Mutant School

Academy X

As spelled out in my X-Men pitch, I really like the take on the X-Men as running a school for young mutants, although I was dissatisfied with the sheer volume of students they'd since added.  My preference is more along the lines of the days of the New Mutants, where a small class of mutants was being taught even as the graduated class of X-Men continued to save the world.

So gearing up for My Marvel Academy X requires me to pair down the numbers quite a bit. As the school is now public, I can imply some sort of safety review on behalf of the X-Men following that attack on the academy during the Messiah CompleX storyline and declare that they've determined gathering all those mutants together makes them a target.  Due to the hazardous nature of the X-Men's work, they simply can't be home to the least powerful of their kind.  Many of them are sent back home, while only a few are retained to help train.  It doesn't hold up to close scrutiny, but it gets me to where I want my student body to be.

Illogic aside, that means I get to choose from some of my favorite additions to young mutant-hood to create my student body for Academy X. Despite all of the young mutants at Xavier's to choose from, only a few  were distinctive or original enough to draw my attention.

Anole
Victor initially caught my eye by being so visually striking. His reptilian appearance, including one monstrous arm, stood out to me, especially when combined with his comfort with his appearance. In a world that hates and fears mutants, he stands out as being one who hasn't faced much bigotry despite his appearance. He's seen first hand the possibility of humans and mutants living together, and brings that optimism to the team. He's tried team leadership in the past, but despite having the heart, he doesn't have the drive. He serves as unofficial co-leader with Hellion, keeping the crew on the right path.

Hellion

Although I won't say his telekinetic powers are in any way original, Julian caught my eye with his vain, aggressive yet very successful leadership skills. The perfect counterpoint to Anole, Hellion grew up in wealth, yet was expected to hide his abilities. His human vs. mutant upbringing could easily have made him an evil mutant if one of the X-Men's enemies had gotten a hold of him first, but at Xavier's he's learning to work with humankind, even if he still sees them as different. Power-wise, Hellion's telekinesis took an interesting turn when his powers were "upgraded," making them much stronger while costing him much of his control. Punching holes through floors while trying to pick up paperclips really does make him a hellion. Julian co-leads the X Students with Victor, providing the fire and direction that Anole doesn't, while Anole tempers Hellion's darker elements.





Blindfold
There's not much to say about Blindfold other that she weirds me out in the best ways. From her eyeless face, to the enigmatic way she talks, to the unclear way her powers actually work, she cheerfully makes everyone uncomfortable. The biggest challenge with Blindfold, however, is the lack of a visual dynamic in her powers. Focused almost entirely on telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition, there isn't much to recommend her in "the field." Ultimately, the Academy students aren't intended to be field agents, so that shouldn't be a roadblock to her presence, but comics are a visual medium, and something should be expected. My first thought is to have her serve as a sort of home base support, providing intel to the team when they're out while traveling with them via astral from. I dunno.

Bling!

I'm not sure why the less-imaginatively-named Rockslide got all the attention in Young X-Men, when this hip-hop, be-gemmed bad-ass was waiting in the wings. Like Anole, she "suffers" from a grossly apparent physical mutation and accepts it with equal ease. In fact, she goes one step farther and uses it for celebrity, having appeared in a number of her rap royalty parents' music videos. I like Roxanne because she's confident and has nothing to prove, but without the in-your-face baggage of Hellion. She really is an anchor for the team.









Dust
Visually, an X-Men committed to wearing a full burqa is pretty stunning, and I won't balk to say that her inclusion in Academy X is a beacon of the racial acceptance the X-Men are fighting for. While I don't think it should be the point of her character, I've personally known enough people with fearful views of modern day Muslims, and I think Dust provides a good gateway to young American readers to understand more about them. As an added bonus, her power is awesome, ranging from the subtle to the devastating. 



I do have an opportunity here to again address minority balance in comic books. Ironically, it was this group's parent team, the X-Men, which first caused me to address the topic with my lineup's total lack of minorities. Like with them, I make no effort of affirmative action in my teams, only choosing the characters which most appeal to me regardless of race or gender. That's how I wound up with five white dudes and a white chick for my mutant team. Here, it's almost the opposite. Of the five students, we have a black woman, a Middle Eastern woman, and two homosexuals. It's an interesting contrast, and one that accidentally echoes the differences between the original X-Men, and their multi-national replacements

Going back to my New Mutants days, I want to keep the students in a team uniform (favoring the black and yellow like what Blindfold is wearing above), but perhaps with making the yellow a more shiny gold texture. The only challenge is what to do with Dust's uniform. I confess I've no idea how much leeway Islamic women have in accessorizing their burqas, and don't want to ignorantly offend anyone by adding a gold belt to her dress. Still, I'd like to find some way of tying her into the team uniform, so maybe some research is in order...

Of course these students will be in residence at the Xavier Academy, including the Danger Room and everything that comes with it, but it's notable to point out that by this time in the team's evolution, the school has gone public. Everyone knows the students (and faculty) here are mutants, which provides its own new dynamic.