A Geek History of Time - Episode 28- The X-Men and the Civil Rights Movement (Part 3)

Episode Date: September 21, 2019

In this episode, Ed and Damian wrap up their analysis with a continued look at the representation of LGBTQ+ characters and issues in the X-Men.

And we begin with good days, sir. Geeks come in all shapes and sizes, and that they come into all kinds of things. I was thinking more about the satanic panic. Buy the scholar Gary Guy-Gak's. Well, wait, hold on. I said good days, sir. Not defending Roman slavery by any stretch. No, but that's bad.

Let him vote. Fuck off. When historians, and especially British historians, want to get cute, it's in there. OK. It is not worth the journey. This is a geek history of time. Where we project, nerve, connect, and bring. Yes.

Into the real world. Aging, Dr. Freud. Yeah, a little bit. A little bit. Yeah, having 18-month-old means, yeah, a lot being pent up. That's what it means. It means being a little bit. Who are you?

Who, I'm Ed Blaylock. I'm keeping this one. I'm a father. I'm a father of an 18-month-old and a world history teacher here in Northern California. Who the hell are you? I'm Damien Harmony. I am a father of two and a Latin teacher as well as a world history teacher because I'm

just never bored. Never. Never. And so I'm up here in Northern California as well. Last time we spoke, we spoke of comic books. Yes, and frequently do yeah no kidding and allegorical non-authorial intent. Yes, our our continuing campaign to make the concept of authorial intent basically meaningless any kind of discussion of any any form of literature or media. And so you started us off last time by talking about the X-Men and their relationship to

Civil Rights Movement and the overt intention of the writers to introduce issues regarding racism, regarding anti-racism. Social justice warriors stuff. Yeah, social justice warriors stuff, SJW stuff, directly into the story lines. Yeah, purposefully, purposefully with with intent and then we then jumped off into then talking about how the X-Men is basically the queerest superhero series there is. Yeah. And the music they sell are the queerist group of superheroes. Yeah. You've got people who are altered humans. You've got people who are technological wizards. You've got aliens and you've got robots, but you also have mutants. And it seems that mutants tend to be the queerest. Yeah, well, the allegory is certainly most powerful

there. Yes. And as I mentioned, the the X-Men have been I don't I might be might be me overstepping as a as a cishead white guy to say that the X-Men have been adopted by LGBT geeks but it was a statement by an author in Gaystar News who did say if you are queer and you are a comic book fan then you love the X-Men. So it resonates strongly. It resonates very strongly. Okay. And I think it has to do with the idea that being a mutant is something that is inborn,

it is not something you choose, it is not talking about the structure of the hero's journey. There is the call and then there is the refusal of the call. There is no refusing being a mutant. There is no way to refuse the call. There is no way to choose, you know, not to do that. It's worth noting that in X2, in that great scene with Bobby Drake's family find out he's mutin his mother literally looks at him and says well have you tried not being a mutant right and like everybody in the theater has to go oh wow now is in the early 2000 that was in the 2000 yeah no it's funny that you say that too because she's essentially telling him there's a closet.

Could you try to fit into it? Could you go in it? Do you mind. And so while there is no refusing the call of being a mutant, there are a number of characters that, I mean, in the very beginning, Angel, there's this wonderful, and I couldn't find the panel, but there's this wonderful panel of I believe either Bobby Drake or Hank McCoy, so either Iceman or or Beast helping Angel

Harness up his wings and he's helping him from right there behind He's in his personal space and they're talking about hiding themselves and how the world will never accept this and I mean it is it is accidentally there. Yeah, but it's so totally there the subtext but the subtext is really easily Yeah, oh again, authorial intent that was not what they were aiming at right well depending on depending on what era we're talking about I mentioned burn and and when he took over writing the X-Men in the late 70s, he was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you don't understand. No, I'm gonna, I can't, Jim Shooter won't let me say their game.

Right. I can't actually have the storyline that I want with Mystique and her lover Destiny actually being the parents of NetWrite now I'm forgetting which other character it is. I want to say Nightcrawler. It was Nightcrawler. Yeah it was Nightcrawler. And Azazel maybe I don't know. Azazel wound up being the storyline. The storyline that Shooter approved was Azazel was father, Mystique was the mother. The idea had been Mystique was the father because she's a shapeshifter.

Therefore gender fluid. Therefore gender fluid. And Destiny was his mother. And Shooter of course had his, I mentioned this in the last episode, his stupid blanket No Homos policy, which you rightly pointed out was an example of me being presentist,

but still, Jim Shooter is a jerk. I'm gonna stick with that. That was 78.79. So 78.79 again. This was burned being a bomb thrower. But it was very clearly him saying, okay, no, look, you know, if we're going to say their mutants, let's, let's, let's go all out. Make them, make them different, make them look weird, and if, if they are, if they are different, let's make them different in meaningful ways. And also they, the X-Men in 78, 79, there's a couple things going on. One, they have come

back in 75. Like, they were gone from about 69 to 75. It was all reprints. Right, so they're back and when they're back they're back in brighter colors. Chris Claremont. Giant X-Men number one nation 75. That's right. I know it's back out from the last time. They're international.

More importantly though they are in a lot of colors and they're coming out right around the same time that disco is starting to invade the music scene. Okay. And I say this because- I'm gonna treat with where you're going. Yeah, well good. It's a whole boob, Cod's my sea out, plays out. So, well first off, there's the character Dazzler who is a disco queen. Yes. And I don't exactly remember when she pops up first but I want to say it's late 70s early 80s. Sounds about right. But there was a huge backlash against disco music heading into the early 80s. Yeah. It's rare that comic books are a leading indicator very often they're a trailing indicator But it seems to me that the backlash that shooter had

And again, you know, he's a he's a corporate guy. He's a you know, he's a he's a bean counter. Yeah He Everybody had to work for him because apparently he was a tyrant. Yeah. Yeah. But anyway, that's beside the point. Right. Just want to rag on Jim Shooter in every opportunity. Forgive me. Continue. That's fine. Um, so disco is really, really hitting it stride in the late 70s. Yeah. To the point where people start to react against it. Yeah. You have the blowing up of disco, the death of disco out in Rigglyfield I want to say it was or no. Kamiski Park. Um, which is in middle America, which is in the Midwest and if you look at disco

itself, it was music that was very... New York. New York. L.A. Probably San Francisco. Right. Barrier. Very, very gay.

Yeah. In terms of uh... V. V. Mm-hmm probably San Francisco area very very gay Um in terms of V-Lem buoyant that too, but like the the gay communities at that time really dug disco. Okay Soded African-Americans and Latinos on both coasts. So the reaction against it in the Midwest So the reaction against it in the Midwest was a white bread, white meat reaction against music that appealed to marginalized communities. So Jim Shooter is Jim Shooter? Yeah, Jim Shooter. Jim Shooter sounds like he is echoing the sentiment that would then grow through the 80s to hate on disco in the same way that

Claremont now clear clear. Chris Claremont restarted the series. It was burned John burn. Thank you in the same way that John burn was trying to Exactly and in many ways disco was absolutely that and it was again by coastal And in many ways, disco was absolutely that. And it was, again, bicoastal, multiracial, multi-sexual, a very sexual way of dancing, a celebration of life, and a very dreary time on the margins. The margin. Incredibly dreary.

We talked about how much the 70s suck. Yeah, yeah. On the margins. So it's interesting to me how comic books were kind of a leading indicator for once in that they were out ahead of. Yeah, I see. Yeah, I definitely see what you're saying there. But, you know, so burn, had all these ideas, had these crazy, crazy ass ideas by the standards of the day, crazy ass. And even by the standards of today, being that overt about, no, no, this is what literal

physical, biological gender fluidity would mean. I can't even imagine the flame wars that would erupt in our Facebook groups that we were both at about Marvel. Marvel comics from different eras that the number of people that would find it necessary to jump on. That is Dennis GW's, like dude back off again. You clearly don't really know what you're talking about here but um I want to I want to get back to talking about North Star yeah okay who was originally an alpha

flight he was he was mutant but he was an alpha flight he was not part of the ex-man but he was originally introduced, again, late 70s, and he was one of John Burns' babies. It was a John Burns character. And I may have mentioned that I may be re-treading stuff that we went over last time, but I think it's important to note for part of the conversation going forward. John Burn intended for North Star to be gay, like from the beginning, like from the moment he wrote the character in his head as the author, this is a gay man.

He is, he is, homosexual. Yeah. Well, you know what's funny is, he wasn't, the kinds of things that we would look at as being gay coded. He wasn't necessarily gay coded, okay, but Burn went to the editorial board said this is the character's image reducing and one of them is a sky, you know North Star He's got a sister or a rose. He's got a sister, you know, and

He's gay and shooter went, nope, no, almost. That's one of the rules. That's part of the deal. Can't do that. Not doing it. No gay characters. No, no, no, no. All right. Fine, fine, fine. Well, Now at that same time, by the way, real quick. Yeah, he'd introduce a character named Box as well, right? Part of Alpha Flight was Box and Box was a disabled character who then like because of the power armor was able to walk around. So shooters okay with certain marginalized of society as long as they're fixing themselves through their stuff. Yeah as long as they're making themselves into being fitting the mainstream moment. Right. Yes. Okay. Because you know that's aspirational and we should be, you know, pushing that kind of idea

of food straps. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I'll go with shooter. So Bern was not allowed to say North Star is gay. Okay. However, um, there, like, he did, he did everything he could to walk right up to that line. And then

get out a stick and start scraping the line into the dirt. One notable example is somebody calls North Star's house. Okay. And of course North Star is a millionaire with a mansion and North Star. Is there an Olympic level sneer? Is there an Olympic skier? Yeah. And somebody calls him at home, I think his sister calls him at home and a guest of North Star picks up the phone.

It's the phone in the pool room, meaning the room with a swimming pool. Right. And so the person who picks up the phone is a very attractive, very muscular man in a swimsuit. Or I might not have been in a swimsuit. I don't know what to tell, maybe. Just a towel, maybe. But a towel wrapped around his waist. phone saying yes, this is North Star's residence He's not he did you know who can I tell him is calling? Mm-hmm and and and you know other other kinds of remarks that it's like You know you're not you're not gonna let us come out and say it so we're just gonna you know find other ways to you Know have the circumstantial evidence pile up until you's really difficult to find. And so but it was hinted at his his orientation was hinted at Broadling repeatedly. He made remarks to his sister about a particular female

character. Well, you know, she's not my type. That kind of stuff and then but but it was never straight up acknowledged Okay, yeah straight up Never mind. I don't get it. Okay And so shooter got fired in 87 and In 1992, Scott Lobdel finally got permission And in 1992 Scott Lobdel finally got permission From the editorial board have North Star actually say I am a gay man. Oh straight up. I okay. Yeah Whatever I'm done. That's it last

so Now so so but he says I'm a gay man. He said he just came out. Yeah said I am I am gay and This is an alpha flight number 106. Okay. Now alpha flight is Has always been kind of a second run. Yeah, you know also ran kind of. That issue sold out in six days. Wow. Sold out completely. They had to go into a second printing. Here's what I want to know. Yeah.

Was it banned anywhere? Not that I was able to find out. Okay. That would have been interesting to find out. Yeah, it would have been. This is still under the CCA. But, right. Yes, this is still under.

So what year was this again? In 1992. 92, oh, that's definitely under the CCF. Oh, yeah Still 92 yeah, I was collecting comics still in 92 Wow, that's that's I mean you had Ravage 2099 in 92. I'll show you a picture of Wow. Yeah, it's garbage. Yeah, yeah I loved it, but it's garbage so much so much You had 90s yet yeah guys with long hair in French coats

Mullets not just long hair. You need to be totally on it. Okay, it's not just long hair It was guys with mullets some of them all it was huge. They were in some of them were incidental Mullets were huge. Yes. Yes, they were Who and and a bunch of people wearing masks that weren't masks. Masked, weren't really masks. What was the one guy had a star in his shatter star? Yeah. There's also a long shot or something.

Yeah. I might be thinking of long shots, but one of those. He worked for Mojo. Yeah, what's the name, Kendraff Feet? Completely forgetting the artist's name. But yeah, crazy weird, weird nutbots happening in comics at that time. So, and Deadpool came out right around some time too. Yeah, yeah. Who is a character who is, I believe, described as Omni-sexual. Yes. Yes, and yeah, and the writers, I don't know, I haven't

gone back and read any of the early Deadpool comics to really see whether that was something that they coded or went there with, but I know in the last several years they've, no, they've gone. Oh, yeah, going. Well, because they're not paying attention to CCA anymore. Yeah, no, yeah. So, okay. So it comes out as gay in 1992 North Star. Uh-huh. Handsome. Yep. White. Yep. Star Athlete. Yep. Millionaire. Yep. Along with being a mutant and gay. Yes. It's kind of like the writers didn't want to push too many buttons at once. Right. That's, You know, at the same time though, it's, and this might sound a little dodgy at first, but one of the successes of the Cosby show

was that they were a doctor and a lawyer. Showing people who are previously marginalized in very mainstream positions is a very valid source of representation. Yeah, well yeah. And I, yeah, a little a column a little column B Yeah By the way North stars first his name was John Baptiste

Real name sister's name was John Marie. Yeah, or Jen Marie But it's basically they have well their twins these so they have roughly the same name But I did find it interesting basically they have well their twinsies. Yeah, so they have roughly the same name But I did find it interesting that they both Of course their twins, but they both looked alike so I mean from the very beginning We're definitely there was his hints. Yeah going on. Yeah now it took 20 years For North Star and his longtime partner to get married But yeah, but in 2012 they they did and it was the first depiction of a gay wedding in comics. And an awful lot had changed in public perception of homosexuality in that time.

Oh, God yeah. Last episode, you know, talking about the AIDS crisis, talking about the increase in representation of how the HIV epidemic kind of forced activism onto the gay community. Yeah. Because it was either stand up and get our rights or just keep dying. Yeah. Yeah. And by 2012, homosexuality had been normalized to a really great degree. Yeah. I don't want to fall into the trap of saying, well, you know, when we solved that problem, because we hadn't at all. But by that time, drug cocktails that turned HIV from a death sentence into a chronic but controllable medical condition.

If you have health care. If you have health care, yeah. Well, if there's only a way to solve that for everyone. Yeah. Oh, well. Yeah. One for the ages. Yeah. And it is, it is notably in 2012, the public support for recognition of gay marriage first hit a majority. According to Gallup, that was the first year, it hit 53% support. It tipped. According to Gallup that was the first year and it hit 53% support it tipped Gay characters on television, and I know I mentioned this last episode Had gone from being one note jokes talking about the gay panic jokes in friend. Yep to being the leads in their own series

Think of Ellen think of Will and Grace. Yeah You know and and just the the manner in which Homosexual relationships and homosexual characters were just normal being we're being portrayed more just it was just well You know that's that's them right? Yes, they're that's just who they are and it's not even they're down the hall It's they're the main characters. Yeah, and it's a normal relationship. Yeah, and not like oh, let's play that for laughs Let's look at what makes relationships funny. Yeah, I'm thinking about with Ellen. She came out. I remember I watched the episode where she came out.

Um, and then they had one more season and then they just they were done. Yeah, but willing grace the very basis of it was the very basis of it was premise was yeah he was around yeah homosexual he was the man in pixie dream gal yeah he was he was yeah I actually had a well you know what he wasn't that sassy no interesting thing about about will in will and grace the the TV trips term for will is straight gay. Yeah, which is not camp gay not Flamboyant, happy-lifth any of that stuff, you know, none of those stereotypes he was you know very well put together But until he Introduced you to his date for the evening. You would realize that he was gay. Right. And it was Jack in that series. Oh yeah, yeah.

Who played the part of my use of the term, but I can't think of anything else right now, but kind of the Twinkleto stereotype. The Sissy boy. Yeah. Yeah. And even when the joke was centered on Jack, the joke wasn't punching down at Jack.

The joke was that Jack is a narcissist. Right. It was, it was about how shallow he was or, or how. Yeah, it's not that, it's not that gay was his personality. It's that he's gay and also here His personality flaws aren't these funny. Yeah, it's very different. Yeah, yeah profoundly different So that was willing grace and and that was in the early 2000s. I want to say yeah I know it's after

You're are you still doing the research on friends? Yes, oh my god So so I know it's post, I know it's post early friends. I can't, I'm trying to, off top of my head, I don't remember exactly where in the early 2000s it was. But it is an artifact of the 21st century. Yeah. And it's a very powerful reminder of how our attitudes have changed toward this particular marginalized

community. It goes to show that representation absafucking looting matters. Yeah. Because if they're in your sitcoms, they're in your living room, they're a weekly basis. They're your friends. They're part of your family, exactly. It's also worth noting, while we're talking about this, just occurred to me, this isn't anything I had in my notes but on in the last season most recent season of

Grey's Anatomy. Is that still going? Oh yeah yeah they're about to start season 16. Wow. Are they just trying to hang on to beat ER? Is that what's going on? No they're still they're still doing well enough in ratings that they're making money on it. And Ellen Pompeo is ready to quit yet. All right. So Grazy Netanyans now referring to their pubic hairs. Apparently.

Yeah. Hers anyway. Yeah, no, there are. But it's in the context of what we're talking about here. It's worth noting that there are but but it's where it's in the context of what we're talking about here It's worth noting that There are a pair of interns who are in a relationship Mm-hmm and are having Significant relationship issues built around their personalities built around one of them being kind of a shy retiring Nebysh and another one being a totally

cocky arrogant go get it orthopedic surgeon resident and they are two gay men. Okay. And all of the drama in their relationship is built around their emotional drama, not around, oh look at these two over emotional sissy boys, right? You know no It's it's no no they they have they have a connection, but they are very different people yeah And fully fleshed out characters. Yeah, and they're fully fleshed out characters, okay, and they're a significant sub plot you know or a notable thread one of one of multiple soap opera storyline threads going on there they're a notable Valid one of multiple soap opera and storyline threads going on, they're a notable valid important one.

My mother's soap opera, Days of Our Lives, which you wanna talk about a long runner, has been going on since the 50s, in one form or another, too. Really big hour glass. Yeah, really, really big hour glass. Uh, I'm kind of, I'm, I'm, I'm both impressed and a little horrified that you just randomly knew that particular reference out of that.

I even know the music. It would be hard not to. Yeah. If, if, if you grew up in a household where anybody watched it, even if you can't immediately say, Oh, that's days of our lives, you're like, say, oh, that's a days of our lives, you're like, oh, wait, I know that. Yep, yep, yep. There's an overwrought emotional situation

about to happen. Someone is about to be kidnapped by aliens. What's going on? But there are now a significant number of characters on that show who are gay. Now it's interesting to note that they are almost all cis gay men. Okay. So we're still not seeing a lot of trans representation or I don't think any trans representation. We're not seeing a lot of gender queer, gender neutral. Right.

You know, you're seeing your standard like, oh, but it's gay. Yeah, right. Pretty much, yeah. It's a same, but yeah. It's, yeah, it's take the same heteronormative plot line like I say, but it's two guys. Right.

So now, I wanna go back because we're talking about TV. In the late 70s, early 80s, Billy Crystal was on a TV show called Soap. God, that was a brilliant show. So good. I wish it was on a streaming service that I subscribed. But he was on it. He was... I'm invisible. My father, my father, still quotes that to this day. We always did no one calls El Puerco a dog

Yeah, yeah, whoever the writers were for that show. So good for amazing Yeah, but Billy Crystal was gay. Yes, he played a gay character I believe he was the first gay character on TV Who was a regular character because I remember there's an episode of mash where there was a guy who got beat up by his platoon because he was gay regular character because I remember there's an episode of mash where there was a guy who got beat up by his platoon because he was a guy, but Billy Crystal played a regular occurring main character who was gay and that was again at the same time that Jim Shooter was saying no homo. Yeah, so it just kind of just I forgot that that existed and then you also had bosom bodies which was poking at that but it wasn't but also Jack tripper was pretending to be gay So you've got a long history of gay being in the lexicon, but now it's now it's front and center in normalized

And that's different to an extent. It's worth noting My one of my favorite phrases when an extent, it's worth noting, one of my favorite phrases when we're recording, it's worth noting that. Ritter's character and his interactions with the landlord. Yes. We're all built around gay panic jokes. Yes, they were, you're absolutely right. And that actually goes back to older ideas

of sexual morality about you got a dude in a bedroom in an apartment with two women. So it's the three of them. Oh, they have to be up to something. Right. So in order, I'm not going to allow that to be happening. Right. So no, no, there's none of the hanky panky going on because I'm gay. So obviously that can't be happening.

Never mind the fact it might not be happening anyway. But you know, it's, it's, yes, they were the idea of gayness was there. But it was, but it was being, it was being used as fodder for like you were talking about this gay panic. Yeah, you're absolutely right. Hey geek nation, this is Ed. And Damien, hey, what you got there? Uh, I got a copy of the stolen by my good friend, Bishop O'Connell. He is a Norwegian wedding cake creator?

No, he is not. Oh. He is a, a, a, an urban fantasy writer. Remember the science fiction writers of America. Oh wow. So that looks like it says one of three. Yes well it's the first volume of an American fairy tale. The other two volumes are the forgotten and the returned. Nice. What's it's fairy tales? Does that mean there's a lot of Celtic and Irish folklore in there? A very great deal. Yes. The first novel actually involves the characters traveling to tear not no kidding. Yeah, wow I remember that from Titanic. Yeah

Good day, sir With that back to the show And we're back. All right. So, but we're here to talk about comic books. We've, you know, as we do, we've gotten off on this, on this long tangent, but so, so. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, long tangent but so no star gets married in 2012 and this is like you say comics are a trailing indicator usually and and in this case I think it's a very closely trailing indicator of of this broader acceptance within society as a whole of the idea that being gay is normal. Right.

And the next real interesting from a social justice perspective, from a social movement perspective, the next storyline that I want to mention before I go into really talking about Bobby Drake. Okay. Because I'm gonna end by talking about Bobby Drake. Nice. But there's a really important moment in AmazingX band number 17. That's a moment between North Star. Okay. And another young mutant named Anoli. Okay, now real quick, this is amazing F's and number 17. This is in the 2000's. Yes, this is since North Star got married. Okay, so this is since 2012.

I want to say it's 2015. Okay. Off the top of my head. So it's fairly recent. It's within the last five years. Well, as of this recording, it's only a year ago. Yeah, nice. We record these out of sequence. Yeah, totally. Yeah. And so Anoli is, he takes his name from the fact that he looks like a lizard.

He has scaly skin, he has claws. I'm still not, and I'm the Latin guy, so I'm feeling a little. Only Anoli lizards? No, I don't know. Okay. Okay. My phone is blocked but if you want to look it up. Okay. Spaces of lizard. Alright. I know Ellie. Okay. And so he's a member of the new X-Men. Okay. And he's a representative of the kind of mutant that Chris Claremont introduced in the 70s,

which is to say he looks like a lizard, he cannot pass. Yeah, pass. Yeah, these, okay, I see what you're saying as far as these lizards go. They're very bright green. They have a crest that comes down off their neck. It's kind of pinkish. And they're tiny. Kind of related to geckos.

Okay. Yeah, they look like a gecko is trying to look like alligator or something. Yeah. Okay, so that's an annoying thing. That's a good, yeah. Alright, odd. It's kind of dig and deep for mutant superpowers, but really at the same time what you're talking about here is, because now I'm starting to remember other characters as well.

Almost all of their powers manifested in a way that was, like you said, impossible to pass. Yeah, well, you know, when... And that becomes their identity instead of... Instead of their power, it's more their outward appearance. Yeah, when... And now I'm completely blanking bio-steel... Colossus, when Colossus manifests his powers. There's no way

No way to mistake. He's a mute, but he can he can he can yeah, you know, he can back in right, you know But there there are other you know night crawler obviously can't pass can't pass. Kitty pride. Kitty pride can Unless she activates her power unless she activates her power. Unless she activates her power. Uh-huh. Uh, you know, you go forward into the time where you've got an only there's a character that was named Darwin. There was a character that was named. There were a lot of lizardly lizardy characters. Yeah. And there was somebody who her name was armor or something like that. Yeah. She turned into like gelatinous armor. Yeah. Yeah.

And so a lot of not passing. So a lot of not passing. Okay. And he winds up an only. Wines up, he has a date. Okay. And he gets lured away from the school, by somebody who says they're romantically, they want to meet up with him.

Yeah, yeah. And he winds up being victimized by a mind-bending mutant who prays on his insecurities. Okay. And in the midst of trying to deal with all that, it's a longer story than I'm going to get into. But Northstar shows up. Okay. And says to him, hey, look, I understand what you're going through, I'm gay. And it only tells him to pound sand.

Because he says, no, you don't understand anything. You're a millionaire. You're pretty. Right. You're everybody loves you. Look at me. Right. You know, people look at me and they wonder if I'm slimy.

Right. You know, you cannot, there is no way for you to understand my problem. Just because we both happen to like boys. Right. And I'm paraphrasing it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, you know, it's bringing the idea of intersectionality now nice into the conversation.

Because, you know, it's one thing for well off, middle-aged, established, white gay men. Right. It's about, you know, we understand it gets better. You know, and I don't want to, I don't want to denigrate efforts to try to, to try to help people. Right. But there, there has been a greater amount of, there's been more talk from, from intersectional people within the LGBTQ community saying okay look yes we're both gay but I'm gay and Hispanic or black or disabled or fill in the blank and or trans yeah trends, you know, and so, you know, it's one thing to express empathy. It's one thing to express your support. And that's appreciated by the same token. Shut the fuck up and listen.

Yeah, you were the first two letters. Y'all got to be around for a while. We just got added to the list. We just, yeah, yeah. And, you know, and by erasure, getting a bigger profile, people saying, okay, no, look, I'm bisexual, and that doesn't mean I'm confused, and it doesn't mean I'm passing, and it doesn't mean, no, no. I'm a tourist, or whatever, yeah.

Yeah, you know, and so this is now the writers having dealt with the subtext. Nice. Or we're having originally had the subtext. Yeah. Seeing that the LGBTQ community took subtext that hadn't always been intentional and adopted and said, no man, we're running with it.

Right. Now saying, okay, we see you, wow, and acting on it. And I think that's a remarkable development. And I love that Anoli is also a kid. Yeah, teenager. Yeah, again, as a high school teacher, it's been amazing to see how, because I've been at the same site for 14 years.

And when I first got there, we had a thing called Dave Silence. And what it was was anybody who wanted to could do it. And I remember the reaction of teachers to it too, and I'll explain that in a second. But essentially, Dave's silence was, there was a specific day, where any queer student who wanted to would participate, as well as any allies, at that time the word ally wasn't really in the... Alexa, come on. Yeah, not just yet.

But they basically wore tape over their mouths to protest the fact that violence toward gay individuals, LGBTQ individuals, and back then, I think it was just LGBT. Maybe T was working its way in there. I don't know if it had gotten to the central value. Yeah, I didn't have to look, but they protesting that that violence toward them largely went unreported and was largely ignored when reported and The reaction of teachers it was interesting it very much split along the the generation line But not always reaction teachers some teachers were like if I call on a kid and they don't answer I'm taking off points

That's just how it goes. That's part of a protest. And I get that. I get that. I disagree with it, but I get it. And then there were other teachers were like, no, dude, we're going to find a non-talkie activity to do that day. And some teachers were like, well, wait, doesn't that kind of take away from what their protest

is? And there was interesting arguments. One teacher had on that same day, she had her club offer something called the Day of Truth, where they offered pizza to kids who would come and listen to the Day of Truth on the same day of the Day of Silence. It was really gross. It was called the Fish Club, and there was also a Christian club. There were two different Christian clubs, which I'm like, I'm all four schisms. Well, that's, you know, two day in people's front, people's front of Judea. Yeah. Hate each other more than they hate the Romans.

Right. No, they still hated on the Gays though. Well, well, yeah, obviously. Well, again, we all hate the Romans. Right, yeah, good point. But they would have like that was that teacher's reaction. Yeah. And so over time, over 14 years, I'd be really interested to find out what fucking truth that woman was trying to get at. I believe she was quoting the red text, but not listening to the red text. the red text, but not listening to the red text. But yeah. Heresy, heresy, heresy. Anyway, sorry. No, it's fine.

So then that was in the beginning. And then as time went on, the administrators were like, basically have any counsel on how to deal with it. And they were basically like, kind of laissez faire about it. Just like, leave them alone. Leave them alone. It's good. It's fine.

It's good. And then it turned to how do we support this? And the kids were kind of leading the charge. One kid, she built a doorway and basically said, this is the closet. And everybody who wants to walk out of it is welcome to. And a lot of us teachers actually walk through and support and and and stuff like that. It was really cool. And then now it's gotten to the point where you know they're I'm not going to say as many as as as not, but in our hallways and we're high school. So kids are always kissing on each other and hugging on each other. And nobody bats an eye at the fact that well and if they do batten either they're they shut about it, about the fact that same-sex couples are doing it too. Which is, it's been a really cool 14-year growth.

Think to see. But I, you know, these are teenagers that we're talking about. They are on the forefront of figuring out sexuality because that's when they figure out sexuality. And to have a no-ly be a teenager doing it, that's very well done. Very, very prescient. done, very, very pressured.

So, sorry, I dig this. So, yeah, no, no, no, it's a perfectly, it's an important digression, it's a good one. So that's leading up to my, the capstone of my thesis, which is, talking about Bobby Drake. I love me some Bobby Drake. Yeah, well, he has been one of my favorite

est superheroes forever. Okay. I don't like fire, I do like ice. Like when I play D&D, I stay away. Yeah, I source where I know that right away. Yeah, oh, okay. I've always like cold weather over hot weather. Weird weather.

When I watched, but okay. When I watched Spider-man and his amazing friends uh-huh I loved ice-man more than I liked Spidey or Firestar all right he was cool man literally yes uh and you know liking him better than Firestar I totally get liking him better than Spidey this just proves that you're weird yeah probably. But I've always loved Bobby Drake. Yeah. Yeah. Always. Always. And he is a founding member of the X-Pen. Yep. Always pissed me off in the Marvel T.S.R. game that he was wildly underpowered as far as his health went. Really? Yeah. He was a glass hammer. Well, ice hammer. Yeah. His his his real hard breaks like fine china. Yeah, yeah, um he well, I mean, he was

probably like 14 points higher than like Mr. Fantastic. Okay. Yeah, it just I'll show you the stats. Yeah, it's disappointing. You know what, don't. Yeah, last time I had to do with that game, the better. So he's one of the original X-Men. Yes. Lee did not intend Bobby Drake to be gay no the writers of the original series portrayed him as they did Scott Summers hang McCoy and Warren Worthington the second as being straight white suburban young men the third of the third he's Warren I miss okay yeah I miss I miss typed you right the allegory they had in mind sorry I just love that I had to correct you on the genealogy of the worthington family

yeah um... which by the way of any character was going to be gay out of those i would have picked a new one you would have thought yeah because he was the ladies man he yeah he really was and he was poncy yeah so he kind of fit the sixties idea yeah sixties idea yeah you'd think but apparently not yeah so um... the allegory they had in mind when you were creating these characters was, again, for racism. And in the 60s, I'd be surprised to find out anybody would even take seriously the idea of trying

to bring homosexual equality into the equation on any level. Because in the 60s, that was still so far outside of any kind of mainstream, attention in any kind of mainstream, notice. Like I mentioned in the last episode, was still so far outside of any kind of mainstream, attention in any kind of mainstream. Notice like I mentioned in the last episode, we don't see any kind of movement, really capturing any level of the public imagination for homosexual rights until Stonewall.

Yeah, and that's after, that's 68, so that's well after. Yeah, so Bobby wound up having a number of straight relationships, none of them lasted. Without getting too far into the weeds, they frequently ended disastrously. Not only for him, but sometimes for the universe. Oh, you know, in X2, Bobby has a coming out scene

to his parents and mentioned this earlier. Now this is the movie. Yeah, this is the 2003 X-Men movie. And this is he's dating Rogue in the movie. Yes, yes, he's dating Rogue in the movie. And he's trying to figure out how to have sex with her. Yeah. Like he has that talk with Wolverine too.

Yeah, yeah, trying to figure out how do we make this work. Yeah. And so in X2, he has this coming out. So he do his parents with his father, which is this is taken from Canon, his father reacts angrily, his father is pissed, and his mother, again, pain painfully and kind of hilariously at the same time, asking, have you tried not being immune? Right. Like, that's not, you don't understand how this works. Right. And the subtext there is another case is if it barely being a subtext at all.

Right. Enter time traveling Bobby Drake in all New X-Men in the last few years. Few years, yeah. In issue number 40 of all New X-Men, Gene Gray, who has also traveled from the past so so past Bobby Jean okay

One of the problems the X-Men has always had is time travel and going to space. Yeah, so you've got enough shit going on here Why do you have to wait? Why are you doing okay? So time traveled again modern modern day Cyclops went bad. Yes, he did. And so somehow somebody brought yeah, and somehow somebody brought Bobby and Jean from the past Cyclops from the past forward. Okay, as some kind of way to solve the issue. Okay, so we have young, still teenager, Bobby Drake, still teenager, Gene Gray. Okay. So, in issue number 40, young exclamation point,

Gene discovers through telepathy, and then reveals kind of blurt it out that Bobby is gay. Okay. Time displaced, still teenager, from the 60s, Bobby are used with gay. Okay. Time displaced still a teenager from the 60s Bobby are used with her. Right. Like no, I'm not, don't stop saying that, knock that off. And she's like, well no, no, I'm the longer you're thinking about it, the more, no, no, you need to face this.

And she's trying to be supportive. And she's trying to be helpful. Okay, and there's there's a great kind of discussion about this isn't any What gives you the right as a telepath to go digging around in my head right finding this out and then trying to force me into this, you know right and she means well, but Still there are these issues of consent, gay and all this stuff going on. And so eventually he winds up admitting that yes, okay, yeah, I'm gay, but I don't want to be gay and a mutant at the same time because I already have to deal with enough shit. Right. And at least being a mutant means I have a bitch in superpower.

Like people are gonna hate me for being a mutant. Right. But they just hate me for being a mutant. That's only one thing. Okay. And I can at least use my powers to help people. And you know, it's awesome. I'm a superhero. Right. Right. You know, he's a fairly unique superhero by the way. Having cryoconesis is not something that hardly any other character has. Yeah. I'm a superhero. He's a fairly unique superhero, by the way. Having cryoconesis is not something that hardly any other character has. I'm trying to think of any... Frozen, but that's the Incredibles. Oh, yeah, it doesn't count. And in DC, you had Mr. Freeze.

There's a villain that needs to use a gun. It has to use a titan for it. Right, so he basically has access to free on. But like super free on. Yeah. Like true. Like liquid nitrogen can't do the stuff Mr. Freeze can do. True.

But like Bobby Drake is the only cryo-canadic that I can think of and where that's his main power. Like there might be others who are elementalists of some sort. They can call in the cold or like storm can call in a blizzard but but but it's not Kraken is it's not it's not straight up. No, no, I freeze stuff right like yeah, yeah um And so young Bobby mm-hmm talks to older Bobby and Older Bobby reevaluates his own history and

and older Bobby reevaluates his own history and admits to himself he's been suppressing his sexuality and trying to overcompensate all these years for the very reasons that young Bobby mentions. Like I didn't want to be a mutant and gay at the same time. Like this is not it was bad enough to be one. And have my father have this tension, this distance, and this, and Bobby has had daddy issues forever because he's a mutant, and it was like, how much worse would it be if I told him, oh yeah, and by the way, I also like guys, like working class, dad that he has,

that would be a thing. And so he sublimated his insecurities into trying to be the best X-man he could while hiding that facet of his identity, like closeting himself so deeply that he wasn't even acknowledging it to himself. Pathologizing himself. Yeah, now, this is a retcon. This is, this is, that he wasn't even acknowledging it to himself. Pathologizing himself. Yeah.

Now, this is a retcon. This is, this is, yeah, I mean, you have time travel. You have him interacting with his future self, which apparently is okay. And meanwhile, Cyclops is in prison. So the other Cyclops is there, but Professor Rex is still dead. And Jean Grey has power, doesn't have power,

has power again. She's not dead, she's not the Phoenix yet, the Phoenix is already flown. Like all, how fucking confusing. The Bobby's great part is probably the easiest part to understand. Yeah. So... Even though it creates a massive paradox. Yeah.

But anyway. Yeah. But it is a retcon. It's a retcon. It is the queen mother of retcons. And it's the kind of retcon that gives comic store gatekeepers fits. What do they have to make him gay?

Here's the thing. Yeah. The subtext was unintentional. But it was always there. He couldn't make a straight relationship work. True. He was deeply insecure because of his father's rejection. Right. And he was constantly trying to overcompensate because of that. Yeah. This retcon is one that makes perfect sense

after you think about it for a minute. It's a retcon that feels less like a retcon and more like the twist at the end of a suspense movie. Yeah, you're absolutely right. Like, okay, no. I didn't see that, but now that I've seen that, everything else falls into place. Bruce Wallace never did talk to his mom. Yeah, you know, yeah, precisely. Yeah.

And who started the pre-awaited camp was gay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a retcon that recognizes the role the franchise has played in the lives of LGBTQ nerds for decades. So it's a meta retcon. It's a meta retcon.

That's cool. It mirrors the way society at large has come to acknowledge and normalize the presence and participation of queer people in society. And specifically a child leading it again, a teenager leading it again. Yeah. On the personal scale, it mirrors the narrative of being in the closet and limiting yourself. On the historical social scale, it mirrors society realizing that gay people have been here

forever. Yeah. Bobby was one of the founding ex men and now we realize he was gay all along. Okay. And since he has had this revelation, since he... This might answer questions percolate in my head, so go. Okay. Since he has had this realization, he has been recognized as being an omega level mutant.

That's what I was gonna ask. Did he unlock his potential after the fact? Yes, his personal potential was being spent on bottling. Not on bottling things up and on not recognizing who he was, not being comfortable with who he was, being in denial of who he was. And now, like in the last couple of years, he's actually managed to regenerate body parts after, you know,

when he turns into ice, and he's lost, lost a hand, you know, had some kind of moves ahead. He's able to, you know, reform it. He's been able to create ice constructs that have an independent volition of their own. Like he can create, you've seen frozen. Obviously, you have to have seen frozen. You know, Olaf.

Okay, think Olaf. Think the abominable snowman. You made a giant ring. Yeah. So Olaf has his own, Okay, think Olaf think think the abominable snowman you made a giant ring. Yeah, yeah So Olaf yeah has his own he was a creation of of Elsa's Oh, yeah, and has his has his own Yeah, Bobby Drake is doing that now like he'll create a golem essentially out nice and

That is now autonomous and can move off on its own. One of those characters actually became a supporting character and is a member of a secondary X-Men team. That reminds me of multiple man. Yeah. Who's name I forget but he creates multiple versions of himself. Basically if you hit him, he turns into two. You hit one, it turns out he hyd out Um, and he runs a he for a while at least he ran a private eye Agency which is perfect job for yeah, but he like like he called it all of himself's back And he can absorb them all and then he gets all their experiences right But they have to decide whether or not they want to yeah, like there's a level of autonomy there And like one of them was like can and walking the earth and he comes back He's like now I kind they want to. Yeah. There's a level of autonomy there, and one of them

was like, Kane, and walking the earth, and he comes back. He's like, now I kind of want to keep living my life, but you need this. So OK. But there's all kinds of personality. So he's not quite doing that, but he is creating. Like you said, golems who are autonomous and able to go and decide and do their own thing.

Yeah. And so we come out of this whole circle. but we've now come, at least for the purposes of this episode, to where we are on this arc, with this founding member of the X-Men, having now been recognized as having been a member of the LGBTQ community all along. And now the capacity, now that he knows that, having the capacity to become that much more powerful. And so the storylines now are we have a gay character who is not and also ran part of Alpha Flight, yeah, whatever it's getting in, yeah, it's Grady's Gay, whatever.

Thanks for your including, your diversity buyer. Thank you for your inclusion diversity buyer, bullshit. Right. No, this is Bobby Drake. Right, a central character. A central character from day one of the whole franchise who not only had this revelation, had this realization,

but has now become possibly the most powerful number of the X-Men. Right. You know, what a cycle-up scout to compare to that. Other than incredible neck muscles. Okay. Because to create the amount of force that it takes to destroy buildings, equal and opposite reaction. Yeah, we will opposite, yeah, okay.

So his neck muscles, that's his real power. That's really what it is, yeah, yeah. So that, and his, you know, that explains why his neck is frequently so stiff. Yes. And he's such a goddamn zealot. Yeah, yeah. So, there's just,

there's just raggons going, it's embers night. My brother will not like this. Yeah, yeah, so My brother will not like this Oh, he's a huge got some was Stan and and he's got good reasons and he should he should get a chance to defend them On another episode maybe yeah, we want to record that would be good. It'll be an apologetic episode I'll do land though. He'll do Scott summers You'll talk about how the orcs don't deserve to live record that'll be good. It'll be an apologetic episode. I'll do land though. He'll do Scott summers You'll talk about how the orcs don't deserve to live. It'll be good But okay, so Bobby Drake is out. I'm still coming back to the fact that he's making autonomous. Yeah, frozens because isn't that kind of what? Flyover state middle white America was always afraid of.

They're gonna turn all our kids gay. They're gonna make more of themselves. Yeah. Which is, you know, it's funny. It belies the total lack of understanding of genetics, but, or, or, or, you know, procreation. Right. Like, no, you don't understand it's not actually.

That's, they're the least likely you know but you know they're their their actual fear of course was that you know homosexuality is like being a mooney right you know yeah there was a so I have a series a five DVD series and it's called like mental hygiene or something like that. Well, one of the ones that's on there is you'll never know when the homosexual is about. And it's straight up, it's, oh my god, it's the guy from Lost, do you ever watch Lost? Yeah. Sawyer's dad was a young teenager who was then being followed and shadowed by Tan Trench coat Fedora pencil knack pencil nose or pencil pencil mustache pencil neck pencil nose in

between. Um, but you'll never know when the homosexual is about like it was like super gay panic. Um, and not for laughs. It was like like this was a the teacher's sixth, so we're gonna bring in the projector reel and show you and demonize homosexuals. Yeah. Wow. So just, they were right because of what Bobby Drake is going.

Yeah, and that was back, I'm assuming in the 50s or early 60s. Yeah. So, you know, all the suicides, all the teen suicides that led to which is, you know, well, you know, it's background wise teenagers. Right. Who knows? Yeah. You know, how do you say? Must be reaper. Yeah, must must be. Yeah. Or communists. Yep. Somehow. Yeah. Like, yeah. No, that's that's amazing. So Bobby Drake left

all that behind. Yeah. And accepted himself. Yeah. And now he's... I know you never know when he's about. Yes. Hahaha. But damn, so we took the X-Men from, like, I mean, they were intentionally dealing with the social justice issue of the day. And here on the other end, they're intentionally dealing with the social justice issue of the day. Yeah. And in between, they're intentionally dealing with the social justice issue of the day.

And in between, they kept accidentally rolling a 20 every time. Like they kept getting it without... Without always, without always meaning to. Right. And the times where they meant to, they were stymied and they still found a way. And they still figured out a way. And you know, I mean, there have been, we're largely being kind of haggiographic here,

but I mean, there have been times where stuff has fallen flat and been. I've never really liked the X-Men as a series, you know. There are certain characters that I find interesting. There's certain storylines that I was like, oh, that's good. But by and large, and it was because they always went to space and always did time travely shit. I was like, nah, I'm done. Yeah. No, it's good. But by and large, and it was because they always went to space and always did time travel-y shit.

I was like, nah, I'm done. Yeah. No, it's not cool. Yeah, no, I mean, Wolverine fanboy, basically forever. Oh, you have? Yeah. You know, on all those polls, everybody always ask you what superpower would you want?

Every single time. I want regeneration. Is this so you can drink and not get drunk? Well, see, here's the thing partly. Yeah. But but mostly it's just no I I I was raised wrapped in bubble wrap because I'm an only child. Right. And I was a month and a half premature. I was born a twin. Got you. I didn't grow up a twin. Got you. I didn't grow up between. Got you. You know, so I was so I was overprotected rapid bubble wrap. Yeah. And that has left me ever since wanting to be fearless. I could I could see. And and Wolverine was was was for good reason. Utterly. Yeah. Okay. Whatever. I don't care. Whatever whatever the power is that you're going to throw out.

I mean, I really don't give a rat's ass. It's so funny, because the power I always wanted was teleportation. Okay. And I always love Nightcrawler. Okay. Always. And he couldn't pass for shit.

Yeah. Like, he clearly looked odd and different and. Wait, no, look at the haircut they gave Wolverine. He didn't really pass for a bunch of benefits. True. True. And his social habits made him bunch of benefits. True. True. And a social habit's made him, you know, a mad bad dangerous to know and completely socially

unacceptable. But yeah, they accidentally and intentionally and when they couldn't intentionally, they snuck it in anyway, all throughout their run. It's, they remind me of the... God, I wish comics would just, you know, get back telling stories and that, do all the social justice for you. So much nicer. So much better since, you know,

I mean, do they really need to be Antifa? Like, yeah, well, God almighty. I mean, why can't you just talk nicely to the red skull and Arnhem Zola and Baron Timo? And work things out in the marketplace of ideas. That would be great. That would be great. That's what the Punisher does.

Yeah. So. So. Yeah. Okay, so I'm just saying it like I don't like the Dodgers. I never will. I've always hated the Dodgers. And I know that your Padres fan,

because I'm San Diego. Yeah. And I'm a blood for punishments. Yeah, well, yeah. Well, and I'm a Giants fan. Yeah, I'm a blood for punishments. Yeah, well, yeah. Well, and I'm a Giants fan, so I'm also a blood for punishment. Yeah, well, and that's why we had a good run there. And then like because San Francisco fans are assholes, I was I was glad when the Giants started losing again.

Like I'm much more comfortable now that they're losing. The world makes more sense. So much I'm so much less stressed. It's so much better. But I've never been a Dodgers fan, but I cannot deny the amount of forefront vanguard social justice that the Dodgers organization fought for. Yeah. Now, the current owners and the previous owners are horrible human beings, but historically,

I should have the Dodgers as my favorite team if that kind of shit matters to me. And it does because I found out recently the owner of the Giants is a total dill bag. And I'm like, all right, the whole team has been shouldn't tell you to sell it. And I don't mind that. But I still fucking hate the Dodgers.

And I feel the same way with the X-Men. I don't hate them, but I always like, if there's a stack of comics, they will be at the bottom. Yeah. Like I'm just not interested in the X-Men, but I so obviously should be because they're doing such important stuff. Yeah, well, you know, it's, it's,

the fan has a core of being underneath them. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, but they're your broccoli. Yeah. The thing is, the thing is broccoli has a lot of redeeming qualities. It does. All the redeeming qualities. But as good as it is for you,

it's not as enjoyable as a double cheeseburger. Yeah. Or in some way. For normal folk, because for me broccoli is goddamn worth it. It really is. But yes, for no, I totally understand that for now I really like oh

But I get what you're saying like they they are what is good about comics. Yeah, I just don't think they're very good comics well because in a Lot of the ideas, mm-hmm like the really big ideas that they had about themes thematically, it's amazing. But they've spent an awful lot of time on the boots, on the ground level in terms of writing, doing a lot of derivative stuff, doing a lot of stuff that was like oh Who was the alien alien invasion? Oh the brood the brood. Yes, like oh, hey this alien movie is making all kinds of money as popular

We got to do our own version of this. Oh, hey wait. I got it We'll use the X-Men like you know could you do it you know shield yeah about shield yeah well shield has the scrolls everybody has the scrolls right right yeah yeah you know well you know but they're not shape shifters no no the thing is they're like a parasite mm-hmm okay great by the way whole storyline came out in the 80s, the height of the cold war. I'm just saying, you know, parasites taking over the brain, communism, anybody. Yeah, I'm not saying it. Okay. So, but yeah, no, the storylines, the themes are awesome. The individual storylines too often are focacita.

It's kind of like being a parent. Yeah. The days are short, or the days are long, the years are short. Like you look back on me and what wonderful illness, I just watched your kid for four hours and it reminded me of such wonderful memories. I don't ever wanna relive. And I loved watching your boy.

Don't give me wrong. That wasn't the problem. I was just like, oh my God, I remember doing this and not enjoying it at all. Not having any sleep. And yet I did totally enjoy it. And I do enjoy having done it. But yeah, it's absolutely that. I completely understand that.

So now that we've waxed our episodic, whatever the opposite of our episodic is about... Quixotic? Quixotic? Yeah. What's your takeaway? Wrap all this up, bring us home. What is your takeaway from this conversation that we've had this evening? The X-Men were far more intentional than the Fantastic Four were in their social commentary.

The X-Men, I think, were an intrinsically better book than the Avengers and or the Fantastic Four. And yet, I don't like them more than I like the Avengers. I think the Avengers is a way better book, but the X-Men intrinsically does better for society. Okay. And I think that that's okay. It's kind of like when people ask me who the best baseball player ever was, I've got a few answers. But they ask me my favorite, and it ask me who the best baseball player ever was, I've got a few answers. But they ask me my favorite, and it's never who the best was. And I think the X-Men might be like that for me. They are one of the best comic books because of what they tried to do on purpose,

what they succeeded in doing, and how they are continuing to constantly do it. But they're by no means one that I would pick up and enjoy. Okay. That makes sense. Yeah. So, yeah, that would be my take away. Okay. Yeah.

So, since we're talking books, the book that I would like to recommend this week is called The Physics of Superheroes by a man named James Cacalios, probably butchering his name, but he is a physics teacher or professor. There were a whole slew of books that came out around the same time, the philosophy of and the physics of several different books, but the physics of superheroes is wonderful because you could read one chapter at a time and learn a bit about physics He talks about the physics of being a speedster, you know being a silver or being the flash and what that would really mean He talks about the physics of

Cyclops his neck. Oh, no, he talks about that and he gets into the physics of how you could do this or this or this thing and it was it was a really good read. All right, nice about you. I'm still working my way through how the Scots invented the modern world by Arthur Herman. I've had Western Europe's poorest nation created our world and everything in it, which is an example of Chauvinism, if ever I've heard one, he does make a compelling case of the importance of the Scottish Enlightenment to the foundations of what we refer to as the modern Western world. And as somebody who points up that aspect of my heritage above many of the others, it's an entertaining read and it's a good, thoughtful but still popularly written. Okay.

If that's a meaningful phrase. Yeah, I get it. It's accessible. Yeah, it doesn't require, it makes one think, but it doesn't require you to be spending too much time parsing exactly what it is, a particular paragraph meant, say it, just I see you. So it's written in such a way

that even a Scotsman could understand it. Aye, right, Tess, it's not gonna fly. Well, cool. Sounds fun. And it's not the first time you've plugged it. No. You are enjoying it. You're enjoying it. Parenthood means I don't have nearly as much time to actually dip out to reading for fun

as I'd like. But it is very much worth the time. It's a good read. Nice. Cool. Well, I guess until next time for, well, actually, you know what? We have Twitter. What's up?

Yes, we do have Twitter. So if you want to hit us up and correct us, tell me why I'm wrong about the X-Men, and how it's so much better than I think it is. Explain to me how I got the chronology wrong of when any of these things. There you go. There you go. There you go.

There you go. Tell us why we're right and how much you love the show. We prefer that. Yeah, I'm a fan. And I'd love it if you were too. Hit us up at Geek History Time on the Twitter. I'm personally at Da Harmony on the Twitter. I'm personally at duh Harmony on the Twitter and I'm at EH Blaylock on the Twitters. So, hit us up there. Let us know what you think. Damien spends

a lot of time yelling at the President. It's entertaining. Not always suitable for work. No. But entertaining. Yes. Much like this podcast. Well for a geek history of time, I'm Damien Harmony. And I'm Ed Blalock and keep rolling 20s.