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The Ages of the X-Men Sample file ALSO OF INTEREST AND EDITED BY JOSEPH J. DAROWSKI The Ages of Wonder Woman: Essays on the Amazon Princess in Changing Times (2014) The Ages of Superman: Essays on the Man of Steel in Changing Times (2012) Sample file The Ages of the X-Men Essays on the Children of the Atom in Changing Times Edited by JOSEPH J. DAROWSKI Sample file McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Jefferson, North Carolina LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA The Ages of the X-Men : Essays on the Children of the Atom in Changing Times / edited by Joseph J. Darowski. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7864-7219-2 (softcover : acid free paper) ♾ ISBN 978-1-4766-1634-6 (ebook) 1. X-men (Comic strip) 2. X-Men (Fictitious characters) 3. Comic books, strips, etc.—United States. I. Darowski, Joseph J., editor of compilation.Sample file PN6728.X2A38 2014 741.5'973—dc23 2014015599 BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE © 2014 Joseph J. Darowski. All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Cover illustration © 2014 DigitalVision Printed in the United States of America McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640 www.mcfarlandpub.com To Joseph F. Darowski Sample file This page intentionally left blank Sample file Table of Contents Introduction 1 Origin of the Species: Popular Science, Dr. Hermann Muller and the X- Men 5 BRAD J. RICCA “Evil mutants will stop at nothing to gain control of mankind!” X- Men, Communists and Cold War Containment Culture 17 JOHN DAROWSKI Call for Community: Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters as Hippie Community Experience 30 JEAN-PHILIPPE ZANCO When Business Improved Art: The 1975 Relaunch of Marvel’s Mutant Heroes 37 JOSEPH J. DAROWSKI From Kitty to Cat: Kitty Pryde and the Phases of Feminism 46 MARGARET GALVAN Sample file Days of Future Past: Segregation, Oppression and Technology in X- Men and America 63 CLANCY SMITH “Mutant hellspawn” or “more human than you”? The X- Men Respond to Televangelism 77 JACOB RENNAKER From Terrorist to Tzadik: Reading Comic Books as Post- Shoah Literature in Light of Magneto’s Jewish Backstory 91 NICHOLAUS PUMPHREY Sexy Art, Speculative Commerce: The X- Men #1 Launch Extravaganza 105 TIMOTHY ELLIOTT and ROBERT DENNIS WATK INS vii viii Table of Contents Fatal Attractions: Wolverine, the Hegemonic Male and the Crisis of Masculinity in the 1990s 116 GERRI MAHN Generation X: Mutants Made to Order 128 DAVID ALLAN DUNCAN What Happens “After Xavier”? Millennial Fears and the Age of Apocalypse 145 JEFF GEERS Race and Violence from the “Clear Line School”: Bodies and the Celebrity Satire of X-Statix 153 ADAM CAPITANIO Mutating Metaphors: Addressing the Limits of Biological Narratives of Sexuality 165 CHRISTIAN NORMAN Grant Morrison’s Mutants and the Post– 9/11 Culture of Fear 178 ERIC GARNEAU and MAURA FOLEY From Columbine to Xavier’s: Restaging the Media Narrative as Superhero Fiction 189 NICOLAS LABARRE No Mutant Left Behind: Lessons from New X- Men: Academy X 203 RICH SHIVENER Autism and the AstonishingSample X- Men file 213 TODD KIMBALL MACK Prophet of Hope and Change: The Mutant Minority in the Age of Obama 223 MORGAN B. O’ROURKE and DANIEL J. O’ROURKE About the Contributors 233 Index 236 Introduction The X- Men is undeniably one of the most successful franchises in comic book history, though its success was far from a sure thing when the series launched in 1963. After initially failing and being canceled, the franchise has endured several twists and turns in its 50 year history, several of which will be considered in this collection. From a failed series in the 1960s that was relaunched to acclaim and a corresponding growth in popularity in the 1970s, the X- Men have branched out with additional comic book series as well as popular adap- tations in several forms of media. While the adaptations of the X- Men would be insightful to study academically, the essays in this collection will focus solely on the comic books that have been produced as part of the franchise. The X- Men seem especially suitable for deeper consideration because the concept of “mutants” has been used as a metaphor for a wide range of issues, including race, gender, ideology, religion, and sexuality. Dependent upon both the creative process and reader reception, the metaphor can be and has been applied in myriad ways, as evidenced in the wide array of topics addressed in these essays. The essays in this collection are arranged chrono- logically according to the X- Men storylines on which each contributor focuses. Beginning with the earliest issuesSample of X- Men comicfile books through the “Mutant Messiah” storyline, almost 50 years of X- Men history is addressed by scholars. Each essay will take a specific period of X- Men history and consider the impact contemporary societal issues may have had on the creation and interpretation of the comic books. It goes without saying that additional or alternative read- ings of the stories are valid, but each essay in this collection successfully adds insight to X- Men comic books, complex and multi- faceted artifacts of Amer- ican popular culture. Brad J. Ricca, John Darowski, and Jean- Philippe Zanco each explore the earliest era of X- Men comics. In “Origin of the Species: Popular Science, Dr. Hermann Muller and the X- Men,” Ricca considers the influence popular science of the 1950s and 1960s had on the language, themes, and characteri- zations of the early 1960s X- Men comic books. In Darowski’s essay, “‘Evil Mutants Will Stop at Nothing to Gain Control of Mankind!’ X-Men, Com- 1 2 Introduction munists and Cold War Containment Culture,” the interpretive lens of global politics, particularly the Red Scare and Communism is aimed at early issues of The X- Men. Zanco uses theories of community identity to explore the group dynamics established among the X- Men in “Call for Community: Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters as Hippie Community Expe rience.” Joseph J. Darowski’s “When Business Improved Art: The 1975 Relaunch of Marvel’s Mutant Heroes” looks at some of the behind the scenes aspects of the publishing of Giant-Size X- Men #1. The X- Men had been canceled in 1970, and the successful revival of the team and subsequent issues written by Chris Claremont resulted in an extreme growth in popularity for the franchise. The following essays by Margaret Galvan, Clancy Smith, Jacob Rennaker and Nicholaus Pumphrey all analyze stories penned by Claremont. “From Kitty to Cat: Kitty Pryde and the Phases of Feminism,” written by Galvan, links feminist issues with the evolution of a character codenamed Shadowcat. Feminist scholars, contemporary issues and the narrative evolution of a new character are connected in a thought- provoking analysis of one of the superhero comic books’ most popular and enduring female characters. Smith and Rennaker both explore issues of prejudice in X- Men comic books, one of the most oft- recurring themes in the series. Smith addresses issues of government enforced prejudice in “Days of Future Past: Segregation, Oppression and Technology in X- Men and America.” Rennaker explores prej- udice from a religious point of view in “‘Mutant Hellspawn’ or ‘More Human Than You’? The X- Men Respond to Televangelism.” Nicholaus Pumphrey examines the transformation of Magneto, one of the most interesting characters in the X- Men series, in “From Terrorist to Tzadik: Reading Comic BooksSample as Post- Shoah file Literature in Light of Magneto’s Jewish Backstory.” The character had a rather extreme reinterpretation between his appearances in the 1960s as a maniacal terrorist and his more sympathetic portrayals in the 1980s. Timothy Elliott and Robert Dennis Watkins look at the highest selling comic book of all time in “Sexy Art, Speculative Commerce: The X- Men #1 Launch Extravaganza.” They connect issues of commerce, collectability and the portrayal of women with X-Men #1. Looking instead at the portrayal of men, Gerri Mahn’s “Fatal Attractions: Wolverine, the Hegemonic Male and the Crisis of Masculinity in the 1990s” analyzes one of the iconic “tough guys” of the superhero genre. Mahn uses Wolverine’s brutal injuries at the hands of Magneto to gain insights into the role of men in society and popular culture in the 1990s. Generation X was a series chronicling the adventures of teenaged mutants learning to use their powers. David Allan Duncan’s “Generation X: Mutants Made to Order” makes connections between these comic book superheroes Introduction 3 and the identifiable traits of the real world’s Generation X, an age group that would have been among the target audience for this series. Jeff Geers explores an alternative timeline story called the Age of Apoc- alypse in light of looming millennial concerns in American society. “What Happens ‘After Xavier’? Millennial Fears and the Age of Apocalypse” inter- prets the storyline as a part of apocalyptic literature that addressed soci- etal fears and concerns that were being voiced with the approaching year 2000. Adam Capitanio’s “Race and Violence from the ‘Clear Line School’: Bod- ies and the Celebrity Satire of X- Statix” analyzes Paul Milligan and Mike Allred’s run on X-Force/X-Statix. Capitanio positions these series as satires and critiques of racial representations in comic books, the celebrity obsessed culture in America at that time and the excessive violence prevalent in super- hero comic books of the 1990s.