MANILA, PHILIPPINES — As X-Men ’97 continues to hold fan attention with the release of each episode, we continue our focus on all things X. Specifically, veteran X-Men creator Chris Claremont who revitalized the mutants back in the late ’70s.
It can be argued that X-Men ’97 would not be possible if it weren’t for Chris’ work on the title. Here’s why:
Likable and fully realized characters
Chris revitalized the X-Men by making old and new members Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Storm, and the rest charismatic and simultaneously relatable. Chief among them was Wolverine himself. While first coming off as savage and arrogant, Chris would slowly unveil his code of honor and fierce loyalty to his friends in later issues.
Compelling dialogue
His character lines were always very entertainingly quippy and melodramatic. When read aloud, they sounded very cheesy to the ears. Yet there were moments when the inner monologues felt very human and intimate. Chris never talked down to his audience considering that the medium was targeted to a considerably young audience at the time.
Breakneck action
The early Chris issues were a visceral rush! High tension and suspense were the norm. It was uncanny (pun intended) that in spite of the story speed, Chris never sacrificed character for action. In fact, it was through action that he demonstrated character, whether it was Cyclops calmly strategizing in the middle of the fray or Wolverine going berserk.
Plots galore
For context, the early X-Men issues were released every sixty days (compared to today’s monthly schedule!) That meant Chris had to make sure that every issue was worth the wait, and he partly did that by packing each issue full of story. Aside from the main plot, he would sow each with lots of subplots that would pay off eventually plus slowly unveil a lot of the backstory for each character. By the end of his tenure, there were so many subplots that never paid off to this day.
Woke before there were woke themes
Chris and the editors broadened the X-Men’s message of racial harmony by making the new heroes ethnically diverse. He delved further into the differences between characters in terms of belief and culture, making the fanbase international. He even broke further ground when he made the bigots and villains empathetic by exposing their fears.
