Sunspot. Afro-Brazilian Mutant.
The first three images are of Roberto Da Costa, an Afro-Brazilian mutant teenager known as Sunspot. His power grants him the ability to absorb solar energy and convert that into superhuman strength, also giving him a black aura with an amazing Kirby Krackle around him. If I recall from “The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition,” he can bench press roughly 10 tons (I could be wrong on this one). At some point later in his career, Sunspot could project beams of energy and could fly. But I’ll focus on his base power set.
What made Sunspot a different kind of “brick” character than others is that Sunspot had limits. Most of my favorite characters had limitations that forced heroes to be smart with their powers. Sunspot needed solar energy, so at night or in darkness, he could be at a disadvantage. His costume made of Unstable Molecules stored solar energy, but it wasn’t an unlimited supply. Also spending too much energy too fast could leave him without enough of a charge to power up. At times Sunspot’s mental and emotional fatigue could impact his abilities as well. Sunspot didn’t look like some buffed out dude either. He looked rather average, like any other teenager.
Being one of the few Black faces in the X-Men books and the only one in my FAVORITE book and team “The New Mutants,” Sunspot quickly became “my dude.” We both had quick tempers, or as I say “a low tolerance for foolishness,” felt like we were bound for better things, and felt like no one really understood us. Sunspot and I had dreams of becoming full fledged members of The X-Men. We were going to have a X-Men branch in Baltimore City and the base would be a hollowed out Sentinel. Then Dani Moonstar would one day see me in a new light and we’d get married. Then…
I see you looking at me like that. Stop that. Don’t disrespect Young Kofi’s dream.
Anyway… So I guess you are asking who is the guy in the fourth picture? Why that’s Roberto Da Costa! No, it’s not an error or fan drawing. Nope, this is a panel from a Marvel comic. Over the last several years, Sunspot has been a victim or whitewashing.
[Whitewashing, verb: 1. Paint (a wall, building, or room) with a whitewash. 2. Deliberately attempt to conceal unpleasant or incriminating facts about (someone or something)]
Nowadays when people think of Whitewashing, they are talking about removing a person’s color or a person of color from various types of media or replacing a person of color in exchange for a White person.
In Sunspot’s case, he went from being a chocolate brown young man to a White adult. Or what the creators at the books who were on those titles must have felt a “real Brazilian” looks like. It couldn’t have been a lack of knowledge, Sunspot has been around since 1982 and has always been the same guy. I know you’re asking, “Maybe Da Costa got that Sammy Sosa treatment?” Naw, he didn’t get that Sosa Cream Job, nor is it vitiligo or a side effect of his powers, or even a lack of talent as other characters were colored with skill and care. Well actually, historically comics have a long history of not properly coloring Black, Brown, Asian characters… But that’s another topic altogether.
You’re probably asking, “Damn, Kofi. Why does this bother you so much?”
Because the whole crux of Sunspot’s origin is that he is AFRO-BRAZILIAN!!! In his first appearance, his power activated when his anger got the best of him. Darn Kofi, why was he angry?” Roberto was livid because his White (or fair skinned Brazilians) peers verbally and physically assaulted him. And from the dialog, this wasn’t the first time it happened. As a kid growing up in the 80’s, I know that feeling and have reacted in the same way (without the powers).
Many “fans” argue it’s not a big deal. Especially when The New Mutants film was announced and the actor looked NOTHING like Sunspot. They couldn’t grasp his culture and race. It’s like making Shang-Chi a kid from Malibu or T’Challa a British Crusader. “Well what about Nick Fury?” Nick Fury’s origin isn’t tied into a racial background. Peter Parker, Matt Murdock, Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne (ok, we know Gotham City Police aren’t going to let a Black man act an ass like Batman is allowed..) all could be any race or background. For me it’s not difficult to grasp. But fanboys be fanboying…
Last I saw, Sunspot was back to being Black and a member of The New Mutants after a stint as an Avenger. I’m glad for him. He hasn’t offered me an invite to The X-Men, it kinda hurts but then again Krakoa is hella full right now. It’s just good to see this character still be in the public eye and hopefully he will get his proper shine at some point. And don’t worry about me joining another superhero team, another crew in Dakota City offered me a shot to be down with their team. Not sure what this “jumped in” talk is all about though…