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The Lasting Comics: X-Men
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As stated before, the greatest comic books are those which, while being timeless, are able to remain relevant to the times in which they reside. Perhaps no franchise does a better job of that than the X-Men.
The X-Men stories often fall into a trap of having too many characters, too many spin-offs, and too much deviation from their central theme of facing oppression, but the great X-Men comics, the lasting comics, have produced some of the finest stories this medium offers.
One such story is 'God Loves Man Kills', which was written in the 1980's by Chris Claremont, considered to be the greatest X-Men writer, and illustrated by Brent Anderson. 'God Loves Man Kills' brings the themes of oppression to the forefront of the story and has the X-Men battle against a bigoted minister for public opinion. Reverend Stryker, clearly not a good ambassador for Christianity, spews hatred from his televised pulpit with intent to turn the world against mutants. He uses hateful words and violent scenarios to stir fear in the minds of the people, causing mutant bigotry to increase.
The X-Men, led by Professor Xavier, act for open discussion with aims for acceptance. Magneto, often the villain in X-Men stories, takes it upon himself to stamp out the hatred he feels towards his kind. Is Magneto wrong? Being a Holocaust survivor, he has seen the devastating effects of hatred and vows to never let it happen again. The best villains are often those with whom we often agree.
Amidst the optic blasts and the adamantium claws lies a compelling parable for our society. Do we let ourselves listen to the loudest voices, those that preach violence and rash action, or do we endure, take the higher course, and achieve acceptance through communication and understanding? In an age where human beings are often relegated to.jpg)
second-class citizens due to their appearance, name, orientation, nationality, or political affiliation, this story has meaning .
In it's most poignant scene, Cyclops states that mutants, for all their different abilities, are still human and should be treated as such. A fuming Stryker points to Nightcrawler, the kindest of all the X-Men, and screams "Human, you dare call that thing human!"
Comic books, for all their simplicities, carry messages far better than they are credited. The lessons of tolerance over bigotry and acceptance over hate resonate through the X-Men books to this day and shall continue to do so until such lessons shall be learned by all.
-Jeff Loveness
'God Loves Man Kills' can be bought on www.mycomicshop.com , www.amazon.com www.marvel.com or any comic shop in the Los Angeles area.
