9 More Thoughts About X-Men '97

I suppose prior to X-Men '97 it had been some time since I experienced an X-Men story that I enjoyed. With the first season done, it's left me with a few thoughts about the X-Men franchise and what the cartoon does very well.

1. Cyclops: In the comics, Cyclops had a tough time of it after the 1990s. He's the definitive X-Men leader but at times he was sidelined - written out of the book, or exploring his dark side, becoming a terrorist. X-Men '97 demonstrates that he really does work best as a great team leader - a man who has troubles in his personal life but knows how to rally his team, earn people's trust, stop the bad guys and save lives. The series even gave him a few moments to act cool (particularly in the 1st episode, where his use of his optic blasts is especially creative). There's a lot of life in this character - you don't have to bend or break him, just keep him tightly-wound.
2. Wolverine: He's been such an attention hog for so long that it's hard to remember how good he is as an ensemble player. Post 1990s, Wolverine suddenly took over roles on the team that were traditionally held by other characters - suddenly he was a natural leader or the team's conscience. It's not his best fit; X-Men '97 shows him as a bit of an agigtator but overall good team player who understands his allies' strengths and backs them up. It's nice to see him retreat back into this role after 24 years of stories where if he wasn't central to the action he simply wasn't present.
3. Nightcrawler: The early animated programs emphasized Kurt's Catholic faith - which is a significant part of his character, but not what made him a beloved X-Man. With him promoted to a lead character in X-Men '97, I was happy to see his swashbuckling love of adventure come to the fore. The Kurt who loves to laugh, fence and sneak up behind his friends to hug them is really the Kurt fans enjoy spending time with.
4. Bastion: The Operation: Zero Tolerance crossover in which Bastion was the lead villain came out in 1997 so it was certainly appropriate for X-Men '97 to adapt, but it was also considered a nadir in the X-Men franchise. Operation: Zero Tolerance has long been considered a failed storyline by fandom and Bastion an interesting but botched attempt at giving the team a major new opponent. X-Men '97 took advantage of hindsight to give Bastion a stronger storyarc, emphasizing him as not simply an anti-mutant figure but, as a cybernetic being, a contender against mutants' claim to representing the future of humanity. It's easily the most compelling take I've ever seen on Bastion and I expect the comics will scramble to give him an animated-inspired makeover.
5. The X-Men of the 90s: The failure of Operation: Zero Tolerance coincided with Scott Lobdell's exit from the X-Men. He'd been writing for them since the tailend of the Jim Lee era and, whatever you might say about his work, he kept the book consistent, largely by following the storytelling engine Chris Claremont had created. '97 was a particularly hard time for Marvel, with the company's bankruptcy, a number of failed new titles and initiatives and most of their television and film projects either stalled or dead on arrival. That X-Men '97 exists demonstrates how well Marvel repaired itself following the 90s. For all the negatives we can say about how Marvel has conducted itself in the 21st century, at least they pulled out of their death-spiral.
6. X-Men history: Outside of Operation: Zero Tolerance, however, X-Men '97 is very interested in celebrating - not the 1990s - but the 1980s X-Men of Chris Claremont's heyday. The characters of the original animated series were all garbed in the Jim Lee outfits they wore for most of the 1990s, but X-Men '97 gradually shifts most of the cast into costumes from the Claremont days; Rogue and Storm revert to their original Dave Cockrum costumes; Wolverine dons his brown and orange John Byrne costume; Magneto briefly wears his 1980s John Romita Jr. 'M' costume; Sunspot wears a 1980s New Mutants costume (pointedly he doesn't wear the blue and gold costume seen elsewhere in the series); Cyclops goes back to his classic Dave Cockrum look while Jean Grey wears her 1960s Don Heck costume. Claremont's Inferno is covered in a single episode! Claremont and Windsor-Smith's Lifedeath is adapted! But the series also looks ahead past the 1990s with Jubilee donning her circa 2010 costume, the Sentinel attack from E Is for Extinction is adapted and later characters such as Pixie pop up in the backgrounds.
7. Soap opera: I'm now convinced that if you don't want to write soap opera, you really ought to keep away from the X-Men. If you don't want to write at least one romantic triangle, why even bother? The X-Men have a long history of angst but also of romantic pairings - the fandom loves it. And X-Men '97 delves in, with a Cyclops/Jean/Madelyne triangle (that's a bit more nuanced than the original triangle), a Rogue/Magneto/Gambit triangle, the Storm/Forge pairing and a wholly original Jubilee/Sunspot romance. That's prime X-Men.
8. Metaphors: It's been pointed out that although the X-Men can be used as an interesting metaphor for race, religion and sexuality it can be unhelpful to try and make parity between them. Frequently, humans are right to be worried about mutants, given they have immense power, poor self-control and almost no accountability. They also have a tendency to close ranks and assert that only they can judge each other (they also appear to forgive each other very readily). That limits the metaphor, so it's probably best not to hit it too square on the head. I think X-Men '97 balanced it well - it's the first animated X-Men I've seen that was willing to dip its toes into gay/trans characters and certainly the character arc for Sunspot as he asserts his identity as a mutant seems to be intentionally mirroring the experience of someone "coming out." The destruction of Genosha draws from 9/11 to give scenes emotional depth yet not unearned. It's a good mix.
9. Shade: Oh, how I did enjoy X-Men '97 casting shade on the 2000 X-Men movie, as Cyclops quips of the X-Men costume he's just handed Cable: "What'd you expect? Black leather?" The 2000 film took a moment to dump on Wolverine's iconic comic book visuals and the last 24 years have seen many other comics characters adapted to live action in less-than-inspired visuals - often just wearing black leather. Kudos to X-Men '97 for being unashamedly a comic book adaptation.

"The name's Gambit, mon ami. Remember it." X-Men thoughts, related to X-Men '97

There are spoilers for X-Men '97 in this post.

I was skeptical of the X-Men '97 program when I heard about it; I certainly didn't intend to watch it. Still, I was aware that buzz was growing online after its debut a few weeks ago and I thought... after all... what harm could it do?

X-Men '97 is a continuation of the X-Men animated program that aired on Fox Kids in the 1990s. I enjoyed the 1990s program for the most part - I found the animation a bit crude (especially after I started watching the Bruce Timm Batman series) but I won't deny I was thrilled to see a major Marvel super hero in animated adventures that were helping raise the X-Men's profile around the world.

Still, why bring it back? Why not put that passion into a new animated X-Men program that kids in the 2020s might be interested in, rather than appeal to old guys who should have better things to do than watch a continuation of a favoured kids' show from their youth? Haven't comics themselves suffered greatly from fans' unwillingness to age out of the hobby? I mean, the comics themselves already produced a sequel to the 1990s cartoon that was written by Chris Sims... and that's all you needed to hear about that.

Going in, I was prepared for a nostalgia fest (and it is; they indulge in a recreation of the 90s X-Men arcade game for no good reason other than nostalgia). I was prepared to cringe. I don't think I was prepared to like it.

There's a moment in the first episode that cemented it for me. The X-Men's Blackbird jet is destroyed mid-air by a Sentinel. The X-Men must then use their powers to save each other from falling to their deaths. That's a pretty standard set-up for a super hero comic action set piece (in fact, the all-new all-different X-Men team faced that scenario way back in their 2nd adventure, X-Men #95). It climaxes with Cyclops using his optic blasts to slow his descent, an unusual means of demonstrating his power and control.

I was reminded of the scene in the film Iron Man 3 where Iron Man rescued people falling from an aircraft. Not just because of the similarity of the scenario, but because it called upon the hero to be resourceful (and for the film to demonstrate clear visual storytelling). As I say, scenarios like these were pretty typical in the comic books I grew up with; I see a lot fewer of them now - action scenes where the characters use their powers in ways that are creative and make sense according to the situation they find themselves in; opportunities to test characters and demonstrate something of their capabilities and even personalities; a situation that calls for a good command of visual storytelling rather than characters posing at each other while talking.

In which Michael imagines a typical X-Men comic book storytelling conference:

Writer: "Ugh, an action scene. I don't want to write an action scene."
Artist: "Nor do I care to draw one."
Writer: "Path of least resistance: they pose at each other in a double-page spread. Reader assumes the fight happened between panels."
Artist: "Whatever fills the pages works for me."
Writer: "That reminds me, I need to fill a data page. Maybe I'll quote Orwell. Or present nothing but redacted text."

I don't wish to join the chorus saying that the X-Men comics haven't been very good since Grant Morrison left 20 years ago - there have been outliers. It's just, they were outliers - not usually the main X-Men title. For the last 20 years the comic book counterparts have been trapped in their own storytelling engine. Usually the X-Men seem to be either fighting each other, fighting a faceless army or fighting someone so powerful they're practically a deity. The franchise has felt unmoored to me - ungrounded. Claremont's X-Men comics set up a template many other writers could use; when he was shown the door, his successors proved they could keep the books going through imitating his formula. But after Morrison broke the engine (or perhaps, after "M-Day" broke the engine) the massive cast of characters seem to have meandered, trapped in a shrinking universe with fewer and fewer new stories to tell, instead going through worn out tropes (an X-Man betrays the team! but they're a popular character so the team will get over it eventually; an X-Man dies! but so what, no one stays dead; the team breaks into factions with different philosophies and even fight each other! big whoop, they'll all be friends again when the next writer arrives).

X-Men '97 reminded me that, yeah, the X-Men are fun. They're interesting characters to spend time with. They have unique personalities, they clash over particular matters, they have different fighting styles... and they have a colorful rogue's gallery of enemies who have an interesting set of personalities too (Mojo maybe not so much). X-Men '97 reminded me... man, it's not that hard to tell a X-Men story that feels like a proper X-Men story. They made me feel for these characters again; even killing Gambit stirred me, despite all the comics have done to treat death with indifference (the present Krakoa age in the comics abolished death as any other than temporary inconvenience).

Many performers from the 1990s X-Men have reprised their voices, which is a little surprising. Cal Dodd's Wolverine sounds mostly the same, albeit weathered by age - although that kinda suits the character. I found Alison Sealy-Smith's imperious performance of Storm on the 1990s program off-putting (I think it drove me to dislike the comics version of Storm as well) but she seems to have a better balance now, less of the faux-Thor speech helps. The sheer number of returning performers is impressive considering more than 25 years have passed; even those who've aged out of their old roles have been recast into other characters for the new show.

For all that X-Men '97 is nostalgia bait for old men, I think new viewers might like it too; they'll probably have to watch the 1990s show first, though, and that might not appeal to them.

Angola in the Comics #18: Marauders #20

Welcome back to Angola in the comics!

Usually there are two flavours of stories I feature in this occasional series - European comics and rather racist books from the Golden Age. But today I have a rarity - an appearance by Angola in a contemporary mainstream super hero comic from Marvel Comics!

The comic in question is Marauders #20, published last year by writer Gerry Duggan and artist Stefano Caselli. Marauders is one of the many new X-Men books which have been published over the last few years since Jonathan Hickman redefined the franchise so as to render all the mutant characters basically immune to death (Hickman knows that the key to drama is to lower the stakes). The X-Men, who had previously felt somewhat like a cult instead leaned hard into that concept as now they all basically talk like a bunch of Scientologists. They like to think that on their island Krakoa they're a veritable nation, but Krakoa seems to be little more than a hotel resort.

Anyway, it's not as though the current set-up will last forever - fact is, Hickman himself foresaw an endgame for his story. But Marvel, in their wisdom, decided to keep the status quo running beyond its expiration date, as that has historically never been a problem with comics.

So then: the Marauders are pirates. But not the Captain Phillips-type contemporary pirates, they're... quasi-super hero pirates. Strangely, Nightcrawler is not among their ranks, despite being the lone X-Man renowned for his love of swashbuckling. But the one-eyed Callisto is there, which is a pretty good joke.

In this issue the Marauders sit around on their boat swapping stories about Storm and wagering on how many knives they think she owns. The Angolan connection comes up when Bishop states that Storm once helped him out in Angola. This comes as a surprise to Storm, since she doesn't recall ever being in Angola with Bishop. And so begins the flashback:

Based on the dialogue, it seems there were some Angolan mutants (not depicted on-panel) and Bishop and Pyro of the Marauders were exchanging some of Krakoa's super-medicine for their release. But as the flashback begins, Bishop and Pyro are facing four armed Angolan soldiers who want to change the terms of their deal. Oh no! How will Bishop (able to absorb any form of energy, basically unkillable even without Krakoa) and Pyro (walking flamethrower) ever overcome four men with guns?

Actually, this doesn't come down to a fight - it's a bit more clever than that. There's a storm forming in the sky above and Bishop claims that Storm herself is responsible for it. It's a bluff, but a loud thunderclap convinces the lead officer to relent and agree to the original terms of their deal.

And that's it - just one page of the comic given over to Angola, but that's still the biggest role Angola has ever featured in a Marvel comic.

Strange that all the Angolan soldiers spoke English... it's not exactly common over here, speaking as an ESL teacher in Angola. It could just as easily have been set in the Congo or Nigeria - the story references Angola, but doesn't actually depict Angola. But I give Duggan credit for making a token effort.

Marvel Super Villains and the Status Quo

I was recently going over some 1980s Marvel Comics and it got me thinking about villains and their status quo. Usually in fiction, the protagonists achieve some sort of status quo -- a basic structure that you can depend on being upheld from one installment to the next. It's more rare for the antagonists to have a status quo, because they're less likely to appear on a regular basis - they tend to turn up when there's a story to be told with them, then disappear until the next one.

And yet, when I was coming of age as a comic book reader, there were various Marvel Comics villains who had a status quo, one which would be reflected across the entire line of Marvel titles. It's basically gone away since then; villains may effect a temporary status quo -- as when Norman Osborn became the head of the Initiative in the company-wide Dark Reign -- but when the story wraps up, the villains are packed up until the next time they appear.

There are three villains whose 1980s status quo is, I think, interesting to reflect upon: the Kingpin; the Hellfire Club; and Freedom Force.

Although the Kingpin had been a New York crime boss in the pages of the Amazing Spider-Man since 1967, it wasn't until 1981 that Frank Miller reinvented him in the pages of Daredevil and the villain became a real mainstay of the Marvel Universe, one with a very identifiable status quo. The Kingpin became an untouchable criminal mastermind, maintaining the public facade of Wilson Fisk, philanthropist, while in actuality spearheading all organized crime in New York. Heroes such as Daredevil and Spider-Man would confront the Kingpin, but ultimately acknowledge they were powerless to stop him; the Kingpin had worked the system, had allies in law enforcement and the government. The heroes could fight back against him, but he could never be fully overcome.

Until, of course, he was. In 1992, Dan G. Chichester's storyline 'Last Rites' brought down the Kingpin, with Daredevil and S.H.I.E.L.D. employing evidence going back to the Miller run to bring about his downfall. This was not the end of the Kingpin as a comic book villain, but it was the end of that 11 year stretch when he was an undefeatable crime boss. Writers since then have frequently brought him back, but just as frequently brought him down again. The Kingpin has no staying power as an antagonist anymore. He'll always be around the fringes of Daredevil, but ever since we readers saw him taken down once, we've known he can't win.

The Hellfire Club had been a concept Chris Claremont had been toying with in many of his comic books until they made their proper debut in he and John Byrne's Uncanny X-Men in 1980, right in the middle of what would become known as "The Dark Phoenix Saga". Most (but not all) of the Hellfire Club's membership were mutants, but they saw themselves as elites, above the rest of their kind. They represented an interesting "third option" to the X-Men's "peaceful co-existence" with humans or Magneto's "no peace" with humans. The Hellfire Club didn't care about co-existence or waging war, just to feather their own nest. It was something of a libertarian approach to the mutant-human conflict -- the Hellfire Club had money, influence and power; they didn't care about the rest of mutantkind except as to how they might profit from them. For instance, they made a deal with the US government to manufacture Sentinels, doing so in part because it meant they could prevent themselves from being targeted by the Sentinels. Like the Kingpin, the Hellfire Club had power -- they were a resource the X-Men themselves had to occasionally make peace with to fight another foe. No matter who made up the club's ranks, their purpose remained the same.

Until Chris Claremont was unceremoniously booted from the X-Men franchise in 1991. The new writers spent a lot of time dismantling the status quo they had inherited, and for some reason took aim at the Hellfire Club. In a series of brief subplots mostly scattered in different X-Men titles (but principally in those by Whilce Portacio), the Hellfire Club's leadership were killed off by a new group called the Upstarts who had a sinister purpose of their own, and that was... erm...

The Upstarts were a pretty lousy replacement for the Hellfire Club. Their goals were only hazily defined and mostly were playing a "game" that involved attacking different X-Men characters. It was typically bad 1990s super villain plotting. With the failure of the Upstarts there were various attempts to bring back the Hellfire Club, but none of them stuck. Virtually every time the Club appears now, it's with a brand-new membership and the promise of many stories to come... until the next time they appear and have been completely revamped again.

Finally, take Freedom Force. This team debuted in 1981 in Claremont & Byrne's X-Men as a new incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants led by Mystique, but in 1986 Mystique cut a deal with the US government, obtaining status for her team as an official government group. Renamed "Freedom Force", Mystique and her allies were now on the right side of the law -- emphasizing the X-Men as an outlaw group. Freedom Force would sometimes respond appropriately to criminal threats, but at their core they remained the X-Men's enemies and took a ghoulish delight in going after the X-Men with the blessings of the government!

This lasted up 'til 1991 when, again, Claremont was let go. Several members of Freedom Force were killed and the rest absorbed into a new version of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (which didn't last very long). The US government replaced Freedom Force with a new team called X-Factor, made up of various heroes adjacent to the X-Men. Unlike Freedom Force, the characters in X-Factor were genuine heroes; they would still be forced to play the part of government stooges from time to time, but it certainly eased the tensions between the X-Men and the government.

Change is good and no status quo should last forever. Creators should also try to make their mark on a series, not simply mimick what came before. Bringing down the Kingpin isn't a bad idea (in fact, "Last Rites" is a very good story); dismantling the Hellfire Club could have led to an interesting new threat (if the Upstarts hadn't been so lame); perhaps the time had come for Freedom Force to be retired, as with the end of the Cold War events such as the Iran-Contra affair seemed mere history (and Peter David's X-Factor was fun).

And yet, something was lost for each of these groups and to the Marvel Universe. The Marvel Universe became a gentler place to live; it seemed to say organized crime could be dismantled; profiteers would be engulfed by fellow consumers; government corruption would cease.

In the 1980s, most of Marvel's super heroes were vigilantes and outlaws; not just Daredevil, Spider-Man and the X-Men -- the Hulk barely counted as a hero; and while the Avengers had security clearance with the US government, it was as much as a curse as a blessing as the government constantly interfered with their activities, dictated who could be on their team, withdrew equipment and funding at a moment's notice, etc. Nick Fury was one of the only reasonable government figures in the Marvel Universe yet even he would be kept at arm's length from the Marvel heroes because of his allegiance to S.H.I.E.L.D.

There was a sense that the Marvel Universe was being run by forces beyond the heroes' ability to counter. Like the greatest villain of the Silver Age, Doctor Doom, many Marvel villains were untouchable. Their schemes could be beaten, but they were part of the system, as the Kingpin, Hellfire Club and Freedom Force were. In the 1980s, the Kingpin's status as crime boss of New York was not a problem the heroes had to solve -- it was a status quo they had to endure.

Today, of course, everything is different. Marvel's villains hatch schemes which have vaster implications, playing on bigger scales, but defeating the plot is basically the same as defeating the villain. It's now understood that whatever new modus operandi the villains may have, they will be defeated eventually, then come back again with a different scheme. And the heroes? Far from being persecuted by the government, these days to be an Avenger is essentially to be a government agent (certainly it seems to be paired with membership in S.H.I.E.L.D. now).

Is it any wonder that so many of the big 'events' from Marvel in the last two decades have been about the heroes fighting each other? (Civil War, Civil War II, Shadowland, World War Hulk, Secret Empire, Time Runs Out, Avengers vs. X-Men, Inhumans vs. X-Men) It feels as though the heroes' great existential battle against the system (the status quo) has been won -- so what's left except to fight each other?

All images from the Grand Comics Database

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.

On Comixology: Heroic Age: X-Men

By 2010 I wasn't really an X-Man fan (though Mike Carey was writing some decent stuff at the time), but the idea of covering the X-Men characters in Heroic Age: X-Men intrigued me. I put the book together using X-Men, mutant villains, anti-mutant villains and pro-mutant humans to give a wide view of who the X-Men were. I was especially proud to sneak in the pro-mutant human stuff and reveal what they'd been up to since last seen.

As mutantkind begins to pull back from the brink of extinction, Steve Rogers joins the fight! Appraising the state of mutants today, Steve assesses the X-Men, X-Factor, the New Mutants, the Five Lights and more from the mutant community! This Heroic Age files book also includes considerations for the humans who have sympathized with the mutant condition and takes aim at the worst of anti-mutant bigotry! See the world of mutants from Steve Rogers' vantage point, featuring everyone from Apocalypse to X-23!

Now available at Comixology!

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.'

X-Men: Apocalypse creator credits

I'm primarily interested in figuring out who's responsible for the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, but I don't mind examining these X-Men pictures. This one felt like a lost episode of the 1990s Saban cartoon! The rest of the creator credits are found here.

Chris Claremont Co-creator of: Psylocke (Captain Britain #8, 1976); Storm, an African X-Man dressed in black with the ability to manipulate the weather; Storm called a 'goddess'; Nightcrawler, alias Kurt Wagner, a German mutant, X-Man and former circus performer who has blue skin, three digits on his hands, a long pointed tail and the power to teleport, leaving behind a cloud of smoke; Wolverine affiliated with the X-Men (Giant-Size X-Men #1, 1974); William Stryker, an anti-mutant zealot (Marvel Graphic Novel #5, 1982); Raven, alternate identity of Mystique (Ms. Marvel #16, 1978); Mystique, a blue-skinned shape-shifting mutant terrorist dressed in white (Ms. Marvel #18, 1978); Psylocke's codename (New Mutants Annual #2, 1986); Xavier's school utilizing holographic technology (Special Edition X-Men #1, 1983); the Blackbird jet, the X-Men's primary mode of transportation (X-Men #94, 1975); Moira MacTaggert, a human ally of the X-Men (X-Men #96, 1976); Moira as a one-time love interest of Xavier (X-Men #97, 1976); Wolverine's claws as a part of his body; Wolverine's pointed hair spikes; Wolverine connected to Jean Grey (X-Men #98, 1976); Jean Grey manifesting new abilities in the form of a fiery Phoenix (X-Men #101, 1976); Wolverine's real name as Logan (X-Men #103, 1977); Professor X battling enemies on the astral plane; Storm as a young thief in Cairo, Egypt (X-Men #117, 1979); Xavier using an automated wheelchair (X-Men #118, 1979); Magneto as Quicksilver's father (X-Men #125, 1979); Moira MacTaggert's son (X-Men #126, 1979); Jean Grey losing control over her heightened Phoenix powers (X-Men #129, 1980); Blob dressed in a black costume with yellow belt (X-Men #141, 1981); Caliban, a bald, albino mutant who tracks other mutants, speaks in third person (Uncanny X-Men #148, 1981); Magneto as a survivor of the Holocaust with a serial number tattooed on his arm; Magneto's daughter killed, embittering him against humanity (Uncanny X-Men #150, 1981); of Xavier's School residing on Graymalkin Lane (Uncanny X-Men #152, 1981); Xavier and Magneto as former friends who fell out (Uncanny X-Men #161, 1982); Nightcrawler as a Christian who prays during dire situations (Uncanny X-Men #165, 1983); Storm wearing black leather and a mohawk (Uncanny X-Men #173, 1983); Mr. Sinister, a figure who studies mutants (Uncanny X-Men #221, 1987); Xavier's school being destroyed (Uncanny X-Men #243, 1989); Jubilee, a teenage mutant affiliated with the X-Men (Uncanny X-Men #244, 1989); Psylocke as an Asian woman with purple hair dressed in a blue costume (Uncanny X-Men #256, 1989); Psylocke generating a psychic knife from her hand; Jubilee dressed in a yellow coat and large earrings (Uncanny X-Men #257, 1990); Cyclops wearing a blue costume with a yellow strap across his chest; Jean Grey wearing a blue and orange costume (X-Men #1, 1991)

Stan Lee Co-creator of: Mutants, a collection of humans with powers who are feared by other humans; the X-Men, a team of mutant heroes based at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in Westchester County; the X-Men's black & yellow costumes; Jean Grey, a teenage X-Man with telekinetic powers; Cyclops, a teenage X-Man whose ruby quartz glasses help control his power of destructive optic blasts; the Beast, alias, Hank McCoy, a brilliant X-Man with superhuman strength and agility; Professor Charles Xavier, a bald, crippled mutant telepath and founder of the X-Men; Magneto, a red costumed helmet/cape wearing mutant with powers over magnetism and frequent foe of the X-Men; Angel, a mutant with white feathered wings which allow him to fly (X-Men #1, 1963); the Danger Room, a special facility within Xavier's school where his students test their powers; Xavier having contacts within the federal government (X-Men #2, 1963); Cyclops' real name Scott Summers; the Blob, a mutant with superhumanly dense fat (X-Men #3, 1964); Quicksilver, a superhumanly fast mutant with silver hair; Xavier and Magneto arguing their differing philosophies about mutants (X-Men #4, 1964); Cerebro, Xavier's machine used to locate mutants (X-Men #7, 1964); Beast as a jack-of-all-trades scientist (X-Men #8, 1964); the X-Men using jets for travel (X-Men #10, 1965); the Sentinels, large purple robots which fight the X-Men (X-Men #14, 1965)

Jack Kirby Co-creator of: Mutants, a collection of humans with powers who are feared by other humans; the X-Men, a team of mutant heroes based at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in Westchester County; the X-Men's black & yellow costumes; Jean Grey, a teenage X-Man with telekinetic powers; Cyclops, a teenage X-Man whose ruby quartz glasses help control his power of destructive optic blasts; the Beast, alias, Hank McCoy, a brilliant X-Man with superhuman strength and agility; Professor Charles Xavier, a bald, crippled mutant telepath and founder of the X-Men; Magneto, a red costumed helmet/cape wearing mutant with powers over magnetism and frequent foe of the X-Men; Angel, a mutant with white feathered wings which allow him to fly (X-Men #1, 1963); the Danger Room, a special facility within Xavier's school where his students test their powers; Xavier having contacts within the federal government (X-Men #2, 1963); Cyclops' real name Scott Summers; the Blob, a mutant with superhumanly dense fat (X-Men #3, 1964); Quicksilver, a superhumanly fast mutant with silver hair; Xavier and Magneto arguing their differing philosophies about mutants (X-Men #4, 1964); Cerebro, Xavier's machine used to locate mutants (X-Men #7, 1964); Beast as a jack-of-all-trades scientist (X-Men #8, 1964); the X-Men using jets for travel (X-Men #10, 1965); the Sentinels, large purple robots which fight the X-Men (X-Men #14, 1965)

Dave Cockrum Co-creator of: Storm, an African X-Man dressed in black with the ability to manipulate the weather; Storm called a 'goddess'; Nightcrawler, alias Kurt Wagner, a German mutant, X-Man and former circus performer who has blue skin, three digits on his hands, a long pointed tail and the power to teleport, leaving behind a cloud of smoke; Wolverine affiliated with the X-Men (Giant-Size X-Men #1, 1974); Xavier's school utilizing holographic technology (Special Edition X-Men #1, 1983); the Blackbird jet, the X-Men's primary mode of transportation (X-Men #94, 1975); Moira MacTaggert, a human ally of the X-Men (X-Men #96, 1976); Moira as a one-time love interest of Xavier (X-Men #97, 1976); Wolverine's claws as a part of his body; Wolverine's pointed hair spikes; Wolverine connected to Jean Grey (X-Men #98, 1976); Jean Grey manifesting new abilities in the form of a fiery Phoenix (X-Men #101, 1976); Wolverine's real name as Logan (X-Men #103, 1977); Caliban, a bald, albino mutant who tracks other mutants, speaks in third person (Uncanny X-Men #148, 1981); Magneto as a survivor of the Holocaust with a serial number tattooed on his arm; Magneto's daughter killed, embittering him against humanity (Uncanny X-Men #150, 1981); Xavier and Magneto as former friends who fell out (Uncanny X-Men #161, 1982)

Louise Simonson Co-creator of: Angel's wings damaged in combat (X-Factor #10, 1986); Apocalypse using servants dubbed Horsemen; War, one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen (X-Factor #11, 1986); Famine, one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen (X-Factor #12, 1987); Pestilence, one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen (X-Factor #15, 1987); Apocalypse using four Horsemen; Apocalypse wielding advanced technology; Death, one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen; Angel recruited as Apocalypse's Horsemen (X-Factor #21, 1987); Apocalypse having existed since the days of ancient Egypt, at which time he was worshiped as a god; Angel given metal wings by Apocalypse (X-Factor #24, 1988); Angel called the Angel of Death (X-Factor #38, 1989)

Walter Simonson Co-creator of: Angel's wings damaged in combat (X-Factor #10, 1986); Apocalypse using servants dubbed Horsemen; War, one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen (X-Factor #11, 1986); Pestilence, one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen (X-Factor #15, 1987); Apocalypse using four Horsemen; Apocalypse wielding advanced technology; Death, one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen; Angel recruited as Apocalypse's Horsemen (X-Factor #21, 1987); Apocalypse having existed since the days of ancient Egypt, at which time he was worshiped as a god; Angel given metal wings by Apocalypse (X-Factor #24, 1988); Angel called the Angel of Death (X-Factor #38, 1989)

Len Wein Co-creator of: Wolverine, a man with metal claws which extend from his hands; Wolverine's codename 'Weapon X' (Incredible Hulk #180, 1974); Storm, an African X-Man dressed in black with the ability to manipulate the weather; Storm called a 'goddess'; Nightcrawler, alias Kurt Wagner, a German mutant, X-Man and former circus performer who has blue skin, three digits on his hands, a long pointed tail and the power to teleport, leaving behind a cloud of smoke; Wolverine affiliated with the X-Men (Giant-Size X-Men #1, 1974); the Blackbird jet, the X-Men's primary mode of transportation (X-Men #94, 1975)

John Byrne Co-creator of: Magda, Magneto's wife (Avengers #186, 1979); Professor X battling enemies on the astral plane; Storm as a young thief in Cairo, Egypt (X-Men #117, 1979); Xavier using an automated wheelchair (X-Men #118, 1979); Magneto as Quicksilver's father (X-Men #125, 1979); Moira MacTaggert's son (X-Men #126, 1979); Jean Grey losing control over her heightened Phoenix powers (X-Men #129, 1980); Blob dressed in a black costume with yellow belt (X-Men #141, 1981)

Roy Thomas Co-creator of: Quicksilver wearing the colors blue and white (Avengers #75, 1970); Wolverine, a man with metal claws which extend from his hands (Incredible Hulk #180, 1974); the X-Men testing their powers against training robots (X-Men #22, 1966); Cyclops and Jean Grey as a couple (X-Men #32, 1967); Cyclops dressed in a blue costume (X-Men #39, 1967); Cerebro designed with a helmet affixed with twin cables (X-Men #40, 1968); Jean Grey's power of telepathy (X-Men #43, 1968); Alexander Summers' codename Havok (X-Men #58, 1969)

Jim Lee Co-creator of: Psylocke as an Asian woman with purple hair dressed in a blue costume (Uncanny X-Men #256, 1989); Psylocke generating a psychic knife from her hand; Jubilee dressed in a yellow coat and large earrings (Uncanny X-Men #257, 1990); Cyclops wearing a blue costume with a yellow strap across his chest; Jean Grey wearing a blue and orange costume (X-Men #1, 1991); Psylocke wielding a sword (X-Men #6, 1992)

Barry Windsor-Smith Creator of: the Weapon X Project, a rogue government operation to transform Logan into their agent (Marvel Comics Presents #72, 1991); Weapon X outfitting Logan with a sensory helmet while programming him as their agent (Marvel Comics Presents #78, 1991); Logan going on a rampage, killing many of the Weapon X Project's staff (Marvel Comics Presents #81, 1991)

Scott Lobdell Co-creator of: Apocalypse wearing out his bodies over time, requiring him to transfer his essence into new bodies (Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #4, 1994); Xavier finding his telepathy difficult as a child (Uncanny X-Men #309); Apocalypse transforming people into stone (Uncanny X-Men #332, 1996); Psylocke wielding a sword (X-Men #6, 1992)

Marc Silvestri Co-creator of: Mr. Sinister, a figure who studies mutants (Uncanny X-Men #221, 1987); Xavier's school being destroyed (Uncanny X-Men #243, 1989); Jubilee, a teenage mutant affiliated with the X-Men (Uncanny X-Men #244, 1989); Famine, one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen (X-Factor #12, 1987)

Werner Roth Co-creator of: the Sentinels, large purple robots which fight the X-Men (X-Men #14, 1965); the X-Men testing their powers against training robots (X-Men #22, 1966); Cyclops and Jean Grey as a couple (X-Men #32, 1967); Cerebro designed with a helmet affixed with twin cables (X-Men #40, 1968)

Fabian Nicieza Co-creator of: Apocalypse's true name, En Sabah Nur (X-Force #37, 1994); Apocalypse lying within his crypt to recover his power (X-Men #14, 1992); Magneto's name as Erik Lehnsherr (X-Men Unlimited #2, 1993)

Herb Trimpe Co-creator of: Psylocke (Captain Britain #8, 1976); Wolverine, a man with metal claws which extend from his hands; Wolverine's codename 'Weapon X' (Incredible Hulk #180, 1974)

Jim Mooney Co-creator of: Raven, alternate identity of Mystique (Ms. Marvel #16, 1978); Mystique, a blue-skinned shape-shifting mutant terrorist dressed in white (Ms. Marvel #18, 1978)

Paul Smith Co-creator of: Nightcrawler as a Christian who prays during dire situations (Uncanny X-Men #165, 1983); Storm wearing black leather and a mohawk (Uncanny X-Men #173, 1983)

Terry Kavanagh Co-creator of: Apocalypse called 'the first mutant' (Rise of Apocalypse #1, 1996); Apocalypse involved in the construction of pyramids (Rise of Apocalypse #2, 1996)

James Felder Co-creator of: Apocalypse called 'the first mutant' (Rise of Apocalypse #1, 1996); Apocalypse involved in the construction of pyramids (Rise of Apocalypse #2, 1996)

Adam Pollina Co-creator of: Apocalypse called 'the first mutant' (Rise of Apocalypse #1, 1996); Apocalypse involved in the construction of pyramids (Rise of Apocalypse #2, 1996)

Don Heck Co-creator of: Cyclops dressed in a blue costume (X-Men #39, 1967); Alexander Summers, a mutant with plasma burst powers, brother of Cyclops (X-Men #54, 1969)

Peter Milligan Co-creator of: Essex, Mr. Sinister's true name (The Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #1, 1996); Mystique as one of the X-Men (X-Men #181, 2006)

Gene Ha Co-creator of: Apocalypse wearing out his bodies over time, requiring him to transfer his essence into new bodies (Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #4, 1994)

Tom Sutton Co-creator of: Beast as a biochemist; Beast transforming into a furry body (Amazing Adventures #11, 1972); Beast's blue fur (Amazing Adventures #15, 1972)

Clayton Henry Co-creator of: Apocalypse having human worshipers across the centuries who assist in his survival (Apocalypse vs. Dracula #1, 2006)

Frank Tieri Co-creator of: Apocalypse having human worshipers across the centuries who assist in his survival (Apocalypse vs. Dracula #1, 2006)

Bill Mantlo Co-creator of: Wolverine traumatized by the process of being augmented by the government (Alpha Flight #33, 1986)

Sal Buscema Co-creator of: Wolverine traumatized by the process of being augmented by the government (Alpha Flight #33, 1986)

Arnold Drake Co-creator of: Alexander Summers, a mutant with plasma burst powers, brother of Cyclops (X-Men #54, 1969)

John Romita Co-creator of: Wolverine, a man with metal claws which extend from his hands (Incredible Hulk #180, 1974)

Neal Adams Co-creator of: Alexander Summers' codename Havok (X-Men #58, 1969); Havok as one of the X-Men (X-Men #65, 1970)

Gerry Conway Co-creator of: Beast as a biochemist; Beast transforming into a furry body (Amazing Adventures #11, 1972)

John Paul Leon Co-creator of: Essex, Mr. Sinister's true name (The Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #1, 1996)

Robert Kirkman Co-creator of: Jean Grey wielding her Phoenix powers against Apocalypse (Ultimate X-Men #93, 2008)

Harvey Tolibao Co-creator of: Jean Grey wielding her Phoenix powers against Apocalypse (Ultimate X-Men #93, 2008)

Brent Anderson Co-creator of: William Stryker, an anti-mutant zealot (Marvel Graphic Novel #5, 1982)

Rick Remender Co-creator of: Psylocke as one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen (Uncanny X-Force #16, 2011)

Jerome Opena Co-creator of: Psylocke as one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen (Uncanny X-Force #16, 2011)

John Romita Jr. Co-creator of: Xavier finding his telepathy difficult as a child (Uncanny X-Men #309)

Andy Kubert Co-creator of: Apocalypse lying within his crypt to recover his power (X-Men #14, 1992)

Joe Madureira Co-creator of: Apocalypse transforming people into stone (Uncanny X-Men #332, 1996)

Bob McLeod Co-creator of: Xavier's School residing on Graymalkin Lane (Uncanny X-Men #152, 1981)

John Buscema Co-creator of: Quicksilver wearing the colors blue and white (Avengers #75, 1970)

Ethan Van Sciver Co-creator of: Beast as a teacher at Xavier's school (New X-Men #117, 2001)

Grant Morrison Co-creator of: Beast as a teacher at Xavier's school (New X-Men #117, 2001)

Jan Durrsema Co-creator of: Magneto's name as Erik Lehnsherr (X-Men Unlimited #2, 1993)

Paul Pelletier Co-creator of: Apocalypse's true name, En Sabah Nur (X-Force #37, 1994)

Jackson Guice Co-creator of: Apocalypse, a powerful mutant (X-Factor #5, 1986)

Gary Friedrich Co-creator of: Psylocke's psychic powers (Captain Britain #34, 1977)

David Michelinie Co-creator of: Magda, Magneto's wife (Avengers #186, 1979)

Bob Layton Co-creator of: Apocalypse, a powerful mutant (X-Factor #5, 1986)

Larry Lieber Co-creator of: Psylocke's psychic powers (Captain Britain #34, 1977)

Mark Gruenwald Co-creator of: Magda, Magneto's wife (Avengers #186, 1979)

Ron Wilson Co-creator of: Psylocke's psychic powers (Captain Britain #34, 1977)

Steven Grant Co-creator of: Magda, Magneto's wife (Avengers #186, 1979)

Steve Englehart Co-creator of: Beast's blue fur (Amazing Adventures #15, 1972)

George Tuska Co-creator of: Jean Grey's power of telepathy (X-Men #43, 1968)

Alan Davis Co-creator of: Psylocke's codename (New Mutants Annual #2, 1986)

Roger Cruz Co-creator of: Mystique as one of the X-Men (X-Men #181, 2006)

Dennis O'Neil Co-creator of: Havok as one of the X-Men (X-Men #65, 1970)

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 5: X-Factor and the Trouble With Character Derailment

(I apologize for running late on this, the final installment)

Appropriately, I'm ending my look at Bob Layton's X-Factor by discussing the very concept of the series - the controversial "mutants hunting mutants" set-up, introduced at a time when Chris Claremont's Uncanny X-Men cast included a young woman who was traumatized at having been forced to hunt her own kind. The idea that the original five X-Men would help mutants by developing an agency to hunt mutants down seems ridiculous. But before I condemn it, let's hear the original idea, as presented to the team by their public relations advisor Cameron Hodge in X-Factor #1:

"Our organization will capitalize on human beings' distrust of mutants by posing as a mutant deterrent agency. People that suspect a mutant menace will call our toll-free number to report an incident! We will then, in the guise of a team of psychologists and scientists, investigate the subject! In reality, our true goal is to isolate and protect the people who possess the X-Factor mutation in their genetic make-up. Appropriately, the name our organization will be known by is -- X-Factor."

And what sort of people contacted X-Factor to enlist their help during the Bob Layton days?

• - In X-Factor #1, a naval officer asked X-Factor to capture Rusty Collins, a young sailor who accidentally injured a woman with his powers; Rusty subsequently broke out of captivity when the officer tried to murder him, which is why the officer wanted someone outside the conventional authorities involved.
• - In X-Factor #2, Carl Maddicks worried that his hired thug Tower might turn on him so he told X-Factor where to apprehend him.
• - In X-Factor #4, Angel's former headmaster asked him to investigate student Martin Davis, who claimed to be a mutant telepath; Martin was actually a clever inventor and eavesdropper.
• - In X-Factor #5, Susan Nowlan hired X-Factor to find her drug addict husband Michael, whose mutant gifts were being exploited by the Alliance of Evil.

From four cases, the team was sent to assist in two cases which genuinely needed their assistance. In the second case, they were patsies to a villain. In the third, they frightened a lonely boy. Great work, everybody! There are many things worth questioning about X-Factor's set-up, such as how they were able to seemingly incarcerate people they "captured." I mean, Rusty Collins broke out of prison and it was public knowledge that since issue #1 he'd been in X-Factor's custody (Frenzy came looking for him in #4 assuming she'd have to break him out of the building). How were the legal authorities satisfied with X-Factor holding their own detention facility with no access to counsel?

Of course, the bigger problem is the very idea of creating a group to hunt mutants in order to help them. Hodge presented this idea as being a clever way to defuse "the problem of mutant hysteria by turning it upon itself!" And yet, the very concept of X-Factor - as presented to the public - is one which assumes the very worst of people. Recall that at this time in Marvel's X-Men titles, mutants were facing discrimination but there were no vast experimental labs, concentration camps or even public lynchings (the latter, not since Iceman's origin, IIRC). Xavier's school - and Emma Frost's sinister Massachusetts Academy - were both below the radar, not publicly known to register mutant students.

And into this comes X-Factor, an agency marketed towards people who are already afraid of mutants and, by its very existence, assures them they should be afraid! What sort of clients did the team expect they would be led to? Their manifesto - "people that suspect a mutant menace" - should, in a best-case scenario, lead to actual mutant menaces, not people in need of help. Which is fine, I guess, if battling evil mutants is the most important thing mutants can do for one another. But what about the new, young mutants who were in need of a positive voice, someone to reassure them? What about normal humans who care deeply for a mutant friend or family member who's in trouble?

X-Factor needed to establish itself as marking different territory than the X-Men, so the idea of Angel bankrolling a corporation to improve the lot of mutants in the public was a very savvy (and 80s) idea. The idea as presented, however, was obviously doomed to failure and could have only fanned the flames of intolerance against mutants. At best, X-Factor offered mutants sanctuary in a secret hideout - but the X-Men were already doing that much! What mutants really needed at the time was a voice, rather than assuming "keep your head down" is the way things should be. Being that Warren Worthington III was publicly known to be a mutant, any journalist worth their salt could have found the link between he and X-Factor within a week if they cared to. So why bother keeping secrets from the public which would inevitably be found out?

As one of the wealthiest and best-known mutants in the USA, Angel should have made X-Factor a transparent company. A corporation out to assist mutants who needed it, running 1-800 hotlines for young mutants just like those phone services which exist for addicts or teen pregnancies. This version of X-Factor would have been provocative in a way the X-Men weren't, engaging in a direct discourse with how the public views mutants, trying to affect public perception by placing mutants before the cameras and letting them speak their piece.

Before Layton's five issues were up the cracks had begun to form; one Senator Thompson confronted Hodge in issue #3, wondering "Do any of you realize that X-Factor may be doing more harm than good?" But although Thompson returned in the annual, the subplot did not. However, Jean took a moment to reflect upon the Martin Davis incident (from the list above) during issue #5 and wondered then what effect X-Factor was having on the public. When Layton left, his successor Louise Simonson took out the butcher's knives the concept, confirming that, indeed, X-Factor was making things worse for mutants and that had been Hodge's goal all along as he secretly resented the adulation Angel had received for being a mutant. Eventually, X-Factor would come clean about who and what they were and, by the end of Fall of the Mutants, would win a major public relations victory for mutants by saving Manhattan from Apocalypse.

But the damage was done, and in retrospect, the heroes looked rather dense for ever believing in Hodge's idea. When the "mutant hunters" angle dropped off, the series no longer ran with a particular mission statement, it simply became an X-Men comic book with a different cast than Claremont's. Later on, Peter David's X-Factor would fashion a new team and mission statement for the team's name, but that's another matter.

The power of nostalgia had been invoked to draw the original five X-Men back together again. With the X-Men franchise running at a high which ultimately lasted for another decade without any massive misfires, X-Factor just needed to be both diferent from the X-Men and decent. But it never managed both at once.

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.)