Warning: Spoilers for NYX #5Regardless of the original intention of its creators, the X-Men We have always been a team that promotes the importance of civil rights and social equality. When Chris Claremont became the franchise’s head writer in the 1980s, the X-Men became an analogy for the tumultuous civil rights issues in the United States. However, after two decades of moving away from Claremont’s vision, the X-Men are finally returning to their most important themes.
Following the Fall of Xwriters such as Jed MacKay, Gail Simone and especially Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing returned the X-Men to smaller-scale series, allowing for more intimate stories – as in NYX #5 by Kelly, Lanzing, Francesco Mortarino, Elisabetta D’Amico, Raúl Angulo and Joe Sabino, which features a confrontation between humans and mutants at a protest.
Intentionally or not, the X-Men have always been a socio-progressive franchise which promotes the fight for the rights of the oppressed while advocating cohesive unity among all people. In an especially divisive time like the modern American and international social climate, stories like Kelly and Lanzing’s NYX The series does exactly what Claremont imagined the X-Men would be capable of.
Contrary to popular belief, co-creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby never intended the X-Men, specifically Charles Xavier and Magneto, to be symbolic replacements for civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. who grew up in this era, seeing the X-Men reflect real-world issues took these unintentional comparisons to heart. Eventually, these kids grew up to write comics, defining an entire generation of X-Men comics that are now known as the “Claremont Era.” Unfortunately, as the 2000s dawned, Claremont’s dream for the franchise faded.
Intentional or not, the X-Men’s core principles have always focused on social progressivism and equal rights. The X-Men, like many other Marvel titles, were created to inspire young readers to grow up to become as noble and heroic as their favorite comic book characters. From the 1940s to the 1960s, Marvel comics showed idealized representations of heroes that were needed at that time. Captain America, for example, reflected the best of America’s ideals during and after World War II.
Marvel stories at the time were intended to feel realistic and relatable, inspiring readers to better connect with the characters and their personal struggles.
Steve Rogers didn’t necessarily represent the average American, but rather what creators Joe Simon and Kirby believed the average American should represent. In the 1980s, Marvel Comics as a whole tried more poignantly address real-world issues. Characters like Cloak and Dagger focused on the spread of organized drug crime, coinciding with the Reagan Presidency’s “War on Drugs.” Comics began to have their heroes reflect the average person and the average person’s experience. Marvel stories at the time were it was intended to feel realistic and relatable, inspiring readers to better connect with the characters and their personal struggles.
Early 2000s Marvel comics moved away from Claremont’s dream
The X-Men abandoned social justice for an edgy spectacle
During this period, Claremont’s X-Men fully committed to this style of storytelling. Writers like Claremont, who grew up watching the X-Men uphold the ideals of equality and social equity, defined their era of comics as one that taught readers the importance of real-world problems and served to inspire those readers to make the changes their favorites wanted. heroes fought. However, in the 2000s, popularity mainly shifted to the Ultimate X-Men. Led by writers such as Mark Millar, Last X-Menalongside the rest of the Ultimate line of comics, abandoned direct social commentary for renewed and “edgy” characterizations.
In the 2000s, social commentary became a consistent and overt thematic point for the franchise. However, the X-Men experienced a stylistic shift that focused on larger-than-life superheroic characters. spectacles rather than Claremont’s strong social commentary. This change would remain so until the end of the Ultimate Universe. After 2015 Secret Wars Event, popular attention returned to the X-Men of Earth-616, but the literary impact of the 2000s remained. With the dawn of the Krakoa Era in 2019, the X-Men continued to embrace grandiose spectacle rather than the clear-cut social commentary that became popular in the ’80s and ’90s.
Modern X-Men series as NYX Return the franchise to its defining themes
Marvel Comics has always been created to inspire real-world heroes
The Claremont Era defined the X-Men as a fantastical yet realistic representation of modern social issues that readers could identify with and be inspired by. Series like NYX show readers that they don’t need superpowers to make the change they want to see in the world. As Ms. Marvel promotes in the newest installment of the series, powers don’t make heroes – actions do. Frankly, it’s about time the X-Men to return to its thematic roots, and now is a better time than any for today’s writers to once again realize the progressive dream that writers like Claremont had for the franchise.
NYX #5 is now available from Marvel Comics.