WILLIAM SUMNER

Real Name: William Sumner

Identity/Class: Human mutate

Occupation: Possible revolutionary

Group Membership: The Mutant Civil Rights Task Force, Third Species

Affiliations: Alex Clowes, Dean Crawford, Helen Sumner, Malcolm Whitman

Enemies: His father

Known Relatives: Helen Sumner (mother), unidentified father

Aliases: "Billy," Nathan Plummer

Base of Operations: Los Angeles, California, USA

First Appearance: X-Factor II#1 (June, 2002)

Powers/Abilities: William Sumner possessed no inherent superhuman powers but sought to become a mutant by implanting mutant organs within his body. His liver had been transplanted with one from a mutant but any superhuman powers this gave him, if any, were unrevealed.

Height: Unrevealed (see comments)
Weight: Unrevealed (see comments)
Eyes: Unrevealed, presumably brown (see comments)
Hair: Brown

History: (X-Factor II#4 (fb) - BTS) - William Sumner was recruited by the Mutant Civil Rights Task Force to act as a mole within a mutant extremist group.

(X-Factor II#1 (fb) - BTS) - Joining up with the Third Specials radicals, possibly as part of his role as a mole, William Sumner had his liver replaced with a liver harvested from a mutant. Telling his parents that he was a mutant, Sumner found that his father was ashamed of his "mutant" nature. During the production of the movie Hero X, Billy Sumner began using the alias of Nathan Plummer and befriended the son of civil rights activist Sterling Whitman, Malcolm Whitman, and Dean Crawford. William and Malcolm became very close until they had a falling out after Malcolm discovered that William was not a true mutant but had only replaced his liver with that of a mutant. A week later, seemingly unaware that Malcolm had deduced his status as a secret mole for the Mutant Civil Rights Task Force into his revolutionary activities, William Sumner contacted the anti-mutant Alex Clowes and asked to meet at the Hollywood Sign. Once there, however, William was attacked and shot six times in the chest, afterwards having the word "mutant" carved into his chest and hung from the Hollywood Sign. Seemingly unaware of the murder, Alex figured Sumner simply didn't show up.

(X-Factor II#1) - William's corpse was found on the letter Y of the Hollywood Sign and a preliminary examination of his body uncovered the six gunshot wounds, massive head trauma and severe blood loss due to the carvings on his chest. The attack drew the FBI's Mutant Civil Rights Task Force into the investigation of William Sumner's death. Working with the LAPD, the Mutants Civil Rights Task Force urged anyone with information on William's murder to come forth and promised William's mother that they would pursue the responsible parties. After learning from William Sumner's ally Alex Clowes that William was human, the MCRTF visited the coroner's office, where coroner Mike informed them that William Sumner's live was not his own, belonging instead to a mutant. Figuring William's connection to the Third Species organization, which sought to become mutants by transplanted mutant organs into their own bodies, the MCRTF informed Helen Sumner that William was not actually a mutant, information that Helen was relieved to hear since William's father had been ashamed of William's "mutant" nature. Despite the revelation that William was not an actual mutant, the MCRTF remained on the case so as to not make it seem like those of the Third Species were not entitled to the same rights. A short time later, Sterling Whitman contacted the MCRTF to inform them about Sumner's relationship with his son Malcolm under the alias of Nathan Plummer and he gave the MCRTF a dossier containing everything the Whitmans knew about "Nathan Plummer." The meeting was cut short when the FBI apprehended Dean Crawford as a suspect for William's murder but when Crawford spontaneously combusted while yelling that he had not spilled the beans about Malcolm's involvement, the MCRTF investigated Malcolm at his home and were attacked. During the attack, Malcolm laughed that neither William nor Dean had lived long enough to reveal information on Malcolm's revolutionary activities.

Comments: Created by Jeff Jensen and Arthur Ranson.

William Sumner's height & weight were impossible to determine, as he was only ever seen as a corpse within his only appearance. His eye color was also impossible to determine. While he is seen on the cover of X-Factor II#1 with his eyes open, the art only shows his eyes as black. Since his hair is brown and his eyes are at least a dark color based on the cover art, I'd say his eyes were likely brown.

It was never explained exactly if Malcolm Whitman committed the murder of William Sumner or if he maybe had someone do the killing. He certainly seemed behind it, regardless of who committed the actual kill.

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
William or Helen Sumner have no KNOWN connections to:

Alex Clowes has no KNOWN connections to:
Alex Clowes

Residing in the Hollywood Hills, Alex Clowes was an acquaintance of William Sumner and had a record for mutant harassment. One night receiving a call from William to meet at the Hollywood Sign, Alex assumed William was a no-show, unaware at the time that William had been beaten to death. While there, a witness reported seeing Alex's car at the scene of William's murder and the Mutant Civil Rights Task Force tracked Alex to an anti-mutant hate cell in the Valley. Interrogating Alex, the MCRTF was shocked when Alex claimed William Sumner was not a mutant.






--X-Factor II#1
Helen Sumner

Helen Sumner was William Sumner's mother. Following William's death, Helen appeared at a press conference where the FBI's Mutant Civil Rights Task Force assured her that they would do everything in their power to pursue those responsible for William's murder. After discovering that William was not a mutant but had only replaced his liver with a mutant's, Helen was informed of the discovery and was relieved, as William's father had always felted ashamed of William's "mutant" nature.






--X-Factor II#1

images: (without ads)
X-Factor II#1, p1, pan7 (William Sumner, hanging from Hollywood Sign, main image)
X-Factor II#1, front cover (William Sumner, headshot)
X-Factor II#1, p8, pan1 (William Sumner's corpse)
X-Factor II#1, p7, pan6 (Alex Clowes)
X-Factor II#1, p8, pan4 (Helen Sumner)

Appearances:
X-Factor II#1 (June, 2002) - Jeff Jensen (writer), Arthur Ranson (art), Mark Powers (editor)
X-Factor II#4 (October, 2002) - Jeff Jensen (writer), Arthur Ranson (art), Andrew Lis (editor)

Last updated: 01/18/17

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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