In a 1982 interview Claremont describes his unique portrayal of women in comics as a conscious decision, made under epiphany. The result of this is one of mainstream comics most important and influential experiments in representation. #xmen 1/6
"There was a moment I think when I made a conscious decision by looking around seeing how few people were portraying heroic rational sensible women in books and comics. I thought, "I'll fill that vacuum - since no one else is doing it, I'll give it a try." 2/6
"Because in a sense I wondered in the ultimate kind of fiction, science fiction, could I put myself in the head of this being who was totally unlike me? Women tend to get very short shrift in comics. " 3/6
"They are either portrayed as wallflowers or as super-macho insensitive men with different body forms, who almost invariably feel guilty about their lack of femininity. And it's always seemed to me that, why does this have to be exclusive?" 4/6
"Can you not have a woman who is ruthless and capable and courageous and articulate and intelligent and all the other buzzwords - heroic when the need arises, and yet feminine and gentle and compassionate, at others?" 5/6
The result, arguably, is what Gail Simone (@GailSimone) refers to as a “sea change” in the representation of women in superhero comics in general. 6/6
If you’d like to read the interview, it can be found in:
Sanderson, Peter. The X-Men Companion II. Stamford: Fantagraphics Books, 1982. p23-24

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More from @ClaremontRun

Nov 17, 2022
Hank McCoy’s presence in the Dark Phoenix Saga provides a nice continuation of that character’s development, ultimately accelerating his difficult transition to the Avengers, in part, by having him here witness the true end of the original X-Men. #xmen #darkphoenix 1/5 Image
Hank reflects on his isolation within the Avengers and his longing for the found-family of the X-Men, just as the call for help comes in. Torn between allegiances, he ponders his obligation and chooses the X-Men. 2/5 Image
Hank’s dalliance with nostalgia ends about as badly as it could, however, allowing him to witness the death of a woman he loved, the emotional devastation of his friend and former leader, and the darkest hour of the X-Men at large. 3/5 Image
Read 5 tweets
Aug 18, 2022
In UXM #168, Nightcrawler is presented (and presents himself) as an object of sexual display to be consumed by both his on-panel girlfriend and by the reader, all in an homage to a landmark photographic spread with a deep impact on the sexual revolution. #xmen 1/10
The image references Burt Reynolds’ famous 1972 Cosmopolitan nude centrefold, an historic image that is credited with, among other things, inspiring Doug Lambert to create Playgirl Magazine the following year. Reynolds recounts the development as such: 2/10
“Although no one had ever shown a naked man in a magazine before, Helen [Gurley Brown, editor of Cosmopolitan] believed women have the same "visual appetites" as men, who'd been looking at naked women in Playboy since 1953… 3/10
Read 10 tweets
Jul 20, 2022
Knowing that Ricochet Rita is visually based on Ann Nocenti and that MojoVerse is a satire of media culture offers us the potential to read some aspects of Rita’s story as Claremont’s commentary on Nocenti’s role as X-Men editor. #xmen 1/9
The first thing to note is that Claremont sees Mojo as some commentary on the comic book medium. We see this quite clearly in Mojo Mayhem when the X-Babies escape into a Mojo-Verse building labelled “The House of Jack and Stan” as well as other Marvel signifiers. 2/9
In UXM Annual #12, Claremont presents Rita still attached to Mojo’s ship as a sort of pilot slave. The connection is especially obvious given that Nocenti herself is drawn on the previous page (in a 4th wall break moment) looking exactly the same as Rita. 3/9
Read 10 tweets
Jul 19, 2022
In an interview with Jon B. Cooke, beloved X-Men Annual/Special artist Art Adams offers his personal multi-faceted take on the classic “Mojo Mayhem,” one of the more polarizing books in Claremont’s canon. #xmen 1/5
“The one Marvel book that actually made a ton of royalties for me was the Excalibur special I did, which surprisingly enough, is the book I hate the most that I've done!” 2/5
“Mojo Mayhem, they called it. It's baby X-Men who were on Longshot's planet who get away from Mojo and come to Earth and meet Excalibur. At this point in the series, everyone thinks the X-Men are dead, so Kitty's like, "Oh, my God, it's the X-Men, but they're babies!"” 3/5
Read 5 tweets
Jul 18, 2022
While Claremont left the series before unravelling his full plans for Meggan, we do get a sort of AU glimpse of the elemental nature of her powers and their symbolic potential in the background of Excalibur 17, presenting her as life/sex/joy/harmony incarnate. #xmen 1/10 Image
The issue presents the aftermath of the legendary “Warlord” issue of the Cross-Time Caper. It’s essentially a denoument for that story mixed with an interesting new story about Rachel’s pursuit of identity. Meggan is barely in it, but there’s a lot happening for her still. 2/10 Image
Centring all of this, however, is a jubilant, planet-wide party and in a couple brief pages of that, Meggan comes to life – quite suddenly – as a jubilant, confident and powerful woman in complete control over every aspect of her environment (contrary to her usual portrayal) 3/10 Image
Read 10 tweets
Jun 22, 2022
The core superhero fantasy is associated with simplicity (or juvenilia) and is often brought forward as reason to devalue or dismiss the entire genre, but that fantasy of heroic virtue and endurance can be lifesaving to those in need and that merits consideration. #xmen 1/9
The unplanned-for joy of the project has been the social component of the social media, of talking to people for whom X-Men meant a very great deal, as it did for me personally as well. This isn’t always literary valuation – sometimes it’s about getting by. 2/9
Superheroics, in general, however, are considered sub-literary, despite having a rich place of respect in classical literature; the Ancient Greeks, for example, highly valued the concept of “aristeia,” the moment of great deeds in battle - basically action sequences. 3/9
Read 9 tweets

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