Who works best as a student?

[CRaymond]

Some mutants die in the X-Men. Some get better. Some age out of the X-Men. Some age backwards. Some get brought into the future. Some are brought into the past. Sometimes a movie comes along and lets people imagine a continuity wherein ages and admission times are defenestrated and we can have an actual conversation about what's best for telling stories about Xavier's School.

EXAMPLES!
In X-Men TAS, All X-Men are adults and Jubilee is a student.
In X-Men Evolution, Storm, Beast, Wolverine are adults, while Scott Summers, Jean Grey, and Nightcrawler are students.
In X2: X-Men United, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, and Jean Grey are adults, while Iceman, Rogue and Pyro are students.
In X-Men Apocalypse, Beast is an adult, and Storm, Cyclops, and Jubilee are all students.

Given the ability to move time and characters around, who works best as a student of Xavier's in order to tell stories about being a student at Xavier's? Who works best as a graduate? Who works best as a teacher? Who works best as a hero?

Have fun, go crazy. BBL.

[xhx23x]

Everyone as a student!





but I liked the Evo set up the best.

[Cat]

I suspect how you answer this depends on when you came into the series... when it was 'your' X-Men. For me, Jubilee works best as a student. She's the quintessential student character for me, probably because I came in bc of the Animated Series, and the comics around that time, like Uncanny 318 and Gen-X. It wasn't until later when I got to read all the Claremont/Byrne run, and appreciate Kitty, for instance, in that role.

But yeah, considering how aimless Jubilee has mostly been since she stopped being a student (looking at you, vampire 'storyline') I feel it kinda has some merit (although I loved what they did with her in the all-female X-Men).

[JasonEsta]

Surge and Dust

[Carabas]

I don't feel any of them worked particularily well as students.

They always come of to me as adults who for some reason are still in school. It's probably to do with many comic book artists only knowing how to draw one male and one female body tpe.

[WhiteQueenEmmaFrost]

Kitty Pryde.

She still has so much to learn about growing up and letting go.

[CRaymond]

Kitty Pryde.

Yeah. I think she's STILL the most iconic of the "X-Ingenue" role, despite having "grown up" almost 40 years ago.

Jubilee in the 90s, Rogue in the movies, Angel in Morrison, Armor in Whedon, Hope later... on and on.

Surge

Mind telling me a little about why Surge is cool? A lot of these younger generation mutants are all just gimmicks and costumes to me.

[AdamFTF]

Everyone as a student!

I've got a bit of a soft spot for the idea of "Smoking-under-the-bleachers delinquent" Wolverine.

But yeah, considering how aimless Jubilee has mostly been since she stopped being a student (looking at you, vampire 'storyline') I feel it kinda has some merit (although I loved what they did with her in the all-female X-Men).

Honestly, I've always had a bit of trouble with the paradigm shift from "The X-Men are a found family" in the '80s and '90s to "Xavier's is a fully functional school" in the 2000s and I think Jubilee is somewhat indicative of that problem. Jubilee was created to be a teenager but she wasn't necessarily created to be a student. It's more like she was created to be a kid sister. Orphan kid, on her own, no one to turn to. That set-up doesn't particularly scream "she needs education" as much as it screams "she needs a family". Even when she left to join Generation X, it was because it had been a stressful, tragic year for the X-Men and she felt like she was powerless to help the people she cared about. After that, though, with Xavier's School more of a formal school with everyone being either a student or a teacher, she didn't quite fit anywhere.

[Dementia5]

After that, though, with Xavier's School more of a formal school with everyone being either a student or a teacher, she didn't quite fit anywhere.

Until she proved to be a pretty darn good teacher.

[AdamFTF]

Until she proved to be a pretty darn good teacher.

Even then, she often seemed like more of a big sister than anything. At least, I don't think I ever saw her teaching any classes.

[CRaymond]

Ehhh, when I said “student” I meant “teenager”...

[Tycon]

Mind telling me a little about why Surge is cool? A lot of these younger generation mutants are all just gimmicks and costumes to me.

Have you read New Mutants Vol 2 or New X-Men Vol 2? The stories are soap opera/drama *first*, and action second. Half the time they didn't even wear costjmes. It's quite literally the spiritual successor to the original New Mutants.

Bigger question is what led you to assume they were one-note characters with gimmicky powers? I can get Eye-Boy or Kid Gladiator or Nature Girl, but I've never gotten the impression that students like Hellion or Loa or Dust or Mercury were "gimmicks and costumes".

[CRaymond]

Bigger question is what led you to assume they were one-note characters with gimmicky powers?

Mostly time and distance. I fell off the X-wagon a loooooong time ago.

From a distance, I've seen a lot of the new generation of mutants become darlings and faves, but none of them turn Xavier's on its head... aside from QQ, who should never have been brought back. In all seriousness, the Cuckoos have exhibited the most staying power of all the post Gen X student X-Men.

[Tycon]

Mostly time and distance. I fell off the X-wagon a loooooong time ago.

From a distance, I've seen a lot of the new generation of mutants become darlings and faves, but none of them turn Xavier's on its head... aside from QQ, who should never have been brought back. In all seriousness, the Cuckoos have exhibited the most staying power of all the post Gen X student X-Men.

Sorry for the persistent questions, but what do you consider "staying power"? You mean in the limelight? Cause the New X-Men never really "left". They certainly have more staying power than Gen Hope sans Oya & WatXM. They are still used in storylines, appear in events, and given some time to shine. It isnt as much as fans of the characters would like, but there are some artists and writers who want to tell stories with the New X-Men but can't. Who knows why, probably editorial.

[CRaymond]

Oya’s a great example. Introduced in one book, everyone else fades away, but she persists... at least for a while.

“Staying power” is probably the best phrase for my idea.

I’m old. I’m not familiar with Surge at all. Was hoping you or someone else would tell me what’s unique and worthwhile about her —or any of these new kids. Given how many New Mutants and Gen Xers have died, retired, and sit in Limbo waiting for nostalgia books, I have to wonder... how many of these teenagers will garner nostalgia the way Dani Moonstar has. I’m not intentionally being snarky... there’s a lot of room for haughty jerks like Hellion and sweethearts like Anole, I just don’t see decades-long fandoms being built around thier characters.