Astonishing X-Men
2008 kicked off with Messiah CompleX, the last X-Event to contain anything I recognized as X-Men. Following this event, all the mutants of the world moved to San Francisco and created their own nation (or something), inviting people like Magneto and Sub-Mariner to join the team.
By pulling the e-brake here, though, I get to keep my X-Men as the struggling minority, working to keep the world safe in spite of overwhelming bigotry and hatred, but not isolated in their own nation. With the death of Charles Xavier at the end of CompleX (uh...spoilers?), the X-Men must refocus on attaining his dream, and the existence of Hope Summers, the first mutant born since Decimation, gives them a renewed sense of optimism and wipes some of the "we're dying as a species" angst which darkened recent years.
Personally, my view of the super-powered mutant is that mutations in the X-Men comics (I believe created by Celestial tampering in human genetics at the dawn of time) should lead to beneficial mutations the vast majority of time. Sure appearances may deviate a bit, and there can be some side-effects, but Celestial-tampered genetic mutations will lead to laser eyes and rocket punches rather than wax skin or early-onset aging.
The greatest power possessed by these mutants, fer instance,
is that the girl in green can vomit acid...
However, I really like the idea of the X-Men serving as the faculty of a school in addition to being crime-busting superheroes. I'll be discussing the student body at some future post, though. For the time being, I want to focus on the X-Men themselves. My X-Men were selected based both on experience with the team as well as contributing a distinctive power and ability to the group dynamic. Fer instance, with Cyclops providing the laser blasting power, I had no interest in other-blasty characters like Gambit, Chamber or Dazzler (although I did seriously consider the latter).
With that in mind, these are the mutants who made the cut:
Cyclops
For years Cyclops has been aware that the slightest misstep on his part could lead to disaster from his uncontrollable eye beams. The events of Messiah CompleX lead him to see that same quality in his leadership of the X-Men. Under his watch, the team has become a dangerous weapon and he dedicates himself to stepping away from that edge. He realizes trying to keep mutants separate from humanity only leads to conflict, and true peace can only come from full integration.
Cannonball
The first New Mutants "graduate," Sam is most in tune with the Academy as a place of learning. He knows what it's like to want to be an X-Man, and he's the best at relating to the students on campus. He also recalls how much trouble he had learning to control his own powers, which makes him a great teacher when dealing with young mutants with the same limitations. I'm not 100% current on what Cannonball can do with his powers these days (I think I saw him making a force field once), but I'd like to keep it focused on his main "invulnerable while blastin'" smash-thru-things qualities, although I can see him being able to throw explosive punches to strike with the force of a cannonball. Creating defensive blast shields or throwing energy blasts are outside what I think his unique powers would allow.
Of all mutants present at Messiah CompleX, seeing Professor X killed affected Bobby the most. Charles' death opened his eyes to how far they'd come from the initial forming of the X-Men and how much he himself had changed in that time. The re-commitment to Xavier's dream is driven mostly by Iceman as he strives to return to what made him and the team great in its heyday. As the "heart" of the team, Iceman also begins focusing his powers more on defense and restraint rather than offense and weapons.
Wolverine
I've never been a big fan of the character, but I do appreciate the way his animalistic loner nature has taken to the idea of being an X-Man. No longer the one Cyclops has to keep on a leash, Logan has become an equal voice on the team. He provides an interesting counterpoint to Scott in that, while they both agree on the team's goals, it's Wolverine who's most willing to get his hands dirty achieving it. In the end, though, he has a fierce loyalty to the X-Men and the school.
As a former member of Generation X, Paige is the youngest I'd go in terms of establishing a "senior" mutant body. However, she has a lot going for her as a contributor to the team. While her power is delightfully random and versatile, it's her voice that most sells her. As a trainee of Banshee and Emma Frost, Husk has less invested in the Xavier Dream than the rest of the X-Men and is the most likely to be a "loyal opposition" when discussing what role the team plays on the world stage. And since she grew up in the country with a lot of siblings, keeping her mouth shut hasn't become one of her strong suits. She's also Cannonball's sister, and the two of them bring a family element to the team for all the drama that can carry.
Legion
I confess, I'm not 100% sure what David Haller's status is these days, but Wikipedia tells me he's probably alive (or can easily be made so) so I'm willing to give him a spot in the team. While in one sense Legion's multiple-personality based powers steals some of Husk's thunder as far as "random effects" goes, he brings a couple other things to the table I really want to have in my X-Jet. A) As Charles Xavier's son, he brings a bit of legacy to the Dream and carries on his father's traditions proudly, and 2) his weird mental status lets me have a telepath on the team with a little more interest (and a little less reliability) than some of the other trump card telepaths. To be honest, it can be fun to have a character able to read another's mind, but if it's too available, it becomes difficult to keep secrets or hold mysteries against the team. David's no-guarantee powers means it's often available, but can't be relied on.One side note to my roster, so far I've been very lucky in my comic team rewrites (mostly in my DC Comics My52 posts) that I've never had to pay much attention to race or gender. There were always enough good characters to choose from which met my needs that I never wanted for a decent balance of race or sex. To my surprise, though, the X-Men seem pretty weak in those areas. There are only two significant black X-Men, Storm and Bishop, and one of them is now evil (and the other has a different role to be discovered later on in these posts). So I just have to accept that my X-Men, for a while at least, are going to be mostly white males. It's not my preferred status quo, but to do it any other way would cry of tokenism, and fortunately I don't have to bow to that.
In the comics, the X-Men restructured after Messiah CompleX by reforming in San Francisco. To my mind, at least, that gives an undesired air of counter-culture to the team. Maybe at some point I'd be interested in an X-Men spin-off group on the West Coast that's more "alternative" to the main team, but for now, I like my Xavier's Academy as a posh, upstate New York prep school, so that's where they'll stay.
