Free X-Men and the Mutant Metaphor by Joseph J.; Darowski Page B

them both. Unlike some artifacts of American entertainment, such as the silent film Birth of a Nation , the lynch mob that takes justice into its own hands is clearly the villain of this piece.
    X-Men #65 (Feb. 1970) tells the final chapter of an attempted alien invasion of Earth. Written by Dennis O’Neal with art by Neal Adams, the story takes a new and important angle in the themes of diversity and understanding. Up to this point, the X-Men comic books have largely dealt with the evils of hatred. The focus has been on condemning those who have prejudicial attitudes. This issue takes the important step of featuring racial minorities in positive roles. In all previous sixty-four issues of X-Men comic books to this point there had been only two panels that showed a black character. The Black Panther appeared in the final panel of The X-Men #45 (June 1968), and one African American policeman shows up in X-Men #57 (June 1969). 6
    In the storyline, Professor X uses his incredible telepathy to search the Earth, “probing, searching, questioning, demanding—seeking kindred spirits—men and women of good will!—Human beings who have in good measure the single trait he desperately needs—compassion! For it is the only thing that will best the enemy!” Professor Xavier intends to use compassion and love to repel the alien Z’Nox. As Xavier finds the souls of humanity who are good enough, a montage of images accompanies the narration. Included in the montage are, based on appearances and dress, an American child, an African woman, a Middle Eastern man, an American Indian man, another American child, an American couple, a Russian man and woman, and an African man. This shift from considering the evil that prejudiced men and women can do to the good that everyone can add to the world would be continued when Marvel began to print new stories in 1975.
    Throughout all sixty-six issues of this run, the entire team is composed of white mutants. Despite the at times obvious metaphor of mutants being feared and hated in a manner similar to racial minorities in the United States, almost all of the minorities who appear are villains, often with stereotypes representing their ethnicities. The only new members of the team are white mutants, whereas all the minority mutants are the villains. This is one of the disconnects between the larger theme readers are told about and the actual content of the stories.
    In this initial run of The X-Men , female characters are in the minority. By far the most prominent female is Jean Grey, who uses the code nameMarvel Girl. Another mutant, Lorna Dane, who is code named Polaris, will guest star in a few issues and act as a member of the team in the final storyline of this period. Eventually, the Beast, Iceman, and Angel begin dating women who appear semiregularly in the strip, but only as romantic interests for the men, not as fully fleshed-out characters. In this period, the team only faces one female villain, the Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff, who is a reluctant member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
    Jean Grey—Marvel Girl—is the only female team member for most of the first sixty-six-issue run of The X-Men. Marvel Girl’s contributions as a superhero are frequently minimized. While many of these moments can be dismissed, the cumulative effect of seeing Jean Grey treated as simply an object of affection, captured by the villains and in need of rescue, and being the sole member of the team to be assigned domestic duties diminishes her significance on the team. In her essay “Oppression,” Margaret Frye compares the moments of everyday life in which women, even unintentionally, are treated in some manner as subordinate to men to the wires of a birdcage. Each instance can be dismissed as insignificant, and if a fuss is made the objector may be labeled as overly sensitive to gender issues. But the frequency of these events has the same effect as the wires of a birdcage, which, when considered