Back to Zero

Perhaps the one thing that pisses us off about comic books is the whole 'back to zero' thing, and the most recent example is the 'fall of Krakoa' arc.

Don't get us wrong - we hated it.  But it was good for the comics, and we acknowledged that. It was done too quickly, it was 'too perfect' at the start, but it was different, and where it was going was something we actually became interested in.

That they crash and burned it after only a few years is a travesty.  Of course, this being comics, the people behind Marvel would want things to 'reset back to zero' - because, you know, there's no way they'd ever make anything with lasting impact.

But with Krakoa, this is especially criminal, and here's why:  It would allow them to tell a story that would actually be at the very heart of the X-Men and what they stand for.

"What if people of colour, minorities, and the LGBT+ community was given actual power and legitimacy, and how would people who despise them react to that?"  To some extent, they touched on that, but then decided to have the whole thing torn down, rather than looking at what might happen if they were able to hold onto that power.

The X-Men are supposed to represent marginalized groups. Krakoa was an excellent way for the comics to represent a society rising up that embraced those groups, a refuge, a place where they are accepted for who and what they are. Something that, right now, marginalized groups really need to see.  The vitriol coming out in certain places against minorities and the LGBT community is pretty vicious right now, and the comics could have provided a haven here.

And Marvel could have used this as a lens to look at these hate groups, and just how much they'd tie themselves into knots at the very idea of mutants having any degree of legitimacy. Which is then a lens upon which we can look at how certain groups of society would freak out at the idea of marginalized folk being given actual, equal footing with everyone else.

A world where these 'bathroom bills' and book censorship was struck down hard.  Where system racism in the system is stripped away, exposing the people who benefit most from it. It could look, then, at how the people who benefited from this would have to react and respond as they were forced into the role of the minority. What would they do?  How would they react? How would this impact the society around them?

Now, do this without these assholes actually succeeding. Because having them actually succeed is telling the people who see themselves in the X-Men 'no matter what you do, you'll always be the victim'.

And what kind of fucking message is that?