The Ages of the X-Men: Essays on the Children of the Atom in Changing Times

by Joseph J. Darowski (Editor)

The X-Men comic book franchise is one of the most popular of all time and one of the most intriguing for critical analysis. With storylines that often contain overt social messages within its "mutant metaphor," X-Men is often credited with having more depth than the average superhero property. In this collection, each essay examines a specific era of the X-Men franchise in relationship to contemporary social concerns. The essays are arranged chronologically, from an analysis of popular science at the time of the first X-Men comic book in 1963 to an interpretation of a storyline in light of rhetoric of President Obama's first presidential campaign. Topics ranging from Communism to celebrity culture to school violence are addressed by scholars who provide new insights into one of America's most significant popular culture products.

Genres: Nonfiction, Comics, Essays

248 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 14, 2014

Reviews

[Tiamatty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of essays about the X-Men, analyzing how the comics, during different periods, have reflected different trends. Most of the essays are really good. Interestingly, only one of the essays really touches on race in any major way, and that one is discussing X-Statix. Other topics include feminism, masculinity, televangelism, autism, and the problems with arguing for a genetic basis for homosexuality. And, of course, there's plenty of other topics covered. The weakest essay is probably the final one, comparing Barack Obama to Hope Summers. It not only feels like a major stretch, but it's also just not terribly interesting. Perhaps the most touching essay is the one on autism, explaining how the "Gifted" arc of Astonishing X-Men actually serves as a really interesting exploration of problems faced by many autistic people and their loved ones. The writer says that he has no idea if Whedon had autism in mind, but that he could see a lot in it. That arc also gets touched on in another essay, the one about "mutants as gays," which uses the arc as a warning against pushing the idea of homosexuality as having a genetic basis, because if it is genetic, it can be "cured," same as mutants are in the story.

Most of the essays are very interesting, and give a lot to think about. A few are simply there to be informative, but even these are interesting. If you enjoy the X-Men - especially the comics, since the movies aren't even referenced - and also enjoy explorations of complex social issues in forms that don't involve eye-lasers, then this is worth reading.

[Berni Phillips · Rating 2 out of 5]

I need to remember that McFarland Books always sound very enticing but they fail to deliver. I got this one half price and still paid too much. Some of the essays were interesting, but most were as fun to read as tedious student essays often are. Not recommended.

[Dominick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a mixed bag. A few of the essays are strong and insightful--there's a good one on X-Force and X-Statix, for instance, and an interesting one on the AIDS metaphor, though ultimately I find that one limited in its conclusions. On the other hand, there are several weak essays, either because the informing idea, while intriguing, is just not sufficiently supported, because there is not much of an informing idea in the first place, or the writing is simply not up to snuff. In fact, this book is riddled with basic writing errors--"lay" for "lie," "assent" for "ascent," that sort of thing--that I find it difficult to imagine an editor letting slide. further compromising the book's success is the absence of illustrations. A book on comics can be illustration-free, and in fact many of the articles have so little say about the art that the absence of images from them might not seem to be much of an issue--though an article on comics that has little or nothing to say about such a key component of the medium has its own other potential limitations--but a few of the pieces do speak in some depth and with some insight about how the visuals work, and in those cases, not being able to see at least a sample or two is detrimental to the arguments. Not an essential addition to the comics-related library of anyone who is not either a major completist or at least a major X-Fan (though fans take warning: there are errors of fact that will probably bug you, too).