The Drastic Spastic wrote:Finding out isn't difficult, but it isn't especially interesting ever. Given the choice between researching something really complicated and controversial and trying to work it into a story with a dozen other characters, or using a different character, what are most writers going to do? They have deadlines and lives.
I want the religion gone, not toned down, not minimized, GONE, and why shouldn't I say that? I'm not saying no one should be Catholic, I'm saying this character shouldn't be Catholic. It was a mistake to change the character and take him in that direction. Is it anti-religion to say that? I'm not sure actually. Certainly, the source of my disgust is not anything that was in the books. Even if they handled it "well", I would still be repulsed because it doesn't fit my idea of what the character should be like.
It may be anti-religion, but it's not like I picked a religious character just so I could complain and say he shouldn't be religious. He wasn't like that when I started reading, he shouldn't be like that now, and I can hope he won't be like that in the future.
He has always been portrayed as catholic, from the beginning.
The difference is the focus of writers over the years. His religious beliefs (an example, the fight against Selene, the vampire) was the basis of his morals and outlook, but he was not portrayed as religion being the totality of who he was. He was funny, flirtatious, outgoing, a good friend and a general well-rounded character. He had self-doubts and took the moral high ground, but was far from perfect in his actions. Catholicism was a defining point of who he was, like Kitty being Jewish, but it was not represented as ALL he was.
It was not until so many more x-men were "born" and writers became overloaded with too many potentials to give face-time to, that almost all of the cast became very flat, not just nightcrawler. The exceptions were the popular ones, for example Wolverine, Rogue and Gambit (for a time).
The problem was solved during the early Excalibur run because it had a short roster, thus lots of face time for all the characters, and with it, good development. As soon as Kurt, Kitty and Rachel returned to the fold of the x-man main book, they were back on the sidelines.
Austen was a horror of a writer and took what little was left of Nightcrawler and ran him into the ground. Rather than his beliefs being part of who he was, it became the entirity of who he was. That does not make for interesting reading for most fans. Add to that the character's (now) ambiguous back story, and it takes a lot to dig him back out.
Darick Robertson made a magnificent effort at that, and if the market had not already been saturated with too many x-titles, he might have succeeded. Sadly, Nightcrawler has never had the pull to carry his own title. A better bet might have been to write him as a regular in the Wolverine title.
I would surmise that writers are attempting to cull the herd of the overflowing X-men, they've just, as usual, gone about it poorly. They are STILL trying to come up with a "new" Wolverine or some such, that will take the market by storm and rocket sales back up. They refuse to work with the material they have.
In my opinion, the best thing they can do is to drop the majority of the x-titles, wipe out all but a few core members -- preferably the ones with the most character development done over the years -- and perhaps set up two opposing purpose x-groups...a dark and a light, for lack of a better way ot put it.
Yes, it would seem sales would drop initially at dropped titles, but as the core characters improved and writing talent was more focused rather than dispersed, I think sales would pick up significantly.
As far as bringing Kurt back, I think there are myriad ways. Margali and Amanda are both witches, and Kurt was a vessel for the Soulsword for awhile -- that might be a possible angle.
I'm not opposed to Azazel playing a part, as at least that arc touched on the dimension he travels through when teleporting.
Time-travel, whilst overdone, could be a way to deal with it.
An alternate dimension Kurt (like Rachel) is a possibility and might clear up some of that bothersome retcon to his history.
Personally, I'd like to see a somewhat older, edgier Nightcrawler (he looked great in books with a touch of grey at the temples), who, whilst still on the moral highground, is hard-edged enough to defend his principles, harshly if necessary. Someone who would put Scott in his place and fight to maintain Xavier's dream on his own terms.