Nightcrawler Appreciation

[Indigo_Lady]

I'm curious about how Nightcrawler fans feel about Kurt's progression from being a hunched over, truly demonic looking 'freakish' mutant to becoming the identifiable sexy swashbuckler and/or super cute nice guy he's portrayed as now.

This is something I've been avoiding addressing with myself and with the X-books in general. It's not exactly a comfortable topic to speak about.

It's just that, well, I've certainly been guilty of objectifying the image of Kurt and the other X-Men without acknowledging how idealized they all are. The bad guys are allowed to be ugly. The easily dropped plot device characters are also allowed to look less than perfect. So what happened to Nightcrawler over the years? Why?

And is it good or bad?

Is his physical beauty different than the original sketches by Cockrum because his interior personality is so different than the one that was intended?
This is my first rationalized thought and a comfort. But I'm not sure it's entirely true.
I like to think it so I have to question it. I relate to Kurt as an outsider. But maybe such a romanticized version of the outsider is potentially false and impossible and consequently...

Well, like I said...this is a tough one to speak about.

Any thoughts?

Interesting topic, and I too have to think about it. I've seen a discussion like this years ago on Nightscrawlers forum and I can tell you that opinion often seemed to go with whether or not the person posting the opinion was male or female. I tend to lean towards liking Kurt as a sexy swashbuckler, and Cockrum often drew him as such rather than quite so animalistic although he still had the crouch (First Nightcrawler solo for example.)

Anyone notice something crucial that's missing from the bottom picture?



I haven't bought any books since my initial disappointment with Gold. I'll have to check out Red. I hope Kurt gets some major panel time and development. It's looooong overdue.

[yogaflame]

Anyone notice something crucial that's missing from the bottom picture?

No/subdued fangs?

[sungila]

oh my, there's something special about this guy...something strong and revelatory about his style, hmmm, something or somebody...a once ago as yet to be but still and anyway...but could Kurt wear those boots? Or is it more a matter of would he than could he? If I don't talk about it I see it more clearly. Everything can be said just from his 'gaze and body' signature...

HERE is OVER THERE.


tumblr_o3uwrxqvZT1ri6fb8o1_1280.jpg

by Ethan Aldridge

https://ethanaldridge.weebly.com

[darewithpeace]

he was nice on x men red

[Aben]

CBR Community Voting: TOP 10 MARVEL CHARACTERS

http://community.comicbookresources....VEL-CHARACTERS

[sungila]

I love this!

Here's Nightcrawler (as created by Cockrum) auditioning for his debut with The Outsiders (part DC's Legion of Super-Heroes).

Attachment 62710

It's interesting that, even as a character concept, Nightcrawler is oh-so willing to 'act' the part, to take the role, to be on board, to join the team - to go go go! Part method actor, part solo trapeze artist reaching for a hand...it's as if I can almost see Nightcrawler having pledged his entire being to this very role in DC's comic as THE perfect fit for him, THE NIGHTCRAWLER! BUT before the show starts, he hears about this other book, this X-Men relaunch and he reflects for a moment, drops his script right there and BAMF...he's there at MARVEL pledging his entire being etc...

Lol

Regardless, I want this t-shirt and I would really like to read this unwritten series. Somehow it's as though the limits of whatever was being offered in this Outsiders role (despite the intergalactic promise) were too limiting...that posture, that whole animalistic pet role, that boy wonder / Faustian Wagner bit...it somehow haunts his character to this day and through the ages...that part he got and never acted...but never never quite escaped.

Kurt Wagner would have been Johnny Cade in the Outsiders but somehow it's his Pony Boy (first person perspective) emerged through the early ANAD and perhaps it's that purposeful spirit of being that is his greatest gift to the X-Men. A genuine Outsider, on the inside...a heart-on-sleeve-in-the-chest.

[sungila]

What happened to Kurt's BAMFS?

I understand that 'Pickles' was in the Jean Grey solo book as a 'pet' transporter, but I am not able to find anything else about the rest of the little minions. Did they just stop appearing without any explanation or given reason?

The thing about the BAMFS is that while they were beginning to become a distraction and even detrimental to Claremont's solo book - it's frustrating that they'd just be dropped without cause or any attempt at settling up their soul-pact with Kurt. They are each an incarnation of his soul. That's they way Aaron made it. And Aaron is perhaps the greatest (bravest) of all the Nightcrawler writers post-Draco to actually create something appropriate, useful and at least not more damaging from the horribleness of all that Chuck Austen thought was so cool (and was so wrong). Oh how I wish he would have left Kurt out of his creepy crappy mess of grossness.

Anyway, what happened to them?

I remember when they first started showing up in Wolverine and the X-Men as harbingers of surely something spectacular was in store. Then in the battle for Heaven against Azrael & his demon-horde of blood-bonded red BAMFS, Kurt's crew of maggot born alter-egos were not only cute, but brave, selfless and already showing signs of independent personalities that mirrored Kurt's goodness, courage and swashbuckling charm.

It's actually frustrating that so much JUST HAPPENS to Kurt without anything actually happening in the books or storyline.
I like X-Men RED #1 but that bit where Jean just telepathically recruits Kurt is annoying. Yes, yes move the plot along I suppose but the end result is another slight to Kurt's depth of character and singularity as established from his first appearance peaking in early Excalibur and expressed to varying degrees off and on again over the ages.

Am I missing something?

If the BAMFS have just disappeared without any reason does that bother anybody else?
Does keeping Pickles around as a pet Nightcrawler bother anybody else?

DID YOU KNOW:
The word BAMF is defined in the dictionary? It says it's a noun derived from North American vulgar slang.
BAMF: a very tough or formidable person

[Sundowhn]

BAMF is a slang acronym for "bad a*s mother f**ker" (Sorry, trying to keep it forum appropriate with the asteriks)

Yeah, the thing with the bamfs bugs me, as well. It's another dropped plot point. The last time I can remember them actually being used was in an issue of Deadpool and Spiderman, that guest starred Nightcrawler. (The bamfs performed surgery on Wade. Duck tape was involved. It was amusing.)

I agree that they were a pivotal part of the soul plotline, and should be addressed. I don't want to be overwhelmed with them, or anything, like with the solo, but they do need to show up from time to time.

I found Pickles cute, but typical, in that other writers have shuttled Kurt into pet or subhuman status. (The limbo version of Kurt with Illyana is a good example. Amanda/Margali had a pet version of him, as well, in a story arc.

[Angrel-San]

Kurt deserves more appreciation.

He has been good in Gold and amazing in Red.

[cc008]

He really shined in Red #2

[Havok83]

He really shined in Red #2

Red is the best Kurt I’ve read in years

[cc008]

Red is the best Kurt I’ve read in years

I agree. It's very refreshing.

[Sundowhn]

Red is the best Kurt I’ve read in years

Yep, definitely

[sungila]

BAMF is a slang acronym for "bad a*s mother f**ker" (Sorry, trying to keep it forum appropriate with the asteriks)

Yeah, the thing with the bamfs bugs me, as well. It's another dropped plot point. The last time I can remember them actually being used was in an issue of Deadpool and Spiderman, that guest starred Nightcrawler. (The bamfs performed surgery on Wade. Duck tape was involved. It was amusing.)

I agree that they were a pivotal part of the soul plotline, and should be addressed. I don't want to be overwhelmed with them, or anything, like with the solo, but they do need to show up from time to time.

I found Pickles cute, but typical, in that other writers have shuttled Kurt into pet or subhuman status. (The limbo version of Kurt with Illyana is a good example. Amanda/Margali had a pet version of him, as well, in a story arc.

Thank you Sundowhn. Honestly I'm happy the BAMFs aren't cluttering up Kurt's already cramped panel time/space or defining him as this sort of generative sidekick. Still, it is another dropped plot line that is sustained in some ways I suppose by Pickles and the 05 who represent in general - this, possibility of maybe bringing their whole reason for being to a meaningful end.

He really shined in Red #2

Red is the best Kurt I’ve read in years

Yea, Red has been great so far. There was even one panel in Wakanda where Kurt is shown in the background upside down hanging from a tree just before giving Jean that beautiful Icarus consul and soul hug about the things beyond the control of ideals...yea, this is Kurt. It's great to see and feel in the way-too-big scope of this book Kurt as a means for attention to detail and connection to the immediate characters of the plot's body. Nightcrawler: the immortal ever-fallen soulless soul of the X-Men. Kurt's being Kurt and it's great.

As always though I wonder how long can to last. Will Tom Taylor and Mahmud A. Asrar be able to work as team long enough and with enough security to expand and take risks with their ongoing? Will we have a chance for pacing and multiple plot lines? Will we have a full palate of emotions, feels, beats and possibilities? It's been a long time. So for me, it's best to enjoy the arc and hope as each arc is realized maybe each arc will be afforded more room and less need to be point to point and commercially bound.


It's one thing to be nostalgic or anti-nostalgic but it's an altogether more rewarding thing to be invested in the spirit of what was in order to corporate a motion through this arc of becoming. The cycle of the Phoenix is not the same thing as the more linear and far reaching curve of resurrection. Combining these two narrative elements is awesome.

Yet, this minor annyoance, his eyes should be yellow not white.

[RLAAMJR.]

CBR Community Voting: TOP 10 MARVEL CHARACTERS

http://community.comicbookresources....VEL-CHARACTERS

Kurt fans, please vote!