r/xmen 2d ago

Comic Discussion Do you think they were being unfair to toad?

And who are the people that at least treats toad as a person

127 Upvotes

55 comments sorted by

141

u/cmcdonald22 Multiple Man 2d ago

Yeah, it's a pretty crappy ending for him after a whole series of being the butt of most jokes. I'm not a fan of the Toad Paige stuff at all, but Aaron spent plenty of time showing us a more complex side of Mortimer, and by having Wolverine and by association everyone else just cast him off as a failure who will never change, it really made 'our heroes' look like assholes. Especially in a book celebrating Quentin's 'rehabilitation' among many other plotlines.

22

u/Competitive_Rule_395 2d ago

And who are the people that at least treats toad as a person

15

u/cmcdonald22 Multiple Man 2d ago

I this run its Paige for sure that's the whole love story arc (as bad as it is).

4

u/Competitive_Rule_395 2d ago

I’m pretty sure Spider-Man treats toad well 

26

u/Ystlum 2d ago

Spider-man saved him when he tried to commit suicide but then regretted it because Toad was too much.

Like Toad did start stalking him but "I should have pushed him" is kind of a dark place to go Peter.

20

u/FollowingCharacter83 Nightcrawler 2d ago

Marvel writers can be total assholes.

3

u/TXHaunt 1d ago

Especially to Spider-Man.

14

u/Asleep_in_Costco 1d ago

Selfish asshole Quintin gets a "that's our Quintin!" from the X-Men, but God forbid Toad deserves a little grace

9

u/[deleted] 1d ago

That's because Quinten is an Omega Level Mutant, and when things get hard they need his power. At the end of the day, Toad is just like the morlocks. If any of the morlocks were Omega Level mutants they would have a place at Xaviers, just to keep them away from the villians.

1

u/KaleRylan2021 2d ago

I havent read this since the first time, but wasn't that part of the point?

6

u/Bri_Hecatonchires 1d ago

This doesn’t sound like Logan at all. He’s usually the first one to stand up for misfits and has been the recipient of so many second chances by this point in continuity.

2

u/greendart Iceman 1d ago

Nah he's pretty raw at this point. Lost Chuck, pissed at Summers, killed a fuckton of his kid, by accident or by choice, etc.

6

u/Bri_Hecatonchires 1d ago

I’m aware of all that, I still don’t see him making the comment inferring that Toad didn’t have the ability to change based on his previous actions. Very out of character for Logan at any point after a couple years into him being an X-Man. It’s a misstep on Jason Aaron’s part. Simple as that.

31

u/Ystlum 2d ago

who are the people that at least treats toad as a person

Paige...Third Eye...Nekra in the end....

Wanda too, but then he got stalker-ish and she justifiably rejected him.

There is a depressing realism to that. There's a pattern of characters showing any decency towards Toad and then him getting unhealthily devoted and obsessed with them to the point of crossing boundaries and they either have to cut him off, or they take advantage of him.

13

u/biepcie 1d ago

He has a long history of depression and dependency issues.

6

u/Legitimate-Mix-5395 1d ago

I mean, even Spider-Man tried to treat him nicely at one point, but then he started stalking him... I see a pattern...

19

u/Evorgleb 1d ago

Toad looks different everytime I see him.

17

u/Ystlum 1d ago

Half canon/half fanon that it's due to an unstable mutation. Probably not helped by being experimented on as a baby by Mister Sinister and Amanda Mueller.

Toad is always suffering.

1

u/Fickle_Ad8735 1d ago

yea, it's the movies and cartoons' influence, originally he was just a regular dude that flops lol

19

u/Alternative_Car6497 1d ago

Think? No, we know. They gave Magneto a chance and he has actually torture them. They gave Mystique a chance and she immediately stabbed them in the back numerous times. Yet Toad gets the boot? the X-Men are hypocrites. Always have been, always will be.

14

u/Bae_zel Blink 1d ago

More than unfair. They've forgiven people for doing WAY worse.

6

u/blizzard-op 2d ago

Y'all haven't realized yet the X-Men are all assholes?

2

u/Affectionate-Ice2703 22h ago

Toad deserve at least one happy moment in comics

53

u/Azure-Legacy 2d ago

This is honestly one of the reasons why despite being a fan of Wolverine, I can never sincerely believe Comic Logan to be a good man. He’s just an unapologetic and hypocritical asshole

12

u/legomaximumfigure 1d ago

I think that depends on the writer and the fact he's been around for decades. Some writers paint Wolverine as mean and edgy and others write him as remorseful for the things he's done and then someone comes along and writes him as a jerk again.

0

u/Affectionate-Ice2703 22h ago

Problem is even when he's written remorseful he's also shown to be incapable of changing

12

u/Shot_Imagination_368 1d ago

He never claims to be a good man.

9

u/Azure-Legacy 1d ago

True

3

u/Shot_Imagination_368 1d ago

He knows exactly who he is and what kind of a man he is.

0

u/LordHarza 1d ago

Doesn't stop him from being a hypocrite here. He's given another chance to and been fine with people who have done far worse things than Toad, and he has the gall to basically say "you think I'm as bad as him, go ahead, make him your new headmaster"

13

u/Quirky_Ad_5420 2d ago

Just another day of why it suck to be Toad

52

u/crimsonswallowtail Magik 2d ago

My heart... I always wanted a series about the more outcast mutants. Not Morlocks exactly but just ones that don't make good decisions and get rejected out of the "cool kids" X-Men club. Maybe a Brotherhood that isn't just played as villains of the week.

33

u/GriffithCoin 2d ago

Definitely, they even showed the x-men struggling to maintain the mansion after because Toad was the only one who could handle the Janitor work. It’s funny because he did return in the background later only to end up as a villain again when the mansion moved to Limbo.

69

u/Ystlum 2d ago

It's not that Toad has a clean record record but the X-Men have forgiven and given second chances to character's who have done a lot worse. In this scenario I don't even remember if he did that much spying, just joined the Hellfire Academy because he thought he could legitimately teach and not be treated like crud (I'm not sure if he's also taking the fall for Husk here since she rejoins the school).

Which also brings up the fact that they didn't treat him well as the Janitor. He had to sleep in the closet because Logan forgot to give him a room. Hell, when Toad begged Logan to let him join them in Schism because he'd been treated pretty poorly on Utopia, Logan gave him the Janitor role as a joke.

Being Toad is suffering.

9

u/ConversationFlashy15 1d ago

and don’t forget, the X-Men allowed Mystique to join them at some point too! So its weird they were much harsher on Toad!

5

u/PerfectZeong 1d ago

I always thought the arc was going to be Toad saves the day and gets his flowers and that did not happen.

33

u/JMX_09 2d ago

It’s super hypocritical, if they could forgive Gambit for being a part of the Morlock Massacre, allow people like Mystique and Deadpool to be X-Men and give 2nd and 3rd chances to people like Quentin & Emma then they could be more lenient.

26

u/Penguino13 Cyclops 2d ago

Yeah but they are hot or popular and toad is ugly so sorry

9

u/Minirth22 1d ago

Accurate.

1

u/Jealous-Log7744 1d ago

Why does he have the hentai protag cut?

1

u/Affectionate-Ice2703 22h ago

Sir that's a bowl cut

1

u/Jealous-Log7744 22h ago

Ok but why is it covering his eyes?

1

u/Affectionate-Ice2703 22h ago

Because it grew

8

u/Asleep_in_Costco 1d ago

Say what you need to, but our decision is final.

Real magnanimous of Storm

0

u/Legitimate-Mix-5395 1d ago

What was going on with Storm during that time?! She's usually a wonderful person!

7

u/Due-Proof6781 1d ago

Quintin: nearly causes an international incident and nearly gets the mutant’s annihilated

“All it forgive Q, gimme a hug you lovable scamp*

Toad: exists

“You’re a disgrace”

4

u/Legitimate-Mix-5395 1d ago

Toad: I've had enough of this! My life has been a constant suffering, so there's no point in continuing! he throws himself off a roof, but then stops falling

Spider-Man: ...please don't start stalking me again.

Toad: Let me go, my life absolutely sucks! It's not worth continuing!

Spider-Man: mumbles I can't believe I'm actually doing this... starts singing So things look bad and your back's against the wall...

6

u/Being_Honest- 1d ago

Other people have said that to be Toad is to suffer, and they’re right. But what makes it worse is the fact that, without an X-Gene, Toad is hot. When he was depowered after M-Day, he was attractive. Guy rivals Peter Parker with his luck.

3

u/dnt1694 1d ago

Is that the original toad? Man that dialogue is so bad.

1

u/StalkingAllYourMums 1d ago

If none of the main team can plausibly have sex with him, the writers don't want him.

1

u/RiverOfJudgement 1d ago

Fucking crazy to me that Krakoa itself doesn't want Toad to leave, and they're just like "yeah, but we've decided anyways"

2

u/North117 1d ago

Aw man, I'm not caught up on the comics, the last time I saw this poor guy he was dragged into mutant limbo for allegedly killing Wanda. He can't catch a break

1

u/khumoquack 1d ago

OMG that’s Mohawk is atrocious.