Marvel Graphic Novel #5: X-Men - God Loves, Man Kills

 "God Loves, Man Kills"
Published: January 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Brent Anderson
Inker: Brent Anderson

What's Going On?
The story opens with two children running for their lives.  They don't get far before they are executed for being born mutants.

Magneto shows up on the scene shortly after to discover the bodies, but the killers are long gone.  It turns out that the killers are militant followers, or "purifiers," of the viciously anti-mutant evangelist, William Stryker.  Despite heading a profitable and popular religious business, Stryker is obsessed with ridding the world of the supposed evil of mutantkind.

Naturally, Stryker turns his attentions to the most prominent mutants in America, the X-Men.  He somehow has learned all about the team and their school, and sets his purifiers sights on taking them out.  The first step is to capture Professor Xavier, Cyclops, and Storm after Xavier is invited to debate Stryker on national television.  The second step is to torture and brainwash Xavier to the point where he wants to use his mutant power of telepathy to kill mutants.  Step three is to create something that will amplify Xaviers powers so they can be effective on a large scale.

From this point on, it is simply a matter of the remaining X-Men avoiding the same fate as their friends as they (and their arch-enemy, Magneto) try to prevent Stryker from using Xavier to kill all mutantkind.

Subplots, Oh the Subplots!
Since this is a stand-alone story, it would not make much sense for there to be many subplots percolating in the background.  This being a Chris Claremont story, though, he does manage to squeeze one in.  And which current X-Men subplot does he choose to bring up?  The notion of young love/statutory rape, of course!

Is it just me, or is it weird that Illyana seems so comfortable talking about her best friend having sex with her older brother?

Writing!
God Loves, Man Kills holds a fairly unique place in X-Men history.  This story was published in a prestige format with serious themes; heck, this was written by Christopher Claremont!

Chris writes comics, Christopher writes graphic novels

This story is considerably grimmer than the typical superhero comic in 1983.  Keep in mind that this was written years before The Dark Knight Returns or Watchmen; while I wouldn't argue that this story compares with either of those, it is interesting to see Claremont pushing the envelope in this direction.  The typical X-Men comic does not show or imply the murder of children, much less the difficult-to-punch-in-the-face concept of bigotry.  This story also draws a clearer line between the treatment of mutants and racial minorities.  This is a theme that Claremont spent a lot of time on during his X-Men run, but rarely as bluntly as here:

I wouldn't mind this scene so much, if it wasn't followed with a shot of Stevie admitting to herself that Kitty was right.  I get what Claremont was going for, but the man could be ham-fisted at times.

The story doesn't feel as daring as it probably did in 1983, but God Loves, Man Kills is still a pretty good tale.  It is easy for the team to fight super-villains, but deep-seeded prejudice is a complicated foe, and Claremont does a good job illustrating that.  In particular, I think William Stryker was given a surprising amount of depth for a one-off character.  Yes, he's a crazy bigot, but I thought the backstory he received did a fantastic job making him into a monster, instead of just a dangerous idiot.

It is Claremont's use of Magneto, though, that stands out the most in this graphic novel.  This is the first time readers would have seen the villain in action since Uncanny X-Men #150, where he had a major revelation; here, he is less of a villain, and more of a man weary of the cycle of violence.  Considering that Claremont had already established that Magneto was a survivor of the Holocaust, it shows remarkable restraint that Magneto's weariness and rage are not explicitly framed with that experience.  This Magneto feels older, wiser, and far more reasonable than in any other appearance he had made, up until this point.  In fact, he makes so much sense that a guilty Xavier briefly considers following Magneto's approach to mutant survival (!).

Is this story a classic?  It's definitely worth reading, but it doesn't stand up quite as well as Claremont's more famous moments on Uncanny.  If it wasn't for Brian Singer choosing this story as the basis for X2: X-Men United, I don't know if this would get much acclaim.  And that's too bad.  While it is a bit awkward in parts, this is a nice stand-alone story and it absolutely defines the Magneto character for the rest of Claremont's run.


Art!
Let's not forget Brent Eric Anderson's artwork!  I think Anderson's art is well-suited for an issue like this, where the focus is on characters talking, rather than on dynamic action scenes.  That is not because Anderson cannot draw solid action, but he is definitely better at conveying subtle emotions than most comic artists.  When he inks his own work, it is a little reminiscent of early (read: not weird) Bill Sienkiewicz.  What makes the artwork stand out most in this graphic novel, though, is the coloring by Steve Oliff.  The super-heroing scenes were more subdued than usual, and the use of sepia tones in Stryker's origin was just lovely.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- This story was actually not considered canon until Marvel wanted to tie into the second X-Men movie, which was partially inspired by this comic; the main reason for this was because it was published without the Comics Code Authority seal of approval.  It took twenty years for there to be any acknowledgement of this story in the pages of another X-Men comic, which eventually ended up being Claremont's "God Loves, Man Kills II" storyline in X-Treme X-Men.  Unfortunately, Styker and the Purifiers (now capitalized) have just become unsympathetic punching bags to be trotted out whenever unreasoning hate is needed to explain a plot point.

- Kitty Pryde is referred to as "Ariel" in Stryker's files.  I suppose that places this issue, continuity-wise, somewhere in-between panels of Uncanny #168.

-Cyclops' optic beams are force beams, not lasers.  I don't think his powers work this way:

- Despite the many, many opportunities this plot presented, there is no mention of Nightcrawler's religious beliefs in this graphic novel.  The contrast between a bigoted preacher and a forgiving monster seems too good to pass up, and yet somehow Claremont kept Nightcrawler in the far background of this story.  

- The explanation given for Styker knowing so much about the X-Men was that he gained access to the files of Fred Duncan, the team's old FBI liason.  If you don't recall Duncan or FBI involvement with the team, that is because the last time Fred Duncan was mentioned in an issue was 1968's Uncanny X-Men #46.   Claremont rarely referenced the stories that came before he took over this title --- with good reason, honestly --- so the fact that he pulled out this random factoid is both amusing and unusual.