Arguably the most poignant costume transformation in UXM is that of Storm’s embrace of a costume that signifies the punk subculture (or counterculture) and digging a bit deeper into what it represents can illuminate the full significance of that shift on her character. 1/8 #xmen
The punk movement is often badly misunderstood in the popular zeitgeist. It isn’t about wrecking, it’s about resisting. Even the concept of anarchism contains a number of beautiful ideals at its core, including an enhanced commitment to community and love. 2/8
Claremont shows complete awareness of the significance of Ororo’s transformation in the form of Kitty’s reaction, which surfaces the same misconceptions about what punk fashion represents. Kitty comes around, though, and so too does the reader. 3/8
The punk movement emphasized androgyny as a rejection of gender norms. We see this quite clearly in Storm’s transformation, which comes directly after a pair of life-changing encounters with two of Claremont’s most androgynous characters at the time: Callisto and Yukio. 4/8
Even more importantly, the punk movement places the utmost importance on self-definition outside of a system of prescribed values. Storm’s punk transformation thus signalled an important new resolve for the character: to be who she wanted to be. 5/8
For Ororo that wasn’t something she readily understood. Her transformation functioned as more of a commitment to self-discovery than as a representation of who she already was, and this spurred a years-long journey for the character to really and truly define herself. 6/8
Prior to this, Ororo was always capable of defiance and self-assertion, but she was also introverted and reserved (a compelling duality). She was easily the most powerful X-Man when Jean wasn’t around, yet still took orders and often lacked agency or even voice. 7/8
The simple point here is that Ororo’s punk transformation was not about making the character badass or angry or edgy. Those are – at best – superficial interpretations and more likely misconceptions. Going punk showed Ororo’s growth of character through commitment to herself. 8/8

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with The Claremont Run

The Claremont Run Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @ClaremontRun

30 Jul
The Cross-Time Caper is easily the most famous story arc from Claremont’s Excalibur, but it’s also a misnomer. Rather than ‘time’ (or even dimensions) the caper is actually built around a tour of famous fictional settings. 1/7 #xmen #excalibur @GoshGollyWow
The story begins with a dive into a world of Arthurian Romance in the spirit of Thomas Mallory’s “Le Morte D’Arthur” or T.H. White’s “The Once and Future King.” This initial foray sets the tone for juxtaposing Excalibur with a different fictional universe. 2/7
From there, the team lands into a metatextual alternate version of the Marvel Comics Universe itself; After that they find themselves in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars; after that: a Manga universe with direct connections to Dirty Pair and Speed Racer. 3/7
Read 7 tweets
30 May
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
Read 10 tweets
29 May
Issue #14 of Excalibur features a visual and narrative sequence that offers rich potential for a sexual interpretation (within a series that relishes sexual symbolism) when perceived through that particular interpretive lens. #xmen 1/10
The centrepiece of this reading is the single panel of Rachel, rippling with energy, reaching toward Widget who is placed at the exact location of her genitals with an almost orgiastic grin upon his face in an example of what's called “yonic imagery.” 2/10
The narrative of the story only enhances the symbolism through escalating tension building to climax. The entire planet is about to collapse and Excalibur needs to power up Widget in order to escape. The dialogue includes a double entendre in “jump-start that little sucker.” 3/10
Read 11 tweets
28 May
In his 2006 essay “Mutant Readers, Reading Mutants: Appropriation, Assimilation and the X-Men,” scholar Neil Shyminsky capably argues that X-Men comics can be seen to appropriate and sell a narrative of disempowerment to the empowered. #xmen 1/6 Image
“Rather than reflecting…that disempowered minorities are reading about and identifying themselves in the pages of the comic book, most readers are being taught to identify with oppressions that are unfamiliar and, I would argue, unequalto their own.” 2/6 Image
For Shyminsky, this approach is problematic as it creates an implied “equivalence” between (in his example) being a geek and other forms of oppression such as “racism, sexism or homophobia.” 3/6 Image
Read 6 tweets
23 May
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
Read 11 tweets
26 Mar
In 2000, former Marvel EIC, Jim Shooter sat down with CBR to discuss his legacy in comics, including his enduring perspective on his infamously contentious yet mutually beneficial relationship with Claremont on UXM. He tends to ramble a bit, but here’s some highlights: #xmen 1/11
“I inherited a company that was going out of business and losing money. I turned it around. In order to turn it around, I had to do things like tighten the ship. Creative people who have lived in anarchy do not like to be suddenly told no.” 2/11
“It's funny now, talk to people like Claremont. When I first sat down and talked to people like Claremont, and I'm saying story structure, identify your characters. Introduce your characters and concepts. Stuff he knew.” 3/11
Read 11 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(