written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Brent Anderson
“Once more, genocide in the name of God. A story as old as the race.”
The X-Men were created in 1963 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Mutants are super-human abilities that stem from genetic mutations. Born with these genes, they develop their powers through hormones during puberty or traumatic events. People in the Marvel universe see Mutants as a separate from humans. More than a different race, but a different breed. Mutants are hated and feared, and were always a metaphor for tension in racism. In 1982 God Loves, Man Kills was made, and the metaphor is brought right into the foreground of the story. This in one of the most defining moment on why X-Men is such a classic franchise, story and idea.
The Reverend William Stryker, (who inspired the General of the same name in X2) is an anti-mutant fanatic who fuels his hate with religion and his televangelical background. He employs like minded people into his organization as mercenaries called Purifiers to track and kill mutants. Most of the dead mutants were left were they were killed with the words 'Mutie' usually written in their blood, as a warning to anyone who would get in their way. After these attacks are actually made towards the X-Men, the team of super-powered heros go on the attack, with their long time enemy Magneto.
I think Claremont had a lot of material to work with when it came to X-Men history and stories of prejudice against certain people. Previous claims for past bigots come through Stryker concentrated, claiming them to be unnatural and abominations. Using the character Nightcrawler, as an example, he cries out "You dare call that human?" And maybe he's not. The term Homo Superior is thrown around a lot in this story. A term champion by the angry and scared Magneto. But these super human mutations are present in birth, means that they don't get to choose to be Mutants. They shouldn't be hated and attacked for what they are, but should be judged by their actions. The same thing can be said for everyone.
Side note: Rev. Stryker looks like Captain Hank Murphy from Aqua Lab 2021 and his voice was in my head when I read those parts and I laughed.
Bryan Cox played Stryker in X2; for this reason, I can't picture him as Captain Murphy. By the way, I'm almost ready to finish off the fourth and final season of that apparent X-Men spinoff, "Heroes." It is not so much of a classic story, franchise, or idea.
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