X-Men To Tackle Gay Teen Suicide In Upcoming Comic

[w8liftinglady]

http://instinctmagazine.com/blog/x-men-to-tackle-gay-teen-suicide-in-upcoming-comic?directory=100011

Synonymous in the comic book and movie world with the gay community, the X-Men franchise is set to once again lend its characters and artists to a near and dear issue: LGBT teen suicide. Details follow.


It's being reported that X-Men writer Kieron Gillen and artist Jamie McKelvie are working on a teen suicide storyline for the franchise's Generation Hope series.

Speaking with iFanboy, Gillen dished on the upcoming issue:

“It’s not the type of story that fits in any other major superhero book. It’s simply not what those books are about. But the X-Men? X-Men is a book about mutants, used as a metaphor about prejudice. And of the X-Men books, Generation Hope is fundamentally about new mutants trying to survive dealing with the fact they’re mutants. With the metaphor in place, you can not just do a story about it – I dare say you should tell a story about it. In a real way, it’s the sort of story Generation Hope exists to tell. If we can’t tell this story and tell it as well as we can, the book may as well not exist."

[Chovexani]

1. One of the reasons I've always been an X-Men fan

Watching First Class I couldn't help but be struck by two things. 1) the blatant gay subtext between Xavier and Magneto (which has always existed, even in the comics) and 2) how timely it was, as we fight over civil rights. There was the debate between the incremental, cautious, assimilationist approach of Charles vs. the more militant, separatist approach of Erik. Both men made extremely good points and the movie did a good job of showing the pros and cons of both sides. There was a lot of interesting philosophical stuff to chew over between the special effects.

It's somewhat telling that all the LGBT geeks I know are huge X-Men fans. I definitely related to it as a kid, but what's more I find myself relating even more as I grow older.

[Prophet 451]

4. Haven't seen First Class yet, any good?

I loved the first two movies but kinda soured on the third and fourth.

The X-Men have always been a metaphor for any opressed minority. Hell, in the Ultimates universe (Marvel's imprint for telling updated stories without worrying about continuity), Charles leaves his wife to be with Erik and it's very heavily implied that they share a romantic love (although not necessarily a sexual one).

[Bjorn Against]

5. I loved it, I thought it was the best of the series

I was a bit worried when I saw the young cast that they were going to make this teen beat X-men but nothing could be further from the truth, this is the most serious and mature film in the franchise. if you liked the first two I highly recommend this one.

[Prophet 451]

6. That was my worry as well

Thanks for that, I'll have to go see this one. I just have to arrange it carefully so that I go to one of the less popular screenings (too many people make it difficult to fit my crutches in).

[Chovexani]

7. I definitely recommend it

It's not without issues, but I definitely think it's the best of the movies so far, even beating out X-2 (my previous favorite). A lot of people have been complaining about continuity problems as though that's anything new for the movies or even the comics, but it's a very interesting and smart take on things. And it really is the tragic love story of Erik and Charles. Erik pretty much stole the movie imo. McAvoy and Fassbender have such amazing chemistry together, and the teens are pretty awesome too. Also, Kevin Bacon! He made an awesome Shaw, much more so than I would have thought.

I've avoided Ultimates for a number of reasons, but I'll have to pick that up!

[WillParkinson]

2. The artwork is both cool and creepy...

Even though I gave up reading comics a long time ago I might just have to pick this one up. Thanks for posting it!

[Prophet 451]

3. Good for them

I'm not a huge fan of McKelvie's art (personal taste, nothing more) but I trust Gillen's track record that he can do this both sensitively and without pulling his punches.