Bishop War College Issue 3 Recap/ Review

[Triniking1234]

Even AU Moiras have gone full racist.

Shouldn't the AU Moira be black?

[Grunty]

So in this world for some undefined biological reasons, only humans who could, based on specific physical features, be roughly grouped into the ethnicity of "sub-saharan africans" can develop the X-gene?

And for some also undefined reasons, every character who is a mutant in the 616 and countless other alternate universes, is also a mutant in this universe and must via some super natural force belong to the above mentioned sub-saharan african ethnicity, rather than being baseline humans because they should not have the unspecified biological traits that would allow them to have a X-genes?

Is that how this world is supposed to be understood?

Essentialy a warped backwards application of a real world ethnicity onto characters through the fictional status of "mutant".

Wouldn't that also mean that in this universe aboriginies can't be mutants either, so both Bishop and Gateway are africans here rather than of native australian heritage?

[Kingdom X]

So in this world for some undefined biological reasons, only humans who could, based on specific physical features, be roughly grouped into the ethnicity of "sub-saharan africans" can develop the X-gene?

And for some also undefined reasons, every character who is a mutant in the 616 and countless other alternate universes, is also a mutant in this universe and must via some super natural force belong to the above mentioned sub-saharan african ethnicity, rather than being baseline humans because they should not have the unspecified biological traits that would allow them to have a X-genes?

Is that how this world is supposed to be understood?

Essentialy a warped backwards application of a real world ethnicity onto characters through the fictional status of "mutant".

Wouldn't that also mean that in this universe aboriginies can't be mutants either, so both Bishop and Gateway are africans here rather than of native australian heritage?

I think with Bishop you can always use the argument that we don’t know his entire family line so he can be of African descent as well… but yeah the logic was really confusing. And like Rift said it’s fine if you want to throw out the rules *IF* there’s something interesting to say. I personally don’t think this comic is saying anything interesting about race or in general. I genuinely don’t get what Bishop is supposed to learn from this world.

[Grunty]

I think with Bishop you can always use the argument that we don’t know his entire family line so he can be of African descent as well… but yeah the logic was really confusing. And like Rift said it’s fine if you want to throw out the rules *IF* there’s something interesting to say. I personally don’t think this comic is saying anything interesting about race or in general. I genuinely don’t get what Bishop is supposed to learn from this world.

The idea of a "mixed" heritage somehow still allowing people in that world to develop a X-gene would likely be even more of a can of worms indeed.

As for the lesson. Perhaps Bishop actualy got pulled into a House of M style warped reality and there is some message about accepting how things are in the end. But that would still feel at odds with the overall premise this title was supposed to be about.

Less Bishop: War College and more Bishop/War College. Like it's two different stories thrown into the same book.

[Rift]

I think with Bishop you can always use the argument that we don’t know his entire family line so he can be of African descent as well… but yeah the logic was really confusing. And like Rift said it’s fine if you want to throw out the rules *IF* there’s something interesting to say. I personally don’t think this comic is saying anything interesting about race or in general. I genuinely don’t get what Bishop is supposed to learn from this world.

Actually, now that I think about it, this book raises some questions. I was thinking how saying "black people are mutants" sounds bad out of context, but then I thought of something else.

Like the mutant metaphor is pretty much warped here, since it indirectly suggests that there's a superior race of people, and it's based on their ethnicity.

[cranger]

Shouldn't the AU Moira be black?

She might be if that is her with the HLF.

[Sutekh]

So in this world for some undefined biological reasons, only humans who could, based on specific physical features, be roughly grouped into the ethnicity of "sub-saharan Africans" can develop the X-gene?

Perhaps the Celestials showed up later in this Earth's history, and tinkered with the genes of populations across Africa, but didn't tinker with the ancestors of folk further north or in Asia. But, given that plenty of marriages occur between ethnic groups, the random white, Asian, aboriginal, etc. person should still have X-gene potential, inherited from an African-descended ancestor.

[Kingdom X]

Perhaps the Celestials showed up later in this Earth's history, and tinkered with the genes of populations across Africa, but didn't tinker with the ancestors of folk further north or in Asia. But, given that plenty of marriages occur between ethnic groups, the random white, Asian, aboriginal, etc. person should still have X-gene potential, inherited from an African-descended ancestor.

Right there are plenty of white passing folks with a black grandparent. Are they out of the running for an X-gene? Very little thought was put into this AND it’s not saying anything profound.

[pkingdom]

Actually, now that I think about it, this book raises some questions. I was thinking how saying "black people are mutants" sounds bad out of context, but then I thought of something else.

Like the mutant metaphor is pretty much warped here, since it indirectly suggests that there's a superior race of people, and it's based on their ethnicity.

The idea that 'humans' still hate and fear 'mutants' also takes a pretty warped turn here, since it means all non-black races (and I'm using Black because the writer doesn't seem to have realized the distinction between people like Australian Aboriginals and Africans) hate and fear them because they are racist AND because black people have terrifying superpowers, with some just being actual monsters.

Like I said, this is an OK idea (what if the X-men were black?) that becomes exponentially worse as they try to 'explain' it and give it details. You take an OK concept and accidentally make the whole thing super racist.

[skyvolt2000]

So they learned nothing after what if miles was thor

What were they suppose to learn???

All that did was help increase sales of that writer's other two books that followed that same hip hop type banter that was in Miles's book.

The issue with this is-

1) Black Mask Comics has a book called Black and one called White that does this same storyline.

2) If we accept the concept of life beginning in Africa-logic would says EVERYONE has black blood in them and thus should be able to get mutant powers. Of some type pending the generation gaps.

I would think if they wanted black only X-Men world-why not USE actual black mutants like Prodigy?

Because this looks like a try of social commentary about current events and when you put in logic-it doesn't work unless you have actually experiments that were only done on black folks or the Big Bang in Milestone where the majority of folks hit were black.

[Kingdom X]

What were they suppose to learn???

All that did was help increase sales of that writer's other two books that followed that same hip hop type banter that was in Miles's book.

The issue with this is-

1) Black Mask Comics has a book called Black and one called White that does this same storyline.

2) If we accept the concept of life beginning in Africa-logic would says EVERYONE has black blood in them and thus should be able to get mutant powers. Of some type pending the generation gaps.

I would think if they wanted black only X-Men world-why not USE actual black mutants like Prodigy?

Because this looks like a try of social commentary about current events and when you put in logic-it doesn't work unless you have actually experiments that were only done on black folks or the Big Bang in Milestone where the majority of folks hit were black.

Hmmmn you could do an ultimate universe take where mutants are the result of genetic experimentation, but the experiments were only done on black folks (as a reference to Tuskegee and similar incidents), so their descendants are the recipients of the X-gene.

[Frontier]

[/B]

Hmmmn you could do an ultimate universe take where mutants are the result of genetic experimentation, but the experiments were only done on black folks (as a reference to Tuskegee and similar incidents), so their descendants are the recipients of the X-gene.

This sounds like something they would've done with the Ultimate X-Men.

[Sutekh]

This sounds like something they would've done with the Ultimate X-Men.

And could be tweaked with various other captive populations that may have been experimented on. Only Nissei experimented on during WW2, or descendants of those exposed to radiation from Hiroshima and Nagasaki (and islanders from that Pacific Atoll that was nuked as part of atomic testing) could make an 'all mutants are Asian/Japanese' setting. Nazi experimentation during WW2 could have led to mutants being primarily Jewish or Romani, etc. All sorts of racial squiffiness would make it a possible minefield, tho.

[Huntsman Spider]

What were they suppose to learn???

All that did was help increase sales of that writer's other two books that followed that same hip hop type banter that was in Miles's book.

The issue with this is-

1) Black Mask Comics has a book called Black and one called White that does this same storyline.

2) If we accept the concept of life beginning in Africa-logic would says EVERYONE has black blood in them and thus should be able to get mutant powers. Of some type pending the generation gaps.

I would think if they wanted black only X-Men world-why not USE actual black mutants like Prodigy?

Because this looks like a try of social commentary about current events and when you put in logic-it doesn't work unless you have actually experiments that were only done on black folks or the Big Bang in Milestone where the majority of folks hit were black.

[/B]

Hmmmn you could do an ultimate universe take where mutants are the result of genetic experimentation, but the experiments were only done on black folks (as a reference to Tuskegee and similar incidents), so their descendants are the recipients of the X-gene.

I believe something like that or similar enough was the explanation for how metahumans in the Black Lightning TV series came to exist in or around Freeland; the U.S. government was mixing experimental psychoactive substances into a vaccine that would be distributed primarily in black neighborhoods in hopes of tamping down potential unrest there, only it gave them superpowers instead, so the government tried to control and weaponize them instead. The third season even revealed that the operation went back all the way to World War II, with the first metahuman created being an African-American soldier who went rogue and became one of the main villains of that season, and every subsequent presidential administration being aware of it and keeping it a secret from the American people.

[ARkadelphia]

Shouldn't the AU Moira be black?

It’s a
Nice day
For a
White Moira
- Billy Idol