On the Question of Diversity in Comics

Here's one reason why DC might be losing the public relations war to Marvel. The way DC handles these questions at cons -- and by now, they should be expecting this questions and be better prepared -- shows a company on the defensive and not liking it. They might be selling comics with their big event story arcs and controversial reboots and big name character deaths and similar moves that seemed designed to gain attention rather than fit some actual character and story development, but they're alienating a lot of readers, myself included. Why can't the PTB at DC just get it and start respecting all readers and potential readers? You'd think it would be an easy thing.

Reviews and a Few Thoughts on Race and Gender

I read this article on ThinkProgress about how four legendary white male comics creators were dismissive of race and sex of characters. Michael Kantor, Todd McFarlane, Len Wein and Gerry Conway were at the Television Critics Association press tour and seemed to be making a case for race neutral, sex neutral characters in comics. McFarlane said:

"So we actually stereotype and do it to both sexes. We just happen to show a little more skin when we get to the ladies.”

He also said, according to the article:

“There hasn’t really been historically a comic book that has worked that is trying to get across a kind of message, if you will," ... "So the female characters that work are the ones that are just strong women that actually it’s good storytelling, and the odd character that is a minority that works is the one that is just a good strong character. They’ve tried to do minority characters and bring that label and that surrounding [debate] into it. You’re aware that you’re reading a minority comic book. I think it’s wrong.”

Now, on the face of it, this is incendiary, especially for the people being marginalized: Women and People of Color. But the thing is, he has a point. They all do. When you write about a woman or a character with an ethnicity other than white and you make that the point of the story, then, odds are, it won't be very good on a story level because there won't be much foundation and a fair amount of writers will either revert to stereotypes or run out of ideas without an actual story. And that's largely because, at DC and Marvel, the majority of the writers are white males.

Which brings me to the point these men don't get. Characters differ. They need more than strength. They need their differences, which is why we have so many characters starring in so many books, and not just because their strengths and weaknesses vary. Sure, Aquaman lives in water; Superman inhabits the dry, surface world. But Aquaman is informed by his background, growing up in Atlantis. Superman is a Krptonian, separated in infancy from his family and his world. Bruce Wayne, despite being Batman, is a privileged white male and while losing his parents brutally in front of him when he was young and impressionable, how he reacted to that might've been much different had he not had the advantages his race and wealth afforded him.

Len Wein argued for racial neutrality:

“I think every time you take a female character, a black character, a Hispanic character, a gay character, and make that the point of the character, you are minimalizing the character.” ... “I have written anything you can possibly think of. I have created Storm who was the first black female superhero. I created a number of other characters, and it never matters to me what the color of their skin was. I was writing about who they were as human beings, and it wasn’t Black Storm. She was Storm.”

Again, a good point made. She was a character, an individual. And yet, he denies the background that made her the individual she was. How can you write about who someone was as a human being without infusing them with a racial identity, or include how their sex influenced how they were raised, how they view themselves, how they approach life?

Not all people of an ethnic group are the same. Not all women are the same, nor all men. But comic books don't tell neutral stories. No one is walking around wearing the same neutral body suit as everyone else. The characters aren't all the same shade of green or purple. There are aliens (and that's often been pointed at as an example of non-white characters!) and humans, and males and females. If a comic is set in a real-world setting, for instance, Earth, then it should reflect that reality, as should the creative teams.

These male writers were dismissive of female superheroes as a genre girls will read. Well, let me tell you guys something. I was reading superhero comics when I was seven, over 50 years ago. By the time I was twelve, girl comics (Archie, Millie the Model, romance comics) bored me.

Conway said:

"And I think it’s a mistake to sort of, like, pigeonhole superheroes, or to add so much to superheroes that you’re missing the fact it’s a genre within itself. It’s like saying, ‘Why are there no medieval stories about female knights?’ Because there was only one, you know, Joan of Arc. It’s not it’s an inherent limitation of that particular genre, superheroes.” 

And McFarlane added:

“It might not be the right platform,” he said. “I’ve got two daughters, and if I wanted to do something that I thought was emboldened to a female, I probably wouldn’t choose superhero comic books to get that message across. I would do it in either a TV show, a movie, a novel, or a book. It wouldn’t be superheroes because I know that’s heavily testosterone — driven, and it’s a certain kind of group of people. That’s not where I would go get this kind of message, so it might not be the right platform for some of this.”

A lot of women, myself, included would disagree. Vehemently. First, it's fiction. Second, women have fought in wars while disguised as men. Women have been part of mythology from the beginning, and mythology has been part of comics for a long time, with Wonder Woman the most obvious example. You want to empower your daughters? Let them see role models in all media, comics, included. Let them see females are respected and powerful even in the comics field you work in, Mr. McFarlane. Don't tell them, sorry, but these aren't really for you. They're for boys who need to look at pictures of women with their boobs and butt sticking out.

Not that I mind much of the sexy art. It's the gratuitous art that bothers me. It's how the males are all muscular while the women look like they can be broken in half like a wishbone. Power Girl might have big breasts and shows off her cleavage, but she's no pushover. When written well, she's an excellent role model. We need more like her. And we need more like the Vixen mini-series, that showed how good a story you can have when you work in a black female superhero's ethnicity.

“'I think the bigger question is why are readers not interested in those?' Conway asked."

Good question, Mr. Conway. Maybe the answer has to do with what's actually available. Some people, like me, will read about white male superheroes, but not everyone will be satisfied with just that. It's a different world now. And there are some more good points made in the article, so go read it, if you haven't, already.

And this attitude that comics follow or reflect society and don't or shouldn't lead, is part of the larger argument of: Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? I think it's both, a mix, same as nature/nurture has proven to be. You simply can't separate the two. And as society is diverse, so should be comics, re: sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, on both the character and creator sides.

Gail Simone is writing The Movement for DC. It's political, dealing with societal and economic inequities. It has a lot of ethnic characters. Issue 4 shows us the background of many of these new superheroes. This comic reflects the social unrest of recent years, with the Occupy movement, etc. Yet it also is a move into new territory for a superhero comic, with many characters on both sides who can't easily be labeled all good or all bad. My only problem with this comic is the mice. I really hate mice and rats.

Gail's first issue of Red Sonja came out a couple of weeks ago and it's good. I've never read Red Sonja, so I can't compare what Gail is doing with her vs the past, but this is a woman who was beaten down yet not defeated. I won't say she's been empowered, because once freed from captivity, she claimed her own power. As if should be.

I also read the Hawkeye Annual, which focused on Kate Bishop. Kate, on the road with Lucky the Pizza Dog, bumbles her way into a big mess, then gets herself out of it. Kate is young and brash and capable, and she's written by a man, Matt Fraction, who gets it.

Diversity in the DCU

I suppose I should comment on Ian Sattler's comments in a Q&A at HeroCon that have been sliced and diced across the comics blogosphere (no links because I can't remember all the places I've seen them).

A serious topic came up about how characters who are minorities who happened to be legacy characters like Ryan Choi are killed off so their caucasian counterparts can return and how they feel like they are being cheated or sidelined out of their roles. Sattler took a more serious tone. "It's so hard for me to be on the other side because it's not our intention. There is a reason behind it all. We don't see it that way and strive very hard to have a diverse DCU. I mean, we have green, pink, and blue characters. We have the Great Ten out there and I have counter statistics, but I won't get into that. It's not how we perceived it. We get the same thing about how we treat our female characters."

Now,  I'm going to be charitable here. I'm going to assume that no malice was intended. I'm doing to assume this is simply (and yes, I know the risks I run when I make assumptions) a case of someone just not getting the point.

I believe he's sincere in thinking they're doing nothing wrong. And I believe there's a real story/plot point behind the deaths and the chosen resurrections. It may all end up being one helluva story that we'll be talking about for decades and that we'll all love. Maybe. But that does not negate Sattler's misreading of readers/fans' concerns.

Bringing fictitious ethnicities into the discussion, the blue and green people, while ignoring the many shades of actual humans who are not properly represented both on the pages and in managerial positions, let alone in the talent producing the books is a disingenuous response at best. There are no pink people, no green or blue people walking around our wonderful planet, so mentioning the ones walking around the DCU isn't going to win you new readers. Kids usually want to read about people like them. Sure, a polka dotted alien is cool and can be entertaining, but after a while, you want to see a mocha complexioned woman who speaks like a real person and dresses as someone other than a slut.

Because, women make up half the population, but not half the comic heroes, and that issue is usually brushed aside.

Sure, we've got some great female characters right now and many are headlining their own books. Batgirl has been amazing. Birds of Prey is back. Supergirl has turned into a super book and Power Girl got off to a great start. Wonder Woman has been as good as she and we deserve her to be and I hope that continues. We've got the Batwoman book coming and half of the Secret Six have been female. But do these books represent half the DCU superhero books? Not even close.

There is no reason why characters like Ryan Choi have to die to bring back Ray Palmer as the Atom. There is a whole Corps of guys running around as Green Lanterns, for frak's sake. And wonder of wonders, one of them is actually black, named John Stewart. We've got a bunch of Flashes. We've had some names swapped out without a concern that people would be confused. Nightwing becomes Batman while someone from Kandor becomes a new, different Nightwing. Did anyone worry that we readers would mistake the new Nightwing for Dick Grayson, or that we'd mix up Dick as Bats with Bruce as Bats? No. So call Ryan Choi Mr. Atomic or something and let him live. He was wonderful and far more entertaining than Roy Palmer ever was or likely ever will be.

But none of that matters, not really. They're just characters. Same as with the killing of Lian Harper (a mix of Caucasian and Asian, btw), it's just comics. They're fictional characters, not real people. What really matters is the attitude of people like Sattler who make the decisions. They need to understand how those decisions are perceived. They need to learn how to better read and communicate with their audience. They need to own up to their failings, to own their mistakes, and vow to do better. It's a lesson so many companies don't learn until too late, if at all. They think denial or sidestepping an issue will make it go away or reduce its significance. They're wrong. That just makes it worse, especially in this age of instant, viral communication.

Mr. Sattler, you should have taken your lumps, said your mea culpa, promised to do better, then actually do better. Ask what we'd like to see more of. Ask for suggestions. Suggest ways we can get our concerns to the rest of management. Etc. But don't act like the wounded party. Really, it isn't becoming.

I'll still read the comics that entertain me. And I'll continue to write my opinions of them. But don't expect me to love everything you do because you think it's wonderful. I was going to say that's not how to develop a lifelong reader, except in my case, it sorta was. Because back in 1960 when I read my first comic, there was even less diversity and here I still am. But times have changed. Please make sure the DCU keeps up. Your readers, present and future, will much appreciate it.

Joy in the Comics Blogosphere

As Loren points out, DC will continue to publish Manhunter and will be bringing back the Freedom Fighters!

I'd put off reading all my Manhunters because I figured it was canceled (then back, then canceled again), and I had time. Guess I'd better catch up. And keeping Kate around in a regular book helps with that whole diversity thing DC keeps saying they're aiming for. Now we need to get people reading the book. Maybe if we all buy two and give one to a friend, each and every issue til the friends buy their own.... That would double sales.

I don't discuss diversity here, much, but at a time when adding readers is important to comics so they can stay viable, and with the desire to bring in more female readers, keeping and nurturing a book that or many books featuring minority characters is a good idea. And when the lead is also a strong female role model type, it's doubly a good idea.

I just think there are too many characters now in the DCU called "Kate."

As for the Freedom Fighters, I've been loving the mini and wanted a series so much, so this is great news. Now if they'd do a Creeper series, and one for Secret Six. Both of those minis deserve a regular series, too.

Now, I'm thinking action figures....