When Silence Became Darkness #1

Rebecca Teed

Hello. I'm one of the new people Steve recruited off the net. I have read X-APA #92, but am not quite sure I understand the usual format well enough to follow it. I was, however, quite impressed by the fact that you guys have been contributing to this zine for quite a long time! Since I can't really respond to any of your stuff, I'll tell you who I am.

Currently, I'm a graduate student in the Ecology Department at the University of Minnesota. I waste what little spare time I have role-playing and fooling around with the Internet. My current obsessions are learning about the World-Wide Web and using the Net to find good fan-fiction. Unsurprisingly enough, I also spend much of my meager salary on comics and on science fiction.

The following article was written just after the "Fatal Attractions" storyline, which, I thought, had a very promising beginning and turned into a real disappointment. I was trying to figure out what had attracted me to the X-Men in the beginning and what is missing now. Actually, the problem is not as simple as it's made out to be here, but I figure this might be enough to spark some entertaining discussion.

Archetypes and Comic Books: The Fall of the X-Men

Chris Claremont introduced a new kind of character to Marvel when he took over "The Uncanny X-Men". He took the symbol-laden archetypes created by Wein and Cockrum and combined them with the traditional everyman favored by Marvel, to create characters that were credibly "more than human". However, when Claremont himself eventually found the characters more than he could handle, editors and other writers stripped them of their archetypal aspects and focussed on other aspects of the characters that they hoped the readers found appealing.

The X-Men started out as a team of five characters written by Stan Lee. Like the other superheroes Lee wrote (and almost all of those at Marvel at the time) the X-Men had extraordinary powers but ordinary personalities. The reader could sympathize with the character's desires and feelings and imagine what it would be like to have the character's ability to solve the world's problems. The X-Men were initially different from other Marvel heroes in that they were born with their powers and were feared and hated by the non-superpowered public for being more than human.

Claremont took over a brand-new team of X-Men (created by Wein and Cockrum), who were very obviously more than human. Moreover, several of these characters resembled figures from myth and legend. The use of such characters, called archetypes, in comic books is not a new thing (Batman and Superman are archetypes). They have a powerful appeal, because they remind people of the first "superhero" stories they heard when they were young. Myths and fairy tales also leave a deep impression on the listener because they are loaded with symbols integral to our culture, which have been passed down for millenia. Also, using a mythic character allows, even obliges, the writer to retell the story of the original myth. This can also be something of a problem, because many of those original stories and symbols are very confining. The characters can degenerate into sterotypes and the stories may become repetitive.

I contend that Claremont made the X-Men into the most successful long-running series in all comicdom because his characters combined powerful archetypes with sympathetic everyman personalities. He overcame some of the limits of the legends his characters were based on by adding contradictions to the characters, which both made the character more unique and created an internal conflict. This conflict, when handled well, allowed considerable character development. Mythic figures aren't always static, even back when their stories were first told. As a group book, "The Uncanny X-Men" allowed Claremont to work in interaction between archetypal characters, also a fairly staggering concept. He emphasized the characters' individual approaches to their personal and interpersonal problems.

Claremont's obvious favorite among the X-Men is Storm, a weather-controlling earth goddess. She reveres life, but is very powerful. Despite, or because of this conflict, she eventually became the team leader. Claremont experimented with ways to rebel against this simple feminine archetype, first having her go punk and get a mohawk and a dog collar. Later, she lost her powers but could still lead the team as a strategist, because she retained her "inner strength". Then he had her turned into a child. But none of these changes really went very deep or led to further possibilities. In the end, he seems to have given up and reverted her to her initial powers and appearance.

Wolverine was another dynamic conflict. He began as a savage beast in human form, dominated by rages he couldn't control. When he joined the X-Men, he met Nightcrawler, essentially his opposite: an enlightened man in bestial shape, who encouraged him to develop his "higher self". Throughout their friendship, Wolverine did just that, although his path differed in detail from Nightcrawler's. He had apparently been trained in martial arts long before, giving him a source of ethical philosophy to develop with. By annual 11, Wolverine was the wisest of X-Men. His most important foil at that point was Storm, whose own life was in turmoil (around the time Claremont had given up on the rebellion theme for her).

Unfortunately, this story failed to interest many of the readers. These readers sympathized with the savagery that originally dominated Wolverine's life. Wolverine could go in and kill scores of villains brutally, without much danger to himself, a condition that many people envy at some time or another. Every villain in the Marvel universe had to be afraid of Wolverine. This is an attractive fantasy for the average comic reader, dealing with day-to-day frustrations within the strictures of polite society. Catharsis simply sells better than enlightenment, and the editors put pressure on Claremont to scuttle Wolverine's spritual themes and to revert him to the simple, violent being he started as. Claremont didn't quite give in, but since Wolverine had his own series, another writer was found for the job (Hama). There is no longer much internal conflict; the animal side has won. His best foils now are fairly shallow characters, a child (Jubilee) and a thief (Gambit) and his philosophy now consists of occasional backwoods wisdom.

One of the characters Claremont created for the X-Men is Rogue, who brings a new meaning to the word "dilemma". She's literally an untouchable maiden, not because of her family or religious status or even by virtue of being locked up in a high tower, but by her own doing. When she touches people, she absorbs their powers and memories (steals their hearts?) and they fall over, drained. She's not a typical succubus because she's a pleasant, altruistic person. But she's no innocent virgin either. Claremont introduced her as a villain in "the Avengers" (Annual #10). She viciously attacked a superhero with the intention of draining her powers permanently and succeeded. Unfortunately, she was unable to switch her power "off" after this and went to the X-Men for help. Gradually, she became involved in their mission and became less selfish and more heroic.

But, like Storm, she's been a static character for a long time. She has a love interest (Gambit), but she can't touch him, so their relationship is also pretty unchanging. He's also very untrustworthy and may yet betray her to the extent that she'll never be able to get close to anyone again. On the other hand, he may prove to be the knight in shining armor who can reach her, but I think that this would also be a mistake. Rogue should save herself rather than relying on another to do it.

Another of Claremont's most beloved characters, Magneto, was the team's main antagonist. This character was originally created by Stan Lee simply as an evil mutant, an adversary for the brand-new X-men. He was a generic Lee villain: petty, cowardly, worldly, and not very bright. Lee gave him power over magnetism because, as a lone villain pitted against a team, Magneto had to have a considerable and versatile power. Jack Kirby gave him a costume that would allow everyone to recognize him as the bad guy; it was mostly red and featured a helmet with horns. As unsubtle as their approach was, its consequences were far from straightforward. The traditional conception of the Devil is based on an older, but far-from extinct archetype: the Horned God of the Celts, Pan of the Greeks. This was a European god of fertility and a force of nature made human. This older reference is reinforced by Magneto's powers and his tendency to build devices pertaining to earth. Other writers and artists have gradually brought the comic book character closer to the myth. Magneto became tougher, more courageous and visionary, a perverse hero in his own right. Roy Thomas added biological engineering to his list of technologies and had him making new (villainnous) life forms who referred to him as "Creator".

Magneto was revived by Claremont, a writer well-suited to the challenge. Among other things, Claremont convincingly humanized this avatar of a most inhuman archetype. He wrote him an extensive history as a victim, rather at odds with his power by the time the X-Men met him, and gave him a drinking problem. His reactions to the usual super-powered conflicts finally became more normal than those of most heroes in "The Uncanny X-Men" 150, when he decided that taking over/saving the world wasn't worth killing children. Claremont reinforced Magneto's Antaen aspects at the same time, having him reborn in from a grave when he was a child. As a Claremont villain, he built an earthquake machine and had a base within a volcano. He was neither clearly good or evil; he had an old-fashioned, vengeful, patriarchal mindset. His most villainous deeds were the causing of mass disasters rather than personal murders. He was horribly powerful, almost unbeatable. Even his perceptions were superhuman: Magneto could "see" different kinds of energy.

Claremont eventually reformed him, probably so he could use Magneto as a regular character. The editors were rather upset with this, since it clashed with Stan Lee's original conception of the character and put pressure on Claremont to "revillainize" Magneto, which Claremont broke down and did. Perversely, when Claremont left Marvel, the last thing he did was to kill Magneto off so that no more harm would come to the character. Recently, the new X-Men writers brought him back to life, had him commit a few senseless atrocities to make him obviously a villain, and then had the X-Men kill him off again in an exceptionally cruel and brutal manner.

Claremont also experimented with the story of Faustus, whose theme was that power and knowledge purchased at the price of damnation. Magik of the New Mutants (the junior-league X-Men) was a mutant who grew up in Hell (although it wasn't called that, comics code you know), but escaped to become a hero and then return to overthrow the demonic ruler. Both her magical skills and the use of her teleportation power (involving a shortcut through Hell) corrupt her. Her demonic side threatens to take her over both physically and morally, in part because she needs to control her hellish kingdom to use her power safely, but she needs her powers in order to be an effective superhero.

Different versions the medieval story of "Faust" end differently; he is either redeemed by giving up his power or he is finally damned. Magik was lost to another writer who was not as interested in her personal conflict (which completely outshadowed all the external conflicts she faced). Magik was eventually forced to sacrifice herself to save the world from the denizens of her hell (and the story had implications that her neglect led to the world's vulnerability). Her friends try and make it up to her by rescuing a younger version of her, effectively bringing her back as an innocent baby (it didn't work with Magneto either). She too was recently killed off.

Well before Claremont left, the X-men had degenerated to a team of killing machines and embittered, would-be everymen. The characters were largely static and there were few references to the legends and the symbols they represented. The new writers are trying to keep them popular as just another superteam and I think they are doomed to failure for several reasons.

Firstly, the X-Men are not "just another superteam". Mutants usually acquire their powers as children at twelve to fourteen years of age, so it's hard to believe they are going to grow up to be ordinary people in spirit, if they are not in body. The other Marvel superheroes have all received their powers late in life, so they are still ordinary Americans molded by their culture, like Spiderman. That "molding" process has been interrupted in a mutant, who has unusual capabilities and possibly perception as well. The potentially corrupting nature of mutant powers, especially telepathy, needs to be taken more seriously.

Why do the public hate and fear mutants if psychologically, mutants really are human? I'm afraid that Marvel, like much of the media, does treat Joe Q. Public as envious, cowardly and stupid. They don't need a reason. But it might be interesting, from a story point of view, to have mutants as a special case of the human condition. If corruption, even mild corruption, is a problem for all mutants, that makes this conflict interesting and the mutants a little less smug and self-righteous.

Finally, the archetypal elements did make the stories a little less predictable than they have become. Lately, a good fight is the way to resolve a problem in a story, The legends offered alternatives. Also, resolution of internal conflicts offered the option of completing stories, usually anathema in comic books, but that could be an important source of change. For example, once Wolverine had overcome his violent aspects, he could have taken Xavier's place as the teacher of the mutant community. Storm's development had hardly begun, and Magneto's and Magik's offered a number of interesting possibilities.

Archetypes are still doing pretty well at DC though. Superman and Batman have become big sellers again. There is a lot of attention on a comic book which brings back many elements of old stories without the superhero trappings: Sandman. Perhaps some of the new companies will take a hint.

Originally printed in Legion of Bitter Alumni, vol. 1 no. 6.
Edited by Chris Aylott. Revised 10/28/94.
Last updated 1/15/96.