X-Men

Spoilers for Immortal X-Men Follow!

So, obviously Sinister, despite the shocking Immortal X-Men #1 reveal of his Moira clone farm, did not foresee Selene’s devastating attack against Krakoa for not being voted onto the Quiet Council. I guess from a certain angle, it was surprising since this petty, knee-jerk response not only guaranteed her forfeiture of all such future bids for power but possibly made her persona non grata, as well—either through non-resurrection or by being sent to the Pit after she returns to life. Then again, this ancient mother is 17,000 years old, so this whole Krakoan era will likely prove less than a blip in her lifespan. Still, she was getting a lot of love from fans lately, and while maybe we mayflies don’t rate much to her, you would think she might’ve enjoyed a brief period of adoration from young mutant nationalists. Of course, when framed that way, she still might!

After all, fervent nationalists have an astonishing capacity for the sort of glaring cognitive dissonance that induces debilitating migraines and panic attacks among rational beings. Still, what did Selene hope to gain from the Coven Akkaba? Tasty life-energy treats to eat? Aren’t there much more powerful magic wielders she could’ve allied with to continue proving her point against Krakoa? (Ah, well, she probably wouldn’t appreciate the potential competition!) [Read more…] about Immortal X-Men #2 Review! – One Must Save the Day

I. Children of Tomorrow

Last Look at Slan

Last time we looked briefly at the 1940 serialized novel “Slan” by A.E. van Vogt (later published as a book in 1946), an instant hit at the time, one it’s very hard to imagine either Stan Lee or Jack Kirby not reading, even if only to take the pulse of the moment with their target audiences. More likely, they read it for fun, because it would have been a much easier pleasure during the Golden Age of sf.

At the time, it was the most popular introduction to bookish American youths of the idea of the pariah elite, both benevolent and malevolent—think X-Men versus the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and the way each reacts to a world that fears and hates them. In fact, this twofold analogy between Slan and Marvel’s X-Men is the clearest relationship between the two fictions. Beyond that, their similarities start to break down; slans are all telepaths and have superhuman physical traits; obviously, these standard powers are diversified among the mutants of Marvel. For the wider sf community, mutants were a trope for the hyper-intelligent; almost all of these fictional metahumans were superpowered by ultra-brain smarts and psi powers.

Slan became so popular among Golden Age sf readership that it whipped up an obvious catchphrase to describe itself: “Fans are slans.” Feel the incel vibes yet? Hounded and ostracized for their native genius and far-out imaginations, these early fans—at a time when indeed sf was not cool enough for school—were meant to identify with Vogt’s pariah elite, persecuted because of their unappreciated giftedness. So before we even get to the X-Men, we have here the early (Steve Ditko side of) Peter Parker—the most feverish incel of Marvel’s early Silver Age. [Read more…] about Science Fiction & The X-Men, Part 2: The Golden Age Context for the Original X-Men