[net.comics] Kitty

london@oddjob.UUCP (David London) (07/26/85)

<>
With all this talk about whether the old Kitty was better than the new, and
vice-versa, I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned my pet peeve. 
She's only 16 (or so). Why does ANYBODY (esp. Wolverine) want to take orders
from her??? I think at one point, Wolverine mentions that she'd make a good
leader. Baloney!!! She's just a kid!! (I don't care about the genius
business - 16 is 16). I'm surprised that anyone in the X-Men (most of whom
are at least 10 years older) would pay any attention to her suggestions or
orders. Ditto for the New Mutants. In the last couple issues, we see Dazzler
taking orders from one (or more) of those guys. Why would she pay any
attention to battle plans from a teeny-bopper???

I know Marvel doesn't pay too much attention to age (I wouldn't want them 
to - this isn't Young Romance), but let's get real here!

					David London
					..!ihnp4!oddjob!london

lizv@tektools.UUCP (Liz Vaughan) (07/31/85)

In article <881@oddjob.UUCP> london@oddjob.UUCP (David London) writes:
><>
>With all this talk about whether the old Kitty was better than the new, and
>vice-versa, I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned my pet peeve. 
>She's only 16 (or so). Why does ANYBODY (esp. Wolverine) want to take orders
>from her??? I think at one point, Wolverine mentions that she'd make a good
>leader. Baloney!!! She's just a kid!! (I don't care about the genius
>business - 16 is 16). I'm surprised that anyone in the X-Men (most of whom
>are at least 10 years older) would pay any attention to her suggestions or
>orders. Ditto for the New Mutants. In the last couple issues, we see Dazzler
>taking orders from one (or more) of those guys. Why would she pay any
>attention to battle plans from a teeny-bopper???

HOLD IT!  Kitty may be 16, but she's a pretty old and experienced 16; not just
being a genius, but tooling around the galaxy, risking your life daily, that
sort of thing.  Also, leadership potential is just that -- potential.  Good
leaders are usually good leaders when they're 6, much less 16.  Being able to
assess a situation quickly and make fast, sound decisions that people will
abide by has very little to do with age.  Not everyone is totally ditzo just
because they're 16.

(no, I'm not 16;  I just don't think you're looking at Kitty as a character
instead of a number)

....tektronix!tektools!lizv

hernan@prism.UUCP (08/07/85)

I may be off by a year or two, but Alexander the Great won his first
major battles at the age of 15.

boyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN) (08/09/85)

> From:	oddjob!london	(David London)
 
> With all this talk about whether the old Kitty was better than the new, and
> vice-versa, I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned my pet peeve. 
> She's only 16 (or so). Why does ANYBODY (esp. Wolverine) want to take orders
> from her??? I think at one point, Wolverine mentions that she'd make a good
> leader. Baloney!!! She's just a kid!! (I don't care about the genius
> business - 16 is 16). I'm surprised that anyone in the X-Men (most of whom
> are at least 10 years older) would pay any attention to her suggestions or
> orders. Ditto for the New Mutants. In the last couple issues, we see Dazzler
> taking orders from one (or more) of those guys. Why would she pay any
> attention to battle plans from a teeny-bopper???
>
> I know Marvel doesn't pay too much attention to age (I wouldn't want them 
> to - this isn't Young Romance), but let's get real here!

It's obvious that you've never been involved in science fiction fandom. When
I first joined sf fandom at 17, the local sf group (NESFA) routinely had
people as young as 15 in positions of responsibility. And they lead people
who were as old as the upper-30's. Sixteen-year-olds had major positions on
convention committees, including World Science Fiction Conventions.
	Granted, this is a little different than life-and-death battle
situations, but the point is that many --- quite likely most --- teens (and
even pre-teens) have a much greater maturity than adults give them credit
for. Put a teen in a position of responsibility, and chances are that he will
do the job as well as an adult. A mature adult will recognize this fact, and
won't shy away from taking orders from a younger person, just because of age.

--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Acton-Nagog, MA)

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ARPA:	boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA