Maggott reveals his origins!
Originally Published June 1998
We begin with bad bones as Dr. Reyes examines Marrow -- after the adventure in N'garaiworld it's as good a time as any for a checkup.
Dr. R wants to see Maggott next, but the South African missing. He's hiding his sherbet in Storm's attic -- it seems he simply does not want to have his guava examined!
Wolverine of course finds him with ease and deduces that he's hiding and maybe has a story to tell. So Maggott relents, "Ag, fine, I'll tell you my tragic backstory."
We begin in the South African region of Transvaal, a beautiful place marred by the human stain of apartheid.
There, he, his parents, and four siblings, lived in a small shack. There was would-be photojournalist older brother Lot, sweet, innocent perfect baby brother Daniel, and of course, sickly Japheth, who at twelve yeares old looked even younger than Daniel due to his mystery illness.
Life was hard, and caring for Japheth made it harder. Hearing his mother praying for an end to the suffering, little Japh decided to do his family a favor and drive the family car out into the Kalahari until it was out of gas.
Unfortunately, the backseat of the family jeep just happened to be the favourite napping spot of innocent, beautiful Daniel, who unwittingly came along on Japeth's suicide attempt.
Then when things looked their bleakest, the pair was seemingly visited by an angel in devil's robes.
Magneto does what he can to ease the boy's pain, activating his mutant powers and causing his famous slugs Eany and Meany to burst forth from his abominal cavity.
As Japheth is introduced to the idea that he is a mutant, and begins to feel better, Magneto flies the three of them home, only to find that the village is in the process of being razed in a pre-strike against any kind of anti-apartheid uprising.
Worse, Lot, with his camera, was put to death by soldiers, apparently wary of his buddying photojournalism skills. Japheth's father had already joined the fighting, and Magneto brings the boy to the scene.
With that, Japheth is brutally initiated into the struggle for survival -- as a mutant, and as a black man in South Africa as Magneto slaughters the soldiers mercilessly while the rebels cheer him on.
Japheth, however, is shocked -- he didn't think the violence was necessary, and rejects Magneto's idea that the humans are mere animals compared to mutants. Magneto forgives the contradiction -- one day, he thinks, Japheth will grow out of it.
With that, Magneto takes his leave and Japeth learns the full truth about his strange power -- that the slugs are is digestive system, which is why he doesn't eat, a fact he is quite self-conscious about. It also hurts when they go back in.
There's more to tell, says Japheth, but Logan says they can talk about it later.
Soon after, Storm arrives. Speaking of Africa, she's been at the post office picking up months and months of undelivered mail, including a summons from her homeland -- only she can defeat the evil that has come to her village!
Further Thoughts:
So let's get this out of the way first -- this was a good story, well-told. My brisk write-up style doesn't even really do justice to it. Although he hasn't been able to demonstrate it much so far, Joe Kelly can write with heart and bring pathos to unexpected characters, which was pretty much the signature of his run on Deadpool. Tying Maggott to the real-world violence of apartheid -- which the character would pretty much have to be -- is a canny way to link the mutant struggle to relevant real-world issues. What's more, you feel for it on a personal level as the emergence of his mutant power represents a hardship for his already struggling family. Lastly, we also have an answer to the question of what role Magneto played in his backstory, why they are on good terms without Maggott being aligned with him exactly. This was a really strong effort that fits with what we know and what should be true about Maggott, including the unpleasant parts of his mutant power.
The question is -- so what? Maggott may have a stirring backstory, but he's also an annoying clown who overuses South African slang, fancies himself a player, and has a somewhat absurd power that hasn't meaningfully contributed to a fight, ever. It's like finding out Jar Jar Binks' backstory is that his family was killed and eaten... that's horrifying, but you're still the "mesa" guy that trips a lot. Being a product of real-world intolerance, and having suffered hardship, doesn't change any of that, and doesn't give us a clear way forward with the character. Okay, so he doesn't eat, and he feels self-conscious about it, and his mutant power causes him pain and discomfort. That's good to know, and I'm sympathetic, but that doesn't undo all the times he was irksome or useless nor signify that he won't be in the future. What is his place on the team going forward? The most interesting thing is his entanglement with Magneto, who has been on the fringes of the book for sometime but has not returned to the action in any major way. If we can see those two interact again, I might take notice.
So it seems like the character had one thing going -- an intriguing and moving backstory that would be revealed when the time was right. Now that card has been played. If the cringeworthy things about Maggott could be downplayed and he could take an active role in the team, the character could be rehabilitated, and stand as a strong link not just to real-world history but an ongoing parable about tolerance and understand because his power is so out there and physically objectionable. I really believe the character could be better, but I don't have faith that he will.
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| No, I don't, what does "hap" mean? |
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