Okay, so I have to say something here.

A lot of people seem to think that Magneto, the X-Men’s arch-enemy, is a stand-in for Malcolm X, while Charles Xavier plays the Martin Luther King, Jr. role. Charles is the peaceful integrationist, while Magneto the reactionary firebrand, one willing to bust a cap in the collective human skullpiece. He’s been called a “reverse racist.” Is there a direction racism is supposed to go in?

Stop it. This is both disrespectful and part of the ongoing demonization of Malcolm X. It’s got to stop. Magneto is a charismatic man who talks a good game, but won’t hesitate to kill a gang of people if it suits his purposes. This is the Malcolm X figure in Marvel Comics? A killer? That isn’t what “By any means necessary” is about.

C’mon guys. Not to denigrate his accomplishments, but we’re shown pages upon pages in text books of Martin, who is a peaceable man, then a couple paragraphs on Malcolm that basically boil down to “He didn’t like white folks much.”

No. That is not the business. It’s not right, and only education can fix that. Here is Wikipedia’s article on Malcolm X. It’s a good starting point. From there, read the Autobiography. See what the man was actually about before making comparisons between him and a murderer. Look at his life after Mecca. It isn’t as simple as Malcolm X bad, Martin Luther King good. That’s a false dichotomy that is practically taught in schools nowadays. It’s untrue.

Magneto is Magneto. He is a killer, sometimes a sympathetic one, but a killer nonetheless. Malcolm X is Malcolm X. He was a troubled man, and sometimes a great man, but a man nonetheless.

Please. Stop using this comparison. Even if it’s in the comics, it’s wrong and hurtful.

On a lighter note, look for a new post tomorrow. It’ll be about X-Men: Mutant Genesis and why the Jim Lee-era of X-Men is a classic one. I’ve got a couple deadlines for paying work staring me in the face, but I love you guys so I’ll make time! You may even enjoy it. It’s got Gambit catching bullets, once again proving that he’s awesome.

I finally finished it. 176 issues of What If and I’ve finished reading them. My list of the 100 best is put together and the series of articles will commence.

But first… let’s just take another look at some of the issues that won’t be on the list. Some of the really bad ones.

Before I start, I’ve been asked about the clichés included with the series. In the last article, I mentioned the bit about Reed Richards being a borderline psychopath, but what else is there?

1) Spider-Man dies. A lot. Of course, this is to be expected. After all, he shows up in many, many issues. It’s the law of averages in effect here.

2) Kingpin dies. A super lot. What I said about Spider-Man doesn’t apply for Wilson Fisk. If he’s in the comic, there’s a 95% chance that he’s going to die. Then again, it’s a wonder why he’s still alive in regular continuity.

3) Loki is a puss. I can’t recall a single issue where Loki comes out a winner. Then again, there is a chance that he survived Marvel Zombies, so he has that going for him.

4) Hulk depressed! If the Incredible Hulk is the main character of a What If issue, the chances are very good that this isn’t going to end well. There are a couple exceptions.

Now to the crap. Read the rest of this entry �

Back when I first started reading comics, in the 90’s (thunder noises), I was a bit too young to have any real income and was mainly relegated to read comics that had Spider-Man and/or Venom on the cover. One of said covers was for a What If about the New Fantastic Four, made up of Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk and Ghost Rider. I had never heard of this team, but the concept was too rad not to look at, so I got the issue.

That, from what I recall, was the only one I ever did get back then. I remember passing on one about Cannonball’s brother Josh because, hell, I didn’t even know who Cannonball was. Didn’t he show up once during the really shitty final season of the X-Men cartoon?

Like many comic readers, spider-clones and evil, magnetic Xaviers pushed me away from the hobby for years. I can’t really remember when I got back into it again, but I know it wasn’t long into it that I remembered the What If series. With nearly 200 issues out there, I only looked at those based on characters I knew about. X-Men and Spider-Man mostly. Then, over time, as I started to understand more about guys like Iron Man and Dr. Doom, I’d read their stories. Then Dr. Strange and Captain America. Then Fantastic Four and Namor. And so on and so forth.

Until Wikipedia came around, these comics were some of the best ways to get background on characters and storylines. I didn’t know a thing about how Strange became a sorcerer until reading these. I didn’t know the story behind how the Silver Surfer became Galactus’ flunky, only to be given independence. In fact, most of Captain America’s backstory I’ve learned from his What If issues. So thanks for the help, Uatu the Watcher.

After realizing how many of these I’ve read, I knew I had to finish the series off. And so, at the time of this article, I have about 30 issues left to go through. Once I’m done with those, it will be time for me to reflect on it with my list of the best 100 issues. Read the rest of this entry �