Hello, folks! And welcome to another installment of Comics You Should Have Read By Now, now without the “Already.” But while we’ve taken a word out of the title, our goal remains the same: to showcase and discuss the best of the best in the world of comics. For today’s segment, we’re going to be looking at Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson’s X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills, a thought-provoking look at our own society through Marvel’s Merry Mutants.

Before we get to talking about this particular book, though, let’s take a few moments to talk about the X-Men in a more general sense. What is it about them that makes them so compelling, to the point that they can support such a staggering number of characters and monthly titles? Part of it is, of course, the strong creative teams who have contributed to their books over the years, and part of it is the colorful characters on their rosters and the exotic adventures they go on. I would argue, though, that the thing that truly sets the X-Men apart is the way in which they embody the plight of the downtrodden.

Ever since their debut in the 1960s, the X-Men have been purposefully and at most times effectively cast as the Marvel Universe’s representatives of the oppressed minority, both in a broad sense and as specific analogies. Originally, this could mostly be viewed as a metaphor for the Civil Rights movement which was at its height during the 1960s, but has since been expanded upon to include a number of groups outside of the mainstream, most notably the LGBT community. All told, the X-Men have a long and rich history of championing tolerance while speaking against bigotry and hatred.

Yet while combating intolerance has always defined the X-Men in one form or another, nowhere has it been done more directly or, I would argue, done better than in the pages of God Loves, Man Kills. The story follows the X-Men as they struggle against the forces of deranged religious leader William Stryker and his army of fanatical followers, the Purifiers, as they crusade against all mutants. But while this may sound like a setup for a fairly standard super-hero story, God Loves, Man Kills is anything but. I mean, sure, the X-Men do briefly fight against thugs in robot suits, and Stryker’s master plan does involve using a brainwashed Professor X to wipe out mutant-kind, but the bulk of the tension here is not your standard super hero fare. There are no alien invasions to fight, no sentient islands to visit, no demons to slay. Rev. William Stryker is not your typical comic book super villain, but rather something far more frightening: the type of fear-mongering zealot that we might find here in our own world.

And it is this, perhaps, that really makes God Loves, Man Kills stand out. This is a book that places its narrative in a less exotic light, one that is steeped mostly in the mundane and the familiar. Because of this, the story will at times hit very close to home, reflecting scenes from our own society that we are perhaps not as far removed from as we would like to think. What is probably the most striking example of this can be found in the opening pages, where we find a young mutant and his family being hunted down and murdered by an angry mob, with their bodies strung up and put on display, mutant labels included.

Here, Claremont’s symbology is deliberate and fairly straightforward, calling to mind the lynchings that have been carried out in the Real World. And it worked. This sequence serves as a bone-chilling reminder that the discrimination the mutants face in the Marvel Universe is not one of mean looks and angry shouting, but one incorporating the most vile hatred, the kind that moves people to commit unthinkable atrocities, much the same as it does in real life. By taking the focus away from flamboyant super-villainy, this story brings to the foreground the central struggle of the X-Men: the philosophical battle for acceptance. And this battle is fought not with fists, but over hearts and minds. Appropriately enough, then, the book also places a heavy focus on the average people, those without affiliation to the X-Men or the Purifiers. We see the way the ordinary people of the Marvel U react to the presence of those that are different, and while we may see hatred and fear, or else passive indifference…

…we also see elements of hope and acceptance.

The climax of God Loves, Man Kills occurs as our heroes confront Stryker at a rally, using not their powers, but rather their words to resolve the situation. It is here that Kitty Pryde makes an impassioned speech, pushing Stryker to reveal himself as the monster he is.

It is at this time that a nearby police officer interferes, saving Kitty.

It’s important, I think, for the theme of this story that it was an average citizen, inspired by a heartfelt plea, that ultimately stops the villain. This is because at the end of the day, God Loves, Man Kills isn’t about the Marvel Universe; it’s about ours. It’s about us. It’s about the fear that we sometimes allow to control us, about hatred that warps something good into something monstrous.

But it’s also about hope. It’s about the hope that there are good people as well as hateful ones, that we as a society are slowly yet surely making progress, and that in the end, acceptance will prove stronger than our fears.

God Loves, Man Kills is a powerful book with a poignant message, one that’s all too familiar, despite the presence of teleporting imps and Masters of Magnetism. In the past, when people have asked me to recommend books to introduce them to the world of the X-Men, I invariably loaned them this book. It is the greatest example of the struggle that defines Marvel’s Merry Mutants, the fight to protect a world that fears and hates them. The X-Men represent a movement towards tolerance that has been one of the defining features of human society, and you’ll find no better example of that than this book here.

So there we have it! What did you think? Please leave a comment to let me know, and thank you for reading!