#Uncanny X-Men V1 9

[pierre-reads-comics]

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #9 — Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

God, Thor is portrayed so well here.

Listens to reason, while also still showing his immense strength by very casually breaking Bobby's ice barrier like it's nothing.

[fuckyeahalisonblaire]

your recommendations are amazing and i can't thank you enough for them! do you have any x-factor recs for ali, please? x

So, funny story! Dazzler was actually a choice to join X-Factor V1 before they went with Jean. However, that never transpired and she was in Uncanny X-Men instead. Due to that, her X-Factor issues are very few. She was in a couple issues that tied into Inferno, but that is about it for V1. She was in X-Factor Nation X oneshot by Peter David, but I don't reccommend it. There is also X-Facfor 259, which details how Alison is Shatterstar's mother in a very bizzare way.

However! In X-Factor 2020, she is in issue 9 and it was a fun read.

[comic-bucky]

Golden Age

Captain America Comics (1941) #1-78

All-Winners Comics (1941) #1-21

Young Allies Comics (1941) #1-20

USA Comics (1941) #6-17

Kid Komics (1943) #2-10

All-Select (1943) #1-10

Complete Comics (1944) #2

Mystic Comics (1944) #4

Young Men (1950) #24

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Silver Age

The Avengers (1963) #4, #56, #106-107, #277, #387, Annual #16

Sgt. Fury (1963) #13

Tales of Suspense (1964) #63-71, #75, #82, #95

Captain America v1 (1968) #105, #107, #109, #112, #121, #128, #131-132, #139, #162, #176, #215, #219-220, #227, #253, #255-157, #261, #264, #281, #294, #297-299, #326, #349-350, #372, #383-384, #423, #437, #441, #445, #447-448

Captain America Annual (1970) #1, #6, #9, #13

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Bronze Age

The Invaders (1975) #1-31, #38-39, Annual #1

Captain America's Bicentennial Battles (1976)

Marvel Premiere (1972) #29-30

What If..? (1977) #1, #4, #5

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Modern Age

What If..? v2 (1989) #28, #105, #200

Adventures of Captain America (1991) #1-4

Captain America: Medusa Effect (1994)

War Machine (1994) #15-17

Batman/Captain America (1996)

Deadpool v1 (1997) #0, #61

Captain America/Citizen V (1998)

Captain America: Sentinel Of Liberty (1998) #7, #12

Fantastic Four (1998) #569, #584, #588

Domination Factor: Avengers (1999) #2.4, #3.6

Earth X (1999) #0-1, #4, #10

Universe X (2000) #9, #X

Universe X Special: Cap (2001) #1

Paradise X (2002) #0-1

Captain America v3 (1998) #1, #12, #25, #32, #39, #48, #50, Annual 2001

Captain America/Nick Fury: The Otherworld War (2001)

The Ultimates v1 (2002) #1, #3, #7

The Ultimates v2 (2005) #1, #8

Ultimate Avengers (2009) #2, #6

The New Invaders (2004) #2

Captain America v4 (2002) #10, #17, #19-20, #26

Captain America: 65th Anniversary Special (2006) #1

Captain America Comics 70th Anniversary Special (2009) #1

Captain America Comics 70th Anniversary Special (2011) #1

Cable & Deadpool (2004) #45

Captain America v5 (2005) #1-50

Winter Soldier: Winter Kills (2007)

Young Avengers Presents (2008) #1

Punisher War Journal (2007) #11

Fallen Son: Wolverine (2007)

Wolverine: Origins (2006) #15-20, #23, #25, #30

Civil War: Battle Damage Report (2007) #1

Iron Man/Captain America: Casualties of War (2007) #1

Secret Invasion (2008) #4, #6-8

What If? Secret Invasion (2010) #1

Avengers/Invaders (2008) #1-12

House of M: Civil War (2008) #3-4

What If? House Of M (2009) #1

Mythos: Captain America (2008) #1

Invincible Iron Man v1 (2008) #17, #20-22, #501

Incredible Hulk v2 (2009) #601, #607, #609

Nomad: Girl Without a World (2009) #1, #4

Ms. Marvel v2 (2006) #41-42

Ms. Marvel: War of the Marvels (2009) #1

Agents of Atlas (2009) #3-5

New Avengers (2009) #48-64, Finale

The Amazing Spider-Man v1 (2009) #600-601, #637, #648, #661

Wolverine (2003) #38-40, #72-74

Young Allies: 70th Anniversary Special (2009)

The Marvels Project (2009) #7-8

Avengers: The Initiative (2007) #19, #34-35

Dark Reign: The List - Avengers (2009) #1

Captain America v1 (2009) #600-619

Captain America: Reborn (2009) #1-6

Captain America: Who Will Wield The Shield? (2010)

Siege (2010) #2-4

Siege: Captain America (2010) #1

Steve Rogers: Super Soldier (2010) #1

Dark Wolverine (2009) #84

Avengers v4 (2010) #1-7, #10, #12.1, #16

Avengers vs. Pet Avengers (2010) #1-4

I am An Avenger (2010) #2, #4-5

Free Comic Book Day: Avengers (2009) #1

AAFES 7th Edition (2009) #7

AAFES 9th Edition (2010) #9

Wolverine: Weapon X (2010) #12-15

Avengers vs. Atlas (2010) #1, #4

Dark Avengers Annual (2010) #1

Hawkeye & Mockingbird (2010) #1

Age of Heroes (2010) #1

Invaders Now! (2010) #1-5

World War Hulks (2010) #1

World War Hulks: Captain America vs Wolverine (2010) #1-2

Captain America The 1940s Newspaper Strip (2010) #1-3

Captain America: Forever Allies (2010) #1-4

Black Panther/Captain America: Flags of Our Fathers (2010) #4

Black Widow: Deadly Origin (2010) #1-4

Black Widow v4 (2010) #1-6

Chaos War (2010) #1, #5

Chaos War: Dead Avengers (2011) #1, #3

Heroes for Hire v3 (2011) #9-10

Fear Itself (2011) #3-4

Fear Itself: Captain America (2011) #7.1

Fear Itself: The Worthy (2011) #1

All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes (2011) #1-5

Captain America and Falcon (2011) #1

Captain America: A Little Help (2011) #1

Captain America Corps (2011) #1-5

Captain America and Bucky (2011) #620-624

Captain America: Hail Hydra (2011) #1-2, #5

Captain America v6 (2011) #1-2, #19

The Winter Soldier (2012) #1-19

Marvel Zombies Destroy (2012) #1-5

Secret Avengers v1 (2010) #15

Secret Avengers v2 (2013) #9, #16

Captain America v7 (2013) #6, #13, #20

Winter Soldier: The Bitter March (2014) #1-5

Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration (2014) #1

All-New Marvel Now! Point One (2014) #1

All-New Invaders (2014) #1-15

Original Sin (2014) #1-8

Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier (2014) #1-11

Black Widow v5 (2014) #8, #12, #15, #17-18

Planet Hulk (2015) #1-5

Runaways v4 (2015) #1-4

1602 Witch Hunter Angela (2015) #1

1872 (2015) #1-2

Red Skull (2015) #1-2

Civil War (2015) #1-4

Captain America: White (2008) #0-5

Captain America: Sam Wilson (2015) #7-8

Loki: Agent of Asgard (2014) #12

A-Force v1 (2015) #5

POP Secret Avengers: A Tussle in Time (2016)

Thunderbolts (2016) #1-12

Captain America: Steve Rogers (2016) #1-2, #4, #11-13, #16, #18

All-New, All-Different Avengers (2015) #8-9

Avengers Standoff: Welcome to Pleasant Hill (2016) #1

Avengers Standoff: Assault On Pleasant Hill Alpha (2016) #1

Avengers Standoff: Assault On Pleasant Hill Omega (2016) #1

Black Widow v6 (2016) #9-10

Captain Marvel v6 (2016) #8

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2016) #8

A Year of Marvels: July Infinite Comic (2016) #1

Generations: Sam Wilson: Captain America & Steve Rogers: Captain America (2017) #1

Secret Empire (2017) #0, #2, #4-5, #8-10

Secret Empire: Brave New World (2017) #1-2, #4-5

Secret Empire Omega (2017) #1

Tales of Suspense v2 (2017) #100-104

Captain America v8 (2017) #25, #695, #701

Captain America v9 (2018) #1, #5-7, #12, #19-21

The Punisher v8 (2016) #227-228

The Punisher v9 (2018) #5

Old Man Hawkeye (2018) #6, #8

The Unstoppable Wasp (2018) #7-10

Rise of the Black Panther (2018) #3

Captain America Annual (2018) #1

Winter Soldier (2018) #1-5

Invaders (2019) #1-12

War of the Realms (2019) #3-5

War of the Realms - Strikeforce: The War Avengers (2019) #1

Strikeforce (2019) #1-9

Web of Black Widow (2019) #2, #5

Deadpool v5 (2018) #13

Gwenpool Strikes Back (2019) #3

Captain Marvel v8 (2019) #6

Uncanny X-Men (2019) #11

Marvel Comics (2019) #1000-1001

Marvel Comics Presents (2019) #7

History of the Marvel Universe (2019) #2, #5

Avengers: Save Like A Hero (2019) #1

Captain America & The Invaders: Bahamas Triangle (2019) #1

Spider-Woman v6 (2020) #1

Amazing Spider-Man (2020) #38

Ruins of Ravencroft: Dracula (2020) #1

Hawkeye: Freefall (2020) #1, #4

Falcon & Winter Soldier (2020) #1-5

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Other Bucky reading guides *work in progress*

BuckyCap | Kid!Bucky | Steve/Bucky | Bucky/Nat | Falcon/Bucky | Bucky/Daredevil | Bucky/Hawkeye

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updated 12/08/20

[tepkunset]

Hi, I saw your post about the whitewashed characters in The New Mutants film, and I hope it's not too much to ask, but I'd like to read about Karma, the Asian leader. I don't know where to start or which comics to read, you know, in their right order, and Google is only talking about the movie, so I hope you can point me to the right direction. I'm only interested in this one character, so I hope that makes it easier for you. Thank you in advance, and I wish you an amazibg day. Kisses xX

The only reading list I could find for Karma is a little outdated, so here is a quick one that includes some more recent appearances as well. Some of these are good and some... not so much (like her first appearance is very stereotypical for example.)

Marvel Team-Up v1 #100 - Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four

Marvel Graphic Novel #4 - The New Mutants

New Mutants v1 #1-6

(Possessed by the Shadow King) The New Mutants v1 #29-34

New Mutants Special Edition #1

Uncanny X-Men Annual v1 #9

New Mutants v1 #35-43

New Mutants Annual v1 #2

New Mutants v1 #44-47

Uncanny X-Men Annual v1 #10

New Mutants #48-54

Wolverine v2 #4-8

Wolverine v2 #27-30

X-Force v1 #33-34 (part of the Child’s Play crossover)

Beast #1-3

New Mutants: Truth or Death #1-3

X-Force v1 #75

Mekanix #1-6

New Mutants v2 #4-13

New X-Men v2 #4-15 (sporadically)

X-Men: Manifest Destiny #1 (she does have a featured short story, but it’s written by C. B. Cebulski...)

Uncanny X-Men v1 #501-503

New Mutants v3 #1-33 + #50

Astonishing X-Men v3 #49-68

All-New X-Men #40-41

New Mutants: Dead Souls #1-6 (fair warning though)

Uncanny X-Men v5 #12-19

War of the Realms: Uncanny X-Men #1-3

New Mutants: War Children

New Mutants v4 #1-Present

I would like to personally recommend Astonishing X-Men v3 by Marjorie Liu. If you want to jump right into that, you can! Karma doesn’t appear until #49, but you should start reading at #48 for the beginning of the story, again, if you want to.

[comicreadingorder]

X-Factor by Louise Simonson Reading Order

When this series started the main X-Men team was full of all new people while Angel, Iceman and Beast had left to bump around between college and groups like the Champions, Defenders and Avengers. Jean was dead, and Cyclops ceded leadership of the team to Storm before retiring to Alaska with his wife and newborn son. ...But fans missed the originals so Marvel jumped through some silly hoops and retconned everyone back to their original versions.

The basis of the team is that X-Factor advertises themselves as humans who hunt down mutants, taking advantage of prejudice to get people to call on anyone they suspect of being a mutant. Once alerted the team would confront the person and, if they actually were a mutant, try to help them by inviting them back to base to stay and learn their powers.

While I wrote lists for other X-Men runs, each is supposed to function by itself rather than part of some master list. I’m sure you could piece them together easily enough if you wanted, but this is made with the mindset of someone only reading X-Factor. Bold=important or official part of the story Italics=optional with a note to let you decide for yourself

Avengers 263, Fantastic Four 286 -- These issues set up the return of the main team and lead into X-Factor 1.

X-Factor (V1) 1-4

XF Annual 1

XF 5-8 -- Louise Simonson takes over with 6 and lasts through 62.

Mutant Massacre

This was the first of the big 3 crossovers uniting the X titles. Despite being the newest, it really thrived during these crossovers, telling such big stories that they almost felt like the main title.

Uncanny X-Men 210, XF 9, UXM 211, XF 10, NM 46, Thor 373, Power Pack (V1) 27, UXM 212, Thor 374, XF 11, UXM 213

XF 12-16

Thor 377, 378 -- A big change to Iceman that lasts through the entire run.

XF 17

XF Annual 2

XF 18-20

Incredible Hulk 336, 337 -- XF 20 leads into these 2 issues. It doesn’t lead back into their title or get mentioned again but they ARE a significant part of the story.

Fall of The Mutants

The second “crossover” of X-titles, except they all pretty much tell their own story in different, unrelated parts of the world so I didn’t include everything. Hulk is just a transition issue for UXM, PP shows an extended XF fight, Cap closes up a loose end, FF is an epilogue. The UXM issues are there because they’re mentioned in Inferno, where the two titles come together.

XF 21-23, UXM 220-224, Incredible Hulk 340, XF 24, 25, PP 35, UXM 225-227, Captain America 339, XF 26, FF 312

XF 27-29

XF Annual 3 -- Part of the Evolutionary War Annuals crossover but each annual’s story is pretty self-contained to their title.

XF 30-34

Inferno

Here the titles cross-pollinate heavily, ending up with some characters jumping over to other books. New Mutants also tells a significant part of Inferno that mostly precedes the XF/UXM issues, but I felt like the X-Terminators miniseries explained enough of that story. Plus there’s already so much convolution in this event that I wanted to narrow the view. UXM 239, X-Terminators 1, XF 35, XT 2-3, XF 36, UXM 240-241, XF 37, XT 4, UXM 242, XF 38, UXM 243, XF 39

XF 40

NM 76

XF 41, 42

XF Annual 4 -- Part of Atlantis Attacks, works as one-shot, follows up on the previous NM issue.

XF 43-58*

Days of Future’s Present: FF Annual 23, NM Annual 6, XF Annual 5, UXM Annual 14

XF 59

XF: Prisoner of Love -- Self contained one-shot about Beast. Mostly just adding to let you know it exists; as far as I know it’s never mentioned again.

X-Tinction Agenda: UXM 270, NM 95, XF 60, UXM 271, NM 96, XF 61, UXM 272, NM 97, XF 62 -- The last big X-over of the three titles during the Claremont era, also the last issues written by Simonson.

XF 63-64**

UXM 273 -- X-Tinction Agenda epilogue by Claremont, also the last issue of his original run where he did both the plot and script.

Kings of Pain: NM Annual 7, New Warriors Annual 1, UXM Annual 15, X-Factor Annual 6 -- Story across annuals about NW and X-Force with backups about Freedom Force. Totally skippable if you’re not reading those. Put here for breathing room between it and the Muir Isle saga.

XF 65-68

Muir Isle Saga: UXM 278-279, XF 69, UXM 280, XF 70

X-Men (V2) 1-3 -- This serves to show all the characters together before they split into teams.

At this point Peter David takes over writing and creates an entirely new team, starting a run that’s popular in its own right.

To follow Cyclops and Beast continue with the Blue team in X-Men (V2) 4.

For Jean Grey, Iceman and Archangel jump to the Gold team starting with Uncanny X-Men 281. See Also:

*X-Men Legends 3, 4 -- X-Men Legends is a 2021 anthology title that had original creators return to tell stories set during their era. The Simsonsons wrote this to take place immediately “before 43″ but like every prequel type thing it spoils later stuff.

**X-Factor Forever 1-5 -- Out of continuity mini from 2010 by Simonson set after her departure in XF 64, it allowed her to show what her future plans for the team were before leaving. Best read after you've finished everything, like a deleted scene or bonus content.

[multiloquently]

What are your top 5 ships for Chamber/Jono, and wHY? (canon or fanon or RP wise)

oh gosh. this is gonna be looong & involve comic panels so - follow me under the cut if you dare?

#1 has to be chamberlee.

yes, i know, this is basic, it’s canon, but they’re so good, even before you get to the modern era. they were sweet & fun & cared about each other since gen x v1, & lee was one of the people who could get jono to not only open up but loosen up - jono always strayed towards the angsty side of being a teen, & lee was able to ignore that & get him to have some fun -

( generation x vol 1 #75 ) (jono i see that little two-finger salute, be nice)

i’ll also be quite honest & say i don’t tend to write/see them as romantically involved? like, it can be done, totally, but i prefer them as queerplatonic partners, coparenting shogo together (& YES that is jono’s SON we ignore what canon had jono do with shogo tyvm), & i headcanon that jono finds it pretty funny when paige tries to give him a shovel talk by comparing jono & lee’s relationship to jono’s old one with paige, because they’re just worlds different in jono’s eyes.

#2 is jono/angelo.

like with lee, i absolutely adored jono’s interactions with skin in gen x, & found them to be such an interesting & compelling duo? both of them dealt with physical mutation & their lives being basically ruined, but where jono was a pessimist about it, angelo was eternally optimistic instead? there were definitely times when angelo’s flippancy with jono bothered me, but, looking back on it, angelo got the most where jono was coming from, & was often trying to help keep his friend’s head above water when he was spiraling badly. for all his complaining, though, jono genuinely adored angelo, & the two of them connected a lot over the course of the comic (their cross country road trip!) & i’ll forever love that angelo is the one person jono calls ‘sunshine’ besides paige.

( generation x vol 1 #17 ) (we’re in this together... til the end...)

basically, marvel, resurrected krakoan skin/chamber shenanigans when.

#3 is jonpheth, or chamber/maggott.

this is, admittedly, entirely an invention of me & my bf, who is the japheth to my jono in our private rps, with the basis that jono & japheth did actually interact in canon that one time - ! seriously, tho, we ran with the idea of japheth staying with generation x like he was initially supposed to instead of leaving after one issue, & explored the ways the two of them could connect - like jono, japheth’s mutation (his intestines being transformed into two large slugs that could leave his body & consume pretty much anything) left him with a literal hole in him, one he had to worry about consuming him (japheth’s girls ate their way back inside japheth for digestion, while jono’s fire was burning up his physical form more every time he used it) & also destroying things around him & potentially even hurting people - japheth’s girls could eat anything & he was terrified of them murdering a person at one point, just like jono had to worry about destroying things & hurting people with his manifested powers. we just felt the two of them could connect on a lot, & it’d be interesting to see how bold, flirtatious japheth mixed with awkward, closed-off jono - especially since japheth was someone who wouldn’t turn tail & flee from the nastier parts of jono like a lot of the humans who tended to hit on him.

( generation x vol 1 #49 ) (poor jono has no idea what to do with a jock boyfriend but he’ll still throw hands for him)

i also maybe just think twiggy lil 5′9 jono being swept off his feet by japheth’s canonically buff 6′8 self is uhhhh kinda great as hell. & that the idea of japheth calling jono “skatjie” (afrikaans term of endearment that can literally be translated as “small treasure”) is just. the cutest.

#4 is chamberine.

...okay LOOK. look. okay. i just think logan being an ass to the moody little goth he’s gotta watch during uncanny x-men is a good basis for a ship, okay. i’m a simple person - if they can bicker & then fall into bed together, i’m into it! i also think that it’d be interesting during jono’s time undercover with the weapon x program - meeting logan in a bar to report in, only to end up shoved up against a wall with logan thoroughly exploring his reconstructed mouth.

( uncanny x-men vol 1 #395 ) (logan don’t light your cigar on him - !)

( uncanny x-men v1 #397 ) (even me.)

( uncanny x-men v1 #398 ) (yeah, logan, stop teasing him)

& rounding it out with #5, jono/bobby.

these two butt heads & i just love it, honestly, jono’s dry, sarcastic self up against bobby’s irritating penchant for puns & loud attitude. i also, sue me, just love the idea of bobby, still closeted, not understanding why the pretty, moody goth twink that joined the team makes him so damn mad - only to look back on it years later & realize, oh, that was frustration, because jono was walking around in tight leather all the time looking like some sort of punk rock wet dream.

( phoenix resurrection: the return of jean grey #2 ) (fucking snarky idiots. i hate them.)

...god i’m so sorry about this, if you read the whole thing.

[lornahs]

Maximoff Family

Recommended Issues Reading List

The whole family House of M (Civil War, Fantastic Four) and Secret Wars: House of M (2015)

Wanda, Pietro and Magneto:  Vision & the Scarlet Witch v1 #4, Avengers West Coast #56-57, 60-62, children’s crusade (includes tommy and billy), son of m (including luna)

Pietro and Magneto: avengers academy #22

Lorna and Magneto: Magneto v3 #18-21

Lorna and Pietro: All New X-Factor, Magneto: Dark Seduction, X-Factor #260, x factor v1 #71-94,  X-Men: Blue #9

Lorna and Wanda: All New X-Factor #14, Exiles vol.2 #1-6

Lorna, Pietro and Wanda: uncanny x-men #442-442

Wanda and Pietro

[ndscottsummers]

Uncanny X-Men v1 Annual #9

The outfit and the name, Cyclops. I mean to keep them both.

[doctorofmagic]

Hello! Do you have a recommended reading list for Magik? I’ve read pretty much all the Doctor Strange comics (a current list of which I found on his FANDOM wiki page, as opposed to the list you found—which I’ve already used, but found that I liked this one better). While I could just find the Magik list on the Wiki, I’d prefer something that includes her highlights, and not literally every appearance ever. (1/3)

Greetings and thanks for sharing so many thoughts, anon!

For your first question: I’m so happy you’re interested in Magik! Of course, I have a guide for her, especifically with her highlights. I’m not sure about the order because, ugh, chronology. But I guess that’s it. Here we go:

- Uncanny X-Men v1 #145-160. Her first appearance and how Belasco took her from the X-men.- Magik #1-4 (minisseries). Her time in Limbo.- New Mutants v1 #14-21 and #68-73. Illyana escapes Limbo and becomes part of the team. There’s also Inferno arc, which is very important.- Uncanny X-Men v1 #299-303. She is infected by the legacy virus.- New X-Men v2 #38-41. Illyana comes back to life thanks to House of M, but she lacks her soul.- X-Infernus #1-4. Her journey to get her soul back.- New Mutants v3 #17-21. Illyana and her team fight the forces of Limbo.- New Mutants Truth or Death #1-3. She meets her lost brother Mikhail for the first time.- Extraordinary X-men v1. She’s Storm’s right-hand and takes the school to Limbo in order to protect them from a virus.- Black Vortex (cross-over). The X-men and the Guardians of the Galaxy discover a powerful source of cosmic power.- Uncanny X-Men Trades (v3/ Marvel NOW). Cyclops’ revolution, my personal favorite.- Avengers vs X-men. The two teams fight for control over the Force Phoenix.- Avengers vs X-men: Consequences.- A + X #11. Thor and Illyana team-up. If you check issues #9, #15 and #18, you can find Doc as well.- Inhumans vs X-men: both groups are fighting for survival due to the terrigen mist cloud that is spreading all over the globe.- New Mutants: Dead Souls #1-6. Illyana investigates supernatural events.- Uncanny X-men v5 #11-?. She’s currently working with Cyclops once more.Extra: What If? Magik Became Sorcerer Supreme. Another favorite one where Stephen adopts Illyana and teaches her magic.

I believe this is pretty much her essential story arcs.

Now, about your second ask. Oh, I think I haven’t finished Infamous Iron Man because I don’t quite recall this conversation between them. I was reading it, though. Maybe I just forgot to finish it haha, it happens a lot when you’re reading so many titles at once. I should have a chart or something like that. Thank you for notifying me, I’m a fan of both doctors and gonna check it again

Finally… Yes, I remember his appearance in JJ! I guess I just forgot to use it on that post about Stephen’s tiredness. Thank you for reminding me of those! Also, thank you for adding your thoughts, it was very helpful!

[youngonescast]

Towards A Better X-Men

Generation X v1 is problematic. I love it, deeply. I still think the book is great. I would suggest it to anyone who is interested in X-Men. But Scott Lobdell’s M, specifically Claudette St. Croix,  was a horrible sort of depiction of autistic people. It’s tough when a characterization in comics ages this poorly, especially for a character so unique and so full of possibility. The media has been terrible about depictions of autistic women and this particular mismanagement has never been rectified. Despite their older sister retaining her powers through M-Day the St. Croix Twins, Claudette and Nicole, have not been seen since Generation X v1 #58. That, itself, would be poor, but Claudette isn’t alone in being lost like this. It’s worth asking for more from the X-Men Franchise when it comes to representing autism.

From the relatively humble beginnings of Phalanx Covenant, which was not a very good crossover, a few moments were etched indelibly into my eyes. Never will I ever forget Blink’s sacrifice or the Phalanx spires of techno-organic flesh covered in soundless screaming human faces. I had read some of adjectiveless, X-Force, and Excalibur at the time and when a new book that had Jubilee AND a character named Everett in it came out? It was over for me. I couldn’t be torn away from the page. In Generation X’s introduction M was the powerhouse. Gifted with The Package (Super-Strength, Super-Speed, Invulnerability, and Flight) and a Telepath to boot she was the haughty and superior Veronica Lodge to Paige Guthrie’s Kentucky Betty Cooper. It would turn out that M was secretly the twins Claudette and Nicole St. Croix impersonating their older sister and that their occasional bouts of catatonic stupors were the result of Claudette’s autism.

My little sister was born in 1994, the same year Generation X debut, and she is autistic. But far from the stupor and idiot savantism demonstrated from Lobdell’s depiction of Claudette’s personality my sister Madisson provided me first-hand experience with the reality of an autistic child with pervasive developmental delay. In caring for my little sister I have learned a great deal and now that we are adults she never stops teaching me. I have had the fortune to meet more than a few members of the autistic community. If I could, please allow me to communicate one specific flaw with Generation X:

It is not okay to depict the autistic as wordless cyphers with magical abilities and no personality. Ever.

People with autism are People first and foremost. Sadly Generation X v1 at no point put in the time or effort into making Claudette a person. Where Nicole was the girl we saw as M for years, the one who got development and speaking lines, Claudette was a mystery and not a character. I cannot excuse that. It’s a damning mark against the book and hopefully one that people will only have dimmer views on in the future. With any luck someone who cares may bring these characters back into the fold but they haven’t been seen in years and there is precedence that they never will again.

Laura Dean is an Alpha Flight character who was autistic and also a twin. Her backstory involves her parents being mutantphobes and trying to abort Laura’s twin sister. That sister fled as a foetus into Liveworld where it would grow to become Goblyn, a blue skinned creature with sharp fangs and teeth. In their original incarnation they could swap places when Laura was endangered, but that was changed as Laura grew in her ability to control her portals to other worlds. We haven’t seen this character since 1994, or so says the Marvel Wikia. Not being on the autism spectrum myself I cannot speak to the original depiction being well handled or not, I would guess not, but either way the character is certainly unseen in just a little under 25 years. The similarities between Laura Dean and Claudette are stark. Both mutant twins of African descent, both pairs only allow limited expression of each member in their initial outing. Both have their problem of cohabitating with their sibling’s body resolved before vanishing from continuity.

There was no effort put into Claudette. Monet St. Croix is the Black Female X-Man with the second most appearances in the 616. That the St. Croix Twins have been missing for this long is curious to say the least. But then we don’t see much of Emma’s sisters either. But I, at least, ask that Marvel do better. Part of what makes the X-Men Franchise is that it embraces and espouses diversity. We need stories about autistic mutants. It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that. Writing those stories ensures that mutants represent all minorities, as they should. Generation X Volume 1 suffers greatly in retrospect for not taking the opportunity to do something meaningful with the characters it had.

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Written by Everett Christensen, Young One’s Lead Editor

Images: Generation X #5, #9, #12 #57

Uncanny X-Men #316

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Uncanny X-Men (1963) #9 — Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

Oh, hey, it's the Ultimatum Wave!

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Uncanny X-Men (1963) #9 — Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

"I'd still like to know who he really is! But I guess Prof will tell us in his own good time!"

I'm...kinda doubtful we will, Bobby.

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Uncanny X-Men (1963) #9 — Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

Wait, you could've done this the moment you arrived?! Why didn't you just open with it?! Why bother with the gun?! Hahaha.

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Uncanny X-Men (1963) #9 — Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

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Uncanny X-Men (1963) #9 — Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

"But, in the name of Heaven--how can we stop--them??!"

I mean, they really shouldn't be able to stop them, but this is their book, so anything goes!

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Uncanny X-Men (1963) #9 — Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

"Why does every group we meet try to hog the battle for themselves?"

Heh.