Why haven't any of the Black Male X-men caught on other than Bishop?

[Havok83]

Does apocalypse count as an X-Man now?

Id say so. 10char.

[Midnight_v]

Responding to the op... those characters have a mixed bag of deformities or are just general unenviable.
Somebody said something above about the black male ethos being missed and while that might mean different things
around the edges I get the core concept of that and agree with you.
I don't want to go into each and every one the problems the face individually but its kind of obvious
the black male mutants often fall closer to the Morlock variety than the Exodus Variety.
Darwin, Maggot, Gentle, Spike...all deformed. Bedlam, Sync: dead. Bedlam and Gentle have powers that were killing them if, xyz.
Then there's the passive personality clause I almost felt like it was "be a eunuch or die"

Bishops solo ... you know bishop never really caught on outside of comics. he should have but... damn misuse.
In comics The times and life... or timewar vs cable should have happened a long time ago and under different circumstance.

Sad.

[Veitha]

Responding to the op... those characters have a mixed bag of deformities or are just general unenviable.
Somebody said something above about the black male ethos being missed and while that might mean different things
around the edges I get the core concept of that and agree with you.
I don't want to go into each and every one the problems the face individually but its kind of obvious
the black male mutants often fall closer to the Morlock variety than the Exodus Variety.
Darwin, Maggot, Gentle, Spike...all deformed. Bedlam, Sync: dead. Bedlam and Gentle have powers that were killing them if, xyz.
Then there's the passive personality clause I almost felt like it was "be a eunuch or die"

Bishops solo ... you know bishop never really caught on outside of comics. he should have but... damn misuse.
In comics The times and life... or timewar vs cable should have happened a long time ago and under different circumstance.

Sad.

This is true about them giving them deformities or appearances that hide the fact they're black like Maggot or Bling!. Now M has the Penance form and she's appearing on most covers in that form, adding her to the list.

[Stormultt Divine]

Responding to the op... those characters have a mixed bag of deformities or are just general unenviable.
Somebody said something above about the black male ethos being missed and while that might mean different things
around the edges I get the core concept of that and agree with you.
I don't want to go into each and every one the problems the face individually but its kind of obvious
the black male mutants often fall closer to the Morlock variety than the Exodus Variety.
Darwin, Maggot, Gentle, Spike...all deformed. Bedlam, Sync: dead. Bedlam and Gentle have powers that were killing them if, xyz.
Then there's the passive personality clause I almost felt like it was "be a eunuch or die"

Bishops solo ... you know bishop never really caught on outside of comics. he should have but... damn misuse.
In comics The times and life... or timewar vs cable should have happened a long time ago and under different circumstance.

Sad.

Completely agree with all of this, I want more black male characters who actually don't die and are easy to relate to for black men who read the x-men.
Basically Black men who look like...black men.

[Will Evans]

At this point isn’t Bishop more Aborigine-American, than African-American?

Either way he’s black though.

[Havok83]

Who knows? His origin should have been simple enough but Marvel had to make a mess of it

[yogaflame]

At this point isn’t Bishop more Aborigine-American, than African-American?

Either way he’s black though.

Claremont gave him an Australian Aboriginal origin, related to Gateway, in X-Treme X-Men in the early 00's. Previous to that, he was more generally African-American(from the dystopic future). Honestly, I didn't love that backstory element, and most writers and artists since seem to disregard that idea, which I am totally fine with too.{Even though Australian Aboriginals totally do consider themselves Black, and they are, even if they are quite distinct from Africans or African-Americans, genetically, and culturally by tens of thousands of years, their experience of European colonialism has been very similar.}

[donpricetag]

At this point isn’t Bishop more Aborigine-American, than African-American?

Either way he’s black though.

Have to disagree. When they made him Aboriginal they also made him not black. Aboriginals have similar attributes as us, but they aren't "black". They are native to Australia which is pretty freaking far away from Africa and saying otherwise is basically insulting to both cultures. It's like saying all Asians are the same but in this case don't even share the same continent of origin.

Bishop, thanks to a retcon, is no longer black- African, African American or otherwise - despite how much Marvel artist draw him or write him. Until they undo it, or say something ridiculous like one or more of his parents or grandparents were black - we lost this one.

They even said Gateway is one of his grandparents so it's even more sticky. Because in Marvel's knowledge of characters are from the same country, they must know each other.

[Will Evans]

Have to disagree. When they made him Aboriginal they also made him not black. Aboriginals have similar attributes as us, but they aren't "black". They are native to Australia which is pretty freaking far away from Africa and saying otherwise is basically insulting to both cultures. It's like saying all Asians are the same but in this case don't even share the same continent of origin.

Bishop, thanks to a retcon, is no longer black- African, African American or otherwise - despite how much Marvel artist draw him or write him. Until they undo it, or say something ridiculous like one or more of his parents or grandparents were black - we lost this one.

They even said Gateway is one of his grandparents so it's even more sticky. Because in Marvel's knowledge of characters are from the same country, they must know each other.

To be fair, according to Whilce Portacio, in his first appearance he was meant to be Filipino. But then after that. He was looked on as black.


I guess I shouldn’t be surprised as a time traveler, Claremont tied Bishop’s ancestry to a familiar face in the present. Lobdell tried connecting him to Monet’s family. Just not sure why Claremont chose Gateway of all available characters.

[Havok83]

To be fair, according to Whilce Portacio, in his first appearance he was meant to be Filipino. But then after that. He was looked on as black.


I guess I shouldn’t be surprised as a time traveler, Claremont tied Bishop’s ancestry to a familiar face in the present. Lobdell tried connecting him to Monet’s family. Just not sure why Claremont chose Gateway of all available characters.

Bishop was always black in his first appearance. Portacio wanted to create a Filipino character like himself, but Marvel suggested he change the race. What we got was that change. It didnt happen after the fact

[Hypestyle]

I'm in support of a "Black" bishop-- even if his "official" background is Australian-indigenous, (largely, what, the rationale that he has long, frizzy hair, and therefore he could 'never' be African-American-descended? Sheesh..) I'd really be ticked off if some writer took the time out to have him say to someone "hey I'm not Black, I'm...." Nah, I'm not feeling that at all..

[yogaflame]

Have to disagree. When they made him Aboriginal they also made him not black. Aboriginals have similar attributes as us, but they aren't "black". They are native to Australia which is pretty freaking far away from Africa and saying otherwise is basically insulting to both cultures. It's like saying all Asians are the same but in this case don't even share the same continent of origin.

I mean, "Black" is an invented term. It's not even real. There are Nilotics, Bantus, Khoi San, Pygmies, Horn of Africa, and Madagascar, to name a few, that are all 'Black', all 'African', but they are all quite distinct genetically and culturally. In regards to the notion of the African Diaspora, and Pan-Africanism, the natives of Australia(and Papua New Guinea and the various 'Negritos' of the Pacific Islands) do fit in, albeit from long, long ago. I mean, they are mostly of African origins, just from 50-100k years ago, and mixed with a some other races/species from their journey along the way. But in terms of what did White Europeans call them, and what do modern Aboriginals call themselves, Black is a completely true and fitting term. They are even participating in the BLM movement of late.

Bishop can be both of Australian Aboriginal origins and Black at the same time, even if it does complicate things on the surface.

[superjosh]

I think the main problem is that very few characters after Bishop have been popular, period. I can count X-23 and Deadpool but that's it.

That could be the superficial problem. The root of the problem though is the editorial staff or whomever is in charge. A writer will try to make a character popular, but then that'll be tossed away with the next storyline or next creative team. There just needs to be a commitment to developing newer characters and introducing more diversity.

And then there's the reader/fan pushback... which is the really ugly part. Whenever a character like Miles Morales or Kamala Khan are introduced, out from the woodwork come all the "I'm not racist/sexist, but..." types ready to dismiss any attempt at diversity as PC/SJW agendas. I hate this type so much. They are the true barriers to progress.

There have been some pushes for diversity. Lobdell introduced Maggot and Cecilia Reyes. He also introduced that wacky replacement team during the Eve of Destruction run. That was kind of weird. But again, the next phase comes along and it's all gone. Morrison introduced a lot of diversity, but it seems like only his snobby white characters really maintained their popularity....

[EMagnum]

That could be the superficial problem. The root of the problem though is the editorial staff or whomever is in charge. A writer will try to make a character popular, but then that'll be tossed away with the next storyline or next creative team. There just needs to be a commitment to developing newer characters and introducing more diversity.

And then there's the reader/fan pushback... which is the really ugly part. Whenever a character like Miles Morales or Kamala Khan are introduced, out from the woodwork come all the "I'm not racist/sexist, but..." types ready to dismiss any attempt at diversity as PC/SJW agendas. I hate this type so much. They are the true barriers to progress.

There have been some pushes for diversity. Lobdell introduced Maggot and Cecilia Reyes. He also introduced that wacky replacement team during the Eve of Destruction run. That was kind of weird. But again, the next phase comes along and it's all gone. Morrison introduced a lot of diversity, but it seems like only his snobby white characters really maintained their popularity....

Weeeeel it's probably more likely that the X-Men mainstream exposure has been little more then the Fox movies in recent years. Once upon a time every kid in America sat down on week day afternoons to watch these things called cartoons. Oh and get this.....it was free. That is as long as you had working electricity and a TV. All joking aside, basically you had a very broad audience with little competition for kids attention.

Over the years as what we consumed changed and how it was delivered changed it kinda played counter to what could become mainstream successful. As far as things related to comics and cartoons were concerned anyway. If everybody watched the same streaming service instead of having a billion different ones to choose from you might be able to do a new X-Men series and introduce some new characters. Have em become mainstream and popular ala Harley Quinn or to a lesser extent X-23. But with all the stuff vying for the youth crowds attention these days its almost a toss up to get a character to be popular.

I will note Ms Marvel managed to come up through the comics alone but they've been pushing her hard. Really REALLY hard. She is in everything now. She might actually be the modern Wolverine or Spider-Man when it comes to guest starring or supporting cast.

[marhawkman]

Have to disagree. When they made him Aboriginal they also made him not black. Aboriginals have similar attributes as us, but they aren't "black". They are native to Australia which is pretty freaking far away from Africa and saying otherwise is basically insulting to both cultures. It's like saying all Asians are the same but in this case don't even share the same continent of origin.

Bishop, thanks to a retcon, is no longer black- African, African American or otherwise - despite how much Marvel artist draw him or write him. Until they undo it, or say something ridiculous like one or more of his parents or grandparents were black - we lost this one.

They even said Gateway is one of his grandparents so it's even more sticky. Because in Marvel's knowledge of characters are from the same country, they must know each other.

He could be a mix of Australian Aborigine and African Australian. Mixed ancestry is totally a thing IRL, so there's no reason not to have it in comics too. Gateway is a great-grandfather. Bishop probably has 8 great-grandparents, what ethnicities are the other 7? Bishop's father looks a lot like Gateway, so presumably Gateway is on his father's side.

His sister Shard was seemingly born blond: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20130722023546
It might be possible that it's a mutation, but seems unlikely. But neither her mother or father is a blond, so who knows?

Deathbird doesn't have particularly dark skin, but her daughter with Bishop did.

Nekra goes in the "Hideous deformity" category. Her motivations for becoming a supervillain were rooted in how her family treated her badly due to her unnaturally pasty complexion.