Black Writers & Characters in Comics

Black Writers & Characters in Comics

"People come up to me and say when Daredevil who is blind defeats the thunder god Thor it's clever, but when the Black Panther defeats Thor, it's impossible" - Dwayne McDuffie

Editorial Opinion
By eddrickdejuan - Jul 15, 2011 12:07 AM EST
Filed Under: Other
Source: eSquared Comics

As comic book creators, is it our job to feed into the prejudices of a few, or to tell the truth? Why would anyone say that it's impossible for the Black Panther to defeat a god? Let's be clear, in the fantasy/comc book genre nothing is impossible. In fact, on a number of occasions, the science fiction tech ended up inspiring an inventor to turn the fake tech into reality. The most famous adaptaion is the cell phone. The flip cell phone was introduced to us by the 1960's Star Trek. There is little doubt that this fake technology influence inventors to create a real life version. So, in essence nothing is immpossible in the fantasy/comic book world.

When you strip away the hero aspect of both the Black Panther and Daredevil they are human. When both of these humans defeated Thor as Dwayne McDuffie wrote it, he is empahsing the fact that a human is defeating a god and not a white man or black man - but a human. The truth behind the story is that humans have the ability to build, reason, and be clever to overcome any obstacle and defeat any foe if they put their mind too it.



If the comic book writer confined to the narrow market of hard core comic book readers (who demographics say are white males), then the notion of a black character who is human defeating Thor is theoretically impossible. Impossible only if the mind set of the reader has a pre-defined view of only non-whites having the ability to be clever that is. But again, the truth remains that us humans are smart and can go toe to toe with any machine (as the Matrix showed us,) any alien ( as Independence Day showed us) and any other thing that may come our way. Some real world examples include conquering tyranny during World War II and conquering the heavens by landing a man on the Moon.

Besides, by writing characters of all races we as creators are expanding the market which helps the overall comic book community and expands our market. Reginald Hudlin gave an interview where he said the comic book shop owners love when his work come out, why, because it brings in a very diverse crowd and thus more sales.



In the end our jobs as writers are to be creative as possible with the technology and situations we put our characters in. BUT, since humans read about other humans, we have to tell the truth about character motivation, feelings and ingenuity no matter the race.

Eddrick Dejuan
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BIGBMH
BIGBMH - 7/15/2011, 12:20 PM
Interesting article. I think race is very complicated when dealing with comics. Like Hudlin pointed out, there's a majority white audience and you can see that in sites like this when racial issues come up. Some people are up in arms and threatened by ideas like Donald Gover playing Peter Parker or even a new black character taking over as Spider-man in the Ultimate Universe.

I think putting minority characters on major teams like the Justice League or Avengers is helpful. I don't go actively looking for series with black characters just because. However, I've gotten to know Luke Cage more through the New Avengers. As for series starring black characters and the "rule of 3" I think it's a challenge to prove to the majority audience that these are relevant to them and characters they chan relate to. I've heard people talking about the Cosby Show say that it wasn't a black family, it was just a family. That's how black super heros need to be percieved to break down barriers. Not black heroes, but heroes who happen to be black.
BIGBMH
BIGBMH - 7/15/2011, 12:20 PM
Interesting article. I think race is very complicated when dealing with comics. Like Hudlin pointed out, there's a majority white audience and you can see that in sites like this when racial issues come up. Some people are up in arms and threatened by ideas like Donald Gover playing Peter Parker or even a new black character taking over as Spider-man in the Ultimate Universe.

I think putting minority characters on major teams like the Justice League or Avengers is helpful. I don't go actively looking for series with black characters just because. However, I've gotten to know Luke Cage more through the New Avengers. As for series starring black characters and the "rule of 3" I think it's a challenge to prove to the majority audience that these are relevant to them and characters they chan relate to. I've heard people talking about the Cosby Show say that it wasn't a black family, it was just a family. That's how black super heros need to be percieved to break down barriers. Not black heroes, but heroes who happen to be black.
TheMyth
TheMyth - 7/16/2011, 1:10 PM
Great read. Racial boundaries are silly, culture is important. It has always bothered me that it seems like an all white cast in comics. Even fictional extraterrestrials get more love than blacks or asians. At least Luke Cage is getting good love these past few years as well as Panther. I've always loved Storm and Sunfire. They need to branch out a bit, and the same applies to DC. Being a super hero shouldn't have some racial condition applied to it. lol, Thinking on it, not really any options on villains too, just a bunch of white people/cybernetic/robotic/aliens.

BigBMH, I disagree about casting in films. Peter Parker isn't black and I wouldn't want to see a black man, or anything but a white man playing him. Luke Cage is black, and I wouldn't want a white Luke or Panther anymore than I'd want a black Cyclops.

felixxx
felixxx - 7/16/2011, 2:44 PM
Panthers the shit. I didnt really get into him until I watched the motion comic series. He has come to be one my favorites since then. I just finished watching The Avengers TV series and hes super badass on there. Hell Spawn is one my favorites and even though he doesnt have any skin, he was a black man. I dont see color when i look at people, i see people. If the rest of the world would grow up we would be way farther ahead in the long run. Good write up.
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