I Didn’t Like this Weeks All New X-Men. You May Be Surprised Why.

I love X-Men; always have, probably always will. I had a six-foot long poster of the four X-Men covers Jim Lee drew taking up an entire wall in my bedroom from elementary school all the way through college. I am also a huge fan of Brian Michael Bendis’s work. If I can get my hands on it, I will read it. This includes his run on All New X-Men. The story was a brilliant twist on the tried and true time travel tales we have seen so many times before in the X books. So, what is my problem?

JEAN GREY!!!!!!!!!

I have never been a huge fan of Jean Grey. She has always seemed a bit weak as a character to me. Her relationship with Cyclops became tiresome at best. Cyclops’s story got considerably better once he became involved with Emma Frost. Jean always seemed to hold him back, while Emma brought out the true leader in him. I could go on for days about why Emma is a better companion for Scott but this post isn’t about that.

If you haven’t read this weeks All New X-Men or don’t know the twist already, now is the time to turn away. ��

��This most recent issue put the final nail in the why I don’t like Jean Grey coffin. There was absolutely, positively, no reason why she should have ever told Bobby “Iceman” Drake that he is gay. My problem is not about Bobby being gay. It is about Jean and the irresponsible and frankly intrusive way in which she used her powers.

So, Bobby is gay. Excellent! He is a great character, with an awesome power set and a fantastic personality. If Bobby Drake were a real person, I would try my damnedest to make him my friend, because Bobby is the shit.

Jean, on the other hand, had no right to do what she did. I understand that sometimes she has a hard time not hearing people’s thoughts. I get that human behavior can be confusing, but for her to turn to Bobby and simply declare, “Bobby…you’re gay.” was unfair to Iceman.

Human sexuality is a complex thing, and each person should be allowed to come to his or her own conclusions, about his or her personal sexual orientation, in his or her own time. That’s right, Jean crossed a very personal line and then proceeded to play it off like it was no big deal. She made Bobby’s struggle to come to terms with who he is all about her. Her reasoning for telling him about what she found while digging around in his head was that she didn’t understand why he said to Illyana, “You’re hot.” Perhaps she felt that she needed to come to Illyana’s aid, in which case pointing out to Bobby that he was being rude should have been her tack. Did she do that? No, she just decided to tell Bobby that he was gay. Not cool, Jean.

Jean doesn’t really know what Bobby’s personal feelings are. She doesn’t seem to care that he hasn’t come to this conclusion yet, and therefore there may be some reason why. If she were actually the good friend she claims to be, she would have supported him in his personal journey as he came to this conclusion himself. He was never given the opportunity to develop his own concept of what his sexual identity was, because she just pulled him out of the closet.

In my life, I have encountered a plethora of people I could swear are of any multitude of sexual orientations who were not a) aware or b)accepting their own orientations. The fact that I have assessed it for myself should have no bearing on their journey. Hell, I could even be wrong in my assessment. It happens all the time.

I myself have been inaccurately labeled. I had a girl at a party ask me if I was gay though I had only met her a couple of times before. I gave her an answer which was,”No.” In retrospect I wish I had told her, “That isn’t really any of your business.” Maybe she came to this conclusion because I told her about how much I like to cook. Maybe it was because I said I was in show choir. None-the-less, If I had chosen to reveal my orientation of my own volition, that is my business. To force someone out of the closet, or to demand to know, is unfair.

That is my problem with this weeks issue of X-Men. Jean Grey was completely unfair to Iceman. His orientation is his concern, and his concern only. If she were a true friend, she would have supported him as he found out who he was for himself.