The X-Men franchise has exploded since its inception. Every year we witness series, after series, of new orientations and mythologies gracing pop culture with the adventures of Charles Xavier's maverick do-gooders who live in a flawed world fearful of their powers.

So what makes God Loves, Man Kills one of the most cardinal texts in the entire X universe? Hints can be gauged when one learns that the 2003 X2 film derived fundamental inspiration from it. Here's the answer, the X-Men live in a world plagued by the fear of its very protectors. What happens when this fear is cultivated, heightened and finally unleashed against mutant kind and that too in the name of religion? God Loves, Man Kills answers this pointed query in all its visceral glory. The chief antagonist here is not some superhuman rogue but Reverend William Stryker; a common man of the cloth armed with a Bible and inspired by a Vendetta against Mutantkind.

While many critics have argued that the ending is highly anticlimactic, I believe it sticks firmly to the highly symbolic nature of the story. What Claremont has done is that he has transposed our fears of racial differences within the X-verse and amplified them for our own observation. God Loves, Man Kills is one for the history books. ( )

The Five Faces of X-MEN: GOD LOVES, MAN KILLS

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The greatest parts of the graphic novel are the unusually dark and mature themes that run throughout the story and the exhilarating action sequences, that feel different than before.

Kitty Pryde is given a key role in the story together with the best action set pieces of the entire graphic novel.

What makes this such an effective story is the fact that the X-Men have to unite with their greatest enemy, Magneto, to defeat their most dangerous foe yet, mankind.

Those shocking moments of violence or bizarre ideology acted out by some of the characters strongly hark back to the days of Nazi-Germany, while still feeling relevant (perhaps growingly so) in the world of today.

Seeing an ordinary man, on a mission from his God, as the main villain of this story is refreshing and invokes a sense of real danger. This guy is no Magneto, no extraterrestrial threat or killer robot; he is a man with a twisted mind and one, lethal mission. His cinematic counterpart from X2 captures him surprisingly well, but here he feels a whole lot more terrifying.

The climax is epic in scope, with the heroes struggling to win against Stryker and his forces. It feels like a bigger challenge than many of the world-domination plots the team has faced over the years.

It's refreshing to see philosophical dialogue take center-stage in the ultimate moments of the comic, and as an important lecture for readers.

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The art style is beautifully impressionist and abstract but also at times messy and difficult to grasp. The use of color is admirable though.

The art style combined with some dark, depressing and mature material, makes for a story with real depth and a disturbing message. There's murder, torture, torment, fear and so much more.

There is a slight cinematic feel to the four-part story, something that is quite unusual in the world of Marvel comics until Grant Morrison's run on the X-Men.

The overly obvious dialogue typical for the era isn't as annoying here as in most other comic books. It sits nicely within the story and its characters.

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The first part briefly sets up the story, before depicting the same things these stories always depict, until the first turn in the story. The beginning is bland and nothing special, and wouldn't make an impression if it wasn't for the shocking introduction with the murder of the mutant children.

The overall plot is somewhat repetitive, with the religious motivation being stuffed down our throats and with our heroes being captured and escaping over and over again.

Like in most stories penned by Claremont, there are many characters but little use to most of them. The focus lies on a select few characters but since Claremont desperately wants to use all of his beautiful creations, the final gallery feels overblown even for a story on this scale.

Sadly, when Magneto for once teams up with the good guys it is to be a deus ex machina and show up in the nick of time to save our heroes from certain doom. That's cheap for a character who is usually depicted with depth and respect.

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The Final Face: 😃 ( )

Christopher Claremont and Brent Eric Anderson’s X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills was the fifth book in the Marvel Graphic Novel line, following Claremont’s The New Mutants. These two, unlike the first three – The Death of Captain Marvel was relatively self-contained; Elric: The Dreaming City adapted Michael Moorcock’s novella by the same name; and Jim Starlin’s Dreadstar launched a series that Marvel published under its Epic Comics imprint – closely tied into the ongoing X-Men comics, though its canonical status was only decided in 2003 after the release of X2, the second X-Men movie that used God Loves, Man Kills as the basis for much of its story (as well as Return to Weapon X from the Ultimate X-Men series).

The story focuses on religious fundamentalist Reverend William Stryker and his purifiers, who kidnap Professor Xavier in order to use him and a modified Cerebro to wipe out mutant kind. The X-Men – Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Ariel (Kitty Pryde) – must save the professor and prove Stryker’s position wrong to a national audience. They work with Magneto, who helps them achieve results as they find their goals aligned. The story concludes with a thoughtful rededication of the X-Men’s mission and Magneto wishing them luck, while saying that he will be there to fix things if they should fail.

Claremont successfully told an essential X-Men story in only 64 pages, demonstrating why this is one of the must-reads of the franchise and remains in high regard. He began working on drafts of this story beginning in the late 1970s, though the overall narrative remained relatively unchanged with just some minor adjustments to dialogue and the final title. Marvel later clarified the story’s place in continuity, setting it between The Uncanny X-Men nos. 167 and 168 based on Cyclops’ role and Ilyana Rasputin. Claremont later wrote a sequel, titled “God Loves Man Kills II,” which appeared in X-Treme X-Men nos. 25-30. ( )

In my opinion, this is one of Claremont's most solidly-told stories in his entire X-Men run. ( )

Took me back to my childhood. Very much enjoyed the experience. Classic X-Men ( )