Morrison's Magneto: Success or Failure?

[dianakingston]

While randomly trawling the Internet, I stumbled onto a blogger who's been analyzing Grant Morrison's run on "New X-Men". I can't seem to find the link now, but what got my attention at the time was a side remark he made during a review of one of the earlier issues: he considers Morrison's Magneto to be the great failure of the run, for obvious

Comments

[ian_karkull]

Actually, I felt that Morrison has been the only (or perhaps one of the few) writer(s) who was clearly able to grasp the core concept of the X-Men more than anyone else. Turning Xavier's back into a school dedicated to prepare the next step in the evolution of mankind (rather than a generic super-hero team that had all sorts of adventures but ultimatetly served no purpose beyond that) fullfilled my own personal version of Xaviers "dream" than any battle against the Shi'ar Royal Guard (for example) ever could. The Marvel U doesn't need the X-Men to defend the world against super-powered, terrorist maniacs or otherworldy conquerors (thats what the Avengers and the FF are for), but it needs the X-Men to teach them a broader scope of vision, a perspective of the future, in which those who are considered freakish and outlandish by current social standards could peacefully coexist with those that are considered the norm. That is the actual appeal of the X-Men, not the perpetual attacks by killer robots and would-be messiahs from ages long past. Mutation is all about growth, physical, spiritual and otherwise and by incorporating mutants with stupid or useless powers into the equation (who could be heroes and saviors nonetheless), Grant really brought that point across. The X-franchise was static and superfluous when he entered the scene, yet, by focussing on the aspect of teaching and preparing for an inevitable future, he made it interesting and relevant again. I think the sequence that really nailed it for me where a couple of lines from Jean's press conference, where she said (and I'm paraphrasing that, as I don't have the issue handy): "The world as you know it may be coming to an end, but here at Xavier's, we have children that can talk to atoms in their own, native language. Here, we still believe in the future." Believing in the future is what the X-Men are all about, and I for one am sad to see this brilliant concept make way for the same old, same old superheroics again..
As for Scott and Emma: While I will admit that her function within the "New X-Men" was mostly that of an avatar for the writer (her badass attitude and fake britisch accent being indication enough), she did serve the valid purpose of contrasting her characteristics and mindset against that of Jean, who, as much as I like her (and she still holds a special place in my heart for being the first comics character I ever truly cared about) is still a child of the time of her inception, namely, the 60's. Insanely powerful and fear inducing, yet weak-willed and codepending. Like many other female characters created in that early period of the Marvel U, she has never been fully able to shake off her status as mere love-interest for a male hero (much like the Invisible Woman). No matter how powerful she got, she always remained dependant on Scott, her love for him being her sole anchor to humanity and usually the reason for her not going all "angry goddess" on every living creature. Emma was different. From an early age she had to fight for everything she achieved in her life and oh boy, how she did fight! Emma cared naught for how she was concieved by others, knowing that ultimately, the only one who could judge her actions was herself, whereas Jean had always been tied down by the judgement laid upon her by others, namely her parents, the Professor and lastly (but most importantly) Scott. For all her power, Jean could not escape the weight of whar she concieved to be appropriate behaviour. Emma could. She knew that she would have to answer to somebody eventually, but if so, she would do it on her own terms, rather than those implied on her by others. That's why I liked her. Where Jean would say "I did what I thought was best for everyone, please don't judge me.", Emma said " I did what I knew was best, so don't you judge me!"
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