One of the more fundamental problems with Wein’s launch of the new X-Men was the paradox of trying to appeal to an international market while still presenting a form of colonialist cultural centralism. Claremont didn’t always escape that, but he made important strides. #xmen 1/11
GSX 1 begins with Xavier traveling the world to recruit a new batch of X-Men from their homelands, often removing them from existing hero (or goddess) roles for their respective peoples with the promise of an obligation to the world that lands them squarely in upstate NY 2/11
Once Claremont takes over, some more rational considerations appear, however. In UXM 94, for example, Sunfire leaves the X-Men immediately out of a sense of obligation for his homeland. Fans were confused by this initially, but it’s actually pretty sensible. 3/11
Indeed, if we apply a decolonization framework to Claremont’s version of the X-Men, we can see some interesting and important elements being added to the usual X-Men mix, including deeper consideration of language, spirituality and culture. 4/11
Language is iffy, but Claremont does consistently include a small smattering of foreign languages in his X-Men’s dialogue alongside C’s notorious phonetic renderings of accents. Though fodder for jokes, this does at least represent an attempt at acknowledging difference. 5/11
Culture clash also plays a very consistent role in the minds of the X-Men, with particular emphasis on Storm and Colossus, both of whom routinely reflect (often critically) on the cultural differences of their homelands and the X-Men’s world. 6/11
Additionally, Claremont lets his international team travel more and, as Grant Morrison notes, UXM used “accurate photo references and up-to-date travelogue descriptions of the exotic locales that the X-Men would visit in the course of each new headlong adventure.” 7/11
Eventually, C even relocated the team to a foreign country, thus making their dream and vision more clearly international. Again, however, the results were mixed due to Claremont’s representation of Australia falling back on broad stereotypes. 8/11
Importantly, C also cultivated his X-Men (who were created around nationalist or ethnic "types" in a manner that speaks to Barthes’ "Mythologies") into multi-faceted characters, incorporating attributes and desires that did not conform to national or ethnic types. 9/11
Storm’s return to Kenya in Lifedeath II draws concepts of diaspora and repatriation into the narrative quite directly, though the results are again imperfect, as noted by scholar Osvaldo Oyola. themiddlespaces.com/2015/07/14/imp…
So much of the approach to colonialism in the run is imperfect, but C’s efforts stand above and beyond his contemporaries in a great many regards, complicating and cultivating an initial type-based configuration that was much more condescending in its origins. 11/11
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The Forge/Storm reunion in Fall of the Mutants story hit a lot of emotional notes and thus offers a great object lesson on the importance of the illustration team to capture and project the emotional nuance of character melodramas through expression. #xmen 1/8
The spectacle of working in the superhero genre has the potential to distract from an artist’s skill with rendering emotion, and Silvestri in particular has been badly undervalued in this aspect of his work. The quality and diversity of Storm’s expressions make that clear. 2/8
Without these expressions, Claremont’s emotional beats really can’t come to fruition. The narrative of Forge and Storm – the intimacy and longing between them - can be seen in their words, but it’s really brought to life through the visual imagery more than anything. 3/8
While the circumstances of Rogue’s absorption of the Carol Danvers persona are surreal and supernatural, they nonetheless provide an intriguing example of the concept of “restorative justice” in a manner that makes a compelling story at the same time. #xmen #rogue 1/9
Restorative justice is a system that focuses on “providing an opportunity for the parties directly affected by the crime – victims, offenders and communities – to identify and address their needs in the aftermath of a crime” instead of simple punishment. 2/9
Though more recently popularized, RJ was commonly practiced by First Nations communities in North America, forming the basis of entire judicial infrastructures (where most Western justice systems, up until recently, focused on the familiar penal structure). 3/9
As a collaborative medium, comics are sometimes denigrated for their committee approach to character-building, but a closer look at the 'committee' behind Wolverine shows how a character like Logan offers a multifaceted connection to creative genius. #xmen #wolverine 1/10
As noted by Marvel historian Sean Howe, Wolverine was first “named and conceived by Roy Thomas, who detected a need to exploit the Canadian market” before being “developed further by Len Wein and John Romita” ahead of Logan’s debut in “The Incredible Hulk.” 2/10
Throw in Claremont, and the pedigree is quite impressive already. Thomas is perhaps best known as the greatest writer of Conan comics, a character that later artists would draw from quite directly in their interpretations of Wolverine. 3/10
In UXM #220, Claremont takes a moment away from a chaotic era to touch back upon the longstanding, well-evolved relationship between Storm and Wolverine, giving readers another character-revealing scene between this iconic X-Men duo. #xmen #wolverine #storm 1/9
The scene initiates a journey of self-discovery for Ororo, one of many throughout the series but this one will specifically create the rising action for the “Fall of the Mutants’’ event. She has to go alone, but someone has to lead the X-Men in her absence. She recruits Logan 2/9
The power dynamic is foreshadowed in the simple fact that Wolverine (an archetypal hunter) has literally scaled the highest mountain to be alone, but it doesn’t matter. Even without her powers, Ororo has tracked him down. 3/9
In an introductory essay penned in 1980, John Byrne recounts his personal perspective on Jean Grey and her transformation to Phoenix. His candid account paints a less grandiose view on the cultivation of the character within the series than we normally hear. #xmen #JeanGrey 1/7
“I’ve never liked Phoenix. There, I said it...It’s not that I don’t like Jean Grey. I have an abiding fondness for readheads, and have been in love with Jean since we first ‘met,’ about a millions years ago when I was 13.” 2/7
“Granted that her power were not nearly as spectacular as Cyclops’, or Angel’s, or even Iceman’s, but she looked real good in a tight uniform and could – and did – serve to get the X-Men out of tight places.” 3/7
Placing Kitty Pryde into the position of viewpoint character has to represent one of the most groundbreaking decisions within the entirety of the Claremont run – a move that ultimately impacted the series, comics as a whole, and even Western media in powerful ways. #xmen 1/10
The Claremont run begins with Cyclops as the main viewpoint character. Kitty joins the team right at his departure and soon enough takes over as a main viewpoint character for the rest of her tenure, as reflected in our data (noting that Kitty’s only on for 70ish issues). 2/10
At the time of her arrival, Claremont had already executed a turn toward more adult-oriented stories (something that becomes even more pronounced after the death of an X-Man in DPS). It’s therefore perhaps odd to bring on a teen protagonist. 3/10