X-Men Forever?

OK, as I said a short while back, I’m going to stop buying and reading X-Men Forever. There are a number of reasons, and well, as happy as I am that Chris Claremont has been reunited with his “children” I’m just not feeling the same vibe that I had 16 years ago before he left. This is not to say that the stories are somehow less interesting than they were, or that Claremont is somehow a worse writer (neither of which is at all true). In fact, I actually think that freed of the constraints of both time and the need to lead or to to tow the company line, Claremont will be allowed to not only write more interesting (more character-driven) stories, but will be able to explore story lines and concepts that he would not have been able to have done had this still been the flagship of the Mutant line.

Needless to say, I’m choosing to pass on continuing purchasing the title. Still, I do want to float this observation. Peter Rasputin () — who as I recall should be like 18 or 19 — who has always been sweet on Kitty Pride (Shadowcat, who should be like 14 or 15). Kitty, meanwhile is “best friends” with Peter’s little sister, Illyana (Magik) who is probably 10. New to the mix is a clone of the gone-bad Storm (Lil’ ‘Ro) who appears to be 12.

Why do I mention all of this (especially when I’m the one who keeps saying that Marvel needs to do something to make comics more accessible to kids?) because of this. At 18, Peter is too old to have anything more than a “big brother” relationship with Kitty, and well, though more has been hinted, it has never gotten past that. Still it does seem odd that she would be “best friends” with a 10-year-old (I can see her forming a bond with ‘Ro, but Illyana, that one is a bit of a stretch).

I know that Marvel has always played fast and loose with the relative ages of their characters, but all of this age-juggling has me a bit bumfuzzled.

Adding to the complexity to this all is Remy LeBeau’s (Gambit’s) seeming unhealthy attraction to Lil’ ‘Ro, which is becoming borderline creepy. Of course if that wasn’t enough there is the unexplained attraction between The Natasha Romanov (The Black Widow) and Peter, especially when you stop to consider that ‘Tashia is probably in her mid-to-late 20s (talk about cougars). (Then I really have to wonder why Nick Fury and SHIELD who have never been a part of the X-Men history are playing such a prominent role in this series.)All of this is this is interesting and I’m almost tempted to stick around and find out where Claremont is going.

Almost.