer to, and looking back to Professor X to convince herself that the dream is still alive.  It’s been a while since the Professor’s been treated as an actual inspiration, something that’s been downplayed in favour of revisionist interpretations which risk losing sight of the original idea.  Iceman, thus far, gets to be the level-headed mainstay, and he’s been given some new tricks with ice golems to freshen him up a bit.

Logan and Jean are given a curious sort of bond, which could go in interesting directions.  Obviously, their traditional relationship is a romantic triangle, which would clearly be deeply awkward given the age gap between these two versions.  And Iceman flags that up, so Lemire’s clearly well aware of it. with Scott.  But they do have other things in common – not only are they both from other timelines, they’re both defined by having the opportunity to rewrite a history that went badly the first time around.  And the age gap plays perfectly into Wolverine’s series of teen girl sidekicks.  So, yeah, this could work.

Nightcrawler… well, he’s babbling about God, which is evidently a longer-term storyline.  (It’s not clear whether this is a response to his trauma at the hands of Sinister or something unrelated, since his dialogue in issue #1 even before he gets captured is still heavily Biblical.)  Colossus and Magik’s sibling relationship is being played up again.  There’s an attempt to give Peter a tragic background of being rejected by an abusive father, which seems like a pretty bad idea; to me, he works better when his background is simply that he was having a perfectly peaceful time of it on his farm until he got dragged into the X-Men’s life.

Magik, though, gets a better deal of it.  Aside from being the proactive one who gets Colossus back into the fray, she also gets to be the one who stands up in the final issue and insists that, Terrigen storyline notwithstanding, this is not the end, this is not going to be about the mutants dying out, and this is the start of them fighting back.  One good thing to have come out of Bendis’ run is that she seems to have worked the flat affect stuff out of her system and she’s ready to show a bit more fire again.

Now, yes, granted, alongside this you’ve got a basic idea with the Terrigen Mists that I don’t much like, and that doesn’t make much sense.  (Though I see that by the recap page of issue #2, the silly idea that mutants have been “sterilised” has been downgraded to “no new mutants are manifesting”.)  And part of the problem with that storyline is that it’s way too similar to the “No More Mutants” thing that followed House of M.

But one of the major errors with that storyline was that instead of fighting to set things right, everyone just sort of lay down and meekly accepted the new state of affairs, and we got several years of morose sulking and refugee camps.  Extraordinary X-Men is not falling into that error.  There’s a refuge, but it’s the X-Men’s lunatic school relocated to Limbo, which is a more entertaining prospect to start with.  With Humberto Ramos on art, the visual style is much more energetic too.  And this time round, the X-Men are responding the problem by picking themselves up, deciding to do something about it, and vowing to win.  So if we are going to get a rehash of the same basic concept, at least this time it’s going to be without some of the mistakes that hobbled it before.

And so – as pretty much foreshadowed in last week’s post – we have the odd combination of a book which has an unpromising line-wide direction, but actually gets a lot of other things right.  It’s got much more of a traditional X-Men feel than I was expecting, and a much more focussed direction than we’ve had in quite some time.  On balance, surprisingly fun, especially given what it has to work within.

Bring on the comments

  1. Paul F says:

    Is anyone reading Worst X-Man Ever? I didn’t expect much, but I’m enjoying it a lot. Walsh’s art is great, as usual, and I’m looking forward to seeing where the story goes.

    I hope it encourages Marvel to do more out-of-continuity stuff, like DC does with their digital books.

  2. Daibhid Ceannaideach says:

    “Lemire’s said in interviews that he wants to make this a character-driven series, not least because he thinks that’s where he went wrong on the Justice League books.”

    That’s interesting, because I actually liked Lemire’s JL work, not least because I thought he did the character stuff well. I think he’s being particularly hard on Justice League Dark where maybe there was more plot than character beats, but I felt the former grew out of the latter.

    (Justice League United, well, in its later issues that was a bit Secret Defenders, and it’s hard to focus on character over plot when the plot is entirely why these characters are together. I still liked it, though.)

  3. Si says:

    How many male superheroes now have had abusive fathers retconned into their stories? Off the top of my head I can think of Daredevil, Hulk, Captain America and Wolverine, but I know there’s more. It’s almost as ridiculous as all the female characters who’ve been raped.

    Also, what’s the status of Limbo these days? Is it still Hell? I thought Magik absorbed it into herself or something.

  4. Mikey says:

    Wait, did they retcon Murdock’s dad into being abusive? There was a tease of it in Mark Waid’s run, but it turned out to be a feint and Matt was remembering it wrong.

  5. Mulder says:

    It worked great for Hulk. It was almost necessary for the character. The rest don’t work so well.
    I think that the Colossus ret-con was the most upsetting part of the relaunch for me, as it really hurts the character, and adds nothing fresh for the character.
    Piotr was interesting based on the fact that he was a mutant with a happy back-story. It’s as if no mutants can have a happy childhood.

    The ending of the current story-arc was moving ever closer to Utopia though, which worries me.

  6. Joseph says:

    “Wait, did they retcon Murdock’s dad into being abusive? There was a tease of it in Mark Waid’s run, but it turned out to be a feint and Matt was remembering it wrong.”

    That’s right. Part of Original Sin, Murdock recalls his father apparently beating his mother, causing her to leave. But later in the story it turns out that baby Matt didn’t understand the context, which was that his mother suffered from postpartum depression. The event Matt remembers actually resulted from his father protecting his son from the mother’s paranoia. Still a questionable story-line, arguably, but more interesting than another abusive father, I think.

    I think you may be misremembering Origins as well, Si. Dog Logan was also a red herring, as James ended up being the young Wolverine. His father John Howlett was a loving father to his sickly son. It is implied that Thomas Logan, who abused his son Dog and ends up being a pretty shitty guy, could be Wolverine’s biological father, but young James doesn’t seem to have suffered any abuse at his hands. (Until the tragic ending, arguably, but even then he’s not really the victim).

  7. Chaos McKenzie says:

    I think Nightcrawler’s biblical ramblings is going to play into the upcoming Apocalypse storyline. I can’t remember the line, but something he says in #5 heavily suggest that to me.

    I usually don’t care about how the characters are drawn, but I think Magik without the bangs is a big mistake. She’s a favorite character, but even with the sword I kept mistaking her for Emma (I realize Emma isn’t in it), drove me batty. Th bangs were very iconic.

  8. Si says:

    I’m happy to be wrong about abusive father retcons.

  9. Greg says:

    Paul, I may be misremembering issue one, but I believe Nightcrawler had escaped and was being recaptured. That was my reading, and so I think we are supposed to assume whatever is going on with Kurt is related to Sinister’s experiments.

  10. Michael R says:

    Daredevil’s dad was abusive, but from what I recall it was not a regular thing. Jack only beat up Matt whenever he abandoned his studies in favor of playing around or imitating his boxer father by getting into street fights with the neighborhood kids. The physical abuse was Jack’s drunken way of nailing down the message that Matt needed to make something of himself by studying, getting straight A’s, going to college and getting a good job instead of just thinking with his fists like his washed out ex-boxer and bum of a drunk father. It was one of the many things Frank Miller introduced to make DD far more complex character psychologically, as it brought another paradoxical aspect to Matt’s career as a superhero.

  11. Niall says:

    I’m reading this but still finding it absolutley ridiculous that yet another X-Man with a dodgy-as-hell past is acting holier than thou when it comes to Cyclops. I’m allowing a smidgen of benefit of doubt on account of the fact that we don’t know exactly how Cyclops ended up attacking the Inhumans but still . . .

    Secret Wars Spoilers follow . . .

    By the by, isn’t it a little weird that Franklin Richards re-created the world complete with the Terrigen mists etc. Seems like a dick move.

  12. Piercey says:

    My biggest disappointment with the current xbooks and the 8 months delay has been not seeing the immediate ramifications of older Iceman revealing his sexuality or his ‘coming out’ process.

    Of course there might be flashbacks (exciting!), and I know it will be addressed in future issues but apart from only a line of dialogue between Anole and Bobby, it’s not been addressed in Extraordinary and doesn’t give me hope that it will be dealt with sensitively in the future. My 15 year old X-fan self died a little cos of this… Sad times.

    @Chaos McKenzie – I’m with you on the bangs. Sacrilege! Saying that though, Piotr is looking so hot right now.

  13. Omar Karindu says:

    It was one of the many things Frank Miller introduced to make DD far more complex character psychologically, as it brought another paradoxical aspect to Matt’s career as a superhero.

    Miller had a drunk Jack strike Matt exactly and *only* once, and played it as the thing that made lil Matt decide to be a lawyer because “everyone needs rules. Even dad.”

  14. ChrisV says:

    Franklin Richards recreated the Marvel Universe exactly as it was before Secret Wars, all the way down to “time still being broken!”, thereby negating any potential resolutions or lasting changes being brought about by Secret Wars.
    Franklin seemed to be particularly literal following Reed’s instructions.
    “Make it all the exact same. Except let Miles Morales and evil daddy live from the Ultimate Universe. Reboot Star Lord’s origin story. And, rub it in Victor’s face that daddy is superior. Don’t change anything else, even the events that supposedly lead to the End of Everything.”

  15. Neil Kapit says:

    Now that the honeymoon period of having X-Men comics that aren’t ruinously terrible is over, I have to say Extraordinary X-Men is kind of disappointing. In a lot of ways it feels like a vaguely off-model version of a Chris Claremont X-Men comic, equal parts angst and fisticuffs, but with plot developments that are just weirdly unsatisfying. Even if you forgive the “mutants vs. cloud of impotence” plot as an editorial mandate, we have the teenaged Jean and the geriatric Logan awkwardly pushed into old roles (in Jean’s case, as a Kitty/Jubilee style ingenue sidekick rather than her future self), Nightcrawler showing up just to get maimed and driven stark raving mad, Mr. Sinister bringing back a mindless Cyclops in one of the most obvious red herrings possible, and a new hideout in a demon dimension that really doesn’t seem like fertile ground for story developments.

    It’s unfortunate that Jeff Lemire is being more traditional, because him doing something like Sweet Tooth or Plutona would’ve been far better for the franchise than an off-key cover of a Claremont medley.

  16. Luis Dantas says:

    There are many inherent problems, particularly if one wants to tell ongoing stories, with having even such bright characters as Reed and Franklyn responsible for the creation of entire timelines / living planets.

    That was true of Heroes Reborn and it is true here.

    We just have to accept it and run with it, it seems.

  17. Thom H. says:

    “Saying that though, Piotr is looking so hot right now.”

    I couldn’t agree more, although of all the X-Men to get a stylish and sexy makeover, Colossus seems like the least likely candidate, right? He’s certainly a long way from his “simple Russian farmer” days.

    Don’t get me wrong — it’s a good change — but if they’re going to update his look (and get it right) then can’t they at least put Ororo in something besides that hideous crop top and 90s belts? I’m sure that top is super convenient when she’s flying. And what is up with Illyana’s boob window?

    It’s like the guys on the team exist in something approximating the real world while the women are all dressed in gravity-defying lingerie.

  18. wwk5d says:

    Hey, if they can make Bobby gay, they can change Illyana’s hairstyle…

    If they do peruse Bobby as gay, I hope they at least keep him written consistently as something of a loser in love.

    “while the women are all dressed in gravity-defying lingerie”

    Hasn’t it been this way for a while now?

  19. wwk5d says:

    Er, pursue…

  20. Thom H. says:

    “Hasn’t it been this way for a while now?”

    Of course. It’s just that it would be so easy for the women to be sexy and stylish and covered, all at the same time. Finding a way for Peter, of all of them, to hit that sweet spot just highlights the problem.

  21. While I wasn’t really moved one way or the other abut most of the story, Cerebra was the point that I really got stuck on.
    So: your mutant tracking device had become sentient. (And let’s remember the last time that happened, it didn’t work out great.). Fine. Now it can track mutants in the field. That’s handy, because there probably aren’t a lot of non x-affiliated mutants in limbo for it to track down, so some mobility on the original model is probably a good idea. But it needs a body. Do you a) give it a body that that is a symbol of the worst public mutant massacre and the last thing an imperilled mutant wants to see?
    Or do you give it it b) literally ANYTHING else?

    That Storm and co went with a) isn’t a great endorsement of their judgement.

    I liked Worst X-Man more than I thought I would, although the shift to violence was jarring. I admire how openly they’re courting a Marty Stu triope.

  22. Piercey says:

    @Thom H. Maybe it’s a sign of the Peter Nicholas persona returning? When was the last time we saw him paint anyway?

    Re: the women’s ‘costumes’. I was just thinking – is this the longest time Emma Frost hasn’t been in a monthly xbook since 1994 (Generation X #1)? She might be gone, but her fashion style survives!

  23. @Omar – It’s sad to say, but the father in an Irish-American (or Irish family) giving the kid a clatter for not doing their work any time up to the 1980s would have been completely normal and not necessarily “abusive”. The Catholic Church (which we know was a big influence on the Murdochs) was very strong on the “spare the rod, spoil the child” line until relatively recently. I’m 40 now and teachers hitting kids in Ireland is within living memory.

  24. wwk5d says:

    “Maybe it’s a sign of the Peter Nicholas persona returning? When was the last time we saw him paint anyway?”

    In the mid-90s when he was a member of Excaliber.

  25. Nu-D. says:

    teachers hitting kids in Ireland is within living memory.

    It still happens today all over the American south.

  26. Niall says:

    There’s a reason the term “corporal punishment” exists and people don’t just use the term “assault”. The use of physical violence against children was accepted. Somehow we’ve managed to get to a point where we consider the use of it in the past as okay, but similar actions today would be considered a crime.

    I think that in the coming years, this is going to become problematic for a universe with a rolling timeline. By the time we get to a point where Matt Murdoch grew up in the 90s or – god help us – the 00s, Battlin’ Jack will look like a monster.

  27. Neil Kapit says:

    Speaking of costumes, with Peter’s current outfit I can’t tell what parts of his torso are exposed metal skin and what parts are the ribbing of his uniform unless I squint really hard. I like his facial makeover (he looks a lot like Zangief, his husky Russkie Capcom counterpart), but the costume falls into the “what the hell am I looking at” category where all the little details and patterns don’t coalesce into something visually appealing.

  28. Nu-D says:

    Sadly, most US states still allow parents to use physical violence to discipline their children. While much of America has come to the conclusion that this is barbaric, and that portion seems to dominate the discourse, there is still a sizable portion that believe in and use corporal punishment.

  29. puzzleddaily says:

    “If they do peruse Bobby as gay, I hope they at least keep him written consistently as something of a loser in love.”

    This would be a terrible idea in my opinion. The reason, the story should go, that he was an ineffectual bachelor is because he was looking for love in all the wrong half of the population. Personally, I care less about seeing the reaction to Bobby being gay (who cares, especially in a superhero world) than seeing him have an adult relationship (hopefully not with Northstar, uless it’s well-written.) I’m gay myself and nearly 9/10 gay stories are coming-out stories. Moving on, please. The last thing I want to see is a story concerned much with how his homosexuality affects his heterosexual friends.

    And I must disagree about Peter. His look, I mean. I agree about the silly retcon. He looks way too hipster meets musclehead for me. Like he should be on some boardwalk. And I like beefy guys. Peter is less beefy and more tanky. Not a good look.

    That said, I don’t like any of the looks of the team. Especially Iceman and Magik. Particularly, the colors and shorts of the former and the boob window of the latter. The line, and this book, are incredibly disappointing and I see this as a good jumping off point for a few years. After Bendis left I thought things would improve.

    I’ve never been less confident in the line. Well, not since the late 90s.

  30. wwk5d says:

    Sorry, have to disagree. Bobby was an ineffectual bachelor because he could be selfish and self-centered. That has nothing to do with his sexuality, its just who he is. He shouldn’t get a free pass on being an idiot boyfriend just because someone decided to retcon him being gay.

  31. Chaos McKenzie says:

    @Piercy … I really want Northstar to break-up with Kyle and comeback for Iceman, all that subtext from Austen’s run could really come into play here. I hope to hell Lemire is smart enough to avoid coupling Iceman with Anole, which is where I think he’s leaning. Tho I’m probably overthinking.

    Sinister says Nightcrawler was already crazy when he got his hand on him… I’m still certain it’s gunna be Apocalypse

  32. Chaos McKenzie says:

    @wwk5d I get that they can change her hair, that’s not the point. It’s just that she’s gone from being visually distinct to being just another Blond girl. It’s funny because her soulsword was iconic for ages too, then Bachalo changed the design of the sword, so it was only the bangs that really distinguished her. I just question it.

    I like Pete half naked, and no beard. I’m done with beards.

  33. jpw says:

    @wwk5d

    Didn’t he do some painting during “The Shattering,” when he and Marrow went off together? UXM #373-#374. Maybe they just went to museums. I don’t remember exactly.

  34. wwk5d says:

    Come to think of it, he might have…and I think he also painted Marrow a few times or something to show her she was pretty or something? Need to check. But he definitely did do some painting in the 90s.

  35. David says:

    @Chaos McKenzie- you think Lemire is looking to couple Iceman with Anole based on a single line of dialogue from a few issues ago? That would be crazy, Anole may be 18 by now but he’s basically still a teenager and a student. I think what Lemire is pursuing is totally platonic.

    Anyway, I’m not keeping up with this book. I guess this is a rare opinion, but I think this is far far far worse than Bendis’ run. Bendis’ X-men was a meandering, dumb mess but there were things about it I liked. I liked a lot of his new student characters, especially Eva. He did a great job with the Cuckoos and he did great work with Magik. His Cyclops was cool (I think so anyway) up until the end when he wasn’t. He did good work with Jean, I liked the relationship between her and Emma. I enjoyed the ultimate crossover. He gave us angry survivor Dazzler. He brought in X-23. He gave us gay Iceman even though it was obviously a hasty last minute idea.

    That is to say- there were plenty of individual moments I liked even though on the whole it was not very good.

    Lemire’s run so far has been 100% joyless for me. I haven’t liked any goddamn thing about it. I actually am interested in seeing what happens with Iceman- and in 5 issues there was a single bad line of dialogue referring to him coming out. Also, he ditched the Gillen version of Sinister! Why on earth would you do that?

    Anyway, definitely not reading on.

  36. Ben says:

    I’m really optimistic about the Extraordinary X-Men. I think the first story arc had to establish the new team while also dropping hints about the missing 8 months and setting up the core characters. Sure, it’s very heavy on fighting but I think that’s refreshing for this line. It was a clear storyline in that it got the team together, faced and defeated a bad guy and set up the X-Men as heroes (Storm’s TV interview) albeit estranged ones.

    I’m also optimistic about Iceman. I don’t think it would have been a good idea to explore Bobby’s coming out in this storyline. I’m hoping Lemire will be mixing action-based stories with character-based ones, so I’d expect to see an Iceman one in the future. If this wasn’t a relaunch then I agree that Bobby should have had more to say about his sexuality, but I assume in the 8 months since the last issue, the team is aware of the situation and have accepted it (as everyone knows they would). As for the Anole thing, I reckon that’ll just be Anole asking Bobby for advice, not a date. It would be a wrong move to hook them up together and I doubt Lemire will do that. And since I’m just throwing my opinions around like Bamfs, I also agree that Bobby shouldn’t be suddenly transformed into a decent boyfriend for whoever comes along. He is immature and cheeky and inconstant and that’s who he is. I think it’d be good for him to have a range of boyfriends over the coming years. On the other hand I really don’t think it’d be a good idea to break up Northstar’s marriage. That’d be a stupid move. Probably shouldn’t have married him off in the first place, but to undo it would be a disaster (Ororo and T’Challa?).

    Okay, that’ll do. I honestly am enjoying the reboot. I’m even liking All New Wolverine.

    Actually, one complaint I do have is that Monet in Uncanny X-Men is written horrendously. There is no way she would act like that.

    And that’ll do for real. Love the podcasts!

  37. Suzene says:

    Breaking up Northstar’s marriage just so someone could have a second go at Chuck Austen’s failed ‘shipping is a terrible idea in regard to both PR and established character. I agree with wwk5d, Bobby wasn’t a loser in love simply because he was gay, he was a loser in love because his good nature is largely a mask and because his fear of the responsibilities and expectations that come with achievement have caused him to kneecap nearly every aspect of his life. This is a guy who stayed closeted all his life, even among people who wouldn’t have given a flip about his orientation, because it was the path of least resistance. That’s not a judgement, understand — it’s a relatable flaw and I’m actually rather fond of Bobby as a character. I root for the guy to eventually stop being his own worst enemy. But I think he’d be a terrible match for Jean-Paul, a driven, professionally successful, gives-no-fucks, chronic over-achiever whose character arc has had a lot more in the way of forward momentum so far as maturing past his defensive self-centeredness, his knee-jerk distrust of authority, and his emotional distance. And I’d really hate to see Bobby’s acknowledgement of his sexuality be treated as a magical transformation as opposed to a first step in coming to terms with his issues.

  38. Nu-D says:

    @Suzene,

    That’s an insightful critique, and I am persuaded.

  39. “a first step in coming to terms with his issues.” Yes. That’s exactly how I’d like to see that handled. I don’t know how far they go in that direction, given that superheroes tend to develop a lot of inertia when it comes to their personalities, but it would be great to see Lemire channel Bobby’s forward motion in that direction.

  40. And I see I used “that direction” twice in one sentence. Proofread your posts, folk.

  41. Suzene says:

    @Ben – I actually hope it’s more Anole advising Iceman than the other way around. Because, really? Victor has had more experience as an out, gay mutant than Bobby has and dated more dudes, despite the age difference. I think that would be more interesting than deciding he needs a replacement mentor. But then, after Colossus, I don’t have much faith that Lemire’s been paying that much attention to the details of character backstory.

  42. Ben says:

    @Suzene – That would be a great way of doing it, but I think Anole is stuck in the ‘student at Xaviers” role still. His characterization is wide-eyed kid who can’t believe he’s been asked to help out being an X-Man, despite actually being around for years as exactly that.

    I’m actually interested to see how Lemire incorporates the minor X-Cast. I’m enjoying Forge who’s tended to be kicked around a lot by writers.

  43. jack says:

    Yeah, my headcannon is that teen Jean made both Bobs gay. It fits her personality in Bendis’ run so well – Bobby was the only one of the o5 to not be drooling over her, so in her teenaged mind, that totally meant he was gay. Throughout Bendis’ run she was messing with people’s minds, only ever getting slaps on the wrist for going against the #1 rule of telepaths: Don’t control people. Don’t mess with their personalities. I mean, how weird is it that she’s present in both versions of Iceman coming out?

    Because… Reading that storyline straight just doesn’t fit the continuity I’ve been reading for the last two decades. I mean, I could buy this in a story in the 80s, but we all read Morrison’s X-Men and I can’t accept someone being unwilling to come out in that uberprogressive, “homo superior will inherit the earth” climate. Or in Utopia. Unless Bobby is suppossed to be a masochist that loves being sexually frustrated and toying with women or something.

    I have a feeling that in the long run this story will be like the time Beast came out. And even that made a hell of a lot more sense than this.

  44. Chaos McKenzie says:

    @David, yes, yes I do. It’s not any worse than Angel and Husk, or Rogue and Magneto, or Kitty and Piotr (at the beginning). But the main reason I thought it was Lemire’s plot screams constant exposition… I’m not crazy about this book either, tho, I’m with you there

  45. Chaos McKenzie says:

    @Suzene .. nice, well said.

    But I will remind everyone that Northstar was married off to Kyle in a misconceived publicity stunt and not in any show of character growth. It’s pretty common of things like comics and prime time tv to portray gays in non-threatening hetro-normative ways. Married gays are the new black.

    Bobby and Northstar’s close friendship was far more realistic and true to the characters than JP’s union with Kyle.

  46. Chaos McKenzie says:

    I mean currently, it’s a current portrayal, not always

  47. Suzene says:

    @Chaos McKenzie

    We’re going to have to disagree with regard to Northstar’s arc. I certainly have criticisms with regard to how Marvel editorial and specific writers have handled the character over the years, but I’ve found his overall character progression to be satisfying. He’s gone from an unhappy loner with a surprisingly deep capacity for loyalty who was all but blackmailed into Alpha Flight, to having a cause to believe in and actually forming positive bonds with teammates and students with the X-Men, to finding someone who’ll actually return personal loyalty in Kyle Jinadu, something even Jean-Paul’s own sister has rarely been capable of. I think it’s fair to assume that’s a happy accident, since the odds that anyone at Marvel has actually been paying much attention seem pretty low, but the X-Books are by their nature are a treadmill of misery and set-backs, so I’ll take actual positive forward development for the characters where I can find it.

    As for the meta aspect, of course the wedding itself was a publicity stunt. So was Spider-Man’s, the Hulk’s, Cyclops and Phoenix’s, etc. Marvel’s in the business of selling comics, after all, and a wedding bumps sales. And this time, they got the added benefit of being able pat themselves on the back for being oh so progressive. Which yeah, given some of Marvel’s spotty history with LGBT characters in general (and Northstar in particular!) is kind of a laugh.

    But Marvel’s monetary motivations and character growth aren’t mutually exclusive. One’s up to editorial to declare, the other is up to the writers and artists to execute. And within the actual narrative of the comics, Fish, Pak, Van Lente, Liu and Gage have fleshed out the relationship between Jean-Paul and Kyle, strengths, insecurities and all. It may not be your pairing of choice, and that’s fine, but it’s not any less “realistic” or grounded than building a relationship around a discarded crush and a couple pages of friendly interaction that took place while Northstar was romantically spoken for or newly married.

  48. jpw says:

    Storm and Black Panther? Hey, they’re both from, umm…*vaguely waves hand..Africa…or something…

  49. Chaos McKenzie says:

    @Suzene, yes, I guess we will… which is cool. I’m a queer activist with a number of groups in Toronto. I have an issue with the using hetero-normative behaviours to justify “character growth” in queer character. Jean-Paul’s may have become less harsh in personality, but he would never buy into doing something that would take his queer edge away. Everyone deserves to get married, legally, it only makes sense from a legal standpoint, but not all queers agree with it and if you truly have been following Jean-Paul from day 1, you’d recognize that he would never do something to make him more comfortable for consumption to the masses.

  50. Suzene says:

    Pulling that “fake geek girl/no true fan” nonsense doesn’t give your response any more weight. It just makes it look like you’ve reached the last option, the personal attack, two replies in.

    Also, please don’t assume you’re the only one in the room reading from a queer perspective. Happily, we’re not as rare as folks seem to think.

    As for the rest of it, you’re putting forward a couple of statements then delivering a conclusion that doesn’t actually connect back to them. There are members of the LGBT community who, for many reasons, reject the institution of marriage. But there’s no proof that Northstar happens to be one. We have no idea what Northstar’s views on same-sex marriage were prior to his wedding, save for a potential reference in Fraction’s UXM where he holds “tolerance” up as one of a list of reasons why Canada is superior to the US. And after, well, considering that he went through with the wedding itself even after his impulsive proposal crashed and burned and he had room to back out, I think it’s fair to assume that he’s at least somewhat in favor of it as a personal choice.

    The notion that Jean-Paul would never do anything to “blunt his queer edge” is in the same boat. There’s not much in Northstar’s character that indicates he gives any more of a toss about the opinion of the larger LGBT community than he does for people outside of it, or even that he’s all that involved. He had to be all but shamed into using his celebrity to spotlight AIDS, he explicitly denied being present to “wave banners” when rejoining the X-Men during the west-coast era, and he’s stated he’s just fine being famous for the sake of fame rather than because of what he is (be that gay or mutant). He also adopted a kid, so probably not a lot of strong anti-“breeder” sentiment there either. Between his past as political terrorist and his fuck-off attitude, Northstar certainly has an edge, and it is one of the things I like about him. But we don’t have a lot insight into his LGBT politics, what we do know doesn’t lean toward him being a radical or even much of an activist, and there’s little reason to assume that he does anything with his life for reasons other than he just plain wants to.

    I get that the real-world motivations behind the wedding arc had more to do with dollar signs and PR than it did TPTB at Marvel giving a damn about minority representation, LGBT or otherwise. That’s nothing new when it comes to the X-Men. But the fact that I don’t agree with you on how much that impacts the value of the narrative doesn’t mean that I’m not informed, either in regard to Northstar’s character or larger issues. It just means that I don’t agree with you.

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