Mystique and Raven

Mystique is my favorite superhero, mostly because of her role as swing vote in X Men: Days of Future Past, but also because her powers are just awesome and she's a highly competent woman. So, of course, I've been looking to add a poster of her to my collection. I've been looking a long time.

Most of the posters that show her by herself put her in her war form, which is basically naked, allowing her to change her full appearance at will without being betrayed by a stray item of clothing. Granted, she's blue and kinda looks like she's got scales, so it's not that appealing. Still, I'd rather not have that on my wall. It'd be awkward.

The rest of the posters typically have her in her Raven form, the blond beauty that she used as a kid, teen, and young adult, to present herself as "normal" in a world that wouldn't have accepted her actual appearance. In the latest movie, Apocalypse, she also took to using that form as a way for her friends to recognize her when she doesn't want to attract the attention of strangers. All that's well and good, but I didn't care to have just plain old "Raven" on my wall either. I wanted the real deal.

So, when I found this poster, I jumped on it. It's from First Class, when the young woman is starting to understand, accept, and embrace who she is. She's a part of a team, so she's wearing the matching yellow uniform, but she's also preparing for battle, so she's not bothering to keep up the disguise. As Magneto warned her, if half her mind is on her appearance, that means it's not on minding the details that could save her life.

Accepting and embracing who you are is a large part of growing up, and I'm absolutely thrilled that X Men gave us a female in that "coming of age" role. Professor X and Magneto have always been cool, and the original time-line Mystique was intimidating, but this younger version offers a perspective and a role model that I find invaluable.

As a side note, while I enjoyed Apocalypse, I did not feel that it cleared the bar set by its predecessor nor the one held that same month by Captain America: Civil War. It did, however, clear the bar of "do I want to ensure that I will have continuing access to this course after Red Box drops it?" I will definitely be purchasing that movie. I loved Mystique's "you can protect your family now" speech.