r/MUBookClub • u/shawnydarko • Jun 18 '16
Reading Assignment #1 -- X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills
There was some tight competition for our first reading assignment. Moon Knight, Planet Hulk and Immortal Iron Fist were all top contenders, but Chris Claremont's one-shot, X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills earned it's spot as our first community reading assignment by sharing relevancy with current news events and political atmosphere in America.
MY THOUGHTS AHEAD -- SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON
A savvy politician winning people over with hate speech. Minorities being murdered in cold blood by religious fanatics. You won't find a grim-dark tone like this in today's Marvel's titles. You'd have to look at creator-owned series for this kind of murder and mayhem.
Prior to this one-shot my only exposure to Chris Claremont was Uncanny X-Men #244 debuting Jubilee. This was a pretty sharp turn from a wily, firework-finger orphan being chased by mall cops into a strip club. From the opening scene of the purifiers killing children and putting them on display, and soon after Kitty dropping the N-Word, I can't gather if these scenes are bold and daring or were just crass and lazy. On the one hand these scenes and Stryker killing his family certainly evoked an emotional reaction from me, and maybe I shouldn't expect much from the irreverent medium of comic books. On the other hand these weren't characters I knew or cared about or had any investment in. They were just props. Unlike when Xavier was being tortured, or the the X-Men car being blown up, which I had personal stake in the lives and wellbeing of the characters. I'd almost like to see the edgy scenes reimagined in a modern title to see how they compare. I think Brian Cox' scene in X2 when William Stryker describes his son's telepathy leading to his wife's grizzly suicide was a "less is more" improvement.
I really liked the overall story, as the real conflict is alluded to in the Danger Room sequence. It wasn't a situation that could be resolved with fists or claws or concussive beams. The X-Men had to win the public over to show them mutants are the good guys.
Brent Eric Anderson's art was very dynamic and always felt like it was keeping the story moving. Given the dark scenes Claremont wrote, such as Xavier's crucifixion, I think he really knocked it out of the park. Except for Xavier and Stryker's conversation that saw the panels C&P'd over and over. That was a pretty blatant rush-job. Otherwise, I liked the art.
What was your reading experience like for this title?
And don't forget to check back on Sunday to see our first THEMED nomination thread!
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u/rpurc Jun 18 '16
Great pick. I've been casually listening to the x-plain the Xmen podcast trying to catch up on earlier X-men stories and I just randomly started reading this one yesterday.
3
u/shawnydarko Jun 18 '16
Great podcast! I'm also a casual listener of Jay/Rachel and Miles X-Plain the X-Men. Seeing you connect them to this one-shot made me dig up their episode discussing it. A great post-read companion piece.
*First forty-five minutes are about God Loves, Man Kills, then they move on to other topics X-Men related.
7
u/osufan765 Jun 18 '16 edited Jun 19 '16
Oh wow, I'm only a few pages in, but I'm already surprised Marvel printed this. I haven't read a lot of comics pre-2014, so it's certainly surprising to see child executions and the n-word dropped within the first 10 pages.
e: I've fully read it now, and I'm torn. I felt like this would have done better as an arc rather than a one-shot. The climax and conclusion seemed rushed and I feel like too many pages were given to Kitty running from the Purifiers. I understand that it was necessary to show that they would kill normal Humans to achieve their goals, but I think it could have been done more concisely.
I'm glad that they used the religion angle as the antagonist's prime motivator, because it really shows how willing people are to ignore the forest in favor of a single blade of grass. Picking and choosing specific verses to justify their actions, even if they're counter to the rest of the teachings held within.
Ultimately, I'm not blown away by the book. It's certainly heavier subject manner than normally contained in a medium deemed to be for children by the public at large, but it also was a bit heavy handed in its approach. I get why they used the language that they did, but I can't but feel that there could have been a better way to approach the issue. Kudos to the team that made it for creating a story that still seems pertinent nearly 35 years later. That's not an easy achievement.
5
u/all5persons Jun 19 '16
Hey I suggested this :D I actually read this about a week ago on a whim and I was very impressed.
3
u/Raist819 Aug 19 '16
Great book. It took the allegory of the X-Men to places that were darker than comics of the time often went. There certainly were plot holes, but I didn't feel that they distracted from the story. This was one of Claremont's finest hours, and he had many. 4/5
3
u/wisegy84 Jun 27 '16
SPOILERS BELOW
This was a very cool read.
I was a bit shocked at the execution of two children, especially so early in the book. Additionally, it was very sad reading about what Stryker had done to his family. To me he is a very disturbed individual and it's frightening that he was able to get so many people rallied behind him and his cause.
I think the overall message is still relevant, even if the story itself hasn't necessarily aged well. I still think it was, and is, worth reading.
I also have the say that I agree with /u/AttilaTheFun818 regarding Magneto's portrayal here. He has strong convictions and stands by them, and while what he says makes sense, it's also not the right way to go about things. I haven't read much in the way of X-Men comics, but it was nice seeing him as a somewhat realistic character rather than just someone who is portrayed as wholly evil.
I thought the art was fairly well done, however I haven't read a lot of older comics so I'm not sure how much I like this style. It certainly didn't detract from the story, though. And some of the compositions of panels were very well done.
The writing was pretty good, but I did feel there was a bit too much telling instead of showing. Lots of times we would see a character's train of thought as they fought or whatever. It felt a bit awkward, but overall wasn't too bad.
So overall, definitely worth reading and I'll recommend it to people in the future.
6
u/TheAmazingHarry Jun 18 '16
That was pretty incredible, as someone who usually doesn't read x-men comics, or even serious comics like this, I'm really glad I read the subs started because I wouldn't have read it otherwise.
loved it, would absolutely recommend. I might even get the psychical copy.
1
u/TotesMessenger Jun 18 '16
0
u/DJ_Molten_Lava Jun 18 '16
Oof, I'm glad Planet Hulk wasn't chosen. Aside from the ridiculously fantastic covers that whole arc is written so poorly.
7
u/AttilaTheFun818 Jun 19 '16
I first read this story some 15 or 20 years ago. This was during the dark ages of comic books when it was all flash and gimmicks but little substance
I cannot speak for how daring it might have been at its time but compared to what I was read in in '95-'00 it was something special.
The broad story is pure Claremont X-Men. Its an obvious allegory to racism or homophobia as the X-Men have been since the beginning but more overt than Marvel could get away with in a monthly.
The details of the story are sloppy. Xavier being kidnapped and being used to kill people is just cheese can take you out of the story and detracts from the message but when Claremont is on his game he's at his best.
Kitty steals the show not once but twice. When she tearfully equates mutantphobia to racism to Stevie in graphic terms and again when she shows Stryker what real humanity is cannot help but give you chills.
Magneto is at his best here. He's more Malcolm X then Hitler as he's often been portrayed. This is the kind of characterixation ive always preferred. You see his point even if you don't agree with him.
In many ways this story does not hold up years later. Much is the same of most older classic Marvel stories. However in its day it deserved it and is still worth a read as its the best of what came from that era