Tag Archive for ‘death’ at AudioShocker

I’ve been having a running conversation with a friend about the current state of the X-Men. Hell, I’ve even been sharing my theory online with non-receptive comic book fans on message boards (known as “fanboys” by some and “trolls” by others – I prefer straight up “fans”). And the more I think about it, the more I wonder:

When did the X-Men go from optimism to extinction?

Evolution has always been a part of X-Men comics. The very X-Men concept itself beleaguers the notion of human growth. And while extinction is a reality of evolution in some respects, the gloomy concept of fading legacy has become the dominant reality of the X-Universe.

What initially attracted me to the X-Men was their enormous spirit of optimism in the face of adversity. If you’re reading any X-books nowadays, you’ll know that the adversity is still there… only the optimism seems completely gone.

Take Professor Charles Xavier, for example. He’s the founder of the X-Men and leader for long stretches throughout team history. Lately, his main role has been that of secret sinner. Writers seem to have fun writing Charles as the ideological champion with serious things to hide. This was interesting the first time. Now it’s tired. Let the guy be a hero. What’s so wrong with that?

Cyclops was always the stiff guy that made tough choices with the best of intentions. Now he’s sending former X-Men off on covert killing missions and justifying his preemptive strikes as reasonable behavior in the name of security. What? George W. Cyclops. Right.

Oddly enough, the only character that seems too good to be true lately is Wolverine. He’s transformed from an unpredictable violent killer into a handsome sage with murder in his past (and present). It’s not a bad move, but it is odd.

Storm was once an inspirational force of nature among the X-Men. Now she’s relegated to a minor supporting role in the X-books. She’s seems like she’s around just to keep up appearances more that anything. She really needs to move up to the big leagues now. Marvel ought to make her an Avenger and call it a day.

Beast was once a bouncy scientist with a playful spirit. Now he’s digging through mass mutant graves and making deals with murderers to try and genetically engineer a cure for mutant extinction. Say what? It’s like some weird apocalyptic reality that only seems to affect mutants.

I’m not asking for anything to revert or change back to the way it once was. What I desire, however, is a sense of hope to emanate from the tales of the X-Men. After all, it was X-Men comic books that taught me tolerance, appreciation, and the value of forging a family made of your closest friends. What do they teach now? How to spend your final days with a deadly vendetta?

What happens when we kill them all?

Inspired by X-Factor #27 and Hulk #1

S P O I L E R S

Another week, another superhero death. It seems like past creations are being culled and killed off in an endless cycle of sacrifice. Every creator wants to claim their story is important by taking a life.

In X-Factor #27, we are reminded of the recent loss of Caliban during the Messiah CompleX event. Now in this issue we lose Layla Miller and possibly Mr. Sinister. These deaths don’t even count the many others littered throughout Messiah CompleX. I don’t care if they’re just going to come back (like Cable) in a few issues. Why show their death in the first place?

Shockingly, Hulk #1 debuts with a murder mystery fully intact. Someone slaughtered the Abomination. Really?! Before the 2008 summer movie featuring Emil Blonsky as the big baddie? Even if that means an impending resurrection, it’s still story creation by character destruction.

Was there a time when people thought, “Why are so many characters being created? I wish someone would just kill them all!” I’m not calling for an excessive genesis of superhero personalities. But I do think there should be some creative recourse for all this death. New heroes with compelling histories should be created to fill some of these spots. Something needs to be born out of all this bloodletting.