Filling the New X-Member Spot by Vote is a Bad Idea

Most of us here at BNP haven’t had a whole lot of complaints about Jonathan Hickman’s “Krakoan Age” of X-Men comics. Yet here I am this week with a complaint, but first…context. As with any marquee superhero team of note, the time has come for a new line up of X-Men. Cyclops is holding the latest line-up to an election among the citizens of Krakoa….which somehow translates to readers in real life getting to vote on the final member…For Some Reason?! On its face, this is already a silly idea for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I can’t imagine there’s any version of Jonathan Hickman in any world throughout the multiverse that had this in mind when he sat down to streamline the direction of this franchise. Being saddled with a character you didn’t really ask for probably isn’t less annoying just because it’s the readers doing instead of editors. Second, in the immortal words of Michael Fassbender acting out Aaron Sorkin’s idea of Steve Jobs, “artists lead and hacks ask for a show of hands.” I’m not necessarily calling anyone in particular a hack but taking a vote on someone else’s vision (no matter how little) seems less like art and more like marketing. And I suppose focus grouping comics wouldn’t be such a problem if we didn’t live in an era where the loudest, most toxic of any fandom seems to bum rush the stage and take the microphone, chasing creators across social media with digital torches and pitchforks.

Forge via Screen Rant

And then look at these names th…