We now begin the “interactive” portion of the Minority Report, beginning with a “Q&A” segment. I sent a brief questionnaire to a few folks (some of whom also passed it on to others they know) and the following are some of the responses. There may be one more next week, but for now, here are some points of view from comic fans not named Jeff Ritter. Enjoy!
First up, the Radiant Rich!
1) Do you, as a fan of comics, take much notice to the ethnic make-up of comics?
I didn’t used to, at least not a great deal, but these days I do, in large part because as someone who regularly keeps track of such things, it’s become my business to do so.
2) Do you think the amount of minority characters/content is representative of the book’s readership? Or in other words, is there enough minority content to satisfy the demands of minority readers?
Depends on how you define “enough.” I’m not certain the idea of publishers needing to reach a quota is a feasible one, and different minority readers will have different demands. Marvel and DC need to be shown that creating more minority characters – and more importantly, marketing them properly – will benefit them financially before they make it an ongoing concern.
3) What kinds of positive changes to minority representation in comics would you like to see made and how would you, if given the power to do so, make these changes?
Basically I want to see Marvel and DC take a less monolithic approach to them. Let’s see black people colored in different shades and wearing different hairstyles. Let’s see a few black super-villains as well as heroes – good ones, not like the lame ones Luke Cage always used to fight. Let’s not let political correctness stop creators from defining a given character’s specific worldview if it makes for a more compelling character (like Stuart Moore is doing with Firestorm and JM Stracyznski and Daniel Way have done with Nighthawk, despite the heat from some fans). And let’s not be afraid to stick with a new character for longer than a year – and by “new” I mean not a legacy character or a spin-off character, but someone created entirely from a whole cloth.
4) Do you believe a minority-driven product line like the Milestone comics imprint could succeed now where it failed 10 years ago?
Milestone hasn’t been wiped completely from the map; the Static animated series is proof positive that a market still exists for these characters, if only DC and Time-Warner would reach out to it further. That means investing in action figures and other merchandise; that means targeting young people, black and white, by taking advantage of the Net and other new communication outlets (like the new cell phone technology and iPods) to show off how cool the character is and build and feed interest for a new Static series. And to make sure Dwayne McDuffie gets his fair share!
A similar line certainly is possible, but advertising and marketing may be the single most important factor in launching and sustaining it.
5) Of the minority characters and minority-driven stories that have been done and are available today, what is your opinion of the products?
Improving incrementally. Reginald Hudlin has made in-roads outside the industry with Black Panther, and his presence has led to Eric Jerome Dickey’s, and Dwayne McDuffie is finally getting comics work again. Got some quality artists like Jamal Igle, Ken Lashley, Brian Stelfreeze, Khary Evans, Talent Caldwell, Dougie Braithwaite, and Olivier Coipel getting regular work, which is a good thing. DC has gotten creators like John Ridley, Gary Phillips, and Mat Johnson to do mature readers and/or creator-owned books. Marvel, however, has a better trade paperback program (when, if ever, will we see a Firestorm trade paperback? Manhunter has one, and I’d argue that Firestorm’s fanbase is bigger, however divided it may be).Overall I’d say Marvel’s a step ahead of DC in terms of minority characters, while DC’s a step ahead in terms of minority creators. For now.
6) Are the stories and the treatment of characters something minorities can relate to in a positive way? Or is the treatment of minority characters in the Marvel and DC universes a misrepresentation of minority issues and traits?
I wouldn’t put too much stock in the “relatability” factor. We can all relate to alien or non-human characters like the Silver Surfer or the Martian Manhunter or even Doop in the hands of a quality writer and artist. While some experiences are unique to specific minorities and deserve every opportunity to be explored, others are more universal, and they shouldn’t be kept out of sight.
Once again, Stuart Moore is an example of a writer attempting to paint a more complete portrait of his character, Firestorm, in a way that doesn’t shove race down the reader’s throat (like the infamous “What have you done for the black skins” scene from Green Lantern/Green Arrow, for example). Eric Jerome Dickey has brought new layers of depth to Storm and the Black Panther, and I also like the themes John Ridley is exploring in his mini-series The American Way. I don’t read every superhero book, but these are among the better examples, I believe.
Thank you Rich!
Next, I asked a friend of mine who is a huge Superman fan and a professional wrestler! The Sensational Shorty Biggs of Gateway Championship Wrestling had this to say:
Dude I wish I could add my two cents, but my knowledge of comics is not on par. Now that I think about it, the only minority comics that I have read is the one with the black Captain America. It’s a damn shame that I can’t even remember the name of that series. I guess that is an answer in itself, the fact that I have only read one minority comic series. (Nick Fury is now black – that’s pretty cool! LOL!)
A short response-he’s aptly named, folks!
Finally this week, I present the opinions of the Magnificent Mathan!
1) Do you, as a fan of comics, take much notice to the ethnic make-up of comics?
I really do. And not just character wise, I also pay attention in terms of creators. I can remember reading “Watch This Space” (which was kind of like the “DC Nation” page, only ten years ago) and being pleasantly surprised that some of the names in the comics that I enjoyed so much were Black.
I remember striking up correspondence with L.A. Williams, who was an assistant editor for DC, and it was a cool connection that was made, not just because of our love for comics, but also because of similar backgrounds.
In terms of the more apparently racial make-up of characters in comic, I’m pretty aware of that too. I’m pretty knowledgeable when it comes to DC Comics characters, so when I see a team of established characters with few or no non-white faces, in the back of my mind I usually ponder how to introduce a some color into the ranks.
Likewise, when I see a team composed of mostly new characters with few or no non-white faces, like say for instance the new Freedom Fighters I’m usually quite suspect. Case in point, the Freedom Fighters are lead by Uncle Sam, and you’d think that they’d be representative of the United States. However it appears that when the new Freedom Fighters debuts, the team will be exclusively white. I find that suspect.
2) Do you think the amount of minority characters/content is representative of the book’s readership? Or in other words, is there enough minority content to satisfy the demands of minority readers?
Interesting questions. I don’t want to get too far off topic, but I’d say that the demands of minority readers are probably on par with the demands of minority moviegoers or television viewers. Ideally there would be more minority representation, however since that’s not the case, I think that it’s safe to say that the demands of minority readers have atrophied.
It’s sad to say, but even in the escapist fantasy world of comic books, where characters can do amazing things, even in that realm, minority readers don’t really expect to see themselves there.
Based on my above statements it wouldn’t appear that there is a demand for a Black hero. But just because that’s the case now, doesn’t mean that it has to remain that way. There wasn’t always a huge demand for Wolverine and the Punisher, yet at one point the latter had three monthly titles. If there were more compelling Black characters as opposed to “Legacy” characters (like John Stewart, Firestorm, Mr. Terrific who generally suffer from a lot of backlash from the originals fans) then perhaps they could grow a following and become fan favorites.
But again, being a minority means being used to be underrepresented, whether it’s on television, in the movies or in the pages of a comic. It’s just life for us.
3) What kinds of positive changes to minority representation in comics would you like to see made and how would you, if given the power to do so, make these changes?
That’s a tough one. I guess I’ll answer the second part first; I’d recruit minority creators.
One of the great things about the current Firestorm title is that the Stuart More, the white writer, gets help from Jamal Igle, the Black artist, on how Jason Rusch, the Black character, would react to things and what kind of situations a college age Black male might have to put up with.
I really don’t expect a white writer to understand what it’s like to be Black; they aren’t privy to that part of the American life. While Blacks work in “the white world” and are exposed to a wide variety of white life through the media (movies, television shows), at the end of the day they end up back in the Black community, a place that few whites have access to.
I guess what I’d like to see the diversity of the Black community represented on the pages of comics and I feel that the only way to do that is to have a writer with an in depth understanding of said community.
Now anyone can fantasize about what it’s like to be a millionaire orphan or a small town farmboy, that’s easy. But there are nuances within the Black community that aren’t touched upon. I’d like to see Mr. Terrific, who’s not a fan of religion, be opposed to it because of how Christianity was used to indoctrinate slaves.
I never read anything involving the courtship between Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, but I’d be curious to hear what kind of backlash Cage got from the community. There are those in the Black community who’d never date a white woman, and there are those who just couldn’t be seen in public with one. In mind Luke Cage is kind of like the Kareem Said (Oz) of the Marvel Universe, so did he go through any mental turmoil over deciding that he what spending the rest of his life with a white woman symbolized?
Black boys were lynched for flirting with white women in the South. Within the past twenty years Black men have been killed in NYC for the notion that they were dating a white woman. Now maybe if you have titanium skin you aren’t really worried for you life, but I really hope that Bendis addressed the historical and cultural significance to the coupling.
Without Black creators, there isn’t really a Black voice. Brian Azzarello may manage to mimic the hood dialect, but I don’t think that he can really capture the voice.
The reason why most Asian characters are so stereotypically “Asian” (martial arts specialists) or that Native Americans are so stereotypically “Native American” (the connection to nature) is that that’s pretty much all writers know about that segment of the population. That ignorance extends to the Black community as well.
The more minority creators the more fleshed out, three dimensional minority characters we’ll have.
4) Do you believe a minority-driven product line like the Milestone comics imprint could succeed now where it failed 10 years ago?
I want to say “yes,” but since comics tend to be about “I wish I was that character” as opposed to “I see myself in that character” I’m going to say no.
Y’see it’s my personally theory that no one wants to be Black. It’s the reason why Tiger Woods, Mariah Carey and Derek Jeter, all of whom have a Black parent, don’t claim “Black.” In fact the only demographic that really does want to be Black is suburban white males, and for them it’s generally just a fad.
So if you had a line that prominently featured minority characters and you’ve got a public that doesn’t want to be Black it doesn’t add up to a successful line.
However, perhaps if you had a line of books that featured established minority characters and was in the established continuity of a comic company, it would stand a better chance of success.
5) Of the minority characters and minority-driven stories that have been done and are available today, what is your opinion of the products?
I’m a huge fan of the current Firestorm book. It’s very much a superhero title, yet the lead character, Jason Rusch rings true as a young Black male. I think that it’s superbly done.
I was a fan of Nighthawk back during the Supreme Power book. I loved that he was only concerned with the betterment of the Black community. He was “Black” first and a hero second. It was refreshing. However he became extremely watered down in his subsequent miniseries. There he wasn’t portrayed so much as “Black” as he was a Batman analogue.
Last year’s Son of Vulcan miniseries was a fun little jaunt that featured a Latino lead. Sadly he appears destined for limbo at the moment.
I loved the Angeltown miniseries that DC published in it’s Vertigo line.
Black Panther is up and down for me. I enjoy it some months, while others it’s difficult to read. Still I buy it every month, because Marvel (and DC) needs to know that a Black hero can support a solo title.
Back in the day, I was a fan of Green Lantern: Mosaic. It did a fine job of making John Stewart a complex character and making sure that he’d never be portrayed as a stereotype. Sadly, even with his high profile in Justice League Unlimited cartoon, DC seems to have put John Stewart on the backburner for the moment.
And the aforementioned Milestone line was such a treat for a young comic fan. Blood Syndicate, Static and Icon were my favorites, as they explored some of the nuance that I feel isn’t addressed in current comics.
6) Are the stories and the treatment of characters something minorities can relate to in a positive way? Or is the treatment of minority characters in the Marvel and DC universes a misrepresentation of minority issues and traits?
I think that most Blacks can relate to being pushed to the side and ignored (like John Stewart) in terms of being in areas of service. I’d imagine that many Blacks understand what it feels like to achieve success (like Static, who’s cartoon was popular, yet only returned to the comics medium in a miniseries) yet seemingly hit that glass ceiling.
I don’t blame creators for not wanting to address racial issues on the pages of comics, as people don’t like to address racial issues in the real world. Also those stories tend to come across has preachy.
Again, Firestorm does a pretty good job of dealing with minority issues. I was hoping that Nighthawk would have provided further exploration, however Marvel seems to have backed away from giving fans a unique look at a Black character.
Thank you Mathan!
And thanks to everyone who sent back my survey. If any more trickle in I’ll post them next week with the letters from the readers.
To close this chapter, let me touch on a few points these gentlemen made. Rich mentioned the need for marketing and merchandising and I think that goes for almost the entire industry, minority characters or otherwise. I’m going to dive into the deep end of this topic eventually, but I see no reason why Manhunter, Thunderbolts, Phantom Stranger or Spider-Woman shouldn’t or couldn’t be as viable to their companies financially as Batman, Superman, Spidey and Wolvie. The Big Two push these four characters (primarily) incessantly, ignoring the majority of their respective universes and the profits that successful marketing of these “minor” characters could bring. Look at Blade – he’s a black vampire that few people who saw the MOVIE knew was a comic book character. I saw the film three times at the local movie house and the first two people who saw it with me saw the Marvel mention at the beginning and leaned over to ask if that was the comic company. Blade made a decent bit of change for everybody, and spawned (no pun intended) a movie franchise that did pretty well financially and even critically (until the last one, at least). Marvel and DC could make good movies on relatively small budgets featuring the likes of Cage, Falcon, Green Arrow, Grifter, etc., and yet they have this narrow focus on their “flagship” properties. A couple of good movies based on B-list characters could pay for the big Avengers or Justice League effects extravaganza.
I think Shorty’s brief response speaks volumes. An avowed Super-fan, he can’t even remember the name of the only black-driven series he’s read. I believe he was referring to Kyle Baker’s Truth, which I haven’t got around to yet myself. I’m a fan of Baker’s work generally, but I remember thinking that the art looked terribly sloppy when I flipped through it. Having read Young Avengers, I’d like to go back and get the Truth. As for Samuel L. Fury, he’s an Ultimate character, and as the Ultimate Universe is a cash cow grazing on the wallets of an easily beguiled consumer base, I don’t count him. At the far end of the Mighty Marvel Coolness Meter, as far to the bad side as it gets, is Gambit. And he’s sitting there charging up a whole stack of Ultimates for Apocalypse to wipe his big blue buttocks with.
Mathan mentioned the need for real, genuine characterization, not just broad-stroke approximations. Rich touched on this as well. And I completely agree. Native Americans, for one, has always confounded me. Almost all of them (I say almost because as soon as I don’t everybody starts screaming about Shaman from Alpha Flight, who is both Canadian and theoretically dead, so what difference does it make?) are warriors, fine, but why are they all two stories tall and built like the Hulk? I’ve known several Native Americans (by which I mean descendants of probably Chinese hunters who followed the mammoth heard across the frozen Bearing Strait–there wasn’t ANYONE Native to North America originally) and they were all fairly slight of build. Most Asian characters in comics, video games, and movies seem to know Kung Fu, Karate, or some other martial art form. My sister is Korean but has lived her whole life in the US (I’m adopted!) has mentioned that people assume she knows at least three languages and can kick ass like Chuck Norris, neither of which are true. Both Mathan and Rich said that what black characters there are aren’t terribly substantial most of the time. Luke Cage in the 70s and 80s fought a parade of forgettable super villains. I couldn’t tell you who, I forgot myself. If you saw Cage, T’Challa, Sam Wilson, Blade and Bishop standing next to each other in tuxedos with no real context the only one you could identify easily would be Bishop because of the big ‘M’ on his face. And there’s often no investment by the publishers–Orpheus in the Batman mythos was only around for a year or two before they killed him off, despite being a character with a ton of potential. Too often, as we’ve seen with Firestorm, Mr. Terrific and even the new Blue Beetle, there’s no real rhyme or reason for the sudden inclusion of ethnicity. Seldom is a new character created as a minority much less given the chance to thrive. Hopefully theres a creator or editorial individual out there reading the last few weeks of this column and realizing that there’s a healthy segment of their readership hungry for something different. Feed us from the international buffet! And remind me not to write columns on an empty stomach.
Oh man, this has turned into a “Jerry Springer’s Final Thought!” AAAAHHHHH!
Welcome to my nightmare. *SHUDDER!*
