If I was one of the X-men which one would I be?

When I was a teenager I loved X-men comics. This group of people, mutants, with extraordinary powers appealed to my sense of imagination. Perhaps due to the changes in my body and self that occurred during my teenage years. I grew from four foot something tall to six foot two in those years. I slept a lot. Was angst ridden. Was desperately horny and lonely. Drank a lot. Similar to most teenagers. But certainly the sense of the mythic and heroic was a reason why I think I liked the comics so much. I first picked up one of the comics in a newsagent when I was fourteen. I read Uncanny X-men, and steadily read the surrounding series, like X-Factor (Yes, before X-factor was something in reality TV shows it was a title of a comic book!), X-Force, Classic X-men, X-Terminators (I kid you not!) and The New Mutants. I am sure I am missing one title from that list. After a while it added up to about thirty dollars a month, and I was not reading them more than once. At the age of seventeen I cancelled my standing order of comics. Instead I used the money to buy booze.

Today as a man, the appeal of reading superhero comics has diminished a little, but certainly still is there. I think it is based on the love of the stories of mythic heroes, like those in Greek mythology, capable of extraordinary feats, but also deeply flawed. I believe should be able to call myself a man, as have suffered the death of one parent, had sex, and reached the age of thirty. (What more is there?) My love of comics has returned over the years and through friends I discovered such fabulous titles like Sandman, Stardust, Preacher, The Invisbles, From Hell, Watchmen, Swampthing, Hellblazer and 100 bullets. Again I am sure I am missing a number of titles. I'm tremendously grateful that I gave comics another chance and to the people who re-introduced them to me. When well done they are a medium like no other. Comics (or if you want to hide behind the terms: graphic novels or trade paperbacks) offer unique ways of telling a story using both words and pictures.

Recently in cinema there has been a spate of superhero films and films based on comics. I do believe that comics have been mined by Hollywood. More recently 300 has graced the screens, based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller. And after that Spiderman 3 will hit the screens. Prior to that there was Superman Returns, Sin City, From Hell, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (terribly butchered), Daredevil, Spiderman 1 & 2, The Hulk and Mystery Men. And of course X-men 1,2 and 3. In one sense I think it has been great that comics has been introduced to a much wider audience than every previously possible. And a lot of the films have been pretty good. But the thing is the story has already been told in a unique medium of words and pictures without sound and special effects. I would much rather that people make films about stories that have not already been told in another medium. There are surely a great number of screenplays that could have been made instead of X-men 3 or Spiderman 3, but were not made due to money and budget going to superhero films.

Anyway I did one of those online test things, for fun, to 'help' me to work out which one of the X-men I would be. You can too by clicking this link.

And as it turns out I got Jean Grey or Phoenix.

You Are Jean Grey

Although your fate is often unknown, you always seem to survive (even after death). Your mind is your greatest weapon, literally! Powers: telepathy and telekinesis, the ability to project thoughts into the mind of others, communication with animals

Which of the X-Men Are You?

Gender of the test taker obviously does not seem to matter. At first I thought 'What the?!' But then I had a think about it and it does kind of fit in an odd way.

Jean Grey was one of the original X-men. The X-men were called such due to the founder Professor Charles Xavier. The first X-man was Scott Summers, or Cyclops. The name 'Cyclops' has an obvious connection with Greek mythology. Then Bobby Drake, Iceman. Then Warren Worthington, Angel. Then Hank McCoy, Beast. Then Jean Grey, Marvel Girl.

So out of the original X-men the one the online test calculated that the X-man I was most like was the only (original) woman character. I guess I am in touch with my feminine side. And I do consider myself a pro-feminist.

When Jean Grey was first created as a character, she was not as brutally powerful as any of the male characters. But as time went by she became increasingly more powerful than any of the X-men. Becoming Phoenix, rather than Marvel Girl, then finally becoming Dark Phoenix with the power to destroy the universe. A la Willow from Buffy. But then ultimately dies on the moon. The message: women are powerful, women with with incredible power ultimately are destroyed by it. Reflecting I think this is pretty unfair. But later on she returns. So really cannot die. Hence the whole Phoenix thing. I guess recently I have been in a pretty dark place after mum died, so the metaphor of rising from the ashes as a Phoenix must have some appeal, as survival after the death of a loved one, and perhaps lead me to my choices on the silly online X-men questionnaire.