AFTERTHOUGHTS (96)
EMPIRE’S! 50! GREATEST! COMIC! BOOK! CHARACTERS! [2 of 5]
THE X-MEN EDITION

Though I’m pretty much a DC fanboy (and always have been), the one Marvel title that I loved way back when was ­The Uncanny X-Men, back in the classic Chris Claremont era.
And naturally, I was rabid over Grant Morrison’s New X-Men.
Filmwise, I wasn’t bowled over by Bryan Singer’s first pass on the material, though I love X2. Brett Ratner’s X-Men: The Last Stand was, like Spider-Man 3, a mess that had too much going on in it.
Hopefully, next year’s Wolverine spin-off will have learned from past X-film mistakes…
I also loved Sir Ian McKellen’s Magneto, more so than Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, who is already, let’s face it, a pretty good fit. (Though I do think Magneto’s helmet in the film looks terrible…)


30 Emma Frost (aka: The White Queen)
Bad girls in comics are always so useful that they tend to reform and become at least semi-goodies (cf: Catwoman, Elektra).
Emma Frost was introduced as an exceptionally nasty—and explicitly perverse—villainess, running a school for evil mutants in competition with Professor Xavier and high in the councils of the nefarious Hellfire Club (in homage to the famous ‘Touch of Brimstone’ episode of The Avengers).
Marvel made her a qualified goodie in the X-Men spin-off Generation X, and writer Grant Morrison reinvented the character when he took over New X-Men and wasn’t allowed to use his original choice, Storm.
Now an actual X-Man, Emma remained the manipulative slut fans loved to hate—and caused a minor kerfuffle when she began a ‘telepathic’ affair with Cyclops, long-term partner of Jean Grey.


Despite strong competition, Emma has consistently worn the most striking lingerie (and little else) in comics—the covers for her brief solo series Emma Frost are basically porn star poses.
FIRST APPEARED IN UNCANNY X-MEN #129 (1980)
CREATED BY CHRIS CLAREMONT AND JOHN BYRNE


9 Magneto (aka: Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, The Master of Magnetism)
Magneto is... complicated.
A Jewish survivor of the Holocaust who is determined to save his fellow homo superior from the fate of his fellow Jew, he sometimes seems fated to repeat some of the Nazis' mistakes, pursuing the subjugation of homo sapiens in favour of homo superior.
He is—as producer Tom DeSanto told Bryan Singer when he was trying to persuade him to make the first X-Men movie—Malcolm X to Professor X’s Martin Luther King.
His ‘by any means necessary’ approach has seen him commit hideous atrocities in the past, including the sinking of a submarine full of sailors, and yet he’s not evil—not in the traditional sense of the word, anyway.
Even though he’s traditionally their number one nemesis, he has been known to actively align with the X-Men, even taking over as the team’s leader/teacher in the absence of Charles Xavier, while he’s previously had a relationship with Rogue.


Currently in the films, he’s depowered, and living life as a human—which, for him, is purgatory. But we’re sure his powerless state won’t last for long.
FIRST APPEARED IN X-MEN #1 (1963)
CREATED BY STAN LEE AND JACK KIRBY


4 Wolverine (aka: Logan, James Howlett, Patch, Weapon X)
Originally conceived as a villainous means of giving Hulk a bit of a workout, but swiftly retooled as a conflicted hero, Wolverine’s always been a character comfortable with shades of grey, and it’s his contradictions and complications that enable him to be all things to all geeks.
So he has an unmatched capacity for violence (even berserkery) and finely honed animal instinct, but is capable of tempering his highly emotional reactions with cold-blooded calculation where required.


And he’s no mere thug: his studies in Japan and long history of travel, espionage and trouble-finding have given him a knowledge of differing cultures, he speaks a number of languages, and has a deep appreciation of ice-cold beer (see, for example, Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men, where beer brings Wolverine back from a hypnotised state).
Also, he has the sort of facial hair that generations of young men have grown up aspiring to.
FIRST APPEARED IN HULK #181 (1974)
CREATED BY LEN WEIN, JOHN ROMITA SR


The above write-ups are from Empire’s list.
For more on the above characters (including who Singer saw as his potential White Queen), just click on their names; the entire list will be accessible from there.

In Part 3—Afterthoughts (97)—we note some characters from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman.

(Images courtesy of greghornjudge.com [Emma Frost and Wolverine, art by Greg Horn]; artofhagan.com [Magneto, art by Brian Hagan]; about.com [Sir Ian McKellen as Magneto; photo by Nels Israelson]; and marvel.com [Emma Frost, New X-Men cover art by Frank Quitely, Wolverine, and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine].)

HEROES
Volume One
Chapter 22
(WARNING:
SPOILERS)
“Landslide”

“… episode 21, 22 and 23 are three parts of one story. In fact, it’s less of a trilogy, and more like, Act one, Act two and Act three of a film.”
-- Greg Beeman
Director, “Landslide”

So here we are in the second act of the final story of Volume One, and all the plot threads move quite nicely towards that final shot of Sylar above the NY cityscape, his hands crackling with the nuclear energy he’s stolen from poor Ted. (I’m gonna miss the schmo.)

And in all of this major plot motion, it’s the small moments that stand out, particularly Candice’s, as she finally becomes a real person to me, with the intimation that she’s not actually the hot Missy Peregrym, but quite possibly a lonely, overweight social pariah, who’s helping Linderman because he’s promising to change the world and its prejudices.
And it’s in this plot thread where we also see what Linderman really wants with Micah. So that was it. I actually thought he wanted Micah for, like ICBM missile control or something, in case he needed a contingency plan for the Big Boom.

A bunch of covergences in this chapter as well, as all the major players are in New York. And where people meet and collide, there are bound to be casualties. I’ve already mentioned Ted, but we also lose Thompson (good riddance), D.L. (though I’m not 100% certain on that, cause didn’t he move a little in that last shot of Niki cradling him?), and, most surprising of all, Linderman. (Come on! He can’t die like that! Please tell me that was Candice covering for her boss. And even if it was her, I’d still feel like we were losing a lot of potential by icing her. Kind of like Eden all over again; except I really love Nora Zehetner, and I’m only kind’a warming up to Candice at the moment.)
Still, I hope that wasn’t the end of Linderman… (And if it was, at least he healed Mrs. P before he bought it.)

And, in the Hiro plot thread, we hear Daddy Sulu sing the same song Linderman did, about trying to save the world and people losing their way. So really, who lost whose way?
Presumably though, Daddy Sulu’s one of the “good” guys, as he’s willing to help stop Sylar, while Linderman is one of the “bad” guys, as he’s all too willing to have the city blown up so he can have a man inside the White House. (Of course, he claims to be doing it all for the greater good, so is that justification, or does he really believe his own press?)
Then of course, Grandma P. knows about Linderman’s plan and is all for it, so what does that make her? “Good”? “Bad”? (And what would Peter think if he knew that his mother was in on that plot? I mean, Peter is her favorite son; or so she claims.)
Oh, and Linderman confirms that Daddy P. did have some power or other…

Also, among the cliffhangers of this chapter, Ando most unwisely going off to face Sylar with a purchased katana (please don’t kill Ando!), and Mo and Mr. Bennet in a Mexican stand-off, Mo pointing his gun at Bennet, Bennet pointing his gun at poor little Molly Walker (can anyone say “trauma” and “therapy”?).
At least these are cliffhangers that will take a week to resolve.

Onward ho! Final chapter!

Parting shot 1: “Mr. Claremont,” huh? Gee, I wonder who he’s named after… (And appropriately enough, something to do with samurai swords...)
On top of getting Kirby Plaza last chapter.
Sweet.

Parting shot 2: The scene with Hiro and Nathan was just heartbreaking. The sense of betrayal Hiro feels is nearly palpable, and given that past Hiro-Nathan scenes have always had an element of comedy, this one’s all the more potent. (And it’s a play on their previous “billen” scene as well.)

(Image courtesy of comicbookresources.com.)