Senior Reviewer, Thomas Barr examines the final in our series of comic book franchises – the X Men. Is there more to this crime-fighting team than cool powers and team dynamics? Barr unveils an interesting social commentary within the comic…
If you’re ever struggling to come up with an idea, but don’t really feel creative or innovative at that moment, take heart from the X-Men. They are a great example of how sometimes laziness is the solution. In 1963 Stan Lee had come up with some of the all time great comic book series; Spider-man, The Hulk, Iron Man, Thor and The Fantastic Four. When it came to ideas for a new group of superheroes he was running on empty and basically said “F**k it, how ‘bout they’re just born with powers. Lets call ‘um, I dunno, ‘Mutants’. I’m hungry, I’m off to lunch.” So from humble beginnings they’ve gone on to be one of the most successful and well loved super-heroes of all time. Why?
Well for a start the X-Men are logistically sound. You can see that they were created with a team dynamic in mind. Each member has a unique skill set that makes the team better for having them in it. No member is significantly stronger than the others and the variety of powers helps them deal with a variety of situations. You don’t get the embarrassing gulf in abilities that undermines so many of the other superhero team-ups. There must be some sort of pro-diversity, union regulation making it compulsory to have an archer in every team. Other than that I can’t see what Superman gains from having Green Arrow nearby. Green Arrow is undeniably really really good at hitting far away things with a bow and arrow, but that becomes kind of insignificant when the guy next to you can level buildings with a single punch.
For me the biggest strength of the X-Men is their ability to reflect social issues to a greater extent than other mainstream comics; racism, religion and LGBT struggles are all represented. As super-powers are a commonly occurring natural phenomenon, the Mutants become the model of an alienated community through which issues such as civil rights and societal acceptance can be explored. These themes would be wasted if the characters weren’t sympathetic. Luckily, when you have awkward characters in their teens experiencing strange and mysterious changes to their bodies, they’re not going to have a problem relating to the alienation of the X-men.
So whilst I admit that comic books don’t have a reputation that screams ‘positive social interaction’, I think the X-Men should be praised for presenting young people with important real-world conflicts in an entertaining and non-patronising form.
By Thomas Barr – Senior Reviewer
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