More eXposure to male X-men of color?

[BroHomo]

1. Japheth describes Eenie and Meanie as "slugs" not "maggots".
2. There are TWO "maggots" not one, suggesting that Japheth himself is the maggot.
3. Maggots are an animal associated with negative, repulsive, dead and therefore inanimate things.
4. It rhymes with the homosexual slur "faggot".
.

1. Slugs leave a trail of slime behind them Japeth can call them puppies doesn't change what they are.
2. Yes because its his codename not his "slugs"
3.Xmen names are pretty weird
4. Yeah so?

Black, helmeted, caped, and dangerous, Shola could be the mutant Killmonger the X-Books need in the 21st century.

yeah + Killmonger is name that *POPS!* and sticks with you

[Paleo_Rage]

I described the name as terrible, and listed my reasons. They my reasons, not Marvel's.

My goalposts for this discussion are probably different than the OP. Having monstrous mutants as roster filler and wallpaper faces is one thing, but X-Men need more active, powerful, and heroic males of color in positions of prominence. I feel the name and the powers are detrimental to that goal. Others don't agree. That's fine.

It's also why I try to steer the conversation toward mutants who have the potential for that level of prominence: Bishop, Darwin, Shola, Bedlam, Prodigy.

I see you. I get the points you are making. And I agree with you.

[Tazpocalapse]

I kinda consider Maggot a mutant version of Matter Eater Lad. A mutant that has a digestive system that can be deployed in the form of 2 slug-like creatures. I know this is not how his powers are really explained but i like the idea of the slugs being his digestive system mutated into 2 organisms that create a improved digestive system that can absorb different forms of matter to convert into energy that makes Japheth Stronger and more durable. I like that his abilities are unique and not as visually appealing it is one of the things that makes mutants unique from run of the mill build to perfection superheroes.

[Paleo_Rage]

I think you can have Maggott and his wondrous batshit self and have more conventionally designed mutants of color.

I mean in a perfect world yes but we know bad powers impact use of characters. Cypher was killed early on. He was dead for quite a while and when he really came back he got a major upgrade power wise. I jheard back in the day he generated tons of hate mail. I mean I will say that I am against silly powers.. Like I am not a fan of Warlock but I do know folks like that type of stuff. However because of the super limited number Black male mutants all I was saying was they have to be mindful. I mean we can look at Karma as a good character but I really feel it was her powers that made her a non factor in the 90s until New X men happened. Can the men of color have some good powers.

[Havok83]

I kinda consider Maggot a mutant version of Matter Eater Lad. A mutant that has a digestive system that can be deployed in the form of 2 slug-like creatures. I know this is not how his powers are really explained but i like the idea of the slugs being his digestive system mutated into 2 organisms that create a improved digestive system that can absorb different forms of matter to convert into energy that makes Japheth Stronger and more durable. I like that his abilities are unique and not as visually appealing it is one of the things that makes mutants unique from run of the mill build to perfection superheroes.

that is how his powers work

[Armageddon]

I described the name as terrible, and listed my reasons. They my reasons, not Marvel's.

My goalposts for this discussion are probably different than the OP. Having monstrous mutants as roster filler and wallpaper faces is one thing, but X-Men need more active, powerful, and heroic males of color in positions of prominence. I feel the name and the powers are detrimental to that goal. Others don't agree. That's fine.

It's also why I try to steer the conversation toward mutants who have the potential for that level of prominence: Bishop, Darwin, Shola, Bedlam, Prodigy.

Maggot can have his powers and not be treated like a joke.

He was big and powerful in his first appearances, he only got treated like a joke afterwards. I still liked him when he confronted Juggernaut in the mansion.

He can get big, the only thing that separates him from other bruisers is that he has an external digestive system.

That isn't a big deal and doesn't keep him from standing next to those other characters. He's my favorite X-Men and one of thenonly Blsck characters who isn't written as stoic.

[CRaymond]

Maggot can have his powers and not be treated like a joke.

He was big and powerful in his first appearances, he only got treated like a joke afterwards. I still liked him when he confronted Juggernaut in the mansion.

He can get big, the only thing that separates him from other bruisers is that he has an external digestive system.

That isn't a big deal and doesn't keep him from standing next to those other characters. He's my favorite X-Men and one of thenonly Blsck characters who isn't written as stoic.

Except that he's not in the books in any visible capacity.

Swing and a miss. He might be perfect in your eyes but there has to be a reason he's not chosen to be featured in ANY x-team. We can blame writers or we can discuss what theose reasons might be.

[powerpax]

The 90s were not exactly a fertile time for creativity or anything but the bog standard in the X-books in terms of character iterations. That's why Maggott, Marrow and Cecilia to a lesser extent all got the shaft, among others. He was mocked and dismissed by an audience and company reared on and working with generic brand X-Men - and the writing for him didn't help. If Maggott had come up under Morrison or in the 2000s he'd likely still be in heavy rotation today. There's always a chance to do that now. Today 'weird' characters like that are featured regularly.

[9th.]

Swing and a miss. He might be perfect in your eyes but there has to be a reason he's not chosen to be featured in ANY x-team. We can blame writers or we can discuss what theose reasons might be.

Well he is from the 90s so he might be tainted in that way. He's also weird so not as easy to write, he wasn't in any outside media so no nostalgia or any sales draw. There's also the grim reality that he's one of MANY mutants that needs more than 5 minutes of shine outside of the usual 8 characters.

[Killerbee911]

At least some people get it, Maggot isn't supposed to be a wish-fulfillment character, He is a freaky or weird type. The best comparison is probably nightcrawler who is weird and over time people found to be interesting. Quite frankly if they are going to push Eyeboy, Ink and Glob Herman. They can push Maggot but he is around in Dawn of X so that is a step in the right direction. I wonder if Hickman can make people like him.

[Beetle]

I described the name as terrible, and listed my reasons. They my reasons, not Marvel's.

My goalposts for this discussion are probably different than the OP. Having monstrous mutants as roster filler and wallpaper faces is one thing, but X-Men need more active, powerful, and heroic males of color in positions of prominence. I feel the name and the powers are detrimental to that goal. Others don't agree. That's fine.

It's also why I try to steer the conversation toward mutants who have the potential for that level of prominence: Bishop, Darwin, Shola, Bedlam, Prodigy.

Maggott isn't just an ugly monstrous wallpaper face like Rockslide or Glob Herman though. He transforms into his blue skinned form when he powers up, he's more akin to Sunspot in that way. He's more Hulk than Ben Grimm. He can potentially be a visible male of color when he's not fighting (unlike Darwin who's powers have made him permanently white skinned). I don't think its his powers that are the problem.

Maybe a new name could make him more marketable, less of a joke. But rebranding can be tricky.

[powerpax]

The way to make him 'less of a joke' is to simply lean in to what makes him unique - the name, look and powers. Again: Weird-ass X-Men like that are all the rage these days, they weren't in the 90s. Lean in on the weirdness, the novelty, the infamy in the readership and use it to push him and show what he and his unique power set and character can do. That's all you need.

[CRaymond]

I don't think its his powers that are the problem.

I don't either; I feel they need more exploration and expansion. The *idea* that his powers become more swarm-like, or "pestilence"-like was just an idea. With a character whose powers are reliant on insectoid familiars, a metamorphosis, or even several metamorphoses, are worth considering. If Warren can go blue to pink to metal to feathers and back again, Japheth can afford some recontextualization for the sake of story.

But rebranding can be tricky.

Again, I agree. But better to have a conversation than to shut them all down.

[Armageddon]

Swing and a miss. He might be perfect in your eyes but there has to be a reason he's not chosen to be featured in ANY x-team. We can blame writers or we can discuss what theose reasons might be.

Neither have Thunderbird, Lifeguard, or Slipstream.

What a shitty argument.

[CRaymond]

Neither have Thunderbird, Lifeguard, or Slipstream.

What a shitty argument.

You’re the one that brought those three up. We can discuss their character failings if you’d like, but only Thunderbird is a male PoC.