X-Men: New look at origin; NJ.com, 7/1/16

Mark Voger, NJ.com; X-Men: New look at origin:

"Lee's scenario was an allegory for kids who didn't fit in. Loners, outsiders, nerds ... pick a term.

But at this moment, as the LGBT community is on a roll, becoming more vocal than ever about rights and inclusion, some of the language in Lee's 53-year-old script almost sounds like code for current situations.

"All my life, I've had to conceal this power of mine," Jean Grey (aka Marvel Girl) says to Professor Xavier, the university's dean. "Now, I must admit it's a pleasure to be able to practice telekinesis openly, without fear of being discovered."

Openly, she said.

Xavier explains to the newly arrived Jean and the team she has just joined — Cyclops, the Beast, Iceman and the Angel — that he was once as they are.

"When I was young, normal people feared me, distrusted me! I realized the human race is not yet ready to accept those with extra powers!"

Accept, he said.

Of course, Lee was no prognosticator, even if his script for "The X-Men" No. 1 was prescient. It merely validated a widely held notion: Certain feelings and struggles are timeless and universal."