In UXM 159, Claremont essentially re-stages Bram Stoker’s "Dracula" novel within the X-Men continuity, and a parallel reading of the two texts can open up some intriguing symbolic consequences for the X-Men characters depicted. #xmen 1/6

Stoker’s “Dracula” is a story of repressed feminine sexual desire (not unlike Dark Phoenix) in which Mina Harker must choose between her passionate, sinful attraction to the Count and a more practical relationship with her dull fiancée Jonathan (so Logan/Jean/Scott, kind of). 2/6

In Claremont’s version, Mina is portrayed by Storm, however (as Jean is dead at this point), and it is the X-Men themselves (as a group) who are cast in the role of the passion-less, smothering, and rational option. 3/6 @MutantElement @MessyMutant

This reading is actually quite consistent with the ways in which the X-Men restrain Storm’s primal nature throughout the entirety of the run - most notably in channeling her Goddess-like powers toward a socially acceptable mission in a sort of metaphorical sublimation. 4/6

Also of interest, comparatively, is the fact that where Stoker’s Mina is very much controlled and manipulated by the men surrounding her, it’s actually Storm who gets all the agency in Claremont’s version of the story. She decides. She takes care of their Dracula problem. 5/6

Of course, we can take this up as a far simpler idea: Storm is no Mina Harker, and when you try to cast her into that role of sexually-repressed victim (of both monstrous desire and social control) she’s just going to kick a lot of ass instead. 6/6