It's Not Easy Being Blue: Nightcrawler Appreciation

[IndigoLady8]

Used to love ulysse 31, great cartoon, brilliant sounstack, and the visuals were very creative, Thais and Numaios had great design, loved the little flotting sphere glowing when they used their mental powers....

Never saw Ulysse 31, but it sounds cool. There does seem to be something about blue skin, not to mention the record breaking box office Avatar with their blue-skinned Navi, or the Andoreans of Star Trek. I think green doesn't go over as well partly because that color traditionally has been used in comics to suggest someone was sick to their stomach lol.

[M.Hammerman]

I'm just visualizing that fabulous issue and my heart goes mad. Claremont/Romita, you made such a great sensitive works...! I like so much that scene that I included it two times in my YouTube NC Tribute (its frame with stoned Kurt and its cover).

I definitely remember the first time I read that issue. That particular scene with Kurt and the mob really affected me. Not so much because of Kitty's speech (which I find a bit heavy-handed, though obviously well-meaning), but because of Kurt's reaction to the whole situation. Compared to the mob scene at the beginning of Giant Size #1, he's just so despondent. Like, he doesn't fight back, and even seems surprised when Peter et al show up to rescue him. And then the way he keeps his head down during Kitty's speech, like there's really nothing anyone can do to fix it... It's just so, so sad :( In a good way, though--I do like big, genuine emotion and tragedy in my X-Men. I feel like Kurt's sadness was just a nice dose of reality--sort of like acknowledging that while a rousing speech might have been enough at one time to make everyone feel better, things had become more complicated by this point.

[March Hare]

I definitely remember the first time I read that issue. That particular scene with Kurt and the mob really affected me. Not so much because of Kitty's speech (which I find a bit heavy-handed, though obviously well-meaning), but because of Kurt's reaction to the whole situation. Compared to the mob scene at the beginning of Giant Size #1, he's just so despondent. Like, he doesn't fight back, and even seems surprised when Peter et al show up to rescue him. And then the way he keeps his head down during Kitty's speech, like there's really nothing anyone can do to fix it... It's just so, so sad :( In a good way, though--I do like big, genuine emotion and tragedy in my X-Men. I feel like Kurt's sadness was just a nice dose of reality--sort of like acknowledging that while a rousing speech might have been enough at one time to make everyone feel better, things had become more complicated by this point.

Yeah, exactly!!! You put in words my precise feelings of sadness and despair while reading these pages. It was Kurt's attitude (showed in a splendid way by Romita's drawings, as you said), between resignation and above all pain for mob's aggressiveness, what crushed my heart. The injustice of the situation terrified me.

If we two understood the same facts out of this tale, that means it was well-done, doesn't it? I think Claremont/Romita run is full of great deep moments like that (Kitty & Piotr breakup, Rogue's insanity, Rachel's (no) phone conversation with Scott...). And the cover of that issue is my fav of all UXM.

BTW, bravo Piotr! He was always ready to fight till the end for his friend Kurt, sometimes with more energy that his supposed best buddy Logan.

[DevilishRogue]

I agree with you so much Marg and March Hare. Those were beautiful and heart-wrenching pages. As pointed out, it seems all the passion to fight was gone from his introduction. Its like he's just resigned that this is how things will be for him. It might of had something to do with the Beyonder too.

Yeah, exactly!!! You put in words my precise feelings of sadness and despair while reading these pages. It was Kurt's attitude (showed in a splendid way by Romita's drawings, as you said), between resignation and above all pain for mob's aggressiveness, what crushed my heart. The injustice of the situation terrified me.

If we two understood the same facts out of this tale, that means it was well-done, doesn't it? I think Claremont/Romita run is full of great deep moments like that (Kitty & Piotr breakup, Rogue's insanity, Rachel's (no) phone conversation with Scott...). And the cover of that issue is my fav of all UXM.

BTW, bravo Piotr! He was always ready to fight till the end for his friend Kurt, sometimes with more energy that his supposed best buddy Logan.

What, Logan attacking threats to Kurt with his claws isn't enough for you?

But, yeah, Logan actually moves on kinda quick when people are gone. I mean, it was Kitty here who was obsessed on finding Kurt while Logan was off somewhere. It isnt the first or last time. And not just Kurt but other characters as well (Re: Kitty, Piotr cough). Even Gillen thinks this is a weakness in Piotr. I really get sick of that. Its kinda like oh Kurt and Piotr are gentle and kind so of course they are gonna be that way. But Logan is a nasty blood thirsty killer so when he does something descent well its really deep, or Cyclops. Why all the X-Men should just be grateful that Logan sticks around and cares at all. Well, that's Marvel seem to think currently. Characters like Kurt and Piotr are taken for granted and unless they are acting the bloodthirsty hero 24/7 they will get no recognition for their caring traits. It will be seen as wimpy.

Logan is more in the moment and gets pretty stabby over Kurt though. But later... bah, he doesn't even consider those "interdimensional gremlins" (*shudders* those are mini Kurt Wagners there!) may have something to do with the real Kurt. Logan is pretty thick-headed but I'm surprised Kitty hasn't thought of it.

[DevilishRogue]

What I always found annoying (and slightly humorous) was how much Kurt gets beat up in this, even by Graydon Creed a friggin human vs a seasoned powered Hero who just fought off a hoard of mutates pretty recently. (X-offices: bah!) I guess they wanted to up Graydons status as relevant villain and as usual Kurt gets the brunt of it. I love how over the top Mystique is. The cross hatching was very popular then but it kind of makes Kurt look real old. Most of the issue is Kurt getting beat up and Rogue reliving her Davey Crocket days. Not much discussion between Raven and Kurt. I wonder what we would have gotten without editorial interference.

[March Hare]

Logan is more in the moment and gets pretty stabby over Kurt though. But later... bah, he doesn't even consider those "interdimensional gremlins" (*shudders* those are mini Kurt Wagners there!) may have something to do with the real Kurt. Logan is pretty thick-headed but I'm surprised Kitty hasn't thought of it.

Me too, actually. I can't understand why they don't even mention it. In the early issues I believed they didn't dare to because of their deep pain, but I do believed that sooner or later he or she would explode kinda: "Goddamn, I can't stand anymore see Kurt's face surrounding me everyday and everywhere!". Nevertheless...nothing at all .

[March Hare]

[..] a friggin human [..]

I didn't know that term. I like it !

[Sundowhn]

Me too, actually. I can't understand why they don't even mention it. In the early issues I believed they didn't dare to because of their deep pain, but I do believed that sooner or later he or she would explode kinda: "Goddamn, I can't stand anymore see Kurt's face surrounding me everyday and everywhere!". Nevertheless...nothing at all .

Yeah, that's completely weird to me -- like the old saying of not talking about the elephant in the room. Okay, yeah, maybe Kitty, as well as the others, sees a correlation in them and the little bamfs from her story that time. However, Kitty is considered a genius, surely she might note some of the more obvious differences? The "arcane" markings, the fact that they don't really speak much English (unlike the originals, who were chatterboxes), the fact that they're naked (yet the other bamfs wore clothes and claimed to come from a type of semi-organized society/culture, just minus females).

Loving these scans, guys. I remember the first time I read that one with the mob, so many years ago -- it got to me in a big way. To me, it was made stronger by the fact that he was in civilian clothes and just seemed to be trying to live his life, not hiding behind the uniform or symbolism of the X-Men.

[Bamf Girl]

Yeah, that's completely weird to me -- like the old saying of not talking about the elephant in the room. Okay, yeah, maybe Kitty, as well as the others, sees a correlation in them and the little bamfs from her story that time. However, Kitty is considered a genius, surely she might note some of the more obvious differences? The "arcane" markings, the fact that they don't really speak much English (unlike the originals, who were chatterboxes), the fact that they're naked (yet the other bamfs wore clothes and claimed to come from a type of semi-organized society/culture, just minus females).

Aww, poor female Bamfs. Everyone always forgets abot them.



But yeah, I agree, it's obvious that the WatXM "Bamfs" aren't the original Bamfs. I hope their origins get explored more soon. But I'll be bummed if there's no connection to Kurt.

[Blue_Collar_Nerd]

I guess I just have the sense that his faith in his physical capabilities is something he really depends on to deal with the rest of it, so to not have that might be more than he could take.

In fact -apart from X-Men Forever- that situation was sized up many years ago in Uncanny X-Men. I can't tell you which issues were from (awfully drawn, in any case :P ), 'cause I only read them once, but all mutants had temporarily lost their powers. Some X-Men left Xavier School, as Colossus, who spent happily his time in painting, but Kurt didn't dare to and he tried harshly at gym to reach his high old physical level without help from his tail, prehensil feet, etc. He moaned about his disability of keeping upright and walking straight. Piotr was worried about him, 'cause in spite of his supposed maturity Kurt seemed to be blocked, upset and hooked on action.

Nightcrawler has struck me as being a action junkie, as well as being extremely competitive at athletic events given how he would always try to jump back on the wagon after being injured or loosing his powers. It would be amusing to have Kurt become the gymnastics coach for the JG School and to see the mild-mannered elf starts turning into Sue Sylvester and has team members present their lunches for inspection.

"Good. Next."
"Good. Next."
"Put the dinner roll back, you're over you carb count. Next."
"Good. Next."
"Wa - Was ist dist?! FRIED CHICKEN?!!"
"Uhmm... You said some chicken was good because of the protein...?"
"Jah. Grilled, baked, NOT FRIED!!" [Slaps tray out of students hands]

Logan is more in the moment and gets pretty stabby over Kurt though. But later... bah, he doesn't even consider those "interdimensional gremlins" (*shudders* those are mini Kurt Wagners there!) may have something to do with the real Kurt. Logan is pretty thick-headed but I'm surprised Kitty hasn't thought of it.

Me too, actually. I can't understand why they don't even mention it. In the early issues I believed they didn't dare to because of their deep pain, but I do believed that sooner or later he or she would explode kinda: "Goddamn, I can't stand anymore see Kurt's face surrounding me everyday and everywhere!". Nevertheless...nothing at all .

I would guess that Kitty, like Husk, has a lot of issues right now. She not only has to contend with helping Dr. McCoy run the school and her surrogate father-figure running a death squad, she has in the past shown to have difficulty dealing with the loss of loved ones. Sometimes they come back only to lose them again. Her father, Doug Ramsey, Colossus, Jean, and so many others. Now she's lost Kurt, and at a time when she was still unable to physically express and share her grief with other the way a person normally would. Also, because she was stuck in that stupid fish bowl, she probably feeling guilty for not being there for Kurt when he had Bastions arm fused into his chest the same way Kurt regretted not being there for Kitty when she got Jossed in Space.

However, given Kitty's past experiences with bamfs and the way these "inter-dimensional gremlins" have been so protective of her, I'm hoping that there's a connection.

Personally, I hope the little critters sabotage her date with Bobby.

[March Hare]

Personally, I hope the little critters sabotage her date with Bobby.

Let Father Odin hear your prayer! Bobby has been always a total ass to me. I can allow his presence in contrast to the others (there must be some jerks among "good ones" to provide credibility: e.g., Sunspot, Dazzler, Havok...), but I couldn't stand a crush between Kitty and him as in Ultimate. No way !

[DevilishRogue]

Yikes, lol.

Guys, guys, am I the only NC fan here that doesn't hate Bobby suddenly? I like him and think he has potential but he has suffered from writers hands but when under a good one, Simonson, Lobdell and Carey, he can be great. I liked his interactions with Kurt under Casey. I don't know what the whole Kitty/Bobby thing has to do with Kurt, unless its because you want Kitty with Kurt. But saying he's useless... well some think NC is useless... when characters just suffer from poor writing. I think Bobby has a right to shine as much as any other character. And that funeral was obviously a trolling issue. So I wont fault Ice Man there. Seriously, not all characters can be dashing like Kurt. I like Bobby for his normalness. He'd be like someone you know. He has no big epic background... he just comes from a complicated yet normal home life with some father issues. He's grown since those Thunderbird days (Defenders, Lobdell ect. cough) but some writers keep wanting to drag him back (Austen, Fraction cough).

Damnit, I'm gonna have to post some Kurt/Bobby scans soon. You can all stone me if you like.

[Sundowhn]

I actually don't hate Bobby, I just find him to be an unremarkable character -- then again, that's true of many Marvel characters these days. I'm not against the Bobby/Kitty pairing, but again, it's an unremarkable one. Not every comic book pairing has to be full of drama and angst, though, so I say go for it.

I know Kitty carried around that childhood estimation of Piotr for a long time and it seems that is finally out of her system. Other than that, she's dated Pete Wisdom (whom I liked) and crushed on Alstair Stuart (whom I found dull). I'm willing to see what happens with Bobby.

I don't recall his various partners -- the only one that stands out is Mystique.

[Sundowhn]

It would be amusing to have Kurt become the gymnastics coach for the JG School and to see the mild-mannered elf starts turning into Sue Sylvester and has team members present their lunches for inspection.

"Good. Next."
"Good. Next."
"Put the dinner roll back, you're over you carb count. Next."
"Good. Next."
"Wa - Was ist dist?! FRIED CHICKEN?!!"
"Uhmm... You said some chicken was good because of the protein...?"
"Jah. Grilled, baked, NOT FRIED!!" [Slaps tray out of students hands]

Haha! I can so see that happening!

[DevilishRogue]

Fair enough, many characters have been dull and Bobby must seem that way in comparison with his background which is obsenely normal much like Kitty's. I don't think this is meant to be a long term thing anyway. Nothing lasts forever in the MU. But while it does I will try to enjoy it for what it is. My only problem is how Aaron portrays female characters. But will they meet the Bamfs approval?

I didn't know that term. I like it !

Yeah, its pretty much an alternative for curse words.