So, it's no secret that Jim is my favorite comic book character. Ever.
I do a little happy dance whenever he shows up in a new book (with the exception of Secret Avengers, but we'll get to that in a bit), I will actively seek out issues that I'd missed due to, y'know, not being born, and probably spend more time working out headcanons for him than for any other character. I just find him fascinating in a way that I rarely do with other characters. Some of that is because he's just not used that often. So the excitement is fresh whenever he does show up in a book. I've joked that I'd happily read an entire series about him filing paperwork, if it meant he'd get more screentime, and I was only half kidding.
So... why? Why does a kiff cling to a flammable robot who only shows up twice a decade and gets killed more often than Jean Grey?
The best answer is... there are a lot of answers. I should probably just list them off, in no particular order, since I can't really decide which, if any, would be more important than the others. Here we go:
- I really like that, in any other situation, Jim would have been the monster of his own story. He could have been, really -- he could have taken how humanity treated him and vowed revenge. He could have taken the abandonment from his father and grown bitter and angry. Hell, he could have even gone the same route as his brother, Adam II, and just plain declared himself better than the humans and opted to wipe them out so that the superior machines could take over. But, not only did he not do any of that, he took all the hurt and abuse he'd suffered and decided that he would help others who'd suffered in the same way. He went off and became a cop so he could defend those who couldn't defend themselves. That's pretty damn cool.
- Jim puts a really big store on family. I get why -- the only 'blood' relatives he knew, growing up, all ended up being major assholes; his father, his brother, the occasional 'cousin' that appeared here or there... And so I think he wants to make sure that he's not like them, that he can be better than that. And he is. And not just to birth relations. The best family ties Jim has are the ones he's made for himself: Toro and the Invaders and Tara. And I love that the books never paint these relationships as secondary to his 'blood' relationships. Maybe it's because he is an android and the writers maybe never thought of it that way, but still, there it is. We're never asked to question his bond with Toro, or told it's any less legitimate than any other family bonds.
- Jim and Namor's BFF relationship that has lasted 70 goddamn years. If I could find a way to bottle that kind of brolationship loyalty, I could retire tomorrow. I'd like to write a whole essay on their ( ._.|._. ) -ness, but that would end badly for my character limit, so.
- Despite the massive timeframe and disparate writers/artists and various numbers of books involved, Jim has had a fairly cohesive characterization, which is pretty damn impressive. Granted, most of that seems to be "woe I'm a robot woe," but eh, someone always comes along and smacks him upside the head and tells him to stop moping. Shulkie did it once, and it was fantastic.
- Jim is the only character I've ever seen who has rocked the satellite-dish collar and has, somehow, despite all reason and sanity, made it work. Kind've. Well, he didn't hurt himself, anyway. It's a skill to be applauded.
- Cats! CATS EVERYWHERE!
- Jim is, at his squishy, gear-filled, flammable center, a good guy. No matter how bad things get, and no matter how horribly someone fucks with his programming, it's impossible to stamp that bit out. Maybe he is a robot, but he's got a soul, and it is good.
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timeasmymeasure
Pt. 1
Date: 2013-01-29 07:13 am (UTC)Oh, lord. Prepare yourself for FIREBUG FEELS.
* How I FEEEEEL about this character:
So, it's no secret that Jim is my favorite comic book character. Ever.
I do a little happy dance whenever he shows up in a new book (with the exception of Secret Avengers, but we'll get to that in a bit), I will actively seek out issues that I'd missed due to, y'know, not being born, and probably spend more time working out headcanons for him than for any other character. I just find him fascinating in a way that I rarely do with other characters. Some of that is because he's just not used that often. So the excitement is fresh whenever he does show up in a book. I've joked that I'd happily read an entire series about him filing paperwork, if it meant he'd get more screentime, and I was only half kidding.
So... why? Why does a kiff cling to a flammable robot who only shows up twice a decade and gets killed more often than Jean Grey?
The best answer is... there are a lot of answers. I should probably just list them off, in no particular order, since I can't really decide which, if any, would be more important than the others. Here we go:
- I really like that, in any other situation, Jim would have been the monster of his own story. He could have been, really -- he could have taken how humanity treated him and vowed revenge. He could have taken the abandonment from his father and grown bitter and angry. Hell, he could have even gone the same route as his brother, Adam II, and just plain declared himself better than the humans and opted to wipe them out so that the superior machines could take over. But, not only did he not do any of that, he took all the hurt and abuse he'd suffered and decided that he would help others who'd suffered in the same way. He went off and became a cop so he could defend those who couldn't defend themselves. That's pretty damn cool.
- Jim puts a really big store on family. I get why -- the only 'blood' relatives he knew, growing up, all ended up being major assholes; his father, his brother, the occasional 'cousin' that appeared here or there... And so I think he wants to make sure that he's not like them, that he can be better than that. And he is. And not just to birth relations. The best family ties Jim has are the ones he's made for himself: Toro and the Invaders and Tara. And I love that the books never paint these relationships as secondary to his 'blood' relationships. Maybe it's because he is an android and the writers maybe never thought of it that way, but still, there it is. We're never asked to question his bond with Toro, or told it's any less legitimate than any other family bonds.
- Jim and Namor's BFF relationship that has lasted 70 goddamn years. If I could find a way to bottle that kind of brolationship loyalty, I could retire tomorrow. I'd like to write a whole essay on their ( ._.|._. ) -ness, but that would end badly for my character limit, so.
- Despite the massive timeframe and disparate writers/artists and various numbers of books involved, Jim has had a fairly cohesive characterization, which is pretty damn impressive. Granted, most of that seems to be "woe I'm a robot woe," but eh, someone always comes along and smacks him upside the head and tells him to stop moping. Shulkie did it once, and it was fantastic.
- Jim is the only character I've ever seen who has rocked the satellite-dish collar and has, somehow, despite all reason and sanity, made it work. Kind've. Well, he didn't hurt himself, anyway. It's a skill to be applauded.
- Cats! CATS EVERYWHERE!
- Jim is, at his squishy, gear-filled, flammable center, a good guy. No matter how bad things get, and no matter how horribly someone fucks with his programming, it's impossible to stamp that bit out. Maybe he is a robot, but he's got a soul, and it is good.