...a heavy hand in pointing out Ororo's hopelessness to herself (but, to be fair, she did learn manners from an allegorical Satan).

No matter who's telling the story, be it Claremont or Illyana, Kitty will always be given an opportunity to dramatically monologue, and the girl...

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damn somebody really needed to bonk Claremont and Byrne with the horny stick 😳

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The original allegory of X-Men can be seen to conform to the concept of the “model minority” in abstract ways. Despite being definitive of the franchise, however, Claremont only rarely employed this foundational allegory, instead favouring a more fluid moral imperative. 1/9

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Do you see what this would mean to a kid like me. It portrayed so many of my own silent struggles, but it wasn’t pathologizing or pedantic - it was inspiring and comforting. Thank you Chris Claremont, the GenX nerds who felt this sooo deeply we THANK YOU! PS13☮️

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...can only assume was deliberately written by CC to parallel gay bashing, even more rampant in 1980s America.

The Mutant Metaphor has been purposefully, if not officially, couched in queer politics and with that, the subversive politics of Claremont's Run take on new shape.

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...reflection of her past-future, finally unlocking the memories of her arrival in the present. Alongside the elder Kate Pryde in a moment seemingly after DoFP, the two storm a Sentinel facility to deal with Project Nimrod (!).

One note in Claremont's scripts is future-Kate's...

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In true Claremontian style, Peter’s conflicted understanding of his new family represents a hint of melancholy to contrast Ororo’s sense of contentment. To his credit, Claremont leaves the scene here, not trying to resolve the conflict, but letting it linger instead. 7/8

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...a rare example of one of the early-Run's "meh" issues. There's a lot of the story that happens in Claremont's head and not on page, which can make certain moments–like Wasp's random collapse–feel unearned.

Similarly, we get first mention...

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In this, we get an interesting example of Claremont taking Byrne’s Phoenix retcon (which C opposed) and making a compelling character beat out of it by integrating the consequences of that retcon into Logan’s character development. 5/14

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Callisto has largely thus far proven herself antagonist to the X-Men, but Claremont manages to frame Callisto as an honorable, devoted leader to her people.

The Morlock seems genuinely upset with the news of Ororo's assault, and swears vengeance on those who would bring her...

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...but it leads Rahne to realize that she can rescue Piotr from within Bobby's darkness.

One thing I love about Claremont's time on both titles is that his casts are truly interwoven and unsiloed, giving Piotr (who otherwise doesn't get to do much emotionally in UXM) a chance...

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...to mentor Sam, his carefree but compassionate nature makes himself the perfect choice for our struggling hero.

As deliriously fun as yesterday's Annual was, NM gets out its laughs and turns up the pathos to 110%, Claremont and Sienkiewicz convincingly selling Sam's...

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...written right on the page. Even playfully framed, it's still an uncomfortable moment, even assuming Claremont meant no ill will with its plotting.

Bobby, still sullen after his father's heel turn during the Nova Roma Saga, talks out his angst with Sam, their relationship...

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It’s a dynamic narrative strategy, employed years before it was made famous in “The Empire Strikes Back,” and one that Claremont goes to quite often, presumably because it works. 5/5

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We see this approach in key characters such as Cyclops/Havok, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Rachel, Legion, and Rogue. In all instances Claremont uses the reader’s sense of family separation to generate both character sympathy and intense narrative anticipation. 2/5

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...and the government's attack. Claremont is juggling a lot of plates right now but as quickly as this arc of the books has taken a turn toward the mystical, the threat of mutantkind's full persecution looms not far off in the distance.

Rather than her trauma, Rachel is best...

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The psychic backlash as Rachel learns of her mother's death–she just heard her voice on the phone after all (good accidental retcon seed Claremont!)–knocks all the assembled X-Men to the floor, and it is no longer deniable that Rachel has returned to the "wrong" past.

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During a standard Claremontian intermission, ship captain and Cyclops-grief-fling Aleytys "Lee" Forrester saves Magneto from a shark.

That's it. That's the tweet.

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...Illyana arrives on scene, finally revealing herself before the team as the mutant-sorceress we've come to love and fear.

The strength of Claremont's pen on both books (and later, his collaboration with Weezie) means that his characters' arcs aren't interrupted across books...

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The X-Men cinematic trilogy had a number of ups and downs but in the eyes of scholar Desmond White the adaptation of Cyclops was definitely a down where the character elements Claremont & others had built up in Cyclops failed to come across on the big screen: 1/3

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