When grrrl power takes the X-Men

Blame it on sexual orientation, or that I was exposed to dominant female figures early on in my life. My strong mother. My eccentric, childhood yaya Winnie. My headstrong aunts. My ex-girlfriend. My motherly editor. My once-upon-a-time boss who runs a retail empire. My sister who had bigger balls than I ever had. (P.S. I was the wuss who cried over fireworks and injections while she was the gutsy one who marveled at them, and in my defense, picked a fight with that awful nurse Suzy during a visit to our pediatrician because the latter was making me cry.)

While I have always been one to take orders or submit to the authority of a woman (an emotional-cum-mental paresthesia I loathe as much as I enjoy), I realize that women have always been a big part of my life and have influenced my personal choices, especially in matters of art, pop culture, and life.

The signs were there early on. Playing Tekken, my preferred characters were Ling Xiaoyu, Nina, and — when I’m feeling me some Anna Wintour in a tacky Shanghai dress realness — Nina’s slutty sister Anna. When it came to Street Fighter, my cursor gravitated towards Chun-Li and Cammy who was way ahead of the curve in terms of the camo trend. Mortal Kombat had me at Kitana, and sometimes Mileena when I fancied a dagger over a killer fan. And my favorite version of Final Fantasy was the third installment for the S-NES wherein the main character was a half-human, half-Esper (read: mythical creature) woman named Terra. Isn’t it obvious? I am obsessed with women. Do I want to be them? No. I’m perfectly happy being a man. But I liked situating myself in their presence, somehow.

From Starla and Jewel Riders to Gem and the Holograms, women have always been my source of happiness, inspiration, and oftentimes, alleviation; hence the dominant female figures. Though it’s not just women I’ve always had an affinity for — I also identify a lot with the underdogs. From the Glee kids to the theater kids of Camp, from the Ugly Duckling to the Mighty Ducks, I have always sided with those on the sidelines — maybe because of my insecurities growing up. The underdogs made me feel like I wasn’t alone, like I belonged. And for more than two decades of my life, I turned to the X-Men — loathed and feared by those they ironically try to protect — to keep me company, whether in the comic books, cartoons, or the blockbuster hits.

Of course, for me, contrary to everyone’s fixation with Wolverine, the X-Men has always been the Jean Grey show, the powerhouse psychic who, though deceased, has become a symbol of hope for Wolverine’s camp following his ideological split with Cyclops over the state of mutant affairs. (Long story!) But when Marvel announced earlier this year that for the first time ever since its inception in the ‘60s, the X-Men were going to have an all-female lineup headline a flagship title, I couldn’t hold my horses.

It is still unclear after two issues as to who leads this ragtag team of X-Men. But the cast of characters who make up this title are some of my favorites over the years: Storm (weather witch and former queen of Wakanda), Rogue (the Southern belle who can absorb anyone’s powers), Psylocke (with her psychic powers and ever-changing incarnations), Kitty Pryde (who can phase through matter and has had more name changes than Snoop Dogg), Rachel Grey (Jean and Scott’s psychic powerhouse daughter from an alternate universe), and the trench coat-clad mallrat who stole our hearts in the ‘90s cartoon with her fireworks — Jubilation Lee a.k.a. Jubilee (now a vampire — yes, you read that right).

Truth be told, there’s nothing really groundbreaking about this new title’s introductory arc. “Primer,” penned by Oliver Wood and drawn by the fabulous Olivier Coipel of House of M fame, is as much a throwback to early-2000 Grant Morrison New X-Men and Cassandra Nova, Charles Xavier’s evil twin, as Storm’s return to her classic Mohawk. A certain Arkea, evil twin sister of mind-controlling bacterial villain known as John Sublime, is out for revenge against her brother, and one of the X-Men’s greatest foes finds himself in a precarious position to ask help from his sworn enemies. But in a comic that’s been dominated by six-packs, testosterone, and way too many cans of beer (I’m talking to you, Wolverine), it is refreshing to see these female characters come together and open a can of whoop-ass.

“When this book was first announced, the female-only cast was an attention-grabber,” shared X-scribe Oliver Wood on the letters page following the first issue. He talked about how it may have come out as pure gimmickry, which spawned dozens of threads and heated discussions on the forums. Heck, I chimed in with my own two cents. “But now that the book is out,” he says, “I hope it’s more obvious than what this is… the X-Men.” Not X-Women, which presupposes some kind of uber-feminist agenda and is not what this article is about; rather, that the book, while all-female, stands on its own merit without using sexuality as a scapegoat for slipshod storytelling.

“A high-action, plot-dense rollercoaster of an X-Men story (that) fits perfectly with its iconic title while pushing the envelope a little bit by showing, beyond any doubt, that the X-Men within these covers are more than capable of bringing the noize.” I read it from cover to cover, and for the first time since the X-Men moved to San Francisco, I was excited. Yes, this is the quintessential X-Men comic book I’ve been waiting for, for many years. It’s an answered prayer that combines three of my passions — comic books, underdogs, and women. “While dudes will certainly show up in this book,” Oliver concludes, “the guys have their own teams to mess with.” And really, how many teams can Wolverine be on? Answer: a lot, but certainly not this one! Truth be told, I’d pick vampire Jubilee over Wolverine any day.