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[phyrbyrd]

So I've been trying to write a comic book. Well, I guess 'trying' is too strong a word, I've been kicking around ideas and developing characters in the hope that plot will happen. It's a superhero team story, and so I'm dealing with a number of my own pet peeves about the comic book industry

Comments

[anonymous_bosh]

I think it's still very much worth it to write out any stories you've got, but you might think about why they group like that. Is it a pattern you're familiar with in TV, other comics, other stories? Is it a pattern you're familiar with from life? Does it give you the most interesting arguments?

If you're uncomfortable depicting another culture or subculture because you're not familiar with it, I think you're showing good sense. There's ways to fix that discomfort, though. I'm shy as hell, and people do tend to group like to like, so I wouldn't be going out and actually meeting people, but there's message boards and lj communities that discuss the experience of various marginalized people, for a look at the issues that get them riled, and personal blogs/overhearing conversations on the city bus for confirmation that, whatever discrimination they face and however 'different' they're seen as, they're still interested in everything that everyone else is.

If you're trying to create an icon of a particular community, averaging all the things you've heard or seen about that group, and making their identity as a member of that community their main character point, then yeah, I'd see that as tokenism, especially if they're constantly teaching lessons to the other characters about that community. It's hard to show how pervasive discrimination shapes a character without making it a persistent point, but a complete character has so much more to them. If you're writing a person who does cool things but happens to have been shaped by these societal forces, then I want to read what you're writing.

I worry because all my characters are gay guys.

[phyrbyrd]

I think the primary group is forming that way because I want to have characters to interact interestingly with my protagonist - so far we have the mentor, the semi-abusive ex-mentor who is too old for her and a really bad idea for a love interest, the much better love interest and the best friend, although come to think of it, I'm not sure this trans woman works that well as a best friend for the protagonist. Still, the story's not entirely about her, so.
As an example - there was a point much earlier in the story where she had a Muslim friend and colleague, but I don't know enough about ordinary muslims to even make an icon. I had a lot of muslim friends in high school, but that was a long time ago. And i could have written her the same as i would have done a white girl, but then what would be the point of making her Muslim? People are a product of their upbringing and a muslim upbringing contains major elements that are different from mine.

I have the 'all my characters are gay guys' worry too. Only most of the gay guys I write are RPs and therefore not intended for publication. Most of my troubles writing gay guys are less to do with gay issues and more to do with keeping them believably male, which i can do if i keep a watch on myself.

Also can you see my shift key needs cleaning...