New Mutants 8 preview

[Technopriest]

I've always wondered why no one seemed to care at Marvel or the media or thought there was anything wrong with a 13-14 year old kitty having a serious relationship with the 24-year old Piotr. For a long time I just assumed he was a teenager too, just a couple of years older, but then I reread an old X-men comic book that stated his age as 24 when he and Kitty became an item. I can't remember the exact issue, but I think it was around the time she met first met Lockheed. It should be considered a big black mark in Claremont's otherwise stellar storytelling run on the X-men, New Mutants.

Yeah, no, he was not in his 20s when he dated Kitty, he was 18-19 years old. I don't know what comic you are referring to but you are definitely remembering that wrong.

[BroHomo]

Yeah, no, he was not in his 20s when he dated Kitty, he was 18-19 years old. I don't know what comic you are referring to but you are definitely remembering that wrong.

I meeean it's still Creepy AF

[Technopriest]

I meeean it's still Creepy AF

As much as I like Colossus that relationship never sat well with me, and I just wish they would let it stay in the past where it belongs, but at least let's get the facts straight about his age. Now, Doug and Betsy was actually that much of an age gap (or probably larger even).

[Anduinel]

As much as I like Colossus that relationship never sat well with me, and I just wish they would let it stay in the past where it belongs, but at least let's get the facts straight about his age. Now, Doug and Betsy was actually that much of an age gap (or probably larger even).

Yeah. Doug was Kitty's age, and Betsy was, I think, supposed to be around 30 back then. I think the reason that particular bit of WTF doesn't get as much attention (aside from cultural double standards) is because, while the fact that it was a mutual crush was still creepy, it was acknowledged (by Betsy) as inappropriate and they never dated or had anything like a romance. But still.

[Technopriest]

Yeah. Doug was Kitty's age, and Betsy was, I think, supposed to be around 30 back then. I think the reason that particular bit of WTF doesn't get as much attention (aside from cultural double standards) is because, while the fact that it was a mutual crush was still creepy, it was acknowledged (by Betsy) as inappropriate and they never dated or had anything like a romance. But still.

With Colossus the problem was always that he was supposed to be a teenager during the 80s (there is a reason he was referred to as 'little brother' by Storm), but people always assume that he was older because of how massive he was always drawn, and it kind of colored his portrayal later on in the books (same problem with Rogue, she was also supposed to be a teenager but the white streaks on her hair confused other writers/artist and they portrayed her as older). Betsy was actually more problematic because she was supposed to be a grown woman, who had no business having a crush on a 14 year old Doug.

[tuck frump]

Colossus was 18 when he joined the team, 20 when he was dating Kitty. Major creep.

[tuck frump]

There don't need to be sex involved for a relationship to be unhealthy or have an imbalance of power. Proofs in the pudding. Kitty was so blinded by her emotions for her 1st love, she almost died trying to save him and later agreed to marry Caliban and be a Morlock for the rest of her life. Meanwhile he had no qualms dumping her ass for extraterrestrial pussy when he got tired of playing high school sweethearts. Regardless of his initial intentions CC did a great job of showing the flaws of such a relation and the issue in which they break up is one of the best if not the best written XMen issue ever.

[Anduinel]

With Colossus the problem was always that he was supposed to be a teenager during the 80s (there is a reason he was referred to as 'little brother' by Storm), but people always assume that he was older because of how massive he was always drawn, and it kind of colored his portrayal later on in the books (same problem with Rogue, she was also supposed to be a teenager but the white streaks on her hair confused other writers/artist and they portrayed her as older). Betsy was actually more problematic because she was supposed to be a grown woman, who had no business having a crush on a 14 year old Doug.

Eh. Nineteen may be technically a teenager, but it's still considered adulthood by just about every measure. At best, going the "more problematic" route means we end up trying to quantify if it's creepier for an adult to be crushing on someone underage without acting on it, or for a younger adult to be actively romancing someone underage. I rather prefer to leave it at "this was a pair of bad decisions by Claremont that should have been nixed earlier than they were and shouldn't be revisited".

Regardless of his initial intentions CC did a great job of showing the flaws of such a relation and the issue in which they break up is one of the best if not the best written XMen issue ever

That was a great issue; the follow-up in Murderworld was pretty good too. And I think if it had been left there, with the hurt they inflicted on each other as lessons learned and a basis for friendship down the line, the relationship itself wouldn't be such a sticking point. But the romantic aspect of it keeps getting revisited and sugar-coated, then cut off again, until it just looks like an unhealthy cycle for both characters, and the underage romance bit keeps getting brought up as part of that.

[tuck frump]

Like with so many other things in life I blame Josh Whedon.

[Vegan Daddy]

Peter was redeemed when he sacrificed himself to cure mutant aids.

[tuck frump]

He shoulda stayed dead. Colossus is a great footsoldier, he talks the talk and walks the walk. He's just not a leader or anything but outside of his relation with Kate, he's a great XMan unlike Beast or Havok or whatever.

[Technopriest]

He shoulda stayed dead. Colossus is a great footsoldier, he talks the talk and walks the walk. He's just not a leader or anything but outside of his relation with Kate, he's a great XMan unlike Beast or Havok or whatever.

Wouldn't have really mattered at the end, since he would have been brought back in the current Krakoa storyline.

[Technopriest]

Eh. Nineteen may be technically a teenager, but it's still considered adulthood by just about every measure. At best, going the "more problematic" route means we end up trying to quantify if it's creepier for an adult to be crushing on someone underage without acting on it, or for a younger adult to be actively romancing someone underage. I rather prefer to leave it at "this was a pair of bad decisions by Claremont that should have been nixed earlier than they were and shouldn't be revisited".



That was a great issue; the follow-up in Murderworld was pretty good too. And I think if it had been left there, with the hurt they inflicted on each other as lessons learned and a basis for friendship down the line, the relationship itself wouldn't be such a sticking point. But the romantic aspect of it keeps getting revisited and sugar-coated, then cut off again, until it just looks like an unhealthy cycle for both characters, and the underage romance bit keeps getting brought up as part of that.

I never said it wasn't problematic, just that for the reasons I stated some people (and following writers) always assume he was supposed to be older during those years than he actually was.

[Technopriest]

Colossus was 18 when he joined the team, 20 when he was dating Kitty. Major creep.

No, he wasn't. Nightcrawler is supposed to be about 2 to 3 years older than him, and he turned 21 in Uncanny X-men #4, which was published in 1980 I believe. The sliding time scale at Marvel really makes it hard to be able to calculate their exact ages correctly.

[Technopriest]

Trying not to derail this thread any more anyways, but for some reason I feel some of the New Mutants and Gen Xers have been deaged in the current run. Is even more apparent when Cannonball joined them finally, as he seems to be the only one (besides maybe Sunspot) that is being written as an adult.