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A review by mediaevalmuse
X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills by Chris Claremont
4.0
It has been a while since I first read this story, so I decided to reread it and write a review since it seems particularly relevant in today’s political climate. God Loves, Man Kills is a classic X-Men story for a reason, and in my opinion, does a lot of the work I wish more current runs of stories would do. If you’re looking for particularly relevant social commentary, I’d highly recommend this story.
Things I Liked
1. Social Commentary: This comic touches everything from racism to genocide to religious fanaticism. The story isn’t a happy one, nor is it subtle in its approach. It’s hard to ignore that the X-Men are standing in for any marginalized group in our reality.
2. Magneto vs Professor X Philosophy: I loved that Magneto joined the X-Men in order to help Professor X, and I loved the ending where we see their two ideologies collide. As a reader, I felt great sympathy for both of them, and this comic presents us with two approaches to discrimination that bear some discussion. I think it would work fantastically in a college classroom.
3. Focus on Kitty Pryde: As much as I love characters like Wolverine and Storm, I also love it when these big storylines are focused on others. Not that Kitty is a minor character - but in this story, I liked seeing the conflict from the perspective of a younger girl. I also liked that Kitty’s Jewish identity is boldly put on display, which makes her an interesting counterpoint to Magneto (a known Holocaust survivor).
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Portrayal of Black Characters: There’s a moment in the comic where Kitty confronts Ms. Hunter (a black character) and basically the dynamic is that in this world, discrimination against mutants is more extreme than racism. While I can appreciate the attempt to communicate the negatives of discrimination of any kind (and perhaps this story is meant to shed light on the negative effects of racism), it still made me uneasy.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you are interested in allegories of racism and discrimination, religious fanaticism, and X-Men classics.
Things I Liked
1. Social Commentary: This comic touches everything from racism to genocide to religious fanaticism. The story isn’t a happy one, nor is it subtle in its approach. It’s hard to ignore that the X-Men are standing in for any marginalized group in our reality.
2. Magneto vs Professor X Philosophy: I loved that Magneto joined the X-Men in order to help Professor X, and I loved the ending where we see their two ideologies collide. As a reader, I felt great sympathy for both of them, and this comic presents us with two approaches to discrimination that bear some discussion. I think it would work fantastically in a college classroom.
3. Focus on Kitty Pryde: As much as I love characters like Wolverine and Storm, I also love it when these big storylines are focused on others. Not that Kitty is a minor character - but in this story, I liked seeing the conflict from the perspective of a younger girl. I also liked that Kitty’s Jewish identity is boldly put on display, which makes her an interesting counterpoint to Magneto (a known Holocaust survivor).
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Portrayal of Black Characters: There’s a moment in the comic where Kitty confronts Ms. Hunter (a black character) and basically the dynamic is that in this world, discrimination against mutants is more extreme than racism. While I can appreciate the attempt to communicate the negatives of discrimination of any kind (and perhaps this story is meant to shed light on the negative effects of racism), it still made me uneasy.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you are interested in allegories of racism and discrimination, religious fanaticism, and X-Men classics.