I have a Nightcrawler in my X-Genes*
*Okay, I thought that title was hilarious so I had to use it.
X-Women is a weird story. I ran into Chris Claremont at the Calgary Comic Con and he had the European version of it and I briefly got to talk to him about it. Apparently it was originally called Girls Just Want to Have Fun and wasn't in English. After knowing this you can start to see how X-Woman became the way it is. It's European to the core: small square panels, lighter colours, sexier times than we North Americans are used to. All of these things make a little more sense but just because there is a reason for something it doesn't make it good.
I think X-Women is alright. It isn't canon and the story won't change your life but it's about the X-Women having fun adventures and I think it accomplishes that. The girls are on vacation when Rachel gets kidnapped and the other girls set out to rescue her. Then you add the most sexual poses you can imagine. My favorite of these over-the-top poses in when the girls are swinging on vines when for no reason two characters end up in a crouch-in-face situation. For the most part it's laughable more than erotic but the art is interesting enough you don't mind being amused.
There was a lot of hub-bub about this issue's sexuality and for the most part I think it's misguided. There are a couple situations where the women look like they are being exploited including when the girls are captured they show up in amateur bondage gear and when Storm fights off a guy who wants to have sex with her even though it's not as much non-consensual sex and more a guy wanting her and Storm pushing him away. If it weren't for the light heartedness of the comic these scenes might be more offensive than they came off. I think the bottom line on the exploitation issue is that these are superheroes they overcome superhero problems and even show up the boys so I can't see how the women are being taken advantage off. Although they are being sexy that can be powerful too.
If you want to have some X-Men fun with the ladies then you should check this book out. It's easy enough to miss but the ending involves all the characters dancing and that's a plus in my book.
