So I've been catching up on Mike Carey's X-Men: Legacy this week ("Sins of the Father" in trade paperback, the "Original Sin" crossover with Wolverine: Origins in hardcover), and just learned that there is now a female clone of X-Men arch-foe Mr. Sinister running around the universe called, wait for it, Miss Sinister.
Really, Marvel? Really?
She boasts Mr. Sinister's trademark pasty complexion/red forehead diamond, but displays none of his mystique (no pun intended) or scientific prowess. Where Mr. Sinister was a grand manipulator, playing a mad game of destiny dominoes to suit some vaguely Darwinist agenda - a cloning here, a misfit massacre over there - his feminine successor seems so far to be little more than a third-rate telepath in thrall to the Hellfire Club's Sebastian Shaw.
Of course, she's hardly unique; these trans-gendered villains are popping up all over the place. Spider-Man has recently been targeted by a new Kraven the Hunter, who happens to be the 12-year-old daughter of the original. Another old X-Men villain, the illusionist Mastermind, has two daughters running around, both having inherited his powers and squabbling over his name. Daredevil is sparring with a Lady Bullseye, and Thor's trickster-god brother Loki has actually become a woman himself.
Some of these characters feature in some very well-told stories. But looking at the trend on the whole, I can't help but wonder what message Marvel thinks it's sending by replacing a bunch of aging male villains with female proxies. Do they think this is fine feminism, to show sisters doing it for themselves just like the boys did it before them, with the boys' borrowed identities? If Marvel has a Femme Fatale quota to fill, wouldn't they get more points by creating some villainesses that are actually unique, with their own abilities and backstories? Or do they think the fans won't get excited about a new villian if she doesn't have some familiar hook, a connection to what's gone before?
Tell me your thoughts. I'd love to know what others are making of all this. In the meantime, I'll be over here trying to guess who Marvel will boobify next. Victoria Von Doom? The Queenpin? Magneta*?
- JC
*In fanfic she would be called Magenta and she would spend all her time hanging with her BFF Rouge.
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