There’s seemingly a fundamental friction between the progressive and inclusive sexual politics of Kurt Wagner as a person and the (arguably) misogynistic sexual politics of some of the established fictional genres that he fantasizes about participating in. #xmen 1/9
Let’s start by framing this more simply: Kurt respects women. Errol Flynn movies and John Carter novels tend to frame women as sexual trophies devoid of agency. I’m not saying these stories are bad or anyone is wrong to like them, just that the female characters are objects. 2/9
There are two ways then to approach this friction: either Kurt is a hypocrite, or there is a layer of irony that we can locate within his participation in these genres, one that might even hold the potential to produce critical insights int the tropes those genres perpetuate. 3/9
We could, for example, compare his participation in these genre fantasies to Bakhtin’s concept of “carnival,” (a liberating, indulgent experience) or Riviere’s concept of “masquerade” which sees one performing extreme stereotypes in order to subvert them. 4/9
Irony is perhaps most easily located in self-awareness. When Kurt swashbuckles (for lack of a better term) he tends to have what my father-in-law would have referred to as a “shit-eating grin” on his face. When he swoops women into his arms, they tend to giggle not swoon. 5/9
Kurt also tends to adopt over-the-top dialogue and postures, thus signaling that his participation is indeed a performance, whilst including women into that performance through the shared recognition that he projects. This shows both awareness, then, and irony. 6/9
That inclusivity is especially important for genres that tend to exclude women (both as characters and as audience members). Women aren’t always allowed to swashbuckle, but Kurt holds that door open for them, even switching gender roles at times. 7/9
This is not a vindication of Kurt’s fantasies, however. The lines between fantasy and reality are blurry and malleable within the subjective perceptions of individual readers. Even his admiration for these genres could potentially make someone feel unsafe, for example. 8/9
Ultimately, I guess my point is that this aspect of his character can either be delightful or troubling, critical or worthy of criticism. It doesn’t speak to a unified position or politics, but to the paradoxical internal conflict of human fantasy at large. 9/9
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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
Despite having all manner of characters (good and evil) express romantic interest in her, Storm’s first canonical love is Forge, a possibly counter-intuitive choice. But this might be the point, as Forge can better connect Ororo to her humanity. #xmen 1/10
Storm is routinely courted (or abducted – or both) by the wealthiest, most powerful beings on the planet/cosmos. She could be a queen, a goddess, a vampire, you name it, but she rejects all of these suitors out of concern for her own independence. 2/10
When asked in interview why it took so long for Storm to receive a relationship partner, Claremont would often reply “because nobody was good enough for her.” 3/10
Sharon Kelly is introduced to the readers in UXM #246 and is all-but killed in that same issue. She’s a character whose entire life and especially death exist in service to the plot, but, in spite of that, Claremont gives her story complexity, contradiction, and pathos. #xmen 1/9
We are first introduced to Sharon as she arrives at the Hellfire Club during a meeting between her husband (Senator Robert Kelly) and Sebastian Shaw. It’s revealed that Sharon was a Hellfire Club servant before marrying the senator. 2/9
Her brief interaction with her former colleagues showcases the kind of class exploration that one would see in a Bronte novel or, more recently, Downton Abbey. Hers is a story of rare class mobility and the perspective that comes with seeing both sides of the class divide. 3/9