X-Men #1 – Women, Leaders, and the Bible

X-Men #1 certainly generated a few headlines upon its release. Why? Because this time out the X-Men were actually a bunch of women. There was a lot of Internet ink used to explain why this was so radical, why women have traditionally had trouble carrying any sort of title, movie, TV, comic book or otherwise, especially if it was an action series. Blah, blah, blah, it went on and on. The remarkable thing isn’t so much the core team of this new X-Men series are all women, it’s that despite their different chromosomes, the flow of the story and feel of the series hasn’t really changed at all. But then again, did anyone really expect it to just because they’re a bunch of girls?

This is a typical first issue. Major pieces a put into place and the general outline of the first big conflict is presented in broad, vague strokes. Not much is revealed about what’s coming, but I can say it all felt very X-Men-ish in its unveiling. More notable is that Jubilee is promised to return to some prominence in the X-Men universe with this series, which I think is a great idea. She’s always been one of my favorites, so I have no issues with that. It’s hard to get a strong sense of the team from this one issue, but one thing I did like is that at least this isn’t one of those “heroes meet for the first time, fight, and eventually decide to work together” type of introductions to a new team. The members of this team all seem very comfortable with each other and you get a sense that they already know how to work well with each other. It’s kind of a refreshing start for what’s essentially a new team book.

Getting back to this issue of women in lead roles, I have to reiterate that I fail to see what the big deal is. I was actually quite surprised to see so much press about it. Even more surprising is when I tell people that the Bible was doing this type of stuff long before comic books ever came along. I like how one pastor I know put it; “Whenever God wanted to do something great, he got a man to do the job. However, when he wanted to do something truly special, he got a woman.” I know, the Bible has this reputation of suppressing women, but have you actually read the thing. That bit about getting women to do something truly special is accurate. Look at Eve and how she started the human race, or the role Sarah played in the start of a nation, or how Esther saved an entire nation, or how Deborah helped lead a nation in a time of war, or what about Elizabeth, and not to mention Mary, the mother of Jesus? Time and again, when something really, truly, unique and special needed to happen, women took the leading role in that all throughout the Bible.

That whole issue aside, X-Men #1 is a solid start to what looks like could be a series that recaptures some of the former glory of the core X-men title; regardless of who’s playing the leading role. X-Men fans should find a lot to like here, and unlike many Marvel Now! titles, this is actually one that’s a good place to start for new fans.

Score: 5 of 7

A BIG thanks to Astro-Zombies for providing the material for this review. Learn more about them at astrozombies.com.