The Claremont Run: Subverting Gender in the X-Men

by J. Andrew Deman, Jay Edidin (Introduction)

A data-driven deep dive into a legendary comics author’s subversion of gender norms within the bestselling comic of its time.

By the time Chris Claremont’s run as author of Uncanny X-Men ended in 1991, he had changed comic books forever. During his sixteen years writing the series, Claremont revitalized a franchise on the verge of collapse, shaping the X-Men who appear in today’s Hollywood blockbusters. But, more than that, he told a new kind of story, using his growing platform to articulate transgressive ideas about gender nonconformity, toxic masculinity, and female empowerment. J. Andrew Deman’s investigation pairs close reading and quantitative analysis to examine gender representation, content, characters, and story structure. The Claremont Run compares several hundred issues of Uncanny X-Men with a thousand other Marvel comics to provide a comprehensive account of Claremont’s sophisticated and progressive gender politics. Claremont’s X-Men upended gender where female characters historically served as mere eye candy, Claremont’s had leading roles and complex, evolving personalities. Perhaps more surprisingly, his male superheroes defied and complicated standards of masculinity. Groundbreaking in their time, Claremont’s comics challenged readers to see the real world differently and transformed pop culture in the process.

Genres: Nonfiction, Comics, Queer, Superheroes

184 pages, Hardcover

Published October 24, 2023

Reviews

[Dan Cassino · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been commissioned to write a full review of this book, so I’ll keep this one brief. The mixed methodology used here- a detailed content analysis that informs a more critical reading style approach- is really interesting, and skirts a lot of the problems that I often see with content analyses. It’s the sort of thing I would really like to see other scholars take seriously and reproduce. Bonus points for making the data publicly available.
I think Deman has good evidence for his underlying thesis about the extent to which Claremont’s work on Uncanny X-Men subverts gendered expectations, and the particular moments that he chooses to focus on are a good mix of the expected (Dark Phoenix) and the less remembered (there’s a lot of the Outback Era in there). I was also surprised by the focus on minor characters in the bumper chapters: there’s way more talk about Dazzler and Havok than I would expect, and while it differentiates the book from some other analyses of Claremont’s work, I’m not sure that it adds much to the thesis.
There’s also a bit of unnecessary defensiveness in trying to assert that this run of comics is relevant: this makes the conclusion, especially, fall a little flat.
All that said, as a social scientist who grew up reading this particular run, I really enjoyed the book. The analysis is well done, the data give some very unexpected insights, and Deman does a yeoman’s job trying to explain things like the Siege Perilous that require a Masters degree in Marvel nonsense.

[Ashley McCann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love comic scholarship and nerd academia!! <3 Empirical evidence that the X-Men are for the girlies

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este livro estava no meu carrinho da Amazon desde que soube da sua existência. Quando o valor dele caiu para menos de 200 reais, resolvi adquiri-lo, porque eu amo X-Men e a fase de Claremont e mais ainda quando envolve o tema a que tenho dedicado meus estudos, o gênero. O livro é curto, pouco mais de 160 páginas, cujos capítulos lançam luz nas relações de gênero de personagens. Jean e Moira, Tempestade, Kitty e Cristal, Ciclope, Wolverine, e Noturno e Destrutor, são pensados em como suas feminilidades e masculinidades são construídas nas páginas de Uncanny X-Men por Chris Claremont. Além disso o livro é acompanhado por gráficos que explicitam essa construção de personagens através de suas aparições quantificadas de acordo com o tema do capítulo. Contudo, é uma pena que estes gráficos não sejam investigados mais a fundo pelo autor da pesquisa, J. Andrew Deman. De toda forma, este é um livro que gostei muito de ler e fiquei querendo ler mais depois. Espero que tenhamos mais conteúdo do tipo!

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

really well researched and well written ! i honestly wish it was even longer. i think some of the arguments were a little weak, but so few of them were that it didn't diminish the point of the overall work. i particularly loved the chapter about storm - the way gender plays a role in her character has always been really fascinaging to me.

[Anthony Friscia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book was kind of an anthropological experience, in the sense that I’ve never really read a lit-crit book, and certainly not one based in gender studies. The underlying topic - Claremont’s run on Uncanny X-Men - is part of my DNA. I’ve read and re-read those comics so many times that I remembered every panel that was used as an example in this book. The basic premise, that Claremont often subverted traditional gender roles in his writing, especially in the context of the highly gendered world of comics, is obvious on reflection, but having it all laid out is interesting and enlightening. What made it an anthropological experience to me was seeing how writing is done in a different academic field. The lack of rigorous statistical analysis of the numerical work that the authors does, and the much less strict citation style, made me nervous. I mean, people in non-STEM fields can just say whatever they want! It’s crazy! I mean sure, they put it in the broader context of the field, but there is no significance value. The mind reels…

[Christian Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely love this kinda nerdy academic shit.
Absolutely essential reading for comics scholars.

[Jamie Wenger · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love the title, you will probably love the book! It should have been 2x the size!

[Fable Tethras · Rating 5 out of 5]

My only complaint is that it isn’t longer. I’d have loved to see explorations of even more characters.