X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills by Chris Claremont
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Coming on the heels of reading “X-Men – Days of Future Past,” the theme is similar yet, I think, much better executed here. The fact that this is a one-off helps. Chris Claremont didn’t have to worry about monthly continuity, he could simply write the story he wanted to write. But then again, the X-Men have long been the Marvel stand-in for “the Other” so it’s no surprise they are the go to characters when anyone wants to make a point about intolerance and hate. This story has the added bonus of including religious zealotry and hypocrisy. Of course, as a book written in 1982, the resonance it has with today’s America and the ideology which is pushing for a theocratic government is pretty impressive.
So, overall, a bit of an easy target and a simplified answer to a complicated issue… but huge props for calling out racism in any form (and for probably the only time a certain racial epithet was uttered in a mainstream comic book, and uttered by a proudly jewish girl who is under 18 – almost as many discriminated against minorities you can jam into one character).
PS: Thanks to Doc Pockets for reminding me of this one.
Getting the Hang of Thursdays 