Way of X #4

[lordultimus]

Comments

[nyadnar17]

Is a single positive representation of a religious character too much to ask?

Like one that actually believes their religion is true and doesn't have contempt for people of faith?

[tinygaylaura]

??????

Dust did not say anything about religion being bad here

And we can see that Dust's religion is still important to her here since if it was not she would not still be wearing her niqab

And I would say that this was quite a positive portrayal of a religious character since she just saved many lives on Mars from this

[nyadnar17]

"Didn't I hear you drunk and announcing you were going to save us? Something religious I expect" doesn't exactly feel me with warm fuzies.

As for the niqab, a lot of writers/artist like the culture of Muslims but have no use for the religion. Muslim is basically treated like an ethnicity, not a faith.

[beyondthefringe]

The truth is that Spurrier, while a good writer, also has an idiosyncratic approach to voices which don't necessarily ring true with other portrayals. In other words, his character voices often feel "off" a titch. And there's a ton of sarcasm. It's why he's so good with Legion and Nemesis, who he's molded into sarcastic, cynical Spurrier-types... but Dust, who hasn't had a solid portrayal in many years (ever since the New X-Men/Academy X/Hellion days), gets the "feels off" treatment here. She's a little grumpier than usual. (And Kurt was being a drunken ass at the Hellfire Gala--something which definitely feels out of character for him in the first place.)

Plus, it's hard for a lot of writers outside of the faith to really get a good handle on something as complex as Islam and Muslim characters. I don't think Grant Morrison really ever touched upon it (to my recollection), being happy to introduce the character, use her in their grand plan, and move on.

As with all of this, we just have to... I dunno... shrug and accept that many writers fall short of our expectations. I'd love to see Dust under the pen of someone like G. Willow Wilson or Saladin Ahmed or even one of the current crop of Muslim YA writers who've been doing such a good job of expanding Muslim representation in literature.

[alliterator]

She's commenting on that fact that he proclaimed he wanted to create a "mutant religion," not that her own religion is bad (which she doesn't believe).

[tinygaylaura]

That was my read on it as well that she found the idea of Kurt starting a "Mutant religion" amusing and the fact that he was wasted like a frat boy on spring break while telling people about it at the Hellfire Gala not that she thinks all religion was bad

[christianconnor]

If Dust has a genuine abiding faith, then I imagine she would be fairly contemptuous of someone just designing a new religion, on the back of an envelope.

Of course, that's not what Kurt is doing but that seems to be the popular misconception, held by other mutants.

[deh_tommy]

Probably not helped by him literally saying “I think I should make a new religion”.

That said, with how most of the big figures in this book give Nightcrawler crap about still believing in God, I don’t know if she’s ribbing him for his faith or for that “new religion” he’s supposed to be working on.

[iamrman]

This series is srarting to make me actually like Legion. Why does he have a vaguely Scottish accent? Does it come from one of his other personalities? I have to admit, I have only really seen him in his few appearances in the old New Mutants series.

[alliterator]

Why does he have a vaguely Scottish accent?

Because he was raised on Muir Island by Moira MacTaggert. Essentially, Spurrier's version of Legion has a Scottish accent because he believes that's the accent he would use, having adopted it from his childhood.

[iamrman]

That does make sense. It's not like Xavier showed any interest in him, even after he found out he had a son.

[jlbarnett]

plus if you spend enough time around an accent don't you tend yo end up picking it up

[deh_tommy]

Cripes, I’m no fan of Krakoa myself, but between this, the abandoned babies directly above the love den and the casual approach to death and suicide, does this book exist solely to make everything Hickman comes up with turn sour? I don’t want Nightcrawler to find “the way”, I want him to get as many people out of there as he can.

[mindsweeper]

I dropped this book after the first issue, but from what I’ve read, Spurrier is taking a very cynical and destructive approach. I doubt it’ll matter beyond this book, so it seems easy to ignore.

[freezer]

It's why I've never really been a big fan of Hickman's stuff: It's always a matter of "When will this go to shit and how bad will it be? And how can I one up that the next time."

,,,No, wait. That's Robert Kirkman. Why do I always get those two mixed up?

[shadowseeking]

I'm just hoping they don't pull something stupid like trying to say Krakoa is perfect and the only reason there's anything wrong is Patchwork Man/Onslaught/those evil humans.

[super_fly]

Do you think Dust is a fan of The Mummy (the Brendan Fraser one, not the Tom Cruise one)

[tinygaylaura]

I'm glad it's not just me who thought that might be a reference :)

[shadowseeking]

Just like all the Mutant Sex Cult Island books...every issue is worse than the last one...

[tinygaylaura]

"Mutant Sex Cult Island" sounds both like my ideal holiday destination and like a great name for a band

[arilou_skiff]

Honestly, Way of X both felt like an incredibly cool and interesting idea and such a naff way of handling it. The idea of "How do religions get reintrepreted in light of mutantdom?" is interesting, it's *very* interesting, but when doing so you kinda have to have a writer who at least groks the religions they are talking about on a basic level.