Prodigy facing someone from his past. Image: Devid Balden and David Messina, Lucas Werneck and Israel Silva, Joe Caramagna/MarvelThe eponymous team, which included Leah Williams and Carlos Gmez, made sure that mutants died before being brought back to life using Krakoa's unique resurrection process.AdvertisementX-Factor, even though it was not solely focused on investigating mutant crime, is a great example of what comic book publishers and creative agencies need to do in order to increase their queer representation. This approach, along with the effort to flesh out the characters of X-Factors, made the book dynamic and explored different aspects of queer characters' relationships issue-to-issue.It seemed that X-Factors #10 was the final issue of X-Factors. This coincided with the Hellfire Gala's conclusion. The series was about to come to an end, with the mutant squad getting glammed-up and celebrating all they did. Before X-Factor #10 was finished, however, the story took a dark turn that really hampered some of the important progress made in Marvels X-books.Along with several cases involving mutant deaths that were quickly resolved, X-Factor featured a bigger mystery about the death of young mutant David Prodigy Alleyne before he was resurrected with his powers from M-Day. David could not recall exactly what happened to him. David's death occurred around the time several mutants died in an attack at Xaviers school. This led to his working hypothesis that most of X-Factor believed that it was that attack. David, a nerd with a keen eye for details, continued to search for the truth, hoping to discover the truth about his death.Although Tommy Speed Shepherd, David's boyfriend, is less detail-oriented that David, their feelings for each other were intense long before X-Factor began. This is why they were there on the night of what David believed was his death in. X-Factor #7 shows Tommy showing David a photo taken at a club that night. This eliminates any possibility that David was at the X-Mansion.Image: Leak Williams/Marvel, David Balden. Israel Silva. Joe Caramagna/MarvelAdvertisementTommy's revelation was more than its face value. The metadata contained information that pointed to an unusual past event. The photo was not only taken during routine maintenance of Cerebro's system, but was also posted online at a different location than it was originally taken. It is not unusual to post photos of a place even if you are not physically there. All of this occurred right before David died.Between the many parts of X-Factor's story and the numerous events it was involved in, as well as the fact that Marvel cut the series short after 10 issues, David's murder kind of fell by the wayside in terms how much attention was paid to it before the book's impromptu conclusion. X-Factor #10 begins with the team preparing for the Hellfire Gala. This line-wide event required that the series be integrated while still telling its own story. However, after they arrive on Krakoa in a blinding flash light, David informs them that he must make a quick visit to the Boneyard to pick up something he forgot. X-Factor #10 follows David from Los Angeles to West Hollywood. You can immediately see that the plot was not meant to be so rushed and haphazardly given the subject matter. Prodigy walks into a gay bar near Los Angeles and two men work there. They immediately recognize him and give him a phone. Prodigy doesn't remember ever having met them. Prodigy recognizes his handwriting on the note attached to his phone. This suggests that his past self intended to find it.AdvertisementProdigy is recognized by two bartenders. Image: Devid Balden and David Messina, Lucas Werneck and Israel Silva. Joe Caramagna/MarvelDavid's phone is found and taken to Buck Thatcher's home. Buck was a film producer and is afraid to see David alive, as he killed Buck.AdvertisementBoth Buck's name and X-Factors description of his targeting young, queer Black men can be seen. The character is somewhat loosely based on a person: Ed Buck, a Democratic political fundraiser from Los Angeles, was arrested in 2019 for distribution methamphetamine and was linked to the deaths Gemmel Moore (Black man) and Timothy Dean (Black man). After years of pressure from Moores family members and other activists, Buck was arrested.Buck was a wealthy white man who wanted to find Black victims. The DAs office initially refused to bring charges against him. This is despite the fact that the police did not have to investigate further. Gemmel Moore's and Timothy Dean's experiences are horrifying. Their stories, and the calls of their loved ones for justice, were largely ignored until the mass grave of Black bodies around Ed Buck made it almost impossible for authorities to ignore them.AdvertisementBecause of their explicit anti-Black, racism as-fetishism, Ed Bucks' crimes and the implicit racism-as-fetishism that underpins them, they should be addressed and unpacked. They embody the real anti-Black racism that plagues both our justice system and certain segments of the queer community. These things were made into an afterthought to a murder mystery in an X-Men comicone, which was published on the last day Pride Month. This cannot be overemphasized. Comics, as an art form, can be used to explore the ugly side of people. However, they also have the potential to highlight the experiences of those who are traditionally marginalized. In X-Factor #10, however, the steps necessary to make this plot work were not taken. It is unclear if they would have been.Although X-Factor #10 does not directly blame Buck for his actions, the fact that he went that night with the intention of taking him down after independently confirming that he was a predator adds a layer to superheroic frivolity to stories that draw from real-life horrors. David's encounter with Buck is an opportunity for the rest X-Factor #10 to come out and talk about how they plan on leaving Buck to the human authorities because mutants have now been above killing mutants. While that may sound great, it's hard to not see this as a tactless attempt to make real news into a neat story about the kind justice Black people rarely get.AdvertisementThere is still much to love about X-Factor. It's likely that a lot of the character growth will be reflected in any future adventures that they embark on in Marvels X-books. X-Factor made the mistakes that could have been avoided when it came time to send off its version of one of Marvels most intriguing queer mutants.Are you curious about where our RSS feed went. The new one can be found here.
