I’ve loved comic books ever since I was a little girl… I blame my father. He was always into comic books, collector toys, etc… He would take me to the comic book store every Wednesday when I was a wee little Mia (some might say that I am still wee, I’m 5 foot AND A FOURTH, don’t judge…) *Random Facts* I’ve been to the midnight premiere of EVERY Batman movie (yes even Batman Forever lol). I’ve also seen all 22 James Bond films (explains my affinity for Aston Martin’s right? I was so pissed when it was replaced with the BMW Z3 for that brief stint). I share these facts only to reiterate that these are two of the many reasons that I’ve been labeled a “guy’s girl.” My dad always warned me that my love for “rock music,” sports, and video games would attract the men folk… But I’ve found that while a majority of men claim they want a girl that watches ESPN and hates romantic comedies… that is normally not the case… Any who, I’m soooo getting off topic, so I digress.
During my “tomboy” days I developed an intense love for X-Men… not to say that this love hasn’t transcended time… even with my current not as tomboyish state (SEE THIS and THIS for proof of lameness…) I didn’t understand until around High School though why I loved them so dearly. I, like most young black girls, wanted to be Ororo Munroe (Storm…) but I’m a Gemini so I needed a character for my multiple personalities... So I also dreamed of being Jean Grey (Phoenix) - because she was soooo powerful and strong, and Selene Gallilo (Black Queen) even though she was a “villain,” she represented my dark side lol. I just loved the idea of the X-Men being this team of “outcasts” that were able to come together and celebrate their differences… And then it hit me… X-Men are BLACK PEOPLE… now I doubt that I am the first person to come to this conclusion but at the age of 14 coming to this epiphany changed my life lol. I mean the story lines, characters, villains, etc. screams Civil Rights Movement. The mutants (nig’ras) struggling/fighting for equal rights, some deciding to conform to societies wishes by hiding who they really are, while others choosing to embrace their differences… It’s such a distinct correlation (I could go on and on with the similarities but I don’t want to bore you non comic book losers).
But before I conclude, look at the discrepancies within the mutant (nig’ra) community. You have Charles Xavier (Professor X) who is trying to fight for equality for mutants in a peaceful manner and work with humans to attain this goal… Can you say MLK people? And then you have Eric Lehnsherr/Max Eisenhardt/Magnus (Magneto) who believes that humans will never be able to understand the mutants’ position and that mutants should attain equality “by any means necessary” (DUH Malcolm X lol). Though they both strive for the same goal… they believe that the road that needs to be traveled to attain that goal should be different. Though I do have a slight issue with the “black struggle” being crafted as entertainment in the form of a comic book by people that were not necessarily familiar with the struggle… I am not focusing on its flaws… I shall save that for another time… But come on… You see it, you know my comparison isn’t too far fetched… lol.
So that basically sums up why X-Men is my #1. As a child I felt like an odd ball and I would find myself relating to the mutants feelings of alienation… But even though being “weird” is the cool thing nowadays (I shall blog about this later) not only as an oddball, but as an African-American I am able to connect to the comic on so many different levels… and though I realize now that these feelings that the mutants showed were not really expressive of how “my people” felt, and were more or less how the people that were not directly affected by the struggle thought how the people that were directly affected felt… I still find myself able to relate to the X-Men characters. Okay, I’m done *opens up Uncanny X-Men and daydreams of the day when the X-men and my people will attain equality…it has been a 45+ year fight for the mutants… a couple centuries for the coloreds*
*No I have not gone to the midnight screening of all of the X-Men movies… I went to the first one, and my heart ached because it was so horrendous… So from now on I just stick to DVD releases*