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Busting Loose: Ms. Marvel and post-rape trauma in X-Men comics

2020; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 11; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/21504857.2020.1757477

2150-4865

J. Andrew Deman,

Contemporary Literature and Criticism

The conspicuous absence of trauma in superhero narratives is an established trope. In Avengers #200, the character Carol Danvers (aka Ms. Marvel) was subjected to a sexual assault that was characterised as non-violent, non-traumatic and even as an act of love. Chris Claremont, who had written the Carol Danvers character years prior, objected to this treatment of the character and recontextualized Carol's assault as rape in Avengers Annual #10. A large part of this recontextualization involved the portrayal of long-term psychological trauma in Carol's life. This symbolic thread carries into Uncanny X-men #236, titled 'Busting Loose' (also by Claremont), where the superheroine Rogue temporarily loses her superpowers and is then subjected to an off-panel sexual assault. Her response is to turn her consciousness over to Ms. Marvel (whose psyche now shares Rogue's body). The story that unfolds from there draws upon the historical symbolism of Ms. Marvel and advances the recontextualization of Carol Danvers by portraying a post-traumatic dissociation followed by a reclamation of power and agency through community and disclosure, allowing the Carol character to redress, to some degree, the problematic historical excision of trauma from superhero narratives that deal with sexual violence.