RJ Writing Ink

My Hero Academia S7 Ep 14 Review

When I was in middle and high school, my favorite comics to read were the X-Men. Specifically, Chris Claremont’s legendary, 17-year long run with them. And while it’s always been a part of the X-Men’s story, prejudice and discrimination reached a new level of importance under Claremont. I saw people hunted, feared, and threatened with death all because of how they looked and what they could do. Imagine how surprised I was when the final arc of My Hero Academia came around, and one of the battlefields started to remind me of the X-Men. Even though superpowers had become the norm, people still hated and feared those who looked different. It was like nothing had changed for people like them! And as All for One demonstrates, the hatred of mutants can be a deadly tool.

Why Are They Not Called Mutants?

I don’t entirely understand why Horikoshi decided to call people who’s Quirks make them look different Heteromorphs, but they’re pretty much Mutants. Because outside of a minority like Deku, everyone in the series could be considered a Mutant in the Marvel Universe. And as the show reveals via flashbacks and present-day events, that comes with all the negative aspects being a Mutant comes with.

I’ll be honest: as horrible as it was to see how Tentacole and Spinner were beaten and persecuted for looking different is, I think the series could’ve done better with the Heteromorph angle than they they’re giving us. Maybe if the series had spent more time showing how prejudice and discrimination still exist in remote regions, things would’ve hit better for me. They did a good job of reminding me of the X-Men, but it never quite goes as far as I want. That, and my mind fails to understand why they would be treated differently when their appearances look so cool.

This Reminded Me of Real-Life Events

What I did like though was how scarily accurate the mob of Heteromorph/Mutants seemed when they were trying to storm the hospital where they’re keeping Kurogiri. It reminded of certain events in recent years that hit a little bit close to home for me. The banners, the outnumbered lawmen, the bloodlust coming from most of the Mutants. Anyone who has seen riots of that scale understands how terrifying they can be, especially when they have someone egging them on.

Spinner Turned into a Full-On Lizard Expy!

The coolest part of the episode, though, was Spinner. Thanks to All for One giving him extra Quirks, he goes from a mere lizard-man to an expy of the Lizard of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery. At the same time, though, we see how Anima and Tentacole’s own abilities get to shine through. More importantly, we see how they understand that the Mutants have every right to be angry, but that it won’t solve anything. It will just breed more hatred and make things worse for everyone. That, and All for One is only using them for his own ends. He’s a jerk like that.

This episode was pretty decent overall, but coming off the absolute banger that happened last week, it’s going to feel like it fell a little flat. Plus, I really think that Horikoshi should’ve pushed the prejudice and hate angle toward those who look like Mutants more during the series. For a series that’s trying to capture what it means to be a superhero, it feels like a missed opportunity for him to go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!

I Give “Together With Shoji” a 3/5

Click here to see more animanga stuff.

Favorite Marvel Event

After 30 days, it all comes down to this. The final challenge for the Marvel 30-Day Challenge. It’s been a lot of fun, but I’m ready to end this once and for all. My last challenge: name my favorite Marvel Event.

Full disclosure: I was going to use the 2015 Secret Wars, but I haven’t read that yet, so it’s out of the running. Instead, I’m going with what I have read.

Avengers vs. X-Men

If you’ll recall, I mentioned this back on my first challenge involving my favorite character. I think now’s the time go into it in a little more detail.

After Hope Summers returned from the future, more Mutants started appearing around the world, forcing Hope to travel the world and help stabilize their powers. It was a slow process, but it looked like Mutant-kind could recover. Then the long-dormant Phoenix Force appeared and set a course for Earth. The target was its next host: Hope Summers.

The X-Men thought that the Phoenix had come to undo the damage caused by M-Day, but the Avengers were paranoid that it would bring destruction. So they tried to take Hope into protective custody, with the X-Men standing in opposition. Thus, the two biggest superhero teams in Marvel went to war with each other.

I think the purpose of this event, aside from undoing the damage from House of M, was to answer a question. That question being, who would win in a fight, Avengers or X-Men? Given the sheer size and roster both sides had, that fight was a full-scale war that spanned the globe; and I started on Team X-Men. Then the lines got blurred by the Avengers messing things up.

Excellent Job Breaking it, Avengers!

The Avengers tried using a device to get rid of the Phoenix Force, but it split into five fragments that possessed the wrong Mutants. Instead of simple war, now the heroes had to race to undo their mistake. Who ends up winning the fight, in the end, didn’t even matter. Marvel got a major shakeup, and Cyclops was now on my list of least favorite heroes.

The X-Men were the main reason I got into Marvel Comics, and this story was the culmination of seven years of the X-Men trying to keep their species from going extinct. So, it seemed like a big deal to me. Plus, we got to see the kind of fighting that makes fans drool in excitement. Avengers vs. X-Men is my favorite Marvel Event, and nothing can change my mind.

My Favorite Comic Book Series

After 29 days, we’ve finally arrived at this moment. I haven’t read as much of Marvel Comics as I want to; I chalk the rest of my knowledge from encyclopedias and guides. Still, there’s one comic book series that I recommend you read above all others in the world. This is my favorite comic book series.

Uncanny X-Men, Chris Claremont Run

If you’re a fan of the X-Men, then there are several reasons why this series is the holy grail for X-Fans. The series did start in the 1960s with the original X-Men, but after failing to gain traction, Marvel pulled the plug on it in 1970. The X-men would have stuck in cameo hell if it wasn’t for Chris Claremont.

From 1975 to 1991, Chris Claremont was the lead writer for the X-Men, and he turned them from a second-rate team into Marvel’s flagship title. He co-created characters that would become mainstays in X-Men lore like Kitty Pryde, the Phoenix Force, Rogue, Gambit, and more. He gave us “The Dark Phoenix Saga” and “Days of Future Past.” He helped make Wolverine into the fan-favorite he is today!

If you haven’t read through Chris Claremont’s run of the Uncanny X-Men, then please, for the love of all that is holy, read it. It has some of the best stories Marvel’s made. By the time you’re done reading The Dark Phoenix Saga, you will understand why fans hate the films for messing it up.

Click here to see the rest of my comic book related writings, including the 30-Day Challenge

My Favorite Cartoon Adaptation

Do you remember the first time you saw Marvel Comics adapted as a cartoon? I may not, but that doesn’t stop me from loving them, all the same. The 1990s were famous for giving us X-Men: the Animated Series, and while I never saw it, I know how much of an impact its had on my generation. My favorite cartoon adaptation is about the X-Men, but it’s a more recent one that combines some of the best stories in X-Men history.

Wolverine and the X-Men

The X-Men were once some of the most prominent champions of Mutant Rights, but after mysterious explosion led to the disappearance of Professor Xavier and Jean Grey, they disbanded. A year passed, and life for mutants got worse as humanity began to persecute them. Realizing that war’s on the horizon, Wolverine takes it upon himself to reform the X-Men before things get worse.

All this ends up being the tip of the iceberg. After finding Xavier in a coma, they receive a warning from him twenty years in the future. A future with the world in ruins, humanity enslaved, and the Sentinels hunt down any mutants they find. Unless they change things, this is the future that awaits the world. With Armageddon at the gates, the world needs the X-Men now more than ever.

A Love Letter to the X-Men

This show only lasted a year, running on Nicktoons Network from January to November of 2009. Even so, I consider it as a love letter to the team that helped carry Marvel for years. The art and animation already make it enjoyable on its own, but then you look at the voice cast, and you realize it reaches god-level. The show has an all-star roster of voice actors that include Steve Blum as Wolverine, and the talents of Nolan North, Kevin Michael Richardson, Tara Strong, Tom Kane, and more. It’s uncanny how they got so much talent behind this one show.

Then you have the plot, which is what makes it my favorite cartoon adaptation. The show combines two of the greatest stories in X-Men history into a single, cohesive unit: The Dark Phoenix Saga and Days of Futures Past. Interspersed amongst all this are elements from crucial stories from the X-Men’s history.

Unfortunately, the show got canceled due to Disney buying Marvel, meaning any unresolved, secondary plot threads were left unresolved. They were able to finish the main story, though, so I consider it a win in my book. I loved watching this as a teenager, and I call it my favorite cartoon adaptation of any Marvel property.

Click here to see the rest of my comic book related writings, including the 30-Day Challenge

Marvel has tons of examples that I could call my favorite superpower. From Wolverine’s healing factor to Spider-Man’s Spider-Sense, Marvel’s full to bursting with powers. There are even characters capable of warping reality itself like it’s nothing!

As much as I would love the chance to warp reality and turn all the plastic in the ocean into bubbles, I don’t trust myself. It would go to my head and drive me crazy. As fate would have it, there’s a power that’s adaptable enough to make it my favorite superpower.

Omnilingual Translation

It may not sound cool or flashy, but when you look at it, this is one of the most impressive powers a person could have. Omnilingual translation is the ability to understand any written or spoken language. When I say any, I mean any language, including the ones that aren’t from Earth. This power comes from a little known member of the X-Men’s branch teams, Douglas Ramsey.

With his mutant powers, Douglas was a natural at computers and programming, to the point where no one realized he was a mutant at first. Once he found out, though, he became a part of the New Mutants as Cypher. Then he got killed in battle and wasn’t brought back until years later.

After his resurrection, Douglas found his powers had increased. He could now read people’s hidden intentions and their body language, giving him an edge in combat that he once lacked. He may only have average strength and durability, but Cypher’s powers are incredible.

Why It’s My Favorite Superpower

So, why did I choose this as my favorite superpower? It’s because, with these abilities, a person would be able to understand any language in the world at once. No years of practicing or learning in a classroom, no language barriers, no wait! I could go to any place in the world and never worry about understanding the language. Mastering computer programming would take less than a day with it. I could play games from Japan without having to wait for translations!

There are plenty of creatures in the Marvel Universe that I could have chosen for today’s pick. Plenty of monsters and all sorts of aliens to choose from. For this, I decided to go old-school and use a creature that, while not as memorable, had a big impact on Marvel Comics.

Krakoa, The Island That Walks Like a Man

This is s monster the likes of which few can rival in comic books. It’s only made a few appearances outside of flashbacks, but like I said, it had a major impact on Marvel. Appearing in the legendary Giant-Size X-Men #1, Krakoa isn’t your ordinary monster. It’s a living island.

Decades before, the US was testing nuclear bombs across the Pacific. One of those tests took place near a small island named Krakoa. Somehow, the radiation altered the island, turning it into a giant hive-mind.

The original X-Men (minus Beast) came to investigate the island in search of a new mutant. What they found was hell. The animals tore at them, the plants grasped at them, and giaant monsters trapped them. It then began to feed on them, until Cyclops was freed to bring him new mutants.

These events lead to Professor Xavier recruiting a new, international team of X-Men, including characters that would become fan favorites. Storm, Colossus, and Nightcrawler all made their first appearences, and while Wolverine already appeared fighting the Hulk, here he became a mainstay.

These new members went with Cyclops and rescued the original X-Men before battling Krakoa. But how do you fight an island itself? The only way they could stop him was by pulling off something unbelieably badass. While Professor X used his telepathy and Cyclops and Havok used their energy powers to keep the monster at bay, Storm conjured lightning. She used that to supercharge Polaris’ powers of magnetism, letting her create a magnetic pulse so strong that it severed gravity around the island. The monster got sent far into space where it could never hurt anyone again, while the X-Men escaped.

Legacy

Like I said, pretty awesome, right? It’s my favorite creature, though, because of the legacy it left. This would be the rebirth of the X-Men, with the era that followed turning them from a backwater team into Marvel’s most popular group. Unknown to all, though, Krakoa also left a darker legacy.

In X-Men: Deadly Genesis almost thirty years later, it was revealed that there was a lot of the original story was a lie. Xavier had sent another team of mutants to rescue the original X-Men, and while they got Cyclops to safety, they were all lost fighting Krakoa. Half of them got killed, and the other half was unknowingly left to die when Krakoa got launched into space. Add on the fact that one of those mutants was Cyclops’ long lost brother, and it was a horrific event.

With Cyclops mentally broken, Xavier chose to erase all memory of this other team and new brother. He then kept up the illussion by making the island appear sentient when it was, in fact, a mindless monster. Also, those two members that were left for dead came back after M-Day, and Cyclops’ brother went crazy.

This whole story was crazy, and I urge you to take a look at Giant-Size X-Men #1 and X-Men: Deadly Genesis if you get the chance. It will be worth the read!

People would think that my favorite team would be the Avengers, given how much of a fan I am of the MCU. I do love the Avengers, but I’m sticking to the comics, and there’s only one team that’s my favorite

The X-Men

When I was going through my late childhood/teenage phase of buying comic books, it was usually the X-Men. I must have checked out almost every X-Men book from my local library. I’ve read almost every issue written during Chris Claremont’s run on it. One of my favorite cartoons was Wolverine and the X-Men.

Of course, it helps that the X-Men are more than a single team. They’ve grown into an army of teams. There’s the main team, X-Factor, X-Force, the New Mutants, and more! As I said before, they are an army.

Not only that, but the X-Men have been at the heart of some of the biggest stories in Marvel history: House of M, Avengers vs. X-Men, The Dark Phoenix Saga, and more. They are one of the greatest superhero teams in history, and I will always be a huge fan of them.

I Don’t Like Most of the Movies. Bite Me.

For the record, I don’t like most of the X-Men films. Having seen what the MCU has done, I knew that basing an entire movie franchise off of one team was going to end in a dumpster fire. It was too limiting. I’m glad that Disney bought Fox, since that means that the X-Men are going to be a part of the MCU.

Click here to see some of the best stories in the X-Men’s run. There are a lot of good stories.

By the way, Wolverine’s my favorite X-Men. He’s got an amazing history, and he’s voiced by Steve Blum, so that makes him awesome.