An idea for a new Jackson mascot

Editor's note: This article was altered to correct the year the removal of the Choctaw Indian nation from its land began.

Hey Jackson peeps.

Pop quiz:

1. What three famous Marvel Comics Book characters have a direct relationship with your city?

2. What are the names of the comic book artists who created these characters?

If you didn't know the answers to those questions, don't feel bad. I didn't either until several months ago. I'm not, after all, a comics book aficionado. But I do know quite a bit about Jackson, or at least I thought I did, having lived in the county seat for 20 years or so.

The answer to the first question is Ghost Rider, Conan the Barbarian and Wolverine.

The answer to the second question is Gary Friedrich, who passed away at the age of 75 last September, and Roy Thomas, a heavyweight in the Marvel Comic artist landscape. Friedrich is credited with the creation of Ghost Rider. Thomas is credited with Conan and Wolverine. But both men wrote for many other comic books of which we're all familiar.

Thomas has had more of a presence in Jackson in the last year or so, coming back to his hometown to visit and share his success with us. He returned Saturday for a special event in Uptown Jackson.

I'm far from a marketing genius, but I believe the city of Jackson and Southeast Missouri State University have enormous opportunity here to celebrate its connections to the comic book world in the same way Chester celebrates Popeye. For a city of its size to have two such decorated comic book artists hail from its schools and neighborhoods is something quite impressive. And fun!

So much so, I have a crazy idea of my own that I'd like to share.

I think the Jackson School District ought to change its mascot.

The Jackson Wolverines has a really nice ring to it.

I know this will come as a shock to Jackson alumni who love their Indians. No need to sling arrows. But come on, Jackson. You created Wolverine!

That character in the X-Men franchise is a mutant with unstoppable healing power, metal claws and is one of the most ferocious heroes in the universe, at least according to marvel.com. And even if you couldn't get around the copyright from Marvel, the wolverine, the animal, is fierce and relentlessly territorial. It's a fascinating beast, the wolverine.

For those of you believing this is a politically-correct statement, you'd be only partially correct. I truly believe Wolverine is a far superior mascot, from an originality standpoint. The city's claim to the comic book character is unique. Other schools have adopted mascots in honor of their creators. Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri, is called the home of the Kewpies, after the doll invented by one of their own.

But let's just have a conversation for a minute about the P.C. part. Alumni and students and teachers might argue there is nothing offensive about an Indian mascot. The reality is that the town of Jackson is named after a president who treated Native Americans horribly, aggressively, removing Indians from their original lands and forcing them to escape on what's now known as the Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears Park, just a few miles from Jackson, is located on part of the territory upon which those Indians traveled and died. The park has an interactive exhibit, which includes a short film of this dark American history. President Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which gave the U.S. government the power to "exchange" land, forcing the natives out to the "Indian Colonization Zone" that the U.S. had acquired as part of the Louisiana purchase. According to history.com, in the winter of 1831, the Choctaw became the first Indian nation to be expelled from its land under threat of the U.S. Army. Eventually, thousands of Indians died on that trail. Andrew Jackson played a big role in that death march. It is what it is.

For those who believe that embracing an Indian as a mascot in a town named after Andrew Jackson is honoring Native Americans, they are welcome to that opinion. Others would vehemently disagree, and so school alumni and those involved with the school can go about defending that position. It's a free country. Debate away. Tradition, to some, trumps racial insensitivities.

I don't necessarily attach sentimentality to such things as mascots, so I believe it's probably time to move on from the head dress and the chants. (Full disclosure: I didn't graduate from Jackson; I did, however, attend Southeast Missouri State University, and my life has changed zero percent since the mascot was changed to Redhawks.)

The city's relationship with the man who created Wolverine gives the school district an obvious alternative. It could be a move of celebration rather than an apologetic one.

If the Wolverine was the mascot, there would be no reason to defend anything. It would be a point of pride to tell outsiders that the mascot is in appreciation of the talented artist, Roy Thomas, from Jackson who created the X-Men character and is now the editor-in-chief at Marvel. That's something truly worth of praise. Pow!

Before you get on the comment section to rip me for this idea, one last pop quiz question.

Q: Which Marvel X-Men character has an adamantium skeleton, including retractable claws, impermeable skin, enhanced senses, is samurai-trained and considers Captain America an ally?

A: Yeah, Wolverine. Jackson's hometown hero.

Bob Miller is editor of the Southeast Missourian.