InsaneJournal

X-Men ramblings!
Instead of posting something worth substance; I decided to indulge my current escapism and rant about various thoughts I'm having about the X-franchise and the like - including Wolverine and the X-Men thoughts, looking at earlier 00s issues, and more.

• As much as I abhor Reginald Hudlin's handling of Storm in the mainstream universe, one of the reasons I was so frustrated was because - and I only remembered this as of ten minutes ago - that his first handling of Ororo was incredible. I would pull the pages and just show you, but since I'm trying to find preview pages posted in... 2005; I'll just include the dialogue. This was from Black Panther Vol 4 issue 7; which was a House of M tie-in issue (thusly, this character is Queen Ororo of Kenya rather than Ororo Iqadi T'Challa-Munroe of the main Marvel Universe) and the context is a scene where Magneto and Quicksilver are watching television;
  
  On the television; scene of malnourished child.
  
  Voiceover: This is Africa, as we once knew it - a continent of starvation, tribal warfare, disease and drought...
  
  Image of child changes to highrise skyscrapers and mechanized farming.
  
  VO: ...And this is Africa today, with mutant leadership replacing corrupt human rule. Literacy is up, unemployment is down, and peace is breaking out everywhere. From basket case to the world's breadbasket, Africa is on the move! Today on "Alison", we have an exclusive interview with the woman who made this change possible - Queen Ororo of Kenya!
  
  Alison Blaire: Queen Ororo, would you agree that Africa is the best example of how life is better under mutant rule?
  
  Queen Ororo of Kenya: There's no doubt that various regimes exploited Africa terribly. From the slave trade to apartheid, Africa has been a victim to a series of moral abominations condoned by world governments, religions and businesses.
  
  AB: Well said!
  
  QO: Magneto has installed leadership that actually cares about the people on this continent, and for that, we are grateful. I am very, very proud of being a mutant. But I do not believe that the mutant gene includes some inherent moral superiority. Mutation is a scientific fact, not a character statement.
  
  AB: Perhaps you might want to explain what you mean so some viewers don't get the wrong idea... heh heh...
  
  Magneto: Yes, explain yourself, you traitorous wench!
  
  Quicksilver: Father...
  
  QO: Gladly. Castro once claimed that racism was a natural byproduct of capitalism, and that the communist system would naturally eradicate prejudice. Wrong.
  
  M: You can't compare the two! Humans really do hate difference!
  
  QO: No "ism" is going to fix the persistence of prejuduce without specific solutions. We have to acknowledge that the myth of white supremacy continues in the mutant-controlled world.
  
  AB: What do you mean by that?
  M: What do you mean by that?
  
  QO: I mean the ideal is still a white person with a human appearance. I haven't noticed any furry, feathered or scaled beings deliver the news, have you?
  
  Q: Good point.
  
  AB: Er, enough with politics... What's going on in your love life?
  
  At which point Magneto smashes the TV - and despite the relatively crappy characterization he received; I honestly adored these two pages. They were incredible! To see Ororo - who since '75 has been a constant presence in terms of being a woman of colour as well as an established hero in her own right - actively recognizing, speaking up against and acknowledging white supremacy (and recognizing it's existence in the context of cross-sectionalism) is incredible! While the lack of Feminism or Womanism mentioned is troubling; and leads to... well, this. A presentation that renders Ororo as childish instead of as childlike. I may write more about this, but I'll say that for all of Reginald Hudlin's admirable work in addressing white supremacy within a Western context, he completely re-enforced the problematic misogynistic themes that exist within male-dominated black empowerment movements. And my opinion of her current marriage can be expressed succinctly via a quote from stormantic in the above linked entry;
  
  Here’s the thing. I love Storm and Black Panther together. I have always liked the idea of them as a couple. However, I am not a fan of how quickly Marvel rushed them into marriage.



• I actually really, really liked the status quo during Reload. This isn't to say I didn't like the previous era (despite Grant Morrison's de-rail of Magneto and the likely-editorially mandated killing of one of my favourite characters) - I adored the latter half of X-Treme; there were incredible themes and ideas expanding there. Ororo creating her own branch of the X-Legacy by creating the XSE (internationally sanctioned UN mutant marshals), most of the original New Mutants joining the team, Rogue having no powers and being incredibly cool, possible return of Psylocke, and most of all - international traveling!
  
  That being said, Wow - did I forget how many ideas I enjoyed during Claremont's third run at Uncanny. Betsy returning the way she did, Ororo flirting with both Kurt and Logan and beginning to relish her anger (compared to simply embracing it beforehand), Sage returning to the Hellfire Club to make sure Sunspot stayed on their side, Emma being written in a likable way... Granted, this was offsetted by ideas I didn't enjoy (Rachel reading much, much less competent and younger; X-23 growling and again, feeling less competent; Bishop being Bishop) but for the most part I really did adore it. And the Andy Park arc! The art was lovely, to the point I remember a friend of mine bringing up how I'd like it because of the fashion. I loved the school and the exploding population ideas from pre-ReLoad mixed with the primary colour fun of ReLoad. And then House of M happened. And it wasn't even good (as an event, as a universe it has serious potential; note the above Queen Ororo of Kenya bit).
  
  Also, New X-Men. I adored those kids, and I was heartbroken when Marvel just up and announced new writers and not even acknowledging that the previous writers were kicked off. I actively stopped buying New X-Men at that point, because it was just the worst kind of insult. It was also of little to no interest to me, what with my favourite characters being de-powered or (literally) blown up in a bus. This isn't to say that Yost & Johnson aren't talented writers - after they disgustingly cleared house they made new engaging characters, and Yost specifically gave me a great joy - whenever I think about the title, my heart hurts a little. Especially when I think of how DeFilippis and Weir were treated.



• Ah, Wolverine and the X-Men. What a strange little show - it's a show that is predicated in two very different areas. In marketing, Wolverine has to be the leader of the team. In narrative, Wolverine has to be a terrible leader (because he's Wolverine). How do you reconcile the two? By throwing the X-Men in losing situations all the time, and making their two actual leaders look like chumps in two main ways - emotionally (Cyclops) or in battle (Storm). Whereas Wolverine has skills in both, is clearly more suited to battle, but the team just sucks so much compared to him that he can't help but be leader? The plotting in the show is a bit clearer, but I don't really care in that Storm really become one of those constant background characters. Scott is given a lengthy and meaningful reason for his relative incompetence (Jean is missing, and it's shown that Jean is the primary figure that allowed Scott to overcome his emotional awkwardness). Ororo? We see in the 4th episode that she's actually doing what most superheroes should be doing in their spare time; being active in the international community and using their abilities to improve the quality of life for everyone. Then she returns to the team because she sees that making sure the world doesn't become a hellhole in 20 years is a bit of a priority.
  
  Otherwise, it's mostly her getting kicked in the head or failing to turn around while a Sentinel blasts her. Although, there is one more episode she gets serious screentime in - and it's a bit of a shock why; though I've grown to love it.
  
  The season introduced Angel rather early on; but he only joins the time in Episode 17. In episode 18, his title episode, one can pretty clearly infer that him and Ororo are romantically involved! Kind of from screens like this. And Ororo making flirting faces like this. And them flying around together. This is an idea that's been toyed with before - most notably in Ultimate X-Men 40. Unfortunately for her, this is the episode that Angel has his wings amputated and is then turned into Archangel. It's actually a rather openly emotional episode for both of them, and Ororo does have one very touching power display - after Warren refuses to stop attacking his father, she sadly raises her hand and makes a fist... calling a lightning bolt to zap Warren and One hit KO him.
  
  In terms of her presentation though... I love it. Susan Dalian does a wonderful job with her voice; the few instances we see her range - just watch Overflow & Guardian Angel - she does a phenomenal job; mixing the academic diction Ororo speaks in but using it in a casual performance. Her voice has presence when it speaks, but not in a ham-like manner. It's such a shame that out of the 10 episodes she speaks, that there are only 2 or 3 episodes that she has major lines.
  
  Her design is great. I love her hair; I love how it has this distinctive shape and it's beautiful and it's actually how long hair grows out for many black and brown people. I love her nose in that the bridge travels outward instead of inward. I'm not a fan of her paperthin waist. I am a fan of her civvies; oh man I love those (and Jean's as well). The character design in the show is of incredibly high quality; considering the number of unique characters introduced in the show - this is a huge success. Incredible job.
  
  Before I forget, though - I do have to bring up that if there's one character that seriously jobs Wolverine, it's Emma. Wow, Emma just manages to.... I'm not even sure if I dislike her or not. She definitely makes an impression on you one way or another, but I'm generally ambivalent towards her - primarily because there are other characters we could do with seeing other than Emma Frost. Show me Wanda more! Show me Storm more! Show me more Psylocke! But Marvel - at all levels - seems obsessed with shoving Emma down our throats as the prototypical X-Woman. Seriously, I like Emma normally. So this is really frustrating.



• Of the current books, despite the schedule and the desstruction of Forge - I really enjoyed the first arc of Astonishing X-Men from Ellis. I also enjoyed his characterization and writing of Storm; who takes on a group role I've never seen her take before - that of the nonchalant, slightly bored but gregarious old friend. She's clearly Storm, and she had a plan to get back on the team, but she just feels so much more relaxed and comfortable - of course she has questions, but these queries aren't like Scott's rather drawn out rationalizations (and her character merges rather well with everything that happened in Worlds Apart). They aren't even queries. Rather, just observations. She knows what she's doing, and her moods feel very relaxed. While I adore Claremont, his Ororo is sometimes too serious for his own good while he's communicated that she's fun (successfully, for the most part), I want to see other writers take a shot at writing her as fun. Ellis did. And it wasn't as though she was an airhead, rather she was just relaxed and confident in how she felt without being pompous - her scene with Forge broke my heart. I had alot of fun reading this arc. It's such a shame the delays killed quite a bit of the momentum, but this is still quality.
  
  And I cannot wait for Jimenez to arrive on the title! Oh, I adore how he renders her. And I love that he's cleaning up her Bianchi costume (which I actually really like, for the most part). I think a Jimenez!rendered Storm will do wonderfully with the flat wit that Ellis has given her. I can't wait to pick up this trade and all it's wish-wash fun.



• Loving X-Men Forever. Jean's alive. She's well. She's Jean again. I can't wait for more Evil!Not!Storm, as well. She's a riot.