Welcome to the first ever edition of Mutantversity! Every month, I will be looking at all the happenings in the X-Men universe and how they connect to each other, history and the bigger Marvel Universe. After “Inhumans vs. X-Men,” Marvel has decided to relaunch both franchises which has been done before but after this fight, things are very different than what they were. In the first edition of this column, I’m looking at the first issues of the two banner titles, “X-Men Gold” and “X-Men Blue.”
On a more personal level, writing Mutantversity feels almost full circle for me. The first superhero movie I ever saw in theaters was X-Men and, like Batman: The Animated Series, after school and Saturdays were full of X-Men (FOX) and X-Men Evolution reruns. Along with Batman, the X-Men were some of the first superhero comics I purchased with my own money so to be here writing about them like this, is pretty special to me. But like the aforementioned movies and television series, the X-Men are confusing. Each run is like its own separate entity that sometimes doesn’t connect with anything before it or after it, with creators picking and choosing what “counts” and what doesn’t. The X-Men are as close to a soap opera as you’ll ever get in comic books, and that’s kind of a big appealing factor here. What I hope to do here is streamline things and make all these titles a bit easier to follow. It’ll be a (hopefully) fun ride. Let’s jump in.
History
In 1991, Chris Claremont (who you could credit with making the X-Men the X-Men) left Marvel. In his departure, his long run in the past now, Marvel hit the reset button and split the X-Men into two squads – blue and gold. The blue team led “X-Men” and the gold team led “Uncanny X-Men.” Each team basically existed on their own until they would get into big crossover events, which honestly happened quite a bit. What the teams did allow was for more drama to take place. Each squad came with their own baggage and from there, more plotlines would take form. It is from here that the new books take inspiration. It was described as “love letters to the characters and stories that made us the stalwart X-Men fans we are today.” This statement has its heart in the right place but X-Men needs to rise above being only about nostalgia, and that’s really what both these series should strive towards. History should not be a crutch but instead embraced and used when needed through context. You should never need to explain decades of history to someone before they read your first issue.
So, with that said, here’s where we are right now. The Inhumans and the X-Men fought over rogue Terrigen Mist clouds. The clouds give Inhumans their powers and kill mutants. After Cyclops’ death, Emma Frost went off the deep end and orchestrated this entire conflict to escalate further than it needed so she could kill the Inhumans. After she was defeated and the clouds destroyed, both groups have separated. The X-Men are now looking to the future and getting back to basics by helping others instead of fighting each other.
“To Me, My X-Men”
With that declaration, Kitty Pryde’s X-Men spring into action. Of the two series, “X-Men Gold” returns to a more superhero leaning X-Men book. Kitty, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Storm, Rachel Grey and Old Man Logan lead this series and their goal is to do good and create a positive image of mutants. The core of “X-Men Gold” #1 is that Kitty Pryde wants the X-Men to be heroes again. She’s opened the school again, smack dab in Central Park this time, and one of the squad’s first actions is fighting off a villain who wants to cause chaos. Kitty is Charles Xavier’s student through and through which will absolutely lead to friction down the line.
“X-Men Gold” is the “old timers” book because if there’s a team with history, it’s this one right here. Between Kitty and Colossus you have a truly epic romance. With Old Man Logan, you have a damaged but still deadly fighter and between Nightcrawler and Storm, you’ve got bonafide X-Men royalty that’s seen and done everything. On top of this, these are characters that many people who don’t even read comics could probably pick out of a lineup if they’ve ever seen a single X-Men movie. Rachel Grey is really the wild card in this group but even she has a long history with each of these characters. Here, she serves the role of the team psychic because every good X-Men team needs one.
Continued belowIn keeping with the theme of history, Kitty Pryde talks a lot about what’s happened in the past including everything she’s been through with the X-Men and her recent adventures with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Rachel struggles with what her identity is going forward and Storm is stinging from her perceived failure in leading the X-Men to a war with the Inhumans. Old Man Logan is struggling with being out of place and not really knowing these versions of his partners and Colossus is struggling with being around Kitty again and falling into their old routine. Lastly, Nightcrawler isn’t the cheerful guy that he once was. Everyone is struggling with the past and the future and that’s something I’m glad to see “X-Men Gold” deal with.
History is a huge theme in “X-Men Gold” but in a different way than it is in “X-Men Blue” (I’ll get to them). Even in the last moments of this issue we get a look at a brand new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, leaving this older and (hopefully) wiser X-Men team in a position of attack. These characters have room to grow still by using history to their advantage. Think of yourself and people in your actual lives. What you’ve done in your past makes up who you are but that doesn’t mean that’s all you are. You still have room for growth and mistakes to make up for. I think that’s what “X-Men Gold” is getting at which could lead to something very unique for this series.
Going forward, there are questions. Will this team be able to coexist without falling into old habits? Who’s behind this new Brotherhood? How long until being superheroes fails? Will we see this group act as actual teachers and continue Xavier’s initial goal? I’ll absolutely revisit this as the series goes on.
“Are We Doing The Right Thing Here?”
With “X-Men Blue” we’re looking at another “old” team but with a very different approach and look. In “X-Men Blue,” we have the “original five” but it isn’t this timeline’s five but instead another timeline’s five. A much younger Jean Grey leads an equally as young Cyclops, Iceman, Angel and Beast. Their goal is a bit less defined because they aren’t here just to be heroes and their unexpected mentor Magneto complicates all of that.
This group has always been controversial, but probably no more controversial than they are now. In “X-Men Prime,” it was revealed that these five time displaced X-Men could not find their timeline anymore. Brian Michael Bendis had clearly defined where they were from but that has all been thrown away and now we aren’t sure where they should be. What is known is that there is now a timeline without the X-Men. This has been talked about a lot because it is a retcon of something that just happened, but this is what the X-Men is. The X-Men have always had their timelines messed around with and creators have always chosen to take things and make it work for their story. As mentioned, history can be your friend if you know how to use it. You have to be able to make everything cohesive and with “X-Men Blue” in particular, there is room to make these characters more evolved. “X-Men Blue” is a chance for these characters to rewrite history unlike their counterparts in “X-Men Gold” who have to mend the future based on their history.
In the past, the way they were introduced, you basically couldn’t risk doing too much with them because by the made up rules of time travel, you would undo things. Bendis did this once and almost wiped out Cyclops from history. What “X-Men Blue” is now allowing is for a character like Jean Grey to actually get a chance to be more than just a victim. I am very protective of Jean Grey, and have always wanted to see her be defined by more than just the Phoenix. By being time displaced from an unsure timeline, this is now something that can happen. I’ll save more examination of this for when “Jean Grey” #1 hits.
“Secret Wars” has allowed stuff like this to be okay because that literally tore down and rebuilt the Marvel Universe. The Ultimate universe was lost to that event but parts of it were not and in “X-Men Blue” #1 we get another visitor from that world coming back. Jimmy Hudson, the son of Wolverine in the Ultimate universe has found his way over to the main Marvel Universe. The how and why are unclear but this is another much talked about element of this issue.
Continued belowJimmy Hudson, like Old Man Logan, is Marvel’s way of getting around the fact they no longer have the “actual” Wolverine hanging around but in fact, they do. Laura Kinney is the current Wolverine and her solo series (which will be discussed at another time) is fantastic. In fact, it’s the best Wolverine solo series in many years. While the argument can be made that this is a way to step on what she’s accomplished, I think Jimmy fits with this team more than she would. Jimmy is time displaced, world displaced and so much like his father that it is like having a young Logan on the team. Like the rest of this squad, he has a chance to do more than his namesake. He can be more than Logan was and do better than him and accomplish that without interfering or stepping on anything that’s been accomplished with X-23.
“X-Men Blue,” like “X-Men Gold,” has questions to answer that I will revisit. How will this team avoid their destinies? What does Magneto want from these kids? What will Jimmy Hudson bring to the table? What kind of leader will Jean Grey become?
What did you think of these first issues? Let me know in the comments below and let me know what you want to see from Mutantversity in the future!
