THE ENDLESS BATTLE OF MUTANT AGAINST MUTANT:

“For me, superheroes will always spark the imagination of people around the world, regardless of their background, because I think that people are always looking for something that represents the ideal person or the ideal situation,” comic book writer and producer Stan Lee said in a 2013 Ted Talk.1 Given Stan Lee’s long history of creating famous comics and characters that today are known around the world, he certainly is speaking from a place of experience, and his words ring true when you consider American superhero culture. Superheroes are the ultimate role models; they are people to look up to who uphold societal values through their incredible abilities. Many children hope to emulate their favorite superheroes, dressing up like them for Halloween and pretending they have superpowers of their own as they play on the playground. Of course, though superheroes themselves are incredibly popular, their identities are dependent on the rivals they face; for what is a superhero without a supervillain? As Stan Lee mentioned, the concept of the “ideal person” is dependent upon its conflict with those who are essentially not ideal and who challenge morality: the villains. Since good and bad are entirely subjective concepts, this allows comic book creators the power to manipulate the narrative as they choose to depict heroes and villains in very specific ways. The concept of a superhero, then, depends on its creator and its audience: what does it mean to be “ideal” and to fight for good? What does it mean to challenge those concepts? The Uncanny X-Men, created by Stan Lee and later taken over by writer Chris Claremont, is one such comic series which presents an interpretation of the concept of heroism and villainy; though in its first twenty years of runtime, this stance was certainly subject to changes. In the Uncanny X-Men comics, heroism, villainy, and morality are displayed through several different lenses, which were influenced by not only the personal beliefs of each individual writer, but also the political climate of society as the comics reflected unique interpretations of the ideal heroes and the not so ideal villains.

Over the first twenty years of its publication, the Uncanny X-Men comics morphed from a narrative dominated by a patriotic celebration of heroes to one which recognized the inability to classify anyone as truly good or evil. This was in part due to the change of writers, as Stan Lee first wrote the comics in 1963 for nineteen issues, and then was replaced by several revolving writers until the series completely lost popularity in 1970 and was later revived by Chris Claremont in 1975 after five years of reruns. In addition to the differences in writers, however, the comics were greatly influenced by the politics of the Cold War and American-Soviet political relations. This essay will follow the different trends of the comic series and the manner in which it both was shaped by its political environment and reacted against it. In its early years, before Claremont revamped the story, the Uncanny X-Men portrayed villainy as a black and white confrontation of good and bad. The heroes in the early comics greatly resemble the country of America, facing off against the only force strong enough to match their power: the villains, who represent the Soviet Union. The origins of the superheroes are also informed by Cold War politics and fears over nuclear radiation, while the consideration of what it means to have such power resembles the anxieties over the nuclear capabilities of the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Themes such as concerns over the space race, spies, and mutually assured destruction also periodically appear in the comics, weaving together a narrative which indirectly condemns the Soviet Union and praises America. However, as anti-Vietnam War sentiment led to many Americans withdrawing their support for the war, a significant portion of Marvel’s readership began to seek a much less patriotic narrative; and when the Uncanny X-Men subsequently lost popularity, Claremont redirected the focus of the comics, reinventing the concept of villainy. In Claremont’s issues, not only are the heroes from diverse cultural backgrounds, representing the positive of cultural multiplicity, but the villains are humanized and represented as misguided rather than evil. Additionally, rather than the themes of idealized superheroes battling villains, the Uncanny X-Men comics published between 1975-83 are dominated by narratives of the darker sides of heroes, as they themselves often become the force that must be stopped. The comics do still reflect a level of distrust over the Soviet Union, including references to the fear of nuclear warfare and the threat of communism, but the constant considerations of morality and striving to do the right thing in a difficult situation bring much more nuance into the situation, at a time when the American public criticized the United States’ military intervention abroad and Cold War political tensions were slowly beginning to lessen. In this way, the Uncanny X-Men comics were informed by the political tensions of the Cold War through the authors’ portrayal of heroism and villainy; and as the Cold War progressed and many citizens began to protest American involvement in Vietnam, so too did the comics shift, depicting moral ambiguity and introducing the concept of an imperfect villain facing an equally imperfect and terrifyingly powerful hero, rather than a simple fight of good vs. evil.

While previous scholarship regarding the Uncanny X-Men comics does generally consider the symbolism and cultural impact on the comic’s depictions, most writers have done so with the lens of discrimination and the Civil Rights movement rather than Cold War morality and anxieties; though the two concepts do partially intersect. As Joseph J. Darowski writes, “It is entirely possible that the heightened debates and tension in the country surrounding the Civil Rights movement influenced Stan Lee and Jack Kirby,” especially when considering that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was proposed around the time that Stan Lee was developing the concept of the superhero group the X-Men.2 Certainly, the storyline of the Uncanny X-Men can be interpreted as a racial allegory; in the comics, the mutant race, known for being born with superhuman powers, are feared by the general public and combat discrimination based on their appearances. This theme has led to many disadvantaged groups identifying with the X-Men, whether on the basis of race, sexuality, or gender; and oddly enough, even white supremacists have connected to the comic’s themes of ostracization, according to writer Scott Lobdell.3 When considering this in terms of the characterization of heroes and villains, Darowski explains the manner in which the main hero, Professor X, and the central villain, Magneto, represent figures in the Civil Rights movement due to their opposing views on mutant rights and necessary actions to take—symbolically similar to Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, respectively.4 As a whole, “The X-Men comic books would become identified with themes of prejudice and fear,” Darowski explains.5 Other writers, such as Julian Darius disagree with the extent that the comics offer a positive message in its allegory for otherness. “The conservative, even reactionary tone to the racial message of X-Men still haunts the books to this day,” Darius writes.6 Unlike Darowski, Darius does situate the text within the context of the Cold War, though he prefaces his analysis by writing, “I do not mean to suggest that Communism should supplant racism as the dominant interpretation of the X-Men.”7 Although this paper will not be exploring the dynamics between considering the work with a racial lens and a purely political one, it is important to note that both allegories can exist in harmony, especially in a longrunning, multifaceted work such as the Uncanny X-Men; and it is entirely feasible that comic writers were influenced by multiple aspects of society and wove them together into a single work. Martin Lund displays this as he takes a wider approach when considering the comics, balancing the “Otherness and persecution [which are] central to the series,” alongside “Cold War themes” and what he describes as a “superheroic version of containment,” which surface in the superheroes’ manner of combating Magneto’s villainy.8 Similarly, Ramzi Fawaz considers the overall cultural themes of the Uncanny X-Men comics, which included “the politics of inequality, exclusion, and difference,” alongside “concrete differences grounded in histories of race hatred, cold war political oppression, and Western imperialism.”9 Unlike Darius, Fawaz considers the Uncanny X-Men comics to be a representation of a “commitment to liberal tolerance,” which allowed readers to identify with the characters and encouraged cultural multiplicity, especially as the series progressed.10 It is certainly interesting to consider whether the message of the comics truly condemns prejudices, and this paper will consider the extent to which the Cold War themes promoted tolerance as opposed to encouraging political fear and distrust, especially through its representations of heroism and villainy. Though previous scholarship of the comics has alluded to the potential political allegory of the comics, the racial allegory has taken precedence and has been studied much more deeply, leaving the connections to the Cold War considered but not fully explored. Therefore, while these other scholars have determined that several aspects of the Uncanny X-Men comics were influenced by Cold War politics, this paper will dive further in depth with these concepts, following the trajectory of the depictions alongside the developments of the Cold War.

In the early Uncanny X-Men comics written by Stan Lee, the very nature of the X-Men heroes is mired in the Cold War anxieties of the early 1960s over nuclear bombs. Stan Lee introduces the concept of “mutants,” which are a species of individuals known as Homo superior who have been born with supernatural abilities. Notably, the reasons given for the development of mutants largely centers around radioactivity. Professor X reveals that his mutation stems from his father’s work testing atomic bombs in New Mexico, one of which accidentally exploded.11 As he explains, his powers “must have been caused by all the radiation my parents had been exposed to at the nuclear research center.”12 Similarly, one of Professor X’s protégés, Beast, says, “my father was an ordinary laborer at an atomic project! I probably gained my power due to radiation.”13 This fascination and emphasis on the consequences of nuclear testing represents the powerful hold which atomic bombs had on American culture at the time. As Kenneth D. Rose explains, “The degree to which the nuclear annihilation scenario was becoming part of the culture could be seen in the surprisingly diverse publications that presented such scenarios,” with the Uncanny X-Men being one such contributor.14 By 1963, when the Uncanny X-Men was first published, the United States and the Soviet Union both had weapons as large as twenty-megatons, and Rose adds that in 1961, the Soviets even tested a fifty-megaton bomb.15 Additionally, Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring was published in 1962, detailing the consequences of radiation on human health and gaining widespread popularity. By taking the concept of the negative impact of radiation on humans and inverting it into the origin of superpowers, Fawaz writes, “The X-Men fused real-world fears about the disabling effects of radiation exposure with the impossible notion that such effects could accelerate the evolution of the human species.”16 In this way, the very origins of the X-Men superheroes are emblematic of American popular culture in an atomic age, reflecting the prevalence of concerns over radiation and the power of nuclear bombs. While fears over atomic bombs were widespread in the early 1960s, the early issues of the Uncanny X-Men diluted these worries rather than solely feeding them, associating radiation and bombs with strength and power rather than destruction. Though atomic blasts did unfortunately kill characters, as in the case of Professor X’s father, the use and testing of nuclear weapons is portrayed as a necessary evil; and one which provides heroes with unwavering strength against their enemies.

In the early Uncanny X-Men comics, Cold War themes were not only prevalent in the creation of heroes, but in the division between the heroes and their villain counterparts. As previously mentioned, Magneto is the primary villain faced by Professor X and his students, and the two powerful mutants stand in direct opposition to each other much like America and the Soviet Union during the 1960s. Darius writes that, “From the first issue, Magneto and Professor X are juxtaposed…split between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ factions.”17 Whereas Professor X works to protect the country, Magneto’s constant ambition is to overpower it and take control for himself. “It is our job to protect mankind from…the evil mutants!” Professor X exclaims to his students, while Magneto tells his followers, “Only through my leadership can homo superior take over the earth!”18 In this way, the early Uncanny X-Men issues situate Professor X as the only being powerful enough to counter Magneto’s villainy, and it is therefore his responsibility to do so in order to maintain peace. This aligns with George Kennan’s famous theory of containment against the influence of the Soviet Union, which was first proposed in 1947 and became a hallmark of American Cold War strategies. In order to prevent Soviet victory, Kennan believed it was necessary to halt the spread of communism throughout the world, maintaining security “through a careful balancing of power, interests, and antagonisms,” as explained by John Lewis Gaddis.19 In 1963, President Kennedy supported the notion that the United States needed to stand as a preventative force against the spread of communism, saying, “[W]e are the key, the archstone, the basic element in the strength of the entire free world.”20 In other words, America embodied the role of the heroic Professor X, constantly attempting to secure allies as he countered Magneto’s strategies to achieve dominance. As Professor X seeks out the locations of other mutants, he works to recruit them solely for the purpose of keeping them away from Magneto’s influence to limit the man’s evil strength. In the case of the character the Submariner, for example, who appears in an issue published in 1964, Professor X decides to ask him to join their team when he realizes, “What a dangerous foe he would be.”21 Similarly, when discovering the power of the character the Blob given his mutation of utter strength, the X-Man Cyclops realizes, “No wonder Professor X wants to get to the Blob before the evil mutants can contact him! He’s far more powerful than I suspected!”22 In this way, Professor X makes it his goal to limit the number of allies Magneto has, preventing the spread of the man’s influence and doctrines, much in the manner of containment. Magneto is shown to be aware of Professor X’s strategy of containment and the harm it can cause him, claiming, “As long as the X-Men live…then we are never truly safe! Only they stand between us and the conquest of the human race!”23 As Professor X stands in the way of Magneto achieving his goals, he is depicted as doing so in a heroic manner, protecting his country from an indisputably evil enemy. Magneto is not at all a sympathetic character; his goal is to rule the world and subjugate everyone, and there is no question that his plans must be stopped, mirroring American public perception of the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. As Lund explains, “[Magneto] and the X-Men’s fight was defined in Cold War terms as freedom versus tyranny, hope versus fear.”24 Additionally, the comics emphasize Magneto’s dangerous power, presenting it as an equal force to Professor X’s, as neither can really ever defeat the other. “Some power is attacking me! Some power as super-human as my own!” Magneto exclaims when first encountering Professor X.25 Since Magneto is a mutant like Professor X, the two figures stand apart from the rest of the world, singled out for their power. This returns to the concept of atomic weapons, the vast majority of which were solely held by the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1960s. The deadly power which the two countries amassed during the arms race led to the United States and the Soviet Union establishing for themselves a global hegemony. In the same way that the United States and Soviet Union thus stood out from other nations in terms of military might, Professor X and Magneto stand apart from the Homo sapiens, stuck in a never-ending battle which they can never win and no humans could ever hope to join. In this way, the early issues of the Uncanny X-Men published in the 1960s portrayed the Cold War conflict of the United States and the Soviet Union allegorically through the depiction of the powerful Professor X and Magneto; and notably, while the character of Professor X, symbolizing the United States, is a hero striving to keep his country safe, Magneto, or the Soviet Union, is a power-hungry villain attempting to take over the world.

The allegory of the villain Magneto as representing the Soviet Union extends beyond his animosity with Professor X, also establishing itself through Magneto’s specific mutant abilities and his fascination with space. As his name suggests, Magneto’s superhuman power is the manipulation of magnetic fields, which allows him to telekinetically move metal. In one battle scene, the narration describes, “At a gesture from the evil mutant [Magneto], one of the heavy iron train gates rises above the speechless crowd.”26 The reference to the metal iron specifically brings to mind Winston Churchill’s famous Iron Curtain speech from 1946. “From Stettin in the Baltic to Triest in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent,” Churchill claimed, adding, “Behind that line…all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in the Soviet sphere and all are subject in one form or another…to Soviet influence.”27 Just as Joseph Stalin laid down the metaphorical iron curtain with his control over Eastern Europe, Magneto manipulates iron at will, using it as a source of maintaining power. Additionally, given that Stalin’s surname can be translated as “Man of Steel,” Magneto’s manipulation of metal is a power perfectly suited to the Soviet Union of the 1960s. In addition to his power over metal, in the early Uncanny X-Men comics Magneto dominates another sector of technology: space travel. In the first issue, published in 1963, Magneto sabotages the government’s attempt to launch “the mightiest rocket of all,” claiming, “here, miles from the launching site, I…alone shall make a mockery of their greatest effort!”28 Therefore, in part due to his power over metal, Magneto is able to not only successfully travel through outer space himself, but to reserve outer space as his own personal domain. At one point, he even establishes an asteroid base for himself, using it as his headquarters for planning world domination. Later on, he forces the X-Men up into the air, exclaiming, “You’ll orbit the edge of space—helpless—out of control—until your small supply of air gives out!”29 Though the X-Men of course manage to save themselves and return to Earth, there is no doubt that outer space is under Magneto’s ultimate control, a territory dominated by him. This provides yet another parallel between Magneto and the Soviet Union, specifically in the early 1960s. This was a time when the Soviet Union was firmly ahead in the space race against the United States, having launched the first satellite Sputnik in 1957 and having sent Yuri Gagarin as the first human in space in 1961.30 In 1961, Kennedy made the bold claim that “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth,” and while this goal was eventually realized, it did end up taking eight full years.31 Therefore, for the majority of the first publication run of the Uncanny X-Men comics, which lasted from 1963 to 1970, the United States was playing catch-up in terms of scientific achievements in outer space. In the comics, Magneto’s ownership and control over space in its entirety speaks to the Soviet Union’s many advancements in the space race, while perfectly coinciding with his ability to manipulate metal and place an iron curtain wherever he so desired.

In the Uncanny X-Men comics, another theme of villainy which appears quite often in the stories and which reflects 1960s Cold War fears was that of espionage and an inability to trust people. As Lund explains, “Magneto uses what were perceived as ‘international communism’s’ favored expansionist tactics,” which, in addition to “overthrow of legitimate rule, suppressions of individualism and spontaneity, and exploitation of subjugated populations,” includes “infiltration.”32 This manifests in several ways, the first being the villains’ manipulation of the heroes’ senses. As Professor X exclaims after one fight, “there was really no boiling oil—it was but an illusion, created by one of the mutants to keep you prisoner here!”33 In order to succeed in the battle, the heroic mutants therefore could not trust what they were seeing, first needing to uncover the villains’ subterfuge. Similarly, Magneto himself is described to have a “unique form of brainwashing,” in an issue from 1964, which he employs on the X-Man Angel in order to subdue and manipulate him.34 Therefore, during fights, the X-Men often cannot trust their senses or even their personal thoughts, and there is a pervasive worry that the villain has the power to manipulate the truth. This certainly reflects the anxieties of Americans in terms of Soviet infiltration and misinformation. In 1956, J. Edgar Hoover, the Director of the FBI, established the Counterintelligence Program, or COINTELPRO; an organization, which as Michael J. Sulick describes, “was designed to disrupt political dissident organizations,” which were thought to be spreading political misinformation in favor of communism.35 Though Angel is a single figure within the X-Men rather than an organization, his brief allegiance to Magneto would certainly have made him a target for COINTELPRO’s purposes. In this manner, Magneto’s power of brainwashing legitimizes the fear of the potential of infiltration in creating internal dissidence. As Susan L. Carruthers explains, the concept of forced indoctrination was a popular topic in American media in the 1950s and 1960s, as “many Americans became highly alarmed at Red brainwashing and its seeming efficacy,” and themes of Communist manipulation of Americans were displayed in popular films such as The Manchurian Candidate, released in 1962, in which “a normally conditioned American has been trained to kill and then have no memory of having killed. The theme of paranoia was not simply limited to personal brainwashing, however. In addition to the enemies’ ability to manipulate the heroes’ perspectives, fears surrounding espionage in the Uncanny X-Men also stem from their theft of information. The Blob, for example, ends up defecting to the side of evil and infiltrates the X-Men’s headquarters, crying, “I want all their secrets! All their scientific discoveries—their weapons—must be mine!”37 Not only does this greatly mirror anxieties over Soviet spies stealing American technology, it also creates a sense of extreme paranoia, given that the Blob is an ex-carnival worker who even in the comics has no logical motivations to steal Professor X’s information. Similarly, the villain known as the Vanisher targets sensitive governmental information, though he does so solely for monetary gain. As the X-Men hear the news anchor exclaim, “The Vanisher has just demanded ten million dollars…as his price for not turning our continental defense plans over to the communists!”38 This financial aspect to espionage was a genuine motive for many during the Cold War; in fact, Sulick writes, “the vast majority of Americans who spied for the Soviets and their bloc allies betrayed secrets primarily for ﬁnancial motives.”39 In this way, the comics not only reflect a fear over unknown and unexpected subverters, but also explore the worries of losing information and technological secrets to enemies with a wide range of abilities and motivations.

Overwhelmingly, in tandem with these many allusions to the Cold War, the Uncanny X-Men comics released between 1963 and 1970 present good and evil as two distinctly different forces in opposition. The heroes, the X-Men, are model citizens, dedicated to protecting “America’s security,” as the character Marvel Girl says, and fighting to protect the country from “evil” mutants.40 In contrast, the villains, and especially Magneto, are obviously evil; with Magneto being described as “cruel,” by one of his followers, and upon his supposed death, Cyclops happily says, “This time, I think he died with his dream…his twisted, tortured vision of a world ruled by evil mutants!”41 This simplistic division of morality was prominent in the concept of superheroes at the time. Fawaz explains that, “With its inception in the late 1930s, the superhero quickly became a popular national icon that wedded a fantasy of seemingly unlimited physical power to an ethical impulse to deploy one’s abilities in the service of maintaining public law and order.”42 In the case of comic book heroes, this was not solely the result of suiting the interests of the American public; rather, the government had a hand in manipulating public opinion through comics. Fawaz explains that in 1954, the House Un-American Activities Committee “threatened comic book publishers with regulatory action if they refused to develop content standards,” which led to “comic book producers [returning] to the superhero as a fantasy figure traditionally understood to embody patriotic American values.43 Not only this, but the “Comics Code Authority” was an organization also founded in 1954 with the purpose of regulating comic book material for its readers. In order to earn the Seal of Approval, comic books were required to not display nudity, not reference drugs, and as Nathan Cobb described in 1981, “[show] respect for the likes of family and authority.”44 In his popular column “Stan’s Soapbox,” Stan Lee referenced this restriction in an excerpt from 1968, explaining that while he had often been asked about his opinion on “having to submit our masterful yarns to an outside agency for approval,” he was “delighted to do it,” and found that “our employment of satire is in no way curtailed.”45 Regardless of the legitimacy of this claim, it is important to consider the roles of HUAC restrictions and the Comics Code Authority in the creation of the simplified, patriotic narratives of the Uncanny X-Men; especially considering that the renewal of the Uncanny X-Men occurred in 1975, the year HUAC was dissolved. However, while the Uncanny X-Men faced outside pressures which encouraged it to maintain its black-and-white themes on villainy, by the end of the 1960s, this did not suit the readership, leading to the comic’s decline.

By the end of the first run of the Uncanny X-Men, public perception regarding the Cold War had drastically changed, and the comics failed to reflect the public’s dwindling patriotism. Though Stan Lee only wrote the first nineteen issues, the subsequent writers of the comic series, such as Roy Thomas, “retained Cold War themes,” as Lund describes.46 Darowski similarly explains that “in the 1960s Marvel comic books, Magneto is a supervillain seeking world domination, not a protector of his people,” as he later becomes.47 However, in the late 1960s, Marvel’s readership was not interested in reading blindly patriotic content. By that point, the Vietnam War had been stretching on for over a decade, and antiwar sentiment was overwhelming. Sulick writes that “in November 1969, half a million Americans marched in an antiwar demonstration in the nation’s capital,” as “symbols of patriotism were trampled and desecrated.”48 College students made up a large part of the demographic protesting the war, staging protests and rallies; and it just so happened that this demographic was also a large fraction of readers of Marvel comics. Brian Coppola wrote that, “in 1969, Stan was confronted with a new phenomena: an audience that did not disappear at puberty,” and Lee began to regularly visit universities to give talks to fans.49 This, of course, led to many Marvel readers in their early twenties demanding a change in the comic books. Lee reported in 1967 that many readers “have demanded that we take a more definitive stand on current problems such as Vietnam, civil rights, and the increase in crime, to name a few.”50 Classic stories of heroes protecting the United States from evil outside influences no longer satisfied readers; and it is no surprise, therefore, that interest in the Uncanny X-Men comics significantly waned. In the period of 1970 through 1975, the Uncanny X-Men solely produced reprints of comics before being revived by Chris Claremont. Therefore, by the 1970s, as Marvel’s readers were primarily interested in stories that reflected their discontentment with the Cold War and American politics, the revival of the Uncanny X-Men marked a departure from the classic themes of heroism and villainy, completely altering the franchise to better suit its readership.

One of the biggest changes to the Uncanny X-Men franchise occurred in relation to the concept of villainy: making Magneto sympathetic. As we have explored, early depictions of Magneto solidified the character as a power-hungry villain intent on world domination for his own gain. In Claremont’s run of the series, however, while Magneto undoubtedly remains an adversary of the X-Men, the series humanizes him by introducing his past and motivations. As displayed by letters written to Marvel, readers of the comic were pleased to see this shift. In 1979, reader Theos McKinney wrote, “Stan Lee took one-dimensional characters and made them two-dimensional, you have taken two-dimensional characters and made them into multi-faceted real people,” while another fan, William Nutt, praised Claremont’s “treatment of all characters as total human beings,” and “rich characterization.”51 This was certainly the case for Magneto. In issue #150 of the comics, published in 1981, Magneto reveals his tragic past—his family was killed at Auschwitz when he was a child. “As our lives were nothing to [the guards], so human lives became nothing to me,” Magneto explains. “In my zeal to remake the world, I have become much like those I have always hated and despised.”52 Rather than his previous interest in simply taking power, Magneto’s intentions are thus shown to be protecting mutants from violence and injustice, both of which he has personally experienced. As Darowski explains, Magneto has become a character “whose motivations you can understand while disagreeing with his methods.”53 In this way, Magneto is a redeemable figure, and Professor X claims, “perhaps…he will emerge from this crucible the good man he once was and may yet be again.”54 When considering Magneto as a figure symbolic of the Soviet Union, this leniency echoes the thawing of public perception of the Cold War in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1972, the first steps were taken towards ending the standoff of mutually assured destruction, as President Nixon and General Secretary Brezhnev signed SALT I, setting in place agreements for arms control.55 By the end of the decade, President Carter widely promoted the concept of peace, saying, “it is a new world that calls for a new American foreign policy…based on constant decency in its values and on optimism in our historical vision,” and the treaty SALT II was signed in 1979, further limiting the stockpiling of nuclear weapons.56 Therefore, as Cold War tensions began to lessen, the Soviet Union was no longer solely depicted as an enemy; but rather, a fellow country with motivations of its own which America could potentially work alongside instead of defeat in war. Aligned with the goals of SALT I and SALT II, Magneto even points out, “the nations of the world spend over a trillion dollars a year on armaments,” and he promises, “the money and energy devoted now to war will be turned instead to the eradication of hunger, disease, poverty.”57 This is a far cry from Magneto’s earlier schemes, none of which had quite so noble causes; and references the willingness of both the United States and the Soviet Union to ease the world towards détente. Additionally, the Uncanny X-Men comic’s choice to specifically reference the Holocaust in relation to Magneto’s past further supports this Cold War thaw, as it brings to mind World War II, when the Soviet Union not only made incredible sacrifices in fighting Germany, but did so while allied with the United States. As Professor X references the good person Magneto used to be, the sentiment parallels the consideration that the Soviet Union was not always an enemy in the eyes of the United States; and therefore, the goal should not be to destroy the country, but to work with it.

In addition to the new depth added to villainy through Magneto’s characterization, heroism under Claremont took on a new meaning with the diversity added to the new team of X-Men. Stan Lee’s X-Men consisted of white, middle- and upper-class Americans whose sole focus was defending the country. In the revival of the Uncanny X-Men, many of these characters were phased out, replaced by a new and much more diverse team. This change partly reflected the influence of the feminist activist movements of the 1960s and 1970s, as Claremont introduced new, powerful female characters. J. Zeitz explains that the 1970s was “a decade that saw ordinary Americans [gravitating] to radical grassroots alternatives…out of frustration with the political center,” and alongside the anti-war movement, second wave feminism therefore “enjoyed broad demographic appeal,” as activists protested inequality and discrimination.58 In line with this growing insistence upon gender equality, as Claremont introduced new X-Men, the comic’s popular narratives were no longer dominated by the actions of male superheroes, but included strong women as well; and the character Storm even becomes the official leader of the X-Men, taking the role from Cyclops. This inclusion of new concepts of gender equality was not the only change in the demographics of the new X-Men; cultural differences were also celebrated through the varied nationalities of the new mutants. In 1985, journalist Salem Alaton noted this change, quoting Mark Askwith, who said, “in the sixties, the X-Men were all true-blue Americans. Now you have guest appearances from mutants all over the world.”59 The new characters included the aforementioned Storm, from Africa; Wolverine, from Canada; Banshee, from Ireland; Jubilee, a Chinese American; and most notably, Colossus, from Russia. In an interview in 2018, Claremont discussed the process of designing the character Colossus, which was driven by his fellow comic book writer Leonard Wein. “Within the context of the time,” Claremont explained, “having a young, impressionistic Russian as the core of your team was actually a very radical choice on Len’s part.”60 In the comics, Colossus, whose real name is Piotr Rasputin, is a Russian peasant, who is described as being able to “transform himself into a man of steel,” in an issue published in 1982.61 Unlike in the case of Magneto, however, the reference to Stalin is not aligned with a concept of evilness. Instead, Colossus is a gentle character who cares for his little sister Illyana and “fears he has lost forever the simple farmer’s life he once enjoyed.”62 In this way, Colossus embodies the stereotypes of Russian peasants stemming from before the Cold War, and though he is incredibly powerful, there is nothing to fear from his kind disposition. As a part of the heroic team, Colossus reinvents the concept of Russians as evil, thus endearing himself and his culture to readers. In one issue, the X-Man Kitty Pryde reads a bedtime story to Illyana and even says to herself, “I’m glad the professor telepathically taught us all Russian!”63 This casual acceptance of Russian culture marks the Uncanny X-Men comic’s shift towards embracing multiculturalism as well as viewing the Soviet Union as a country made up of people, rather than a dangerous foe.

As the Uncanny X-Men comics turned its focus to empathy through characterization, a new central theme which appeared in storylines was the concept of morality. In the earlier comics, there was no question of what the right course of action would be. As Tom DeSanto, the producer of “X-Men” and longtime fan of the comics, noted, “Stan has always written with a moral rudder that has shaped my thoughts and sense of right and wrong. Stan’s writing made me want to be a better person…to be a hero.”64 While the X-Men began as morally decisive heroes fighting for the common good, however, the issues during Claremont’s run began to question the very nature of heroism, as the characters themselves often wax poetic about morality, especially in the context of nearly ending the lives of their enemies. During a battle in an issue from 1983, Storm worries, “this creature is evil—but does that give me the right to destroy it?”65 Colossus similarly attempts to avoid killing his enemies, saying, “I know the brood are evil, yet I keep wishing there were some other way.”66 The X-Men’s aversion towards violence is a new development, developing in conjunction with the sympathy given to villainous characters. Following the revival, even the X-Men from the original team, such as Cyclops, are characterized with this newfound understanding of the enormity of their power and the costs of violence. In the earlier comics, in an issue from 1968, there is a moment where the villain Quicksilver attempts to negotiate with Cyclops rather than fight, and Cyclops claims, “I don’t particularly go for parlays with traitors to the human race!” before immediately turning to violence.67 In Claremont’s issues, meanwhile, Cyclops refuses to kill the aliens they are fighting when he realizes that they are sentient, and in an issue from 1983, he solemnly observes, “so long as there’s hope—no matter how slight—the X-Men fight to preserve life. To create, rather than destroy.”68 This newfound pacifism makes up the basis of the X-Men’s intentions, turning them from simple crimefighters to a troubled group seeking to promote peace in the face of violence. As Storm says, “so often, it seems we must choose—not between good and bad but between the lesser of two evils.”69 Alongside the themes of having empathy for villains, the acknowledgement of striving for peace in an unfortunately violent situation reflects the Cold War sentiment of the late 1970s and early 1980s. By that time, the Cold War had been raging on for decades, and peace was becoming the central goal, rather than victory. As Marc Ambinder shares, Soviet leader Andropov told the US Ambassador that “the Soviet people and the American people have a common foe—the threat of war incomparable with what we went through previously.”70 Reagan, too, began to soften in terms of viewing the Soviet Union as a foe; telling the Japanese Diet, “We are people of peace…we understand the terrible trauma of human suffering…a nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought.”71 The X-Man Nightcrawler considers a similar moral question, realizing, “What good will it do to win this battle if, in the meantime, the Earth is destroyed?!”72 As Claremont’s X-Men strive to achieve world peace, they therefore struggle with doubt about the right course of action, considering the cost of the collateral damage that will occur. In his “Stan’s Soapbox” column, Lee posed the question: “Is it possible that too much harm, too much injustice has been caused in the name of ‘right’—in the pursuit of combating ‘wrong’?”73 Instead of clear-cut definitions of good and evil, the Uncanny X-Men comics under Claremont thus complicated the narrative in order to promote an anti-war narrative. Unlike the patriotic heroism of the early X-Men, the later X-Men concerned themselves with the repercussions of their violence and questioned their own legitimacy as being the enforcers of authority. Like the United States, the X-Men began to reflect upon the importance of peace, understanding, and empathy, rather than simple dominion.

One significant hallmark of Claremont’s issues of the Uncanny X-Men was that as the heroes debated morality and empathized with the enemies, they also contended with their own personal struggles. In early X-Men issues, though the X-Men did occasionally have personal concerns, such as the character Marvel Girl’s worry about showing her parents the school without them finding out about her abilities, Claremont’s X-Men have considerably more depth in their characterization and the comics often focus on their internal dilemmas. Lund writes, “following a growing general inclination toward self-realization in American culture…Claremont’s X-Men turned inward.”74 Rather than the X-Men’s main concerns being combatting villains, they often instead must solve problems caused by their own actions and focus on fixing themselves first. One of the most famous Uncanny X-Men stories centered around a hero’s interiority is the storyline following Marvel Girl’s transition into the powerful Dark Phoenix. Spread across several issues published in 1980, the Dark Phoenix storyline depicts Marvel Girl unlocking otherworldly powers which she is unable to control, leading her to destroy several worlds and later die. With storylines such as these, it is clear that not only were Claremont’s heroes imperfect, they were also essentially capable of villainy, further blurring the line between good and evil. Professor X contemplates this duality, explaining that “There exists within everyone a dark side, to balance and give meaning to the light,” and Marvel Girl was unable to maintain a proper balance due to her sheer power from the Phoenix-force.75 Echoing Professor X’s words, a wise being known as The Watcher also explains that everyone contains both good and evil, and he observes:

All beings carry within them a capacity for good and evil. All our actions result from the interaction of these two fundamental forces. Our reason makes us aware of these forces and likewise gives us the responsibility of choosing between them. Regrettably, not all choices are clear-cut, nor all conflicts obvious.76

Not only does this contemplation redefine the concept of heroism and what it means to be “good,” but it notably also leaves room for uncertainty and gray areas. As previously mentioned, readers of the Uncanny X-Men comics applauded the care Claremont took with characterization, and the added depth from themes of internal evil was further appreciated. In 1979, reader Joan Ludlow wrote that she was glad to see the “humanity” of the characters; and specifically, in the case of Dark Phoenix, Ludlow added, “It makes her troubled emotions so much more poignant…how frightening to think one moment you can save the world and then nothing works.”77 In this statement, there is a direct correlation to Cold War themes in terms of American power and the benefits and costs that accompanied it, revealing the manner in which the comic’s readers were inspired by the comics to contemplate ambiguous morality and worrisome violence. In this way, as the Uncanny X-Men comics presented storylines of the dangerous power of heroes, they encouraged readers to consider the level of responsibility associated with heroism and the impossibility of always being in the right. One of the supposedly villainous aliens in the series even says, “One regime’s traitor is often another’s hero…It all depends on who wins.”78 As the comic portrayed heroes as forces of evil alongside misunderstood villains, it therefore reimagined the concepts of right and wrong. As the power of the Dark Phoenix corrupted her, it revealed her inherent potential for evil, admitting that even the most heroic figures were not perfect. In this way, the comics allowed for the consideration that America, long since purported as the hero against the villain of the Soviet Union, may not be quite as morally untouchable as previously believed.

Overall, not only did the thematic changes in the Uncanny X-Men reflect the changing Cold War tensions of the time, they also aligned themselves with the viewpoints of their readership. Following Claremont’s revival of the comics, by 1985, as Marvel editor Ann Nocenti reported, “The X-Men series [was] Marvel’s biggest seller and the most popular comic book in the continent.”79 Later reflecting upon the experience and the unprecedented fame generated by the Uncanny X-Men, Claremont wrote, “The differences between now and then are, in some ways, too extraordinary to be credible.”80 In this way, the impact of the overhaul of the comics in generating popularity and reaching readers is clear. Earlier on, when Stan Lee created the concept for the X-Men and began to publish issues, the heroic group consisted of powerful patriots determined to protect the United States from the evil intentions of a formidable villain. The heroes derived their power from atomic testing, utilizing this strength to stand firmly against the spread of evil even in outer space. However, this patriotic, pro-war narrative did not suit Marvel readers, many of whom were university students, as the Cold War continued and many Americans became disillusioned with the war. When the Uncanny X-Men comics were revived, Claremont restyled the narrative to better suit the cultural context as interest in détente began to supersede that of victory. The new team of X-Men no longer battled against evil villains; but rather, faced off against misunderstood and misguided people who similarly fought for a better world. Additionally, the new heroes were from all over the world, including Russia, embracing cosmopolitanism and tolerance. As the X-Men philosophized about the responsibility that came with their power and the harm that resulted from violence, they also began to turn inward, realizing that they needed to face their own demons, which could not be solved with a simple fight. With these changes, the Uncanny X-Men franchise established itself with the cultural context of the Cold War, redesigning the concepts of heroism and villainy and allowing for nuance in the narrative. Not only did this shift make the comics immensely popular, but it imbued them with a new moral lesson about having empathy for everyone. After all, as tantalizing as it is to unquestioningly support comic book heroes and scorn the villains, in the real world, nothing is ever so black-and-white; and can anyone truly be labeled as “good” or “evil”? As Stan Lee himself wisely said, “We all want essentially the same things outta life—a measure of security, some fun, some romance, friendship, and the respect of our contemporaries. That goes for Indians, Chinese, Russians, Jews, Arabs, Catholics, Protestants, blacks, browns, whites, and green-skinned Hulks.”81

What Makes a Superhero? (YouTube, 2013), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSGf6is3U2w.
Joseph J. Darowski, X-Men and the Mutant Metaphor Race and Gender in the Comic Books (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2014), 36.
Joseph J. Darowski, X-Men and the Mutant Metaphor 15.
Ibid, 30.
Ibid, 13.
Julian Darius, “X-Men Is Not an Allegory of Racial Tolerance,” Sequart Research & Literacy Organization, September 25, 2002.
Julian Darius, “X-Men Is Not an Allegory of Racial Tolerance”
Martin Lund, “The Mutant Problem: X-Men, Confirmation Bias, and the Methodology of Comics and Identity,” European Journal of American Studies 10, no. 2 (2015), https://doi.org/10.4000/ejas.10890.
Ramzi Fawaz, The New Mutants: Superheroes and the Radical Imagination of American Comics (New York: New York University Press, 2016), 144
Ramzi Fawaz, The New Mutants: Superheroes, 20.
Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Alex Toth, The X-Men #12 (July 1965). “The Origin of Professor X!” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 17 Oct. 2022, online, 4.
Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Alex Toth, The X-Men #12, 10.
Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Werner Roth, The X-Men #15 (Dec. 1965). “Prisoners of the Mysterious Master Mold!” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 24 Oct. 2022, online, 13.
Kenneth D. Rose, One Nation Underground: The Fallout Shelter in American Culture (New York: New York University Press, 2004), 56.
Kenneth D. Rose, One Nation Underground:, 61.
Fawaz, Ramzi. The New Mutants, 144.
Darius, Julian. “X-Men Is Not an Allegory of Racial Tolerance”
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963). “X-Men.” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 14 Oct. 2022, online, 11; Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The X-Men #6 (July 1964). “Sub-Mariner! Joins the Evil Mutants.” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 17 Oct. 2022, online, 18.
John Lewis Gaddis, Strategies of Containment: A Critical Appraisal of American National Security Policy during the Cold War (Oxford University Press Inc, 2004), 29.
John Lewis Gaddis, Strategies of Containment, 204.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The X-Men #6, 2.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The X-Men #3 (Jan. 1964). “Beware of the Blob!” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 15 Oct. 2022, online, 8.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The X-Men #5 (May 1964). “Trapped: One X-Man!” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 17 Oct. 2022, online, 8.
Martin Lund, “The Mutant Problem: X-Men, Confirmation Bias, and the Methodology of Comics and Identity,” European Journal of American Studies 10, no. 2 (2015), https://doi.org/10.4000/ejas.10890, 3.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The X-Men #1, 19.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The X-Men #5, 14.
Winston Churchill, “'Iron Curtain' Speech,” The National Archives, accessed November 10, 2022, https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/cold-war-on-file/iron-curtain-speech/.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The X-Men #1, 11.
Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Werner Roth, The X-Men #17 (Feb. 1966). “. . . and None Shall Survive!” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 24 Oct. 2022, online, 19.
Jeff Shesol, Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the New Battleground of the Cold War (New York: W.W. Norton, 2021).
John F. Kennedy, “Address to Joint Session of Congress May 25, 1961,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, accessed November 10, 2022, https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/historic-speeches/address-to-joint-session-of-congress-may-25-1961.
Martin Lund, “The Mutant Problem: X-Men, Confirmation Bias, and the Methodology of Comics and Identity,” European Journal of American Studies 10, no. 2 (2015), https://doi.org/10.4000/ejas.10890, 3.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The X-Men #4 (Mar. 1964). “The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants!” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 15 Oct. 2022, online, 21.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The X-Men #5, 17.
Michael J. Sulick, American Spies: Espionage against the United States from the Cold War to the Present (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2020), 39.
Susan L. Carruthers, “‘The Manchurian Candidate’ (1962) and the Cold War Brainwashing Scare,” Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television 18, no. 1 (1998) https://doi.org/10.1080/01439689800260031,
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The X-Men #3, 15.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The X-Men #2 (Nov. 1963). “No One Can Stop the Vanisher!” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 14 Oct. 2022, online, 17.
Michael J. Sulick, American Spies: Espionage against the United States from the Cold War to the Present (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2020), 7.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The X-Men #5, 4.
Roy Thomas and George Tuska, The X-Men #43 (Mar. 1968). “The Torch Is Passed . . . !” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 2 Nov. 2022, online, 9; Roy Thomas and Neal Adams, X-Men #63 (Dec. 1969). “War in the World Below!” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 6 Nov. 2022, online, 20.
Fawaz, Ramzi. The New Mutants, 4.
Fawaz, Ramzi. The New Mutants, 9.
Nathan Cobb, “Comics: A Flight to the Right?; Social Problems Are out, Space Capers Are In,” Boston Globe, March 1, 1981.
Stan Lee et al., Stan's Soapbox: The Collection (New York: Marvel Worldwide, 2020), 10.
Martin Lund, “The Mutant Problem: X-Men, Confirmation Bias, and the Methodology of Comics and Identity,” European Journal of American Studies 10, no. 2 (2015), https://doi.org/10.4000/ejas.10890, 3.
Joseph J. Darowski, X-Men and the Mutant Metaphor, 31.
Sulick, Michael J. American Spies, 38.
Stan Lee et al., Stan's Soapbox: The Collection, 25.
Stan Lee et al., Stan's Soapbox, 7.
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Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, The Uncanny X-Men #150 (Oct. 1981). “I Magneto . . . !” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 7 Nov. 2022, online, 38; Ibid., 39.
Joseph J. Darowski, X-Men and the Mutant Metaphor, 31.
Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, The Uncanny X-Men #150, 39.
Gaddis, John Lewis. Strategies of Containment, 322.
Gaddis, John Lewis. Strategies of Containment, 343.
Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, The Uncanny X-Men #150, 4.
J. Zeitz, “Rejecting the Center: Radical Grassroots Politics in the 1970s — Second-Wave Feminism as a Case Study,” Journal of Contemporary History 43, no. 4 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1177/0022009408095422, 675; Ibid., 676.
Salem Atalon, “Comic Heroes to the Rescue,” The Globe and Mail, August 16, 1985, 8 edition.
Chris Claremont on Favorite X-Men Stories & Everything You Never Knew (Behind the Panel) | SYFY WIRE, YouTube, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9UwNWhgN70.
Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, The Uncanny X-Men #156 (Apr. 1982). “Pursuit.” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 7 Nov. 2022, online, 2; Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, The Uncanny X-Men #153 (Jan. 1982). “Kitty’s Fairy Tale.” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 7 Nov. 2022, online, 6.
Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, The Uncanny X-Men #155 (Mar. 1982). “First Blood.” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 7 Nov. 2022, online, 11.
Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, The Uncanny X-Men #153, 6.
Stan Lee et al., Stan's Soapbox: The Collection, 127.
Chris Claremont and Paul Smith, The Uncanny X-Men #165 (Jan. 1983). “Transfigurations!” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 8 Nov. 2022, online, 9.
Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, The Uncanny X-Men #164 (Dec. 1982). “Binary Star!” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 8 Nov. 2022, online, 5.
Gary Friedrich, Don Heck, and Werner Roth, The X-Men #45 (June 1968). “When Mutants Clash!” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 2 Nov. 2022, online, 8.
Chris Claremont and Paul Smith, The Uncanny X-Men #167 (Mar. 1983). “The Goldilocks Syndrome (or: ‘Who’s Been Sleeping in My Head?’).” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 8 Nov. 2022, online, 14.
Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, The Uncanny X-Men #154 (Feb. 1982). “Reunion.” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 7 Nov. 2022, online, 19.
Marc Ambinder, The Brink: President Reagan and the Nuclear War Scare of 1983 (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2019), 165.
Marc Ambinder, The Brink, 213.
Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, The Uncanny X-Men #157 (May 1982). “Hide-‘n’-Seek!” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 8 Nov. 2022, online, 19.
Stan Lee et al., Stan's Soapbox: The Collection, 53.
Martin Lund, “The Mutant Problem: X-Men, Confirmation Bias, and the Methodology of Comics and Identity,” European Journal of American Studies 10, no. 2 (2015), https://doi.org/10.4000/ejas.10890, 6.
Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, The Uncanny X-Men #153, 12.
Chris Claremont and John Byrne, The Uncanny X-Men #137 (Sept. 1980). “The Fate of the Phoenix.” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 6 Nov. 2022, online, 35.
Chris Claremont and John Byrne, The Uncanny X-Men #123 (July 1979). “Listen—Stop Me if You’ve Heard It—But This One Will Kill You!!” Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. 9 Nov. 2022, online, 19.
Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, The Uncanny X-Men #157, 22.
Atalon, Salem. “Comic Heroes to the Rescue.” The Globe and Mail.
Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, and Len Wein, Marvel Masterworks: the Uncanny X-Men, vol. 1 (New York: Marvel, 2012).
Stan Lee et al., Stan's Soapbox: The Collection, 132.