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A review by colin_cox
All-New X-Men, Vol. 3: Out of Their Depth by Brian Michael Bendis
5.0
One of the more compelling elements of Bendis' All-New X-Men is the essentialist claims Scott Summers (Cyclops) and Jean Grey make in this collection of books. Scott and Jean are the only two of the original five earnestly concerned about the consequences of returning to their actual time. They, in effect, argue that the terrifying events that define X-Men continuity (a slippery signifier to be sure) cannot be avoided, circumvented, or corrected. The radicality of their position antagonizes a fundamental aspect of time travel narratives. Scott and Jean believe that knowing the future is meaningless; the past is the past, and it cannot be undone.
By adopting this essentialist view of themselves, Scott and Jean voice the limits of heroic intervention in superhero comics. Scott and Jean's position works in direct contradiction to one of the dominant ideologies surrounding superheroes. The ways in which action (i.e. the ability and willingness to act) and agency are fetishized in superhero comics prevents readers from seeing the limits of action and intervention. If anything, characters like Logan (Wolverine) too often articulate the only brand of criticism that seems to exist when action does not work. Logan's position is not unlike the position many conservatives take when market forces don't sufficiently curb the world's injustices and inequalities: we did not go far enough. For Logan, the problem is not action unto itself; he never ruminates over the perceived efficacy of action. By his estimation the mistake, and by extension, the mistakes of many superheroes resides in the relative modesty of their action.
By contrast, Scott and Jean take a different tact. They recognize the futility of superhero action, and by doing so, potentially establish a new ethical frontier. While the presence of the original five X-Men produces a rupture, the X-Men from the present cannot see the boundaries of this rupture. It is not space and time that Scott and Jean disrupt, it is the fetishized notion that superhero action does something positive and meaningful.
*The reference to conservatives and market forces in paragraph 2 is a reference to several conservative appraisals of the Great Recession. They argue the problem was not a lack of government intervention but the existence of too much or any government intervention. As the argument goes, the Great Recession would not have occurred if governments would have allowed capitalism to do what it is designed to do. Too little not too much capitalism was the problem. Thomas Sowell's The Housing Boom and Bust diagnoses the housing bubble's part in this whole affair from such a position.*
By adopting this essentialist view of themselves, Scott and Jean voice the limits of heroic intervention in superhero comics. Scott and Jean's position works in direct contradiction to one of the dominant ideologies surrounding superheroes. The ways in which action (i.e. the ability and willingness to act) and agency are fetishized in superhero comics prevents readers from seeing the limits of action and intervention. If anything, characters like Logan (Wolverine) too often articulate the only brand of criticism that seems to exist when action does not work. Logan's position is not unlike the position many conservatives take when market forces don't sufficiently curb the world's injustices and inequalities: we did not go far enough. For Logan, the problem is not action unto itself; he never ruminates over the perceived efficacy of action. By his estimation the mistake, and by extension, the mistakes of many superheroes resides in the relative modesty of their action.
By contrast, Scott and Jean take a different tact. They recognize the futility of superhero action, and by doing so, potentially establish a new ethical frontier. While the presence of the original five X-Men produces a rupture, the X-Men from the present cannot see the boundaries of this rupture. It is not space and time that Scott and Jean disrupt, it is the fetishized notion that superhero action does something positive and meaningful.
*The reference to conservatives and market forces in paragraph 2 is a reference to several conservative appraisals of the Great Recession. They argue the problem was not a lack of government intervention but the existence of too much or any government intervention. As the argument goes, the Great Recession would not have occurred if governments would have allowed capitalism to do what it is designed to do. Too little not too much capitalism was the problem. Thomas Sowell's The Housing Boom and Bust diagnoses the housing bubble's part in this whole affair from such a position.*