Bingo Row 2 – diaspora
Earlier this year, I made an effort to get back into the X-Men. Then current events happened and I decided to abort the catch up. But not before I got a sampling of the first volumes from some solo titles. (I wrote most of this before Disney put Kimmel back.)
One of my favorite things about the X-Men is that the characters came from everywhere. Retrospectively, it was the closest thing I saw to my own family being represented in media. At best, I might have seen biracial representation somewhere else. But there was nowhere else I saw three people from four different countries representing five ethnicities being a dysfunctional family.
Phoenix – The original X-Woman, Jean Grey, is now permanently and peacefully one with the Phoenix entity. They wander the universe doing good deeds. It was, despite the topics and events, kind of peaceful.
Storm – If the X-Men has a main character, it’s Storm to me. So I was confused about where she was when I started reading the main X-books. It turns out she’s being a hero – running an animal sanctuary, doing search and rescue, being an awesome beautiful badass who everyone loves. And dying, as X-Men do. The art is gorgeous, the writing is compelling. I’ll definitely be looking for more from the members of this creative team.
Psylocke – lt would be easier to understand Psylocke if I didn’t already know the character’s backstory, but all versions of Betsy Braddock (codename: Psylocke) were a favorite. Just like me, she simultaneously was and was not Japanese. Unlike me, Psylocke wasn’t multiracial and now her Japanese body has a Japanese woman back in it. Which was the right thing for Marvel to do. Betsy is off being Captain Britain now and the woman who calls herself Psylocke is fine.
Magik – I was excited for this one. It stars Illyana, has Dani Moonstar, and is full of throwbacks to the original New Mutants run. I think I’ll need to give it another chance.
I look forward to seeing where the X-Men keep on going, but I’ll probably slow down, even if the Disney thing is “ok” now.