Light and Shadow

An artist’s work is deliberate. I knew this as a fact… At least, as it applied to writing and painting. In regards to comics? Well, I knew this subconsciously. However, despite reading comics for years, it wasn’t until after reading McCloud that I truly understood on a conscious level the kind of deliberation and thought that goes into planning and creating a comic.

Case in point: In the our most recent reading (Astonishing X-Men, issues 1-3), there were a few pages that really popped to me, but the most salient page was this:

As you can see, the page is depicting a conversation between the X-Men over the advent of a “cure” for the X-gene. In particular, panels featuring Kitty, Logan, and McCoy have fairly light backgrounds, whereas the panel with Emma has a dark background. Additionally, in the panel featuring the four of them, hers is the only face covered in shadow.

I feel this is suggestive not only of Ms. Frost’s past as a villain – one of Magneto’s followers – but also of her attitude in general. This is supported by the cynicism of her dialogue on this page. She remains on the darker side of the mutant debate.

Alternatively, the others – shrouded as they are in a dim light – maintain a comparatively positive outlook on things. Which is to say that their reactions aren’t quite as extreme and dark as Emma’s.

On the whole, the lighting in this scene says as much about the characters’ personalities as the text: Kitty, as upbeat and morally good as she is wont to be, remains primarily un-shadowed; Emma, ruined by her experiences, remains thoroughly in the dark; Logan, jaded by his past, tends to be partially obfuscated by slivers of shadow; and McCoy, contemplative as he is, is bathed in a neutral light.

But then there’s Scott.

Scott is all alone on the last panel, with a sort of yin and yang balance going on with both the shading of his face and the background of the panel. This design choice represents a crossroads. As the new leader of the X-Men pushed into such a chaotic scenario, Scott finds himself having to make a grand decision regarding the future of not only Xavier’s School for the Gifted, but also for mutant-kind as a whole. In the face of potential “cure” and all that entails, does he take on Emma’s darker outlook and rise to murder? Or does he keep the teachings of Professor X and try to remain hopeful that humanity will grow to accept them?

Reference:

[Whedon, Joss (w), Cassaday, John (a).] "Astonishing X-Men: Gifted." X-Men v1 #1-6 (2011), Marvel Entertainment.

Astonishing Jean?

In the Astonishing X-Men issues one through three, I was shocked to see the leadership of Jean throughout the comic. This makes me wonder if there are subcategories of heroes. I would also argue the same for monsters. For now, I am focusing on the subcategories of heroes and specifically Jean’s standing in the hero category.

In my thoughts I would consider all of the X-Men heroes, but they are all different calibers of heroes. In the comic issues, Jean stuck out to me the most. She was the leader of the heroes and I would consider her the superhero of the group. She does everything in her power to help others, she is almost selfless to a fault. When the X-Men help Nina and the Mannites to protect them from the Death, she is willing to sacrifice herself in order for the Mannites to live long enough to “discover their powers and decide their own fate”.

Along with Jean’s selfless nature, she is the leader of the group throughout the comic issues. When an event arises or action needs to take place all of the characters look to Jean for instruction. For example in the third issue, Nate says “You call the shots, Jean”, Jean acts as the mission leader throughout the quest.

In class we’ve agreed that a superhero acts in a selfless manner and has some type of power that makes them superior to the average hero. As far as powers in the X-Men comics, telekinetic power is definitely the strongest of them all. Jean’s telekinetic energy makes her an obvious choice as a leader.

I feel like Jean’s role in the X-Men movies was underrated immensely. Why would such a central comic characters role be substantially diminished in the movie? Jean serves as the character that overshadows all of the characters to a character in the film that would show up everyone in a while. Does that make sense to anyone else? It sure doesn’t make sense to me!

References:
https://www.google.com/search?q=jean+grey&rlz=1C1OPRA_enUS594US594&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=662&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjl8emm6pzPAhVD1CYKHZmZA4YQ_AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=jean+grey+movie&imgrc=7iTfcwv_GysggM%3A

[Joss Whedon (w) and John Cassaday (a).] Astonishing X-Men, Vol 1. "Gifted" #1-3. (Dec. 2012). [Marvel Comics].

My First Real Comic

I like the X-Men.

Yup, I really never thought I would say that about any superhero series, but I do. I like the X-Men. Granted, I feel like I liked the X-Men, as characters, more in the films we watched than in The Astonishing X-Men. Why?

The superhero part.

When Cyclops suggests the X-Men become “a real superhero team,” it was almost like a joke to me. I think what really drew me to the X-Men in the films was that although they had powers and acted like superheroes, they didn’t need the trivial “tights” and costumes to fight for their goal.

However, that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the comics, because I really did! They were entertaining, funny, well-drawn, and well-written. I really appreciated the Harry Potter references (you guys didn't expect me not to comment on the Potter references, right?)  I also think the comics, like their film counterparts, displayed the fact that there is a gray area between heroes and monsters. Not only because the characters are themselves “monsters” or mutants, but because in these comics, some characters which you would think would be heroes, in fact are not.

One instance where the gray area between monsters and heroes occurs is in relation to Dr. Rao’s “cure.” Doctors are traditionally thought of as “heroes,” and in this instance, I see how she can be considered a monster. Sure, she thinks she is saving Tildie from her powers; maybe she is. However, her intentions, I believe, are not so pure, for when explaining the cure to McCoy, she says, “innocent people will live normal, decent lives.” To me, this sounds like she wants mutants to live “normal, decent lives.” Although she of course isn’t forcing anyone to take the cure who doesn’t want it, she has to know that this kind of thing could affect mutants everywhere. Additionally, I feel my suspicions of Dr. Rao’s intentions could be proven right, at the end of episode 3, we get a hint that the cure could have been tested on Jean.

This same idea where a figure of government authority who should be considered a hero also shows up in Cyclops’ meeting with Fury. Again, a government figure who you would think would help, instead groups all mutants as one evil entity – “your boy Magneto” – and says that the X-Men are harboring “dangerous criminals” at their school, including Frost. (Disclaimer: I don’t know Frost’s backstory, so I can’t really comment on that part, but…) Anyway, Fury does not seem to be a hero figure of any sort.

On an unrelated note, I just wanted to comment on the fact that Frost annoys me. She really needs to put on some clothes…

A final example of how the Astonishing X-Men show the gray area between villains and heroes has to do with McCoy. Although he is part of the X-Men superhero team, he could potentially stray and try the cure on himself. A true hero is selfless by our definitions, and that is definitely a selfish act.

In conclusion, though: I liked reading my first real comic.

Are the X-Men Suffering from a Disease?

People with diseases tend to be surrounded by a strong stigma.  The word disease itself has such a powerful negative connotation that we're automatically repulsed by the thought of it.  The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as “a condition of the body, in which its functions are disturbed or deranged.”  In Astonishing X-Men: Gifted, a new “cure” for the mutation “disease” is being released by Dr. Rao.  This cure, she says, is able to eradicate the disease.  Some mutants are strongly opposed, whereas others desire it. Any mutant seeking the cure may feel alienated from his or her own sense of self, such as Dr. McCoy.  He expresses to Logan that his body isn’t what it used to be and he feels out of control of his emotions.  Dr. McCoy, and perhaps many other mutants, just want to live the lives they used to have.

However, other mutants are opposed to the mutant cure, and rightly so.  After all, is being a mutant so horrible? Mutation can be viewed as a quality that simply makes a person unique—it isn’t necessarily dangerous or bad.  Some mutants, such as Kitty, have rather harmless abilities.  In other cases, a mutant only needs to learn how to control their abilities.  If a mutant’s regular functions are not disrupted, then a cure isn’t needed because mutation is not a disease.

A mutant’s choice over whether or not to “cure” themselves is not quite as troubling as Dr. Rao’s presentation.  She begins her speech by stating that mutants and non-mutants are equals, except that mutants have a disease.  Due to the connotation of “disease,” she indirectly infers that mutants are defective people.  She further supports the stigma surrounding people with disease (mutants in this case) by presenting Tildie, a young girl that uncontrollably causes her nightmares to become reality.  Overall, Dr. Rao highlights the possible danger and threat of mutation and presents it as the norm. 

In the third issue, we see that Dr. Rao may be more corrupt than what we initially made her out to be is allied with Ord (remember the alien that attacked the X-Men?).  She speaks with Ord after giving a cure sample to Dr. McCoy, and it is evident that they are working together towards some yet-to-be-determined goal.  It is even revealed that Ord’s people helped Dr. Rao produce the cure, but she is only “a pawn…in a grand scheme” (58).  Additionally, she’s been testing the cure on someone, causing Dr. McCoy to call her a monster.  To truly know whether or not Dr. Rao is a monster, however, we’ll just have to finish Volume 1.

References:

[Joss Whedon (w) and John Cassaday (a).] Astonishing X-Men, Vol 1. "Gifted" #1-3. (Dec. 2012). [Marvel Comics].

"disease, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2016. Web. 19 September 2016.

The Outer Beast

To me, one of the more interesting individuals in the X-Men universe is the character Dr. Hank McCoy, commonly known as Beast. He exhibits traits of extreme genius, but physically resembles a large, blue, and hairy cat with incredible strength. Certainly, the plot developments within Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men reveals Beast as more of a three-dimensional character. From the example of Beast in this comic series, one can begin to discern what it means to be a monster. Unfortunately, no matter what Beast does, though, I fear he will always be treated as a monster due to his physical appearance.

My definition of a monster is centered around the idea of a deformity that is considered abnormal in society. However, in Beast's case, he drew the shortest straw with his mutation. Some mutants can easily pass as regular people without anyone recognizing their extraordinary abilities. Beast, on the other hand, cannot hide his mutation from the world, as seen in this comic so far. The name Beast alone implies a monstrosity. All too often, people associate their notion of monsters purely by looks instead of actions. Beast fits this concept based only on the exterior presentation that the world sees. Cyclops even refers to this perception in the comic stating, "Hank's articulate as anything, but what people see is mostly...well, a beast" (Whedon, 18). Beast's brilliance and personal stance to fight for the people of Earth are overlooked not only because he is a mutant, but also due to his outer characteristics.

With this backdrop, one can understand why a character like Beast would be curious with the possibility of a cure to the mutant gene. One of my favorite panels in the comic is at the bottom right corner of page 40. Beast is asked by a reporter about his thoughts on the supposed "mutant cure." In response, Beast says, "I'm sorry. 'Cure'?" (Whedon, 40). The artwork within the panel alone speaks to the subtle intrigue that he has with the possibility of a cure. From that point, the artist John Cassaday's rendering of Beast depicts a character struggling with the inner turmoil to become "normal" or accept who he is as an individual.

Aside from the fact that he may be degenerating further into an animal-like creature, inside, Beast longs for a chance to perform activities in which he had grown accustomed to before his mutation. On page 66, Beast says, "I used to have fingers. I used to have a mouth you could kiss..." (Whedon, 66). Understanding the position that currently resides within him, one can easily surmise why he would seek out a cure should the opportunity present itself. For as Emma says at the top of page 11, "They will always hate us" (Whedon, 11). Personally, I can not blame Beast for wanting to seek a cure with the constant demands that humanity enforces on the mutant community.

https://media.giphy.com/media/rej07KlIYlax2/giphy.gif

I pledge that I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this assignment. Anthony King

Sources:

Whedon, Joss, and John Cassaday. Astonishing X-Men: Gifted. New York: MARVEL
       
            WORLDWIDE, 2004. Print.

Survival with Tights

We are all aware of the discrimination X-Men deal with time and time again for their mutation. So are we going to get something different this time? Nope! And I don't care, I am 100% biased when it comes to X-Men. I will most likely love everything that has to do with X-Men (even that one movie that we never talk about). Just a quick disclaimer before you go on with this post.

The X-Men want to be accepted and they want to be part of society as equals. BUT what they want above anything else is to survive. Survival is at the core of everything. We discussed this last class when we were talking about art. I argue that everything stems from survival. We eat to survive, we reproduce to keep the human race alive, we create technology to make it easier to survive, and so on. Survival is a theme in X-Men. In Astonishing X-Men, whether they admit it or not, the X-Men are doing whatever it takes to survive (at least within issues 1-3, we'll see). Yes they are treated unfairly, yes they are oppressed, but forget about all the social injustices. Those injustices do not matter if they are all dead. So Cyclops decided to bring some of them together and not just "make nice with the public," (23) but "astonish them" (24). Public opinion is crucial to the survival of the X-Men (duh).

Emma Frost gave that depressing speech/warning about how humans will always hate them, they can never trust them, and how they will never be at peace (10-12). It seems like there is no hope for the mutants, so why even try to get the public to like them? Because they see that the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., Fantastic Four and all of the other superheroes are not just tolerated, but loved at times. Cyclops thinks that by mimicking them and creating a team of superheroes, the people will automatically change their perception. He thinks superheroes' tights or spandex will help them survive.

https://media0.giphy.com/media/114AZ0sxe9dyMM/200_s.gif

There is one thing that he is forgetting: mutants are people who developed these powers without any explanation. The Avengers, the Fantastic Four and even S.H.I.E.L.D. obtained their powers either because they are aliens, there was some scientific experiment/accident, or just through training. In other words, they have an explanation for being different. It does not matter that the X-Men created a superhero team, the costumes they wear, the people they save. or how many worlds they save. Nothing matters because the humans will always see the mutants as a threat to their survival. They see them as the "next step in evolution... the end of humankind" (25). Just think about how many times you were intimidated by someone who you thought was stronger, smarter, or more attractive than you. Whenever that happens to me, I feel threatened by their perceived superiority. My instincts tell me to either stay away from them or one-up them somehow. The humans are also doing whatever it takes to survive. The humans however, have the support of the government and other non-mutant superheroes. The mutants have no one. Even Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. will not help them because they are seen as threats, not allies. The mutants are on their own.

https://lovelace-media.imgix.net/uploads/1143/9983e210-0403-0134-24a3-0e1b1c96d76b.gif?

The Moral High Ground

I would like to look back at the scene from X-men, where, during the kidnapping of Rogue from the train station, Charles Xavier holds Magneto at his mercy. Knowing Charles as well as he does, Magneto calls his bluff by holding the surrounding police force hostage. Thus, Charles is left with two choices: release Magneto, or kill him.

Westchester Train Station Standoff

Now, at this point we’re fairly familiar with Magneto as a character. Experiencing the Holocaust as a child defined his life, and he’s very paranoid when it comes to seeing the worst in a government. As such, he easily jumps to the extreme in the grand debate of Mutants vs. Humans, and seems willing to do anything to “save” the mutants from the humans in power. In the case of the movie, this is evidenced by his decision to sacrifice a teenaged girl in cold blood to further his plot.

Additionally, in X-2, we see that Magneto is willing to escalate when he orders a brain-washed Charles to kill all of the humans. In a word, Magneto is genocidal. Therefore, the question remains: Should Charles have killed Magneto when he had the chance? More than that, how does the decision to not kill affect Charles as a hero figure? Should heroes be willing to kill their monsters – to kill one to save a hundred? Well, I’ll let you answer that. Although, during the assault on the school in X-2, Wolverine seems to think so.

That being said, I feel this question is a little harder to find an answer for within the context of X-men. After all, Charles and Magneto were once fast friends, and it’s also a matter of discrimination – which could make either choice justifiable. In X-men, I feel the line is blurred a bit more than it needs to be. So I now ask the same question in a different context: Batman vs. The Joker.

It is safe to say that The Joker is – in all of the DC continuities I can think of off the top of my head – an omnicidal maniac, who will do whatever he can to rile up Batman. The Joker possesses few, if any, redeeming qualities. Meanwhile, Batman “never” kills – he very rarely does, but let’s ignore that for now – because it’s against his moral fiber. Therefore, taking our definitions and discussions of what a hero is, should a hero be willing to kill in what is clearly the defense of others? How does making such a decision affect their being a hero in our eyes?

Personally, I’m of the opinion that a hero should – which is not to say that they should go on killing sprees – because a situation sometimes calls for it. For such an example, I jump back to Batman vs. The Joker. I feel like Gotham would be a much saner and safer place without The Clown Prince of Crime. But I am also of two minds when it comes to answering this question, because it does make me question Batman’s integrity as a hero. He’s already a frightening vigilante, and being willing to take that extra step would make him even easier to fear.

Sources:

http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/The_Joker_(DC_Animated_Universe)

X-Men. Dir. Bryan Singer. 20th Century Fox, 2000. DVD.

X2. Dir. Bryan Singer. 20th Century Fox, 2003. DVD.

Blurred Lines

Grey areas. No matter how logical, how black and white you think you are, there is always some part of you that finds itself in a grey area. Right and wrong. Good and bad. Typically these are easy things to categorize, to separate and identify. But sometimes, those lines become less distinct and more blurred. The entire storyline of the X-Men movies is set in one giant cluster-fuck of a grey area that makes your head spin. 

The movie begins with the explanation of the new mutant population that has developed and the issues that have come with it. We immediately feel sympathy for these mutant people who are just struggling to live a normal life. They are really people, just like us, but with some difference that make them outcasted from their societies and homes. But its easy to feel sympathy from the comfort of your couch.

We see the evil Senator, hitched on the idea of making mutants identify themselves, perhaps even wear some sort of identifying marker that sets them apart (cue the gut-wrenching reminders from the treatment of the Jewish people in the Holocaust which was presented in the opening scene.) We hate this idea, this outright attack on personal freedom. We hear what he says and we identify it as wrong and bad.  It seems so far fetched to us that someone could think this narrow-mindedly and be so prejudiced. 

But then we meet Magneto and things begin to blur rather quickly. Here's a mutant just like the others, in fact very good friends with Xavier, but he does not seem to be so good and just. He too, fights for mutants' rights but he's also fighting for mutant superiority. He and his cronies are easily identified as the bad guys, the monsters, but the real issue is, are they?

I believe this goes back to the idea that monsters are not inherently bad just as heroes are not inherently good. They have a mixture of both, perhaps monsters have less good and heroes have less bad, but they still have both. Magneto was fighting for what he believed in, for his rights as a mutant and for the mutants to become the dominant power in society. The Senator was fighting for what he believed was best for the humans and their personal safety and to continue to ensure that the humans remained at the top. Magneto wanted to stop the discrimination; the Senator wanted to stop something that was a threat to his status-quo. It’s easy to say that discrimination is bad and that the Senator was evil but we also cannot forget that we are also humans. 

Like I said, it’s simple to be on the mutants' side when I'm sitting on a couch, in a society where mutants don't exist. But it does make me question what would society do if this were a real situation. Is there not an entire group of individuals in our country who want to stop other groups of people from entering our country based on their differences? Yet can this be equated to mutants?

I am, body and soul, against discrimination. It disgusts me and makes me sick to see what others do to each other in the name of their own perverted ideas of social norms. Mutants represent every past culture, society, religion, sub-culture, you name it, that has been discriminated against because of their differences. There are people who don’t agree with me on my ideas of acceptance and tolerance but these are people who raised me, who love me and whom I love. Do I think they are evil and wrong and unjust? Do I throw them into the same category as the Senator? Can we identify Magneto as the bad guy outright? What is right and what is wrong?

It’s a grey area. There is no right or wrong answer, no black and white. So how would we as a society react if a mutant population began to develop? Only time will tell.

Will Evolution Help Us, or Hurt Us?

X-Men and X2 are two excellent displays of how characters, and thus people, can be both heroes and monsters. In many movies, there is a clear hero who the audience is supposed to root for, and a clear monster or villain who the audience is supposed to be against. But in reality, and in these two X-Men movies, people are not so cut and dry. You must figure out characters’ or peoples’ motives; you don’t simply judge them based on appearances.

In the X-Men movies, the main characters are what we would consider “monsters” in the most general sense: some mutants are quite frightening in appearance, and all of them have powers which, if used appropriately (or inappropriately) could frighten and hurt non-mutants.

However, we discover that, at least for the X-Men, scaring and hurting is not their intention. In fact, most mutants just want to be accepted by society. Thus, simply by the appearance and characteristics of mutants, the X-Men movies blur the lines between hero and monster.

Additionally, the X-Men movies make the difference between hero and monster difficult to discern through the intentions of characters. In the first movie, the X-Men, Magneto is essentially the “villain.” He seeks to achieve mutant superiority by turning non-mutants into mutants. He turns Senator Robert Kelly, a senator who tries to pass a mutant registration act, into a mutant. At first glance, this may seem to be an evil and monstrous thing to do: turn someone into a mutant when they are not. However, when he was younger, Magneto, as Erik, was separated from his parents as he enters a concentration camp. Although Magneto’s actions might seem uncalled for, when you realize that his intentions are based off of growing up in a world where people had to register themselves for simply being Jewish, it makes sense why Magneto would want to avoid the same thing just because he is a mutant.  

A final way the X-Men movies blur the lines is through the use of characters. Although Magneto is a villain in the first movie, in X2 he joins the X-Men as they fight a human villain who seeks to destroy all mutants. Even though Magneto and his followers still want different things than the X-Men, we see a side of them that we did not get to see in the first movie: that he can stand for a cause which we can all relate to.

However, I thought the most interesting aspect of the X-Men movies was the emphasis on evolution, and the reality factor it conveyed. As a Biology major, I really honed in on this aspect of the movies. It certainly makes me think, because one day, the human species will mutate and will evolve. This is true because it has happened in the past: before us, there were apes. It makes me wonder whether or not people would exile those who were different, if those exiled beings would fight back like Magneto, or if they would just want equality like the X-Men.