Fantastic Four #26 Franklin *spoilers*

[jwatson]

Chip Zdarsky said he wrote the X-Men/FF mini as a metaphor for a trans teen coming out to their family.

https://www.xplainthexmen.com/2020/0...cious-baubles/
https://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/20...rans-allegory/

I can absolutely say i had no idea this was a thing. Then i don't do twitter or podcasts and stuff so when i saw it mentioned in the thread i was like is this really a thing where people are going after Slott for being transphobic and now seeing this i kind of get where people are coming from but i don't think Slott was being transphobic at all and if i'm honest i feel it does a diservice to real trans issues that need to be addressed to be using it as a way to imo "get over on a writer in a smart way." for making a move people don't like. I think this is highly unfair to Dan Slott, i don't know anything about the man but to get a label like that based on essentially doing the same thing that was done to Wanda and Pietro. I mean was it rape when Storm lost her powers.

[Journey]

I can absolutely say i had no idea this was a thing. Then i don't do twitter or podcasts and stuff so when i saw it mentioned in the thread i was like is this really a thing where people are going after Slott for being transphobic and now seeing this i kind of get where people are coming from but i don't think Slott was being transphobic at all and if i'm honest i feel it does a diservice to real trans issues that need to be addressed to be using it as a way to imo "get over on a writer in a smart way." for making a move people don't like. I think this is highly unfair to Dan Slott, i don't know anything about the man but to get a label like that based on essentially doing the same thing that was done to Wanda and Pietro. I mean was it rape when Storm lost her powers.

People are being so dramatic about this it's not even comparable to the Maximoff retcon which completely butchered Pietro as a character to this day, & made Wanda a complete fraud. Franklin's mutancy had barely even been plot point until this year all this does in theory is takes him off some stupid list why are people so bothered?

[cranger]

Forget Franklin (who will probably end up being a mutant again by the end of the plot), what is up with Artie and Leech? This issue makes it sound like they have been lost in space since before Krakoa but a data page in Cable said they were on Krakoa. While I don't take anything those pages say as truth anyway, it seems like someone didn't bother to check where they were or weren't. Also, can Artie talk now? And is he still not a mutant?

[baxer]

I can absolutely say i had no idea this was a thing. Then i don't do twitter or podcasts and stuff so when i saw it mentioned in the thread i was like is this really a thing where people are going after Slott for being transphobic and now seeing this i kind of get where people are coming from but i don't think Slott was being transphobic at all and if i'm honest i feel it does a diservice to real trans issues that need to be addressed to be using it as a way to imo "get over on a writer in a smart way." for making a move people don't like. I think this is highly unfair to Dan Slott, i don't know anything about the man but to get a label like that based on essentially doing the same thing that was done to Wanda and Pietro. I mean was it rape when Storm lost her powers.

Wanda was called the pretender and people had no problem with that. She had much more shared story with X-men than Franklin.
There was also when Rosenberg did the trans metaphor and people were mad at him.

I also think it is a disservice, it is 2020 and it is time to have real trans representation. A white cis rich kid is not representation.
Now looking back it makes even less sense, they alwys knew he was a mutant, that wasn't a secret. He just wasn't interested on being a x-men, nothing wrong with that

If Slott isn't transphobic, he just didn't knew about the metaphor created by Chip.

[Hulkout42]

People are being so dramatic about this it's not even comparable to the Maximoff retcon which completely butchered Pietro as a character to this day, & made Wanda a complete fraud. Franklin's mutancy had barely even been plot point until this year all this does in theory is takes him off some stupid list why are people so bothered?

Because they are stupid and get triggered at the drop of a hat. Like for example that crazy lady who got angry because Mandalorian armor is tailored made to to conform to a woman's body and apparently that's sexist. I see this as something like that, i'm no fan of Slott but it is just plain stupid to get angry over a perceived sleight but that is the world we live in now i guess.

[Hulkout42]

uh, what?

Damn this thread has gone off the rails.

Everyone take a sip of water and breath.

That seems to be par the course whenever anything related to mutants occurs that people immediately assume it's some means of hurting them in some shape or form.

[danielsan52]

Judging by the characters returning, I think Slott is continuing upon the DeFalco/Ryan era. It looks like Psi-Lord is coming back in some form which leads me to believe Hyperstorm is the culprit behind the Xavier message.

I hope Sharon is next.

[OopsIdiditagain]

In the end, it was all just a phase. Franklin didn't want to be "like the other kids".

Does this mean Franklin is the Rachel Dolezal of the mutant world?

[Agent Z]

Stan Lee intended first of all for Marvel comics to sell and be successful. Anything else he intended for the X-Men is secondary to that.

The fact is when X-Men claimed the metaphor under Claremont it became Marvel's biggest team and the biggest superhero comic of the '80s and 90s.

Trying to ignore that reality and going back to some grandfather meaning is just bad faith reasoning.

Yeah, the X-Men have changed. Some would argue it wasn't for the better given how much of a blunder they've made with the mutant metaphor over the decades. We were already seeing problems when Kitty Pryde used the n-word twice.

The point is, the mutant metaphor is not as sacrosanct as most X-Men fans think it is and not everyone is obliged to take it seriously.

[Agent Z]

The Mutant Metaphor has been improved with more nuances by countless writers since Stan Lee. If only the intention of the original author mattered then Superman would still be a japanese hating xenophobe

That wasn't the original author's intent.

[OopsIdiditagain]

What's also stupid is that this isn't the first time Franklin has lost his powers. That boy loses his powers at the drop of a hat and neither Cerebro or Reed picked up on this before?

I feel like Marvel sees Franklin's powers as an issue and tries to resolve it by depowering him.

[Tmacaoni]

See that's the type of mess/drama I would live for!! I literally brought up this storyline in the YA thread today.

Nope. Nope. Nope. I cannot have the X-men use Speed and Wiccan for a mission, say they are not mutants and get booted off the island with them not being mutants and turned into some magic constructs or something for the rest of their time. They are safe right now. I'm over these characters being mutants, then having it stripped away just cause. I mean there are mutants that aren't strictly under X-will. Wanda, Pietro, Tyronne and Tandy.. now Franklin. It kinda getting lame.

[OopsIdiditagain]

So when are we getting a supervillain Franklin story?

If any character deserves to be turned into a villain, it's Franklin.

He really does, not because he's unlikeable but his entire concept is scary. He's like that kid from the Twilight Zone... A cool hero on paper, but a nightmare when you start thinking about what would happen irl if any teen got reality-warping abilities.

[Anthony W]

All of this angst over Franklin not being a mutant?

Really?

Oh no, now he will never get to occasionally visit Krakoa.

[OopsIdiditagain]

I'm just waiting for them to decide that all mutants should be under the X-Men/Krakoa blanket, resulting in Molly Hayes being retconned into..something else [eyeroll]

I can see Krakoa unironically banning multiple citizenships.