The X-men have been a staple of Marvel Comics since 1963, movies and TV shows have spawned from this series but why is it so popular? X-men have always represented a group or people who are being discriminated against. Gays, minorities, religions, and many others are able to relate to the X-men and the struggles they face. In the 1982 comic called God Loves, Man Kills written by Chris Claremont, it dives into social problems specifically the issue of religion vs. homosexuality.

This comic showed the ugly side of media and religion and how it portrays certain groups. Media amplifies the voice of negative comments from religious leaders even when those comments don’t represent the religion.

Reverend William Striker is the antagonist in the comic and he condemns mutants calling them abominations in the eyes of God. The people are eating it up and hating mutants. Nightcrawler is a member of the X-men and a catholic as well so he is deeply hurt by these words. He confronts the reverend and tells him how God teaches love and not hate, how God loves everyone no matter what and how everyone should love their neighbor. The people snap out of it and realize Nightcrawler is right and they stop the reverend. This comic teaches a lesson that we shouldn’t always listen to one mans opinion. Just because someone is a little different we should not treat them like some animal and take away basic rights.

There are many comics out there like this sending a message about basic humanity. Watchmen a comic by Alan Moore is on Time Magazines top 100 novels of all time and it shows the faults in humanity, these comics have such great writing that rival actual novels. It’s not always about over the top action and goofiness they also have this deep side that shows how to be a better person as a whole. Comics go beyond their fake world and parallel what happens in our world sending a message of what we do wrong.