| Dust | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | New X-Men #133 (Dec. 2002) |
| Created by | Grant Morrison Ethan Van Sciver |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Sooraya Qadir |
| Species | Human mutant |
| Team affiliations | Hellions training squad New X-Men Xavier Institute X-Men in training Young X-Men Jean Grey School Students Champions |
| Notable aliases | Congregation Glass |
| Abilities |
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Dust (Sooraya Qadir) is asuperheroine appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. The character usually appears inX-Men-related comic books. Sooraya is a mutant with the ability to transform her body into a pliable cloud of dust.
Sooraya Qadir, alias Dust, was created by writerGrant Morrison and artistEthan Van Sciver for the comic book seriesNewX-Men #133 (December 2002). Dust has since appeared in variousX-Men related comic book series, miniseries, and storylines.
Sooraya Qadir is aPashtun Muslim fromKandahar, Afghanistan, who possesses the mutant ability to transform into a sand-like substance. The character's origin story depicts her being kidnapped by slavers who attempt to remove her religious head covering, theniqab. This event triggers Sooraya's mutant power for the first time, killing her attackers.[1] After being rescued byWolverine andFantomex, Sooraya enrolls at theXavier Institute for Mutant Education and Leadership, a school dedicated to training mutants to control their powers and coexist with humanity.
After leadership of the school goes toEmma Frost andCyclops, Sooraya is made a member of theHellions training squad.[2] After Sooraya's squad wins the field day competition and the academic year ends,Hellion invites the Hellion Squad to his home in Los Angeles for summer vacation. While there, the Hellion Squad encounters theKingmaker, a powerful criminal with the power to make "dreams come true" through favors and connections, but for whom favors are expected in return. The Kingmaker finds Sooraya's mother and arranges for a trip back to Afghanistan so that Sooraya can reunite with her. She is soon flown back to L.A. to deliver on her part of the deal; stealing an advanced bio-weapon, which she later learns will be sold toDoctor Octopus in New York. The Hellions break their deal with the Kingmaker and end up destroying the weapon.
During the events of "Decimation", theScarlet Witch removes the powers of over 90% of the mutant population, thereby reducing the population of Xavier's student body to only 27 students (including Dust).[3] Sooraya andWallflower are targeted byWilliam Stryker's crusade against the Xavier Institute, asNimrod has informed Stryker that the two pose a significant threat to him. Wallflower is killed, but Dust survives and goes on to take down most of Stryker'sPurifiers by herself.[4][5]
Sometime after Cyclops disbands the institute, Sooraya returns to Afghanistan. Shortly afterwards, Cyclops asks her to return to New York to join his new team ofYoung X-Men. Unaware that "Cyclops" is actuallyDonald Pierce in disguise, the Young X-Men proceed with their first mission to take down a newBrotherhood of Mutants supposedly composed of the originalNew Mutants. In the ensuing battle againstMagma, a blast of flame turns Dust's sand form into glass. Sooraya's glass form is later shattered in a battle betweenDonald Pierce andGraymalkin. However, Magma uses her powers to return the glass back into sand and Sooraya is able to revert to human form.[6]
During a conversation with the now-incarcerated Pierce, Sooraya reveals to him that she is dying.[7] It is later revealed that her body is gradually transforming back into glass, withBeast giving her less than a week to live.[8] Dust ultimately dies despite Beast's efforts to save her.[9] Shortly before Dust is to be buried,Ink uses hisPhoenix Force tattoo to revive her, with the strain leaving Ink catatonic.
Initial solicits for the post-Schism X-Men split show Dust siding with the majority of younger X-Men and moving toWestchester as part of Wolverine's team. She initially sides with Wolverine's team, but ultimately chooses to remain with Cyclops' faction.
In line with Sooraya's character as a traditional Muslim, she chooses to don a loose-fitting black dress, with a niqab covering her face. Sooraya explains to her mother that she dresses this way because of the modesty it affords her from men. Her mother is happy that she lives somewhere where she is able to make those choices.[10]
Dust is a transmorph, able to transform herself into an explosive cloud of sand-like silicon particles and maintain control of her sand form. She can reform her normal body at will or maintain an aerial based sand form in the shape of her human body. Her sandstorm form is resistant to most forms of injury. The form makes her hard to detect telepathically, according toJean Grey andProfessor X.[1] She is also resistant to magic.[11] She can use the form to attack, for instance, scouring the flesh from her enemies' bones like a sandstorm as well as enter people's lungs and scouring them from the inside.
Peter Eckhardt ofCBR.com called Dust one of the "favorite characters with connections to the 616 AAPI community," writing, "Qadir's Sunni Muslim faith is a critical part of her character. She's depicted almost exclusively wearing traditional Muslim dress consisting of a niqab atop an abaya. Although her faith occasionally creates conflict with other characters, Qadir's faith remains strong and makes her one of the most positive representations of Muslim women in speculative fiction."[12] Marc Buxton ofDen of Geek said, "We have the devout Muslim warrior Dust, one of the bravest X-Men to join Xavier’s team in the 21st century. When a slave trader forcibly tried to remove her niqab, Sooraya Qadir manifested her power to turn her body into sand and flayed him alive. Dust remains one of X-Men’s bravest, using her unwavering faith and powers to help other young mutants. For Dust, her eyes tell the whole story, of faith and pain, of belief and bravery."[13]
Although Dust is a character in the mainMarvel Universecontinuity (also called "Earth-616,"), she has also been depicted in other fictional universes and alternate futures.
An alternate universe version of Dust appears inHouse of M. This version is a member of the New Mutants and a close friend ofJubilee.
An alternate universe version of Dust appears inX-Men: The End. This version remained at the Xavier Institute as the caretaker ofCyclops and Emma Frost's children. During an attack on the institute, Dust encountersMadelyne Pryor, who kills and later impersonates her.
In a dystopic future depicted inYoung X-Men, Dust's soul is corrupted following her resurrection by Ink, leading her to attack the Xavier Institute and kill Ink, Wolverine, Graymalkin, and Emma Frost.[20]
