Once "There Can Be Only One," the catchphrase of the Highlander franchise, was also an immutable law of Marvel Comics. But now, the official corporate attitude is "If A Little Is Good, More Must Be Better." Ok, for decades there have been two Human Torches, but that was just a single arbitrary aberration. At the moment there are two Captain America’s, two Hawkeyes, two Wasps, and two Spider-Men, with a third waiting on deck (at NYCC Marvel announced the imminent return of The Scarlet Spider). Perhaps the strangest thing about this recent proliferation in brand new superheroes is the speed at which everyone has just accepted this development as being the new normal.
If all this wasn’t confusing enough, since 2012 there's been two different versions of the Original X-Men running around the Marvel Universe at the same time. I’m speaking of All-New X-Men by Brian Bendis and (initially) Stuart Immonen which brought the X-Men from 1963 (the ones with the black and yellow uniforms) into the modern Marvel Universe. I’ve got to confess, I initially found the concept kind of dubious but I’ll basically read anything Brian Michael Bendis cares to write. Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Iceman and Beast were my X-Men, they’re why I’ve always had (and apparently always will have) a soft spot in my heart for comics which are 50% soap opera and 50% sci-fi professional wrestling featuring teams of young heroes.
In spite of the fact Bendis decided to retcon both the comics from my childhood and my childhood itself by unilaterally establishing in All-New X-Men #40 in 2015 that Bobby Drake, a.k.a. Iceman was gay, I was cool with it. Not because I’m a Social Justice Warrior and must support this change because it’s another blow for diversity and inclusion, and not because I always reflexively relate to those who are Other, although let’s face it, I almost always do. Rather, it’s because I’ve reached a point in my life where before I react, let alone overreact to something like this, I ask myself a simple question.
"Who does it hurt?" Not me, not the sales of the comic, and certainly not Bobby Drake, a "character" who has been a more or less an empty cipher for decades. In spite of an impressive power set he’s always been the least interesting of the original X-Men and at best a second-rate Human Torch. Retroactively and arbitrarily making him gay may not but the best, most original character development they could have given him, but it does make him at least a little more interesting. At any rate, that’s my opinion, but as always there is somebody whose opinion on this subject trumps mine and everyone else's: Iceman’s co-creator Stan Lee. Back in 2015, he had this to say about the revelation; "I don’t care what happens, as long as they tell good stories... and they do."
I’ve continued to enjoy All-New X-Men under its current creative team of Dennis Hopeless and Mark Bagley. They’ve done an equally fine job of making the comic just as interesting when the cast is standing around talking as it is when they’re going up against mutants and monsters. Take, for example, All-New X-Men #13, which features Bobby's well-meaning teammates trying to get him some actual experience talking to guys by dragging him to a Miami gay club. It's the sort of thing which was once known as a "Day In The Life" story, a change of pace issue that allows the reader to gain insight into the everyday lives of the characters. Given the plot, this could have gone really wrong really fast, but happily, it's all done with a deft touch.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
