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  1. #1
    BANNED Killerbee911's Avatar
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    Question Why haven't any of the Black Male X-men caught on other than Bishop?

    It is a pretty simple question, Why haven't any of Black Male X-men caught on other than Bishop? For other minority groups characters say like Asian male the answer is simple they are that many of them( Thunderbird 2nd,Indra,Sunfire?) but other day I was looking up characters they are quite bit of Black male X-characters. Here is the quick list

    Sunspot
    *Manifold
    Prodigy
    Gentle
    Synch
    Darwin
    Maggot
    Triage
    Genesis
    Radius
    Beldam
    Tag
    Anarchist
    Spike


    I mean the obvious answer is going to come up but I am looking more along the lines of design and impact I guess. So maybe the question is better phrased as which character when introduced did you think this character is going to be the next great X-men character?

    * Manifold yes I realize he was never in thing X-men related but he trained with Gateway and he is mutant.

  2. #2
    Ultimate Member Tycon's Avatar
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    They have the potential to take off, it's just that the X-Office is much more interested in telling the same ol' stories with the ANAD cast of characters which feature 0 black guys. Even with Bishop, this push just came recently. Johnathan Hickman and Al Ewing revitalized Sunspot and made him known to the more casual readers but the longer X-Editorial takes to use him, the more this shot is wasted. #BringBackMaggott worked in a way. I guess the Uncanny Trio just dropped Gentle from the roster so they could make way for...........Legion and...............................Multiple Man.

  3. #3
    Kinky Lil' Canine Snoop Dogg's Avatar
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    Designs aren't really a big deal because while they're very important to a character's ability to catch on, you can change them at any time. Sunspot's new suit and tie aesthetic is much, much better than the generic uniform (which is why the X-Office will put him back in it). But yeah, you can bring people back with sweet redesigns at any time, but first you have to decide to use them. If there's any doubt that this can work, look at Magik this decade.

    To really let a lot of these guys have legs, they have to be used and used prominently and consistently after their day in the limelight. Most of the people on the list are known for their big dropoffs after the eras which they really popped. Sunspot could be one of them if the X-Office continues to twiddle their thumbs, or worse, just puts him back on X-Force as a regular member after everything that's happened.

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  4. #4
    Extraordinary Member Bl00dwerK's Avatar
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    Don't know, but Sunspot is one of my faves. Still wish they hadn't turned him into the mutant human torch, though.

  5. #5
    Astonishing Member Beetle's Avatar
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    They should have kept Cloak back during the Utopia era

  6. #6
    BANNED Killerbee911's Avatar
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    For Tag,Radius,Anarchist and Spike it is mix of design and not being in something high profile. Triage,Genesis,Prodigy and Gentle are students which means they are stuck in time until X-office decides to grow them into a adults so they can be used in more mature stories. Prodigy and surprisingly Gentle escaped for were used for awhile back to limbo.

    Synch- I think had the most potential out of everyone being mention to catch on big,I don't think heard anyone say they dislike Synch as character now they might have said he was boring but any character who leads will get that on occasionally. He had a solid design and powers. Normally death is an excuse but X-men have brought so many people back so it is not a problem to do one more I believe he was brought back in the event for Selene it isn't has hard to write up something from that. I am also keeping my eye on Age of X-man he and other dead X-men can magically return when stuff is put back in order.

    Sunspot- I think the X-office has a plan for him because he is unexplainably absence in X-force,Uncanny and Cyclops/ Wolverine books. He is going to be used at some point I believe .He has had tremendous growth outside of the X-men franchise and should be a big player in the X universe now.

    Darwin- I think the design of character is what held him back from catching on and character never really stood out in stories to me. Darwin has a hard use powerset imo

    Maggott- Is another case of design not catching on and being a little wonky and weird.The funny thing is the design might have give him use if he was around for some X-men writers the X-men writers seem in love with Glob because he is extremely weird. Maggot fits that weird lane but he might just be a little too weird for consistent use. Also I don't think they had a clue what to do with his powers.

    Prodigy- Is slowly building up some momentum with appearances in Young avengers, New mutants dark souls and probably champions at some point. Being Bisexual and Black makes him something pretty unique in comics it seem creators want to use him but never quite on the team. Also can they bring his powers back they have been gone long enough

    Triage- Healing is kinda broken as power so they will be always some hesistion to use him.

    Bedlam- I remember being hype about the Bedlam Brothers after AoA but they turned out not to be that interesting in the 616. I don't think any had angle they want to do with him.

    Gentle- has great design but he is a one trick pony. As pacifist who has to fight he is interesting but at some point that disappears and you need more of a personality and story. If you watch Colossus over the years you have pretty good idea how it will play out.

    Manifold- As mention not a X-character and is being used in Black panther stuff but I think he would be a great addition some one decide to use him the X-universe. But with Magik,Pixie and Nightcrawler around those chances wil probably be slim
    Last edited by Killerbee911; 01-02-2019 at 01:33 AM.

  7. #7
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    Sunspot isn't black.

    His father might be African or native American but his mum is European ancestry.

  8. #8
    Ultimate Member Tycon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jalsrix View Post
    Sunspot isn't black.

    His father might be African or native American but his mum is European ancestry.
    Nope, he's black. Nice try, though.

  9. #9
    BANNED Killerbee911's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jalsrix View Post
    Sunspot isn't black.

    His father might be African or native American but his mum is European ancestry.
    I knew this might come up. Words have different meaning depending on where you are from when I say "Black" from the part of world I am from that means from "African descent". Sunspot,Celia Reyes and Darwin are Afro Latino .
    Last edited by Killerbee911; 01-02-2019 at 02:19 AM.

  10. #10
    Ultimate Member Tycon's Avatar
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    To jalsrix or anyone else who wants to say that Sunspot isn't black:


  11. #11
    Fantastic Member thechronic92's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jalsrix View Post
    Sunspot isn't black.

    His father might be African or native American but his mum is European ancestry.
    In the western world, that makes him black. (see Obama and Meghan Markle)

  12. #12
    Astonishing Member DragonsChi's Avatar
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    I big thing about Superhero comics is the fantasize aspect of them. The idea of inspiring to be them and what they stand for. To also want their abilities or at the very least find them interesting enough to see what they will do with them.

    That being sad there are only 2 characters on that list...maybe 3 that would accomplish that. There is the first reason.

    The next would be that the office they came out of doesn't use them. But again if the first part isn't there why would a writer be interested in using them in the first place.

    To fix the issue the X-Office should try to create Black characters with abilities people would actually want or find interesting. Along with personalities and goals the reader can actually identify with or stand behind.

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  13. #13
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    This is a very interesting topic. As outlined above there are quite a number of black male mutants (but to be honest there should be many more), but they are massively underused. This is not because readers aren't interested in reading about them. Just reading this board shows that there is a hunger to see diversity and better representation. So that being the case, it has to be that either the writers don't want to write them (for whatever reason, whether they haven't enough background, or they want to use established characters or whatever), or the editors don't want them used.

    It would be great to see someone take a real chance on a character, and run with it. Give somebody a bit of limelight and just see what happens. It is heartening to see that Bishop is in the spotlight now, but seriously, it isn't enough. Marvel comics as a whole, and the X-Men line in particular should be doing more to represent the reality of life in the USA (because that's where the stories are set in the main), instead the world of the X-Men looks like the world of the corporate elite, and is missing the lives of real people.

    Decades of potential comic book readers have been lost because of there being no representation of non white, or non heterosexual characters. Yes, there has been something of a cursory nod towards this in recent years, but come on. Look at the world around you Marvel, then go back to the drawing boards and give it all some thought.

  14. #14
    The King Fears NO ONE! Triniking1234's Avatar
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    They didn't catch on because they didn't have anyone around to keep pushing them.

    I wish people liked spamming Dust as much as they spam Glob.

  15. #15
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    On the main topic, I want to say "they didn't try hard enough" and "they didn't dare enough", I guess. Bravest story choice they made with a black character recently was making Bishop a genocidal ******* more than a decade ago. For characters to really catch on they have to be consistently used, and for them to be consistently used they need to have a compelling backstory and interesting personal traits. Main issue is that we don't live in a golden age for comics anymore, so it's not like Marvel is getting a bunch of new readers every week. So, if they try to push black characters and realize it doesn't sell as much as they'd like, they'll probably put them back in the background. It's complicated. I wish they pushed more black male characters, but I don't see anyone outside of an eventual Al Ewing doing it.

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