In “The Tao of Women in the X-Men World,” scholar Carol Cooper draws in psychosexual theory to help explore the infamous sexual subtext of Claremont’s writings, with particular emphasis on the concept of sublimation. #xmen 1/9
Sublimation refers to the conscious or unconscious channelling of socially unacceptable urges into condoned expressions of those urges. Common examples of sexual sublimation might include singing, zealotry, sport, and dancing (“the vertical expression of a horizontal desire”) 2/9
Obviously, we can’t generalize this and say that all these things are always sexual. These are multi-faceted experiences that mean different things to different people, but for a lot of people, there might be a sexual component to them, even just as rechannelled energies. 3/9
“With both secondary sex characteristics and mutant powers being triggered by adolescence, the new X-Men books [Claremont’s] contained built-in narrative reasons to examine how uncontrollable sexual urges and uncontrollable deployment of mutant powers might be linked.” 4/9
“Learning to control new, shifting or suddenly erratic powers could easily be associated with repressing, sublimating or transferring sexual desire.” 5/9
Cooper also suggests that the emotional intensity of C’s writing contributes even further: “The known psychosexual connection between strong emotions and erratic reactions allows the behavior of superheroes under pressure to be rendered more recognizably human.” 6/9
Scholar Scott Bukatman takes a similar approach, arguing that “erotic energies are sublimated into (other) bodily traumas, emissions and flows” including Cyclops’ powers, which he reads as a metaphor for adolescent ejaculation and the anxiety/lack of control surrounding it. 7/9
Cooper focuses more on how X-women particularly create metaphors for the ways in which women in society “sometimes sublimate sexuality to achieve power, sublimate power to achieve sexuality or integrate both into something genuinely transcendent.” 8/9
This leads her to some involved readings of iconic stories like Lifedeath and The Dark Phoenix Saga to analyze how sublimation might inform the subtext of these (and, by extension, most/all) X-Men narratives. If you’re into Psych, it’s a fascinating read. 9/9
For reference, you can find Cooper's book in this anthology (edited by Len Wein). Not all the essays in it are great, but Cooper's definitely stands out. goodreads.com/book/show/7076…
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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
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