Less Than Requited

Minute by minute, hour by hour, there is love which goes unrequited. Our culture likes to elevate unrequited love, to raise up the sentiment as one which is noble. Soren Kierkegaard, for instance, considered unrequited love to be about as great an example of love that there is, because by its nature it exists in only one direction - from the one who loves to the one who is loved.

Unrequited love sounds great and ideal, right? The Kierkegaards of our world would note that it is unsullied by harsh reality. This love you hold for a person from afar but is never returned, how marvelous it must be to love without receiving love in return! And surely for many there is a wish to avoid acting on unrequited love (or more aptly put "a crush") for fear of reality - fear of rejection.

What I find interesting is how our popular culture believes in unrequited love as the most perfect form of love. In film, television, books and comics, invariably one character will pine for another character. How we in the audience must long for them to become a couple! And then they do, our faith in the pureness of unrequited love is fulfilled! Hoopla!

The rending that launched a thousand slash fics

Unfortunately, we are so preoccupied with this idea that it grants some examples of unrequited love a depth they were not meant to possess. Throughout Chris Claremont's X-Men he toyed with the idea that Wolverine held feelings for Jean Grey, even though she and Cyclops were a couple. Claremont certainly seemed to believe in the love between Jean and Cyclops, so Wolverine's pining for Jean served primarily to create some tension (as well as character development for Wolverine). Over the years Claremont would note Wolverine's feelings as a matter of continuity, but the Jean/Cyclops relationship was one which stood the test of time.

That is, until Claremont was no longer writing those characters. In 2001 writers began toying with a dangerous notion: What if Jean loved Wolverine? I call it 'dangerous' because it leans into many of the terrible false narratives we men like to tell each other - the so-called 'Nice Guy' narrative where women, in spite of all evidence, are supposed to be interested in us and will 'come around' given enough time. More to the point, it eliminates Jean Grey's agency in all of this; because Wolverine had feelings for Jean, it was simply assumed her character felt the same way for him. In the real world, the healthy thing is to move on from unrequited love (which Claremont had by giving Wolverine new love interests, starting with Mariko Yashida). Unfortunately, in the realm of fiction a potential couple who haven't 'hooked up' are treated as a loose thread, one which must be tied.

The television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine opened with series regular Dr. Julian Bashir carrying an embarrassingly-obvious torch for his crewmate Jadzia Dax, whose disinterest in him romantically was likewise evident. Although the two had their moments across the early seasons, by the show's 3rd year it was clear they were very good friends and unlikely to change; in the 4th season Jadzia became romantically interested in a new cast member, Worf, which lasted through the end of the 6th season when the character was killed off. Enter Ezri Dax in season 7 and suddenly the Bashir/Dax relationship is given another chance, ultimately leading to them becoming a couple.

As Darren Mooney puts it on his blog:

It feels like an awkward reversal of what had been a nuanced and compelling friendship. There was something reassuring in the idea that an unrequited (and slightly pervy) crush could develop into genuine (platonic) affection, and the arrival of Ezri Dax undercuts that aspect of their relationship.

But all that is past is mere prologue; who I really want to talk about is Jorah Mormont.

This son of a bear.

Jorah is a character from George R. R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice book series and has been adapted into the television version, Game of Thrones, where he's ably played by actor Iain Glen. If you know only the television show, you may be surprised at how differently Jorah is characterized in the prose. It should be noted that in the original books every chapter is written from the perspective of a single character and there are many characters whose point-of-view is never granted to the readers. Jorah is one such character, having appeared across the five novels thus far without ever seen from his own POV. His thoughts, turmoils and challenges are witnessed from a distance, usually from the perspective of Daenarys Targaryen (later, via Tyrion Lannister).

It is not so clear at the beginning but by the second novel (and 2nd season of the program) Jorah's affection for Daenarys - the queen-in-exile he's sworn to serve as bodyguard to - become evident. In the novels, this usually manifests itself as jealousy: as other men offer their services to Daenarys' cause, Jorah will bitterly whisper his misgivings to her. In time, Daenarys realizes Jorah is an unreliable counselor because his affections for her clouds his judgment. During the 3rd novel, Daenarys loses all faith in Jorah.

One of the most damning incidents against Jorah occurs in the first book when Daenarys' brother Viserys is murdered by the Dothraki after he threatens Daenarys' life. The reader is given little reason to care for Viserys, who is consistently petulant and ignoble, but when his death plays out Ser Jorah is shown to be extremely negligent in that he permits events to spiral out of control until Viserys' death is inevitable. "Good riddance," so saith the audience. But Jorah was supposed to be Viserys' loyal bodyguard. In time, it becomes clear Jorah betrayed his vows to Viserys because he wanted Daenarys for himself. Viserys would have been a terrible king, but in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, characters can frequently be defined by how dutifully they follow their oaths. Jorah tacitly betrays Viserys; how could he be trusted with Daenarys' safety when he takes his oaths so lightly?

The decisions made in adapting Jorah to television force some uncomfortable questions about the priorities of the series' creators, because their version of Jorah is quite different from Martin's. Some of this is simply down to casting choices; almost everyone on Game of Thrones is chronologically older than the book versions of the same characters, and it becomes particularly of note with Daenerys, who is 13 at the outset of the first novel, but played by a 25-year old Emilia Clarke in the first season of the show. At the time, Iain Glen was 50, placing him within earshot of Jorah's 43. But while these actors have a noticeable age gap (Glen being twice Clarke's age), in the books Jorah is more than 3 times Daenerys' age! It's also unavoidable that they cast a pretty good-looking actor to play Jorah - but one of the hallmarks of the literary version is that he's not good-looking and, as Daenerys is a teenager, that alone is almost enough to ensure he will never stand a chance of winning her heart.

In the show, Jorah is extremely devoted to Daenarys; although he serves as a spy during the 1st season (as he was in the books), he quickly leaves that behind and there is none of the pettiness which so marks his literary counterpart. In the books he forces a kiss on Daenerys; on television, he's more moon-eyed than he is rapey. The show also removes unpleasant moments such as a scene from A Dance with Dragons where he beats Tyrion bloody after one of Tyrion's many japes (the television show opts for a conventional fast-friendship between the two). It is clear in the books that while Jorah is fiercely devoted to Daenerys, he is not a particularly good man. I mean, the fact that in both formats his backstory is "former slave holder, still unrepentant about it," should raise all kinds of flags for you in the audience.

Without a doubt the largest point of divergence is when Jorah's treachery towards Daenerys is discovered. On the television show he pleads for mercy, but Daenerys, seeming somewhat cruel to the audience, icily dismisses him. And we, watching the program, are certain of Jorah's true devotion to her and bemoan Daenerys for being hard-hearted. But in the books, the scene is basically the opposite of that; Jorah refuses to admit he had done wrong and refuses to beg forgiveness until he gradually realizes he's digging himself deeper with each justification - by the time he does apologize, it's too late. Despite learning Jorah had been a traitor, we know Daenerys yearns to pardon him (because the chapter is written from her POV), but because he's so stubborn she is forced to make an example of him and banish him.

The showrunners of Game of Thrones have done a lot to render what's found in the books into something more format-friendly for television, but also more conventional in terms of relationships. Thus, Jorah's lust for Daenerys, which is a destructive force in the novels, becomes, well, this:

Will they ever get together?

But is that the only path available when you start toying with unrequited love? As it happens - no! You simply have to think outside the box and not blindly obey the tropes of your medium.

Take, for instance, Buffy the Vampire Slayer; during that program's first season, a running character beat is that of character Xander Harris having a crush on Buffy. In the first season finale he finally tells her how he feels, but she rejects him; she's simply not interested in him. Xander's wounded by this, but by the end of the episode helps save Buffy's life and, in doing so, mostly comes to terms with being her friend. Although he continued to feel pangs here and there over the show's second season, as the series progressed it became clear he had moved on and was now one of her best friends. And that was perfectly okay; we in the audience liked their dynamic as friends and found their subsequent romantic pairings (most notably the Buffy/Angel relationship which cast a huge shadow over the franchise) to be worthwhile television.

Mark Gruenwald once said, "The job of those in the arts is to help people connect with life experiences of people other than themselves, thereby expanding upon their concept of humanness." I do firmly believe that, which is why the kneejerk fiction writer's belief that 'unrequited love = true love' is not only a lazy equation but one which doesn't confront the audience in areas where they possibly should be challenged. There is nothing inherently noble, good, true or pure about unrequited love. Sorry, Kierkegaard.

Dracula Month Day 25: Uncanny X-Men #159

I think my first encounter with the character of Dracula may have been Uncanny X-Men #159 (1982) and the story "Night Screams!" by writer Chris Claremont and artists Bill Sienkiewicz & Bob Wiacek. It came to me in the same batch of comic books which included Uncanny X-Men #161, which you may recall I blogged about how it frightened me as a child. Well, "Night Screams" certainly did as well. The story pits Dracula against the X-Men and includes scenes of him attempting to convert Storm into one of his brides (because it's a Chris Claremont comic - of course there's a theme of attempted corruption and of course the intended victim is Storm).

At the time of this story's publication Marv Wolfman & Gene Colan's Tomb of Dracula had wrapped up - indeed, both men had left Marvel for greener pastures at DC Comics. This appearance of Dracula was one of several he made around that period in various Marvel super hero titles (ie, Thor), but like virtually all of Marvel 1970s horror leads he would soon be put to rest (until the horror characters returned in the 1990s). Claremont had dabbled a little in the black & white Dracula Lives magazine earlier in his career so he had some legitimacy in picking up the character, but Dracula can't help but suffer when pit against a Marvel super hero. Claremont demonstrated some interesting ideas in this issue with regards to the cast members' faith (notably, Wolverine's atheism, Nightcrawler's Catholicism & Kitty Pryde's Judaism) but scenes of Dracula turning into a man-bat feel tonally wrong for the character Wolfman & Colan portrayed.

As the story was drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz, you'd think it's pretty chilling material, right? Um, think again. This is still early in Sienkiewicz's career back in his Neal Adams phase and the rough edges of his art were considerably softened by Wiacek's inks. Claremont & Sienkiewicz would later prove they could combine super heroes and horror effectively in New Mutants, but this story lacks a little in atmosphere. As a tiny tot scenes of Dracula looming over Storm's throat were almost too much for me to bear; as a grown man it's simply 'all right.'

Young Fears 10: Uncanny X-Men #161

Each October I like to run a series of Halloween-themed posts on this blog. All this month, I'll be telling anecdotes about things which frightened me while growing up.

Continuing from yesterday's discussion of Uncanny X-Men #159 I'm moving on to another issue which I obtained at the same time: Uncanny X-Men #161 by Chris Claremont & Dave Cockrum.

I have already spoken about the impact this comic book had on me as a child in this Unearthed post, but given this month's theme it bears repeating. Not only is this a comic book with some frightening dream imagery, it's also where I first learned about the Holocaust. It's the story of how Professor X and Magneto first met while saving a Holocaust survivor from Baron Strucker's Hydra. Although the identities and relationships among the book's cast were unintelligible to me, I did at least make out that Xavier was the hero, Magneto was not quite a hero but leaned that way and that Hydra were unmistakable villains. But there were also images of Nazis, rendered as nightmarish monsters with scaly green skin and giant tusks - and yet, clad in human clothes. It's the human clothes which really threw me off, I think, especially the neat-buttoned uniform. Non-human creatures are supposed to wear rags, not immaculate clothing!

Two issues of X-Men, both involving monsters. I wanted nothing more to do with the X-Men and I wouldn't see them again... until my parents' friend donated some more issues further down the line, including the New Mutants "Demon Bear" story. I probably should have been afraid of Bill Sienkiewicz's New Mutants, but I think it baffled my young mind so much that I couldn't quite see the horror.

Young Fears 9: Uncanny X-Men #159

Each October I like to run a series of Halloween-themed posts on this blog. All this month, I'll be telling anecdotes about things which frightened me while growing up.

So far I've written primarily about film and television programs which frightened me as a child; naturally, as a prime consumer of comic books, I also have a few comic book examples.

When I was very young - before I even had an allowance - comic books were something which came into my home as presents, usually via my parents and sometimes as community property (ie, shared with my siblings). Occasionally I could convince my parents to purchase a comic book for me from a spinner rack. At the tender age of four, I had no conception of how far the comic book medium ranged in terms of content. The very idea that some comic books were not intended for me would have been unthinkable.

My parents had a friend who was an avid reader of comic books but evidently not too interested in preserving his collection; when he was done with the books they became presents to my siblings and I. So it was that at age four I received a hefty stack of John Byrne's Fantastic Four and Chris Claremont's Uncanny X-Men. It included Uncanny X-Men #159.

My first few brushes with the X-Men were not favourable because the content somehow always seemed repellent. The only issues I seemed to receive were the ones with scary situations in them. And so it was that Uncanny X-Men #159 became my formal introduction to that kooky count from Transylvania, Dracula!

At the time, Dracula's long-running series Tomb of Dracula by Marv Wolfman & Gene Colan had ended. I'm not sure why Claremont felt the time was ripe to bring Dracula into the X-Men franchise, but he did - #159 was the first of two appearances the count made. I know that some of Claremont's earliest writing for Marvel Comics appeared in Giant-Size Dracula, but his take on the count seems at odds with Wolfman & Colan. Certainly, he became much more of a super-villain in this story, right down to his transformation into a hybrid man-bat thing (Man-Bat?). Dracula's attempts to woo Storm also fit into Claremont's frequent episodes where a kingly villain would try to make the poor woman their bride (see also: Doctor Doom, Arkon).

But that sequence where Dracula hypnotized Storm and prepared to transform her into his bride - that was chilling stuff. Sure, the X-Men won out in the end, but I think this comic was deliberately "lost" from my collection, probably at the hands of my dutifully concerned parents. Later at the age of twelve they would sit down with me to discuss their concern with the supernatural-themed comics I had been buying, but it didn't really stop me; yes, some comic books could upset me, but at times I wanted to be made upset.

The Troubles of X-Factor Part 4: Cyclops and the Trouble With Character Assassination

As with Jean Grey, the troubles with Cyclops' character - especially as recounted in X-Factor #1 - have been hashed out again and again by comic book fandom. However, I want to do my best to place what happened to Cyclops and his relationship with Madelyne Pryor in proper context.

It's interesting that fandom doesn't hold any single creator to account for what happened to Cyclops - not Chris Claremont, the man who created Madelyne; not Bob Layton, the one who broke them up; not Louise Simonson, who assisted Claremont in delving into Madelyne's true origins. It's most interesting that the one who shoulders the blame in the eyes of fandom is Cyclops himself, as though a fictional character had true control over his character development! It really speaks to how much fans have invested in the X-Men's members, but it's certainly worked against Cyclops for the last 30 years as he's never fully crawled out from under the cloud of X-Factor #1.

Let's begin with the first perpetrator: Chris Claremont. Having killed Jean Grey in 1980, Claremont embarked on an unusual subplot for Cyclops in 1983 as the still-grieving hero met Madelyne Pryor, a woman with a remarkable resemblance to Jean Grey (or so every character claimed - Paul Smith's Madelyne looked nothing like Dave Cockrum or John Byrne's Jean; I don't believe the two ever did look alike until Marc Silvestri took over). This being comic books, naturally readers were led on to assume that Madelyne was somehow Jean Grey brought back to life, or at least someone with a connection to Jean. However, in a subversive climax, the subplot ended with all the seeming connections revealed as remarkable coincidences; Cyclops and Madelyne were wed.

Comic book readers and writers hate coincidences.

Recall that earlier in the X-Men mythos, Lorna Dane had been suggested as Magneto's daughter simply because the two had the same powers; that plot ended with the familial connection revealed as bogus, yet 30 years later Lorna would be (off-panel) made Magneto's daughter officially. When characters have similar surnames, powers or (seriously) hairstyles, regardless of what the initial creators intended, someone will assert "there are no coincidences!" and cement the connection in print.

Thus, regardless of what point Claremont intended to make with the initial Madelyne story, comicdom's disbelief in coincidence - coupled with Jean's resurrection - worked against that tale. Also working against Claremont (and more to the point, Cyclops) is comicdom's inability to allow characters to reach endings, no matter how well the ending is performed. Cyclops seemed to be set for a life of marital bliss with Madelyne, but editorial demands to have him participate in the Secret Wars crossover caused him to be spirited away during his own honeymoon. This frightened Madelyne, but she did her best to be understanding.

A year and half later, Cyclops returned to the X-Men (with a pregnant Madelyne in tow) to be present for Xavier, who appeared to be on his deathbed. This led Cyclops to be called away on two back-to-back missions, first to save the New Mutants from Asgard, then to be present at Magneto's appearance before the International Court in Europe. Thus, Cyclops was struck by three significant moments of upheaval: dealing with Xavier's departure (as he left the galaxy with the Starjammers), Magneto's ascension to head of Xavier's school and missing the birth of his son, Nathan.

In the aftermath of the birth, Madelyne noted nearly all of the X-Men who went to Asgard had called her to let her know they were in Europe - but not her own husband. She told Storm: "I understand Scott's not being here... but he should have at least let me know he cared." Although at this time the X-Men had been led by Nightcrawler (in Storm's absence since she lost her powers), Cyclops now intended to resume leadership of the X-Men, a role he hadn't officially held since Jean's death 6 years earlier. Cyclops rationalized this to Madelyne as needing to keep an eye on Magneto, although internally he felt Xavier was his true father and he should be the one to carry on said father's work. However, Storm had now returned to the team and she disputed Cyclops' bid. Despite her power loss, Storm faced Cyclops in combat and defeated him, proving true friends will kick your butt for you when you need it. Storm resumed leadership and Cyclops could then remain safely retired. Another happy ending!

One month later... X-Factor #1. Up until this point, Madelyne has remained sympathetic, never nagging or behaving shrewishly to Scott. Even as Cyclops engaged in combat with Storm, she knew that no matter how the fight ended her husband would wind up being hurt - either by losing leadership or by losing her because she intended to return to Alaska regardless. All of that, however, came from her creator, Claremont. To Bob Layton, Madelyne Pryor was an obstacle to getting the original nostalgic five X-Men back together and he worked quickly to turn readers against Madelyne, no doubt hoping they would be less troubled by Cyclops' actions, since for Scott to join X-Factor he would have to essentially abandon his wife and son - hardly a heroic decision. The first blow against Madelyne fell while the couple were at home in Alaska and Scott was distracted by a television news report about the Mutant Registration Act. Furious, Madelyne cattily yelled: "Haven't you done enough for them already? Isn't it about time they did something for themselves?" Given that she married a mutant and might have (later confirmed positively) given birth to a mutant, one would think Madelyne might share her husband's interest in mutant affairs. Heck, if she had steered him into being a political activist maybe he wouldn't have become a globe-trotting adventurer again.

Still, Madelyne dug deeper.

"You have a responsibility to your family now! I can't be the only one working on this marriage! We're supposed to be in this together, aren't we? Don't you think I know the only reason you came back to us at all is that you bombed out in your bid to lead the X-Men? Don't you think it hurts knowing that? Just like it hurts knowing why you married me in the first place! Because I reminded you of your old flame -- the late, but not forgotten Jean Grey!"

And:

"I love you, Scott, and the X-Men don't need you! Jean is dead! I'm the one that needs you!"

It's strange that the character assassination of Cyclops would begin by bringing down his wife, but there it is. In one month, Madelyne went from a troubled but loyal partner to an ultimatum-delivering shrew. To put it in terms of tropes you would find on TV police dramas, she went from being the police captain's wife to the duty-driven detective's ex-wife. Although Layton couldn't have known it, he was grooming readers to eventually accept Madelyne's transformation into a demonic super-villainess. Later that evening, Madelyne found Scott brooding on their balcony. She began to apologize, not wanting to "lose what we have." Scott retorted, "I'm... just not exactly sure what we do have anymore." When she pressed him, he admitted he'd been thinking about Jean Grey.

The very next day, Scott received a call from the Angel, informing him that Jean was back from the dead and in New York. It should be noted that the Angel was an inactive X-Man and that Madelyne didn't know Jean was alive (and wouldn't learn this for years' worth of stories). Regardless, this was how the conversation which ended their marriage played out (presented in its entirety):

"Darling? What is it? What did Warren want?"

"He... er... needs me to meet him in New York -- today!"

"Well -- tell him you can't make it!"

"I - I can't do that, Maddy!"

"Scott Summers! If you walk out that door -- don't bother coming back!"

"I'm -- sorry, Maddy! I have to go!"

Cyclops was reunited with Jean, but simply seeing her alive drove him to the brink of mental collapse, unable to reconcile his never-forgotten love for her with his devotion to Madelyne and his son. In fact, he wound up wandering around the pier where the Phoenix first appeared and when Beast and Iceman found him, he poured out his heart about Jean and Madelyne. Proving themselves inferior friends to Storm, the duo encouraged him: "We have a second chance -- all of us -- to do something beneficial! Like it was in the old days -- the five of us -- together!" He still wasn't completely convinced, but carried on for Jean's sake. "Look -- if not for anything else, do it because I want you to be with me, okay?" Jean asked. "That's the only reason I'm still here, Jean!" Scott answered.

And sure enough, with the blessings of nostalgia the X-Factor team came together and by going on their first adventure (saving Rusty Collins) Cyclops found his footing in adventure. This would remain a touchstone for some time, as Cyclops would range from non-verbal to shell-shocked while out of costume but confident and capable while in combat. Layton pushed that in the audience's faces as best as he could in the first issue with Cyclops saving the entire team at one point and thinking: "Jean -- all of my friends -- would be dead by now if I hadn't come with them! If I wasn't here... I would have lost her again! And the boy, Rusty, would have died without a chance for a decent life! Of the group, only I have the power to save us now! Finally, I realize what I need to do and -- we will be free!!" For a man who at the time must have still been under thirty years old, under Layton's pen Cyclops certainly read like a man suffering his mid-life crisis.

Despite his breakthrough in the climax of X-Factor #1, Cyclops remained a wet blanket through Layton's work. In the second issue, Angel took Cyclops to task for not contacting Madelyne or telling Jean about his wife. Scott finally dug up the courage to call Madelyne, only to find she had disconnected the phone, evidently literally meaning it when she told him "don't bother coming back." Madelyne & Nathan couuld have been part of X-Factor's ongoing supporting cast, but it would have pushed back against the nostalgic get-the-band-back-together voice of the series. And so Cyclops would angst for the rest of Layton's run, until succeeding author Louise Simonson finally pushed things forward by having Jean learn of Madelyne, sent Cyclops back to Alaska and finally had Cyclops suffer the mental collapse which Layton seemed to have foreshadowed (and seriously, X-Factor #18, where Cyclops went crazy? hands-down my favourite issue of the series).

At the same time, Claremont adopted Madelyne back into the pages of Uncanny X-Men, with Cyclops' abandonment of her proving a good justification to turn the X-Men team against X-Factor (especially Scott's brother, Havok) and all of that came to a boil in 1989's Inferno crossover. Of course, it was during Inferno that Madelyne became a true, full-on villain and was forever redefined as Jean Grey's clone (in retrospect, Cyclops should have looked up her friends from high school before marrying her). Madelyne died in Inferno, leaving Scott & Jean to care for baby Nathan (until editorial demanded he be written out of Scott's life for the second time).

Cyclops has been made to do plenty of disagreeable things outside of his marriage to Madelyne: he built a mutant isolationist empire, threatened to assassinate politicians, created a personal hit squad, murdered his father figure and tolerated Emma Frost's fake British accent. Yet for many fans, his original sin was leaving his wife and child to return to Jean Grey - never mind that he and Jean weren't a couple (not until Fall of the Mutants, two years into X-Factor's run), never mind that Madelyne had behaved like an ogre with her ultimatums and cutting off access. Heroes overcome obstacles. Heroes find solutions. Heroes do the right thing. If Cyclops couldn't stand up for his family, how could anyone expect him to stand up for a world of strangers?

Tomorrow: X-Factor.

(An aside: re-reading Uncanny X-Men #201 for this post, I was really struck by the scene where Rachel Summers first met baby Nathan and vowed to protect him. Reflecting on all that Rachel & Nathan have been through over the years, it is heartwarming to see their siblings-by-another-mother relationship, from Rachel racing into the events of Inferno to try and save him to the fully-grown Cable journeying to the end of time to rescue her! Perhaps I'm projecting my own relationship with my older sister upon them, but I really like Rachel & Nathan.)

The Troubles of X-Factor Part 1: Introduction

At the time Marvel Comics launched their X-Men spin-off series X-Factor in early 1986, it was only the third true X-Men ongoing series, joining the X-Men themselves and the New Mutants (Classic X-Men, Dazzler and Alpha Flight were spin-offs, but almost completely divorced from the present-day tales of the X-Men). However, what truly set X-Factor apart at its inception was the lack of writer Chris Claremont. Indeed, the series was initially edited by a different department at Marvel, making its home first with Mike Carlin, then switching to Bob Harras with its second issue, while Claremont's Uncanny X-Men and New Mutants were edited by Ann Nocenti.

At the time Claremont's 15+ year run on the X-Men began in 1975 he was writing various horror, kung fu and other super hero tales at Marvel. As the X-Men quickly gathered steam, their stories were increasingly all that he wrote. The phenomenal success of the X-Men in the 1980s naturally resulted in various attempts by Marvel to milk his formula for other titles. Dazzler debuted in the X-Men to increase interest in her own title; Alpha Flight's guest appearances in X-Men led to actual demand for a series of their own. Even the "New Defenders" team comprised of inactive X-Men Angel, Beast & Iceman could be seen as an attempt to capture some of Claremont's reflected glory.

When the New Mutants spin-off came about in 1983, it was under Claremont's pen (and the same editorial office as Uncanny X-Men: Louise Simonson & Ann Nocenti). As this book was cast with characters who shared the same home as the X-Men and would frequently appear in the background of each other's stories, it was only natural for Claremont to seek fidelity between the two books (they also shared plots occasionally - it was, after all, Claremont). However, Claremont somehow lost control of his story in 1986 when X-Factor encroached on his territory, via writer Bob Layton.

I don't know what went on behind-the-scenes of X-Factor, but one supposes there must be tales of anger, heartbreak and vendettas. After all, Carlin left after issue #1; Layton himself left after issue #5 (and the first annual); Claremont's former editor Louise Simonson then stepped in and wrote X-Factor 'til Claremont himself likewise left the X-Men in 1991. At the time of its launch, X-Factor promised to bring back the original five X-Men: Cyclops, Angel, Beast, Iceman & Marvel Girl - this despite the fact that Jean Grey had died in the climax of Claremont's "Dark Phoenix Saga" storyline, widely-considered the zenith of his X-Men stories.

Claremont's "All-New, All-Different" X-Men had proved there was life yet in the X-Men concept, which had previously been a mostly-unremarkable Marvel property, one which went into hibernation through most of the early 1970s. The new cast of characters Claremont wrote caught on with readers in a way the original five simply had not. Of course, Claremont had retained their mentor Professor X, and Cyclops was an important part of the team. Jean Grey too, of course, played a major role in his series. Beast & Angel would also occasionally drop into Claremont's stories. Strangely, only Iceman seemed to receive the (ahem) cold shoulder from Claremont, playing his only major role in Claremont's X-Men for a single issue (Uncanny X-Men #146) and otherwise only appearing in stories where cast reunions (and later, crossovers) demanded his presence. Even when Claremont returned to the X-Men franchise in the 21st century, he showed little interest in Iceman.

But at the time, it seemed natural for the original X-Men to gradually fade away. In the two months prior to X-Factor's launch, Claremont even wrote Xavier and Cyclops out of the series (though I wonder if Cyclops' removal was dictated by the needs of X-Factor). The X-Men had proved that although their cast had remained virtually intact for all of the 1960s, they didn't have to be perpetually defined by the same faces like the Fantastic Four were - they could develop a rotating cast of characters such as that of the Avengers. They were still heroes to a world which hated and feared them; they still lived in secret at Xavier's Westchester County manor; this was even a time when the X-Men would often do normal things around normal people such as playing arcade games and watching movies - just as the original five X-Men had gone to beatnik cafes and dance clubs.

Layton's X-Factor ended before it could truly explore its ideas and Louise Simonson worked swiftly to bring the series closer to Claremont's vision. And yet, some of the problems which arose from those mere five issues have plagued the X-Men ever since. In those days, creators didn't simply ignore a deeply damaging series and move on (for instance, Ian Edginton turned X-Force into terrorist bombers, but since no one has referenced that story since publication, none of the characters were ruined by it). In the 1980s there were a lot of efforts by fans-turned-pros to quantify and qualify Marvel's fictional reality (the most notable being the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe). Tying up lingering details of another writer's book was virtually a holy cause; if any series concluded with a single plot left unresolved, you could almost bet it would find closure somewhere (often in a book where Mark Gruenwald's name appeared). Especially in a series as young as X-Factor, there was no way to brush off the damage which had been done, only to pay the book's ideas at the bare minimum the lip service of homage before writing the most troubling problems out.

Over the next four days I'd like to ponder what I view as the four greatest problems about Bob Layton's X-Factor. I possess no inside information as to what went on behind-the-scenes, I'm simply interested in examining the impact decisions made there have had on the last 30 years of X-Men comic books. The four I wish to speak about are:

• Wednesday The Beast and the trouble with character regression
• Thursday Jean Grey and the trouble with character resurrection
• Friday Cyclops and the trouble with character assassination
• Saturday X-Factor and the trouble with character derailment

Enjoy, won't you?

Gone Hollywood

Although I have been editing at imdb.com for some time, it's only recently that I received an entry at that august website; a page has been dedicated to me in recognition of my co-producer's credit on the documentary film Comics in Focus: Chris Claremont's X-Men.

I became attached to the project via Kickstarter - in fact, this was the first Kickstarter I contributed to. My motivation was, in part, sheer vanity, an ego boost, a naked attempt at giving myself an imdb page. However, it was not only about my ego, but also my complicated feelings about Chris Claremont.

I say "complicated" because although I grew up reading his X-Men comics, I knew none of the details behind his departure from the franchise in 1991. By the time he returned in 2000 I had become part of that jaded, cynical internet audience which was eager to see Claremont fail, to expose his new work as worthless, to even reexamine his original 17 year run as overrated. I was a chump, in other words.

Only when Grant Morrison began his New X-Men run did my feelings begin to change; so much of the series' lore had been cast adrift that I soon myself looking at Claremont's contemporaneous X-Treme X-Men and appreciating how he kept the series anchored to what had come before, while still integrating what Morrison had begun introducing. Happily, I came back to the fold in time to enjoy many more years of Claremont's stories and eventually I contributed a supplementary text piece for an issue of his series X-Men Forever; Claremont graciously autographed that issue for me.

By the time this film turned up at Kickstarter, Claremont's writing prospects at Marvel were - for the first time in 12 years - nil. Having then only recently resigned from my own work at Marvel, it bothered me to realize Claremont had run out of work; he's someone who, ideally, I would like to see keep working until he think he's had enough. My support for this documentary was founded primarily on a desire to demonstrate support for Claremont.

Happily, not only was the film successfully funded and produced (replete with my ego-stroking credit), but Claremont has since resumed working at Marvel via Nightcrawler, which I would surely read if I were still reading Marvel Comics. The documentary itself is concerned with Claremont's first 17-year run on X-Men - there is a brief mention of X-Men Forever, but the narrative the film chose was to follow Claremont's career only up until 1991. Along with many discussions with Claremont himself are included the reminiscences of Louise Simonson, Ann Nocenti, Len Wein, Jim Shooter and my friend Peter Sanderson (conspicuously absent are John Byrne, Jim Lee & Bob Harras). Although the film is a brief 42-minute jaunt, there are many bonus clips from the interview sessions of interest to anyone who likes to hear behind-the-scenes anecdotes about 1980s Marvel.

Unearthed: Uncanny X-Men#161

Halloween caught me thinking about comic books which gave me a fright in the past. There are certainly some obvious books I could drag out for an entry in Unearthed...my first Tomb of Dracula or I, Vampire for instance. But no, I've decided to unearth the first comic book which scared me, the comic book I was often afraid to look at: my first issue of Uncanny X-Men.

I was not a Marvelite growing up. My favourite comic books were Superman, Action Comics starring Superman, Justice League of America featuring Superman and perhaps something with Superman. However, a family friend who read nothing but Marvel comic books would occasionally divest himself of recent titles and they would wind up in our house; until my younger brothers came of age, they were usually my comics de facto. I kept them in a little brown suitcase.

So it was in 1982 at the tender age of four (I'm dating myself; no one else will) that Marvel's Uncanny X-Men#161 introduced me to the Holocaust. Hey kids! Comics!

It only seems fair to open with the cover, although I don't recall ever seeing it on my copy; young as I was, I would trash comics very quickly; I was lucky to retain all of the story pages, the cover was a small loss. Perhaps for that reason, the cover doesn't impress me now; it establishes the two principals of this story (Xavier & Magneto), supporting character Gabrielle Haller and the villains, Hydra.

We open on a nightmarish splash page which etched itself into my brain:

Xavier is in this state because of a recent story where the alien Brood kidnapped and did Stan-knows-what to him (spoiler: he's carrying a growing Brood inside his body). The X-Men (Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler & Wolverine) have gathered at Xavier's bedside; with them his one-time lover Moira MacTaggert, current lover and alien princess Lilandra, Corsair of the space pirate team the Starjammers and the Starjammers' medic, Sikorsky.

At this time, the X-Men were living around the Bermuda Triangle in a base which Magneto had been utilizing in a storyline which wrapped up in issue #150 (I'll refer to that issue a few more times to come); the team's Westchester manor was recently destroyed and reconstruction would take a few more months of issues. Among the team is Cyclops, who had left the X-Men after Jean Grey's death (#137), handing the reigns of leadership over to Storm. It's interesting to note that while Cyclops is frequently considered the X-Men leader, he'd reunited with the team in #150 and was now almost a year back in the saddle without reclaiming the leader's position; he wouldn't lead the X-Men again 'til X-Men#1 (1991).

Cyclops is upset by Xavier's condition, particularly hearing how when the X-Men tried to use the alien psychic Oracle to wake him up, Xavier tried to commit suicide in response. This, of course, brings back Jean's suicide and Cyclops leaves to torment himself in private. Of the X-Men, Wolverine correctly guesses what's ailing Cyclops, noting their need for privacy is one of the few things they hold in common. Corsair, having recently revealed himself to be Cyclops' father, attempts to step in, but as team leader, it behooves Storm to deal with Cyclops.

Against a beautiful sunset, Cyclops questions Storm about her recent decisions, noting how she had recently led the X-Men to raid the Pentagon and destroy government files. Storm stands up for herself, but stung by his criticism tells him he be the leader again if he'd prefer; Cyclops apologizes and lowers his guard, telling Storm how much Xavier means to him as a surrogate father and how Jean's suicide still eats at him. Storm supports Cyclops for showing his vulnerable side and they reconcile rather nicely. Back at Xavier's bedside, Lilandra tries to reach Xavier, to no avail.

We now journey inside Xavier's mind, where the real story begins!

Some 20 years earlier - back when Xavier could use his legs - he was traveling through Haifa, Israel to see a friend, psychiatrist Daniel Shomron. A footnote helpfully explains this entire story occurs after the flashback story from issue #117 (which depicted Xavier's first meeting with Storm and first battle with an evil mutant). Daniel is working on Holocaust survivors and one the volunteers at the hospital - Magnus - is himself a Holocaust survivor.

And so we have the first meeting of Charles Xavier and the man who would be Magneto. This was only the second time Magneto had been referenced as a Holocaust survivor (it first came up in #150, the first comic to treat him as a sympathetic character). Here, Magnus displays a tattoo on his forearm from Auschwitz and mentions having lost his family there. Xavier is fascinated to sense how powerful Magnus' will is - his mind can't be read.

Xavier helps treat one of Shomron's patients, Gabrielle Haller, a Dachau survivor. Shomron describes her condition as "catatonic schizophrenia" and he's just about out of ideas.

Of course, Xavier has resources Shomron couldn't imagine; namely his psychic powers! He projects his mind into Gabrielle to try to unearth the source of the trauma which placed her in this state.

This page was the second moment to terrify me as a youngster. It depicts Gabrielle's memories as seen on the astral plane in which the Nazis at Dachau are depicted as frightening monsters, menacing Gabrielle and finally encasing her in gold. At four years old, I certainly didn't understand World War II, Nazis or the Holocaust, but in retrospect this page does a fine job of impressing something about the Holocaust on a young mind - you couldn't show what really went on in the death camps in reading material suitable for a child, but I understood what Xavier was seeing was a figurative representation of what happened to Gabrielle - so what really happened had to be even scarier.

Xavier's psychic treatment works and Gabrielle wakes up from her catatonic state. Xavier discusses what he saw in her mind with Daniel and Magnus but they don't understand what the gold meant; however, a spy eavesdropping on them is very interested in this information.

In the time which follows, Xavier, Magnus and Gabrielle form a tight bond. Xavier and Magnus find themselves discussing mutants and Magnus expresses his belief that "Homo Superior" will have to "hold the rings of power." (Power Rings?) Gabrielle starts to fall in love with Charles, but the peaceful times are shattered by the arrival of a band of heavily-armed men wearing green.

These fellows are agents of Hydra; although Hydra were supposed to be a band of terrorists introduced in 1960s continuity, a story from - of all things - Captain Savage and his Leatherneck Raiders established Hydra as having been founded during the latter days of World War II; I believe this was the first comic book to make use of that little retcon*.

The Hydra agents kidnap Gabrielle and make their escape, but during the tumult Xavier sees Magnus from afar, wielding his powers of magnetism to destroy a Hydra vessel. Xavier realizes he's met another fellow mutant. One Hydra agent is captured and Xavier reads his mind to learn where the rest are located.

Hydra is currently in Kenya, trying to dig up long-lost Nazi gold; Hydra's founder Baron Strucker is overseeing the operation; although Hydra have plenty of guns, airships and spiffy uniforms, one assumes Strucker's blown through his budget and needs the surplus funds. It seems Gabrielle learned about the gold's location in Dachau, which is what Hydra needed her for. Thanks to the reliable nature of torture to provide intelligence, they find the underground chamber which conceals the gold.

However, it's Xavier & Magnus to the rescue, even putting on Hydra uniforms to steal into the dig site! While Xavier tends to Gabrielle, Magnus does most of the fighting. By this time Magnus is no longer worried about hiding his true nature and has even figured out Xavier is a mutant like him.

Strucker attacks Magneto with his chief weapon, the Satan Claw**, but being a metal weapon Magnus easily crushes it with his powers. He winds up tunneling passage back to the surface for himself, Xavier, Gabrielle and all of the gold, but leaves Strucker buried alive. Having obtained a massive wealth of gold, Magnus sets off to ensure mutantkind's survival, determined they "won't go to the gas chambers." As Gabrielle wakes up from her ordeal, Xavier himself wakes up back in the Bermuda Triangle.

There's a happy moment as Xavier is met by all the well-wishers who kept him company while he was comatose.

Later, the X-Men visit Lilandra's yacht for a celebration, everyone decked out in bizarre, alien party clothes (this said, Nightcrawler looks great in a cape). Kitty Pryde and Colossus engage in flirting banter, while Corsair has to depart, feeling at odds with attending a Shi'ar party when officially the Starjammers are enemies of the Shi'ar Empire. In fact, his hasty departure seemed suspicious to me as a child, given what transpired next...

Lilandra delivers a toast to the X-Men as she prepares to return home, when suddenly she pauses out in mid-sentence. At this, Lilandra's evil sister Deathbird appears, having evidently drugged Lilandra. The X-Men attack Deathbird, but a force field protect her from harm; a bomb explodes, knocking the X-Men unconscious.

And now, the third image which terrified me! The vicious-looking Brood arrive as Deathbird's allies, hovering over the unconscious X-Men. Deathbird tells them they're welcome to use the X-Men as hosts for their young. To be continued...

When this story was reprinted in X-Men Classic#65 I bought it again, replacing my well-worn copy and getting a pretty nifty Mike Mignola cover in the bargain!

In fact, since I hadn't obtained any of the issues following Uncanny X-Men#161, I followed X-Men Classic regularly for a few months so I could finally see how the story of the X-Men against the Brood resolved itself (it has my vote for the all-time best "X-Men in space" story).

It's amazing how influential this comic book was; it was the introduction of the idea Xavier & Magneto were close friends before becoming enemies; this has informed every Xavier/Magneto story since, including those in animated programs and live action films. It also introduced Magneto's tattoo, which would be prominently displayed in the first X-Men movie. This would also be the first example of Magneto fighting leftover Nazis, which Claremont and others would revisit a few times across Magneto's appearances, until it became a major focus of this year's X-Men: First Class film.

Magneto's "Magnus" alias here would eventually prove to be just that - an alias. In the 1990s, Erik Lehnsherr was promoted by some as his actual name, while others tried to dismiss it as another forged identity; once it became his name in 2000's X-Men film you'd have thought that was final...only for it to be given as Max Eisenhardt in 2008. It's gone over about as well as revealing Wolverine's real name is James Howlett.

This story also continued the gradual softening of Magneto which had begun in issue #150; after this, Magneto would soon ally himself with the team in the Secret Wars mini-series, then start helping Xavier run the school after Charles was nearly beaten to death and finally become headmaster in #200. #200 would also feature Baron Strucker's children Fenris attack Xavier & Magneto as revenge for their humiliating the Baron back in #161. Fenris would periodically turn up in Claremont's X-Men material, but after #200 seldom did anything of importance.

Also of note is the introduction of Gabrielle Haller, who would eventually prove to be the mother of Xavier's son, Legion.

*=Of course, Hydra being founded by Baron Strucker was yet another retcon - Stan Lee introduced Hydra as being founded by evil industrialist Arnold Brown, but Jim Steranko apparently felt tying them to the Nazi regime was a better fit - and apparently he was right, to the extent that last summer's film Captain America: the First Avenger dispensed with Nazis almost entirely in favour of Hydra!

**=Used by writers to prove their "street cred," as if to say, "look, I read Steranko's Nick Fury!" As I discovered while writing a profile for the Satan Claw, Magneto crushing Strucker's hand would later be spiritually succeeded by scenes of people cutting off Strucker's hand.

Comics That Changed Me: Uncanny X-Men Annual#12

Today's Comics That Changed Me is a special PSA for young comic book readers about the dangers of peer pressure. It could turn you into a Marvel Zombie. To frame this story properly, I need to explain my comic book buying habits circa 1988. Being a ten year old whose only monetary resources were a tiny allowance and the occasional birthday gift, I had to spend my comic book money responsibly. To me, that meant I only followed the comic books I really liked. Back then, my single favorite comic book was Superman. By extension, I read primarily from DC Comics, especially if Superman was in any way involved. I did have quite a few Marvel comics but most of them were presents; the only Marvel book I truly enjoyed was Star Wars, which had been cancelled by '88.
The second important piece of information involves my cousins, James and Andrew. These two were each born within a year of me, roughly the year before and after. Not only were they nearer in age to me than any of my other cousins, they were nearer than my own siblings. I always looked forward to (all too infrequent) visits with James and Andrew. We had very similar tastes as children, notably our shared love of Star Wars.
There was a period of time where I would see James and Andrew once a year, always in the summer. It seemed like each summer the boys had a new mania they wanted to share with their fellow cousins. That summer of '88, at least part of the mania was the X-Men.
Writer: Chris Claremont Artists: Art Adams & Bob Wiacek.
I knew the X-Men from various gifts and such items that had wandered into my collection, but I didn't think much of it. The X-Men were just another super hero team, so far as I was concerned. Being a Marvel super hero team, I didn't invest a lot of time thinking about them.
But then there was James and Andrew with that annual. And they made the hard sell, employing peer pressure whether they knew it or not. They raved about that gorgeous Art Adams artwork a little, but mostly they extolled X-Men because it was the most popular comic book. I certainly had no idea which comics were more popular than others, but my respected cousins assured me that the X-Men were number one; moreover, Marvel was the number one publisher. "Everyone's doing it," to coin a phrase.
I read my cousins' copy of this annual a few times, trying to grasp what made it so great. This was the comic that introduced the X-Babies, for crying out loud! Its greatness escaped me at the time, but my cousins' peer pressure had begun to take some effect. If Marvel Comics really were the coolest comics, why wasn't I reading them?
Now, I had enough willpower of my own that I wasn't willing to simply become an X-Men fan, but how I began my Marvel Zombie phase is a story for the third installment. Suffice to say, I avoided the X-Men at first just to show I wasn't copying everything my cousins promoted.
In summers to follow, James and Andrew would sing the praises of Turbo Grafix 16, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Magic: the Gathering. I held out against them as best as I was able to, but as late as 2002 they were still able to sway me into Heroclix. James & Andrew: I love you guys, but you have so much to answer for...